the NUANCE.: Recent Episodes
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“The Nuance” explores health, the human experience, and the intersection of human and environmental health. We explore the nuance that has been lost in today’s conversation. These are ideas and topics that aren’t usually touched upon in headline culture or most media outlets.
We have conversations to help educate and empower people to a healthier life and planet.
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Dr. Jiaying Zhao (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Sustainability, and UBC Sauder Distinguished Scholar.
She received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at Princeton University. She uses psychological principles to design behavioral solutions to address financial and environmental sustainability challenges. Specifically, she designs effective behavioral interventions to alleviate poverty, promote actions to mitigate climate change, increase recycling and composting rates, and encourage biodiversity conservation actions.
Sources:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2814253#:~:text=The%20recognition%20of%20climate%20change,of%20US%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions.
https://www.umanitoba.ca/media/Simpson_Mason_Godwin_2017.pdf
Dr. Zhao lab: https://zhaolab.psych.ubc.ca/
TED TALK: https://www.ted.com/talks/jiaying_zhao_how_to_feng_shui_your_fridge_and_other_happy_climate_hacks
Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. Dr. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC.
Dr. Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities.
Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. 2021 saw the publication of two new books, Solidarity Economics: Why Mutuality and Movements Matter (co-authored with Chris Benner) and South Central Dreams: Finding Home and Building Community in South L.A. (co-authored with Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo). His previous 2018 book, State of Resistance: What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America’s Future was lauded in a New York Times review as “concise, clear and convincing.”
To read more about Dr. Pastor and his work: https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/manuel-pastor/
In todays conversation, we chat with cofounder and CEO of digdeep.org, George McGraw. George founded DigDeep to help those communities in America build and manage their own water systems. They’ve brought clean, running water to thousands of families on the Navajo Nation, Appalachia, and Texas border colonias. DigDeep also conducted groundbreaking research, empowers communities to advocate for their rights, and teaches Americans to use our resources more intelligently.
George received his Masters in International Law and Conflict Management from the United Nations University for Peace. He’s a leading voice in social entrepreneurship, environmental justice, and water and co-authored the first national report on water access, Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States (2019).
In this conversation, we talk about what the water access gap is, and why it is so important to have access to running water and sanitation. George explains how race and income impact communities' access to water. He explains the economic and health impact of the water access gap and how climate change is affecting access to water. He shares stories of how DigDeeps work is impacting people and how we can get involved in helping to ensure a fundamental human right for everyone, access to clean, running water.
Jeff Krasno, CEO of Commune Media, an online educational platform focused on personal and societal well being. He hosts “The Commune Podcast” in which he explores the ideas, values and practices that bring us together and help us live a healthy and purpose-filled life. Jeff received his BA in 1993 from Columbia University. In 2008, Jeff created the concept for Wanderlust, a series of large-scale events for well being that incorporate things such as yoga and art. Wanderlust has hosted more than 65 events in 20 countries. Jeff serves as Chairman.Jeff is a contributor to the Huffington Post and Fast Company. He is the author of Wanderlust, 2015 and the Wanderlust cookbook, Find Your True Fork that released in 2017.In 2016, he was selected by Oprah Winfrey to be part of the SuperSoul100 as one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurs.---Sleep is important for physical health, it is part of the American Heart Association's "Life's Essential 8". https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/lifes-essential-8One study, in JAMA highlighted the benefits of sauna on health. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2130724
Dr. Linda Eckert is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and an internationally recognized expert in immunizations and cervical cancer prevention. She has worked as a consultant with the World Health Organization on global cancer prevention for the last fifteen years, facilitating policy development for the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer screening. She is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology with an Infectious Disease Fellowship at University of Washington’s Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Global Health. For over thirty years, Dr. Eckert has worked at Seattle’s Harborview Hospital, the largest public hospital in the Pacific Northwest, serving people from all over the globe who represent a broad spectrum of economic means and disease symptoms.Dr. Eckert also serves on the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Expert Immunization Committee and was the obstetrics lead for the Global Alignment of Immunization Safety in Pregnancy Program. She was a research investigator for COVID-19 and RSV vaccines in pregnancy and HPV vaccines in individuals living with HIV. Her areas of clinical expertise include infections in women, vaccines, vulvar disease, cervical cancer screening, and cross-cultural medicine. She is the author of more than eighty peer-reviewed research articles appearing in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.She recently wrote “Enough” Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer.
Shilpi Chhotray (@shilpichhotray) she/her is a globally recognized communicator on the plastic pollution crisis with an expertise in strategic communications, organizing, and narrative change.
Currently she is the co-founder and executive director of People over Plastic, a BIPOC-led media platform dedicated to uplifting the intersectional stories behind environmental racism. People over Plastic devlops platforms and safe spaces for frontline leaders to share their lived experiences in an unfiltered context. You can hear Shilpi as the host of PoP's podcast series. Previously, Shilpi served as the Break Free From Plastic Global Communications Lead.
Due to her experience on the issue and role as a media liaison, Shilpi is often a go-to source for journalists including the NY Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, BBC, Reuters, and Al Jazeera. Shilpi regularly speaks on plastic pollution, climate change, and intersectionality including Environmental Grantmakers Association, Grounded, and Bioneers. Throughout her career, Shilpi has worked for a number of environmental organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund and Mission Blue/Sylvia Earle Alliance where she guest authored for National Geographic.
Maya Shetreat, MD is a neurologist, herbalist, urban farmer, and author of The Dirt Cure. She has been featured in the New York Times, The Telegraph, NPR, Sky News, The Dr. Oz Show and more. Dr. Maya is the founder of the Terrain Institute, where she teaches earth-based programs for transformational healing, including training programs for psychedelic-assisted approaches. For many years, she works and studies with indigenous communities and healers from around the world, and is a lifelong student of ethnobotany, plant healing, and the sacred.
Dr. Renée Lertzman is a pioneer and leader at the intersection of psychology, climate and environment. She applies psychosocial insights to drive engagement and action on ecological issues.
She presented a Ted Talk titled “How to turn climate anxiety into action”, which has received over 2 million views. Dr. Lertzman founded Project Inside Out, a unique platform, online tool, and resource hub that brings together changemakers, activists, and clinical psychologists to drive sustainable behavior change for our planet. Dr. Lertzman translates psychology and social science best practices into tools, resources and guidance that unleash the potential for creativity and courage. She guides companies and organizations in strengthening engagement campaigns and boosting their ability to connect with stakeholders to inspire action, ingenuity and resilience in facing one of the biggest challenges of our time.
Lisa Patel MD, MESc received her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. After college, she worked in Egypt, Brazil, and India on international development projects with community-based organizations and non-profits, focusing on conservation and development efforts. She then obtained her Master's in Environmental Sciences from the Yale School of the Environment and went on to be a Presidential Management Fellow for the Environmental Protection Agency, coordinating the US Government's efforts on clean air and safe drink ing water projects in South Asia in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Realizing the critical and inextricable links between children's health and environmental issues, she obtained her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and completed her residency in pediatrics at UCSF. She co-founded the Climate and Health task force for AAP-CA1, and sits on the Executive Committee for the AAP's national Council on Environmental Health. She is currently the Executive Director for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health and maintains a clinical practice as a pediatric hospitalist caring for newborns, premature infants, and children requiring hospitalization.
Dr. Sasha Hamdani is a Board Certified psychiatrist and ADHD specialist. In addition to her private practice, she has a robust social media following across multiple platforms where she provides accessible and accurate information about ADHD. She has been featured in Forbes, Washington Post, and Cosmopolitan and is currently launching a global mental health campaign through Maybelline. Her first book about self-care and mental health will be released this Winter through Simon and Schuster.
