Yvonne Heimann [00:00:00]:
Have you ever wondered why so many women struggle to get real answers about their health? Especially when the symptoms just don't seem to fit the textbook. So many women face being dismissed by tradicional medicine only to walk away with more questions than solutions. Maybe you've felt overlooked when your tests were "normal" or your concerns got lost of the sea of quick-fixes and prescriptions. And in the challenge of one-size-fits-all care plans, the frustration of feeling unheard, running a business in the middle of all of this and limiting time for self-care, it's no wonder than optimal health can feel out of reach. And that is why Dr. Lahana Vigliano is here and in today's episode. A doctor of clinical nutrition and the CEO and Founder of Nuvitru, a concierge functional wellness practice. Lahana blends science, intuition and empathy, offering personalized root cause healing for her clients and today, we're going to cover her journey, key strategies for holistic health and practical steps so yo can start being more healthy now.
Yvonne Heimann [00:01:23]:
And you've been already missing out on a green room conversation and a lot of laughs. So you do not want to miss today's episode. So let me introduce you to Dr. Lahana Vigliano. Yes, I practice that in the green room. She is the CEO and founder of Nuvitru, a leading concierge functional wellness practice. As a doctor of Clinical Nutrition, Dr. Vigliano, you're really practicing me with that one today.
Specializes in women's health, gut function and metabolic optimization. At Nuvitru, you combine functional medicine lab testing with personalized care to uncover each patient's unique health profile. Aiming to enhance both well bringing and longevity. Through a holistic, science driven approach, Dr. Vigliano empowers her clients to achieve optimal health and balance. And what a freaking topic that is in 2025 in the States. No, we are not going down the political out. We're we.
Yeah, maybe we will at some point. We'll start with you though, before we go into the hot topics. Oh my God, Lahana, I am so excited, excited to have you. And I am so curious. How did you get here? How did you get to being compassionate and passionate about this? Combining. Combining all of these things and doing this. Did. Did little Lahana thought this is what you're gonna do.
Lahana Vigliano [00:03:04]:
Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. Actually, it is. I. Well, to an extent I was the weird five year old that kind of knew what she wanted to do. But I thought like, you know, when you think healthcare, you think medical doctor, you don't really think of all these other areas. And so I had my eyes set on that because I did. I love taking care of people and I think that's just what I knew. And so I was like, I'm going to be a doctor and you know, again, I'm going to be an md.
So I actually went all that route. And I was in my pre med, so in my undergrad and I was like about a year in and then I realized, oh, like how they take care of health is a pill for an ill. So like if you have this diagnosis, this is the pill that's given. And I don't know, that just didn't sit the best with me. I felt like there's more to health than, well, okay, this person has this. Here's the pharmaceutical. I'm like, well, how did they get there and is the pharmaceutical. Well, there's a time and a place for certain pharmaceuticals.
What. What can we actually do that's addressing the root cause of the issue? Now I think some of my mindset even changed a little bit because I became a mom at 18. So I actually have a. He's almost 14 next month, actually, to the day as we're recording this. And I think when, you know, you become a mom, your brain kind of changes. You view the world a little bit differently. And so that was me. And I wanted something also a little bit more doable and flexible with kids.
Lahana Vigliano [00:04:30]:
So my brain just started shift and like, do. Is this what I want to do? Do I feel fulfilled in what I'm doing? And is this flexible for, like, a family? So I ended up changing my major from pre med to nutrition, and I got my undergrad, my. My master's, and obviously my doctorate in clinical nutrition. So I took it all the way because I really, when I was forced to do a nutrition class, I started to see, wow, this shit really runs the show. And no matter how many times you may go to the doctor and they may be like, oh, just take this and that, or like, no. Oh, food doesn't matter. It really, truly does. And I actually question if any practitioner says that I'm like, find a new one, because they don't even then understand the basic biochemistry of how our body works, which is really cool.
Yvonne Heimann [00:05:11]:
And it's so interesting because I'm in the middle of my own journey right now. Okay, we're getting personal. And it's. It's been interesting just how it showed up. So at this point, I am finally diagnosed with Candida. Never had any idea about it. And just for anybody out there that might not know and have done any. Any research, it's.
