July 1, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode we feature:
An interview with Liver expert Dr. Jessica Mellinger,
The Liver is King
Dress Up for Your Brain
Avoid Cyber Sickness
And more ways you can improve your health today!
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 (00:09):
Gib, hello and welcome to another episode of the
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard, and weare here today with another
intelligence for your health,with Connie Celica. Episode of
the show. We are so excited tobring this to you. Today's show
includes an interview with DrJessica Mellinger, a professor
at the University of Michiganspecializing in diseases of the
liver. She's gonna explain whyour liver is universally
(00:29):
considered the most important,most valuable part of our body.
So we'll hear about that in asecond here. So here, without
further ado, is intelligence foryour health. With Connie Celica,
why do we eat dessert lastbecause it tastes better that
way. Research from theUniversity of Michigan found
that when we know something isgoing to be the last thing we
(00:51):
eat, we enjoy it more. We thinkit tastes better. Knowing we're
down to our final bites makes usslow down and savor the taste,
and when we do that, we thinkthe food is more delicious. But
it works with any food, from abaked potato to a salad, if it's
the last thing we eat, we enjoyit more endless. Scrolling
(01:14):
through social media canliterally make you sick. It used
to just come from things likevirtual reality headsets, up to
60% of people using VRexperience it. But cyber
sickness is on the rise.
Scrolling for too long can makepeople feel weighed down, dizzy
and nauseated. It comes from thescrolling movement on social
(01:36):
media news feeds, but you caneven experience it when you're
looking through a Netflix cue.
National Geographic says anykind of perceived motion can
cause cyber sickness. It's acousin to other forms of motion
sickness, like getting car sickor sea sick. It all comes down
to our vestibular system, whichcontrols balance and as your
(02:00):
eyes get bombarded with visualinformation, but your body
doesn't sense motion, thedifference can make you feel
sick, and lying in bed andscrolling is one of the worst
things you can do. It's the mostchilled out your vestibular
system can be, but the prolongedmotion of scrolling becomes
really difficult for your brainand body to resolve, but the
(02:23):
solution is simple. Put downyour phone coming up. We'll talk
to liver disorders expert DrJessica Mellinger, a hepatology
professor at the University ofMichigan. She'll share some of
the most common signs you mayhave a liver problem and why any
symptom should be taken veryseriously, but first, if you
(02:44):
want to get out of your comfortzone mentally, wear something
slightly uncomfortable.
According to research fromColumbia University, we're
better at generating andexecuting ideas when we're
wearing more formal clothing, asopposed to sweats and T shirts.
The experts say when we'rewearing clothing that makes us
slightly uncomfortable, like ablazer and fitted pants, it
(03:06):
literally forces us out of ourcomfort zone, which improves
abstract cognitive processing.
So we come up with more out ofthe box ideas. So when you need
to get creative on a project,wear more formal and restrictive
clothing. I have a method totriple your power of recall. It
(03:29):
comes from memory expert DaveFarrow, a Guinness World Record
Memory Champion and author ofbrain hacker, first make a list
of six random objects. Focus onthe order of the objects,
because you'll need to repeatthem in order at the end. Then
use visual association to makeconnections between the objects,
(03:50):
focusing on two at a time. Solet's say your list of objects
is shoe, tree, rubber ball,money, phone and movie, you
would imagine shoes tiedtogether by the laces, hanging
over a tree branch, then arubber ball smashing through a
bank window to symbolize money.
Then you'd picture shushingsomeone who was using their
(04:13):
phone during a movie. Again,that was shoe tree, rubber ball,
money, phone and movie. Bymaking unique visual
connections, you're more likelyto remember the list because the
objects are no longer random.
Then take a time out, read abook, watch a TV show, have
(04:36):
lunch with a friend, then comeback to the list and repeat it
in order, with just a fewrepetitions, the images will
fade, but the information willstay. And when you think of
shoe, it will remind you oftree, the visuals are just a
means to the end. The picturefades and the information stays.
(04:56):
Okay, listen to this. Becautious at intersection. With
traffic lights, because thenumber of people killed by
drivers running red lights hashit a 10 year high. In the
United States alone, two peopleare killed every day by vehicles
blowing through red lights. AAAisn't sure why the numbers are
on the rise, but researchersbelieve distracted driving plays
(05:19):
a role, and possibly trafficlights that aren't timed
properly, but whatever thereason, AAA recommends waiting
an extra second after your lightchanges to green before
proceeding and checking to makesure cross traffic has stopped.
Basically assume that someonewill run the light and pausing
(05:39):
could save your life. Today, ourguest is Dr Jessica Mellinger.
She's a professor of hepatologyat the University of Michigan,
which means she specializes indisorders related to our liver,
gallbladder and pancreas, and DrMellinger describes our liver as
the MVP of our body. So I askedher to share some of the reasons
(06:01):
whythe liver has a number just a
real plethora of differentfunctions in the body, and it
really functions like a factoryin many ways. It has a critical
role in metabolizing,synthesizing, storing, absorbing
nutrients that we might eat inour food or that our body
produces. It processes and makesmany of the key proteins that
are responsible for our health.