Akil Palanisamy, MD, is a Harvard-trained physician who practices integrative medicine, blending his conventional medical expertise with holistic approaches including functional medicine and Ayurveda. “Dr. Akil” attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in biochemical sciences. He earned an MD from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and completed family medicine residency training at Stanford University. He then graduated from a fellowship in integrative medicine with Dr. Andrew Weil at the University of Arizona, and received certification in mind-body medicine from the Georgetown University Center. Dr. Akil is the Department Chair for Integrative Medicine at the Sutter Health Institute for Health and Healing (IHH). He also serves as IHH Physician Director for Community Education and leads their educational initiatives and programs. Dr. Akil has been a consultant with the Medical Board of California for many years. A widely known speaker and educator, he is the author of “The Tiger Protocol” (his latest book) and “The Paleovedic Diet: A Complete Program to Burn Fat, Increase Energy, and Reverse Disease”. As he has done for two-plus decades, Dr. Akil sees patients and conducts clinical research studies in the San Francisco Bay Area. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and spending time with his wife and daughter.
Dr. Steven Lasee is a toxicologist with expertise in risk assessment, chemical fate and transport, exposure, and the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) chemical group.
Dr. Lasee has advised and worked with several state and federal government agencies including the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on projects surrounding PFAS and PFAS contamination. Dr. Lasee has given several presentations on PFAS exposure to the EPA and at national Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry conferences. Dr. Lasee’s focus is on understanding human and environmental exposure to toxicants. This has been accomplished by focusing on exposure and how chemicals move through the environment.
Dr. David Wiss became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2013 and founded Nutrition in Recovery, a group practice of RDNs specializing in the treatment of eating and substance use disorders. He earned his Ph.D. in Public Health with a minor in Health Psychology from UCLA by investigating links between adverse childhood experiences and mental health outcomes among socially disadvantaged men. Dr. Wiss can be your nutrition and health consultant, functional medicine practitioner, recovery coach, or simply provide psychoeducation related to his areas of expertise.
Learn more about the intersection of nutrition and mental health using his new app called Wise Mind Nutrition, and follow him on Instagram @wisemindnutrition
Dr. Marc Milstein, PhD is a scientist, speaker, and author. He received his PhD at UCLA. He specializes in taking the latest breakthrough research and presenting it in a way that empowers people to keep their brains healthy, boost productivity and maximize longevity.
His book “The Age-Proof Brain,” provides actionable tips to get the best out of your brain each day and lower the risk of dementia.
Dr. Jolene Brighten is a hormone expert, nutrition scientist, and thought leader in women’s medicine. She is board certified in naturopathic endocrinology and trained in clinical sexology. Dr. Brighten is the author of Is This Normal, a non-judgemental guide to creating hormone balance, eliminating unwanted symptoms, and building the sexual desire you crave. A fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances, Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones through her website and social medical channels. Dr. Brighten is an international speaker, clinical educator, and medical advisor within the tech community.
Dr. Anthony Gustin DC, MS is a former sports rehab clinician turned entrepreneur, author, podcaster, investor, and amateur farmer. He’s currently working on some new projects to help save our food system and scale regenerative agriculture. He last founded Perfect Keto (acquired) to help people with metabolic dysfunction & Equip Foods to provide people with whole food nutrition supplementation. He continues to explore how to live like a human on my podcast The Natural State Podcast and authors his newsletter The Feed.
Listen to more episodes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nuance-podcast/id1586205682
https://open.spotify.com/show/7rvh79JbMtJJqX39KoKOv6
Gregory Scott Brown, M.D., is a board-certified psychiatrist, a contributing columnist for Men's Health magazine, and an affiliate faculty member at the University of Texas Dell Medical School. His first book, The Self-Healing Mind: An Essential Five-Step Practice for Overcoming Anxiety and Depression, and Revitalizing Your Life was published in June 2022 for Harper Wave. Dr. Brown believes we can work together to fight mental health stigma by having open and honest conversations about mental health. He is an advocate for evidence-based integrative care that includes incorporating exercise, mindfulness, meditation, and nutrition with standard-of-care treatments for mental illness.
Dr. Brown completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, specialty training in general psychiatry at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, and received an M.D. from the McGovern Medical School in Houston. Prior to his transition to medicine, Dr. Brown studied music at The Juilliard School in New York.
Follow Dr. Brown on social media @gregorysbrownmd.
Today, we talk about the state of mental health today and how he has seen it change during his practice. We talk about the 5 pillars of self care. We discuss the importance of purpose, balance, and contentment. Dr. Brown’s book The Self-Healing Mind is such an important read, giving us tools to help prevent and address our anxiety and depression on a daily basis.
Dr. Taylor Sittler is Head of Research at Levels. He is a physician and entrepreneur, his career has focused on personalizing medicine, starting companies in genetics and women’s health, including co-founding Color Health where he was Chief Science Officer. Prior to that, he completed his residency in clinical pathology at UCSF and started a genetics research group in the computer science department at UC Berkeley with David Patterson. Taylor received a Howard Hughes Medical training grant and scholarship during medical school at University of Massachusetts and UCSD. He has published papers on pathogen detection and characterization, genetic sequence analysis and algorithms, and several other topics related to systems biology. He is an avid skier and hiker, and enjoys all things outdoors.
levelshealth.com
Rob Hopkins is a cofounderTransition Network, and the author of The Transition Handbook, and most recently, From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want. He hosts the wonderful podcast series ‘From What If to What Next‘ which invites listeners to send in their “what if” questions and then explores how to make them a reality.
In 2012, he was voted one of the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists and was on Nesta and the Observer’s list of Britain’s 50 New Radicals. Rob is an inspiring speaker, who has spoken at TEDGlobal and three TEDx events. His ideas and perspective on imagination are crucial today in order to solve our most pressing issues, like climate change. He is thoughtful, open-minded, and imaginative.
He blogs at transtionnetwork.org and robhopkins.net and tweets at @robintransition.
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Christopher Palmer, MD received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. He did his internship and psychiatry residency at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. He is currently the Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
For the past 25 years, he has been an academic physician with administrative, research, educational, and clinical roles.
Dr. Palmer has been involved in psychiatric research for over 23 years. He has served as a research physician in the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory and the Sleep Research Laboratory, both at McLean Hospital, where he worked with teams pursuing wide-ranging research in the areas of addiction and sleep.
Most recently, his research interests have turned to the areas of metabolism, metabolic disorders, and their connection to mental disorders. Interestingly, the connections are widespread and span across numerous mental and metabolic disorders. He is focused on combining and understanding epidemiological data, basic science research, and clinical studies in order to better understand what role metabolism plays in mental illness.
Link to Dr. Palmer's book: https://www.chrispalmermd.com/
Monica Aggarwal, MD, is a board certified cardiologist and adjunct Associate Professor in the University of Florida’s Division of Cardiovascular Medicine where she conducts research on the impact of nutrition in chronic illness. She also serves as the Chief Medical officer of the not-for-profit, 4Roots Farm which is looking at how to improve food quality to improve human health.
Dr. Aggarwal’s own path to understanding the impact of nutrition in illness started w/ her own journey, which she will share details about in this podcast. Through learning about the microbiome (gut), its impact on the immune system and the role of nutrition in affecting the gut, she was able to truly heal and became determined to change the face of medicine.
Dr. Aggarwal gives talks around the community, country and internationally. She was named a “Next Generation Innovator” by Cardiology Today. She is the author of the book “Body on Fire: How Inflammation Triggers Chronic Illness and the Tools We Have to Fight It,” and Body on Fire Cookbook which provides whole food, healthy recipes to help implement change.
This is not medical advice, this is intended for educational purposes only. For full privacy policy, please go to MedicineExplained.org.
