Health Stuff TO Know: Recent Episodes
Health Stuff TO Know
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Here's your Health minute. We're talking about gut health and diabetes.So a new study is showing us something that your mom's already been telling you. Eat your fiber. If you eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, all that good stuff. New research is showing that these not only feed the healthy gut bacteria, but they ultimately have a beneficial effect of controlling your blood sugars.So how can you make this work for you? Number one, you want to understand what your A1 C levels. Number two, you want to get a colon. Skippy. Make sure if you're 45 years and older you've had your colonoscopy exam. And the good news here is that most insurances will cover your preventative colonoscopy. So your take-home message for today is eat more fiber.And this is going to help the bacteria in your gut. And this is going to help you reduce your risk of type two diabetes.
Health, wellness, and medical news for you.
00;00;01;16 - 00;00;22;11HSTKWell. Hello. Hello. Good morning to you. Let's take a walk around the body. I've got seven health stories for you written by and vetted by our team of physicians here at health stuff to know. We won't waste any time. Let's jump right into it. So here's story number one, Food Health. An article in The Guardian newspaper does a great job talking about the benefits of coffee.
00;00;22;11 - 00;00;45;01
HSTK
And we're going to link that article below. So, here's what you need to know. Dr. Neligh, researcher at the French Medical Institute, had this to say: Coffee has over 1000 compounds in it, and we're just starting to research and understand them. She talks about the fact that coffee increases alertness but also increases relaxation. For some people, coffee is a way to stay awake, whereas others need coffee to fall asleep.
00;00;45;08 - 00;01;07;29
HSTK
Dr. Neligh is researching these confusing perspectives of coffee. She said that they have the evidence that coffee contains compounds that are good for the heart. Black coffee offers protection against diabetes. And coffee does not increase the risk to cancer. But of course, with all this good news, there has to be some common sense. And here's what Dr. Puja, publisher of Health Stuff to Know, had to say:
00;01;08;09 - 00;01;28;08
Dr. Puja
"Just remember, folks, with caffeine comes calories. Don't overdo coffee with too many sugars and heavy creams and try to keep coffee consumption below 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. That's going to be around four to five cups a day. Oh, something that I tell my patients with high anxiety is be extra careful with how much caffeine you drink."
00;01;28;23 - 00;01;32;04
HSTK
Just like mom has always said: Everything, but do it in moderation!
00;01;37;29 - 00;01;58;11
HSTK
And looking at story number two comes to us from the world of weight loss. So the evidence continues to mount that cutting calories and eating at the right time of the day leads to longer life, at least for mice. A new study published by the Harvard Hughes Medical Institute shows that calorie restriction when combined with time restrictive eating, actually boosts your life.
00;01;58;11 - 00;02;18;27
HSTK
You live longer. So here's what you need to know. The study argues that the benefits of calorie restriction are most seen when you eat during your active hours. So for us humans, we're talking about when we're often about, that means in the middle of the day, maybe towards the evening, but we should restrict are eating during the late night sessions.
00;02;19;09 - 00;02;44;20
HSTK
The benefits of eating during active hours included weight loss, improved glucose regulation, a lower blood pressure, and overall reduce inflammation in your body. That's all good stuff. All right. And our doctors take home message for this was that look, this is a study that was done in mice, not in humans. So we've got some work to do. Second, we're definitely learning more about our bodies metabolism and how it responds to eating at the right time.
00;02;45;08 - 00;03;13;06
HSTK
But this is what we know for a fact. Eating during our down hours, eating late at night. Those have huge negative effects to our overall health Jumping from weight loss. Let's move on to diabetes health. Here's what you need to know for today. The FDA has approved a new medicine to treat type two diabetes Share this with anyone you know who's on type two diabetes medications.
00;03;13;07 - 00;03;28;18
HSTK
The new drug is called her turns appetite. So the news is making the rounds because this medicine is going to be delivered by injection. And you only need to get it once a week. So we spoke to Dr. Publisher of Health Stuff to Know, and this is what she had to say
All right, let's begin our walk around the body. We're going to start with heart health. So a study was just published in the journal Circulation, and this study looked at over 1 million cases of people who had acute coronary syndrome aces. And this is what you need to know. Exposure to air pollution can weaken your cardiovascular system and even trigger heart attacks.
