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Live Healthy Longer with Dr. Jim
EXPLORING THE WONDERS OF YOUR “UNSEEN’ BODY!
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Join Dr. Jim Polakof in a journey through the human body with his special guest, physician and author, Dr. Jonathan Reisman.
You’ll discover a unique perspective of life in this podcast odyssey that navigates our often hidden anatomy - revealing new secrets and unusual facts about our “unseen” organs.
Links from this Episode:
Visit Dr. Reisman's website https://www.jonathanreisman.com/
Read his book "The Unseen Body" or his articles
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Watch a PBS/WHYY segment on an Anatomy Eats dinner in Philly with chef Ari Miller
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Welcome & Introduction to Dr. Reisman
Speaker 1Welcome to another episode of Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim . Today , most Americans are so consumed with their appearance that little time is spent examining their internal organs of their bodies . In this episode , we have a nice surprise for you . This podcast is supported by Amazon Books . Their slogan is everything from A to Z , and I'll have two great reading recommendations for you at the conclusion of this episode . So here's our host , healthcare specialist author and very popular podcaster , dr Jim Polikoff .
Speaker 2This is Dr Jim Polikoff , and I've got an interesting question for you . Wouldn't it be nice to see inside our bodies ? We might be surprised to discover some very startling facts . Now , my special guest for this new episode of Live Healthy Longer is a well-known physician , dr Jonathan Reisman . Dr Reisman is the author of the best-selling book the Unseen Body A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy . Dr Reisman has practiced medicine in some of the world's most remote places , including Antarctica , nepal , appalachia and Kaltada , india . Additionally , he's been with Massachusetts General Hospital for many years and his writings have also been published in the New York Times and Washington Post . So let's get right to it . Welcome , dr Reisman . I am aware that you now reside in Philadelphia , but why has it been important to your knowledge and your book the Unseen Body , to practice medicine in all those areas of the world which I mentioned in the introduction ?
Speaker 3Well , I had a kind of incurable wanderlust since around the time I was a university student , my two great passions , before I ever went to medical school or ever wanted to be a doctor , was traveling just seeing different parts of the world , different cultures , experiencing different , you know , viewpoints and life ways , especially ones very different from the ones I was familiar with , but also exploring the natural world . And of course those two things go together where when you you know you travel , you see different ecosystems , different climates , different latitudes and altitudes . You kind of see how both human culture and plants and animal species sort of change with different parts of the world , different geographic extremes . And so I brought those same two passions to the practice of medicine and since I finished my training I always kind of sought out working in places with interesting cultural contexts and interesting geographic contexts , which sort of led me to a lot of the places that you mentioned .
Speaker 2Well , that makes sense , because I was very interested , as I was going through your book , to find out how you more or less tailored certain aspects or certain chapters to a particular area that you're in . As I understand it , in addition to your practice as an internal medicine an internist , I should say your interest in unseen anatomy of our bodies came from the study of cadavers . What jumped out to you during this period I'm not sure jumped out is the best way to put it . I don't mean ghost , of course , but that's a little levity .
Speaker 3Yeah , so you know , dissecting a cadaver sort of for a long time been a part of sort of , you know , part of the initiation rites of medical school , becoming a doctor .
Speaker 3And for me that began on the very first day of medical school I believe it was right after lunch perhaps they led us into the anatomy lab , which is the class where we would dissect a cadaver over the coming months , and even though , you know , on that first day we actually only got to the superficial muscle of the cadaver's back , so my cadaver , shared with three other students , was lying face down on a gurney and that day all we got to was sort of pulling back some skin off the back and looking at muscles like the latissimus dorsi or lats , and the trapezius and other superficial muscles .
Speaker 3And even though we didn't really get very deep into the cadaver , didn't get into the inner organ , it still sort of really struck me and sort of took hold of my , took hold of my interests and I found that look inside the body , even though it wasn't that deep , to be very enlightening and very . You know , in a way I was sort of looking at what's inside my own body as well as inside the body of every other person I would ever meet or , you know , every patient I would ever see the doctor diagnosed and treat . And so that look behind the curtain of the body , if you will , sort of really made me obsessed with wanting to learn and see everything about the body and I even decided before the end of that first day I wanted to donate my own body for that same medical school dissection , because I was so involved .