Dr. Meredith Bull is a licensed naturopathic doctor with a private practice in Los Angeles. She received her medical degree from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA and chose naturopathic medicine for its patient-centered philosophy and sustainable healthcare model. While trained in the use of both conventional and nonconventional treatments, Dr. Bull believes true health is achieved when there is minimal intervention sustaining it. She has a growing focus on the intersection of emotional health and physical health and applies this understanding to the wide range of diagnoses and complaints she works with.
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Dr. Rose Goldman, MD, MPH is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is the founding Chief of Occupational; Environmental Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, and currently Director of Faculty Affairs for the Department of Medicine. Her career has combined clinical occupational and environmental medicine (focus on toxicology) with public health and education, and has authored numerous publications.
Mary Purdy, MS, RDN is an award-winning Integrative Eco-Dietitian and nutrition educator with a Master's Degree from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington (USA) where she has been adjunct faculty since 2015. She teaches and lectures for numerous Universities, institutions and professional educational platforms and is a regular speaker at national and state conferences on both nutrition and sustainability. She has been in clinical practice for over 13 years using a personalized medicine and functional nutrition approach and is currently the Nutrition and Sustainability Adviser and Community Builder for Big Bold Health led by Dr. Jeffrey Bland. She is also the Director of Education for The Planetary Health Collective which serves to leverage the skillsets of nutrition professionals in the movement around the climate crisis. Additionally, she regularly moderates educational panels, hosts the podcasts “The Nutrition Show” and "The Good Clean Nutrition Podcast" and authored the books “Serving the Broccoli Gods" and "The Microbiome Diet Reset." She adores kale, chocolate and avocados.
Dr. Scott Stoll is the co-founder of The Plantrician Project, The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, and the Regenerative Health Institute, a unique collaborative project with the Rodale Institute that integrates a regenerative vision for human health, agriculture, and the environment. He is a member of the Google FoodLab, serves on the advisory board at Whole Foods for their healthcare clinics and served as a member of the Whole Foods Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.
Every year, Dr. Stoll hosts the very popular one week health immersion, Dr. Stoll’s Total Health Immersion and helps attendees restore and optimize their health, overcome addictions, and develop a sustainable regenerative lifestyle. Dr. Stoll has authored several books, scientific articles, and featured in numerous documentaries. As well as being a published author and member of the 1994 Olympic Bobsled Team, he is a highly sought-after international speaker.
https://plantricianproject.org/
Greg Dalton founded Climate One at The Commonwealth Club in 2007 after traveling to the Russian Arctic on a global warming symposium with climate scientists and journalists. Today Climate One produces a weekly radio show broadcast on public stations in California and across the country in addition to a podcast that is heard around the world. Greg also hosts a monthly TV show on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast and DirecTV.
Climate One is the only regular talk show that engages high-level leaders from business, policy, advocacy and academic circles in a conversation about building sustainable economies, resilient communities and a healthier future.
Ellen Vora, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist, acupuncturist, and yoga teacher, and she is the author of The Anatomy of Anxiety. She takes a functional medicine approach to mental health—considering the whole person and addressing imbalance at the root. Dr. Vora received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.D. from Columbia University.
We speak about the root causes of mental health and some interventions that we can take to prevent anxiety. We talk about the nuance of psychiatric medication and the holistic approach she takes to mental health. We talk about the mind body connection and how the mind is always informing physical health and our physical health from things like diet, toxicants, or sleep can affect our mental health.
Dr. Yuria Celidwen, PhD is a native of Indigenous Nahua and Maya descent, born in Chiapas, Mexico. She received a Ph.D. and focuses on the intersection of Indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and contemplative science. From her work, she is uncovering Indigenous contemplative practices from the world, and finding their place in contemplative studies.
She works at the United Nations to support international humanitarian efforts for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Her specific concentration is the advancement of Indigenous peoples’ rights and the rights of the Earth. She also teaches Indigenous epistemologies and spirituality and her work pioneered the Indigenous contemplative experience within contemplative studies.
Medicine Explained is 501(3)(c) organization dedicated to increasing health literacy - by meeting people where they're at on social media and podcasts. It's run by Dr. Daniel Villavecer MD, MS and Dr. Amanda d'Almeida MD, MPH. Please contact us if you would like to help us continue to produce free educational content for everyone.
Dr. Kinari Webb, MD graduated from Yale University’s School of Medicine with honors and completed her residency in family medicine at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, California. She then founded Health In Harmony an international nonprofit dedicated to reversing global heating, understanding that rainforests are essential for the survival of humanity. Based on information gleaned from a year spent traveling around Indonesia, Health In Harmony’s project, ASRI, was sited in Sukadana, on the border of Gunung Palung, in 2007. The key focus of the work has always been radically listening to communities and responding to the needs they identify.
She speaks regularly on topics ranging from the health and future of the forest, community involvement and social capital, healthcare in the global south and the link between human and environmental health. She is the author of the inspiring book Guardians of the Trees: A Journey of Hope Through Healing the Planet: A Memoir.
Jonas Attilus MD, MPH is a Psychiatry Resident at University of Minnesota and Brandan Johnson is a 3rd going on 4th year medical student University of Minnesota Medical School. They are both part of the Social Medicine On Air team, a podcast where they explore the field of social medicine with healthcare practitioners, activists, and researchers. Social medicine hopes to work for a world of justice and health - especially for the most marginalized - and connects clinical care to the deeper causes of health and illness.
Social medicine team: Jonas Attilus, Sebastian Fonseca, Raghav Goyal, Brendan Johnson, Leila Sabbagh, and Poetry Thomas.
https://linktr.ee/jonasattilus?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=30bd906d-7bcf-4e64-8f7a-bef5edf4d1d7
Adrienne Katner is an Associate Professor in Environmental and Occupational Health at LSU-Health School of Public Health. Her research focuses on evaluating how effective federal drinking water regulations and prevailing public health guidelines are in reducing water contaminant exposures. Her efforts to evaluate New Orleans water lead levels, and to raise awareness of the issue of lead in water after pipe replacements garnered national media and government attention. Prior to entering academia, she conducted research at the National Cancer Institute's Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch. She has a broad background in public health, with specific training in exposure and risk assessment; and environmental public health policy.
For the past few years Dr. Katner has been working extensively with various communities to investigate declining private, urban and rural drinking water systems. Dr. Katner has also investigated air pollution issues associated with highways in the New Orleans Treme community with the community group Claiborne Corridor Alliance; and air pollution issues associated with industry along the Industrial Corridor lining the Mississippi River in St. John and St. James Parishes.
Harleen Marwah, MD MS founded Medical Students for a Sustainable Future in 2019 to bring together medical students for a collaborative effort to act on climate. She is a pediatric resident. Marwah was selected as one of the 2021 Grist 50 Fixers and earned the 2020 Health Care Without Harm Emerging Physician Leader Award in recognition of her work founding and leading Medical Students for a Sustainable Future.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Marwah collaborated with the United Nations on the Paris Climate Agreement, attending the COP20 in Lima, Peru and the COP21 in Paris, France. During medical school, she continued her active engagement at the intersection of health and climate change through research, curriculum reform, and advocacy.
In today’s conversation we chat with Rhiannon Osborne, a student doctor, climate & health justice activist, and researcher in health inequalities. She leads local, national and international work on equitable access to vaccines, the intersection of planetary and human earth, and capitalism’s health injustices.
She speaks and writes on global health justice, energy transitions, and health systemss. Her work has been featured by the Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, NowThis, UN Women, and the World Health Organisation.
Dr. Nicholas Norwitz obtained his PhD at Oxford University and is now pursing his MD at Harvard Medical School. His research expertise is ketosis and brain aging; however, he has published scientific papers on topics ranging from neuroscience to heart disease to gastrointestinal health to genetics to bone health to diabetes.
Nick’s passion for Food as Medicine is founded in a personal history, which he shares with us in this conversation.
