No.1 Herbal Medicine Expert: This Over The Counter Drug Is Quietly Killing You & They’re Lying About Medicinal Plants!

0:00:04 That is the most widely prescribed drug in this country, and I believe in the US also.
0:00:08 But the list of problems accruing from long-term use is beginning to grow,
0:00:11 and there’s serious cancers, dementias.
0:00:15 But the other thing is, is that once you’re on it, it’s really difficult to come off it.
0:00:16 And that’s not all.
0:00:20 We use far too many antibiotics, and there’s becoming a serious health issue now,
0:00:24 because the number of people dying from antibiotic resistance infections
0:00:26 is beginning to rise dramatically.
0:00:27 It’s quite frightening.
0:00:32 So are there alternatives on this table that I should also consider as a form of medicine?
0:00:33 Oh, yes.
0:00:36 And most of these ones I’m going to be talking about have a pretty immediate effect.
0:00:38 Now, have a bite at this.
0:00:39 Whoa.
0:00:44 For almost 50 years, Dr. Simon Mills has pioneered how we think about natural medicine,
0:00:47 earning global recognition as one of the most respected
0:00:50 and influential herbal practitioners of our time.
0:00:53 These things have medicinal properties.
0:00:55 So let’s start with dark chocolate.
0:00:58 In terms of long-term brain health and cardiovascular health,
0:01:00 that’s one of the best medicines around.
0:01:00 Really?
0:01:01 Oh, yes.
0:01:02 The next one is garlic.
0:01:06 And in some parts of the world, they use garlic instead of penicillin.
0:01:08 In fact, there was an old trick where if you had enough garlic,
0:01:12 breathe on a Petri dish, and you could kill various pathogens just by your breath.
0:01:12 Wow.
0:01:14 And then there’s this.
0:01:17 To reduce your cholesterol levels, this can really help.
0:01:18 Whether you’re on eyesight, this is your blood flow.
0:01:19 Gut health.
0:01:20 Cardiovascular health.
0:01:24 Now, this is one of the ones to watch in terms of long-term brain health.
0:01:27 Rosemary, we actually did a clinical trial on this.
0:01:29 And all you need to do is press it and sniff.
0:01:32 So you can see why some of this stuff already is powerful.
0:01:34 Now, we have more to go through.
0:01:35 And this is where it gets interesting.
0:01:37 There’s a lot of people listening who will want to hear this.
0:01:38 Coffee.
0:01:39 Oh, God.
0:01:39 What do I need to know?
0:01:44 Quick one before we get back to this episode.
0:01:45 Just give me 30 seconds of your time.
0:01:47 Two things I wanted to say.
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0:01:55 And this really is a dream that we absolutely never had
0:01:57 and couldn’t have imagined getting to this place.
0:02:01 But secondly, it’s a dream where we feel like we’re only just getting started.
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0:02:25 Thank you so much.
0:02:25 Back to the episode.
0:02:37 Simon Mills, you are a pioneer by all accounts in what is called complementary medicine.
0:02:41 But you’re also one of the most respected herbal practitioners in the world.
0:02:43 You’ve been doing this for more than 50 years.
0:02:50 I’ve actually never spoken to somebody that has a comprehensive understanding of herbal remedies and herbal medicine.
0:02:52 So I’m super excited to have this conversation with you today.
0:02:57 What is the mission you’re on and why do you think it’s important?
0:03:03 I think my main mission is to do what I can to help people get stronger.
0:03:08 I sometimes say that, you know, the world is pretty rough out there.
0:03:17 I can’t do anything about the sea and the waves, but I can help you to build a better boat that can sit better in the water.
0:03:22 And I think people relate to that, that if they were felt a bit stronger in themselves,
0:03:28 they would be able to cope better with what life throws at them.
0:03:35 I chose plants because people have always used plants as their primary source of medicine.
0:03:37 People have always grown up with plants.
