Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast, the weekly podcast where Dr. G gives you the tools you need to boost your health and live your healthiest life.
Dr. Gundry (00:14):
There’s a lot of people, including myself, that believe Edison is the cause of all modern disease. That’s because up until 120 years ago, we all lived in sync with daylight. Today, there are blue light coming from our phones, TVs, computer screens, and most modern day light bulbs is making us hungry, sick, and tired. That’s why in all my paradox books, I recommend limiting your screen time a few hours before bed and wearing blue blocking glasses like BLUblox, when you’re watching TV or working on your computer.
Dr. Gundry (00:45):
Unlike other types of blue light glasses, BLUblox are evidence backed and made under optics laboratory conditions in Australia. BLUblox offers high quality lenses for daytime, nighttime and for color therapy exactly in line with the suggested peer reviewed academic literature. They have over 40 hip frames and you know how I love a good pair of stylish specs, and come in prescription non-prescription and readers. So, they have frames for whatever you need. I just ordered a pair of their blue light glasses, the galaxy style, if you’re wondering, and I can’t wait to try them out.
Dr. Gundry (01:19):
I’m in the throes of writing my next book, so I’ll be grateful for the blue light protection from all the computer time. So, get yourself a pair and get your energy back, sleep better by blocking out that unhealthy blue light. Get free shipping worldwide and 15% off by going to blublox.com/gundry or enter code Gundry at checkout, that’s BLUblox, B-L-U-B-L-O-X.com/gundry for 15% off, or just use the code Gundry.
Kimberly Snyder (01:54):
Welcome to the Feel Good podcast with Kimberly Snyder. My goal is to help you develop a holistic lifestyle based on our four cornerstone philosophy, food, body, emotional wellbeing, and spiritual growth. This holistic approach will help you feel good, which I define as being connected to your most authentic, highest self. This is the place from which your energy, confidence, creativity, true power and true beauty will start to explode. Every week, we provide you with interviews from top experts in their field, or a solo cast from yours truly, to support you in living your most beautiful, healthy, and joyful life. I’m your host, Kimberly Snyder, founder of Solluna, New York Times best-selling author and holistic wellness, nutrition and meditation teacher. Let’s get started.
Dr. Gundry (02:54):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast. Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Greek physician, Hippocrates, had it right, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” But in the year since, we seem to have lost sight of that important principle. Well, my guest today says there’s a lot we can learn from the ancients, including how to battle depression, reduce pain, and heal our symptoms at the root, all without dangerous pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Gundry (03:23):
Dr. Axe is a doctor of chiropractic, a certified doctor of natural medicine and clinical nutritionist practicing in Nashville. He’s just released a brand new book called Ancient Remedies. So, on today’s episode, Dr. Axe and I are going to discuss what Western medicine has gotten all wrong, the most effective natural ways to boost your immune system, pretty important right now, and the best thing you can do today to start improving your health. Dr. Axe, it’s a pleasure to have you on the podcast.
Dr. Josh Axe (03:54):
Hey, Dr. Gundry, thanks for having me, I’m excited to be here.
Dr. Gundry (03:57):
So, you write in the first section of your book that Western medicine has largely ignored, put down, even buried information about safe, natural alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs. Can you give the listeners a few examples of what you’re talking about?
Dr. Josh Axe (04:15):
Yeah, absolutely. So, one of the things that … I want to mention this too, I realized this very early on, I had a mom growing up that was sick all the time. My mom was diagnosed with cancer, later on, hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease. She was on antidepressant drug. She was very sick all the time. I really started saying, “Okay, my mom just keeps getting worse and getting prescribed more and more things.” Later on, as I started studying all these forms of natural medicine, I started realizing, “Okay, there are things that can actually address more of the root cause here of what’s going on.” I’ll give you an example, I just want to say this for the medical community.
Dr. Josh Axe (04:52):
There’s no doubt, in the past 15 years, there has been a big shift, right? I mean, 15 years ago, we weren’t hearing a lot of the pioneering medical doctors talking about herbs and spices. Today, many are. So I think we have come a long way. So I wanted to say that first, but just to give example, an herb like turmeric has so much clinical research, it’s been shown to be effective in a lot of human trials as well as reducing inflammation, specifically effective at fighting chronic pain, lowering the risk of heart disease, supporting blood sugar balance. There’s even some research on a compound, and it called curcumin, which is the main anti-inflammatory compound, I know you know, in fighting cancer. So, there are a lot of benefits.
