Humarian Health

On this week’s show, Amy and Dr. B. are joined by Tony Kantzavelos, a pharmacist and owner of Nora Apothecary to talk about compounding, specialized pharmaceutical preparations, and his business. Tony tells us a little about Nora Apothecary and what separates a compounding pharmacy from a typical one. He describes the process of compounding and the many different forms that compound pharmaceutical products can take. Tony goes over the numerous scenarios in which compounding drugs offers benefits over traditionally produced big pharma drugs. He then talks about the growth of big pharmaceutical companies, how that has impacted the role of the modern pharmacist, and why compounding pharmacists are so important because of this reality. They also discuss the level of awareness of compounding pharmacists in the medical community and whether it is a rising or fading profession. Tony closes out the show by telling us why he has almost all of his patients on probiotics. You can find more information about Nora Apothecary and Tony at noraapothecary.com.

This week, we welcome Dr. Ryan Bentley back to the show. He joins Amy and Dr. B. to talk about probiotics in everyday products. You can now find orange juice, milk, lotion, makeup, and many other products that claim to be loaded with probiotics. Are they effective? Can they act as substitutes for probiotic supplements or fermented foods? Do the sugars in some of these products activate probiotics prematurely? How much do we really know about the effects of the probiotics in these products with current research? Dr. Bentley dives into all of this and more, so stay tuned!

In part 2 of our dietary discussion with Jodi Smith, Amy and Dr. B. join Jodi to discuss nutrients, dietary trends, and how to form long-term healthy eating habits. Topics discussed include:

· Why a keto diet can reduce the likelihood of heart disease for some people and increase it for others, and why the idea that keto is a good diet for everyone that’s obese is probably not true.

· Best practices and tools for making sure your diet is giving you essential nutrients that you need to function.

· Why Jodi won’t even see clients until they complete a written 3-day diet diary.

· Why certain body types do better on some diets and exercises than others.

· Why many of the current dietary trends are shaped by vilification of grains.

· Why it’s important to be mindful of overindulgence when you give yourself a chance to eat not so healthy things once in a while.

You can find recipes, videos, dietary education, and more about Jodi on her website, plateology.com.

We have a 2-parter for you this time! In part one, Jodi Smith returns to the show to talk with Amy and Dr. B. about losing weight, keeping it off, and where diets like Whole 30, paleo, and keto fit into the mix. Jodi is a medical nutritionist and the creator of Plateology.com. Topics discussed include:

· Major reasons people go on diets

· Why we need to be better about considering the bigger picture regarding our weight

· A deep dive into some shocking statistics on the current obesity epidemic

· Why making the right food choices is not enough to maintain a healthy weight.

· Why macro management on its own is not enough if you don’t also factor in calorie intake

· Why certain diets are better suited for different people

· How areas of your body that are most prone to weight gain can be indicative of predisposition to certain health conditions.

· General indicators that certain types of food aren’t settling well with your body, like diarrhea, constipation, stomachaches, headaches, spaciness, and general lack of focus or clarity of thought.

· Why you don’t have to eat like everybody else, and why figuring out what foods work for you and building your eating habits around them is usually the best course of action.

Stay tuned for part 2!

This week’s show is a good one, folks! Dr. B. is joined by nutritional biochemist and leading expert in women’s medicine, Dr. Jolene Brighten, to discuss hormonal birth control and her book, Beyond the Pill: A 30-Day Program to Balance Your Hormones, Reclaim Your Body and Reverse the Dangerous Side Effects of the Birth Control Pill. After some talk about general hormonal birth control statistics, Dr. Brighten talks about potential short-term and long-term side effects of prolonged birth control pill use, her personal history with birth control, and how her personal experience with patients drove her to explore this topic in depth. She spends some time diving into the prevalence of medical gender bias, where women are statistically more like to have chronic pain dismissed, be told that their symptoms are in their head, or receive inadequate medical care. Dr. Brighten explains how hormonal changes can lead to thyroid issues, leaky gut, autoimmune conditions, and nutrient depletion. Dr. Brighten stresses that the primary goal of her book is to make sure that women have the full story about hormonal birth control so they can make educated decisions about their own bodies. You can find Dr. Brighten’s book on amazon.com and wherever books are sold.

