Happy Habit Podcast

Dr Michelle Segar is an award winning NIH funded researcher with at the University of Michigan with 3 decades of experience in helping people adopt healthy behaviours in a way that matches the complexity, the messiness and the unpredictability of everyday life. She is also the author of The Joy Choice, named as one of the best health books of 2022 by the Washington Post. In this episode we talk about the power of habits and the propensity of real life and its every day demands, to get in the way of our best laid plans to create new habits and adopt new behaviours. Expect to learn what a 'habiter' is and expect to learn what 'unhabiting' is. We learn about motivation and how we can harness it. Expect to hear about habit friction and what that is. We also discover what the three key decision disruptors that get in the way of habit formation are. We find out why Dr Segar doesnt like the term accountability when it comes to adopting new behaviours. And we discover the impact that guilt has when we fall short of our own expectations. There is really so very much that we discuss in this conversation and it is a real eye opener for anyone considering adopting a healthy fitness regime this new year, but in truth Dr Segar's thoughts, experience an insights on habits and behaviour change can really be applied to any field not just health and physical fitness. Check out Dr Segar's book and her research >> https://michellesegar.com/

Nutritional psychiatrist Dr Uma Naidoo is the author of the new book, Calm your mind with food : a revolutionary guide to controlling your anxiety. In this episode we hear about the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry and how the foods we eat can affect our mood, our emotional resilience and mental health. We hear about how inflammation can contribute to anxiety.We discover that saffron is one of the many foods that can support our mental health. Expect to learn whether anxiety and depression can co-exist. We learn that supplementation in addition to diet can help make a postiive contribution to our psychological wellbeing. Plus we find out one of Dr Naidoo's favourite mental health promoting recipes. https://umanaidoomd.com/

Dr Terry Wahls is an author and a clinical Professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, in addition to being proof positive that food can be your medicine. She was diagnosed with MS and spent 4 years relying on a wheelchair for her mobility, so debilitating were her symptoms. She was faced with making one of 2 choices, to either give up on life or continue going. Thankfully she chose the latter and she dived into researching how nutrition could positively impact her condition and went on to develop her Wahls protocol, a diet based protocol that would see her go from being wheelchair bound to being able to ride her bike to work again. Twenty years after her MS diagnosis, she continues in her mission to help others with her diet and lifestyle philosophy. In this episode Dr Wahls tells us about the onset of her MS symptoms and how it impacted her and her family, as well as her professional life. We learn about what motivated Dr Wahls in the darkest moments when her condition held little hope. We hear about what steps she took in relation to her nutrition when she made the decision not to fall victim to the medically accepted limitations of her diagnosis. Dr Wahls, tells us about the main driver of MS, the mitochondria or the power house of our cells, and how this knowledge helped her establish a dietary protocol that helped her rediscover her hitherto waning energy levels. We hear about how diet can lessen the negative effects of systemic inflammation especially as far as autoimmune diseases are concerned. We discover that the dramatic improvement in Dr Wahls condition is not an anomaly, but as a study she has carried out in other MS patients shows, changes in diet and nutrition intake can improve the health of other chronic disease sufferers too. And expect to learn what foods Dr Wahls suggests we eat and what foods we should consider elminating from our diets. To say that Dr Wahls condition as an MS patient has improved over the last 2 decades since she was initially diagnosed, is an understatement. In times past her cases would have been labelled miraculous. The truth very much grounded in science and reality, Dr Wahls rejected the traditional route of submitting completely to pharmaceutical drugs instead choosing to allow her food provide the nutrients she needed to restore her health. Its important to state, Dr Wahls still has MS but her experimentation with her nutrition allowed her to initially drastically reverse her decline, and return to practise medicine but also to drastically slow down the progress of this debilitating disease. Her determination and her story are extraordinary. I hope you enjoy this conversation and find as much inspiration as I did, Dr Wahls Website : https://terrywahls.com/ Dr Wahls Ted Talk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc

You're probably familiar with having an MRI scan on your strained muscle, your grandmother quite possibly had her hip replaced at some point, and more and more of us are wearing devices that can alert us of irregular heart related events which can prompt us to seek medical attention. These are all everyday examples of how our lives intersect with biomedical engineering. As research in this area progresses and as technology improves, the field of bioengineering is only going to become more impactful on our lives. One of the people at the forefront of biomedical engineering research is Professor Richard Reilly who specialises in neural engineering at Trinity College in Dublin where his research focuses on the processing of signals that diagnose the human physiological and cognitive state. In this episode we find out what biomedical engineering is and how we interact with examples of it daily, quite often without even realising. We discuss some of the 500 research studies Prof Reilly has been involved in, including examining the walking stride and cognitive functions of diabetes patients who are at greater risk of cognitive decline than people who dont have diabetes. We discuss research that seeks to provide a predictor of Alzheimer's disease by studying the change in a person's speech patterns over time. Expect to learn what role neural engineering is playing in helping us understand spinal cord injuries. We talk about how AI is already making a significant impact in the bioengineering space and the potential for it to accelerate progress as far as discovery and research are concerned. And I ask if there are any ethical considerations to be aware of when carrying out research and developing new technologies in bioengineering. https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=reillyri

