In this episode we feature:
An interview with allergist Dr. Tanya Elliot
How plants and aromatic herbs improve your creativity.
Get in the garden to fix your gut.
How to manage your indoor allergies
Health Hacks for travel.
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 (00:08):
Music, hello. I'm Gib Gerard, and welcome to the
podcast. This is anotherintelligence for your health
with Connie Celica. Episode ofthe podcast. We've got a great
episode for you today, includingan interview with allergist, Dr
Tanya Elliott, so all kinds ofhealth information that you can
use today to make yourself awhole lot healthier, plus, like
I said that, interview withallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott
(00:30):
here, without further ado, isintelligence for your health.
With Connie Celica, we're alwayssaying to put a green and
growing plant on your desk,because the Journal of
Experimental Psychology foundthat having a green plant nearby
makes people 15% moreproductive. It's partly because
the color green is linked tocreative thought, plus plants
(00:52):
improve air quality, so you maybe getting more oxygen to your
brain. Well, we can take thatone step further, put potted
aromatic herbs on your desk,like basil, thyme, mint or
rosemary. In a review of over 40studies, scientists found that
inhaling the aroma of growingherbs energizes brain neurons
(01:13):
that boosts your focus,concentration and short term
memory by up to 50%we've been told it takes 21 days
to form a new habit, but when itcomes to developing a consistent
exercise habit, plan to spend alittle longer on it. Researchers
from the universities of Chicagoand Pennsylvania looked at habit
(01:34):
formation, and they discoveredit takes up to six months to
establish an exercise habit. Thestudy also measured how long it
takes to develop a hand washinghabit, and that only took a few
weeks for people to do itregularly. In other words, not
all habits are created equal. Sowhy does it take so long for an
(01:55):
exercise to become part of aroutine? In a word effort, the
study followed 30,000 people whoswiped their ID cards as they
entered a gym, and the resultsshow that it takes six months
for people to establish aconsistent gym routine, and one
of the biggest factors was ifpeople went on the same days of
(02:17):
the week each time, 70% of thesuccessful study participated,
participants went to the gym onthe same days each week, and the
longer the amount of timebetween gym visits, the less
likely someone was to go back.
So if you want to make exercisea habit, go the same days of the
(02:37):
week every week, that makes youfar more likely to stick with it
coming up, we'll talk toallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott, and
she'll tell us how many peoplecan sometimes outgrow allergies
and the allergens that mostpeople never outgrow. But first,
if you want to clean up yourdiet, start by cleaning up your
environment. A study by theUniversity of Minnesota found
(03:01):
that people who sat at a tidydesk were more likely to reach
for an apple, while people atmessy desks were more likely to
grab a candy bar for a snack.
The researchers say that beingin an orderly environment
inspires us to do the rightthing and follow rules, but
being in a chaotic environmenthas the opposite effect. It
makes us want to break therules, so clean up your desk,
(03:23):
kitchen, anywhere you eat, youmay find yourself automatically
making better food choices whenyou were growing up. Did you
have freezing winters and sweatysummers, or was the temperature
more mild and balmy? Because itturns out, our personalities are
shaped by the climate we grew upin. In fact, according to the
(03:44):
journal Nature, the averagetemperature of the place we grew
up is one of the biggest factorsin how our personalities
developed. So people who grow upin a place where the average
weather is sunny and 70 degreestend to be friendlier, more
outgoing and more willing toexplore new things. And that
makes sense, because when theweather is nice, kids are more
(04:08):
likely to be outside, exploringand playing with friends,
whereas people who grew up withharsh winters and sweltering
summers tend to be less open andagreeable. Think of New Yorkers
versus laid back Californians.
Of course, that is ageneralization, and the experts
say if you see snow and run tostrap on your skis and call your
(04:32):
friends, the weather probablydidn't affect you in the same
way as someone who getsirritated every time it snows.
Okay. Listen to this for anupset stomach. Go weed your
garden or plant some flowers andvegetables. Researchers at
University College MedicalSchool in London found that
spending just 15 minutes diggingin the dirt can quickly soothe
(04:56):
an upset stomach, and doing itevery day helps ease.
Even chronic stomach issues inas little as a week. That's
because the soil releases a typeof probiotic that we inhale
while working in the dirt. Itactivates our parasympathetic
nervous system, which not onlyhelps us feel relaxed, it calms
intestinal spasms and boostsproduction of stomach enzymes
(05:19):
that keep our digestive tractrunning smoothly. Today, our
guest is Dr Tanya Elliott. She'sa board certified physician and
allergist whom you may know fromher appearances on The Today
Show, and about one in fourpeople have seasonal allergies,
and up to 10% of the populationis allergic to certain foods. So
(05:40):
I asked Dr Elliot if it'spossible for people to outgrow
their allergies. We can seepeople outgrow allergies as we
get older, and I would say 50and older, we tend to see people
with fewer environmentalallergies. It's not to say they
can't have other allergies, likemedication allergies and skin
(06:01):
allergies and other things. Butfor the most part, we see fewer
environmental allergies over theage of 50. However, certain
allergies like food certain foodallergies you typically don't
grow out of. So for example, forpeanut allergy, only 10% of
people will grow out of peanutallergy, similarly, only 10 or
so, percent of people will growout of shellfish allergy, and we
(06:23):
actually see shellfish allergyoccur later in life, so usually
people over the age of 30, wetypically don't see it as much
in children. The answers as towhy you see fewer allergies as
you get older, our immune systemis less robust. It takes a lot
more for us to mount an immuneresponse. One of the reasons why
(06:43):
we think we see shellfish morelater in life has to do with the
pH balance in our stomachs, andit's been linked to both alcohol
use and the use of antacids.
