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Suffering from Chronic Fatigue? Try this Dietary Approach

Suffering from Chronic Fatigue? Try this Dietary Approach
Even though there's no cure for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), you might be able to ease your symptoms with food.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 3
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht5c.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 3, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here's author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD, with Healthy Talk.

    DR MIKE: I had a debate recently with a colleague friend of mine—a conventional doctor, a medical doctor. The debate centered around chronic fatigue syndrome and his position was it's a mood disorder. My position was that that might be true. There may be a mood component to it, but it's also physiological as well. I really should say pathological as well meaning that there are derangements in certain metabolic processes that are driving the chronic fatigue that may lead to the mood disorder. I got nowhere in the debate. He got nowhere in the debate, either, by the way. But, I think although more medical doctors are accepting the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome, it's still really just seen as a mood issue. That's why the most commonly prescribed for chronic fatigue is Prozac, an anti-depressant.

    The reason I'm bringing this up is as I was going through the latest research in chronic fatigue, when it comes to nutrients, for instance, I'm going to share some of that with you in this segment. What I found was the research is actually quite old, but it's solid research. We're talking about research from the 90's, basically. I don't know if we need to repeat these. The studies are awesome studies. They're showing great benefit for chronic fatigue patients. They're old studies, we're just not translating them into everyday clinical practice and that's the problem. Now, I want to mention dietary and lifestyle considerations for chronic fatigue syndrome. This is going to be an update. Again, I got this from a really good protocol from Life Extension Foundation at LifeExtension.com.

    I want to mention three things in terms of lifestyle first. I'm not going to go into the details, but, again, from old research and some newer research, smoking, chemical exposure, detoxification regimens and massage therapy. Those four. Solid research—you've got to stop smoking. You've got to avoid exposure to things like phthalates, specifically, those are in air fresheners. So, if you suffer from chronic fatigue and you still have those very common air fresheners in your house. You've got to get rid of them. You're better off doing maybe scented candles. Just make sure you get candles that have no phthalates in them. Phthalates are a compound that preserve the chemicals that give the good smell.

    So, if you take away the phthalates, the Lysol just doesn't last as long, but you can find phthalate-free candles and stuff like that. So, make sure you do. Phthalates were kind of the big one and also PBA, which is a plastic. So, you probably want to transfer all plastic stuff to glassware. So, get rid of the air fresheners. Switch everything to glassware. Right there, that's going to reduce your chemical exposure. Of course, stop smoking. Massage therapy also seems to help, too. So, anyway, that's kind of the lifestyle considerations.

    I want to focus more on the magnesium, B vitamins and zinc. Real simples stuff, right? We're not talking about anything crazy here. Magnesium, B vitamins and zinc. Solid research that helps with chronic fatigue. Let's start with the magnesium. One study reported that 20 adults with chronic fatigue syndrome had significantly lower red blood cell magnesium levels compared to 20 healthy controls. Now, that's not a cause/effect relationship. That's just an association. You have to do more studies to really figure out if low magnesium is a cause, but it's definitely an association. I mean, chronic fatigue patients, across the board, are magnesium deficient.

    Okay? And they were looking at the right form of magnesium here, the red blood cell magnesium. That's the test you want to do. You don't want to just do a serum magnesium. That's not very reflective of your true magnesium status. You want to look at what's going on in the red blood cell there. You get a better idea of your overall body magnesium level. In a follow up placebo controlled trial, 15 chronic fatigue syndrome patients were randomly chosen to receive a weekly 1 gram injection of magnesium sulfate for 6 weeks. Members of the treatment group had significantly improved energy levels and less pain.

    They were less emotionally reactive and perceived significant overall improvement compared to the subjects receiving placebo. Eighty percent of magnesium treated subjects reported benefit from the treatment versus 18% over the controls. That was published in Lancet. Take a guess at the year. 1991. It's not a huge study, right? But, okay, maybe this should have been...maybe this is one that should have been repeated. Maybe now we should take this and look at 200 chronic fatigue patients. Maybe 300, 400. I don't know, but this is a solid study, placebo-controlled, published in Lancet, one of the most respected journals out there and yet, we don't see magnesium injections used that often with chronic fatigue patients.

    We just don't. That's not good. Let's talk about B vitamins.--basic B vitamins. In particular, B1, B2 and B6 have been the most studied. B1 is thiamine. B2 is riboflavin and B6 is pyridoxine. The reason B1, B2 and B6 are the most studied in the context of fatigue is because they probably play the biggest role in energy producing reactions in the body. I mean, all B vitamins play a role in that. I mean, if you're tired, take some B12. You'll get instant energy, but when it comes to ATP production, when it comes to cellular energy, which is sometimes what B12 does, when it comes to that lasting energy, it's B1, B2 and B6 that probably play the most important role. So, there was a study that was published in 1999 in the Journal of Royal Society in Medicine. They found that 12 chronic fatigue syndrome patients were significantly lower in B1, B2 and B6 when compared to 18 age and gender match controls. So, again, this is not necessarily cause/effect, but it's showing a nice association of low levels of B1, B2 and B6 in chronic fatigue patients.

    Another study specifically looked at folate and they also saw that folate was significantly low compared to age and gender match controls in chronic fatigue patients. So, you have, again, magnesium is shown to be low; B1 is shown to be low; B2, B6, folate, all shown to be low. Not necessarily cause and effect, but definitely something that needs to be corrected if you are suffering from chronic fatigue. And, according to the magnesium study in Lancet, at least magnesium might actually reverse some of the symptoms. It could be even considered a treatment. You need a bigger study, but there it is. What about zinc? I don't think too many people think about zinc when it comes to chronic fatigue but a study that compared 21 chronic fatigue patients to healthy controls found significantly lower blood zinc levels in patients. Moreover, lower zinc was positively correlated with markers of inflammation and immune activation.

    That was published in 2006, a more recent study, in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Again, notice it was a mood disorder journal writing more about chronic fatigue. That's kind of the conventional approach—that it's a mood disorder leading to the fatigue versus a physiological problem causing the fatigue that then causes the mood disorder. I think that's the appropriate connection. Not vice versa.

    So, magnesium has some good research. Again, low magnesium is prevalent in people with chronic fatigue. Low B1, B2, B6 and folic acid prevalent in people with chronic fatigue. If you're suffering from that, you've got to replace that either through medicine, injections or, at least through a basic supplement. Somehow replace magnesium. Replace folate. Replace the B vitamins. Get your zinc up. It's going to help tremendously.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Integrative Therapies for Skin Cancer

Integrative Therapies for Skin Cancer
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 2
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht5b.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 3, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Living longer and staying healthier. It's Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. Here's your host, Dr. Mike:

    M: From the Life Extension Foundations protocol on skin cancer, I have here that it's the most common form of cancer affecting over 3.5 million people in the United States alone. The incidence of skin cancer is steadily increasing in frequency each year although enhanced leisure time exposure to sunlight has been a proposed cause, another factor may be an increase in skin cancer awareness through increased screening. So, we're getting better at diagnosing skin cancer and screening it. So, we're picking up as on it more as well. But, we are, without a doubt, out in the sun more.

    This is kind of a cool thing. Go to Google. Don't do it now. Wait until my show's over with. Go to Google and type in "bathing suits from the 1920's" or, type in "bathing suits from the 1920's versus from 2015". Or, "beach scenes from the 1920s versus beach scenes from this year," and just see the difference. I mean, back then, they covered up completely and now we don't wear anything. I've seen some new bathing suits for guys that are like, "uh uh". It's way too much. So, without a doubt, we're exposing ourselves more. We're out in the sun more. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think everything has to be done in moderation including sun exposure.

    The most prevalent skin cancer is melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma can affect individuals at any age, although diagnoses are significantly more likely with advancing age. Incident rates of non-melanoma skin cancer increased considerable in the 50's and peaked in the 70's and 80's. The only difference with that that we understand now is about melanoma which is the more aggressive, malignant skin cancer.

    Melanoma spreads very quickly, very rapidly. That may be linked to sunburns when you were a kid. So, sunburns and, you know, your pre-teens and teenage years increases the risk for melanoma that usually pops up in your 20's and 30's. So, as we're getting close to summer here, I thought it was important that maybe we review some of the information out there on helping with, not only treating skin cancer, but preventing it.

    So, everything I'm going to go over, although it's placed into the context of "treatment" in the protocol from Life Extension which you can get at LifeExtension.com. But, these also apply to prevention as well. So, let's also talk about B vitamins. I don't think we think about B vitamins that much for skin, but they play an incredible role, B vitamins do, in any cell line that divides a lot and replaces itself a lot. So, hair, skin, nails, your gut. So, B vitamins play a major role in that.

