Capital Integrative Health Podcast

Social media has become a tidal wave of influence over the last decade. Highlight reels, filters, and the chase for likes breeds a sense of comparison and lacking in all of us. How is social media impacting us, our children, and our future? That is what we are getting into with today’s guest, Lena Derhally. Lena Derhally is a licensed and Imago certified psychotherapist specializing in trauma-informed individual and couples therapy. Some of the issues she focuses on are: anxiety, difficult life transitions, grief, boundary issues, toxic workplaces and emotional abuse with romantic partners and family members. She is the author of The Facebook Narcissist: How to Identify and Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones from Social Media Narcissism. I am excited to share this conversation with you that is all about how social media is impacting our mental health and what we can do to maintain a healthy relationship with social media. Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 2:51 - Why Lena chose to write a book about narcissism 5:19 - What is narcissism? 7:32 - Is social media making us narcissistic? 11:09 - What are the 3 E’s and types of narcissists? 15:12 - How does social media impact all mental health disorders? 16:37 - Social media and surveillance capitalism 19:04 - How our brain handles social media 21:39 - How do we make genuine connections in a social media world? 24:18 - Dealing with kids and social media 29:17 - Social media and dopamine 30:37 - Can people with narcissism change? 34:26 - Start noticing how you feel on social media 36:55 - Lena’s morning routine 38:28 - Lena’s podcast recommendations 39:20 - What Lena does to cultivate joy 42:31 - How to learn more and work with Lena

Medical marijuana has been in use for the last few decades as an alternative to help with anxiety, pain, inflammation, sleep, and more. Nevertheless, it can be confusing to understand how and when to use it. Today’s guest, Dr. Mikhail Kogan, is here to help us demystify medical marijuana and discuss its origins, uses, and precautions. Dr. Kogan is Medical Director of GW Center for Integrative Medicine, an associate director of the Geriatrics Fellowship Program and is associate director of newly formed GW Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Fellowship. He also recently published a book Medical Marijuana: Dr. Kogan's Evidence-Based Guide to the Health Benefits of Cannabis and CBD. Don’t miss this discussion with Dr. Kogan about the benefits of medical marijuana and what you need to know before using it. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 4:17 - History of cannabis 11:24 - What conditions can cannabis be helpful for? 18:29 - Interactions between CBD and medications? 20:52 - Legal categorizations of cannabis 25:20 - Neurodegenerative conditions 31:41 - Cannabis for anxiety, depression, and PTSD 35:05 - Dosing cannabis 38:28 - Training for clinicians 43:45 - Laws in different areas and how to access 49:25 - How to learn more and work with Dr. Kogan

Whether it is a loved one or yourself, we all have been affected by Lyme Disease in one way or another. Lyme Disease can be a devastating and mysterious disease that is also becoming more common. Today’s guest, Marna Regehr, is a nurse practitioner at CIH with a passion for disease prevention using traditional and complementary modalities. Marna specializes in treating Lyme and is here today to discuss what Lyme Disease is and what approaches we can take to treat it. Join us to learn more about Lyme Disease and what you can do to support yourself or a loved one along the path of treating it. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 2:32 - How Marna got into integrative medicine 5:48 - How Marna started with CIH 7:31 - What is Lyme Disease? 10:08 - Lyme Disease is underdiagnosed 11:30 - When are ticks most prevalent? 12:0 - How to be prepared in the outdoors 14:14 - Antibiotics and acute Lyme 17:08 - The bullseye rash isn’t always there 18:57 - Symptoms of acute Lyme Disease 21:45 - Symptoms of chronic Lyme Disease 25:38 - Different types of Lyme Disease 31:13 - Different types of testing 32:12 - How chronic Lyme can be treated 39:31 - How does stress and lifestyle impact Lyme Disease 44:18 - Marna’s morning routine 45:20 - What Marna does to cultivate joy

