The Mind Gut Conversation Podcast

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, a place to learn about the latest ideas from thought leaders in the area of optimal health, the science of mind gut microbiome interactions, food and the environment.

Today I have the great pleasure to speak to Leo Grady, AI expert and CEO of the microbiome company Jona. Leo earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems from BU and is the Founder and CEO of Jona and CEO in Residence with Breyer Capital.

Leo is internationally recognized for his work to deliver AI in healthcare for 20 years at pioneering bay area startups, multinational medical companies, including Siemens and, most recently, as CEO of Paige.ai. As CEO of Paige, he led the company to become an industry leader, internationally launching groundbreaking products and receiving the first-ever FDA approval for an AI product in pathology.

Leo authored two books on AI, over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is an inventor on over 300 patents. Winner of the Edison Patent Award, he was inducted as Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

As Founder and CEO of Jona, he has developed a stool microbiome analysis platform which not only uses state of the art analysis approaches to study the structure and function of from individual stool samples, but also provides users with an AI assisted interpretation of the results.

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Tracy Bale. Dr. Bale’s research focuses on understanding the role of stress dysregulation in the development of the nervous system and in neuropsychiatric diseases, as well as the sex differences that underlie disease vulnerability in humans. Her extensive body of work provides a new revolutionary understanding of the effects of adverse life experiences across the lifespan, starting at the preconception level.

Dr Bale is the Anschutz Foundation Endowed Chair in Women's Integrated Mental and Physical Health Research at the Ludeman Center, in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado. She is also Professor and Director for Intergenerational Stress and Health, and the Director for Sex Differences Research in the Department of Psychiatry.

In this episode, we speak about a wide range of topics which are profoundly influenced by Social Genomics, including:

1) The multiple ways by which stressful environments that a woman experiences preconception, during pregnancy and during early development can influence the behavior and health of the offspring.

2) The novel signaling mechanisms that play a role in individuals experiencing trauma that can modify not only their behavior but also certain organs, like the skin for example.

3) The biological and behavioral ways of transmitting parental experiences to the offspring, behavioral ways including maternal-infant interactions, attachment styles, etc. which are the most important biological mechanisms.

4) What is germ cell mediated transmission?

5) What role do transgenerational transmission mechanisms play in populations that have been exposed to severe trauma (e.g. Holocaust) or persistent severe trauma (e.g. Afghanistan, Palestine).

6) How does resilience counteract the biological mechanisms discussed here?

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Emilie Berner, MA a chef educator and integrative health coach in Los Angeles. 

Emilie received her master’s degree in food studies from New York University, and her health coaching certification from Duke Integrative Medicine. She trained at The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health Supportive Culinary Arts, and is the Chef & Coordinator at New York Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital’s Teaching Kitchen, where she also manages the organic garden. 

Currently, she teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, and leads the Mental Fitness Kitchen and coaching program at Dr. Drew Ramsey’s Integrative Psychiatry clinic.

In this episode, I talk to Emily about a wide range of topics related to the food, about the nutritional, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual dimensions of eating.

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Gloria Dominguez, a world-renowned microbiome expert who has studied the pre- and postnatal influences on the developing gut microbiome, and the implications of this early development for health and disease.  

Dr. Dominguez is the Henry Rutgers Professor of Microbiome and Health at Rutgers University. She is the Director of the Institute for Food Nutrition and Health and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and of the Infectious Disease Society of America.   

Her work centers and impacts exerted on the microbiome by urban practices, including practices that impair early life microbiota transmission and colonization -such as C-sections- and studying changes on microbiomes across urbanization gradients.   

Together with her husband Martin Blaser, she stars in the new, award winning documentary The Invisible Extinction, which is streaming on Amazon.  

In this podcast I talk to Dr. Dominguez about several fascinating topics, including: 

• The effect of mode of delivery on infant microbiome and health 

• Maternal-child microbial seeding interventions. 

• Early-life microbiome restoration 

• Influence of maternal diet on offspring 

• Gut microbiome and COVID-19

• The Microbiome Vault project  

Welcome to episode 56 of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, a place to learn about groundbreaking ideas from thought leaders in the area of health, food, the science of mind body interactions and the environment.

