Healthy Talk w/ Dr. Michael Smith

Does Cheating on Your Diet Actually Help?

A cheat meal is NOT an excuse to go nuts.

Additional Info

Segment Number 2
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht4b.mp3
Featured Speaker Chazz Weaver, MA
Book Title The O.C. Diet Revolution
Guest Website Chazz Live
Guest Bio Dieting Counselor and Fitness Coach, Chazz Weaver, M.A., is the Founder of ChazzLive.com, a streaming health and fitness video network. Chazz holds both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree from UCLA and Syracuse Universities and is a PhD Candidate in Psychology, pursuing his interest in the mental health aspects of weight loss. With over 30 years of experience in fitness training and weight loss coaching, Chazz Weaver has been interviewed by ABC News, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, CBS News Radio, GoodMorningAmerica.com and many others.
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 30, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

Anti-aging and disease prevention radio is right here on Radio MD. Here's the author, blogger, lecturer, and a national medical media personality, Dr. Michael Smith MD with healthy talk.

DR MIKE: So this cheating on your diet helps you? We have always been talking, "Oh no! Don't cheat, that's why diets fail," and all that kind of stuff. Well, my guest Chazz Weaver, actually, he is going to help us to understand why cheating might actually be beneficial on the diet. He is a dieting counselor and fitness coach and I am going to mention something right there. Lots of people out there call themselves a dieting counselor, fitness coach or life coach or what have you, but Chazz actually has the degrees to back it up; he has a Master's degree from UCLA and Syracuse universities and he is a PHD candidate in psychology, pursuing his interests in the mental health aspects of weight loss. So, he has the schooling and education to back up the title of fitness coach and dieting counselor.
Chazz, welcome to healthy talk.

CHAZZ: Well, thank you. I am glad to be here Dr. Mike. How are you doing?

DR MIKE: I am doing really good and you sound really excited. I love that in a guest. So, let's get right to this. First of all, we have been told and you know this is true, that cheating on your diet is bad. Is that necessarily true?

CHAZZ: I can tell you that the simple answer is no. I loved what you said about me coming on air and I think I should add to that for your audience so they understand. Even though we are on the radio, I have been doing this for almost forty years. I am sixty years old and for the audience and for the viewers, if they were to go to chazzlive.com, they would see a photo of me. So, not only from the education or the academic background, I have been doing this for a lifetime.

DR MIKE: It is also important Chazz, there is a long list behind us, there are a lot of so-called experts out there now and it's easy to develop a website and call yourself whatever you want. So, I think I always like to bring people along that have the education, the experience, which you definitely do. So, let's get back to this cheating thing, I mean, you said it might be okay. So in what context, is it okay to cheat on my diet?

CHAZZ: Well, what happens when I go through this on my own? As we know, the human body is incredibly efficient. So, as we go on, let's say, a calorie restrictive diet to lose weight or body fat, the body is going to get used to everything you do. Not only from the physical standpoint but all of a sudden, you are going to have these natural cravings that we have. Think about it! Our bodies were not made for this environment. We changed our environment as a human species in the blink of an eye. But all those mechanisms for survival that worked for us thousands of years ago are still with us today but working against us.

So, as we work on say losing body fats, restricting our calories, also with a good exercise or activity program. And when we go on a cheat meal--when I say cheat meal, I am talking about increasing your calories. You don't necessarily have to eat junk food. And what I talk about with people is to increase your calories at that point, you are going to have some satisfaction in the body relieved, and if you are doing it correctly, you can have some incredible benefits of increasing your metabolism for a certain period of time as well.

DR MIKE: Yes, but, you know, when most people--let's be honest. When they think of cheating, they are thinking of going back to the pizza with extra cheese and extra sausage, and you know 3 or 4 heavy beers or that kind of stuff. So, let's go back to that. Let's make sure my listeners understand how you are defining cheating and what you mean by that cheating meal.

CHAZZ: Correct. When I say "cheat meal", I am not talking about being bingeing, number one. And we could use a cheat meal--I have heard it called a reward meal; I have heard it called the free meal. Just growing up in the old days we came up with cheat meal and it just stuck with me but it really is something to reward yourself, if you will, let's say, throughout the week. And that's what I am talking about. I am not talking about going crazy. You have mentioned pizza. All right, let's say a pizza, for example. If that's what you want to have, then have one or two slices. Don't have the entire pie. Don't go crazy. Cheat meal is not an excuse to go nuts and do everything you want.

DR MIKE: So, why do we? I think you kind of hint on this a little bit in your opening remark, Chazz, but why do we cheat on our diets? Is it because the diets are just too restrictive? Does it just go back to the things we crave – flavors, textures, etc.? What do you think are the big reasons people cheat?

CHAZZ: Well, again, if we look at the human evolutionary process, that is an evolutionary mechanism for survival. We crave fat and the reason is thousands of years ago, it was beneficial if fat was available to eat it because we got a lot of bang for our buck for survival. You didn't have to eat a large volume of fat to get the calories we needed for survival, as opposed to, let's say, vegetables at that time. You would have needed a tremendous amount.

So, fat we crave along with sugar because while they are available, we can eat them as much as we want. But remember, we are talking about thousands of years ago for their survival. Now fast forward to today. As I said, we changed our environment but the same biological instincts are still within the human body. So, we still crave fats.

However, thousands of years ago, we would have to get up and go out and hunt, forage or scavenge for food to find your take. Today, you just open up your refrigerator and pull out anything you want. So, unless we understand how to truly live in this environment that we created, and when I say live, I'm not just talking about just existing. I'm actually talking about living. We have to understand how the human body works when we are talking about food and eating. So, these are reasons we crave it.

DR MIKE: So, again, I've talked about this before, Chazz, on my show that. I think if there are certain flavors that you enjoy, certain textures that you enjoy, you can't eliminate those. That's setting yourself up for a failure. I mean, if there are certain textures that you really enjoy, you need to figure out how to fit that in to your diet plan in a controlled way, and then you might stick with your diet more, right?

CHAZZ: Correct. You are absolutely right, Dr. Mike, on that. You know, that's why I tell people a cheat meal. So, if, in the beginning stages, you are moving towards the healthy stage, somebody who needs to lose quite a bit of body fat, if you don't want to take them from just a cold cut, turn everything off because you are setting yourself up for failure.

But, let's say, throughout the week, when you are watching what you are eating, you've got a good activity program or exercise program going on, let's say, towards the end of the week you are going to reward yourself with one cheat meal. And, again, you don't have to remain on this kind of diet for the rest of your life, it's until to get that healthy state.

So, with that cheat meal you look at it and "Okay. I am going to work to get to that Saturday night." Saturday night you are going to go out, have a good time, and for that one meal, you are not going to worry about it. So you get those textures, you are going to get those textures, you're going to get those flavors that you enjoy for the satisfaction. So, you are working up to it rather than just opening that refrigerator anytime you want.

DR MIKE: Right. And as people experiences more success in their diet, maybe they could add another meal or two, a cheat meal or two, as long as the cheat meal is not the whole pizza. I mean maybe there is a certain amount of reward that you can give as you have some success. That would be okay, right?

CHAZZ: Oh exactly. And this is where I really utilize my age, its fitness level at this point when I talk to people. For me today where I'm at, and I am an active individual because I just love doing that.

DR MIKE: I will tell you what, Chazz, let's do this. Hold that thought because I want to hear more about your personal experience and then we will get in to the kind of do's and don'ts of that cheat meal. So, just hold on to that thought.

This is healthy talk on Radio MD. I am Dr. Mike. Stick around.
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received No
Host Mike Smith, MD

Little Known Benefits of Ideal Vitamin Dosing

There are several vitamins you should be getting to keep your health at an optimal level.

Additional Info

Segment Number 1
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht4a.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 30, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

Healthy talk with Michael Smith MD and now here is the country doctor with a city education. Dr. Mike.

DR. MIKE: So, did you know that there are little known benefits of higher, more ideal dosing in vitamins and minerals? You know, most...As a matter of fact, a sister of mine--I'm not going tell you the name of the product, but we'll call it a very generic multi vitamin. She's been taking it for quite some time and it's dosed off a very low dose system, a very archaic system known as the recommended daily intake or the recommended daily allowance.

