Rather than providing a “one size fits all” approach to wellness, Oriental Medicine recognizes that each of us has a unique constitution.This Eastern practice dates back at least 3000 years, but its teachings are just as relevant and powerful today as ever. Acupuncturist Cheryl Harris discusses the benefits of acupressure (and acupuncture) on some of her youngest patients. She discusses its efficacy as "preventative maintenance medicine," grounding the children emotionally and shoring them up ph...
Jul 17, 2017•27 min•Ep. 86
Many conservation groups hold a piece of the puzzle when it comes to saving our planet. They focus on saving a particular species or on planting trees. Sarah Savory suggests that we must step back and look at the big picture for a more cohesive approach to regenerate the land. And the land is indeed key, because if it becomes infertile, there will be nothing for the animals to eat, and they will indeed become extinct, despite our best efforts. Sarah Savory is a children's book author and conserv...
Jul 10, 2017•30 min•Ep. 85
Do you eat all the right foods but still struggle with health concerns? Do you feel like your health recovery is characterized by forward progress, followed by inevitable setbacks? Microbiologist Kiran Krishnan explains in detail what he believes is the “ground zero” of most health disorders: a weakened mucosa layer between the skin and the cellular lining. When the mucosa layer is defective, it becomes permeable, allowing toxins into our system that wreak havoc with our health. And some of thes...
Jul 03, 2017•38 min•Ep. 84
Over 15 years ago, physician Terry Wahls was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis. Being a doctor, she dove into the scientific literature looking for a cure to this progressive disease. Though she got the best conventional medicine had to offer, her health declined to such a degree that three years later even a strong breeze could cause her sensitive body pain. After much research, she came to the conclusion that, rather than taking supplements, she should identify the foods where the nutrients co...
Jun 26, 2017•26 min•Ep. 83
What can we do to help those in food deserts? How can we address food insecurity and inequality? Pam Hess, the Executive director of Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, discusses what we can do as individuals and organizations to make whole, real foods available in cities and rural areas where choices are limited. She discusses the mission of Arcadia: growing food and farmers, creating demand, and making fresh food accessible to low-income families. Their mobile market service b...
Jun 19, 2017•29 min•Ep. 82
Why is fast food cheap while real, organic food is so expensive? Why are there “food deserts” not only in cities, but in rural areas around the country? How did the invention of the automobile and the grocery cart affect our food-buying habits? Pam Hess, the Executive Director of Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, explains our broken food system and how it has set the stage for our current health crisis. All of us should have the choice to purchase nutritious real food where we...
Jun 12, 2017•28 min•Ep. 81
Do you feel like you're often on the run? Does the idea of improving your diet (or your family's diet) overwhelm you? Susana Hill and Leslie Schall can help! They are young moms who have been on the same treadmill many of us are on and they've got simple ideas that can help us transition to the Wise Traditions (real food) diet. They share a bit of their own story today, and how they themselves were able to transition to a healthier diet and lifestyle. They share ideas that will help us avoid gui...
Jun 05, 2017•32 min•Ep. 80
“Eat your veggies!” We’ve heard this over and over and today we learn more about the “why” behind the charge! Author and holistic physician Dr. Tom Cowan refers to vegetables as our vitamin pills. They’re not primarily for calories or protein in our diet. We need their disease-fighting properties: the phytonutrients, the antioxidants, the minerals and vitamins that they offer! Vegetables help protect us against cancer, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, and more. Did you know that some indigenous grou...
May 29, 2017•29 min•Ep. 79
Is fasting good for you? How should your diet change as you age? What's the best way to lose unwanted pounds? Why do "diet dictocrats" still insist we eat a low-fat diet, when the science points in a different direction? In today's conversation with Sally Fallon Morell, the head of the Weston A. Price Foundation, we touch on all of these topics. It is a "best of" bonus episode, featuring excerpts from articles in the Wise Traditions spring journal. You'll learn why nothing is off the table on th...
May 27, 2017•26 min•Ep. 78
Toxins in our food and in our environment are wreaking havoc on our health. In today's episode, Zen Honeycutt, the founder of Moms Across America, describes the most common toxins, what they do to us, and how to protect ourselves against them. She goes into particular detail about the chemicals used in conventional agriculture and how they disrupt our gut health and the endocrine system. All of us are negatively impacted by toxins, of course, but Zen also explains how children are especially vul...
