True Health Revealed – Details, episodes & analysis

In today’s episode, we begin our interview with Dr. Dean Ornish with a discussion about how to prevent and possibly reverse dementia as well as other chronic diseases. Dr. Ornish and his wife Anne posit a unifying theory that many chronic diseases are all driven by the same lifestyle factors and can not only be prevented, but in many cases, reversed.

Over the last 4 decades, their scientific studies have supported a unifying concept that a therapeutic lifestyle can collectively address high cholesterol, excessive weight and obesity, pre- and type 2 diabetes as well as early prostate cancer, to name a few.

And now they postulate that lifestyle changes can perhaps even affect the progression of early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Although lifestyle change is not as glamorous or powerful as high tech surgical procedures in affecting a health improvement in patients, Dean and Anne Ornish and their team show how powerful simple lifestyle changes are in helping reverse chronic disease.

“When you change your lifestyle, it changes your genes,” Dr. Ornish explains. He adds, “What you gain is so much more than what you give up.” Dr. and Anne Ornish also point out that every (even small) step counts. They emphasize it’s “not all-or-nothing” but an approach that emphasizes a spectrum of lifestyle change.

The Ornish lifestyle program is one of the first Medicare covered intensive cardiac rehabilitation programs to reverse coronary heart disease, because it’s been proven to work. Visit Ornish.com for more information.

Our interview continues with a discussion about the influence of community, depression, social media and more, on chronic disease. Dr. Ornish gives his advice on how to stick to a change in food intake and other lifestyle habits, and how the Mediterranean diet differs from the Ornish diet for heart disease reversal.

But, the practical scientist that he is, he reinforces that cutting CRRAHP™ (calorie rich, refined and highly processed) foods, increasing fiber rich foods like beans and lentils and eating low total (and especially saturated) fat, no matter which “diet” you choose, improves health. And remember: What you gain is so much more than what you “give up!”

In addition to lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and weight:

• Microbiome matters: the amyloid in the brain that’s often seen in Alzheimer’s really begins in your gut.

• Ounce for ounce, lentils and beans often have more protein than steak… without the harmful stuff.

• Food can be delicious as well as nutritious: you don’t have to sacrifice taste for healthy lifestyles

• Awareness is always the first step in healing.

Vitamin and mineral supplements are the most commonly used dietary supplements by populations worldwide. They are called supplements because that is the intention: to fill in nutritional gaps in your diet, not to make up for a bad diet.

No supplement replaces a healthy plant forward diet but what should you take to help make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need for good health? The aisles are full of vitamins, minerals and all kinds of supplements – in all kinds of forms – promising all kinds of benefits.

Today we interview nutrient researcher Dr Jeffry Blumberg, Professor Emeritus in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science at Tufts University. He unpacks the real evidence on supplements to help you personalize what you should take.

Children, young women, older adults, vegetarians, and vegans are at the greatest risk of several deficiencies.

A diet rich in whole, nutrient-dense foods is the best way to prevent deficiency.

Taking more than the recommended dose could result in toxicity.

Consult your physician if you suspect you have a nutrient deficiency and to check if your medications could interfere with nutrient absorption.

Form doesn’t matter (eg pill vs gummy vs liquid). What matters is to take your supplements regularly.
Supplements do not prevent chronic disease.

Supplements lack standardization so one multivitamin can be very different from another.

Center for Science and Public Interest
National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements 
Linus Pawling Institute at Oregon State University 
Your physician, registered dietician and pharmacist

We discuss the benefits, risks and potential diminishing returns of marathons and triathlons. We review the effects of sudden intense levels of physical activity such as snow shoveling. We round up the interview by discussing relative risks for acute coronary events among those who follow different diets, and among smokers versus nonsmokers.

Find out just where the “sweet spot” of physical activity is for true health. Spoiler alert: neither too little or too much physical activity is “sweet.” But you’ll want to hear the details in this excellent episode that is far more like a conversation among friends than “doctor talk!”

