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Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 4
- Audio File healthy_talk/1522ht4d.mp3
- Featured Speaker Mike Smith, MD
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: May 28, 2015
You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to Ask Dr. Mike on Healthy Talk. Call or email to ask your questions now. Email AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call 877-711-5211. The lines are open.
DR. MIKE: So, I get a lot of questions, something like, "What are the best supplements for blank?" "What are the top three supplements for this?" "What are the latest treatment findings on this?" Probably half of the questions that come into the Life Extension Health Advisor – Life Extension is a great company.
We have health advisors that you can call and ask just about anything you want but half of them are those types of questions. "What's the best thing for blood pressure?" Something like that. I went through my emails that came from listeners and also from some of the advisors. They send me some questions over as well. I just went through all of them and found five or six of those types of questions. I thought this would be a great segment to run through some of my top supplement suggestions for a few of these disorders. There were many more in there. These were just the ones I saw first.
Let's start with this one.
"What are the top supplements for prostate cancer?"
I am just paraphrasing the question. This one was actually asked about three times so this is on the top of a few listeners minds.
So, what are the top supplements for prostate cancer? Number one, saw palmetto about 160-200 milligrams a day. Saw palmetto helps to block the conversion of testosterone to estrogen and helps to control how the body metabolizes estrogen. We know that estrogen is linked to prostate issues. Saw palmetto is one of the top choices for men with healthy prostates and diseased prostates. That's number one. Number two would be boron. It is a mineral – about 3 milligrams a day. There is a lot of good research on boron in slowing down what is known as the PSA doubling time.
The PSA is the prostate specific antigen. That is the main blood test that we use. It's not the greatest one out there. There are better ones that are now coming on the market. There is this idea that with prostate cancer the PSA will double very quickly.
It will go from one to two, from two to four, or four to eight, that kind of thing, in a short period of time. The faster the PSA doubles, the worse the disease and the worse the prognosis. Boron decreases the PSA doubling time quite significantly.
Here is even better—when you add boron 3 milligrams a day to 40 milligrams of lycopene. Lycopene is the pigmented antioxidant that gives tomatoes, for instance, that red hue. When you take 3 milligrams of boron and add it to 40 milligrams of lycopene the effect on PSA doubling time is even better. The combination of boron and lycopene has been shown in a couple of well-designed clinical trials to bring down that PSA doubling time and improve prognosis. Lastly – and this is really for any cancer - Vitamin D3 least 5000 units if you are dealing with cancer. Better to know your blood level.
You want to get it up closer to 80 nanograms per deciliter range. If that takes 10,000 units a day, that's fine. You do the amount of vitamin D that is necessary to get you on that higher end of the range – the optimal range -- which is 50-80 nanograms per mil. You want to be on that higher end of that range. Do whatever you have to do to get it up there. That's the first one. Saw palmetto, boron, lycopene, vitamin D3 – my top four suggestions for prostate cancer.
"What are the top supplements for migraines?"
Again, I am paraphrasing the question. "Migraine headaches--what are the top supplements?" Number one, magnesium threonate about 144 milligrams.
Magnesium is critical for lots of biochemical processes, including in the brain. The problem is, we are not able to get magnesium into the brain. If you are deficient in magnesium in your body, you are really deficient in your brain. Magnesium threonate is the form that gets to the brain and, as a matter of fact, we know that magnesium can decrease that initial intense pain of a migraine and make you feel better very quickly.
As a matter of fact, with severe migraines, often the first thing the emergency room doctor does is give you a bolus, an injection, basically, of magnesium. But magnesium threonate will get to the brain better than any other form. Butterbur is an herb – about 150 milligrams. It is 50-50 with butterbur.
I have seen it work wonders with people with migraines and seen it do nothing with people with migraines. Butterbur is about 50-50. Number three is ginger root – 250 milligrams a day. It probably has some anti-inflammatory effects. It's able to decrease inflammation in the vessels that supply the brain so there is less irritability and constriction of those vessels and that might help. Gingko – 120 milligrams a day might be helpful. The last one is interesting. Melatonin for migraines. Melatonin. Yes, it's the sleep hormone. Most people take it for sleep issues but it is not just for sleep.
We are learning that melatonin is quite complex. It has influences on how nerve cells communicate, on neurotransmitter production. You have to do a higher dose of melatonin than you might normally do just for sleep. Most people for sleep use a milligram to maybe 3 milligrams.
But for migraines the starting dose is going to be around 5 milligrams. You want to make sure that if you want to do melatonin for a migraine headache and you are going to do the 5 milligrams that you are not driving, you are not at work, you are at home, that type of thing. But that is just the starting dose for migraines. Most people, to get a nice benefit, less pain, less nausea, from the migraine you are looking at even more – 10 or even 15 milligrams of melatonin. You have to build up to that slowly. That's magnesium threonate, butterbur, ginger root, gingko and melatonin for migraines.
"What are the top supplements for Alzheimer's disease?"
The easiest way for me to do this one is to talk more about the categories than specific supplements. I can name some specific supplements but anybody with Alzheimer's, especially early on, or even if you are at risk for Alzheimer's – maybe it runs in your family and so you're worried about it. Maybe you live in a city environment with a lot of toxins – the first class of supplements need to be the anti-inflammatories – the fish oils, boswellia, black cumin seed oil. The anti-inflammatories are critical. A lot of neurologists will tell you Alzheimer's is simply the brain on fire – inflamed.
The anti-inflammatories are critical. Number two would be the antioxidants. There is a high level of oxidative stress in Alzheimer's patients. There are clear laboratory studies showing that if you take brain cells and put pro-oxidants into the petri dish that cause oxidative stress, they become damaged and the production of the abnormal protein amyloid goes up significantly. That's been clearly shown.
