Health Podcast: Crochet Your Stress Away; Are Smartphones Making You Dumber? Read to Grow Your Brain

In this episode we feature:

An interview with pain specialist Dr. Joe Pergolizzi.

Vitamin D for your brain.

Change your workout clothes.

Your fears are irrational, it’s science.

And more ways you can improve your health today!

Stream the John Tesh Sports Album now. Available on all platforms.

For more information, and to sign up for our private coaching, visit tesh.com

Our Hosts:
John Tesh: Instagram: @johntesh_ifyl facebook.com/JohnTesh
Gib Gerard: Instagram: @GibGerard facebook.com/GibGerard X: @GibGerard

Transcript

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Gib. Hello and welcome to another episode of the podcast. I'm Gib Gerard, here with another special intelligence for your health with Connie Celica. Editions of the show today, her guest is none other than pain specialist, Dr Joe pergolisi. He's going to talk about some of the most effective natural treatments for pain. So we've got that coming up to look forward to. Yeah, so here, without further ado, intelligence for your health. With Connie Celica, taking a daytime walk every day can help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Neurologist Dr Fiona Gupta says exercise boosts blood flow to the brain, and adding sunlight boosts those benefits by producing lots of vitamin D, because numerous studies show being deficient in D raises the risk of age related mental decline, including Alzheimer's. So as often as you can get outside for a 10 minute walk, and if it's just too cold outside, stand near a window and get your blood pumping by doing jumping jacks or aerobics. Instead, think of some worries and fears you tend to have, like worrying you'll get fired from your job, that someone you love will get hurt, or fearing someone will break into your house. Now relax, because most of what we worry about will never happen. That's according to research from the University of Pennsylvania. Psychologists asked study subjects to write down their biggest worries and fears. Then researchers followed up to find out which fears, if any, came to pass. The result a whopping 91% of what participants feared never happened, and for most of the study subjects, not a single worry came true, none, which wasn't surprising, because the researchers say most of our fears are based on irrational thoughts, like if you know you're good at your job, but your boss gives you a funny look, and you interpret that to mean you're going to get fired. That's an irrational thought. The researchers say people who have a negative view of the world and themselves, like thinking, I never do anything right, are the most likely to have these irrational fears, but people who have a more positive view of themselves and the world are more likely to acknowledge their fears and let them go, and once you accept that 91% of your fears and worries will likely never happen, then fear and worry will not rule your life. Crocheting isn't just for grannies anymore. It's become one of the hot crafting trends that help us fight stress, because crocheting symbolizes Down Home Comfort and nostalgia, and it brings back memories of snuggling under handmade blankets on grandma's couch. And as far as the stress relieving effect, the repetitive motion of crocheting triggers our relaxation response. That's according to the stress Institute in Atlanta, it also requires what psychologists call two handed bilateral cross body hand motions. To put that simply, crocheting forces us to use both hands simultaneously, and that takes a lot of brain power so you have less mental energy to stress out. Good news, smartphones and other digital technology are not making us dumber. Yes, technology gets a bad rap on this show and everywhere for distracted driving accidents and disrupted sleep with harmful blue light, but a new study says there's one thing smart technology is not doing, and that's making people less intelligent. On the contrary, researchers from the universities of Cincinnati and Toronto say smart devices are helping to free our brains up to solve more complex problems and learn and absorb more information, and there is no scientific evidence that smartphones and digital technology harm Our cognitive ability. Instead, they supplement human thinking and actually help people to excel mentally. So, because we no longer have to figure out how to get to a destination or remember a date, because we let our phones handle those things, it frees up our brains in a way that allows us to accomplish more complex tasks and learn more than we could without our phones and digital devices. So although our phones do distract us, they're not making us less intelligent. Okay, listen to this. You know the drill. You exercise then run errands or do chores while still wearing your sweaty workout clothes. Well, you may want to rinse off and change instead, Dermatologist, Dr Deborah jaleman says even a little sweat raises our skin's bacterial count, and when you mix excess bacteria with damp clothing, it can trigger back knee back acne, but knee butt acne or red bumps from inflamed hair follicles, you can also develop. Rashes along your body's crevices from the same fungus linked to athlete's foot. You don't need to take a full shower immediately to avoid rashes and acne, but at least rinse off and put on clean dry clothes before you head out. Today, our special guest