    So, here was a study in nutrition and cancer in 1999 in mice. Vitamin B3 and niacin lowered incidence of UVB induced skin tumor formation in a dose dependent manner from 68% in control animals to 28% in animals supplemented with niacin at only 1% of their diet. So, it doesn't even take that much niacin. It also reduced UVB induced immune suppression. That's the other issue here. UV radiation, specifically, UVB, not only does it damage skin cells, it also suppresses the immune system.

    So, when a skin cancer cell develops within the skin itself, the immune system is depressed because of that sun exposure. Another study, a more recent one published in Carcinogenesis showed that oral nicotinamide, a form of niacin, about 500-1500 mg a day, given to 61 human volunteers significantly reduced immunosuppression from UVA suppression. So, we have an animal model showing that B vitamins can reduce UVA damage, but at the same time, reverses the immunosuppression from the radiation.

    There was another study in the International Journal of Cancer in 2013. It was a comprehensive review of 15 studies of folate consumption in cancer risk. High folate consumption was linked in overall risk reduction in the incidents of melanoma. Fifty-three percent over 3 trials with a total of 19,000 participants. So, that's a great statistic. I mean, a lot of people were involved, 3 different studies. Fifty-three percent risk reduction in melanoma with a high folic acid intake. So, B vitamins are very important to healthy skin.

    How about this one? Probiotics. Do you think of probiotics when it comes to healthy skin? Well, you know, we're learning. By the way, we're learning that your gut flora, all the microbes, the bacteria and, in some cases, healthy yeast species.

    Man, we're learning more and more the amazing role and influence these microbes have over your overall health. I just saw an interesting study and a presentation, I forget the guy's name, sorry. But, he even linked, you know, your specific gut microbes to how often you get mosquito bites because the gut microbes produce certain chemicals that can come out on the skin and some of those chemicals can attract mosquitos or not. It's interesting.

    The application of that is preventing malaria in certain places. Imagine if we can isolate that better. Give those probiotics to at risk people for malaria, for mosquito bites. I mean, that's the potential there. That's why it's really awesome. Turns out probiotic bacteria may reduce UV induced skin photo damage, potentially by modulating inflammatory responses. So, there's one, in particular, called "bifidobacterium breve".

    It was given to hairless mice for 9 and 14 days. It reduced skin elastase activity meaning the enzyme that breaks down collagen and elastin that keeps skin healthy and viable. That enzyme, the activity of that enzyme was inhibited by the bifidobacterium breve. That was published in a journal called Phytodermatology in 2012.

    There's another probiotic, lactobacillus rhamnosus. It had an immune stimulatory effect and was photoprotective in hairless mice exposed to UV radiation and it delayed appearances of skin tumors. That was published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2013. So, yes. Probiotics.

    Interesting, huh?

    Tea polyphenols is another important type of nutrient when it comes to healthy skin. Tea—green or black. By the way, so you have three teas, right? You have white, green and black. They all come from the same plant. White tea is a young tea leaf, green tea is a ripe tea leaf and a black tea is one that's been oxidized. As you go from white to green to black, with time, the antioxidant composition changes. So, white tea has the greatest spectrum of different antioxidants, but they're all at low levels. Green tea concentrates the EGCG antioxidant and black tea concentrates something called theaflavins. All of them, though—white, green and black—offer some protection to the skin.

    Specifically, black tea with the theaflavins, really good at inflammation. Green tea with the EGCG really good at reducing photodamage. Every time light hits your skin, you produce those nasty free radicals I've talked about before. Oxidative stress goes up. Green tea can play a major role in combatting that. White tea is just a good array of antioxidants in general. They are adding teas to creams and stuff like moisturizers. That might be okay, but I do think you have to ingest it.

    Capsules are probably the best. I know that unless you're willing to drink about 19 cups of green tea, that's how much it would take to get the right amount of EGCG. How about one glass of green tea and one capsule concentrated with EGCG? So, there you go.

    So, B vitamins, probiotics, tea polyphenols. All with good, solid research in helping to protect and treat skin cancer.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Environment vs. Genes: Which Is Worse for Your Immune System?

Environment vs. Genes: Which Is Worse for Your Immune System?
A recent study published in Scope details whether the environment or your genes play a bigger role on your immune system.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 1
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht5a.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 3, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now, here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike:

    DR MIKE: So, what do you think? Nature or nurture. You know, that's the age-old debate, right? Nature versus nurture. I think most lay people, when answering that question. say it's like 50/50. Interesting, most doctors up until recently would have said, "No, it's probably nature (meaning your genetics) 90% of the time, nurture (your environment) maybe 10% of your time."

    The thought process has always been that your genes--you know, you get half from your mom, half from your dad—that they're set in stone. There's not much you can do about it. If you've got some bad genes in there, you've got some bad genes in there. You're at risk for disease--high risk for disease. Again, it goes back to that idea that your genetics running your life, probably have more of an impact than nurture or environment.

    We're changing that thought process, though. There's been a significant paradigm shift in how we think about genes versus the environment. I have a study that kind of highlights this a little bit. This was published in the journal Cell, January 2015.

    "In new studies, researchers have found that our environment is more important than genetics for determining, at least, the state of the immune system."

    I think it actually extrapolates to all parts of your body. I do believe now, based on solid research, that the environment does play a greater role. I'm going to explain why, but let's look at this study first. This was a study conducted by the Stanford School of Medicine. It was written up in the Stanford School of Medicine magazine and also, as I said, published in Cell in January 2015. So, here's what they found:

    "The researchers studied the differences in the immune system of twin pairs to determine the extent of the roles for genes and the environment. Identical twins have the exact same genome."

    That's why they're identical twins. I'm going to stop right there just for a sec. We are now also understanding that that may not be true, just to confuse you even more. The old thought process is identical twins have identical genes. Ah! It may not be so true. In the process of an embryo developing, going from a single cell to two, to four to eight and on, as the embryo keeps dividing, even though the genes that they received, that identical twins received, from mom and dad are identical, in that process of embryo development, there could be slight changes made to genes. Those are called "polymorphisms".

    So, technically, identical twins do have the same genes, but there could be slight differences. Haven't you ever seen identical twins and they're not quite the same? I have. Sometimes, they're smackdab exact. Other times, they're not. Anyway, there are already questions about identical twins with the exact same genome. But, for now, let's just assume they do. Let's go back to the study.

    "So, identical twins have the exact same genome. However, fraternal twins have the same genetic similarity as other siblings would have. It is typically around 50%, but it can vary."

    So, you have identical twins—same genomes. Fraternal twins are going to share half of their genes together.

    "Both types of twins had the same environments."

    You had identical twins being studied. You had fraternal twins being studied. Both of these twin types were in the same environment in the womb and experienced a very similar environment as children. So, unless identical twins share a trait less than fraternal twins, genes would not play a dominant role.

    "In this study, researchers took blood samples from 78 identical pairs and 27 fraternal twins. Then, they compared over 200 cell types related to the immune system."

    The researchers are quoted as saying, 'We found that in most cases, including your reaction to a standard influence of vaccine and other types of immune responsiveness, there is little or no genetic influence at work and, most likely, the environment and your exposure to innumerable microbes is the major driver of a healthy immune response.'

    Let me just summarize this for you. So, they did this study on twins—identical and fraternal. Apparently, you have a group of twins that should have the exact same genome and another group that share at least 50% and by looking at these two different twin types, they were able to come to the conclusion that the genes really aren't playing that much of a role, or, at least not as big of a role as we once thought in the immune response. I think that's true for other body systems as well. The researchers go on to say that the immune system has to think on its feet. That makes sense.

    "The idea has been in some circles, if you sequence someone's genome, you can tell what diseases they're going to have 50 years later. However, that may not be the case as we learn, said one of the researchers, Dr. John Davis, that the genes can be manipulated and he is onto something."

    Let me explain this. Let me explain what's going on. What we have learned over the past, really just 3 or 4 years, and most of this research, by the way, comes out of the nutriceutical industry—not the pharmaceutical industry.

    Most of the research that I'm about to share with you is coming from companies like Life Extension, where I work. What we've discovered is that your genes are not set in stone. I just did an article, by the way, on this. The title was Your Bad Genes Aren't Set in Stone. What I meant by that was, and this is based on the research that's happened over the past 4 or 5 years, you can influence how genes are turned on and off. There's a lot of power in that. There's a lot of disease prevention treatment and curative power when you have that time of influence over how genes can turn on and off.

