Healthy Talk w/ Dr. Michael Smith

Can Added Sugar Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease?

Added sugar is known to be bad for your waistline, but is it also doing harm to your heart?

Additional Info

Segment Number 1
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht3a.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
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: Can added sugar increase your risk of heart disease? Well, according to some new research, the answer is "yes". I'm going to read this from a report from Harvard Health Publications. Now, before I go into the report, interestingly, I just saw this on, gosh, I want to say it was CNN, maybe. One of the evening news things. I think it was CNN a couple of days ago. Alright. So, here it is:

Eighty percent of processed foods now contain added sugar and Americans are getting 60% of their total calories from processed foods.

What? That's crazy. So, that means, is if I just break it up into shopping in a grocery store, we spend 60% of our time in the aisles with the pre-packed stuff, in the middle, and we're not shopping in the outside aisles where the fresh foods are. I mean, that's just not right. We've got to change this. It starts with me. It starts with you. So, 80% of processed foods now contain added sugar and 60% of our total daily calories are coming from processed food. So, we're getting a lot of added sugar. Let me just go to this report. Again, it's from Harvard Health Publications. I think it was last month.

Added sugar makes up at least 10% of the calories the average American ingests in a day. One in ten people get ¼ of their daily calories from added sugar. A 15-year study published in 2014 by the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics showed that people with ¼ of their daily calories coming from added sugar were more likely—were twice as likely—to die from heart disease compared with those patients who had 10% or less of their daily calories coming from added sugar.

More than twice as likely to die from heart disease if you're getting a quarter of your calories from added sugar, which we are. Which is one in ten—ten percent of Americans. I think that's a conservative number, to be honest with you. I think it's a lot higher than that. We already know the issues with sugar in general, right? I mean, if you get too much sugar and you don't burn it, it stores as fat. So, we already know there's a sugar to abnormal lipid profile and weight gain thing. We already know that connection but now we're actually linking it directly to heart health, right? I mean, think of it. It's empty calories. Sugar, I mean, it tastes good. We have a sweet tooth in this country, obviously, which is why all of these processed food manufacturers are adding sugar to it because it sells more. So, don't blame them. It's our fault. They're just doing what we want. You can make an argument that they created this.

I know some of my friends in the alternative industry talk about how it was a conspiracy that food manufacturers were adding sugar because they knew sugar was addicting and eventually we would just crave it. I don't know. The bottom line is, we've just got to stop. We need to start eating nutrient rich calories and not empty calories. There's no fiber, there's no vitamins, there's no minerals, there's no nutrients in sugar. A little bit of sugar is not going to hurt you, but when you're getting ¼ of your daily calories from added sugar, that's the issue and that's the link to heart disease.

Oh, by the way, I did a whole show on sugary beverages, didn't I? A whole show on the Big Gulps. Carbonated, sugary beverages or sugary beverages of any kind, carbonated or not, linked to blood pressure issues, cholesterol issues. Right there, there are heart disease risk factors.

Now, let's make sure we understand that there are natural sugars and then there are added sugars, right? So, the natural sugars, you can find them in milk and fruit. When you consume those natural sugars, you're consuming other nutrients with it. So, you're getting some soluble fibers which help to control how much of the sugars actually get into your blood stream. It's the added sugar, the processed sugar, the crystalized sugar that there are no nutrients, no fiber that comes right in, gets right into your blood stream. You spike your blood sugar, you spike your insulin and you become this metabolic time bomb ready to happen.

Packaged food now, does, in some cases, contain some of the natural sugars, which is good, but they're just adding it in. I think it's becoming more and more important that we understand food labels, right? Many processed foods contain added sugar under different names. Usually, you want to look for anything that ends in "ose" like maltose, sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, corn sweetener, syrup, fruit juice concentrates. That's all still just added sugar and they're doing it because when they add that sugar, you buy more of it and you eat more of it and you continue to buy more of it and their profits go up.

According to the American Heart Association, the majority of added sugar is found in soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, milk products and other grains. They add sugar to bread now. I had a list of some of the most common products that we're buying. Carbonated soda, a 12-ounce can is about 132 calories of just pure sugar. Have you ever thought about that? Any fruit in a can, especially if there's syrup, right? A cup of that could be upwards of 120 calories of just pure sugar.

How about the non-fat varieties of food that we thought were safe and which we now know is not necessarily the case. Non-fat fruit yogurt is very popular and all over commercials. That's close to 100 calories of just sugar. I mean, think about that. Cereals, kids' cereals. My word! Loaded with added sugars. Loaded with 50, 60, 70, 80 calories of just pure added sugar in those cereals. No. No. No. No more. There's a whole other list of things here. I'm not going to go through this.

According to Harvard Health Publications, sodas, energy drinks and sport drinks account for more than 1/3 of the added sugar consumed by our nation. So, that's sodas, energy drinks and sport drinks. So, okay. You might think, "Okay. I'm just going to do the diet varieties." Come on, now. We've talked about that enough. The diet varieties could be worse. I mean, they still want it sweet because they know you're only going to buy things that are sweet, so what do they do? They add the artificial gunk into it, right? The artificial stuff might be worse. As a matter of fact, I answered a listener question recently on the zero calorie energy drinks. Of course, that's a myth. There's no such thing as energy from zero calories. I mean, you get energy from calories.

Of course, I think I used—not to pick on Red Bull—but they have the Red Bull Zero something. I don't even remember the name. I don't drink the stuff. I really don't remember the name, but I went online. I looked at what was in there. It basically is water and miniscule amounts of B vitamins, a lot of caffeine and, of course, the artificial sweeteners. So, the alternative is not the diet versions. Please let me restate that. The alternative to sodas and energy drinks and sport drinks is not the diet versions or the low fat versions. That's just more sugar and artificial stuff.

The alternative is water, teas, fresh food, shopping on the outside aisles of your grocery stores. We all need to do better, me included. What I'm telling you right now, I need to do a better job. I'm speaking to myself as well.

The American Heart Association recommends less than 100 calories of added sugar a day. 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: Are Zero Calorie Energy Drinks THAT Bad for You?

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/1514ht2e.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 31, 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 AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

DR MIKE: Alright. That is AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com. Please send me your questions. I'm running a little low. I got a few new ones this week, over this past weekend, but can always use an infusion of listener questions. I love doing this part of the show. It's a little scary sometimes. I do some research for some of the questions, as I said before, but other ones, I just kind of answer as best I can. Either way, I'm going to do my best for you. So, again, that's AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com. Alright. Next question:

"Hi, Dr. Mike. I know you've mentioned before how horrible energy drinks are for your health."

Did I say "horrible"? A little strong. Maybe I did. I try to stay away from emotionally charged words like that. They're not good for you. This is my opinion. Horrible? Mmmm. But, if I did, I did. Okay.

"I know you've mentioned before how horrible energy drinks are for your health, specifically because of all the added sugars."Yes. That's true. I stand by that.

"However, what about the zero calorie energy drinks? Even though they don't have the extra sugars in it, are they still that bad for you? Thanks. Lauren."

Okay. It's interesting to me, Lauren. So, there's a problem. There's a problem with the idea of a zero calorie energy drink. Do you know what that is? Does anybody know what the problem with that is? Well, if something is "zero calorie", how can it give us energy?(aughter)

Oh! That's tough. That's interesting, isn't it? Food calories, dietary calories is what is eventually converted into adenosine triphosphate, the energy currency for the cell. So, technically—if I'm being really technical, there's really no such thing as a zero calorie energy drink. That doesn't mean that you can't put nutrients in it. I talk about CoQ10 as an energizer. I talk about D ribose. I talk about carnitine, but those things are working with the food sources coming in and helping the mitochondria to produce ATP.

I mean, if you took out all dietary calories from your body, if you just somehow got into some weird vacuum and it sucked out all dietary calories, and you took CoQ10, it's not going to do much for you because it requires food source's oxygen to make the ATP. So, technically, Lauren, maybe I'm being a little technical, but there's no such thing as a zero calorie energy drink. You have to have calories. Okay?