Andrew Goldstein MD, MPH (@AndrewMakeTweet) is an assistant professor at NYU who practices primary care at Bellevue, especially for those with high medical need and experiencing homelessness. His medical activism has focused on healthcare, immigration, climate, gun violence, and vaccine apartheid.
Dr. Anjali Niyogi completed her MD/MPH from Tulane University School of Medicine and School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She is a Hospitalist at University Hospital where she teaches medical students and residents. Dr. Niyogi serves as an adjunct professor at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine where she teaches topics in Health and Human Rights.Dr. Niyogi has continued her work in global health with clinical and educational experience in Ghana, Uganda, Jamaica, Ethiopia and most recently with Central American refugees in Mexico and Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghani refugees in Greece. Dr. Niyogi is one of the founders and co-directors of the Resident Initiative in Global Health at Tulane.
In 2015, Dr. Niyogi founded the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Clinic, which provides continuity of care for acute and chronic medical conditions to persons recently released from incarceration. She is a trained member of the Physicians Human Rights' (PHR) Asylum Network and conducts evaluations for asylum seekers in Louisiana. She is co-founder of the Forensic Asylum Clinic in New Orleans.
Anne Rolfes began her career in Nigeria, collaborating with local communities to address oil companies’ destruction of the Niger Delta. She returned to Louisiana in 2000 and collaborated with women along Cancer Alley to found the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. Anne was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana where many people made their fortunes from the oil industry. She has seen the wealth and the poverty created by oil production and seeks a phase out of fossil fuels in her lifetime.
Dr. Susan Clayton is a Whitmore-Williams Professor of Psychology and chair of Environmental Studies at the College of Wooster. Her PhD, in social psychology, is from Yale University. Dr. Clayton is a lead author in the major scientific report released on 28 February, 2022 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of experts convened by the United Nations. Dr. Clayton was a lead author of the chapter titled, “Health, Wellbeing, and the Changing Structure of Communities”. Dr. Clayton explores the connections between people and nature. You can find the report here: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/
Vickie Boothe who is an epidemiologist and environmental engineer with more than 33 years of public service. Vickie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, a Bachelor’s Degree in Management/Marketing, and a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from Georgia State University. She is dedicated to improving community health and advancing health equity. She spent 19 years at the CDC and 14 years at the EPA. In 2019, after retiring from the federal government, she relocated to New Orleans in order to more actively engage and support disparately impacted communities across Louisiana. Her research focuses on health impacts resulting from exposures to traffic emissions and other air pollutants; understanding the role of social determinants in creating community health and health disparities; and evaluating public health and environmental interventions, programs, and policies.
Dr. Melanie Yazzie is Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota (starting in the fall of 2022) and coauthor of Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation and The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save the Earth, both of which came out in 2021. She specializes in Navajo/American Indian history, political ecology, Indigenous feminisms, queer Indigenous studies, and theories of policing and the state. She also organizes with The Red Nation, a grassroots Native-run organization committed to the liberation of Indigenous people from colonialism and capitalism.
ROBB WOLF, is a 2x New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat. He co authored the book. “The Sacred Cow” alongside Diana Rodgers. He is a former research biochemist and one of the world’s leading experts in Paleolithic nutrition. Robb cohosts a top ranked iTunes podcast, The Healthy Rebellion. He also holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and is the founder of LMNT, an electrolyte drink mix.
Cyndhia Ramatchandirane joined Earthjustice in 2020 and is based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her role as staff scientist on the Fossil Fuels team involves supporting the diverse communities impacted by the oil, gas, and petrochemical buildout along the Louisiana/Texas Gulf coast and in the Ohio River Valley. Cyndhia investigates the associated pollution impacts on climate, the environment, and public health from these infrastructure projects. She assists with litigation and also collaborates with scientists and local environmental and community groups to fight these climate and environmental justice issues.
LINKS:
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_promise_of_community_driven_science
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00861-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bJIWWbdhLk
Abdulrahman Jbaily et al., Air pollution exposure disparities across US population and income groups, 601 Nature 228–233 (2022).
Jiawen Liu et al., Disparities in air pollution exposure in the United States by race/ethnicity and income, 1990–2010, 129 Environ Health Perspect 127005 (2021).
Jonathan I Levy, Invited perspective: Moving from characterizing to addressing racial/ethnic disparities in air pollution exposure, Environmental Health Perspectives 2 (2021).
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-created-the-most-detailed-map-ever-of-cancer-causing-industrial-air-pollution
https://www.propublica.org/article/toxmap-poison-in-the-air
https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/
https://www.propublica.org/article/can-air-pollution-cause-cancer-risks
Jo Banner is the cofounder with her twin sister, Joy Banner, of the Descendants Project. An emerging organization committed to the intergenerational healing and flourishing of the Black descendant community in the Louisiana river parishes.
The lands of the river parishes hold the intersecting histories of enslavement, settler colonialism, and environmental degradation. The Descendants Project is committed to reversing the vagaries of slavery through healing and restorative work. They aim to eliminate the narrative violence of plantation tourism and champion the voice of the Black descendant community while demanding action that supports the total well-being of Black descendants.
ig:@ thedescendantsproject
Dr. David Puder went to U.C. Berkeley and competed on the Cal Rowing Team. Afterwards, he attended Loma Linda School of Medicine and subsequently spent a year doing internal medicine, then completed his psychiatry residency at Loma Linda where he later joined the faculty.
Dr. Puder looks holistically at diet, exercise, lifestyle, traditional psychiatric medication needs, and also psychotherapy needs when working with his patients.
He was been awarded "Outstanding Teaching Resident in Psychiatry Award" in recognition of your excellence and enthusiasm in the teaching of medical students." He hosts a podcast called Psychiatry and Psychotherapy podcast. Dr. Puder is married with two children and spends most of his free time playing with them or cooking for them.
Dr. Puder is also helping our podcast and we are unbelievably grateful for his support.
Dr. Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH, is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation and has worked with various Indigenous patients and communities around the globe helping to bridge the gap between Indigenous traditional and modern medical systems. She is co-founder and chair of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation based in the Canadian North. Dr. Redvers is currently an assistant professor in both the Department of Family & Community Medicine and the Department of Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota where she has helped co-develop the first Indigenous Health PhD degree program in North America. She has been actively involved at the international level promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in planetary health and education for sustainable health care. Dr. Redvers recently published the trade paperback, The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles.
Twitter handle: @DrNicoleRedvers
Megan Park is an entrepreneur focused on soil health, regenerative agriculture, and climate change. Prior to co-founding Grassroots Carbon, she worked for nearly two decades as an environmental leader in the energy industry and founded and led an environmental consulting firm.
Mr. Darryl Malek-Wiley works as an Environmental Justice Organizer for the Sierra Club in Louisiana working with community groups on environmental problems and their possible solutions. He has worked on public policy and environmental issues since 1972, when he first joined the Sierra Club.
Propublica ir pollution map: https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/
https://web.doh.state.nj.us/rtkhsfs/indexfs.aspx
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Samantha Thomas has spent the last several years on walkability and placemaking projects to achieve greater community well-being with 200 big cities, small towns, and tribal nations. She works with Terra Soma, a woman and indigenous run agency. She has broad community design background and manages numerous policy, planning and design projects focused on the built environment.
https://www.changelabsolutions.org/good-governance/the-series
Ms. Sharon Lavigne who runs rise st james, a faith based organization focused on preventing expansion and worsening petrochemical plant pollution in the area. St. James parish is at the epicenter of “cancer alley", a stretch between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana with over 110 petrochemical facilities. She is a former special education teacher now turned environmental justice advocate, who successfully stopped the construction of a US$1.25 billion plastics manufacturing plant alongside the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Ms. Lavigne mobilized grassroots opposition to the project, educated community members, and organized peaceful protests to defend her predominantly African American community. The plant would have generated one million pounds of liquid hazardous waste annually, in a region already contending with known carcinogens and toxic air pollution.She is currently focused on defending her community from the Formosa Plastics Plant. She was awarded the Goldman environmental prize in 2021.
