This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Alessio Fasano about gluten, non celiac gluten sensitivity (NGCS), the gut microbiome and auto-immune conditions. Dr Fasano led the research team that discovered and named zonulin, an enzyme in the gut that is activated in response to gluten. They talk about the importance of this in relation to health in general, who needs to be mindful of gluten in their food, and the other pillars of health that impact on the gut. Importantly, Dr Fasano emphasises that...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 118
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Mikkipedia regular Dr Cliff Harvey about a host of different topics that have been on their minds in the nutrition and health space. This includes topics such as potential trends for 2023 and the supplements they are taking right now (and why). It’s a ‘fly on the wall’ conversation that you will enjoy. Cliff Harvey, PhD, is New Zealand’s expert on the effects of a ketogenic diet in a healthy population, but so much more than that. He has been helping peop...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 117
This week on the podcast Mikki chats to Ryan O’Connor, Optometrist based in Hamilton, all about his interest in metabolic health and eye health. They discuss the risk factors for some commonly seen eye conditions (including glaucoma, retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, AMD and cataracts) and the relationship with metabolic health and why it matters what we eat. We also discuss protocols he suggests help protect our eyes as we age, with some practical tips to support eye health (includ...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 116
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to clinical and research metabolic neurologist, Dr Matthew Phillips, on the utility of metabolic therapies for neurological health. They discuss Dr Phillips introduction in metabolic therapy for neurological disorders after his discover that conventional treatment wasn’t good enough to help stem the progression in certain neurological conditions (such as Parkinsons) and how his dissatisfaction led him to discover the benefits of fasting and a ketogenic diet ...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 115
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to one of the OGs in the nutrition education space, Dr Alan Aragon. To say that he has been around a long while would be an understatement, and this isn’t said in reflection of his age, more the years that he has spent creating and sharing nutrition content, in both the gym/fitness space and also in the academic space. In this interview, Mikki and Alan discuss his background in training and nutrition, before moving on to his book ‘flexible dieting’ which is ...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 114
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to naturopath and women’s health expert Alexandra Middleton about endometriosis. They discuss the etiology of the disease, what places a woman at increased risk, what factors outside of diet and lifestyle that impact on symptoms, and the diet and lifestyle treatments that can help a woman with endometriosis, including supplements that Alex regularly uses in her clinic. They also discuss the environmental factors that impact on the progression of endometriosi...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 113
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Dr Greg Brown, medical director at Wellington Hyperbarics, all about hyperbaric oxygen therapy (or HBOT). They discuss the history of HBOT as a therapy for a range of hard-to-treat conditions, and why there are few clinics available here in NZ despite robust research of its effectiveness internationally, particularly in wound healing. Dr Brown details out the mechanisms behind how HBOT works, and the frequency and duration of sessions that they use at Wel...
Nov 29, 2022•55 min•Ep. 112
Last time Nicky was on the podcast, we discussed in depth the issue of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) for both males and females. This time around we take a step back and talk about the role of hormones in health (how they underlie all physiology), how hormones change across the lifecycle, the risks associated with cardiovascular disease for women and how hormones play a major role in that, the diurnal rhythm of hormones and how this impacts on what we might learn from blood tests, ...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 111
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Professor Howard Schubiner, mind-body medicine practitioner, all about pain. Prof Schubiner discusses his introduction into mind-body medicine early in his career as a doctor after being made aware of it from a friend who had personal experience of a long term pain being resolved through pain reprocessing techniques (PRT). Prof Schubiner today on the podcast discusses this, what pain actually is, what conditions there are clinical trials to illustrate its...
Nov 15, 2022•57 min•Ep. 110
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Ty Beal, Research Advisor on the Knowledge Leadership team at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition about nutrient density, bioavailability, and his recent study on global micronutrient deficiencies. Ty explains his approach to defining nutritional deficiencies and addresses common misconceptions and misunderstandings about which foods are the most nutrient-dense. We discuss the modern diet, how children are impacted by the available food choices, th...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 109
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Dr. Michael Twyman, who is a cardiologist specialising in functional and quantum medicine which investigates prevention and treatments for the whole body in all areas of medicine, drawing on eastern and western medicine philosophy. We talk about heart disease risk and how to prevent hear attacks, the importance of mitochondrial function, endothelial health, and why the light dark cycle (and circadian rhythm is so important. We also discuss nitric oxide an...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 108
This week on the show I speak to Dan Plews about Funky Trunkies, protein metabolism and Chelsea Sodaro - who blew up the podium at the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Championships in Kona in early October. We talk about training and nutrition tactics, the data Dan used to assess progress, whether there were sex specific strategies used in his approach, how important recovery was and where Dan feels coaches and athletes could go wrong in the training journey. It’s a pretty transparent conversation, and...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 107
Prof Eamonn Quigley is a renowned gastroenterologist and is internationally known for his research on gastrointestinal motility disorders, neurogastroenterology and the gut microbiome. He has published more than 800 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, editorials, book chapters and case reports. Quigley is past president of the American College of Gastroenterology and the World Gastroenterology Organisation. His current responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the David M. Underwood Chair o...
Oct 18, 2022•49 min•Ep. 106
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Art Green, best known as the first NZ Bachelor, now health and wellbeing advocate, podcast and TV host, husband to Matilda and Dad to Milo and Autumn and all around decent human being. They discuss Clean Paleo, Plate Up and the lessons being in business taught him. They discuss his podcast and controversy behind the Paleo Pete episode, Bachelor and meeting his now wife Matilda (which cast both of them in the spotlight) and what is important now for them b...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 105
Rob Dallimore gives his opinion of this years potential medal contenders in the womens Ironman World Champs on the eve of the race
Oct 06, 2022•39 min•Ep. 104
Mikki and Grant bring this bonus episode from the Ironman World Champs and Grant talks about his own fat loss protocol to get into shape to run with Mikki, as well as fat adaptation strategies for Ironman athletes.