Dr. Josh Axe (05:37):
When we’re talking about Ancient Remedies, and what’s interesting too doc, is if you would have gone, let’s say, a 100 up until 150 years ago, so throughout human history, when somebody used the word medicine up until 150 years ago, they were typically referring to an herb or a spice. They called it an apothecary, which is essentially nature of pharmacy. But if you would go to that in Asia or the Middle East or East, or in Rome, you’d go in there, they would have herbs and spices and oils and probably glandulars and mushrooms, that’s what people were taking. And a lot of drugs today, like aspirin for an example, that main compound in aspirin that has the pain relieving benefits and blood thinning benefits, actually they got the idea for that from a compound found in white willow bark in Wintergreen, which then they now make synthetically today.
Dr. Josh Axe (06:29):
But I think they think about a lot of these natural forms of medicine also, they’re a little bit more gentle on the body, and I think in many cases they’re just as effective. I think in most cases too, they address more of the root of what’s going on.
Dr. Gundry (06:42):
No, I think that’s an absolute great observation. I’ve actually got some wonderful old apothecary jars in my office.
Dr. Josh Axe (06:52):
I love that.
Dr. Gundry (06:53):
Yeah, everybody was given herbs and spices. In fact, I think we forget that the spice trade … The only reason people would risk their lives in procuring things like say cinnamon or black pepper, 50% of people died on ocean voyages during the spice trade, and the only reason anybody ever risked their lives or the second reason is, the only reason people spend a whole lot of money for something is because it’s a drug. We forget that these were all the original great drugs. So, the drug trade has been around for a long time, but it was a natural drug trade. How’s that?
Dr. Josh Axe (07:45):
That’s right. Exactly.
Dr. Gundry (07:47):
Okay. So, you use a great example that I firmly believe in, antidepressants. Why did you single out these drugs and what are some ancient alternatives proven to work?
Dr. Josh Axe (08:00):
One of the big things, Dr. Gundry, I always try and do, and I know you do the same, that’s why, again, I’m a huge fan of your podcast, your books. I know obviously you came on my podcast and we talked about this, but we always want to address the root cause of disease. So, when we’re talking about any disease, in particular in this case, depression, an ancient physician, and that’s really what I always focus on is, “Hey, what are the ancient Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, what would have Hippocrates have done, and how should we act today in getting the root cause of disease?” Well, in particular with depression, what is known about that in ancient Chinese medicine is, it is caused by … primarily, it’s not a nutritional deficiency.
Dr. Josh Axe (08:41):
Now, nutritional supplements can help absolutely. But primarily, it’s caused by having something happened to you in the past that you’re still living with today. So for example, it could be, you lost a loved one you really cared about, and you’re still living with that grief. It could be, you went through a divorce and you still have pain from that relationship. It could be, you were abused emotionally, physically, and you’re still leaving with that trauma, or it could be unforgiveness. You have something that hurt you in the past, and you have not let go of that thing. That’s the term they use in Chinese medicine is that, you haven’t let go. So, according to Chinese medicine, that is the biggest thing that weakens your lungs and your colon, what makes up the main part, in Chinese medicine, of your immune system.
Dr. Josh Axe (09:26):
So, what an ancient physician would recommend is, okay, the first thing we need to do is, “Hey, we need to let go of that thing. We need to practice forgiveness. We need to stop focusing on the past and start focusing on the now in the future, we need to build hope. Let’s get you excited about things, let’s find your purpose.” That’s really where it starts. Then from there, your body needs certain nutrients and compounds to support having healthy tissue. So for instance, if you don’t have enough protein and you’re lifting weights all the time, it’s easier to injure a muscle because your body doesn’t have what it needs to rebuild itself [inaudible 00:10:01] brain and nervous system in the same way.
Dr. Josh Axe (10:03):
There’s two big things I want to say, that a lot of the micronutrients or let’s say herbals, for instance, herbals more than anything, put your body in … they change your environment. So, they get your body in a healthy environment to where it can better heal itself. What macronutrients do, proteins, fats, those sort of things, they give your body those building blocks it needs to repair itself in a lot of cases, and nutrients would be the same. So, I think some of the most beneficial for depression, there are studies on … Well, let me go back to this yoga as well for peace of mind, that goes along with a lot of the emotional techniques I talked about with letting go of the past. I think that’s very, very healthy mindset. Deep breathing is very good in that way as well.
Dr. Josh Axe (10:44):
There are studies that show certain herbs, particularly the ones that increase blood flow through the brain and ones that support neurotransmitters, help as well. So, St. John’s were historically, probably has the most research on it. I think that can be a good one. I think Ginkgo biloba, generally speaking, it’s typically more for Alzheimer’s, but it gets a lot of blood flow to the brain. That’s typically prescribed in Chinese medicine. I think that’s a good one. Then also, things like CBD oil and then fish oil, getting those omega-3s. But I think from a dietary standpoint, you want to get a lot of fat soluble nutrients and the right type of fats, three types of fats that I recommend, lots of omega-3s, wild-caught fish like salmon is a great example. Walnuts is another good example.