    So, on one level, because you get half your genes from your mom and half from your dad. Yes. That's kind of set in stone. I mean, you've got those genes. But, what we're learning is there are genes outside the genes—it's called "epigenetics"—above the genes, that you can do: food, exercise, nutrients, even drugs, that can keep the bad genes quiet and activate, to a higher level, the healthy genes. I mean, think about how powerful that is and how that can translate into health and wellness and longevity.

    You know, again, when it comes to genetic predisposition for certain disorders, in most cases, it's one of the genes from your parents that's driving it. If we've linked--and I'm just going to make this up. Let's say there's a gene and let's call it the "Ede gene". Ede is my dog. So, we'll call it the "Ede gene". The Ede gene, when it's mutated in a certain spot, increases the risk for diabetes, let's say, by 100%. You're going to absolutely get it, but it turns out, you only get one of those bad Ede genes from one of your parents.

    It's very rare to get two bad genes. I mean, it does happen. Those are recessive disorders. That does happen, but it's rare. Most likely, you got a bad Ede gene from your dad and you got a good one from your mom. So, imagine the power, if we can do certain nutrients to turn off your dad's Ede gene—the bad one—and turn on more of your mom's good Ede gene. Man, that's powerful. That's powerful information. This is a whole new field of study called "epigenetics". Another term for it is neutrigenomics. It's just how nutrients, how vitamins, minerals, oils, antioxidant, plant-based, polyphenols, whatever it is.

    Whatever word you want to use there—how they can influence the expression of genes in a positive way. It's an amazing new field of study and more of these studies are confirming it, like the one we just read about with the immune system published in Cell, January 2015. You're environment can play a major role in how genes are expressed. That's the new thought process.

    Here are three nutrients I'd start taking right now if you want to control your genes in a positive way: black tea theaflavins, 100mg a day; trans-resveratrol 250mg a day and pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), 20mg a day. Those three have solid research that they can influence your genes in a positive way.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Does Stress Affect Your Fertility?

Does Stress Affect Your Fertility?
Cortisol can inhibit your sex hormones, suppress your ovulation and seriously affect sexual activity.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 3
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht4c.mp3
  • Featured Speaker Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD
  • Book Title The Whole Life Fertility Plan: Understanding What Affects Your Fertility To Help You Get Pregnant When You Want To
  • Guest Website Jamie Grifo
  • Guest Bio Jaime Grifo Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD, is Program Director of the New York University (NYU) Fertility Center. He is also Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the NYU Langone Medical Center.

    As Co-Directorof the NYU Egg Freezing Division, his team has created one of the largest egg preservation programs and is currently developing a new generation of embryo screening. Dr. Grifo's research in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis/screening (PGD/PGS) led to the delivery of the first healthy baby in the U.S. using the embryo biopsy procedure he developed.

    He has appeared on CBS This Morning, NBC's Today Show, Good Morning America, Oprah and has been interviewed and featured in countless print media outlets including the New Yorker, New York Times, Newsweek, and Wall Street Journal.
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 2, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now, here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike:

    DR MIKE: So, my guest is Dr. Jamie Grifo. He is the program director of the New York University Fertility Center and he co-authored a book, The Whole Life Fertility Plan.Dr. Grifo, welcome to Healthy Talk.

    DR GRIFO: Thank you.

    DR. MIKE: So, we started, at the end of the last segment, talking a little bit about stress and how that affects conception, so I'm going to come back to that. But before we do, in my first segment today, I was talking about the genome wide association studies and genetic testing and the power of prevention. Before we started your first segment, that seemed to spark an interest in you, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to talk a little bit about what are we doing in terms of testing with conception?

    DR GRIFO: Well, there are two elements to that. One is, we all have our own individual risk of passing on recessive genetic diseases to babies and now we have the ability to find out if we're carriers and if we both carry a particular mutation, say, for instance, for cystic fibrosis and both the husband and wife carry it, 25% of the babies will have a very serious medical problem. You can prevent patients from conceiving a baby with such a serious illness. We have the technology now to test embryos for these diseases and avoid having an embryo transferred that has a lifelong disease ahead of them.

    So, we can prevent things and, as you said, prevention is really one of the best things we can do in medicine and we have to leverage technology to do it. We have those options for the people that choose it. On top of that, one of the things that we've learned is that the age-related decline in fertility that we see with women is because as eggs get older, they make embryos that are more likely to be chromosomally abnormal. We have found that the biggest cause of failure to conceive, failure of IVF cycles, is that embryos that look good under the microscope are chromosomally abnormal and don't make babies, they make miscarriages, sometimes. Usually they just don't make a pregnancy. Sometimes, they make a baby with Down's syndrome.

    Now, we have the tools we can test every embryo before we put it back. By leveraging that tool, we're now testing all of our embryos, putting back a single chromosomally normal embryo, getting pregnancy rates that are age-independent and low miscarriage rates and not having to tell somebody at 16 weeks, they have a baby with Down's syndrome. So, the world is changing in the world of IVF. Now, in the United States, 2% of the babies born are through in vitro fertilization. So, this is mainstream. This is happening every day.

    DR. MIKE: When you say that, though, I understand. But, you're the specialist so when you say that you're testing embryos and, to you, it's mainstream, but how often is an everyday couple getting genetic testing like this in small town, USA?

    DR GRIFO: Well--and that's a problem. I recommend when you're ready to go get pregnant, you go see your obstetrician and you do preventative measures like genetic screening to find out your risk and, mainly, you'll be reassured that your chance of having a baby with disease is very, very low, but you may find out that you both carry a significant recessive gene. For instance, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, Gaucher, Canavan. There are hundreds of these diseases. They're found out, mainly, by the baby being born and we now have technology that's not expensive to do these tests, simple blood tests to find out your risk and minimize your risk so that babies can be born that are healthy and not suffer. Most people find out they carry recessive genes by having a baby with the disease.

    DR. MIKE: At that point, it's devastating to them, right? It's almost a little too late.

    DR GRIFO: It changes their life.

    DR. MIKE: Dr. Grifo, the last question on this and we'll move into the stress part. How far are we away from taking an embryo we have identified with cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sach, whatever it is, and doing gene therapy at the embryo level?

    DR GRIFO: We're very far away from that. It's interesting. I did the first embryo biopsy in the United States in 1992. We were the second in the world to do it, mainly because we couldn't get permission from the regulators to do it until the Brits were successful. So, we've been doing this a long time. Everybody's fear was that we were going to use this to select traits and we just, number one, don't have the technology to do that, nor the desire. We're about helping babies be born that are healthy and that's really what this technology is. There are lots of fears about how it is used and potentially misused. But, we're using it to help people have healthy, good outcomes.

    DR. MIKE: I just find gene therapy, to me, is just a fascinating field and the concept is pretty straightforward. Replacing a bad gene with a good gene. I know we're able to replicate that and do that in certain laboratory settings and stuff. So, I think that that is an exciting field and I'm glad to see that you're on top of that.

    Let's move the conversation. We have maybe a couple minutes left. Let's move the conversation over, though, to, I think, something's that's more relevant for most of my listeners right now: the stress in our lives. Here you have maybe a couple trying to conceive, but the lives that we're living today; I mean, this constant 24-hour information cycle, this "go, go, go" attitude in this country. What is that doing to us and what are some of the things you can tell a couple to de-stress a little bit so they can conceive?

    DR GRIFO: Well, you know, it's very clear that the fight or flight response which we're all exposed to multiple times a day has an impact on ovulation and also on the environment for an embryo to develop. While it's not contraception, per se, it's not an absolute reason not to get pregnant, but what it can do is lower your chances. There are studies that suggest that you manage your stress well—not take it away, because no one can, but manage it—that you might get better outcomes. But, on top of that, the real problem is, when you're an infertility patient, that alone is a huge stress and, you know, on top of that, you have the pressure of not being stressed when you're probably going through one of the most stressful things in your life. So, just managing it to help you get through it is more important than whether it has an effect on outcomes.

    So, there are lots of things that one can do to manage their stress and make it better. Some of those are simple things. Things you do by yourself. You figure out on your own. You know, things like acupuncture can work for some, if they find it relaxing and helpful; meditation; yoga. Just taking yourself out of the environment. Just breathing and managing and recognizing your stress and trying to minimize your exposure to it can have an impact. So, don't stress about stress. You're going to be stressed going through fertility treatment. You can't take it away, but manage it.

