Health Hackd Podcast

2020 has been a year of surprises, cancellations, uncertainties, tragedies, and disappointments.  But in the midst of the chaos this year has brought, it has also been a year for growth, development, perseverance, patience, and resilience. 

In this last episode of 2020, we spend some time reflecting on this past year by answering the following questions:

1. What was the most impactful thing that you learned, personally, from 2020? 
2. What was the most interesting thing you learned this year from a health perspective?
3. What are you most grateful for this year? 
4. Favorite book and movie of 2020?
5. What are you most proud of yourself for this? 
6. What could you have done better this year?
7. What was the most difficult part of this year? 
8. If you could go back to the beginning of 2020, knowing how it was going to play out, what would you have done differently?
9. What was your favorite memory of 2020?
10. What are your goals for the next year? What habits do you want to implement based on your experiences from 2020?

In the last days of the year (and every year), we encourage you to answer the same questions for yourself!

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are taking a break from our normal routine to celebrate, which typically means a change in nutrition and exercise. 

Some may use this as an opportunity to indulge in holiday junk food as a reprieve from the challenges 2020 has brought, while others will attempt to stick to a rigid diet. But it’s no surprise that in the end, both of these extremes often fail, due to an “all or nothing” mindset. 

Fortunately, there is a much better way to approach the holiday season! One that avoids both extremes.

This week we had the pleasure of hosting Charlotte-based Nutritionist and Health Coach, Meghan Tomlinson.  She graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, where she received education from some of the top minds in the industry, such as Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Andrew Weil. Through her coaching, she helps people develop a realistic, sustainable, and holistic approach to healthy living. 

We had a great conversation with her about navigating nutrition and exercise during the holidays! She offered a ton of helpful tips in this episode and we're excited to share it with you. 

You can learn more about her philosophy on health through Instagram @wellwithmeghan, or through her podcast "Hungry for Health", and you may even catch her on the local Charlotte news! To learn more about her services, check out www.wellwithmeghan.com.

Enjoy the show and Merry Christmas!

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

It comes as no surprise that pop (or "soda"?) can wreak havoc on our health. Just 16 ounces of Mountain Dew contains over 60 grams of sugar! For reference on how much sugar that is, it's equivalent to eating around 5 tablespoons of table sugar.

As an alternative, many people turn to "Diet" soda.  The purpose being to decrease the known effects of consuming too much sugar: metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, among many others. But do artificial sweeteners actually achieve this goal? 

This week, we take a look at the difference between regular soda and diet soda. Is one really better than the other? We also share some of our favorite alternative to soda, for those who are trying to kick aspartame altogether!

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Resources:

• The Relationship of Sugar to Population-Level Diabetes Prevalence: An Econometric Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data
• Nonnutritive sweeteners and cardiometabolic health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies
• Non-nutritive sweeteners possess a bacteriostatic effect and alter gut microbiota in mice
• Sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages and the risks of incident stroke and dementia: A prospective cohort study
• Neurophysiological symptoms and aspartame: What is the connection?
• How to Make Homemade Soda

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

This past Summer we had the privilege of hosting a health workshop at the 2020 Indy Fitness Festival.

At the festival, we hosted a Sleep Workshop, where we discuss sleep as a powerful recovery tool and ways you can biohack your sleep! We had a lot of fun sharing this and loved meeting those of you who attended.

We hope you enjoy the Sleep Workshop and take away some useful sleep hack to implement into your nightly routine!

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

Technology addiction has escalated over the past several years, as cell phones and apps have become more versatile, but it's become especially apparent during 2020.  And like most addictions, our tech addiction is not without consequences. While we are more digitally connected than we've ever been, we are lonelier than ever.  Deleterious tech usage has made us emotionally, physically, and relationally sick.

But there is a cure to the loneliness that technology often brings: human relationships. Personal relationships (not "likes" on social media) are just as vital to our personal health as diet and exercise.

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Resources:

• Tech usage statistics
• The Social Dilemma documentary
• Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter 
• Loneliness and health: potential mechanisms
• Social support and health: a review of physiological processes potentially underlying links to disease outcomes 
• Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review 
• Social relationships, sleep quality, and interleukin-6 in aging women

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

"Winter is coming, we know what's coming with it."

In addition to the seasonal flu this winter, we are faced with another threat to our health that attempts to compromise our immune system.  Fortunately, research has shown a multitude of ways we can strengthen our immunity and reduce the severity infections, bacteria, and viruses.

Evidence surrounding the role of Vitamin D in immune health continues to mount. Today, we can a look at what makes this vitamin so special, and why it's particularly important during the winter months. In anticipation of this, we can begin strengthening our body's natural defense system today, so when we face these threats, we are ready.

So prepare yourselves, because winter is coming...