Loneliness can be so damaging at any age but especially when growing up. Few people have more experience of being friendless and lonely than Daniel Wendler. In todays episode I speak with Daniel who is now a clinical psychologist and author, and who as a teenager was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome which contributed hugely to his lack of social skills. In this episode Daniel discusses what Asperger's Syndrome is and how it affected his ability to interact socially and make friends growing up. We learn how Daniel's journey and struggle with social interaction now informs his career as a clinical psychologist. We hear about how he manages with imposter syndrome and how he copes with disappointments in life. Expect to learn about the concept of learned helplessness in the context of developing social skills. We ask if there is a link between poor social skills and gaming. We discover how social skills are like any other skill and can be improved. https://www.danielwendler.com/ Daniel's Ted Talk : https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_wendler_what_being_autistic_taught_me_about_being_human?language=en

Anna schaffner is a writer, coach and professor of cultural history who has written books on the history of exhaustion, and the art of self development' She has a new book coming out on the subject of exhaustion called Exhausted: An A to Z for the weary. Anna's mission is to help clients move from a state of exhaustion to a state of vitality in their lives. In this episode we discuss what exactly exhaustion is and how it is distinct from being burnt out. Expect to learn about the symptoms of exhaustion. We ask if people are more burned out today than previous generations. Expect to learn about the drivers of exhaustion both mental and physical. We talk about the popularity of manifestation and how it is contributing to peoples' exhaustion. Comparison is often called the thief of joy, it too leads to a draining of our energy levels and lack of self-selfsatisfaction, we discuss why. Expect to discover what the basic things are that we can do to move from a state of exhaustion to vitality. We also learn about the importance of having a hobby when it comes to our energy levels. Check out Prof Anna's website https://www.annakschaffner.com/

Today I am talking with one of the pioneers of evolutionary medicine and evolutionary psychiatry, Professor Randolf Nesse. We discuss what evolution has to do with modern day psychiatry and how knowledge of evolution's influences on someone's mental health informs Prof Nesse's ability to help his patients. We learn whether our quest for happiness is merely a distraction. Is mental illness a result of nature or nurture or indeed a little of both? Expect to learn that low mood isn't always bad. We discover what the smoke detector principle is. We ask what the purpose of human emotion is ? We discuss whether society is suffering from more mental health problems today than our during our ancestors time. Expect to hear Prof Nesse's thoughts on stoicism and what his hopes are for the future of psychiatry. https://www.randolphnesse.com/

Brian Malow, is a well known science comedian who uses comedy to educate people and make more accessible many of the scientific topics that can perplex. He gives regular talks on science and has interviewed many of the worlds nobel laureates in the field of science and several of the astronauts who walked on the moon. In this episode I explore with Brian the way in which science is communicated to the public at large and the value of doing so in a relatable way. Brian tells me about his encounters with Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Buzz Aldrin. We hear about the role the media played in disseminating information to the public during the pandemic and how it might have been better. We talk about what regular people can learn from meeting very successful people who have mastered their own field and beyond, such as Brian May who aswell as conquering the world of music, has gone on to earn a Phd in science at the age of 59. This is a fun, informal chat with Brian about many different topics which I hope you will enjoy.

Dr Ian Kerner is a practising sex therapist and author of the best selling, She comes first. In this episode Dr Kerner helps dispell some commonly held misconceptions about sex. We learn that desire or lack there of is largely the reason many people choose to see a sex therapist. We hear about the assurances that women need in order to feel comfortable during sex, especially when she is receiving oral sex. Expect to learn how premature ejaculation can be treated. I ask what role porongraphy can play in a healthy sexual relationship. We learn that the majority of people are bored with their sex lives, and women are twice as likely to be bored after the first year. Plus we discover how to meet our partners sexual needs in the bedroom. Dr Kerner's books : https://rb.gy/f2a54k

Today I speak with Dr Harry Ball the co-founder of the Dental Sleep Institute. He is a physician with a background in dentistry who now helps people with sleep problems. In this episode we find out how dental issues and sleep are related. We discover what exactly bruxism or teeth grinding is and how it presents itself. We hear about restless leg syndrome. We learn how disordered breathing can lead to sleep disturbances. Expect to hear about CPAP machines and how they help people with nocturnal breathing problems. Also we learn what the signs are to look out for and which medical professionals to approach if we are struggling with our sleep. We discover the health implications of chronic insomnia and more. Dr Ball's website : https://sleepwise.com.au/dr-harry-ball/