Another thing that causes newonset of allergies, particularly
in women, has to do withfluctuation in estrogen levels.
But for example, when a womangets pregnant, all of a sudden
(07:06):
they have allergies. When womengoes through menopause and
perimenopause, all of a suddentheir allergies get better, and
vice versa. So we see about halfwomen their allergies get
better, and half of women theirallergies get worse. And we're
still trying to understand thescience behind that, but we
believe it is linked to changesin fluctuations in estrogen
levels. Today, we're talking toDr Tanya Elliott, who is double
(07:28):
board certified in internalmedicine and allergy and
Clinical Immunology, and sincesuch a huge percentage of people
have seasonal allergies, I askedDr Elliot if there are foods
that make those allergicreactions worse, and which foods
can reduce our allergicresponse. So some people benefit
from a low histamine diet. Solet me just say the foods that
(07:53):
are high in histamine, thingslike pineapple, strawberries,
wine has histamine content init. Aged cheeses. Do any
processed meats? Do cured meats,anything that almost like it's
been sitting out for a while andhas been fermenting tends to
have high histamine content. Andyou may want to consider a low
(08:14):
histamine diet during the peakof allergy season. And then
there are our champion foods. Sofoods that you want to include
in your diet because they helpto either boost your immune
system or reduce the allergicresponse. So foods that are high
in quercetin, like blueberries,cruciferous vegetables, kale,
raw onion, those are some of mygo tos for people who want to
(08:39):
try food options to help combattheir allergies. I'm also a big
fan of fresh ginger. It helps tojust decrease inflammation
overall in the nasal passagesand the lungs. You can eat it.
It's great, but I often willrecommend that people just take
a pot of hot water, add somefresh ginger, bring it to a boil
(08:59):
and then break breathe in thathumidified air to help calm down
the inflammation that'soccurring in the nasal passages
and also in the lungs. On yournext trip, pack this in your
carry on bag a tennis ball. Thatrecommendation comes from Travel
and Leisure magazine. They sayit may be exactly what you need
to survive your flight withoutgetting muscle cramps, a blood
(09:21):
clot or jet lag. We all knowsitting for an extended amount
of time wreaks havoc on ourhealth, but we can use a tennis
ball to increase circulation.
Just put it between your backand the seat, rolling it between
your shoulders down your backlegs and the bottoms of your
feet. That will help you getyour blood flowing if you can't
(09:42):
get up and walk around. Today'smedical term transient lingual
Papyrus, that's what most of usrefer to as a tongue bump. The
red or white bumps often developsuddenly and can cause pain and
tenderness for several days, andwhile they often feel enormous.
Enormous inside our mouth. Ifyou look at them in the mirror,
(10:03):
they're rarely bigger than apinhead. Where do tongue bumps
come from? Doctors say they canbe caused by a variety of
triggers. The most common causesinclude stress, smoking, acid
reflux from eating acidic food,or even something as simple as
biting our own tongue. However,some people develop bumps every
(10:23):
time they eat something sugary,while others get them from
biting into something sour, likea lime. Whatever the trigger
irritation can cause the tinystructures that contain our
taste buds, called papillae, toswell up, split open, and
trigger pain. The good news,most tongue bumps are harmless,
and they usually clear up ontheir own in a few days. But
(10:46):
talk to a doctor if a bumppersists for more than a week or
develops into a sore thatchanges colors or oozes since
that may be a sign of a moreserious health condition, and
that's today's medical term,transient lingual papyrus coming
up. We'll hear more from boardcertified allergist, Dr Tanya
Elliott. She'll talk about theeffect weather has on our
(11:09):
allergic reactions. But first,if you had to guess which health
factor was most likely toimprove your sense of well
being, would it be how much youexercise, how well you eat, or
the quality of your sleep.
Research in the journalfrontiers in psychology says
your sleep quality is handsdown, the best predictor of your
(11:30):
overall mental health and wellbeing, meaning, if you ate a
nutritious diet and got plentyof exercise, you could still
undermine all health benefitsand raise your risk for anxiety
and depression by not gettingenough good sleep. Of course,
ideally, we'd be making allthree health pillars, sleep,
(11:52):
exercise and a healthy diet ourtop priorities. But if you have
to focus on just one, this studyshows a good night's sleep is
most important. Maybe theeasiest way to understand how
processed food impacts yourbrain health is to know that
it's now proven to be a leadingcause for vascular dementia.
