The Dr. Hyman Show

We need to transform our food system and address one of the biggest threats to our well-being: our lack of a coordinated and comprehensive food policy. The outside influence that industrial food and agriculture lobbyists have on our policies encourages a food system that engenders disease. Lobbying power in Washington is rarely in the best interest of the public, supporting food and agriculture policies that undermine public health, harm the environment and increase private profits for Big Food. Big Food and Big Ag spend millions of dollars in Washington every year for the power to block policies that hurt their bottom lines and promote policies that make them money, whether or not it’s harmful to our society or the environment.  On this week’s mini-episode, Dr. Mark Hyman talks about the dirty politics of Big Food, how that influences our government food policies, and why we need to change it. Learn more about these topics and the undeniable harm our food system is doing to human health and to the environment or climate in Dr. Hyman’s new book, Food Fix. foodfixbook.com

16 Mars 202016min

The thyroid tends to be an underappreciated organ, but despite being a small gland it has massive implications for your health. While thyroid disease can occur in various forms, one of the most common is called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the thyroid gland and diminishes its ability to create precious hormones—ones that impact every cell of the body. Hashimoto’s is the leading cause of hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) in the US and roughly 14 million people in the US are struggling with this diagnosis, with women at much higher risk, being 7 to 8 times more likely than men to get it.  In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Boham to review patient cases in which thyroid issues were treated. Elizabeth Boham is a physician and nutritionist who practices functional medicine at The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. Through her practice and lecturing she has helped thousands of people achieve their goals of optimum health and wellness. She witnesses the power of nutrition every day in her practice and is committed to training other physicians to utilize nutrition in healing. Dr. Boham has contributed to many articles and wrote the latest chapter on Obesity for the Rankel Textbook of Family Medicine. She is part of the faculty of the Institute for Functional Medicine and has been featured on the Dr. Oz show and in a variety of publications and media including Huffington Post, The Chalkboard Magazine, and Experience Life. Her DVD Breast Wellness: Tools to Prevent and Heal from Breast Cancer explores the functional medicine approach to keeping your breasts and whole body well.   This episode is sponsored by AirDoctor. We need clean air not only to live but to create vibrant health and protect ourselves and loved ones from toxin exposure and disease. Learn more about the AirDoctor Professional Air Purifier system at a special price at www.drhyman.com/filter In this episode, Dr. Hyman and Dr. Boham discuss: Symptoms of hypothyroidism which can include sluggishness in the morning, poor concentration and memory, low-grade depression, dry skin, hoarse voice, thinning hair, coarse hair, being very sensitive to cold and having cold hands and feet, low body temperature, muscle pain, weakness or cramps, low sex drive, fluid retention, high cholesterol. Evaluating thyroid health by testing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels as well as free T3, free T4, thyroid antibodies, reverse T3 testing, and DIO2 gene testing.  Looking for associated problems such as gluten intolerance, food allergies, and heavy metals, as well as deficiencies of vitamin D, selenium, vitamin A, zinc, and omega-3 fats. Choosing foods that offer nutritional support for your thyroid, such as Eggs, sunflower seeds, whole grains, and brazil nuts. Just 1-2 brazil nuts a day can give your body all of the selenium it needs. Seafood and sea vegetables (such as nori, seaweed, and iodized salt) which are rich in iodine.  Zinc-rich foods such as oysters, beef, poultry, beans, nuts, and seeds.  Avoiding raw cruciferous vegetables and GMO soy. Instead, steam or cook cruciferous vegetables and eat non-GMO, whole food soy. Implementing lifestyle practices to support thyroid health such as reducing stress. Using supplements and medication to support thyroid health. Additional resources: “Could It Be Your Thyroid” https://ultrawellnesscenter.com/2019/04/10/could-it-be-your-thyroid/ “Thyroid Nourishing Recipes” https://ultrawellnesscenter.com/2018/03/26/thyroid-nourishing-recipes/ Supporting the Thyroid: Food as Medicine” https://ultrawellnesscenter.com/2018/03/15/supporting-thyroid-food-medicine/ “6-Steps to Heal Your Thyroid” https://drhyman.com/blog/2015/06/10/a-comprehensive-6-step-strategy-to-heal-your-thyroid/