It's yeast overgrow. It's like our body is going crazy on. On one thing. And especially as women, we know, we. Right. Been there, done that. And it's been interesting because it didn't show up in. In the ways I expected things to show up.
I know a yeast infection. I know what that looks like. I'm a female, and suddenly I'm exposed to Candida, and I'm like, didn't expect those symptoms. And I go with those symptoms to a nurse practitioner, and she just brushes it off. And I'm like, a year, literally a year and a half later, I finally understand what it is to go to my practitioner, my doctors, and be like, what do we need to do? What? How do I need to clean up my gut? Probiotics, what, all the things. And I'm like, I'm always joking. It's like, there is a reason why they're called practitioners, even if you have a specific framework. And you know what worked before, it doesn't mean it's going to work on me.
Yvonne Heimann [00:06:39]:
We have to practice, we have to test it. Everybody works different. So I'm like, oh my God, yes, I cannot wait to chat with you. So it's like in my personal experience, it's like, I don't have a high sugar diet. I don't have a high carb diet. I grew up in Germany. I know that cheese is not bright yellow. And still we run into these things, right? And there's nothing.
It's, it's, there's. Yeah, my ex would have said, yeah, there's something disgusting about it. But no, it's actually not. It's just a freaking body that doesn't function how we want it to function. And with that, it's, I love how you put that into. It's, it's all encompassing. Yes, there is a time and place for medications for giving your body a fighting chance. What I mean by that is often enough we've, we've seen it with specifically mental health white.
Give yourself a break. If medication can help you, give a break right now so you can work, work to something. I, I love that. Now how do you combine standard medicine, let's call it standard medicine, and that all encompassing body approach, how does that show up in, in an everyday life? How, how do you combine those?
Lahana Vigliano [00:08:08]:
Yeah, and it's definitely possible. I do feel like most of our patients are people who are wanting to cross all the T's, dot all the eyes before they hop into a pharmaceutical. Which that's kind of my approach too is just like, what can we do before you hop there? Because honestly a lot of the times you don't need to go there. Now if you're really symptomatic and there is like you can't even function, then yes, that's when you would want to go see a doctor and get on certain medications. I've seen that with thyroid where people just need a little bit of thyroid hormone help. But then we view it as, you know, the foundations of looking at your diet, your movement, your stress, your sleep, your environment, those are all like the core, I guess the core five that we look at. Because it's not just food, it's not just movement. A lot of people don't talk about mold and environmental toxins and we're exposed to nowadays that all can play a role in our health.
And so we do a lot of testing in our practice that technically isn't insurance based. And I would say that's even not even just for the U.S. i. I know some naturopathic doctors in Canada where it's just like insurance not or not typical conventional healthcare labs. Because we always have questions of like, well, why? Like, why isn't this covered in insurance? Or why isn't my doctor ordering this? Because most healthcare, we are looking for a diagnosis because in order to provide a treatment, we need a diagnosis. If something is not technically diagnosable, then technically there's nothing they can do about that. And there's a lot of things that aren't diagnosable. Now they're looking for disease, a diagnosable disease.
We're looking for being optimal and feeling well. And we have a lot of people who are subpar, they have suboptimal levels, but they don't have a disease. Right.
Yvonne Heimann [00:09:50]:
And that's because they are still in the framework of the number, but they are not working fine for their body. But they are still in the average. Yes.
Lahana Vigliano [00:10:01]:
Which is why, like, some doctors would be like, oh, we can't really prescribe anything for, like, insulin yet. You know, you kind of have to be officially diabetic for that. But obviously there's so many things you can do when you're in that weird gray area. And so when you're in that weird gray area, I would say you can even hold off on, like, anything conventional and just really work on the Core 5 and the Holistic point of it. And then if you do need pharmaceuticals, you have that. But yeah, you come back, you do the testing that they're not doing, and understanding your gut microbiome, understanding your full, your. Your full thyroid, your sex hormones, I mean, whatever that we need to look at. But you're right.
