Many health fanatics claim that they, "don't believe in supplements," as if micronutrients were a belief system or a religion—but they are not. They are foundational to our health, an essential part of our biology; and for better or worse, insufficiency and deficiencies have been part of the human experience for as long as we've been on earth. Nutritional balance is an exception, not the rule, so if you ignore your own micronutrients and ignore the rampant deficiencies today, you do so at your own peril.

On this week's Yoga Talk Show, I share my own research and experiences with some of the most-common vitamin and mineral deficiencies along with simple strategies for testing and correcting them. While not definitive, this is a great starting point for testing, tracking, and taking responsibility for own health.
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What You´ll Learn:

• Why almost everyone is deficient in Vitamin D
• How iron deficiency impacts billions of people, and yes, in the developed world too
• Why essential fatty acids (EFA's) are "essential" and where to get the
• Why is not how much you eat or take, but how much you absorb that matters
• The innate challenges of a food system based on chicken, pigs, cows, corn, soy, wheat, and rice

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Key Questions About Supplements:

• How do you feel after taking them?
• Are there weird additives in your supplements? Can you avoid them?
• Are there food sources for these nutrients that you prefer?
• Are these supplements sustainable?

Links & Resources:

• Dr. Mercola & Vitamin D
• World Health Organization & Deficiencies

Nutritional Tip:

• Probiotics

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: http://www.YogaBody.com/AskLucas  
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com  

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes: http://www.yogabody.com/reviews  

Thanks to Our Sponsor:

• Yoga Trapeze Teacher Training

The Yoga Trapeze is the #1 most popular yoga inversion sling in the world, and both our January and April teacher training courses are completely sold out. Good news! We’ve just opened up September 2017 for applications, and so this is an opportunity for you to gain the professional skills and confidence needed to teach professionally this exciting new style of yoga.

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Have you heard of sham surgeries? In 2002, 180 people with osteoarthritis of the knee joined a double-blind study. Some patients underwent real arthroscopic surgery and a placebo group simply had a skin incision and then were stitched back up. Here is where it gets weird. The placebo group self-reported identical results to those who had undergone actual surgery.

This is just one example of thousands of documented instances of "mind over body" in healing modalities ranging from allopathic medicine and crystal therapy to group prayer and homeopathy. How can this be? On this week's Yoga Talk Show, we'll try to get to the bottom of this very real phenomenon.
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What You´ll Learn:

• Why the scientific method has always been hindered by the placebo effect as it taints nearly every data set—it's omnipresent
• How crystals, prayer healing, Reiki, and fridge modalities can sometimes deliver amazing results
• Why certain conditions that respond better to placebos (ex: pain, skin conditions, Parkinson's, depression, anxiety)
• How shame surgeries can be just as effective as real surgeries
• Why hypnosis and placebo are not necessarily connected

Links & Resources:

• Suggestible You
• Erik Vance's Site
• Sham Surgery References
• Sham Knee Surgery Trial

 ABOUT OUR GUEST
Erik Vance is a native Bay Area writer living in Mexico. In his earlier life, he was a biologist, a rock climbing guide, an environmental consultant, and an environmental educator.

His work focuses on the human element of science – the people who do it, those who benefit from it, and those who do not. He has written for The New York Times, Nature, Scientific American, Harper’s, National Geographic, and a number of other local and national outlets.

His first book, Suggestible You, about how the mind and body continually twist and shape our realities was inspired by his feature in Discover and is on Amazon. You can learn more about his work at www.ErikVance.com 

Nutritional Tip:

• Cooking with Olive Oil

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: http://www.YogaBody.com/AskLucas  
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com  

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes: http://www.yogabody.com/reviews  

Thanks to Our Sponsor:

• Essential Mister

Let me guess… you love essential oils but are sick and tired of diffusers that look like lava lamps from the 1960’s? If so, you need YOGABODY Essential Mister with a real-wood exterior. The simple, elegant design is a lovely addition to any room in the house, and it’s simple, foolproof functioning allows you to set it and forget it for hours and hours of continuous use.

Originally designed for our commercial yoga studios, The Essential Mister allows you to bring the power of Aromatherapy to your home or office. USA-plug, but with a simple adapter can be used in any country. 1-year warranty, 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

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Back pain affects an estimated 80% of the population at some point in life, and yet most conditions are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. To complicate matters, most people have hard line ideas about treatment of their mysterious conditions, so it's no surprise that chronic pain, recurring problems, and frustration abound.

On the Yoga Talk Show, we tend toward natural, non-medical healing modalities; but there is a time and a place for allopathic medicine, and yes, even surgery. For every 10 students I know who healed their own spine, I know at least one for whom surgery was a life saver. Rather than look at the issue as black or white, it's important to consider all options and understand the best treatments.

Enter: Dr. Tony Mork. Board certified orthopedic surgeon and pioneer of endoscopic surgery. He breaks down surgical options in an incredibly simple and insightful way and makes a very convincing case for why spinal fusion, the most common surgery, should be avoided if at all possible.
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Listen & Learn:

• Why most people with back pain have no accurate diagnosis of their problem
• Why X-Ray, CT or MRI doesn't tell the whole story
• How "spinal mapping" can find the real source of the pain
• How many conditions pass on their own in 8-12 weeks
• Why a discogram can be helpful in some cases
• The 3 types of surgery: vertebral fusion, decompressive surgery, rhizotomy (sever nerve roots)
• Why fusions are the most common and yet should be a last resort
• Why only 2% of spinal surgeries are endoscopic in the USA

Links & Resources:

• Dr. Tony Mork's Site
• Dr. Mork's Youtube Channel

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr. Mork is a board certified orthopedic surgeon has personally performed more than 8,000 endoscopic spinal surgeries. He designed many of the specialized tools used in laser spinal surgery and is constantly pursuing the improvement of spinal care.

Dr. Mork has been instrumental in developing most of the current endoscopic spinal surgery techniques. He is one of the originators and wrote the original peer reviewed articles on most of the endoscopic spine surgery techniques used today. He was the co-founder of Microspine and founder of the Endoscopic Spinal Academy.

Nutritional Tip:

• Frozen Foods

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: http://www.YogaBody.com/AskLucas
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes: http://www.yogabody.com/reviews

Over 1 million people have listened to the Yoga Talk Show since its inception, and it's you the listeners I have to thank for all the support and growth over the years. To say "thanks" and deep-dive into a random smattering of topics, I've dedicated this show to answering your voice mails. Some of these questions we've covered in previous shows, but many are completely new, so I hope you find them helpful in your own practice.
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Listen & Learn:

• Can you help with Plantar Fasciitis?
• Can some in their 90's use the Yoga Trapeze?
• How can I use yoga to heal my rotator cuff?
• Why 1:2 ratio breathing nose-to-mouth in Gravity Yoga?
• Will yoga therapy be the "next big thing?"
• How should I train for the full splits?
• Is Hot Yoga dangerous for my SI Joint?

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: http://www.YogaBody.com/AskLucas

Thanks to our sponsor:

• Hot Yoga Teacher Training

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TAKE THE NEXT STEP!

Join Absolute Yoga’s 200-Hour Hot Yoga Alliance accredited course in beautiful Koh Samui, Thailand.

This training is for:

• Serious students who want to teach
• Passionate yoga practitioners
• Students who want to share hot yoga with the world

Extremely small class sizes, huge teaching team, dedicated training facility!

Next course starts in February!

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