Mindful Medicine

Catch these great tips to improve your health and longevity.With the wealth of information available, sometimes you just want some simple tips to improve your health and longevity. The MTHFR gene codes how folic acid is processed. The resulting L-methylfolate amino acid is responsible for dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine production. This gene helps you feel good. Most people have one mutation while many have two. Boosting L-methylfolate can reduce depression and improve IBS symptoms. A cheek swab test is covered by insurance. Those with a college education tend to live longer. Your tough childhood tends to fade by age 50. Men do well for a long life in a stable marriage. Women need a happy marriage. Avoid alcohol. Reduce consumption of red meat, egg yolks and farmed fish. Improve your gut health. Chocolate can help with blood flow. Dark chocolate can also help with chronic coughing. Work on losing weight at a rate of no more than one pound per week so your body maintains balance. Find what works for you long-term. Ballroom dance builds neural networks, no matter how good you are. It helps with Parkinson’s and dementia. Listen as Dr. Robin Miller joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share how small actions can provide big benefits for your health.

Learn about new techniques to stimulate your body's healing response for injuries.Your body has an innate ability to heal. Ligaments and tendons can take longer than expected, causing a lot of pain in the joint area where the injury was sustained. Regenerative injection therapy (RIT) augments the body’s own healing. Techniques stimulate the body’s healing response. Prolotherapy is a form of RIT that uses injections to stimulate blood flow in ligaments and tendons. It hurts but urges healing to accelerate. Stem cell therapy utilizes your own stem cells to regenerate healthy tissue in your body. The stem cells are injected into an injured area, like a joint with degenerative arthritis. Insurance doesn’t cover RIT, making it a better investment for those who typically heal readily. Listen as Dr. Tyna Moore joins Dr. Holly Lucille to discuss RIT.

How can you harness stress?Chronic stressors are very real and impinge on activities. How can you keep up when you’re so stressed? Being hit with something out of left field can stir up your impulse control. You might overwork, overthink or freak out. You are not at your best. How can you catch yourself before the impulse control goes out the window? No one wants to be a terrible version of themselves. You don’t want to underperform. It’s easier to make changes in your reactions to stress by making personal discoveries. What happens to you when you get hit with stress? How do you react? 4 Common Elements to Stress Response Internally The mind floods with thoughts and emotions during stressful times. It can be distracting and overwhelming The body tenses. You might feel tightness in your chest or hear your heartbeat in your ears. You engage in pressured behavior. You overstep or hold back. Your mind and body distress compound and make you feel regret from taking impulsive actions. Tips for Striving with Stress  What triggers your stress response? The only things that stress you out are the ones that are really important to you. Examine what about the situation is so stressful for you. You can get stuck in a stress spin cycle like an off-balance washing machine. Negative thoughts keep kicking around, reinforced by earlier negative experiences. It’s easy to adopt a negative self-belief and throw in the towel. You can catch yourself in the process and respond more productively. Listen as Dr. Frank Wood joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share how to thrive with stress.

Can you really catch up on sleep on the weekend?Sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Tissue repair happens, hormones are produced, and your body rests. But, your busy lifestyle may displace your sleep priority. Catching up on your sleep on the weekend may not be as beneficial as you think. Social jet lag occurs when you stay up late and try to sleep late. Shifting your sleep clock by more than 30 minutes or an hour can make you feel sleep deprived when you shift your bedtime back. It’s like having jet lag in your own time zone. Try to minimize the difference between your weekday and weekend bedtimes. Pulling an all-nighter is a bad idea. If you’re going to have a late night, plan it when you can sleep in the next day. Adjust your clock to get back to your regular bedtime. Adults usually need between seven and nine hours sleep per night. Teens need eight to ten hours sleep per night because the body needs rest as it grows. The sleep clock is the last thing to mature. Listen as Dr. John Schuen joins Dr. Holly Lucille to discuss the importance of sleep and how to have better sleep hygiene.

Work on endurance for your long-term health to manage chronic pain.One in three Americans currently suffer from chronic pain. It can be daunting to find the best way to successfully manage one’s pain. A chronic pain diagnosis brings shock, bewilderment and grief. The loss of life before the chronic pain isn’t always acknowledged in the medical community. It is tough to come to terms with the loss of function caused by the pain. Conventional medical practitioners receive specialized training in their areas of expertise. They don’t always know as much about alternative treatments or therapies outside of their fields of expertise. Guided imagery and hypnosis have proven successful in helping pain management. Lowering stress, reducing the need for pain medication before or after surgery, and reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea are all benefits individuals have experienced from these alternative therapies. Listen as Dr. Traci Stein joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share alternative therapies for addressing chronic pain.