Dr. Noshene Ranjbar is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and training director of the Integrative Psychiatry Fellowship and medical director of the Integrative Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Arizona. Using strength-based, culturally-sensitive, and community-focused approaches, she leads groups, workshops, and trainings for American Indian youth and adults to address diverse challenges including the youth suicide epidemic and promoting resiliency in the face of historical, intergenerational, developmental, and complex trauma. Dr. Ranjbar is also involved in advocacy for refugees seeking asylum to the United States. Her focus is to advocate for a holistic, comprehensive, culturally-sensitive, empowering approach to mental health and well-being for Indigenous communities. She hopes to collaborate closely with these communities to find the best approach to enhance sustainable methods of supporting mental health.
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noshene-ranjbar-2039949/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nosheneranjbar/ Twitter. @NosheneMD https://psychiatry.arizona.edu/profile/noshene-e-ranjbar-md https://samehereglobal.org/expert-profile-noshene-ranjbar/ https://cmbm.org/faculty-member/noshene-ranjbar-md/
Dr. Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW is Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor, and Associate Dean for Research in the University of Utah College of Social Work, Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development (C-MIIND), and Associate Director of Integrative Medicine in Supportive Oncology and Survivorship at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Drawing from more than 15 years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist, Dr. Garland is the developer of an innovative mindfulness-based therapy founded on insights derived from cognitive neuroscience, called Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). As Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator, he has received more than $60 million in research grants from a variety of prestigious entities including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct clinical trials to develop and test novel integrative health interventions, including trials of MORE as a treatment for addiction and chronic pain. Dr. Garland is arguably the world’s leading expert on the use of mind-body therapies to address opioid misuse and addiction among people with chronic pain. In a recent bibliometric analysis of mindfulness research published over the past 55 years, Dr. Garland was found to be the most prolific author of mindfulness research in the world. Visit www.drericgarland.com Link to clinical training in Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: https://drericgarland.com/training-in-more/
Dr. Uma Naidoo is the world’s first “triple threat” in the food and medicine space: a Harvard trained psychiatrist, Professional Chef graduating with her culinary schools’ most coveted award, and a trained Nutrition Specialist. Her nexus of interests have found their niche in Nutritional Psychiatry.
Dr. Naidoo founded and directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the United States. She is the Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) & Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at MGH Academy while serving on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.
She was considered Harvard’s Mood-Food expert, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal.
Clean 15 --> https://bit.ly/3Dh8VEV
Dirty Dozen --> https://bit.ly/3qo6BYR
Dr. Marya and Raj both have amazing work that they have done and continue to do, this background will not do them justice, but to give you a glimpse of who they are, Dr. Marya is a physician, activist, artist and writer who is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and the founder and executive director of the Deep Medicine Circle worker-directed nonprofit committed to healing the wounds of colonialism through food, medicine, story, learning and restoration. Through her work she earned her trust from Indigenous communities where she lives, in Ohlone territory and in places where she has served. In 2016, she was invited to Standing Rock to assist with medical response to increasing state violence towards indigenous people.
Dr. Marya advocates for creating a culture of care as the most effective way to manifest impactful change in population health. She believes the interruption of ways of caring through colonial structures disproportionately causes the suffering of Black, Brown and Indigenous people around the world. Rupa is also the composer and front-woman for Rupa and the April Fishes.
Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.
The second book he authored, The Value of Nothing, was a New York Times and international best-seller.
His first film that he co-directed, filmed over the course of a decade in Malawi and the United States, is the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper.
Together they authored a very important book: Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
Purchase their book here: https://amzn.to/3BvG2Ty
Dr. Michael Goran is Professor of Pediatrics in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is Program Director for Diabetes and Obesity at The Saban Research Institute. Dr. Goran also serves as Co-Director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute.
Dr. Goran’s research has focused on the causes and consequences of childhood obesity for 30 years. His work is focused on understanding the metabolic factors linking obesity to increased disease risk during growth and development. This information is used to create new clinical, behavioral and community approaches for prevention, treatment and risk reduction.
Dr. Goran has published over 350 professional peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He and his co author, Dr. Emily Ventura wrote a book titled Sugarproof. Dr. Emily Ventura is a nutrition educator, public health advocate, writer, and cook. The focus of our conversation today is around their amazing book Sugarproof.
https://sugarproofkids.com/
Dr. Annie Fenn is the founder of The Brain Health Kitchen, a one of a kind cooking school that teaches recipes and lifestyle interventions that will help prevent cognitive decline. Dr. Fenn practiced as a board Certified OB/GYN for 20 years but then pursued her passion for the culinary arts.
In this conversation we talk about her journey and what inspired her to go from practicing OB/GYN to focusing on culinary interventions. She walks us through aspects of the MIND diet and what foods are best for our brains. Both to be at their optimal health and for preventing cognitive decline. Because we all come from different cultural backgrounds and cuisines, Dr. Fenn talks about how we can still be healthy cooking our traditional diets, even if it isn’t necessarily the “mediterranean diet”
She is doing amazing work and it was such a pleasure to hear her unique path. She’s an inspiration for us both!
Dr. Eric Balcavage is the Clinic Director at Rejuvagen, Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, and Board Certified in Intergrative Medicine.
Dr. Eric Balcavage DC, is the owner and founder of Rejuvagen. He is widely recognized around the world as a leader in Functional Medicine and Thyroid Physiology. In over 20 years of practice, he has successfully helped thousands of people suffering with thyroid problems and other chronic health conditions. He co-hosts the Thyroid Answers Podcast and is also the author of the soon to be released book, The Thyroid Debacle.
Ashley and Sarah, or the Strong Sistas, are sisters who document and share their journey towards optimal health. They were diagnosed with autoimmune conditions about 10 years ago and that started their long journey to regain health. They are proponents that true health involves a lot more balance than what we are led to believe, and it’s actually very simple.
They are on a mission to improve human health and the health of the planet by changing the way food is grown & raised. Their farm, Angel Acres, is a plot of 22 acres in Michigan where they implement regenerative agriculture practices. They are making an educational and experiential hub where people can come visit, stay, and learn about and experience regenerative agriculture. They run an amazing account where you can follow their journey.
https://www.armstrongsisters.com/
Jake Goodman is a Psychiatry Resident Doctor with an MD/MBA Degree. He is the most followed mental health physician on social media with over 1.4 million followers and uses his platform to advocate for mental health and empower those with mental illness to seek life-saving treatment. He is also the CEO and Founder of Mental Health Movement, a mental health action campaign that has raised over $10,000 for mental health nonprofits and scholarships.
Professor Howard Mielke is a Research Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at TUlane University. His research focuses on environmental signaling and human health. In recognizing the increasing importance of people living in cities, he has been researching and evaluating the status of the urban environment and its chemical impact on human health and disease.
For more, visit medicineexplained.org
Dr. Joe Mather MD, MPH, & TM is a board certified Family Practice physician who specializes in treating chronic and complex disease.
He began using functional medicine after he realized that conventional medicine did not offer enough tools to help his sickest patients. When he started treating his patients by addressing the root cause of their illness, he saw them recover.
Dr. Vincent M. Pedre, Medical Director of Pedre Integrative Health and President of Dr. Pedre Wellness, is a Board-Certified Internist. His philosophy and practices are a blend of both Western and Eastern medical traditions. He is a Clinical Instructor in Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as certified in yoga and Medical Acupuncture. His unique combination of medicine is best described as integrative or defined by a functional, systems-based approach to health. He authored the book Happy Gut.