Speaker 2Which you have done correctly .
Speaker 3Yes , I made plans for that to happen and I still want that to be my fate to have my carcass picked apart by a bunch of nervous medical students .
Speaker 2That's a good way of putting it . Now , there's such valuable information in your book and of course I'm encouraging my listeners to pick up a copy , but in the meantime I'll focus on selected topics . For example , let's begin with the heart . In chapter two , you compare the practice of medicine to plumbing , and one of the deadliest plumbing problems actually is the heart attack . Can you expand on this and share your perspective ? As far as prevention and repair what you learned ?
Speaker 3Sure . So so many of the diseases that affect our bodies can be boiled down to plumbing . You know there's two basic problems with plumbing there's clogs where some you know liquid is not flowing appropriately , and there's leaks , where liquid is sort of leaking out of the pipe that should be inside of , and a lot of diseases , as you mentioned you know , boil down to those two problems , especially the clog . So with a heart attack , right , we all know about hardening of the arteries and we get atherosclerotic plaques in the walls of the arteries and this tends to put us at risk of heart attacks , as well as most strokes , which are also called by a blood clot , basically stopping up the flow of blood .
Speaker 3So a heart attack , which can cause pain , trouble breathing , um , uh , you know , is basically caused by a sudden blood clot completely stopping up the blood flow through one of the coronary arteries or one of the branches of the coronary arteries .
Speaker 3So , just like when your toilet gets clogged , nothing flows things back up . It causes big problems , especially for the cells of the heart , like every cell in the body , must receive blood flow every second of life , not only bringing oxygen but also nutrients and washing away waste products as well . And if that stops , even for a minute , cells can start to die , which can kill you in the case of a large stroke or a heart attack . And so , basically , cardiologists , when there is such a heart attack , they do something very similar to snaking a drain they thread a catheter , often from the big artery in the groin or the wrist all the way up to that very tiny blood clot in the coronary arteries , and basically , you
The Human Body as a Plumbing System
Speaker 3know , get it out of the way , suck it up , put a stent to keep the pipe open and reestablish flow . And so reestablishing flow is a huge part of treating a large portion of the diseases that afflict us .
Speaker 2So in your travels , I mean , were there things that you learned that you might impart some advice in terms of prevention of cardiovascular disease ?
Speaker 3Sure . So you know , I guess the you know , as you mentioned , heart disease still is a major killer of people . You know at the top of the list pretty much . So you know , I guess the ways to prevent it are . You don't have any special insight beyond the things that are mostly well-known , which is , you know , a healthy lifestyle , including nutrition and exercise , but also preventing the risk factors for heart disease . So of course , smoking is one of the , you know , sort of the biggest ones that you can . You know quitting smoking is probably one of the greatest ways to reduce your cardiovascular risk . But other things that you know , avoiding hypertension and or treating it when you have it , as well as cholesterol , diabetes , either type one or two .
Speaker 3You can't really change your genes or your gender . You know men are at higher risk at a younger age . You can't change your age , so there's some things you can modify . But of course there are some things you can , and you know there's a lot of new treatments like fish oil . You know it seemed like that was very promising . I'm not sure the evidence shows it . As good as it was , I still certainly believe that eating fish is very healthy . I agree , eating these fish oil capsules . I think the evidence is not as strong as it seemed at first , which is a cycle we go through a lot in medicine where something seems like it's going to be the new cure-all and then , once we study it in more depth , we realize yes , maybe it helps not as much as we initially thought . It's not the lifesaver fountain of use we might have portrayed it as initially .
Speaker 2I'm also quite interested . In your chapter on genitals you write the following the strangest rhythm in the human body and the one that seems to break all rules pertains to genitals . What do you mean by that statement ?
Speaker 3So when I was in medical school , I was struck by . One of the things I was struck by was how so much of what I learned about how the human body works is a rhythm or a cycle . Everything just happens again and again and again . The heart fills with blood and then squeezes to empty , fills with blood , squeezes to empty every minute of every day of our lives , from before birth until death . And similarly , every organ has its cycle . You know , the gastrointestinal tract , of course , receives the meal each , you know , three times a day . The gallbladder fills with bile and then empties . To help you digest , the pancreas creates enzymes and then squeezes them into the gut . The bladder fills with urine and empties , fills with urine and empties . The rectum fills with stool and empties . Everything has this cycle .