13 Mars 202032min

When I was growing up we had news sources we could trust. Under The Fairness Doctrine, news on the radio, TV, and in print was partial and fair. But in 1987 during the Reagan administration, this was repealed, leading to alternative media and more misinformation than ever before. And now with the internet, we are truly in the wild west of sharing information, collecting data, and trying to maintain privacy. Big companies take advantage of that from all angels with their marketing, which is now ultra-targeted (and often in ways you wouldn’t even be able to recognize).  Today on The Doctor’s Farmacy, I sit down with Andy Russell to talk about what data really means, who has yours, how they got it, and how they use it. Andy is a digital media, ad-tech, marketing-tech, and data science innovator and pioneer as well as a self-taught Behavioral Economist. He has invested in, incubated, or run over 50 technology companies, including Daily Candy, Thrillist, Tasting Table, Idealbite, PureWow, Zynga, Betaworks, Business Insider, Sailthru, RapLeaf and LiveRamp, SpongeCell, AdRoll, and Bounce Exchange. He is the Founder and Chairman of Trigger Media, InsideHook, and Fevo.  This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and Joovv. I recently discovered Joovv, a red light therapy device. Red light therapy is a super gentle non-invasive treatment where a device with medical-grade LEDs delivers concentrated light to your skin. It actually helps your cells produce collagen so it improves skin tone and complexion, diminishes signs of aging like wrinkles, and speeds the healing of wounds and scars. To check out the Joovv products for yourself head over to joovv.com/farmacy. Once you’re there, you’ll see a special bonus the Joovv team is giving away to my listeners. Use the code FARMACY at checkout.  Now through March 29, 2020, new subscribers to ButcherBox will receive ground beef for life. When you sign up today, ButcherBox will send you 2 lbs of 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef free in every box for the life of your subscription. Plus listeners will get an additional $20 off their first box. All you have to do is head over to ButcherBox.com/farmacy. Here are more of the details from our interview:  How much do sites like Facebook and Google watch our online actions and what are they doing with the information? (8:30) Why we have an unregulated internet (14:14) What does data really mean, who has yours, and how did they get it? (18:26) The repeal of The Fairness Doctrine and the regulation that alleviates digital platforms from responsibility for third-party content posted on their sites (24:42) The sale of your information by “Big Data” to Facebook and Google (27:27) How a computer or database can “know you better than you know yourself” (34:04) The current state of our personal data and political digital advertising (39:50) What we can learn from the Rwandan genocide (1:04:51) What you can do to know whether you’re being falsely advertised to (1:09:51) Should Facebook and Google get rid of political ads? (1:17:55)

11 Mars 20201h 34min

It has been estimated that over the next 35 years, it's going to cost our society $95 trillion to address chronic disease. And not only is this affecting us economically, but our overall quality of life is decreasing. Imagine what we could do If we didn't have to spend as much money as we are currently spending on chronic disease. We would have enough money for other important things such as providing free education and healthcare. We could bring people up out of poverty, end social injustice, restore the environment, and help fund the reversal of climate change.  By addressing the overall dysfunctions in the food system, we can solve these problems. The solutions exist and they will call on a lot of us to fix it—multiple sectors and stakeholders from citizens and consumers to businesses and farmers, to policymakers in every level of government, including city and state to nonprofits, philanthropists, scientists. By coming together we can transform the food system.  Dr. Hyman speaks to all this and more in this mini-episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy. He also outlines the problems and the solutions in his new book, Food Fix. foodfixbook.com

9 Mars 202018min

Research has shown that for every 10% of your diet that comes from ultra-processed food, your risk of death goes up by 14%. Yet 60% of American diets are made up of ultra-processed food. And though the government tells us to eat more fruits and vegetables, existing food policy subsidizes thousands of acres of corn, soy, and wheat that are turned into processed junk food, while only 2% of our farmland is used to grow fruits and vegetables. In fact, if everybody ate the government-recommended amounts of vegetables and fruits, there actually wouldn’t be enough to go around.  Part of what is driving these issues is that there is a major monopoly when it comes to seeds. Just a handful of companies control the majority of what and how crops are grown. We have to change our agricultural policies.  Dr. Hyman dives into these topics and more in this mini-episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy. He also outlines the problems and the solutions in his new book, Food Fix. foodfixbook.com