What makes physical activity beneficial?
Learn what “anti-effects” properties are (think blood clots, arrythmias, and clogged arteries)
Every minute of exercise counts
How many minutes a week of physical activity the national guidelines suggest
The Copenhagen Study’s suprising results determining the “sweet spot” for sports activities
“METS”
What optimal resting heart rates are and how to achieve them naturally
How to move from sedentary behavior to physical activity

A “bioengineered” (GMO) plant or animal has had a new gene inserted into it to give it a useful trait, like making it resistant to a pest or disease, ability to grow in drought conditions or enhancing its nutritional value.

It has been estimated that upwards of 75% of processed foods on supermarket shelves – from soda to soup, crackers to condiments – contain bioengineered ingredients or GMOs for the past 20 years.

Despite being around for so long, they are widely misunderstood, and have been vilified since they first hit the marketplace. They evoke fear and uncertainty to many, primarily because understanding genes is complicated. American consumers crave technology in every aspect of their lives except in food production.

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, professor of Animal Genomics and Biotechnology at the University of California, Davis, joins me on the podcast to sort out the confusion and bring the scientific evidence to light along with the new USDA labeling rules.

*More than 20 years of data support the safety of foods made with bioengineered crops

*Bioengineered crops enable farmers to use fewer chemicals and reduce their carbon footprint.

*Globally, bioengineered crops are providing a lifesaving technology to feed a growing population, enable farmers to prosper in arid conditions, reduce malnutrition and blindness (golden rice).

*Before a food is bioengineered, the protein is thoroughly evaluated to make sure it Is not an allergen or toxic compound.

*Approval of a bioengineered food is highly analyzed and regulated with costs close to $136 million to bring a new bioengineered product to market.

*Bioengineering is a tool in the agricultural toolbox that provides numerous benefits, especially in third world nations.

As Physician Director of the Betty Ford Center, Dr. Haroutunian has contributed to the development of a variety of programs, including their Extended Care Program, the Licensed Professional Program and the Clinical Diagnostic Evaluation Program. 

He is the author of the renowned book, Being Sober, the foreword for which was written by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (and to whom Dr. Harry is not only a friend, but his sobriety coach). Dr. Harry collaborated with Dr. Louis Teresi on Hijacking the Brain: How Drug and Alcohol Addiction Hijacks our Brains - The Science Behind Twelve-Step Recovery.

Episode highlights: 

Dr. Harry and I discussed his perspectives from tens of thousands of hours of clinical (and personal) experience with alcohol abuse and recovery.First and foremost, he notes his strong family predilection for substance abuse disorder with alcohol.

Dr. Harry believes childhood is where the roots of all substance abuse disorders are rooted.

60% of alcohol abuse disorder is driven by genetics. But Dr. Harry emphasizes the importance of environmental/social pressures in aggravating genetic tendencies.

The association of alcohol abuse recovery and sugar cravings is documented and strong. 

The C.A.G.E. questionnaire is a great screening for alcohol dependency.

If anyone wants to reach out to Dr. Harry for gold standard support into substance abuse disorder recovery, call 760-972-7840.

Notably, Dr. Harry is a big fan of Nathan Pritikin and the Pritikin Diet, having attended programs at the Pritikin Longevity Center when it was originally in Santa Monica, CA and run by Nathan himself.

You are what you eat and it all starts at birth. Give your baby a healthy start to help lay the groundwork for lifelong health. 

Dr. Stan Cohen, pediatric gastroenterologist, joins Kathleen to discuss the role of nutrition from infancy to childhood offering excellent guidance and advise on obesity, allergies, healthy meals, sugar, picky eaters, routine illnesses, the importance of gut health and more.  Parents of newborns to teenagers need to hear the wisdom from this seasoned expert who is the co-founder of www.Nutrition4Kids.com  and author of Healthy Babies, Happy Kids: A Common Sense Guide to Nutrition for Growing Years and What to Feed Your Baby: Cost-Conscious Nutrition for Your Infant.

Key Messages:

Get your children off to a healthy start.  Overweight babies and children often become overweight adults and are linked to health problems later in life, including persistent obesity and heart disease.

Many of our children are overweight or obese: 13.4% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 20.3% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 21.2% among 12- to 19-year-olds.