(12:13):
What's that? Vascular dementiais the second most common type
of dementia after Alzheimer's,and it's caused by decreased
blood flow to the brain, whichcan deprive neurons of essential
oxygen and nutrients needed tostay alive. So how does eating
processed food lead to vasculardementia? Well, many of the
(12:36):
ingredients in Ultra processedfoods, especially the high
levels of salt, sugar andsaturated fats, are proven to
cause inflammation. And while weoften think of inflammation as
being really bad for our hearts,growing research suggests it's
even worse for our brains. Infact, a recent study in the
(12:57):
journal Neurology found that themore calories we consume from
processed foods, the higher ourrisk for vascular dementia.
Okay, listen to this. A potato aday may keep your headaches
away, according to theUniversity of Michigan, eating a
medium sized potato every day,rusted or sweet with the skin,
(13:18):
could cut your incidence ofmigraines by 25%
it's down to the potassium inpotatoes, which relaxes blood
vessels, so you're less likelyto get the constriction of blood
vessels in the brain that causemigraine pain. Not a fan of
potatoes. Other foods high inpotassium are kidney beans,
(13:40):
lentils, spinach, clams, carrotjuice, prunes and dried
apricots. Back with more healthintelligence from board
certified physician andallergist Dr Tanya Elliott. And
you may have noticed that yourseasonal allergies get worse as
the weather gets warmer, so Iasked Dr Elliott to explain why
(14:00):
that happens as it gets warmer,that's when you're gonna start
to experience allergies. Sowe're all sort of experiencing
that now. So let me just explainwhich pollens are most
significant during which timesof year, in the springtime,
you're dealing with tree pollenallergy. So trees are the first
things to bloom. So that'swhat's occurring in the
(14:22):
springtime. In the summer, we'reexperiencing grass pollen
allergy, and that pretty muchstarts in mid May and goes until
around the end of July and thenlate summer, all the way up
until the first frost. You'reexperiencing weed and ragweed
pollen allergy and also outdoormold allergy. And then even in
(14:44):
the winter months, we haveoutdoor winter allergies,
particularly in places likeTexas, there's the cedar tree
that starts to bloom in thewinter time, and we call that
cedar feeder fever, cedar fever.
And the allergy is so bad thatpeople actually feel like they
have.
Flu, and it turns out that it'sactually allergy so it's almost
like you're never in the clear,but based off of the time of
(15:07):
year that you're experiencingsymptoms, we're able to
determine what it is that youare most likely to be allergic
to. Now we have seen over thelast few years that because
we've had above average rainfalland warmer than usual winters,
that allergy season seems tostart earlier and last longer,
and that seems to be a trendthat is not going anywhere.
(15:28):
Continues to get worse and worseeach year back with more health
intelligence from allergist DrTanya Elliott and I asked her to
tell us about some common indoorallergens that people might not
be aware of, and how can theyreduce their presence in their
homes? The dust mite and indoormold allergy thrive in high
humidity levels. So you want tomake sure that you keep your
(15:49):
humidity levels in your home at20 to 50% and no higher. I will
oftentimes see people say, Oh,I'm so congested at night, so I
have a humidifier going in mybedroom, and that is the exact
opposite thing that you want inyour bedroom, if you have dust
mite or indoor mold allergy, youwant to have, if anything, a
dehumidifier to reduce thehumidity levels in your home.
(16:09):
You also want to remove curtainsand drapes. If you can,
upholstered furniture. Those areall places where dust mites love
to live. Carpeting. If you can,you want to remove that
decorative pillows, stuffedanimals that your kids have, all
those things will harbor dustmite allergy. I often will tell
my patients, if their child hasa favorite stuffed animal that
(16:31):
they drag around and who knowswhat kind of dirt and grime is
on it, throw it in the freezeronce a week and freeze it
overnight, and it'll actuallykill off the dust mites. So what
about pet allergies, is there away to manage that? So a few
things that you can do if youhave a pet allergy. You want to
try to keep your pet out of thebedroom. You also want to try to
just wipe them down and givethem a shower once a week to
(16:52):
wash up the allergen. Remember,there's no such thing as a
hypoallergenic cat or dog,because you can be allergic to
their saliva. You could beallergic to their their skin
cells. It has nothing to do withwhether or not they should want
to get closer as a couplemeditate or pray together,
because research shows that whenpartners sit quietly in the same
(17:12):
room, their heartbeats andbreathing sync up, making them
feel more connected. Anotherbonding activity for couples,
cook together. Licensedcounselor Allison Carver says,
when you cook as a team, you'reworking toward a common goal,
which can bring you closer. Infact, one study found that 92%
(17:32):
of partners felt more connectedafter making a meal together,
more intelligence for yourhealth from board certified
physician and allergist, DrTanya Elliott, if you'd like to
know more about her, she invitesyou to follow her on Instagram.
Her handle there is at Dr TanyaElliott, her first name is
spelled T, A, N, I, a, and Iasked her to share her thoughts
(17:56):
on air purifiers. Can they helpwith indoor or seasonal
allergies? Indoor air purifierscan be expensive, however, they
can be helpful for certainallergies. One is pet allergy,
and the second is if you do wantto leave the windows open, but
you have outdoor allergies,because what they address are
allergens that are airborne.
What they don't help for arethings like dust mite allergies,
(18:18):
because dust mites are tinyorganisms. They feed off of
house dust. They're very large.
