Fx Medicine Podcast Central

From his beginnings as a chef, Richard Sager went on to study Dietetics because he fell in love with the science of food. Early in his career, Richard witnessed how an integrative approach to nutrition and dietetics could make a difference to bariatric surgery outcomes. Richard went on to continually deepen his integrative approach and was recently awarded with a BioCeuticals Integrative Medicine Award recognising his industry leadership. Currently, Richard works in the 'Top End' (Northern Territory, Australia) where works with local communities to educate and inspire people to improve their health and wellbeing through food choices. Richard takes us through complexities of applying nutrient dense diets to his patients whilst overcoming cultural or even accessibility obstacles. His considered and collaborative approach is inspiring and really shows the layers to a career in applying nutrition within the public health sector.

According to Lara Briden, "Periods are the monthly report card of women's health". For generations now, women have been led to believe that issues with their periods are "normal", and that they're easily controlled or tamed with hormonal treatments, like the oral contraceptive pill. As a specialist in women's health Lara Briden has devoted her career to deconstructing these fictional views of women's health with her informative blog "Lara Briden's Healthy Hormone Blog" and a recently authored book "The Period Repair Manual". Today Lara talks to us about the hallmarks of healthy menstruation and what can go wrong.

It was Hippocrates who said "All diseases begin in the gut" and as science evolves, it seems to only continue to validate that notion. Whether you term it "leaky gut", "intestinal permeability" or by some other marker, such as zonulin… damage to the functionality of the gut and the microbiome pose tangible threats to health. But how do we assess it? Enter Beth Bundy, our resident expert in the area of functional pathology. Beth will take you through the various assessment methods open to health professionals to evaluate intestinal permeability, including any underlying pathology as well as measure treatment success or failure.

Is your home or workplace making you or sick? Headaches, nausea, gastrointestinal upsets, respiratory ailments and mood changes...all these symptoms and more may be explained by Sick Building Syndrome. Nicole Bijlsma is a naturopath, acupuncturist and pioneering researcher in the field of building biology. Nicole joins us today, ahead of her speaking engagement at the upcoming AIMA/CMA Annual Conference (September 2016) on the topic of Geomedicine. Nicole takes us through the many, often invisible, environmental culprits behind a plethora of chronic health conditions. She leads listeners through identifying the symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome, testing and risk-minimisation techniques. Sick Building Syndrome may be something to consider in confounding health conditions that aren't being resolved through traditional approaches.

Skin conditions can be notoriously challenging to treat and seborrhoeic dermatitis is no exception. Today we are joined by naturopath, Danny Urbinder to discuss his expertise in managing this stubborn condition. As a sufferer himself, Danny shares some excellent personal insights into the condition and discusses his successes and failures when it comes to treatment, including including nutritional and herbal supplementation, topical treatments, and dietary and lifestyle advice. Personal experiences tend to lead to an insatiable thirst for knowledge on the subject and a quest for answers which listeners can indeed benefit from.

Bloating, foul-smelling wind, chronic abdominal discomfort, nausea, even malnutrition. These are all symptoms of SIBO - Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Unlike the large bowel, the small intestine is ordinarily home to much more modest numbers of bacteria under normal conditions. SIBO is largely caused through poor diet and digestion, overuse of antibiotics and antacid medications, or some physical abnormalities. Its characteristic symptoms often don’t respond to traditional GIT therapies making it essential to have an expert to guide you through treatment. This is where Nirala Jacobi comes in. Educated in the US, where naturopaths undergo pre-med before specialising in natural medicine, Nirala takes us through this rapidly emerging field of SIBO, including how to test, how to treat and where to gain further education in this area. 

Psoriasis can be a devastating disease not just because of the outward expression of the red rash and silvery scales, but also because of the co-morbidities and frequently unsatisfactory results gained by medical management alone. Patients need natural practitioners with expertise in treating complex skin conditions and Ananda Mahoney is a wealth of both knowledge and clinical expertise. In this podcast, Andrew and Ananda discuss the management of psoriasis using natural medicine. Ananda also shares her history, and her learning curve to find out what natural medicines have worked and which haven’t, and provides practitioners with some simple strategies to safely work alongside medical therapy to successfully manage stubborn skin conditions.

Today's podcast explores "Coffee". Arguably the most popular beverage in the world, it has been the subject of much conjecture in the scientific literature. An ever-growing body of evidence suggests that coffee has numerous health benefits ranging from gout to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. What truths can be gleaned from the amassed research? This is what we hope to answer in today's podcast with self-professed coffee enthusiast, Dr Lise Alschuler.

Arguably, one of the most exciting and promising areas of medicine is the emerging field of genomics. Our understanding of genomics in medicine is constantly changing and will continue to shape the future of modern medicine. In today's podcast, Dr Mark Donohoe gives us a taste of the complexities that make up this area of medicine and healthcare. Dr Donohoe gives us a brief introduction into this world of genetics and what this means for qualified healthcare practitioners and their patients.