I always tell her if, you know, her goal is to prevent scurvy, awesome product. But there are so my other health benefits attributed to vitamins and minerals a lot of people just don't know about it. But it takes higher dosing what I called in my book, The Supplement Pyramid, ideal daily intake. The IDI--ideal dosing and it's based right off the research right from PubMed.com. So, I wanted to run through some of the basic vitamins and minerals and just make known to you, my listeners, of some of the benefits that you could obtain by taking the more ideal dose of these important, what are called micronutrients.

Let's start with Vitamin A. The ideal daily intake of Vitamin A is 5000 milligrams, not the 500 or so that you'll find in those generic products like my sister takes. At this higher ideal intake of Vitamin A, you can actually improve lung function in asthma patients and you can also support all the mucosal lining throughout your body.

So, we are talking lung and gut. It's a little known fact that if you have ulcer disease or inflammatory bowel disease or any sort of inflammatory process in your lungs, sinuses; higher dose-- more ideal dose of Vitamin A--can help. It's one of those little known benefits of higher dose Vitamin A.

What about Vitamin B12--very popular vitamin? The recommended daily intake is about, I don't know, maybe 10 micrograms or something; it's pretty low, may be 100 micrograms in some products but, really, the ideal daily intake of B12 is more about a milligram a day. In some cases, a little bit higher but at least a milligram a day. At that higher dose, Vitamin B12 has been shown to improve nerve function and this is one a lot of people don't know. It protects or prevents from arterial plaque formation. Higher dose B12 is good for the coronary arteries.

Vitamin C – the recommended daily intake is about, oh, it depends on who you read: 50-100 milligrams. That's so low. The ideal intake for Vitamin C, it's more of a range for this important vitamin probably 500 milligrams to upwards of 2000 milligrams. When you do these higher doses of Vitamin C, this is when you start getting into the immune properties of Vitamin C, the cardiovascular properties of Vitamin C, and there's even some evidence that higher dose of Vitamin C can protect against ulcer disease in your gut; something you probably have never heard of.

Vitamin D is a big one! D as in dog. You know, I think the government is still recommending something like, what is it? 400 international units of Vitamin D. Listen, again, with Vitamin D, it's probably more important to look at blood level. I think the government recommends your blood level to be around 30-40 or something like that in your blood, all of that is just way too low. Vitamin D, the ideal dosing is probably more around, oh, at least 1000 units a day if not 2000 even upwards of 5000 units a day. Your blood level probably should be 50 and 70, not 30-ish. At the higher levels of Vitamin D, the higher intake, it's been shown to lower the risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, blood-born cancers like leukemia, lymphomas.

I mean, it just goes...Did you know that there is a Vitamin D receptor on every single cell in the human body? I think the only exception that might actually be the red blood cell but the rest of them from thyroid to all of the other endocrine tissue, heart tissue, lung tissue, gut, I mean everything, has a Vitamin D receptor. 400 units and you will prevent rickets. Hey, if that's your goal, go for it but I think you can get so much more with an ideal intake of Vitamin D.

Vitamin E. Natural Vitamin E is very important. The ideal daily intake is about 400 units and at that level it's been shown to induce breast cancer cell death. It's called apoptosis. Also induces prostate cancer cell apoptosis, did you know that? At the higher dose Vitamin E, is great, also, just like Vitamin A for mucosal membrane--so gut and lung.

Vitamin K2. Remember that Vitamin K is broken up in to K1 and K2. K1 is for helping your blood to clot. We can get that from our diet pretty easily. It's Vitamin K2 that we are more interested in because we are probably more deficient in that. Vitamin K2 is all about managing calcium in your body. As a matter of fact, if you don't have enough Vitamin K on board and you do a calcium supplement or you eat a calcium rich food source, that calcium may not get to your bones and can be stuck in other tissues forming stones, forming arterial plaques and that kind of stuff.

So, we need to make sure that we get enough Vitamin K2. The ideal daily intake of Vitamin K2 is around, say, 1000 micrograms. You know, that's probably a good dose for Vitamin K2. At that level you are going to reduce bone fracture risk, you are going to reduce the risk of coronary disease. So, Vitamin K2 about 1000 micrograms.

Calcium. Listen, you got to take calcium and don't listen to the doctors who are scared of calcium now because of a really poor study that showed that women taking calcium supplements had an increased risk of heart attack. That's because they were not taking Vitamin D or Vitamin K2. I just explained why you really don't want to take calcium by itself. It's important to take it with Vitamin D and Vitamin K2. If you are taking Vitamin D and you are taking Vitamin K2, women probably want to be around 1200 milligrams a day of calcium, men around 600 milligrams a day. It does just about everything in the body, but at that higher dose did you know that calcium can inhabit the production of body fats? Yes. It's not just about bones.

Chromium. The FDA allows me to tell you that chromium can be used for the treatment of diabetes. It's really good at managing sugar levels and really reducing sugar levels. But, of course. the amount of chromium that most of the generic multivitamins use, which is only about a 100 micrograms or so, isn't going to do it. It's not going to affect your sugar level at all. You need about 450 micrograms a day and that's going to improve insulin sensitivity, sugar management and has been shown to help with memory and recall. Yes. Chromium. But it takes that ideal intake.

Copper. You need about a milligram a day. A lot of multivitamins--generic multivitamins on the market don't even put copper in but you need about a milligram a day. That has been shown to protect the heart and the bones.

Magnesium. How can we not talk about the all-important magnesium involved with about 350 physiological reactions in the body? If you look at all the age related disorders people are dealing with like blood pressure issues, heart disease, bone issues, brain issues. Listen, it correlates well with the magnesium deficiencies. 400-500 milligrams a day is probably the ideal intake. Not only you will improve bone with magnesium, brain with magnesium, heart with magnesium, it's just good for every single cell in your body. It's just about as important as Vitamin D is but it takes that higher intake—that 400-500 milligram level.

So, the point I am making? Recommended daily intake. Yes. It's important for preventing deficiencies but you really want is the ideal intake.

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

Ask Dr. Mike: Red vs. Green Apples, When You Need Stitches & More

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/1518ht3e.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 29, 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: Yes, so, send me any of your questions and what's really cool about what I'm going to do here is, I'm going to go through and answer three different questions . So, you can send me just about anything and I'll do my best to answer them. That's
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

So, this first question, it does have to do with apples.

"Is there any difference between red and green apples? And why are some both colors?"

Listen, I'm answering all three of these questions, by the way. Just right of the top of my head. No research, no nothing. I'm just going to give what I think is the answer. So, if I'm wrong, okay, I'm wrong. I doubt I'm wrong, but...I'm just kidding.

So, what's the difference? Let's answer. So, I guess it's really two parts here. What's the difference between red and green apples? Well, the red hue, you see--and this I do know--the red hue, purple hue, that kind of stuff...By the way, there's no blue in food. Right? There's no blue. It's purple.

So, there's the blueberries aren't really blue. If you really look at them, they're purple. It's true. So, anyway, so red, the purple, those kind of deeper darker hues, come from anthocyanins, which are a type of plant-based antioxidants. Plant based antioxidants. There are different categories and one of the main categories is called polyphenols. Polyphenols are plant-based antioxidants and polyphenols then are broken up into different categories. One of those categories is called anthocyanins. Flavonoids are another category. So, there are different types.

So, anthocyanins are the main antioxidants, or plant based antioxidants, polyphenols that give the red and purple hue to fruit. So, red apples I would guess have a lot more anthocyanins in the peel versus a green apple that I would assume doesn't have any because there's no red or purplish hue.

It's a pretty good answer, isn't it? You didn't think I was going to answer this one. Now here's the tough question actually. Why are some both colors? Even I think the first thing you want to say is, well maybe it has to do with ripeness. Maybe, as an apple first appears, maybe it is more greenish, but then as it ripens on the tree the anthocyanin content goes up and it becomes red and purple. That might be what happens. So, when you, if you pick an apple before it's totally ripe, you get a little bit of the greenish color, a little bit of the red and blue, because it hasn't quite developed the anthocyanin content.