is Dr Joe pergolisi. He's a senior partner at Naples, anesthesia and pain associates in Naples, Florida, and generally speaking, he says the key to reducing pain is doing everything in your power to reduce inflammation in your body, and that often starts with our diet. So I asked Dr pergolisi to share some of the foods we should be avoiding or eating more of to help us eliminate inflammation and pain. Some foods may be classified as pro inflammatory foods, and these include fried foods, sodas, refined carbohydrates, and even red meat. And foods that fight inflammation include things like green vegetables, berries, particularly blueberries, are a lot of antioxidants, and when we look at some of the supplements that help us fight pain, I like to think about turmeric, or some people say turmeric, and this is a spice that has shown to reduce that pro inflammatory effect, and can be helpful to reduce pain and inflammation, particularly in the joints. Today, we're talking to pain specialist, Dr Joe pergolisi, and you've heard the phrase mind over matter. Well, recent studies have shown that just having a positive mindset may help some people experience less pain. So I asked Dr pergalesi How optimism factors into a pain free lifestyle. Maintaining a positive, optimistic mindset is very helpful in reducing pain symptoms, and I'll give you a practical example that most of us have probably experienced before. When they see a doctor, you'll hear someone say, this doesn't hurt a bit before a painful prod or a poke that may be delivered, and this is like a preemptive dose of a pain reliever. So think about that if we tell you ahead of time, well, it won't hurt a bit, and then we Gib you, we're sort of desensitizing you. Well, a new study actually suggests that lower expectations about impending pain can actually lower a person's perception of it, and there actually are health benefits that positive thinking may provide, and they include reduction of pain, the increased lifespan, lower rates of depression, lower rates of stress or distress. Remember, stress and pain go hand in hand a lot of the time, just an overall better psychological and physical well being, you can improve your mental power simply by reading the newspaper. It can also help prevent Alzheimer's. That's because reading increases blood flow to the brain and strengthens the connections between brain cells. Dr Sandra Chapman is the director of the Center of Brain Health at the University of Texas. She says that talking about what you read is even better because interpreting a story strengthens the frontal lobe of the brain, which is one of the first areas to decline with age. Today's medical term anosognosia, that refers to when someone is in denial of their health condition, whatever it may be, and it often manifests itself in people being extremely stubborn, snappy, forgetful, and saying things like, leave me alone. I'll be fine, even when it's obvious to everyone else, they are not fine. So what's going on? According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, anosognosia is often rooted in sleep deprivation, because in order to function at our best, the brain's frontal lobe needs to be able to efficiently process new information every moment we're awake. But that doesn't happen when we haven't had enough sleep, and research shows that when our frontal lobe isn't operating at 100% we tend to lose our capacity for self awareness and our emotions go into overdrive. That explains why we might snap at others who ask what's wrong, because we can't understand why they're asking, which makes us irritated and anxious. Now, if any of that sounds familiar, try getting more sleep. But if you or someone you know continues to have issues with self awareness, especially to the point of denying a health problem see a doctor because that could be a sign of brain damage or a more serious illness, and that's today's medical term, anosognosia, are your anxieties keeping you awake at night you might. Sleep Better under a weighted blanket. I love mine. Several studies have shown weighted blankets feel like you're being hugged, which helps calm people with ADHD and autism. So University of Massachusetts, Amherst researchers used them on people with garden variety anxieties. The result when anxious people slept under weighted blankets. 75% of them fell asleep easily and stayed asleep. That's because a weighted blanket activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which lowers your heart rate and blood pressure and increases feelings of calm. Want to make it easier to lose weight, eat an orange every day. That's the latest recommendation from the University of Western Ontario. It's because oranges contain a powerful flavonoid called nobilitin, a compound that boosts metabolism, burns body fat and improves mood. For the study, researchers divided morbidly obese mice into two groups on the same diet, but half were also given nobilitin. The result, those getting the nobilitin flavonoid lost weight and slowed the harmful buildup of plaque in their arteries. In another study, rats at a healthy weight were put on a high calorie diet. Those also given nobilitin didn't gain weight, while those without the flavonoid, so their body weight nearly double in just 10 weeks. And Other research shows the flavonoid, nobilitin, found in oranges, reduces age related decline in endurance. Bottom line, if you'd like to be healthier, more