Speaker 3And I noticed that , you know , the cycles of the genitals are unusual , especially menstruation , which kind of has this , it's sort of an archetypal rhythm of the human body , so much so that we call it a period itself , you know , because it is so , so rhythmic and its rhythm is followed . You know , it's unusual partly because it's a very slow rhythm . It only happens every month that the lining of the uterus grows and then is shed in menstruation and it also doesn't start for over a decade after birth , which makes it very unusual as well . Many rhythms , especially breathing , start right after birth . Some things start before birth and then all the cycles sort of catch up in that first week or month of life . But menstruation takes 10 years or more to start .
Speaker 3And perhaps the most unusual aspect of it at all is , you know , in most of these other rhythms I mentioned , when they stop or become too fast or too slow or stop altogether , it's a cause of disease , sometimes deadly disease , if one of these rhythms stops . But with menstruation , the stopping of the rhythm seems almost to be the point of the rhythm in the first place , because obviously when menstruation stops it's pregnancy or a sign of pregnancy . It can be a sign of anything too , but it's usually the first and earliest sign of pregnancy . So when that rhythm stops it sort of arrests . You know , it's almost the goal of the rhythm in the first place , which is very different from other parts of the body .
Speaker 2Well , following along that track , what happens after post-menstruation ? Are there additional concerns as far as the woman is concerned , since they're beyond the menstruation period now ?
Speaker 3So menopause , obviously , is another cessation of the menstrual rhythm which does cause a lot of bodily changes , causes a lot of new symptoms . I wouldn't , you know , perhaps menopause is not the point of menstruation in the first place , but I , you know , at some point . Of course , the ovaries , which you know , when a child is , a female , is born , they have all the ovum , all the ova , all the eggs in their ovaries that they will ever have for the rest of their life . They're sort of just in this frozen stasis and eventually , you know , you run out of them and you're , you know , the gynecologic organs sort of just become older and less able to keep it up and they do end .
Speaker 2In other words , perhaps there should be more of a watchful period of time then , since after you get into the menopause period , if you're a woman , I think that's kind of important to relate to those in our audience who are beyond that stage .
Speaker 3Absolutely . It's a very big part of life and a big milestone for the human body , of course .
Speaker 2You identified . Dr Reisman , you identified the liver as the body's gatekeeper . I thought that was interesting and you also mentioned that as you understood more about the liver , it changed your perspective of disease , life and even food . Can you elaborate on that ?
Speaker 3The liver is really an amazing organ that does so much in our bodies . It's our largest internal organ . The skin is larger , but it's not an amazing organ that does so much in our bodies . It's our largest internal organ , you know , the skin is larger but it's not an internal organ . So the liver really oversees so much of how our body works and how the homeostasis is maintained . It's the gatekeeper because in a way it sort of oversees all of digestion , all of blood , all of the blood flow that goes to our guts , our alimentary canals , that picks up all the nutrients and other things that we eat . All of it goes to the liver directly before going anywhere else in the body , almost to be sort of surveyed , checked .
Speaker 3The liver sort of sees what's been absorbed , packages it up , you know packages protein and fats and cholesterol and sugar
Rhythms of the Body and Reproductive System
Speaker 3and everything else that we see . You know determines if something's toxic and should be detoxified , which the liver accomplishes itself in many cases . So the liver kind of oversees everything that comes into the body through our alimentary canal . You know a primary way that the external world gets inside of us . You know the lungs is one way , through the air , of course , but the gut is the other major way that the outside world gets into us becomes part of us , and the liver oversees basically that process whereby what we eat becomes us .
Speaker 2Right , and that's part of the problem If we don't take good care of , you know , the . Our diet obviously is reflective , particularly , for example , I would imagine , if you had your gallbladder removed , which many people do after the age of 50 or 60 , that puts additional stress on the liver , I would imagine .
Speaker 3Yes , it can . You know the liver does still create bile , you know , which helps us digest . It's just that the gallbladder isn't there to sort of store up a big amount of bile and squirt all at once into the gut . But in some ways there is some compensation . You know , the bile ducts coming out of the liver do get bigger so that they can sort of store a bit more bile . You know they don't compensate for the entire gallbladder being missing , but they do . You know it's a good example of how the body kind of you know , whatever we do , whether for medical reasons , remove parts of the body kind of you know , whatever we do , whether for medical reasons , remove parts of the body , move things around the body really is so expert at compensating .