Some. I have so many patients who have the same exact diagnosis, but a completely different, like, care plan, because there's. Everyone's built differently and they've gone through different things in their life, and we take into account a past trauma when they're a child, and that leads, you know, that increases your risk for chronic illness when you're an adult. So all of these things need to come together to really give you a supportive, personalized plan for you, which is what I don't see. Even. Actually, I will be the first to tell you, even in functional and integrative. A lot of the times I still see a pill for an ill, even though it's a natural pill for an ill. It's like, well, instead of Advil for inflammation, here's turmeric, but we're still not getting to the root of, well, why are we having inflammation in the first place?
Which, that's a huge problem.
Yvonne Heimann [00:11:18]:
And I'm curious because that leads us already into my next question. You lead Nuvitru with a visionary, science backed and heart centered approach. Pulled that straight up. So I love that combination. Yes. That's like I, I stalk my guests and I love that combination because we are looking at the visionary. We were looking at our goals. We are looking at science based and the heart centered.
You already mentioned that you are also looking at trauma of your clients. So how do you balance that analytical sense side of the functional medicine with that intuitive, with that heart centered. How do you combine these. That feel like complete polar opposite.
Lahana Vigliano [00:12:07]:
Oh my gosh. And maybe that would even be hard for me to answer because you can even ask my husband. He thinks I'm like a witchy woo woo. Like he, like, no, I, I hate saying that I'm always right because I, I don't think I'm always right. But there are so many times where I'm oddly correct or like I'll walk in and be like, I was just thinking that and I'm like, oh, I don't know.
Yvonne Heimann [00:12:27]:
I just. Here's, here's something you get to tell him. I tell that my people all the time. Here's something you tell rule number one. Rule number one, Yvi is always right. Rule number two, if for whatever reason Yvi is not right, please refer to rule number one. Just saying. So if he ever questions that again, just tell him that.
Just.
Lahana Vigliano [00:15:52]:
Yeah, I mean he goes with it now at this point he's just like, whatever you like.
Yvonne Heimann [00:12:55]:
Yeah, if you say so. So what I'm hearing, yes, you're running tests, yes, you are getting data, yes.
You're looking that data.
But you are not letting it overrule the intuition you have.
Lahana Vigliano [00:13:10]:
Correct. Correct. And you can't. And I feel like that is actually a downfall from what I see from other care plans because a lot of our patients honestly have seen a lot of practitioners. They're like, I've seen a nurse practitioner, I've seen a functional medicine doctor, I've seen a conventional doctor. I've seen all these people like, what makes you different? And from what I see when they share their care plans is they do. We, we so focus on the number and what we. And that's it.
Like, oh, this marker is high. Here is, here is a supplement or medication for that, for that marker. But we have to combine that with everything we learned from their history. So like our first session, like we go back to little Yvi in kindergarten. And we, like, walk through not just the health stuff of, I got mono in high school, but, like, I was sexually abused in middle school. I. My parents got divorced when I was in elementary and I had to move across the country. And that was traumatic.
And I was bullied in high school. I take all these things into account, and then I take with what their labs are telling me, and I, yeah, I mean, I think it is a little natural. So it is hard to, like, put words into it, but I can usually see, wow, your body started speaking to you here. So then it's. You ignored it because maybe it was so mild it was like a little headache or a little bit.
Yvonne Heimann [00:14:24]:
And like, I have a tendency to just brush things off, like
Lahana Vigliano [00:14:28]:
Oh, it's probably just dehydration. I just didn't get enough sleep last night or whatever it is.
And then it goes from little whisper, little whisper, just screaming. And now you're like, I'm getting diagnosed with this left and right. Because now your body's screaming at you like, you weren't listening to me. So I can usually start to pinpoint that, like, origin, which I love. And then I'm able to also, again, I think it's an empathetic intuition of just like, I know this probably felt this way to you. Then your body responded this way, being in fight or flight. Then when you're in fight or flight, you can't really heal. So then I start seeing.