0:03:40 They’ve evolved along with plants.
0:03:45 And what I aim to do is to put the old wisdoms into some scientific framework
0:03:50 and then make it fit with conventional norms of health care.
0:03:54 You were a board member of the British Herbal Medicine Association.
0:03:57 You were the first chair of the Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
0:04:03 launched in Parliament by former Prime Minister Alec Douglas Holm.
0:04:09 You led a major European Commission project on herbal medicine involving over 20 centres across Europe.
0:04:15 You were the secretary of the European Scientific Cooperative on…
0:04:16 Phytotherapy.
0:04:17 I was not able to say that word.
0:04:20 Which is the polite way of saying herbs.
0:04:20 Okay.
0:04:22 So, it’s phytoplant therapy.
0:04:27 I think when people think about herbal medicine and using plants as a form of medicine,
0:04:34 they think of tribes and they think of, I don’t know, sort of ancient Chinese traditions.
0:04:38 And I think, you know, the modern Westerner thinks of pills.
0:04:39 Yes.
0:04:40 When they think of medicine.
0:04:40 Yes.
0:04:44 What is it that we’ve lost?
0:04:45 Is there like a lost wisdom?
0:04:46 Yes.
0:04:48 And how did that happen?
0:04:49 And what is it we’ve lost?
0:04:55 When we lived in the countryside, when we lived close to nature, that was very much around us.
0:05:00 And in every little community, there’d be someone, usually a woman, who would know their way around the plants
0:05:03 and would help you out when you had an illness and a sickness.
0:05:10 I’m not saying that there’s a golden age, but when we moved into cities, we lost a lot.
0:05:12 Apart from anything else, we were living on top of each other.
0:05:14 We had to drink each other’s water.
0:05:19 You know, there was a lot of new illnesses, sicknesses, pestilences and so on that only came in cities.
0:05:23 In that world, the herbs couldn’t cut it.
0:05:25 So, we needed stronger stuff.
0:05:26 So, they started using minerals.
0:05:29 They started using things that were poisons.
0:05:38 And the original physician’s job was to be the only guy who could handle medicines that other people would not be safe to use.
0:05:42 And so, you got your training to use these much more powerful medicines.
0:05:46 And it was thought that the old plant things were too soft and gentle.
0:05:49 And so, they were generally discarded.
0:05:53 And then you develop these medicines into pills because often they were powders anyway.
0:06:00 And, you know, then the pharmaceutical industry came in and branded and made proprietary materials from them.
0:06:08 And that drifted a long way from just going down to a hedgerow, going into the garden, going into the kitchen and picking up remedies.
0:06:18 A lot of cultures around the world still use plants as their first form of medication for a variety of different sort of illnesses and diseases, right?
0:06:19 They do, yes.
0:06:20 I mean, most do.
0:06:29 I mean, if you were Inuit and Northern Territories in Canada and so on, Alaska, you would probably not have very many plants to choose from.
0:06:32 But for most other people, they’re surrounded by plants.
0:06:33 That’s their world.
0:06:37 I think, you know, because I’m, what, 32 years old.
0:06:45 So, I’ve not really grown up with the wisdom of plants and how they can be used to treat some of the illnesses that I have.
0:06:53 From a very young age, I’m taking cough syrup and I’m taking paracetamol when I have a headache and all these kinds of pills and medicines.
0:06:55 But plants were never really a part of that conversation.
0:06:59 And I guess that makes me think that they don’t work or?
0:07:02 That’s what most people would now think.
0:07:12 And one of the points of this conversation now is to point you to ways in which they can and to show you how you can figure that out within a minute or an hour.
0:07:16 Most of these ones I’m going to be talking about have a pretty immediate effect.
0:07:21 So, you know, we now think, oh, if you take a herb, it may take months before anything happens.
0:07:29 When I see a patient, my usual request to them is, can you call me tomorrow to let me know how it’s going?