Oct 05, 2022•50 min•Ep. 103
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Jeff Pelletier, ultra-distance trail runner and filmmaker, member of the Team Salomon Canada, and a prolific content creator that showcases running training and competing, bringing to life his adventures in a way that inspires over 50 000 people that are subscribed to his You Tube Channel. Mikki and Jeff discuss his introduction to running, what inspired him to turn his channel into an avenue that is interesting, educational and inspirational, the races a...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 102
Rob has an extensive background in Endurance Sports having competed at a high level, in running, Duathlon, triathlon and Multisport. Rob has competed in 19 Ironman events and has lost count of the number of Half Ironman and shorter distance triathlon races. He carries a long history in the sport having raced for over 20 years in events of all distances. He has raced the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and has represented New Zealand at the Age Group Long and Olympic distance World Champion...
Oct 02, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 101
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Dr Eric Westman, one of the modern day pioneers in the low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet space. Mikki and Dr Westman talk about his introduction to the ketogenic diet through Dr Atkins, and how his curiosity led to clinical research trials that provides an evidence base for low carbohydrate diets as a therapy for a range of conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, GERD, polycystic ovarian syndrome and more. They discuss some of the areas where peopl...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 100
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Nicole Jardim, health coach, podcaster, speaker and writer on all things hormone health. We talk about the disconnect between our modern lifestyles and optimising hormone health, why balanced hormones is a bit of a misnomer, what a ’normal’ cycle should look like and how to test at certain times in your cycle to get a better understanding of what is going on. We also very briefly touch on Nicole’s own tongue tie surgery and why she had it done, what benef...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 99
Cliff Harvey, PhD, is New Zealand’s expert on the effects of a ketogenic diet in a healthy population, but so much more than that. He has been helping people to live healthier, happier lives, and to perform better since starting in clinical practice (way back...) in the late 1990s. Over this time he has been privileged to work with many Olympic, professional, Commonwealth and other high performing athletes. He has also worked with many people to overcome the effects of chronic and debilitating h...
Sep 13, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 98
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Dr Bret Scher, medical director over at Diet Doctor, a very popular low carb internet resource that helps thousands of people optimise their diet to improve their health status. A cardiologist in training, Mikki and Bret talk about how he discovered low carb, the results he sees in his practice and how his low carb approach has changed over the years. They also discuss what ‘evidence based medicine’ actually means, and discuss the important blood markers ...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 97
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to national powerlifting champion, mentor and registered nutritionist Julianne Taylor about her training, her nutrition approach and her general awesomeness. She was one of the first Zone nutritionists in New Zealand and they discuss the similarities between Zone, Paleo and what Julianne advocates now. We also discuss the importance of calories in assisting fat loss. Julianne is a wealth of information and they talk a lot of practical tips in this episode of...
Aug 30, 2022•59 min•Ep. 96
The week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Taylor Sittler, head of research and development at Levels, a health app designed to interpret and make recommendations on your continuous glucose monitor (CGM) readings. We talk 101 as to why it’s even important to think about measuring glucose, the limitations of fasting glucose, why it’s controversial to suggest healthy people could monitor their glucose for their metabolic health, what affects your glucose levels (some surprising things!) and much more...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 95
This week on the show Mikki speaks to Dr Chris Palmer, psychiatrist, all about nutritional psychology and the intersect between metabolic health and brain health. They discuss how these two concepts are linked, the problem with current therapies for mental health and the use of the ketogenic diet as a tool to help improve patient outcomes. Christopher Palmer, MD received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine . He did his internship and psychiatry residency at McLean Ho...
Aug 16, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 94
This week I’m diving into the science of cold water swimming with Dr Heather Massey, a Senior Lecturer in the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Portsmouth, where she spends a lot of her time researching the science of cold water immersion. She’s published a number of studies that make up some of the nascent scientific research into the benefits of cold water swimming for physical and mental health. We talk 101 about what is ‘cold’ water, what are the mechanisms behind how it w...
Aug 09, 2022•54 min•Ep. 93
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Dr Stephen Cunnane all about his research on the brain, what is important regarding nutrients, the importance of ketones as a fuel source for the brain, what we need to think about as we age (for the brain) and his research on medium chain triglycerides and their usefulness in cognitive decline and potential application for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Professor Stephen Cunnane is a metabolic physiologist at the University of Sherbrooke in...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 92
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to returning guest Dr Dan Plews about his recent foray into an animal-based nutrition approach, the importance of sodium for performance (and Dan’s recommendations for those headed into the hot summer of training, or Kona for Hawaii Ironman) and his most recent paper that talks about the importance of habitual dietary fat intake for fat metabolism (outside of pre-training nutrition strategies) Dan Plews is an Applied Sport Scientist, Researcher, Coach and co...
Jul 26, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 91
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Beth Maclean, a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia all about iron metabolism. They discuss the importance of iron for our health, the problem of low iron stores (and how this goes unrecognised in many people, particularly women, when we only focus on iron deficiency anemia), the symptoms of iron deficiency and the best way to lift iron stores. They also delve a little into the performance realm, and why iron is important for performance ...
Jul 19, 2022•47 min•Ep. 90
This week on the podcast Mikki speaks to Nick Norwitz about ketogenic diets, cholesterol numbers and why we see differences into the cholesterol response between people who are overweight and have metabolic disorder, compared to otherwise healthy, lean individuals. Nick is a co-author on a couple of papers that investigate this phenomenon, lean mass hyperresponder (LMHR) which notes a massive rise in LDL cholesterol when some individuals go on a ketogenic diet. We discuss what is known, what isn...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 89