Speaker 2So the body adapts to and I think that's an important point to make that you've discovered in your findings , then , that the body can adapt . Even if there is major surgery , things of that nature , it has a wonderful way of adapting to , whatever your new situation is .
Speaker 3Exactly and it's surprising how well it can adapt . I recently saw a patient and this has happened several times in my career where I end up doing a CT scan on their head for some reason Maybe they got injured , maybe they're confused , something and seeing a very large cyst , sometimes taking up almost half the space in the skull . And this is an adult who's lived their whole life and never knew about this cyst and they're a completely normal intelligent neurologic function . You know , despite having this massive cyst pretty much equal to the size of their brain and this has happened several times in my career where it's a simple arachnoid cyst and you can see the brain smushed over to one side , and it's just incredible that it can work normally . It can compensate for being smushed into half the size of the skull in these people .
Speaker 3And that's just one other example of how well the body can compensate .
Speaker 2Well , we're kind of touching on the next subject . Then , when we say mind over matter , this is a literal statement . Actually . The brain is indeed an elusive area of study . So you went high into the Himalayan mountains to study the brain phenomena . So tell us about your journey and what you found .
Speaker 3Sure , so I was a volunteer physician with the Himalayan Rescue Association in 2016 . I worked at about 12,000 feet above sea level in the Nepalese village of Manang , which is on a very popular trekking route . There I treated trekkers , both Nepali and foreign trekkers , as well as porters , guides and local people who were all sort of either living there or passing through .
Speaker 3I was struck by the kind of multifaceted connection between the brain and the mountain while I was struck by the kind of multifaceted connection between the brain and the mountain while I was there . You know , for starters , altitude sickness , which is a very mysterious aspect of human health , and I learned very little about medical school Once I got there and got a crash course in and I saw that altitude sickness really affects the brain more than any other organ . It affects the lung sometimes too , but it's really brain swelling that is responsible for the large majority of symptoms people experience at altitude , as well as the large majority of altitude sickness related death at altitude . So the higher you go above sea level , especially when you ascend fast and outstrip your body's ability to acclimate , the brain can be swollen , and so I treated a lot of patients with so the higher you go , your brain actually does swell at that point .
Speaker 3So it's at more risk of swelling . You know , the higher you go , and especially the more you ascend in one day , the more height you gain in one day . That also puts you at risk the kind of the higher you are to start with , the higher the risk is to begin with , which is why people , when they're climbing very high mountains you know if you've ever seen the route people take to climb Everest there's a lot of up and back and up and back .
Speaker 3two steps forward , one step back , you know , to give the body time to acclimate . You're already so high to start . Even Everest base camp is much higher than where I was stationed with Manet , and then that's just the start of your trek . But you know , the mountains and the brain are connected in so many other ways . So the brain obviously is our highest altitude internal organ , at least when we're upright . But also , you know , we go to the mountains for a variety of reasons .
Speaker 3While I was in Nepal I spoke to several Tibetan Buddhist lamas who sort of retreat to the mountains to sort of meditate for much of the day and sort of , you know , do their spiritual and religious practices . So it's sort of , in a way , going to the mountains is this retreat into the mind , a place where people can get away from sort of the busy , noisy aspects of daily life that sort of go on in the valleys , you know , getting up to the clean air , a way above the flow of human pollution , where you can be alone with your thoughts . You know the big part of why people go to the mountains as well . So I kind of liked all those , all those connections between the brain and the mountains and , as you said , mind over matter .
Speaker 3The brain itself has this internal structure of height in a way . At the base is the brainstem which sort of just controls the body function , the heartbeat , the breathing rate . It's sort of a robotic control over the body itself . And then , as you ascend higher and higher , you get to the emotions which are a bit more complicated , sort
The Liver as the Body's Gatekeeper
Speaker 3of perhaps the first inkling of the mind . And then , if you go even higher to the cerebral cortex , that's where sort of you know , quote unquote the magic happens and where the sort of brain ends and the mind begins and sort of reflects the mysteries as you go higher and higher into the mountains and the physiology of the human body becomes more and more understood .
