Podcast 081: BTBHA Visits Vegas for Integrative Conference
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy ventured to the (semi) sunny land of Las Vegas to escape the cold of the Midwest and learn more about Integrative Wellness through the Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic is paving the way for major hospitals to incorporate research-based Integrative practices into their system. They are incorporating natural ways to promote healing and decrease stress to optimize both health and wellness and the healing process.
The conference discussed everything from gut health to the benefits of a plant-based diet. It was information dense with great research. Dr. Meaghan and Wendy are excited to take this education and incorporate into many different podcasts so that the listeners can learn what they can do to control their health better.
Education is empowering. Many topics were addressed that can help us all make better lifestyle choices. Stay tuned as we share this education and relate it to what we all can do to make better choices.
Cleveland Clinic is on the cutting edge of integrating health and wellness. They incorporate yoga, acupuncture, and stress reduction techniques with traditional medicine.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL SHARE WHAT WE LEARNED INCLUDING:
Dr. Esselstyn has written a book on Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease through a low-fat plant-based diet. We share what he has seen clinically by implementing this diet with his patients
The benefits of taking two (2) aspirin a day and taking it with warm water to decrease side effects
The benefits of a plant-based diet
How important stress reduction plays with health and wellness
Thank you to the Cleveland Clinic for putting on a great weekend and thank you to our listeners for continuing to tune into our podcast each week.
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy tackle the second part of Suzanne Somers’ book, Tox-Sick: From Toxic to Not Sick The, Toxins in Your Body, The Diseases They Cause, The Doctors Who Can Help.
For this part of the book, we will talk about:
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss their takeaways from the book including
Podcast 079: Oxidative Stress
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss what oxidative stress is and how it affects and ages the body. Oxidative stress is the term used to describe the production of free radicals in the body due to the process of building up byproducts of cellular function faster than your body can manage the byproducts. This leads to DNA damage and mitochondria damage that leads to increased aging and cell breakdown. Oxidation occurs in some processes including using glucose for energy, immune system fighting off infections, and the body detoxifying. This leads to numerous signs and symptoms.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
• What is oxidative stress
• What causes it
• What effect oxidative stress has on the body and aging
• What we can do to combat oxidative stress
• The role of oxidative stress in overall health and wellness
Podcast 078: Living Longer Through Chemistry: The Science Behind Metformin
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss an interesting article published about the positive effects of Metformin and how it is being studied to increase lifespan.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
· Why is insulin and blood sugar so important for overall health
· What is the mechanism of action for Metformin
· What does Metformin do and why is it beneficial to health
· Why longevity of life can be altered by controlling insulin and blood sugar levels
· How Metformin might be able to increase life by decreasing oxidative stress and preserving telomeres
Podcast 077: Seven (7) Tips To Manage Holiday Stress
With the holidays coming, Dr. Meaghan and Wendy want to address ways to combat stress. In this podcast, we will look at several techniques you can utilize to help manage stressful times
1. Meditate/Set intentions
2. Keep Control. Eat right, Move right, Sleep right, Prioritize Relationships
3. Relaxation
4. Breathing exercises
5. Gratitude List/Journaling
6. Support adrenals
7. Find support system
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
· Techniques to decrease stress in your life
· Ways to manage stress
· Benefits of managing daily stress and making sure that you are not sweating the small stuff
· Why does stress have such a toll on health and wellness
Podcast 076: Book Club- Tox-Sick by Suzanne Somers Part 1
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss Part 1: Totally Tox-Sick in the book. The first two chapters in this book discuss information about how we have become toxic and the different toxins in the environment. Suzanne Somers does a great job of integrating personal experience with clinical and scientific information.
Next week, we will go over Chapter 3, 4, and 5 as we start to go over an action plan of how we can heal our bodies and chemistry.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
· The New Toxic Threats
· The 6 Major Toxic Threats to our Health
· How our bodies protect themselves
· What happens when things go wrong in our body
Podcast 075: Happiness
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy tackle the topic of mood and happiness. We discuss various research articles and what is known about different things that affect happiness.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
Podcast 074: The Truth About the Organic Farming Process
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy welcome to the program Ro Elgas. Ro is the co-creator and co-owner of A Bee Organic, a USDA Accredited Certifying Agent. She has a wealth of knowledge about organic production, methods, cultivation and the inner workings of the industry as a whole. Ro and Sarah Costin co-created A Bee Organic with a mission to treat organic producers humanely through the process. She shares with our listeners lots of great inside information about organic products.
