Health and happiness go hand in hand, and who couldn’t use a little more of both these days? This is from the back cover of an exciting new book, *The Joy of Well-being,* by Colleen and Jason Wachob. This is such a wonderful guide that, lovingly, gifts us the tools to more fully enjoy the ride, and become healthier in the process!   Colleen Wachob is the co-founder and co-CEO at mindbodygreen, the leading independent media brand dedicated to well-being with 15 million monthly unique...

I'll never forget back in medical school that we were told that the brain was "terminally differentiated.” This means that brain cells were what they were, and could never be regenerated. As such, when a person had a stroke or brain injury, that was pretty much the end. There would be no improvement. That understanding stands in stark contrast to what we have observed. Clearly, stroke patient can and do improve. And, it turns out, that this improvement can be enhanced with a type of therapy...

That various microbes in the digestive system affect our health is certainly not news. However, this discussion is typically in the context of the various microbes that live in the gut. Actually, we technically need to begin this understanding at the level of the mouth. And, unfortunately, the idea that our oral microbes are influencing our health has not really gotten a lot of attention. As it turns out the state of health, diversity and function of the microbes living within the mouth are...

What underlies the war on fat? It’s big business, wanting us all to eat more refined carbs and sugar to replace the fat calories that we’ve been instructed to reduce. And I can think of no one who has done more to open our eyes to this ongoing travesty than Nina Teicholz. Here’s more about her from her website:   Nina Teicholz is an investigative science journalist and leader in nutrition reporting who is challenging the conventional wisdom on dietary fat–particularly, whether saturated fat...

As many of you may know, we live in Southwest Florida. And yes, we did experience the devastating effects of the recent hurricane. One of the things that has become an important focus of attention for many people living in this area has been remediating their homes as it relates to the possibility or even the presence of mold.    That said, I recently purchased a book,The Mold Medic, by Michael Rubino, to learn more about the whole notion of mold remediation, testing, and many more issues...

We've had so many discussions that's far about the importance of dietary fat for health and longevity. But to be clear, the type of fat we consume is of incredible importance. These days our diets seem to be loaded with vegetable oils and seed oils, and as we will learn, these are generally quite threatening to our health. In fact vegetable oils are only recently introduced into human nutrition with global production increasing 1600% since the early 1900s.   There is a strong correlation...

There’s so much information being promulgated these days seemingly focused on the notion of “anti-aging.”   Unfortunately, so much of this information focuses on techniques to allow us to basically appear younger.   But we are now at a level of understanding as it relates to the process of aging where we can indeed intervene to slow or even reverse the process. So, while the clock of our chronological time continues to move forward, our biological age meaning the health and functionality of...

Maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe we are overdoing it, especially as it relates to things like exercise. Should we tap into the “power of laziness?”   In Dave Asprey's new book, SMARTER NOT HARDER: The Biohacker's Guide to Getting the Body and Mind you Want, Asprey makes a compelling point that indeed less may be more. He describes how we live in a time where we finally have such a level of understanding of human physiology that we are indeed able to hack into ancient pathways to bring...

What should we eat? I ask this question in the context of the incredible rates of obesity that we are now seeing, virtually worldwide. Today we will spend time with Dr. Jason Fung author of the book The Obesity Code. This is a landmark book that powerfully lays out why we are continuing to gain weight. It dispels the notion that dietary fat threatens to make us gain weight as well as the unfounded idea of calories in versus calories out as an explanation for why we gain weight.   Dr. Fung...

Melatonin has taken center-stage in terms of interest from both the scientific community as well as the general population. And there are really good reasons for all this attention. Recently, with the Covid pandemic, melatonin has been looked upon as a way of "boosting the immune system." We've looked at melatonin for many years as a sleep aid and as a way of dealing with jet lag. We know that melatonin has antioxidant properties and even anti-inflammatory activity as well.   But, all of...