With his holistic understanding of both sides of the equation, he can help each patient choose the best course of action for their ailments to provide both immediate and long-term relief. His holistic approach incorporates positive, preventative health and wellness lifestyle choices. Dr. Pedre Wellness is a growing wellness platform offering health-enhancing programs, along with informative social media and lifestyle products, such as dietary supplements, books and weight loss programs.
Dr. Enrique Salmón is a Rarámuri (Tarahumara) and ethnobotanist. He feels indigenous cultural concepts of the natural world are only part of a complex and sophisticated understanding of landscapes and biocultural diversity.
Dr. Salmón's recent studies have led him to seriously consider the connections between Climate Change and Indigenous traditional food ways. Dr. Salmon has written a book focused on small-scale Native farmers of the Greater Southwest and their role in maintaining biocultural diversity. It is titled,Eating the Landscape. He has also authored Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science.
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Dr. Daphne Miller, MD is a family physician, science writer, Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco, and Research Scientist at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. As founder of the Health from the Soil Up Initiative, she studies the connections among health, culture, and agriculture, with the goal of building a healthier and more resilient food system from the soil up.
Daphne is a regular health and science contributor to the Washington Post. She has two books about food, agriculture and health: The Jungle Effect, The Science and Wisdom of Traditional Diets (HarperCollins 2008) and Farmacology, Total Health from the Soil Up (HarperCollins 2013).
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Dave Asprey is the Founder & Chairman of Bulletproof and the father of biohacking. He is a four-time New York Times bestselling science author, host of the Webby award-winning podcast Bulletproof Radio, and has been featured on the Today Show, CNN, The New York Times, Dr. Oz, and more. Visit daveasprey.com for more information.
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Kamea Chayne is the host of Green Dreamer Podcast and the author of Thrive. She is an eco creative, writer and author. Her show green dreamer illuminates our paths to ecological regeneration, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all.
James Maskell is the creator of Functional Forum, the world's largest integrative medicine conference. He is passionate about accelerating medical evolution towards more effective chronic disease care focused on prevention and reversal. He lectures internationally, has been featured on TEDMED, HuffPost Live, TEDx, and more. He has also authored The Evolution of Medicine andThe Community Cure. In todays conversation we talk about the social determinants of health and how to use communities to heal. James explains what functional medicine is and how he sees it as the future of healthcare. We talk about the root cause of chronic illness and much much more. This was an interesting conversation and we hope you'll enjoy it! Now on to the podcast.
Rob Reiner is the Founder and CEO of CropSwap he has been designing mobile and web app startups for the past 11 years. He saw a need to make locally-grown , healthy food readily available to consumers. In 2017, he created an app to cater to this market, and launched CropSwap. Crop swap is a farm to phone marketplace that connects consumers and businesses with local selections from sustainable farmers.
Dr. Sofia Noori is the first Chief Resident of Digital Psychiatry at the Yale Department of Psychiatry. She is a founding member of the Center for Digital Psychiatry at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, which aims to integrate digital health in the care of patients with serious mental illness. She also served as the curriculum lead for Innovation to Impact, a NIDA-funded substance use entrepreneurship program.
Aside from her digital health endeavors, Dr. Noori is the co-founder of the Women’s Mental Health Conference at Yale, the first academic and trainee-led conference on women’s mental health in the United States.
Diana Rodgers, RD, LDN is a “real food” Licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She runs an active nutrition practice where she helps people with weight, metabolic, and intestinal issues recover their health through diet and lifestyle. She’s also an author, host of The Sustainable Dish Podcast. She speaks at universities and conferences internationally about nutrition and sustainability, social justice, animal welfare and food policy issues. She’s also co authored and created the film project both titled Sacred Cow which explore the important role of animals in our food system.
Dr. Sharad Kohli has dedicated his career to working with people who have been historically underserved and to advancing health justice.
He is a family physician at People’s Community Clinic, an FQHC in Austin, and is strongly committed to looking upstream at factors that influence health. He has helped develop an interprofessional pain management program integrating numerous services including behavioral health, acupuncture, yoga therapy, nutrition, substance use services, a medical-legal partnership, group medical visits and more.
Dr. Kohli is also intimately involved in the growth and development of the national nonprofit Integrative Medicine for the Underserved, a multidisciplinary organization committed to affordable, accessible integrative health for all. He co-founded its annual conference.
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Erin Holt is a board-certified integrative and functional nutritionist. She is a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist, a former chronic dieter, and an autoimmune ally. She helps women re-energize and find real health without restriction. She blends science, experience, and humor for a personalized approach to nutrition counseling and holistic health. She’s not here to tell you what to do, she allows YOU to be an active participant in your health plan. She is a researcher at heart and is enrolled in different classes, always learning and staying on top of current research. Some of the classes and certifications include being a holistic health coach, a registered yoga teacher, a spiritual coach, has taken multiple programs at the Kharrazian Institute, and MUCH more! She also founded and hosts the Funk’tional nutrition podcast with over 1 million downloads.
Dr. Heather Sandison is the founder and medical director of North County Natural Medicine, San Diego's premier brain optimization clinic, and the founder of Marama. Dr. Sandison specializes in neurocognitive medicine and neurohacking. She has been trained to specifically address imbalances that affect the brain including Autism, ADD/ADHD, depression, anxiety and Alzheimer’s. She has trained with Dr. Dale Bredesen MD, Dr. Neil Nathan, MD, in addition to regularly attending and speaking at integrative medicine conferences throughout the year. In today's conversation Dr. Sandison shares her 5 pillars of healing. We go into depth about toxins and how many we are exposed to in our day to day lives without even knowing. And these toxin exposures can lead to many health problems from fatigue to weight gain and more. She shares some of the surprising places toxins are coming from as well as her approach to detoxing her patients. Throughout the conversation she shares actionable tips for us and you all to do at home to not only avoid and get rid of toxins, but other free health tips to do in the comfort of our own home! We learned a lot from this conversation and we hope you do too!
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Jeanne Rosner is a medical doctor with a passion for teaching about better health, wellness and nutrition. For the past ten years she has been a nutrition educator at local middle and high schools in the Bay area. She teaches middle school and high school students the importance of eating food closest to the source, making good food choices and eating in a balanced and moderate way. In 2011, Jeanne was involved in researching a list of nearly 80 “unacceptable ingredients” for the company Revolution Foods. This project opened her eyes to some of the dangers in our food supply. Revolution Foods feeds over one million freshly prepared, healthy meals per week to students across the country through their school lunch program. Their emphasis on eating food that is more whole and “real” and less processed is Jeanne's main message too.
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Dr. Brennan Spiegel, MD, is Director of Health Services Research for Cedars-Sinai Health System. He directs the Cedars-Sinai Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CS-CORE), a multidisciplinary team that investigates how digital health technologies – including wearable biosensors, smartphone applications, virtual reality and social media – can strengthen the patient-doctor bond, improve outcomes and save money. Dr. Spiegel has published more than 170 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is listed in the 2016 Onalytica "Top 100 Influencer" lists for digital health (No. 13) and virtual reality (No. 14). He also authored VRx: How Virtual Therapeutics Will Revolutionize Medicine, which was named one of the 8 best science books of 2020 by Wired Magazine. Beyond his focus on digital health innovations, Spiegel conducts psychometric, health-economic, epidemiologic and qualitative research across a wide range of healthcare topics.