And some people, they respond this way, so that could be their gut. That's like me. Anytime I'm anxious, it's automatically I feel in my gut. Other people, they may feel it in their head. They get migraines, they get headaches. And so I do start to piece together everything. And that is where I'm able to not only, yes, help them feel better short term, but really understand the root cause and the origin of it so we can actually squash it and not just be playing whack a mole with. Okay, I feel a little better.
Oh, it came back in a week. In a week or two. That drives me nuts.
Yvonne Heimann [00:15:28]:
Because if you don't take care of that core root of it, it's just gonna pop back up. And yes, just like we say, I'm like a lesson that's gonna come back around until you finally learn it, it just keeps popping up.
Lahana Vigliano [00:15:40]:
Cancer, I would say if, like, you need a visual of it. I always say with cancer, we always hyper focus on the tumor. Like breast cancer. There's tumor in the breast. We take out the tumor and let's just say that's all you needed. Like, woo, you're cancer free. But I question.
Yvonne Heimann [00:15:57]:
Why did it come up to begin with?
Lahana Vigliano [00:15:58]:
Exactly. And just because we took it out there, who's to say in five years it may show up someplace else? Because we never figured out what led that environment inside of our body to allow that to happen. Because our bodies are badass. They are ruthless. They know we have an immune system that knows what to do when it needs to do it. There was obviously something that didn't work. And if we don't actually understand that and we just take things out, we can be find ourselves in the same situation in the future.
Yvonne Heimann [00:16:27]:
And interesting that you bring that up. I strongly believe. Lost my late husband to cancer, had a neck cancer of the throat. I strongly believe the reason it showed up there is because, yes, he spoke his truth, but not to a level he potentially would have needed because he could have hurt people in setting certain boundaries. So it's. It's like that connection just where it showed up. And I'm like, love you to pieces. You a good guy.
But there's certain things that you never said out loud.
Lahana Vigliano [00:17:12]:
Wow, you kind of gave me goosebumps. I'm not joking.
Yvonne Heimann [00:17:13]:
So, yeah, I still, still do that to me when I say publicly where I'm like, yeah, there is.
Now I know that you are also working. You are constantly growing, you are constantly learning, you are constantly adding. And I know that you are also wanting to add things like EMDR and other holistic approaches to. To your company, to nuvitru. So how. How. Adding new things and other people and other practitioners, how do you maintain your company core values through that? And how do you approach bringing other practitioners in and adding these other modalities? How do you stay true to your promise?
Lahana Vigliano [00:18:10]:
I definitely love going back to my intuition that some people may find this hard, but hiring to me has been so easy and I've always found. I know, I know. I. That is probably something you don't hear a lot, but I. And obviously you have to go through the people. So like, not everyone I talk to, but I can tell within two seconds I'm like, you're it even before you say anything. It's an. It's an intuitive feel.
I know again, that's like my little. My little wish.
Yvonne Heimann [00:18:38]:
How. How do I get better at having Yvi. I'm like, my intuition is finally getting to a point where it's like, okay, girl, you. You're getting better. Spot on. I'm starting to trust you more because it's like I'm listening to you and it's this holy fuck. I want to be at that level of intuition and trusting my intuition.
Lahana Vigliano [00:19:04]:
I think that's what it is. And maybe it's because it's never steered clear, like it's never steered me wrong, that I am so confident in that feeling. I don't second guess. And maybe that's why people do second guess. Maybe they start thinking about it, getting into the details, and I just know, like, this is it done. Boom. You don't need to say anything to me because this is gonna be right. And that's where I feel like the hiring part is so easy because I feel that way.
And they, yeah, they end up being great. I don't, I don't. I don't know.
Yvonne Heimann [00:19:35]:
I'm just like, I'm happy for you, but I'm just jealous over here. And I think one of my big struggles has been I'm. I'm really open. I'm. You can call it empathetic, you can call it. My gates are open in, in human design. All the things, wherever you want to post that put this. I take on other people's energy, if that is good or bad or whatever.