00;00;21;06 - 00;00;43;00
Speaker 1
So that's what the study found, that pollutants in the air can actually trigger heart attacks in you. The study found that air pollutants like carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide. And by the way, this is stuff that's very common cigarettes. This stuff can lead to an immediate worsening of your heart's health. I spoke to Dr. Puja publisher of the newsletter Health Stuff to Know, and this is what she had to say.
00;00;43;11 - 00;00;55;02
Speaker 2
Hey, everybody, look, the bottom line here is that we need to start understanding that pollution is having a direct impact on our bodies. This is no longer just a theoretical discussion, you guys. We have the proof.
00;00;56;03 - 00;01;11;20
Speaker 1
And finally, guys, for some of you, you may actually have a bad heart or bad lung help. And there's nothing wrong with this. So our doctors recommend that you consider wearing masks on days where you have heavy pollution in the atmosphere. This is going to help reduce the harm to your lungs.
All right. This is a fun one. This falls under mental health and this is what you need to know. Research is showing that we're spending a lot of time on our screens. I think we all know this, but new data is now showing that it's not about the time we spend online. It's actually about the time where we spend online.
00;01;35;17 - 00;01;57;02
Speaker 1
So they're hinting social media is bad for you. Time magazine said it best. And here's the quote. Experts can't agree on how much screen time is too much for adults. And the content you're consuming actually matters more than the overall time you spend on your phone. So this is basically the conversation about are we spending too much online?
00;01;57;02 - 00;02;24;25
Speaker 1
And the new study now seems to be indicating it's not about the time we're spending online, it's how we're spending that time. Many people are surprised to learn that spending too much time on social media can lead to depression, anxiety and even obesity. Yeah, because you're not getting enough sleep, you're overeating. And this, of course, leads to weight gain So I reached out to Dr. Puja and I said, "Listen, Dr. Puja, I'm spending too much time and punishing my eyes and my mind."
00;02;25;02 - 00;02;25;29
Speaker 1
"What should I be doing?"
00;02;26;03 - 00;02;42;03
Speaker 2
Yeah, if you struggle with anxiety, or depression, start tracking the amount of time you're spending on social media. And if it's too much, please reduce it. Limit your time in social media to about 60 minutes a day. And if you're spending more time, don't be shy. Just tell me about it.
OK, moving from mental health. Let's move on to GI Health. Here's what you need to know. There's a lot of research that's now started to show that fecal transplants may actually reduce the effects of aging and improve overall brain health. So, yeah, look, scientists are learning and they're learning very quickly that a healthy gut helps with the body's immune function and helps with a healthy metabolism.
00;03;11;28 - 00;03;38;07
Speaker 1
So the idea here is that by getting fresh fecal transplants from young, healthy people, we may be able to replenish our damaged gut. And this will help us as we get older So we spoke to a doctor and as a f.y.i. This is what they had to say. We're not quite at the level where people can go and get cosmetic fecal transplants before this starts happening and bef
The background: A new study finds that vegetarian and meat eating children have similar growth and nutrition, but not weight. Being underweight can be a sign of malnutrition and can indicate that one's diet isn't enough to support appropriate growth.
Doctor's Expert Insights
The big picture: But this does not mean, at least according to the study, that vegetarian children are malnutrioned. They just could be eating less fatty foods like fried chicken.
Know this: Our doctors at Health Stuff TO Know indicate that vegetarian children should be monitored for vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficiencies and for the micronutrient iron. All of these values can be found from a simple blood test.
Next steps: The thing to keep in mind here is that your child's weight can be a very good indicator of their nutritional and physical health. If you see any dramatic weight gains or losses, it's time to talk to your pediatrician. Determine if there are any vitamin or micronutrient deficiencies.
The background: Certain foods and ingredients can be bad for your digestion. Well, a new study shows just that!
- Fried foods,
- citrus fruits,
- fructose
- and peppermint,
these are some of the more common types of foods that can cause indigestion.
Doctor's expert insights
The big picture: These foods can increase the amount of acid in your stomach, and some of these foods can actually loosen your esophageal sphincter. This is going to allow stomach acid to leak into your esophagus, your food pipe.
