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In this show I am happy to be back after my 10 day meditation retreat in the mountains of New Mexico. We had a record 2400 people come this year and it was extremely powerful that so many people were meditating simultaneously together.

In this day and age when the stresses of the world weigh upon all of us, it is time for all of my listeners to start meditating. I feel very grateful that I found my spiritual teacher Yogi Bhajan, many years ago and have followed the meditation path of Kundalini Yoga. However there are many types of meditation and each person needs to find what is right for them.

In Los Angeles now, I encourage many of my patients to try out Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction which is a powerful and rising form of meditation that is practical for everyone no matter how busy they are.

I mentioned in my podcast a DVD that will lead you in the meditation at home. I  often refer my patients to this, which you can find here, or buy the download  of the video here [Read more...]

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In the second part of my interview with Dr Quiqley we continue to discuss the value of probiotics for our health.

We start with my question on how effective are probiotics for digestive health especially irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). He feels the most benefit of probiotics proven so far is for people with digestive problems. 

We then talk about Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and whether people with this condition should use or avoid probiotics. You will remember I talked about this in my podcast interview with Dr Mark Pimental and he implied people with SIBO should avoid probiotics. 

Dr Quigley certainly reminds us after using antibiotics for SIBO, probiotics might provide benefit for the patient. 

We then talk about possible side effects of taking probiotics. He points out there may be an adjustment period when you first start probiotics. Dr Quiqley says he has never seen anybody allergic to probiotics.  [Read more...]

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In this podcast I interview world renowned Gastroenterologist Eamonn Quigley M.D. He is a Professor of Human Physiology at the University College in Cork Ireland. Our interview is all about Probiotics.

We all know that probiotics are so important to our health and more and more research is coming out to show that. Health food stores are packed full of many different brands of probiotics and this sometimes makes it hard to decide which one is best to use. 

In this interview we start out by my asking Dr Quigley “What is a probiotic?” and his answer is very straightforward “It is a microbe which is alive and which when given to man transfers a health benefit.” He then goes on to point out that the microbe must “make it” through our gut to get to the large intestine where it is meant to work. 

We talk about how probiotics work and I ask him why we should take probiotics. I also ask if all probiotics are the same and how safe are they to take.

[Read more...]

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On this podcast, I am delighted to have my colleague Dr. Walter Crinnion back for part two of our interview about the importance of our mitochondria.

I ask Dr. Crinnion some additional questions including:

1. What can I do with my diet to optimize my mitochondrial function?

2. Are there supplements that will help?

3. Can these help if I already have mitochondria that are not working well?

4. Can I increase the mitochondria that I have and can I make them work better?

We also go on to talk about other questions as well. Dr. Crinnion presents a patient with neurotoxicity in which the patient’s mitochondria were actually poisoned by pesticides and you will find interestingly in the podcast how this patient got so many pesticides.

As I mentioned too, I was just at the Pregnancy Awareness Month event in Los Angeles and I was on a panel with Ken Cook and Alejandro Junger talking about how women can prepare to detoxify before they get pregnant and most importantly to stay clean while they are pregnant. Videos from this event will be on the Pregnancy Awareness Website soon and I will put a link to them when I know that they are up. This podcast has a photo of Ken and I being interviewed by Anya Sarre of Entertainment Tonight show. [Read more...]

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On this podcast, I am delighted to have my friend and colleague Dr. Walter Crinnion, ND,  back to talk about how environmental toxicants actually do their damage to the body.

This podcast is about our mitochondria, the little organelles which are the energy factories of our cells.

In this show I’m going to be asking Dr. Crinnion the following questions:

1. What are mitochondria and what do they do for us?

2. How can I tell if my mitochondria are working or are not working?

3. Are there certain diseases that are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction?

4. What kinds of things “poison” my mitochondria?

In preparation for this interview I reread Dr. Crinnion’s excellent book called Clean, Green and Lean, which I encourage all of you to get and read. It tells you the practical steps to help keep your own body clean, and to keep the environment where you live and work, clean. This is especially important for people who already have a chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. It is also very important for young families who are starting to have children which can be more easily affected by the chemicals in our environment. [Read more...]

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In this episode I talk about the current controversy regarding BPA, also known as bisphenol A. The FDA just rejected a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to ban BPA in food packaging.

BPA has been found in the urine of more than 93% of Americans tested. It is a synthetic estrogen that was developed more than 70 years ago and has been widely used since the 1960s specifically to make polycarbonate plastic for things such as baby bottles. It's also been used to line metal cans such as soup cans. It can be found in dental sealants and eyeglasses as well as a coating for cash register receipts and hundreds of other household items.

BPA is an “endocrine disruptor” (EDC) and as such disrupts our endocrine system. It is been linked to neurological defects, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer, and heart disease.

Just recently Campbell’s Soup company announced that they would be removing BPA from the inner lining of their soup cans. This was brought about by pressure from consumers. [Read more...]

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This is part 2 of my interview of noted Ob-Gyn Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz.

We pick up in part 2 of the interview talking the nutrients she recommends during pregnancy. Brain development and Essential Fatty Acids during pregnancy and nursing are reviewed. 

Then we move on to talk about bio identical hormones for menopause. We review the herbs that are helpful for menopause. What is the definition of bio-identical?  Dr. Suzanne defines it. 

Is it risky for a menopausal woman to take bio identical hormones? This depends on several factors in the woman’s life and personal history. 

Dr Suzanne definitely recommends bio identical hormones for women that want to take hormones at menopause. She reviews the new data from the Women’s Health Initiative that women with low risk for breast cancer actually had a lower risk of breast cancer when they took the horse hormone brand Premarin. 

Furthermore I am happy to learn that a new study of hormone replacement in women who had breast cancer is also in progress, to help with symptoms including bone loss.  [Read more...]

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I am delighted to have on this podcast my colleague and friend, Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz  M.D. Dr. Suzanne applies integrative medicine to Obstetrics and Gynecology , the way I apply it to Internal Medicine

Dr. Suzanne is fully trained in Ayurvedic Medicine and uses it in her practice. We talk about “what is Ayurveda” and how does it compare with Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing systems and comes from India. 

Ayurveda means the science of life and is directly related to Yoga. 

We talk about the main modalities of treatment that are used in Ayurveda. And she points out that lifestyle management is a big part of Ayurveda.

 Marma therapy  is part of Ayurveda and is analogous to acupressure in Chinese medicine.

Dr. Suzanne brings in many aspects of integrative medicine to her practice and works closely with other integrative practitioners and that is how I met her. She provides a safe environment for women to talk to her about their lives and health.

We discuss how she uses Ayurvedic  medicine in Obstetrics. The idea that “you are not in control” is a big lesson during pregnancy and we discuss this.  Pregnancy lets a woman learn to let go! We talk about yoga and safe yoga practices during pregnancy. I am happy to see that Vitamin D is part of her basic prenatal blood panel.  [Read more...]