Today’s guest is Dr. Martin Blaser, a pioneer and global thought leader in the area of the gut microbiome, author of over 650 original scientific articles, of the best selling book, Missing Microbes, a book targeted to general audiences, now translated into 20 languages. Together with his wife Gloria Dominguez, he stars in the new, award winning documentary The Silent Extinction.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Blaser about the following:

1. Since the publication of your best selling book Missing Microbes, what has been the most important breakthrough in microbiome science?

2. The extinction of micro- and macro-organisms are being driven by different mechanisms. Why are the two trends happening roughly on the same time course?.

3. Of the many possible disease mechanisms that could be involved in microbiome changes and increased risk of chronic diseases, which ones do you think are the most important ones?

4. What is your view of the mismatch hypothesis between a microbiome rapidly adapting to environmental/dietary changes and slowly evolving changes in the human immune system, leading to a maladaptive response of the immune system leading to systemic inflammation? In other words, are microbes better in adaptation to different lifestyles and environments than our immune system?

5. Looking into the future, do you believe that humans will dramatically change their lifestyles and their interactions with the environment to prevent catastrophic consequences on our health? A scenario you have referred to as “Antibiotic Winter”.

6. Do you see enough changes worldwide in the inappropriate and excessive use of antibiotics, C-section deliveries, diet, encroachment of wild habitats, etc. that suggest we will be able to dodge the bullet?

7. If there is one intervention that you think would have the biggest impact on our current situation, what would that be?

In this episode of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, I have the great pleasure to talk to Dr. Douglas Drossman, a board-certified gastroenterologist, pioneer of the IBS field, and author of several seminal books about disorders of gut brain interactions:

1) Gut Feelings - Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction

2) Patient - Doctor Relationship: A Guide for Patients and Doctors

Dr. Drossman is a board-certified gastroenterologist and his name is synonymous with the Rome Foundation, an organization which has brought international recognition to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and a list of closely related so-called functional GI disorders, a long neglected field in Medicine and Gastroenterology, which are now part of the new subspecialty called Neurogastroenterology. 

The Rome Foundation has created a thriving community of healthcare providers interested in different aspects of altered gut-brain interaction, including dietary and psychological treatments. As the Founder and long time President of the Rome Foundation, author of some 280 scientific manuscripts, and passionate promoter of the importance of therapeutic physician-patient interactions, Dr. Drossman was not only a pioneer, but has also had a major long-lasting influence on the field.

Amongst many other topics, in this interview we address several important questions, including the following:

1. With the creation of the Rome Foundation process, you have revolutionized the entire field of IBS. Which component (patient education, physician education, disease classification) has been most important in this accomplishment?

2. What is your view on a unifying model of the entire spectrum of brain-gut disorders which manifest in different forms depending on environmental influences, the so-called “exposome” (psychosocial, diet, early life experiences, infections)?

3. Looking back, I am still amazed that it has taken some 40 years from the original view of IBS as a gut and motility disorder (many still share this view) to a disorder of gut brain interactions. Your comment?

4. Looking at a crystal ball, how do you think the view will evolve during the next decade?

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation podcast. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist, a Harvard-trained, nationally recognized lifestyle medicine pioneer. 

Dr. Bergquist is the Pam R. Rollins Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, as well as founder and director of Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. She is an advocate for advancing healthcare by integrating lifestyle medicine, resiliency, and prevention-based science into clinical care.  She has contributed to numerous health segments, is the host of The Whole Health Cure podcast, and author of the upcoming book Plantology: a cookbook based on the science of plant-based eating.  

In this conversation, we discuss a wide range of topics related to her holistic approach to health and disease, including: 

• Her unusual career path from mainstream medicine to a new way of healthcare emphasizing prevention and lifestyle changes. 

• Her particular interest in the role of nutrition in health. 

• Her new book, Plantology.  

Enjoy!  

In this latest episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Steve Cole, a senior faculty member at UCLA who has created one of the most fascinating approaches to study mind body interactions at the molecular level. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications in high impact journals and is considered the father of a new scientific discipline called Social Genomics.   