May 22, 2017•32 min•Ep. 77
Childbirth is unpredictable, wild, and primal. We have "modernized" childbirth, making it clinical, sterilized, and on a timetable. Genevieve Howland, a/k/a Mama Natural, recognizes that pregnancy and birth are normal, and that having a baby is a wondrous biological process and rite of passage—not a medical condition. In that light, Genevieve discusses how to prepare for a more natural childbirth experience and how to "naturalize" a c-section. Her goal is to educate mothers and fathers about the...
May 15, 2017•34 min•Ep. 76
Some of us eat low-fat diets. Others eat high-protein/low-carb. But very few of us eat high-fat diets. All of the healthy people groups that Dr. Weston A. Price studied ate diets higher in fat than those we eat today. This is one reason that in today's conversation, Sally Fallon Morell, the head of the Weston A. Price Foundation, suggests that we all could benefit from upping our fat intake. More fat in our diet? Why? And how much should we be eating? What is a healthy fat, anyway? And are anima...
May 08, 2017•29 min•Ep. 75
Health care today is often, in reality, "sick care." We turn to medical professionals for the treatment and management of sickness and disease. Farmer Doug Flack is an activist who suggests a very different approach. He believes we should turn to the land to cultivate optimal health. He is convinced that we must develop healthy soil for healthy people. For this reason he asserts that the farm should be our primary health provider. He has spent years investigating and developing his approach to w...
May 01, 2017•27 min•Ep. 74
Do you crave sodas? You're in luck! You can drink "the original sodas" when you add naturally fizzy fermented drinks to your diet! They are more hydrating, and re-mineralizing than plain water. And they have numerous health benefits: they can aid digestion, circulation, improve health concerns, and even clear up skin issues. Hannah Crum, the author of "The Big Book of Kombucha," is a fermented drink expert. Today, she discusses a wide variety of fermented drinks: from kefir to kvass, to ginger b...
Apr 24, 2017•30 min•Ep. 73
One in six children in the U.S. has a developmental disability; one in four is medicated; one in 48 has autism. (This means that approximately every 7 minutes, a child is diagnosed with autism.) All of these statistics are alarming, so what can we do to stem the tide? The West Virginians for Health Freedom are an advocacy group that are stepping into the fray and fighting for informed consent, parental rights, and religious and medical exemptions to vaccinations. In West Virginia, children are r...
Apr 17, 2017•26 min•Ep. 72
Many of us want to care for our bodies, our families, our community. Tré Cates of the Savory Institute challenges us to consider how our individual choices impact the whole world! Living holistically means looking at the big picture and considering how every choice---from where we choose to live, to the clothing we buy, to the food we eat---can move us closer to our life goals and help the earth at the same time. This interview took place at the Africa Centre for Holistic Management in Zimbabwe,...
Apr 10, 2017•30 min•Ep. 71
Alzheimer’s disease seems to strike indiscriminately and those receiving the diagnosis have little reason for optimism. Conventional medicine offers medication that is designed to slow the pace of cognitive decline but seems to lack efficacy. For her new book, “The Alzheimer’s Antidote,” certified nutrition specialist Amy Berger has synthesized medical research to shed light on new options that offer relief and hope to those who suffer with Alzheimer’s and to their caregivers. In today’s convers...
Apr 03, 2017•28 min•Ep. 70
We are not alone! Did you know that we are 10 times more bacteria than we are human? The bacteria that live in (and on us) play a significant role in how our body responds to stress, food, and our environment. In today's episode, microbiologist Kiran Krishnan helps us gain a clearer understanding of the human microbiome and how it relates to our overall health. Many health conditions--including skin issues like psoriasis and eczema to diabetes and Chron's disease, to candida, yeast issues, and e...
Mar 27, 2017•35 min•Ep. 69
The Food and Drug Administration is considering changing the "use of the term 'healthy' in the labeling of human food products." At a recent public hearing on this topic, registered dietician Pam Schoenfeld attended and spoke, representing both the Weston A. Price Foundation and the American public. Her purpose was to remind the FDA (and all in attendance) that there are many foods right now that would not qualify as "healthy" under current (and perhaps future) labeling practice. And yet, these ...
Mar 20, 2017•32 min•Ep. 68
We have often heard it said that water is critical for our health, but Dr. Gerald Pollack adds a surprising twist to that familiar conversation. Water has long been considered to have only three phases: liquid, solid, or gas. Jerry and his colleagues have been studying a fourth phase of water, as it appears in our bodies, called EZ or "exclusion zone" water. Jerry has written a whole book about this subject entitled "The Fourth Phase of Water." In it, and in today's conversation, he explains how...
