Dr. Riley Smith LAc, DACM

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Dr. Riley Smith LAc, DACM

Guiding patients on a model of self-care so they can feel like themselves again and thrive.

01/14/2026

🧬Autoimmunity is not “just genetics.”

It is a perfect storm.

Genetics load the gun, but environment and physiology pull the trigger.

This is why two people with the same genetic risk can have completely different outcomes.

In functional medicine, we look at the autoimmune triad:
1️⃣🧬Genetic susceptibility
Genes can increase your likelihood, but they do not guarantee anything. Most people with autoimmune genes never develop a condition unless the other pieces are present.

2️⃣🌍Environmental triggers
This includes infections, toxins, food sensitivities, chronic stress, hormone shifts, viral exposures, and even major life events. These triggers push the immune system into overreactive territory.

3️⃣🦠Increased gut permeability
Leaky gut is often the missing link. When the gut barrier becomes compromised, immune cells are exposed to particles they should never see. This increases immune activation and confusion.

🔃When all three overlap, autoimmunity is far more likely to develop.

And here is the part most people need to hear:
❌This is not your fault.
💫But it is your body’s cry for help.

Autoimmunity happens when the immune system has been carrying too much for too long with too few resources to regulate itself.

The good news is that each part of the triad is modifiable.

You cannot change your genes, but you can change your environment, your gut integrity, and your inflammatory load.

Your body is not attacking you because it is broken.

It is responding to a pattern that has become too much to manage.

Support the pattern and you change the trajectory.

If you want help identifying which part of the triad is driving your symptoms, book a discovery call and let’s map out what your immune system has been carrying.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/13/2026

Nobody explained to me why I could feel physically destroyed after a day of emotional crises when I never left my chair.

Here is what I wish someone had told me: your body only has one emergency setting. Physical danger and emotional stress activate the exact same response.

A difficult client. A conflict at work. A family member in crisis. Your body responds to all of it by flooding your system with cortisol and adrenaline and rapidly burning through your glucose reserves.

This system evolved to help us survive real physical threats. But your nervous system cannot distinguish between a car accident and a hard conversation. Same chemicals. Same fuel burned. Same depletion.

And the cost is not just during the crisis. That tight stomach while you are waiting for a difficult conversation? Your body is already spending fuel on a threat that has not happened yet.

The exhaustion after? That is the cost of recovery. Before, during, and after all cost you.

For helping professionals, this compounds fast. You are not dealing with one crisis then resting. Multiple crises hit back to back with no recovery time. Your body never returns to baseline.

You are essentially running a marathon at sprint pace.

This is why you feel destroyed when nothing physical happened. The energy expenditure was real. Your glucose was spent on emotional survival.

But here is the good news. You are not weak. You are not bad at handling stress. You are simply spending fuel faster than you are replenishing it.

This is physiology, not character. And physiology can be worked with.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/12/2026

🔃The gut-immune axis is real.

What you eat directly shapes how well your body fights off infections.

At least seventy percent of your immune system sits along your digestive tract.

So every meal either strengthens your defenses or adds stress to an already busy system.

Here is what is happening beneath the surface:

🦠 Your gut bacteria train your immune cells
A diverse microbiome teaches your immune system how to respond appropriately. Poor diversity leads to overreactions, underreactions, and more frequent illness.

🔥 Inflammation from food hits the immune system instantly
Processed oils, sugars, and additives increase inflammatory cytokines. When inflammation is high, your immune system becomes less efficient at clearing viruses and bacteria.

🧹 Your gut lining controls what reaches your immune cells
If your gut barrier is compromised, more particles cross into the bloodstream. This forces your immune system to respond to things it should never have to deal with.

꩜ Blood sugar stability affects immune strength
Even mild blood sugar swings weaken immune surveillance. Stable blood sugar supports faster recovery and lower inflammation.

🧪 Nutrient absorption happens in the gut
If your gut is inflamed, you absorb fewer immune-critical nutrients like zinc, vitamin A, selenium, and iron.

Food quality means nothing if your gut cannot extract what you need.

Your gut is not just about digestion.

It is the foundation of your immune resilience.

If you keep getting sick or feel inflamed all the time, look at what is happening in the gut.

Support there changes your immune system everywhere.

Tell me in the comments which gut pattern shows up for you most: bloating, food reactions, irregularity, or blood sugar swings. Your answer helps you identify your biggest lever.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/11/2026

Your morning is sacred. Not in a woo way. In a metabolic way. In a nervous system way. In a very practical way.

What happens in those first hours determines what you have available for everything that comes after. Protect them, and everything shifts.

Three strategies that changed my mornings:

Delay your phone.

Those first minutes after waking are precious. Your brain is receptive, and whatever you take in sets your nervous system tone. Give yourself 10 to 15 minutes before you check anything. Let your first inputs be chosen, not reactive.

Fill before you drain.

Do something nourishing before anything demanding. Five minutes of stretching. A few breaths outside. Tea you actually sit down and drink. Make a deposit before withdrawals begin.

Create a buffer.