Dr. Josh Axe (11:32):
Also, getting healthy saturated fats from animal products and from places like coconut oil, and then healthy monounsaturated fats from olives, avocados, those sorts of things. I think those are great examples. So I would say, eat a diet that’s really rich in fat, really rich in nutrients that support the brain. A lot of those B vitamins supporting those neurotransmitters, some probiotics really supporting that gut lining. So, collagen or bone broth as a food would be good. Then really practicing things like meditation and yoga and letting go of the past and building on a hopeful future.
Dr. Josh Axe (12:09):
I think when we’re talking about holistic medicine and looking at a person as a whole, I know I said a lot of things. I mean, you see this doc, right? Everybody is uniquely different, for some people, it really is an emotional, that’s the biggest stronghold, but for some people, wow, it’s amazing. They start taking omega-3 fats and other things and boom, you see a big change.
Dr. Gundry (12:30):
No, that’s very true. I think one thing in that long list, which I completely agree with, the gut microbiome, we’re now beginning to realize has such important role in anxiety and depression, and just changing the gut microbiome and actually the post-biotics that they manufacture, goes a long way. A couple now, new clinical trials looking at this, and Dr. Daniel Amen, who I’ve had on the [inaudible 00:13:00] podcast, really thinks that most of what we call anxiety and depression or mental illness, a lot of it is stemming from our gut and gut dysbiosis and leaky gut.
Dr. Josh Axe (13:15):
Yeah. I agree with that as well. In fact, if we’re talking Chinese medicine, there’s two systems, but basically it’s that intestinal wall that really is going to affect the gut lining. And really there’s two big things I think people can do. I touch on this in my book, Ancient Remedies, some I really go into how to get to the root cause and heal conditions like leaky gut. The big thing though, I will say is, here’s essentially what happened. Your gut lining acts like a net, right? So everybody thinks about a fishing net. Well, your gut lining is supposed to let certain things through and keep other things out. Well, you have these things, they’re called gap junctions, but let’s just go back to this net analogy. Imagine you get a tear in this net and all of a sudden, things that are getting into your bloodstream are getting in there that shouldn’t be getting in there.
Dr. Josh Axe (14:01):
So, fully undigested food particles, like certain proteins, like gluten and casein, are very problematic. Certain types of bad bacteria, even parasites, viruses, these things get into the bloodstream. They re-circulate, and they cause an inflammatory reaction, and over time it can actually cause an immune reaction even leading to auto-immune disease. When I first moved to Nashville and when I opened up the practice I had here, I took care of a lot of children on the ASD, Autistic Spectrum Disorders. I’ll just tell you, it was amazing. I really focused on just supporting their gut health, getting rid of the gluten and casein, getting some probiotics, some bone broth, some easily digestible vegetables in me. I mean, the results were just so incredible.
Dr. Josh Axe (14:45):
So, all that being said, when people do have any sort of issue that’s neurologically related. The first thing I typically do is say, “Okay, we’ve got to reheal and seal that gut lining and let’s get rid of those …” So many things I know you hit on in your book, The Plant Paradox, we’ve got to get rid of these inflammatory foods. We’ve got to add in the really … that the big thing is easily to digest because what’s more important, I think, than the food you’re eating, is not continually harming your own body, giving your body a chance to regenerate, and that’s why the best food for the body is typically the one that’s the easiest on the body. That typically is a diet that’s made up of meat, certain vegetables that are cooked and fat.
Dr. Josh Axe (15:30):
So anyways, I think those are all, but I agree with you. I think the gut microbiome is so key to healing a lot of areas, the brain, the skin, even a lot of immune conditions.
Dr. Gundry (15:41):
Yeah. In this environment, obviously physicians are coming around with the idea that there isn’t such a thing as leaky gut, if you had asked me 20 years ago, when I started this practice of mine, what I thought about leaky gut, I probably would have laughed you out of the room as pseudoscience, but now, thanks to Dr. Fasano and others. This is a real thing, it’s a proven thing, there’s no question, hopefully in anyone’s mind, how do you convince a typical patient that … For instance, Chinese medicine or Ayurvedic medicine, has scientific proof that they’re looking for that it works?
Dr. Josh Axe (16:36):
Well, I think one of the important things that people need to remember is that, I think there’s a level of ego that we have in America like, “We’re the best, we know more than anybody else, other people.” So, there is that ego, I think that really creates a lack of humility and a lack of learning with people. So I think it’s important number one, if you’re going to grow, you got to realize you don’t know it all, and realize that some of these things that have been proven throughout history, they’re still around for a reason. I think there’s different ways to discover things.
Dr. Josh Axe (17:15):
I think today we live in a Western society, it’s very Greek in nature, which means we like to have a reason for everything. We like to come to conclusions based on numbers. Okay? A specific number. It’s the way we are today, double-blind studies is a prime example of this. In order for it to be credible, has to be a human double-blind study in this. But the problem that we have today too is that, not all of these studies are … In fact, I would say a lot of studies can be biased in nature. I think it’s an important thing to remember.
