Degrees of Health

In Part 1 of this episode about light as medicine, Dr Roger Seheult talks us through the light spectrum of UV to infra-red and the importance of exposure to types of light at certain times of the day to regulate our circadian rhythm. Many of us suffer from some form of circadian rhythm dysfunction due to the technology-driven societies we live in. As a result, the cues our body takes from the external environment can become out of sync with our internal environment, causing an imbalance in many of our basic functions - the processes that aid good quality sleep, metabolic function, and everything down stream of these. We also discuss the impacts of light on hypersomnia, sleep inertia, hunger and satiety cues, the best times of day to eat, insulin sensitivity, infra red light and oxidative stress.Dr. Seheult is currently an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the School of Medicine and Allied Health at Loma Linda University. Dr. Roger is quadruple board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care Medicine, and Sleep Medicine. In 2012, he and Kyle Allred founded MedCram, a medical education company that creates videos utilised by hospitals, medical schools, and hundreds of thousands of medical professionals from all over the world (and over 1.5 million YouTube Subscribers). His passion is "demystifying" medical concepts.Tune in next week for Part 2 for more on the emerging research around red light, infra-red light, the impact of sunlight on Covid-19 surges, long covid, and possible tools to support in recovery from long covid.Find Dr Roger's work:MedCram WebsiteMedCram YouTube----------------------------------------------------------------------Studies mentioned in this podcast:Autumn COVID‑19 surge dates in Europe correlated to latitudes, not to temperature‑humidity, pointing to vitamin D as contributing factorUltraviolet A radiation and COVID-19 deaths in the USA with replication studies in England and ItalyA geographical approach to the development of hypotheses relating to Covid-19 death ratesCardiopulmonary and hematological effects of infrared LED photobiomodulation in the treatment of SARS-COV2Insufficient Sun Exposure Has Become a Real Public Health Problem----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_healthDisclaimer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julien Périard, a research professor and deputy director at the University of Canberra, shares his expertise on heat stress and athletic performance. He dives into the physiological challenges athletes face in hot environments, discussing hydration strategies and the importance of heat acclimation. Julien elaborates on innovative pre-cooling techniques to enhance performance and emphasizes adapting to climate change's effects on exercise. His insights into optimizing resilience reveal how athletes can thrive despite rising temperatures.

Breath work instructor, wellness expert of 22 years, and author Níall Ó’Murchú grew up going in and out of the waters around County Dublin. What moved from childhood play and curiosity, has burgeoned into a practice, a philosophy, and a lifestyle for Níall, his family, and all those lucky enough to be taught by him.We talk about the importance of setting intentions going into the cold, and how this shapes our experience each time, the cold as a respite from grief, tightness, struggle, the art of ‘letting go’ and surrendering to soften, and bringing our physicalities (tension, breath, mood, state) conscious. There could be several reasons you are interested in entertaining some cold in your life - physical health, easing pain or inflammation, performance, recovery, or perhaps there’s just a dose of curiosity getting the better of you. The wonderful thing with the cold is that whatever your reason to start, it may not what you’ll end up finding. And Níall explains how the same could be said for breath work. But the most powerful tool? Bringing them together. There’s no way of foretelling what you might find beyond that. Like anything worth having, what we do know is the more regular the practice, the deeper it can seep - this merciless teacher of the cold and the power of the breath can help us find ultimate calm amidst any chaos. Find Níall:WebsiteInstagramFacebookYouTubeThe Breathe with Níall PodcastNíall's books:The Blissful BreathThe Power of Cold----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:Choke documentary - Rickson GracieStudies mentioned in this podcast:The positive effects of combined breathing techniques and cold exposure on perceived stress: a randomised trial----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_healthDisclaimer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To understand our physiology and health today, it’s critical to look back - a long way - at our evolution, not only to inform our now, but to better understand which mechanisms we may need to sustain us in the face of our changing world. Dr Cara Ocobock is an evolutionary anthropology encyclopaedia, an enthusiastic