His extensive body of work provides a new revolutionary understanding of the bidirectional interactions between our genome, our body and the environment we live in.  Dr. Cole is a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry in the UCLA School of Medicine where he studies the molecular pathways by which social environments influence gene expression by viral, cancer, and immune cell genomes.   

In this podcast, I talk to him about a wide range of topics which are profoundly influenced by Social Genomics, including:  

• How our bodies are continuously influenced by the influence of our social interactions. 

• How our genes are influenced by our state of mind. 

• Which strategies we can use to take advantage of the plasticity of gene expression to improve our health. 

• The two different forms of happiness. 

• The future of healthcare.

Enjoy!  

In this latest episode of the Mind Gut Conversation podcast, I talk to Dr. Kerry Wangen, a psychiatrist in clinical practice, with a longtime experience in working with trauma patients in the VA Healthcare system. Dr. Wangen is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California in Irvine and UC Riverside and currently provides psychiatric care via telehealth. Her approach to patients is based on a unique holistic view of mind and body, incorporating biological, pharmaceutical, contemplative, and spiritual dimensions.  In this podcast, I talk to her about here integrative approach to psychiatry and what impact it has on the treatment of common psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety. Here are just some of the topics we address:  

1. How her career path to become a psychiatrist was influenced by an interest in the role of brain gut interactions.  

2. How she has incorporated  contemplative practices and Buddhist principles in particular different forms of meditation, empathy, and compassion in her treatment approach to psychiatric disorders.     

3. What role will psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy play in clinical psychiatry in the future?  

4. Her view of the intriguing analogy between ancient healing traditions, like Ayurvedic Medicine and the Chakra system and the emerging new concepts about the interconnectedness of different organs with the brain.

In this latest edition of the MGC podcast, I talk to Dr. Aviva Romm. Physician, midwife, herbalist, and prolific author. Dr Romm has published 7 books, and offers online courses for both healthcare professionals and patients on a variety of topics, including functional and integrative medicine, gut health and herbal medicine.  

In this podcast, I talk to her about her unique career path, the main lessons from her latest book Hormone Intelligence and about her emphasis on women’s health. Here are just some of the topics we address:  

1. Her remarkable career path from midwife, herbalist, physician, and bestselling author. 

2. Why a better understanding of hormonal imbalances is essential for more effective treatments for women’s health problems. 

3. How she incorporates the influences of the external and internal ecosystems on the body and mind in her treatments. 

4. How the traditional medical system ignores some of the most important aspects of women’s health. 

5. In which way she sees health and medicine in a different way than a lot of doctors. 

6. What role the gut microbiome plays in the regulation of estrogen levels in our body.  

Welcome to Episode 50 of the Mind Gut Conversation! 

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to Drew Ramsey, MD. Dr. Ramsey is a psychiatrist, author, and farmer. He is one of psychiatry's leading proponents of using nutritional interventions. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and currently provides psychiatric care via telehealth. He has authored 3 books and offers online courses to both healthcare professionals and patients about healthy eating and its therapeutic effect in depression and anxiety.  

I sit down and talk with him about his emerging field within psychiatry and what impact it has on the treatment of common psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety. Here are just some of the topics we address:  

1. What is Nutritional psychiatry and how did you get interested in this new field in psychiatry? 

2. In one of your podcast appearances, you ask the question: nutritional psychiatry, scam or not? How do you answer this question? 

3. Does the evidence support a benefit from various supplements, including so called psychobiotics for psychiatric disorders? 

4. Considering the multiple factors that play a role in the pathophysiology of psychiatric diseases (from genetics, epigenetics, adverse life events etc.) how important a role do you think diet plays? 

5. What are foods that are key to brain health and why are they more important than others, like fiber and polyphenols?  

In this latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, I have the great pleasure to talk to Dr. Miguel Freitas, Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Danone, as well as expert in microbiology, nutrition, and cell biology.

Dr. Freitas has had a career long interest in scientific and practical aspects on the complex interaction between probiotics, the gut, and the microbiota. Through his work at Danone, he has helped the global food and beverage company to translate the growing body of evidence on different probiotic strains into a range of popular consumer products.