Recorded live at the 4th BioCeuticals Research Symposium, Andrew talked with integrative cardiologist Dr Mark Houston about the changes he has witnessed in the management of cardiovascular disease. Dr Houston covers the relevance of patient genetics in understanding the progression of disease, as well as the modifiable risk factors and key methods of assessment based on his clinical experience. This insightful discussion shows there is a paradigm shift emerging in the understanding of cardiovascular disease.

In 1929, Henrik Dam of Denmark discovered an "anti-hemorrhagic factor” which came to be named vitamin K, from the German/Danish word koagulationsvitamin (clotting vitamin). We know that vitamin K presents in multiple varieties but most health professionals have only been taught about vitamin K1 (phytomenadione). In today’s episode, Dr Hogne Vik takes us through the many forms of vitamin K, their differing actions and the exciting clinical applications of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) MK-7. Discussing everything from the headline actions of vitamin K2 MK7 in the "calcium paradox" to the benefits for menopausal women and the future exciting research in the area of immune activation.

Recorded live at the 4th BioCeuticals Research Symposium, Andrew talks to Dr Deanna Minich about her background in conventional medicine and research at a time when "functional foods" and “functional nutrition" were newly emerging concepts. Dr Minich's research highlights the interconnectedness of whole food, food-combining and the influence cooking and preparation can have on optimal nutritional yield. She now takes a very broad and open-minded approach to food and health. In particular, Dr Minich has a keen interest in the connection of food and mood as well as the influence of genetic factors and how to unravel them to help people move towards greater wellness.

Currently there is a lot of debate about whether organically-grown produce is better for your health than non organically-grown produce. However, most of the arguments don't dig deep enough to get to the truth. In today’s podcast, Dr Liza Oates discusses her PhD research into this very topic to answer this question once and for all. Instead of measuring nutritive value, Dr Oates measured the effects of consuming an organically-grown versus non organically-grown diet and found startling results! Dr Oates also shares practical hints and tips whereby we can all gain the most from eating a truly healthy diet.

In today's podcast Belinda Reynolds takes us through the changing understanding of how the human microbiome is seeded from birth to infancy and beyond. It was previously understood that a baby was born relatively sterile, and was exposed to microbes as a result of the birth process; however, newer evidence has emerged that points to a pathway that translocates bacteria directly from the mother's gut and delivers it into the foetal environment, making the health of the mother's gut an important factor in the adequate maturation of infant microbial diversity even prior to birth and breastfeeding. Belinda also explores the various treatment options for optimising microbial diversity.

Dr Andrew Heyman is an internationally recognised expert in integrative medicine. As an integrative physician with a background in Traditional Chinese medicine, Dr Heyman's core areas of expertise include the effect of biotoxins on the immune system, chronic inflammation and consequent neuroinflammation. In today’s podcast, recorded at the 4th BioCeuticals Research Symposium, Dr Heyman guides us through the complex maze of interactions that are our stress response hormones and teaches us the critical detective work which practitioners can employ to help discover the underlying cause to stress-related disorders. Dr Heyman will also teach us his pattern-derived "triads" to assist in treatment of complex stress-related disorders and show us how to deal with the vast array of biological insults which send patients' health into a spin.

Pete Evans has become the iconic face of the Australian Paleo movement and has changed countless lives by inspiring people to adopt healthier eating practices. Beneath all the media hype, Pete Evans is passionate about feeling good through health and cooking. His craft is making flavourful, nutrient-dense food with fresh, natural ingredients using the advice and principles of some of the world's leading nutrition experts. In today's podcast Andrew talks to Pete about why he became a chef and his journey into the world of Paleolithic food preparation.

Today's podcast explores the many facets of healthy ageing. The medical term for age-related decline in health is  “Sarcopoenia”. It is characterised by a progressive and generalised loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength which can result in adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life and death. Chris Oliver is an expert in the area of nutrition, body composition and healthy aging and delivers an engaging discussion on the many modifiable factors of optimal ageing. 

As an international best-selling author, Dr David Perlmutter needs little introduction. He is a leading expert in integrative neurology and a serial educator on the perils on grains in the modern diet. In today's podcast, recorded at the 4th Annual BioCeuticals Research Symposium in Sydney; Dr Perlmutter shares his expertise on the issues with the modern diet, our heavy reliance on grains and the disturbance these are having on gut, cognitive and behavioural function. Dr Perlmutter's passions also extends to grain agriculture including genetic modification and the use of glyphosate.

The role of diet in the management and prevention of chronic disease is a widely accepted notion, particularly amongst those who are already health conscious.  What is perhaps lesser considered, is the relationship between diet and the acute immune system. As we enter into cold and flu season, we explore how what we eat may affect our ability to resist infection. In this week's podcast, Andrew and Dr Mark Donohoe navigate an interesting discussion on the role of diet in immunity, including sugar consumption, eating seasonally and making appropriate fresh food selections.

Mike Ash has spent the last two decades deeply immersed in the ever-changing landscape of integrative immunology. He has amassed an impressive reading, writing and publishing repertoire in his career and yet he applies his knowledge in a wholistic and considered way both through clinical practice and in educational capacities to his peers. Today on FX Medicine Mike speaks to Andrew about the pathological and positive immunological paradigms of parasitic infection and parasite therapy. This emerging area of immunology has some fascinating possibilities for the future of medicine.