On this week’s show, Amy and Dr. B. are joined by Laura Stevens, author of Solving the Puzzle of your ADD/ADHD Child: Natural Alternatives for Hard-to-Raise Children. Laura tells Amy and Dr. B. how she became interested in the topic of ADD/ADHD and how this led her to write her first book, How to Feed Your Hyperactive Child. Laura describes the importance of clean diets when dealing with hyperactive children and why it’s especially important for parents to be on the lookout for dyes on ingredients labels. She talks about the impact of sugars, whether organic and non-GMO are terms we should be paying attention to for hyperactive children, and some of the most important nutrients to keep an eye out for. Laura also talks about good sleep hygiene and the importance of physical activity. You can find Solving the Puzzle of your ADD/ADHD Child: Natural Alternatives for Hard-to-Raise Children on amazon.com and wherever books are sold.

On this week’s show, Dr. B. is joined by Swathi Rao, owner and CEO of local Indiana practice, Be Well Family Care. Be Well Family Care is a family practice with a focus on integrated care, or what Swathi calls “smart medicine.” This means that the practice tries to utilize everything that research brings to them, whether it be traditional, alternative, or functional medicine. Swathi talks about her background in traditional medicine and the catalyst that caused her to favor integrated care over purely traditional medicine. Dr. B. asks about Swathi why the kitchen takes up a third of their total office space. Swathi describes the importance of diet, nutrition, and basic cooking skills for staying healthy. When Dr. B. asks about the role of traditional medicine in her practice, Swathi responds, “You don’t do aromatherapy in the middle of a car accident.” She then elaborates on why traditional medicine is so important in the practice of smart medicine and why you don’t see many family practices that stress integrated care. You can find out more about Swathi and her practice at bewellfamilycare.com.

On this week’s show, Amy and Dr. B. are joined by Amy Medling to talk about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and her book, Healing PCOS: A 21-Day Plan for Reclaiming Your Health and Life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Amy talks about her personal struggles as a woman growing up with undiagnosed PCOS and why 50-70% of women with PCOS remain undiagnosed. She talks about how her PCOS symptoms led to gaslighting from doctors. There is no magic pill to cure PCOS, so Amy explains why changing your mindset about your body is the first and most important step in fighting back. The gang then discusses the importance of diet and exercise in relation to mood, self-confidence, and PCOS symptoms. Amy also explains why intensity is not necessarily the most important consideration in exercise for helping with weight loss and other PCOS issues and why it’s important to heal in ways that make you feel good along the way. You can find more about Amy Medling and her 21-day plan at pcosdiva.com. You can find Healing PCOS: A 21-Day Plan for Reclaiming Your Health and Life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome at pcosdiva.com, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.

On this week’s show, Amy and Dr. B. are joined by Sandra Kaufmann to discuss her new book, The Kaufmann Protocol: Why We Age and How to Stop It. Amy and Dr. B. ask Dr. Kaufmann about her background as a tropical ecologist and plant physiologist, why she decided to become an anesthesiologist, and how she used her diverse scientific background to unravel the mysteries of aging. She explains why the Kaufmann Protocol is the first ever comprehensive scientific system to explain why we age and what we can do to decelerate that process. Dr. Kaufmann outlines her protocol by detailing the seven core tenents of aging in and describing how she categorizes them. She then explains the Kaufmann 1-7 rating system she uses to quantify the effectiveness of molecular agents on each category and how using these systems in tandem can help to determine which molecular agents to use to help your biggest aging issues. You can find The Kaufmann Protocol: Why We Age and How to Stop It on amazon.com and wherever books are sold. You can find the Kaufmann Protocol app on iOS and the Google Play Store.

Dr. Ryan Bentley returns to the show this week to have another fun chat with Amy and Dr. B. about probiotics. The big question of the day: how long does it take to see the effects of probiotics? According to Dr. Bentley, it depends. The trio delves into why there isn’t one definitive answer to this question. They discuss some of the different factors that can cause variability in this time-frame and talk about some easy ways to tell that a probiotic is having an effect. Dr. Bentley talks about why the initial response to probiotic effects can sometimes appear negative and why that’s not necessarily the case. Dr. Bentley also discuses psychobiotics, the gut-brain axis, and some of the conditions that he has personally seen probiotics help with in his practice. Oh, and as usual, Dr. B. interrupts with story time at some point in the podcast. This time it’s about a patient that used probiotics to combat spousal flatulence. Enjoy!