6 Mars 202017min

Racism is still rampant in our country, and it might exist in places you didn’t expect it. For example, Black and Brown populations are at a higher risk of exposure to environmental toxins and have less access to high-quality medical care or clinical medical studies on their specific populations. This is a major problem that can’t be ignored. And it’s hugely impacting our economy and the success of future generations in multiple ways. Every year we spend 50 billion dollars and lose 23 million IQ points to lead toxicity alone, which affects people of color the most, regardless of social class and income level.  Today on The Doctor’s Farmacy I sit down for an important conversation with Harriet Washington about these issues. Harriet has been the Shearing Fellow at the University of Nevada's Black Mountain Institute, a Research Fellow in Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School, a senior research scholar at the National Center for Bioethics at Tuskegee University, and a visiting scholar at DePaul University College of Law. She has held fellowships at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stanford University. She is the author of Deadly Monopolies, Infectious Madness, and Medical Apartheid, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Oakland Award, and the American Library Association Black Caucus Nonfiction Award. Her new book, A Terrible Thing to Waste, is a “powerful and indispensable” looks at the devastating consequences of environmental racism—and what we can do to remedy its toxic effects on marginalized communities. This episode is brought to you by Thrive Market. Thrive Market has made it so easy for me to stay healthy, even with my intense travel schedule. Not only does Thrive offer 25 to 50% off all of my favorite brands, but they also give back. For every membership purchased, they give a membership to a family in need, and they make it easy to find the right membership for you and your family. You can choose from 1-month, 3-month, or 12-month plans. And right now, Thrive is offering all Doctor's Farmacy listeners a great deal, you’ll get up to $20 in shopping credit when you sign up, to spend on all your own favorite natural food, body, and household items. And any time you spend more than $49 you’ll get free carbon-neutral shipping. All you have to do is head over to thrivemarket.com/Hyman. Here are more of the details from our interview:  Communities of color in America are being poisoned as a result of decisions and policies that expose them to dangerous levels of environmental toxins (5:29) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sanctioned case of toxic dumping in Afton, North Carolina (12:25) Lead poisoning, its effects on intelligence and cognition, and the populations it is most affecting (16:12) The lack of precautionary testing of chemicals in the United States (22:24) Unacknowledged fetal alcohol damage in Hispanic and African American communities (31:13) Environmental toxin rates among African American communities across all income levels (33:54) How to effectively test for and treat environmental toxin issues (39:38) What actions individuals and communities can take to protect themselves from environmental toxins (44:29) The connection between environmental racism and food injustice (48:39) The role that government, communities, and public health needs to play in protecting citizens from environmental toxins (1:06:57) Harriet Washington’s most recent book is A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind.

4 Mars 20201h 17min

In honor of Dr. Hyman's newly released book, Food Fix (foodfixbook.com), we are sharing a recent interview he did on Revolution Health Radio with Chris Kresser. *** RHR: Fixing Our Broken Food System, with Dr. Mark Hyman I’ve often said that health is not just an individual endeavor—a multitude of other factors contribute to it, including our food system. In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I talk with Dr. Mark Hyman about his upcoming book Food Fix, which delves deeply into the problems in our food system and discusses how they can worsen global crises like the chronic disease epidemic, climate change, poverty, and more. In this episode, we discuss: What’s wrong with our food system How our food system affects our children The role regulation can play in our health Access to healthy food in underserved populations The damage that our industrial food system causes Hyman’s Food Fix Campaign Show notes: Mark Hyman The UltraWellness Center Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet—One Bite at a Time, by Dr. Mark Hyman “RHR: How Sustainably Raised Cattle Help the Environment, with Will Harris,” Chris Kresser

3 Mars 202048min

Eleven million people die every year from a bad diet. In America, six out of ten Americans have a chronic disease; four out of ten have two or more chronic diseases. And this is not just an American problem. Eighty percent of the world's chronic disease and obesity is in the developing world. We know that food is driving the majority of this death and disease but no one is really talking about it.  In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman explores the global chronic disease crisis being driven by food and the food system. He also breaks down the principles of his “Pegan” diet, a middle ground between vegan and Paleo, focused on whole-foods; primarily colorful, high-fiber vegetables like kale, cauliflower, peppers, and radishes; healthy fats like extra-virgin olive oil and avocados; some low-glycemic fruits like blueberries and blackberries; free-range meats and eggs, used more like condiments than as the star of the plate; anti-inflammatory nuts and seeds, and flavorful herbs and spices.  Learn more about these all of topics in Dr. Hyman's new book, Food Fix. FoodFixBook.com

2 Mars 202029min