(06:22):
So blood proteins, bleeding andclotting normally, those kinds
of proteins for those bleedingand clotting cascades,
processing medications, so manyof the enzymes that help us
safely process our medicationsthat we might take or
supplements that we might takeare located in the liver. It's
critical for maintaining ourimmune functions. It's actually
a part of our immune system, itmakes and stores glucose for
(06:44):
energy. So if the liver getssick, sometimes people have have
difficulty with feelingenergetic. They'll feel
fatigued, and their liver canactually start to break down
their fat and their muscle toget more energy, because that
that glucose storage, thatglucose metabolism, breaks down.
So it's really got so manydifferent functions, all of
(07:04):
which are really critical to ourhealth, feeling healthy, feeling
well, that when people getadvanced liver disease, many of
those functions begin to notwork as well, and in some cases,
kind of fail entirely. So ahealthy liver is really
important to your health for allof those reasons.
Today we're talking to liverspecialist, Dr Jessica
(07:27):
Mellinger, a hepatologyprofessor at the University of
Michigan and here in NorthAmerica. She says about one in
50 adults will develop chronicliver disease at some point. The
most common form is cirrhosis,which develops over decades, and
it's often the result of heavydrinking or being overweight.
But other forms of liver diseasecan set in rapidly over the span
(07:50):
of several months, and whateverthe reason I asked Dr Mellinger
what symptoms we should payattention to that might signal a
liver problem. Thesymptoms are pretty vague.
Initially, you might just feel,you know, overly fatigued, maybe
some mild, you know, discomfortin your right upper quadrant, or
your right kind of the rightside of your abdomen. And then
as the liver progresses andpeople get, you know, and that
(08:12):
gets sicker, then you can seeagain, those the yellowing of
the eyes or the skin as kind of,the liver reduces its processing
of bile or bilirubin, and thatbuilds up. That's why you get
yellow. People can bleed. Soadvancing liver disease could
makes it easier for you to bleedfrom cuts and scratches, but
also pretty significantbleeding, vomiting blood, having
(08:34):
blood come out in your stool.
People can get confused, andthat confusion can kind of start
with, you know, sort of simple,you know, just not, not feeling,
feeling kind of like you'reslower, like you can't really
think straight. It's harder tofind words. Maybe having trouble
getting to sleep at night, butsleeping during the day a lot.
And then, you know, culminatingin kind of Frank confusion that
(08:56):
makes sure you know your lovedones want to take you into the
hospital. So the more obvioussigns of liver disease are those
that really occur in the laterstages when somebody has
cirrhosis and is developingsymptoms. But in those early
stages, if you just have fat inyour liver, you may not feel a
thing.
Have you ever noticed yourworkspace feels colder in the
(09:16):
afternoon than in the morning?
It's not because the AC has beenrunning all day. It's because
you just ate lunch. Licensednutritionist Nora Saul says our
body sends blood away from ourmuscles and tissues to our
stomach and intestines whilewe're digesting food that can
leave our skin, arms and legsfeeling cooler with a decrease
in circulation. So even if youdidn't need a sweater at work in
(09:40):
the morning, be sure you haveone for after lunch. Today's
medical term aphthos stomatitis,that's a fancy name for a canker
sore, which an estimated one infive of us has at any given
time. It's a small ulcer in themouth that's often pain. Can
last for up to two weeks. So whydo we get them? Well, some
(10:03):
studies link canker sores to aglitch in our immune system,
since they're most likely tocrop up when we're stressed or
we do something that triggersinflammation in the mouth,
including anything from bitingour tongue to being too
aggressive brushing our teeth.
Also, people low in folate tendto get more aphas stromatis.
(10:26):
That's why the American Board ofFamily Medicine says if you get
canker sores, often considereating more asparagus, edamame,
sunflower seeds and beansprouts, which are all good
sources of folate. Coming up.
We'll hear more from liverspecialist, Dr Jessica Mellinger
from the University of Michigan.
She'll tell us why alcohol is soincredibly toxic to the liver.
(10:48):
But first, if you're looking fora new hobby to bring joy to your
life, take up dancing. Accordingto the Greater Good Science
Center at UC Berkeley, dancingis the best activity to lift
your mood, increase motivation,improve your social skills and
even your memory. That's becauselearning choreography challenges
(11:10):
your brain. Partner dancing or agroup class gives you social
interaction and expressingyourself through movement
improves your well being andcreativity. But although dancing
at home alone can be goodexercise, to get the most out of
it, you need to dance withothers. If you feel exhausted
all the time and can't pinpointwhy, it's likely because
(11:33):
something in your life isunsustainable. That's according
to Emily Ballesteros, anorganizational psychologist and
author of the book The cure forburnout, and here are two
unhealthy patterns she'snoticed. Whenever people
complain about being exhausted,first, tired people rarely
socialize. They say it's becausethey don't have the energy or
(11:56):
time. But lots of studies showthat the human brain craves
social interaction. That'sbecause we have an innate need
to feel like we belong, and evenour conversations with strangers
can trigger a boost of dopaminethat helps energize us. That's
why Ballesteros recommendssigning up for group activities
that force you to be aroundother people, like at the gym,
(12:18):
those dance classes or an artclass. Also many tired people
spend excessive time staring atscreens. It may seem like an
innocent way to relax, butBallesteros says our gadgets
often generate more stress thaneven our jobs by exposing us to
things that are out of control,like news about violence and
(12:40):
natural disasters, thiscontributes to a feeling of
helplessness that wears us outemotionally. Okay, listen to
this. Let's say you've justclimbed some stairs or jogged on
a treadmill and you just can'tcatch your breath, splash your
face with cold water or stand infront of an electric fan. Dr
(13:00):
Gerard Kreiner, Director ofpulmonary medicine at Temple
University, says, Cool air orwater activates the trigeminal
nerve, the largest nerve in ourhead which controls functions
like chewing and swallowing, andtriggering that nerve will
instantly slow your breathing,helping you get back to normal
quickly back with more healthintelligence from liver
(13:22):
specialist Dr Jessica Mellinger,and by far she says the most
common form of liver disease shetreats is cirrhosis. It impacts
an estimated one in five adultswith liver disease and kills
more than 44,000 people a year,according to the CDC. Dr
Mellinger says the number onecause of cirrhosis is heavy
(13:43):
drinking. And I asked her whyalcohol can be so toxic to our
liver.
