Frontline Health

#111 - Why Am I Constantly Sick?

• Troy Duell

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We dig into why so many people feel sick and run down, then map out simple steps that restore immune strength: better sleep, lower stress, smarter nutrition, and ways to reduce chronic inflammation. Small changes stack, and the compounding effect works both ways—so we show how to make it work for you.

• links between short sleep and higher infection risk
• how stress hormones suppress immune function
• faith and mindset as anchors for resilience
• processed foods, sugar, and preservatives undermining immunity
• easy habit swaps that build momentum
• common nutrient gaps: vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C, magnesium
• food-first strategies and when testing helps
• the difference between acute and chronic inflammation
• anti-inflammatory moves: omega-3s, movement, gut health
• a practical recap: sleep routine, whole foods, exercise, targeted supplements

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SPEAKER_00:

Today on the Frontline Health Podcast. At a time, you know, they always talk about how you eat an elephant. It's one bite at a time. And I think diet and exercise is pretty much the same. And it can be as simple as, hey, if I'm going out to eat, instead of getting a soda at lunch or dinner, why don't I just get a water at lunch or dinner? Instead of getting a side of fries, why don't I start with a side salad and get something that is healthy to go along with something else that's on my plate? And once you start making just those little transitions, I think you'll start to see a compounding effect on the opposite side of what you see with those pore choices that kind of blend into one another and make a poor cycle.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Frontline Health Podcast by Centurion Health. I'm Evan Patrick here with Troy Duell, our founder and CEO at Centurion Health. Troy, what is new in your world?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh man, I'm doing great. Not a lot new, but excited to dive in today's topic because it's something that certainly this time of year, a lot of people start asking, why am I so sick or why is everybody every everybody in my family sick? Because colds, fatigue, and just kind of feeling run down all the time at this time of year of the year is not something that's too uncommon. And I think we all want some answers to that if we can find them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's exactly right. And, you know, I mean, we talk about it this time of year a lot, but there are a lot of people who just really they it's not just the cold and flu that they catch in the winter. You know, they're feeling like they have nagging health issues constantly. You know, they might have that um that congestion that just never seems to go away. They're having headaches all the time. They feel fatigued. Um, and so I think a lot of people deal with this um and they really are looking for answers. Uh so today we're gonna break down three major reasons why people may constantly feel sick. We're gonna give some practical takeaways so that our listeners can better take control of their health.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And we're gonna start really in three areas. So, first is stress, second would be lack of sleep, and third, and not most importantly, but certainly up there is poor nutrition. And I think they're all enemies of our immune system. So we know that the CDC has reported that about one-third of Americans don't get enough sleep. So that's a lot of us out there. And if you get less than six hours a night, or you wake up four times or you wake up during the night, typically you're four times more likely to catch a cold compared with those people who sleep through the night or sleep seven or more hours a night.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's uh that's really alarming. And it's something that people probably don't think about a lot when it comes to not getting enough sleep. I think most people, when they're staying up late, scrolling on their phones, watching that extra episode of that Netflix program, they're just thinking this only sacrifice they're making is just that they're going to be a little bit sleepy the next day. But what they what they need to realize is they're actually opening themselves up to uh to viruses and illnesses.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And then I I think not having the sleep actually leads to that second one, which we talked about, which is chronic stress. So we know if you don't get enough enough sleep, that stress can increase within your body. And we know that stress hormones play a large part of part of that too, um, where it actually suppresses the immune system. So you're not getting enough sleep, it increases stress. And increased stress, we know, causes your immune system to be less effective and a lot harder for you to fight off any viruses or infections, bacteria that may be coming your way during the day.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. You know, stress is one of those things that we talk a lot about in the health and wellness space, reducing that, obviously, a big way for people to kind of improve their quality of life, uh, but it's not always just as simple as just kind of telling somebody stop, uh, stop stressing, stop being stressed out. There are all kinds of external things. And uh, I'm reminded of the skin. I can't remember if it's Money Python or whatever else, but there's a psychologist uh and a woman comes into his office and she says, Um, I have this irrational fear of being buried alive in a box. And uh the psychologist listens for a second. He says, I'm gonna tell you something in just a few words uh that's gonna make you feel better. He's like, I've just got two words for you. She's like, Do I need to write it down? And he's like, No, no, I think you can remember it. And he just looks at her dead in the eyes and he says, Stop it. Uh obviously, uh not a very effective way to help somebody overcome a fear or anxiety that they're having. Uh so on the note, there are things that may be out of people's control, like family issues, work situations, financial concerns. They're wondering how they cannot be stressed uh when they're dealing with life's problems. Um, and it's not always as easy as just telling them to stop stressing out. So, do you have any thoughts on this, Troy?