Know this: If you've had heartburn for a long time, our doctors recommend that you get yourself checked for H. Pylori.
Next steps: And this is what you need to know: too much acid in your food pipe can cause reflux and in some cases lead to diseases and cancer.
Children's Health
Here's what you need to know: There's been an unusual uptick in the number of cases of hepatitis in children. New data is showing that some children develop liver failure and two required liver transplants, the CDC said in a recent report. The good news here is that all of the children either recovered or are recovering.
Doctor's Expert Insights
The big picture: Scientists have not been able to figure out the main reason as to why there's been a cluster of hepatitis in children. But they think that it could be coming from a common type of a cold virus called an adenovirus.
Here's what to do: Make sure you and your children are current on your hepatitis A and B vaccine.
And also, please keep in mind these cases of hepatitis are not related to COVID and COVID vaccines.
Learn more at Think Healthy Doctor and join our newsletter.
This is Q&A with Dr. Puja! Do gameslike Wordle prevent dementia? The short answer here is no. No gameslike Wordle don't prevent dementia. I want you to know this: We've learned a lot about the brainand dementia over the last decade. So these are four evidence based ways inwhich you can reduce the risk of dementia. One you need to exercise about 20 minutesa day. Two, you need to sleep about 7 hoursa day. You need to eat well, and you need to dothe things that your momma told you to do. 65You need to learn new activitiessuch as dancing, playing tennis, anything that improves your hand-eyecoordination. It's things like this that have been provento reduce the risks of getting dementia. So go play Wordleif you're enjoying it! That's cool! But it's not going to prevent dementia.
Transcript:
100:00:00,033 --> 00:00:01,968Depression, anxiety, psychosis.
2
00:00:01,968 --> 00:00:04,804
Yup. All of these can come after you
catch COVID.
3
00:00:04,904 --> 00:00:07,941
Look y'all the big picture here
is that you need to remind yourself
4
00:00:07,941 --> 00:00:11,077
over and over
that COVID is not just a lung disease.
5
00:00:11,111 --> 00:00:13,079
Psychosis causes paranoia.
6
00:00:13,079 --> 00:00:15,081
Psychosis causes hallucinations.
7
00:00:15,081 --> 00:00:18,385
And psychosis causes a person
to lose touch with reality.
8
00:00:18,418 --> 00:00:21,654
None of this is good Look,
we still don't know if long COVID symptoms
9
00:00:21,654 --> 00:00:25,425
lead to psychosis, but the science is
clear: COVID affects the brain.
10
00:00:25,625 --> 00:00:27,894
So go get vaccinated. Go get boosted!
If you’re one of the millions of people looking to save your lower back
Here’re 2 exercises you need to do.
- Start doing more deep core muscles exercises such as planks
- Start doing more illiosoas exercises
- These are medically proven exercises to improve lower back strength
Well, hello and good morning to you.
Today, I'm going to give you
another question that you're going to start asking yourself to figure out
Are you in a place of good mental wellness? And yes, look, the key here is for you to be in a state of good mental wellness.
You have to be able to measure it.
You have to be able to calibrate it,
and then you have to know what to do if your mental balance is off.
So for today's question, you need to very simply and clearly
ask yourself, Am I feeling down depressed or hopeless as I'm going about my day?
Yeah, look, so we know that this is a very tough and direct question.
It can be kind of intimidating to be so blunt with yourself.
We don't worry about it because what we're learning here together
is that to manage your mental wellness, it's we have to be able to ask ourselves questions and then we have to be able to find the right answers. So, friend, how are you feeling today?
Are you feeling down depressed or hopeless?
If you're feeling down depressed or hopeless,
press here if you're feeling down depressed or hopeless. Press here.
If you're feeling somewhat OK, press here.
While like always no big deal. That's what we're here for.
It's not a big frickin thing. We're going to get through this together.
Look, your traditional answer is of taking time for self-care,
calling your friend, talking to a loved one, exercising and on and on and on.
All of these things still apply.
But what I'm bringing forth to you to consider is from now on, I'd like you to identify all of the moments where you feel like you're not feeling well and then measure how many times were you able to bounce back from those situations? In medicine, we have a very specific term for this,
and this term is called resilience.