Alcohol is metabolized byenzymes in your body, so alcohol
dehydrogenase, which is mainlyin the liver and the GI tract,
and it metabolizes alcohol intobreakdown products that are
toxic to the cells in the liver.
And so what we see is that thosebreakdown products are taken up
(14:04):
and metabolized further by themachinery and the mechanics of
the individual cells within theliver. And as a consequence of
that, they produce kind oftoxic, what we call reactive
oxygen species. And these arethings that lead to oxidative
stress on the cells in theliver, and then that produces
fibrosis. So essentially,ethanol or alcohol metabolism in
(14:25):
the cells, and enough of it withheavy doses of alcohol, is
actually toxic to the cells, soit kills them, and that's what
we see in advanced liverdisease. Someone who's heavily
drinking, we're seeing signs ofcell death in the liver, and
then from that cell death iscoming, the inflammation, the
fat deposition in the liver, isalso a result of that oxidative
(14:47):
stress. And so when you see thecombination of those two things,
the fat plus the inflammation asa consequence of heavy drinking,
that's when you can really startto see the liver disease
progress. And. Them people. Andnot everybody who drinks will
get that type of a reaction inthe liver, for sure, but many,
many people who do wellback with more health
intelligence from liver diseaseexpert Dr Jessica Mellinger, and
(15:10):
she was just saying that everytime we have a drink, alcohol
causes oxidative stress that canpotentially damage the cells in
our liver, and the more wedrink, the greater our risk for
damage, and the greater the riskof liver disease. But since we
often hear that having one glassof red wine a day, for example,
can have health benefits, Iasked Dr millinger exactly how
(15:33):
much alcohol is too much.
The first thing to be aware ofis that those levels of what's
too much differ for men versuswomen. So men, and if you're
talking about moderate alcoholuse, which is generally what the
studies that show somecardiovascular benefit for a
glass of red wine, etc, haveshown, is that it's moderate or
(15:56):
less alcohol use. So this is onedrink a day or less for women,
two or less for men. And thesecond major part of that is
understanding what is a drink.
So many people don't know thatone drink, or one glass of wine,
is actually just four to fiveounces. It's not kind of the big
Chianti glass that you fill halffull, but actually takes up half
(16:18):
a bottle that's, you know, twoor three glasses of wine. It's
really understanding that, youknow, a serving of alcohol is
often much less than what wethink. So, one can of beer, one
four to five ounce glass ofwine, you know, one one and a
half ounce shot of liquor that'sconsidered one drink.
Have you ever wondered why a 10minute nap and a hammock can
(16:42):
make you feel more rested andrestored than eight hours in
bed. It's not just being outsidethat makes the difference. Sleep
experts at the University ofGeneva say a hammock distributes
your weight evenly. It also putsyou in one of the healthiest
positions for sleeping, on yourback with your head slightly
elevated, plus gently swaying ina hammock, actually changes
(17:05):
activity in the brain in a waythat calms us down, helps us
fall asleep faster and sleepmore deeply. It's even
recommended for insomniacs, andof course, it triggers sense
memories from when we werebabies, of being rocked to sleep
by our parents. Moreintelligence for your health
from liver specialist, DrJessica Mellinger. And according
(17:27):
to a recent study in the journalhepatology, liver diseases
caused by alcohol use are beingdiagnosed in women at nearly
twice the rate they're beingdiagnosed in men these days. And
when I asked Dr Mellinger aboutthat, she said she was not
surprised, considering how heavydrinking has been normalized by
women in recentyears. In general, there is
(17:47):
seems to be a greater degree ofdepression, anxiety, mental and
emotional health issues, andparticularly amongst young
people. So we've seen thoserates go up as we've seen, rates
of severe drinking go up inyoung people and in young women.
But there's also this, this kindof culture of drinking for kind
of coping reasons. So drinkingto alleviate stress, drinking as
(18:12):
kind of a fun social activity,drinking to deal with your
emotional problems. So we seethis all the time in things
like, you know, the rose all daywind down Wednesdays. The the
idea that you know as a womanwhat you do is you, you know,
you can drink at night whenyou're at home, and just sort of
(18:34):
relax with your big, you know,your big glass of wine. And what
we see, and what I've seen a lotin my clinic is that many women
may start off doing that, butthen it kind of sneaks up on
them and becomes a biggerproblem, and pretty soon they're
under stress. We've seen a lotof people kind of get blindsided
by that, and that one smallglass of wine turns into one
bottle or two bottles a night,as they're kind of dealing with
(18:55):
this. And a lot of our culturesort of uphold that idea that
that it's okay to, you know,drink your stress away and drink
your, you know, and drink overyour emotions. And it really
just kind of leads to these, youknow, to these bigger and more
complex alcohol use problems.
