September 9, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode we feature:
An interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Aldrich Chan.
Take a cold plunge.
Iodine could fix your sluggishness
Social Prescriptions
And more ways you can improve your health today!
A Pre-roll advertisement to promote the John Tesh Sports Album. v1
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
Gib. Hello and welcome to another episode of the
(00:10):
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another special
intelligence for your health.
With Connie Selleck, edition ofthe show. Her guest today is
neuropsychologist, Dr AldrichChan, founder and CEO of the
Center for Neuropsychology andconsciousness. So get excited
about a little dive intoNeuropsychology about what is
it? What does it take to makeyour brain your brain? We'll
(00:30):
dive into that today. So here wego without further ado,
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica,
here's a strange way to boostyour immune system. Play a game
like Scrabble. According to aUCLA study, your body sees
competition, even in a boardgame, as something it might need
to defend itself against. Thatincreases immune cell function,
(00:53):
making them more active. Soimmune cells move more quickly
into the bloodstream, where theyspread throughout your body and
that protects you from illnesscausing pathogens. So play a
friendly game against someone toboost your immune system. If you
are 50 years old or younger, orknow someone who is the Dana
(01:13):
Farber Cancer Institute hasfound your cancer risk is much
higher than any previousgenerations. In fact, with
colorectal cancers,specifically, those born after
1990 now have quadruple the riskthan those born before 1950 The
reason our modern lifestyle,researchers say tumors being
(01:36):
found in younger cancer patientsare often biologically different
than those found in olderpatients. They're not showing
signs of being hereditary, andaccording to gastroenterologist
Dr Andrew Chan, this offers thestrongest evidence ever that
lifestyle is now the top cancerrisk factor, because compared to
older generations, people bornin the last 50 years tend to
(01:59):
consume more sugary drinks, takemore antibiotics and spend more
time sitting or being inactive.
And while any one of thosehabits is known to damage
Health, Dr chan says thecombination of them creates the
perfect environment forincreased inflammation, which
promotes tumor growth. In otherwords, researchers now believe
our lifestyle accounts for morethan half of our risk for
(02:21):
getting cancer, and it's why weshould be doing everything we
can to avoid smoking, to eat ahealthy diet and get adequate
amounts of sleep and exercise.
That's true for all people, butit is especially important if
you are under age 50, coming up,we'll talk to neuropsychologist,
Dr Aldrick chan he'll share themental health benefits of taking
(02:44):
a cold plunge, and he'll tell ushow long we need to stay in the
water to get the benefits. Butfirst, you don't need to use wet
wipes after using the bathroom.
Internist Dr Holly Phillips saysthere's no hygienic advantage
for adults to clean themselveswith wet wipes instead of toilet
paper, plus some wipes containaloe, vitamin E and alcohol,
which sounds great, but theymight actually irritate your
(03:07):
skin and leave it stinging andinflamed when dealing with
anything that touches yourprivate parts, always choose
products that are unscented andchemical free. Well, it looks
like babies are the new kettlebell. Fitness classes are adding
the physical weight of a childto workouts with people
strapping their babies to theirchest and doing bar workouts,
(03:28):
Mat Pilates and dance classes inColumbus, Ohio, the flux flow
Dance Center invites parents,grandparents and nannies to wear
newborns in carriers while theydance, and the baby class is the
most popular dance class theyoffer. People all over the world
tune in online, wearing theirown babies and dancing along
(03:48):
virtually. Amber Angeli is adance instructor in Denver, and
she's certified hundreds ofinstructors around the world in
GROOVE DANCE a baby wearingdance method she created, and
aside from getting a workoutwith a 15 pound baby strapped to
you, the classes also create asocial environment for the new
parents during a time whenthey're most isolated. Joanna
(04:11):
McNeely is the founder of theCenter for baby wearing studies
in New York, and she saysclasses can increase muscle
engagement in babies and helpparents with long term core
control. And that's the latestfitness trend, strapping on a
baby for a weighted workout.
Okay, listen to this. How manypillows do you sleep on? Well,
(04:33):
there's no harm in using twounless your neck is at an angle
that will cause pain in themorning. If you like your head
elevated, make sure the risestarts at the base of your neck,
where it meets your shoulders,so the weight of your head won't
put pressure on your spine as ittilts forward. But if you're
sleeping on old flattenedpillows, and you need two just
(04:54):
to prop your head up, that is aproblem, because old floppy
pillows are probably full of.
Dust mites, which can cause yourallergies and sinus issues to
flare up. So ditch those flat asa pancake pillows and get some
new ones your sinuses and neckwill thank you. Today, our guest
is Dr Aldrich Chan. He's aneuropsychologist and founder
(05:14):
and CEO of the Center forNeuropsychology and
consciousness in Miami, and witha record number of people
reporting more stress andanxiety these days, I asked Dr
chan right off the bat, howshould we deal with stress?
So the first thing for me tonote is that biologically,
having mild to moderate degreesof stress can actually be
(05:37):
beneficial. It's built into oursystems, and we call this
eustress. Eustress can optimizelearning. And I think as a
society, we become so stressphobic that I think lots of
people might exaggerate theimpact that stress may be having
on their lives simply by thelabel itself. Just because you
feel stressed doesn't mean thatthere's something wrong in your
(05:58):
life. It may, in fact, mean thatthere's something right. The
problem is when the stressbecomes so severe or chronic
that somebody doesn't have theresources to deal with it, and
this is when it becomesunhealthy. So the first stress
intervention, I would say, isreally a shift in attitude
towards stress itself. Learn toaccept that mild to moderate
levels of stress is normal andeven healthy. And so I would say
(06:21):
aim towards prevailing in theface of stress, as opposed to
seeking out happiness.