They don't stay suspended in theair. So an air purifier isn't
going to do anything. So itreally depends on what allergy
it is that we are treating. Theother thing that's important for
air purifiers is you want tomake sure that they are the
appropriate size for the spacethat you're looking to purify.
(18:41):
So you make sure that the rightsize, that they are the right
size for your room. Here's agood reason to give back. People
who volunteer are healthier thanthose who don't. To start
there's a direct link betweenvolunteer work and a decreased
risk of high blood pressure, andanother study found that
volunteering lowers inflammationand cholesterol. So what's the
(19:02):
connection between beingaltruistic and improved health?
It's all about our stresshormone cortisol. Cortisol
interferes with our immunesystem and increases
inflammation, which makes ourblood stickier and damages our
heart health. And sincevolunteering lowers stress, it
improves our health to get thatpositive result, just go to
(19:25):
volunteer match.orgtype in the things you're
interested in, dogs, helping thehomeless, teaching kids to read,
and they'll match you withopportunities that are right for
you. Here's an email I receivedat Connie at intelligence for
your health.com. It comes fromChuck Driscoll, who writes, I
broke my foot so I can't workout right now. Does muscle turn
(19:46):
into fat if you stop workingout? Chuck, that is impossible.
Muscle and fat are completelydifferent tissues, so it's
impossible for one to transforminto the.
Other when you exercise,especially if you work with
weights, muscle tissue getsbigger and fat tissue gets
(20:06):
smaller. So if you stop workingout, the opposite happens. Your
muscles shrink, and the spaceonce occupied by muscle can get
filled with fat and muscle canstart to shrink after just one
month of inactivity. So what canyou do without using that foot
work your upper body, your coreand your other leg so you
(20:27):
preserve your existing muscletone until you can exercise your
other leg again. Thank you foryour email, Chuck. I hope this
helps. Okay, listen to this. Agood scare is good for you.
Researchers at the NationalInstitutes of Health believe
experiencing fear as a childoffers big therapeutic benefits,
(20:47):
and experiencing too little fearmay even be harmful. That's
because fear in small doses is away of training our brain to
handle real danger. Forinstance, baby monkeys in lab,
experiments that hardly blinkwhen facing a snake will die
prematurely, but monkeys taughtby a mother to fear predators
(21:08):
live longer, while the sameapplies to humans. Learning what
to fear and how we react to fearhelps us cope with dangers later
on in life, one in three NorthAmerican adults are now living
with diabetes or pre diabetes,but you can drastically cut your
risk for type two diabetes bywalking every day. However, you
(21:31):
need to walk at a speed of atleast 2.5 miles per hour. That's
according to the British Journalof Sports Medicine, and it's not
hard to do. Most adults alreadywalk at a pace of two and a half
miles per hour. That'sconsidered a normal walking
speed, and the study resultsshowed that once people reached
a pace of 2.5 miles per hour,their type two diabetes risk
(21:55):
dropped, and it continued todrop even further as people
increased their walking speed.
So walking two to three milesper hour saw the diabetes risk
drop 15% walking three to fourmiles per hour saw it drop 25%
and if you go over four milesper hour, your risk is reduced
(22:17):
by 40%basically, the faster you walk,
the lower your diabetes risk,and it all comes down to the
fact that a regular walkingroutine reduces body fat and
helps lower insulin resistance.
So if you're among the 30% ofpeople with diabetes or pre
diabetes, go for regular walksand make sure you're walking two
(22:40):
and a half miles per hour orfaster, more intelligence for
your health from our guestallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott, and
we know that the thinking onchildren's allergies has
changed. It used to be thatparents were supposed to avoid
giving their children thingslike peanuts, eggs or milk too
early, in case they wereallergic. Now it's suggested
(23:01):
that parents expose theirchildren to these things as
early as possible. So I asked DrElliot how to handle giving
potentially allergenic foods tobabies in terms of introduction,
introduction, early on. So nowthe recommendation is to
actually introduce peanut at thenow, not the peanut itself, but
peanut butter or peanut buttercookie at the age of four
(23:22):
months, as opposed to waiting totwo years, and that's even in
people who have a family historyof food allergies. So early
introduction is now recommended.
We've learned a lot again in thelast 10 years about what happens
when you delay introduction andthen seeing this in the real
world, for example. So peanutallergy in the US is anywhere
from eight to 10% of thepopulation, which is very high
(23:47):
in other countries, for example,in the Middle East, they use
something called bomba, which isactually a peanut based teething
toy the insured the incidence ofpeanut allergy in those
populations is point 2%because it is introduced early
on into the diet. So when youexpose through the through the
GI tract, early on, you are lesslikely to develop allergies. The
(24:10):
body says, Oh, this is comingthrough my GI tract, our GI
tract, it tends to be verytolerant to certain things. It's
the things that get put in ourbodies. And your body says, Oh,
nope, this is something that Ican eat. This is a normally
occurring thing, and you tend tohave fewer allergies. That's it
for our show today, our specialintelligence for your health
(24:30):
with Connie Selig edition of thepodcast, I'm Gib Gerard. Don't
forget to rate comment andsubscribe on Apple podcast.
Spotify wherever you get yourpodcast. It helps us out a lot.
