Body of Wonder

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Episode #9 The Human Microbiome with Erica Sonnenburg, PhD and Justin Sonnenburg, PhD Sep 10, 2020

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These days, we hear a lot about gut health. And many people want to know about the effects of probiotics, antibiotics, gut inflammation, and modern digestive issues.
You are a walking ecosystem home to a microbial community made up of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. You may be surprised to learn that you are more bacteria DNA than you are human DNA. Many of these inhabitants are found in your gut, and they also exist on your skin and in other parts of your body. Together these trillions of organisms form your microbiome.
Today we ask our experts, what does this complex community do for us?
On this episode, Victoria Maizes and Andrew Weil are joined by guests, Erica and Justin Sonnenburg, to discuss the human microbiome. Erica is a senior research scientist in the department of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine and Justin is an associate professor in the same department at Stanford. Together, they wrote, The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-Term Health.
Erica says until recently the microbiome was a relatively understudied area, and that research is just beginning to uncover the major role it plays in our health. She discusses how the overuse of antibiotics, soaps, and chemical sanitizers may be destroying the crucial diversity of our microbiomes. We discuss how the Western diet may be starving the microbiome of essential food sources and damaging the intestines leading to inflammation. Dr. Weil shares a strategy that he finds more effective than probiotics supplements - and less expensive. Justin explains how precision medicine will use microbiome testing to harness one's unique microbiome population to treat diseases. We also discuss the research surrounding fecal transplants and how this novel treatment may be used to address illnesses like irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, and asthma in the future.
Learn how you can take steps to benefit your microbiome and why the right bacteria is a good thing.

Episode #8 Exploring Guided Imagery with Belleruth Naparstek Jul 09, 2020

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Your mind is powerful. Thoughts that initiate in your mind not only impact your emotional well-being, but actually send signals that influence your body's physical reality. In this episode we learn about a gentle and inexpensive mind-body technique called guided imagery that is being used in healthcare to improve patient outcomes. Guided imagery is an easy to use multi-sensory relaxation-based practice that utilizes guided affirmations and soothing music to evoke images in the mind that are experienced by the body. Our guest on this episode is guided imagery pioneer, Belleruth Naparstek. She is a social worker and the author of Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal. An early advocate for mind-body treatments in clinical care, she draws from years of helping individuals manage trauma, mental illness, and physical pain. Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Victoria Maizes discuss the benefits of guided imagery and how this inexpensive treatment also empowers patients to take an active role in their own healing process. Research shows that practicing guided imagery has both physiological and psychological responses, including reducing healing time after injuries and surgery, boosting short-term immunity, and increasing mental well-being. Some of the largest and most prominent healthcare insurers in the U.S have even added guided imagery to their plans because it has proven to reduce treatment costs and to increase positive health outcomes for patients. The episode ends with a 4-minute practice for those listeners who are interested in experiencing guided imagery.

Episode #7 Paul Stamets Delicious, Deadly, and Mind-Expanding Mushrooms Jun 09, 2020

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Paul Stamets and Andrew Weil have been enamored with wild mushrooms for decades - and for good reason. Mushrooms have the potential to be delicious, deadly, and even mind-expanding. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of vast underground mycelial (or fungal) networks that inhabit every soil on earth. In fact, it's estimated there are about eight miles of single-cell mycelium in a single inch of soil. Mushrooms have been consumed as food and medicine by many Asian cultures for centuries. Despite their global prevalence, however, mushrooms are often overlooked and sometimes feared by North Americans. Paul Stamets is a mycologist, medical researcher, and author, who has dedicated his life to the scientific discoveries and applications of mushroom’s superpowers. He has performed novel research in many fields including medicine, biosecurity, and toxic environment restoration. In this episode, Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Victoria Maizes speak with Paul about how certain mushroom species can improve health. Paul shares his research in immunology and the promising response some fungi strains may have against devastating viruses that harm bees, livestock, and humans. And we learn some surprising practical tips, like why you may not want to eat the common button mushrooms found in grocery stores. We also discuss the recent research behind psilocybin or “magic mushrooms” in mental health disorders.

Episode #6 Intermittent Fasting with Valter Longo Ph.D May 27, 2020

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There's new evidence that intermittent fasting boosts immunity, improves cognition function, helps with weight loss, and even reverses certain diseases. How is it possible that simply restricting meal times can alter how your body functions? There are several ways to approach fasting including, intermittent fasting, alternate-day fasting, and water fasting. Yet, many people who begin a fasting regimen struggle to maintain a routine long enough to reap the benefits. So how do you choose a sustainable and healthy approach? In this episode, Dr. Weil and Dr. Maizes welcome Dr. Valter Logo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, the director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy, and author of the book "The Longevity Diet". Dr. Longo explains fasting's effects on the immune system and the microbiome, discusses the various approaches, and advocates for FMD or "fasting-mimicking diet".

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