We are so often told that one of our fundamental goals in life is to find our “passion” and follow it. If we can identify this goal, we are led to believe, then everything will magically fall into place. According to Terri Trespicio, our guest on the podcast today, if we are busy looking for our passion we might well miss out on opportunities that may come our way. These opportunities may be related to our work or even our relationships. Terri makes it clear that it’s “OK not to know” as it...

Who doesn't want to be happier? My good friend Dr. Daniel Amen, in his new book, You Happier, addresses that challenge and gives us meaningful actions to take, right now. Interestingly, Dr. Amen takes a personalized medicine approach to regaining happiness or  at least improving happiness as it were, by demonstrating that what can enhance our happiness is, to some degree, patient specific. Sure, there are the general recommendations with respect to our day-to-day lifestyle choices including...

Today we're going to talk about the book, Your Healthiest Healthy, written by Samantha Harris. You can find more information about her down below, but let me tell you about the book and our interview.  Samantha was basically on top of the world, hosting various television programs and had everything going for her when she developed breast cancer. Initially, the book describes her diagnosis and treatment protocol, and interestingly, how the ultimate plan was put into play based upon her deep...

Trauma in our lives has lasting effects both in terms of our mental and physical wellbeing. Trauma, and its running partner, shame, affect our metabolism, our immune function, and even our gene expression. Further, trauma accelerates multiple markers of aging.   On the podcast today, I have the opportunity to spend time with Paul Conti, MD, author of the new book, Trauma, the Invisible Epidemic,  with a foreword by Lady Gaga. It’s a powerful look behind the curtain at the role of trauma in...

Today on the Empowering Neurologist I am delighted to welcome back Dr. Anna Cabeca. Her new book, Menupause, actually present five different dietary approaches for women approaching or during menopause that is specific in terms of a woman's particular set of goals. Whether it's to improve insulin sensitivity, balance immune function, regain control over body fat, or various other goals, Dr. Cabeca has skillfully created these recipes that are truly outstanding. This is a very interesting...

Multiple sclerosis (MS), is an auto-immune condition affecting more than 1 million Americans. And like other autoimmune conditions, it it's becoming more prevalent. The role of genetics in MS is not significant. Lifestyle choices however may play important roles in regulating the immune system, and therefore should certainly be looked at as it relates to this and other autoimmune conditions.   My guest today, Dr. Terry Wahls, is herself a multiple sclerosis patient. On the podcast she...

We are hearing so much these days about the benefit of a ketogenic diet. But while there may be benefits, it's not necessarily the easiest diet for everyone to engage. Further, staying in ketosis for an extended period of time may actually be associated with some fairly significant threats to our health.   Today I'm speaking with Dr. Steven Gundry about his new book, Unlocking the Keto Code. I have to admit that at first, I thought this was going to be another way of engaging the ketogenic...

One of the most important levers we can pull as it relates to improving our brain function currently as well as paving the way for a healthier brain in the years to come is choose to eat foods that nurture the brain. My guest today on the Empowering Neurologist, Max Lugavere, has been deeply involved in exploring food as brain medicine for many years. Let me tell you a little bit more about him. Max Lugavere is a filmmaker, health and science journalist and the author of the New York Times...

As it relates to COVID-19, there seems to be an incredible amount of interest in the death rate which happens to be exceedingly, exceedingly low. Why I find this challenging is because there is another problem associated with this infection that isn't...

We spend quite a bit of time talking about what we can do to protect and even enhance our brains. So much of our messaging deals with lifestyle choices like exercise, sleep, and certainly the foods that we eat. Basically, these are interventions that...

Urolithin-A. Powerful Mitochondrial Therapy So much of our health is dependent upon the function of our mitochondria, the energy providers found in each of our cells. Keeping our mitochondria functioning well is the reason that we, for example,...

Douglas Abrams is the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World with the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, the first book in the Global Icons Series. Can you imagine having the...

Fructose and Uric Acid – What Once Helped Us Survive Now Poses an Existential Threat The interest in uric acid, well beyond its role in gout, focusing on its pivotal role in metabolic issues, is expanding rapidly, and globally. Without question, one...