Over 30 years ago, I help set up the first CT heart scan device in Wisconsin, one of the first in the entire midwest. This was so long ago that it was really an electron beam tomogrraphy, or EBT, device that predated the more recently developed CT devices. The point is that these devices acquired images quickly, about 1/10th of a second. This is important because the heart is perpetually in motion through various cycles of its beating rhythm, with motion also provided by breathing. But these devices allowed us to precisely quantify calcium in the coronary arteries of the heart, the arteries that close and cause heart attacks. My friend, Dr. John Rumberger while at the Mayo Clinic, performed studies demonstrating that calcium consistently occupies 20% of total atherosclerotic plaque volume in the coronary arteries. In other words, quantifying calcium in the coronary arteries served as a gauge or dipstick for total atherosclerotic plaque in the heart’s arteries.

Some years later, cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, whose name you may recognize from his popular South Beach Diet books, developed a scoring system for coronary calcium, yielding something that came to be called an “Agatston score”: the higher the Agatston or calcium score, the more atherosclerotic plaque was present in the coronary arteries. Subsequent research has shown that the Agatston or calcium score is, by a long stretch, the best predictor of future cardiovascular events, far better than crude measures like cholesterol and these scores, in the 30+ years since my team and I started doing these scans, have become well-established as predictors of cardiovascular events like heart attack.

But what to do with the score—can it be stopped? Can it be reduced? That is the topic for this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, highlighting what my colleagues call, even to this day, “optimal medical therapy” that has repeatedly been shown to NOT work and the answers lie elsewhere, answers that I shall discuss. 
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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

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Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

“Everyone coming in the door were sick and had already been to 8 or 10 healthcare practitioners and weren’t better yet. This is all wrong.”

“It’s not just what you eat. It’s the air you breathe and the water you drink, the personal care products you use, household cleaning products. . .” 

Here is a conversation I had recently with with Reed Davis, a board-certified Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP) and Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT). Over many years of experience, Reed has developed expertise in applying functional lab testing to pinpoint environmental, hormonal, nutritional, and other health disruptions and toxicities. He is the Founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) and the FDN Certification Course that has trained over 4000 graduates in 50 countries that follow Reed’s principles of functional testing and remediation. Reed is a fountain of knowledge and experience on solving health questions even after many doctors have failed. 

To identify a FDN-trained practitioner near you, a practitioner taught by Reed Davis in his unique approach, go to FDNtraining.com/william.
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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

Over the last 30 years, the question over whether omega-3 fatty acids from fish has been the subject of controversy, swinging from exuberance over its potential benefits to skepticism over whether they provide any benefit at all. It seems that one day we hear that fish oil reduces risk for heart attack, while the next day we hear that there is no such benefit, even harm. We’ve also been subjected to numerous marketing claims for competing products with claims such as “40 times more potent than fish oil” or “You can’t buy this in a health food store” that further muddy the waters. So let’s review all that we have learned over the past 3 decades to decipher just what role, if any, omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil should play in your program to regain or maintain magnificent health. 

We dive into the history and outcomes of landmark studies like GISSI-Prevenzione, OMEGA Remodel, and REDUCE-IT, which have left researchers and medical professionals both excited and perplexed. Discover how high-dose EPA might just be the key to reversing coronary atherosclerosis, as outlined in the EVAPORATE trial. Join us as we dissect the data and reveal why omega-3s are more than just a fleeting trend; they could be a cornerstone of heart health backed by decades of research.

Learn about different forms of fish oil supplements, and how the absorption rates can vary, cutting through the marketing jargon that often exaggerates their potency. Personalization is key, and we discuss how the RBC omega-3 index can offer tailored dosing advice. With a recommended daily intake of 3,600 milligrams, omega-3s promise noticeable improvements, but patience is needed as it takes about three months to reach a steady state. Subscribe now, and let us guide you through the science-backed journey to achieving optimal health, naturally.
________________________________________________________________________________

For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.
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OmegaQuant test for RBC Omega-3 Index: https://omegaquant.com/

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

Atrial fibrillation, or A fib for short, is the most common heart rhythm issue that plagues people. About 30% of people will experience this rhythm disorder at some time in their lives, an issue that becomes more and more likely as we age. 

