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

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Gib.

(00:08):
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of the podcast. I'm Gib
Gerard, here with anotherspecial intelligence for your
health with Connie Celica.
Editions of the show today, herguest is none other than pain
specialist, Dr Joe pergolisi.
He's going to talk about some ofthe most effective natural
treatments for pain. So we'vegot that coming up to look
forward to. Yeah, so here,without further ado,

(00:29):
intelligence for your health.
With Connie Celica, taking adaytime walk every day can help
prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Neurologist Dr Fiona Gupta saysexercise boosts blood flow to
the brain, and adding sunlightboosts those benefits by
producing lots of vitamin D,because numerous studies show

(00:49):
being deficient in D raises therisk of age related mental
decline, including Alzheimer's.
So as often as you can getoutside for a 10 minute walk,
and if it's just too coldoutside, stand near a window and
get your blood pumping by doingjumping jacks or aerobics.
Instead, think of some worriesand fears you tend to have, like

(01:09):
worrying you'll get fired fromyour job, that someone you love
will get hurt, or fearingsomeone will break into your
house. Now relax, because mostof what we worry about will
never happen. That's accordingto research from the University
of Pennsylvania. Psychologistsasked study subjects to write
down their biggest worries andfears. Then researchers followed

(01:31):
up to find out which fears, ifany, came to pass. The result a
whopping 91% of whatparticipants feared never
happened, and for most of thestudy subjects, not a single
worry came true, none, whichwasn't surprising, because the
researchers say most of ourfears are based on irrational

(01:52):
thoughts, like if you knowyou're good at your job, but
your boss gives you a funnylook, and you interpret that to
mean you're going to get fired.
That's an irrational thought.
The researchers say people whohave a negative view of the
world and themselves, likethinking, I never do anything
right, are the most likely tohave these irrational fears, but
people who have a more positiveview of themselves and the world

(02:15):
are more likely to acknowledgetheir fears and let them go, and
once you accept that 91% of yourfears and worries will likely
never happen, then fear andworry will not rule your life.
Crocheting isn't just forgrannies anymore. It's become
one of the hot crafting trendsthat help us fight stress,

(02:36):
because crocheting symbolizesDown Home Comfort and nostalgia,
and it brings back memories ofsnuggling under handmade
blankets on grandma's couch. Andas far as the stress relieving
effect, the repetitive motion ofcrocheting triggers our
relaxation response. That'saccording to the stress
Institute in Atlanta, it alsorequires what psychologists call

(02:58):
two handed bilateral cross bodyhand motions. To put that
simply, crocheting forces us touse both hands simultaneously,
and that takes a lot of brainpower so you have less mental
energy to stress out. Good news,smartphones and other digital
technology are not making usdumber. Yes, technology gets a

(03:21):
bad rap on this show andeverywhere for distracted
driving accidents and disruptedsleep with harmful blue light,
but a new study says there's onething smart technology is not
doing, and that's making peopleless intelligent. On the
contrary, researchers from theuniversities of Cincinnati and
Toronto say smart devices arehelping to free our brains up to

(03:44):
solve more complex problems andlearn and absorb more
information, and there is noscientific evidence that
smartphones and digitaltechnology harm Our cognitive
ability. Instead, theysupplement human thinking and
actually help people to excelmentally. So, because we no
longer have to figure out how toget to a destination or remember

(04:08):
a date, because we let ourphones handle those things, it
frees up our brains in a waythat allows us to accomplish
more complex tasks and learnmore than we could without our
phones and digital devices. Soalthough our phones do distract
us, they're not making us lessintelligent. Okay, listen to
this. You know the drill. Youexercise then run errands or do

(04:31):
chores while still wearing yoursweaty workout clothes. Well,
you may want to rinse off andchange instead, Dermatologist,
Dr Deborah jaleman says even alittle sweat raises our skin's
bacterial count, and when youmix excess bacteria with damp
clothing, it can trigger backknee back acne, but knee butt

(04:52):
acne or red bumps from inflamedhair follicles, you can also
develop.
Rashes along your body'screvices from the same fungus
linked to athlete's foot. Youdon't need to take a full shower
immediately to avoid rashes andacne, but at least rinse off and
put on clean dry clothes beforeyou head out. Today, our special

(05:15):
guest is Dr Joe pergolisi. He'sa senior partner at Naples,
anesthesia and pain associatesin Naples, Florida, and
generally speaking, he says thekey to reducing pain is doing
everything in your power toreduce inflammation in your
body, and that often starts withour diet. So I asked Dr
pergolisi to share some of thefoods we should be avoiding or