Dr. Josh Axe (17:55):
For me, Chinese medicine has been around for around 3000 years, and it’s been proven in a way by, I would say, millions of individual case studies. So it’s not a double-blind study, but it’s individual case studies of saying like, “How did the Indians know that if there was a snake bite, you should use blessed thistle or milk thistle or these different types of thistles? How did they know that thistles helped poison? How did they know?” This is so funny, 10 years ago, and that’s probably about nine years ago, the study came out on one of the big ones on piperine and turmeric, that combination of those two herbs together, and we were applauding ourselves saying, like the medical community saying, “Wow, look at this.” The one study was, it improves absorption by 154%.
Dr. Josh Axe (18:44):
That’s significant, why are you taking turmeric? You’re taking it with this compound, this one unique compound and black pepper, the recipe for turmeric golden milk, which is nearly 3000 years old in Ayurvedic medicine. The recipe is, turmeric plus a warming spice blend called trikatu which is made up of black pepper, long pepper, ginger, and healthy fat like gear coconut, and you drink this mixture for brain health, cellular health, and the big one is reducing inflammation helping treat certain conditions.
Dr. Josh Axe (19:15):
Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic, knew that black pepper and tumeric were better together for absorption, 3000 years ago. And they did it by observation, doing it on themselves, working with patients, individual case studies. So I would just say, I think in terms of seeing results, it can be very, very effective. But for me, doc, it’s always through education. I think, really simplistic education and going through whether it’s the leaky gut analogy, with the net, that type of thing explaining it. When you look at certain areas of the world today, Israeli medicine for one, in a lot of the medicine that is in the research, done in areas like Japan and Switzerland and Germany, I mean, it’s not just America.
Dr. Josh Axe (19:56):
That’s a roundabout way of that answer, but I do think for me, I really think that traditional Chinese medicine is actually more accurate today than Western medicine in the viewpoint, because it has a bigger picture perspective, really what has happened a lot of times today in our medical community, conventional, is we’ve looked at things under a microscope, but we haven’t stepped back and looked at the big picture of all these things, how they’re interconnected, some of the patterns that repeat themselves. That’s my thought.
Dr. Gundry (20:33):
Good point. I’m reminded of … and I’ve written about this in a lot of my books, including the upcoming Energy Paradox that, Hippocrates used to teach that there was this green life force energy in all of us that really was in control of our perfect health, and Helen Bendon was a huge promoter in the middle ages of this idea that you were supposed to find the external forces that was suppressing your green life force energy and remove them. Don’t worry, once you remove these external forces, this green life force energy will solve all the problems. As crazy as that sounds, that’s actually how I do my practice. I’m just a detective, “Okay, let’s see what’s suppressing your healing ability.” You’ll do the exact same thing.
Dr. Josh Axe (21:44):
Well, you know what’s interesting, in Chinese medicine they have the same thing they call them the Six Evils, but it’s really the same thing. Because Greek medicine had the humors, right? It’s very similar. Oh yeah.
Dr. Gundry (21:58):
In my new book, The Energy Paradox, you’re going to learn why fiber is so critical for increasing your energy levels. There’s just one problem though, 9 in 10 people are deficient in this critical nutrient, 9 in 10. Now I get it. We all live busy lives, and many of us just don’t have the time to prepare home cooked meals rich in prebiotic fibers and resistant starches. Besides prebiotic supplements, I discovered a great on the go solution to make sure you get enough fiber in your diet every single day.
Dr. Gundry (22:28):
It’s a keto bread by Uprising Foods with a whopping nine grams of fiber in every slice. I like to slice it very thin and toast it up for a great way to break my fast. They also have fiber rich crackers too. My wife, Penny, adores the savory rye crackers. They taste just like regular rye crackers, but instead of the lectin bomb rye ingredient, they’re packed with gut boosting ingredients like psyllium husk and flaxseed.
Dr. Gundry (22:56):
Now I recommend trying their sampler bundle so you can decide which you like best. If you go to uprisingfood.com/gundry, you can get the entire sampler bundle. That’s two boxes of the savory rye crackers, two boxes of sea-salt crackers, and two boxes of the sourdough cubes for just $48, and if you’re one of the first 1000 people to use my code, Gundry, at purchase, you’ll get free standard shipping. So hurry while supplies last. Again, that’s uprisingfood.com/gundry.
Dr. Gundry (23:34):
All right. Speaking of immune system and COVID-19. I’ve been preaching since it came out that, the reason preexisting conditions sets you up for COVID-19 is because all of these preexisting conditions in my humble opinion is just a manifestation of leaky gut in one way or another, and your immune system is hyper on alert, and this cytokine storm is because your immune system is overcharged and it’s distracted in a way because of what things are happening in your gut. So, what’s your feeling? Anything we can do to help ourselves?