academic, and an incredibly engaging listen.In this episode, Dr Cara helps us to understand some of the interactions between our physiology, our evolution and our environments. In Cara’s work with reindeer herders in Finland, she explores physiological and behavioural mechanisms required to cope and adapt to extreme climates and activity. We discuss her findings into brown adipose tissue (BAT or brown fat), metabolic health, male/female differences, the potential drivers of metabolically healthy obesity, and the role of oestrogen in the body (spoiler: gents - you need this too!)Find Cara:cocobock@nd.edu‘Cara Ocobock’ Twitter, Bluesky, ThreadsCara also has a podcast of her own disseminating innovative research in the field - Sausage of Science----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:Jeremy DeSilvaMilford WolpuffHerman PontzerUniversity of LaplandUniversity of OuluStudies mentioned in this podcast:Maximal sustained energy budgets in humans and animalsCommentary - fat but fit…and cold?More of Cara’s work:Human Energy Expenditure in Anthropology and BeyondHuman Bodies in Extreme EnvironmentsHuman cold adaptation: An unfinished agenda v2.0Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis among a small sample of reindeer herders from sub-Arctic FinlandBetween a rock and a cold place: Neanderthal biocultural cold adaptations----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_healthDisclaimer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Head of the extreme environments lab at Portsmouth University, Professor Mike Tipton MBE has spent his working life understanding, evaluating and enhancing the comfort, performance and survival of human beings in extreme environments. With decades of knowledge gained in the lab, the aim is to apply the science to areas where it has most use and benefit. Having worked with the likes of the Ministry of Defence, RNLI and Olympic and Paralympic athletes, Mike is well-positioned to speak to the scientific and practical sides of the human response to cold water immersion.Critically, he clarifies what we don’t yet know, and what we need to be aware of in the time frame between now and finding out. We discuss what happens and why, the benefits and risks of both unintentional and intentional immersion, common mistakes about cold water, what he calls ‘the thermostatic human’, and ultimately, his faith in the resilience of human beings. Anglers, coastal walkers, yacht sailors, dinghy sailors, kayakers, open water or wild swimmers - pretty much anyone who operates or interacts by, under, or on the sea - there is an ocean of critical information to learn in this episode. It is applied science at the top of its game.Find Mike:University of Portsmouth website----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:Non-freezing cold injuryCold shock responseMammalian dive reflexAutonomic conflictLewis PughStudies mentioned in this podcast:Humans: A homeothermic animal that needs perturbationCold water immersion: kill or cure?Cold water therapies - minimising risksMoving in extreme environments: open water swimming in cold and warm waterOpen water swimming as a treatment for major depressive disorderDrifting into unconsciousness: Jason Zirganos and the mystery of undetected hypothermiaHuman Brown Adipose Tissue—A Decade Later----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_healthDisclaimer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dean Hall went from working 100 hour weeks as a licensed therapist and coach, to receiving a 2-6 week diagnosis to live. Our conversation with Dean documents his 11 year old dream to swim the English Channel, turned realised adult and active-cancer patient achievement of swimming the 187 miles of the cold Willamette River in Oregon. All this through a leukaemia diagnosis, a lymphoma diagnosis, bouts of pneumonia and viral meningitis, and the grief of losing his wife. Inspired to see through raising his then 14-year old daughter, he committed to do anything to prolong his time to fulfil that role. This is the story of The Wild Cure - on the critical power of finding a passionate purpose and how cold water swimming and nature led him to heal his cancer and traumatic grief. With Dean we discuss his radical remission, the power of visualisation, how we can let go of overwhelming emotions of the day via a process of ‘zero-ing out’, and the symbiotic relationship we need to return to with nature.Find Dean:InstagramWebsiteThe Wild Cure Book----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:Cancer, leukaemia, lymphoma, viral meningitis, pneumonia, depression, anxiety, traumatic grief, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's diseaseBlue Mind - Wallace J NicholsMan's Search for Meaning - Victor FranklGrounding and Earthing - Clint OberWim Hof----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Marc Cohen is one of the world's leading academics in the study of holistic and integrative medicine, including contrast therapy. Dr Marc is a registered medical practitioner with degrees in