Ep. # 110 Dr. DeFeo explains why eating seasonal produce transforms your gut health.

Spring brings renewal, and what better way to revitalize than by spring cleaning your diet? Dr. Dan DeFeo of the Osteopathic Family Medicine Practice of Northern New Jersey returns to share wisdom about seasonal eating that transforms not just your meals, but your health.

Many Americans struggle with vegetables, but Dr. DeFeo suggests this aversion might stem from eating out-of-season produce lacking peak flavor and nutrition. Spring vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, radishes, strawberries, and peas offer exceptional benefits - they're rich in prebiotic nutrients, high in fiber, and low in calories. These seasonal gems support gut health by reducing inflammation and improving digestion naturally.

The conversation delves into misunderstood digestive complaints, revealing how symptoms often attributed to conditions like celiac disease frequently stem from poor dietary choices instead. Dr. DeFeo expertly explains how consuming simple carbohydrates creates those familiar energy crashes and how these cycles can eventually lead to insulin resistance. His practice addresses these concerns through an integrative approach, combining medical expertise with nutritional counseling accessible through insurance when possible.

What makes Dr. DeFeo's perspective particularly compelling is his commitment to osteopathic medicine's founding philosophy - treating root causes rather than just medicating symptoms. This approach feels especially relevant today as many post-pandemic Americans seek alternatives to pharmaceutical-dependent healthcare.

Ready to transform your health through seasonal eating? Visit Dr. DeFeo's practice at 541 Cedar Hill Ave, Wyckoff, call 551-815-1000, or find them online at osteofamilymednjcom. Your body will thank you for choosing foods that nature intended for this season!

Osteopathic Family Medicine Practice of Northern New Jersey

Dr. Dan DeFeo

541 Cedar Hill Ave, Wyckoff, NJ 07481

[phone]

osteofamilymednj.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey everybody, Welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcastbrought to you by the Bergen
Neighbors Media Group, and todaywe are welcoming back Dr Dan
DeFeo of the Osteopathic FamilyMedicine Practice of Northern
New Jersey, based in Wyckoff.
Welcome back, Dr DeFeo.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me back.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, so today we're going to talk about it's.
You know, despite it being likewinter weather outside, it is
spring and there's a greatarticle in the April issue of
Wyckoff Living called SpringClean your Diet Nutritional Tips
for a Fresh Start that SammyGoodman of your practice wrote
for this month's issue ofWyckoff Living.

(00:51):
So I think it's a great topic.
You know, spring clean yourdiet.
So what are the tips and adviceyou guys have?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Sure, and thank you, and thank you.
So this was a collaborationbetween myself and Samantha, who
is our certified nutritioncoach.
No-transcript.

(01:29):
I'm a big believer in your dietand your lifestyle play a huge
role in preventing disease,preventing injuries, preventing
illness.
So I brought her on to kind ofexpand on that a little bit and
be able to give more one-on-onecounseling to patients for
extended periods of time, sothat our patients can learn a

(01:55):
healthier lifestyle and achievetheir healthcare goals without
the use of medications or, youknow, even surgery sometimes.
So this article here speaks alot about some of the produce
that's available in thespringtime.

(02:16):
I know a lot of Americans don'tlike to eat their vegetables.
And I think part of that issometimes with our you know,
modern agriculture, people areeating things that are out of
season.
They may not be necessarilythere, they're at their peak.
So these are some foods thatare probably at their better

(02:37):
time period this time of yearand probably will taste the best
.
So things like asparagus atthis time of year and probably
will taste their best.
So things like asparagus,artichokes, radishes,
strawberries, peas a lot ofthese foods have a lot of
prebiotic and probioticnutrients in them.