And I had to learn to make the distinction, distinction between what's theirs and what's mine. So what I perceived in the past to be intuition actually wasn't intuition. It wasn't mine. And I think that's where, where my struggle is coming in. To be able to determine what's actually my intuition and learning to trust it.
Lahana Vigliano [00:20:24]:
That makes total sense.
Yvonne Heimann [00:20:27]:
I should have pulled my energy from you rather than the people in my past lives. Just saying.
Lahana Vigliano [00:20:32]:
I can definitely see that. See, if I was ever steered wrong before, I don't think I would be as confident. I think I would be second guessing. And I think I would need all this extra detail to make sure it's the right person. I also am, and you can probably ask any of my employees that I am very open. Yes, I am a leader, but at the end of the day, we're humans doing human shit together. And I am very vulnerable. Which is so funny because if you follow enneagram, I'm an 8.
I don't know if you follow it or that tells you anything.
Yvonne Heimann [00:21:00]:
I have personality profiles. I'm a sucker.
Lahana Vigliano [00:21:08]:
Very similar. 1 and 8 can be very similar. Vulnerability is typically not my strong suit, but I love being vulnerable. I do not mind being. Being vulnerable. In a sense, I feel like your vulnerability is a strength and so when I am in this interviewing process and bringing on people, I am asking, okay, maybe not a good thing, but I am asking questions that are probably not your typical, like, interview questions. And I don't have one off the top of my head, but it's even things like, what. What books do you read in your free time? Like, I'm picking up these little hints of like, who these people are.
And if you say a romance book, I'm like, sold, you're hired.
Yvonne Heimann [00:21:44]:
I like, we are not even talking romance. It's like this. Anything on my Kindle right now is smug going, oh my gosh. Like, oh, hell yeah. Fantasy, Greeks.
Oh, good, I'm sending you my Goodreads list. It's like, go have fun.
Lahana Vigliano [00:22:02]:
Exactly, exactly. But like little things of just like, oh, yeah, I read this book on like, I don't know, holistic birth. Like, what? I think I was talking to one of my current dietitians when I was hiring her and I was like, okay. So to me, I'm like, okay, she is learning outside of work. So that means she's really passionate about it and she cares about it and not just being like, oh, this is just a job. I'm just doing what I need to do. So those are just the little hints that I pick up and I align my core values with, you know, their answers. So I don't know.
That's the best answer I could give you. If I have to actually put it into words outside of, oh, I just feel it.
Yvonne Heimann [00:22:40]:
And it's. I think it's also just an invitation of start listening. It doesn't mean you just have to go for it. You trust your intuition. It hasn't let you wrong. Yes. For everybody else out there, that is more in a similar situation to me where dive deep. Just as it is with your health, ask why didn't you.
Why don't you trust your intuition and then dig deeper? Is it actually your intuition that you, that you listen to or was it somebody else? Was it something external? Dig deeper. Just like with your health and go test. Really Go test. I'm like, I, oh my God, I'm a sucker for this whole intuition thingies on TikTok of, okay, which chakra is this level or which color is this down? I'm not just a sucker for profile personality profiles. I suck. Yes.
Lahana Vigliano [00:23:34]:
Enneagram was the only one that I fell down that rabbit hole. And I really do love it because that is one of the only ones that when I read that, I'm like, wow, that is so me written out on paper, and that's weird.
Yvonne Heimann [00:23:46]:
I just got into shamanic astrology. So based on your main astrology, on your house, on your moon, on all the things. And I. I read up on specifically my career and finances, and I sent a couple of things to my right hand. She's like, fuck, that's you. I'm like, great. I feel called out now. I'm curious because we are getting towards the end, but I want to always leave my audience with something actionable.
So for our listeners that are like service providers that might even be in the sector of health, that are constantly giving, I'm like, literally, your job description is giving and taking care of people. Right. Which can be a. Can be a lot of energy. What would you say they can implement today or this week to maybe also support themselves, to not give all of their energy away? I have a feeling we kind of tend to do this as helpers, but in a job like that, in. In a passion like this, how do you take care of yourself?
