The Simple 7 Lifestyle Podcast

Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation and myth when it comes to CBD. Most people only have a vague idea of what it is and they immediately have it connected with marijuana. So they're thinking about stoners, smoking pot to get high. Only a few people realize that CBD is different than that. But they're still pretty unsure about what all the fuss is about it. So on today's episode we're going to discuss the potential health benefits of industrial hemp-derived cannabidiol or CBD. It is a rich history and there are amazing potential health benefits from understanding this plant and how it affects our body. Let's dive in.

In this inspiring episode, we delve deep into the topic of overcoming fatigue and explore effective strategies to regain vitality and live life to the fullest. Join us as we uncover the underlying causes of fatigue, discuss its physical and mental impact, and provide practical tips and insights for combating exhaustion. From lifestyle changes and self-care practices to nutritional guidance and mental resilience, we equip you with the tools to conquer fatigue and unlock your true potential. Prepare to be energized and empowered as we embark on a journey toward a revitalized and vibrant life.

Welcome to today's episode of the Simple 7 Lifestyle Podcast. I'm Dr. Jerry Duggar and I just want to thank you for taking the time to tune in today. It says a lot about you that when you have some free time, you're choosing to learn about your health and taking the initiative to upgrade your education. Congrats to you! Ask just about anyone what health habits are needed for good health and I'll bet that 99% of people will say, "Eat a healthy diet and exercise". We've done a pretty good job at drilling those two habits into people's heads. (unfortunately, 99% of those people won't actually be incorporating those 2 habits into their own lifestyles. Something we're trying to change around here). Of course, we talk about 5 other key lifestyle habits in our Simple 7 Lifestyle model but even if we could get the majority of people to get diet and movement in order, it would create a massive shift in the world. Today, I want to dive a little deeper into the topic of movement and exercise.

When I first started chiropractic practice nearly 28 years ago, I noticed that there were a lot of people who didn't really know much about chiropractic. Since then, the average person seems to know quite a bit more about what I do but I'm still surprised that chiropractic is still so misunderstood. It appears that there are a bunch of myths surrounding chiropractic care that continues to linger around year after year almost as part of the collective unconscious of the population. In an effort to really help you understand how chiropractic differentiates itself from other types of health care, I wanted to share 10 interesting facts that might not be very well understood by your friends and neighbors. #1 - We know a lot more than just the spine! #2 - Chiropractic is for all ages. #3 - Pain is often the last symptom of dysfunction. #4 - Adjustments don't hurt and don't cause damage #5 - The Nervous System is King #6 - Athletes use chiropractors to stay well and perform better, not just for the occasional injury. #7 - Doctors don't do the healing. #8 - Chiropractic may help you get sick less. #9 - Successful chiropractic outcomes require engaged patients. #10 - "I heard I'll have to go forever" is a myth.

One of the most powerful ways that our natural environment is designed to influence the body is through the effect of natural light. Of course, there is no way life could exist on this planet without the presence of our sun. The sun's light is essential to life and it turns out that each part of the sun's electromagnetic spectrum has a part to play. The latest light wavelength to gain popular press has been red light and near-infrared light and for good reason. Currently, there are over 3,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies that highlight the positive impact of these wavelengths of light. It turns out that our cells have over a dozen mechanisms whereby they can transform light energy (photons) into chemical energy (the scientific name for this is photobiomodulation) and through these processes, we have learned that specific wavelengths of light have predictable effects on our tissues. In today's episode we unpack the numerous benefits as well as how to determine what type of laser or LED device to use.

With literally millions of concussions and other brain injuries happening each year in the US alone, we need to know what the latest science tells us to do to keep our brains healthy and recover quickly if we are unfortunate enough to be the victim of brain trauma. In this episode, Dr. Jason Smith, DC, FABBR, DACBN, FACFN, FABVR, shares some great advice and busts a few myths that you might be holding onto when it comes to concussion and brain injury.

Scientific research makes it clear that the quality of one's relationships not only impacts mental health and overall life satisfaction but even one's physical health. Our relationships are really strong predictors of overall longevity and happiness. Just the ability to be in a peaceful relationship with someone changes the way you feel about your entire day. But what is often overlooked is the fact that the quality of our relationships is dependent upon our own sense of self. Our level of self-development impacts how we show up in the key relationships that we are involved in. This is especially true in the marriage relationship. In this episode, we discuss these concepts with Dr. Jennifer Finalyson-Fife, a highly respected and popular clinical therapist, educator, and mental health coach. We discuss how to develop a stronger sense of self, and how to grow out of a validation-based relationship into a deeper, more honest intimacy.