(02:57):
They're all high in fiber andthey're low calorie.
So the article expands on themindividually a little bit more,
speaks about which vegetableindividually can help with
certain maladies and how theyhelp the body produce the

(03:19):
essential nutrients that theyneed.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, it's funny.
Like I just made asparagus, uh,I just grilled it on the on the
barbecue when we had actuallynice weather on saturday and um,
you know that, with just, youknow, a little olive oil, salt
and pepper is fine with me, youknow, a little char to it.
Artichokes never been a fan ofartichokes.
Spinach, eh, arugula, sure,radishes I actually like

(03:46):
radishes.
My son and my wife don't, so Idon't get them too often.
But peas, I love peas.
But it's funny because a lot ofthese things growing up, when I
grew up, you had canned andfrozen versions, especially peas
.
What was it?
Green giant peas, spinach wasfrozen in my house and, and to

(04:07):
your point, it didn't reallytaste that good.
So as a kid I didn't, I didn'tlike it.
But when you have it the rightway, and I guess to your point,
and in season, you know there'scertain yellow asparagus you
only get, you know, and that'swhen you know you're going to a
good restaurant, when they onlyyou know, their menu changes per
the season yeah and there'sonly certain things you can get

(04:27):
at different times a year.
Let's talk a little bit moreabout the um.
You know the benefits, okay, soall right whether I like it or
not, but you know, most of thesethings do taste good, um, you
don't have to put butter allover everything to like it.
Um, what are some of thebenefits?
Like you said, I've heardprobiotic, but what's a
prebiotic?

Speaker 3 (04:47):
So prebiotics are a different set of bacteria that
help with digestion, movingessentially food product through
your gut and helping decreaseinflammation.
They're more of a more relatedto the fiber content in the food

(05:10):
.
They work along with the gutbacteria to help keep a healthy
digestive system and not lead toinflammatory conditions.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Right.
There's a lot of talk about guthealth, you know these days.
So I guess you know peopleunderstand, or have started to
understand, inflammation and allthe negative effects and how I
guess food can createinflammation and it's not just
about being bloated.
You know, there's other thingsthat go along with inflammation

(05:49):
on the negative side that youwant to try to avoid.
I guess that's where thesefoods come in.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, I mean.
There's so many people thatcome to see me that complain
about things like this Abdominalbloating, le leaky gut, concern
over having celiac.
Yeah, a lot of times thesesymptoms are more or less
symptoms of you know, a poordiet than they are of any of

(06:17):
these conditions.
I've had plenty of people swearthat they're celiac because
they can't toleratecarbohydrates.
But you know, a lot of peopleeat a lot of simple
carbohydrates, simple sugars,white white breads, things that
don't have a lot of fibercontent, not a lot of
nutritional content, and thenthey feel awful within an hour

(06:39):
or two of eating and theythey're not generally realizing
that it's more so just the waytheir body's absorbing those
quick hits of energy.
And you know, when you haveanything that's a carbohydrate
whether it's a potato, rice,bread or sugars your body's
going to break those down totheir most essential form, which

(07:01):
is glucose, fruct, fructose andsucrose, which are all sugars.
So you get that quick sugarhigh and then you crash and you
feel terrible.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
And that's why complex carbohydrates like brown
rice and you know I guess fiberand grains are, yeah, they take
a longer time to break down.
Therefore, you don't get thatbig sugar spike and then crash
and that sugar spike then yourbody is, you know, responses to
release insulin to lower yourblood sugar.

(07:32):
And obviously, if you keephaving that kind of spike and
your body keeps releasing moreand more insulin, you might
become insulin resistant, whichthen leads to type 2 diabetes,
right?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
That's.
I don't think I could haveexplained that better myself, so
it sounds like you have apretty good understanding.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Well, I was.
I was a personal trainer for awhile, so I, you know I was into
that stuff, but I want to, youknow.
So this article is greatbecause it gets into prebiotics
and probiotics and theprobiotics that we hear on TV,
you know, like yogurts andfermented things, they're alive
bacteria.
You know.
Fiber rich foods there's anarticle.
Part three is about hydrationand then some of the things that

(08:13):
you, you know your entirepractice as spouses, which is,
you know, balance, right,balanced diet, lifestyle changes
, you know, be mindful of theway you eat, certainly, and
other things that come intoaccount, like our stress and
adequate sleep.
So I want to, you know, moveaway from the article for a
second and go back to what youtalked about with your, the goal

(08:34):
and mission statement of yourpractice.
So is it, if I'm a patient?
Is it like a concierge, youknow, medicine, where I can pay
like a monthly, say,subscription or membership, and
with that I get access to yournutritional counselor and other
lifestyle like advice, or is itjust come in when I'm not

(08:56):
feeling well and then you'llalso offer me these types of,
you know, educational tools witha more proactive, healthier
life?

Speaker 3 (09:06):
So we offer both.
We don't offer monthlysubscription per se.
We can see patients if somebodyhas insurance, doesn't have
insurance or insurance that wedon't participate with.
We do have cash pricingavailable and I feel it's
reasonably priced.

(09:27):
We try to have all of ourservices, or as much as possible
, covered by insurance.
So when patients schedule forconsultation we do a benefit
verification and we let patientsknow fairly quickly whether or
not we participate with theirinsurance and if they would have
any out-of-pocket costs.
What that would be a monthlysubscription is something that

(09:54):
we've discussed.
We haven't had a need for itright now, but that may change
as our practice evolves down theline.
Typically, if we go throughinsurance, all patients that
want to speak to the nutritionalcoach would have to have a
consultation with myself first,and then I essentially send an
internal referral to ournutrition coach and just the way

(10:18):
the insurance companies preferit.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Right, okay, and I think it's a's a.
You know, definitely I've hadother guests on the show doctors
that are trying to do more ofthis proactive, uh, integrative
medicine, that is, you know,talking about treating the, the
cause, and not the symptom.
It's not about just giving thema pill, it's about how do we

(10:42):
live a healthier life to avoidhaving to come for, you know,
inflammatory or or, you know,pain medication when it might be
avoided by just having a, um, alifestyle change.
But that's hard, you know,taking pills easy and making the
steps to to eat better andexercise, and, you know, be
mindful of everything you do,from sleep to eating to stress

(11:05):
is that's nothing that happensinstantaneously, but I think the
education and the testimonialsof people that do make these
changes I think can go a longway into, you know, into kind of
permeating our, our approach tohealth.
So let's just, I just want toreview, like, where you're

(11:29):
located and go through again theservices that you offer,
because you know you you've hadarticles about back pain, so you
know you treat I guess we couldsay chiropractic symptoms,
right, you also have theinternist and general medicine.
You have your nutritionist, sothe osteopathic approach can you

(11:50):
just remind everybody what thatis, and then also where you're
located and how people contactyou.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Sure.
So I am an osteopathicphysician and everything that
you mentioned there is what weoffer.
I think some people who areunfamiliar with osteopathic
medicine or vaguely familiar,they tend to think of more like
the manipulation type servicesand things like that.

(12:18):
But osteopathic medicine is.
It's a philosophy as well.
It goes back to almost 200years ago when the field was
started and the foundingphysician, andrew Taylor, still
was disenfranchised with thecurrent medical system.
At the time he was unhappy withthe amount of opiates that were

(12:39):
being used and othermedications like arsenic and
quicksilver, which is alsomercury.
So it's funny how historyrepeats itself.
Because I think that's one ofthe things that we emerged from
the covid pandemic from is alittle bit more sense of the
pharmaceutical industry, and youknow at times how the

(12:59):
pharmaceutical industry and youknow at times how the
pharmaceutical industry can beprofit over health in some ways.
So I think the American peoplehave become a little bit more in
tune with their health andthey're more mindful of the
medications that they use andlooking for alternatives like
diets and supplements and thingsof that nature.

(13:20):
So osteopathic medicine hasalways been aligned with that.
I think more people becomefamiliar with our practice style
and our philosophy.
They'll be very satisfied withthat.
So I'm located at 541 CedarHill Ave.
We're at the corner of Sycamacand Cedar Hill.

(13:41):
Essentially, our phone numberis 551-815-1000.
We have a website it'sosteofamilymednjcom, and you can
also find us on.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Google.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
You can obviously find us in White Coat Living and
all of our contact informationis in our ad that appears every
month.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
That's great.
Well, Dr DeFay, we'll have youon for your next article.
Looking forward to that, andthank you again for being a
guest on the show.

Speaker 3 (14:15):
Thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
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the show, go to gnpbergen.
com.
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com, or call 201-298-8325.