Keepsome tree nuts on hand. Tree
nuts. So, pretty much any nutbut a peanut. So think almonds,
cashews, macadamias, pecans,pistachios and walnuts, and
(19:20):
eating one ounce of tree nutsdaily can slash your risk of
metabolic syndrome. That's acluster of conditions including
high blood pressure,cholesterol, blood sugar and
belly fat. In a study fromVanderbilt University, women who
ate one ounce of tree nuts dailylowered their risk of metabolic
syndrome by 67% that's becausethe nutrients in nuts make you
(19:44):
feel full, reduce inflammationand balance your blood sugar and
all those things are key topreventing metabolic syndrome.
Here's an email I received atConnie at intelligence for your
health. Dot. Com. It comes fromCarmen Bishop, who writes, Hi,
Connie, I have two sons who playa lot of sports. Can you go over
(20:05):
the signs of concussion? I wantto make sure I'm aware, in case
their coaches are not good idea,Carmen, and we just read about a
test for concussion that's 92%accurate. You can download it
online, and it's called the Kingdevick test, and researchers at
NYU say it works better than thestandard test for brain
(20:27):
injuries. It's simply a list ofrandom numbers scattered at
random intervals across a page,and it's easy to administer
before your child starts a newsporting season, have them read
the numbers aloud as fast asthey can and make a note of
their time. That's it. You'llhave what scientists call a
baseline reading. Then if yourkid gets injured, test them
(20:50):
again. If their times the sameor faster than their baseline
number, they're probably fine.
But if they're more than a fewseconds slower, take them to a
doctor as soon as possible tocheck for a concussion, but with
or without the king devic test,every hit to the head should be
taken seriously, and any kid whoexperiences symptoms like
(21:13):
headache, dizziness, nausea orsensitivity to light should stop
playing until they're evaluatedby A doctor. Thank you for your
email, Carmen. I hope thishelps. Okay, listen to this if
you want to find the shortestline every time, head to your
left. Research shows thatbecause we're conditioned to
favor the right, we drive on theright. Most people are right
(21:36):
handed, so most peopleautomatically move to the right
when given a choice that leavesleft side lines with fewer
people in them. So if you'reapproaching a toll booth, the
grocery store, checkout orairport security, go to the line
on the far left. It's typicallyless crowded. Let's talk about
building resilience, Accordingto psychologist Dr Rick Hanson,
(22:00):
resilience is what you need toavoid feeling overwhelmed when
you're facing tough times. Sohere's how to build your
resilience. First, learn as muchas you can about whatever
troubles you're facing. DrHansen says most of what people
fear is the unknown. So the moreyou learn, the less you have to
fear. Then spend 10 minutes aday centering yourself, say, by
(22:23):
sitting alone, practicing deepbreathing techniques or taking a
walk. The goal is to focus onsomething you can control that
helps reduce the stress you'llfeel when life starts spiraling
out of control. Finally, dowhatever you can to help others.
The more you help others andlearn about their problems, the
easier it will be to put yourown issues into perspective. Dr
(22:47):
Hansen says, using thosetechniques, you'll develop your
empathy, gratitude and grit,which are the hallmarks of
resilience, and that will helpstabilize your emotions as
you're going through toughtimes, more intelligence for
your health from Dr JessicaMellinger, a professor of
hepatology at the University ofMichigan, and if you're among
the estimated one in 50 adultsat risk of being diagnosed with
(23:11):
chronic liver disease each year,good news. Dr Mellinger says the
condition is avoidable and evenreversible. So I asked her how
we can avoid liver disease. Soif you know, your doctor says,
Well, you have some fat in yourliver, one of the best things
you can do would be stoppingdrinking. And then if it's if
it's non alcohol related, fattyliver, and really losing weight
(23:33):
is a key feature of treatment ofthe non alcoholic fatty liver,
the obesity related. And itdoesn't necessarily have to be a
lot of weight, five, 10% of yourbody weight kept off over time
is enough, and some of ourstudies that we've seen to
really reduce substantially theamount of fat and inflammation
in that liver. So definitely,those early stages can be
(23:56):
reversed with some of thoselifestyle changes, behavioral
changes. There are, there arebenefits to exercise as well, on
to the liver, even separate fromlosing weight. So exercise
itself appears to have abenefit, you know, to your
liver, to your liver health.
Eating a diet. There's nospecific diet that kind of
(24:16):
helps, specifically that helpswith fatty liver. But in
general, you know, staying awayfrom the, you know, the
processed carbohydrates, thesugars, the high fructose corn
syrup, and eating a healthy,kind of Mediterranean style
diet, but kind of maybe going alittle lighter on some of the
pasta can be helpful to that fatin the liver as well, and help
(24:37):
you lose weight too. But reallyit's that weight loss that is
has really been shown to be kindof a key feature in treatment.
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 ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast. It helps us
out a lot. And also, you canreach out to us on social media.