Dr. Josh Axe (24:19):
Yeah. What I tend to recommend, and I know that … What’s interesting doc is, probably this was in March, right, when COVID hit the scene. I went on an interview and shared my thoughts on certain nutrients, like vitamin D and zinc. I said everybody should start taking these now. It was crazy. I got all of these criticisms from certain people saying, “How can you say vitamins and minerals are effective against this? There’s no research on that.” I’m like, “I’m going off 3000 years of Chinese medicine, and what they’re saying, which is just strengthen your immune system.” Here’s the thing to understand, your body heals itself. If you got a cut on your hand here, this force that Dr. Gundry you’re talking about, it’s that that heals you, broccoli doesn’t heal, turmeric doesn’t heal you, your body heals itself.
Dr. Josh Axe (25:04):
Now, herbs and spices, they can support and get your body in a better environment. Like you put lavender oil on there or something, you have a lesser chance of it getting infected. Okay? So you’re protecting it, but those things don’t heal you, but they could be building blocks to help your body heal and they can support the environment of that healing. So, all that being said, I really think that number one thing we have to do is, eliminate stress and high cortisol. So I think that really focusing on watching the news less, I don’t know anybody who watched the news and was like, “You know what? I’m less stressed now. I feel really hopeful. I feel really hopeful and good.”
Dr. Josh Axe (25:41):
I mean, there are a lot of studies that show how stress creates inflammation within our body. In fact, doc, you’ve seen the same thing. When I had my practice, if I had a patient come in with an inflammatory bowel disease, and they ate certain types of gluten or casein or wheat dairy, major flare up, I mean, just can be crippling, but would affect them just as much as if they had a really like a lot of stress in their family or whatever, they would have the same reaction. So all that being said, one, faith over fear, really focus on, hope getting yourself in a joyful state. I think that is really huge part of healing.
Dr. Josh Axe (26:19):
Number two is, the foods that really are most supportive in Chinese medicine for building and strengthening your immune system, because that’s what we know doc, right? It’s like, “Okay, who’s most at risk?” People with pre-existing conditions and immuno deficiency. Okay? We got to bring up and strengthen the immune system, reduce the inflammation. So, a diet that’s really rich in wild organic meat, cooked vegetables, certain fruits, and some healthy fats, and that’s generally speaking the diet. In Chinese medicine they would recommend a lot of light yellow foods. They would say those are the most beneficial for the lungs and colon or your immune system, generally speaking.
Dr. Josh Axe (26:59):
That’s going to be things like ginger, which is light yellow, it’s going to be chicken broth. When you’re sick, no one says drink beef broth. Why is it chicken? Well, chicken broth contains not only collagen, but glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid, which are great for the gut lining really reparative and restorative. So that’s good, garlic and onions are known to support it, for some people [inaudible 00:27:21] as well, some people can. Onions in particular, are known to support cellular health of the mitochondria.
Dr. Josh Axe (27:28):
So, some of those foods are good, and then some of those orange foods, a little sweet potato and pumpkin and squash, things like that. That’s better for upper GI issues, but generally speaking again, meat, cooked vegetables and fruit. In Chinese medicine they would say drink … When I was sick as a kid, and I’m curious, Dr. Steven, if you had the same thing, my mom always gave me the same thing when I was sick, chicken soup and ginger ale, and if [inaudible 00:27:58] should give me seven up, because I guess that’s the same thing to her.
Dr. Josh Axe (28:01):
So, the ancient remedy for cold and flu in Chinese medicine, what’s been prescribed for 3000 years is chicken soup and ginger herbal tea. Okay? So it’s chicken, bone broth, lots of veggies and just drinking ginger herbal tea. Very good for you. In fact, it’s like, “Why do we call it a cold today?” Well, according to Chinese medicine, one of those Six Evils is your body is cold internally. So most of the remedies for fighting a cold are warming herbs and spices like oregano and garlic and cinnamon and all these things that are … So not to get to off topic, let me finish up here.
Dr. Josh Axe (28:35):
The other things I’d recommend here, I really think vitamin D is probably the most important and zinc. I really think those are the two nutrients that our body needs the most, and we tend to be most efficient in, especially when I used to do blood work in my office, so many people are deficient in vitamin D, and athletes, zinc is the biggest thing they’re deficient because zinc is responsible for tissue repair. So if you have these CrossFitters and marathons, they absolutely need to have that. Then vitamin C, vitamin A, selenium, those can be important, but vitamin D, zinc, most important. Then from a herbal standpoint, it depends on where you have the issue. If you really need to support respiratory health and lungs, Cordyceps mushrooms tend to be the one that’s most prescribed in Chinese medicine or ginseng.
