Category Archives: Blog

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The Roots of Health – Episode 42: The Decline of the Bees with Nathan Clarke

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

When you think about bees, do you think about being stung, or having an allergic reaction, or maybe honey? Let’s take a bigger picture perspective and recognize them for the gigantic service they do for us as pollinators. Today, about 1/3 of the produce in our markets is brought to us by the humble honeybee. And at the same time that we have planted a 300% increase in crops that require their pollination services, honeybee colonies have been collapsing at a rate of 30% (up to 60% locally) every year. What is it about their environment that is taking such a huge toll on their health?

My guest today will help me to answer this question. Nathan Clarke is a beekeeper that started a business called Mad Urban Bees, and he’s doing his part to support a healthy bee population in backyards and on rooftops in and around Madison, WI.

Nathan and I chat about honeybee behavior and what constitutes a healthy colony, the real reasons (and they know what they are) behind the precipitous decline in the bee populations, and what part that you can play to help maintain a healthy bee population in your area.

Side Note from Meredith: Honeybee ARE a canary in the coalmine. We can see the results of their malnourishment leading to decreased immunity + increased environmental toxins… they are compromised by a lack of nutrients and a dysfunctional food system… and we should sort of look in the mirror and ask ourselves, are we next?

Nathan’s Bio: Nathan Clarke is owner and founder of Mad Urban Bees LLC, an urban apiary located in Madison, WI. His beehives are located in the cities of Madison and Middleton and are hosted in backyards, back lots, and on rooftops. These bees pollinate the gardens, flowers and trees of the city and produce a honey that is unique to Madison.

Nathan is a self-taught beekeeper of ten years. He now manages over 90 hives in the Madison area, including Olbrich Botanical Gardens. He teaches beekeeping classes throughout the year.

Mad Urban Bees honey is extracted in small batches, is never blended or heat-treated, and contains local pollen. Healthier bees mean better tasting, healthier honey!

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

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The Roots of Health – Episode 41: Dietary Guidelines – The Definitive One.

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

Dietary food guidelines are a distinctly modern phenomenon. Why do they even exist? Probably because all of the sudden, consumers have so many choices, that they can no longer instinctually feed themselves… and remain healthy.

While the US has been making dietary recommendations to its citizens for over a century, and have updated them every 5 years or so since the 1980’s, have you ever wondered what other governments recommend to their people?

This week I make some observations about the recommendations that we get in the United States vs. a country that has really embraced a holistic, ancestral view of eating.

Of particular note this week, I make mention of the US dietary recommendations and how they have leaned heavily toward some of our most subsidized commodities (corn, wheat, cotton, & soy subsidies top the list), about how the US focuses on calories, isolated ‘nutrients of concern’, and recommends ~3 ‘eating patterns’ (ignoring hundreds of not thousands of traditional diets that sustains humans worldwide – see 2010 US Dietary Guidelines here). And I review some interesting new recommendations that may be part of the 2015 US Dietary Guidelines.

In comparison – The Ministry of Health for the country of Brazil recognizes some very important principles – not reductionist & highlighting ‘nutrients of concern’ – but holistic, highlighting food preparation, community, tradition, equality, and justice. Their efforts culminate in the Ten Steps to Healthy Diets.

You can, and should, read the entire document here.

Tell me what you think about this.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

 

 

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The Roots of Health – Episode 40: How to Get Healthy… Without Being a Jerk.

Me 40-01Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

*This show is more about not driving your family away when you decide to change your dietary choices… but it will equally apply to your friends… carry on.

Hi, I’m Meredith, and I was once a jerk – disguised as a health coach.

I understand this is a common problem – where one-half of a couple is motivated by some health issue to make a positive change, and the other half of the couple really likes the status quo. Even more – if you throw kids into the mix – and the motivated party suddenly wants health for the entire family… you have a recipe for rebellion.

What can you do? How to you go about getting healthy without being a jerk? 😉

This show is full of lessons learned from my very own story – complete with snippits straight from my kids. I offer a handful of suggestions for you to own your own health story and be a positive role model at home – without making your family feel like they are being dragged in against their will.