Podcast 073: IV Therapy What You Need To Know
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss one of the latest fads in alternative medicine: IV Therapy. There are many different types of IV therapy, and we discuss the different ones and the benefits.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
• What is IV therapy?
• What are the most common types of IV therapy including Myer’s Cocktail, Vitamin C, Glutathione, and B shots?
• We also talk about the benefits of hydration therapy
• Who is a good candidate for IV Therapy?
• What to be careful about when choosing a place for IV therapy.
Podcast 072: The Skinny on Obesity
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss the following article http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5644aca1e4b060377347e0b3?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067
We talk about different diets and why they work and why they don't. How it is important to balance all hormones and truly reset your metabolism in order to have the best results and permanent weight loss.
Podcast 071: The Leaky Brain: Brain and Gut Connection
The podcast show is stirred by a recent Huffington Post article. You can read the article at http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6480580. The impact of the microflora in our gut is linked directly to brain function. UCLA researchers have found that probiotics alter the brain function.
An important part of health is our microbiome. The microbiome is the bacteria that make up our ecosystem and is made up of 100 trillion organisms. This compromises 90% of our bodies. This is gut and brain communicate through the nervous system, hormones, and immune system. There is a gut/brain barrier that can be compromised during times of high stress. The microbiome actually can release neurotransmitters and speak to the brain via the vagus nerve. This is very important when realizing the whole realm of how the gut and brain are connected.
Stress and overactive immune system have similar results in the body because our body goes into a protective mood. We start to release inflammatory chemicals called cytokines to activate the inflammatory response. This is meant to protect our body because that is what inflammation does. However, chronic inflammation breaks down our bodies and “creates holes.” We see this in the leaky gut but we also now know there is the leaky brain that goes along with leaky gut. The longer the stress, inflammation, and immune system activation, the more the body has this response.
The leaky brain can start to let other toxins and molecules have access to the brain. A molecule called microRNA-155 is responsible for cleaving epithelial cells to create microscopic gaps. This is shown in research that was published in June 2014 in The FASEB Journal.
More and more research is coming out about gut health and mental issues
May 2013 Swedish study found that anxiety and depression are linked to abdominal problems; both IBS and milder GI symptoms
August 2013 Vanderbilt University study found that adults who had stomach issues as children were 4 to 5 times more likely to have anxiety as adults
http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/01/12/mounting-research-shows-gut-brain-connection/79804.html
Podcast 070: How Society is Shifting the Way We Eat
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy discuss a recent New York Times article that talks about how diet habits have changed over the last few years. Here is the link to article:
There is also a great article that we read showed different stats for dietary changes. Here is a link to that article.
http://authoritynutrition.com/11-graphs-that-show-what-is-wrong-with-modern-diet/
It is interesting to see that our dietary habits are changing and this is single-handedly changing what big corporations are doing with food and advertising.
Podcast 069 I Can See Clearly Now
We conclude the book tonight regarding Dr. Wayne Dyer's life and the lessons that he has learned from different situations.
We talk about Chapter 24 when he was faced with a life decision regarding what to do professionally. He talks about how he was almost held back by fear. He left his comfort zone and made a difficult decision that really helped him grow.
This book is a great read and one that we highly recommend.
Next book club is Suzanne Somer's new book "Tox-Sick" Hope you decide to pick up the book and read along with us.
Podcast 068: Visceral Fat- What is it and what can you do about it?
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy tackle the issue of visceral fat on this podcast episode. Visceral fat is the fat that is specifically around the midsection, and it leads to increase in health issues including cardiovascular disease, metabolic concerns, insulin resistance, and an increase inflammatory markers. There truly are more health concerns being an apple shape person vs. a pear-shaped individual.