    DR. MIKE: So, let me shift gears here. When should a couple go and see a specialist like yourself? At what point do they say, "Okay. Something's not right here."

    DR GRIFO: Infertility is defined as a year of trying and not getting pregnant. But if you're under 30, you could wait that long unless it's bothering you. If it's bothering you, you should get a workup because it's oftentimes a simple correction or a simple thing that we find that we can fix that makes a difference. Certainly, women over 30, and especially over 35, should not wait a year to come see a doctor.

    They should, with 3-6 months of trying, be in getting evaluated, getting tested and making sure there are no obstacles. Treatment starts with simple stuff that's not that involved, not that invasive, not that expensive and often very efficient. Then, ultimately, there are much more sophisticated, technology driven, but highly efficient, techniques like in vitro fertilization as well as in vitro fertilization with genetic testing of embryos, which turns out to be one of the biggest problems. Most people are making embryos that are abnormal. You've got to find the one good one.

    DR. MIKE: So, when a couple needs to go see someone like you, are insurances covering visits to a specialist like yourself?
    D
    R GRIFO: In our area, in New York, they cover the diagnosis and they may not cover treatment, although more and more, they're covering treatment, but diagnostic aspects of this generally are covered by insurance. But you have to check and see your policy. Every policy is different.

    DR. MIKE: Alright. Dr. Grifo, we're going to have to leave it there. The website, if you want to learn more about what Dr. Grifo is doing, it's JamieGrifoMD.com.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Is Your Diet Ruining Your Ability to Conceive?

Is Your Diet Ruining Your Ability to Conceive?
You may not realize that the food you put in your mouth can affect your ability to conceive.

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 2
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht4b.mp3
  • Featured Speaker Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD
  • Book Title The Whole Life Fertility Plan: Understanding What Affects Your Fertility To Help You Get Pregnant When You Want To
  • Guest Website Jamie Grifo
  • Guest Bio Jaime Grifo Jamie Grifo, MD, PhD, is Program Director of the New York University (NYU) Fertility Center. He is also Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the NYU Langone Medical Center.

    As Co-Directorof the NYU Egg Freezing Division, his team has created one of the largest egg preservation programs and is currently developing a new generation of embryo screening. Dr. Grifo's research in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis/screening (PGD/PGS) led to the delivery of the first healthy baby in the U.S. using the embryo biopsy procedure he developed.

    He has appeared on CBS This Morning, NBC's Today Show, Good Morning America, Oprah and has been interviewed and featured in countless print media outlets including the New Yorker, New York Times, Newsweek, and Wall Street Journal.
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 2, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here's author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD, with Healthy Talk.

    DR MIKE: So, you know, maybe you're trying to conceive and maybe having some issues. So, I wanted to bring on a guest who could talk a little bit about what our diet and maybe lifestyle can do to hamper or help us to have a baby.

    His name is Dr. Jamie Grifo. He's a medical doctor and program Director of the New York University Fertility Center. He's the Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Medical Center. Dr. Grifo's research led to the delivery of the first healthy baby in the U.S. using the embryo biopsy procedure he developed. He has been on many media outlets: CBS This Morning; NBC's Today Show; Good Morning, America; Oprah. He's written for The New Yorker; The New York Times. He's really been all over with his research and it's an honor to have Dr. Grifo on the show. He's also co-author of The Whole Life Fertility Plan. Dr. Grifo, welcome to Healthy Talk

    DR GRIFO: Thank you, so much. Good morning.

    DR MIKE: So, let's get right into this. Maybe I should just start off with, "So, how does our diet and lifestyle affect conception?"

    DR GRIFO: Well, first of all, a bad diet is not contraception, but it does have an impact on the efficiency of a very complicated system and from the female perspective, the production of an egg and an environment for an egg to develop into an embryo and grow into baby is dependent on nutrients and if they're missing or absent or diminished, they can have effects on development. So, a good, healthy lifestyle is important. If you have a diet that's lacking in fat, that's not a good thing. This idea that low fat is a good idea is wrong. There's evidence that protein is very important for embryo development and with a diet deficient in protein, embryo development is compromised and, thus, pregnancy rates are as well. It's kind of common sense. There's not a whole lot to it. A balanced diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of protein and a good 30% of your calories from fat, 25% of your calories from protein and just good, healthy nutritious food and then you've done everything you can do.

    DR MIKE: Well, Dr. Grifo, it might...I mean to us, it's easy. It makes sense, but the Standard American Diet is not very balanced and not healthy and I think that this is an important topic. I think more people need to realize that maybe we need to start at the basics, right?

    DR GRIFO: Oh, absolutely. No, it's really critical, but whole, healthy, natural foods can solve a lot of problems and processed foods just aren't going to give you the nutrients you need.

    DR MIKE: Yes. Dr. Grifo, there was a recent report, and I want to say I saw it on CNN maybe a couple of nights ago, that 60% of our calories are coming from processed foods now.

    DR GRIFO: Yes. That's just not optimal.

    DR MIKE: That's pretty bad.

    DR GRIFO: You know, they lack the nutrients that Mother Nature puts in there. Anything that you pluck out of the ground is going to have lots of healthy stuff in it. Stuff we don't even know about—we think we understand everything there is to know about nutrition. We don't. There are lots of micronutrients and things we just have yet to learn about and they must impact our health.

    DR MIKE: Yes. Good point. So, this question came up from a listener awhile back and I really didn't know how to answer it, so I thought since I was having you on, I'd let you answer this. The question was:

    "Should I be worried about my lipstick if I'm trying to get pregnant?" Why is she even bringing that question up?

    DR GRIFO: Yes. Because there's lead actually in some of these lipsticks and it's not published on the side of the bottle how much is there and then, does it get absorbed and does it affect your eggs and the developing embryo? No one knows, but it's not an experiment we're ever going to do to try and find out. It can't be good putting lead on your lips and then swallowing it. You know, you have to be careful about the kind of lipstick that you use and actually micromanage those facts. A lot of products that we use every day...

    DR MIKE: Oh, so this listener is pretty in to it.

    DR GRIFO: Excuse me?

    DR MIKE: Yes, so this listener was actually pretty on top of things.

    DR GRIFO: She probably read our book because in our book there's a segment about that—about some of the lipsticks that do have lead in them and no one knows. So, do your homework.

    DR MIKE: So, the diet's important. We know that the fresh fruit is important. The chemicals in our environment. I think in your book, The Whole Life Fertility Plan, you also wrote about plastics. What's the issue there?

    DR GRIFO: Well, there is some evidence that BPA's interfere with embryo development and also affect fertility and are associated with higher miscarriage rates. The problem with a lot of these studies is they're all statistical studies and they don't show a direct cause and effect. There are just so many unanswered questions that you have to be careful about what you expose yourself to and the more natural the product, the less likely it is to be of harm. Maybe you shouldn't microwave your things in plastic and maybe you should just make fresh food out of the garden or out of the garden part of your store and just eat good, healthy, fresh food. There are all these concerns and there is data supporting them and there are not the answers that we would all love to have that are definitive. So, you just have to use common sense and be smart about your choices.

    DR MIKE: So, let's shift the question, though, to age, then, at this point. So, we're going to eat cleaner. We know that. Like we said, some of the basics, but those basics are important. Watch the chemicals and not just in lipstick, but even in the processed foods, right? Everyday household products, air fresheners. All that kind of stuff. What about the age of a woman or the age of a man? I mean, how old is too old, I guess?

    DR GRIFO: Yes. That's a great question and Mother Nature's been very unkind in her system design. Men have germ cells in their testicle that every 90 days, they make a fresh sperm population and when those sperm are created and go through myosis, 99.9% of them are chromosomally normal. Women's eggs, however, are different. A woman has all the eggs she's ever going to have as a fetus, when she's 20 weeks in her mother's womb and that's about 7 million. She's born with 1-2 million, gets to puberty, has 600,000 and then every month, selects 500 of those eggs to ovulate one good one, which most of the time isn't good.

    As she gets older and those eggs go through myosis at the time of ovulation and fertilization, so when a 40 year old ovulates, you've got 100 women pregnant, one of them has Down's syndrome whereas at 25, you've got 12,050 women pregnant and 1 of them has Down's syndrome. So, age is a big factor in female fertility and the decline of female fertility and the increased risk for a baby with a genetic abnormality—not a congenital abnormality. Also, miscarriage rates are higher and the fertility declines 50% from age 30-40 and every 2 years after 40. Pretty much, over the age of 44, most women having babies are not telling you it's from an egg donor because eggs at that age just don't make babies very efficiently.

