The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

I’m sure many of you are acquainted with JJ Virgin. She’s been a powerful force in the area of lifestyle change for better health. As fate would have it, four years ago, JJ was confronted with an experience that challenged her to her very core. Her son was struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident and he was given very little chance for survival. How JJ dealt with this event, and the ultimate outcome, are deeply inspiring, so let’s get right to the interview.

Today’s interview is with a very good friend, Nora Gedgaudas. Nora is one of the most respected authorities on ketogenic, ancestrally-based nutrition for whole-body, optimum health. Using her deep understanding of science and 30+ years of relentless research and 20 years of clinical application, Nora successfully connects the dots to real, lasting results where others fall prey to the latest fads and misquoted studies. Nora is the author of the international best-seller, Primal Body, Primal Mind...

Today’s interview is with Dr. John Douillard. He’s the author of a new book entitled Eat Wheat: A Scientific and Clinically-Proven Approach to Safely Bringing Wheat and Dairy Back into Your Diet. I’m sure many of you are a bit surprised that we would be exploring a book with such a compelling title, but I think it’s so important and valuable to look at various viewpoints through meaningful discussion. Eat Wheat is a very well-researched book and in it, Dr. Douillard makes some very good points

For instance, he reveals that most of the olive oil sold in America is actually fake. He also reveals a study showing that 100% of sushi restaurants in New York City that were screened were serving fish that was not the type advertised. He goes on to describe the fraud that is pervasive in cheese and meat products here in America. Fortunately, he gives us some good tips in terms of what we can do to protect ourselves in terms of our food selection process...

Today’s interview on The Empowering Neurologist is with Josh Perry. Josh is a highly competitive BMX athlete who has a very compelling story to tell. In March 2010 he fell while training. This led to an MRI of the brain that revealed an extensive brain tumor which ultimately required surgery. Initially, Josh did pretty well. But then, two other tumors were diagnosed and treated, as he will explain in today’s discussion. Because of these experiences, Josh made some major lifestyle changes.

Dr. Anna Cabeca is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. Her work goes well beyond standard practice as she embraces the importance of lifestyle choices applied to the needs of the patient, insofar as creating more meaningful therapeutic programs than drug therapy alone. It’s a very interesting interview that really answers a lot of questions related to women’s health issues, especially in areas like hormone replacement therapy and events occurring before, during, and after menopause.

Alzheimer’s disease represents the effects of inflammation on the brain. By now, you are all aware of the fundamental role of our gut bacteria in terms of regulating this process of inflammation in the human body. Today’s episode of The Empowering Neurologist features my interview with Dr. Molly Fox, a biological anthropologist at UCLA. Her work has connected some important concepts that relate risk of Alzheimer’s disease (using research in various countries), to measurable differences in gut...

Today’s interview on The Empowering Neurologist is with Dr. Michael Lewis. Dr. Lewis explains the profoundly protective and restorative effects of omega-3 fatty acids in brain trauma, an all too common experience. He is a renowned expert on brain health, particularly the use of omega-3 fatty acids for the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of concussions and traumatic brain injury. He founded the Brain Health Education and Research Institute in late 2011 after he retired as a U.S. Army...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Australia to spend five days with other researchers and clinicians teaching a group of very forward-thinking healthcare providers. While there, my wife and I had the great fortune of being able to reconnect with our friend Pete Evans and his lovely wife. He’s an internationally renowned chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. His passion for food and a healthy lifestyle inspires individuals and families around the world....

In today’s program, I have the great honor of interviewing Dr. Amy Myers. Dr. Myers is very much a pioneer in getting out the information related to how lifestyle choices affect the immune system, and is very candid about her own personal experience with thyroid disease.

Dr. Michael Callahan is CEO and co-founder of the Zika Foundation. He is a highly respected “physician scientist”, who is board-certified in internal medicine, infectious disease, tropical medicine and mass casualty care, and is on both the clinical and research faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Callahan has clinical appointments globally, including in Thailand, Indonesia, Panama, and Nigeria. From 2005-2012, Dr. Callahan established Prophecy, the first...

Who knew that our lifestyle choices play such an important role in balancing the immune system? On today’s program, I chat with Dr. Susan Blum, founder of the HealMyGut program and author of the wonderful book The Immune System Recovery Plan, which really zeroes in on this critical concept, to understand how the choices you make can dictate your immune health.

It’s a given that our emotions, behaviors, and responses to our environment are shaped by our early life experiences. I think most of us can probably wrap our arms around the idea that the experiences of our parents may also play a role in how we see the world. In an interesting new book, Mark Wolynn describes how the experiences of our grandparents actually leave an imprinted legacy on our DNA. He describes his clinical experiences in dealing with people with seemingly unsolvable issues by...

On today’s program we will explore a new book, The Mind-Gut Connection, by my friend Dr. Emeran Mayer. Dr. Mayer is a Gastroenterologist, Neuroscientist and Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is the Executive Director of the Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress at UCLA. As one of the pioneers and leading researchers in the role of mind-brain-body interactions in health and chronic disease...

Sitting can wreak havoc on your health, and not just in the form of minor aches and pains. Recent studies show that too much sitting contributes to a host of diseases—from obesity and diabetes to cancer and depression. The typical office worker, who spends most of his or her day at a desk, suffers from more musculoskeletal injuries than those workers who do daily manual labor. It turns out that sitting is as much an occupational risk as is lifting heavy weights on the job...