But, I understand what they're doing. They're adding some of those types of nutrients that I mentioned and we're not drinking these things in a vacuum. We have some food sources in our stomach when we're eating, so those kind of energy compounds that they're adding to these zero calorie energy drinks are working with these nutrients they're putting in these drinks. So, listen, I don't follow the energy drink market all that much, so I had to do some Google searches here. Red Bull Total Zero is the top in the market. Red Bull, in general, with all of their drinks in the past 26 years has now sold approximately 50 billion cans. That's a lot of Red Bull. BlueSky Zero comes in next and then there was another one. I don't think I got the full name here, NOS? NOS. That's all I wrote. I think there was more to the name and then one called High Ball. But, those were the top, according to Google.

So, to answer Lauren's question, I'm going to use Red Bull. Red Bull Total Zero. Now, I'm not picking on Red Bull at all. I'm not. I'm just going to state the facts based on what I found on their very own website and what I found on the actual label of Red Bull's Total Zero. This is just facts, right? Everybody understands that, right? So, I went online. Here's what I found out about Red Bull Total Zero. There is no protein. There is no sugar. No fat. There's nothing. Zero calories. That's confirmed on the label. So, where is the energy coming from?

Well, they have 80mg of caffeine, which they go on to say on their site that that's the equivalent of a standard cup of coffee. That's probably true. I there are some coffees out there that are a lot more than 80mg, but that's what they have in their...You know, I forgot to write down what the serving size was. It's not 12 ounces. It's like 8 ounces. So, 8 ounces, 80 mg of caffeine. So, right there. That's going to stimulate. Then, they have taurine. Now, taurine's an amino acid that occurs naturally in your body. It's in high concentration in muscle, brain. Taurine is responsible for running calcium channels which is really important to nerves and muscles. So, that's kind of where you're getting the energy idea from although it doesn't link directly to energy.

But, taurine's used in certain heart disease protocols. So, it has some merit, here. It's about 7 grams. Now, I actually couldn't find the amount of taurine. They talk about how much taurine is in the average human body and that the average human has about 70 times the amount of taurine that's in the Red Bull, which would come about to about 7 grams of taurine, although they don't put that on the label, which I have issues with. I really do. I have issues with listing active ingredients and not telling me how much I'm getting. I have a problem with that. Remember I talked about buying products that have clean labels? Active ingredients. How much? Very clear. Remember that? Clean labels. That's what I mean by that.

So, I'm taking a guess. Seven grams of taurine. Then, they go on to say that they have B group vitamins. Of course, on the website, that's all they say. Because there are a lot of different types of B vitamins. They don't give you any dose. They don't tell you which ones. I had to actually go to the label and see that it looks like there's B6 and it's about 25% the recommended daily intake which is pretty much nothing. B12, about 80% of the RDI, again, recommended daily intake, which is about nothing. Then, pantothenic acid, which is B5, which is about 50%, which is pretty much about nothing. The recommended daily intake is notoriously low. So, They're not even at 100%. So, yes. They've got 3 B vitamins out of, what, 7? And pretty much at very low, low, low doses. Okay. But, it's there. They also say that the base is Alpine spring water.

Here's the kicker. Here's why I can answer, Lauren, that they are unhealthy. This is just fact. They have aspartame. They have sucralose. A lot of artificial sweeteners. That's why it's sweet. Aspartame, sucralose. So, I don't like that. I don't like the artificial sweeteners. That's generally how they make zero calorie drinks, other than water, palatable. We have a sweet tooth in this country so they sweeten it with these artificial sweeteners. So, 80mg caffeine, 7 grams of taurine, a little drop of B6, B12 and B5, Alpine spring water. That's great. Then, artificial sweeteners.

So, back to Lauren's question:

"Are they still that bad for you?" Yes. They're not really giving you any of the nutrients. Very lose dose. Maybe a decent dose of the taurine, but that's about it, and you're getting artificial sweeteners and I don't like artificial sweeteners. Again, the whole energy drink market, it just...I don't know. I don't get it. I don't understand. These aren't great products and yet, we're consuming them more than just plain water. There are better ways to increase energy. CoQ10, as I mentioned, carnitine, D ribose, cordyceps, fermented ginseng. I mean, these are all great ways to produce lasting cell energy. You don't need these energy drinks.That's my opinion.

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: What Is the Healthiest Nut?

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/1514ht2d.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 31, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD

You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to Ask Dr. Mike on Healthy Talk. Call or email your questions now. Email: AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

DR MIKE: So, I noticed that I had a few listener questions coming in on email about nuts and legumes, so I thought I would just focus maybe on those three for this segment. So, let me start with what I think is the quickest question.

"What is the difference between legumes and nuts?"

So, I like this because, listen, I know you guys could just Google that, but I think it's kind of awesome that you would rather just ask me the question. Or, maybe you did Google it and you're going to see if I get it right. But, anyway, any question--I love them all--and I do, I look at them and, in many cases, I respond back in email but definitely try to get them on air.

A legume, it's a dried fruit inside a pod or what's called a "shed". Not a shell. That's different. You take, for instance, a peanut. A peanut is actually a legume. It's covered in what we call a "peanut shell", whatever. But, it's really not because it's stringy. You can actually peel it. You can peel each little layer off to expose the dried fruit in the middle. That's a legume. Peas. In the case of a pea, it's called a "pod". They're like stringy things you can peel back.

So, pods and sheds, you could literally just peel back and inside is the dried fruit. That's the legume. The difference between that and a nut, it's a fruit, just like the legume is, but in a nut, it's covered in a hard shell and it has a seed. So, technically, to be called a "nut" it has to have a hard shell, plus a seed. If it's a legume, it's a dried fruit just within a pod or a shed. There you go. I'm sure you Googled it, so did I get it right?

The next question: "My wife and daughter were arguing about which nuts are the best (healthiest)." So, he was talking about which were the healthiest.

"They have no idea what they are talking about. Can you help them?"

I think, William, they're probably arguing a lot about this and maybe you tried to help and they're not listening to you. So, let's look at this. Let me go ahead and read the next question, too, because I think by answering William's question, I'll get to this other question here.

So, we have William's question about what are the best nuts, in terms of health, right? Here's the next question:

"Hi, Dr. Mike. My wife says there are no nutritional value to peanuts, which I love. She wants me to eat walnuts or almonds, which I hate. Do I really need to switch?"

So, there you go. I think I can answer both of these as I go through some of this information. By the way, this information, I asked one of the Life Extension health advisors to go through this for me and put this together. So, the first thing that I want to mention, all nuts are about the same in terms of calories per ounce. I mean, they're not equal, but pretty close. I think when you, William, if we're going to talk about health or healthy nuts, I think maybe that the first thing we need to talk about is calories. They're all similar, but you can group some of the nuts into lower calorie, which, maybe for you, might be healthier unless you're trying to gain weight, so I guess it really depends on the person.

Then, we have some high calorie nuts that maybe most Americans, I think, would want to eat a little bit less. So, the healthiest nuts, in terms of calories, and I'm ranking this based on the lowest number of calories per ounce, coming in at around 60 calories per ounce would be almonds, cashews and pistachios. One of my favorites, right? Almonds, cashews and pistachios. I actually snack on almonds throughout the day. Pistachios, I would eat more, but they're expensive. The almonds are just easier and cheaper.

So, there you go. In terms of calories, around 160 per ounce: almonds, cashews and pistachios. Now, the highest calorie nuts, again, this is not necessarily unhealthy, but most Americans are watching calories, so these might be the nuts that you want to limit: macadamia nuts and pecans. That's all that was listed here. So, macadamia and pecans have the highest calories per ounce. I didn't know pecans were, but I knew macadamia nuts. Awesome, by the way. Wonderful flavor. They have a lot of fat. Twenty-one grams of fat versus, say, 14 grams of fat in the almonds. So, that's why the macadamia nut tastes so good because fat tastes good. So, watch the calories with macadamia nuts.

