Dr. Shivani Gupta on The Inflammation Code, Vata Syndrome, and Using Ayurveda to Support Perimenopause Changes

Well, welcome back to the show, Dr. Shivani.

I'm so happy to chat with you again today and learn all about your new book.

I just love picking your brain and hearing your expertise.

You know, for many of our listeners, they've probably heard your original episode with us.

But for anybody who maybe this is their first introduction to you, can you share with us just a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your work and your background?

For sure.

So I grew up in two worlds.

I grew up in Houston, Texas, born here, a Texas girl, living the typical American dream where my parents were trying to really live the American dream and build a foundation for us.

And simultaneously, I would go to India every year of my life to go see my grandparents and my cousins.

And inadvertently, if any of you have traveled to a third world country, you know, if you eat any food off the street or anything questionable or anything raw, sometimes you happen to capture what I call Montezuma's revenge India style.

And it was always a challenge.

It's why I waited a decade before I took my kids to India because I was like, let me not damage their gut microbiomes and screw them over for life, which is what I felt like happened to me.

And so growing up, I was just this chronically sick kid, and no one ever put two and two together.

No one ever thought, gosh, she's not only getting disastrously sick in India, and we're nearly having to take her to the hospital, we're throwing a lot of antibiotics and drugs at this little, tiny, tiny, petite little girl.

And then in the U.S., she's constantly catching these colds.

And when I'd get sick in the U.S., we'd just go to the doctor.

She'd give us a script for antibiotic at the pediatrician's office.

Back then, every cold, you just used antibiotics.

That was the philosophy.

And so by high school, they had kind of upgraded me.

They were like, no worries.

Let's give you stronger antibiotics.

The basics aren't working for you anymore.

And so fast forward, by the time I got to college, I was in India once, disastrously sick.

Couldn't figure out like what is going to come out of what part of me.