You’re not a jerk… I know you – you’re my kind of people.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

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The Roots of Health – Episode 39: Healing Cancer with Biological Medicine, the story of Dayna Baumeister

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

Cancer is a group of diseases that is characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells, and the American Cancer Society suggests that it can be treated with things like surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immune therapy, and targeted therapy – or drugs that interfere with cancer cell growth. These are the primary options that are presented to us in America. These treatments are designed to target and kill the cancer as if it was an isolated unit in our body. And none of these treatments are without side effects, which are often worse than housing the cancer itself.

Today I wanted to introduce to you an alternate approach to healing cancer. Biological medicine is not some new-age-woo-woo philosophy, it’s a real science and it’s based on the biology and physiology of the human being down to the cellular level. It is understanding that we are nature, that all of our systems are interconnected, that we’re unique individuals, that we each have our own story, and therefore our own unique healing journey.

Last week, I interviewed Dayna Baumeister of Biomimicry 3.8 and organization that looks to nature to solve modern human problems (listen here). During my conversation with Dayna, I found out that she was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago. Dayna, using a biomimicy approach, had the insight to ask nature how she would solve this problem… this is the story about how Dayna successfully healed her body using Biological Medicine.

Her story covers her visit with her oncologist, her decision to choose a biological approach to heal her cancer rather than a conventional (or industrial – as she calls it) approach, what happened to her during her 3-week healing journey, and what has changed about how she lives her life today.

Ultimately – you should be aware that your body is designed by nature to heal itself… and biological medicine is an approach that characterizes your unique, interdependent human body for the purposes of designing an individualized healing program for you.

Check out some of the biological medicine clinics in the States, including the Marion Institute in Marion, MA, and the American Center for Biological Medicine in Scottsdale, AZ.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

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The Roots of Health – Episode 38: Biomimicry with Dayna Baumeister

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

It’s pretty common for us to associate innovation and technology with human ingenuity. In school, we learned about the industrial revolution, and how from that point forward… the standard of life began to increase consistently for the first time in history. The development of machines to do the physical work of humans not only sparked efficiency, but sparked the economy.

By the end of today’s show – I hope to convince you that we’ve overlooked the most important innovator around – Nature. And that you can and should leverage the innovations that nature has already created to live a happy, healthy, and vastly more sustainable life here on Earth.

My guest today is out there spreading this message broadly, educating people around the world to literally think outside the box. Dayna Baumeister is the Co-Founder and Keystone of Biomimicry 3.8 – an organization that helps innovators solve human problems with the brilliance of nature’s design.

On this episode, Dayna and I chat about the roots of biomimicry, about the way human beings innovate vs the way nature innovates, about the difference between bio-inspired design and the real biomimicry of systems, some perspective on the amount of time that nature has been innovate on her own – without us – using only her laws, and a few examples of biomimicry in technology today. We discuss from a human health perspective how we might apply the concept of biomimicry to benefit our own lives on a daily basis.

Go ahead, ask nature how she’d do it…

Let me help you use the laws of nature to gain health… contact me to schedule a health strategy session today.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

 

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The Roots of Health – Episode 37: Can Insects Feed the World?

Rachel 37-01Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

One of the basic problems that we face on Earth today as a result of ever-growing population is… how do we feed the world without taxing our natural resources? There’s no doubt that modern approach to raising livestock for food goes against all of the laws of nature – it wastes precious resources while creating unnatural conditions for the animals, ruining their health, and ultimately, changing their nutritional profile. Foods from these operations have limited distribution, and the entire system wasn’t designed to support health of our planet. This is the status quo until we think outside the box and propose some new solutions. So, how should we go about increasing the food security of our world?

My guest today proposes that the solution lies in the microlivestock farming of insects as a food source. Yes, bugs. Rachel Bergmans co-founded MIGHTi – which stands for the Mission to Improve Global Health Through Insects – with fellow-PhD candidate, Valerie Stull.

