+ Lifestyle Podcasts

Episode 96: Liver Health with Dr. Alex Golden and Megan Blacksmith

Every day, our liver works hard on our behalf, and when it’s struggling, it can impact our health bodywide. Detoxing is all the rage, but the truth is, sometimes detox protocols can make you feel worse instead of better. Why is that? How can we support our liver naturally, without overwhelming it? And why is it essential to everything from hormone balance to autoimmune health? In this podcast, we’ll be answering these questions and more. My guests are Dr. Alex Golden and functional nutritionist Megan Blacksmith. They’re the women behind the website Zesty Ginger, and liver health is one of their specialties.

Episode 95: Religious Traditions and the AIP

Many traditions – both sacred and secular – center around food. In addition, religions sometimes have specific rules concerning diet. When you’re diagnosed with autoimmune disease and change your diet to support your health, how do you maintain your connection to your religion, your culture, and your community? In this podcast, I interview 3 guests from 3 different faiths about how they mindfully balance their traditions with their diet and health needs

Episode 94: Troubleshooting Sleep with Dan Pardi

Sleep is essential to our bodies’ ability to heal. In fact, many of us have experienced autoimmune flares caused by lack of sleep. At the same time, autoimmune symptoms can make sleep difficult, creating a vicious cycle. So, what do we do? In this podcast, sleep expert Dan Pardi talks about the science of sleep: what happens when we’re sleeping and how much we need at different stages in our lives. We also talk about foundational habits for a good night’s sleep, and how to troubleshoot advanced sleep challenges.

Episode 69: Healthy Deviance with Pilar Gerasimo

In the modern world, the cards are stacked against us. From grocery stores filled with foods that aren’t real food, to being bombarded by environmental pollutants, to a culture that takes pride in being busier than ever and wears sleep deprivation like a gold star. When we take steps to recover and enhance our health, we are going against this tide, stepping outside the norm, and it’s not easy! We’re doing it in a world that encourages unhealthy life choices, and sometimes even our closest friends and family try to sabotage our efforts. My guest, Pilar Gerasimo, is a healthcare journalist who has been writing about healthy deviance for decades. In this episode, we talk about the many obstacles we face and strategies for being successful revolutionaries for our own health.

Episode 56: Healthy Detoxification with Torea Rodriguez

Our bodies have natural detox pathways, but they are overwhelmed by modern life. More than 80,000 new chemicals have been released into the world since the industrial revolution 150 years ago, and most of them within the past 50 years. These chemicals have never been fully tested for their effects on our bodies or the environment. We are asking our bodies to detoxify far more than they were designed to handle, and this is an important element in reclaiming our health. That said, there are a lot of scams out there related to detox cleanses, powders and programs. Many people who try these end up feeling worse. So, in this podcast we’re going to learn how to detoxify in a healthy, sustainable way. My guest is Toréa Rodriguez. She is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and a Transformational Life Coach. She’s also a fellow autoimmune warrior.

Episode 51: Marriage and Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune disease doesn’t exist in a bubble. Its onset changes our own lives dramatically, but it also impacts our relationships. In this episode, I interview three spouses of people with autoimmune disease, including my own husband Tom, Terry Wahls’ wife Jackie, and Matthew Sinclair’s wife Petra. We talk about what it’s like to be married to someone with chronic illness, how they try to support the person they love, and how they also make sure they don’t get lost in the equation.

Episode 40: The Primal Connection with Mark Sisson

When I first went paleo, Mark’s Daily Apple was one of the first blogs I found. I loved how he presented detailed information in easy-to-understand small bites. I also loved his holistic approach. Yes, food matters, but it’s about so much more than just food. Three years later, it was a thrill to interview him on my podcast. In this episode, we talk about the many ways our lives have changed from the lives of our ancestors. We can’t go back in time, but we can learn from our past. Highlights of our conversation include: Why Being Selfish Is Necessary, The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Hunter Gatherers, Reconnecting With a Body That Has Autoimmune Disease, and more.

Episode 31: Healthy Habits – Gretchen Rubin Book Club

Are you a Rebel? Questioner? Obliger? Or Upholder? Knowing your “Habit Personality” makes a huge difference in achieving lasting change. The stakes are high for us. We have autoimmune disease which often comes with painful and disabling symptoms. Making healthy choices regarding diet and lifestyle can make a huge difference in our quality of life. Yet even knowing this, change is hard! In her books, Better Than Before and The Four Tendencies, Gretchen Rubin writes about 4 different “habit personalities”. In this podcast, we’ll help you figure out which one your are, and share which strategies work for each personality & which don’t!

Episode 16: Young, Single and AIP

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast is about living the autoimmune paleo life when you’re young and single. It’s never easy to have autoimmune disease, but when you’re trying to date, deal with roommates, handle flares on your own, and find a way to focus on healing while all your friends are drinking, it can be even harder. My three guests were all diagnosed with their autoimmune disease at a young age, and they chose the impressive path of healing through diet and lifestyle. Today, we’ll be talking about the blessings and challenges of that choice.

Episode 12: Circadian Rhythms & The Perfect Health Diet with Dr. Paul Jaminet

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast covers Circadian Rhythms: our internal body clock that does so much more than keep time. Balanced rhythms promote autoimmune healing, whereas wonky rhythms are a huge obstacle, throwing off our sleep, hormones, and so much more. I’m joined by Dr. Paul Jaminet, author of The Perfect Health Diet, to teach us how to harness these rhythms for optimal health. We also talk about his dietary protocol in detail, why he recommends eating white rice, and how infections relate to autoimmunity. It’s a great interview!