The Whole Health Cure

Sharon Bergquist, MD
  • 4.9 (42)
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The Whole Health Cure

Experience, embrace, and discover how our simple every day choices affect our biology, mood, energy, creativity, and well-being. Each week host Dr. Sharon Bergquist talks with renowned researchers, physicians, nutritionists and wellness experts exploring the science behind true health and living to your fullest physical, emotional, and spiritual potential.

  1. Sustaining Healthy Behavior Change with Michelle Segar, PhD, MPH, MS

    4 HR. AGO

    Sustaining Healthy Behavior Change with Michelle Segar, PhD, MPH, MS

    As we near the end of 2024, you may find yourself reflecting on the year to come. The turn of the calendar offers an opportunity to refresh your goals and resolutions, though it can be difficult to sustain that motivation over the course of the year. To discuss ways to adhere to new behaviors, I am joined by behavior researcher Michelle Segar, PhD, MPH, MS. Michelle’s study at the University of Michigan revealed the core challenges of maintaining behavior change. While many of her study participants recognized which habits were necessary and beneficial to their health, their driving reasons for exercise or diet had to shift to accommodate other stressors in their life. Michelle describes this fragile balance as a “motivation bubble.” “As soon as it bumps up against something, it bursts. So once we're past the trial, three months, six months… this motivation bubble bursts. We bump up against real life and its unpredictability.” Instead, Michelle recommends focusing on your “why” in the short-term. For instance, noticing that physical activity helps us feel better immediately after workouts, more sleep helps us feel more energetic the following day, and whole foods help our digestion after meals. Michelle encourages drawing attention to these effects, or “rewards,” to aid in sustainable change. “When people start to recognize, again through the experiential learning process, ‘I feel so much better…’ Then the behavior exercise becomes a vehicle for feeling who you are at your core.” Listen to the full episode to build your strategy for sustainable behavior change.

    37 min
  2. The Past, Present, and Future of Brain-Gut Communication with Emeran Mayer, MD

    NOV 7 · BONUS

    The Past, Present, and Future of Brain-Gut Communication with Emeran Mayer, MD

    Emeran Mayer, MD is a Gastroenterologist, Neuroscientist and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is the Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience at UCLA and has authored two books, The Mind-Gut Connection and The Gut-Immune Connection. Emeran has been at the forefront of microbiome research for nearly four decades, with work focusing on communications between the gut, the brain, and the immune system. While these connections seem commonplace today, informing treatments ranging from autoimmune therapies to fecal transplants, they were not always so widely accepted. “Our abstracts had a hard time getting traction and attention. And many of the key opinion leaders in this field of irritable bowel syndrome or functional gastrointestinal disorders always emphasized this is a disease of the gut and had nothing to do with the brain.” Thanks to new technologies like brain imaging, Emeran was able to receive the grants needed to fund his projects. Since, his work has contributed to understandings of chronic diseases, obesity, and cognitive decline. In this episode, Emeran discusses his journey in pioneering the study of the microbiome, delves into the history of the gut, suggests ways we can harness brain-gut communication to manage our overall health, and offers insight into the future of the evolving field. Here are the details of our conversation: [00:02:04] Emeran’s early career [00:06:18] Gaining support for brain-gut research [00:10:47] History of the brain-gut connection [00:15:33] Homeostasis in health and disease [00:18:15] The “Common Denominator” of immune activation [00:23:57] Disease prevention through diet and microbe exposure [00:29:01] Commercial microbiome testing [00:34:23] Gut feelings and intuition

    36 min
  3. Defining VO2 Max and Building Cardiorespiratory Fitness with Brady Holmer

    OCT 24

    Defining VO2 Max and Building Cardiorespiratory Fitness with Brady Holmer

    “VO2 max” has become a buzzword in fitness and biohacking, but what does it measure in our bodies? How useful is it as a metric, and how can we optimize its principles? To learn more, I am joined by researcher and science writer Brady Holmer. Brady specializes in health, nutrition, and exercise, giving him a unique perspective on fitness and wellbeing. He explains that VO2 max provides a general measure of one’s cardiovascular system; it factors in the heart’s stroke volume, or the amount of blood pumped out in a single beat, as well as the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen and the skeletal muscles’ ability to absorb that oxygen. “VO2 max is measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram body weight per minute… Improving it by three milliliters per kilogram per minute was associated with an 11% reduction in all-cause mortality.” Additionally, VO2 max has been found to be a stronger predictor of mortality than current cardiometabolic risk factors, such as smoking. Considering the growing importance of this metric, Brady encourages listeners to focus on improving their cardiorespiratory fitness using their VO2 max as a guide. He recommends using online resources to determine where your VO2 max should lie, enabling wearable devices to track your metrics, and engaging in high-intensity workouts to best utilize the new technology. “If you want to elevate your ceiling, your performance ceiling, you have to train near that ceiling.” Listen to the full episode to learn more about this new “vital sign.”

