The Mind Gut Conversation Podcast Emeran Mayer

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, a Professor of Neurology at UCLA where she currently holds the Jack H. Skirball Chair.

Dr. Voskuhl is the Director of the UCLA Multiple Sclerosis Program, and is the faculty neurologist for the UCLA Comprehensive Menopause Care Program. She is an internationally recognized expert on women’s health and the role of female sex hormones in cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders.

With over 20 years of numerous grants and continuous funding from the NIH and NMSS, her lab discovered a novel estrogen treatment strategy that can be neuroprotective through actions on estrogen receptor beta (ER) in the central nervous system.

Dr. Voskuhl has been the Principle Investigator on three clinical trials showing neuroprotective effects of estriol treatment on cognition and cortical brain atrophy underscoring the translational nature of her research.

In this podcast, I talk to her about the following topics:

• The role of estrogen on specific receptors in the brain and its implications for the development of neurodegenerative disorders

• Why women are more likely to develop early cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease

• Why the earlier clinical trials with estrogen receptor replacement failed

• What women can do to slow cognitive decline after menopause

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Matthew Lancor, the founder of the startup company, Kombuchade.

Matt combines his background in material science engineering and a passion for rugby into his entrepreneurial venture. With a keen understanding of the science behind fermentation and a personal commitment to fitness and health, nurtured through years of playing rugby he has successfully created a kombucha brand tailored for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

Under his leadership, Kombuchade has quickly grown from a home-brew project into a popular wellness brand, emphasizing organic ingredients, sustainability, and community involvement. His journey from an engineer and rugby player to a health-focused entrepreneur embodies a fusion of science, sports, and sustainable business.

In this podcast, I talk to him about Kombuchade, the benefits of fermented drinks for elite athletes, and the following:

What is unique about Kambuchade? You are a startup family business competing with a lot of big companies in the space of kombucha and fermented drinks.

A fermented carbonate drink is not the first thing you would think about as a beneficial beverage for elite athletes. What are the functional benefits of fermented beverages like Kombucha for "Peak Performers"?

What are quantifiable/measurable differences that someone could expect from drinking Kombucha and exercising on gut health/overall health?

How would someone know that their gut health might be inhibiting them from "Peak Performance"?

How many days does it take to balance the microbiome if you were to start a new routine of fermented foods and exercise ... 30 days or more?

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with nor receiving compensation from Kombuchade.

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Larissa Trinder, Assistant Vice President of Arts in Medicine at New York City Health + Hospitals who is responsible for stewarding a collection of more than 4000 works of art, the largest such collection in New York City. In addition, she has been creating and implementing programs for patients, staff and the community that utilize the arts as a tool in healing.

Larissa is a staunch advocate for the importance of the arts and humanities within a healthcare system to advance patient health outcomes, enhance staff engagement, morale and retention and to empower communities.

In this podcast, I talk to Larissa about the emerging role of art as an important component of healing environments. Here are just some of the topics we address:

1. What is the new Department of Arts in Medicine at New York City Health + Hospitals?
2. How did it develop in the 1930s, and how has it been able to survive economic downturns and financial crises?
3. What is the role of art in an effective healing environment?
4. How does art affect patient health outcomes, staff engagement and morale, and entire communities?

Follow Dr. Mayer: https://linktr.ee/emayer

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Shawn Stevenson, creator and host of The Model Health Show, featured as the number #1 health podcast in the U.S. with millions of listener downloads each year. Shawn recently published the The Eat Smarter Family Cookbook, a companion cookbook to his acclaimed Eat Smarter book.



Here are just some of the topics we address:

1. Can you describe the most important steps in your transformation from growing up with your grandparents in Ferguson, Mo to becoming a nutrition expert, #1 podcast host and bestselling author of two very important books?

2. Some of your early experiences make you some kind of “wounded healer”, in particular your health issues. It seems your own experiences stimulated your interest in science about food. Can you expand on this?

3. You call yourself a “nutritionist who no longer believes in food in the conventional sense”. And you make a key point that you no longer make the mistake that many people make, considering food primarily as fuel.

4. You write about how eating with others can have profound benefits on overall health. On the other hand, eating with others during celebrations and holidays is a major cause of weight gain for many people.

5. Can you expand on the relationship between stress and unhealthy eating patterns. You write that 1/3 of people make unhealthy food choices because of stress.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, a place to learn about the latest ideas from thought leaders in the area of optimal health, the science of mind gut microbiome interactions, food and the environment.

Today I have the great pleasure to speak to Leo Grady, AI expert and CEO of the microbiome company Jona. Leo earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems from BU and is the Founder and CEO of Jona and CEO in Residence with Breyer Capital.

Leo is internationally recognized for his work to deliver AI in healthcare for 20 years at pioneering bay area startups, multinational medical companies, including Siemens and, most recently, as CEO of Paige.ai. As CEO of Paige, he led the company to become an industry leader, internationally launching groundbreaking products and receiving the first-ever FDA approval for an AI product in pathology.

Leo authored two books on AI, over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is an inventor on over 300 patents. Winner of the Edison Patent Award, he was inducted as Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

As Founder and CEO of Jona, he has developed a stool microbiome analysis platform which not only uses state of the art analysis approaches to study the structure and function of from individual stool samples, but also provides users with an AI assisted interpretation of the results.



Follow Dr. Mayer: https://linktr.ee/emayer

Nancy Zucker, PhD, is a clinician, researcher, and teacher at Duke University School of Medicine, where she founded and directs the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. Dr. Zucker is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology and Neuroscience. She is the author of 131 professional publications, an author of the revised practice guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders from the American Psychiatric Association, and most recently her new book Treating Functional Abdominal Pain in Children.

Dr. Zucker’s major clinical and research interest is in understanding how to help young people develop a healthy awareness of their bodies’ signals and learn how to match these to actions that allow them to flourish. In her new book, she Her research and clinical work has been featured on ABC’s “Nightline,” the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Time, and other major news outlets.

The topics we address in this episode include:

• What is the new approach you take in teaching young children about their body signals?
• How does such early “body education” affect the prevalence of chronic abdominal pain and IBS in adults?
• Does your approach benefit both the young patients and their parents?
• What would the impact on our current healthcare system be if your approach were adopted widely?