Speaker 2Is your mind encouraged at that point to meditate ? Is that what you're saying ? That the higher you go , then eventually you know ?
Speaker 3you get into more of a meditative state . I mean , I do think that just getting away from society , you know , can put you in a more meditative state . It can be harder to think or reflect on our lives , you know , from the bustle of daily life and sort of going to the mountains inherently means getting away from that . I mean , I also noticed it's very hard to breathe up there . You know , I was out of breath pretty much the whole two months I was there . Even toweling off after a shower got me out of breath and my oxygen level was in the mid 80s which , if you know , in my sea level emergency room where I work , that would be very concerning .
Speaker 3But up there it was normal and I got out of breath in simple conversation . But up there it was normal and I got out of breath in simple conversation . And I think that , you know , even that kind of gives you some pause and makes you sort of reflect on your own body and how sort of fragile it is , especially up in that thin air . And I do think that it does . Going to the mountains inherently , you know , shows you these beautiful vistas , shows you how small we are . Each of our bodies is so fragile in the face of these harsh rock and ice environments where nothing can survive , and I think that does put you in a spiritual frame of mind .
Speaker 2Interesting . Well , one of the things in relation to brain function that I just you touched on in your book , and I'm just curious about what your conclusions are in terms of you discussed marijuana , for example , and alcohol . How do those two substances basically affect your brain , your thought process ?
Speaker 3Intoxicants like alcohol and marijuana help us understand how different parts of the brain work . You know , when we go about our daily lives , our subjectivity , our consciousness , our minds , it feels like this unified whole experience . But we've known for over a century that you know , the brain is geographic . The brain is broken down into parts , and different parts of the brain add something to our experience of subjectivity . So , even though it appears to be this unified and fluid whole , it really is broken down into , you know , our memories , what we see , what we hear , what we taste , and so different parts of the brain each contributes its own part to that whole , and intoxicants can be illustrative in how they affect different parts . For instance , affects the cerebellum , which plays a big role in coordination and balance and helps you sort of move fluidly and do the daily tasks like walking or anything else you do with your hands , so somebody who's had too much to drink .
Speaker 2You see them stumbling around . That's that effect .
Speaker 3Exactly , and alcohol specifically affects the cerebellum , and so that's why you get those results , which is actually , coincidentally , very similar to people with severe brain swelling at altitude , high altitude cerebral edema , the condition's called . We diagnose it the same way by having them walk a line like a , you know , policeman might at a traffic stop , and when , that same lack of coordination , you know , when we see that , assuming they have not actually drank alcohol , we , you know , we know that their brain swelling is at a critical point and we have to treat them and get them to descend further . But you know , and marijuana obviously affects other parts . It affects parts of the brain related to memory , it affects parts of the brain related to hunger , in a good way or a bad way . Well , you know , if you're , if you're a kind of patient with cancer getting chemotherapy , and your appetite appetite is non-existent , that increase in appetite can be very beneficial . That's why marijuana is a good appetite stimulant .
Speaker 1There's not many other great appetite stimulants in modern medicine .
Speaker 3so that is a good one If it's part of a no-exercise lifestyle and sitting on the couch eating Cheetos maybe that increase in appetite is not as healthy for the body . So context always matters . You know , a poison becomes a medicine just depending on the context and dose and person receiving it . So those are important .
Speaker 2I think , one important question I wanted to delve into . Unlike other elements of the human body , we understand far less about the mind and obviously you know the mind in a sense is connected to the brain . But how does our mind relate to our brain ?
Speaker 3I think a big part of it is this kind of geographic breakdown of the brain . You know , I think there's been so many theories about how to break the brain down . You know there's some older ones where we sort of called the lower functions the lizard brain and then a step up from that was the mammalian brain and then a step above that was the neo-mammalian brain . You know , this hierarchy of animals to sort of reflect the hierarchy of complexity of function in the brain . You know that's sort of not that specific scheme is not in vogue anymore but there are many others . But I really think , you know , I guess everyone's take on the mind might be a little different , and I don't I don't discount any , any view at all- Well , for example , you see the brain , but you don't really see the mind .
Speaker 3Right , you don't see the mind .