You said there's a good type ofstress known as eustress for our
listeners, that's spelled withan EU that's considered normal
psychological stress. So how dowe know if we have beneficial
eustress?
Yeah, that's a great question.
So the first thing to note isthat when you are feeling
(06:42):
eustress, your sympatheticsystem, your fight flight
system, is active. However, it'snot so active to the point that
it's overwhelming. So you mayfeel your heart racing, you may
feel your hands getting a littlesweaty, perhaps, but it's not
overwhelming to the extent thatyou don't feel like you have
what it's what it takes in orderto handle the stressor so you
(07:03):
are confident that you cantackle whatever obstacle is in
front of you.
Today, we're talking toneuropsychologist, Dr Aldrich
Chan. He was just saying thatthere's a good type of stress
that's normal and healthy, liketraveling is stressful, but it's
a good kind of stress that'sshort term and can be handled.
(07:24):
Then there's bad, chronic stressthat feels overwhelming. So I
asked Dr chan how we can managethe overwhelming, long term
stress that's damaging ourhealth.
Personally, I'm a big fan ofmeditation and actually cold
plunges as ways to developincreased resilience to stress.
Meditation is very wellsupported by science. At this
(07:47):
point, it has been shown toimprove cognitive faculties,
emotion regulation, even immunefunctioning and cold plunges
force your body into a stressfulsituation, but it's controlled
and it's safe, and among others,it releases things like
norepinephrine and dopamine thatcan assist with mood and every
exposure may be increasing one'stolerance to stressful
(08:07):
situations, possiblystrengthening the tone of what
we call your vagus nerve, whichis the only cranial nerve that
descends into your gut and actsas a highway of information flow
between your gut and your brain.
And low vagal tone tends to becorrelated with higher
sensitivity to stress.
So if I decided to take a coldplunge when I'm stressed, how
(08:29):
long do I have to stay in thewater to get the benefits?
So yeah, some people break itup. I prefer to just stay in
there for like 20 minutes,actually. So I'm a little bit
different. But the key though isthat when you're in the cold
water, your body isautomatically going to react.
And the cold is somethinginteresting, because it's not
like we become completelydesensitized to it every time
(08:51):
you go in, it's going to providea jolt to your system, but the
more you do it, the more you getconfident about the fact that
your body will adapt in thatcold environment.
Be careful drinking white wine.
A study from Iowa StateUniversity found that when
people pour white wine into aclear glass, they pour 9% more
than people who drink red wine.
(09:14):
That's because white wine blendsin with the glass, causing
drinkers to pour more and drinkmore than they intend to today's
medical term PosturalOrthostatic Tachycardia
Syndrome, or pots, that's acondition in which your heart
beats faster than normal. Whenyou transition from lying down
to standing up, you may feelyour heart race, or you may feel
(09:36):
dizzy, light headed, faint orfatigued. With pots, your body
can't keep your blood pressuresteady and stable, and pots is
pretty common. About one in 100people will develop it at some
point, but cases have more thandoubled since the pandemic, and
one reason is that POTS isincreasingly being linked to
viral illnesses like the flu,covid and pneumonia. You can
(09:58):
also develop it after surgeryor. A head injury. The good news
is that POTS is not lifethreatening, and there are a
bunch of treatments that canhelp, mainly exercise and
changes in diet. For example,reclined aerobic exercise like
swimming, rowing and recumbentbicycling have the best results,
but even walking more can help.
Medical compression stockingscan also help push blood up from
(10:20):
your legs to reduce potsymptoms. As far as diet
changes, a lot of times, POTSpatients need more salt and
fluids to increase blood volume.