Amongst many other topics we discuss in this interview such questions as:

1. With so many products on the market related to fermented foods or supplements of probiotics, how can the average consumer decide which products have a true health benefit?

2. Some products make claims that they improve “gut health”, “general wellness” or “digestive wellness”, others make even claims about “improving cognitive function”, or “slowing of cognitive decline”. How credible are these claims?

3. For products such as yogurts, drinks, and snacks, taste may be most important to the consumer, rather than the scientific evidence for a health benefit. In your opinion, what are the 3 main criteria that influence consumers’ selection of a particular product?

In this episode of the Mind Gut Conversation Podcast, I had the great pleasure to talk to Dr. Uma Naidoo, a board-certified psychiatrist at the Mass General Hospital at Harvard, professional chef, and nutrition specialist, who amongst many other accomplishments is the author of the recent book: This Is Your Brain On Food, an amazing look into the new world of nutritional psychiatry.   

Dr. Naidoo is currently the Director of Nutritional and Metabolic Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital,  where she consults on nutritional interventions for the psychiatrically and medically ill. She is also Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital Academy, in private practice and teaches at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.   

Dr. Naidoo blogs for Harvard Health and Psychology Today and has just completed a unique video cooking series for the MGH Academy, which teaches nutritional psychiatry using culinary techniques in the kitchen.  

If you haven't heard or seen her speak in several recent podcasts, the current MGC podcast is a must see/hear piece of information of the new and rapidly growing field of nutritional psychiatry.     

Amongst many other topics, we discuss the following questions:  

1. Can food really influence our mental health?   

2. Is the Standard American Diet really contributing to our current mental health crisis, including the increase in suicide rates? 

3. Is it the SAD in general, or are there specific items that are responsible for the reported bad effects on our health? 

4. How much do lifestyle factors associated with health eating patterns, like the traditional Mediterranean diet, such as social interactions and mindfulness contribute to the health benefits of such diets?  

In this episode of the MGC podcast, I talk to husband and wife bestselling writing team Dr. David Montgomery and Dr. Anne Bikle, co-authors of the new book, WHAT YOUR FOOD ATE: How to heal our land and reclaim our health.  

I talk to them about their amazing book, and discuss some crucial questions about where our food comes from, in which soil it has been grown and what this has to do not only with the plants’ but with our own health.  

• What is the main problem with our food supply? 

• What impact do the changes that have happened in the past 75 years have on our health? 

• What role does soil health and the microbes living in the soil play in our gut health? 

• How can the consumer respond to the problem? 

• How should the consumer make choices about the healthiest foods when shopping for food?  

David is a professor at the University of Washington and an internationally recognized authority on geomorphology. He is a MacArthur fellow and a finalist for the Wilson Literary Writing Award. He has been a prolific author and has published several books including a trilogy about soil health, microbiomes and farming, including The Hidden Half of Nature and Growing a Revolution.   

Anne is a biologist and environmental planner who has published articles in Nautilus, Natural History and Smithsonian. She has co-authored several books with David.   

I have been inspired by their books and some of their presentation and widely acknowledged their work in my own books. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode, I talk with Colleen Cutcliffe, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of Pendulum Therapeutics, a microbiome solutions company based in San Francisco, CA. Pendulum has developed two live microbial therapies, Pendulum Glucose Control for the management of type II diabetes, and Pendulum Akkermansia for the support of gut health.

Dr. Cutcliffe has over 20 years of experience leading and managing biology teams in academia, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and her B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College.

In our conversation we discuss a number of questions related to live microbial therapies and next generation probiotics, including the following:

· How did Pendulum get into the business of live microbial therapies?

· How effective is this Pendulum Glucose Control for the treatment of type II diabetes, and what is the evidence?

· For which patients is Glucose control indicated?

· What is the evidence for the effectiveness of Pendulum Akkermansia for gut health?

· How do you assess gut health?

· How do you see the future of next generation probiotics in the treatment of chronic medical disorders?