Just remember that they're all good. You know, really the difference between, say, the almond and the macadamia nut is really about 40-50 calories an ounce. So, I mean, you're talking about a serving which is usually around 15-20 nuts or so. That's about an ounce. There you go. That's the first way to break that down.

Now, the problem, William, becomes how do you rank the healthiest nuts to not as healthy? It's really hard to do that. What we have found is, it's easier to talk about which nuts are good for different body parts. For instance, the best nut for your brain which is going to answer the second question, is the peanut. So, the listener that sent in the question about eating peanuts and his wife wanting him to change to something like an almond, no.

Peanuts are good. Peanuts have a lot of good antioxidants. It's probably better to keep them in the shed. Notice I said "shed" not "shell". Peel it and eat it raw like that. Peanuts are great for your brain. So, when it comes to your brain, peanuts are at the top of the list. I know a lot of people would put maybe walnuts out there, but we're going to get to walnuts and that's really about the heart. But peanuts, which are technically legumes, are high in folic acid. Folic acids in several studies have been shown to protect against cognitive decline. Of course, folic acid is extremely important in pregnancy as well, just in brain development.

Peanuts are great choices for vegetarians who, often, are low in folic acid, by the way. So, that's another thing. That's another plus about peanuts. Loaded with healthy fats. Loaded with vitamin E and about 170 calories per ounce. So, that's good. That listener who sent in the peanut question. No, you don't have to switch. Maybe switch it up a little bit. Why not? Right. A little almond. A little peanut. Maybe mix it up a little bit. But, peanuts are good—especially for your brain.

As far as the heart goes, that's the walnut. Healthy Omega 3's. Alpha-linolenic acid, ALA. Very, very good for the cardiovascular system. As a matter of fact, there was a 2006 Spanish study that looked at ALA and heart arrhythmias and it showed that the walnut was as effective at some medications for heart arrhythmias. The walnut was as effective as olive oil in reducing inflammation and oxidation within the cardiovascular system. So, walnuts are really at the top of the list for the heart.

What is the best nut, maybe, in general for disease prevention?

Well, this is debatable now. But, we're going to go ahead. I say "we" because I had an advisor here at Life Extension help me. We're going to go ahead and say the almond. Relatively speaking, they're low in calories—about 155 calories per 15-20 almonds. They have a lot of good calcium. They have vitamin K, vitamin E. They have some of the higher content of fiber. So, when you really put it all together, you know, a handful of almonds a day can go a long way towards disease prevention.

So, again, William, it's tough to rank nuts in terms of healthiest. They're all good for you. They all have fiber; a good composition of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals, but it looks like peanuts for the brain, walnuts for the heart and almonds for overall health.

Maybe that will help and stop the fighting, I don't know. Alright. This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike.
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received No
Internal Notes NO GUEST

Is Exercising Outdoors Better for You than Hitting the Gym?

Does exercising outdoors have more benefits than an indoor workout? Or, vice versa?

Additional Info

Segment Number 3
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht2c.mp3
Featured Speaker Greg Wells, PhD
Guest Website Dr. Greg Wells
Guest Bio Dr. Greg Wells is a broadcaster, author, coach and athlete who has dedicated his career to understanding human performance and how the human body responds to extreme conditions.

He has trained dozens of elite athletes to win medals at World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. Dr. Wells also serves as the assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Toronto where he studies elite sports performance.

He also serves as an associate scientist of physiology and experimental medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children where he leads the Exercise Medicine Research Program. Dr. Wells is the author of Superbodies: Peak Performance Secrets from the World's Best Athletes (HarperCollins, June 26, 2012) and is a sought-after speaker on the topic of human performance, speaking at top events like TEDx and the Titan Summit alongside Sir Richard Branson.

A frequent contributor toThe Globe and Mail, he has been an expert in other top media outlets like ABC News, "20/20," The Discovery Channel, CBC and CTV. He also served as the sports medicine analyst for the Canadian Olympic Broadcast Consortium for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games. For more information visit www.drgregwells.com
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 31, 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: My guest is Dr. Greg Wells. He is the author of Superbodies: Peak Performance Secrets from the World's Best Athletes. His website is DrGregWells.com. It's all one word. Dr. Wells, welcome to Healthy Talk.

DR WELLS: Thanks very much. Great to be with you.

DR MIKE: So, you know, we just went through what we're calling 5 secrets, but I actually think they are kind of secrets. You know why, Dr. Wells? I think a lot of us who aren't elite athletes, we think that they're doing something, some herb that's giving them some amazing power. They're doing some secret stretching routine, but, really, the secret is they're doing the basics, aren't they?

DR WELLS: They're doing the basics and they're doing the basics consistently. It's nothing—not rocket science. There's nothing hidden. There's nothing secret. They just do it every single day.

DR MIKE: So, we had the 5 secrets. Make sure I've got these right. So, sleep. Right? That was important for recovery, growth, hormones. Nutrition. Really packing in nutrients in each calorie. Calories really do count. Exercise – kind of alternate, peak. Recovery. Then, you mentioned sports psychology. And then, the last one, say that again. That was picking something that you want to be the best at. Is that what you meant? Performance at your best.

DR WELLS: Yes. Perform better. Just challenging people to get out there and go for it. Just challenge yourself. Register for an event. Push the limits of what you're capable of. Discover something that...Go after your passions. Try to find some way of really, really pushing the limits of what you're capable of. You'll be blown away at what happens to all aspects of your life when you try to do those sorts of things.

DR MIKE: Yes. It kind of builds confidence in other parts of your life, doesn't it?

DR WELLS: I believe so. I think when you push the limits of what you're capable of, you discover those limits and you start to work on all the things that are going to help you expand those limits which are eat, sleep, move, think and the things that we just discussed among many, many others. Thinking about being healthier is great, but the fact is, when you try to perform at your best, your health is going to improve. When you try to do great at your job—really great at your job--in order to do that, you have to be healthy. When you try to do things to help you perform better, your health improves as well. A little bit of a different way of approaching and a little bit of a shift in mentality that I believe can make a huge difference.

DR MIKE: It sounds awesome. So, let's shift the conversation now to exercising outside versus a gym. Now, Dr. Wells, I have an opinion about this—a definite opinion about this. It's just me. So, let me just give you my personal thing on all this. I hate gyms. Listen, I work all day long, right? And, it's a long day and, to me, going to a gym, I feel like I'm just going to a second job. So, you know what I do? My listeners know this. I have a border collie. She's an awesome dog. I just go out and I play with her. You know? That's my activity and I know it's not...I'm sure you would probably get me doing some other things and pushing myself. I get that, but I just...I can't do a gym. I don't know. So, what do you think? Am I wrong or what?

DR WELLS: No. You've been saying the right things. Let's be realistic. Eighty-five percent of our population doesn't get any physical activity at all, so if it works for you to go to the gym, go to the gym. But, if you can do physical activity outdoors, it can take what you're doing and supercharge it to another level completely. There is some great research that shows that by being out in the forest, being near trees, that can decrease the amount of the stress hormone cortisol by about 12%. Your heart rate decreases and your blood pressure decreases somewhere between 5 and 10%. If you even just look at a picture of trees. If you look at a picture of trees with water, it goes down even further. So, this is a huge, powerful impact you can have on your body and your stress and a number of different things if you just simply get outside. Exercising outdoors is even more powerful.

DR MIKE: So, basically, what you just said--I'm going to have some listeners that are going to take a picture of their back yard, put it on their treadmill and they're just going to walk on their treadmill with a picture of their tree. How about go out to the actual tree? That might be a little bit better, I think.

DR WELLS: Yes. Or, put it on the desktop on your computer. If you have to be at work, throw a cool picture up that, when you minimize your screen, you're looking at something. It'll help you all day long. That's what I tell a lot of my clients.

DR MIKE: Okay. So, what kind of timeframe are we talking about here? Like, when I take my dog for a walk, it's a good hour and it's not just walking. We run together. You know, she always has to bring her tennis ball with her. So, it's a pretty active hour, but is that enough? Is there any research showing that I could do less or more or what do you think?

DR WELLS: The research shows that five minutes is enough to start having positive impacts on your body. It's incredibly powerful.