A lot of great studies coming out of China were showing that three of four years ago. Oxidative stress is really high in Alzheimer's patients. You have to do anti-oxidants that are able to get into the brain. Pigmented anti-oxidants like zeaxanthin and lutein and meso-zeaxanthin and astaxanthin. Those are really good for reducing oxidative stress in the central nervous system. Of course, blueberries as well. The third category would be immune. There is this idea that Alzheimer's might have an immune issue going on.
When you develop an abnormal protein like amyloid beta in the brain there are macrophages that can eat that up and clear it up and there is no problem. But in Alzheimer's patients those macrophages aren't working as well. So, we want to boost the macrophages in the brain and it turns out that curcumin from turmeric can do that – about 400 milligrams. Coriolus, the mushrooms can help with that. So, there you go.
There's the anti-inflammatory category with Alzheimer's; the anti-oxidant category with Alzheimer's and the immune category with Alzheimer's. I will tell you, real quickly, too, there's good research showing that there is an infection in the brains and sinuses in Alzheimer's of patients called spirochaete. Maybe antibiotics are appropriate.
Also there is a drug called Enbrel which is for rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to help Alzheimer's patients as well. So, there is prostate cancer, migraine and Alzheimer's--my top supplements.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
What if you don't know anything about plants?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 3
- Audio File healthy_talk/1522ht4c.mp3
- Featured Speaker JJ Murphy, Wild Edibles Forager
- Book Title Joyful Foraging: Learn How To Feast On The Food Growing All Around You
- Guest Website The Joyful Forager
-
Guest Bio
JJ Murphy is a wild edibles forager on a mission to change the understanding of healthy eating. Her goal is to raise awareness of the delicious foods that are quite literally all around us and available for free.
JJ's foraging philosophy is simple: savor the abundance of edibles nature provides us each season of the year. Take only what you need, as gently as possible, doing no harm to the environment.
After earning a Masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Kansas, she moved to New York City and began writing about food and the environment. Her articles have appeared in the publications Wildness! Magazine, Outdoors Unlimited, and Spores Illustrated. JJ now writes The Joyful Forager column for the Shawangunk Journal in New York's Hudson Valley and is working on her first cookbook.
Her ebook, Joyful Foraging: Learn How To Feast On The Food Growing All Around You, is available for purchase on her website, TheJoyfulForager.com. Ms. Murphy regularly forages in urban and rural settings with her peers, including television host, Wildman Steve Brill, Gary Lincoff and Leda Meredith. She lives in Highland Mills, NY, at the foot of Schunemunk Mountain. -
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: May 28, 2015
Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith MD. And now, here is the country doctor with a city education, Dr. Mike.
DR. MIKE: So, I am here with J J Murphy. She is a wilds edible forager. And she wants us to not only save money but just to understand how to eat more healthy and use what's right in our environment. But of course, do it in a gentle way that we are not harming the environment. J J, welcome to Healthy Talk.
MURPHY: Hello. How are you doing today?
DR. MIKE: I am doing great. So, I have your website here, www.thejoyfulforager.com. I like it. It has a lot of pictures, very easy to follow. We like websites like this, J J, so you really did a very good job there. You mentioned in the previous segment you have a book. Do you want to just quickly tell us about the book?
MURPHY: Yes, it's called Joyful Foraging: Learn How to Feast on the Food Growing All around You. It is available exclusively at my website. And it profiles 10 plants that grow in abundance. There is no danger of overharvesting them. They grow where people live, in urban, suburban and rural environments. And they are -- I chose plants that are distinct looking that you wouldn't have a hard time mixing them up with other plants.
DR. MIKE: Good. Yes, that's important I would think because we don't all have time to become botanists and learn everything there is to know about the plant. Let me ask you something, J J, how did you get started on this?
MURPHY: Well, I think like everyone else, I was looking for a way to eat healthy and delicious food without going broke. I don't really like going to the store and shopping. And I began to notice that there is a lot of green plant life and many of the plants that, "Honey, get the weed whacker," really are tastier. They are more nutritious. Of, the cultivated plants, they are watery in comparison.
And, I just like to eat well and I thought why not? I certainly started, as I would advise everyone to start. If you are walking to school or work or around the block or walking your dog or whatever, start noticing those green things growing around you. Not just stuff growing from the earth but in flower boxes and all kinds of places where little plants grow up. Whenever the soil is disturbed or dug or scratched, or whatever, moved for any reason, a plant will grow. And many of those plants are edible. I began with the ones that --
DR. MIKE: It's funny -- I was just going to say, J J -- I am on your site right here -- I'm reading, you mentioned it's just not things growing in the ground. Here you talk about a quickweed growing into a forgotten terrace flower pot. What is quickweed?
MURPHY: Quickweed is my second favorite plant. It is also a plant that tastes like spinach. It's in the daisy family. And it has kind of a fuzzy leaf with little itty bitty daisy like flowers. So, it's better cooked. But the thing I like best about quickweed is you know how when we get a big bunch of spinach and you cook it and you get a little tiny bit of spinach? Well, when you cook the quickweed it doesn't lose volume. So, you've got -- whatever you harvest, you're going to have. If you harvest enough to fill a bowl, you'll have that after it's cooked. And that's one of my favorite things about that plant.
DR. MIKE: So, when you see something like quickweed or you see a different type of plant may be cut and growing out of the ground, or whatever, what kind of tools do I need? What's the proper way or correct way to actually harvesting that plant?
MURPHY: Well, the first thing I want to do is be sure of my identification. So, before I eat it I will study it. I'll take pictures or draw it. Make sure that I am sure of my identification. But not everybody can eat everything.