Learn about the link between your gut and brain.Your gut and brain communicate with each other. It’s no wonder that your stomach can feel upset when you’re anxious. Gut health has already been linked to chronic health issues like diabetes and autoimmune disorders. It is now being linked to nervous system problems like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. The gut has been called the second brain. It has its own nervous system, the enteric nervous system. Mood is related to gut hormones. You may suffer depression if your gut microbes are unhealthy. Fixing Your Brain-Gut Connection Avoid gluten since wheat is treated with Round-Up pesticide. Many people can’t digest gluten. Stop consuming processed foods. Get rid of the added sugar in your diet. Artificial sweeteners are even worse for your gut. Remove toxins from your environment. Eliminate allergens. Reduce your intake of antibiotics. Use berberine and aromatic oils to rid your gut of bad bacteria. Add enzymes to aid digestion. Take a quality probiotic. Eat fermented foods to get prebiotics back into your gut. Regenerate the gut lining. Get a blood test and see where you can retain good health with lifestyle changes. Exercise. Listen as Dr. Robert Silverman joins Dr. Holly Lucille to discuss the connection between the brain and gut.

What can you do to reach your health goals?Chronic health issues are on the rise. It’s a challenge to reach even the smallest health goals. Why is it so hard to change eating and fitness habits? Your mindset can open you up to opportunity. The energy you’re transmitting needs to match the energy you want. If you’re projecting negativity, success is difficult. Your engagement with the limiting belief gets you off track. Don’t be so hard on yourself when you’re trying to make changes. Break things down a little bit more so you can reach your targets. Reward yourself for accomplishing the small steps that lead to the bigger steps. Listen as coach Kristen Howe joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share how you can work on your goals while being kind to yourself.

Cultivate a mindful approach to eating.The vast amount of information currently available about food can lead you to feelings of fear, guilt and judgment. You may stop enjoying food due to information overload. To enjoy food again, find something that feels good for you. You may enjoy cooking or eating certain foods. Exercise may make you feel calm and creative. Spend more time doing that thing. It will quiet your mind and help your food intuition come to the surface. Be mindful. Make decisions to eat food and enjoy it while you eat. Consider what drives your cravings. If your craving is emotionally driven, see if there is another way to address those emotions. If your friend is struggling with food, it is not your job to fix her. Release any judgment. In due time your friend can move through the experience and heal. Try to provide pleasant experiences, not putting pressure on how to experience food. Listen as Devyn Sisson joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share how you can heal yourself with food.

Relationship problems? It's time to make a change.Do you get into circular arguments with your partner? Do you disagree about the same things over and over? How do you get it to stop? Attaining a healthier, stronger relationship starts with you. It’s unfair to demand your partner make all the changes if you aren’t willing to put in any work. Changing yourself will change the relationship. Your partner may get on board with improvements if you lead the way. Don’t expect a therapist to change your partner for you. Change the rules you’ve set for your own relationship. Take risks to discuss the things that are on your mind. Know that you aren’t the only ones struggling in the world. You probably just need the skills to work together in your relationship. Listen as marriage and family therapist Winifred Reilly joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share how to be the change you want to see in your relationship.

It's never too early nor too late to develop better eating habits.Prevention of childhood obesity and chronic disease can start in the kitchen. Teaching healthy eating habits from a young age will help save your child from the effects of processed foods. There is a strong connection between food and health. First, learn some simple steps to prepare healthier meals. You don’t have to prepare gourmet meals every night. Easy recipes and simple prep tasks work well for busy families. Develop a taste in your young ones for healthy food. Second, it’s never too late to help a picky eater. Physical symptoms may have led to picky eating, if some foods were previously uncomfortable to eat. Getting a physiological diagnosis can help guide a joyful food experience. It may take 15 tries to enjoy something new. Tasting small amounts of new things makes food introduction easier. Finally, encourage your children to be part of the food preparation process. Create a small garden and tend it with your kids. Knowing where food originates contributes to a joyful eating experience. Start with an herb garden and work up to a small, raised garden that works well with the space and sunlight available to you. Listen as Dr. Nimali Fernando joins Dr. Holly Lucille to share tips on encouraging healthy eating habits in children.