This week's interview is with Olivia Cooper who has been struggling with a strange conglomeration of symptoms her entire life. Liv struggles with a host of gastrointestinal symptoms, excruciating sore throats, refractory fevers that lasted for months, and full body skin rashes. During our conversation, she talks about her journey through every provider specialty there is, many incorrect diagnoses, and ultimately, the diagnosis that truly fits the picture of what she is dealing with today.

Finally, there is a study comparing a low fat plant based diet versus an animal-based ketogenic diet, and in this episode we evaluate it. The study is by Kevin Hall, PhD and colleagues, and it is a very well designed inpatient study. So, what're the results? Listen and find out!

We also discuss Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131(19)30248-7

A plant-based, low-fat diet decreases ad libitum energy intake compared to an animal-based, ketogenic diet: An inpatient randomized controlled trial https://osf.io/preprints/nutrixiv/rdjfb/

Reddit thread discussing/debating the article further

Such a fun new topic for this week's episode: dance/movement therapy. This week, we bring you Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Board Certified Dance/Movement therapist Michelle Merna to discuss her career as a dance/movement therapist working in the state of New York with children on the autism spectrum. She explains the history of dance/movement therapy, who may benefit, what the data shows on its outcomes, and how to find a dance/movement therapist for you or for a patient you care for.

More information found on the American Dance Therapy Association website https://adta.org/

In this episode, we cover several holistic and complementary recommendations to help maintain your health throughout this COVID pandemic and beyond, to subsequent influenza seasons and really any time. We discuss specific foods to emphasize in your diet, and those to limit/avoid; the role of physical activity; sunlight, vitamin D, and grounding; and the importance of stress management/meditation.

Citations:

1. Article discussing vitamins and trace elements for immune support: Contribution of selected vitamins and trace elements on immune function. Wintergerst ES et al. Ann Nutr Metab. 2007;51(4):301-23.
2. American College of Sports Medicine article discussing the benefits of physical activity during the pandemic: http://www.acsm.org/all-blog-posts/acsm-blog/acsm-blog/2020/03/30/exercise-immunity-covid-19-pandemic
3. Overall integrative recommendations https://therapyworks.com.au/integrative-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

This week, Emily joins HealthFormation to give us a deep dive into her life before and after bariatric surgery. Honestly, her story is so amazing as she is literally a shrinking woman who has lost HALF of her body weight in the last 6 months. She is killing it! We talk:

• Emily's childhood and how food insecurity played into her weight challenges
• Her physical and mental health problems before her gastric bypass
• Challenges after surgery
• Where she is today and how she is helping others

Emily's email: [email protected]

Here is the CNN article referenced in the intro: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/opinions/healthy-diet-immune-system-covid-19-mozaffarian-glickman-nikbin-meydani/index.html

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I say this every new episode, but I honestly loved this one!! The motto for this week comes from our guest, who says he is setting "the new standard for supplement quality."

This week, Dr. Neal Smoller, the holistic pharmacist, joins HealthFormation and we dive deep in the supplement world. Neal has his own pharmacy in Woodstock, NY called the Village Apothecary, where he works to assess the whole person and determine the role of lifestyle factors and supplements in their regimen. We talk all things supplement quality (think probiotics and CBD!), what to look for on a label, and using all the skills of your pharmacist to help formulate a personalized wellness plan.

Check out Neal's website: https://www.drnealsmoller.com/; his podcast is The Big Mouth Pharmacist and his pharmacy and store The Village Apothecary

This was such a fun episode for us! This week, Marcus and I sit back and chat about how we used to each growing up, what that looked like in college, and how we started transitioning over to a healthier lifestyle. We provide tips for those who are looking to start out, and we discuss our own challenges/how we overcome them. This is a great episode for anyone new to adopting a healthier lifestyle, or even those who haven't yet started because they don't know where to begin.

One article discussed in this episode is a 2016 Lancet meta analysis Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women - we mentioned how much physical activity is needed to overcome a sedentary day (desk job!) and I mentioned 2 hours. Data from this article shows that it is actually 60-75 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day to overcome the negative effects of a day of sedentary time.

Questions? Email us! [email protected] Instagram/Twitter: HealthFormPod

I was introduced to this week's guest through the plant based support group started by Mark Ristine from Episode 15. Alex started to change her eating pattern after suffering from an IBD flare up that left her in incredible pain to the point where she was unable to leave the house. We discuss the elimination diet she started after speaking to a gastroenterologist and a nutritionist, and how this helped to control her symptoms. She now has an established eating pattern that, in conjunction with an exercise regimen, works to control her GI problems and has really changed her life.

We also discuss other aspects of her wellness journey, including her use of non-toxic products and essential oils as part of a healthy life.

Some of the recommendations Alex made: https://impacttheory.com/ - a weekly interview show that explores the mindsets of the world's highest achievers to learn their secrets to success https://www.facebook.com/ahouseofoils

There are so many additives in our food supply that there are likely many you are unfamiliar with. In this episode, we discuss which should be avoided and why. Our conversation opens with a discussion about how these ingredients make it to market, the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list, and what happens after something is on the GRAS list. Ingredients discussed include: natural flavors, carrageenan, polysorbate 80, artificial colors (yellow #5, caramel color), MSG, and others.

Email: [email protected] Instagram, Twitter: @HealthFormPod

This week we are changing things up a bit as HealthFormation is joined by middle school social studies teacher David Trotta, who discusses how technology and social media impact sleep, particularly in adolescents. With sleep such a prevalent issue today, we delve deep into some of the contributing factors behind the epidemic. Dave discusses what he sees with his students, how the pervasiveness of social media impacts sleep cycles, and how this translates in the classroom.

We also discuss the impact of blue light on the eye, more information in this article: Research progress about the effect and prevention of blue light on eyes

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