energetic and way less the science says to eat at least one orange a day. Okay, listen to this. You know that one of the most important things you can do to avoid catching a cold or the flu is to wash your hands frequently. The problem is, most people concentrate on washing their palms when it's the fingertips that really matter. Dr Neil Schachter is a respiratory specialist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and he says our fingertips are more likely to come into contact with germy surfaces, and we're most likely to stick a fingertip in our mouth, nose or eyes, the main entry points for Gerard, so when you wash your hands, make sure you focus on your fingertips back with more health intelligence from Dr Joe pergolisi, a senior partner at Naples, anesthesia and pain associates in Naples, Florida, and when it comes to the normal aches and pains we all experience in life, he says a common misconception people have is that rest will make our pains go away, but the reality is that inactivity causes our muscles to weaken, which puts more strain on our bones and joints and raises our risk for experiencing more pain. So if our goal is to reduce pain through exercise, I asked Dr pergalesi, which type of exercises should we focus on? Having a strong core is really critical for good spine, back, neck and extremity health. And you know, we achieve that by doing certain types of exercises, which include stretching. It's something that people sometimes don't take into their daily experience of life. But you know, if you're looking at the core, it's very important to realize that that part of the body is really a focal point. That's why we call it the core for a lot of the other muscle and skeletal activities. So exercises that are going to increase that core can be achieved with calisthenics. They can achieve with yoga, with Pilates and a lot of fun things like that. Back with more health intelligence from pain specialist, Dr Joe pergolisi. And if you're experiencing mild pain, say, from a workout or injury, you've probably noticed there are lots of options for over the counter treatments, including taking a pain relief pill or using a topical pain relief ointment. So I asked Dr pergalesi How we can tell which treatment is better. Most people, when they think about pain, they automatically reach out for the over the counter pain pills, but the labels of those pills will tell you that there are limitations to the amount you can take and the related side effects, but topical pain relievers, they are used when we have pain at the joints that are close to the skin surface, like the knees the elbows, and they can absorb that topical pain reliever relatively quickly and show positive effects faster than most oral pain relievers. Also, you can take another dose much more quickly than you can take a second dose of an oral pain reliever. So it's really important to do those type of stretching exercises and to incorporate that in your daily type of routine. Here's a quick tip. Avoiding a cold this winter, keep your nose warm. Research at Yale University found that low temperatures make our immune system less effective, making it much easier for the cold virus to invade our system and make us sick. So try wrapping your face and nose in a scarf when it's chilly outside, that way the carbon dioxide you breathe out will warm the oxygen you breathe in, which will help keep the germs at bay, more intelligence for your health from pain specialist Dr Joe pergolisi, and as you've likely heard in the news, opioid misuse has become a huge problem in North America, with a whopping two thirds of overdose deaths in recent years involving an opioid of some kind. It's why Dr pergolisi recommends talking to your doctor about a more personalized approach to relieving your pain, which may include some alternative treatments that do not involve taking a narcotic. The first thing I would say is opioids should only be used for the appropriate type of patient, and we need to be monitoring their functionality. It's important to realize that patients who experience severe pain, particularly cancer pain, may be candidates for this type of therapy, and that's why you need to see a qualified pain physician to make those decisions. But it's not uncommon that people and patients will come in and ask me, What about acupuncture, lasers, magnets, 10s units, how about just simple things like ice packs, heat relief? Can they help me? And the answer is yes, all of these things can help. They may not work 100% in 100% of the people, 100% of the time, but that's good, because we're all individuals. We just have to find out which one's going to work for us. I do like acupuncture and acupressure, and there are some devices that you can buy that can achieve acupressure for you, and there are clinicians that actually do ACU puncture. All these type of things are in the forefront. And as we learn more, we should be able to get safer and more effective, personalized options for people to manage their pain. Here's new research about the best time to exercise. And if you're not an early riser, you will love this when it comes to controlling cholesterol and heart disease, you may be better off exercising in the evening. The research was conducted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. They had a group of sedentary, overweight men eat a high fat diet for two weeks. They also had the men either