VRx: How Virtual Therapeutics Will Revolutionize Medicine: https://amzn.to/3cTLI0L VirtualMedicine.org Inquiries: ContactMedicineExplained@gmail.com
Dr Jenna Macciochi has over 20 years' experience as an immunologist researching the impact of diet and lifestyle on the immune system. Based in Brighton, Jenna is a lecturer at Sussex University and a qualified fitness instructor. She is a mother of 5 year old twins and a keen home cook, creating recipes inspired by her farm-to-table Scottish roots and capturing her Italian heritage. With a concerning growth towards generic, oversimplified health recommendations. Coupled with the guilt from trying, and failing, to achieve perfect health, she is on a mission to unravel the science around immunity and decodes exactly what it takes to be well in the modern day. She explores how we can no longer ignore the fact that our fast-paced, over-consuming, unrelenting lives are slowly eroding our delicate immune defences. Offering simple, clear and educated advice, debunking popular myths along the way, Jenna looks at nutrition, exercise, sleep and even mental health play into your immunity and long-term health.
Amanda Rocchio is a meal prep maven, nutrition guru, and social media influencer living in Orange County, California. After struggling with an eating disorder in high school, she realized that being healthy was about fueling your body with the right foods, not about starving yourself. From that point onward, she started educating herself on all things nutrition and began crafting her innovative meal prep techniques. Today, Amanda inspires more than 1.5 Million followers every day with her simple recipes, words of encouragement, and hacks for maintaining a healthy diet.
An internationally recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, Dr. Dale Bredesen’s career has been guided by a simple idea: that Alzheimer’s as we know it is not just preventable, but reversible and his research led to the discoveries that today underlie the ReCODE Report. Dr. Bredesen earned his MD from Duke University Medical Center and served as Chief Resident in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), before joining Nobel laureate Stanley Prusiner’s laboratory at UCSF as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He held faculty positions at UCSF, UCLA, and the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bredesen also directed the Program on Aging at the Burnham Institute before joining the Buck Institute in 1998 as founding President and CEO. Dr. Bredesen’s research explores previously uncharted territory in explaining the physical mechanism behind the erosion of memory seen in Alzheimer’s disease, and has opened the door to new approaches to treatment. This work has led to the identification of several new therapeutic processes that are showing remarkable early results. Dr. Bredesen is a prodigious innovator in medicine, with over thirty patents to his name. Notably, he put much of his findings and research into the 2017 New York Times‘ Best-Seller, The End of Alzheimer’s. He has also authored The End of Alzheimer’s Programme.
Listen to episode #14 to hear the full conversation. Dr. Jolene Brighten (drjolenebrighten.com) is a prominent leader in women’s medicine and the emerging science of Post-Birth Control Syndrome — studying the effects of hormonal birth control on female health. A fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances, Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones. She is an international speaker, clinical educator, medical advisor within the tech community, and considered a leading authority on women’s health. Dr. Brighten is also part of the MindBodyGreen Collective and a faculty member for the American Academy of Anti Aging Medicine. Her work has been featured in the New York Post, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, Bustle, The Guardian, and ABC News. Her book Beyond The Pill is informative, enlightening and HIGHLY recommended! Learn more at drjolenebrighten.com and on Instagram @DrJoleneBrighten
Drew Ramsey, M.D. is a psychiatrist, author, and farmer. He is a clear voice in the mental health conversation and one of psychiatry’s leading proponents of using nutritional interventions. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He founded the Brain Food Clinic in New York City, offering treatment and consultation for depression, anxiety and emotional wellness concerns. His media work includes three recent TEDx talks, a video series with Big Think, and the BBC documentary Food on the Brain. His work and writing have been featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Atlantic.com, Prevention, Lancet Psychiatry, and NPR, which named him a “kale evangelist.” He is the author of three books, most recently the award-winning cookbook Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients that Fuel Brain Power, Boost Weight Loss and Transform Your Health (HarperWave 2016). Dr. Ramsey is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Drew Ramsey's new book, Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety, found here: https://amzn.to/3bYsi98 Follow us @MedicineExplained on TikTok, @Medicine.Explained on IG. For inquiries: ContactMedicineExplained@gmail.com
Dr. Mark Hyman is a practicing family physician and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He is the founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, the Head of Strategy and Innovation of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, a thirteen-time New York Times best-selling author, and Board President for Clinical Affairs for The Institute for Functional Medicine. He is the host of one of the leading health podcasts, The Doctor’s Farmacy. Dr. Hyman is a regular medical contributor to several television shows and networks, including CBS This Morning, Today, Good Morning America, The View, and CNN. He is also an advisor and guest co-host on The Dr. Oz Show.
Purchase The Pegan Diet here: https://amzn.to/3bEfSmO
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Dr Sam Manger, who is a General Practitioner and Family Physician, President of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, Australian representative for the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance, founder of “The GP Show” podcast, and Medical Educator with James Cook University (JCU) and Generalist Medical Training (GMT). His passion for health has evolved into reflecting on how to change individual and social behavior to lead to a more healthy, sustainable and ethical culture.
Zachery Dereniowski known on Instagram and tiktok as @mdmotivator. He’s studying Medicine at The University of Sydney. Not only is he a brilliant doctor to be, he’s gained an extremely large platform on Instagram and TikTok having started with guiding med students to focusing on mental illness. Zachery often advocates for those with depression, anxiety and related life struggles to not only speak up but assures his community that life does go on beyond any mental anguish. Zachery shares his story with us, which you will hear him tell at the beginning of the episode and how he channeled it to becoming the success he is today. Zachery believes it’s about giving mental health a voice and letting people be heard – this past year has been a really tough year for people with mental health issues. Today, Zachery has become one of TikTok’s top mental health advocates, with over 1.2 million followers. He is changing lives daily with his content. He is also a co-founder of the mental health movement. Zachery believes life is about the impact it leaves on bettering the lives of others. And he wants to use his personal experiences to do just that. His formula is “vulnerability = relatability = empowerment.” Zach truly embodies “motivation” and we’re lucky to call him our friend.
Dr. Jolene Brighten (drjolenebrighten.com) is a prominent leader in women’s medicine and the emerging science of Post-Birth Control Syndrome — studying the effects of hormonal birth control on female health. A fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances, Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones. She is an international speaker, clinical educator, medical advisor within the tech community, and considered a leading authority on women’s health. Dr. Brighten is also part of the MindBodyGreen Collective and a faculty member for the American Academy of Anti Aging Medicine. Her work has been featured in the New York Post, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, Bustle, The Guardian, and ABC News. Her book Beyond The Pill is informative, enlightening and HIGHLY recommended! Learn more at drjolenebrighten.com and on Instagram @DrJoleneBrighten
Dr. Pooja Amy Shah is a dual board certified physician in Integrative Medicine + Family Medicine. She is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University Medical Center, Director of Integrative Medicine and Director of Musculoskeletal Education at the Center for Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Shah teaches Eastern mind-body practices. She has a unique and diverse toolbox to heal her patients including medical acupuncture, herbs, meditation, and yoga. Dr. Shah has received many awards including the Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital Faculty Teacher of the Year Award, New York-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center Staff Choice Attending Physician of the Year Award, and a 3x Weil Grant recipient. Dr. Shah has an extensive resume, so we’ve only touched on some of the certifications, experiences, awards, and recognition she has received!
Jeff Tkach serves as the Chief Impact Officer for the Rodale Institute. He is responsible for expanding Rodale Institute’s global influence in healing people and the planet by unlocking the transformational power of regenerative organic agriculture. As Chief Impact Officer, Jeff leads the development and execution of the Institute’s core strategies, overseeing opportunities for partnership and co-investment that drive positive outcomes for Rodale’s philanthropic and programmatic initiatives. For 70 years, Rodale Institute has been leading game-changing research, expertly training farmers, and educating the community to help heal broken agricultural systems. Together, we can transform not only the way we farm, but what and how we eat. We can harness the power of regenerative organic agriculture to secure the future health of the planet and transform lives.