Allergies are always to protein and usually occur immediately whereas intolerances show up several hours later. 

Feeding babies 4-6 months old whole eggs and peanut products can avert potential allergy development. 

Picky eaters usually grow out of the food jags.

There is no other period of life when nutrition has a more profound impact than during the first 1,000 days of life (pregnancy – 2 years).  It is a critical time for human growth and development of the brain, body and immune system. 

Vegetables, beans and fiber are among the best foods to feed the healthy bacteria in the gut (microbiome) which in turn promotes immunity and brain health. After cereal, babies should be started on vegetables as first foods. 

In this episode of True Health Revealed, we interviewed nationally renowned low carb advocate and author of the 2020 book “The Case for Keto,” Gary Taubes.

Gary is known for being a passionate advocate for low carb approaches to nutrition, and by so doing, improving insulin sensitivity. From the perspective of many on “my side” (believers in plant rich eating patterns inclusive of legumes, whole fruits and whole grains), Gary is often thought of as someone that has an almost zero tolerance for all (even 100% whole) grains, root/tuberous (a.k.a. “starchy”) vegetables, legumes and most fruits that we consider strongly associated with vitality and longevity.

Yet we had a very comfortable discussion reverting back and forth from personal experiences (including his addiction to smoking and my binge eating disorder) to discussing randomized controlled trials of nutrition (including the renowned DIETFITS trial of healthy low-carb versus healthy low-fat diets, led by Christopher Gardner at Stanford). I found Gary not to be “scary.” 

To me, our discussion revealed a humble, at times charmingly self-deprecating man who is, dare I say, flexible (e.g., pointing out correctly that the maintenance phase of Atkins diet phases has many similarities with plant predominant Flexitarian eating though most only focus on Atkins initial, ketosis inducing “induction phase”). 

He is also curious (for instance, about the nothing-but-meat “carnivore diet,” about which he’s curious more than anything). I heard no outright denial of the fact that a plant rich, flexitarian or even vegan approach (keeping in mind his wife, he makes clear, is close to plant pure) wasn’t appropriate and healthy for many.

But he absolutely made clear his belief that controlling insulin via a low carb approach and titrating (adjusting) carbohydrate was key from his perspective to managing insulin resistance and weight control. Now, I don’t fully agree with that, obviously. Yet I saw no reason not to look at the mass majority of where we agreed… And yes, we could meet and “break bread” (minus the bread of course) over a fresh bed of vegetables and sustainable fish. In the spirit of the words he wrote to me in a personally signed copy of his newest book, “Here’s to Switzerland…!”

Some of Gary’s summary points

• Colorful low starch vegetables are healthy! He never ate more before going low carb.

• Low-carb/keto is for metabolic correction in the insulin resistant and certainly is compatible with transitioning to a Flexitarian type eating pattern. But if weight gain/insulin resistance recurs…titrate back on carbohydrate, especially CRRAHP™ (calorie rich, refined and highly processed) carbs, but also whole grains, legumes, starch based vegetables and most whole fruits.

• Foods containing CRRAHP™ carbs add addictive qualities and many people, though not necessarily all, may need to consider them like an addictive drug to be “dosed” carefully and with honest personal admission to susceptibility for drug like dependency.

• Gary’s approach to low-carb and ketogenic diets is about personal experimentation and finding what works best to achieve metabolic health, unlike caricatures of him as someone who believes in absolutism. 

• Healthy populations such as Blue Zones and the Bolivian Tsimané tribes are different from westernized populations, particularly the United States with our insulin resistance and obesity epidemics. This is particularly in the sense that traditional (e.g., Blue Zones) and forager-horticulturalist based (for example, Tsimané) populations have never experienced the metabolic disruptions that drive our obesity epidemic, nor the epigenetic pressures that come from such, including those that occur in utero (e.g., upon unborn children to mothers who are insulin resistant). So while their eating patterns of high intakes of the legumes, root vegetables, whole grains, whole fruits and vegetables is quite justified considering the difference in their current and historical metabolic health (including lots of natural movement), the US population, which has been “raised” on the CRRAHP-SAD (SAD = Standard American Diet) is a different animal (no pun).