So, the next thing I'll do, which is safe, you can't get into any trouble, is you touch it your lips or your tongue, and just wait. If you don't have any kind of reaction, it doesn't tingle or make you go numb, then you are not going to have problem. If you eat a small portion like one ounce of it and then wait and make sure that it's not rough on your digestion or whatever. And learn one plant at a time. There is no rush here I think.
DR. MIKE: I see...
MURPHY: I think, this is something for me that is joyous because I enjoy spending my time... I'd rather spend 15 minutes walking around the edge of a park or a yard or something and harvesting the plants I know, than stressing myself in the store wondering who else has been touching the food and how long it's been there and where it came from in the first place.
So, you know, this is a lifestyle but I am convinced that plants I am eating not only taste good but -- I do not take any pharmaceutical medication. I rarely go to the doctor. I have great energy and eating has become fun instead of an ordeal or chore.
DR. MIKE: Yes. I liked what you said about if you are not sure, you could just touch it to your lips or your tongue and...I was watching, J J, a show about the Navy Seals and that's what they teach them to do. If they ever get lost or out in area that they are not familiar with. You can just take something that you think looks pretty good, you just touch to your mouth and see what happens. Right? Is that kind of what you do?
MURPHY: Well, fortunately we are not in a survival situation, so we do have the leisure. What I'll do is, a lot of times, take a plant-- may be I have eaten it in its baby stage and I've never seen in its full, mature stage and I want to be a hundred percent sure. So, I'll take that plant and I'll press it in a notebook or I'll consult a Seal's guide or I'll go to my colleagues and say, "Is this is what I have here?" just be sure. I use the analogy, if I invited you to a party where you didn't know anyone.
Everybody would look strange and indistinct until you started noticing details of someone's waist or their posture or their gestures. Well, that's the same with the wild plants. Spend a few minutes. Give yourself a gift of a mini-vacation, turn off the cell phone and sit with that plant for a few minutes. And the magic there is, you will start recognizing it wherever it's growing, wherever you walk. New York City is one of my favorite--
DR. MIKE: That's a nice analogy.
MURPHY: Yes. New York City is one of my fun places because I was in the city a few months ago in the summer time and lambs quarters was being sold as wild spinach for $12 a pound. One of the things --
DR. MIKE: And that's a lot right?
MURPHY: Well, spinach was $4 a pound. So, you tell me. Lambs quarter is my free spinach, which, by the way, I have in my kitchen as we speak. Another way to help yourself in identification is buy it there or ask for a sample of a leaf there and compare it what you see in your yard. It's really not hard to learn. It's just the matter of making the decision, "I am going to this," in the same as you make a decision to learn anything.
DR. MIKE: Yes. J J, I think something that you are hitting on is really important here. You know, we live such crazy lives today right? I mean, we are all just going, going, going. Everything is instant gratification and everything has to be right now. I mean, we go out, we walk our dog, and we are in a nice wooded area and all we see is just dirt and the same -- what looks like the same plant-- everywhere.
What you are saying is slow down, take your time out there, look at the plant, you'll start recognizing the differences, and you'll start seeing these different varieties. I think it's just something we -- not only is it healthy eating and saving us money -- it's just going to be good for us. Right?
MURPHY: Yes and that, again, 15 minutes out of a whole day isn't that much time. And I really am a big believer in baby steps. If you're standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs, you're not going to leap to the top step. You are going to go one step at a time and so...I do want to mention while we have our time what it is that goes to--
DR. MIKE: J J, I am sorry we are going to actually have to end it right there. We are pretty much at the end. Let me just go ahead and give the website to my listeners. It's www.thejoyfulforager.com. Go check it out. You can look at her e-book. And get outside and see what you can do when it comes to foraging.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I am Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
How does foraging save money?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File healthy_talk/1522ht4b.mp3
- Featured Speaker JJ Murphy, Wild Edibles Forager
- Book Title Joyful Foraging: Learn How To Feast On The Food Growing All Around You
- Guest Website The Joyful Forager
-
Guest Bio
JJ Murphy is a wild edibles forager on a mission to change the understanding of healthy eating. Her goal is to raise awareness of the delicious foods that are quite literally all around us and available for free.
JJ's foraging philosophy is simple: savor the abundance of edibles nature provides us each season of the year. Take only what you need, as gently as possible, doing no harm to the environment.
After earning a Masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Kansas, she moved to New York City and began writing about food and the environment. Her articles have appeared in the publications Wildness! Magazine, Outdoors Unlimited, and Spores Illustrated. JJ now writes The Joyful Forager column for the Shawangunk Journal in New York's Hudson Valley and is working on her first cookbook.
Her ebook, Joyful Foraging: Learn How To Feast On The Food Growing All Around You, is available for purchase on her website, TheJoyfulForager.com. Ms. Murphy regularly forages in urban and rural settings with her peers, including television host, Wildman Steve Brill, Gary Lincoff and Leda Meredith. She lives in Highland Mills, NY, at the foot of Schunemunk Mountain. -
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: May 28, 2015
Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here is author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD with Healthy Talk.
DR. MIKE: So, would you like to spend 30% less or so on your groceries? Which won't be so bad, right? And we going to talk about that. We're going to do that through a process called "foraging" and I am really excited to have my next guest come on in. I like all my guests by the way, but even in a just short brief introduction I had to J J Murphy about a minute ago, I can already tell I am going to like her a lot.
J J Murphy is a wild edibles forager on a mission to change the understanding of healthy eating. Her goal is to raise awareness of the delicious foods that are quite literally all around us and available for free. J J's foraging philosophy is simple.
Savor the abundance of edibles nature provides us each season of the year. Take only what you need, as gently as possible, doing no harm to the environment.