Build space before your first obligation. Even 15 minutes of transition time between getting ready and being “on” makes a huge difference. The buffer is not wasted time. It is insulation.

When I started protecting my mornings, the afternoon crashes softened. Not because I did more, but because I did less. I let myself be filled before the world started drawing on me.

You get to choose what you allow in before you have fortified yourself. You get to protect that window. Not because you are selfish, but because you understand that you cannot give light if you have not tended your own flame.

Which strategy will you try tomorrow?

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/10/2026

📴Your immune system does not just “turn off” after you recover from an illness.

Feeling better is not the same as being fully healed.🤔

Once the fever breaks and the symptoms fade, your immune system keeps working behind the scenes.

This is why so many people feel tired, foggy, inflamed, or “not quite themselves” for days or even weeks after a virus.

Here is what is still happening in your body during the recovery phase:

🧹Your immune cells are still clearing debris
After an infection, your body continues to remove damaged cells, excess cytokines, and leftover viral or bacterial fragments.

🔥 Inflammation takes time to settle
Even if symptoms improve quickly, inflammation usually remains elevated as your body finishes the job. This is why fatigue and brain fog often linger.

⚡ Your mitochondria are trying to recharge
Your energy system takes a hit during illness. Recovery requires rebuilding ATP, which does not happen instantly.

🦠 Your gut microbiome rebalances
Antibiotics, fevers, stress, and reduced appetite change the gut environment. Your microbiome needs time and nutrients to stabilize.

🌙 Your nervous system recalibrates
Being sick activates stress pathways. Your body needs time to shift back into a true rest-and-repair state.

If you push yourself too hard right after you “feel better,” you often extend the recovery window and keep inflammation elevated longer than necessary.

Listening to your body in the days after an illness is just as important as what you did during it.

Recovery is not done when the symptoms stop.

Recovery is done when your immune system has fully reset.

Save this post so you remember what your body is still doing behind the scenes after you “feel better.”

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/09/2026

You cannot pour from an empty cup. But you have been trying for years.

Here is a principle that changed everything for me: you have to receive before you give.

Sounds obvious, right? But look at how you actually structure your mornings.

You wake up and immediately start outputting. Energy. Attention. Care. Problem solving. You give before you have inputted anything. You withdraw before you have made a deposit.

Then you wonder why you are always running on empty.

Think about it like a bank account. Keep making withdrawals without deposits, and eventually you are overdrawn.

When you are energetically overdrawn, everything gets harder. You pay fees in the form of stress hormones, inflammation, mood disruption, brain fog.

But when you make a deposit first? When you receive something nourishing before you start giving? You operate from surplus instead of deficit.

The same interactions that would have depleted you now cost less because you have more to give.

This is not selfish. This is physics. This is the fundamental law of sustainable giving.

You cannot give light if you have not tended your own flame.

Your morning is the best time to fill your cup before the world starts drawing on it.

What would change if you received before you gave?

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/08/2026

❌Your immune system is not just about fighting colds.

✅It plays a major role in brain fog, PMS, fatigue, and those “mystery symptoms” that never fully go away.

Most people separate immunity from hormones, gut health, and energy.

In reality, these systems talk to each other all day long.

When the immune system is dysregulated, it shows up in places you would not expect.

Here are the red flags I see most often:
🚩 recurring UTIs
🚩 sinus issues that keep returning
🚩 oral infections or gum inflammation
🚩 viral flares like cold sores
🚩 brain fog that comes and goes
🚩 worsening PMS or mood shifts
🚩 unexplainable fatigue
🚩 inflammation spikes after stress

These are signs that your immune system is working overtime in the background.

Why this happens:

🧠 Immune cytokines affect your brain
When inflammation rises, you get brain fog, slower processing, low motivation, and increased fatigue.

🔥 Your hormones respond to inflammation
Inflammation affects progesterone, estrogen metabolism, and ovulation quality. This is why PMS worsens when your immune system is stressed.

🦠 Your gut drives most of your immune activity
Gut irritation, dysbiosis, and permeability make your immune system more reactive, which shows up in symptoms far beyond digestion.

⚡ Your energy depends on immune clarity
When the immune system is busy, your mitochondria slow down. This leads to low energy, heavy fatigue, and feeling drained by small stressors.

🆘The body rarely sends just one signal.🆘

If you keep getting infections, flares, or cyclical symptoms, your immune system is asking for support, not another round of “wait and see.”

Strengthening immunity is not only about avoiding colds.

It is about creating stability across your entire system.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/07/2026

Your afternoon crash was written in your morning.

I used to pride myself on being available first thing. Checking messages before my feet hit the floor. Solving problems before I had taken a conscious breath. I thought it made me responsible. Productive. A good person.

Then I actually looked at what my mornings were costing me.

Before you even get out of bed, your brain is scanning for problems and your cortisol is spiking in response. Then you check your phone and absorb everyone else’s needs. Then you show up for your household managing logistics and emotions.

By the time you arrive at work, you have made dozens of energy transactions, and almost all of them have been outgoing.

This is your morning energy receipt. And if you itemized it, you would be shocked at the total.

