Finding Genius Podcast

Jules Chandler joins us today to discuss her journey with Graves' disease and her approach to health after undergoing total thyroidectomy. Chandler's interest in thyroid conditions began after she noticed symptoms of her own overactive thyroid. In this episode, Jules shares her experience of conventional medical treatments, including the roller coaster of fluctuating hormones, a side effect of her treatment. Despite being told by doctors after years of treatment that her condition was cured, Chandler did not feel that her symptoms had fully resolved; as a result, she began experimenting with adjustments to her diet and was able to identify gluten as a trigger for inflammation in her body. By making changes to her diet - which expanded to changes to her lifestyle - Chandler was able to find relief for her symptoms in ways that previous treatments were unable to provide. This inspired her to pursue a degree in naturopathic nutrition, and today she helps her clients manage many of their symptoms through diet and lifestyle changes. Tune in to hear Jules Chandler's inspiring story, as well as a list of resources that Chandler believes, may be helpful for those looking to take control of their own thyroid health. For more information, visit http://www.thebristolnutritionist.com/.

Most people are under the impression that the water they consume is being monitored for harmful chemicals and quality-checked on a continuous basis, but in reality, this generally isn't the case. In some locations, water safety is only verified once every two years, which leaves room for periods of contamination to be missed, and citizens to unknowingly consume chemicals that are harmful to their health. Over the past year in Denmark, reports of pesticides in the water have become increasingly common, putting everyone on edge about their health and safety, and bringing to light concerns over safe water practices in other countries, including the US. So, what's the solution? As the head of a new project at Intelligent Pollutant Monitoring, Jafar Noori is working on one. He joins the podcast today to discuss the development of a new device designed to detect the presence of harmful chemicals in the water, primarily glyphosate (commonly known as Roundup). The device will be available for use by municipalities, and will provide a continuous stream of data—up to the latest millisecond—related to the health of the water people are consuming. Noori discusses a number of surprising, and even frightening topics, including the life-threatening effects of common water pollutants on human health. Tune in to hear the full discussion.

What do lettuce, carrots, soybeans, and vaccines have in common? Not much, until now: a team of engineers at MIT have figured out a way to introduce DNA nanoparticles into the chloroplasts of living plants, which has never been done before. Tedrick Thomas Salim Lew, Ph.D., is a member of this team of engineers, and he joins the podcast to discuss why this is so significant, explaining that chloroplasts have previously been impenetrable by any type of material due to the double plasma membrane. As the site of photosynthesis, having the ability to introduce genetic material into the chloroplast will allow for the chloroplast genome to be modified in a variety of ways, resulting in higher protein production to protect against disease, more efficient use of nutrients, higher growth rates, and perhaps the most surprising of all…the production of human vaccines and hormones, such as the polio vaccine and insulin. Dr. Tedrick Thomas Salim Lew explains why this method of genetic engineering is far superior to conventional methods, how it will allow for the elimination of costly purification steps in the development of vaccines, new findings in the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in plants and the benefits that this method confers, and where their research is heading.

Do you need to save one million dollars for the retirement you want? Do you have one year to plan for the wedding of your dreams? Are you looking to buy a new house? Do you want to plan for two vacations per year, rather than just one? Regardless of your goal, the team at Charles Schwab is ready to harness the power of technology and put it in your hands so that you can make your goal a reality. "We find that clients actually find investing to be much easier with the help of technology," says Cynthia Loh, VP of Digital Advice and Innovation at Charles Schwab. In today's episode, she explains everything their robo-advisor has to offer and the specific details of the basic and premium Schwab Intelligent Portfolio services. She also discusses the overwhelmingly positive feedback they've received from clients, what makes Schwab stand out among other robo-advisors, and the direction of their future growth. Interested in learning more? Tune in and visit https://intelligent.schwab.com/.

Erin Elliott, D.D.S., is a dental, sleep, and breathing specialist and in this informative podcast, she shares some of her vast knowledge of the aforementioned, amassed over her extensive career. Dr. Elliott is an ASBA Board Certified Diplomate. The ASBA is the American Sleep and Breathing Academy, a professional academy that promotes excellence in many areas of her specialty such as the various upper airway, breathing, and sleep issues in sleep-related dental medicine. The doctor's educational path to her current career included graduation from the noted dental school, Creighton University Dental School in Omaha, NE. Dr. Elliott talks about her background, and how she became motivated to study and work in the field of dentistry and sleep-related dental medicine. After much personal research of her own, she came to the realization many years ago that dentists were actually well-equipped to help patients with their breathing and air flow issues. She became a champion of these breathing-related issues and set out to change the way we think about sleep and breathing conditions, such as sleep apnea. As she describes, her entire team at her dentistry practice is trained to identify signs and symptoms of potential breathing and airway issues. The sleep and breathing expert talks about constriction of the space that the tongue has and other issues that impact breathing and flow. She talks about the connection between heart and oral health. She details some of the older treatments for snoring that did not actually treat the problem of apnea itself. And she discusses various current sleep/breathing aids such as the many varieties of CPAP machines. CPAP, which stands for 'continuous positive airway pressure,' is provided to patients who wear a face mask, while sleeping, which is connected to a pump (the CPAP machine) that forces air into the nasal passages and helps them overcome obstructions in the airway. Dr. Elliott is a noted speaker and educator on sleep apnea and she has been published in countless dental journals. She is currently a member of the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, as well as the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.