work out at 6: 18:25

30am or 630 at night. The result, the evening exercisers ended up improving their cholesterol, blood sugar and cardiovascular fitness, while the morning exercisers health did not get any better, and that's even though they were all eating the same foods and doing the same exercises. So why was working out in the evening better? Because the men got more sleep. It turns out, waking up early to exercise disrupted their metabolism and canceled out the benefits of the exercise. So if you're not a naturally early riser, you may be better off exercising at night so you don't miss out on sleep. Here's an email I received at Connie at intelligence for your health.com. It comes from Victoria Hill got who writes, I feel like I'm more forgetful these days. Is that normal, or do I have a memory problem? Victoria, you'll need to see a doctor if you have serious memory concerns. But I can tell you this, your brain is designed to forget things. It stores every memory short term for a few minutes or a few days, and erases whatever is not crucial. Your brain only commits things to long term memory that are important to you or linked to an emotion, but it's more difficult to store memories when you're stressed, distracted, sleep deprived, or constantly flooded with new material, which pretty much describes our everyday lives. So here's an easy way to improve your memory. It comes from Scott hagwood, a USA national memory champ and author of memory power. Write down what you want to remember. Your mind remembers visuals best, then read it aloud. Your brain thinks your own voice is more important than others, so the information will stick better in your mind. And if you'd like more memory boosting tricks. The book is memory power by Scott hagwood, thank you for your email. Victoria. I hope this helps. Okay, listen to this. Here's a reason to listen more than you talk. People who talk a lot are 50% more likely to have spikes in blood pressure and heart rate than those who talk. Talk less. That's according to the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, it's because people who talk a lot have more chances to get frustrated due to miscommunication arguments and not listening or being open to another person's point of view. Do you often feel tired driving to work? It may not be because you need more sleep. It could just be your car is lulling you to sleep, just like when you were a baby and your parents would drive you around to get you to fall asleep. The same thing is happening when you drive yourself or get driven according to RMIT University in Australia, the vibrations a car makes as it moves can bring on sleepiness in just 15 minutes, the steady vibrations at low frequencies progressively induce sleepiness, even when people are well rested and healthy. And after 30 minutes in a car, the study subjects experienced significant drowsiness. The experts say the brain starts to sync up with the car's vibrations and enters an early stage of sleep, and since Drowsiness is a factor in around one in five fatal car crashes, this study is important. The researchers say it could lead to changes in the way car seats are designed to minimize the vibrations. But until then, what can you do? Sip some coffee before you hit the road. The British Medical Journal says coffee is proven to stimulate us in a way that makes us more alert while driving. In fact, their study says you'll reduce your odds of being in a crash a whopping 63% if you drink coffee and then drive, more intelligence for your health from pain specialist Dr Joe pergolisi, if you'd like to know more about him or some of the pain treatments he recommends, check out healthydirections.com and an increasingly popular option for relieving pain these days is massage therapy. In fact, surveys show a whopping 90% of North Americans have reduced their regular aches and pains at some point by getting a massage. So I asked Dr pergalesi If that's something he recommends too, and if so, is there a type of massage that's better for pain than others? I'm a big fan on massage therapy, and I'll just say that if you're going to have a massage, deep tissue massage sometimes is recommended as well, and it uses a slow, forceful stroke to reach deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue. So when you have that real deep pain, and this type of massage targets muscle damage from injuries. So that's why some people, if they're going skiing during the winter time, may go and get a massage and say, Well, which one should I get? Dr Joe, I think a deep tissue massage is a real nice one to think about. Your massage therapist can recommend a frequency and a duration to address the underlying health conditions properly, and which type of massage they think will be best for you, but you do have an array to pick from. That's it for our show today, our special intelligence for your health with Connie Selig edition of the podcast, I'm Gib Gerard. Don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe on Apple podcast. Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. It helps us out a lot. And also, you can reach out to us on social media. All of our links are listed down in the show notes, we try to respond to every DM, every mention of the show, because ultimately, we do the show for you guys. So thank you so much for listening. You.