There are also medications thatcan help and in 80% of cases,
the condition improves on itsown, and that's today's medical
term, Postural OrthostaticTachycardia Syndrome or pots
(10:44):
Coming up, we'll hear more fromneuropsychologist, Dr Aldrich
chan he'll explain how qualitysocial interactions can protect
us against conditions rangingfrom depression to PTSD. But
first, let's say you ate a hugemeal, you're stuffed and you're
worried you're going to have atummy ache or heartburn because
of it, try this trick. Take 10minutes to visualize a place
(11:06):
that makes you feel relaxed,like a warm beach with gentle
waves or a tranquil forestfilled with trees rustling in
the breeze. According toresearch from Morristown Medical
Center in New Jersey, that willhelp they found that visualizing
a peaceful environment calms thenerves that control digestive
tract function and that improvesdigestion and speeds up the
(11:28):
emptying of your stomach. Infact, it can cut your heartburn
risk by 68% so the next timeyou're worried that a big meal
will come back to haunt you,take 10 minutes post meal for
some relaxing visualization. Howmany times has this happened to
you? You meet someone new, theytell you their name, and a few
(11:48):
seconds later, you've completelyforgotten it. It happens to me
all the time. Well, here's howto remember the name of the
person you're talking to. Justspend a few extra seconds
looking at their face. In anexperiment conducted by Simon
Fraser University in Vancouver,study, subjects wearing eye
tracking devices were shownrandom faces and names, and it
(12:11):
turns out that women were 12%better at correctly recalling
people's names simply becausethey spent a few extra seconds
staring at a person's facialfeatures, the brain is encoded
to remember visual images betterthan auditory information. So
use the trick President FranklinRoosevelt did. He'd imagine a
(12:32):
person's name written on theirforehead, and that's how he
remembered the names ofeverybody who worked in the
White House. So the next timeyou meet someone, when they tell
you their name, really look atthem while you absorb the
information, you'll be morelikely to remember their name in
the future. Okay, listen tothis. If you exercise today,
(12:53):
you'll perform better at worktomorrow. That's according to
the Harvard Business Review. Forthe research, hundreds of study
subjects wore fitness trackerswhile their performance at work
was monitored by theirsupervisors, and the data
confirmed that exercise helpsyou perform better at work the
very next day, and one of thebiggest reasons is because
(13:13):
exercising today helps you sleepbetter tonight, and when you're
well rested, you perform betteron mental tasks, the next day,
you wake up with greater energyand better concentration, and
that directly impacts your workperformance, back with more
health intelligence fromneuropsychologist Dr Aldrich
Chan and he endorses the latestscience that shows some mental
(13:35):
health conditions can beimproved With a so called Social
prescription, meaning enjoyingmore social interactions and
activities with your friends andloved ones. So I asked Dr chan
why those are so important.
First thing I'll say is thatthis makes a lot of sense, given
that we are very social animals,and to consider anyone in
(13:56):
isolation would be seeing theforest for the trees. Lots of
people don't see it this way,but language and touch these can
be vehicles that can dysregulateanother person's brain, like if
someone is constantly yelling atanother person in the form of
verbal abuse, this canpotentially lead to something
like PTSD, but on the flip side,it can also regulate the brain
(14:18):
the appropriate amounts ofsocial support and social
experiences can effectivelyreduce symptoms of depression
and anxiety. For example,someone who's feeling depressed
partially because they feelisolated and misunderstood, say
they're asked to join a socialsetting despite their perhaps
cynicism, and to their surprise,they find someone who feels the
(14:39):
same way and are open to havingdeeper discussions now they feel
understood, less isolated, andthis can substantially improve
mood back with more healthintelligence from
neuropsychologist Dr Aldrichchan earlier, he said that a key
part of overcoming a stressfulsituation is to embrace the
mindset that some stress can begood for us in. It's a practice
(15:00):
known as reframing, and I askedDr chan to explain more about
why reframing helps turn almostany negative situation into
something much morepositive. Reframing can be
basically changing yourperspective on a particular
difficult situation. So let'ssay you find yourself in a
situation that is unfortunateand you're feeling very down and
(15:22):
stressed and overwhelmed, if newinformation comes into play, or
you gain an additionalperspective that could push you
towards seeing the moment not somuch as overwhelming, but as an
opportunity that can beovercome. And if that is the
case, then that is one example,for example, in which you can
(15:43):
handle or tackle a majorstressor that then changes into
a eustresswe know overuse of antibiotics
can lead to antibiotic resistantbacteria, But there's another
concern, developing Type TwoDiabetes, scientists found
antibiotics alter the balance ofour microbiome, the billions of
(16:04):
microorganisms living in ourgut, and when the balance is
off, it can cause changes ininsulin sensitivity and glucose
tolerance, which can increasethe risk of type two diabetes.
So don't take antibiotics unlessyou have a bacterial infection
that requires them moreintelligence for your health.
From neuropsychologist, DrAldrich Chan, if you'd like to
(16:27):
know more about him, or hiscenter for Neuropsychology and
consciousness in Miami, checkout Dr Chan, cnc.com and he has
a trick for improving memorycalled chunking. It's an
exercise that Dr chan actuallyuses to help people who've
suffered a concussion or strokeimprove their memory. So I asked
(16:47):
Dr chan to tell us more aboutit. So if you if you think of a
phone number, which is a goodexample, they're chunked, right?
It's not like you just get allthe digits altogether, but you
have the area code, it breaks upinto three, and then it breaks
up into four, right? So as soonas you break it up like that,
it's going to improve yourability for recall.
(17:09):
So aside from chunking phonenumbers, can you give us another
example of how we might usechunking to remember
something? So as long as youintegrate strategies, you can
improve your your recall ofmemory. There are many other
types. For example, like I usedto play this game where I would
have a friend lend me theircredit card, and within 10
seconds, I'd remember all thedigits. And part of what I was
(17:32):
doing was I was looking at thenumbers, chunking them, and then
creating a story out of thosenumbers. So like a 98 year old
meets a 50 year old that flieson a 757, and you know, X, Y and
Z. And basically, you come upwith a story that brings
together those those numbers.
And when you provide anunderlying substrate, structure
and meaning behind it, it'sgoing to improve your ability to
(17:54):
recall what the numbers are.