0:07:32 Because things happen so fast.
0:07:37 And if you’re up for it, you can do a couple of taste tests and you can see why some of this stuff really is powerful.
0:07:47 What is it that you know from the 50 plus years of work that you’ve done working with plants as a form of medicine that the average person on the street doesn’t know?
0:07:57 How close we are to being, to having our, I think life is a miracle, as I said in that early encounter.
0:08:04 And we can realize the miracle within us if we just trust it.
0:08:14 I’ve got a few guys to what I call health empowerment, things that you can do yourself at home just to begin to understand what’s going on in here and to nourish it.
0:08:25 And the plants are the, in my world, the, one of the most effective ways of supporting that inner miracle that we have, to nourish our health, to empower us.
0:08:30 I sometimes think that, you know, medicine is extraordinary.
0:08:33 I mean, we now live with cancer, used to die with it.
0:08:39 Almost all the major illnesses of the past have now had treatments for.
0:08:47 But, you know, if you’ve got a chronic condition and you’re still left with yourself and you’re maybe not feeling so good in yourself.
0:08:52 I sometimes think that a lot of medicine is a bit like fast food delivery.
0:08:58 You know, we have a meal brought in because it’s convenient, but that also de-skills us.
0:09:02 You know, we’ve stopped learning how to cook even.
0:09:10 You know, I remember going to New York back in the 80s and surprised to find that so many apartments in New York didn’t have kitchens because everyone went out to eat.
0:09:17 And I thought, gosh, you’re losing all those skills of making food and enjoying it and sitting it down over a table.
0:09:22 I think medicine, you know, we use far too many antibiotics.
0:09:29 We use, you know, these PPI things called omeprazole for our acid reflux, the most widely prescribed drug in this country.
0:09:32 And I think U.S. are also mostly unnecessary.
0:09:47 We use a lot of anti-inflammatories just because it’s sore, where they’re asking why is it sore and why are we suppressing one of our body’s main defences because inflammation is a defence.
0:09:56 So these are things that you learn as you get into this world, that a lot of what we think are problems are solutions waiting for support.
0:10:03 Because I think most people would think that is medicine and that is a food.
0:10:04 That’s food.
0:10:04 Yes.
0:10:05 Well, you’re right.
0:10:06 Medicine, food.
0:10:07 Yeah, you’re quite right.
0:10:08 That’s medicine.
0:10:08 That’s a food.
0:10:10 What I’m saying is that there’s a spectrum.
0:10:15 And we may talk about that raspberry because it’s red.
0:10:18 And we might talk about the broccoli because it’s green.
0:10:21 And there’s oranges, colours there.
0:10:27 All of these colours actually have properties that are actually quite valuable properties.
0:10:31 For our circulatory health, for our gut health, our brain health.
0:10:36 And the more the science is looking at it, the more amazing it’s looking.
0:10:39 These things have medicinal properties.
0:10:42 So you’re saying that this is medicine as well?
0:10:42 Yes.
0:10:44 Not just food.
0:10:48 Food would be thy medicine is what old Hippocrates said 2,000 years ago.
0:10:50 2,500 years ago.
0:10:55 Is it the Chinese that are particularly big on herbal medicines?
0:10:55 Yes.
0:10:58 Almost any other, anywhere.
0:11:02 I mean, there’s only five countries in the world that are not big on herbal medicines.
0:11:04 And I’ll tell you who they are.
0:11:05 And you can see if you can draw your own conclusions.
0:11:07 UK is one.
0:11:09 US is the second.
0:11:10 Canada is the third.
0:11:12 Australia and New Zealand.
0:11:16 Now, can you think of something that binds them all together?
0:11:17 Yeah.
0:11:20 They’re originally white English speaking countries.
0:11:27 If you go across to France, the channel here, go to any pharmacy, most of the medicine stocks
0:11:28 on the pharmacy are herbal.