In this episode, I talk to Hagen Schroeter, PhD, the Chief Science Officer at Mars Edge dedicated to translating scientific insights and the outcomes of health and nutrition research into evidence-based applications.  

Hagen’s main interests focus on human health and nutrition, personalized nutrition, and data-enabled innovation in nutrition and wellbeing. He leads the scientific investigations into the role of dietary polyphenols, specifically flavanols and procyanidins, in nutrition and healthy aging.   

Hagen is leading Mars’ scientific contributions related to the Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study [COSMOS]. COSMOS, enabled by a public-private partnership, is the first, large-scale (21,000 participants) investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical dietary intervention trial assessing the long-term impact of flavanols and multivitamins on health.  

In this episode we talk about a number of areas related to the role of flavanols in cardiovascular and brain health, including the following topics:  

1) Polyphenols are an amazing group of molecules which protect plants against various stressors, and some of the same molecules have also shown health benefits for humans.  Why haven’t they received more attention?   

2) How much of the beneficial effects associated with the ingestion of natural polyphenols in plants and fruits are related to their antioxidant potential (as is commonly believed), and how much is likely related to other effects?   

3) Besides cocoa beans, what other foods have a high content of flavanols?   

4) Are the health benefits of polyphenols dependent on the composition and function of our gut microbiome, and do they vary between individuals based on their individual microbiome?  

In this episode of the Mind Gut Conversation, Dr. Mayer talks with Shawn Stevenson, the author of the USA Today National bestseller Eat Smarter and the international bestselling book, Sleep Smarter. Shawn is also the creator of The Model Health Show, featured as the number #1 health podcast in the U.S. with millions of listener downloads each year. 

They cover several topics, around a healthy diet, healthy lifestyles and the influence of social  disparities on health. During this interview, we address several questions including:    

1. The most important steps in his transformation from growing up with his grandparents in St. Louis to becoming a nutrition expert, #1 podcast host and bestselling author of two very important books.    

2. How his early life experiences stimulated his interest in science about food.    

3. Why does he call himself a “nutritionist who no longer believes in food in the conventional sense”?    

4. What is wrong with the common assumption that food is primarily fuel?    

5. How do you become a master of fat loss?    

6. Why does eating with others have profound benefits on overall health?

And much more. 

Welcome back to the Mind Gut Conversation. In this episode, Dr. Mayer talks with one of the leading scientists and thought leaders in the field of gut-microbiome research, Dr. Colin Hill. He addresses the topic of the gut virome, the millions of virus living in our gut, a topic rarely addressed in the lay media. 

We discuss some wide ranging questions during this interview, including:   

1. What is the gut virome and what do we know about it?

2. How do viruses interact with bacteria: is it a symbiotic or a predator-prey interaction?

3. How is the stability of our microbiome accomplished in an ecosystem where virus constantly kill microbes?

4. Can viruses and bacteria can form symbiotic relationships, enhancing the functions of the bacteria?

5. Does the virome, in particular the bacteriophages, play an important role in the many disease states in which the composition of the microbiome is altered?   

6. Is there any evidence to date, that gut viruses play a role in the pathophysiology of certain neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, which in many patients start in the gut.

7. Does diet play a role in the composition of the virome?  

8. And much more.

Dr. Hill, has a Ph.D in molecular microbiology, is a Professor in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork, Ireland and is a Principal Investigator in APC Microbiome Ireland.  Dr. Hill has an unparalleled knowledge not only of the microbiome science but also of its clinical implications.

In this podcast, I sit down with Raja Dhir, co-founder and co-CEO of Seed Health and discuss the following questions:  

1. If consuming fermented foods and high fiber work so well, why do we need probiotics? 

2. How does the consumer determine the difference between evidence-based vs. influencers promoting nonsense? 

3. Which diseases do probiotics work best for? 

4. And much more...  

Raja Dhir is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Seed Health, a microbial sciences company pioneering applications of bacteria to impact human and environmental health. In contrast to most other probiotic companies, Seed promotes evidence based products for human, animal and soil health.  In addition to being Co-CEO of Seed Health, Raja serves on the Editorial Board for the journal Microbiome. He is a member of the Microbiome Think Tank at Mass General Hospital at Harvard, and sits on the Advisory Committee of ISAPP, the International Scientific Association of probiotics and prebiotics.  