One of the major areas that I focus on with my clientele is hormone balance. So many of the major symptoms of ill health are tied to the function of these critical chemical messengers. Mental clarity, memory, energy, weight control, sleep, happiness, bone strength, digestive function not to mention sexual health and reproduction are all intimately tied to the balance of this complex symphony. What is surprising to me is just how many of my patients have serious hormone problems. I'm seeing it in both men and women and it is starting to show up in teenagers. If it seems like you're noticing more and more people you know with hormone issues, you are correct. The hormonal system is very complex with over 50 different hormones and pre-hormones that are all interconnected and constantly changing in an attempt to regulate us with our environment. Most of these hormones are secreted in very small amounts. A little goes a long way. Almost all of these hormones function in a negative feedback loop. In today's episode, we'll discuss some of the challenges that we face in keeping our hormones balanced and what the best approach is to make our hormonal system happy!

For over 2 decades now, I've spent my days working in the trenches, sitting knee-to-knee with thousands of people who are trying to improve their health. People just like you who were frustrated, depressed, demoralized, and ready to give up trying to look and feel better. Due to the fact that I'm not a medical physician, the stories I hear are of people who have been bounced around inside of the traditional allopathic medical/pharmaceutical/insurance complex and who are looking for answers that the "system" wasn't able to provide. My experience suggests that our current model of "health care" is mismatched with our needs. It is woefully incomplete in its arsenal and has too long been completely driven by pharmaceutical profits and administrative bureaucracy. It lacks the ability to even consider non-pharmaceutical interventions to promote health. I've often said that one of the most insidious misnomers in the world today is calling today's medicine "health care" instead of the more apt term "disease management". According to the World Health Organization, the definition of health is "the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Therefore, caring for one's health must go far beyond the "saving" of lives inside of a gargantuan, complex, and insanely expensive procedure-delivery system. Today's podcast episode gives you a few questions that you can use to self-evaluate. Are you focused on creating health and wholeness? Or are you more often entrenched in the thinking that pervades the "disease management" model?

We all prefer to be happy. Our most important job as an organism is to stay alive. In order to do that, we have evolved to find positive feelings when we do things that help us survive and negative emotions when we feel threatened. All mammals have these basic instincts and the wiring necessary to create environments that support this desire. Viewed through this lens, we are all "self-medicating" all day long. We are making decisions that are geared towards creating more happy brain chemicals than unhappy ones. These chemicals aren't supposed to be on all the time but we are wired to remember what worked last time so that we can do it again next time. If there is a positive survival value to the behavior, our brains want to know that. We also want to know the behaviors that have negative survival value so that we can avoid those.

There are an estimated 1.1 billion people on the planet with cognitive or mood problems. 1 in 10 Americans are on antidepressants and 1 in 10 children is on stimulant medications. Estimates are that 1 in 4 of us will experience at least 1 major depressive episode in our lifetime. Those numbers are staggering! We are clearly missing something really big here. We need a fundamental shift in how we think about our brain, our mind, and our health in general. For the past century or so, medical science and "big pharma" has been on the hunt for a single cause of each disease and that has led us to very little in the way of health. Instead, we have an ever-increasing cocktail of drugs for each of these diseases and more people who are sick and suffering. Nowhere has that approach been more tragic than in the area of mental health. The ever-expanding list of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics, and opiate painkillers is literally and figuratively mind-numbing. What if there was a different way to think about the problem? What if instead of focusing on a synthetic drug to force the body into a temporary state of function, we focused on the key underlying factors that they all had in common and then layered targeted nutritional support on top of that? Well, that is exactly what the emerging Functional Medicine model is doing and the results are already showing that there is real hope for millions who are suffering.

They say that pain is the greatest motivator. Virtually all of my chiropractic patients begin seeing me because they are in pain. Most have tried pain medications and haven't found them helpful or they realize that medication can't get to the real root of the problem so they are looking for a better approach to eliminating the pain in their body. You've heard the saying, "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Well, if that is the case, we could add the prequel and say, "if you always think the way you've always thought, you'll always do what you've always done." So today, let's think about things a bit differently. I want to share a case study with you that illustrates a couple of big ideas. First, we're going to talk about "new thinking" when it comes to specifically treating pain. Then we're going to zoom out and think differently about the big picture of her case and what it can teach all of us.

Most of us spend too much of our lives unhappy. We are caught in the trap of measuring our current status against an idealized version of ourselves and who we should be. Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Tracy have written an amazing book that helps us see the folly of this approach to life. They share how our ideals and goals should be the motivating force that drives us to become better versions of ourselves but that we should always measure our success, not in relation to our ideal, but rather against where we've come from. This is the essence of the GAP and the GAIN.