    So, women have to know these facts in terms of planning their fertile life. Not that you can plan your fertile life. You can't plan the guy, but the longer you wait, the more likely you are to have to end up seeing somebody like me and, as you said earlier, prevention is the best thing. So, know your facts. Do your homework and try and make good decisions.

    DR MIKE: Yes. We'll talk a little bit about that prevention aspect during the break. Just to listeners know, Dr. Grifo was really interested in talking about some of that genetic testing he can do. We'll get into that maybe in the next segment. I wanted to, lastly, wrap this up with, you had another part in your book that I thought was interesting about acupuncture. Is that good or does that help?

    DR GRIFO: So, stress is not--again, it's not contraception, but a highly stressed individual who's in that fight or flight response doesn't ovulate efficiently and the quality of the environment and egg for an embryo to develop is minimized. So, managing your stress is very important while going through fertility treatment.
    Fertility treatment alone is incredibly stressful. Stress isn't a cause of infertility, but managing it can help the outcome.

    DR MIKE: Dr. Grifo, let's hold that thought because I want to get into more about stress and what stress management can do for conception and we'll talk, also, about some genetic testing as well.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stick around.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Is Genetic Testing All Hype?

Is Genetic Testing All Hype?
If you were to get a genetic test, what are its limitations?

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 1
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht4a.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 2, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on RadioMD. Here's author, blogger, lecturer and national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith, MD, with Healthy Talk.

    DR MIKE: Is genetic testing all hype? Well, let me give you a simple answer. No. Absolutely not. No way. It's really, really cool and I'm excited about the potential that genetic testing has, specifically in disease prevention. But, I do think we need to make sure there's no confusion here. I'm not talking about gene therapy. That's different. As a matter of fact, I had a couple friends of mine who were listening to President Obama's last State of the Union address and he apparently talked about the exciting field of gene therapy, genomics, and he wants to put more money into that. I think that's great. As a matter of fact, I have the quote here. This is he said:

    "I want the country that eliminated polio and mapped the human genome to lead a new era of medicine. In some patients cystic fibrosis, this approach has reversed disease once thought unstoppable," adding that, "This kind of personalized medicine could lead to cures for cancer and diabetes."

    So, what he's really referring to there is something called "gene therapy" where you identify a mutated gene in somebody with cystic fibrosis. That's tough to say. Say that three times real fast. You replace the bad gene with a good one. It's gene therapy. We're making some headway there, but my personal opinion is that's still well into the future. At least, bringing gene therapy into everyday practice is well into the future. But, that's awesome. We need to put some more money behind it. Thank you, President Obama. I think that's a great idea and I'd love to see more research.

    But, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about genetic testing—what are called "genome wide association studies". It's different because what we're doing with genome wide association studies, what we're calling "genetic testing" is looking at a healthy person, scanning their DNA and identifying small little changes in genes that might mean developing a disease later. That kind of information is powerful because what I can do now is create a personalized program—a preventative program for that person to decrease the risk of developing that disease that their genes say they might be prone to getting. That's genetic testing. It's powerful because we all know that if we want to save money; if we want to save lives, the best way to do that is not to get disease in the first place. So, gene therapy is awesome. I want President Obama to really do what he said here in the State of the Union address. I want to see more money looking at gene therapy, but we can already do a lot with genetic testing in what are called "genome wide association studies" in disease prevention, which is really where the power lies in health and longevity.

    So, what I want to present to you are some slides that I did for a conference out in New Jersey called The Dr. Magaziner Conference. Dr. Magaziner is, you might call him one of the original practitioners, one of the "fathers", if you will, of integrative medicine. He does a yearly conference out there in New Jersey. I was invited. Suzanne Somers was there this past year. I presented a lecture on personalized medicine and it kind of went with my book, The Supplement Pyramid about building personalized nutritional medicine. In this lecture, I talked towards the end about genetic testing and the power it can do in helping us to prevent disease.

    So, what is a genome wide association study? This is the whole basis of genetic testing. What you do is, you take people that have been diagnosed, without a doubt, with something like depression and you get maybe 1000 of them. The more the better. Ten thousand. So, 10,000 (I'm just making these numbers up) with major depression disorder. Absolutely diagnosed. There are no if, ands or buts about it. These people have major depression. You scan their genome and what you look for are common small changes to their genes. These are called "single nucleotide polymorphisms".

    So, you take all 10,000 people, you draw their blood, you scan all these genomes and you find where there are these genetic changes that are common to all of these people with major depression. Let's say you find 10 genes that have three or four small changes in them and 90% of the people with major depression have those same changes. That's a genome wide association, see? So, now what you can do, if you're interested, you can check your own genome. Get your own blood drawn and check your genome and see if you have some of those same changes. If you do, that might be an indication that you are at risk for major depression. If your genes and those small changes match, those changes that people with major depression have, maybe that's an indication that you need to go on a depression prevention protocol. That's the power of genetic testing. It's really not that hard. Blood is probably the best way to do it, but you can do saliva. They do a Q-tip and just go around your mouth. What you're going to do is collect your blood or saliva. You're then going to map out your genome looking for certain small, little changes that have already been noted in certain diseases. As a matter of fact, there's a website. The website is genome.gov/gwastudies. That stands for "genome wide association studies". That's genome.gov/gwastudies. What you'll find on that site are all the different, small little genetic changes they have found with, I think, about 200 common diseases. So, you, literally, can go in there and compare your genes with this database and see if you have any of these changes. The government has set up this really cool page on this site where there's a search bar and you can put in "depression", for instance. You'll see the results, then, of all the different small, genetic changes that are associated with major depression and you can just see if you have those changes based on your own genome and your own results.

    Again, why is this so interesting to me? Why is this so powerful? Well, because if I know that kind of information, now I can really personalize my approach in helping you in preventing depression. I can do the same thing with diabetes. I can do the same with age-related mild cognitive dysfunction. I can do the same thing with liver disease and kidney disease. I mean, there's a whole host of genome wide association studies that we've already done. As a matter of fact, the very first one was done with macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in people over 60, or 65.

    I mean, I could test your blood against that and say, "Oh, yes. You have those same changes. People that have macular degeneration have these changes and, guess what? You kind of match those. We need to put you on a macular degeneration prevention protocol." Do you see the power in that? That's what medicine is about. If I can prevent you from getting ill, man! That's really what my job is.

    If you don't get ill, I mean, that's how we're going to save money. That's how we're really going to impact health and longevity. So, genetic testing is awesome. It's not all hype. It is stepping up what it should be: the most powerful prevention tool that we're soon going to have and, hopefully, be using in everyday practice. Right? Part of your daily routine should be to start checking your genome, "Hey, you've got the genes for cognitive dysfunction. We need to protect you from that." That's the power of genetic testing.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Ask Dr. Mike: Supplements for Treating Cancer & Functional Food Source Benefits

Ask Dr. Mike: Supplements for Treating Cancer & Functional Food Source Benefits
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/1514ht3e.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike. Do you have a question about your health? Dr. Mike can answer your questions. Just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

    DR MIKE: Alright. So, my producer, Sheldon Baker, just emailed me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He said, "Are you sure you want to tell people that they can tell you when you'll read the questions?" He's always looking out for me. Hey, by the way, you can email me questions right now. Maybe I'll get to it right now. Who knows?

    But, again, if you want your question read at specific time, I'll do my best. I can't guarantee anything. Sheldon, I said that. I can't guarantee anything. I'll try my best. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

    Here's the next question: "What are the best supplements for treating cancer?"

    This is awesome because I just got finished speaking with Dr. V about healing breast cancer naturally, so I think the best way to answer this is just to say, "Go to PubMed." No, I'm just kidding. By the way, you should go to PubMed.com. Or. is it PubMed.gov? I forget. Just put PubMed in Google. You'll find it. I go there all the time. It's where I check references. It's where I look for things. Sometimes when I just want ideas about something. I'll go to PubMed. I'll search grape seed extract and see what's going on and see what's been published recently about it. It's awesome. It's wonderful. It's amazing. But, I think the best way to answer this, this could be a whole hour long show. I could do a whole seminar—a weekend seminar on this—but if you just think about how a cancer cell forms and what it has to do to spread, it kind of gives you some idea of how I'm going to present this information.

    There are basically four stages—I think that's a better way to say it than steps—four stages of cancer spread. The first thing is, Stage I. The cancer has to develop. That's called "carcinogenesis". The healthy cell has to become a cancer cell, right? That's the first thing. Once that happens, that cancer cell has to do things like avoid the immune system. It has to turn off programmed cell death which is called "apoptosis". More importantly, it needs to get together with other cancer cells. That's known as "cancer cell aggregation". That's Stage II.

