In Functional Medicine, we put a heavy emphasis on gut health. We know that a strong gut is not just essential for digesting food and absorbing nutrients, but that it plays a vital role in the immune system and affects the health of the entire body. 

On today’s Broken Brain Podcast, our host, Dhru, talks to Dr. Marvin Singh, an integrative gastroenterologist. Dr. Singh graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, followed by a fellowship training in Gastroenterology at Scripps Clinic and Green Hospital. Dr. Singh was also trained by Dr. Andrew Weil, a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Singh uses cutting-edge tests and personally designed protocols to develop a truly individualized plan for his patients based on their genetics, microbiome, metabolism, and lifestyle.

In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Singh talk about the cutting edge research of DNA methylation PhenoAge, which can predict things like aging, inflammation, and heart disease. They discuss how changes in the gut microbiome can impact gene expression, how our microbiome influences the dietary choices we make, and how our gut health can have a significant effect on healthy aging. They also talk about the implications of diet and the gut microbiome in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease. 

In this episode, we dive into:

-How DNA methylation can predict age and age-related outcomes (2:24)

-How our gut microbiome influences our food choices (9:35)

-The gut-brain connection (13:22)

-The gut microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases (17:35)

-Dr. Singh’s personal health journey (21:51)

-Why personalization is so important when it comes to our gut health (43:29)

-Food sensitivity testing (46:56)

-Gut microbiome testing (54:05)

-Probiotics (59:49)

-How exercise impacts our gut health (1:07:12)

-Prebiotics (1:09:59)

-Digestive enzymes (1:13:05)

-Fecal transplants (1:20:33)

-Colon hydrotherapy (1:26:39)

-How social connections impact our health (1:32:19)

-Learn more about Dr. Singh and his work (1:38:16)

For more on Dr. Marvin Singh, be sure to follow him on Instagram @DrMarvinSingh, on Facebook @DrMarvinSingh, and on Twitter @DrMarvinSingh. Check out his website https://drmarvinsingh.com, and download his FREE 4 Week Gut Reset e-book, right here. Dr. Singh was also featured in the Interconnected Docu-series which you can watch here. 

If you’re looking to work with an integrative practitioner you can search for one here:

-The Institute for Functional Medicine: https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/ 

-The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine: https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/alumni.html

Lastly, check out the article Dhru referenced during the interview from Anahad O’Connor: Is There an Optimal Diet for Humans?

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When it comes to addiction, Functional Medicine can offer a comprehensive approach to treating the whole person. 

Mind, body, and spirit need to be taken into account, as well as diet and lifestyle interventions and the ever-so-essential aspect of a supportive and uplifting community. With a systems-based approach, we can cover all of these areas and more, to create long-term recovery.

On today’s Broken Brain Podcast, our host, Dhru, talks to Dr. David Haase, a leading educator and innovator in the emerging field of personalized systems medicine. He graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed his medical residency at the Mayo Clinic where, despite the undeniable brilliance and dedication of the doctors around him, he saw countless instances of patients getting better not because of medical advances, but in spite of them.

After years of turbulent reflection, Dr. Haase founded the MaxWell Clinic in Tennessee with the expressed goal to better understand and enable the human body’s miraculous ability to create health. He treats a wide range of conditions and has a special expertise in neurodegenerative and other brain-related challenges, fatigue, and other conditions caused by mitochondrial, inflammatory, and immune dysregulation. Dr. Haase also teaches internationally, including for the Institute for Functional Medicine.

In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Haase talk about how Functional Medicine is a great way to address complex chronic conditions like substance use disorders. They discuss how early life trauma impacts brain development and increases the likelihood of stress, pain and addiction. They also talk about how we can use Functional Medicine to transition from acute care to long-term sustainable recovery.

In this episode, we dive into:

-The connection between stress, pain, and addiction (13:15)

-How opioids affects the gut-brain interaction (19:07)

-Addiction as a chronic disease (22:44)

-How early life trauma impacts brain development (28:19)

-How nutritional deficiencies impact stress, pain, and addiction (35:18)

-Environmental toxins and the susceptibility to stress, pain, and addiction (42:02)

-The importance of community when it comes to our health (51:46)

-Dr. David Haase’s story of how he got into systems-based medicine (57:26)

-How a Functional Medicine doctor can play an important role to support someone in their recovery (1:08:08)

-Learn more about Dr. Haase and his work (1:13:49)

For more on Dr. David Haase, be sure to follow him on Instagram @davidhaasemd, on Facebook @davidhaasemd, and on Twitter @davidhaasemd. Check out his website https://drhaase.com. You can find his book, Curiosity Heals the Human: How to Solve “Unsolvable” Medical Challenges with Better Questions and Advanced Technologies, right here.

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Drug overdose and opioid-related deaths continue to grow at an alarming rate in the United States. According to the CDC, more than 700,000 people died from drug overdoses between 1999 and 2017, and on average, 130 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day. 

On today’s Broken Brain Podcast, our host, Dhru, talks to Dr. John Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Program Director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service, and Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at MGH. He has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies and non-federal institutions and foreign governments. His clinical and research work has focused on enhancing the effectiveness of addiction treatment and recovery support services, stigma reduction, and addiction and criminal justice. 

In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Kelly talk about the current approach to addressing addiction in our country, and the power of language when it comes to destigmatizing addiction. They discuss how the opioid crisis became a self-manufactured epidemic and the importance of building an effective public health infrastructure to combat the opioid crisis and other substance use disorders. They also talk about the best way to support a loved one with an addiction, and the importance of social connections for long-term recovery. 

In this episode, we dive into:

-Changing the language around addiction (13:39)

-The current model of treating addiction: admit, treat, discharge (23:56)

-The National Recovery Study (26:40)

-Pathways to recovery (33:31)

-The social factors into and out of addiction (36:16)

-Preventative approaches to substance use disorder (41:01)

-The opioid crisis (45:27)

-Mindfulness-based interventions for recovery (51:08)

-Safe injection sites (57:38)

-Resources for family members (1:01:08)

-The power of AA for long-term recovery and reducing health care costs (1:04:53)

-Learn more about Dr. Kelly and his work (1:16:44)

For more on Dr. John Kelly, be sure to follow him on Facebook @RecoveryAnswers and on Twitter @RecoveryAnswers. Check out his website and sign up for his monthly newsletter at https://www.recoveryanswers.org.

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