    44 min
  4. Tackling Pathogens By Building Your Immune Defenses with Robynne Chutkan

    OCT 10 · BONUS

    Tackling Pathogens By Building Your Immune Defenses with Robynne Chutkan

    Robynne Chutkan, MD, FASGE, has spent three decades as an integrative gastroenterologist. She is a faculty member at Georgetown Hospital, founder of the Digestive Center for Wellness in Washington, D.C., and the author of four books surrounding the topic of the microbiome and gut health. In this episode, we discuss constructing a healthier microbiome, the concept of the “Goldilocks” immune balance, and the crucial link between the gut and the immune system. “I think it’s so eye opening for people to realize that when something is in their GI tract, it's not in their body, it's in this hollow tube… And then, of course, we have this highly selective gut membrane that is razor thin, one cell thick, and that is what is protecting us from the outside world.” Robynne describes the role of microbes in this “immune surveillance,” as well as the consequences that can arise if our immune system is unable to properly recognize and respond to pathogens. Fortunately, the microbial richness that helps train our immune response is within our control – by eating a diverse range of plant foods, we can work to build immune defenses through our diet. “We have a brilliant study from the folks at the American Gut Project in 2018 where they looked at over 10,000 people globally, and they looked at [the] dietary markers for a healthy microbiome. And they found that it was a magic number of 30 or more different plant foods per week. So people who ate 30 or more different plant foods per week had a much healthier microbiome than those who ate ten or fewer.” Here are the details of our conversation: [00:01:50] Robynne’s journey in gastroenterology and the microbiome [00:18:52] Interactions between the gut and the immune system [00:23:34] Autoimmune diseases and the “Goldilocks” immune balance [00:29:24] The innate and adaptive immune systems [00:31:19] Top 5 habits to build immune defenses [00:42:47] Improving resilience through lifestyle

    46 min
  5. Reframing Wellness Beyond the Scale with Sam Cutler

    SEP 26

    Reframing Wellness Beyond the Scale with Sam Cutler

    “Can we stop counting our calories consistently? Can we stop trying to figure out the grams? Can we stop trying to figure out the macros all the time and instead just look at our plate?” This episode of The Whole Health Cure reframes wellness beyond a number on a scale. I am joined by Sam Cutler, a Harvard-trained nutrition health coach and the founder of MINDFULL. Sam shares her own journey with chronic inflammation, mental health, and adult acne that propelled her to explore nutrition and wellness. “We just have too many women feeling like this worldwide. This is not an American issue or a North American issue. This is a worldwide issue.” Sam recommends approaching your own health from a research perspective. While metrics may show a patient is fundamentally healthy, or “normal,” there can be room for qualitative improvements. Sam explains that minor symptoms, like difficulty sleeping, fatigue, or pain after eating, indicate possible needs for lifestyle changes. The next time those symptoms arise, pay close attention to the factors that could have caused them. “Can you identify some of those factors so you can start bringing a little bit more research into how you've reacted to those substances, food, habits, or lifestyle factors so that you have more data literally on yourself, like your own research.” Listen to the full episode to learn more about building health-supporting habits, lowering inflammation through diet, and the importance of the brain-gut connection. Here are the details of our conversation: [00:01:41] Sam’s journey with diet, health, and wellness [00:05:01] Testing “normal” versus feeling normal [00:12:49] Choosing wellness and minimizing stress [00:19:58] Retooling diets to meet your goals [00:25:28] Building habits and trust in yourself

    33 min
  6. Epigenetic Testing and Measuring Your Rate of Aging with Matt Dawson, MD

    SEP 12

    Epigenetic Testing and Measuring Your Rate of Aging with Matt Dawson, MD

    DNA is not destiny – in fact, it only accounts for about 20% of our health outcome. The other 80% is due to epigenetics. In this episode of The Whole Health Cure, I am joined by Matt Dawson, MD, the CEO of TruDiagnostic. He provides an overview of epigenetics, how they affect our biological clocks, and how we can use lifestyle practices to improve our overall health despite what our inherited genes may tell us. “What do you do to turn those genes on or off? What you eat, how you sleep, your stress levels, what you’re exposed to, is constantly modifying the gene expression. And that is epigenetics.” Matt uses the example of the APOE-e4 gene, which has been linked to an increased risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease. An individual with this gene is at a higher risk for these conditions, but what they eat affects how the APOE-e4 gene is methylated, or expressed. Fewer refined carbohydrates, less sugar, and less saturated fat will reduce the gene expression and therefore lower the risk of developing dementia or cardiovascular disease. Matt encourages listeners to feel empowered, rather than frightened, by the new findings in epigenetics. The technology can serve as a tool for treatment and prevention, and it demonstrates how much of our health is within our control. Listen to the full episode to learn more about testing processes, how we can measure the rate of aging, and why epigenetic testing has the power to democratize healthcare and treatment. Here are the details of our conversation: [00:01:49] Today’s epigenetics landscape [00:03:27] What are epigenetics? [00:05:35] Our diet and gene expression [00:06:54] Our capacity to change our health outcomes [00:08:44] How epigenetic testing works and what it can tell us [00:13:07] Biological clocks [00:16:53] Measuring the pace of aging [00:20:52] How to take action with your testing results [00:25:51] AI, technology, and healthcare [00:27:29] The importance of epigenetics [00:30:06] The future of epigenetics