J J Murphy, welcome to Healthy Talk.
MURPHY: Thanks, Dr. Mike. So glad to be here.
DR. MIKE: I went on your website, thejoyfulforager.com and I think that – well, I think that's where I saw this J J. It was a video of you, I want to say in New York City, and you were just walking around, literally in the middle of Manhattan and you were pointing out edible foods. Was that on your site?
MURPHY: Yes. Yes, it was. And I was in New York City.
Dr. Mike: Can you really do that?
MURPHY: I continue to do that. I happen to live at New York's Hudson Valley. But I go to New York City quite often and there is, as you said in your introduction, quite literally free food all around us. One of the things that I feel is really important is for people to be able to recognize which plants are food and incorporate them into the diet. That gives you the opportunity to savor delicious, freshly harvested food as opposed to something that has been sitting in store for a while. And to stretch your budget.
DR. MIKE: And everybody is looking to do that now, right, J J?
MURPHY: Well, you are right. And one of the things that I've noticed is all of the information out there on stretch your budget. A lot of it when you look deeper, requires you to have a fully stocked pantry or to shop in bulk, like a case of olive oil or something. And even though I live north of the city, I still have very limited space to store that much volume.
And so The Joyful Forager is not only on my website, I also have a book which teaches 10 plants that -- I do everything but personally take you by the hand to show you what they are, where they grow, how to harvest them and how to prepare them. What I've done today for your listeners is I went out -- I created an entree menu that I would consider family friendly or even something I would serve to guests. I will work my Joyful Forager magic on this dinner menu.
DR. MIKE: Nice!
MURPHY: Preparing it would be service for four and, if you like, I'll give you the menu I started with.
DR. MIKE: Sure!
MURPHY: Okay. Baby spinach salad with vinaigrette dressing, sage rubbed grass-fed roast beef with roasted Yukon gold potatoes, and steamed green beans with slivered almonds. And what's going to happen is, I will take you item by item. I shop at Fairway, and Stop 'n Shop and Shop Right. I'm not shopping at gourmet stores or stores that are specialty stores. This is where most of the people I know shop. And I am going to shift out ingredients to include lambs quarter salad with apple in a vinaigrette dressing and mugwort rubbed grass-fed beef and roasted Jerusalem artichokes with olive oil and--
DR. MIKE: Let me make sure I understand this. So what you have done here is you have taken a standard recipe, right? And so what you have done through foraging is you changed the ingredients a little bit and you used them in the same recipe to come up with a dinner for four that has some ingredients right from the city you live in. Is that kind of what you did here?
MURPHY: Yes, sir. That's exactly what I did and one of the things is not only do you save money but the flavor profiles are very, very similar to a store ingredient. But the flavors themselves are going to be more intense and fresher because there is a shorter time from field to kitchen.
DR. MIKE: Yea. Obviously because you're just going out and doing it yourself. How do I know that though, J J? How do I know – okay. So, let's say there is some sage in a recipe -- how do I know what is comparable in a foraging sense to sage? Does your book cover that kind of information?
MURPHY: It certainly does. In fact, all of the plants that I am talking about today are in my book and on my website also, if you are to go there I have, for free, some getting started information that will help you learn where to look, what kinds of environments to look, in urban, suburban and rural locations and the simple tools, most of which you can find around the house to harvest. It's really actually easier than pushing the shopping cart. So...
DR. MIKE: Let's do this -- J J, let's do this. And we only have couple of minutes left in this first segment. Why don't we do this? That the recipe you just described, why not just take one of those foods, one of the things that you are now using from foraging in the recipe. Just tell us about that.
MURPHY: Alright, let me do the Spinach Salad. One bunch of baby spinach would cost you $4. Olive oil at 20 cents an ounce, I am going to use a 4 ounces that's 80 cents. Balsamic vinegar, because spinach can taste kind of bitter to some people -- 2 ounces of that is 57 cents an ounce. That's $1.14.
And the apple will cost you a dollar. Now the lambs quarters, same flavor profile -- better flavor profile -- more like Swiss Chard. I am going to swap Balsamic for apple cider vinegar, that's 14 cents.
DR. MIKE: Okay! Wow!
MURPHY: Olive Oil, the same, and the apples. Your salad from the store was $6.94 and from foraging it's $1.94.
DR. MIKE: That's significant, right? Now, I guess – okay9 here is the problem, though, and I think this is what most -- my listeners are probably thinking right now, J J. That sounds great. That sounds like something that they're interested in but there's two problems. They don't know how to forage, right? And number 2, they don't necessarily even know what they are looking for. So, your book will go through like the how part of this and also what to look for? Because we don't want to pick something that's not good for us, right?
MURPHY: Correct. And lambs quarters has a very, very distinct shaped leaf. There's nothing else like that looks like it. I also want to say I am not hauling plants out of the earth and scattering dirt everywhere. I am taking my scissors and trimming the tender top so the plant continues to grow and it will grow around the base of your house. It will grow on the way to your driveway, around your mail box. It grows in New York City -- I have a spot where I go. It grows in urban and suburban environments. And it is the one plant that I have used to turn a doubter into a believer.
Dr. MIKE: Yes. Well, J J that's definitely part of your philosophy, right? Take only what you need, as gently as possible, doing no harm to the environment. When we come back we are going to continue our discussion about foraging with J J Murphy.
This is Healthy Talk on Radio MD. I am Dr. Mike. Stay Well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
Recently, the European Environment Agency (EEA) stated that air pollution was the leading environmental cause of death in urban Europe.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File healthy_talk/1522ht4a.mp3
- Featured Speaker Mike Smith, MD
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: May 28, 2015
Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith MD. And now here is the country doctor with a city education, Dr. Mike.