(24:57):
All of our links are listed downin the show. Show Notes, we try
to respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Gib, hello and welcome to another episode of the
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard, and weare here today with another
intelligence for your health,with Connie Celica. Episode of
the show. We are so excited tobring this to you. Today's show
includes an interview with DrJessica Mellinger, a professor
at the University of Michiganspecializing in diseases of the
liver. She's gonna explain whyour liver is universally
(00:29):
considered the most important,most valuable part of our body.
So we'll hear about that in asecond here. So here, without
further ado, is intelligence foryour health. With Connie Celica,
why do we eat dessert lastbecause it tastes better that
way. Research from theUniversity of Michigan found
that when we know something isgoing to be the last thing we
(00:51):
eat, we enjoy it more. We thinkit tastes better. Knowing we're
down to our final bites makes usslow down and savor the taste,
and when we do that, we thinkthe food is more delicious. But
it works with any food, from abaked potato to a salad, if it's
the last thing we eat, we enjoyit more endless. Scrolling
(01:14):
through social media canliterally make you sick. It used
to just come from things likevirtual reality headsets, up to
60% of people using VRexperience it. But cyber
sickness is on the rise.
Scrolling for too long can makepeople feel weighed down, dizzy
and nauseated. It comes from thescrolling movement on social
(01:36):
media news feeds, but you caneven experience it when you're
looking through a Netflix cue.
National Geographic says anykind of perceived motion can
cause cyber sickness. It's acousin to other forms of motion
sickness, like getting car sickor sea sick. It all comes down
to our vestibular system, whichcontrols balance and as your
(02:00):
eyes get bombarded with visualinformation, but your body
doesn't sense motion, thedifference can make you feel
sick, and lying in bed andscrolling is one of the worst
things you can do. It's the mostchilled out your vestibular
system can be, but the prolongedmotion of scrolling becomes
really difficult for your brainand body to resolve, but the
(02:23):
solution is simple. Put downyour phone coming up. We'll talk
to liver disorders expert DrJessica Mellinger, a hepatology
professor at the University ofMichigan. She'll share some of
the most common signs you mayhave a liver problem and why any
symptom should be taken veryseriously, but first, if you
(02:44):
want to get out of your comfortzone mentally, wear something
slightly uncomfortable.
According to research fromColumbia University, we're
better at generating andexecuting ideas when we're
wearing more formal clothing, asopposed to sweats and T shirts.
The experts say when we'rewearing clothing that makes us
slightly uncomfortable, like ablazer and fitted pants, it
(03:06):
literally forces us out of ourcomfort zone, which improves
abstract cognitive processing.
So we come up with more out ofthe box ideas. So when you need
to get creative on a project,wear more formal and restrictive
clothing. I have a method totriple your power of recall. It
(03:29):
comes from memory expert DaveFarrow, a Guinness World Record
Memory Champion and author ofbrain hacker, first make a list
of six random objects. Focus onthe order of the objects,
because you'll need to repeatthem in order at the end. Then
use visual association to makeconnections between the objects,
(03:50):
focusing on two at a time. Solet's say your list of objects
is shoe, tree, rubber ball,money, phone and movie, you
would imagine shoes tiedtogether by the laces, hanging
over a tree branch, then arubber ball smashing through a
bank window to symbolize money.
Then you'd picture shushingsomeone who was using their
(04:13):
phone during a movie. Again,that was shoe tree, rubber ball,
money, phone and movie. Bymaking unique visual
connections, you're more likelyto remember the list because the
objects are no longer random.
Then take a time out, read abook, watch a TV show, have
(04:36):
lunch with a friend, then comeback to the list and repeat it
in order, with just a fewrepetitions, the images will
fade, but the information willstay. And when you think of
shoe, it will remind you oftree, the visuals are just a
means to the end. The picturefades and the information stays.
(04:56):
Okay, listen to this. Becautious at intersection. With
traffic lights, because thenumber of people killed by
drivers running red lights hashit a 10 year high. In the
United States alone, two peopleare killed every day by vehicles
blowing through red lights. AAAisn't sure why the numbers are
on the rise, but researchersbelieve distracted driving plays
(05:19):
a role, and possibly trafficlights that aren't timed
properly, but whatever thereason, AAA recommends waiting
an extra second after your lightchanges to green before
proceeding and checking to makesure cross traffic has stopped.
Basically assume that someonewill run the light and pausing
(05:39):
could save your life. Today, ourguest is Dr Jessica Mellinger.
She's a professor of hepatologyat the University of Michigan,
which means she specializes indisorders related to our liver,
gallbladder and pancreas, and DrMellinger describes our liver as
the MVP of our body. So I askedher to share some of the reasons
(06:01):
whythe liver has a number just a
real plethora of differentfunctions in the body, and it
really functions like a factoryin many ways. It has a critical
role in metabolizing,synthesizing, storing, absorbing
nutrients that we might eat inour food or that our body
produces. It processes and makesmany of the key proteins that
are responsible for our health.