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, I I think there are so many things that you could go down the this path when you're talking about stress, because a lot of it is external circumstances that we don't have control over. And I think for a lot of people, maybe that's going out and exercising, eating right, getting the right sleep. So we know if you do those things, your body is going to be primed and ready to take on anything that's external that that comes your way. But I'm also a firm believer that really it comes down to your faith. And um, if you're grounded in your faith and a true understanding that, hey, there are going to be things that are outside my control, I can't control them anyway, and an understanding of where those things truly lie, which is in God's hands and not mine, then you can release a lot of those concerns and a lot of that stress. And then do those other things that we talked about eat right, get enough sleep and exercise. But really, if you're eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising, but you miss out on that foundational truth that God is in control, those things really won't have the effect that most of us are hoping it'll have on our lives. And I think it comes down to really being as basic as that. If you get that part right, then add on those other things, and it's only going to help increase uh your opportunities to deal with stress.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it really is amazing how when we kind of take the the weight of life off of ourselves, um, we give those burdens over to God, um, how freeing that is. You know, we realize we don't have to be the answer to our problems. We don't have to bear bear the weight of the world on our shoulders. Um, and we take the focus off of ourselves and put it on God, how um that can make such a such an amazing difference in this. Um, I want to touch on a couple of the lifestyle things that you mentioned. Um, you mentioned nutrition uh as something else that's a good support, right? God designed our bodies to work in a certain way and to need certain things. Um so this is definitely not at all counter to uh what we're talking about when it comes to placing our faith in God um as a means of um of not worrying. Uh but nutrition, we know, plays a major role in our immune health because your body needs certain nutrients to fight off illnesses. Uh we'll touch on that more in a moment. But what are what about the things that we are putting into our bodies that actually have a negative impact on our immune systems? What are some common pitfalls uh that people fall into with putting things into their bodies that actually increase their stress levels?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think again, that that is wide open when you're talking about the processed foods and and to your point about it really complementing as opposed to uh being a distraction from our faith, I think we are called to be good stewards of our bodies. And this is part of stewardship is putting the right things in our bodies and avoiding those things that are not helpful for us. So we know that added sugar, we know that a lot of these dyes, a lot of these um preservatives that are put into those processed foods are really starting to wreak havoc and have been wreaking havoc on our immune system for years. But now we're starting to understand all these things and the detrimental impact they have on our health. So trying to avoid as many preservatives as you possibly can that are in foods, um, avoid those processed foods that have added sugar to it, and really starting to look back towards whole foods and finding fruits and vegetables and good high-quality proteins and meats and even high-quality grain that has not been processed. If you're going to eat breads or do other things like that, make sure that it's organic and uh try to avoid anything that's processed as a whole because we have seen preservatives and added sugars really, really start to take a toll on people's um immune health for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's really interesting, you know, when we start talking about these different lifestyle components, how a lot of them actually kind of feed into each other and they can either snowball into bigger problems or they can kind of compound into greater solutions. Um, for example, when you don't get enough sleep, your stress levels are higher because you know your lack of sleep throws your hormones off. Uh, for some people, that leads to stress-eating foods that maybe they shouldn't as the response. They're they're up late at night and they're they're going to the pantry and getting some Oreos or something. Um, that poor nutrition can then lead to more stress and poor sleep quality. And I think for a lot of people, they really just are caught in somewhat of a vicious cycle where one poor choice kind of leads to another and it just kind of feels uh overwhelming and insurmountable for people to get out of that those cycles. So, what would be your advice to someone who in this case is quite literally sick and tired of being sick and tired when it comes to their lifestyle choices like sleep, nutrition, and stress?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think it's it really when when we look at it from the macro level and we take a big look at it, it seems like it is a huge and daunting task to try to figure out how to get our diet under control, our exercise under control, and all these other things that seem to come into our health and our and our sleep. But really what we want to do is just start taking one step at a time. You know, they always talk about how you eat an elephant, it's one bite at a time. And I think diet and exercise is pretty much the same. And it can be as simple as, hey, if I'm going out to eat, instead of getting a soda at lunch or dinner, why don't I just get a water at lunch or dinner? Instead of getting a side of fries, why don't I start with a side salad and get something that is healthy to go along with something else that's on my plate? And once you start making just those little transitions, I think you'll start to see a compounding effect on the opposite side of what you see with those pore choices that kind of blend into one another and make a poor cycle. The other thing is a lot of us spend a lot of time going around a circle in a parking lot trying to find the closest spot. Well, if it's safe, why don't you just park far away and get some extra steps? Instead of taking the elevator, go ahead and take the stairs. Those little things like that, I think, start to add up and they make a big difference in our health and our overall well-being. And we can start to turn that cycle around to positive choices as opposed to some of those negative ones that we've got.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's great advice. And this is really kind of reminding me of a conversation we had a few episodes back with Hunter Stoller. Uh, would definitely encourage anyone to go back and listen to that podcast episode if you didn't get a chance, just for some really great tips on uh on taking things one step at a time and not trying to change everything all at once. Uh, but just trusting that, like you said, Troy, you make those small changes and it adds up. And you do one thing at a time, and eventually uh you you won't even recognize the person that you are because you've made so much progress. Um I will have you know, Troy, we we've referenced my hair care products uh on the show before. How I'm I currently have been using uh something that's that's got parabens and phthalates and all kinds of things to style my hair, my my pomade. Um I haven't changed that yet, but I did start using different soap and shampoo that does not have phthalates or parabens or any type of microplastics whatsoever. Uh so making those small changes.