DR MIKE: From a group coming out of Europe called EuroActive, a group of scientists, socialists - you know, what have you - from a report that they put out: "Bad air is bad for your heart." Bad air is bad for your heart. Responsible for 400,000 deaths each year globally, air pollution has yet to be sufficiently addressed by the world's government, researchers have warned.
So, let's talk about this connection between pollution, air pollution in specific, and heart disease. You know, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks heart disease -- it's interesting how they actually state heart disease. They say that "heart disease is the number one cause of premature deaths".
That's interesting because what they are saying is, if we took better care of our cardio-vascular systems, if we took care of our heart muscle, the heart valves, the rhythm of the heart; if we kept the vessels' openings clear so oxygen can get in and other nutrients can get in and waste products could get out; we would live longer. As a matter of fact, the heart, if we take care of it and the cardio-vascular system, we would live longer lives and when we don't take care of it, it leads to a death that happens at a younger age or pre-mature age.
I think, that's interesting how they actually state it.
In Europe, 4 million people die from heart disease. 1.9 million come from the EU, Europe by itself. That's according to the European Society of Cardiology. In the United States, 2011--that's the latest numbers I could find--787,000 people die from heart disease, right here in this country. That's from the Heart Foundation and a CDC report. It's a lot and I agree with the World Health Organization that these are young deaths, these are premature deaths, in many cases.
As a matter of fact, the founder of Life Extension, where I work, Bill Faloon, was a mortician. He started out as a mortician; that was his family business. And it was a fact that younger and younger men and women – women, too --were coming in dead from heart attacks. Even he, and that was back in '70s, he recognized the premature aspect of dying from heart disease.
So, we have this report that is linking air pollution to damaging the heart. This is according to an expert physician paper, published in the European Heart Journal. Many types--and this is the conclusion from this report--many types of cardiovascular disease are linked to poor air quality.
Not only does air pollution exacerbate existing heart problems but also appears to play a role in development of heart disease in otherwise healthy people. The researcher said there is particularly strong evidence of harmful effects of suspended particles as opposed to gas pollution. So, suspended air pollutants is really the issue. So, what are some of these particles they are talking about?
Well, among the most -- and there's a lot of pollutants in the air -- but I guess from a health point of view, from a cardiovascular point of view, the researchers outlined that the main gases and particles that they are concerned about are ozone, nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds like benzene - anything that you may spray, like an air freshener -- carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. So ozone, nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide--those are the main ones causing the heart problems. The sources of these types of gases and particles are road traffic, power generation, industrial processes, and, believe it or not, domestic heating. Homes, heating up homes, releases a lot of these volatile compounds.
Air pollution. You know, the European Environment Agency is kind of the equivalent of the EPA here in United States. They published a report before this publication in European Heart Journal.
It's kind of saying the same thing, and linking lots of the air pollution to cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. As a matter of fact, in that original report from the EEA, they said that cardiovascular disease and heart attacks are the main cause of deaths due to air pollution, 80%. Cardiovascular disease and heart attacks are the main causes of death due to air pollution. So, air pollution, when you look at all the problems it could cause, it mostly affects the cardiovascular system. Out of all the deaths that air pollution can cause, 80% of those are due to heart attacks, heart disease.
Out of all the problems in deaths that air pollution can cause, it mainly affects your heart. I keep repeating that because I think we've been misinformed maybe. We know that a lot of the pollutants in air are linked to things like Alzheimer's, dementia, even cancers and that seems to be where we've focused most of our attention. Turns out that shouldn't be the case.
The main organ in your body that air pollution affects -- it's not your lungs; it's not your brain-- it's your heart. It's your heart. Okay. Yes, so what are we going to do about all this? We have an air pollution problem throughout most of the world today. In the United States, we've done a little bit better job, I think, of cleaning up the air.
We have to be careful about relaxing some of the standards and regulations we've placed on, for instance, power generation--power plants.
I grew up in Southern California in the '70s and I distinctly remember -- now we were closer to the beach.
I lived in Mission Viejo, California, which is in Orange County just south of LA. And I can remember, we are may be 10 minutes from the beach and maybe 30 minutes away from the mountain range called Saddleback Mountain, and I remember at times being at the beach or even just at my house and looking east towards the mountain range and not being able to see anything but pollution -- just grey stuff and couldn't even see the mountains and they weren't that far away. Specifically, I remember those days when you could see the mountain range.
It was so rare in the '70s. People would actually comment about it, "Oh, my God! There's Saddleback Mountain. You can see it. Woo hoo! What a great day, get outside." That was in the '70s. The good news today is, it is more common to see the mountain ranges to the east of LA and Mission Viejo and San Diego than it is not.
So, in Southern California they have at least done a better job and I think the air quality has improved throughout the South and Northwest. I am not so sure about the North East. So, we've made some headway. But, obviously, one of the points of this whole report coming out--again, published in the European Heart Journal--was that we need more of a public action, we need more of the EPA, the European equivalent of the EPA. We need to be more stringent about controlling air quality.
And, you know, I would have to agree with that. Who doesn't? I mean, don't we want to breathe clean air? What can you do, though, personally? I mean from a personal level, there is not much you can do. There are little things you can do. Your impact as an individual in the outside air isn't going to be as great as your impact could be on the inside air, the indoor air quality. So, maybe that's where you can focus.
As a listener of Healthy Talk, focus on cleaner indoor air. There are some people who would tell you that indoor air can be worse than outdoor air. There's a great book on this by the way, My Sick Home, or My Sick House. I forget the author's name, too. Just go ahead and look that up My Sick Home, My Sick House. There are things you can do inside that will clean up the air quality. Stop using anything that produces volatile organic compounds, by the way, like air fresheners and stuff like that. There are more natural air fresheners that you can use. Clean out your lungs. N-Acetyl cysteine, artichoke extract, antioxidant and great for your lungs.