medicine, physiology and psychology and PHDs in Chinese Medicine and Biomedical Engineering. His thirst for knowledge doesn't end in the classroom and spans several spheres making his approach incredibly well-informed and wide-ranging.In this episode, he guides us through the concept of 'ancient future medicine' and the many bio hacks available to us that we can choose to incorporate for mastery over mind and body. We speak about oxymels, brown fat, forced mindfulness, being comfortably uncomfortable, hydrothermal wellness, and so much more. Dr Marc has a unique way of delivering information in an informative yet digestible way, sprinkled with evidence-based activities we can do at home that don’t require any cost, training or equipment.Find Dr Marc Cohen:https://www.drmarc.co/----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:-Dr Joy Hussain-Hydrothermal wellness-Tulsi (Holy Basil)-The Wim Hof Method-Ayurvedic medicine-Hormesis-Manuka honey----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc Millar is the founder of Edinburgh Blue Balls, a men’s mental health cold water swimming group in Scotland. We had the pleasure of speaking with Marc about how EBB came about, why it is necessary, and how the community keeps it going. The conversation has many takeaways - the most prominent being how the concept of masculinity needs shaking up in order to have any hope of being truly useful in todays society of external toxicity and internal loneliness. Importantly, the cold swimming group is also a vector for education, support and awareness of the Joshua Nolan foundation - a suicide prevention charity. This conversation was a reminder that we all fight battles and have struggles. All the more reason to always be kind. Find Edinburgh Blue Balls on InstagramFind the Joshua Nolan Foundation hereApologies for the occasional interference - we’ll work on that!----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:-Budgy Smugglers-Beard groups-Mental health groups----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we had the pleasure to speak with Dr Joy Hussain, a medical practitioner promoting wellness and evidence-based sauna therapies. Joy completed her PhD at RMIT University on the topic of health effects of frequent sweating and sauna bathing. Joy is currently working to adapt sauna-based experimental protocols for lifestyle and medical applications, such as in cardiovascular disease prevention, cardiac rehabilitation and treatment for postmenopausal hot flushes.In this episode, Joy discusses links between dementia and sauna use, the benefit to females of syncing their sauna use with their menstrual cycle, the increase in cardiac load with increased humidity, thermoregulation and perimenopause, and more. What we love most is Joy’s rare, but necessary, approach to her research. Her aim is to look at all the things that could be happening and then working backwards to see what we know instead of focusing on just one pathway. Our living experience is multifaceted and as the science should be to represent it.Find Joy here:Website - https://healthwithjoy.com.au/----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:-Jari Laukkenen-Comfort Crisis-Dr Earric Lee-Sauna Fitness-Dr Wanda Pilch-Mindy Peltz----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5wInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're joined by Emma O'Kelly - journalist, long-term contributing editor to Wallpaper magazine, author and, most recently, sauna enthusiast. The book - "Sauna: Power of Deep Heat" - was sparked initially by a work trip to Finland in 2016, that led to a book deal and travelling 10,000 miles in a trusty van across Northern Europe, with friend, aid and Finn, Maija Astikainen, who so beautifully photographed the saunas they visited. Together, the pair have created a rare find in one book - a collection of stunning photography with insightful commentary and detail into the history and cultural significance of sauna practice all around the world.If you are looking to understand what sauna is, where it comes from, and why you should be interested in it, give this episode a listen. Our conversation with Emma details how she went from sauna novice to sauna addict, the definition and importance of Sisu, the Finnish and British approaches to nudity, making the cold our friend (and winters less boring), and possibly the nudge you need to give cold and hot a go.Find Emma here:Website - https://emmaokelly.com/Instagram: @emmaokelly10Book - Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat. Available on Amazon and at WHSmith----------------------------------------------------------------------Mentioned in this podcast:-Parliament Hill Lido-Hampstead Heath Ponds-Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths-The Comfort Crisis - Michael Easter----------------------------------------------------------------------Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5wInstagram  @degreesofhealth Tik Tok @degrees_of_health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.