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Resources:

• Vitamin D Metabolism Flowchart
• Vitamin D supplementation could possibly improve clinical outcomes of patients infected with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID- 2019)
• Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe COVID-19
• Patterns of COVID-19 Mortality and Vitamin D: An Indonesian Study
• Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among US adults: prevalence, predictors and clinical implications
• Vitamin D Toxicity in Adults: A Case Series from an Area with Endemic Hypovitaminosis D
• Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren
• Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data
• The vitamin D–antimicrobial peptide pathway and its role in protection against infection
• Effect of calcifediol treatment and best available therapy versus best available therapy on intensive care unit admission and mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19: A pilot randomized clinical study 
• Meal conditions affect the absorption of supplemental vitamin D3 
• Dietary fat increases vitamin D-3 absorption

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or h

The thought of aging is scary and concerning for most people. It's the villain of life, coming for all of us in the form of muscular degeneration, stiff and achey joints, fragile bones, heart disease, and a wheelchair in front of a TV.

But what if this way of aging was optional?

What if there was a way to preserve our strength, flexibility, and cardiac health well into our 90s, and even past age 100?

In this episode, we explore how to exercise for longevity.  Meaning, exercising in a way that allows us to not only survive, but to thrive; exercising in a way that not only allows us to live long, but to live long AND live well.

"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
~Dylan Thomas

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Resources:

• Exercise and the Cardiovascular System: Clinical Science and Cardiovascular Outcomes
• Exercise and heart failure: an update
• Leisure time physical activity and mortality: a detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship
• Exercise and Older Adults
• Elite athletes live longer than the general population: a meta-analysis
• Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes
• The Best Exercise Routine For Longevity
• What Exercise is Best for Optimal Health and Longevity?
• Sedentary behavior and health outcomes among older adults: a systematic review
• Sedentarism, active lifestyle and sport: Impact on health and obesity prevention
• Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle
• Exercise and longevity

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

Every night you enter a state of mind where hallucinations, delusion, disorientation, emotions, and amnesia are normal. If any human were to experience all of these things while awake, we would call it psychotic, but when we experience it while we're sleeping, it's called dreaming.

While drifting off into dream world may be fun (or sad, or scary), it's curious why our body produces this strange, mind-altering process in the first place.

In today's episode, we answer the question: Why do we dream? Enjoy the episode and sweet dreams!

Have any questions or comments about this episode? We'd love to hear from you in the "Comment" section!

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Resources:

• Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD
• Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep
• Overnight Therapy? The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Processing
• The human emotional brain without sleep — a prefrontal amygdala disconnect
• REM latency and the recovery from depression: getting over divorce
• Relation of dreams to waking concerns
• Role of REM sleep and dream affect in overnight mood regulation: a study of normal volunteers
• Sleep deprivation impairs the accurate recognition of human emotions
• Changes in emotional responses to aversive pictures across periods rich in slow-wave sleep versus rapid eye movement sleep

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

On this show we talk a lot about nutrition, exercise, and mindset, but what about those other aspects of our health that may unknowingly (or knowingly) impact our health: 

• Air quality
• Water quality
• Household cleaning products
• Body care products

These are things that we encounter every day but give little attention to. This field of health is often referred to as "Environmental Health".

Our guest today, Emma Rohmann, has a wide breadth of knowledge in this field. She started her career as an environment engineer,  where she spent a decade working in the green building industry. Now a mom of two, Emma helps others make healthier choices about the products we use in our homes and bodies.

She is the founder of the Green at Home blog, host of The Missing Pillar of Health Podcast, and facilitator of the Green Product Forum. 

These are fantastic resources that can help you reduce toxin exposure in the home, using a very rational, evidence-based approach, in a way that is clear, concise, practical, and not overwhelming.

You can learn more about Emma and her work at: greenathome.ca

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.

In this final conclusion to the Carnivore Diet experiment, we’ll be sharing our personal experience on the Carnivore Diet after eating only meat for 30 days!

In today's episode, we'll talk about every detail of our experiment, including:

• What we ate in a typical day, including how we managed to eat organ meats
• How it impacted our sleep, mood, energy, workouts (and yes, our fecal matter)
• How much it cost to eat on the Carnivore Diet
• How it impacted our biomarkers, including weight, blood pressure, ketones, and more
• How we transitioned off the Carnivore Diet after 30 days
• How it will change our diet moving forward 
• Our final thoughts on the Carnivore Diet

Warning: This episode may venture into gross-territory, so if you're squeamish about meat, blood, and bodily fluids, you may want to skip this one. 

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Try the cleanest, most effective electrolyte drink on the market: Drink LMNT

Resources:

• The Carnivore Code by Paul Saladino, MD
• Paul Saladino on Joe Rogan
• The Carnivore Diet by Shawn Baker, MD

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The products, information, services and other content provided on and through this podcast, including information that may be provided in the show notes (directly or via linking to third-party sites), are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health-related diagnosis or treatment options.