    So, you have carcinogenesis—the cause. Then, you have cancer cells getting together, hanging out together, that's called aggregation. Now, once they've aggregated together and they start forming more of a solid mass, in order to keep that mass alive, they need to grow blood vessels. That's Stage III. That's called "angiogenesis". Once that's happened, that globe, that glob of cancer cells with a bunch of vessels around it, it now needs to get out of where it's at, into the bloodstream and travel. That's called "metastatic spread" or metastasis. So, that's the four basic stages: initiation, aggregation, angiogenesis and spread. There are research-supported nutrients that can help with all three of those stages. So, the first one, carcinogenesis. Cruciferous veggie extract--a nice combination of maybe broccoli, kale, cauliflower. That's usually the combination. Sometimes you'll get these cruciferous vegetable extracts that they've added in some additional DIM, Diindolylmethane indole-3-carbinol, IC3.

    Great stuff. Tons of research support with cruciferous vegetables in preventing cancer. Hey, don't forget about a multivitamin. In preventing carcinogenesis, in preventing initiation, multivitamins, the basic vitamins and minerals have been shown to be very powerful. As a matter of fact, there was a study that showed a 31% decrease in cancer incidence in men—it was focused on men—in a study called Supplementation and Vitamins and Minerals and Antioxidants. It was published, maybe 2 years ago. Another one looking at men, it was called The Physician Health Study II, also showed that a multivitamin over a 11-year period reduced cancer risk. So, even the basics, right? Multivitamin, cruciferous veggies. Awesome.

    Now, what about Stage II, aggregation? Because, once again, remember once the cancer cells form, now it has to stick together, it has to hang out with other cancer cells, right? It can't really survive by itself. It has to stick together. It has to aggregate. Curcumin has been shown to decrease cancer cell aggregation. Certain mushroom extracts like reishi. I'm literally doing this off my head. There are tons more that I'm absolutely forgetting about. But, curcumin, reishi. They are what comes to mind.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Ask Dr. Mike: Protandim Product Information & How Important Is Sleep for Your Workout?

Ask Dr. Mike: Protandim Product Information & How Important Is Sleep for Your Workout?
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/1514ht3d.mp3
  • Organization Life Extension
  • Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    It's time for you to be a part of the show. Email or call with questions for Dr. Mike now. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call: 877-711-5211. What are you waiting for? The doctor is in.

    DR MIKE: So, my first question is from Brenda Anderson. She even asked when I would read this question on air and I told her I would do it today. You can do that when you send your email question to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

    I want you to listen every day live, but we offer all of my shows on demand at RadioMD. I know that you can't make it live every day, but if you submit a question and you definitely want to hear it read on air, tell me when you would like for me to do it. Now, I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try my best. Or, we'll work together like I did with Brenda and come up with a time to read it on air.

    Anyway, let me get on with Brenda's question.
    "Dr. Smith: Thank you for your radio show. It's informative." I appreciate that. "I can listen to the podcast." That's awesome.

    " What can you tell me about the antioxidant product called protandim? I'm currently considering purchasing this product as it is supposed to specifically reduce oxidative stress. I don't like that it's one of those pyramid marketing programs, so I want to know if the product is all it is supposed to be. I have a strong family history of cardiovascular disease." That's an important point to know.

    "I am 58 and very healthy thus far, so have considered using this product to help with prevention. After doing my own search on PubMed about it, there seems to be a large amount of evidence-based research supporting some of the products ingredients in mice, so I'm confused. What do you know about it and do you recommend it for general health or are there other products that you recommend? Please let me know if and when you will air my question."

    I told her when I would do this. There you go. You can tell me when you would like me to read your question.

    So, I've had several questions on protandim throughout my career. At least in the last, I don't know, three or four years and the product, to be honest with you, doesn't impress me that much so I always forget what's in it and I have to go look it up. Nothing against it. Just every time I look at the ingredients I think, "Well, okay, that's nothing special," because it's not. I know it can be expensive, I think? I didn't really look at the cost. So, to answer the question, as a collection of antioxidants, it's a good product. It has milk thistle, bacopa, ashwagandha, green tea, turmeric. So, yes. Now, I think the doses are a little low and the turmeric that they're using is not the best kind. The best kind of turmeric is called BCM95 and they're not using that in the product, so they're not even using the best curcumin and it's only 75mg, significantly under dosed. Significantly. So, yes. So, it has the right stuff in it, right? It has good stuff, I just think you could probably just do some of these separately.

    Brenda, you were specifically asking about your heart disease risk, right? You say, "I have a strong family history of cardiovascular disease," so all of these antioxidants are good in the product, but I think there are other ones you're missing. I mean, are you doing CoQ10? Are you taking L-carnitine? Are you getting enough vitamin C? Like maybe 1000mg, 2000mg of vitamin C every day. Taurine, the amino acid, about a gram a day. What about pomegranate? I mean, you give me history of at least a family history of cardiovascular disease, that's what I'm going to focus on for you. That's personalizing your approach. Although protandim might just be a nice collection of under dosed, in my opinion, antioxidants, it might be an okay product. But, for you specifically, you mentioned cardiovascular disease. So, I think there are other products you might consider. At least pomegranate and that's not one of the ingredients.

    So, listen, it's protandim. Forget the fact that it's multilevel marketing. Whatever. It's a collection of five antioxidants. They're good antioxidants. You've got liver support in there. You have anti-inflammatory support in there. You have oxidative support in there. So, I mean, it's good. It has 5 good products, I personally think they're under dosed and at least one of them is the wrong form. It's the wrong extract. BCM95 for curcumin. It's not in there. So, I think there is better. Nothing against protandim. Sorry. I'll probably get some emails. That's okay. We agree to disagree.

    So, again, let me reiterate for you, Brenda, it's critical for you that you focus on the heart and at least get some pomegranate in there. The CoQ10, the carnitine, those would be probably better for you outside of the basics, a multivitamin, Omega 3 oils, probiotics. Okay. Alright. So, that's my opinion about protandim.

    Alright. Let's go on. This is a question that came to me from Beth McGraham.

    "Hi, Dr. Mike. First I wanted to say, I love your show." Thank you.

    "I've learned so much from listening." Awesome.

    "I also try to work out in the morning because after a long day at work, and getting things done around my house, I just feel so tired."

    Okay, so Beth works out in the morning because she doesn't have energy at the end of the day. That's the gist of that.

    "But I should also mention I have a really hard time falling asleep and staying asleep throughout the night. I don't feel like I get enough get enough sleep by the time my alarm goes off at 5:30 AM."

    Assuming she's getting up earlier to go work out. "So, I was wondering if it was better to get extra sleep or make myself get out of bed?"

    So, let's make sure, Beth, that I'm reading this correctly. You work out in the morning because you don't have energy in the afternoon, so you get up a little extra early to do that, but you don't feel like you're getting enough sleep. It doesn't sound like this regimen is working well for you. There's nothing wrong with playing around with your exercise regimen, your daily regimen, to try to find what's going to work best. I agree with you, I think you've got to have sleep. As a matter of fact, if you don't sleep well and you're working out, your recovery is going to be diminished. You're not going to build the muscle like you could. You're not going to produce the growth hormone like you need to after exercise.

    So, I think I'm going to answer this by saying I want you to get more sleep. Maybe you need to readjust the entire process here. How about, let's focus on the sleep and shift the workout to the afternoon. Now, I know you tell me that you're low in energy in the afternoon. I get that. Maybe I can make some suggestions there. Maybe in the afternoon, for a snack, try a high protein snack. No sugars, no caffeine. That's just going to crash you, right? Water and a high protein/moderate fat snack like almonds. Perfect. Almonds is a great combination of protein and fat. About 150 calories per ounce, per handful or so. That would be good. That might give you some energy. You can also do a supplement. There's a supplement that combines fermented ginseng and cordyceps. I don't have time to go into what cordyceps are, but that combination, you can find it at many companies. It's kind of the replacement of and afternoon coffee. The fermented ginseng and the cordyceps help your mitochondria to product ATP, so you combine that with protein and fat, you might have enough energy to do your workout.