DR MIKE: Five minutes?

DR WELLS: Five minutes and, even more incredibly, it appears that the benefits of exercising outdoors in nature last for up to a week and the mechanism behind that is because trees produce something, an airborne chemical called "phytoncides". Plants omit these phytoncides to protect themselves. When we inhale those phytoncides, it activates our immune system to make us healthier. To help us fight off illness. To help us. It just stimulates this reaction inside of our bodies that has all of these other benefits: improved attention, memory, reduced incidence even of depression. So, there is actually a chemical pathway that's been identified that shows that there is actually a rationale for this.

DR MIKE: Yes. You know, Dr. Wells, they found those same compounds, too, in sea weed.

DR WELLS: Really? Isn't that interesting?

DR MIKE: Yes. The Japanese, who consume about 4 grams of sea weed a day and they are some of the longest living people, right? Some people are linking it to these types of compounds that we're finding throughout the plant kingdom. So, that's interesting that you bring that up.

So, we want people outside more, which is great. I totally agree with you, so you're a great guest. What about, though, because when I'm out a lot, at the park or whatever, people are out jogging, maybe, but they have like the headsets on, you know? They're not really connected to nature. Even though they're outside, it doesn't seem like they're really connected to it. Does that make a difference?

DR WELLS: I believe that it does in two different ways, both positively and negatively. I think one of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves is to unplug. I believe we need to unplug for an hour a day, completely away from electronic devices. Get your phones off. Get your computers off. Reconnect with nature. Read a book. Do something that allows you to decompress. Meditate. It's wonderful. Yoga, as well, is great. So, in that sense, I do believe that if you're exercising outdoors and you're connected to your device and you're posting pictures on social media, then it's obviously a problem. You're not really benefitting.

On the other hand, we know that music does wonderful things for the brain. So, if you're listening to great music, it can be a stress reliever. It can be really positive for you psychology and for your health as well.

DR MIKE: Listen, I put all that away. As a matter of fact, my friends know that from about 5:30 to 7:30, I'm totally disconnected. I get home from work. I get my dog out. I don't even bring my cell phone. I know that people just thinking about that freaks them out, but I'm sorry. I need that time where I just...My dog deserves my attention, anyway, right? That's what I believe, so I'm like you. I just put all that stuff away. I don't have any music on and that really works well for me.
Tell me a little bit about the book, Superbodies: Peak Performance Secrets from the Best Athletes. Are all these kind of things in your book?

DR WELLS: They are. That was my original book. I have a new book also coming out in the fall called The Performance Code which will have all of the details on this. The first book was just incredible. It was a chance to explore all of these different ideas and the second book will take that even further and have some amazing, practical tips for everybody to check out as well.

DR MIKE: Yes. So, the website is DrGregWells.coms. Are the books available on your site?

DR WELLS: They are and people can connect with me in any way they want. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Sign up for our newsletter and they'll hear about it in any of those ways.

DR MIKE: Well, that's awesome. You are a great guest, Dr. Wells. I appreciate the work that you're doing. I'm definitely going to check out your books and see what else I can add to my regimen. Thanks for coming on.

This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received Yes
Host Mike Smith, MD

5 Fitness Secrets from the World’s Top Athletes

Are you looking for a new way to boost your workout? Who better to follow in the footsteps than the world's top athletes?

Additional Info

Segment Number 2
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht2b.mp3
Featured Speaker Greg Wells, PhD
Guest Website Dr. Greg Wells
Guest Bio Dr. Greg Wells is a broadcaster, author, coach and athlete who has dedicated his career to understanding human performance and how the human body responds to extreme conditions.

He has trained dozens of elite athletes to win medals at World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. Dr. Wells also serves as the assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Toronto where he studies elite sports performance.

He also serves as an associate scientist of physiology and experimental medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children where he leads the Exercise Medicine Research Program. Dr. Wells is the author of Superbodies: Peak Performance Secrets from the World's Best Athletes (HarperCollins, June 26, 2012) and is a sought-after speaker on the topic of human performance, speaking at top events like TEDx and the Titan Summit alongside Sir Richard Branson.

A frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail, he has been an expert in other top media outlets like ABC News, 20/20, The Discovery Channel, CBC and CTV. He also served as the sports medicine analyst for the Canadian Olympic Broadcast Consortium for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games. For more information visit www.drgregwells.com
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received Yes
Host Mike Smith, MD

7 Fruit Peels for Better Health

Before tossing out your fruit, save your peel. It could contain hidden health benefits.

Additional Info

Segment Number 1
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht2a.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 31, 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, let's talk about the health benefit of fruit peels. The peel, right? I think a lot of times, people cut away the peel. Even with apples, I see people cutting away the peels. Turns out, the peel itself has, in some cases, more nutritional value than the pulp—the fruity part. We definitely know there's less sugar in the peel, regardless of the fruit. The pulpy part, what we call the fruity part, that's really, in most cases, 50-60% sugar and water. There are antioxidants in there, but the skin or the peel of the fruit is very beneficial. So, I have a site that I really like to use a lot.

It's a non-technical site and I just want to let everybody know that I have absolutely no connection to this site in any way, shape or form, so whether you go and visit this site or not, that's up to you. I don't get any benefit from it. I just like it. I use it and I came across a little article on the health benefit of fruit peels. I thought, "Wow, that's a great topic." That site is TheHealthSite.com. You can check out some more information about fruit and fruit peels there.

So, I think on TheHealthSite.com, they talked about more than just...I picked five of what I thought were interesting fruit peels to talk about. There were other ones they had there. I'm going to start with—and these aren't necessarily in the order of most healthy to least healthy. They're more in the order I found interesting.

Let's just start with the first one. Pomegranate peel. Of course, this is interesting to me because if you've listened to my show, you know I love pomegranate. I think I talk about it all the time in lectures and radio shows. It's really an amazing fruit, right? But, I've never once thought about the peel. That's the one fruit that I know. You open it up and you get the seeds. Then, what was interesting when I first saw this, I thought, well, okay, so you have that tough red skin, right? That's the peel. In between the tough red peel (skin) and the seed of the pomegranate, which is what most people are eating, there is this white, fibrous part. It's very thick. It's the same fibrous part you can find in citrus fruit as well, but it's just real thick in the pomegranate. I thought maybe that's what they were talking about, but according to this report, no. It really is the red skin, the tough part. I'm not really sure how we're consuming this.

I guess you just eat it. I've never even thought about that. You can also, in some cases, with some of the tough peels, you can just boil in water and just drink the water that's left over. Anyway, according to this report, the tough red skin of the pomegranate fruit is packed with numerous health and beauty benefits. Pomegranate peels. Now, what I'm about to tell you, I did not check in the research, so just take this with a grain of salt. It wouldn't surprise me. You know how much I love pomegranate. According to this report, pomegranate peels can help fight acne, pimples, rashes, hair loss and prevent dandruff. I found that, too. If you're one of my listeners that really likes the science, and I usually get heavy into the science, go check it out. Go to PubMed.com and see if you can find some pomegranate and dandruff prevention study or something and send that to me at AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com.

So, there you go. Maybe I need to try this. Personally, I think I would rather boil this and maybe drink the water, but we'll have to see. It goes on to mention that, by the way, the peel can also protect against heart disease. That I understand. A lot of the antioxidants that are found in the seed are also in the peel. Sore throat, bone health, dental hygiene and gut health. Come on! The pomegranate—it's a vitality fruit and it's not just the seed, apparently. It's that tough red skin as well. So, that's the first one.

Second one. This one also kind of caught my eye. The watermelon peel. Now, in this case, it was specific to the white part, not the outside green peel. Again, fruit has this layer of white fibrous material between the peel, the other skin and the pulp. All fruit have it. As I just mentioned, pomegranate has a huge part that's really thick. Watermelon has a decent little rind around it of this white, fibrous part, but that white part, apparently, is packed with many nutrients. The peel itself, which is usually discarded, obviously, might have some benefit in weight loss.