The rhythm is typically experienced as the sudden onset of breathlessness and lightheadedness, and sometimes chest pain, even while you are sitting or relaxing. This is because, with A fib, the heart rate is typically in the range of 150-220 beats per minute, way above the normal resting heart rate of 60-70 beats per minute. It’s the result of chaotic electrical signals originating from the atria of the heart, the normally thin-walled sacks at the top of the heart on the right and left side, i.e., the right and left atria. Beyond the symptoms of breathlessness and lightheadedness, A fib puts you at risk for stroke—not mini-strokes, but large catastrophic strokes. This is because there is a passive sack or appendage attached to the side of the left atrium called the left atrial appendage. Because during a bout of A fib, the atria stop their normal contractions in synchrony with the powerful ventricles, the main pumping chambers of the heart, blood stasis or standstill occurs, allowing the formation of blood clots in the left atrial appendage. Should the blood clot fragment or dislodge, it can go to your brain, resulting in a catastrophic stroke. This is why, in conventional cardiac care, blood thinners are administered almost immediately with the onset of A. fib. 

The management of this abnormal heart rhythm is fraught with difficulties and complications: toxic pharmaceuticals, procedures such as DC cardioversion in which a large and painful electrical shock is delivered with paddles to your chest, and others. So it is a good idea to take steps to avoid ever having this abnormal heart rhythm. Conventional advice typically includes achieving such things as controlling blood sugar and blood pressure with prescription drugs, or losing excess weight. But this leaves out some hugely important strategies that you can readily adopt that reduce your potential for experiencing A fib, as well as numerous other health problems. So that is the topic we consider here in this episode of the Defiant Health podcast.

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

Sleep issues represent a major struggle for millions of people: too little sleep, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, early morning awakenings followed by difficulty falling back asleep. Some people complain that, despite having a full night of sleep, they awake feeling like they didn’t sleep at all, struggling with sleepiness, fog, and fatigue all through waking hours. There are also known associations of health conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and Parkinson’s disease with disruptions of sleep. 

The science that explores the role of gastrointestinal microbes in sleep are yielding new and exciting lessons. Recently, for instance, lack of sleep has been shown to adversely impact the composition of the GI microbiome, i.e., there is a bidirectional cross-talk: the brain communicates with the gut, the gut communicates with the brain in ways that influence sleep. But new observations are also emerging from our fermentation projects, especially our yogurts in which we ferment unique microbial species to very high counts, increasing the number of microbes a hundred, or even a thousand-fold, efforts that are yielding new lessons that have not yet been formally described in human scientific studies. So let’s discuss some of these interesting lessons that are emerging involving sleep. 

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

You’ve likely heard the headlines gushing about the weight loss effects of the GLP-1 agonist class of drugs, agents that go by names like Wegovy, Mounjaro, Rebelsus and others. Doctors are declaring these drugs as breakthroughs or even magical, witnessing the rapid and dramatic weight loss they can achieve. 

People appear willing to accept the side-effects of nausea, vomiting, even bowel obstruction, a catastrophic complication, or thyroid cancer, or pancreatitis that can irreversibly damage your pancreas and make you a type 1 diabetic. They also accept the costs that vary widely, depending on who dispenses it, but not uncommonly hundreds of dollars, even over a thousand dollars a month. And doctors jump at the chance to prescribe these drugs, as they often have arrangements with the dispensing pharmacy for kickbacks in one form or another. Prescribe the drug, make a lot of money, for many doctors an irresistible temptation. 

People lose weight and even can become non-type 2 diabetic and modestly reduce risk for heart disease—so what’s not to like? 

Plenty. That is the topic of discussion today on the Defiant Health podcast, a place where you hear ideas you cannot hear anywhere else because we dig deeper, are not swayed by big payoffs, and thumb our nose at conventional wisdom. The GLP-1 agonist drugs are not miraculous, but invite health disaster or hold you hostage for the rest of your life, shelling out money to enrich the pharmaceutical industry and doctors.

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

The oral microbiome is second only to the colon in the density of microbes living there. The mouth is really a collection of varied ecosystems that differ in composition. For instance, the microbiome of the teeth is different from that of the tongue that is, in turn, different from the microbiome of the gumline. The oral cavity is therefore teeming with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of species of bacteria, fungi, Archaea, and viruses. It is a virtual tropical jungle of life. 

But what is especially remarkable is that the oral microbiome is an ecosystem of life that plays a role not just in dental health (cavities, tooth loss, gingivitis, periodontitis, breath odor) but also in contributing to causing diseases in other parts of the body such as cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, reproductive and cognitive health.

So, in this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, let’s consider how the oral microbiome contributes to all sorts of health issues. While solutions are still being sorted out, let’s discuss at least some of what we know that can be effective in improving the condition of the oral microbiome and thereby hope to have a favorable impact on health elsewhere in the body.