(06:22):
So blood proteins, bleeding andclotting normally, those kinds
of proteins for those bleedingand clotting cascades,
processing medications, so manyof the enzymes that help us
safely process our medicationsthat we might take or
supplements that we might takeare located in the liver. It's
critical for maintaining ourimmune functions. It's actually
a part of our immune system, itmakes and stores glucose for
(06:44):
energy. So if the liver getssick, sometimes people have have
difficulty with feelingenergetic. They'll feel
fatigued, and their liver canactually start to break down
their fat and their muscle toget more energy, because that
that glucose storage, thatglucose metabolism, breaks down.
So it's really got so manydifferent functions, all of
(07:04):
which are really critical to ourhealth, feeling healthy, feeling
well, that when people getadvanced liver disease, many of
those functions begin to notwork as well, and in some cases,
kind of fail entirely. So ahealthy liver is really
important to your health for allof those reasons.
Today we're talking to liverspecialist, Dr Jessica
(07:27):
Mellinger, a hepatologyprofessor at the University of
Michigan and here in NorthAmerica. She says about one in
50 adults will develop chronicliver disease at some point. The
most common form is cirrhosis,which develops over decades, and
it's often the result of heavydrinking or being overweight.
But other forms of liver diseasecan set in rapidly over the span
(07:50):
of several months, and whateverthe reason I asked Dr Mellinger
what symptoms we should payattention to that might signal a
liver problem. Thesymptoms are pretty vague.
Initially, you might just feel,you know, overly fatigued, maybe
some mild, you know, discomfortin your right upper quadrant, or
your right kind of the rightside of your abdomen. And then
as the liver progresses andpeople get, you know, and that
(08:12):
gets sicker, then you can seeagain, those the yellowing of
the eyes or the skin as kind of,the liver reduces its processing
of bile or bilirubin, and thatbuilds up. That's why you get
yellow. People can bleed. Soadvancing liver disease could
makes it easier for you to bleedfrom cuts and scratches, but
also pretty significantbleeding, vomiting blood, having
(08:34):
blood come out in your stool.
People can get confused, andthat confusion can kind of start
with, you know, sort of simple,you know, just not, not feeling,
feeling kind of like you'reslower, like you can't really
think straight. It's harder tofind words. Maybe having trouble
getting to sleep at night, butsleeping during the day a lot.
And then, you know, culminatingin kind of Frank confusion that
(08:56):
makes sure you know your lovedones want to take you into the
hospital. So the more obvioussigns of liver disease are those
that really occur in the laterstages when somebody has
cirrhosis and is developingsymptoms. But in those early
stages, if you just have fat inyour liver, you may not feel a
thing.
Have you ever noticed yourworkspace feels colder in the
(09:16):
afternoon than in the morning?
It's not because the AC has beenrunning all day. It's because
you just ate lunch. Licensednutritionist Nora Saul says our
body sends blood away from ourmuscles and tissues to our
stomach and intestines whilewe're digesting food that can
leave our skin, arms and legsfeeling cooler with a decrease
in circulation. So even if youdidn't need a sweater at work in
(09:40):
the morning, be sure you haveone for after lunch. Today's
medical term aphthos stomatitis,that's a fancy name for a canker
sore, which an estimated one infive of us has at any given
time. It's a small ulcer in themouth that's often pain. Can
last for up to two weeks. So whydo we get them? Well, some
(10:03):
studies link canker sores to aglitch in our immune system,
since they're most likely tocrop up when we're stressed or
we do something that triggersinflammation in the mouth,
including anything from bitingour tongue to being too
aggressive brushing our teeth.
Also, people low in folate tendto get more aphas stromatis.
(10:26):
That's why the American Board ofFamily Medicine says if you get
canker sores, often considereating more asparagus, edamame,
sunflower seeds and beansprouts, which are all good
sources of folate. Coming up.
We'll hear more from liverspecialist, Dr Jessica Mellinger
from the University of Michigan.
She'll tell us why alcohol is soincredibly toxic to the liver.
(10:48):
But first, if you're looking fora new hobby to bring joy to your
life, take up dancing. Accordingto the Greater Good Science
Center at UC Berkeley, dancingis the best activity to lift
your mood, increase motivation,improve your social skills and
even your memory. That's becauselearning choreography challenges
(11:10):
your brain. Partner dancing or agroup class gives you social
interaction and expressingyourself through movement
improves your well being andcreativity. But although dancing
at home alone can be goodexercise, to get the most out of
it, you need to dance withothers. If you feel exhausted
all the time and can't pinpointwhy, it's likely because
(11:33):
something in your life isunsustainable. That's according
to Emily Ballesteros, anorganizational psychologist and
author of the book The cure forburnout, and here are two
unhealthy patterns she'snoticed. Whenever people
complain about being exhausted,first, tired people rarely
socialize. They say it's becausethey don't have the energy or
(11:56):
time. But lots of studies showthat the human brain craves
social interaction. That'sbecause we have an innate need
to feel like we belong, and evenour conversations with strangers
can trigger a boost of dopaminethat helps energize us. That's
why Ballesteros recommendssigning up for group activities
that force you to be aroundother people, like at the gym,
(12:18):
those dance classes or an artclass. Also many tired people
spend excessive time staring atscreens. It may seem like an
innocent way to relax, butBallesteros says our gadgets
often generate more stress thaneven our jobs by exposing us to
things that are out of control,like news about violence and
(12:40):
natural disasters, thiscontributes to a feeling of
helplessness that wears us outemotionally. Okay, listen to
this. Let's say you've justclimbed some stairs or jogged on
a treadmill and you just can'tcatch your breath, splash your
face with cold water or stand infront of an electric fan. Dr
(13:00):
Gerard Kreiner, Director ofpulmonary medicine at Temple
University, says, Cool air orwater activates the trigeminal
nerve, the largest nerve in ourhead which controls functions
like chewing and swallowing, andtriggering that nerve will
instantly slow your breathing,helping you get back to normal
quickly back with more healthintelligence from liver
(13:22):
specialist Dr Jessica Mellinger,and by far she says the most
common form of liver disease shetreats is cirrhosis. It impacts
an estimated one in five adultswith liver disease and kills
more than 44,000 people a year,according to the CDC. Dr
Mellinger says the number onecause of cirrhosis is heavy
(13:43):
drinking. And I asked her whyalcohol can be so toxic to our
liver.