• Social support is critical for any substantial transformational lifestyle change based on food behaviors, particularly in the inner circle of our lives such as life partners/spouses, is very important and otherwise makes any eating pattern that would be different than the CRRAHP saturated SAD (Standard American Diet) a struggle of a potentially insurmountable nature.

• Gary is as human as anyone else when it comes to binge tendencies (like Dr. Rifai), and isn’t averse to the occasional slice of pizza or a dessert, although he probably fights the urges more so than most of us. 

We know that nutrition, just like medicine, isn’t one-size-fits-all.  Kathleen chats with Stanford’s Dr. Christopher Gardner to better understand the hot topic of personalized nutrition, also called precision nutrition which assumes that each person may have a different response to specific foods and nutrients.  Precision nutrition asserts that the best diet for you may look very different than the best diet for another.

But is it premature, does the evidence exist to define individual optimal diets or should we focus on eating according to the Dietary Guidelines? Christopher shares results of many of his research studies that have searched for the best diets.

We also dive into the role of the relationship of diet and the microbiome (gut health).  Our diets determine which types of bacteria live in our digestive tracts, and according to precision nutrition the reverse is also true: the types of bacteria we house might determine how we break down certain foods, what types of foods are most beneficial for our bodies and how the microbiome impacts health and wellness.

Key Messages

There are so many variables, including genetics, gut microbes, lifestyle, biological, environmental, and social factors that affect an individual’s precision eating plan to improve overall health.

The best diets start with healthy foods and weight loss can occur on a wide range of diet plans.

One of the downfalls of weight loss diets is cutting calories but when you focus on feeling satisfied, it is much more sustainable long term and results in weight loss.

Fiber rich diets feed the microbiome to produce healthy bacteria in the gut but it also depends on the existing bacteria.

Prebiotics from fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut..) have the greatest impact on the microbiome that can boost immunity and reduce inflammation.

You will be inspired and motivated to adopt her science-based philosophy of good health for your body and your mind through a commitment to self-care, self-love, regular physical activity and a whole food Mediterranean style dietary plan. 

Key Messages:

Don’t eat after 8 pm.Strive to eat within a 12 hour or less window and give your body 12 hours to reset.

Get moving, aim to accumulate 6-8000 steps per day. Use it or lose it – keep muscles strong by simple activities like pushups and planks. Fitness is energizing and critical to living healthfully and longevity. 

Eat whole foods, less processed foods and stay clear of the ‘hyper palatables:’ those sugary, salty, fatty foods that are addictive. Enjoy them as occasional treats. 

Make a plan and follow it regularly much like a yoga practice. Start with small steps that are sustainable in your commitment to a healthy lifestyle. 

Practice self-care, led with compassion and empathy. Be good to yourself. Self-love is an important part of being healthy. Don’t try to be perfect; aim to be better. 

Be mindful of the food you are eating by savoring the taste, smell, and pleasure. 

To achieve a health span, a long vibrant and robust life, you have to do the work. 

In this episode we explore the science and the incredible power of sleep with international authority, Dr. Meeta Singh. Dr. Singh is also a performance consultant for professional sports including Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Pro Football Hall of Fame and many others. Tom and Meeta review the critical aspects of sleep including:

• the need for sleep,
• its impact on mental and physical performance,
• dementia, and
• the value of naps.

Key messages about the incredible power of sleep:

• Quality sleep promotes clearance of harmful toxins that build up through the day, reducing the risk for dementia.
• We can best cope with stressors when our bodies are well rested. Sleep is a reset button to help us face the stressors of the following day.
• You need 7-9 hours of sleep to function well.
• Naps can help meet the number of hours of sleep you need but it is not advisable too close to bedtime.
• When sleep deprived, caffeine can help with alertness and making decisions faster, but the quality of decisions may not improve (i.e., we may simply “make bad decisions faster”).
• You are less effective in general if you are sleep deprived.
• Less than 6 hours are likely to result in deficits in behavior.