And also, you can reach out tous on social media. All of our
links are listed down in theshow notes. We try to respond to
every DM, every mention of theshow, because ultimately, we do
the show for you guys. So thankyou so much for listening. You.
Music, hello. I'm Gib Gerard, and welcome to the
podcast. This is anotherintelligence for your health
with Connie Celica. Episode ofthe podcast. We've got a great
episode for you today, includingan interview with allergist, Dr
Tanya Elliott, so all kinds ofhealth information that you can
use today to make yourself awhole lot healthier, plus, like
I said that, interview withallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott
(00:30):
here, without further ado, isintelligence for your health.
With Connie Celica, we're alwayssaying to put a green and
growing plant on your desk,because the Journal of
Experimental Psychology foundthat having a green plant nearby
makes people 15% moreproductive. It's partly because
the color green is linked tocreative thought, plus plants
(00:52):
improve air quality, so you maybe getting more oxygen to your
brain. Well, we can take thatone step further, put potted
aromatic herbs on your desk,like basil, thyme, mint or
rosemary. In a review of over 40studies, scientists found that
inhaling the aroma of growingherbs energizes brain neurons
(01:13):
that boosts your focus,concentration and short term
memory by up to 50%we've been told it takes 21 days
to form a new habit, but when itcomes to developing a consistent
exercise habit, plan to spend alittle longer on it. Researchers
from the universities of Chicagoand Pennsylvania looked at habit
(01:34):
formation, and they discoveredit takes up to six months to
establish an exercise habit. Thestudy also measured how long it
takes to develop a hand washinghabit, and that only took a few
weeks for people to do itregularly. In other words, not
all habits are created equal. Sowhy does it take so long for an
(01:55):
exercise to become part of aroutine? In a word effort, the
study followed 30,000 people whoswiped their ID cards as they
entered a gym, and the resultsshow that it takes six months
for people to establish aconsistent gym routine, and one
of the biggest factors was ifpeople went on the same days of
(02:17):
the week each time, 70% of thesuccessful study participated,
participants went to the gym onthe same days each week, and the
longer the amount of timebetween gym visits, the less
likely someone was to go back.
So if you want to make exercisea habit, go the same days of the
(02:37):
week every week, that makes youfar more likely to stick with it
coming up, we'll talk toallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott, and
she'll tell us how many peoplecan sometimes outgrow allergies
and the allergens that mostpeople never outgrow. But first,
if you want to clean up yourdiet, start by cleaning up your
environment. A study by theUniversity of Minnesota found
(03:01):
that people who sat at a tidydesk were more likely to reach
for an apple, while people atmessy desks were more likely to
grab a candy bar for a snack.
The researchers say that beingin an orderly environment
inspires us to do the rightthing and follow rules, but
being in a chaotic environmenthas the opposite effect. It
makes us want to break therules, so clean up your desk,
(03:23):
kitchen, anywhere you eat, youmay find yourself automatically
making better food choices whenyou were growing up. Did you
have freezing winters and sweatysummers, or was the temperature
more mild and balmy? Because itturns out, our personalities are
shaped by the climate we grew upin. In fact, according to the
(03:44):
journal Nature, the averagetemperature of the place we grew
up is one of the biggest factorsin how our personalities
developed. So people who grow upin a place where the average
weather is sunny and 70 degreestend to be friendlier, more
outgoing and more willing toexplore new things. And that
makes sense, because when theweather is nice, kids are more
(04:08):
likely to be outside, exploringand playing with friends,
whereas people who grew up withharsh winters and sweltering
summers tend to be less open andagreeable. Think of New Yorkers
versus laid back Californians.
Of course, that is ageneralization, and the experts
say if you see snow and run tostrap on your skis and call your
(04:32):
friends, the weather probablydidn't affect you in the same
way as someone who getsirritated every time it snows.
Okay. Listen to this for anupset stomach. Go weed your
garden or plant some flowers andvegetables. Researchers at
University College MedicalSchool in London found that
spending just 15 minutes diggingin the dirt can quickly soothe
(04:56):
an upset stomach, and doing itevery day helps ease.
Even chronic stomach issues inas little as a week. That's
because the soil releases a typeof probiotic that we inhale
while working in the dirt. Itactivates our parasympathetic
nervous system, which not onlyhelps us feel relaxed, it calms
intestinal spasms and boostsproduction of stomach enzymes
(05:19):
that keep our digestive tractrunning smoothly. Today, our
guest is Dr Tanya Elliott. She'sa board certified physician and
allergist whom you may know fromher appearances on The Today
Show, and about one in fourpeople have seasonal allergies,
and up to 10% of the populationis allergic to certain foods. So
(05:40):
I asked Dr Elliot if it'spossible for people to outgrow
their allergies. We can seepeople outgrow allergies as we
get older, and I would say 50and older, we tend to see people
with fewer environmentalallergies. It's not to say they
can't have other allergies, likemedication allergies and skin
(06:01):
allergies and other things. Butfor the most part, we see fewer
environmental allergies over theage of 50. However, certain
allergies like food certain foodallergies you typically don't
grow out of. So for example, forpeanut allergy, only 10% of
people will grow out of peanutallergy, similarly, only 10 or
so, percent of people will growout of shellfish allergy, and we
(06:23):
actually see shellfish allergyoccur later in life, so usually
people over the age of 30, wetypically don't see it as much
in children. The answers as towhy you see fewer allergies as
you get older, our immune systemis less robust. It takes a lot
more for us to mount an immuneresponse. One of the reasons why
(06:43):
we think we see shellfish morelater in life has to do with the
pH balance in our stomachs, andit's been linked to both alcohol
use and the use of antacids.