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

Despite having written 7 books in the Wheat Belly series pointing out the harms that this “food” has inflicted on people, harms that doctors nearly always misdiagnose as an opportunity to “treat” with pharmaceuticals and procedures, questions and ideas to the contrary continue to crop up. Some of these ideas are simply due to the barrage of advertising that comes from Big Food and Big Agribusiness, industries that continue to make a lot of money by propagating fictitious claims that grains are healthy. Some of it is due to the continued repeated urgings by the U.S. government, insisting that grains should remain a staple of the American diet. Dietitians stick to their argument that all foods fit into a healthy diet, including sugary soft drinks, candy bars, and grains, provided it’s all consumed “in moderation” and in the context  of a “balanced diet.” And sometimes it’s just that some people are looking for novelty, the newest and shiniest thing to titillate their dietary habits. And make no mistake: the grain industry is extremely well funded, keeping many dietitians, nutritionists, publicists, etc. on the payroll to repeat the same misconceptions over and over again: “There is no evidence that wheat is bad for you, with the caveat that you eat the right amounts as recommended.”

So let me dispel common myths and misconceptions that continue to swirl and threaten to derail you off the path of health and slenderness. (As in my books, my use of the term “wheat” encapsulates all forms of grains, as they share numerous characteristics.)

So, in this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, let’s take apart some of these commonly held myths and misconceptions surrounding wheat and grains to protect you from the flood of misinformation and disinformation. 

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

Achieving an optimal level of vitamin D provides numerous health advantages, from relief from winter blues to reduction in cardiovascular risk to reduced risk for several forms of cancer. It’s one of the most important nutrients to get right, i.e., achieve an ideal blood level of the primary blood marker for vitamin D, 25-OH vitamin D. 

But, even after many years of I and others discussing the importance of vitamin D, I still see plenty of people getting it wrong, often on the advice of their doctors. Sadly, you would think that doctors would be champions of nutrition, intelligent management of nutrients like vitamin D, the microbiome and other issues in health, but they usually are not. If anything, they are experts in the business of healthcare, but not in health—big difference. 

So, in this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, let’s discuss some of the finer points that help you get your vitamin D status perfect.

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

In this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, I bring together a number of strategies I’ve discussed piecemeal  in past that have enormous potential to improve skin: reduce wrinkle depth, increase dermal collagen, increase dermal moisture, accelerate healing, reduce existing sun damage and prevent future sun damage. Recall that we don’t achieve this with topical application, but with oral consumption. 

It’s the dermal layer of skin, after all, beneath the largely impenetrable epidermis, that is the seat of skin health and appearance. If the dermis cannot be effectively accessed through the exterior epidermis, how do you achieve improvements in the dermal layer? Orally, of course. For instance, hyaluronic acid consumed orally exerts dermal benefits body-wide. So let’s discuss strategies that you can adopt that provide smooth, healthy, more youthful skin, but all achieved orally.

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For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

From now through August, Paleovalley is running a Buy One Get One Free promotion on Essential Electrolytes. Also, their 11th Anniversary Sale will be from August 11th to 18th. Mark your calendars for their biggest sale of the year!

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

In this episode of the Defiant Health podcast, I interview Joyce Laszloffy who personally struggled with a crippling sugar addiction and overweight for many years. She experienced extreme ups and downs, trying to overcome the powerful pull that sugary foods can have on us. She shares how, for years, she managed to hide her addiction from her family and friends, often feeling powerless and humiliated, dealing with health issues including high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, fatty liver, depression and mood swings, until she found the key to finally kicking the habit. She has since taken her ideas to others through her courses, helping people banish sugars in all its forms from their lives with often spectacular results. 

Joyce delves into her belief that the problem often lies not within individuals but within the food system itself. Drawing from her journey of becoming vegetarian and vegan, she explains the importance of aligning dietary decisions with personal beliefs and identity. By understanding the psychology and science behind addiction, Joyce outlines why conventional methods such as willpower and restriction frequently fall short. She encourages listeners, particularly women, to arm themselves with knowledge and approach quitting sugar in a holistic, value-driven way to reclaim their health and happiness.

Grab Your FREE Sugar Sleuth Tool Kit now to learn where sugar is lurking. https://get.ikickedsugar.net/freeguide/

You can learn more about I Kicked Sugar and Joyce Here:

FREE 2 Hour Workshop: https://get.ikickedsugar.net/register-training/

________________________________________________________________________________

For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.

A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*

For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.

Support the show

Books:

Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed