In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Elissa Epel, an international expert on stress, well-being, and optimal aging.

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Tracy Bale. Dr. Bale’s research focuses on understanding the role of stress dysregulation in the development of the nervous system and in neuropsychiatric diseases, as well as the sex differences that underlie disease vulnerability in humans. Her extensive body of work provides a new revolutionary understanding of the effects of adverse life experiences across the lifespan, starting at the preconception level.

Dr Bale is the Anschutz Foundation Endowed Chair in Women's Integrated Mental and Physical Health Research at the Ludeman Center, in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado. She is also Professor and Director for Intergenerational Stress and Health, and the Director for Sex Differences Research in the Department of Psychiatry.

In this episode, we speak about a wide range of topics which are profoundly influenced by Social Genomics, including:

1) The multiple ways by which stressful environments that a woman experiences preconception, during pregnancy and during early development can influence the behavior and health of the offspring.

2) The novel signaling mechanisms that play a role in individuals experiencing trauma that can modify not only their behavior but also certain organs, like the skin for example.

3) The biological and behavioral ways of transmitting parental experiences to the offspring, behavioral ways including maternal-infant interactions, attachment styles, etc. which are the most important biological mechanisms.

4) What is germ cell mediated transmission?

5) What role do transgenerational transmission mechanisms play in populations that have been exposed to severe trauma (e.g. Holocaust) or persistent severe trauma (e.g. Afghanistan, Palestine).

6) How does resilience counteract the biological mechanisms discussed here?

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In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Emilie Berner, MA a chef educator and integrative health

Emilie received her master’s degree in food studies from New York University, and her health coaching certification from Duke Integrative Medicine. She trained at The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health Supportive Culinary Arts, and is the Chef & Coordinator at New York Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital’s Teaching Kitchen, where she also manages the organic garden. 

Currently, she teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, and leads the Mental Fitness Kitchen and coaching program at Dr. Drew Ramsey’s Integrative Psychiatry clinic.

In this episode, I talk to Emily about a wide range of topics related to the food, about the nutritional, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual dimensions of eating.

Rather watch this episode? Check it out here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/E1PgLWcAj2A

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In this episode of the Mind-Gut Conversation podcast, I talk to Dr. Gloria Dominguez, a world-renowned microbiome expert who has studied the pre- and postnatal influences on the developing gut microbiome, and the implications of this early development for health and disease.  

Dr. Dominguez is the Henry Rutgers Professor of Microbiome and Health at Rutgers University. She is the Director of the Institute for Food Nutrition and Health and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and of the Infectious Disease Society of America.   

Her work centers and impacts exerted on the microbiome by urban practices, including practices that impair early life microbiota transmission and colonization -such as C-sections- and studying changes on microbiomes across urbanization gradients.   

Together with her husband Martin Blaser, she stars in the new, award winning documentary The Invisible Extinction, which is streaming on Amazon.  

In this podcast I talk to Dr. Dominguez about several fascinating topics, including: 

• The effect of mode of delivery on infant microbiome and health 

• Maternal-child microbial seeding interventions. 

• Early-life microbiome restoration 

• Influence of maternal diet on offspring 

• Gut microbiome and COVID-19

• The Microbiome Vault project  

Welcome to episode 56 of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, a place to learn about groundbreaking ideas from thought leaders in the area of health, food, the science of mind body interactions and the environment.

Today’s guest is Dr. Martin Blaser, a pioneer and global thought leader in the area of the gut microbiome, author of over 650 original scientific articles, of the best selling book, Missing Microbes, a book targeted to general audiences, now translated into 20 languages. Together with his wife Gloria Dominguez, he stars in the new, award winning documentary The Silent Extinction.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Blaser about the following:

1. Since the publication of your best selling book Missing Microbes, what has been the most important breakthrough in microbiome science?

2. The extinction of micro- and macro-organisms are being driven by different mechanisms. Why are the two trends happening roughly on the same time course?.

3. Of the many possible disease mechanisms that could be involved in microbiome changes and increased risk of chronic diseases, which ones do you think are the most important ones?

4. What is your view of the mismatch hypothesis between a microbiome rapidly adapting to environmental/dietary changes and slowly evolving changes in the human immune system, leading to a maladaptive response of the immune system leading to systemic inflammation? In other words, are microbes better in adaptation to different lifestyles and environments than our immune system?

5. Looking into the future, do you believe that humans will dramatically change their lifestyles and their interactions with the environment to prevent catastrophic consequences on our health? A scenario you have referred to as “Antibiotic Winter”.

6. Do you see enough changes worldwide in the inappropriate and excessive use of antibiotics, C-section deliveries, diet, encroachment of wild habitats, etc. that suggest we will be able to dodge the bullet?

7. If there is one intervention that you think would have the biggest impact on our current situation, what would that be?

Rather watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eibJT0iI5nw

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In this episode of the Mind-Gut Conversation Podcast, I have the great pleasure to talk to Dr. Douglas Drossman, a board-certified gastroenterologist, pioneer of the IBS field, and author of several seminal books about disorders of gut brain interactions:

1) Gut Feelings - Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction

2) Patient - Doctor Relationship: A Guide for Patients and Doctors

Dr. Drossman is a board-certified gastroenterologist and his name is synonymous with the Rome Foundation, an organization which has brought international recognition to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and a list of closely related so-called functional GI disorders, a long neglected field in Medicine and Gastroenterology, which are now part of the new subspecialty called Neurogastroenterology. 