Clean out your liver. Help your liver detox this gunk with milk thistle and melon extracts which help the enzymes in the liver to detoxify these compounds. So, there are things you can do more personally.
So, yes, bad air equals bad hearts. This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I am Dr. Mike. Stay Well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
When you picture the traditional farmer, you might envision a man, clothed in bib-overalls, driving a tractor. That portrait is changing.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1522ns3e.mp3
- Featured Speaker Audrey Levatino
- Book Title Woman-Powered Farm: Manual for a Sustainable Lifestyle from Homestead to Field
- Guest Website Ted's Last Stand
- Guest Facebook Account https://www.facebook.com/audrey.levatino
-
Guest Bio
Audrey Levatino is the quintessential modern woman farmer. Thirteen years ago, she left the urban world to fulfill her dream of self-employment in a natural, healthy environment. She now runs a 23-acre farm, Ted’s Last Stand, near Gordonsville, Virginia. She and her husband Michael are the co-authors of The Joy of Hobby Farming. Since writing that book, Audrey has taken over primary responsibility for the farm and now runs a successful cut flower, herb, and vegetable farm business.
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Did you know that broccoli, other than being a great source of nutrition, is also really great for detoxification?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 4
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1522ns3d.mp3
- Featured Speaker Ashley Koff, RD
- Guest Website Ashley Koff: Better Nutrition, Simplified
- Guest Twitter Account @ashleykoff
-
Guest Bio
Ashley Koff is an internationally-renowned registered dietitian who believes better nutrition is simple and is on a mission to help anyone achieve their personal health goals by providing simple but highly effective tips and strategies. A self-described “Qualitarian,” Koff emphasizes the value of quality nutritional choices in achieving optimal health and has developed tools such as The AKA Qualitarian Nutrition Plan and The AKA Personal Shopper to help facilitate this.
Koff is widely sought after for her knowledge and ability to translate nutrition science into practical and motivating messages and appears regularly in the National Media, has authored two books and speaks frequently on the topic of better quality choices for better health. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Depression can affect anyone. It can strike at unexpected times, or in the wake of a death, job loss, health issues, or simply not being able to live the life you want to live.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1522ns3c.mp3
- Featured Speaker Tonya Ware, Author, Speaker & Performer
- Book Title Life Is Your Song: Discover Your Voice
- Guest Website Tonya Ware
- Guest Facebook Account https://www.facebook.com/theofficialtonyaware
- Guest Twitter Account @TonyaWare
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Guest Bio
In December 2006, Tonya Ware woke up early to prepare for work and suddenly collapsed and died. After reviving, she begin a series of tests, exams, and doctor appointments that declared her totally disabled.
Tonya went from being a multi-million dollar corporate executive, who had just recorded a debut album, Tonya Ware: The Voice, to life as a virtual shut-in for more than six long years.
Tonya is the author of Life Is Your Song: Discover Your Voice and a Reboot Your Life expert. Tonya is helping people around the world reclaim their lives and has been featured on ABC, FOX, BET and more. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Internal Notes repeat guest
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
It takes one word, positive or negative, to affect your emotional state and change your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and digestion.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1522ns3b.mp3
- Featured Speaker Edith Namm, Author
- Organization Share-a-Smile Ambassadors
- Book Title A Journey to Miles of Smiles, Health and Wellness
- Guest Website Edith Namm's The Write Way
-
Guest Bio
Edith Namm has 25 years of experience as a Counselor and Educator, over 20 years of experience as a Certified Specialized Handwriting Analyst, and is a thyroid, breast, colon and liver cancer survivor who has authored seven books on stress management. She is dedicated to inspiring readers of all ages to adopt, adapt and activate the winning strategies that she believes can empower one to successfully cope with the stress and tensions of daily living.
In 2006, Edith became a member of Brooklyn Lifelong Learning (BLL), formerly the Institute of Retirees in Pursuit of Education. BLL is an academically-oriented campus-based learning center at Brooklyn College, whose mission is to foster peer learning among retirees. Edith teaches a course, A Joyful Journey to Miles of Smiles, Health and Wellness.
Also in 2006, Edith founded Share-a-Smile Ambassadors, whose mission is to activate school, home and community Share-a-Smile Projects that effectively relieve emotional stress, raise self-esteem, promote positive social interaction and establish healthy relationships regardless of one’s age, gender or economic background. -
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: May 27, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis, MPH
Guest: Edith Namm
Your organic search is over. Here is Naturally Savvy with health experts Andrea Donsky and Lisa Davis.
ANDREA: The power of words. What you say carries so much weight and it can mean so much and you really want to be careful about what you say. Looking further into the energy that words carry, we are going to talk with the fabulous Edith Namm. Hi, Edith.
EDITH: Hi, hi, hi how are you? I am so delighted to be able to introduce to your Savvy listeners my latest audio CD, and I didn’t give you a chance to say how are you.
ANDREA: Well, we know how you are Edith. You know that we are excited to have you on because, you know, I learned a long time ago the power of words and a lot of the time I'm not really conscious of the things that I'm saying. A lot of time I am, but more often than not, I'm not and I would love to hear… Just introduce our audience to who you are and what you do so magnificently.
EDITH: Oh, those words sent my smile mileage going way up high.