Another thing that causes newonset of allergies, particularly
in women, has to do withfluctuation in estrogen levels.
But for example, when a womangets pregnant, all of a sudden
(07:06):
they have allergies. When womengoes through menopause and
perimenopause, all of a suddentheir allergies get better, and
vice versa. So we see about halfwomen their allergies get
better, and half of women theirallergies get worse. And we're
still trying to understand thescience behind that, but we
believe it is linked to changesin fluctuations in estrogen
levels. Today, we're talking toDr Tanya Elliott, who is double
(07:28):
board certified in internalmedicine and allergy and
Clinical Immunology, and sincesuch a huge percentage of people
have seasonal allergies, I askedDr Elliot if there are foods
that make those allergicreactions worse, and which foods
can reduce our allergicresponse. So some people benefit
from a low histamine diet. Solet me just say the foods that
(07:53):
are high in histamine, thingslike pineapple, strawberries,
wine has histamine content init. Aged cheeses. Do any
processed meats? Do cured meats,anything that almost like it's
been sitting out for a while andhas been fermenting tends to
have high histamine content. Andyou may want to consider a low
(08:14):
histamine diet during the peakof allergy season. And then
there are our champion foods. Sofoods that you want to include
in your diet because they helpto either boost your immune
system or reduce the allergicresponse. So foods that are high
in quercetin, like blueberries,cruciferous vegetables, kale,
raw onion, those are some of mygo tos for people who want to
(08:39):
try food options to help combattheir allergies. I'm also a big
fan of fresh ginger. It helps tojust decrease inflammation
overall in the nasal passagesand the lungs. You can eat it.
It's great, but I often willrecommend that people just take
a pot of hot water, add somefresh ginger, bring it to a boil
(08:59):
and then break breathe in thathumidified air to help calm down
the inflammation that'soccurring in the nasal passages
and also in the lungs. On yournext trip, pack this in your
carry on bag a tennis ball. Thatrecommendation comes from Travel
and Leisure magazine. They sayit may be exactly what you need
to survive your flight withoutgetting muscle cramps, a blood
(09:21):
clot or jet lag. We all knowsitting for an extended amount
of time wreaks havoc on ourhealth, but we can use a tennis
ball to increase circulation.
Just put it between your backand the seat, rolling it between
your shoulders down your backlegs and the bottoms of your
feet. That will help you getyour blood flowing if you can't
(09:42):
get up and walk around. Today'smedical term transient lingual
Papyrus, that's what most of usrefer to as a tongue bump. The
red or white bumps often developsuddenly and can cause pain and
tenderness for several days, andwhile they often feel enormous.
Enormous inside our mouth. Ifyou look at them in the mirror,
(10:03):
they're rarely bigger than apinhead. Where do tongue bumps
come from? Doctors say they canbe caused by a variety of
triggers. The most common causesinclude stress, smoking, acid
reflux from eating acidic food,or even something as simple as
biting our own tongue. However,some people develop bumps every
(10:23):
time they eat something sugary,while others get them from
biting into something sour, likea lime. Whatever the trigger
irritation can cause the tinystructures that contain our
taste buds, called papillae, toswell up, split open, and
trigger pain. The good news,most tongue bumps are harmless,
and they usually clear up ontheir own in a few days. But
(10:46):
talk to a doctor if a bumppersists for more than a week or
develops into a sore thatchanges colors or oozes since
that may be a sign of a moreserious health condition, and
that's today's medical term,transient lingual papyrus coming
up. We'll hear more from boardcertified allergist, Dr Tanya
Elliott. She'll talk about theeffect weather has on our
(11:09):
allergic reactions. But first,if you had to guess which health
factor was most likely toimprove your sense of well
being, would it be how much youexercise, how well you eat, or
the quality of your sleep.
Research in the journalfrontiers in psychology says
your sleep quality is handsdown, the best predictor of your
(11:30):
overall mental health and wellbeing, meaning, if you ate a
nutritious diet and got plentyof exercise, you could still
undermine all health benefitsand raise your risk for anxiety
and depression by not gettingenough good sleep. Of course,
ideally, we'd be making allthree health pillars, sleep,
(11:52):
exercise and a healthy diet ourtop priorities. But if you have
to focus on just one, this studyshows a good night's sleep is
most important. Maybe theeasiest way to understand how
processed food impacts yourbrain health is to know that
it's now proven to be a leadingcause for vascular dementia.
(12:13):
What's that? Vascular dementiais the second most common type
of dementia after Alzheimer's,and it's caused by decreased
blood flow to the brain, whichcan deprive neurons of essential
oxygen and nutrients needed tostay alive. So how does eating
processed food lead to vasculardementia? Well, many of the
(12:36):
ingredients in Ultra processedfoods, especially the high
levels of salt, sugar andsaturated fats, are proven to
cause inflammation. And while weoften think of inflammation as
being really bad for our hearts,growing research suggests it's
even worse for our brains. Infact, a recent study in the
(12:57):
journal Neurology found that themore calories we consume from
processed foods, the higher ourrisk for vascular dementia.