Mar 13, 2017•32 min•Ep. 67
Leah McCullough was in pain, discouraged, and exhausted. She had spent the last six years of her illness in bed for 12-16 hours a day. She had tried over 50 medications with no positive results. Fibromyalgia seemed like a life sentence for Leah. She is one of 5 million sufferers in the U.S. (It is the most common musculoskeletal condition after osteoarthritis). Through her journey, Leah learned that susceptibility to disease comes from a variety of factors: toxins in our environment, damaged dig...
Mar 06, 2017•30 min•Ep. 66
There's a lot of confusion around what constitutes a healthy fat. In today's episode, Sally Fallon Morell, the head of the Weston A. Price Foundation, makes a solid case for including animal fats in our diet, based on her book “Nourishing fats: why we need animal fats for health and happiness.” For decades, animal fats and saturated fats have been maligned as unhealthy, but the evidence points in the opposite direction. It's time to unlearn the propaganda and become reacquainted with the happy, ...
Feb 27, 2017•32 min•Ep. 65
Vaccines in the United States are required at birth, for daycare, school and college enrollment, for military members, foreign adoptions and more. Why the big push to vaccinate ourselves and our children? Learn about the influences that affect our vaccination policies and about your rights related to vaccinations. Alan Phillips, the nation’s leading vaccine rights attorney, speaks with authority about what shapes the vaccine industry and how it has become corrupted by money and power. He is conv...
Feb 20, 2017•33 min•Ep. 64
Processed foods, prescription medicines, sugar, toxins in and around us--these are feeding the bad bacteria in our gut and compromising our gut health, and consequently our overall health. Certified holistic health counselor Hilary Boynton discusses how to address a leaky gut and reverse the trend of deteriorating health. She knows what she's talking about since she and her family have faced many health challenges of their own, including eczema, epilepsy, infertility, and cancer. You will be riv...
Feb 13, 2017•32 min•Ep. 63
Daphne Olivier has a genetic pre-disposition to diabetes. Since she doesn’t have it (yet), she is doing all that is within her power to keep it that way. But she is not keeping her secrets to herself. She is a dietician and a certified diabetes educator who can help all of us understand it better, learn how to manage it with real food, and discover how to avoid it altogether, as she has done. Daphne has a private nutrition practice in Louisiana where she has seen it all! She works with people wi...
Feb 06, 2017•29 min•Ep. 62
Glyphosate is a weed-killer considered "safe" and "non-toxic" by the FDA and EPA but scientist Stephanie Seneff believes otherwise. And she is not alone! An avid researcher and brilliant mind (Stephanie holds a PhD from MIT), Stephanie will convince you that we should take a second look at this pervasive herbicide that is used in your neighborhood and on industrial farms, across the nation, and around the world. Touted as a help to battle pesky weeds and improve our crop yields, it may be uninte...
Jan 30, 2017•30 min•Ep. 61
There is more to food than meets the eye! Food has energy that ascends and descends, and warms and cools our bodies. Conventional western medicine focuses on the physical. But Dr. Kenneth Morehead explains how limited that approach can be. He is a licensed doctor of oriental medicine and is a nationally board-certified acupuncture orthopedist. As such, he has quite a different take on how to approach wellness! In today's episode, he covers a myriad of topics, originating from oriental medicinal ...
Jan 23, 2017•31 min•Ep. 60
For decades, heart patients have been treated with stents, bypass procedures, low-fat diets, and drugs to lower their cholesterol. The theory that heart attacks are caused by blockages in the arteries is accepted as the last word on heart disease. And this explains why doctors work tirelessly to unblock them. But what if the theory is incorrect? What if blockages aren't actually the cause of heart attacks? Dr. Tom Cowan brings some surprising data to light that puts into question the cause and t...
Jan 16, 2017•34 min•Ep. 59
Some trendy diets restrict the intake of grains. It's no wonder why! Many people seem to be gluten-intolerant or have sensitivities to wheat. Others are simply trying to eat low-carb for weight loss. But we may be unnecessarily depriving ourselves of foods that can benefit our health and have been enjoyed world-wide for thousands of years. Looking to the traditions of the past, we discover the secret for including grains, seeds, and nuts in our diet today. In this episode, Sally Fallon Morell, t...
Jan 09, 2017•28 min•Ep. 58
Forget the resolutions! Fitness guru Ben Greenfield wants you to look beyond food and exercise to improve your wellbeing in this new year! In today's episode, he discusses the importance of invisible variables that affect our health. We can eat the cleanest, most pure diet in the world and yet, at the same time, neglect some important factors that affect our bodies in significant ways. Our environment and how we interact with it has a powerful effect on our health. Ben dives into the spirit and ...
Jan 02, 2017•27 min•Ep. 57