SPEAKER_00:

It it is all those small steps. And I think you're right in uh referencing our podcast with Hunter where he said, look, if if you're um eating all kinds of processed foods, don't even worry about the seed oils right now. Just go after a healthier version of it. And then once you do that, then you can start taking the baby steps towards the seed oils or towards having just glass jars instead of plastic in the way that you do things. And I think that was some great advice that that he gave. And uh it sounds like you're you're even implementing some of that in your own life. So kudos to you.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. One thing at a time. So basically, if if someone listening, if you feel like you're sick all the time, one of the most practical things you can do is just focus on the basics, you know, the things you already know to do, sleep seven to nine hours, uh, eat whole foods, learn stress management, um, basically the just really the basics.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, uh I think without a shadow of a doubt, if you can increase um the nutrients that you're taking in from good positive places, whole foods, whole fruits, and you can decrease those processed foods. So try to eliminate them as much as possible, especially the hidden ones like sugar, which we know is an issue for our immune health, uh, since we're talking about that specifically today. And then you increase your exercise, which we know helps boost our immune health by uh increasing endorphins that are positive uh hormones being released in our body. Those little steps I think will go a long way in us starting to turn around our health and doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Moving on from lifestyle and stress, uh, we want to talk about another reason why a lot of people are feeling sick all of the time and it's hidden nutrient deficiencies. So, this is one thing that I think uh think really gets overlooked quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, there's no doubt about that. I think um uh we've been marketed to in so many ways that when we see the side of the cereal box and it talks about how it's raving with so many nutrients in there and that it's nutrient-dense cereal. Um, but if you look at it, most of them are not the bioavailable forms that our body needs because it's not coming from a whole food piece. It's really more of the uh what I call the chemistry uh set that they've put into our cereals and other processed foods that don't give us the true nutrients that we need. And we want to make sure that we're getting nutrient-dense whole foods as opposed to those that are coming from cereals and other things. And I think one of the one of the big ones is vitamin D, is probably one of the bigger ones. We know that about 40%, which blows my mind, of adults in the US are deficient in vitamin D. And vitamin D, as we learned during COVID, plays a huge role in our immune health and is something that we need to be paying more attention to for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Troy, it's funny you mentioned the vitamin D aspect when it comes to the COVID pandemic, because one of the main ways that a lot of people get their vitamin D is actually going outside and getting in the sun. And you think about how much less time most people probably spent in the sun um with the response that we had to to COVID. Um, but no, I I can definitely attest to this one personally. I mean, I get a lot of my vitamin D by going outside. I try to spend some time outside every single day um doing something, even if it's just kind of sitting on my back patio in the sun for a little while. Um, and when I do that, I feel way better and get sick a lot less up, less often. Uh, what are some other nutrients many people are deficient in that kind of play a big role in immune health?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think uh zinc, vitamin C and magnesium, uh, you know, growing up, I think we all heard you need to be eating more oranges to get your vitamin C up. Um, and that is certainly the case. And we're still not getting the levels that we need. So understanding that even if you're just a little bit off with those vitamins and minerals, that it's going to increase the potential of fatigue. It's going to increase the potential for you uh having poorer immune health, which means it'll increase infections and bacterial uh infections as well. And we also know that a lot of these foods, even though they may be getting the right things, that our soil is depleted in some areas. So you may not be getting as much as you would hope because our soil doesn't have as many of those vitamins and minerals that can then be uh transformed into some of those fruits and vegetables. So that's something to even be uh on the watch out for. Even if you're getting all those whole foods, you've got to be careful and cognizant that maybe the soil that you're getting these foods from didn't have everything you need.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what would be some good practical steps for people here when it comes to these common nutrient deficiencies?

