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Summary
In episode 713, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, a health based dentist, traditional naturopath, and author whose own health crisis reshaped how she practices. About a decade into her dental career she developed severe gut pain, memory loss, and painfully numb hands, and after doctor upon doctor in Western medicine gave her only pills and no answers, she discovered the cause was mercury toxicity from drilling out silver amalgam fillings without protection. That search for her own healing pushed her to study Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Sasang medicine, Native American medicine, and German herbalism, where she found they all described the same 5 elements. Rather than choosing Eastern or Western medicine, she argues it is all the same medicine and the real goal is finding what your cells need to be well.
The conversation unpacks her framework for well care instead of disease care: learning to read your symptoms before you get sick rather than waiting until full blown illness. She explains her Seasons Assessment, which maps symptoms onto seasons like spring (liver and gallbladder) or fall (lungs and large intestine), the seasons of the day that guide when to eat and rest, and her 4 category model of food processing that ends with addictive ultra processed foods. She describes the appostat, the body’s appetite meter that hunts for nutrients rather than calories, and her Cell Well model built on 4 things every cell needs: supplies, support, security, and signals. Throughout, her message is that the body gives you signals, and when you finally give it what it needs, you feel the difference almost immediately.
Links
- Living Well Book (Seasons Assessment and First Steps guide)
- Living Well with Dr. Michelle
- Living Well with Dr. Michelle by Dr. Michelle Jorgensen
- Get Living Well with Dr. Michelle on Amazon
Key Takeaways
- Advocate for your own health: When doctor after doctor only handed her pills and no answers, Dr. Michelle looked outside conventional practice, which led her to discover her mercury toxicity was off the charts.
- Choose well care over disease care: We do well baby visits but never well adult visits, so learn to interpret symptoms early, since disease builds microscopically in the cells long before it feels extreme.
- Read your body through the seasons: Bloating and low motivation point to a spring season (liver and gallbladder), while constant colds and a deep cough point to a fall season (lungs and large intestine).
- Know the 4 categories of food processing: Minimal processing, processed ingredients, and processed foods are recognizable to the body, but ultra processed foods loaded with added salt, sugar, fat, and preservatives drive inflammation.
- Eat for nutrients, not volume: Your appostat is an appetite meter seeking nutrients, so a bag of chips never satisfies while a small amount of nutrient dense food fills you fast.
- Feed every cell 4 things: The Cell Well model gives cells supplies, support (moving lymphatic waste), security (garlic, oregano, elderberry), and signals.
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 732 – Building everyday strength at wellness with Dan John
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 713
Published: 2025-09-23
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, a renowned health based dentist, traditional naturopath, author and whole body health advocate, Living Well with Dr. Michelle: A Comprehensive Handbook for Optimal Health and Unlimited Energy
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)