Again, I didn't vet these things in the research, so I encourage you to go check it out yourself. Additionally, when you rub this peel on this skin, it acts as a cleansing or astringent. It can help to remove dirt particles. Of course, I guess just take a shower. Another benefit of watermelon peel is that it reduces the free radicals on your skin thereby preventing skin damage. So, maybe after you shower, before you put on serums and lotions, maybe you rub watermelon peel on you. Maybe that's a potential use. I thought that was interesting. I know my dog likes watermelon and the rind and that is a safe fruit for them. Just make sure they don't get the seeds.

Okay. Number three. Cucumber peels. Now, this one didn't surprise me. I prefer the skin still on the cucumber. As a matter of fact, at my church we just had a spaghetti dinner. We made some salad and one of my jobs, because it's about the only thing I can do and I have to be very careful with this, is to cut vegetables. I'm not good at all in the kitchen. Love to eat. Can't cook. I started cutting and slicing up the cucumber with the peel on. I washed it, of course, and started cutting it up and the guy that was kind of running this for us, I guess I was the sous chef, if you will. He was the chef. He was like, "No! No! You've got to peel that." And he's, of course, the head of the kitchen.

So, I ended up peeling the cucumbers and then slicing. I don't know. I've never done that. I like the cucumber skin. But, apparently, in most cases, it is thrown away. But, it's extremely rich in antioxidants and nutrients. The peel is high in fiber, low in calories. Now, this I do know, there have been a couple of studies on cucumber and antioxidants and, specifically, from the peel, on weight loss.

Nothing significant, but may aid in a nice diet and exercise program. Apparently, according to this report on TheHealthSite.com, it prevents constipation. That I haven't heard. I guess it's just the fiber, I assume. Aside from this, cucumber peel is loaded with beta-carotene. That's a type of vitamin A. Vitamin K, which, as we know, vitamin K1 is what you're going to find in the vegetables, but vitamin K1 does turn into vitamin K2. I've done a whole segment on that and vitamin K2 is extremely important for how your body manages calcium. There is apparently some calcium in the cucumber as well. So, you're going to help with bone and maybe preventing blood clots and even improve vision with the beta-carotene.

So, yes. The cucumber peel—I wouldn't peel it. Slice it up just with the peel on it. That's the way to do it. But, be respectful. Don't make a chef mad. He's actually a good friend of mine, Joe Robert. I can make fun of him. So, I always volunteer for him for church functions and he's actually fired me as volunteer because I'm not really good in the kitchen.

Okay. Let's go to the apple peel. Now, this one, I think, is more familiar with people. You know, the apple peel has one particular type of fiber that's so important. It's called pectin. Oh, it's so good for you. As a matter of fact, there's a form of pectin called modified pectin, specifically that's good for detoxification, getting rid of metals and even having some anti-cancer properties. So, definitely apple peels are important.

Then, of course, lemon peels, right? Lemons and the peel itself are loaded with vitamin C. Great for skin and producing collagen. Great for your gums, bone health. So, definitely try to use some of the skin, maybe in some cool water. There you go. Fruit peels for health.

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

Ask Dr. Mike: Prostate Cancer Prevention & How Can I Get My Doctor to Treat Me More Holistically

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/1514ht1e.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 30, 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: AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call: 877-711-5211. What are you waiting for? The doctor is in.

DR MIKE: That's AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com. Send me your questions. You never know. Maybe I'll read it on air and give you a decent answer.This next question is, I think, a little tougher to answer, but I'm going to give it a shot.

"How can I get my doctor to deal with my health issues more holistically?"

You know, a lot of times when I read these questions, I have to make some assumptions. I'm assuming "more holistically" would mean integrating supplements, nutrition, alternative forms of medicine, Chinese medicine. I hate to use that word "alternative", as if they come secondary, but, acupuncture, that kind of stuff. So, I'm assuming that's what is meant here by "holistically". I think I might have, now that I think about it, a pretty easy answer for this. It's worth a shot.

I think you have to relate to your doctor more. So, most medical doctors, male or female, most medical doctors have science backgrounds. Most of them have a Bachelor of Science in something. So, they've spent a lot of time in the scientific method. They've spent a lot of time in research papers. They've looked at a lot of abstracts. I know before I went to medical school, I did some research. I got some experience writing for grants. I got some experience writing for abstracts.

So, I think a lot of medical doctors are engrained in that type of program. So, I think that's how you relate to them. You know, so if you have a doctor who is really against supplements, for whatever reason, like maybe he or she always tells you, "Oh, there's no evidence they work." So, instead of trying to fight right there, maybe what you do the next time that you go in to see the doctor is, you present them the research. I mean, do your own research. Go to PubMed.com. If you want to start taking pomegranate because think it's going to be good for your heart because there's heart disease in your family or something. So, you're at moderate risk, let's say. You want to start taking pomegranate because you've listened to my show and you've heard me talk about this wonderful fruit and how good it is for the heart.

Go to LifeExtension.com. Go to PubMed.com and search "pomegranate and heart disease"; "pomegranate and atherosclerosis", "pomegranate and blood pressure". Filter through some of the search results and bring some of those papers in, some of those abstracts. You don't have to understand everything on there, but I think your doctor, who is probably a scientist, is going to appreciate that and appreciate that effort. They might be more open to looking at what you bring in. I mean, I would, I think. So, give it a shot. Maybe that's the way you approach this.

The other flip side of this is, a lot of doctors—the conventional medical doctors—especially the older ones, were trained that the doctor/patient relationship is kind of like a paternal relationship where you're kind of, the patient is kind of seen as the child, and the doctor's is the dad who's going to tell you what to do, who's going to tell you what's going on and will give you the amount of information he or she thinks you need.

That, unfortunately, is not just that successful anymore. I mean, there are some patients that do like that, okay? It's up to the doctor to know who that is and to adjust how they maybe interact with people, but that's kind of an old way of handling the doctor/patient relationship. It's more of a partnership today. Everybody has a lot of information right at their fingertips. A lot of patients are bringing that information into their visits with their doctors. So, I think it's helping us to develop more of a friendship, more of a partnership. Doctors are seen more as teachers and guides now.

I think younger doctors are being trained that way. So, that's good news. That's how it should be. So, if you're with a doctor who is still treating you as "a child" in that paternal type of relationship, I don't know. If that's not working for you, maybe it's time for you to shop around for another doctor. You are the consumer, right? You're not a child. You're the customer, the patient. So, it's well within your rights to go talk to a couple of other doctors. Find one who is willing to work with you.

So, back to the original question, though, assuming we're talking about medical doctors here, I think wanting them to treat you more integratively, holistically, you need to bring them the science. If you want to do acupuncture for a little back pain, bring them in a couple studies. They're out there. Go to PubMed.com.

Okay, next question."My dad had prostate cancer. He thinks that it runs throughout our family. What can I do to feel better about this?"

That's a good question. So, this is a question of prevention, isn't it? Prostate cancer prevention. Again, some of these questions are hard because I'm not really given a lot here. So, I'm just going to take this and talk about prostate cancer prevention. That's how I'm going to answer this. Eat less red meat. If you are going to eat red meat, make sure it's grass fed beef. Grass fed beef has a higher polyunsaturated fat content versus a saturated fat content.

It has more of the Omega 3s, basically. By the way, cattle—they're supposed to eat grass, not grain. That's what they do in the wild. They graze. So, right there, I would cut out red meat, or at least switch over to grass fed meat. I would definitely try to shoot for that. I've talked about this ratio, this percentage before, and that's 80% plant-based diet, 20% lean animal meat; 80/20 is a good ratio for longevity, a good ratio for a nice balanced immune system, inflammatory response. So, that's going to help. And, get tested. Right? There are some newer prostate cancer tests you can do. PSA is a little limited. PSA can go up even when you just have prostatitis.