Is There a Healthy Microbiome?

In this podcast with one of the pioneers and thought leaders in the field of gut microbiome research, Dr. Shanahan is addressing crucial questions about a healthy microbiome, and gives some unexpected answers:

• What is a healthy and a normal gut microbiome?
• Are today’s clinical microbiome tests useful?
• What happens with the gut microbiome when people undergo changes in their lifestyles and move to different regions in the world?
• What does the Irish Traveler population teach us about our own microbiome?

Dr. Fergus Shanahan, is a gastroenterologist and has been a pioneer and thought leader in the area of the gut microbiome, and Founder and longtime director of the Alimentary Pharmacobiotic Center in Cork, Ireland, which he has built into the largest microbiome research center in the world. Dr. Shanahan has an unparalleled knowledge not only of the microbiome science but also of its clinical implications.

Nancy Zucker, PhD, is a clinician, researcher, and teacher at Duke University School of Medicine, where she founded and directs the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. Dr. Zucker is an Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is the author of numerous professional publications and is an author of the upcoming revised practice guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders from the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Zucker’s major clinical and research interest is in understanding how to help young people develop a healthy awareness of their bodies’ signals and learn how to match these to actions that allow them to flourish. Her research and clinical work has been featured on ABC’s “Nightline,” the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Time, and other major news outlets.  

Welcome back to The Mind Gut Conversation Podcast!

Today I join Dr. Sarah Abedi, MD in talking to Dr. Barry Kerzin who serves as a personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama, along with treating people in the local community

Dr. Kerzin is an American physician and Buddhist monk. He has lived in Dharamshala, India since 1988,. Following his ordination as a monk by  the Dalai Lama in 2003, he has travelled, teaching and offering workshops in which he blends Buddhist teachings and his medical expertise. Dr. Kerzin is an adjunct professor (2021/22) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), an adjunct professor (from 7/2020) at the University of Pittsburgh, and a former Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He is founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute (AIMI) and founder and chairman of the Human Values Institute (HVI) in Japan. He has served as a research participant in neuroscience research into the effects of meditation on the brain.

To watch the video format of this podcast, click here: 

Dr. Singh did his Internal Medicine training at the University of Michigan, after which he completed a Gastroenterology/Hepatology fellowship at Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines. He served as faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and UCLA, before completing a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine in Tucson, Arizona. 

Dr. Singh is not only a board certified gastroenterologist, but also a Diplomate and Member of the Board of the American Board of Integrative Medicine and the first Director of Integrative Gastroenterology at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute at the University of California Irvine. 

He co-edited the 2nd Edition of the textbook of Integrative Gastroenterology, and has contributed to many other articles and books. He is also the host of the podcast, Precisione: The Healthcast and currently serves as the Health Advisor for Bottomless Closet in NYC, an organization that helps women in need.   

In this episode of The Mind Gut Conversation, I talk with Arielle Lorre about her journey from rock bottom. Arielle is a lifestyle, wellness, and health influencer in the digital space. Six years ago, that was far from the case. After nearly losing her battle against addiction, Arielle decided to turn her life around by relentlessly pursuing health and happiness.  In 2016, Arielle made her Instagram debut, which lead to the creation of her semi-eponymous website, The Blonde Files, in 2018. Arielle’s distinct voice and candor immediately distinguished the platform from others in the space. The Blonde Files quickly became a unique online destination, where Arielle continues to explore her recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, and the beautiful road that lies ahead, post-recovery.  

You can learn more about Arielle + see her podcast at www.theblondfiles.com

Ryland Engelhart is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kiss the Ground, and is the producer of Kiss The Ground -- the film on Netflix. He has spent the past 15 years as an entrepreneur and love-activist, working in hospitality and building a "triple bottom line" business of organic plant-based restaurants called Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre in Southern CA. He is also a co-creator of the award-winning, inspirational documentary film called “May I Be Frank.” Ryland has an infectious passion for life and is a cultural catalyst creating transformation through his own organizations and in the world at large. He publicly speaks on the topics of sacred commerce, gratitude, veganism, building community, regeneration and the connection between soil health, human health, and planetary health. He is the host of Kiss the Ground's Podcast. Ryland is also a husband and father and lives on a 17-acre regenerative organic farm in Fillmore, CA where he learns to practice what he preaches.  