0:11:33 If you go to some parts of Germany, you have to sit a herbal exam to get your licence.
0:11:39 And further east, in the old Soviet bloc, where they couldn’t afford the pharmaceutical industry,
0:11:44 they had homegrown, primarily plant-based medicines much more widely.
0:11:48 Going to Asia, it’s the majority by far.
0:11:57 And doctors and people working with plants and acupuncture in China work together without thinking about it.
0:12:01 And many doctors use plants as their medicines.
0:12:05 Yeah, how different, because I’ve never really spent a significant amount of time in China,
0:12:11 how different is the perception of herbal medicines there than it is out on the streets of London?
0:12:13 They don’t think twice about it.
0:12:14 It’s what they grew up with.
0:12:22 They, like a lot of people, we would say regretfully, do seem to want to do more things like the West does.
0:12:25 So they adopt more Western habits.
0:12:30 And as soon as you earn a bit of money, you tend to adopt more Western lifestyles
0:12:33 and think that the herbal thing is for your parents and grandparents.
0:12:36 So there’s still that trend, even in Asia.
0:12:40 But they start from a much broader base of experience.
0:12:45 Why should anyone care?
0:12:47 You know, I have ibuprofen at home.
0:12:50 I have medicine that I can have in the cupboard.
0:12:53 I have, you know, cough syrups if I get sick.
0:12:56 If I get the flu, I have some flu pills that I brought from the pharmacy.
0:12:59 Why should anyone care about what we’re going to talk about today?
0:13:02 I suppose the answer is in my practice.
0:13:05 So I see patients three sessions a week.
0:13:09 And these are people, almost most of them have been around the block.
0:13:14 They’ve had treatments for their conditions, sometimes for many years.
0:13:20 They’re often living with chronic complex conditions, and they’re sore, they’re tired, their energy’s gone.
0:13:23 You know, they’ve been told that we can’t just keep taking the pills.
0:13:25 You know, we’ve done all the tests.
0:13:27 There’s nothing else we can do time and time again.
0:13:31 That’s when the cookie crumbles.
0:13:38 Because then you realise the ibuprofen and the quick pills ain’t doing it anymore.
0:13:43 There’s a bigger health need that needs somehow fixing.
0:13:46 And that’s when they come to me as a practitioner.
0:13:52 And I give them things that they can see improving their health, their sleep, their eating,
0:13:58 their whatever it is that’s not, their energy levels, whatever it is that’s not playing.
0:14:03 I see myself as a fine-tuning or upping the performance.
0:14:10 I’m not, when someone comes to me and they say I’ve got whatever it is, arthritis or skin disease or whatever,
0:14:14 I will politely take all the notes down.
0:14:15 But that’s not what I’m interested in.
0:14:17 I’m interested in where that came from.
0:14:20 What is the misbehaviour?
0:14:25 What is the poor performance that explains why all this happened?
0:14:31 And often you find they had pneumonia at the age of three or they had glandular fever at the age of 15 or 16.
0:14:34 And things took a turn then.
0:14:36 And you can see the trail.
0:14:42 And often what I’m doing is going backwards and fixing things that weren’t fixed back a long time ago.
0:14:46 Working on digestion particularly, because that’s where we work.
0:14:55 Kidney function, liver function, you know, circulation, you know, up to the brain where we’re dealing in that area.
0:14:57 So we’re looking at the performance of the body.
0:15:02 And it’s only when it doesn’t behave that you notice the need to doing it.
0:15:06 How many patients have you seen in your career, do you think? Thousands of patients?
0:15:13 I would say upwards of 10,000 each for an hour or so at a time to start with.
0:15:16 So we get deep into the story and then rolling on.
0:15:23 At any one time I’ve got 200 running, you know, I’m actively treating a couple of hundred.
0:15:29 And what are the range of illnesses or conditions that those patients have had?