I don't know if that's right, but that might be the answer. What I think is more true is, there are many different apple varieties today and I think they're just cross bred. There's cross breeding of apple trees, apple varieties and so what you see is the genes that produce anthocyanins, are easily transferred genes. And we know this in cell culture studies and stuff like that. The genes that make anthocyanins in plants have no... They're very protected genes. They can go from one species to another very easily.

So, what you see when you see a green apple and a red apples is you're seeing a cross bred variety. I don't know. Sounds good. But I do know the red apples have more anthocyanins. There. How's that?

Next question.

"How do you know when cuts need stitches?"

How do you know when cuts need stitches? That's... if it's bleeding a lot. No, that is...It's actually a good question because I think people always wonder about that a little bit. I mean is there way, is there something that doctors look at?

You know you cut yourself. I just did this, by the way. Everybody knows I'm not a cook. I should never have a knife in the kitchen. I'm good with knives and stuff in surgery and that kind of stuff. I did a lot of intervention radiology. I'm good there, but in the kitchen, I don't know. I did. I cut my finger pretty well. So, when I look at it, but I...It didn't need stitches, and I knew that.

So, what I'm looking at? When I look at my, that cut, what am I looking at that tells me I need stitches or not? Well, there's a couple of things. Number one is where the cut happens. First of all, if you cut yourself on finger tips, toe tips, anywhere where it's really sensitive, you have a lot of nerves there, it's usually a decent sign that you might need a stitch or two. Even if it's not deep.

Because you want those nerves to come back and to repair. Because you know you have to be able to have good sensitivity in like finger tips for instance. That's, so that's number one. And I did cut myself on the finger tip, by the way. But, I don't know. I didn't get the stitches. The second thing, is the shape of the cut. Most doctors will tell you, if it's a nice even straight cut...you see the sharper the knife kind of does that. It's just a nice even straight laceration type of thing. You know, if it's not too long, not too deep, if the bleeding was controlled well, you probably don't need a stitch for that case. But if it's curved, if it's jagged, that kind of stuff, often does need a stitch.

I guess depth too. If the cut is deep enough, to where some of the underlying tissue kind is bulging out of the cut, some of the fat pad, for instance, if you can kind of see that. So, once you stop the bleeding, you look at it, and looks like there's stuff bulging out of the cut. That's a pretty deep cut that might have to have a stitch as well.

So, where it's at, if it's curvy and jagged, and if there's tissue coming out of the cut, telling you it's pretty deep. Those are things I remember looking at when I was a medical student, stuff like that in the ER's, on whether something needs a stitch.

See? Apples to stitches! It's awesome, I love it. I think I'm doing good on time. Third question, I told you I want to get to all three of these.

"Is it ever safe to lose more than five pounds in one week?"

That's, five pounds in a week is a lot.

"I'm curious, because of the new yogurt diet."

Listen. I've heard of this, I don't, there's really no such thing as the yogurt diet. I know, I know, I know, I know! I know there are celebrities who talk about the yogurt diet. Listen, it's similar to the grapefruit diet. Let me explain what I mean by that.

If you really at the meal plan for these types of diets, yogurt, grapefruit, whatever, if you really look at what they are suggesting you eat, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and for snack, day one, day two, whatever. It's really not about the yogurt. It's really not about the grapefruit. I mean, are there some compounds in grapefruit that might be metabolically stimulating. Maybe, and I think I even talked about that before. So, I think there might be something there. Yes.

But, in yogurt, what is yogurt, I think people might have talked about yogurt with the probiotics in it and stuff, like that. So, I think there may be something there. I mean may be...There may be some weight loss benefit in some of these food sources, but ultimately, what I can't, what I see when I look at the suggested meals--breakfast, lunch and dinner—on these things, you're just cutting calories like crazy.

Alright, I mean, you're talking about, breakfast, day one, yogurt. Plain yogurt. I mean, that's only like sixty calories. Lunch, you know, half a sandwich with, wholegrain bread and half a cup of vegetables and yogurt again. You're talking about two hundred calories. I mean, by the time you get to dinner you've only had maybe about 260 calories. And the dinner's maybe a little bit more. Maybe a little protein added to the vegetables and yogurt, you know, whatever.

So, at the end of the day you're at 800 calories or 1000. It's really just a calorie restriction diet. That's what these things are. Here's the thing, if you're eating only that many calories, I mean, if you're cutting your calories by that much, and you're losing that much weight, five pounds in a week, that's not good, because what happens is you go into what I call "diet shock". You're body counters all of that and stores everything you do as fat.

So, it's not good to be on those, kind of, calorie restriction diets. There you go. Three very different questions.

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

Ask Dr. Mike: Candida Rugosa & My Stool is White... HELP!

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/1518ht3d.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 29, 2015

Host: Michael Smith, MD

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 at 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

DR MIKE: Mrs. Rich sent an email to ask This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I thought this was really interesting. And I had to do some research so, hopefully, I have some answers for Mrs. Rich.

She says, "Hello! I wanted to take digestive enzymes but I noticed a strange ingredient, candida rugosa. On Google, there is a site talking about an infection of candida rugosa in Latin America. Here are my questions: What is the difference between candida rugosa and albicans and does supplements with candida rugosa, does it increase candida in the body? Is candida rugosa's infection possible and dangerous?"

I thought this was really, really interesting. We know, Mrs. Rich, that there are--by the way, she is from France. I think this is so awesome that I have listeners from all over the world. She goes on to say. Let me just finish this.

She says, "I am a new member of Life Extension," That's where I'm the senior scientist. She says that she is still doing her pyramid and that's the reference to my book, The Supplement Pyramid. In France, she goes on to say that there are very few info sites about supplements. "I find your show very helpful."

Well, thank you very much, Mrs. Rich, and thanks for your question. Alright. So, we know there are many different types of harmful, yeast species that fall under the genus candida. The most common one is candida albicans. That's the most common. It's the one that causes thrush and some other issues. Most of the time, when people talk about yeast infection, they're usually talking about candida albicans. But there are other ones out there. This is not the only one. And the other ones out there are really based on geography. Personally, I have never heard of this one, candida rugosa. I think I'm saying that right. Candida rugosa.

It seems to be an infectious yeast that is mostly in the Far East. I found a journal article about candida rugosa. This was published in March 2011 in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. It was a nice review of different candida species and in that there was a part about rugosa. The thing that's worrisome about rugosa is that it is already worldwide. There is about 16% resistance to Fluconazole which is the main yeast medication we use. Infections with candida rugosa usually happen just like the other candida species in immune compromised people, people in the hospital and that type of stuff.

So, going back to Mrs. Rich's question, she's noticed that, apparently, I guess she found a digestive enzyme product that has candida rugosa in it. So, I had to look that up a little bit more. Like, what's going on there?

Well, what I found out was this, Mrs. Rich. Candida rugosa in a lab, in a petri dish, makes a lot of the lipase enzyme. And the lipase enzyme is the enzyme used to break down fat. Your own body, the human body, makes human lipase and apparently, the candida rugosa lipase is very genetically and structurally similar to human lipase. So, it is used, I guess, in some digestive enzyme products. It's not the yeast though.

It's the lipase from the yeast. I mean, I guess, you always have to worry a little bit about contamination, so you have to be really confident in the product that you are buying and that it's free of actual live candida rugosa because it is a harmful yeast. But, apparently, they use the lipase from rugosa to make ice cream. I don't know. I guess the lipase breaks or emulsifies the ice cream a little bit more and it's used in some silk products. What I mostly found was that the lipase from candida rugosa is used in industry, not necessarily in food products, except for the ice cream and in some cases, digestive enzymes.

