Podcast

Episode 79: Nutrient Density with Dr. Sarah Ballantyne

What does it mean to be a nutrient seeker? Sometimes when we’re on a healing diet, we focus so much on the foods we avoid, that we forget to pay attention to the foods we’re choosing to eat. While it is essential to avoid inflammatory foods, we also need to provide our bodies with the deep nutrition they need to heal. A steady diet of chicken breasts, broccoli, and paleo AIP desserts isn’t going to get us there. So, which foods give us the biggest bang for our nutritional buck? What do our meals and menu look like when we are truly eating for health? That’s what this podcast is all about.

Episode 78: Sticking To It – Staying ON the Paleo AIP Wagon

Let’s be honest. The paleo autoimmune protocol is hard to do, and some people have a harder time than others. In this podcast, I invited 3 health & nutrition coaches onto the show, to share techniques that help their clients maintain a healthy lifestyle against all temptations and obstacles. All three of these ladies have personal experience following the autoimmune protocol for their own health as well. Let’s help each other succeed!

Episode 77: Personal Q&A with Eileen Laird

Listeners have told me that while they love how information-packed my podcasts are, they would also love to know more about me personally. So, today my friend Joanna took the host chair and interviewed me! Note: this conversation isn’t about autoimmune disease at all – because we are so much more than our disease and sometimes it’s easy to forget that. Instead, we talked about everything from my childhood, to falling in love, to tattoos, to swimming with whales. Welcome to the Eileen Hour. 🙂

Episode 76: Paleo Surgery Advice with Dr. Terry Wahls and Angie Alt

Surgery can be a traumatic experience for the body – even more so for the autoimmune body – yet sometimes it’s necessary. So, how do we support our health: before, during, and afterward? There are no guarantees in life, but there are things we can do to stack the success odds in our favor. There are also ways to tap resilience when things don’t go according to plan. Dr. Terry Wahls, Angie Alt, and myself, have all had surgery while maintaining our healing diet and lifestyle. In this podcast we share our experience and tips.

Episode 75: Paleo Neurologist Q&A with Dr. Ken Sharlin

When you find a medical doctor that treats their patients holistically, it’s like a dream come true. Dr. Ken Sharlin believes in the power of a nutrient-dense paleo diet and lifestyle. He’s also the first functional medicine neurologist in the USA. And he understands the pros and cons of medication – when they might be needed, and when they can safely be reduced or eliminated. In this podcast, he shares his treatment tips for neurological autoimmune disease

Episode 74: Highly Sensitive People with Alane Freund

Are you easily overwhelmed by bright lights and strong smells? Do you get rattled when you have a lot to do in a short amount of time? Do you make a point of avoiding violent movies and TV shows? When you were a child, did your parents or teachers see you as sensitive or shy? Then you might be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), along with 15-20% of the general population. My hunch is that the percentage is much higher among people with autoimmune disease. In this podcast, psychotherapist Alane Freund teaches us what this term means. And if we fall into this category, how we can reap the benefits and overcome the challenges?

Episode 73: MTHFR with Dr. Ben Lynch

Once you start researching alternative approaches to treating autoimmune disease, it isn’t long before you hear of a gene mutation that can be a root cause for chronic illness and also a healing stumbling block. It’s called the MTHFR mutation. It stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. This is a very complex topic, and it’s easy to misunderstand and make mistakes trying to treat it. Our goal today is to explain MTHFR clearly in layman’s terms, talk about how you can tell if this mutation is indeed impacting your own health, and help you find a qualified practitioner to guide treatment. Dr. Ben Lynch is a doctor of naturopathic medicine who runs the website MTHFR.net. He’s considered the expert in this condition, writing, researching and presenting worldwide.

Episode 72: Paleo Dentist Q&A with Dr. Mark Burhenne

This is one of my most popular podcasts! Dr. Burhenne has a unique dental practice. He provides standard dental care, but he also teaches his patients about the oral microbiome and the importance of quality sleep, since both are essential to dental health. In this information-packed Q&A, we cover the oral microbiome, whether it’s possible to reverse cavities, the flouride debate, dental decisions, how dentists can treat sleep apnea, and more!

Episode 71: Trying to Do It All – Work, Family, and Autoimmune Healing

Following the paleo diet and lifestyle is a time commitment for anyone, but when your life is already intensely busy, how do you fit it all in? This is a question I’ve gotten from podcast listeners, and in this episode, I have invited three people in this exact situation to share their best tips. My guests are all mothers with autoimmune disease who also work outside the home. In spite of the multiple demands on their time, they have found ways to make a healing diet and lifestyle work. Let’s learn from each other!

Episode 70: Functional Blood Test Analysis with Andrea Nakayama

When we think of functional medicine testing, we often think of expensive tests not covered by insurance. But there’s actually a lot we can learn from the regular bloodwork commonly ordered through our conventional doctor’s office. Andrea Nakayama is a world-renowned Functional Nutritionist, educator and speaker, whose mission is to change the way we do healthcare by empowering patients to reclaim ownership over their own health. In this podcast episode, she walks us through two blood tests that are very common: a CBC with Differential and a Complete Metabolic Panel, and tells us how she interprets these from a functional perspective.