The Rome Foundation has created a thriving community of healthcare providers interested in different aspects of altered gut-brain interaction, including dietary and psychological treatments. As the Founder and long time President of the Rome Foundation, author of some 280 scientific manuscripts, and passionate promoter of the importance of therapeutic physician-patient interactions, Dr. Drossman was not only a pioneer, but has also had a major long-lasting influence on the field.

Amongst many other topics, in this interview we address several important questions, including the following:

1. With the creation of the Rome Foundation process, you have revolutionized the entire field of IBS. Which component (patient education, physician education, disease classification) has been most important in this accomplishment?

2. What is your view on a unifying model of the entire spectrum of brain-gut disorders which manifest in different forms depending on environmental influences, the so-called “exposome” (psychosocial, diet, early life experiences, infections)?

3. Looking back, I am still amazed that it has taken some 40 years from the original view of IBS as a gut and motility disorder (many still share this view) to a disorder of gut brain interactions. Your comment?

4. Looking at a crystal ball, how do you think the view will evolve during the next decade?

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation podcast. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist, a Harvard-trained, nationally recognized lifestyle medicine pioneer. 

Dr. Bergquist is the Pam R. Rollins Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, as well as founder and director of Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. She is an advocate for advancing healthcare by integrating lifestyle medicine, resiliency, and prevention-based science into clinical care.  She has contributed to numerous health segments, is the host of The Whole Health Cure podcast, and author of the upcoming book Plantology: a cookbook based on the science of plant-based eating.  

In this conversation, we discuss a wide range of topics related to her holistic approach to health and disease, including: 

• Her unusual career path from mainstream medicine to a new way of healthcare emphasizing prevention and lifestyle changes. 

• Her particular interest in the role of nutrition in health. 

• Her new book, Plantology.  

Enjoy!  

Rather watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube here!  

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In this latest episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Steve Cole, a senior faculty member at UCLA who has created one of the most fascinating approaches to study mind body interactions at the molecular level. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications in high impact journals and is considered the father of a new scientific discipline called Social Genomics.   

His extensive body of work provides a new revolutionary understanding of the bidirectional interactions between our genome, our body and the environment we live in.  Dr. Cole is a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry in the UCLA School of Medicine where he studies the molecular pathways by which social environments influence gene expression by viral, cancer, and immune cell genomes.   

In this podcast, I talk to him about a wide range of topics which are profoundly influenced by Social Genomics, including:  

• How our bodies are continuously influenced by the influence of our social interactions. 

• How our genes are influenced by our state of mind. 

• Which strategies we can use to take advantage of the plasticity of gene expression to improve our health. 

• The two different forms of happiness. 

• The future of healthcare.

Enjoy!  

Rather watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_UjkZq7_TIc

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In this latest episode of the Mind Gut Conversation podcast, I talk to Dr. Kerry Wangen, a psychiatrist in clinical practice, with a longtime experience in working with trauma patients in the VA Healthcare system. Dr. Wangen is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California in Irvine and UC Riverside and currently provides psychiatric care via telehealth. Her approach to patients is based on a unique holistic view of mind and body, incorporating biological, pharmaceutical, contemplative, and spiritual dimensions.  In this podcast, I talk to her about here integrative approach to psychiatry and what impact it has on the treatment of common psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety. Here are just some of the topics we address:  

1. How her career path to become a psychiatrist was influenced by an interest in the role of brain gut interactions.  

2. How she has incorporated  contemplative practices and Buddhist principles in particular different forms of meditation, empathy, and compassion in her treatment approach to psychiatric disorders.     

3. What role will psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy play in clinical psychiatry in the future?  

4. Her view of the intriguing analogy between ancient healing traditions, like Ayurvedic Medicine and the Chakra system and the emerging new concepts about the interconnectedness of different organs with the brain.

Rather watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube here!  

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In this episode of the Mind-Gut Conversation podcast, I talk to Dr. Aviva Romm. Physician, midwife, herbalist, and prolific author. Dr Romm has published 7 books, and offers online courses for both healthcare professionals and patients on a variety of topics, including functional and integrative medicine, gut health and herbal medicine.  

In this podcast, I talk to her about her unique career path, the main lessons from her latest book Hormone Intelligence and about her emphasis on women’s health. Here are just some of the topics we address:  

1. Her remarkable career path from midwife, herbalist, physician, and bestselling author. 

2. Why a better understanding of hormonal imbalances is essential for more effective treatments for women’s health problems. 

3. How she incorporates the influences of the external and internal ecosystems on the body and mind in her treatments. 

4. How the traditional medical system ignores some of the most important aspects of women’s health. 

5. In which way she sees health and medicine in a different way than a lot of doctors. 

6. What role the gut microbiome plays in the regulation of estrogen levels in our body.  

Rather watch this episode? Check it out on YouTube here!

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