It has nothing with prostate with cancer. So, it's a little misleading and, unfortunately, PSA has led to maybe a lot of unnecessary biopsies. It's still used and it can still play a role, but there's one called PCA3. We offer it at Life Extension, by the way, if your doctor doesn't want to do it. It's a urine test. It's interesting because what it's looking for is messenger RNA. So, when DNA turns into RNA and then, eventually, RNA to the protein, prostate cancers, because they're replicating so much, they're making a lot of protein, they tend to release a lot of MRNA into the urine and you can actually measure that.

So, if you look at a man's urine and there's a lot of MRNA in it that might tell you, "Okay, maybe there's a lot of cell turnover which is what you see in prostate cancer." So, PCA3 is a little more sensitive, in my opinion, than PSA. Because there's this risk here and you're worried about it, maybe you do PSA and PCA3, the urine test. You can also look at prolactin levels. That's a blood test. Prolactin is higher in men with prostate cancer. You could follow that. There's one called prostatic acid phosphatase. It's another blood test. It's abbreviated as "PAP".

So, I guess what I'm suggesting is the diet and then following yearly with these additional tests. Not just the PSA because it doesn't tell you enough. So, PSA3, prolactin, PAP. Those would be some suggestions. There are even some newer ones where they're putting all of this together. PSA with PCA3, so when they collect all of this, they can look at all of your numbers and come up with a really good statistical chance of you having prostate cancer.

They're kind of cool, these new tests. But, at least a PSA plus one of these--PSA3, prolactin or PAP. Then, protect your prostate as well with Omega 3 oils, lycopene, boron. The combination of lycopene and boron is very important to prostate health. Saw palmetto, pygeum, which is an herb. We actually have a formula with a lot of those in it. So, you can go to LifeExtension.com and check that out.

But, I think you're asking the right question. There's a history and you're doing the right thing. You're being proactive. So, diet, check with these additional tests and maybe some of the prostate nutrients. I think that's the best thing you can do.

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 Coffee Help You Lose Weight?

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/1514ht1d.mp3
Organization Life Extension
Guest Website Healthy Talk MD
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 30, 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: AskDrMikeSmith@RadioMD.com or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.

DR MIKE: So, my first question is centered around coffee. I know that, gosh, in 2012, we started talking more about the health benefits of drinking coffee and the antioxidants that are in it and some of the research was pointing towards the fact that maybe coffee could help people to lose weight. I know at Life Extension, we even talked about that a little bit based on some of that research. But, a very famous doctor got into a little bit of trouble with the way he was phrasing some of the research results. So, this is where the question comes from and here it is. This is the actual question:

"Dr. Oz went before a Congressional committee where he was ridiculed for promoting coffee as a weight loss supplement, but isn't there some research showing it is good for weight loss? Thanks. Terri."

Well, Terri, yes. So, yes, there is some research—small studies—showing some weight loss benefit with green coffee bean extract. It has to be formulated in the correct way. According to the research, the green coffee bean extract needs to be at least 50% chlorogenic acid. That's the key compound—the key antioxidant. I thought I could remember the dose. It eludes me now.

I don't know. I just forgot it, but I want to say 100mg. Yes. So, 100mg of green coffee extract, 50% of that, 50mg being chlorogenic acid. I think that was the right dose and ratio. It did show some benefit to weight loss, but, Terri, what's important to know is the research wasn't really weight loss research, though. It was more looking at the ability of chlorogenic acid to help people metabolize sugar, right?

The theory is this, and it's not well worked out, but this is the general theory and I think with more research, this will pan out to be correct. When you have elevated blood sugar and you have elevated insulin, it kind of just disrupts the ability of the cell to metabolize that sugar properly into energy. What you end up doing is, you end up storing more of that sugar as fat. I mean, sugar can convert into fat. As a matter of fact, the way your body likes to store excess calories, no matter what the source is, is fat.

That's why we're so...Our bodies love making fat. So, when you have elevated sugar, if you don't burn it, basically--just to keep it simple—if you don't burn it, you store it as fat. That's kind of the theory and we're still working that out, but there is relationship, an association, between insulin issues, sugar issues and body fat. We know that. We see that and that's a very basic theory. If you don't burn it, you store it.

So, the original research was really looking at chlorogenic acid's ability to improve insulin sensitivity so that insulin can drive the sugar inside the cell more so the cell can burn it as energy more. There's even some evidence that chlorogenic acid can block some of the enzymes that turn the sugar into fat.

So, that's really what the research was. The research did show a benefit to sugar. When subjects were given the green coffee bean extract, 50% chlorogenic acid, the proper formulation, it did improve insulin sensitivity. It did decrease blood sugar levels and, ultimately, there was some weight loss. Where I think Dr. Oz got into trouble was maybe how he was phrasing it.

He was looking at the research correctly, but being on national television, trying to keep the attention of people, he was saying things like, "Is this the next weight loss cure? The next miracle?" I think that's what this Congressional committee who was tied to the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, that's what they were having issues with. It was more about being the advocate of the consumer and just wanting more honesty in reporting some of this research.

So, green coffee bean extract was associated with some weight loss. There is some support of that, but it's not a miracle. It's not a cure. There is no miracle or cure. I think that's where Dr. Oz really got into trouble.

So, we do—at Life Extension—we promote green coffee bean extract. We're shying away from that whole weight loss thing, because we just don't want to go there, so we're focusing just more on the benefits to healthy metabolism and healthy sugar management and, hey, that's awesome.

I want to go into another question here. This is not Terri's question, but it was one I found in my list kind of taking off with this coffee idea. The question is:

"What type of coffee is best to drink for its health benefits?"

Now, I'm going to make an assumption in answering this question. I don't think this person is asking about the type of bean itself or whether it's French or Colombian or whatever. I think what they're referring to is dark roast, light roast—that kind of thing because we know that when you take a plant like a coffee bean, you take that coffee bean and you pluck it off the plant. That's the beginning of processing and every level of processing you do to get to a final product, whether it's a capsule or a cup of coffee, that's all processing. It's levels of processing and at each level, you lose some of the antioxidants. So, I think the question really is, "What's the best way for me to drink my coffee daily and retain all those antioxidants?"

Did you guys know that most Americans get most of their antioxidants from coffee? Most Americans get most of their antioxidants from coffee. That's not a bad thing. There are a lot of good antioxidants in coffee. That's not a bad thing. Maybe there's a lot of caffeine in there, but a little caffeine's not going to get you. A couple of cups a coffee a day is probably perfectly fine as long as you're not sensitive to it. So, it's not a bad source of antioxidants, I just find it interesting that that's where we're getting most of our antioxidants.

So, if you start with the coffee bean and you pluck it off the plant, you pick it. That's processing. Then, you dry it. That's processing. Then, you roast it. That's processing. Then, you brew it. That's processing. So, you're going to be losing those antioxidants like chlorogenic acid, the key antioxidant that we're really focused on in research. You're going to lose that.

You're going to decrease the amount of that chlorogenic acid along the line of processing. How much? I don't know, but the more you do it, the more you lose. So, you might think that a dark roast, a real heavy, dark roast coffee, has more antioxidants in it. That's completely the opposite. That dark roast, actually, the bean itself underwent more roasting which means you lose some of the chlorogenic acid.

So, even though it's a dark roast, the roasting process itself has diminished chlorogenic acid. So, the deeper and darker the roast, the less antioxidants. So, you might want to do a mild roast and more mild coffee that has retained more of those antioxidants. So, I think that's what the question was.

So, what is the best coffee to drink? A mild, light roasted coffee. That would be the best way to do it. That's going to retain most of the antioxidants. Now, of course, the amount of chlorogenic acid you're getting from drinking coffee is probably not all that high. To get the 50mg, 100mg and to have an effect on sugar, you probably do need to take a capsule. So, you drink a couple cups of a light roast and you take a capsule of green coffee bean extract, 50% chlorogenic acid. That's probably the best way to do it. That way, you're going to get the benefit to metabolism, sugar and, according to the studies, maybe a little bit of a weight effect.Not a miracle. Not going to say that. But, it may help.

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

Easy Ways to Improve Your Posture

If you're constantly slumped over, what are some long-term effects this could have on your health?