Alcohol is metabolized byenzymes in your body, so alcohol
dehydrogenase, which is mainlyin the liver and the GI tract,
and it metabolizes alcohol intobreakdown products that are
toxic to the cells in the liver.
And so what we see is that thosebreakdown products are taken up
(14:04):
and metabolized further by themachinery and the mechanics of
the individual cells within theliver. And as a consequence of
that, they produce kind oftoxic, what we call reactive
oxygen species. And these arethings that lead to oxidative
stress on the cells in theliver, and then that produces
fibrosis. So essentially,ethanol or alcohol metabolism in
(14:25):
the cells, and enough of it withheavy doses of alcohol, is
actually toxic to the cells, soit kills them, and that's what
we see in advanced liverdisease. Someone who's heavily
drinking, we're seeing signs ofcell death in the liver, and
then from that cell death iscoming, the inflammation, the
fat deposition in the liver, isalso a result of that oxidative
(14:47):
stress. And so when you see thecombination of those two things,
the fat plus the inflammation asa consequence of heavy drinking,
that's when you can really startto see the liver disease
progress. And. Them people. Andnot everybody who drinks will
get that type of a reaction inthe liver, for sure, but many,
many people who do wellback with more health
intelligence from liver diseaseexpert Dr Jessica Mellinger, and
(15:10):
she was just saying that everytime we have a drink, alcohol
causes oxidative stress that canpotentially damage the cells in
our liver, and the more wedrink, the greater our risk for
damage, and the greater the riskof liver disease. But since we
often hear that having one glassof red wine a day, for example,
can have health benefits, Iasked Dr millinger exactly how
(15:33):
much alcohol is too much.
The first thing to be aware ofis that those levels of what's
too much differ for men versuswomen. So men, and if you're
talking about moderate alcoholuse, which is generally what the
studies that show somecardiovascular benefit for a
glass of red wine, etc, haveshown, is that it's moderate or
(15:56):
less alcohol use. So this is onedrink a day or less for women,
two or less for men. And thesecond major part of that is
understanding what is a drink.
So many people don't know thatone drink, or one glass of wine,
is actually just four to fiveounces. It's not kind of the big
Chianti glass that you fill halffull, but actually takes up half
(16:18):
a bottle that's, you know, twoor three glasses of wine. It's
really understanding that, youknow, a serving of alcohol is
often much less than what wethink. So, one can of beer, one
four to five ounce glass ofwine, you know, one one and a
half ounce shot of liquor that'sconsidered one drink.
Have you ever wondered why a 10minute nap and a hammock can
(16:42):
make you feel more rested andrestored than eight hours in
bed. It's not just being outsidethat makes the difference. Sleep
experts at the University ofGeneva say a hammock distributes
your weight evenly. It also putsyou in one of the healthiest
positions for sleeping, on yourback with your head slightly
elevated, plus gently swaying ina hammock, actually changes
(17:05):
activity in the brain in a waythat calms us down, helps us
fall asleep faster and sleepmore deeply. It's even
recommended for insomniacs, andof course, it triggers sense
memories from when we werebabies, of being rocked to sleep
by our parents. Moreintelligence for your health
from liver specialist, DrJessica Mellinger. And according
(17:27):
to a recent study in the journalhepatology, liver diseases
caused by alcohol use are beingdiagnosed in women at nearly
twice the rate they're beingdiagnosed in men these days. And
when I asked Dr Mellinger aboutthat, she said she was not
surprised, considering how heavydrinking has been normalized by
women in recentyears. In general, there is
(17:47):
seems to be a greater degree ofdepression, anxiety, mental and
emotional health issues, andparticularly amongst young
people. So we've seen thoserates go up as we've seen, rates
of severe drinking go up inyoung people and in young women.
But there's also this, this kindof culture of drinking for kind
of coping reasons. So drinkingto alleviate stress, drinking as
(18:12):
kind of a fun social activity,drinking to deal with your
emotional problems. So we seethis all the time in things
like, you know, the rose all daywind down Wednesdays. The the
idea that you know as a womanwhat you do is you, you know,
you can drink at night whenyou're at home, and just sort of
(18:34):
relax with your big, you know,your big glass of wine. And what
we see, and what I've seen a lotin my clinic is that many women
may start off doing that, butthen it kind of sneaks up on
them and becomes a biggerproblem, and pretty soon they're
under stress. We've seen a lotof people kind of get blindsided
by that, and that one smallglass of wine turns into one
bottle or two bottles a night,as they're kind of dealing with
(18:55):
this. And a lot of our culturesort of uphold that idea that
that it's okay to, you know,drink your stress away and drink
your, you know, and drink overyour emotions. And it really
just kind of leads to these, youknow, to these bigger and more
complex alcohol use problems.
