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EPISODE RELEASED 15th JULY 2022

WHY IS THE SYMBIOTIC NATURE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME CRUCIAL TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH? HOW IS INFLAMMATION,DIET AND LIFE STYLE INTERFERING WITH MODERN SOCIETIES WELL BEING?

In this episode we learn everything we need about how food relates to our mood and state of mind. We’re going to lay out the fundamentals of how different food groups and qualities of food influence directly our mental and physical health; how the gut species depletion and inflammation are key consequences of the changes we’re seeing in western industrial diet, and how we can counter that tendency with some simple tricks.

 

Alex Laird is a medical herbalist with more than 20 years' clinical experience. Trained in biomedicine and plant pharmacology, she treats patients in the only NHS herbal clinic based in a UK hospital at Whipps Cross, and she is a fellow and council member of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP). She worked with Breast Cancer Haven UK for 20 years, using nutritional therapies for cancer. Alex has undertaken clinical research, is a visiting lecturer, has published numerous research papers, and is the co-founder of the charity Living Medicine. She is also the author of the new book ‘Root to stem’ which talks about seasonal foods and remedies for strong health and immunity that can be found growing literally in the hedgerow around your house!

 

What we discuss:

05:00 An epiphany with nature

07:00 Nutritional Psychiatry and the Gut microbiome

08:40 Evolution with unrefined foods VS modern refined sugars

17:00 The need for minerals and phytonutrients

13:10 High protein/ lo-carb approaches

17:00 Acidification, Paleo and Ketogenic approaches

18:10 Variety is key, the research says

20:20 Phytotherapy research

21:20 Inflammation explained

26:30 Acidification and pH in the body

33:00 The gut microbiome and biofilms of diversity

38:40 Co-dependence on our environment

40:00 Reciprocity in nature and life: Feeding diversity

41.30 Candida Albicans dominates in the absence of diversity

44:00 Crucial gut and fecal microbes via vaginal birth

46:00 Contact with soil and pets (spores, fecal microbes)

46:30 Immune response load needed regularly to maintain health

48:30 The overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals

50:20 Gut disbiosis explained and solutions

55:50 Immunity evolved alongside bacteria and viruses and needs their load

58:30 Supporting Innate and adaptive immunity

1:00:00 Germ theory 2.0? - healthy immune response load

1:04:00 The ‘Root to Stem’ philosophy - Diversity, reciprocity, interconnectivity

06:00 Our relationship to the seasons sustained by seasonal foods

06:55 Reconnecting to nature, ourselves and to community

01:09:10 Plant medicines we might not be aware of

01:10:25 Phytonutrients explained

01:13:00 Getting back to eating the skins and seeds: polyphenols

01:15:30 Dietary fibres and prebiotics

01:18:10 Fermented foods and probiotics

01:21:45 We’re designed to eat during the day: Cicadic rhythms

01:24:00 Connection to nature

01:27:15 Night soil

01:28:00 Sacred = in service to life

 

References:

Alex Laird’s association 'Living Medicine'

Breast Cancer Haven

Graham Rook, Old Friends Hypothesis, UCL

Karin Moelling - ‘Viruses, more friends than foes’

Tim Spector, British epidemiologist and gut microbiome specialist

The College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP)

The National Institute of Medical Herbalists

For other professional herbalist associations in Europe, see the European Herbal & Traditional Medicine     www.ehtpa.org

The Herbal Alliance

European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy

College of Medicine’s Selfcare Tookit - how to manage common conditions safely

Association of Foragers  

The Real Food Campaign 

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