Experts say we need to payattention when we're walking our
dogs, because too many peopleare trying to multi task. We
walk our dogs while scrollingthrough our phones making calls
while listening to a podcast orpushing a stroller. It's
understandable we are busy, butanimal behaviorists say that at
(18:17):
best, dog walkers who aren'tpaying attention can confuse or
frustrate their dogs, and atworst, they can endanger the
dog's safety. Leslie sin is aboard certified veterinarian
behaviorist, and she equatesinattentive dog walking to
distracted driving. She says ourdogs communicate primarily with
(18:37):
their body language, so ifyou're not paying attention, you
won't know how your dog feels,and the Cleveland Clinic says
only a small percentage ofpeople can actually multitask
effectively, so distracted dogwalkers may not notice potential
threats, bicyclists, joggers,cars or unleashed dogs. By the
time a person looks up fromtheir phone, another dog could
(18:59):
be ready to attack, or your dogcould eat something dangerous.
You could also hurt yourself ifyou're not paying attention. A
study by Johns Hopkins foundthat humans injuries while dog
walking increased more than fourfold in the last 20 years. The
bottom line is walking your dogshould be about building your
relationship and focusing onwhat your dog needs, and that
(19:21):
may be the only time he gets outof the house that day. So keep
your phone in your pocket.
Here's an email I received atConnie at intelligence for your
health.com. It comes fromShannon Mueller, who writes, I
saw a story on the news about awoman who had a spider crawl in
her ear when she was asleep. Howcommon is this. Shannon, I don't
want to freak you out, butaccording to a study in the
(19:44):
Journal of family medicine andprimary care, about 20% of
foreign objects found in earsare insects. It even happened to
one of our radio show producersa few months ago, the insects
found in ears typically include.
Include ants, mosquitoes andspiders. The good news it's
(20:05):
extremely rare for bugs to doany damage inside a human ear,
and the most you'll likelynotice are some unusual clicking
and rustling sounds, a slighttickle or the sensation that
something's moving in your ear.
Bugs almost always crawl out ontheir own, but researchers say
you can encourage them byputting a few drops of baby oil
or olive oil into your earcanal, but never, ever stick a Q
(20:27):
tip or tweezer in there, sincethat could squash the bug and
make it even much harder to getout and definitely see a doctor
if you feel like something stuckin your ear for several days
because there have been cases ofbugs malting or shedding their
outside shell and needing to beremoved surgically. Well. Thank
(20:50):
you for your email. Shannon, Ihope a bug does not crawl in
your ear. Okay, listen to this.
If you're feeling sluggish, youmay be low in iodine. About one
in three people are and it's amineral that our thyroid needs
to function properly to see ifyou are iodine deficient.
(21:12):
Integrative medicine expert DrTasneem bate says, get some
liquid iodine that brown coloreddisinfectant from the pharmacy
and rub some on the underside ofyour arm, if your skin quickly
soaks it up and leaves no telltale, yellow mark your iodine
levels are low. A quick fix, adda half a teaspoon of iodized
(21:32):
salt to your daily diet, becausethe salt in processed food is
not iodized. You can also getiodine from seaweed or ask your
doctor about taking a dailymultivitamin that contains 150
micrograms of iodine. You'veheard us say that the best way
to avoid getting sick is toregularly wash your hands with
(21:52):
soap and water, but that isespecially important in the
first few hours of the morning.
Researchers at the University ofCambridge found we're a whopping
10 times more likely to get sickfrom cold viruses, for example,
when we're exposed to them inthe morning compared to
afternoon or evening. It's downto a key gene researchers have
identified that's responsiblefor boosting our immunity, and
(22:14):
for some reason, that gene isleast active when we first wake
up, which makes our immunesystem significantly more
vulnerable to morning attacksfrom germs. Meaning, if someone
at work is sick with the flu andthey touch a light switch, for
example, and then you come alongand touch the same switch a few
minutes later, you're morelikely to get sick if it's early
(22:36):
in the day. So if there's ever atime to be obsessive about hand
washing, it should be between7am and noon, more intelligence
for your health fromneuropsychologist Dr Aldrich
Chan, and when it comes torelieving stress, he's a fan of
mindful meditation, so I askedDr chan to tell us How
(22:57):
practicing mindfulness canimprove our mental health.
Mindfulness provides people witha, I would say, a competitive
edge in life, and it's the stateof being open, non judgmental,
non critical, and completelypresent we're so busy talking
and thinking that we fail tofully receive what the world has
(23:18):
to offer. And it may help uslive in the moment, so that we
don't lose time thinking aboutthe past or the future
needlessly. And what I usuallyhear people complain about quite
often when they try anymindfulness practice, is that
they can't meditate becausetheir minds are wandering. But
that's pretty much the whole oneof the big points of meditation,
right? It's to refocus the mindevery time it wanders, because
(23:42):
our minds naturally wander. Andunfortunately, the more your
mind wanders, the more likely itis that it will wander to
negative places. And in myopinion, it's quite sad that
children in many school systemsdon't learn how to regulate
their emotions or focus on thepresent, especially because
emotional intelligence isactually a higher predictor of
(24:03):
success than intellectualquotient, and this is actually
part of the reason why Ideveloped the meditation group
and the sage program. The sageprogram being dedicated to
helping young adults developtechniques for self regulation,
awareness, goal, attainment andemotional intelligence.
If you'd like to know more aboutthe sage program that Dr chan
just mentioned, check out DrChan, C, N, c.com, Dr Chan is
(24:29):
spelled C, H, A, N,that's it for our show today,
our special intelligence foryour health with Connie Selig,
edition of the podcast, I'm GibGerard. Don't forget to rate
comment and subscribe on Applepodcast, Spotify, wherever you
get your podcast, it helps usout a lot, and also you can
reach out to us on social media.