Resilience measures your ability to bounce back when your mind is in a negative state of mind. The reality, of course, is that we can't be 100% every single day of the year.
So what resilience helps you to do is it allows you to focus on how quickly and how often you're able to bounce back from a place of a negative mental space by knowing how often you are resilient. You can actually become more productive.
Keeping track of these answers actually allows you
to improve your quality of life.
So if you find over and over that, you're not able to be so resilient.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Don't beat yourself up.
You may actually be time for you to go and reach out
and speak to your health care provider.
Let them know that you aren't
being so resilient, especially over the last two weeks or so.
Let them know that you're having a difficult time bouncing back.
This is going to start the conversation correctly and positively.
And I believe that you're going to be in a better mental space.
Seek help when you need it. Otherwise, keep an eye on how often you're able to bounce back.
Life is going to have its ups and downs.
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In today's episode of Health Stuff TO Know, Dr. Puja, talks about some questions we've got to start asking for improving our mental health. Mental Health Questions to Ask Transcript: Well, good morning, I hope you had a great weekend. I know Mondays can sometimes be really difficult. Too much food. Too many things not done. I know eventually, all of these things can add up to a not-so-fun Monday.
Join our newsletter here: https://thinkhealthy.doctor
Today, I want to talk about one simple way to keep your expectations and goals in alignment. So let me ask you this. How are you feeling today? Are you feeling tired or are you feeling like you really have low energy?
Think it over and touch the buttons below. Tell me how you're feeling tired or low energy. Well, the key here is if you feel like this once in a while, it's OK. We're all human. But if you feel like the several days a week say, for example, several days a week in the last two weeks or so, then it might be time to talk to your doctor.
Could it be the way that you're sleeping? I want you to know that sleep apnea can actually really mess things up. Could it be your thyroid? Yeah. Your thyroid can also make you feel really tired, and it can make you feel like you have low energy.
If you're a woman and your menstrual cycles are really heavy, this too can cause you to feel really tired or fatigued. So the key is you need to ask yourself regularly How the hell do I feel right now?
The key is this really isn't about how you're feeling mentally. This is about how you're feeling physically. So keep this in mind, task completion, being active at work, being supportive, all of these things actually require you to have energy.
So if you find yourself saying yes, I don't have energy, it may be time to actually talk to your doctor. So you're feeling, OK, well, that's really good. In order to keep your expectations and your goals aligned, it's really important to ask yourself, How the hell am I feeling?
So the key is, you need to ask yourself regularly, How the hell do I feel right now? The key is this really isn't about how you're feeling mentally. This is about how you're feeling physically.
In today's episode of Health Stuff to Know, Dr. Puja continues her look at Mental Health. Today, we've got some important health & wellness tips for your mental health. Dr. Puja also provides a very interesting summary of why ADHD and hearing have a very strong connection. This is Health Stuff TO Know. Join Our Newsletter by Text: https://thinkhealthy.doctor/get-health-stuff-to-know-by-text/
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Transcript: Dr. Puja: Can you hear me now? Good. Can you hear me now is one of the biggest hallmarks of ADHD, so if you're one of those persons that has a hard time understanding a conversation or comprehending a conversation, I've got a tip for you.
So now being able to fully understand a conversation is a huge sign of ADHD. People with ADHD usually have poor working memory. It's working memory that's responsible for you to hold on to tiny little pieces of information as you're having a conversation.
So when you're talking to somebody about a very boring subject, like if you're talking to somebody about budgeting, guess what's happening? Your brain is actually zoning out on those tiny little pieces of information. So the person that you're talking to is going to pick up cues that you're not paying attention to them.
So guess what? They're going to think that you're not really paying attention to them. So, yeah, can you hear me now? This becomes a huge thing. So to deal with this, can you hear me now, syndrome? We're going to have to do a couple of things.
first, we're going to talk to your health care team to see if you need medicines. And second, we're going to get a handle on this anxiety. This anxiety that you feel I want you to understand is a big thing.
The ADHD brain actually is feeling this anxiety because it's reflecting back on moments when you've forgotten things in conversations, so your brain's actually panicking. So it's important to understand this. The ADHD brain actually feels a lot of anxiety because it's reflecting back on things that you've forgotten in past conversations.