Speaker 3You know clearly there's a connection right Because you know , injuries to the brain obviously can affect the mind , especially strokes .
Speaker 3Strokes , for instance , can be very illustrative of brain function because it's almost like a living experiment , in that you get the depth of a small area of the brain sometimes large but more illustrative if it's a very small area and then see what sort of function that person lacks . You know , a very small stroke might make someone be unable to recognize faces . It might cut out vision just to the lower outer corner of their vision , you know , or half their vision or , you know , depending where the stroke is . It can affect everything from memory to the fluidity of speech and I feel like that really illustrates how sort of broken down the brain is . I mean , if someone
Brain Function and Altitude Studies
Speaker 3forced me to create my own theory of the mind , I would say that it just is a million different functions of the brain sort of stitched together into what we experience as a whole , when actually it's sort of a million different functions of the brain sort of stitched together into the , into what we experienced as a whole , when actually it's sort of a million parts all just working together .
Speaker 2And there's nothing more than that . You don't compare it to the soul , for example , which again is imaginary in a sense .
Speaker 3I mean I don't think so , but you know it's some . I fully accept if other people do believe that or see the mind differently . I mean we'll be debating this for the next 10,000 years , as we've been debating it for the last 10,000 .
Speaker 2And I love debating so I'm open to all ideas . Well , it's interesting in your book that you describe the skin as being intelligent . That's a different perspective .
Speaker 3Can you elaborate on that ? Yeah , so the skin . You know I was fascinated with the skin before medical school , as they say in the chapter I learned to . I learned a lot of kind of prehistoric craft and really loved especially the , the craft of skin tanning or tanning animal hides , which I really took to and loved . And then when I got , you know so the skin was sort of had a special place in my heart because I had gained some skill and some experience in that craft and really loved it .
Speaker 3When I got to medical school , as I mentioned , with our cadaver , you know , the skin was almost treated as sort of wrapping paper where you just tear it off , get it out of the way and sort of get onto the goal , the present inside . And it was . We kind of ignored it in anatomy lab , which I was , you know , not thrilled with , but then we learned about it in some more detail , like in histology class , pathology class . So basically the skin has this magical ability to predict the future in a way . You know , when sun shines on your skin , the skin senses it and senses the need to protect DNA and skin cells from the ionizing radiation from the sun . So skin darkens , it tans , and when you look at tan skin under the microscope you actually see just this tiny little plug of pigment , a tiny little bit of pigment right in front of the nuclei of all the cells just to sort of create this wall against ionizing radiation , only for the DNA , because that's really the only part that's susceptible to mutation from the radiation . So it's almost predicting the future , predicting more sunshine to come and protecting itself as a result .
Speaker 3And you see that same intelligence with calluses . So when our skin experiences friction it sort of thickens and hardens into these calluses , almost in anticipation of more friction coming in the future . So in a way skin seems really intelligent in those two ways . Not to mention when we get wounds . People coming to the ER for open skin wounds , cuts et cetera are a huge part of my daily job , closing those wounds and I usually sew them shut , mostly for cosmetic reasons but to reduce the eventual scar . But almost all of those will close on their own because skin has this magical ability to cells migrate from the edges of the wound into fill the defect and just regrows . And you know , you do get maybe a less than beautiful scar , but skin sort of magically has this ability to , you know close itself to keep the body's insides closed , away from the outside . So it's really an intelligent organ .
Speaker 2Well , wouldn't it be nice if our internal organs had the same capability as skin in terms of protecting itself and revitalizing itself ? In chapter 15 of your book , the Unseen Body , you write every piece of our bodies , every bit of flesh , requires a constant flow of blood as a bare minimum to stay alive . So what do we need to know about blood and how to keep it healthy so that we survive effectively ?
Speaker 3The very basic job of the cardiovascular system is for the heart to push blood through this branching to infinity vascular tree to deliver fresh , nutrient-filled and oxygen-filled blood to the doorstep of all trillion of our cells , really every second . You can think of it as almost a really large and complicated drip irrigation system where this branching system of pipes brings fresh water or , in the case of the body , fresh blood to every . You know , the base of every plant in the garden , the base of every cell . And if that stops for even some seconds , you know , besides causing tremendous pain , depending on where that is , that could be in the heart , with a heart attack or elsewhere . You know it's those plants , if you will , those cells start to wither and die as they might without getting the water needed from drip irrigation .