Rachel and I chat about the reasons behind global food insecurity, how scalable our current food system is, what natural resources are being taxed as a result of our modern agricultural system, the ‘ick-factor’ of insects as a food source, why you are probably already be eating them, the nutritional profile of insects vs. other protein sources, why insects could be a sustainable solution to the global food security problem, what microlivestock farming really is, and how the MIGHTi initiative plans to pursue its mission.

And Rachel tells us about her favorite insect to eat. (Hint: she has a herd of mealworms).

Insects are a quality, sustainable food source… tell me, how will you try them?

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

 

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The Roots of Health – Episode 36: Modern Oral Health with Dr. Alvin Danenberg

Alvin 36-01Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

The modern state of our dental health is less than desirable, our jaws are narrow – our teeth are crowded & crooked, we have cavities, gum disease & braces are pretty much a rite of passage… Our approach today is to focus on oral hygiene; brushing, flossing, fluoride treatments, and professional cleanings a couple times a year… paleolithic humans didn’t benefit from any of these modern interventions – yet their remains tell a story of wide jaws, straight teeth, and apparently healthy gums.

What’s the disconnect here?

Unlike the traditional approach to dental health, my guest today has a much more holistic & functional view. Dr. Alvin Danenberg, or Dr. Dan as his patients call him, is a periodontist and functional medicine practitioner with an ancestral perspective.

Al and I chat about his background, his new holistic approach to his practice, his opinion about water fluoridation (I had to ask), the reasons why our teeth are so crooked these days (this is a relatively new condition), if brushing and flossing is enough to keep your mouth healthy today, and his recommendations for oral hygiene.

You can find out more about Dr. Alvin Danenberg at his website – http://drdanenberg.com/.

And if you have questions or comments for me… I’m happy to receive them…. Follow this link to connect with me. Cheers!

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

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The Roots of Health – Episode 35: Food Allergies with Cathy Nagler

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

When I was in elementary school in the early 80’s, we were allowed to have peanut butter at lunch, there was no ‘allergy table’ in the cafeteria, and bake sale items didn’t have to come with a list of ingredients. Today – my kids have friends with life threatening allergies – no strawberries in this class, no cinnamon in that class… the after school program is a nut-free place… What’s going on? Why the rise? And what’s being done to address this issue?

Here to help us better understand the ins and outs of food allergies is Cathryn Nagler. Cathyrn is the Bunning Food Allergy Professor at the University of Chicago where she is currently researching the role that gut bacteria have in a person’s allergic response to food.

Cathy explains what a food allergy is – the body somehow stops being able to handle a food (the default for a body is to be non-responsive to food), describes this thing called the ‘allergic march’ (from dermatitis at infancy, to food allergy between 3-5 years, allergic rhinitis & asthma in school aged kids), what ways food allergies manifest in the body, the current treatment for food allergy and her thoughts on desensitization techniques, and how bacteria (or the lack thereof) might be involved in the reason that there is such a major rise in food allergy these days.

The clinical and subclinical (see: farm animals that we ultimately consume) use of antibiotics & hand sanitizer (triclosan) is deleterious to our microbiome – and consequently hypothesized to promote food allergy. Food allergy may also be on the rise in step with a rise in c-section rates – hypothesized because the maternal transfer of her vaginal microbiome to her child is absent.

Cathy’s lab undertook a mouse study to investigate the relationship between food allergy and bacteria. They were able to resolve a food allergy in the mice by healing the mucous barrier in the gut with a particular species of bacteria. You can read the entire paper online by following this link.

With studies like these, it’s becoming clear that food allergies are a sign of a compromised intestinal barrier – and that bacterial therapies should be investigated as a potential solution for healing the gut barrier and eliminating food allergy.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

 

 

 

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The Roots of Health – Episode 34: Water Fluoridation with Paul Connett

Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

Everyone in the United States knows that fluoride makes your teeth strong and prevents cavities, right? Most toothpaste contains fluoride for that very reason… And because of fluoride’s reputation for preventing tooth decay – it was decided long ago to add fluoride to the water supply as a means of protecting the oral health of all who are treated with it. It’s interesting though, that toothpaste containing fluoride has warning labels suggesting that you contact poison control if too much has been swallowed. Why doesn’t your tap water come with the same warning?