Lahana Vigliano [00:25:14]:
Oh, my gosh. And that can be so many pathways. But I think the biggest thing I see is people. Exactly. Giving too much away and not bringing enough in. So I will sometimes even ask, when's the last time you did something fun? Like you thoroughly enjoyed it? There's no productivity behind it. You just love it. And a lot of the times people are like.
Like, when I think about it, I don't know. To me, that's reading. I love reading. I'm a smutty girl. That's my thing. So I try. I do that every single day. And I have it on my to do list as I would a doctor's appointment or errand is.
I'm reading 30 minutes a day. And sometimes if it's a really busy day or a heavier day, I will be like, I'm going to do this at lunchtime because I need. I need a little. A little split in my day. And sometimes it's just before bed. But I always do something that is truly enjoyment for me every single day. No, not. Not once a week, not once a month, every single day.
Also, those things typically don't have to be like this. I need a couple hours to do this. Like, find something that is very doable to add into your day. But that's the biggest thing is I think we just are workaholics. A lot of us are so passionate about what we do.
That we tend to just kind of push us to the side, which, you know, I love that I love what I do. And you love what you do. So work feels actually enjoyable.
But at the end of the day.
It's still kind of work and we need to make sure that we're filling up our cup. And obviously the new, like, doctor and nutrition in me will always say, please eat three meals a day. Like, stop skipping meals. Eat real food. Just want to throw that in there too.
Yvonne Heimann [00:26:46]:
Like, I actually eat five. I'm one of those. My hospitality left over is I cannot eat a normal portion. So I eat about five times a day in smaller portions. Ah, yes. And my ritual is my coffee in the morning. I literally travel with my coffee maker.
Lahana Vigliano [00:27:07]:
Oh, my gosh. I would too. I'm a matcha girl.
My husband did just get a, like, really expensive expression espresso machine. And I'm a matcha girl. I'm not too much of a coffee girl, but I will say it was the smoothest espresso that, like, I've ever had.
Yvonne Heimann [00:27:22]:
Now, for everybody that whose stomach might be turning around by the thought of coffee and that wants to clean up their gut and take care of their health, I know you are having a freebie for my audience to help them clean up their gut health.
Lahana Vigliano [00:27:43]:
Oh, yes. I think from what we sent you is our list of classes. And that's just like a one pager and there's a bunch of different classes on there. There's guttet, there's a gut health one. There's estrogen dominance. There's a fertility one. It's just kind of take what you need. There's a hypothyroid one.
And those are really great because I help you start developing the. How do you take care of this whole holistically in this particular issue, like fertility or gut or whatever. So hopefully that helps you get some ideas going and then give you an idea too of like, what does it look like? What is our lab testing? Why is ours different? And the approach is just very different. So definitely go download them and find me on Instagram. That's where I'm mostly at, is on Instagram.
Yvonne Heimann [00:28:24]:
Love that. And yeah, maybe I should have scrolled because the gut health is the one on the top and I'm scrolling down. I'm like, oh, estrogen dominance, fertility. I'm fine. I took care of that one. Ah, yes, I'll. I'll be on the gut health because something is going on with my gut. That is not some.
Something. Something is up there.
Interestingly enough, the whole Candida actually is not showing up much with gut but I know it's based in the gut. Something is going on in my gut that I'm otherwise doesn't show up. So we'll, we'll figure this thing out because I'm done just brushing it off. And for everybody else that wants to grab those courses, as always, it's in the description. You can find them down below. Go grab them. There's a whole collection of amazing courses available to you. And with that girl, as much as I could hang out with you, I usually don't listen to podcasts longer than about 30 minutes so I might just gonna have to have you back.
Lahana, thanks so much for joining me today. I had a blast.
Lahana Vigliano [00:29:32]:
Thank you so much for having me. It was fun.
Yvonne Heimann [00:29:34]:
Bye everybody. Don't forget to subscribe because we have a whole bunch of amazing ladies coming in the future too. And maybe, just maybe, we're gonna have Lahana back in the future. Bye everybody.