Speaker 3So you know , in a way , getting oxygen to your cells is sort of the most basic , most basic function that blood must accomplish . And that's harder , you know , at altitude , for instance , like I said , my oxygen was low and you find that your body doesn't quite work as well . You get all these weird symptoms , you get this mysterious brain swelling , and all of that is very poorly understood . Clearly , the flow of blood is necessary . You know , beyond oxygen , it brings a whole lot of other nutrients and I think you know , reflecting diet , reflecting lifestyle , avoiding toxins . And I think you know reflecting diet , reflecting lifestyle , avoiding toxins , you know kind of an important way to keep your blood healthy , keep what it delivers to your cells healthy as well .
Speaker 2Here again , it's important what you're eating , because you are what you eat , as they say .
Speaker 3Exactly it's true , physiologically .
Speaker 2Now , during your interview that I listened to on NPR , which I found fascinating , you host these dinners where attendees actually eat internal organs , as I understand . The obvious question is why and what do people learn from these
Intelligent Skin and Blood Flow
Speaker 2dinners that you host ?
Speaker 3That's correct . So I host me and the chef teamed up to have dinners called Anatomy Eats . We've held several at the Free Public Library here in Chile and Anatomy Eats is basically sort of exactly what you might expect when a doctor and a chef get together . So for each of those dinners I sort of bring my knowledge of anatomy and physiology of the human body and , by extension , of animal bodies . And then , you know , I sort of bring my knowledge of anatomy and physiology of the human body and , by extension , of animal bodies , and then , you know , we sort of talk about interesting body parts , internal organs , and then , while talking about them and exploring how fascinating and complex they are , we serve dishes made with those organs .
Speaker 3So for instance we had a dinner based on the cardiovascular system where we talked all about the heart and me and the chef dissected a cow's heart , which is quite large , in front of the audience . We ended up serving three species of heart cooked in three different ways . We served some blood sausage and we served bone marrow , where all the blood cells come from . So that was the cardiovascular system dinner , and really the goal is sort of just to have people think about how their own body works and to understand how what we eat from the animal's bodies really is very similar , you know , physiologically and anatomically . And so I think that perspective the food perspective and the anatomy perspective , sort of crammed together side by side gives people interesting perspective on what they are made of as well .
Speaker 2So , in other words , I would imagine if you're eating internal organs or you're serving those genitals would be a dish that you would serve , am I correct ? I mean a wide variety , do people ? Do you have others ? Anyone at the table who really feels like this is not for them ? Or anyone at the table who really feels like this is not for them ? Or , my God , I can't believe I'm eating this , or do they feel like it's delicious food .
Speaker 3Well , the food , you know , I have to say in my own perspective , the food is delicious . Chef Ari Miller is really a master at cooking these unusual body parts . I think our dinners tend to be selective in who they attract . You know , I think someone who might feel that way , as you just laid out , might not buy a ticket and come to one of these dinners . So it's sort of self-selecting for people who are kind of curious and adventurous eaters .
Speaker 2Well , I mean , I think it's just fascinating . I mean , can people actually email you , call in , try to put themselves on a waiting list for one of your dinners ? And I'm assuming- since you live in Pennsylvania , I mean or Philadelphia , that's where these dinners take place , I'm guessing .
Speaker 3Correct . That is where these dinners take place . We might be taking the show on the road in the near future , but if people can go to anatomyeatscom they can find the contact info and definitely you can see a good segment there that the WHYY PBS here in Philly did on our musculoskeletal dinner . It really encompasses how the dinners work .
Speaker 2Now , that is fascinating . Now , one of the questions that I have is and just briefly as we wind this up , dr Reisman , I understand you operate a nonprofit organization to improve health care and education in India . Am I correct ?
Speaker 3That's right .
Speaker 3When I was a medical student , I took a year off from medical school and spent a bunch of time in India , including volunteering for a charity based in Calcutta called Calcutta Rescue .