Okay, listen to this. A potato aday may keep your headaches
away, according to theUniversity of Michigan, eating a
medium sized potato every day,rusted or sweet with the skin,
(13:18):
could cut your incidence ofmigraines by 25%
it's down to the potassium inpotatoes, which relaxes blood
vessels, so you're less likelyto get the constriction of blood
vessels in the brain that causemigraine pain. Not a fan of
potatoes. Other foods high inpotassium are kidney beans,
(13:40):
lentils, spinach, clams, carrotjuice, prunes and dried
apricots. Back with more healthintelligence from board
certified physician andallergist Dr Tanya Elliott. And
you may have noticed that yourseasonal allergies get worse as
the weather gets warmer, so Iasked Dr Elliott to explain why
(14:00):
that happens as it gets warmer,that's when you're gonna start
to experience allergies. Sowe're all sort of experiencing
that now. So let me just explainwhich pollens are most
significant during which timesof year, in the springtime,
you're dealing with tree pollenallergy. So trees are the first
things to bloom. So that'swhat's occurring in the
(14:22):
springtime. In the summer, we'reexperiencing grass pollen
allergy, and that pretty muchstarts in mid May and goes until
around the end of July and thenlate summer, all the way up
until the first frost. You'reexperiencing weed and ragweed
pollen allergy and also outdoormold allergy. And then even in
(14:44):
the winter months, we haveoutdoor winter allergies,
particularly in places likeTexas, there's the cedar tree
that starts to bloom in thewinter time, and we call that
cedar feeder fever, cedar fever.
And the allergy is so bad thatpeople actually feel like they
have.
Flu, and it turns out that it'sactually allergy so it's almost
like you're never in the clear,but based off of the time of
(15:07):
year that you're experiencingsymptoms, we're able to
determine what it is that youare most likely to be allergic
to. Now we have seen over thelast few years that because
we've had above average rainfalland warmer than usual winters,
that allergy season seems tostart earlier and last longer,
and that seems to be a trendthat is not going anywhere.
(15:28):
Continues to get worse and worseeach year back with more health
intelligence from allergist DrTanya Elliott and I asked her to
tell us about some common indoorallergens that people might not
be aware of, and how can theyreduce their presence in their
homes? The dust mite and indoormold allergy thrive in high
humidity levels. So you want tomake sure that you keep your
(15:49):
humidity levels in your home at20 to 50% and no higher. I will
oftentimes see people say, Oh,I'm so congested at night, so I
have a humidifier going in mybedroom, and that is the exact
opposite thing that you want inyour bedroom, if you have dust
mite or indoor mold allergy, youwant to have, if anything, a
dehumidifier to reduce thehumidity levels in your home.
(16:09):
You also want to remove curtainsand drapes. If you can,
upholstered furniture. Those areall places where dust mites love
to live. Carpeting. If you can,you want to remove that
decorative pillows, stuffedanimals that your kids have, all
those things will harbor dustmite allergy. I often will tell
my patients, if their child hasa favorite stuffed animal that
(16:31):
they drag around and who knowswhat kind of dirt and grime is
on it, throw it in the freezeronce a week and freeze it
overnight, and it'll actuallykill off the dust mites. So what
about pet allergies, is there away to manage that? So a few
things that you can do if youhave a pet allergy. You want to
try to keep your pet out of thebedroom. You also want to try to
just wipe them down and givethem a shower once a week to
(16:52):
wash up the allergen. Remember,there's no such thing as a
hypoallergenic cat or dog,because you can be allergic to
their saliva. You could beallergic to their their skin
cells. It has nothing to do withwhether or not they should want
to get closer as a couplemeditate or pray together,
because research shows that whenpartners sit quietly in the same
(17:12):
room, their heartbeats andbreathing sync up, making them
feel more connected. Anotherbonding activity for couples,
cook together. Licensedcounselor Allison Carver says,
when you cook as a team, you'reworking toward a common goal,
which can bring you closer. Infact, one study found that 92%
(17:32):
of partners felt more connectedafter making a meal together,
more intelligence for yourhealth from board certified
physician and allergist, DrTanya Elliott, if you'd like to
know more about her, she invitesyou to follow her on Instagram.
Her handle there is at Dr TanyaElliott, her first name is
spelled T, A, N, I, a, and Iasked her to share her thoughts
(17:56):
on air purifiers. Can they helpwith indoor or seasonal
allergies? Indoor air purifierscan be expensive, however, they
can be helpful for certainallergies. One is pet allergy,
and the second is if you do wantto leave the windows open, but
you have outdoor allergies,because what they address are
allergens that are airborne.
What they don't help for arethings like dust mite allergies,
(18:18):
because dust mites are tinyorganisms. They feed off of
house dust. They're very large.
They don't stay suspended in theair. So an air purifier isn't
going to do anything. So itreally depends on what allergy
it is that we are treating. Theother thing that's important for
air purifiers is you want tomake sure that they are the
appropriate size for the spacethat you're looking to purify.