Episode 69: Healthy Deviance with Pilar Gerasimo

In the modern world, the cards are stacked against us. From grocery stores filled with foods that aren’t real food, to being bombarded by environmental pollutants, to a culture that takes pride in being busier than ever and wears sleep deprivation like a gold star. When we take steps to recover and enhance our health, we are going against this tide, stepping outside the norm, and it’s not easy! We’re doing it in a world that encourages unhealthy life choices, and sometimes even our closest friends and family try to sabotage our efforts. My guest, Pilar Gerasimo, is a healthcare journalist who has been writing about healthy deviance for decades. In this episode, we talk about the many obstacles we face and strategies for being successful revolutionaries for our own health.

Episode 68: Personalized Nutrition with Robb Wolf

It would be wonderful if one diet worked for everyone, and it could be handed out like a prescription in doctor’s offices worldwide. Unfortunately, human beings are more complex than that. This is one of the messages of Robb Wolf’s new book, Wired to Eat. In this podcast, we talk about our own health journeys, the 7 Day Carb Test that’s taking social media by storm (and how to adapt it for the AIP). We also talk about why it’s hard to change, letting go of shame, and strategies for prioritizing health in our modern world.

Episode 67: Building Effective Doctor-Patient Relationships with Dr. Cynthia Li

With autoimmune disease, the quality of our healthcare practitioners makes a huge difference in the course of our illness and our quality of life. In this podcast, we’ll be talking about what makes a good doctor, what makes a good patient, and how we can create the best relationships for our health. My guest is Dr. Cynthia Li, who has the unique ability to speak to us from the point of view of both doctor and patient. A conventionally trained MD, she became chronically ill with autoimmune disease that left her housebound for 2 years. Her personal journey back to health changed the way she practiced medicine.

Episode 66: Mind-Body Nutrition with Marc David

Did you know that digestion starts in the brain? That relaxing before a meal releases more digestive enzymes? Why do we sometimes tolerate a wider variety of foods on vacation, and tolerate fewer foods when we’re under stress? When we’re using food as medicine, how do we navigate feelings of fear, grief, and deprivation and find joy in eating again? The mind-body connection is real, and nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to diet and nutrition. In this podcast, we answer these questions and more.

Episode 65: Brain Health with Dr. David Perlmutter

We are in the midst of a brain health epidemic. Millions of people around the world are suffering from Alzheimers disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, ADHD, mental illness, migraines, and more. It’s Dr. Perlmutter’s mission to prevent these numbers from rising and help people improve their health if already diagnosed. A board-certified neurologist with over 30 years experience, he’s also the author of four bestselling books. This podcast episode is one of the most popular ones from my archives. Tune in for a detailed Q&A on brain health.

Episode 64: Epigenetics 101 with Bailey Kirkpatrick

Epigenetics is the science of how our experiences and behavior interact with our genes. We aren’t purely our DNA. Our genes are constantly getting turned on and off. This is one of the reasons why the paleo diet and lifestyle can have such a powerful influence on our health. It’s beautifully empowering, but it’s not a magical path to a cure. Once upon a time, people thought our health was 100% determined by our DNA (which we’ve learned isn’t true). Today, some people are claiming that our DNA doesn’t matter at all (also not true). In this episode, we dive into the real science of epigenetics and separate the myths from the truths and discover where we can make a difference! My guest is science writer and research expert, Bailey Kirkpatrick.

Episode 63: Exercise and Autoimmune Disease

The right exercise has the potential to improve our health, but the wrong exercise can cause an autoimmune flare. Our needs will often change from month to month, maybe even from day to day. In this podcast, I share my own experience of how my exercise needs have changed since being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I also interview 3 other people about their exercise experiences as well. One guest has multiple sclerosis, one has Crohn’s disease, and the other has Hashimoto’s.

Episode 62: Preventing Autoimmune Disease with Dr. Tom O’Bryan

I have rheumatoid arthritis – a diagnosed autoimmune disease, and most of my readers have autoimmune diagnoses as well. But what if you have symptoms with no known cause? You’ve gone from doctor to doctor, and they simply tell you: “Your lab tests are normal.” While in some ways this is good news, it can also be incredibly disheartening. You have no answers and no direction about what to do next. Dr. Tom O’Bryan is an expert on the development of autoimmune disease, and he writes about the autoimmune spectrum. The autoimmune process begins in our bodies long before enough damage has occurred to warrant a diagnosis. His goal is to help people intervene at this point (or even before they have symptoms) and prevent autoimmune disease before it takes hold. That’s what today’s podcast is all about.