Additional Info

Segment Number 3
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht1c.mp3
Featured Speaker O. Alton Barron, MD
Organization C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center
Guest Bio Dr. O. Alton Barron is the assistant clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Icahn Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, a senior attending physician in the department of orthopedic surgery at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and an attending hand surgeon at C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center at Roosevelt Hospital, the longest running hand surgery center in the U.S.

Dr. Barron is also a consultant for CBS, has written for the New York Times, and has been on top TV outlets like the CBS Morning Show and recently The Doctors.
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 31, 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: My guest is Dr. Alton Barron. He is the senior attending physician at the Department of Orthopedic surgery at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center. He actually is a hand surgeon at the longest running hand surgery center in the United States. That's the C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center at Roosevelt Hospital. Dr. Barron, welcome to Healthy Talk.

DR BARRON: Thank you so much, Mike.

DR MIKE: Before we continue with this talking about texting and posture, you just wrote a book, right? With your wife? Why don't you tell me about that briefly?

DR BARRON: Yes. I mean, that was an incorporation, quickly, about both her life and treating patients from a psychiatric perspective and she's a creative expert and it's her baby, but then, a big portion of it devoted to the hands and how important those are—our two hands—when we are engaged in meaningful activities, to our mental, cognitive, our psychological, even our economic well-being, because as I mentioned previously, our hands are so directly linked to our brains.

DR MIKE: That's very interesting. What's the title of the book?

DR BARRON: It's The Creativity Cure.

DR MIKE: And, you can find this at TheCreativitycure.com, I assume. Right?

DR BARRON: Yes, and it's on Barns and Noble and Amazon, etc.

DR MIKE: Well, let's go back. I have one more question about the texting and typing and then we're going to get into poor posture. I'm laughing at myself because as I just said that, I'm like leaning over with really bad posture right now.

DR BARRON: Right.

DR MIKE: So, we'll get that. Obviously, I need your help, but okay. So, everybody's texting and typing, right? We know that there can be some long-term issues with it, but what are we supposed to do? I mean, we can't just stop texting and typing. Is there something? Are there wrist things we can do? Exercises? I mean, what can you help me with here?

DR BARRON: Yes. Okay. Simple. Simple. Simple. First of all, when you're doing this day in and day out, it's very important to stretch and just do those simple stretches where you have your elbows straight out in front of you and you're pulling your wrist back and forward in both directions, feeling those forearm muscles stretch. They need to be. They've been contracted and overused, overused, overused.

They need to be stretched back up. It's no different than if you're a runner and stretching your hamstrings. So, simple stretching maneuvers are very good. It takes 30 seconds or 15 seconds to do it 10 times a day while you're working. Shake your hands out like you're shaking a wet rag. Then, secondly is, balancing the amount you do with real exercise. Real hand use—not this light texting, touching, typing, but real upper extremity exercises. There are bands that you can pull on and stretch, any sort of workouts on these ergonomic machines. If you don't have machines, anything. Throwing a baseball.

Anything you want to do. Gardening. Using a chainsaw. I mean, anything you might want to do is going to be good for you because it's different and it actually uses your muscles in a more vigorous way to keep them conditioned.

DR MIKE: That's all good. So, as you were saying that, I was doing the stretch, you know? So, my hands straight out and I was just kind of pulling back on my fingers.

DR BARRON: Yes.

DR MIKE: Pulling down on them.

DR BARRON: Yes.

DR MIKE: You can really feel that in your forearm and stuff, right?

DR BARRON: Yes.

DR MIKE: I mean, that's a good stretch.

DR BARRON: Yes.

DR MIKE: Well, let's move the conversation now into posture, specifically poor posture. Is this becoming worse for us now that we're sitting at desks and offices all day long? I mean, what percent of people do you think really have poor posture?

DR BARRON: I would say 85%. Yeah.

DR MIKE: That's high. That's high.

DR BARRON: It's an epidemic. It's an epidemic and it's worsened by our super saturation and obsession with electronic devices.

DR MIKE: Yeah. And, it's funny that you say that because I mean, I'm sitting at my desk right now. I'm going to be here all day long.

DR BARRON: Yes. So am I.

DR MIKE: I know I try to get up, stand up, walk a little bit, do some stretching. So, what types of activities or habits can cause people to get into these bad postures? Obviously, you're just sitting playing with technology, but what other things that we do that we don't realize that's leading to poor posture?

DR BARRON: I think we don't' think about our phones as technology, but the smartphones are even worse because even though we're standing up, because they're so close to our body, we keep them close. It's not as if we're holding them up in the air like taking a selfie, but we have them right nestled to our body, so our heads are bent forward, our neck muscles are strained, our shoulders are protracted into this kind of hunched over position as we're protecting these and protecting what we're texting. You'll see a group of people get into an elevator and all 7 or 8 of them will be hunched over typing.

DR MIKE: Right. That's true. Yes.

DR BARRON: So, this is a ubiquitous problem and it's very, very important that we address it.

DR MIKE: Dr. Barron, so okay. I have my smartphone in my hand right now. Does that mean I should be extending my arm and looking at it that way?

DR BARRON: No. You try to pull it up higher so your head doesn't have to tilt down so far and a little further away from your body. Not at a selfie photo, but just a foot away so that you're looking more down just with eyesight. Without having to tilt your head down and actively pulling your shoulders back, right? And trying to retract them. I tell people to try to crack and egg between your shoulder blades. That's that true good posture that you'll see in people who are in the military and people who are ballet dancers or other types of ballroom dancing and so forth. Those are the two activities and lifestyles that really promote good posture.

DR MIKE: Okay. So, what are the long-term effects? I'm worried about myself, but I'm also worried about, I mean, I just watch a lot of the kids today.

DR BARRON: Oh, right. Absolutely.

DR MIKE: Watching them doing their homework. I mean, they're slumped over a computer. I mean, what are the long-term effects of this?

DR BARRON: Right. I think there are even economic effects which I'll mention. First of all, when you have chronic neck pain, you're more at risk for occipital headaches. You're more at risk for shoulder pain. You're stretching the nerves that come out of your neck and go to your arms, so you're more at risk for compressive neuropathies, which are things like carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome, so you're more at risk for these things, very clearly. Then, also, when we're slumped over, when we're meeting the world this way, we're not conveying self-esteem, we're not conveying confidence. We're not going to do well in job interviews. We're not going to get that job between the person who walks in bright and shining and standing up straight and open and not hunched over. I mean, these are very real things that are not discussed enough in terms of the impact on our interaction with the world.

DR MIKE: You know, what's becoming popular where I work at Life Extension? We have probably more health conscious employees than your average place and some of our employees are using, I guess you'd just call them stand up desks where they can lift up the desk. They can lift everything up and they can stand for a while, then they can put it back down and sit. Is that maybe what we need to be using in offices more?

DR BARRON: Yes. I'm so glad you mentioned that. I was going to mention that eventually. That is absolutely correct. If you're standing up, you're maintaining better posture. Your back is arched. It's a much different ergonomic setup and it's very useful and critically important that more of us use those, especially if we are under more stress. Remember, we're also burning calories standing up much more so than if we're sitting down. So, it's good just for general health and weight loss and so forth. So, it's absolutely wonderful and there should be much more of that going on.

DR MIKE: How important is it? Because a lot of my listeners do spend a lot of time in an office setting. How important is it just to get up and stretch and walk and just kind of be active throughout your day. Is that something you do?

DR BARRON: Absolutely. I mean, I'm up and down because I sit to examine many patients, but I'm up and walking down the halls room to room plus walking to the OR. I stand up most of the time in the operating room, so, I mean, I'm lucky that way. I'm forced to do that whether I want to or not. But, many people are not and you do have to force yourself. I even tell patients of mine to put a little plaque on your desk and say, "Get Up." Get up and walk around. I mean, I actually tell them that. I also say, you know, do those little postural exercises that will help.

DR MIKE: Okay. That's all. Dr. Barron, what a great guest. I really like all the information you presented today. The website is TheCreativeCure.com. He also has a book with his wife by the same title, The Creative Cure. Go check it out.