0:15:36 And when you think about the most remarkable or most interesting case studies, the most reliable case studies that you have,
0:15:39 what are the conditions that are at the centre of those case studies?
0:15:41 Have you got a medical encyclopedia anywhere?
0:15:43 I’m going to write down the key ones.
0:15:44 No, no.
0:15:50 I mean, it’s literally, I don’t know if I’ve seen everything in the medical encyclopedia, but I’ve seen most things.
0:15:55 I mean, literally everything comes in because mostly it’s chronic anyway, when they come and see me.
0:15:57 And it can be anything.
0:16:02 I mean, about a quarter of my patients are living with cancer.
0:16:04 So that’s one big group.
0:16:05 I’m not treating the cancer.
0:16:09 I’m helping them to live better with whatever it is they’re dealing with.
0:16:19 About another, at least a third, a bit more living with chronic inflammatory disease, autoimmune diseases, Crohn’s.
0:16:27 Ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, things that are more complicated than you can shake a stick at.
0:16:32 And again, you know, we’re not dealing with the end result.
0:16:38 We’re looking at what may be leading up to that and seeing if we can improve underlying functions.
0:16:53 Is there particular case studies of patients that you’ve worked with that stand out to you that you’re most proud of or that were eureka moments in your own sort of journey?
0:16:57 Most of my stories are like journeys.
0:17:08 So you see little steps and you’re with somebody often for a long time and you just see changes in the way that they change over the weeks and months.
0:17:21 So, you know, to say I’ve got an instant eureka moment, I’ve pulled together a few stories just, you know, and I was going to come to them and, you know, just they’re a motley mix.
0:17:34 And in fact, I made notes because it’s sometimes better to remind myself of the sort of things I did because each of these patients will walk out with five or six or eight different plants.
0:17:40 And the reason I put them together is because they have a unique story.
0:17:57 So probably the one with the most complex one is someone, all the names have changed, by the way, someone called Heather, who’s 65, and she had a really severe complex condition called erythema multiforme, which is a complex skin disease that’s really distressing, very upsetting.
0:18:02 What we know about it is, is that it’s linked possibly to other infections.
0:18:08 So we actually spotted mycoplasma, pneumonia is likely implicated.
0:18:11 She had previously had a lot of lung damage.
0:18:20 In her youth, she had early pneumonia, and she was diagnosed with a chronic obstructive pulmonary thing, bronchiectasis, as it happened.
0:18:24 Then she got COVID badly, and most of her trouble started after that.
0:18:31 She also had vitamin B12 deficiency, pernicious anemia, we call it, which is an autoimmune problem.
0:18:35 The gut lining stops the vitamin B12 being absorbed.
0:18:37 Those were in her background story.
0:18:51 The lungs, because it was the earliest and probably the main factor, were first my focus, and the second was what was lining the stomach, because most inflammatory problems start down here.
0:18:58 So I ended up giving her something that was a combination of remedies for the gut lining and for the lungs.
0:19:09 Almost within a week or so, the itching of her skin subsided.
0:19:16 I just happen to think that was the reason I remember it, because it’s unusual to get such quick results in such a complex condition.
0:19:22 But it’s a reminder that if you can find the right button, then quite big things can happen.
0:19:24 I was lucky to find the right button.
0:19:36 And progressively, over the ensuing few months, the skin problem disappeared to the extent that she was my dream patient.
0:19:42 She said, “I don’t need your herbs anymore.”
0:19:57 It sticks into my mind because it was a hugely demanding condition that got better without, and had been going for a long time, it had been going for three or four years by the time she saw me.
0:20:15 And it resolved very quickly with what seemed to be totally irrelevant treatments, but there was a rationale for them, Karen, 37, panic attacks, major anxiety problems.
0:20:20 Heaven knows, there’s a lot of that about her.
0:20:40 And it turns out that when she was hospitalized when she was 20 with jaundice, which is a liver problem, all the processing, all the detox processes in the liver, it’s the gateway from the digestion, it handles emotions, it handles the immune system, it’s an amazing organ.