Okay. So, the difference between candida rugosa and candida albicans is that they are different species of the same genus. They are both infectious yeasts. They both hit immune compromised people. The main difference is candida rugosa is really found mostly in the Far East whereas albicans is found in the west. It's geography, Mrs. Rich.
And then to answer your question, "Does supplement of candida rugosa increase candida infections body?" Well, yes. Don't take candida rugose. It's a harmful yeast. But again, you are not taking the yeast species in that digestive enzyme product. You are simply taking the lipase that was harvested from the yeast. You've just need to make sure it's not contaminated. So the answer your question, "Is candida rugosa's infection possible and dangerous?"

Yes. It is an opportunistic harmful yeast species. And, apparently, it is quite resistant to a powerful drug called Fluconazole. 16% resistance.

Awesome questions! I loved this. I like investigative type things where I have to do some investigation myself. So, that is the story about candida rugosa. It is a harmful yeast species found in the Far East that hits immune compromised, hospitalized people, the same way that other candida species work like candida albicans here in the West. However, it does produce a lipase enzyme that is very similar to humans and can be used in certain products like ice cream and even digestive supplements. So, very, very interesting. Thank you so much for that, Mrs. Rich. I really enjoyed answering that question.

Okay. How am I doing? I think I'm okay. Let's do the next question.

"Ever since around of very strong antibiotics, my stool is white on occasion. When I mean white, I mean white. Any thoughts on what I can do? Thanks, Ann."

Well, white stool, Ann, usually means lack of bile. I mean the dark color of stool comes from bile. Bile is made in the liver, stored in the gallbladder. It's released especially at fatty meals because bile helps to emulsify the fats. It's funny we are speaking of bile and we just talked about lipase from candida rugosa. Lipase needs the fats to kind of be collected in the bile, those fats become emulsified, lipase can work on those fats. You can absorb them at that point, the fatty acids. So, the dark stool color, the brown color of stool--that's bile. So, if you are having white stool, that's usually an issue with bile. And I don't know what the connection to the antibiotic use is.

I would actually, before worrying about the antibiotics, I would... Well, first of all, you did a whole round of antibiotics. You said very strong antibiotics. So, definitely get on some probiotics. That would be important but I would maybe get an ultrasound and let the radiologist visualize the liver, the biliary duct and the gallbladder. So, the liver is where the bile is made, it travels down the biliary duct into the gallbladder and I would just make sure that there are no obstructions; there are no issues there; make sure the liver looks normal in size and color and what's called echogenicity on ultrasound. Same with the gallbladder. Just make sure there are no issues there. You didn't mention anything about stomach pain or anything like that, or jaundice.

So, I don't know but that's the first thing I would do. I would order an ultrasound to make sure I am not missing something in the liver or the gallbladder before I try to relate it to this use of strong antibiotics. But, of course, start a probiotic, right? Replace those healthy gut bacteria. Antibiotics kill the bad stuff but they also kill the good guys. That's why probiotics are very important after antibiotics and, in my opinion, every day.

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

The Genetic Pathways of Cancer

There are many factors that can contribute to why you get cancer; your genes could be one of them.

Additional Info

Segment Number 3
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht3c.mp3
Featured Speaker Raymond Francis, MSc
Organization Beyond Health
Book Title Never Fear Cancer Again
Guest Bio Raymond Francis was at the height of an international consulting career when his health began declining rapidly. What began as chemical sensitivities and allergic reactions to almost everything ended up as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Sjogren's syndrome, digestive problems, skin rashes, headaches, brain fog, dizziness, and ultimately liver failure.

At age 48, his imminent death was considered a medical certainty. "There is nothing more we can do for you," his doctors said.

Believing that the medical interventions had only made things worse, Raymond decided it was up to him to bring himself back to health. A chemist by training and a graduate of M.I.T., he began taking large doses of vitamin C, which revived him enough to conduct extensive research and direct his own care.

It took him two years to fully restore his health. During this period he developed his revolutionary Beyond Health Model, a theory of health and disease that is so simple it can be taught to a child, yet is so powerful that many have cured themselves of terminal cancer relying on its truths.

Now 78, Raymond enjoys an extraordinary level of health. In the 28 years since his recovery, he has not taken any medications or had any surgeries, and he has not been sick except for three minor colds.

He is on a mission to reach as many people as possible with the message that you don't have to get sick, that "health is a choice." He has written five books, Never Be Sick Again, Never Be Fat Again, Never Fear Cancer Again, Never Feel Old Again and his newest book The Great American Health Hoax. Raymond has addressed health conferences all over the U.S. and in eight other countries and has made over 2,000 television and radio appearances.

He is president of Beyond Health International, a supplier of health-supporting products and advanced health education.
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 29, 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: What is the genetic pathway of cancer? My guest is Raymond Francis, he's an MIT-trained scientist, and has been cited as one of the few scientists who has achieved a breakthrough understanding of health and disease. He's the author of four books, and his latest book is called, or titled, Never Fear Cancer Again.

Raymond, welcome to Healthy Talk.

RAYMOND: Well, thank you again. Good to be here.

DR MIKE: So, now I'm going to go back to your book, okay?

RAYMOND: Sure thing.

DR MIKE: So I have this is... I'm in the intro. I find a lot of information in the books that my guests have, Raymond, just right in the introduction, a lot of interesting quotes. And so, this is on page three of the introduction.

"The body wants to be well. It knows how to be well, and it will be well only if we give it a chance."

But here's my question though: if I have some bad genes—a predisposition to cancer because of some genetic markers of cancer, what can I really do? I mean, I got bad genes, Raymond. What am I going to do?

RAYMOND Well, I think there's a huge misconception about genes. Genes--bad genes--do cause disease. But, it accounts for something like, I don't know, 5% of all disease is the result of bad genes. The other 95% is the result of what we tell the genes to do.

Genes are obedient servants. They do what we ask them. And if you have a gene that will predispose you cancer, and you ask that gene to give you cancer, it will obey and give you all the cancer you want it. After you have all the cancer you want, if you're unhappy about it, then stop asking, and the cancer will go away. The problem is, nobody teaches us this stuff. They don't tell us that. We were talking about toxins previously. Well, toxins can give false signals to genes, and tell the genes to do strange things. And that's part of the problem. So, we have to learn how to take care of our genes.

DR MIKE: Yes. I think this is an interesting field of study now, called nutrigenomics or epigenetics, where I think, Raymond, we're finally realizing that our genetic makeup is really more just like a blueprint. Right?

RAYMOND: Yes, it is.

DR MIKE: We can influence that blueprint in good ways and bad ways based on our environment, what we're eating, and I think that's an important point. Let me ask you though: What percent of cancers is strictly genetic?

RAYMOND: Hard to say, but definitely five percent or less.

DR MIKE: And what we mean by that is these are the rare cases where you have this gene it, expresses, it is just the way it is, and it leads down that pathway with cancer that's about five percent. Do you know what specific cancers are we talking about there?

RAYMOND: Well, any cancer. But let's look historically. You know a century ago, cancer affected only three percent of the American population. So, now it's almost fifty percent and the genes haven't changed. So, maybe that three percent was genetic, but the rest of it is what we are doing to the genes. We're damaging genes.

DR MIKE: Yes. So, Raymond, what's changed is the epigenetic component—the things that are influencing expression of those genes, correct?

RAYMOND: Absolutely, and the damage we're doing. The amount of damage were doing to the genes is unprecedented in history with our exposure to radiation, and our poor diets. Actually, our poor diets do as much damage to the genes as, as radiation. So, we're damaging the genes at unprecedented rates, and we're not supporting our DNA repair. DNA, if it gets damaged, it gets repaired. But it needs nutrients but it needs nutrients to do the repair. That's why the poor diets are causing so much damage to the genes: because we're not doing the repairs. We don't have the necessary nutrients to do the repair. And then, of course...

DR MIKE: OK, so what are those, what are those DNA repair nutrients that you like to use?

RAYMOND: Well, vitamin C, absolutely. Very, very important to get adequate amounts of vitamin C. But then, the B vitamins are extremely important. Vitamin B12, extremely important. So, the B vitamins, Vitamin C, these are, all critical for DNA repair. Then, things like zinc. Zinc is very critical for DNA repair. L-carnitine also. So, if we do the repairs, and when the damaged gets done every day to the genes, I mean that's just normal. But you're supposed to repair them. And we're not repairing them, so the damage stays. We're exposed to all these thousands of man-made chemicals that are giving strange instructions to the genes. And, it's no wonder we're all sick.