ANDREA: (Chuckle)
EDITH: I am an educator. I am a counsellor. I am a specialized certified handwriting analyst, and I am a thyroid, breast, colon, and liver cancer survivor. I am an author of seven books on stress management and I am dedicated to sharing specific safe self-help strategies that can empower anybody to survive and thrive in a stress free world. So, the opportunity to introduce your audience to A Journey To Miles of Smiles, Health and Wellness, it is a unique ideal health plan to feel and look great from sunrise to sunset. It is the audio CD companion to the book that we spoke about on our last visit together, The Change To A Positive Mindset And Extend Your Lifeline. I am excited about it because, yes, it is a reflection of the course that I give at Brooklyn college--the Brooklyn Lifelong Experiences--and it is focusing on, if you were sitting in my class which is, A Journey to Miles of Smiles Health and Wellness, you would be listening to the audio CD. It is learning what is going on in your brain and body systems every second of your life. It is learning the right way to train your brain to drain the pain caused by emotional stress.
I am referring to feelings of anger, fear and sadness and it is learning how the power of words that you choose—YOU choose--% to use can positively or negatively affect your health and state of well-being and understanding
ANDREA: Edith how did you come to this way of thinking?
EDITH: How did I come to it? Well. I have always been interested in the power of words. I say 72 years and when I say 72 years eyebrows may rise; when I was in high school, terrific high school, Erasmus Hall, I learned the power of words and I have had fun ever since. When I say 72 years, it figures because I was 89 last Thanksgiving day and so…
ANDREA: Wow!
EDITH: …there was nothing more than I wanted to do was to teach, teach, teach words and language because they have such emotional power and people are not aware of it. So, it has been with me and, of course, because it had been manifested d when I was teaching English and language art, when I was guidance counsellor in a junior high and I'm emphasizing those words because there were a lot of dramatic incidents that took place those years, putting it mildly.
EDITH: And then, when I never thought that I’d retire, but when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 64 and I was the only counselor, I figured that it was time to retire and it gave me an opportunity to explore my 50 years of interest in handwriting analysis and I became certified as a specialized handwriting analyst, and I discovered the full meaning of what goes on in your brain and this has fascinated me. I'm still passionate about it and this is what I have been doing for the last over twenty years.
ANDREA: So, Edith tell us a little bit. We only have maybe about three minutes left. Tell us a little bit about what does go on. So, just as an example, somebody says a negative word. How does that impact them emotionally or positively?
EDITH: Well, you see, we have an autonomic nervous system and that autonomic nervous system is constantly in touch with the brain who is in charge of all your functioning, and when you are feeling mad, sad and scared it notifies the sympathetic nervous system, there is a threat there is to safety, and that goes into action. And if you are mad, sad and scared, you are functioning on stressful hormones. Others shut down. That is what is shown in the book. If you are calm, cool and collected and feeling great, it contacts the parasympathetic, so in your brain there are two programs and you are the programmer to your magnificent dynamic computer, and what it says is you are either on positive energy power (PEP) or you are on TNT.
If you are using no, not, never and start to realize how many times a day you say it, you can change. I have no choice. Forget the no, to reduce the number of times you say no and what have you left? I have a choice - that immediately puts you into PEP where you will find what it is that you can change, what you can control, what you can affect in your actions, your behavior and your relationships. If you continue to be on short-term emergency sympathetic, you are destined to fail because you are over-extending stressful hormones. Does that make sense?
ANDREA: Oh, yes completely. You know, Edith, even the simple power of a smile and I know that you founded Share A Smile and that is incredible, that makes such a difference. Right? Just seeing someone smile at you is huge.
EDITH: Yes, not only that but the power of a smile, taking the letters of the word the message S – Send your self-esteem soaring, M – Make frowns disappear, I – Inspires imagination, L – Leads to lots of laughter, E – Energizes every single cell in your brain and your body and it is a universal symbol for kindness. And I will go one further. If you smile doodling you are relieving emotional stress and physical tension. Take the letter “O”--capital letter “O” capital letter “K”, that is the word OK that is good. Put two dots and a curve in the letter O and you have got two dots in a curve.
ANDREA: A smile.
EDITH: A smile and you are headed for miles of smiles.
ANDREA: We love it, Edith. Well, thank you. You are such a ray of sunshine. Thank you so much for being on our show today. Unfortunately, we are out of time, Lisa, where does the time go? You can learn more about Edith at www.enamm.com.
I’m Andrea Donsky along with my beautiful co-host, Lisa Davis, this is Naturally Savvy Radio on RadioMD. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Internal Notes repeat guest
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
If your doctors aren't listening or considering other options for treatment, it might be time to take things into your own hands.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1522ns3a.mp3
- Featured Speaker Carole Staveley, President of Inner Victory Coaching
- Book Title Conquer Your Pain in 9 Steps: Building the Mindset and Team You Need to Suffer Less and Achieve More
- Guest Website Inner Victory Coaching
- Guest Twitter Account @CaroleStaveley
-
Guest Bio
After suffering 13 years of debilitation caused by a chronic myofascial pain condition, Carole Staveley realized there was no “magic bullet” coming to her rescue. She took charge of solving her health challenges and went on to complete an IRONMAN triathlon in 2013. Carole’s book, Conquer Your Pain in 9 Steps, takes you through her proven 9-step Health Champion approach to suffering less and achieving more. Carole Staveley is President of Inner Victory Coaching, an organization she founded to empower others to become their own Health Champions and reach their full potential.
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Listen in as Dr. Mike provides the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File healthy_talk/1522ht3e.mp3
- Featured Speaker Mike Smith, MD
- Organization Life Extension
- Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
-
Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: May 27, 2015
It's time for you to be a part of the show. Email or call with questions for Dr. Mike now. Email AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call 877-711-5211. What are you waiting for? The doctor is in.
DR MIKE: That's AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com. Send me your email questions. This is sometimes my favorite part of the show. Here's a question about shingles vaccine.