Dr. Josh Axe (29:20):
Ginseng for the full body, and sometimes something like echinacea, and then if it’s more long-term, just supporting long-term immune health, ginger and stragglers are two of the best. Straggler is probably one of the top three herbs recommended for leaky gut in Chinese medicine. So, those would be some of my favorites.
Dr. Gundry (29:40):
All right. Yeah, it’s funny, there are now, I think, at last count last week, 17 separate studies confirming the benefit of high levels of vitamin D in preventing getting COVID, or if you get COVID, lessening its effect. I’ve seen this recently, I may have mentioned it on another podcast, but I have a number of elderly patients. Often the wife sees me and the husband poo-poos it is just pseudoscience, I’ve been running my patient’s vitamin Ds above a 100 nanograms per deciliter for as long as I can remember.
Dr. Gundry (30:30):
Just recently, some elderly patients in March of last year came down with COVID. The wife who was following me, she said, “I had a cold for 48 hours, it was nothing. My husband spent 56 days in the ICU on a ventilator, almost turned him off, spent five and a half months in the hospital, and just now, got out.” The other one, Hispanic couple, she followed me, he didn’t. Nothing happened to her, even though she caught it and her husband is dead, and it’s just like, “Come on folks.” There’s actually a move to make the World Health Organization basically mandate getting vitamin D to everybody. I have never, in 20 years, seen vitamin D toxicity. I do not think it exists. Dr. Mark Hyman has never seen it in his practice, but for goodness sakes, let’s get some vitamin D in folks. And zinc, you’re absolutely right.
Dr. Josh Axe (31:39):
We should also do a whole show on why women listen and have all this wisdom men just never seem to get, because my mom and dad are the same way. My mom is so into natural health, taking care of herself. My dad does it because my mom forces him to, but my dad’s like an old military guy. I tried to bring him out for sushi once, and he’s like, “I won’t touch that.” Anyways, yeah.
Dr. Gundry (31:58):
You bring up a good point. If somebody comes to you and they’ve a family member who’s in trouble, they’ve got a major health issue or crisis, how do you get that person to try it, to listen? It’s a tough sell.
Dr. Josh Axe (32:24):
It is. I think for most people, what I found and I’ll just share this with my own family for myself. I think it really comes down to what your priorities are. What’s important to you. So, I can share this from my dad, what really allows me to connect with my dad and get him to change some of his lifestyle things. My dad is a semi-pro water scary seven years old, but he’s been water skiing his whole life. He actually likes working out, but his joints are just very, very sore all the time. So if I can help him educate himself and say, “Hey, dad, read this article on turmeric, read this article on proteolytic enzymes or things like bromelain and pineapple.” So, I have him. So, really encouraging people to educate themselves, putting that situation. I try not say, “You should just take this.”
Dr. Josh Axe (33:10):
I mean, some people do well with that. Again, my mom does, but my dad doesn’t work that way. The other thing is, we’ve all heard this quote, but people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I’ve had times, I’m just sitting with my dad where I’ll just set him down and just say, “Dad, listen, I want to let you know I love you more than anything, I want you running around with our daughter Arwen and bringing her to Disney World, and I just want to see you…” My dad and I go to college football games sometimes, and so, I’ll just share with him like, “Dad, I want to be doing this when you’re 90. Hey, can you do this for me? Hey, just start doing this smoothie or taking this.”
Dr. Josh Axe (33:48):
So I think connecting on a heart level and finding out what is that thing they want and really helping educate them on how taking this or doing this will help them achieve what they’re looking to achieve.
Dr. Gundry (34:01):
That’s actually a good segue. I know you’re not afraid to talk about things like spirituality, prayer, meditation, and other practices that Western medicine typically dismisses. So, how do you bring that into your practice, introduce it to a patient who may think that this is silly stuff?
Dr. Josh Axe (34:27):
Well, one thing I’m always very respectful of in letting people know, “Hey, listen, I’m here for you. I’m here to serve you and help you reach your health goals.” So I’ll ask permission, say, “Hey, I think it would be really good if we talked about your emotional health or hey, where you’re at spiritually, and typically, it’s more your emotional health.” I get their permission first. If they say, “Yeah, I am interested in doing everything I can to get healthy, including looking at my emotions.” Okay. “Hey, let’s talk about that then.” Then I’ll dive in. So that’s the first thing I do is, again, ask their permission.
Dr. Josh Axe (34:59):
In terms of how I lead it down with them. I think one of the things is not a lot of physicians are trained in this. Obviously if somebody is trained as a psychiatrist or psychologist or some of those, I think there’s obviously a much greater degree way of training there or a counselor. But for me, it’s something that I have trained to a degree … self-trained on, really looking at, again, these ancient forms of medicine in which emotions affect which organ systems. So, I’ll explain it to them and recommend certain practices.
Dr. Gundry (35:33):
All right. So what was the most surprising or interesting thing you learned while researching the new book?