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
(24:51):
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Gib. Hello and welcome to another episode of the
(00:10):
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another special
intelligence for your health.
With Connie Selleck, edition ofthe show. Her guest today is
neuropsychologist, Dr AldrichChan, founder and CEO of the
Center for Neuropsychology andconsciousness. So get excited
about a little dive intoNeuropsychology about what is
it? What does it take to makeyour brain your brain? We'll
(00:30):
dive into that today. So here wego without further ado,
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica,
here's a strange way to boostyour immune system. Play a game
like Scrabble. According to aUCLA study, your body sees
competition, even in a boardgame, as something it might need
to defend itself against. Thatincreases immune cell function,
(00:53):
making them more active. Soimmune cells move more quickly
into the bloodstream, where theyspread throughout your body and
that protects you from illnesscausing pathogens. So play a
friendly game against someone toboost your immune system. If you
are 50 years old or younger, orknow someone who is the Dana
(01:13):
Farber Cancer Institute hasfound your cancer risk is much
higher than any previousgenerations. In fact, with
colorectal cancers,specifically, those born after
1990 now have quadruple the riskthan those born before 1950 The
reason our modern lifestyle,researchers say tumors being
(01:36):
found in younger cancer patientsare often biologically different
than those found in olderpatients. They're not showing
signs of being hereditary, andaccording to gastroenterologist
Dr Andrew Chan, this offers thestrongest evidence ever that
lifestyle is now the top cancerrisk factor, because compared to
older generations, people bornin the last 50 years tend to
(01:59):
consume more sugary drinks, takemore antibiotics and spend more
time sitting or being inactive.
And while any one of thosehabits is known to damage
Health, Dr chan says thecombination of them creates the
perfect environment forincreased inflammation, which
promotes tumor growth. In otherwords, researchers now believe
our lifestyle accounts for morethan half of our risk for
(02:21):
getting cancer, and it's why weshould be doing everything we
can to avoid smoking, to eat ahealthy diet and get adequate
amounts of sleep and exercise.
That's true for all people, butit is especially important if
you are under age 50, coming up,we'll talk to neuropsychologist,
Dr Aldrick chan he'll share themental health benefits of taking
(02:44):
a cold plunge, and he'll tell ushow long we need to stay in the
water to get the benefits. Butfirst, you don't need to use wet
wipes after using the bathroom.
Internist Dr Holly Phillips saysthere's no hygienic advantage
for adults to clean themselveswith wet wipes instead of toilet
paper, plus some wipes containaloe, vitamin E and alcohol,
which sounds great, but theymight actually irritate your
(03:07):
skin and leave it stinging andinflamed when dealing with
anything that touches yourprivate parts, always choose
products that are unscented andchemical free. Well, it looks
like babies are the new kettlebell. Fitness classes are adding
the physical weight of a childto workouts with people
strapping their babies to theirchest and doing bar workouts,
(03:28):
Mat Pilates and dance classes inColumbus, Ohio, the flux flow
Dance Center invites parents,grandparents and nannies to wear
newborns in carriers while theydance, and the baby class is the
most popular dance class theyoffer. People all over the world
tune in online, wearing theirown babies and dancing along
(03:48):
virtually. Amber Angeli is adance instructor in Denver, and
she's certified hundreds ofinstructors around the world in
GROOVE DANCE a baby wearingdance method she created, and
aside from getting a workoutwith a 15 pound baby strapped to
you, the classes also create asocial environment for the new
parents during a time whenthey're most isolated. Joanna
(04:11):
McNeely is the founder of theCenter for baby wearing studies
in New York, and she saysclasses can increase muscle
engagement in babies and helpparents with long term core
control. And that's the latestfitness trend, strapping on a
baby for a weighted workout.
Okay, listen to this. How manypillows do you sleep on? Well,
(04:33):
there's no harm in using twounless your neck is at an angle
that will cause pain in themorning. If you like your head
elevated, make sure the risestarts at the base of your neck,
where it meets your shoulders,so the weight of your head won't
put pressure on your spine as ittilts forward. But if you're
sleeping on old flattenedpillows, and you need two just
(04:54):
to prop your head up, that is aproblem, because old floppy
pillows are probably full of.
Dust mites, which can cause yourallergies and sinus issues to
flare up. So ditch those flat asa pancake pillows and get some
new ones your sinuses and neckwill thank you. Today, our guest
is Dr Aldrich Chan. He's aneuropsychologist and founder
(05:14):
and CEO of the Center forNeuropsychology and
consciousness in Miami, and witha record number of people
reporting more stress andanxiety these days, I asked Dr
chan right off the bat, howshould we deal with stress?
So the first thing for me tonote is that biologically,
having mild to moderate degreesof stress can actually be
(05:37):
beneficial. It's built into oursystems, and we call this
eustress. Eustress can optimizelearning. And I think as a
society, we become so stressphobic that I think lots of
people might exaggerate theimpact that stress may be having
on their lives simply by thelabel itself. Just because you
feel stressed doesn't mean thatthere's something wrong in your
(05:58):
life. It may, in fact, mean thatthere's something right. The
problem is when the stressbecomes so severe or chronic
that somebody doesn't have theresources to deal with it, and
this is when it becomesunhealthy. So the first stress
intervention, I would say, isreally a shift in attitude
towards stress itself. Learn toaccept that mild to moderate
levels of stress is normal andeven healthy. And so I would say
(06:21):
aim towards prevailing in theface of stress, as opposed to
seeking out happiness.