Fat goes to the visceral area both because of hereditary and hormones. The hormones we can affect with lifestyle choices. We now know that visceral fat is not an inert substance but that it releases its hormones leading to hormonal imbalance and disturbances throughout the body. We now know without doubt that visceral fat is responsible for releasing chemicals that affect the immune system and increase inflammation. These chemicals include cytokines including tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6. These chemicals increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. They also lead to a negative effect on insulin and blood sugars. They can increase blood pressure and have an effect on blood clotting factors.
It is important to focus on losing visceral fat because even 10 pounds can have an extremely positive effect on overall health and wellness (including increasing the longevity of your life).
Ways that you can lower visceral fat:
1. Balance hormones
2. Decrease stress/cortisol- Stress management
3. Sleep better
4. Exercise- especially interval training and cardio
5. Insulin friendly diet- South Beach, Atkins Diet, Low Carb. Low Glycemic Index Diet
6. Green tea (2-3 cups a day)
7. Apple Cider Vinegar- acetic acid can produce proteins that burn fat
8. Monitor your fat- Polyunsaturated fats are good. Saturated fats lead to more visceral fat.
9. Intermittent fasting
10. Increase protein intake
As always, thanks so much for listening. Remember to be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Podcast 067: We're Back.
After a few weeks of crazy, hectic life, Dr. Meaghan and Wendy are glad to be back with podcasts. In this episode, we talk about what we have been up to and what exciting changes ar coming to Beyond the Basics Health Academy.
We discuss some of the major health and wellness topics that have come up. The most major news article was the WHO (World Health Organization) came out and said that processed meat causes cancer. This includes bacon, sausage, hot dogs, spam and other processed meat. New York Times does a good job of breaking down the research and true concerns.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/sunday-review/so-will-processed-meat-give-you-cancer.html?_r=0
One of the interesting aspects is that smoking increases your chance of cancer sometimes in your life by 2500 times. Eating two pieces of bacon a day increases your risk of cancer by 6%.
We also discuss how Tom Brady talked on a Boston radio show about the negative effects of coke on children's health. Here is a link to what he said:
http://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-calls-coca-cola-poison-2015-10
We are excited to be back and start podcasting again. We have many great podcast topics coming up in the next few episodes and great guests lined up. We are also working on the supplement line and new courses. So make sure to stay connected with us through our website and signing up for our newsletter on our website at www.beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com.
Podcast 066: Habits with Mark Schneider
Wendy and Dr. Meaghan are excited to welcome back Mark Schneider to discuss habits. He discusses what leads us to form habits and what it is needed to change your habits. He brings up fascinating points that will help with life, health, relationships and professional goals. He discusses the role of culture on habits and how we have to change our mindset and culture to really change habits.
This is a podcast you will not want to miss. It makes you think of a lot of different aspects of habits and how to approach changing your habits. Thanks Mark for coming back on BTBHA.
Remember to be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Podcast 065 Emotions and Health
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy welcome back Dr. Patrick Quigley to discuss what role emotions play in your overall health. There truly is a triad of health that includes physical, emotional, and chemical balance. Many times the emotional aspect is not addressed as much as the other two pillars of health. This does not mean that it is not vital for healing.
Dr. Patrick Quigley provides great references and research that show the connection of emotional health with total health. He shares many different interesting and thought-provoking research articles.
Podcast 064: Book Club I Can See Clearly Now by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Podcast 063: Candida
Dr. Meaghan and Wendy talk about Candida. Candida is a fungal infection that causes a disruption on numerous levels. These are individuals that have a laundry list of symptoms ranging from digestive concerns to brain fog and skin issues.
One of the best ways to screen for Candida is to do a questionnaire. There are numerous ones that you can find online. There is also a spit test where you spit into the water and let it sit and see the consistency of your spit. It is also possible for a functional medicine doctor to take a stool sample and assess for Candida. Many times, though, these tests will provide a false negative and not reveal the Candida even though it is there.
For treatment, it is necessary to go after it with supplements and diet. You must avoid sugar, yeast, and other molds to make sure that you are not feeding the Candida. You will also want to take digestive aids and need to be on HCl, digestive enzymes, and probiotics. To kill off the yeast, you will need to add a supplement with oregano oil, caprylic acid, and berberine.
After you have successfully treated the Candida, it is important to make sure to repair the gut and restore the proper integrity of the digestive system.
It can be very difficult to treat Candida, and it is important to make sure that you have the proper support needed.