DR MIKE: Let me back up though, so, Ray, I want to mention something to my listeners about some of those DNA repair nutrients you just talked about. Very simple things, right? Very basic vitamins and minerals for the most part: the zinc, the B vitamins vitamin C. There's even some evidence D may play a role. Some compounds and cruciferous vegetables may play a role.

RAYMOND: Yes.

DR MIKE: But what I want people to understand because when they hear that, Raymond, they think of themselves "Oh, B vitamins? I'm fine there. I eat a pretty decent healthy diet." But what the USDA just showed a couple years ago, even when people are trying to eat healthy, we're still very deficient in some of those basic vitamins and minerals, aren't we?

RAYMOND: Right, we are. And in fact, several years back, the National Academy of Science issued a report, and they said that "Even if you eat a good diet, it is no longer possible to get all the nutrients you need," because soils have been depleted. There's a long transit time between the harvesting and the consuming of the food. So it's no longer possible. You have to supplement today. It's an absolute necessity. But then, you have to get good supplements. That's the problem. I make my own.

DR MIKE: You said something interesting. You said "Okay so we have, we have an issue with DNA repair," right?

RAYMOND: Yes.

DR MIKE: Then, we also have a lot of toxins in our environment and even in our food sources, right? I think when people think toxins, they think like bad water, bad air. But there's stuff in our foods. So you have a poor DNA, or should I should say maybe inadequate DNA repair process. On top of that, you have these manmade chemicals that are giving weird signals to the genes at the same time. What exactly do you mean by that? What, what are those manmade chemicals really doing to some of these genes that predispose us, maybe, to cancer?

RAYMOND: Well, we tell the genes what to do with the chemical environment we create in the cell. When you fill the cell with these strange chemicals, those chemicals start giving signals to the genes. They turn genes on, turn genes off. So, if you have a gene that predisposes you to cancer, and you turn it on, you've got a problem. If you've got a gene that is very protective against cancer—in other words, producing chemicals that protect you against cancer—and you turn that gene off because you're giving it a false signal because you've just consumed some dioxin or something, then you're in trouble.

DR MIKE: Yes. So, we have an issue. We need to up our DNA repair, and we talked about the B vitamins, vitamin C, and cruciferous vegetables, and but we need to do our best
to kind of get rid of those toxins and avoid some of those manmade chemicals.

RAYMOND: Avoid them as much as possible and then get rid of them, because were already overloaded with them. And for that, you need to sauna. The only way we know how to do it is to sauna on a regular basis.

DR MIKE: Interesting. And you do that on a regular basis?

RAYMOND: I sauna for an hour to an hour and a half, twice a week, regularly. And we try to measure the chemicals.

DR MIKE: Are you talking about infrared saunas? Or you're talking about just...

RAYMOND: I use an infrared, yes. And we try to measure the toxins, but we can't measure them. I've been saunaing for thirty years now. We can't measure them. The average person is loaded. Loaded.

DR MIKE: Okay. Well we're going to have to leave it there. Raymond I, I really appreciate you coming on. His book is Never Fear Cancer Again. You can go check it out at the website beyondhelp.com.

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

The Toxic Pathways of Cancer

The toxins from cancer can wreak havoc on your body and slow the process of healing.

Additional Info

Segment Number 2
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht3b.mp3
Featured Speaker Raymond Francis, MSc
Organization Beyond Health
Book Title Never Fear Cancer Again
Guest Bio Raymond Francis was at the height of an international consulting career when his health began declining rapidly. What began as chemical sensitivities and allergic reactions to almost everything ended up as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Sjogren's syndrome, digestive problems, skin rashes, headaches, brain fog, dizziness, and ultimately liver failure.

At age 48, his imminent death was considered a medical certainty. "There is nothing more we can do for you," his doctors said.

Believing that the medical interventions had only made things worse, Raymond decided it was up to him to bring himself back to health. A chemist by training and a graduate of M.I.T., he began taking large doses of vitamin C, which revived him enough to conduct extensive research and direct his own care.

It took him two years to fully restore his health. During this period he developed his revolutionary Beyond Health Model, a theory of health and disease that is so simple it can be taught to a child, yet is so powerful that many have cured themselves of terminal cancer relying on its truths.

Now 78, Raymond enjoys an extraordinary level of health. In the 28 years since his recovery, he has not taken any medications or had any surgeries, and he has not been sick except for three minor colds.

He is on a mission to reach as many people as possible with the message that you don't have to get sick, that "health is a choice." He has written five books, Never Be Sick Again, Never Be Fat Again, Never Fear Cancer Again, Never Feel Old Again and his newest book The Great American Health Hoax. Raymond has addressed health conferences all over the U.S. and in eight other countries and has made over 2,000 television and radio appearances.

He is president of Beyond Health International, a supplier of health-supporting products and advanced health education.
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 29, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

Healthy talk with Dr. Michael Smith MD and now, here's the country doctor with a city education, Dr. Mike.

DR MIKE: So, let's talk about the toxic pathway of cancer, and if we understand this toxic pathway, how that might help us to prevent and even reverse cancer. My guest is Raymond Francis. He's an MIT-trained scientist, and has been cited as one of the few scientists who has achieved a breakthrough understanding of health and disease. He's the author of four cutting-edge books on health, and his latest book is titled Never Fear Cancer Again.

Raymond, welcome to Healthy Talk.

RAYMOND: Well, thank you very much. Good to be here.

DR MIKE: So, I'm going to start with something here. I got your book and I'm going to open up to the very first page—the introduction—page one. I'm going to read something, ok? Right from the book, because I think it's interesting, and I want to hear really what your take is on this, okay, Raymond?

RAYMOND: Sure.

DR MIKE: It says here:

"We already know how to prevent and reverse cancer. This knowledge exists; all you have to do is learn it and apply it."

Now listen, that's a bold statement to write at the very, in the very first page of your book. Do you really believe that we have all the information we need to prevent and reverse cancer?

RAYMOND: Yes we do. Now cancer is a very complex disease, but, basically, we know what it is, we know why it happens, we know the chemistry. And knowing that puts you in the position to be able to prevent cancer from happening. And if it does happen, puts you in the position to be able to reverse what has happened. Now you might not be able to be successful a hundred percent of the time. Perhaps nothing is a hundred percent, but you can certainly be successful ninety percent of the time.

So, that's what it is. We can teach people to prevent cancer. We can teach people how to cure cancer. And indeed, people have read this book all over the world, and I was just up in Canada in few months back, and a man came up to me, after my talk, and he said "Thank you, thank you. God bless you." He said, "I had terminal melanoma. I had twenty-six rapidly growing lesions. The doctors told me there was nothing that could be done. I read your book. I cured the cancer. I'm in perfect health. Thank you, thank you. God Bless you."

DR MIKE: Nice. Awesome. Yes. So, here's the thing though, if we have the, the knowledge, and we, and we know...Granted, cancer's a very complex disease, but, ultimately, we know what's going within that cancer cell.

RAYMOND: Yes, we do.

DR MIKE: If, if we understand something like the toxic pathway, right? And that's something that you talk about in your book. One of the pathways is the toxic pathway of cancer. If we understand that, what you're saying, we can do things to reduce that toxic load, protect the cells, and that's going to help prevent, an even some cases, treat the cancer, right?

RAYMOND: Yeah. Absolutely.

DR MIKE: By the way, you're a cancer survivor, correct?

RAYMOND: No. I'm not a cancer survivor. I, I almost died of liver failure. I had chemical liver hepatitis.

DR MIKE: Oh, okay.

RAYMOND: I rebuilt my liver. Which is another thing. You see, you can rebuild your body, because your body is a self-repairing system. So, if you know how to do it, you can rebuild it. I've rebuilt my arteries. I'm seventy-eight years old. I have the arteries of a twenty-two year old; and I'm shooting for having the arteries of a teenager within the next few years. So, that's what you can do, if you know how to do it. But the cancer...