You said there's a good type ofstress known as eustress for our
listeners, that's spelled withan EU that's considered normal
psychological stress. So how dowe know if we have beneficial
eustress?
Yeah, that's a great question.
So the first thing to note isthat when you are feeling
(06:42):
eustress, your sympatheticsystem, your fight flight
system, is active. However, it'snot so active to the point that
it's overwhelming. So you mayfeel your heart racing, you may
feel your hands getting a littlesweaty, perhaps, but it's not
overwhelming to the extent thatyou don't feel like you have
what it's what it takes in orderto handle the stressor so you
(07:03):
are confident that you cantackle whatever obstacle is in
front of you.
Today, we're talking toneuropsychologist, Dr Aldrich
Chan. He was just saying thatthere's a good type of stress
that's normal and healthy, liketraveling is stressful, but it's
a good kind of stress that'sshort term and can be handled.
(07:24):
Then there's bad, chronic stressthat feels overwhelming. So I
asked Dr chan how we can managethe overwhelming, long term
stress that's damaging ourhealth.
Personally, I'm a big fan ofmeditation and actually cold
plunges as ways to developincreased resilience to stress.
Meditation is very wellsupported by science. At this
(07:47):
point, it has been shown toimprove cognitive faculties,
emotion regulation, even immunefunctioning and cold plunges
force your body into a stressfulsituation, but it's controlled
and it's safe, and among others,it releases things like
norepinephrine and dopamine thatcan assist with mood and every
exposure may be increasing one'stolerance to stressful
(08:07):
situations, possiblystrengthening the tone of what
we call your vagus nerve, whichis the only cranial nerve that
descends into your gut and actsas a highway of information flow
between your gut and your brain.
And low vagal tone tends to becorrelated with higher
sensitivity to stress.
So if I decided to take a coldplunge when I'm stressed, how
(08:29):
long do I have to stay in thewater to get the benefits?
So yeah, some people break itup. I prefer to just stay in
there for like 20 minutes,actually. So I'm a little bit
different. But the key though isthat when you're in the cold
water, your body isautomatically going to react.
And the cold is somethinginteresting, because it's not
like we become completelydesensitized to it every time
(08:51):
you go in, it's going to providea jolt to your system, but the
more you do it, the more you getconfident about the fact that
your body will adapt in thatcold environment.
Be careful drinking white wine.
A study from Iowa StateUniversity found that when
people pour white wine into aclear glass, they pour 9% more
than people who drink red wine.
(09:14):
That's because white wine blendsin with the glass, causing
drinkers to pour more and drinkmore than they intend to today's
medical term PosturalOrthostatic Tachycardia
Syndrome, or pots, that's acondition in which your heart
beats faster than normal. Whenyou transition from lying down
to standing up, you may feelyour heart race, or you may feel
(09:36):
dizzy, light headed, faint orfatigued. With pots, your body
can't keep your blood pressuresteady and stable, and pots is
pretty common. About one in 100people will develop it at some
point, but cases have more thandoubled since the pandemic, and
one reason is that POTS isincreasingly being linked to
viral illnesses like the flu,covid and pneumonia. You can
(09:58):
also develop it after surgeryor. A head injury. The good news
is that POTS is not lifethreatening, and there are a
bunch of treatments that canhelp, mainly exercise and
changes in diet. For example,reclined aerobic exercise like
swimming, rowing and recumbentbicycling have the best results,
but even walking more can help.
Medical compression stockingscan also help push blood up from
(10:20):
your legs to reduce potsymptoms. As far as diet
changes, a lot of times, POTSpatients need more salt and
fluids to increase blood volume.
There are also medications thatcan help and in 80% of cases,
the condition improves on itsown, and that's today's medical
term, Postural OrthostaticTachycardia Syndrome or pots
(10:44):
Coming up, we'll hear more fromneuropsychologist, Dr Aldrich
chan he'll explain how qualitysocial interactions can protect
us against conditions rangingfrom depression to PTSD. But
first, let's say you ate a hugemeal, you're stuffed and you're
worried you're going to have atummy ache or heartburn because
of it, try this trick. Take 10minutes to visualize a place
(11:06):
that makes you feel relaxed,like a warm beach with gentle
waves or a tranquil forestfilled with trees rustling in
the breeze. According toresearch from Morristown Medical
Center in New Jersey, that willhelp they found that visualizing
a peaceful environment calms thenerves that control digestive
tract function and that improvesdigestion and speeds up the
(11:28):
emptying of your stomach. Infact, it can cut your heartburn
risk by 68% so the next timeyou're worried that a big meal
will come back to haunt you,take 10 minutes post meal for
some relaxing visualization. Howmany times has this happened to
you? You meet someone new, theytell you their name, and a few
(11:48):
seconds later, you've completelyforgotten it. It happens to me
all the time. Well, here's howto remember the name of the
person you're talking to. Justspend a few extra seconds
looking at their face. In anexperiment conducted by Simon
Fraser University in Vancouver,study, subjects wearing eye
tracking devices were shownrandom faces and names, and it
(12:11):
turns out that women were 12%better at correctly recalling
people's names simply becausethey spent a few extra seconds
staring at a person's facialfeatures, the brain is encoded
to remember visual images betterthan auditory information. So
use the trick President FranklinRoosevelt did. He'd imagine a
(12:32):
person's name written on theirforehead, and that's how he
remembered the names ofeverybody who worked in the
White House. So the next timeyou meet someone, when they tell
you their name, really look atthem while you absorb the
information, you'll be morelikely to remember their name in
the future. Okay, listen tothis. If you exercise today,
(12:53):
you'll perform better at worktomorrow. That's according to
the Harvard Business Review. Forthe research, hundreds of study
subjects wore fitness trackerswhile their performance at work
was monitored by theirsupervisors, and the data
confirmed that exercise helpsyou perform better at work the
very next day, and one of thebiggest reasons is because
(13:13):
exercising today helps you sleepbetter tonight, and when you're
well rested, you perform betteron mental tasks, the next day,
you wake up with greater energyand better concentration, and
that directly impacts your workperformance, back with more
health intelligence fromneuropsychologist Dr Aldrich
Chan and he endorses the latestscience that shows some mental
(13:35):
health conditions can beimproved With a so called Social
prescription, meaning enjoyingmore social interactions and
activities with your friends andloved ones. So I asked Dr chan
why those are so important.