Dr. Josh Axe (35:41):
Oh, goodness. I think one of the things I think that is so interesting is, is how these ancient forms of medicine just … For instance, how did they know that Andrographis is good for this condition, reishi mushroom for this tumor, for this, all the different things? They know what based on typically three things, what it looks like, the taste and the color. Okay? And sometimes where it grows, that sort of thing, but those are the three big things.
Dr. Josh Axe (36:12):
So for instance, when somebody looks at, in Chinese medicine, a walnut, they would say, “Well, walnut’s good for the brand.” Why is the walnut good for the brain? Well, one, it’s that color, it’s a certain brown color. It’s actually almost the color of brain tissue. I mean, if you look at a brain and that, brain is a little more pink, but that being said, there’s a white component, but when you crack it open, it actually looks like two hemispheres of your brain. The other thing is there a creator. Are you telling me there’s just a walnut that literally looks like a brain and it’s one of the best fruit for the brain, it’s high in choline, omega-3 fat, vitamin E.
Dr. Josh Axe (36:44):
So, all those great things for the brain, and like celery looks like your bones, celery is high in vitamin K and calcium, more than that though, it’s one of the most alkaline vegetables, so it actually prevents your body losing minerals, alkaline minerals. Beet look like your blood. They boost nitric oxide, so they’re great for your heart. Reishi mushroom. If you look at reishi, it looks identical to your kidneys. They’re known as an adrenal tonic, which sits on your kidneys, and I could go on, there’s so many. Tomatoes have four chambers, your heart has four chambers.
Dr. Josh Axe (37:15):
Lycopene has been shown to help combat heart disease. Avocados look like a uterus, the magnesium and potassium, the monounsaturated fats, great for the uterus. Figs look like testes, they were prized in Roman culture, and even today have been shown to help your libido. So all that being said, I thought it was so fascinating when you look at ancient herbalism in medicine that they prescribed foods, they would say, “Hey, you’ve got this condition, here’s your food prescription.” Like immune health I talked about, you ought to do a lot of chicken soup and ginger.
Dr. Josh Axe (37:45):
Oh, you’ve got adrenal and thyroid issues. That type of hormonal is down, we’re going to prescribe adaptogenic herbs, like ashwagandha and rhodiola and ginseng. And have you do a lot of berries and seafood like wild fish and seaweed, that’d be the prescription there. So, I just think the food is medicine prescriptions, and then different flavors affect different organ systems. Sour affects your liver and really supports your detoxification channels. Bitter, it really affects your heart and helps dry up candida and dampness. Sweet affects the pancreas, the upper GI, bitter effects … I’m sorry. Then there’s one more, salty affects the kidneys and the umami. Yeah, umami is the lungs and choline your immune system, it affects that. Then different colors. So, green is the liver. Anyway.
Dr. Josh Axe (38:37):
So, but in the book I get into all of that. So if somebody’s struggling with hypothyroidism, in the book, I really go through, here are the exact foods, the exact supplements that help treat the root cause of that disease, reverse that condition. I actually do that for over 70 conditions in the book. But then whats the most fascinating is like how these different herbs act in food as medicine for specific conditions.”
Dr. Gundry (39:00):
All right. So, it was great having you on the podcast, as if anyone really needed to know, where can they find you? Where can they find your book? What’s your website, et cetera?
Dr. Josh Axe (39:13):
Yeah. So everybody can find me on Draxe.com, also on social media @drjoshaxe on Instagram and Facebook. Then yeah, they can find the new book if they want to dig in and learn more. We’ve got a ton of healthy recipes in there. Eating plans are in there. Again, if anybody’s struggling with any condition, whether it be diabetes, infertility, low testosterone, they can get their prescription, it actually acts as a reference guide as well. So, you can read the book, but then go in the back and continue to look up, “Hey, I’ve got this condition or this issue.” It has a prescription in there for it. Anyways, I encourage everybody, just search Dr. Josh Axe, Ancient Remedies on amazon.com. Hey, check out the book, I think you’ll love it.
Dr. Josh Axe (39:57):
Dr. Gundry, I just want to say too, I’m just so honored to be on your podcast. I love your books, obviously, your books have sold like crazy. I’m sure everybody here listening has read it, but anyways, I just love what a pioneer you’ve been in really teaching people how to reduce inflammation, and thanks for having me on.
Dr. Gundry (40:13):
Well, I appreciate it. Anyone who’s listening, I actually got Dr. Axe’s email. I subscribed to him before anybody knew about him, probably. Yeah, I greatly appreciate the information that you’ve provided through the years. Good for you. All right. So as you know, we do an audience question and we’re both going to have a crack at this, because I think this is something that we’ve been talking about. So, this one is from [Sarah Liz 1127 00:40:44] on Instagram, “Diet and supplements to help with melasma.” Yeah, I think this will be great. You want to just quick tell people what melasma is, and then what do you think from your principals. Got any thoughts for this?