DRMIKE: Let's talk about the, toxic pathway then. What do you mean by that?

RAYMOND: What I've done is broken health down into simple things that people can understand. And one of them is the toxin pathway. Toxins affect our cell chemistry and affect our genes. And so, we need to learn how to prevent this from happening. We need to learn how to avoid toxins.

So, you need to know where they are and how to avoid them. Well the bad news is, the average American is a toxic waste site. In fact, I have a friend of mine who is toxicologist who says s that "If we were cannibals, we could not sell h an meat on the market. Because it's so contaminated, the FDA wouldn't allow it on the market. So [laughs] that's how bad it is.

DR MIKE: Wow. Yeah.

RAYMOND: Yeah. So, reduce your daily exposure. So, the bad news is we're contaminated—the good news is about eighty percent of that exposure is under our control. So, if we just learn how to exercise that control, you can reduce your toxic load by about eighty percent and that is very significant.

DR MIKE: Ok. So what, what are some of the things, so what are some of the things that we could do every day, you know, to, reduce that toxic burden?

RAYMOND: Well, simple things. For example, like toothpaste. Toothpaste is a deadly poison. But there are brands on the market that are very safe. So, buy a safe brand instead of a toxic brand. That simple. Buy organic food. That's simple. Don't put wall-to-wall carpet in the living room. That's simple. So you can learn to do simple things that will have a big impact in the long run. So, reduce your daily exposure.

DR MIKE: Now you mention specifically toothpaste and carpet and, this reminds me of a really good book out there, and I forget the name of it, Raymond. I think it's something...It was written about ten years ago. My House is Sick, or something like that, and they mention the carpet issues. So, what do you...So, what's in toothpaste? What is it about carpet that can be so dangerous?

RAYMOND: Well, carpet has hundreds of chemicals in it, and they all outgas. And we've done animal experiments with carpets. You can take a piece of new carpet, put it in a chamber with mice, and, come back the next morning; the mice will all be dead. There. We've actually taken carpet that's twelve years old and put mice in the chamber, and it caused neurological damage and they've done experiments with people, families that have had new carpet installed, and the disease rate in the family goes up precipitously—everything from the common cold, to flu, to all kinds of cancer. Whatever. After you have new carpet installed, the diseases go up. And cognitive problems, and emotional problems, all kinds of things.

DR MIKE: So, what? So we'd just be using wood floors? Or is there safer carpet?

RAYMOND: Well, you can use wool. What I have is I have wood floors. And I have very nice wool carpet, area carpets, area rugs that you put on top of the wood floor. But, you can have tile, you can have wood, but don't have the wall-to-wall made out of synthetic fibers. Don't bring in that many synthetic fibers. I mean, look at how many pounds that weighs, and this is all outgassing chemicals. And so you're, you're outgassing a tremendous number of chemicals, and it continues for years.

DR MIKE: Well, I guess the issue though, unfortunately, Raymond, a lot of people are in a situation where they can't do anything about that, right? You know, there are a lot of people who rent homes, rent apartments.

RAYMOND: Right.

DR MIKE: So, if they can't do much about the carpet, is there a way, to...Do we clean the carpet?

RAYMOND: Sure. Air filters. Have air filters. Have an air filter in that room to help absorb the toxic fumes coming off of the carpet.

DR MIKE: What's in the toothpaste?

RAYMND: Oh, my Lord. Artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial, detergents. And all of these go through the mucus membranes, into the bloodstream, and poison you. And then the artificial, detergents, for example, bio accumulate in fatty tissue, such as the eye. And then, a few years down the road you get macular degeneration, and you say, "Oh, my gosh! I've got a problem with my eye." But you don't say, "Why did I brush my teeth with that brand of toothpaste?" So, yes. It bio accumulates in the fatty tissues and poisons them.

DR MIKE: With only about a minute left here Raymond, so, what exactly is the toxin doing to the cell that causes it to become cancerous?

RAYMOND: Well, there are a number of things. One, the toxin can give false signals to genes. And there are genes that are very protective against cancer, and there are genes that are not protective—that are pro-cancer. If you give false signals to the genes, you can shut down the cancer protective genes and then there are other problems. Cancer is an oxygen deficiency disease. It's a deficiency of oxygen metabolism, and toxins can shut down that machinery.

DR MIKE: I'll tell you what, Raymond—let's, let's leave that there for a sec. We're going to have to take a break. The book is Never Fear Cancer Again. The author is Raymond Francis.

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

Is Chocolate Milk Really the Best Post-Workout Drink?

With double the protein and carbohydrates of regular milk, chocolate milk should be your go-to workout drink to replenish tired muscles.

Additional Info

Segment Number 1
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht3a.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 29, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

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

Dr. MIKE: Is chocolate milk really the best post-workout regimen? Now, as I think about this, literally seconds before starting live on the show today, I decided I really didn't like that word the "best". I think we use that too much in the health industry – best diet, best food, best workout, best supplement, you know, whatever. I think we all have to just admit that we're different. We're different people. We have different goals.

So, let me restate the question .
"Is chocolate milk really a good post workout regimen?"
And when you say it like that, yes, it is. I was in New York recently doing some lectures and stuff and I saw a local news channel, you know, they have the morning shows, Good Morning New York or something like that, and they had a health segment about chocolate milk and the benefits and one of the parts of that was as a post workout regimen. I thought, "You know, I have heard that before." I may have even answered a listener's question about this before just real briefly like, "Yes, it is a good post workout regimen." But I thought, "Why don't I looking in to this little bit more? What does the science really say?" I mean, I can't help it. I am a scientist, I am a data nerd. I've said that before. So, I thought, "What does the research really say about chocolate milk?"

So, I started looking at it and just to summarize, it is good. It has a good amount of protein; the chocolate part of it brings some needed carbs for tired muscles. Yes, I mean, overall the research shows that it is good for muscle recovery. Not necessarily muscle pain. That's different. I am going to talk about that if I have time. So, the research is pretty good. Using chocolate milk post workout, it does seem to be a good thing to do for your muscles. The best summary of all these came from a Dr. Charles Smith. He's from the University of Arkansas. He is the director of the fitness and science center there. He is a family physician.

He says, "Recent studies have shown that drinking chocolate milk after exercising is advantageous because of its protein content. Every cup of chocolate milk contains between 8 and 11 grams of protein." He goes on to say that, "This is ideal and you'll want to consume between 15 grams and 25 grams of protein after workout which equals between 500 mls and 750 mls of chocolate milk."

So, when I read that and I started thinking about this even when I was looking at the research, why chocolate milk? Why not just milk?

I mean, milk alone by itself just regular whole milk now has some good fat and some good protein in it. It even has little bit of sugar. Why does it have to be chocolate? Why do I have to add chocolate to this? So, I went on and did some further digging in to Dr. Smith's research and found a little statement he made about," compared to plain milk or most sports drinks, chocolate milk contains double the carbohydrate content, ideal for tired muscles." So, it does seem like adding the chocolate is really about the carbs.

The milk itself is the base and it's about the good fats and the good protein. Chocolate milk has a nice, high water content that replaces fluids lost from sweating and assists in preventing dehydration. In addition, it gives the body calcium, vitamin D; sodium and sugar which help you retain water and regain energy. Milk also contains key nutrients that sports drinks cannot match. So, yes, chocolate milk is pretty good.
I think Dr. Smith goes on to say something interesting here. He says that "before you make the switch to chocolate, examine your workout routine."

Listen. If you are walking 30 minutes a day--which is good. There are a lot of benefits to just walking 30 minutes a day. I don't think you have to end that up with a 500 ml or 750 ml of chocolate milk. That's you don't need to. What we are really talking about here is chocolate milk is a good post workout drink for people who are really working out pretty hard.

You know, we are talking about hitting the gym, lifting those weights; the calories, the carbohydrates; the proteins are going to really help to maintain a high level for athletes. You know, people who are serious about this. I'm active every day. Yes, I am going to talk about my dog. It's my show and I can talk about my dog all I want--Edie. She is so awesome. She is a border collie. So, my exercise is just taking her out every day.