SPEAKER_00:

I think uh number one is certainly eat those nutrient-rich foods that we've talked about. So don't stop eating those leafy greens, those colorful fruits and veggies, um, and uh the other foods that we know our body needs to have. And then you can always go out and get a blood test to see, all right, I've been eating right. Let me see if what I've been eating actually matches with what my body is saying it's been intaking through my diet. So you can go get a blood test and it'll reveal any of those deficiencies you may have. And then if if you see that there's a gap, then certainly go with some kind of high-quality supplement. Again, it's called a supplement for a reason. It's not to become your diet and your meal, but it is to be a supplement to kind of help fill in the gaps that maybe you have um based on that blood test.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's huge. Um, and that's really something that people can start addressing even today. Um, so we've talked lifestyle and nutrient deficiencies. What is our final reason that we want to talk about today, Troy?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so the third thing is really that chronic inflammation. We know that if you are inflamed and your body has a lot of inflammation, that this is one of those silent drivers of illness that most people don't even realize is happening in their bodies at the time because uh we either get used to that inflammation and stiffness in our bodies and just chalk it up as age, or we just don't even pay attention to it at all.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and this one is is really puzzling to me because inflammation is it's a natural process that you're that your body does. Uh you get hurt, your body swells to kind of protect and heal that part of your body. Um, so it's really kind of kind of puzzling that this is something that we we have to fight.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I think to your point, there there's certainly two different types of inflammation. That acute inflammation, which you're talking about, which happens after an injury, is something that our body does to help us heal. And we oftentimes think, well, how does that work if it's helping us heal on the short term? Well, on the chronic side, we don't want inflammation to stay there. We want it to come in, do its work, and then leave the body as quickly as possible. Because if you keep that chronic low-grade type inflammation, which is set off by a lot of those processed foods we talked about, um environmental toxins that you may be exposed to, not exercising, um, all those things, if you continue to add them into the system, that chronic low-grade inflammation really starts to wreak havoc on our immune system and puts it in a way to where it almost makes you feel like you're sick all the time because you're just not performing at the highest level because you've always got this underlying uh feeling of stiffness and just inability to get out. It leads to that fatigue and so many other things that we talk about.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it really is amazing. All the different ways that this inflammation kind of presents in different people feels like constant fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, even digestive issues, all kinds of ways.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I mean, to to kind of piggyback on that, we know that chronic inflammation is also linked to diabetes and some cancers and heart disease. So it has so uh such a far-reaching effect on our bodies that we want to do everything we can to try to limit that.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what can someone do to practically fight inflammation?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, a lot of the things we've already talked about earlier, which is cut back on those processed foods. We know processed foods lead to that. Uh, fried foods, sugar. So those are three main areas. And then if you want to talk about what you can start doing on a positive standpoint, so cut those out, but then you can add omega-3 uh fatty acids from fish or supplements. Certainly get out there and exercise. We've talked about that for a little bit, and then support your gut health because we know about 70% of our immune system from studies in probably the last 10 to 15 years have really come out to talk about how our immune system is tied to our gut. So if we can have a healthier gut, we're gonna have a healthier immune system.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that I think that really speaks to what we were talking about earlier about how you start making some small choices in the right direction and it kind of compounds uh and snowballs in the right direction rather than the wrong direction. So that's really powerful. So to recap for our listeners, if you're constantly asking yourself, why am I always sick? The three big reasons we covered are we can immune system from poor lifestyle and stress, hidden nutrient deficiencies, and chronic inflammation.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I think some of the good news is it's not outside of anybody's scope who's listening today or really anywhere in the world, because we can start taking small steps in each of those areas today. So make sure you're getting the sleep you need and start practicing good habits on getting to sleep. You know, put your phone away, computer away, TV away for the last hour before you go to bed. Um, read a book, do something else to kind of get in that habit, eat those nutrient-rich foods, reduce the processed foods and what you're taking in, manage your stress by having good exercise, good diet, good sleep, and then consider supplementing when you may need it and to fill in those gaps that you might have from um not getting the nutrients you need.

SPEAKER_01:

It's been such a helpful conversation, Troy. Thank you as always for sharing your insights with us.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Certainly uh something that we feel uh passionate about, which is hopefully helping people take ownership of their health because we know that that is going to be the key to really changing the health epidemic that is going on and crisis that's going on in the U.S. today.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely right. Thank you everyone to listening to for listening to this episode of the Frontline Health Podcast by Centurion. God today, take ownership of your health because you are your best health advocate. If you enjoyed what you heard today on the podcast, please consider leaving us a review. We would love to hear your feedback and connect with you further. You can also follow us on Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube. And for safe, effective, and affordable health and wellness products made in the USA, visit www.centurion.health. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.