Healthwatch with Dr. David Naimon: Interviews with experts in Natural Medicine, Nutrition, and the Politics of Health

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat to Live and The End of Diabetes, an unflinching, provocative exploration of how our food is killing us and the ways in which we are unwitting participants in an unprecedented and exploding health crisis. Fast food is far more than just the burgers, fries, and burritos served at chain restaurants; it is also the toxic, human-engineered products found in every grocery store across America. These include: cold breakfast cereals; commercial and preserved (deli) meats and cheeses; sandwich breads and buns; chips, pretzels, and crackers; fried foods; energy bars; and soft drinks. Fast foods have become the primary source of calories in the United States and consequently the most far-reaching and destructive influence on our population.

Your gut is astonishingly clever. It contains millions of neurons—as many as you would find in the brain of a cat—and is home to the microbiome, an army of tiny organisms that influence your mood, your immune system, and even your appetite. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Mosley takes us on a revelatory journey through the gut, showing how junk food and overuse of antibiotics have wiped out many “good” gut bacteria leading to a modern plague of allergies, food intolerances, and obesity. Drawing from the latest cutting-edge research, Dr. Mosley provides scientifically proven ways to control your cravings, boost your mood, and lose weight by feeding the “good” bacteria that keep you healthy and lean, while staving off “bad” bacteria that contribute to weight gain and disease.

In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of premature death in America–heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, and more–and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches to help prevent and reverse these diseases, freeing us to live healthier lives.

In Mind over Meds, bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil alerts readers to the problem of overmedication, and outlines when medicine is necessary, and when it is not. Dr. Weil examines how we came to be so drastically overmedicated, presents science that proves drugs aren’t always the best option, and provides reliable integrative medicine approaches to treating common ailments like high blood pressure, allergies, depression, and even the common cold. With case histories, healthy alternative treatments, and input from other leading physicians, Mind over Meds is the go-to resource for anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

You may fear dementia is in your genes but it is not inevitable that you will succumb to the disease. The way you live your life can make a huge difference to your future. Dr. Glenville discusses how the wrong food choices can harm your brain health, what the best types of good brain food are to keep your brain healthy, which supplements can improve and boost your brain function and stop short term memory loss, what lifestyle factors you should avoid and include to help improve your memory, and the most important tests to show if you have any deficiencies that could be affecting your memory and concentration.

Living with pain can be a daily struggle. If you are suffering from chronic pain, sometimes even small tasks can be difficult to accomplish. But there is hope. With The Everything Guide to Integrative Pain Management, you’ll learn about the different options for managing pain with an integrative plan, that can include conventional therapies, such as medications, devices, or procedures, with natural and mind-body therapies, such as biofeedback, meditation, proper nutrition, exercise, and more.

The Case Against Sugar with Gary Taubes (Part Two) Health and science writer Gary Taubes returns to Healthwatch to continue his conversation with host Dr. David Naimon. In Part Two Taubes discusses how the effects of sugar consumption are passed down through generations, and why, because of this, removing sugar alone might not be enough. He also discusses the sorry state of nutritional science. and what Taubes is trying to do to help remedy this.

Uncontrollable weight gain and boiling hot flashes, crying one minute and angry the next… Menopause (or peri-menopause) is here – it’s taking over your life – and you’re seriously ready to get some relief and feel like yourself again. Masters level acupuncturist and herbalist Dana LaVoie’s passion is helping women who are frustrated and struggling with menopause to find relief naturally. She wants women everywhere to know the techniques Asian women have always known about balancing hormones naturally. It’s like a roadmap for hormones – and for some crazy reason – no one here in the states has that map! Her mission is to share this information with as many women as possible. Her website is: danalavoielac.com

Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. And sugar is at the root of these, and other, critical society-wide, health-related problems. With his signature command of both science and straight talk, Gary Taubes delves into Americans’ history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, the contemporary overuse of high-fructose corn syrup. He explains what research has shown about our addiction to sweets. He clarifies the arguments against sugar, corrects misconceptions about the relationship between sugar and weight loss; and provides the perspective necessary to make informed decisions about sugar as individuals and as a society.

Are you gluten-free or dairy-free? If so, you might not have to be, according to Dr. John Douillard, author of Eat Wheat a scientific and clinically-proven approach to addressing food intolerances. After 3.4 million years of eating wheat and only 500,000 years of hunting meat, humans are actually genetically better equipped to eat wheat than meat. This book is your guide to safely bringing wheat and dairy back into your diet. Dr. John Douillard, a former NBA nutrition expert and creator of LifeSpa.com, and author of six health books, addresses the underlying cause of the gluten-free epidemic.