And that's what I do. I am sorry. I'm not a gym guy. But I'm out, active with her, running around. We walk, we run, we play catch. She loves the tennis balls, the sticks, she is a big lizard hunter. Anyway, so I am active with her at good hour but I don't need it. It's not technically a workout. I don't need to be drinking chocolate milk after an hour outside with Edie. So, this is really about people who are serious in the gym.

Other things, though, again, I'm going to ask this question, does it have to be chocolate milk after a workout? What about sweetened almond milk? Listen.

Almond milk has a lot of protein, a lot of calcium, lot of Vitamin D, has the calories, has the carbs, has some fat. I mean why not that? Why not some sweetened almond milk? That might be something too. When we say chocolate milk, what kind of chocolate milk are we talking about here? When I was a kid, maybe this is why I like this topic so much because I did. I remember drinking a lot of chocolate milk. It was just whole milk. We didn't really have 1% or 2%. I don't remember any of that. If it was in the stores, my mom never bought it. It was always whole milk and it was the Hershey syrup which, really, technically doesn't even look like chocolate. It's a darker color and I don't know. Is that what we are talking about here? Just using Hershey syrup?

Maybe it would be better, too. So, I found a recipe. Take dark chocolate chips. Slowly melt them. Remember, I'm not a chef guy, so I don't know all the words, but double boiling system, where you have water in one pot and then you put a smaller pot on top of that. They do that on the Food Channel. I watch the Food Channel.

That's how you melt the chocolate and most of the time when I watch them, when I watch real chefs do this: they add some butter to it. That's probably fine. There's nothing wrong with some saturated fat. But I also saw a recipe we can add coconut oil to that. And that sounds good! That would be awesome chocolate milk. I should try that. So, dark chocolate chips, a little bit of coconut oil or butter and then add that to a whole milk. I think that would be helpful.

By the way, talking about this as a post-workout regimen, it is whole milk. You want the fat, you want the protein, your 1% - 2% doesn't just strip fat but also strips some of the protein components as well. So, you are going to make sure that it's whole milk.

What are some other things that athletes like to do that you might be interested in post- workout if drinking chocolate milk is not your thing or maybe you want to do it in combination with stuff. A lot of good research for branched chain amino acids after workout. That's leucine, isoleucine and valine. There are whole protein powders out there that include the BCA's (the branched chain amino acids) or you can actually do powders that are just the BCA's—the leucine, isoleucine and valine. I saw an interesting study using pea protein--pea as in P-E-A, the green peas. A lot of good protein in green peas. So, there are pea protein supplements and that also seems to be really good post-workout.

If you've got sore muscles, what are you going to do for that? Probably the best thing is glutamine, a glutamine powder. A good friend of mine who is a marathon runner--he actually does what are called "super marathons", like 50 miles or something. He's crazy. Anyway, he does glutamine at night after a workout and that helps. Tart cherry extract is good for the muscle pain and curcumin or curcumin and ginger combination for reducing inflammation in the muscles. There you go.

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: Green Supplements, Staying Limber, & Can You Give Supplements to Your Kids?

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/1518ht2e.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 28, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

You are listening to RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike on Healthy Talk. Call or email to ask your questions now. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

DR. MIKE: Kahlil Sharif, a listener of Healthy Talk sent an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and you can do the same thing. Send me your questions and I enjoy doing this and reading them on air. You can be as detailed as you want or as vague as you want. You can put your name, or not put your name. It's all up to you. You can even ask me to read it on a certain day and I'll do my best to do that.
So here is the question from Kahlil:

"Hi Dr. Mike. I have been listening to your podcast for around 8 months now. I am British and based in...", and then my ink kind of smeared, so I'm not sure what he says there. He says that he works for a multinational pharmacy company. "I really enjoy the topics you cover and the practical advice you give." And he said a couple of other lines that I can't read and then it skips down to the questions. So, he has two questions here.

The first question is:

"What is your take on green supplements like Amazing Grass and Green Vibrance? Is there any substantial literature out there? They have been growing rapidly in popularity over here." I'm assuming he means in Britain.
Okay. I am not sure if I am familiar with, I think I have heard of Green Vibrance. I don't know if I have ever heard of Amazing Grass but the green supplement industry or products have been around for quite some time now. Normally, Kahlil, they are based on whole food philosophy. These green drinks are usually not necessarily standardized to any specific compounds in the plants.

They are basically just whole plant based. They're awesome. You are going to get proteins out of it; you are going to get good fats out of it; you are going to get some fiber out of it; you are going to get vitamins and minerals and antioxidants out of it. The question often becomes, though, at what level are you getting those things? Because unless you actually standardize for the fibers, standardize for the polyphenols which are the plant-based antioxidants. If you don't standardize for those things, we don't really know what you are actually getting in terms of dose and that's why, if you look in to the label for a lot of the green supplements or a lot of the green drinks, it's just a proprietary blend. It will list everything that's in there but often not giving you any specific doses and that's fine.

I mean, they're great products. I think it's a great way to get some of the basic vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers you need every day. I don't have any problem with them. Sometime I just maybe question the dosing. That's all. So, I like them. I don't do them personally. I'm more of a standardization extract type guy. But I think they're good. I think the need to work on the taste a little bit to be honest with you. And to overcome that some of them will put some sugar. Hopefully, they don't put any artificial stuff in it.

So, just make sure and double check that kind of stuff. Make sure there's no artificial gunk in there but I think most of them don't do that. But they do sweeten it up. I think lot of them is using Stevia now which is a good alternative. But just make sure there is no gunk, no coloring stuff, like that and other than that I think they are fine. It's just a dosing thing for me.

The second question that Kahlil ad was:
"The importance of stretching your muscles and keeping them limber for overall health whether you are active or sedentary, particularly for sedentary individuals."
So, it's not really a question. I think he just wants me to comment on the importance of staying limber. I think it's incredibly important. Keeping your muscles, especially in your legs or what we might call the major muscle groups--arms, biceps, triceps, chest, stomach, legs, and calves--keeping those muscle fibers nice and long and limber is very important.

It just helps you to feel better, stay active and if your muscles are limber, and you can stretch and touch your toes, for instance. Listen, that often is associated with longer, healthier life. There was, I don't remember the year, but a couple of years ago, Kahlil, at Life Extension, we wrote a whole article on just being frail and not staying limber--exactly what you are talking about. And there are studies showing that as we get older, like, if you can't touch our toes, just as an example, that's a good sign that there are some issues and that has an impact on more morbidity and more mortality across the board.

So, yes. Here is another thing to think about, too. When your muscles are stretched every day, nice long muscle fibers, those fibers tend to be more metabolically active, which means they are going to bring sugar in and they are going to burn that sugar more efficiently. That's going to help something called insulin sensitivity down the line. So, keeping your muscles working, keeping them limber, can also impact how you manage sugar throughout your life, which is extremely important.

Thanks. I appreciate you sending me your email question. Let's go on to some other ones here. I've got some quick ones. I save these ones for trying to get through the last couple of minutes here. I love the email questions, by the way, but sometimes they are really long and I know it's going to take a while to get through them but I have some quick short ones here that I reserve for the last couple of minutes.

So, here is one:
"Is it okay to give supplements to my kids? I have a 5 and 7-year-old boys and what are the essential considerations in giving supplements to my boys?"

Yes. Okay. Sure, you can give supplements to kids, without a doubt. But you just have to remember that the essential consideration, as you're asking here, is in dose. So, there are pediatric formulations of multivitamins and omega oils and so you just have to make sure you stick with those pediatric formulations, unless your doctor tells you something different.

You can always verify with the pediatrician what the appropriate dose of things should be. But let's not forget, too, that at age 5 and 7, although a multivitamin is not bad...Now listen, let me back up, though. Be careful about some of those very popular children's multies that they can eat and that are usually based on some sort of dinosaur or some cartoon characters. Those are usually loaded with sugars and artificial colors and stuff like that.