(18:41):
So you make sure that the rightsize, that they are the right
size for your room. Here's agood reason to give back. People
who volunteer are healthier thanthose who don't. To start
there's a direct link betweenvolunteer work and a decreased
risk of high blood pressure, andanother study found that
volunteering lowers inflammationand cholesterol. So what's the
(19:02):
connection between beingaltruistic and improved health?
It's all about our stresshormone cortisol. Cortisol
interferes with our immunesystem and increases
inflammation, which makes ourblood stickier and damages our
heart health. And sincevolunteering lowers stress, it
improves our health to get thatpositive result, just go to
(19:25):
volunteer match.orgtype in the things you're
interested in, dogs, helping thehomeless, teaching kids to read,
and they'll match you withopportunities that are right for
you. Here's an email I receivedat Connie at intelligence for
your health.com. It comes fromChuck Driscoll, who writes, I
broke my foot so I can't workout right now. Does muscle turn
(19:46):
into fat if you stop workingout? Chuck, that is impossible.
Muscle and fat are completelydifferent tissues, so it's
impossible for one to transforminto the.
Other when you exercise,especially if you work with
weights, muscle tissue getsbigger and fat tissue gets
(20:06):
smaller. So if you stop workingout, the opposite happens. Your
muscles shrink, and the spaceonce occupied by muscle can get
filled with fat and muscle canstart to shrink after just one
month of inactivity. So what canyou do without using that foot
work your upper body, your coreand your other leg so you
(20:27):
preserve your existing muscletone until you can exercise your
other leg again. Thank you foryour email, Chuck. I hope this
helps. Okay, listen to this. Agood scare is good for you.
Researchers at the NationalInstitutes of Health believe
experiencing fear as a childoffers big therapeutic benefits,
(20:47):
and experiencing too little fearmay even be harmful. That's
because fear in small doses is away of training our brain to
handle real danger. Forinstance, baby monkeys in lab,
experiments that hardly blinkwhen facing a snake will die
prematurely, but monkeys taughtby a mother to fear predators
(21:08):
live longer, while the sameapplies to humans. Learning what
to fear and how we react to fearhelps us cope with dangers later
on in life, one in three NorthAmerican adults are now living
with diabetes or pre diabetes,but you can drastically cut your
risk for type two diabetes bywalking every day. However, you
(21:31):
need to walk at a speed of atleast 2.5 miles per hour. That's
according to the British Journalof Sports Medicine, and it's not
hard to do. Most adults alreadywalk at a pace of two and a half
miles per hour. That'sconsidered a normal walking
speed, and the study resultsshowed that once people reached
a pace of 2.5 miles per hour,their type two diabetes risk
(21:55):
dropped, and it continued todrop even further as people
increased their walking speed.
So walking two to three milesper hour saw the diabetes risk
drop 15% walking three to fourmiles per hour saw it drop 25%
and if you go over four milesper hour, your risk is reduced
(22:17):
by 40%basically, the faster you walk,
the lower your diabetes risk,and it all comes down to the
fact that a regular walkingroutine reduces body fat and
helps lower insulin resistance.
So if you're among the 30% ofpeople with diabetes or pre
diabetes, go for regular walksand make sure you're walking two
(22:40):
and a half miles per hour orfaster, more intelligence for
your health from our guestallergist, Dr Tanya Elliott, and
we know that the thinking onchildren's allergies has
changed. It used to be thatparents were supposed to avoid
giving their children thingslike peanuts, eggs or milk too
early, in case they wereallergic. Now it's suggested
(23:01):
that parents expose theirchildren to these things as
early as possible. So I asked DrElliot how to handle giving
potentially allergenic foods tobabies in terms of introduction,
introduction, early on. So nowthe recommendation is to
actually introduce peanut at thenow, not the peanut itself, but
peanut butter or peanut buttercookie at the age of four
(23:22):
months, as opposed to waiting totwo years, and that's even in
people who have a family historyof food allergies. So early
introduction is now recommended.
We've learned a lot again in thelast 10 years about what happens
when you delay introduction andthen seeing this in the real
world, for example. So peanutallergy in the US is anywhere
from eight to 10% of thepopulation, which is very high
(23:47):
in other countries, for example,in the Middle East, they use
something called bomba, which isactually a peanut based teething
toy the insured the incidence ofpeanut allergy in those
populations is point 2%because it is introduced early
on into the diet. So when youexpose through the through the
GI tract, early on, you are lesslikely to develop allergies. The
(24:10):
body says, Oh, this is comingthrough my GI tract, our GI
tract, it tends to be verytolerant to certain things. It's
the things that get put in ourbodies. And your body says, Oh,
nope, this is something that Ican eat. This is a normally
occurring thing, and you tend tohave fewer allergies. That's it
for our show today, our specialintelligence for your health
(24:30):
with Connie Selig edition of thepodcast, I'm Gib Gerard. Don't
forget to rate comment andsubscribe on Apple podcast.
Spotify wherever you get yourpodcast. It helps us out a lot.
And also, you can reach out tous on social media. All of our
links are listed down in theshow notes. We try to respond to
every DM, every mention of theshow, because ultimately, we do
the show for you guys. So thankyou so much for listening. You.
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