Keepsome tree nuts on hand. Tree
nuts. So, pretty much any nutbut a peanut. So think almonds,
cashews, macadamias, pecans,pistachios and walnuts, and
(19:20):
eating one ounce of tree nutsdaily can slash your risk of
metabolic syndrome. That's acluster of conditions including
high blood pressure,cholesterol, blood sugar and
belly fat. In a study fromVanderbilt University, women who
ate one ounce of tree nuts dailylowered their risk of metabolic
syndrome by 67% that's becausethe nutrients in nuts make you
(19:44):
feel full, reduce inflammationand balance your blood sugar and
all those things are key topreventing metabolic syndrome.
Here's an email I received atConnie at intelligence for your
health. Dot. Com. It comes fromCarmen Bishop, who writes, Hi,
Connie, I have two sons who playa lot of sports. Can you go over
(20:05):
the signs of concussion? I wantto make sure I'm aware, in case
their coaches are not good idea,Carmen, and we just read about a
test for concussion that's 92%accurate. You can download it
online, and it's called the Kingdevick test, and researchers at
NYU say it works better than thestandard test for brain
(20:27):
injuries. It's simply a list ofrandom numbers scattered at
random intervals across a page,and it's easy to administer
before your child starts a newsporting season, have them read
the numbers aloud as fast asthey can and make a note of
their time. That's it. You'llhave what scientists call a
baseline reading. Then if yourkid gets injured, test them
(20:50):
again. If their times the sameor faster than their baseline
number, they're probably fine.
But if they're more than a fewseconds slower, take them to a
doctor as soon as possible tocheck for a concussion, but with
or without the king devic test,every hit to the head should be
taken seriously, and any kid whoexperiences symptoms like
(21:13):
headache, dizziness, nausea orsensitivity to light should stop
playing until they're evaluatedby A doctor. Thank you for your
email, Carmen. I hope thishelps. Okay, listen to this if
you want to find the shortestline every time, head to your
left. Research shows thatbecause we're conditioned to
favor the right, we drive on theright. Most people are right
(21:36):
handed, so most peopleautomatically move to the right
when given a choice that leavesleft side lines with fewer
people in them. So if you'reapproaching a toll booth, the
grocery store, checkout orairport security, go to the line
on the far left. It's typicallyless crowded. Let's talk about
building resilience, Accordingto psychologist Dr Rick Hanson,
(22:00):
resilience is what you need toavoid feeling overwhelmed when
you're facing tough times. Sohere's how to build your
resilience. First, learn as muchas you can about whatever
troubles you're facing. DrHansen says most of what people
fear is the unknown. So the moreyou learn, the less you have to
fear. Then spend 10 minutes aday centering yourself, say, by
(22:23):
sitting alone, practicing deepbreathing techniques or taking a
walk. The goal is to focus onsomething you can control that
helps reduce the stress you'llfeel when life starts spiraling
out of control. Finally, dowhatever you can to help others.
The more you help others andlearn about their problems, the
easier it will be to put yourown issues into perspective. Dr
(22:47):
Hansen says, using thosetechniques, you'll develop your
empathy, gratitude and grit,which are the hallmarks of
resilience, and that will helpstabilize your emotions as
you're going through toughtimes, more intelligence for
your health from Dr JessicaMellinger, a professor of
hepatology at the University ofMichigan, and if you're among
the estimated one in 50 adultsat risk of being diagnosed with
(23:11):
chronic liver disease each year,good news. Dr Mellinger says the
condition is avoidable and evenreversible. So I asked her how
we can avoid liver disease. Soif you know, your doctor says,
Well, you have some fat in yourliver, one of the best things
you can do would be stoppingdrinking. And then if it's if
it's non alcohol related, fattyliver, and really losing weight
(23:33):
is a key feature of treatment ofthe non alcoholic fatty liver,
the obesity related. And itdoesn't necessarily have to be a
lot of weight, five, 10% of yourbody weight kept off over time
is enough, and some of ourstudies that we've seen to
really reduce substantially theamount of fat and inflammation
in that liver. So definitely,those early stages can be
(23:56):
reversed with some of thoselifestyle changes, behavioral
changes. There are, there arebenefits to exercise as well, on
to the liver, even separate fromlosing weight. So exercise
itself appears to have abenefit, you know, to your
liver, to your liver health.
Eating a diet. There's nospecific diet that kind of
(24:16):
helps, specifically that helpswith fatty liver. But in
general, you know, staying awayfrom the, you know, the
processed carbohydrates, thesugars, the high fructose corn
syrup, and eating a healthy,kind of Mediterranean style
diet, but kind of maybe going alittle lighter on some of the
pasta can be helpful to that fatin the liver as well, and help
(24:37):
you lose weight too. But reallyit's that weight loss that is
has really been shown to be kindof a key feature in treatment.
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 ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast. It helps us
out a lot. And also, you canreach out to us on social media.
(24:57):
All of our links are listed downin the show. Show Notes, we try
to respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Popular Podcasts
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.