    Also, remember, too, even if you're feeling tired, if you start to work out, that will give you energy as well. So, I think you should sleep. I think you should take that workout, move it to the afternoon and get your sleep. Melatonin, lemon balm, valerian root, gaba, there are all sorts of choices there. Magnesium to help you sleep. Get your sleep. Try the protein and fat snack in the afternoon with the fermented ginseng and cordyceps product and work out in the afternoon. Give it a try. See how it works. Don't try it for 2 days and give up. Be consistent. Give it a good 2, 3, 4 weeks and see how you feel, Beth. I hope that helps.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Internal Notes NO GUEST
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Therapeutic Plants for Healthy Breasts

Therapeutic Plants for Healthy Breasts
Are there specific nutrients in plants that can prevent breast cancer?

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 3
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht3c.mp3
  • Featured Speaker Véronique Desaulniers, DC
  • Book Title Heal Breast Cancer Naturally
  • Guest Website Breast Cancer Conqueror
  • Guest Bio Verpnique DesaulniersDr. Véronique Desaulniers, better known as "Dr. V," has maintained successful practices in the Wellness Field since 1979.

    Because of her passion for health and wellness, Dr. V undertook extensive studies in various fields of Energy Medicine. Specializing in Chiropractic, Bio-Energetics, Meridian Stress Analysis, Homeopathy, and Digital Thermography, Dr. V brings a unique approach to Health and Wellness. After 30 years in active practice, she decided to "retire" and devote her time sharing her personal, non-toxic healing journey with Breast Cancer.

    Her years of experience and research have culminated as The 7 Essentials ™, a step-by-step coaching program.

    Dr. V is a #1 best-selling author and has a #1 Best Selling book on Amazon, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally. Her website and her personal healing journey have touched
    the lives of thousands of women around the globe.
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Living longer and staying healthier. It's Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. Here's your host, Dr. Mike:

    DR MIKE: I'm here with Dr. V. She's been in the wellness field since 1979. She has an interesting step-by-step coaching program called "The Seven Essentials". She wrote a wonderful book called, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally. Dr. V, welcome to Healthy Talk.

    DR V: Thank you so much, Dr. Mike.

    DR MIKE: So, we were finishing up the list of tests that are available for early detection. I want to mention something quickly. Dr. V, my training is in radiology. That's my specialty and when I was a radiologist--this was back when I was a resident. This was back in the late 90's, early 2000, MRI was becoming big for breast cancer detection. There were even thoughts that it would replace mammogram. Obviously, that hasn't happened, but I just want my listeners to know that's another option as well. It's a non-ionized radiation option for people, MRI. It's been shown to be very sensitive for finding breast cancers.

    Now, all of those other things you mentioned, though, is there a place my listeners can go to learn about some of those early detection tests?

    DR V: Yes. You can go to my website, BreastCancersConquerors.com. Just go to "shop" and then go to "Essential Number 7 – Early Detection" and you'll see a list of early tests you can choose from.

    DR MIKE: So, Dr. V, with your patients, what are some of the nutrients you use when it comes to preventing breast cancer in your own practice?

    DR V: There are so many things you can do. One of the simplest things is making sure that your vitamin D levels are at optimal range, between 80-100 in mg/ml. Don't guess when it comes to your health. Get your blood tests done. So, vitamin D can slash your breast cancer risk up to 83% according to a most recent Canadian study. Iodine is extremely important. We know that there's a correlation between a low thyroid and low iodine and breast cancer. Women that are on thyroid medication have had twice the likelihood of developing breast cancer than those who don't. So, iodine is extremely important. Looking at cruciferous vegetables, for example. Very, very important because they're great detoxifiers and they help to metabolize and methylate that estrogen. A supplement called (?diamonite) C3 which has the extract from the cruciferous vegetables to help metabolize that estrogen. Healthy oils. Olive oils, flax oils, fish oils, all those things are so important. Matcha green tea, which has 100 times more of the EGCGs then regular green tea and the list goes on and on.

    DR MIKE: Yes. Yes. By the way, listeners, everything that Dr. V just listed, again, going back to the conventional research, they're all well-supported. We're not making this stuff up. You can go on PubMed. You can find all kinds of studies looking at breast cancer prevention, treatment, decreasing risk, mortality with all those nutrients that you mentioned.

    So, I've got your book here, Dr. V. Heal Breast Cancer: Seven Essential Steps to Beating Breast Cancer. So, I'm going to encourage my listeners to go check it out. It's on your website, right? BreastCancerConqueror.com. I'm sure they can get it there.

    DR V: It is and it's on Amazon.com as well. Yes.

    DR MIKE: So, I don't want to go through the Seven Essential Steps. I want my listeners to check it out for themselves, but the chapter that I really liked was about therapeutic plants. I'm actually on page 166 and you talk about you used a combination of 4 main categories of therapeutic plants. You call them tumor terminators, body builders, nourishing nutrients and favorite foods. So, why don't you just share with us what plants fall under each one of those categories starting with the tumor terminators?

    DR V: Okay. I do want to mention that I do appreciate your mentioning PubMed because a lot of people, in order to have the confidence to know how powerful nutrition and how powerful natural medicine is, they need to know that there is science behind it which is why there are over 500 published studies that back up what we're talking about here. So, for example, bloodroot. Bloodroot is an herb that has a phytochemical in it called "sanguinare". Sanguinare is like herbal chemotherapy. It literally kills cancer cells without affecting your heathy cells. There are things like apricot seeds, for example, that contain specific enzymes and B17 that helps to break down the cancer cells and weaken them.

    DR MIKE: Did you say apricot seeds? Is that what you just said?

    DR V: Apricot seeds.

    DR MIKE: Wow. I've never heard...I learn all the time, Dr. V. I really do. I mean, of course, we should learn every day, shouldn't we? There's so much information out there. That's a new one for me.

    DR V: Yes. Apricot seeds are very high in B17. There's a lot of research that shows that it can inhibit a lot of cancer cells and stops the threat of tumors. It can be very preventative. So, for every 10 pounds of body weight, for prevention, you should eat at last 1 apricot kernel per day. So, if you weigh 120 pounds, eat 12 per day. Increase if you're on a healing journey with cancer. Something as simple as broccoli sprouts. Now, broccoli sprouts is one of my favorites because it has a phytochemical in it called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has over 60 research articles specifically on its effect on cancer. What it does, basically, is it inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. It prevents breast cancer stem cell formation which is extremely important in prevention and future growth. It causes cancer cells to die. It suppresses the metastasis and growth of cancer. Curcumin is another powerful one. There are over 200 specific studies on breast cancer alone with curcumin.

    DR MIKE: Yes. Lots.

    DR V: And, I know that...

    DR MIKE: That's great. Now, those are the tumor terminators and I know you could go on there are so many more. What about boosting your immune system? The body builders. What do you like to use there?

    DR V: Well, something that is very important are medicinal mushrooms. Things that contain the betaglucans, for example, the medicinal mushroom chaga which is extremely powerful. You can drink it as a tea. You can take it as capsule. It's been used for many, many years as an anti-cancer agent. There are herbs that are in acai tea like burdock root and sheep's sorrel, turkey rhubarb root also. Those all have anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. There are all kinds of herbal support that you can use. Things like IP6. Making sure that your probiotics and your gut is healthy. Again, the nutrients like the DIM and I3C, glutathione. Flax seed—something as simple as flax seed. There was a study done in University of Toronto where they measured cancer markers over 30 days. They gave women 5 teaspoons—these women had breast cancer—they gave them 5 teaspoons of ground flax seed. After 30 days, their markers went down from 30-73% just by adding the ground flax seed. So, the list goes on and on.

    DR MIKE: That's amazing. Yes. Listen, it's so easy to use in cooking and salads. It's easy to add to just about anything, isn't it? It tastes good. It does. It has great research support behind it.

    What about some of your favorite foods real quickly? We've got about a minute or so left. It says here, "Favorite foods that weaken cancer." What do you like to do there?

    DR V: Same thing. We go back to the flax seeds because they're plant estrogens. They don't act like estrogen in the body, but they actually have a very protective effect. We talked about (inaudible), magnesium, extremely important, that you can get through foods but also supplementing with that because lack of magnesium is actually pro-carcinogenic. So, make sure that your magnesium levels are high. Omega 3 fatty acids are extremely important in bringing down your breast cancer risk and bringing down the inflammatory factors, vitamin C, selenium, zinc. I mean, zinc is responsible for over 300 enzymatic functions that affect your immune system. So, we can keep going.

    DR MIKE: That was perfect, Dr. V. It was perfect. We only have about 20 seconds left anyway. So, her name is

    Dr. V. Go ahead and say your full name real quick.

    DR V: Véronique Desaulniers.