Dr. Robynne Chutkan is a nationally renowned gastroenterologist and bestselling author of Gut Bliss, The Microbiome Solution and The Bloat Cure. She is the founder of the Digestive Center for Wellness, an integrative gastroenterology practice incorporating optimization of the gut microbiome, nutritional therapy and stress management as part of the therapeutic approach to digestive disorders.  

Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI is a board-certified, award-winning gastroenterologist. He's a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine and was chief medical resident at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and chief gastroenterology fellow at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. He is also the NY-Times Bestselling author of the fantastic book: Fiber Fueled!  

Legendary Nipun Mehta, founder of Karma Kitchen & ServiceSpace, and former member of the distinguished panel for initiating policy recommendations on poverty and inequality in America under President Obama, explains how to thrive in an interconnected world.  

Welcome back to the Mind Gut Conversation!  Join Dr. Mayer in Ep. 32 of The Mind Gut Conversation featuring himself as the guest! 

In the last episode of the MGC, Dr. Mayer discussed IBS with Jana Hoffman from Mahana Therapeutics. In this episode, Dr. Mayer talks about the Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis.  

Disclaimer: Dr. Mayer is on the Scientific Board of Advisors for Mahana Therapeutics  

Welcome back to the Mind Gut Conversation! Join Dr. Mayer in Ep. 31 of The Mind Gut Conversation featuring himself as the guest! 

Being interviewed by Mahana Therapeutics' Jana Hoffman, Dr. Mayer discusses Irritable Bowel Syndrome & science-backed ways of treating IBS.  

Disclaimer: Dr. Mayer is on the Scientific Board of Advisors for Mahana Therapeutics  

Join Dr. Mayer in Ep. 30 of The Mind Gut Conversation featuring Arthur Mullin from Navitas Organics. In this episode Dr. Mayer and Mr. Mullin discuss Navitas Organics as a company and how they got into the "superfood" category, as well as what that means. While the science is still not 100% there yet, superfoods contain many polyphenol compounds which we are beginning to understand play a critical role in human health. Enjoy.  

*Disclaimer: Dr. Mayer has no financial interests in Navitas Organics.  

Watch the video format of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/GJBxyQ1aLxw?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Walter Willett is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and Chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health & Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has published over 1,700 original research papers and reviews on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease, cancer, and other conditions, and he is the most cited nutritionist internationally.  He has written the textbook, Nutritional Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press and four books for the general public, including the best seller “Eat, Drink and be Healthy. The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating”.  He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of many national and international awards for his research.

Dr. Willett is also the lead author for one of the most comprehensive and science-based documents describing the intricate connections between a healthy diet, sustainable food systems and planetary health, a report published in the journal Lancet in 2019: Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems.  

Watch the video format of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/SHl0gpS7-sw?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Welcome to the latest edition of the Mind Gut Conversation. Today, I have the great pleasure of talking to visionary chef Dan Barber, who operates 2 famous restaurants in New York, the Blue Hill in Manhattan and the Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico, New York.

Dan doesn’t need much of an introduction as there are few chefs in the world who have reached such a celebrity status as him, not only as a chef, but as a pioneer and thought leader in how to create delicious, ethical and sustainably produced dishes.

In 2009, he was named one of the world’s most influential people in Time Magazine’s annual TIME 100, in 2014 he published a ground breaking book, The THIRD PLATE: Field notes on the future of food, was featured in the first season of Netflix’s Chef’s table in 2015, and was appointed by president Obama to serve on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

Most recently, I had the honor of contributing an article to the Patagonia Provisions Journal in which Dan was also featured.  

Watch the video format of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/LHFq6lK9PPY?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Liz Carlisle is an organic farming educator, lecturer at the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University, and an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies program at the University of California in Santa Barbara. She is the author of two books about the transition to sustainable farming: Lentil Underground (winner of the 2016 Montana Book Award) and Grain by Grain, co-authored with farmer Bob Quinn. 