My guest today can help us to better understand this disconnect. Paul Connett is the executive director of the Fluoride Action Network, an organization that seeks to broaden awareness about the toxicity of fluoride compounds among citizens, scientists, and policymakers alike.

Paul gives us some great perspective on the history and ‘science’ of water fluoridation. There is no biological process in the body that requires fluoride and its use in the water supply qualifies it as a drug. As such, it is un-dosed, unregulated, and given to us without our permission. Furthermore, the research on fluoride is telling us that it is neurotoxic, that it reduces our cognitive abilities, is correlated with ADHD and is correlated with hypothyroidism. Fluoride reacts with our bones, and there is precious little research on the influence of fluoride and the prevalence of arthritis in our population.

And the secret that few people know is that the fluoride in our municipal water systems is a waste product of fertilizer manufacturing…

If your water supply is fluoridated, you can take steps to reduce your exposure by drinking spring water or investing in a water filtration system to eliminate the added fluoride.

Get informed about the practice of water fluoridation – and make a stand against it in your community. Visit the Fluoride Action Network for more information. Paul mentions a video called ‘Professional Perspectives of Water Fluoridation’… follow this link to watch it.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.

 

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The Roots of Health – Episode 33: Earthing with Martin Zucker, Part 2

Martin 33-01Click here to go right to the show in iTunes or on WebTalkRadio.net.

This is Part 2 of my interview with Martin Zucker… if you have yet to hear that one, you can catch it here.

It’s electricity 101. You ground your outlets to protect yourself and your appliances from stray voltage. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Your wiring is connected to a rod that is embedded into the Earth outside of your home. The Earth is the largest reservoir of electrons that we know of… and excess or leaky voltage will dissipate safely toward the ground. And It’s well established that human beings operate bio-electrically – electro-cardiograms are standard practice for measuring the electrical output of our hearts. It’s also not a far stretch to see that all living things on Earth evolved in direct contact with it. How does the energy of the Earth influence our biology? Seems like it would be easy enough to test, right?

Last week, Martin Zucker helped to shed some light on the idea that grounding ourselves, or Earthing, might be a giant missing piece to our health puzzle. I’ve asked him back to talk about some Earthing research and case studies.

To review – the theory is that we’re electron deficient when we don’t touch the earth – and that this electron deficiency stimulates inflammation in our bodies.

Martin and I discuss the challenges that scientists face when studying Earthing, a few scientific studies that support the health benefits of Earthing (Chevalier, 2014 ; Ghaly, 2004), we talk about Earthing & exercise, how Earthing shields you from manmade electrical fields, about why people don’t know about Earthing, and about how this information can shape the future of our communities.

Science is beginning to support this theory of Earthing and thusfar, any re-connection to the Earth’s energy is positive.  Many people have experienced remarkable health improvements from connecting themselves back to the Earth.

 

Martin’s Bio:

Martin Zucker has written extensively on natural healing, fitness, and alternative medicine for more than thirty-five years. He has co-authored or ghostwritten more than a dozen books during that time. His latest is Earthing:The Most Important Health Discovery Ever! (Basic Health Publications, 2014, second edition), co-authored with Clinton Ober and cardiologist Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. His previous books include Move Yourself and Reverse Heart Disease Now (both from John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 2006), Natural Hormone Balance for Women (Pocket Books, 2002), The Miracle of MSM (Berkley Trade, 1999), Preventing Arthritis (Berkley Trade, 2002), and The Veterinarians’ Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs/Cats (Three Rivers Press, 2000).

Zucker has written hundreds of magazine articles on a wide variety of health topics and contributed to Smithsonian, Readers Digest, Los Angeles Times, Cook’s Magazine, Vegetarian Times, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, and The National Enquirer. He is a former Associated Press foreign correspondent who worked in Europe and the Middle East.

You can subscribe to The Roots of Health at WebTalkRadio.net and also on iTunes.