Here is what nobody tells you: energy depletion compounds.

When you start the day already in deficit, everything that comes after costs more. You are operating in emergency mode before the hard stuff even begins.

This pattern does not just affect one day. It accumulates over weeks, months, years. You are not just running a daily deficit. You are building long-term energy debt.

The first step is seeing it clearly.

What are you spending before 9am? What are you receiving?

The answers might change everything.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/06/2026

Everyone talks about boosting the immune system, but that is not actually how immune physiology works.👀

An immune system that is always “boosted” is an immune system that is constantly inflamed.

💅In reality, most people don’t need a boost.

They need balance, regulation, and clarity in the way their immune system responds.

Here is what I focus on instead:

📌Immune regulation, not immune activation
The goal is to help your immune cells respond appropriately, not aggressively. This matters for anyone dealing with chronic inflammation, allergies, autoimmune patterns, or frequent illness.

📌Gut integrity and microbiome balance
Seventy percent of your immune system lives in your gut. If the gut is inflamed or imbalanced, your immune system will be too.

📌Lowering background inflammation
When inflammation is already high, your immune system becomes distracted and less effective. Reducing that load helps your body respond to actual threats.

📌Supporting the stress response
Chronic stress suppresses parts of the immune system and overstimulates others. Balancing the stress response is key for predictable immunity.

📌Improving repair and recovery
Sleep quality, nutrient status, and blood sugar stability directly impact how your immune system resets.

When you support these foundations, you get an immune system that is strong, adaptable, and efficient.

❌Not overactive.
❌Not underactive.
✅Just clear.

This is why my approach goes far beyond “boosting.”

Your immune system doesn’t need hype. It needs direction.

Comment with the one area you suspect your immune system needs most right now… regulation, gut support, stress, inflammation, or recovery. Naming it helps clarify your next step.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/05/2026

What if your exhaustion is not a problem to fix, but a message to receive?

I hear this all the time from the therapists, nurses, teachers, and coaches I work with. They are doing everything right. Eating well. Sleeping enough. Taking the supplements. And still running on empty.

The missing piece is almost never physical.

Your body keeps a perfect record of every interaction. Every time you hold space for someone else. Every time you absorb their anxiety so they can feel calmer. Every difficult conversation you navigate while appearing totally fine.

All of it gets tracked. All of it has a cost.

The problem is that we have no framework for this. We measure food and sleep and steps. Nobody teaches us to measure relational energy. So we blame ourselves when we are depleted, thinking we should be able to handle more.

But your capacity to care deeply is a gift. And every gift needs to be properly resourced.

Try this. For the next few days, after each significant interaction, ask yourself one question. Do I have more energy now, less energy, or about the same? That is it. No judgment. Just information.

What you discover might change everything.

You cannot balance an account you have never looked at. And you cannot keep giving light if your own fire has gone out.

Grab my free Energy Audit Worksheet in the link in bio.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/04/2026

What happens after the diagnosis matters more than the label.

Most patients feel a strange mix of relief and abandonment once they finally get a name for what they have.

✅Relief because they are not imagining it.
❌Abandonment because the next steps are usually unclear or minimal.

🏁In conventional care, the diagnosis is often seen as the finish line.

🟢In functional medicine, it is the starting point.

Two people can have the same diagnosis and completely different root drivers:
📌 gut permeability
📌 viral or bacterial triggers
📌 chronic stress chemistry
📌 nutrient deficiencies
📌 toxin load
📌 hormonal shifts
📌 blood sugar instability
📌 environmental exposures

If you only treat the label, you miss the entire story of what created the condition in the first place.

This is why so many patients feel stuck after diagnosis.

They walk away with a name, maybe a medication, but no map.

Understanding what is happening in your immune system, gut, hormones, stress response, and environment is what actually changes outcomes.

The diagnosis gives you information.

But what you do next determines your trajectory.

If you have a diagnosis but no clear roadmap, book a discovery call and let’s uncover the root drivers behind your symptoms so you know exactly what to do next.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

01/03/2026

That stress you are feeling is not just in your head.

For years, I wore my capacity like a badge of honor. The calm one. The one who could handle anything. Patients in crisis, and I never broke a sweat.

Then my body started sending invoices I could not ignore.

The afternoon crashes got worse. Sleep was a mess. I craved sugar constantly and told myself I just needed quick energy. I was eating well, exercising, and taking supplements, but still running on empty by 3pm.

Sound familiar?

The turning point came when I stopped looking only at what I ate and started looking at what I gave. Where was my energy actually going? The answer wrecked me. I was spending so much on other people that there was nothing left for my own body to use for repair, creativity, or joy.

I was giving from an empty account and wondering why I felt bankrupt.

Here is what nobody told me. Your body does not separate physical from emotional. The conversation that drained you this morning is affecting your glucose response to lunch. Your blood sugar instability is affecting your capacity to regulate this afternoon. It is all one loop.

The good news is that you can intervene anywhere in that loop. But first, you have to see it.

Your 3pm crash is not a character flaw. It is your body trying to bring you back to yourself.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

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https://www.doctorrileysmith.com/

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