We all want to be healthy… but it is a difficult feat in a society that is constantly enticing us to be unhealthy. Fast food, screens, long work hours, and lack of connection means that in order to be healthy, we actually need to take a radical step in the other direction. You might say that we need to be a healthy deviant! Today’s guest, Pilar Gerasimo, is a founding editor of Experience Life magazine, co-host of the top rated The Living Experiment podcast, and author of The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker's Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World. We are excited to bring you an enlightening conversation all about what it means to be a health deviant. Stay tuned to learn what steps you can take to build a life that supports your health. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 3:17 - Pilar’s story 9:29 - Why willpower fails 15:29 - Why our genetics and environment don’t match 20:25 - Multitasking doesn’t work 27:08 - What does it mean to be a healthy deviant 33:00 - How society might need to change for our health 38:11 - Ultradian rhythms 43:50 - Being a healthy deviant in the healthcare system 49:57 - What Pilar does every day to cultivate joy 51:06 - Getting in touch with Pilar

Today we are bringing you a special episode with a guest host, Christine Gordon. This podcast is dedicated to transforming the consciousness around what it means to be healthy and understanding the root causes of disease and wellness. We are expanding our podcast to include conversations that explore into all facets of the mind, body, and spirit. Today’s co-host, Christine, is the practice administrator at Capital Integrative Health with a unique view of integrative health as an herbalist and yogi herself. Today’s guest is Colleen Zuntag, a clinical herbalist who believes that health challenges and suffering can be a powerful tool to reconnect us to our inner light, our ability to be well even within illness. She works with her clients to understand how plants are wonderful allies as we travel the road to wholeness helping us build resiliency and a deeper self-awareness. Please enjoy this conversation with Christine and Colleen as they explore herbal medicine and how Colleen works with her client using the infinite wisdom of plants on the healing path.

So much of our lives and health is dependent on our brain health. Everything from our mood, memories, sleep, and daily activities relies on a healthy brain. What can we do to keep our brain in its best shape? Today Dr. Cheng Ruan joins us to do a deep dive into how our breath, skull health, and lifestyle impact our brain health. Dr. Ruan is a board certified internal medicine physician, a functional medicine practitioner and founder of the Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine. He works with patients to find the root causes of their condition using the best of lifestyle and nutrition. Join us for a conversation about how our brains are impacted by breathwork, meditation, chewing, skull health and what actions we can take to support our brain health for the long term. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 2:45 - Why Dr. Ruan became an integrative doctor 6:45 - Eastern and western medicine 7:55 - How the pandemic has changed healthcare 11:10 - What conditions Dr. Ruan works with 14:28 - Top three causes of brain dysfunction 18:45 - How head structure impacts breath 23:23 - How body structure impacts brain health 26:11 - Symmetry and breath 29:00 - Brain health and inflammation 35:20 - Nutrition recommendations for brain health 38:27 - Breath and digestion 41:18 - Meditation impact on brain health 48:47 - Importance of connection 53:45 - What does Dr. Ruan do to cultivate joy? 55:37 - How to get in touch with Dr. Ruan

Resources recommended by Holly: Kids Cook Real Food: https://kidscookrealfood.com Kids Eat in Color: https://kidseatincolor.com Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/the-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding/ Sunny Side Up Nutrition: https://sunnysideupnutrition.com ----- Whether it is getting kids to eat a vegetable at the dinner table or dealing with cake, candy, and cupcakes at birthday parties, it can be very difficult to navigate healthy eating with kids. What can we do to model healthy relationships with food? That’s the topic we are diving into with today’s guest, Holly Zink. Holly is one of our own functional nutritionists who works with her patients by prioritizing a healthy relationship with food while also using nutrition as a therapeutic tool. She works with adult patients on gut, cardiometabolic, and hormone health but also enjoys working with the family to build a healthy relationship with food for the whole family. If you are struggling to help your children enjoy healthy eating, don’t miss this conversation. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:35 - Why Holly became a nutritionist 4:23 - How nutrition affected Holly’s migraines 4:55 - How Holly found integrative nutrition 5:56 - Food and connection with family 7:00 - How to get kids more excited about healthy eating 9:06 - Teaching kids how to cook 11:08 - Moral values around food 12:38 - Making mealtimes easier for parents 17:38 - Working with picky eaters 20:32 - Kids vs adult foods 22:37 - Mixing fruits and vegetables into foods 23:42 - Working with gut health for kids 26:20 - Eating out with kids 27:28 - Holly’s morning routine 28:42 - Holly’s podcast recommendation 29:25 - What Holly does everyday to cultivate joy 30:34 - How to learn more and work with Holly