Professor Felice Jacka is Director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University and an international leader in the transformative field of Nutritional Psychiatry research. She is also founder and president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR) and immediate past president of the Australian Alliance for the Prevention of Mental Disorders. She has been responsible for the development of a highly innovative field of research establishing diet and nutrition as of importance to common mental disorders. These include the first studies to document a role for diet in adolescent depression, the first study to identify both maternal and early life nutrition as important predictors of children’s mental health, and the first trial to show that dietary improvement can address depression. The results of the studies she has conducted have been highly influential Professor Jacka’s current research focuses closely on the links between diet, gut health, and mental and brain health. Professor Jacka has published >160 peer-reviewed scientific papers, the majority in high-impact journals in the mental health field including the American Journal of Psychiatry, BMC Medicine and Lancet Psychiatry. She is listed in the top ten most highly-cited researchers in mood disorders in Australia (Scopus). She has written a book for the lay public called ‘Brain Changer’, which we HIGHLY recommend. She is also passionate about prompting changes by policy-makers to improve the global food environment.
Dr. Margaret Adamek received her PhD from the University of Minnesota. She is an expert in Adult Learning Theory, Community-Based Knowledge Systems, Philosophy of Consciousness, and Methodological Development for Consciousness Research. She blends her skills as an organizer, network weaver, adult learning expert, capacity builder, social change movement designer, strategic communicator, and facilitator to equip and empower diverse communities to thrive. Nationally recognized for her unique, impact-oriented approach to helping people and partnerships create healthy communities, Maggi provides clients with clear, strategic counsel and comprehensive, creative support as they execute initiatives designed to benefit the public good. Maggi serves on the American Swedish Institute’s Board of Directors and is a former Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow.
Dr. Marney A. White, PhD, MS, is a clinical psychologist, specializing in eating and weight disorders. In addition to her appointment as Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the Yale School of Public Health, she holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry (Yale School of Medicine). Dr. White has provided clinical training and supervision for graduate and postdoctoral trainees at Yale University, where she is a faculty member in the departments of psychiatry and public health. She has written more than 150 scientific journal articles and book chapters on eating disorders and weight problems, and has conducted eating disorders treatment studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. Current projects include curriculum-based interventions to improve student mental health on college campuses. Professor White's innovative "Self Care" course, Health Behavior Change: From evidence to action, is now publicly available through Coursera.
Dr. Daisy Robinton challenges the assumptions we hold about the world and about ourselves. Her work as a molecular biologist, writer, public speaker, and lifestyle and fitness model, all contribute to the unique lens with which she examines the intersection of science and culture. Robinton completed her PhD in Human Biology and Translational Medicine at Harvard University in 2016 and landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017 for her scientific discoveries. Her writing has been published in periodicals such as Nature, Developmental Cell, Vanity Fair and NEO.LIFE. Working with brands like Neutrogena, lululemon, Powerade and Reformation, Dr. Robinton has traveled all over the world for her work in marketing campaigns and in developing the next generation of consumer products informed by biotechnology. Her passion for the effective translation of science has fueled her years of teaching, speaking, and consulting on numerous projects in the US and abroad. She is currently working as a Scientist in Residence developing novel preclinical programs and therapeutic strategies targeting women's health, menopause, and human healthspan. Instagram: @daisy_robinton Twitter: @DaisyRobinton
Dr. Stacy Beller Stryer is a board certified pediatrician and associate medical director for Park Rx America, where she educates providers, schools and park agencies on benefits of nature and nature prescriptions; and works with the core team to strategize ways to move this mission forward. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences and other media outlets and has published on this topic. Dr. Beller Stryer served as the health promotion and disease prevention coordinator within the Indian Health Service, and a pediatric subject expert for an online health website, Revolution Health. She also works with her local school system to increase awareness and promote outdoor classrooms and green schoolyards and serves on Governor Hogan's task force for "Project Green Classrooms.” She wants others to benefit from nature as much as she has through the years.
Dr. Jaycie Loewen, PhD is a Clinical Neuroscientist who received her Doctorate of Neuroscience at the University of Utah. Her background includes the study of basic and clinical brain injury, including the publication of research regarding mechanisms of epilepsy pathophysiology. Dr. Loewen is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar, with a Master's in Clinical Investigation awarded in 2018, as well as a recipient of the Higher Education Teaching Specialist Certificate. Through these degrees, she obtained experience with patient care and education as well as an understanding of the necessity of respecting patient experience and symptoms.
At Cognitive FX, a clinic that specializes in addressing concussion symptoms, Dr. Loewen’s focus is firstly patient care and education.
Dr. Alina Fong earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2008. During her academic career, she received the national American Psychological Association Clinical Neuropsychology Division 40 Graduate Student Research Award in 2004. She also started treating patients with severe traumatic brain injuries at Utah Valley Regional Medical center and now holds the position of director of clinical training for the neuro-trauma rehabilitation clinic and sports medicine/concussion clinic. In tandem with Dr. Mark Allen (who we have a conversation with in the next episode), she has published numerous articles that detail their discoveries and successes with combing neuropsychology and neuroimaging to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries (as well as various mental and emotional disorders). Dr. Fong built her own clinic with Dr. Allen in Utah in 2014, called Cognitive FX. She is the clinical director and co-owner. Her expertise has led her to create the most comprehensive concussion care and brain rehabilitation available and vastly improves the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term planning of mTBI. Cognitive FX has treated almost 2,000 concussion and other brain injury patients, including professional athletes from the NFL, NHL, and the Olympics.
Dr. Sara Warber received her MD from Michigan State University. She is the former co-director of the U-M Integrative Medicine program and was a practicing physician at the Integrative Medicine Clinic. Her research interests include Human-environment relationships, Integrative medicine and Reproductive and Women’s Health. In 2000, Dr. Warber became a founding diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, and, in 2003, she expanded her clinical practice to include Holistic Women’s Health and Holistic Herbal Medicine consultations. In 2014 Dr. Warber won a Fulbright Scholarship to study integrative medicine therapies and environmental values at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Dr. Warber retired as a professor at the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine and remains with the Department as an active emeritus professor.
Today we get to have a conversation with Dr. Azza Gadir, PhD, an expert in immunology who completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital. Her published research is focused on immunology and the role of the gut microbiome in protecting against diseases early in life. For this work, she holds issued and pending patents and has collaborated with industry partners to accelerate the discovery of microbiome-related immunotherapies for food allergies. Azza currently serves as the Director of Research and Development at Seed Health. She grew up in London and received her PhD at 26 in immunology from University College London.
Dr. Ellen Vora received her MD from Columbia University medical school and received her BA from Yale University in English. She is a board-certified psychiatrist, acupuncturist and yoga teacher. Dr. Vora takes a holistic, functional-medicine approach in addressing mental health through focusing on diet, sleep, stress and other lifestyle changes. She considers the whole person to identify the root cause of the problem. Dr. Vora has done corporate wellness presentations at companies such as Etsy, Refinery29, and Allen and Co! She also leads an online small group to teach participants holistic techniques to manage depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, or bipolar and creating optimal mental health.
Our guest today is Dr. Aly Cohen, a triple board-certified doc in internal medicine, rheumatology, and integrative medicine, who also is a trained specialist in environmental health. She specializes in rheumatologist ailments as well as mental health issues, dementia prevention, obesity, and women’s health. Her practice founded in 2011, Integrative Rheumatology Associates P.C., focuses on both traditional western medical management of rheumatological ailments, as well as integrative options for total “wellness”, such as acupuncture, diet and exercise counseling, environmental toxin counseling, and much more! Dr. Cohen’s work in environmental chemical exposure has also led her to collaborate with the Environmental Working Group. She co-edited the "Integrative Environmental Health" textbook for the Weil/Oxford University Press academic series in 2017 and her new book, “Non-Toxic: Living Healthy in a Chemical World”, was just released in September, 2020, which is a book I HIGHLY recommend!