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

Texting & Typing: Long-Term Effects Technology Can Have on Your Health

Texting and typing is a HUGE part of society, but is it causing damage to your health?

Additional Info

Segment Number 2
Audio File healthy_talk/1514ht1b.mp3
Featured Speaker O. Alton Barron, MD
Organization C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center
Guest Bio Dr. O. Alton Barron is the assistant clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Icahn Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, a senior attending physician in the department of orthopedic surgery at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and an attending hand surgeon at C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center at Roosevelt Hospital, the longest running hand surgery center in the U.S.

Dr. Barron is also a consultant for CBS, has written for the New York Times, and has been on top TV outlets like the CBS Morning Show and recently The Doctors.
Transcription RadioMD Presents: Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: March 30, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
Guest: O. Alton Barron, 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: Everybody texts and types today, right? Maybe not on a typewriter anymore. I talked about using typewriters in one segment and everybody laughed me. We use keyboards now, right? And computers. And everybody texts.

As a matter of fact, I was having--I wasn't having a conversation with a friend of mine who's 16 years old. He's the son of one of my best friends. I was trying to have a conversation with him, but he was too busy texting what seemed like a book. He was doing it very effectively and efficiently, by the way.

But, are there any long-term effects from this type of repetitive activity that we all do—texting and typing?

To discuss this, I brought on Dr. Alton Barron. He's the Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a Senior Attending Physician in the Department of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center and an attending hand surgeon at C.V. Starr Hand Surgery Center at Roosevelt Hospital which is the longest-running hand surgery center in the United States. Dr. Barron is also a consultant for CBS and he's written for The New York Times. He's been on the CBS Morning Show. Recently, he's been on The Doctors. Dr. Barron, welcome to Healthy Talk.

DR BARRON: Thank you very much, Mike. I really appreciate you having me on the show.

DR MIKE: So, let's…Okay. I've got to tell you, this 16-year-old kid, boy. He was texting like…I mean, I don't know how they do it.

DR BARRON: I know.

DR MIKE: They're so fast nowadays. It was very impressive to watch. Of course, he wasn't listening to me. He was too busy texting.

DR BARRON: Of course.

DR MIKE: What do you think? What do you think, Dr. Barron? Is this really something we should be a little worried about with all the typing and texting we're doing?

DR BARRON: You are hitting the tip of the iceberg. Yes. Absolutely. It's an epidemic and it's something that on so many levels is problematic. I mean, certainly, just from a purely health standpoint of not concentrating on what you're doing, whether it's texting and driving or texting and walking the streets of New York City, where I am, and where I see countless people who have tripped and fallen…

DR MIKE: All the time.

DR BARRON: …or run into people. Right?

DR MIKE: I know. I see that.

DR BARRON: So, it's a hazardous activity from that point of view. But, there also multiple long-term and short-term effects that can happen just from our obsession with these devices. We're all guilty of it. I'm not passing judgment. I do the same, but I try to restrain a little bit. That is along the lines of overuse, which you can have by overdoing this. You can actually get inflammation of the tendons and of the joints, the small joints and tendons of the hand, as well as strains of the forearm muscles. That can lead to more discreet problems such as what we call "mommy thumb" which is inflammation along the base of the thumb as well as tennis elbow and just these general tendonitis' that can be so prevalent in the wrist area. So, all this is very true. But then, it's also if we're spending so much time doing these light touching, light tapping activities, it means we're not doing the things that really keep us vigorous and strong such as just exercise in general, walking about, using our arms for various, more meaningful hand activities which are so critical to both physical well-being, as well as our cognitive well-being. That opens a whole other can of worms.

DR MIKE: Yes. That's interesting. Yes, that's an interesting side of it. Now, you mentioned something about if you're texting and typing a lot, you can get some inflammation in the tendons and stuff like this. It's not necessarily the acute inflammation, though. It's more kind of like smoldering, chronic inflammation. Is that really the issue? Because watching my friend text, there were no obvious signs of problems. It's really what may happen down the line, correct?

DR BARRON: That's right. Absolutely right. So, yes, someone who picks up a new device that they've never used before and that has a different ergonomic setup, yes. Then, they start playing a video game or some other thing that becomes obsessional and takes so much time. Yes, absolutely. You can get an acute, dramatic tendonitis, trigger finger inflammation, etc., But, you're right. Most of these are chronic attritional deconditioning problems that occur, again, because we're doing it so much that we're not keeping our hands well-developed and strong. We decondition over time because these are very, very light activities. Way lighter than…You alluded to the typewriter keyboard users.

DR MIKE: Yes.

DR BARRON: Back then, in the 50's, we didn't have all these overuse problems. Now we do because those were actually more mechanical. You really had to hit those things. I had an old typewriter. So now, it's so light that it doesn't really use any strength. So, we are deconditioning and once we get into this pattern, it's a vicious cycle downward because you have pain, you stop doing other things-- other things that would keep you fit, but you continue to do your work, obviously, or do whatever you are needing to do on a day to day basis. We're on our phones communicating as well as at our keyboards, and it's a spiraling downward. We just decondition further, the chronic pain gets worse.

DR MIKE: Let me ask you, Dr. Barron. So, everything you just said. It makes sense. I get it. It makes sense, but are we just talking about a theory that we could have problems or are you actually seeing this translate into more patients in your practice complaining about those things?

DR BARRON: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we talk about it all the time. I mean, I'm an orthopedic surgeon fundamentally and I cure things surgically, but much more of my time is spent counseling people on these problems saying, "Look, you've got to start stretching. You've got to correct your ergonomics. You've got to stop huddling over your devices." That brings up the second part of what I think we're going to talk about, but absolutely. These are real problems happening now. People come in typically thinking they having carpal tunnel syndrome because it's such a catch word that's widely known. Most of these people do not have carpal tunnel syndrome. They have this overuse strain picture because remember, we manifest much of our stress—our job stress or our emotional stress---in our hands. So, if we are texting and typing feverishly to both accommodate for whatever deadlines we have and stresses that we have, whether we work at The New York Times editorial staff or whatever, then we are overusing. Then, on top of that, if we have emotional stress and psychological stress and deadlines, we are using our hands in a much different way. I think we've all experienced that in handwriting. You can see how we press harder and write more firmly and then our hand cramps up. Well, that's a quicker, simpler sign that we're doing this, but we don't get those signs as much when we're lightly texting and typing, but they still accrue and then it is a problem. It's ubiquitous. I see it all the time.

DR MIKE: So, you said something really interesting. If I were to ask people, "Where's the most common place that we hold onto stress?" I think people would say their neck, their shoulders, that kind of stuff. But, you just said hands.

DR BARRON: Yes.

DR MIKE: I don't think most people realize that.

DR BARRON: Right. Well, there are certainly the neck and shoulder. That is the other primary source. I don't know percentage wise. I see both because I'm an upper extremity physician. I treat a lot of shoulder problems as well, but no question that it manifests in the hands. I mean, one reason is that, remember, our hands are controlled by 60% of all the neurons in our symato-sensory cortex. So, the majority of the neurons in our higher cortical thinking, which is where our emotions are and where our stress can manifest, are connected to our hands. Not to our shoulders. Not to our neck.

DR MIKE: That's really interesting. I think that's something new for my listeners. So, when do you suggest that somebody goes to see their doctor about maybe a little pain they're having in their hand or something like that?

DR BARRON: Right. I mean, if it's just an occasional pain. It goes away. Say they work all day, they have a little bit at the end of the day, but by the time they have relaxed and maybe massaged them a little bit or go exercise a little bit or have a toddy or something, then it's gone. It's not there the next day when they wake up, then it's probably just a little bit of a sign, but nothing to worry about too much. But, if it's consistently there, day after day for a week or two, it's certainly better to nip that in the bud and find out what it is first, especially if there's numbness.

DR MIKE: We're going to leave it there, Doctor.DR BARRON: Oh, sorry.

DR MIKE: My guest is Dr. Alton Barron and the website to go check out is CreativeCure.com This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike.

Stay well.
Length (mins) 10
Waiver Received No
Host Mike Smith, MD

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