0:20:46 It’s self-correcting, by the way, so it fixes itself very quickly, if you give her the right nudge.
0:21:08 She had jaundice, so immediately a little bell goes off because, and at an age when that could mean long-term liver damage, hepatitis, she’s ended up with very little appetite, and she feels full easily, gains weight easily, and often feeling nauseous, which is definitely a sign of liver distress still.
0:21:11 Menstrual cycle is very erratic.
0:21:22 She had early COVID, again, another big hammer blow, and the COVID was before her main symptoms of panic attacks set in.
0:21:33 So I use that as an example of the way in which what goes on up here in the brain is linked with what goes on lower down in the gut.
0:21:43 Interesting point, when we were living in caves, the best place to be was in the cave, because outside was dangerous.
0:21:46 The only thing that got you out, hunger.
0:22:06 And when we look at the way in which the cells are, the machinery inside the cell, we find that the mechanisms managing anxiety are the same as the system managing appetites and food processing.
0:22:11 So the idea of linking anxiety with metabolism is basic.
0:22:14 This was the exact answer.
0:22:19 So the mix of herbs that I gave her had nothing for the anxiety at all.
0:22:21 It was all to do with metabolism.
0:22:36 And so it included milk thistle, barbary, an oriental herb called bupleurum, artichoke leaf, and an Indian remedy called gymnema, which is called sugar destroyer, which reduces your hankering for sweet.
0:22:45 First goal was to manage her sugar cravings, because that seemed to be a key part of what she was saying, and to improve her liver functions.
0:22:50 This was very quick, and she became more settled over several weeks and months.
0:22:57 Then the next thing that happened was her menstrual cycles became clearly where the trouble was, and she was most likely to be distressed around the period.
0:23:10 So we shifted to include women’s remedies, which were then included in the mix to help manage the hormonal ebb and flow around the menstrual cycle.
0:23:20 And three months, which is the normal time for cycles to begin to turn, her cycles began to steady, and so did the rest of her symptoms.
0:23:26 Nothing to do with anxiety, just dealing with these core functions.
0:23:30 So there’s a couple of examples of, you know, how we approach things differently.
0:23:38 You know, if Karen had gone to most other practitioners, she would have had something for her nerves.
0:23:44 I do really want to talk about, you used the term women’s herbs?
0:23:45 Women’s, yeah.
0:23:46 Women’s herbs.
0:23:53 I do want to talk about that, and I do also want to talk about fertility and the menstrual cycle and things like PCOS, because I’m super interested in that, which might surprise some people.
0:23:57 But obviously there’s women in my life that struggle with those things, so I do want to get on to that.
0:24:01 I think a second ago you pointed at the stomach when you said that we treat down here.
0:24:01 Yes.
0:24:04 Is that really the place to start to understand?
0:24:08 Well, it’s the place to start plants, because that’s where they go.
0:24:12 So tell me, what do I need to know about this region, the stomach, the gut?
0:24:13 Well.
0:24:21 In order to have a sort of foundational knowledge, so that we can then start talking about ibuprofen, painkillers, fevers, all these kinds of things.
0:24:26 Well, very simply, we think our intelligence is up here.
0:24:28 You know, we’ve got a brain, yeah.
0:24:36 As soon as you swallow something, until it comes out the other end, we have no control over what goes on down there.
0:24:42 Decisions are being made as the food traverses down the tube, and it’s a long tube.
0:24:48 It’s about 20 feet of small intestine that has to go around, and then like another two or three feet of large intestine.
0:24:55 It used to take about 18 hours to go through, and we now, because we said injury would take longer.
0:25:00 But all that time, intelligent decisions are being made by the digestive system.
0:25:02 What to do with this, what to do with that.
0:25:15 And the lining of the gut is full of sensors, receptors we call them, that are picking up chemical cues and responding.
