Expert Interview

The Scientific Basis for Acupuncture, Part 2
May 24, 2018
Dr. Hoffman continues his conversation with Dr. Janet Mindes, a Ph.D. researcher who has focused on the scientific basis of complementary and alternative therapies. Click HERE for part 1.

Curing Reflux Through Food, Part 1
May 22, 2018
Dr. Jamie Koufman is a pioneering ear, nose & throat specialist who coined the terms “silent reflux” and “layngopharyngeal reflux” (LPR). She specializes in diagnosing and treating voice disorders and reflux. She is the author of “Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure.” She contends that medicine’s obsession with acid-blocking drugs for throat complaints is misguided: “The gastroenterologists are like dinosaurs, but unlike dinosaurs, they deserve to die out.” She points out the many drawbacks of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs): They mostly don’t work, and they bring with them a host of side effects. Paradoxically, they may actually increase the risk of esophageal cancer, which they are intended to protect against. Dr. Koufman has demonstrated that complaints like hoarseness, chronic cough, throat-clearing, and bothersome throat sensations can be cured with simple lifestyle and diet changes. Asthma, too, is frequently misdiagnosed and responds to low-acid regimens when inhaled asthma drugs fail. She is an advocate of “alkaline water”, and has authored a research paper demonstrating its efficacy for reflux. Dr. Koufman is an outspoken critic of medicine’s trend toward specialization, which she calls out as profit-driven. Instead she says we need more incentives for primary care doctors to issue simple, lifestyle-oriented advice to patients, and shield them from excess procedures and medications. Her new book is entitled “Acid Reflux in Children: How Healthy Eating Can Fix Your Child's Asthma, Allergies, Obesity, Nasal Congestion, Cough & Croup.” Click HERE for part 2.

Curing Reflux Through Food, Part 2

Dr. Hoffman continues his conversation with Dr. Jamie Koufman, pioneering ear, nose & throat specialist and author of “Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure.” Click HERE for part 1.

The Key to Many Diseases as Well as the Aging Process, Part 1
May 17, 2018
Naturopathic physician Dr. Lee Know, author of "Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine: The Key to Understanding Disease, Chronic Illness, Aging, and Life Itself," shares extensive research on the centrality of the mitochondria to many diseases as well as to the aging process. The mitochondria are the energy powerhouses of the cell. How does the origin of mitochondria billions of years ago shed light on why antibiotics disrupt our metabolic machinery? Why do we inherit energy metabolism from our mothers? What causes mitochondrial dysfunction? What role for toxins? Diet? Energy-depleting medications? What’s the “Exercise Paradox” and how does it relate to mitochondrial function? What medical conditions are caused by faulty mitochondria? Why is diabetes not just a sugar disorder, but rather an energetic failure? What does mitochondrial insufficiency do to the brain? How are chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia related to mitochondrial function? What’s the optimal diet for mitochondrial support? What supplements have been demonstrated to revive flagging mitochondria? Do cannabinoids show potential in regulating mitochondria? Click HERE for part 2.

The Key to Many Diseases as Well as the Aging Process, Part 2

Dr. Hoffman continues his conversation with Dr. Lee Know, author of "Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine: The Key to Understanding Disease, Chronic Illness, Aging, and Life Itself." Click HERE for part 1.

One of the Worst Treated Conditions in Western Medicine, Part 1
May 15, 2018
Dr. Sarah Myhill is one of Britain’s foremost experts on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or as it’s sometimes referred to there, Myalgic Encephalitis (ME). In her book, “Sustainable Medicine,” she claims that “CFS is one of the worst treated conditions in Western Medicine.” Patients are sometimes told to just exercise, or undergo psychotherapy, to recover. Myhill vociferously disagrees, asserting: “Its mitochondria, not hypochondria!” She dismisses the notorious PACE study, which had become the standard of care for CFS sufferers with “graded exercise,” as scientific fraud. How do you repair the mitochondria and boost their function? Why is the Paleo-Ketogenic Diet central to recovery? What does the ATP profile test tell us about mitochondrial function? Dr. Myhill’s pioneering studies document objective improvements in patients’ cellular energetics, in addition to subjective reports of symptom amelioration. What are the five basic supplements she recommends? Why are support of thyroid and adrenal function critical? What role for sleep? How do infections undermine mitochondrial efficiency? Why is detoxification so important for some CFS sufferers? How do heat treatments and chelation help? Dr. Myhill continues to campaign for the rights of CFS patients to be properly diagnosed and treated in the face of what she terms “systemic medical abuse.” Click HERE for part 2.

One of the Worst Treated Conditions in Western Medicine, Part 2

Dr. Hoffman continues his conversation with Dr. Sarah Myhill, one of Britain’s foremost experts on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and author of "Sustainable Medicine: Whistle-Blowing on 21st-Century Medical Practice." Click HERE for part 1.

Natural Therapies for G.I. Disorders, Part 1
May 10, 2018
Meet New York City’s first integrative gastroenterologist—Dr. Alexandra Shustina. While versed in conventional methods of addressing GI complaints, she has concluded that “many patients are treated inappropriately.” Powerful drugs are invoked when natural therapies, like diet, supplements, and stress management are insufficiently leveraged. Calling upon her training in osteopathic medicine, Dr. Shustina employs visceral manipulation to address such conditions as GERD, IBS, and severe constipation. She describes the constraints she experiences in introducing a holistic perspective to her young GI trainees in a hospital setting. She discusses the limitations inherent in using powerful immunosuppressive drugs for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s Disease. What problems are associated with the pervasive use of potent acid-suppressing medications? When can digestive enzymes help GI complaints? What role for probiotics? Colostrum? Chinese herbal formulas? Vitamin D? Is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet the best regimen for inflammatory bowel disease? Are antibiotics the best answer for H. Pylori and SIBO? Click HERE for part 2.

Natural Therapies for G.I. Disorders, Part 2

Dr. Hoffman continues his conversation with Dr. Alexandra Shustina, New York City’s first integrative gastroenterologist. Click HERE for part 1.

The Epidemic of Diabetes, Part 1
May 3, 2018
Dr. David Perlmutter is America’s foremost Integrative neurologist and pioneering author of "Grain Brain." Five years after its publication, with over a million copies sold worldwide in twenty languages, he reflects on its success and the vindication of its central tenets: That America’s low-fat high/carb mania has promoted an epidemic of diabetes, just when optimal blood sugar is gaining recognition as fundamental to brain health; that gluten is demonstrably harmful via its effects on gut permeability; and that fat and cholesterol phobia has deprived our brains of essential nutrients. He emphasizes the centrality of exercise to prevention and reversal of dementia. The latest research underlies the concept of neuroplasticity—that the adult brain has the capacity to repair and regenerate. What newly-discovered factor helps to literally regrow brain cells? Does genetics dictate our neurological fate? Or can lifestyle overcome our heredity? What roles for sleep? Stress reduction? Coffee? Alcohol? Bio-identical hormone replacement? The microbiome? Cannabinoids? Ketogenic diet? What drugs take a toll on brain function? Dr. Perlmutter will soon be featured nationwide in a PBS Special entitled “Dr. Perlmutter’s Whole Life Plan”. Click HERE for part 2.