Speaker 3It was started by a British physician in the late 70s and has been growing ever since , and you know there's so many charities in Calcutta . I saw while I was there and met other volunteers working for various medical and educational charities , and I thought Calcutta Rescue really stood out in delivering impressively high quality medical care and high quality education to really some of the poorest people I've ever encountered living on the slum , living in the slums of the city or on the sidewalks itself . Calcutta has a huge population of homeless families and people . I was really impressed with the medical care they were providing . I was impressed with how very cheap medications can treat you know diseases like vitamin A supplementation can prevent blindness in children , and these pills cost pennies , and so I was just really amazed at how much good can be done with so little , and so I started a nonprofit when I got home , still as a med student , to support Calcutta Rescue and other charities that are doing kind of the high quality work that might have an impact on people .
Speaker 2Wonderful . Well , it's good work that you do . There's no question about it . I'm not certain that I'm ever going to be hungry enough to join you in one of your anatomy eating dinners . I don't know that I have the intestinal fortitude to do that , but I do wish to urge our listeners to promptly pick up a copy of your book the Unseen Body and tell us a little bit about how . What's the best way that our listeners can go to find the book right now if they want to buy a copy ?
Speaker 3Sure , so I guess Amazon is the easiest . You know there's other ways of ordering it Barnes , noble , as well as other websites . It's in your local bookstore as well . So if you want to support your local bookstore , that's a worthy cause .
Speaker 2But any of those ways it should be available our listeners that they can always visit our website , bodymindsoulpodcastnet , to find more information about Dr Reisman and his excellent book , and we'll have all the information on the website . So I want to encourage our listeners , if they simply enough , go to amazoncom , as Dr Reisman suggests . It's the Unseen Body and that's the title of the book . Actually I have a copy here . It just says the Unseen Body , a Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of the Human Anatomy . Quite a title and I mean it's just a fascinating title actually , and the book itself , having read through it , is fascinating . I want to thank you for the copy of the book . I found it overwhelmingly interesting . So I don't always sit and read something at one sitting , but I did . But in any case , I want to thank you very much , dr Reisman , for joining us on the podcast and perhaps we'll have you back again to talk more about other subject matter . We sort of touched the surface , sort of skin deep , as they say . But in any case , thank you .
Speaker 3Thank you so much for having me .
Speaker 1You can get a more vivid look inside your body by going to Dr Reisman's website , jonathanreismancom , but you can also find this information , along with many other great podcasts , by coming directly to our website , jamesamespolakoffcom . That's james P-O-L-A-K-O-F
Anatomy Eats and Book Discussion
Speaker 1dot com . Again , that's jamespolakoffcom . We also have two great books with an inside look into health and beauty . My first recommendation is Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim , written by our very own Dr Jim Polakoff , but remember , you need to add Dr Jim to the title . So again , it's Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim . Plus , you'll also find a series of terrific reviews there . Find all of this wonderful information on Amazoncom . Also , for those cosmetic surgery beauty fans , the Real you Only Better is a great read . Again , you'll find both great books on Amazon and our website , jamespolikoffcom . Now back to Dr Jim .
Speaker 2Well , I doubt I'll be hungry enough to join Dr Reisman for one of his anatomy eating dinners anytime soon , but I do want to thank him again for an amazing inside look in our bodies , and you're going to want to know more , so definitely get to his website , which obviously our narrator has mentioned . Now , since we've been examining our internal organs , let's turn to an often overlooked vegetable that offers some surprising health benefits . It may surprise you , but I'm referring to a secret powerhouse called celery . Yes , there are many good reasons to chomp on celery sticks . First of all , celery helps to lower cholesterol . This is particularly important for older adults on a mission to prevent or deal with heart disease and strokes . Celery also contains certain compounds which serve to reduce toxins in your body that can lead to cancer .
Speaker 2This amazing veggie also aids in digestion . Raw celery contains fiber , which adds bulk to your stool and , at the same time , softens it to prevent constipation . Plus , celery maintains nutritional benefits during weight loss . Its content of vitamin C , essential Bs , potassium and electrolytes actually regulate your metabolism and helps you stay fuller longer . But there's more . So I invite you to read my latest blog the Secret Health Benefits of Celery . All you have to do is come to our website , jamespolikoffcom , and click on Blogs . This is Dr Jim Polikoff , with my sincere thanks for you joining me once again . And remember , a new episode of Live Healthy Longer is available each and every Wednesday . So , in the meantime , my wishes to you for a healthy , happy , long life . Bye .
