#healthhackers

This conversation is taken from my video review of the Slate Electric Flosser. The company describes it as “the future of floss”. It’s listed online at $79.99 and comprises three elements - a flosser, a massaging gum sweeper, and a tongue scraper. I bought it and used it for six and a half weeks before I went for my routine dental cleaning appointment and got my dentist’s reaction (!). You can hear about that in my review video of the Slate flosser that’s now on YouTube. See my video review here: https://youtu.be/cN7whzlICnM As part of my review, I interviewed the company’s CEO and co-founder - Brynn Snyder. Fun fact: Her husband, Dr. Danny Snyder invented the Slate Flosser. Among my questions for Brynn, I asked about the alleged benefits in early users, the possibility of inadvertent gum trauma with the device, the potential benefit to waiting after eating before using the flosser, and what kind of feedback they’d had on the almost $80 price tag. I recommend you take a look at my video review on Yo

This interview is taken from my video review of the Weo bottle. See the full episode, including my ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ about using the $219 smart bottle on the healthHackers® YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/E2LUCbpvBIU Weo uses electricity to apparently enhance the natural health properties of your drinking water at a molecular level. The brand suggests this provides an antioxidant-rich water that “enhances physical performance, cognitive function, and skin health.” In this interview, the company’s chief health officer, Dr Kelly Halderman, spoke to me about all kinds of alleged potential benefits linked to drinking Weo water, including improvements in exercise performance, metabolic health, skin health, gut health, sleep quality, lowering body fat, and more.

Do you find yourself comparing your little one to their peers, wondering why yours isn’t sitting, crawling, walking, or climbing yet? Then this episode is for you! In episode 63, you’ll hear:

In this episode of healthHackers®, Meenal Lele - medical researcher, author of ‘The Baby and The Biome,’ allergy mom, and founder CEO of Lil Mixins - spoke to me about:

The author of ‘Bumpin’ - the Modern Guide to Pregnancy’, Leslie Schrock, joined me for this special episode of healthHackers® to talk all about essential preparation for labor and delivery in a hospital setting. Leslie’s book has been described as the “new pregnancy bible” and came about because of her feelings of helplessness following several complicated pregnancies and losses. Bumpin’ was written in real time while Leslie was pregnant with her son TJ. Since then, she's had another baby - Dylan, who’s now three months old. Both birth experiences involved difficult and unexpected events. There was SO much I wanted to talk to Leslie about (the book covers conception all the way to postpartum and has been a resource for me in my own pregnancy) but for this episode we honed in on the key event that pregnant women (including me) spend a lot of time thinking about… the big moment, the showdown… the actual birth. Leslie covers:

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and how to choose the way you feel about… anything. When I watched a video of psychologist Dr Debbie Joffe Ellis giving a presentation in which she suggested that anxiety, anger, and other emotions are a CHOICE, I knew I had to invite her to appear as a guest on healthHackers® so she could share with all of you (and me!) HOW we get to create our own emotions. Dr Debbie is a world-renowned expert in REBT. She spent years collaborating with her husband, the father and creator of REBT, Dr Albert Ellis, before he passed away in 2007. His work is understood to have helped lay the foundations for the well-known CBT; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One of Dr Debbie’s primary goals is sharing the techniques of REBT with everyone - not just teaching health care professionals. In her words, REBT “minimizes misery and maximizes joy, when the reality is that life probably will contain loss and suffering for most of us.” In episode 60, Dr Debbie covers:

Dr Cindy Duke is known to her fans and followers as ‘America’s Only Dual Fertility Expert & Virologist’. She’s the founding physician and director of the Nevada Fertility Institute in Las Vegas, as well as a scientific advisor to medtech and femtech startups, and the host of the ‘Girl Powered Success & Survival International’ podcast. Episode 59 comprises a breakdown of things to know when pregnancy is NOT happening the old-fashioned way. Plus, find out how the pandemic has prompted some people to build a family, while others have chosen to freeze their eggs. Topics covered:

Get your period back by fixing your relationship to food and fitness... If you lost your period while you were trying to get healthy - that isn’t healthy. Registered dietitian, Elena Kunicki, is devoted to helping women quit self-imposed rules around eating, stop over-exercising, and realize that losing their period (aka hypothalamic amenorrhea) is a wake-up call. If you suspect the disappearance of your cycle is associated with your lifestyle choices (even if - according to your mirror, doctor, friends and family - “you don’t look underweight”), this episode is well worth a listen. Elena shares her backstory, when her turning point came, and how she helps clients change their relationships to food and fitness so they can get their period back (without going on the pill). We also cover all of this:

While I was filming my review of the ZOE personalized nutrition plan recently (see video link below), I interviewed the company’s scientific co-founder, Professor Tim Spector - an epidemiologist from King’s College London, gut microbiome expert, and author who was also one of the first ever guests on healthHackers (see Episode 2!). ⠀⠀ Since Tim and I last recorded healthHackers together, his scientific progress through the study of personalized nutrition has grown by leaps and bounds. He also launched a COVID symptom study tracking app (currently used by over 4.5 million people), and released a groundbreaking new book - ‘Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food is Wrong’. ⠀⠀ There was so much I wanted to talk to Tim about. So, after we finished filming his interview for my ZOE video review, he kindly agreed to stay on the call so we could record this quick additional episode for you. ⠀⠀ In Episode 57, Tim covers: ⠀⠀

Can you prevent your child from developing a food allergy? How close are we to a ‘cure’ for allergies? And is our super-clean pandemic lifestyle causing problems for our children’s microbiomes that could make them more likely to develop allergies? Dr Tina Sindher is Clinical Assistant Professor of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for the pioneering Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University here in Silicon Valley. It’s where scientists are working hard on new therapies - including a lasting cure - for allergies and asthma.  I’ve been longing for years to hear abut the ground-breaking work and clinical trials going on at the Sean N Parker Center, so it was a real privilege to speak to Dr Sindher on healthHackers. This episode also has a strong personal interest for me because I have a food allergy. Mine is to nuts. But don’t worry, I didn’t waffle on about myself all the time.