So, I don't like those. I think there are better ones out there. But don't miss this opportunity, kids, boys and girls, around 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the prime years to teach them about eating healthy introducing vegetables. This has been shown: the earlier you introduce vegetables to your child, the more they like it later on in life, right?

I remember when I was that age. Unfortunately, I grew up in the TV dinner age. This is when canned foods and TV dinners became very popular. This was like in the 70's and we didn't eat that many fresh fruits and vegetables, especially the vegetables. Most of them were canned, they taste horrible and it took me a long time to overcome that. I do enjoy fresh vegetables now. So, yes, a multivitamin for a child is fine; some omega oil is fine, just with the pediatric dosing formulations but this is the opportunity to really start introducing fresh foods and cooking vegetables.

Oh, I mentioned before, I say all time that I am not a chef, but I love to eat and I watch a lot of the food channels, like Food Network. They have a great website by the way, I think it's Foodnetwork.com. They have a whole section about how to turn vegetables into something that kids like. Oh! Go check that out. That's the opportunity that I think that you have right now. So, check with your pediatrician about dosing. Don't do those cartoon based ones, full of sugars and colors, and teach your kid about healthy fresh foods right now. That's your opportunity.

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: Can Supplements Increase Your Risk of Cancer?

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/1518ht2d.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 28, 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: Alright. This This first question comes from a gentleman named Scott. He says, "Hi Dr. Mike. I love your show."

Thanks. I appreciate that, Scott.

He says, "I came across the headline on Fox Hews Health: 'Supplements may raise, not lower cancer risk' Do you know anything about this? Thanks, Scott."

Scott, I do. You know working at Life Extension we are often leading the industry in writing the rebuttals to these types of reports and reviews and presentations and studies. We have a whole department. Our scientific affairs department here led by Dr. Luke Huber, who is just an amazing guy and I have the rebuttal right here to what you are talking about.

So, let me just pull this out. There's a lot here but I've summarized it for us, Scott.

First of all, I think, Scott, you are right. It wasn't just on Fox News, by the way. I think this was played in many different media outlets but the same basic headline – 'Supplements May Actually Raise Cancer Risk'. So, what's interesting about this, Scott, is this didn't come from research. It actually came from a presentation by guy Dr. Tim Byers of the University of Colorado. And he was speaking at the American Association for Cancer Research, which, I think, was may be like a couple of weeks ago. Something like that. He reviewed in this presentation old studies with known flaws. Flaws that we've already brought out in several of Life Extension's publications.

So, no new evidence, nothing new, was presented by Dr. Byers in his lecture. And Dr. Byers reviewed findings from previous studies. I'm reading this from some of that rebuttal we wrote. One from nearly 20 years ago--so, this wasn't anything new--in which specific dietary supplements were linked with small increases in risk of certain types of cancer and select populations. Now, what's really amazing is how the media picks this up and describes that as a new study and then implicates all dietary supplements. When it really was old studies about very specific nutrients and, of course, these studies have all kind of flaws as well.

And here is something interesting you should know, Scott. In Dr. Byers' presentation, he didn't present any of the studies that showed multivitamins and specific nutrients actually reduce cancer risk. He didn't present any of that. He only presented the old studies showing potential problems with specific nutrients. And again, those studies have a lot of flaws.

So, I wanted to just kind of review some of this with you. One of the studies that Dr. Byers described was from a 1996 study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in which synthetic beta-carotene along with Vitamin A increased lung cancer risk in some people. He presented this information. Here's what was interesting about this. The study subjects and the study that Dr. Byers presented, that eventually the media picked up and said, "All supplements have a problem"? The study subjects Scott, were smokers and asbestos workers only. As a matter of fact, this study that Dr. Byers described, the conclusion of the study actually says: "After an average of 4 years of supplementation, the combination of beta carotene and Vitamin A may have an adverse effect on the incidence of lung cancer and on the risk of death from lung cancer, cardiovascular disease at any cause in smokers and workers exposed to asbestos."

And somehow that becomes extrapolated to the general population. You can't do that in science. As a matter of fact, Scott, in this same study—the same study that Dr. Byers is presenting, again, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1996--in that same study they reported-- the original investigators, researchers-- reported former smokers in the beta-carotene and Vitamin A supplement group actually showed a trend towards less cancer. Less. But he did not mention that. Many of the studies that Dr. Byers used in his presentation, many of the stats that he used never reached what we call "statistical significance". To know if a difference between two groups, like a control group and a test group, to know if the difference you are seeing in the study is real, and something you can trust, the difference has to be at a certain level and that's called statistical significance. Most of the data that Dr. Byers presented did not reach that kind of statistical significance. There are other problems, you know, in that same study.

We already know that synthetic beta-carotene is probably not the best thing to use. Also, synthetic beta-carotene has a toxic interaction with alcohol. And that was never teased out in this study. Of course, Dr. Byers never read that as a caveat during his presentation. And by the way, Scott, another different New England Journal of Medicine study published the same issue, 1996, found no risk for long term beta-carotene supplementation. This was a larger and longer study; there was no association between beta-carotene supplementation and cancer, heart disease or mortality.

In fact, in the beta-carotene group, there were slightly fewer cases of almost all cancers, including lung cancer and fewer heart attacks or strokes. These results were confirmed later on in 1999 in a study of nearly 40,000 women that found no increase in risk of cancer or heart disease from beta-carotene supplementation. Dr. Byers decided not to present that data. Another study that Dr. Byers talked about was published in 2009 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study found and increased risk of prostate cancer among users of folic acid supplements. But, of course, this study definitely has some flaws in it, some design flaws. First of all, in the study that Dr. Byers presented, Scott, no attempts were made to detect cancer at baseline through systematic screening of study participants. So, men with pre-existing prostate cancer at baseline, they were never identified.

So, that just adds some credibility issues when you look at the final results. Plasma folate was actually associated with decrease risk of prostate cancer. A 44% reduction in the risk for prostate cancer was seen for the people with the highest levels of plasma folate. So again, there are some issues with design, initial baseline reporting of the patients that were involved follow up and, of course, none of those types of potential problems were brought up in Dr. Byers' presentation.

Just to kind of sum up, there is a whole bunch more here that I could go through. Let me just tell you this real quick, Scott. I have here evidence supporting dietary supplements and vitamins. I have 14 large prospective clinical trials showing benefits for heart disease, cancer, brain health with all kinds of different supplements. But here is the thing that happened.

Dr. Byers presented a very biased presentation against supplements. It wasn't really against supplements. It was about specific nutrients like synthetic beta-carotene. He did not present positive studies, and there are plenty and the media picked this up and kind of grouped this to become all supplements have some issues with cancer.

Not just like, say, the beta-carotene. And that's what we are dealing with. That's what we are fighting against, Scott, is the type of science bias, media bias against supplements and I think it's just something we have to be diligent in counteracting. So this wasn't even a study, nothing new. It was simply a presentation and it was very biased.

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

When Should You Ask for a Second Opinion?

If you don't have any confidence in your doctor, it might be time to find a new one.

Additional Info

Segment Number 3
Audio File healthy_talk/1518ht2c.mp3
Featured Speaker Neal Spector, MD
Organization Duke University School of Medicine
Book Title Gone in a Heartbeat: A Physician's Search for True Healing
Guest Bio Neil Spector is the co-director of the developmental therapeutics program at the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center. He is a Komen Scholar (one of 50 global leaders in breast cancer research) and a Sandra P. Coates Associate Professor in Breast Cancer Research.

He has been published in over 60 publications and journals, including the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Oncogene, Cancer Research, and The Journal of Clinical Oncology.

He has won multiple awards, including the Wayne Rundles Award (excellence in cancer research, Duke University Medical Center), the Wendell Rosse Excellence in Teaching Award (awarded to the best faculty mentor as voted by the Duke medical oncology fellows), and the Claudia Adams Barr Award in Cancer Research (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School).

He resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife, daughter, and two dogs, where he enjoys running, playing tennis, traveling, and is an avid reader of books related to the mind-body connection.
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received No
Host Mike Smith, MD

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