Episode 61: Healing Stories 4

If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you know that I often start my shows with personal stories, where my guests share their health journeys from rock bottom to reclaiming a vital life. But at a least once a year, I dedicate an episode to back-to-back healing stories, and I make an effort to speak to people with different autoimmune diagnoses each time. In this episode, we’ll be talking about Diabetes, Alopecia, Lupus, Scleroderma, Myositis, Sjogren’s, Raynaud’s and Hidradenitis Suppurativa. And If you want to hear the prior Healing Stories podcasts, check out episodes 1, 14 and 30. Let’s inspire each other!

Episode 60: Transitioning from Vegetarian to Paleo

Many people come to the paleo community after years of veganism or vegetarianism. The reason is usually a health crisis, which can be shocking after eating a diet you thought was healthy for years. Some people embrace meat again without difficulty, but others struggle with ethical concerns, taste and texture issues, and even a loss of identity. In this podcast, I interview Registered Dietitian Diana Rodgers on the nutritional difference between these diets, and how to be an Ethical Omnivore. I also interview nutritionist Kinsey Jackson on her personal journey transitioning from vegetarian to paleo. It was a difficult change for her, but led to dramatic improvements in her autoimmune health.

Episode 59: The Power of Self-Inquiry with Byron Katie

This is one of my favorite mind-body techniques. When I feel stuck in fear, anger, or grief with no way to move forward, this technique transforms those feelings into peace. Does that sound too good to be true? That’s why I love this technique – it’s that powerful for me. Autoimmune disease and suffering often go hand-in-hand, physically, mentally and emotionally. The Work of Byron Katie is a process for questioning stressful thoughts and the feelings they feed. In this podcast, I offer myself up as a guinea pig with Katie as my guide. At the time of this recording, I wasn’t in remission and feeling frustrated because I was “doing everything right”. Can you relate? Listen to our conversation, and learn how to apply this technique in your own life.

Episode 58: Supplements with Kamal Patel

A lot of us in the autoimmune community take supplements. Sometimes they help, sometimes they harm, and sometimes they do nothing at all. Today, Kamal Patel from Examine.com teaches us how to make informed choices. When are supplements appropriate? What’s the best supplement for pain? How much vitamin D does a person need? Are probiotics beneficial? How rampant is supplement fraud? We answer these questions and more in this information-packed podcast.

Episode 57: Living an Empowered Autoimmune Life

Getting an autoimmune diagnosis often leaves us feeling traumatized and overwhelmed. This podcast is about finding hope again. My guests are Mickey Trescott and Angie Alt, authors of The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook. We talk about everything from getting emotional support from loved ones, to putting together a healthcare team, to defining resilience and learning how to face chronic illness from a place of power instead of feeling like a victim.

Episode 56: Healthy Detoxification with Torea Rodriguez

Our bodies have natural detox pathways, but they are overwhelmed by modern life. More than 80,000 new chemicals have been released into the world since the industrial revolution 150 years ago, and most of them within the past 50 years. These chemicals have never been fully tested for their effects on our bodies or the environment. We are asking our bodies to detoxify far more than they were designed to handle, and this is an important element in reclaiming our health. That said, there are a lot of scams out there related to detox cleanses, powders and programs. Many people who try these end up feeling worse. So, in this podcast we’re going to learn how to detoxify in a healthy, sustainable way. My guest is Toréa Rodriguez. She is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and a Transformational Life Coach. She’s also a fellow autoimmune warrior.

Episode 55: Saving Time in the Kitchen

Life on a healing diet means preparing most – if not all – of your own food. So, that’s a lotta cooking! Anything that saves us time and makes the process more efficient is a lifesaver. It’s also an important part of being able to stick with a healing diet. In this podcast episode, I have 3 wonderful guests. Together, we share our best tips for making the most food in the least amount of time, without sacrificing nutrition or flavor. This includes our beloved Instant Pot and the magic of batch cooking!

Episode 54: Thyroid Health with Elle Russ

Our thyroid regulates the metabolism of every organ and cell in our body. That’s why there’s such a long and varied list of symptoms that can indicate a thyroid problem. Hashimoto’s and Graves disease are autoimmune diseases which attack the thyroid, but thyroid issues are on the rise from other causes as well. In today’s show, I speak with expert Elle Russ, author of The Paleo Thyroid Solution. We discuss why thyroid problems are becoming commonplace, how to test your thyroid function, what avenues are available for treatment, and the importance of self-advocacy.

Episode 53: The Food as Medicine Documentary

When Lenore Eklund found that her Crohn’s disease medication made her feel worse instead of better, her husband encouraged her to try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is similar to Paleo. The results were so dramatic that it inspired this film. However, the documentary isn’t about her personal journey. Instead, it follows the lives of three people just beginning to embark on a healing diet. One tries the paleo autoimmune protocol, one tries SCD, and another tries 80/20 paleo. We see the dramatic positive impact these dietary changes have, but also the great challenges they face as they try to eat healthily in today’s food culture. I love this documentary both for its honesty, and its ability to share the power of real food with mainstream America. If you follow a healing diet yourself, you will relate to the stars of this film. This is also a great film to share with friends, family, and anyone you know struggling with their health.