    DR MIKE: I love it. Heal breast cancer naturally. Her website is BreastCancerConqueror.com.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Host Mike Smith, MD

Healing Breast Cancer Naturally

Healing Breast Cancer Naturally
If a woman has breast cancer and wants to heal her body with less toxic methods, what are some of her choices?

Additional Info

  • Segment Number 2
  • Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht3b.mp3
  • Featured Speaker Véronique Desaulniers, DC
  • Book Title Heal Breast Cancer Naturally
  • Guest Website Breast Cancer Conqueror
  • Guest Bio Verpnique DesaulniersDr. Véronique Desaulniers, better known as "Dr. V," has maintained successful practices in the Wellness Field since 1979.

    Because of her passion for health and wellness, Dr. V undertook extensive studies in various fields of Energy Medicine. Specializing in Chiropractic, Bio-Energetics, Meridian Stress Analysis, Homeopathy, and Digital Thermography, Dr. V brings a unique approach to Health and Wellness. After 30 years in active practice, she decided to "retire" and devote her time sharing her personal, non-toxic healing journey with Breast Cancer.

    Her years of experience and research have culminated as The 7 Essentials ™, a step-by-step coaching program.

    Dr. V is a #1 best-selling author and has a #1 Best Selling book on Amazon, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally. Her website and her personal healing journey have touched
    the lives of thousands of women around the globe.
  • Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
    Host: Michael Smith, MD

    Healthy Talk with Dr. Michael Smith, MD. And now, here's the country doctor with the city education, Dr. Mike:

    DR MIKE: Alright. We're going to talk about healing breast cancer naturally. It's a fact. I mean, it's a research supported fact that there are plant-based nutrients and antioxidants and polyphenols and essential oils that can play a role in helping us to prevent, treat and cure cancer. I can go to PubMed and search this. The reason I'm starting off this way is, I have a bunch of doctor friends, conventional medical doctors. They're always interested in what I'm doing and I always tell them what my show is going to be about and the minute I talk about cancer and treating it naturally, they kind of look at me funny. It's just fact. You can just go to PubMed. Put in curcumin. Put in Omega 3s. Put in different mushrooms. It's there. So, this a very possible thing to heal breast cancer naturally.

    So, I'm going to get off of my soapbox because I have an expert. Her name is Dr. V. Now, she has a full name. I can't pronounce it, so I'm calling her "Dr. V". She's maintained a successful practice in wellness since 1979. I was just a kid in southern California running around. After 30 years in active practice, she decided to "retire" and devote her time to sharing her personal non-toxic healing journey with breast cancer. Her years of experience and research have culminated as the 7 essentials, a step-by-step coaching program. She is a best-selling author and her current book is Heal Breast Cancer Naturally.

    Dr. V, welcome to Healthy Talk.

    DR V: Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to share my message of hope with your audience.

    DR MIKE: So, Dr. V, we spoke before the segment started and I told you I was going to let you say your full name because I don't want to butcher it, so go ahead.

    DR V: Alright. So, my real name is Véronique Desaulniers. I'm French-Canadian and my first patient in Georgia nicknamed me "Dr. V" because she couldn't pronounce my name and that name has stuck ever since.

    DR MIKE: So, I'm not the only one, right? Dr. V. It's easy. I like it. But, what a beautiful name, by the way.

    DR V: Thank you.

    DR MIKE: Just reading your bio, it says here that you just wanted to share your...I'm just reading it again, your own personal non-toxic healing journey with breast cancer. So, tell us about your journey. Tell us about what's gone on in your life that led you to focus on what you're doing right now.

    DR V: Well, it was an interesting journey. I'm a chiropractor by profession and in 1983, my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that was really one of those lightbulb moments because the doctors gave him no hope and, basically, sent him home to die, which he did in 6 weeks, but during that timeframe, I just felt the anguish of frustration with these doctors, so I took it upon myself to do some research. Back then, no internet. So, I went to the library and started reading books. Started calling cancer clinics which, back then, were few
    and far between.

    DR MIKE: Right.

    DR V: But, I came to realize that there was something that could be done to reverse cancer. Unfortunately, for my father, it was too late, but I started applying these principles and these laws of nature in my practice and I began to see amazing results. Things like MS and autoimmune disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, all these things were reversing simply because people were applying the laws of nature and taking responsibility for their health. So, things were rocking along. I had a very successful practice and then, getting ready for work one morning, jumped in the shower in 2004 and I felt that fateful lump in my left breast.

    DR MIKE: Oh, wow.

    DR V: And, I knew just instinctually that it was not a healthy cyst. So, long story short, I applied what I was teaching my patients and, you know, I kept asking myself as I was going through that journey, "Why would somebody like me develop cancer?" I mean, I ate organic before organic was in style. I was a chiropractor. I exercised. I breastfed all my children. I was taking herb supplements and, yet, I still developed breast cancer. So, that really led me to do a lot of soul searching and more research and I came to realize that there were a few pieces of the puzzle that I was missing.

    DR MIKE: Okay.

    DR V: And, if I was missing those pieces of the puzzle, imagine the average person. I mean, I had been in practice for 25 years.

    DR MIKE: Yes.

    DR V: So, that's what led me to create this system, this seven essential step system that makes it so simple for people that if they follow, they never have to fear disease or cancer again.

    DR MIKE: So, this is an important point, I think, for my listeners, too. So, I started this segment off more from that conventional doctor, that research oriented perspective where we are gaining more and more research support of nutrients, correct? Yet, on the other hand, there are a ton of stories, and there always have been a ton of stories of people healing cancer naturally. So, it's really nice to see all of it kind of coming together now, right? I mean, we have some research support. We've got stories like yourself and I've heard tons of stories like yours where people are successful in treating a very complicated disease with nature.

    Let's talk about breast cancer, though, specifically, Dr. V. There are a lot of myths about breast cancer that circulate in the media and you talk about this in your book. What are some of the myths that you would like to dispel right now for my listeners?

    DR V: Well, the first one and the most important one, I think, for women to understand is that your hormones do not cause cancer. If your hormones cause cancer, then every 20-year-old on the planet would be walking around with cancer. So, what we have to look at is the exposure that we have in the environment, the chemicals, the pesticides, the herbicides, the lotions, the potions, the antiperspirants that contain aluminum and aluminum is classified as a metaloestrogen. All these chemicals mimic and stimulate estrogen in the body. So, that's the first thing. The second thing you have to look at is how your body is able to methylate or break down these estrogens into non-toxic metabolites so that they're not aggressive and recirculating in the body. So, really, it's not a matter of your hormones causing the cancer, but it's the external estrogens as well as how your body is methylating or breaking these down. Your liver plays a very big role in that. There is a genetic component that there may be a weakness there, but you can support that. We now know that through the study of epigenetics and neutrigenomics, you know, nutrition and gene expression, that you can change and strengthen that gene expression.

    DR MIKE: So, yes. Very important points and, obviously, for me, as a hormone doctor, right? Because I do a lot of hormone restoration with Life Extension, Dr. V. It's a complete myth. Even with guys with prostate cancer. Testosterone doesn't cause prostate cancer. Estrogen itself doesn't cause breast cancer. There may be imbalances and there are a lot of chemicals that mimic estrogens. I mean, those are the real culprits. I think that's a really good point you brought up.

    Let's go back to your story, though. So, you mentioned that you felt the lump. You knew it wasn't just a cyst. We know that it takes, what? Five years, six years, seven years, for really a breast cancer to be palpable like that—as a lump. Is there anything new on the horizon for detecting breast cancer a little bit earlier that's a little bit safer than maybe say a mammogram?

    DR V: Oh, tremendous. Many, many things. One of them is thermography. Thermography cannot diagnose cancer, but it can give you an idea of what's happening physiologically in the tissue, in the changes of your breast. We know that tumors will create their own blood flow through angiogenesis. More blood flow means more heat. More heat will show up on the scan as a red hot spot. So, thermography is one and there are many blood tests that are being used outside of traditional medicine that can detect cancer when it's only a few million cells. One of them, for example, is the oncoblot test that reads the ENOX2 proteins that cancer cells produce. There's the HCG hormones, the PHI enzymes, the TK1 enzyme which has been used in Europe for over 30 years for a marker to detect cancer. So, there are a lot of tests.

    DR MIKE: Dr. V, let's leave that there. When we come back, we'll finish that discussion and talk about some nutrients for breast cancer and then I want to get into therapeutic plants from your book.

    This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike.Stay well.
  • Length (mins) 10
  • Waiver Received No
  • Host Mike Smith, MD
Page 26 of 70
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