How do insulin resistance, gut health, and diet impact breast health? These are the topics that we are going to be diving into with Dr. Elizabeth Boham today! Elizabeth Boham, MD, MS, RD, is board certified in family medicine, with a strong background in nutrition and Functional Medicine. She works with Dr. Mark Hyman at the The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA and also speaks on topics ranging from women’s health and breast cancer prevention to insulin resistance and heart health. Join us for a conversation today about how addressing your gut, hormones, and diet impact breast health and what you can do to support your breast health in the longterm. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 2:16 - Why Dr. Boham became a dietitian and doctor 8:05 - Tips for cancer prevention 13:02 - Role of genetics in breast cancer 18:22 - Gut health and breast health 25:46 - Insulin and cardiometabolic connections 31:08 - Nutrition 32:56 - Prebiotics and probiotics impacting breast health 37:35 - Unwire bras 39:50 - Pesticides and breast health 42:45 - Skincare and beauty products 44:00 - Dr. Boham’s morning routine 45:05 - Dr. Boham’s book recommendation 46:40 - What Dr. Boham does everyday to cultivate joy 47:55 - How to learn more about Dr. Boham

What if I told you that there is a molecule that can help your blood pressure, immune system, metabolism, sleep, and cognition? Today Beth Shirley is here to talk about Nitric Oxide, an amazing molecule that can have profound effects on our health. Beth is a Registered Pharmacist and Certified Clinical Nutritionist who specializes in stress-induced hormonal imbalance, intestinal dysfunction, and autoimmune and chronic inflammatory issues. Beth has worked in close collaboration with some of the world’s thought leaders in the field of nitric oxide research. Through this, she has developed an in-depth knowledge on the topic and its potential beneficial application in multiple aspects of patient care. If you want to learn about how nitric oxide can help your blood pressure, immune system, sleep and more, stay tuned for this conversation. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 2:25 - What is Nitric Oxide and why is it important? 6:07 - What are the types of nitric oxide? 7:55 - Stomach acid & NO 8:42 - Oral microbiome & NO 10:58 - Diet & NO 13:06 - Medications & NO 17:09 - EMF depleting NO 27:44 - Benefits of higher levels of NO 29:47 - Exercise impact on NO 30:48 - Skin and NO 32:00 - Metabolic Health and NO 35:33 - Microcirculation 38:50 - Immunity and NO 45:57 - Long COVID and NO 46:50 - Breathwork for NO 48:14 - Sleep and NO 50:10 - Methylation and NO 52:22 - Beth’s morning routine 53:30 - How to learn more and work with Beth

Is your immune system strong, or is your immune system balanced? Whether you are thinking about supporting your immune system to fight off viruses or to address autoimmunity, we are going to learn today why the balance of the immune system is more important than its strength. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 4:25 - Why is the immune system so important? 7:08 - Differentiating between self and non-self 9:54 - Does the immune system need boosting? 13:01 - What are the four immunotypes? 22:12 - Hygiene Hypothesis & immune system 25:37 - Microbiome & Immune System 28:35 - How does immune terrain impact virus severity? 36:44 - Why is sugar so prevalent? 40:48 - How does movement impact the immune system? 43:34 - How does gratitude affect the immune system? 46:13 - What does Dr. Moday do to cultivate joy? 47:11 - What is Dr. Moday’s morning routine? 48:33 - What supplements Dr. Moday would bring to a desert island? 49:55 - Learn more and work with Dr. Moday Today’s guest is Heather Moday, a functional medicine doctor specializing in immunology and has a new book about the four immunotypes, called the Immunotype Breakthrough. Join us for a conversation about how supporting your immunity using sleep, stress reduction, nutrition, and more can help transform your immune system.