Dr. Josh Axe (41:01):
Yes. Melasma, it’s essentially a hyperpigmentation, people start to get dark spots on their skin. Listen, some is normal with aging, but this is much more severe. In Chinese medicine, it’s really an issue with something called [Foreign language 00:41:22] Okay, you know that? When I first heard that term [Foreign language 00:41:26] I thought, well, that seems crazy, and I though, it’s just really a different language. So, anytime you have a skin issue like this in Chinese medicine, it tends to be related to your digestive system. There being imbalance in your digestive system, typically your body can be too [Foreign language 00:41:44] So in Chinese medicine, they would recommend, and typically a form of an adaptogen that’s good for the digestive system.
Dr. Josh Axe (41:52):
So probably the number one herb for this specific condition in Chinese medicine would be licorice root. That would be very, very high up on the list. It’s mildly anti-inflammatory, but it’s also good at calming things, balancing the body, it’s good at calming and coating that gut lining. So that would probably be the first herb recommended. Let me think of some of the others. I would also say stragglers would probably be on that list as well, and say licorice and stragglers would be the first two herbs I would recommend.
Dr. Josh Axe (42:23):
Again, I would just always go to, also, looking at what’s happened in the past. Is there an emotional trauma? Really focusing on healing that, and then I would do a diet that’s really rich in those yellow foods, foods that are good for the immune system in particular in the stomach. And so yellow foods, orange foods, and that would be what I would prescribe.
Dr. Gundry (42:47):
All right. So, I see this actually quite a bit in a number of my Black female patients who frequently have this, on their neck, their upper shoulders, back sometimes, and I can tell you that I’ve yet to see any of these patients who don’t have an elevated insulin level. I’ve said in the past, if I was going to have one blood test and one blood test only to tell someone their fate, it would be a fasting insulin level. If I only got one. So I’m speaking of supplements, number one, I’d certainly give them my diet, but cinnamon is very useful, selenium is very useful. Berberine is probably way up on my list of supplements, which is Oregon grape root, for those of you who want to know where it came from originally.
Dr. Gundry (43:51):
So, great answers. But this is a really fixable resolvable condition as are most things. That brings me to thank every one of you for sending in these emails. If you haven’t already, you can sign up for the Dr. Gundry podcast newsletter by going to drgundry.com and entering your email on the home page. You’ll get announcements about every new episode like Dr. Hacks and find out about upcoming news and events. Again, go to drgundry.com and sign up. All right, Josh, pleasure seeing you again, keep up the good work and I’ll look forward to your emails and do get the book, these ancient wisdoms are ancient and they’ve been around a long time because there’s actually true science behind all of this, it’s not voodoo, it’s not pseudoscience. All right. Good luck with the book. Take care.
Dr. Josh Axe (44:58):
Thanks for having doc.
Dr. Gundry (45:00):
All right. Now it’s time for the review of the week. Do you think bananas are healthy? Think again, I’m Dr. Steven Gundry, best-selling author of The Plant Paradox series, and on the Dr. Gundry podcast, you’re going to learn the foods to eat and the ones to avoid, to lose weight, boost your energy and feel your most vibrant active self this year. You’ll also learn simple tips from the world’s top experts on health and nutrition. Plus you’ll discover the truth about calories, how running could actually be hurting your health and why fat won’t make you fat. Subscribe now to the Dr. Gundry podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, because I’m Dr. Gundry, and I’m always looking out for you.
Dr. Gundry (45:53):
This week’s review comes from [Melisa Arnautovic 00:45:55] I probably slaughtered that, but I apologize, on YouTube, who had said, “I’d this to say about my recent lecture on reading food labels. Thank you, Dr. Gundry for another insightful episode, big emphasis on the phrase, food with no nutrition label is the healthiest, AKA Whole Foods.” I absolutely agree, and it has been a game changer. “Thank you for bringing more clarity and empowering us to make more conscious decisions when it comes to our health.” Much love Melisa. Well, thanks, Melisa. Melisa is the name of my youngest daughter. So, great name by the way.
Dr. Gundry (46:38):
I love nothing more than empowering people with the knowledge that they need to take back control of their own health. So, let’s keep spreading the word and keep doing it because I’m Dr. Gundry, and I’m always looking out for you. See you next week. Disclaimer, on the Dr. Gundry podcast, we provide a venue for discussion and the views expressed by my guests do not necessarily reflect my own.
Dr. Gundry (47:10):
Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Dr. Gundry podcast. Before you go, I just wanted to remind you that you can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to watch each episode of the Dr Gundry podcast, you can always find me on YouTube at youtube.com/drgundry, because I’m Dr. Gundry, and I’m always looking out for you.