"There are a few commercials promoting the vaccine. I'm 67 years old, healthy, but did have chicken pox as a kid. Should I consider the vaccine or are there alternatives for preventing shingles? Thanks. Dean from Texas."
That's where I went to medical school. All right, so I think this is an opportunity to spend a little bit more time talking about shingles and what we have to offer as far as prevention and treatment for it, both conventionally and with supplements.
Just as a reminder, the virus we're talking about here is a herpes virus. It's called varicella zoster. It causes chicken pox in kids, but it's a nasty little virus because once the chicken pox is over, the virus isn't gone out of the body. It just becomes dormant. It can hide in what is called lymph tissue, immune type tissue, lymph nodes that kind of stuff, in certain cells and it just kind of lays there inactive.
Now, the good news, in most cases, as a person gets older and older and older, nothing really ever happens. Most people don't get shingles. But there is a risk once you've had chicken pox, as you do get older, there is a risk for the virus, this herpes virus, to reactivate and once it does, it causes a different type of disease--a disease that involves the nerves, specifically the nerves that supply the skin called dermatomes and that's why often you see this rash kind of like in a circle around like the trunk or the chest area, the buttocks, the arm, but the virus reactivates and causes this nerve/rash type symptoms along what are called dermatomes.
What is the risk factor for this virus to reactivate and cause shingles? Well, its age. About half of all patients over 60 are at risk. Patients aged 80 to 89 are ten times as likely to develop shingles as children under the age of ten. So, you do see it in kids. Kids that have had chicken pox. There are rare cases of some of these kids, two or three years later, getting shingles. It's rare, it's usually something that occurs as we get older, 60s, 70s, 80s and it usually happens when our immune system becomes weaker and weaker as we get older. That's called immunosenescence, the weakness or the weakening, I should say, of the immune system.
Other risk factors besides age would be anybody that's immune compromised either because of drugs, like steroid use, maybe infections like HIV, what have you, but people that are immunosuppressed are at risk and for whatever reason, I don't think we have a great answer for why but white women are at a greater risk of reactivating the chicken pox virus, varicella zoster. By the way, African-American individuals are at the lowest risk; haven't quite figured that one out.
At least, I don't think. If you do get shingles, the common treatment is an antiviral drug called Acyclovir. That's pretty much the main one. It does reduce pain. It helps to increase recovery and the healing of the rash and it's only recommended in patients, I think, over 60--no younger than that, over maybe 40 or 50.
You really can't have any complications from the shingles. Shingles can turn into some dangerous things like pneumonias and stuff. Once that happens, that takes hospitalization. That's a different treatment course, but as long as you're say, around 50 or older, you don't have any complications, you can take Acyclovir and it does work. Here's the big problem though, you have to start the drug within usually around 72 hours of the shingle outbreak.
The longer and longer you wait, the less effective the drug is. That's the real problem with conventional treatment right there. Usually people will develop the rash and it hurts. That's why they notice it. You put a shirt on and you're like, "Ow. What is going on?" and you look in the mirror and there's a rash going around your breasts or around your stomach or your arm, whatever.
It's usually you rub up against something, clothing, whatever, you feel that it hurts and that's when you notice it, but it could have started a week ago and you're kind of passed that deadline for starting Acyclovir. Now, most doctors in the community, if you're over 40, 50 and if you don't have complications, they're still going to put you on a course of Acyclovir. It's just not as effective as if you started it within 72 hours.
You can do creams to help the pain a little bit, non-steroidal creams that can help. There's some research that capsaicin creams-- you know, capsaicin from hot peppers--may be able to help. Capsaicin, we know, increases a substance, a neurotransmitter, called substance P in the nerves and when that happens, it kind of deadens the nerves so it can control pain that way. That's capsaicin. But it does seem, it has be in the cream form, you can take capsaicin orally for like cardiovascular health, but it has to be in the cream form. Now, back to the question, though, about the vaccine.
So, this gentleman wants to know, Dean from Texas, wants to know, he's pretty healthy. He had chicken pox. He's just worried about it. He's seen the commercials. Should I get the vaccine? Well, the vaccine, let's see. I have some information about it here. It is called Zostavax. It was licensed in 2006 by the FDA. When administered to individuals over the age of 60 with a healthy immune system, so you, again, have to have no complications.
This vaccine reduces the risk of developing shingles by 55 percent. That's pretty good. Studies of this vaccine found it was safe for patients over 60 with the most common side effects being swelling, redness, warmth and pain at the vaccination site. A small percentage of participants in these studies developed a varicella-like rash, almost like a shingle-like rash, consisting of a small number of fluid-filled vesicles that occur at the site of the injection, but it did not spread. The biggest barrier to this vaccine is cost. It's very expensive. At this point, unless the cost comes down, it's not going to be used widespread. It's just not.
Now, Dean, personally, I think this is a good vaccine. Knowing how devastating shingles can be for some people and the complications that can happen, it's something you might consider. Now, you tell me you're pretty healthy and all that kind of stuff. There might be some natural things you can do just to keep your immune system up. You might want to consider strengthening the immune system, especially against viruses: vitamin C, vitamin D, reishi, zinc, one of my favorites lactoferrin. There is even some evidence seaweed extracts. Seaweed has a compound that might have some anti-herpes properties to it. Dean, you have to definitely reduce stress.
That's one of the best ways to prevent, besides the vaccine, is to reduce stress because usually it takes some sort of physical stressor, emotional stressor to reactivate the virus because the stress brings down your immune system. So, reduce stress, try some of those supplements, but listen, if you can afford it, the vaccine looks pretty good and it can reduce the risk of shingles by 55 percent, so it's not a bad choice if you can afford it, but try some of the supplements as well.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received No
- Host Mike Smith, MD