(05:38):
eating more of to help useliminate inflammation and pain.
Some foods may be classified aspro inflammatory foods, and
these include fried foods,sodas, refined carbohydrates,
and even red meat. And foodsthat fight inflammation include

(05:58):
things like green vegetables,berries, particularly
blueberries, are a lot ofantioxidants, and when we look
at some of the supplements thathelp us fight pain, I like to
think about turmeric, or somepeople say turmeric, and this is
a spice that has shown to reducethat pro inflammatory effect,

(06:23):
and can be helpful to reducepain and inflammation,
particularly in the joints.
Today, we're talking to painspecialist, Dr Joe pergolisi,
and you've heard the phrase mindover matter. Well, recent
studies have shown that justhaving a positive mindset may
help some people experience lesspain. So I asked Dr pergalesi
How optimism factors into a painfree lifestyle. Maintaining a

(06:47):
positive, optimistic mindset isvery helpful in reducing pain
symptoms, and I'll give you apractical example that most of
us have probably experiencedbefore. When they see a doctor,
you'll hear someone say, thisdoesn't hurt a bit before a
painful prod or a poke that maybe delivered, and this is like a

(07:12):
preemptive dose of a painreliever. 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 ofdesensitizing you. Well, a new
study actually suggests thatlower expectations about
impending pain can actuallylower a person's perception of

(07:34):
it, and there actually arehealth benefits that positive
thinking may provide, and theyinclude reduction of pain, the
increased lifespan, lower ratesof depression, lower rates of
stress or distress. Remember,stress and pain go hand in hand
a lot of the time, just anoverall better psychological and

(07:58):
physical well being, you canimprove your mental power simply
by reading the newspaper. It canalso help prevent Alzheimer's.
That's because reading increasesblood flow to the brain and
strengthens the connectionsbetween brain cells. Dr Sandra
Chapman is the director of theCenter of Brain Health at the
University of Texas. She saysthat talking about what you read

(08:21):
is even better becauseinterpreting a story strengthens
the frontal lobe of the brain,which is one of the first areas
to decline with age. Today'smedical term anosognosia, that
refers to when someone is indenial of their health
condition, whatever it may be,and it often manifests itself in
people being extremely stubborn,snappy, forgetful, and saying

(08:44):
things like, leave me alone.
I'll be fine, even when it'sobvious to everyone else, they
are not fine. So what's goingon? According to the National
Alliance on Mental Illness,anosognosia is often rooted in
sleep deprivation, because inorder to function at our best,
the brain's frontal lobe needsto be able to efficiently

(09:07):
process new information everymoment we're awake. But that
doesn't happen when we haven'thad enough sleep, and research
shows that when our frontal lobeisn't operating at 100%
we tend to lose our capacity forself awareness and our emotions
go into overdrive. That explainswhy we might snap at others who

(09:28):
ask what's wrong, because wecan't understand why they're
asking, which makes us irritatedand anxious. Now, if any of that
sounds familiar, try gettingmore sleep. But if you or
someone you know continues tohave issues with self awareness,
especially to the point ofdenying a health problem see a
doctor because that could be asign of brain damage or a more

(09:51):
serious illness, and that'stoday's medical term,
anosognosia, are your anxietieskeeping you awake at night you
might.
Sleep Better under a weightedblanket. I love mine. Several
studies have shown weightedblankets feel like you're being
hugged, which helps calm peoplewith ADHD and autism. So
University of Massachusetts,Amherst researchers used them on

(10:15):
people with garden varietyanxieties. The result when
anxious people slept underweighted blankets. 75% of them
fell asleep easily and stayedasleep. That's because a
weighted blanket activates theparasympathetic nervous system,
which lowers your heart rate andblood pressure and increases
feelings of calm. Want to makeit easier to lose weight, eat an

(10:38):
orange every day. That's thelatest recommendation from the
University of Western Ontario.
It's because oranges contain apowerful flavonoid called
nobilitin, a compound thatboosts metabolism, burns body
fat and improves mood. For thestudy, researchers divided
morbidly obese mice into twogroups on the same diet, but

(10:58):
half were also given nobilitin.
The result, those getting thenobilitin flavonoid lost weight
and slowed the harmful buildupof plaque in their arteries. In
another study, rats at a healthyweight were put on a high
calorie diet. Those also givennobilitin didn't gain weight,

(11:19):
while those without theflavonoid, so their body weight
nearly double in just 10 weeks.
And Other research shows theflavonoid, nobilitin, found in
oranges, reduces age relateddecline in endurance. Bottom
line, if you'd like to behealthier, more energetic and
way less the science says to eatat least one orange a day. Okay,
listen to this. You know thatone of the most important things