Watch the video format of this episode here: https://youtu.be/9YNJdpsuk6A?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Norbert Niederkofler is Executive Chef at Michelin 3-starred St. Hubertus at Hotel Rosa Alpina and owner of AlpiNN Food Space and Restaurant, the home of the Cook the Mountain project. Born in the Ahrntal valley in South Tyrol, Italy, he is committed to the preservation of local cultural heritage.  

Watch the video format of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/sYpz6Qm6cNs?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Dr. Gibson is an associate professor at the department of biology and microbiology and the head of the center for microbiome and inflammatory research. She is especially interested in the role of gut microbiome interactions in infants and the role of dietary fat on gut health and gut microbial health.  

View this podcast in video format: https://youtu.be/c5UXllI8uVI?list=PLNPMMdnvzZIllHHdaaNmoJ1GbDedI0TJX

Dr. Ghosh is a member of the institute for healthy living and chronic disease prevention at UBC, and has a long-standing interest in dietary fats and exercise in preventing metabolic disease.

While everybody talks about the health benefits of antioxidants, they are part of a larger group of molecules that plants produce, the polyphenols. These large molecules not only have a wide range of health benefits for the plants that produce them, but also for our gut microbes and for our overall health. Together with fiber, polyphenols are probably the most important reason underlying the health benefits of a largely plant based diet.  There are few experts who are more qualified about this subject than Dr. Daniele Del Rio, who is an Associate Professor and the Head, School of Advanced Studies on Food and Nutrition University of Parma, Italy. He is a world renowned expert on the fascinating group of health promoting molecules called polyphenols.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Del Rio's research and publications, go to http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/109503/overview

One of the most intriguing scientific questions in the field of microbiome science is the question of how the trillions of microbes living in our gut communicate with our brain, and what influence this communication has on our mind and our our health.

Dr. Elaine Hsiao, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at UCLA is an internationally recognized authority on the interactions between the gut microbes, the immune system and the brain.

She has published seminal papers on the role of the gut microbiome in mouse models of autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy and has won numerous awards.  

Even though many similarities in biological brain mechanisms have been identified between individuals with substance abuse and uncontrollable craving for food, the term “food addiction” has remained a controversial term. However, based on questionnaire assessment, at least 20% of obese patients suffer from food addiction, with the percentage going much higher with increasing BMI.

Dr. Ifland is a leading authority in processed food addiction as the lead author/editor of "Processed Food Addiction: Foundations, Assessment and Recovery” published by CRC Press. She was selected as a food addiction specialist by the Oprah Winfrey Network show, "The Book of John Gray."  She is the CEO of Food Addiction Reset, a powerful program to help people gain control of their food. Its design is based on the food addiction model described in her book.

Is pot good for us?

There are few medicinal plants that have stirred up as much excitement and expectations than cannabis.  After decades of demonizing cannabis products as a threat to our mental health and as a dangerous drug, its legalization in Canada and in several US states has made it a target of intense scientific research and has promoted its widespread use for a variety of chronic medical conditions.

There are few experts who are more qualified about this subject than Dr.Matthew Hill, who is an Associate Professor at the the Departments of Cell Biology, Anatomy and Psychiatry at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary in Calgary.  Dr. Hill is an internationally recognized authority on the interactions between the endocannabinoid system and stress and has played an important role in the recent legalization of cannabis in Canada.  

There are many ways one can look at the benefit of a particular diet, and most of these perspectives are based on what is good for the consumer.  But when it comes to the aspect of plant based diets and compassion towards animals, there are few individuals who can match Gene Baur’s authority and track record, and it is for that reason that Gene has been called the “conscience of the food movement” by Time Magazine.

Gene is the co founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, America's leading farm animal protection organization.  He played a significant role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming systems - including the California ban on foie gras. His efforts have been covered by leading news organizations, and his books, entitled: Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, and Living the Farm Sanctuary Life - The ultimate guide to eating mindfully, living longer, and feeling better every day.