Did you receive a CRP (C-reactive protein) test during your last blood test? Since recent research correlates systemic inflammation with dozens of diseases and illnesses, cooling this internal flame has become a major focus in preventative medicine.

On this week’s podcast, we’ll speak about the low-grade, chronic inflammation that many of us struggle with unknowingly due to gut dysbiosis. In an ideal world, we eat a meal, digest and absorb its nutrients. In the real world, many of us eat foods that create a fight response internally as your body treats the offending foods like an invasive threat. 

Listen & Learn

• How your gut bacteria form a “soil” like environment for digestion
• Why modern foods and lifestyles leave many of us imbalanced
• How to find motivation later in life to make changes 
• The power and speed of diet and lifestyle changes

Resources & Links:

Jimmy’s Site

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Jimmy is the founder of the Cognitive Health Institute which focuses on gut health to reduce

inflammation, thus lowering the likelihood, as well as the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Jimmy played football professionally for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans as a tight end and most recently was a member of the 2016 United States Rowing Team. His accomplishments include four national medals as well as a third-place finish in the 2016 Olympic trials.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Carbohydrates

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When I was 11 years old, I face-planted snow sledding and gave myself two black eyes and a slight concussion. I remember being sleepy, dizzy, and struggling to concentrate for a few days. Luckily, I only whacked my head like that a couple times growing up, but some teenagers do it every day during sports practice.

What do contact sports do long term to our brains? At what age are we responsible enough to make a decision about putting our brains in harm's way? On this week’s podcast, author and PhD researcher, Julie Stamm shares her best plan for the future of brian-safe sports.

Listen & Learn

• TBI vs. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
• Age limits, contact limits, and best practices
• How to shift a gladiator culture - and should we? 
• Game changes suggestions
• Gear upgrades / downgrades

Resources & Links:

Julie’s Website

ABOUT OUR GUEST 

Julie Stamm, PhD, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of the book, The Brain on Youth Sports. 

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Collagen

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Millions of people experience traumatic brain injuries (TBI) each year, and an estimated 5-6% of those people experience long-term issues. If you break your arm, the path to recovery is pretty obvious and the fix is visible. But if you get in a car accident, hit your head, and two months later suffer from brain fog and vertigo, what do you do? How do you fix your brain once it’s been damaged?

Fortunately, there are evolving methodologies that can really help. On this week’s podcast, you’ll meet a Functional Neurology specialist who focuses on helping people reverse chronic symptoms.

Listen & Learn

• Why the blood-brain barrier is so important and the risk of damaging it.
• How TBI and concussion can happen even without head impact
• What symptoms of chronic concussion might look and feel like
• Balancing self-care and health care

Resources & Links:

Titus Chiu’s Site

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr. Titus Chiu is an author and speaker in the field of Functional Neurology who helps people struggling with Post-Concussion Syndrome and other chronic neurological conditions.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Why No Food Before Yoga

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IQ Tests remain the best method (albeit flawed) to assess intelligence. More difficult to measure, but perhaps more interesting, is Emotional Intelligence (EQ). How does someone rank in terms of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and relationship management. In a digitally driven, AI-enabled future, perhaps people with the highest emotional skills could be those who find the greatest success. 

A big part of personal development is learning to understand and accept who you are, unchanging, but also to identify those parts of you that are malleable and doing your best to self actualize. Our guest on this week’s show has dedicated his life and work to emotional intelligence research and training. 

Listen & Learn: 

• How clinical EQ assessments work 
• How emotional intelligence is crucial for workplace, family and social happiness 
• Why it’s important to train (and learn) EQ skills 
• The challenges of environments that reward IQ and squelch EQ 

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Marc Brackett is the author of, Permission to Feel, and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. Marc consults regularly with corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating emotional intelligence principles into employee training and product design.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Omega 3’s from Beef

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