(11:43):
you can do to avoid catching acold or the flu is to wash your
hands frequently. The problemis, most people concentrate on
washing their palms when it'sthe fingertips that really
matter. Dr Neil Schachter is arespiratory specialist at Mount
Sinai Medical Center, and hesays our fingertips are more
likely to come into contact withgermy surfaces, and we're most

(12:04):
likely to stick a fingertip inour mouth, nose or eyes, the
main entry points for Gerard, sowhen you wash your hands, make
sure you focus on yourfingertips back with more health
intelligence from Dr Joepergolisi, a senior partner at
Naples, anesthesia and painassociates in Naples, Florida,
and when it comes to the normalaches and pains we all

(12:26):
experience in life, he says acommon misconception people have
is that rest will make our painsgo away, but the reality is that
inactivity causes our muscles toweaken, which puts more strain
on our bones and joints andraises our risk for experiencing
more pain. So if our goal is toreduce pain through exercise, I

(12:47):
asked Dr pergalesi, which typeof exercises should we focus on?
Having a strong core is reallycritical for good spine, back,
neck and extremity health. Andyou know, we achieve that by
doing certain types ofexercises, which include
stretching.

(13:10):
It's something that peoplesometimes don't take into their
daily experience of life. Butyou know, if you're looking at
the core, it's very important torealize that that part of the
body is really a focal point.
That's why we call it the corefor a lot of the other muscle

(13:31):
and skeletal activities. Soexercises that are going to
increase that core can beachieved with calisthenics. They
can achieve with yoga, withPilates and a lot of fun things
like that. Back with more healthintelligence from pain
specialist, Dr Joe pergolisi.
And if you're experiencing mildpain, say, from a workout or

(13:53):
injury, you've probably noticedthere are lots of options for
over the counter treatments,including taking a pain relief
pill or using a topical painrelief ointment. So I asked Dr
pergalesi How we can tell whichtreatment is better. Most
people, when they think aboutpain, they automatically reach
out for the over the counterpain pills, but the labels of

(14:14):
those pills will tell you thatthere are limitations to the
amount you can take and therelated side effects, but
topical pain relievers, they areused when we have pain at the
joints that are close to theskin surface, like the knees the
elbows, and they can absorb thattopical pain reliever relatively

(14:34):
quickly and show positiveeffects faster than most oral
pain relievers. Also, you cantake another dose much more
quickly than you can take asecond dose of an oral pain
reliever. So it's reallyimportant to do those type of
stretching exercises and toincorporate that in your daily

(14:57):
type of routine. Here's a quicktip.
Avoiding a cold this winter,keep your nose warm. Research at
Yale University found that lowtemperatures make our immune
system less effective, making itmuch easier for the cold virus
to invade our system and make ussick. So try wrapping your face
and nose in a scarf when it'schilly outside, that way the

(15:19):
carbon dioxide you breathe outwill warm the oxygen you breathe
in, which will help keep thegerms at bay, more intelligence
for your health from painspecialist Dr Joe pergolisi, and
as you've likely heard in thenews, opioid misuse has become a
huge problem in North America,with a whopping two thirds of

(15:39):
overdose deaths in recent yearsinvolving an opioid of some
kind. It's why Dr pergolisirecommends talking to your
doctor about a more personalizedapproach to relieving your pain,
which may include somealternative treatments that do
not involve taking a narcotic.
The first thing I would say isopioids should only be used for
the appropriate type of patient,and we need to be monitoring

(16:01):
their functionality. It'simportant to realize that
patients who experience severepain, particularly cancer pain,
may be candidates for this typeof therapy, and that's why you
need to see a qualified painphysician to make those
decisions. But it's not uncommonthat people and patients will
come in and ask me, What aboutacupuncture, lasers, magnets,

(16:26):
10s units, how about just simplethings like ice packs, heat
relief? Can they help me? Andthe answer is yes, all of these
things can help. They may notwork 100%

(16:46):
in 100% of the people, 100% ofthe time, but that's good,
because we're all individuals.
We just have to find out whichone's going to work for us. I do
like acupuncture andacupressure, and there are some
devices that you can buy thatcan achieve acupressure for you,
and there are clinicians thatactually do ACU puncture. All

(17:07):
these type of things are in theforefront. And as we learn more,
we should be able to get saferand more effective, personalized
options for people to managetheir pain. Here's new research
about the best time to exercise.
And if you're not an earlyriser, you will love this when

(17:29):
it comes to controllingcholesterol and heart disease,
you may be better off exercisingin the evening. The research was
conducted by the NorwegianUniversity of Science and
Technology. They had a group ofsedentary, overweight men eat a
high fat diet for two weeks.
They also had the men either

work out at 6 (17:47):
30am or 630 at night. The result, the
evening exercisers ended upimproving their cholesterol,
blood sugar and cardiovascularfitness, while the morning
exercisers health did not getany better, and that's even
though they were all eating thesame foods and doing the same
exercises. So why was workingout in the evening better?