So instead of paying attention to the tiny details of the conversation, you're actually paying attention to your past errors of where you didn't know what was going on. So, yeah, this sucks. You get put into a feedback loop of where you're trying to pay attention, but then you're paying attention to the fact that you've forgotten things before
and you just then don't pay attention to things. All right, real quick. four ways for you to pay attention to a conversation. first, to overcome this anxiety, you're going to visualize a conversation before you have it. And second, visualize a conversation like you're watching a movie.
So don't pay attention to the words that you're saying. Actually, just visualize watching yourself, talking to this other person. And that's really going to help you stay present in the moment. And the third thing is to tell the person that you're talking to to speak a little bit clearly.
I mean, there are going to be your colleagues, they're going to be your friends. So it's OK to tell them, Hey, I have ADHD, please speak a little bit clearly. So, yeah, they're going to ask you, Well, what does that mean?
That means you're going to talk to your friend, talk to your colleague, and you're going to say, Hey, talk to me directly. Don't talk to me by using a lot of tangents. You're going to tell them, Don't fly this plane around.
Stick to the key points and talk about the key points. So, yeah, guys, part of ADHD is actually having and taking the responsibility of telling other people.
Brain Fog during Menopause is misunderstood in Women's Health. Dr. Puja from Health Stuff To Know provides some answers. Join our Mental Health & Wellness Newsletter @ https://thinkhealthy.doctor
As you know Johnson & Johnson did a voluntary recall of their popular sunscreen products: Neutrogena and Aveeno. Dr. Puja provides answers to why this recall shouldn't scare you much.
If you're using them: stop for now. FYI: your risk for cancer has not suddenly skyrocketed. ✅ Signup for our free newsletter about health & wellness newsletter:
Prescription weight-loss medication can make losing weight easier. Today Dr. Puja talks about incretins as a new class of weight-loss medicines. Listen.
Bannister Wolfe: Bannister here, let’s continue to Think Healthy. Now that summer is here, outdoor activities are going to start in earnest. It’s time to take some preventative measures against Lyme disease.
Transcript:
Bannister Wolfe: Bannister here, Let’s continue to Think Healthy. How about I give you One more reason to get vaccinated?
Doctor Puja: This is what I want everyone listening to know. If you’re over the age of 65, both Moderna and the Pfizer vaccine, are showing overwhelming evidence that their vaccines are preventing hospitalizations from COVID. That means that if you happen to get covid after you’ve been vaccinated, the chances of you getting hospitalized, are almost non-existent.
Bannister, I can’t tell you enough how great this news is.
It basically means that if you’re vaccinated, the chances of you getting severely ill are almost gone. Bannister Wolfe: And, that’s Doctor Puja. So, it’s worth repeating. Please get vaccinated because once you do & then if you happen to get covid–guess what? You’re less likely to be seriously ill. Go get vaccinated!
Bannister here, let’s continue
to Think Healthy.
Today we talk about the chances
of getting dementia.
Recently, Nature
Communications published a major study.
Basically, the study found
that people over the age of 50–who
slept less than six hours per night–had
a HIGHER RISK of
developing dementia–when
it was compared to people
who slept around 7 hours per night!
Hi Bannister!
The study looked at people
over a 25 period.
And it found that the risk of dementia
went up for all sorts of people.
So, look, the study suggests
that when we sleep less,
many functions of our body are disrupted.
And THIS increases
the chances of getting dementia.
BUT, this does not mean that
if you sleep less, you’re
going to get dementia.
Our bodies are extremely complicated
and many times you’re going to find that
there are more than one
contributing factors for a disease.
So, sleep more if you can!
Rest more if you can!
But…
don’t get yourself into panic
if you’re sleeping less
than 7 hours a night.
As always,
talk to your health care provider!
And that’s Doctor Puja.
If you find that your blood pressure is 140 / 90 or higher; you’re at a higher risk for a stroke or a heart attack. It’s time to take that number seriously! The good news is that high blood pressure can be managed, but just don’t ignore the problem. Look, high blood pressure can be managed, but just don’t ignore it. So, as you go about enjoying your summer, keep that image of a water balloon in your mind. If you have high blood pressure, it’s time to talk to your health care team!
And don’t ignore that problem!