    36 min
  7. The Patient-Led Health Revolution with Susannah Fox

    AUG 29

    The Patient-Led Health Revolution with Susannah Fox

    The digital technology era has enabled faster communication and greater access to resources in daily life, including the healthcare system. Today, patients can not only research medical information pertaining to their conditions, but they can share their personal experiences and connect with others throughout the process. In this episode, I am joined by Susannah Fox to discuss the “patient-led revolution” that has arisen from digital technology. Susannah, a health and technology strategist and researcher, outlines the ways in which peer-to-peer healthcare can support patients outside their doctors’ offices. “It used to be that clinicians had all of the information and all of the power, all of the access to data. And the internet has broken that open and shown us that patients themselves also have information that science can learn from.” From physician recommendations, treatment options, lifestyle changes, and even emotional support, Susannah explains how the internet and social media facilitate communities among patients. For common diseases, like heart disease, a patient may be able to find statistics on the condition itself and recovery plans following treatment. For rare diseases, where research may be difficult to find, a patient and their family can connect with others worldwide who have the same diagnosis. “'I've been down this part of the healthcare maze before, and I'm going to share my map with you. I know about a clinical trial. I know about a really great new assistive device. I know about a doctor who might be able to listen in a way that they can finally hear what's going on with you.’ That's the kind of wisdom and guidance that peer-to-peer health care can unlock.” How are these communities built, and how can you participate in them? How can the healthcare industry guide patients toward online support while also protecting them from misinformation and disinformation? Listen to the full episode to learn how we can best utilize this growing revolution. Here are the details of our conversation: [00:02:01] The themes of the patient-led revolution [00:03:31] Peer-to-peer healthcare [00:05:01] Misinformation vs. disinformation online [00:08:21] Merging institutional healthcare and peer-to-peer healthcare [00:11:08] Seekers, networkers, solvers, and champions [00:14:48] What role will you take on in the revolution? [00:17:38] Using digital technology for common diseases [00:19:23] Navigating an overabundance of information [00:20:56] Using digital technology for rare diseases [00:22:58] Spreading the flames of peer-to-peer healthcare [00:26:13] Known uses of peer-to-peer healthcare [00:31:05] Connecting through community

    34 min
  8. Increasing Your Whealthspan with Scott Fulton

    AUG 15

    Increasing Your Whealthspan with Scott Fulton

    “If our time mostly comes down to opportunities for moments, and we view moments as the measures of one's life, then a purposeful investment in personal longevity helps create the time and space for more moments.” Scott Fulton is a leader and lecturer in the aging space. In this episode, we discuss why one’s lifespan, or quantity of living years, differs from one’s healthspan, or quality of life. As Scott describes, we have immense agency over maintaining our independence and ability as we age. “We now think that for longevity, genetics factors in at about 15%. The rest of it is lifestyle.” To begin taking actionable steps to improve longevity, Scott recommends examining your “end game.” That is, why are you seeking to live longer? What moments are you wanting to experience? How do you envision the final days, weeks, months, and years of your life? The answers to those questions may help clarify your short-term health goals. “That's the beautiful thing of aging. So long as you continue to learn, you can continue to raise your game.” Listen to the full episode to learn how you can address aging and longevity with your healthcare provider, why to strive for balance rather than perfection, and why pickleball is the ultimate sport for healthspan. Here are the details of our conversation: [00:01:04] Scott’s background and perspective on aging [00:06:59] Longevity vs. lifespan vs. healthspan [00:10:48] Valuing moments over time [00:12:43] Increasing our “moments” through five foundations of health [00:16:57] Lifestyle medicine and our genetics [00:20:42] Maintaining the five foundations [00:26:22] Balance over perfection [00:27:41] Approaching aging conversations in healthcare [00:30:57] What is your endgame?

    35 min
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4.9
out of 5
42 Ratings

About

Experience, embrace, and discover how our simple every day choices affect our biology, mood, energy, creativity, and well-being. Each week host Dr. Sharon Bergquist talks with renowned researchers, physicians, nutritionists and wellness experts exploring the science behind true health and living to your fullest physical, emotional, and spiritual potential.

Information

  • Creator
    Sharon Bergquist, MD
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    224
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018 The Whole Health Cure
  • Show Website
    The Whole Health Cure

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