First thing I'll say is thatthis makes a lot of sense, given
that we are very social animals,and to consider anyone in
(13:56):
isolation would be seeing theforest for the trees. Lots of
people don't see it this way,but language and touch these can
be vehicles that can dysregulateanother person's brain, like if
someone is constantly yelling atanother person in the form of
verbal abuse, this canpotentially lead to something
like PTSD, but on the flip side,it can also regulate the brain
(14:18):
the appropriate amounts ofsocial support and social
experiences can effectivelyreduce symptoms of depression
and anxiety. For example,someone who's feeling depressed
partially because they feelisolated and misunderstood, say
they're asked to join a socialsetting despite their perhaps
cynicism, and to their surprise,they find someone who feels the
(14:39):
same way and are open to havingdeeper discussions now they feel
understood, less isolated, andthis can substantially improve
mood back with more healthintelligence from
neuropsychologist Dr Aldrichchan earlier, he said that a key
part of overcoming a stressfulsituation is to embrace the
mindset that some stress can begood for us in. It's a practice
(15:00):
known as reframing, and I askedDr chan to explain more about
why reframing helps turn almostany negative situation into
something much morepositive. Reframing can be
basically changing yourperspective on a particular
difficult situation. So let'ssay you find yourself in a
situation that is unfortunateand you're feeling very down and
(15:22):
stressed and overwhelmed, if newinformation comes into play, or
you gain an additionalperspective that could push you
towards seeing the moment not somuch as overwhelming, but as an
opportunity that can beovercome. And if that is the
case, then that is one example,for example, in which you can
(15:43):
handle or tackle a majorstressor that then changes into
a eustresswe know overuse of antibiotics
can lead to antibiotic resistantbacteria, But there's another
concern, developing Type TwoDiabetes, scientists found
antibiotics alter the balance ofour microbiome, the billions of
(16:04):
microorganisms living in ourgut, and when the balance is
off, it can cause changes ininsulin sensitivity and glucose
tolerance, which can increasethe risk of type two diabetes.
So don't take antibiotics unlessyou have a bacterial infection
that requires them moreintelligence for your health.
From neuropsychologist, DrAldrich Chan, if you'd like to
(16:27):
know more about him, or hiscenter for Neuropsychology and
consciousness in Miami, checkout Dr Chan, cnc.com and he has
a trick for improving memorycalled chunking. It's an
exercise that Dr chan actuallyuses to help people who've
suffered a concussion or strokeimprove their memory. So I asked
(16:47):
Dr chan to tell us more aboutit. So if you if you think of a
phone number, which is a goodexample, they're chunked, right?
It's not like you just get allthe digits altogether, but you
have the area code, it breaks upinto three, and then it breaks
up into four, right? So as soonas you break it up like that,
it's going to improve yourability for recall.
(17:09):
So aside from chunking phonenumbers, can you give us another
example of how we might usechunking to remember
something? So as long as youintegrate strategies, you can
improve your your recall ofmemory. There are many other
types. For example, like I usedto play this game where I would
have a friend lend me theircredit card, and within 10
seconds, I'd remember all thedigits. And part of what I was
(17:32):
doing was I was looking at thenumbers, chunking them, and then
creating a story out of thosenumbers. So like a 98 year old
meets a 50 year old that flieson a 757, and you know, X, Y and
Z. And basically, you come upwith a story that brings
together those those numbers.
And when you provide anunderlying substrate, structure
and meaning behind it, it'sgoing to improve your ability to
(17:54):
recall what the numbers are.
Experts say we need to payattention when we're walking our
dogs, because too many peopleare trying to multi task. We
walk our dogs while scrollingthrough our phones making calls
while listening to a podcast orpushing a stroller. It's
understandable we are busy, butanimal behaviorists say that at
(18:17):
best, dog walkers who aren'tpaying attention can confuse or
frustrate their dogs, and atworst, they can endanger the
dog's safety. Leslie sin is aboard certified veterinarian
behaviorist, and she equatesinattentive dog walking to
distracted driving. She says ourdogs communicate primarily with
(18:37):
their body language, so ifyou're not paying attention, you
won't know how your dog feels,and the Cleveland Clinic says
only a small percentage ofpeople can actually multitask
effectively, so distracted dogwalkers may not notice potential
threats, bicyclists, joggers,cars or unleashed dogs. By the
time a person looks up fromtheir phone, another dog could
(18:59):
be ready to attack, or your dogcould eat something dangerous.