(18:10):
Because the men got more sleep.
It turns out, waking up early toexercise disrupted their
metabolism and canceled out thebenefits of the exercise. So if
you're not a naturally earlyriser, you may be better off
exercising at night so you don'tmiss out on sleep. Here's an

(18:31):
email I received at Connie atintelligence for your
health.com. It comes fromVictoria Hill got who writes, I
feel like I'm more forgetfulthese days. Is that normal, or
do I have a memory problem?
Victoria, you'll need to see adoctor if you have serious
memory concerns. But I can tellyou this, your brain is designed
to forget things. It storesevery memory short term for a

(18:53):
few minutes or a few days, anderases whatever is not crucial.
Your brain only commits thingsto long term memory that are
important to you or linked to anemotion, but it's more difficult
to store memories when you'restressed, distracted, sleep
deprived, or constantly floodedwith new material, which pretty
much describes our everydaylives. So here's an easy way to

(19:16):
improve your memory. It comesfrom Scott hagwood, a USA
national memory champ and authorof memory power. Write down what
you want to remember. Your mindremembers visuals best, then
read it aloud. Your brain thinksyour own voice is more important
than others, so the informationwill stick better in your mind.

(19:37):
And if you'd like more memoryboosting 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 areason to listen more than you
talk. People who talk a lot are50% more likely to have spikes
in blood pressure and heart ratethan those who talk.

(20:00):
Talk less. That's according tothe journal Psychosomatic
Medicine, it's because peoplewho talk a lot have more chances
to get frustrated due tomiscommunication arguments and
not listening or being open toanother person's point of view.
Do you often feel tired drivingto work? It may not be because
you need more sleep. It couldjust be your car is lulling you

(20:22):
to sleep, just like when youwere a baby and your parents
would drive you around to getyou to fall asleep. The same
thing is happening when youdrive yourself or get driven
according to RMIT University inAustralia, the vibrations a car
makes as it moves can bring onsleepiness in just 15 minutes,

(20:42):
the steady vibrations at lowfrequencies progressively induce
sleepiness, even when people arewell rested and healthy. And
after 30 minutes in a car, thestudy subjects experienced
significant drowsiness. Theexperts say the brain starts to
sync up with the car'svibrations and enters an early
stage of sleep, and sinceDrowsiness is a factor in around

(21:06):
one in five fatal car crashes,this study is important. The
researchers say it could lead tochanges in the way car seats are
designed to minimize thevibrations. But until then, what
can you do? Sip some coffeebefore you hit the road. The
British Medical Journal sayscoffee is proven to stimulate us
in a way that makes us morealert while driving. In fact,

(21:28):
their study says you'll reduceyour odds of being in a crash a
whopping 63%if you drink coffee and then
drive, more intelligence foryour health from pain specialist
Dr Joe pergolisi, if you'd liketo know more about him or some
of the pain treatments herecommends, check out
healthydirections.comand an increasingly popular
option for relieving pain thesedays is massage therapy. In

(21:51):
fact, surveys show a whopping90% of North Americans have
reduced their regular aches andpains at some point by getting a
massage. So I asked Dr pergalesiIf that's something he
recommends too, and if so, isthere a type of massage that's
better for pain than others? I'ma big fan on massage therapy,
and I'll just say that if you'regoing to have a massage, deep

(22:15):
tissue massage sometimes isrecommended as well, and it uses
a slow, forceful stroke to reachdeeper layers of muscle and
connective tissue. So when youhave that real deep pain, and
this type of massage targetsmuscle damage from injuries. So
that's why some people, ifthey're going skiing during the

(22:37):
winter time, may go and get amassage and say, Well, which one
should I get? Dr Joe, I think adeep tissue massage is a real
nice one to think about. Yourmassage therapist can recommend
a frequency and a duration toaddress the underlying health
conditions properly, and whichtype of massage they think will

(22:59):
be best for you, but you do havean array to pick from. That's it
for our show today, our specialintelligence for your health
with Connie Selig edition of thepodcast, I'm Gib Gerard. Don't
forget to rate, comment andsubscribe on Apple podcast.
Spotify, wherever you get yourpodcast. It helps us out a lot.
And also, you can reach out tous on social media. All of our
links are listed down in theshow notes, we try to respond to

(23:20):
every DM, every mention of theshow, because ultimately, we do
the show for you guys. So thankyou so much for listening. You.