Why do species look and behave differently from each other? It seems like a simple question that would have a simple answer, but it's actually an incredibly complex question that's found at the core of evolutionary biology and the center of Professor Katie Peichel's work at the University of Bern. When it comes to adaptation, speciation, and evolution, Dr. Peichel is an expert, but she's also the first to admit that there's a great deal of debate among biologists regarding how new species develop, how phenotypic changes occur, and how a species should be defined. In today's episode, she touches on a number of interesting subjects, including marine stickleback reproduction, evolution, and behavior, and the ins and outs of the research going on in her lab. She also discusses how genetic changes can accumulate in such a way as to lead to behavioral isolation, how a species' behavior can explain reproduction barriers and the performance of hybrids in the wild. Interested in learning more? Press play and check out http://www.ee.iee.unibe.ch/.

Beran Parry, author of, The Ageless Metabolic Cure: The Science of Looking 20 Years Younger: Natural Hormone Reset: Get Lean and Genetically Clean, provides an overview of her work in the nutrition and wellness field. Parry's personal website (https://beranparry.com/) is a treasure chest filled with all kinds of interesting health information that can help people literally transform their lives. Parry talks about her background and how she arrived at her current state of health and then immersed herself into a successful career as a nutritionist and well-being expert. She describes her new book, The Ageless Metabolic Cure: The Science of Looking 20 Years Younger: Natural Hormone Reset: Get Lean and Genetically Clean as a "health encyclopedia." She discusses the many topics her book discusses, from hormones to thyroid issues, to diet and weight loss, to inflammation, intermittent fasting, genetics, DNA testing, and much more. Parry's new book will help people to analyze their personal health, metabolic, and hormonal conditions and build an idealized, tailored epigenetic eating program that will work for them. The Ageless Metabolic Cure can help everyone to rebalance hormone levels and recharge their energy, build muscle and decrease fat, fade wrinkles, improve mood, and generally take control of their bodies. The nutrition guru talks about the steps she takes to help people, starting with a complete evaluation of their entire medical history, diet, nutrition as a whole, emotional and mental health. She discusses how she evaluates big issues like toxins, cortisol, etc. to get a sense of what the body is communicating about its state of wellness or distress. Parry discusses some specific case studies and some amazing results of people who have turned their lives around, beating inflammation, and losing weight dramatically, etc. She discusses yoga and mindfulness, and the many physical ways people can improve wellness. And Parry elaborates on the significance of DNA testing to understand what is happening in our bodies at the cellular level.

Kelly Dorfman is a clinical nutritionist and expert in the field of nutrition who specializes in the treatment of 'walking wounded' conditions, such as chronic autoimmune diseases, allergies, generalized fatigue, and a variety of behavioral and brain-related problems. While the approach in conventional Western medicine is to throw some pharmaceuticals at these conditions with the hopes of alleviating the symptoms and not creating too many additional ones, Dorfman is focusing on the healing and reparative potential of food as a replacement for most medications commonly prescribed. She is a wealth of information on the topic, discussing everything from food irritants that far too frequently go undetected, the danger of mismanaged chronic conditions that many people become complacent in living with and how the right foods can repair or manage these conditions, how Prilosec interferes with vitamin B12, iron, zinc, protein, magnesium, and calcium in the body, how and why the generic drug crisis is hurting people's health, and so much more. Tune in for a fascinating conversation, and check out http://kellydorfman.com/ to learn more.

In this podcast, Raja Sivamani, M.D., M.S., C.A.T., Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology at UC Davis, talks about the skin, our largest organ, and the many conditions that impact skin health. As an experienced, board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Sivamani has devoted his career to the study and treatment of skin, with a particular focus on diseases that affect the skin. Sivamani discusses how he got into the field of dermatology. He elaborates on sebaceous gland disease and bioengineering adaptations for the field of dermatology. Sivamani provides an overview of his practice, discussing tools and techniques, including the various kinds of lighting that they use to observe their patients. He explains ultraviolet light and talks about the benefits of using various types of lighting. He details how a Wood's lamp works and how it can help with an examination, using light to help doctors find bacterial or fungal skin infections, as well as discovering/viewing skin pigment disorders, and additional conditions. Sivamani goes into detail about glands and pores and outlines certain skin conditions such as eczema and additional types of dermatitis that can irritate the skin, creating dry or itchy patches, or producing rashes, and/or possibly some swelling. Further, Sivamani provides more information about bacteria function, highlighting probiotics and the microbiome. And he explains the therapeutic use of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics for the skin and its many conditions.

Dr. Vedrana Högqvist Tabor joins us today to discuss her app, BOOST Thyroid. Dr. Högqvist Tabor's idea for this app stemmed from her experience as a patient who sought to understand and manage her own Hashimoto's disease diagnosis. With a background in research, she wanted a digital platform that would help her track lab work, remind her to take medications, and track her symptoms. This idea was further developed into an app that helps patients worldwide keep closer tabs on their symptoms, keep up to date on the latest scientifically-reviewed research, and become part of a community of other patients who seek to take control of their health. In this episode, Dr. Vedrana Högqvist provides us with an overview of Hashimoto's disease and how her app is empowering patients all over the world to take thyroid health into their own hands. For more information, visit https://www.boostthyroid.com/