You could also hurt yourself ifyou're not paying attention. A
study by Johns Hopkins foundthat humans injuries while dog
walking increased more than fourfold in the last 20 years. The
bottom line is walking your dogshould be about building your
relationship and focusing onwhat your dog needs, and that
(19:21):
may be the only time he gets outof the house that day. So keep
your phone in your pocket.
Here's an email I received atConnie at intelligence for your
health.com. It comes fromShannon Mueller, who writes, I
saw a story on the news about awoman who had a spider crawl in
her ear when she was asleep. Howcommon is this. Shannon, I don't
want to freak you out, butaccording to a study in the
(19:44):
Journal of family medicine andprimary care, about 20% of
foreign objects found in earsare insects. It even happened to
one of our radio show producersa few months ago, the insects
found in ears typically include.
Include ants, mosquitoes andspiders. The good news it's
(20:05):
extremely rare for bugs to doany damage inside a human ear,
and the most you'll likelynotice are some unusual clicking
and rustling sounds, a slighttickle or the sensation that
something's moving in your ear.
Bugs almost always crawl out ontheir own, but researchers say
you can encourage them byputting a few drops of baby oil
or olive oil into your earcanal, but never, ever stick a Q
(20:27):
tip or tweezer in there, sincethat could squash the bug and
make it even much harder to getout and definitely see a doctor
if you feel like something stuckin your ear for several days
because there have been cases ofbugs malting or shedding their
outside shell and needing to beremoved surgically. Well. Thank
(20:50):
you for your email. Shannon, Ihope a bug does not crawl in
your ear. Okay, listen to this.
If you're feeling sluggish, youmay be low in iodine. About one
in three people are and it's amineral that our thyroid needs
to function properly to see ifyou are iodine deficient.
(21:12):
Integrative medicine expert DrTasneem bate says, get some
liquid iodine that brown coloreddisinfectant from the pharmacy
and rub some on the underside ofyour arm, if your skin quickly
soaks it up and leaves no telltale, yellow mark your iodine
levels are low. A quick fix, adda half a teaspoon of iodized
(21:32):
salt to your daily diet, becausethe salt in processed food is
not iodized. You can also getiodine from seaweed or ask your
doctor about taking a dailymultivitamin that contains 150
micrograms of iodine. You'veheard us say that the best way
to avoid getting sick is toregularly wash your hands with
(21:52):
soap and water, but that isespecially important in the
first few hours of the morning.
Researchers at the University ofCambridge found we're a whopping
10 times more likely to get sickfrom cold viruses, for example,
when we're exposed to them inthe morning compared to
afternoon or evening. It's downto a key gene researchers have
identified that's responsiblefor boosting our immunity, and
(22:14):
for some reason, that gene isleast active when we first wake
up, which makes our immunesystem significantly more
vulnerable to morning attacksfrom germs. Meaning, if someone
at work is sick with the flu andthey touch a light switch, for
example, and then you come alongand touch the same switch a few
minutes later, you're morelikely to get sick if it's early
(22:36):
in the day. So if there's ever atime to be obsessive about hand
washing, it should be between7am and noon, more intelligence
for your health fromneuropsychologist Dr Aldrich
Chan, and when it comes torelieving stress, he's a fan of
mindful meditation, so I askedDr chan to tell us How
(22:57):
practicing mindfulness canimprove our mental health.
Mindfulness provides people witha, I would say, a competitive
edge in life, and it's the stateof being open, non judgmental,
non critical, and completelypresent we're so busy talking
and thinking that we fail tofully receive what the world has
(23:18):
to offer. And it may help uslive in the moment, so that we
don't lose time thinking aboutthe past or the future
needlessly. And what I usuallyhear people complain about quite
often when they try anymindfulness practice, is that
they can't meditate becausetheir minds are wandering. But
that's pretty much the whole oneof the big points of meditation,
right? It's to refocus the mindevery time it wanders, because
(23:42):
our minds naturally wander. Andunfortunately, the more your
mind wanders, the more likely itis that it will wander to
negative places. And in myopinion, it's quite sad that
children in many school systemsdon't learn how to regulate
their emotions or focus on thepresent, especially because
emotional intelligence isactually a higher predictor of
(24:03):
success than intellectualquotient, and this is actually
part of the reason why Ideveloped the meditation group
and the sage program. The sageprogram being dedicated to
helping young adults developtechniques for self regulation,
awareness, goal, attainment andemotional intelligence.
If you'd like to know more aboutthe sage program that Dr chan
just mentioned, check out DrChan, C, N, c.com, Dr Chan is
(24:29):
spelled C, H, A, N,that's it for our show today,
our special intelligence foryour health with Connie Selig,
edition of the podcast, I'm GibGerard. Don't forget to rate
comment and subscribe on Applepodcast, Spotify, wherever you
get your podcast, it helps usout a lot, and also you can
reach out to us on social media.
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
(24:51):
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.