Thanks so guys for listening and remember to be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Wendy and Dr. Meaghan discuss different aspects of addiction and how it has been tied to a lack of connection and not just an imbalance in the brain and dopamine. This conversation was stirred by a great talk done by Johann Hari, who has written the book "Chasing The Scream". He spent three years researching the war on drugs. His Ted Talk can be found at this link: http://go.ted.com/b5UU
Here is a good overview of what addiction is from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction.
What Johann Hari found through his research is that many times addiction comes on because there is a lack of connection in other places in someone’s life and the substance fills that void. He relates this to how we should then change the way we approach addiction.
We highly recommend that you listen to the Ted Talk from Johann Hari. It is about 14 minutes and full of great information.
Thanks for listening. Remember to be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Men’s levels of testosterone naturally decrease 1% after the age of 30 years of age. There is also andropause where men’s hormones are off later in life. There are ways that you can preserve your levels naturally.
The website drmercola.com has great tips about how to boost your testosterone naturally.
There are differences between testosterone cream and injections. Injections shut down the production of testosterone. They also raise the testosterone levels drastically at the time of injection but then decrease during the week. So the levels vary. Creams give more stable levels every day. They also seem to have an effect on lipid levels.
Podcast 058: Diet vs. Supplements: Which is more important?
We talk about what we have noticed with the effects of diet and supplements. Both play a role, but it is important that you are not supplementing a bad diet. When you look at diet, there is a quote that we love “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By Michael Pollan.
There is a great article about the effects of a Big Mac. Not only does it have white bread that raises the blood sugar but it also has added high fructose corn syrup in the US. The amount of fat also causes the body to react in a negative way.
The article can be found at www.iflscience.com.
Thanks everyone for listening. We are working on a lot of cool things at www.btbha.com. We are starting a newsletter October 1st. If you would like to be included in this newsletter, please sign up by going to our website and sending us a message or signing up for our newsletter. There will be a lot of cool information with each newsletter. Our goal is to share information and streamline what is going on in the health and wellness world.
And remember to be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Podcast 057: Lyme Support- Supporting Someone with Lyme Disease
Beyond the Basics Health Academy is so happy to be welcoming back Julie Roberts and Patrick Plum. Both of them have been on the show before talking about their stories. Pat was on Episode 23:
http://beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com/podcast-023-the-trouble-with-diagnosing-lyme-disease/
And Julie was on Episode 13:
http://beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com/podcast-013-lyme-disease-with-julie-roberts/
If you have not listened to those shows, we recommend that you do.
Lyme Disease is such a devastating disease that not only affects the person, but also the people that support that person. Many times the family and friends of Lyme patients do not realize the daily struggles of this disease. Julie and Pat discuss the different aspects of Lyme. There is a great article at TiredofLyme.com that discusses these components of Lyme:
If you would like to connect with Julie or Pat send us an email at info@btbha.com or find them at Lyme-Aid on Facebook.
Thanks so much Pat and Julie for coming back to the BTBHA podcast studio.
Be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices.
Podcast 055: Natural Cold and Flu Remedies
We talk in this podcast about natural ways to prevent and treat the cold and flu. It is important to make sure that you are strengthening your immune system with specific immune boosters like zinc and vitamin C. Dr. Meaghan highly recommends utilizing essential oils like cloves, cinnamon, oregano, and melaleuca to help with both viruses and bacteria. Wendy also talks about utilizing Echinacea, yarrow, elderberry and other immune boosters when exposed.
There is a great article on Wellness Mama titled, 25 Natural Remedies to Beat Cold and Flu on www.wellnessmama.com
Thanks for listening.
Be kind to others, take care of yourself, and make good choices
Podcast 054: Book Club 2 for The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control
We discuss the second part of the book Part II: From Marshmallows in Pre-K to Money in 401(k). This part talks about how to take self- control and tap into the limbic system and making good choices in life.
This book is full of good information on how to set yourself up for success. Wendy and Dr. Meaghan discuss the book and how it implies to their lives. We recommend that you do read this book. There are so many different themes in this book that relate to a lot of different aspects in life.
Thanks for listening. We got to 5000 downloads and now are in 46 countries.
Be kind to others, Take care of yourself, and Make good choices.