Hair loss… What’s “normal”? Does everyone’s hair get thinner as we age? How can stress, changes in weight, your shampoo, and even shower water affect your hair? Plus... why are people putting caster oil on their hair? Dr Carrie Jones describes her work as helping “hormonally challenged people feel less crazy”. She is board certified in Naturopathic Endocrinology with a Master's in Public Health, has spent over 15 years working in integrative medicine. In this episode, Dr Jones covers:

Purely Obsessional OCD (Pure O) with psychotherapist India Haylor. Don’t believe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is *only* about hand-washing, checking and tidiness. There’s much more to it, including a lesser known set of invisible symptoms referred to as ‘Pure O’. They can involve mental ruminations, going over memories to check them, arranging thoughts, and mentally assessing lots of “What if?” scenarios. There are many subtypes and themes; each deeply distressing to the person who cannot stop obsessing about them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ My special guest on healthHackers™ episode 54 is India Haylor - psychotherapist and founder of OCD Excellence. She’s been working in OCD for 17 years in both the UK and USA. India also has OCD - and the therapists she trains have had personal experience with it too (it’s part of the hiring criteria). ⠀⠀⠀⠀ In this episode, hear India discuss: ⠀⠀⠀⠀

Anxiety, ADHD, autism, and the role of nutrition and lifestyle factors. Dr Nicole Beurkens is known as one of the only clinical psychologists in the world with advanced degrees in nutrition and special education who has spent over 20 years helping families identify the root of their children’s behavior, attention, anxiety, or mood disorders - sometimes where other specialists have failed - using lifestyle solutions before medication. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ She’s also a mother-of-four, an award-winning therapist, a published researcher, international consultant, author of two books - and somehow still has time to lead a team of clinicians at her treatment center in Michigan. After learning about Dr Beurkens’ integrative work, I was really keen to interview her on healthHackers. When I was teenager, at least two practitioners linked my debilitating anxiety to fluctuating blood sugar levels. It resulted in a major dietary shift for me (and my family). At the time, we knew barely anything about possible associations between foo

Bolstering the most powerful tool we have against COVID-19

Back pain!

Have you ever heard of mouth taping? I recently posted about it on my Instagram Stories the other week (@healthhackers). I’d seen functional dentistry expert and creator of AsktheDentist.com Dr Mark Burhenne talking about it, so I asked my followers if they wanted me to record a healthHackers episode with him. The result of the vote was a majority YES. Well, here we are.

Eczema, psoriasis, hives, dermatitis, rosacea… have you ever dealt with a chronic skin rash? If yes, I know your misery. And so does this week’s healthHacker’s expert guest - more so than most. As a functional clinical nutritionist specializing in chronic rashes (and who’s suffered with her own painful skin issues) Jennifer Fugo is the go-to practitioner for her clients who are trying to figure out what’s underlying their rashes, plus any accompanying symptoms, like brain fog, chronic fatigue, autoimmunity and gut health issues. It was Jennifer’s experience of successfully improving her own painful eczema that inspired her to help others figure out the root causes of their chronic rashes. She’s the founder of Skinterrupt - an online hub of information on a variety of difficult skin conditions, and the host of the Healthy Skin Show podcast. Jennifer is also a member of the American Nutrition Association, an advisor for the Nutritional Aesthetics Alliance, and authored the book ‘The Savvy Gluten-Free Shopper

If you’ve seen Dr Robert Cywes on his YouTube channel you’ll be familiar with his straight talking, no fuss videos aimed at those looking to find out what's at the root of their diabetes or obesity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ His medical background includes 18 years of performing obesity surgery (over 8000 times). He’s also a board certified pediatric general surgeon and specializes in helping adults and teenagers through his practice in Palm Beach, Florida.  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Dr Cywes used to weigh nearly 300 pounds - and has described his experience as an “ongoing journey” of losing weight and understanding why he became heavy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do not expect this episode of healthHackers to be a lecture on eating less and exercising more. Dr Cywes is known for taking a different approach. One that looks at tackling addiction to carbohydrates. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In this episode, you’ll hear:

After more than 20 years of anxiety and panic attacks (that were so bad she didn’t leave the house for weeks at a time), Nicola discovered “a completely new way of understanding how human beings create their experience of anxiety and how to dissolve it almost effortlessly.” She wrote a book about her insights: ‘A Little Peace of Mind: The Revolutionary Solution for Freedom from Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Stress,’ and runs programs coaching others about the understanding she discovered. The first time I saw Nicola was when one of her videos popped up in my Facebook feed. The way she described her former anxious thinking was so relatable (anxiety and me go back a long way

Can you imagine living with over 200 food allergies and intolerances? A few years ago, Kathlena, a.k.a. The Allergy Chef was told she had only 30 days left to live. Her sensitivities are so prevalent she can’t even drink most water and has spent the last four years wearing an industrial mask to protect her from airborne allergies. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Despite this, she’s devoted to helping others living with allergies or special dietary requirements to create safe and tasty meals. Kathlena runs an allergy-friendly bakery and catering business here in the San Francisco Bay Area, has produced several cookbooks and offers online courses too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ healthHackers listeners, you know that food allergies are a topic close to my own heart, and Kathlena’s mission, she says, is to change the world “one bite at a time.” In episode 46, you’ll hear Kathlena’s views on: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