0:25:23 So as the food changes, as it’s digested, as the bile from the liver comes in, it’s picking off these signaling devices
0:25:29 and switching on a whole series of metabolic, hormonal, all sorts of other functions.
0:25:36 All controls, major choreography going on here, you know, without us even knowing about it.
0:25:42 And then, just when you thought, this was wonderful, you add something called the microbiome.
0:25:46 Now, when I was at school, and it was a long time ago, when I was doing medical sciences,
0:25:52 oh, yeah, there’s the bowel flora, and they help with digestion, vitamin K, one or two other things, you know.
0:25:53 They might be quite useful.
0:25:57 Now, the microbiome runs the show.
0:25:59 I mean, it’s huge.
0:26:02 You know, we thought we knew what the kidney did.
0:26:03 We thought we knew what the heart did.
0:26:04 We thought we knew what the brain did.
0:26:07 We know they only do it because they work with the microbiome.
0:26:09 It’s running a show.
0:26:13 And the microbiome is the billions of bugs in our gut.
0:26:14 Trillions.
0:26:14 Trillions.
0:26:18 We’ve got more of those little critters than we have of our own cells, so much more.
0:26:20 So they are huge.
0:26:24 They’ve got about 100 times as much genetic capacity as we do.
0:26:27 We’ve got more bugs in our gut than cells.
0:26:27 Yes.
0:26:29 So we’re basically…
0:26:30 We’re walking gut.
0:26:32 Perhaps, yes.
0:26:34 We’re walking bacteria.
0:26:37 There’s more bacteria than there are us.
0:26:40 I mean, it’s a bit of a gobsmacking thought.
0:26:42 And, you know, obviously people want…
0:26:42 No, no, no.
0:26:44 I mean, the bugs will keep them there.
0:26:52 One of the big issues of the day are antibiotics, which we know are becoming a serious health issue now.
0:27:03 You know, the World Health Organization and others say very seriously that antibiotic resistance, you know, antimicrobial resistance, as they call it, is the biggest threat we have.
0:27:10 Soon, going into a hospital and getting an operation will be a real risk because hospital-born infections are increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
0:27:17 You know, we’re piling them in to us, but also to the animals that we grow.
0:27:19 A lot of them are full of antibiotics.
0:27:26 And that means that the diversity of the microbiome is being reduced.
0:27:27 We’re losing…
0:27:28 We call that biodiversity.
0:27:31 There’s a biodiversity issue in here.
0:27:38 But even with the diminished flora that we have, they still pretty much run the show.
0:27:48 And a lot of the fruits and vegetables, particularly the ones with colours in them, actually feed those guys down there and help them to perform better.
0:27:54 And one good reason to, as we say, eat the rainbow, just get those colours in.
0:27:59 But, yes, I mean, as you can see, if I start talking about the gut, I’m not going to stop for the next month.
0:28:07 On that point of antibiotics, the mechanism is that they kind of kill bacteria, right?
0:28:10 So they’re killing good bacteria as well in the process often.
0:28:12 They have a different range depending on the antibiotic.
0:28:19 But, yes, they will be cutting a sway through your gut flora, for sure, some more than others.
0:28:29 I mean, the point about antibiotics, and we did a big project with this, ironically, just before COVID, when I was working with Pucker, the herb tea people.
0:28:37 We put a campaign together to find natural approaches to managing antibiotics or reduce the use of them.
0:28:40 Antibiotics are useless for anything viral.
0:28:42 They don’t do anything for a virus.
0:28:52 But, unfortunately, people with viral problems will still be given antibiotics, mainly by a harassed doctor who just, you know, because they said, give me something, doc.
0:28:57 You know, for viruses, mostly, you just have to wait for the body to get rid of it.
0:29:01 But giving an antibiotic is actually of no use at all.
0:29:02 Don’t take my word for it.
0:29:03 Everyone knows this.
0:29:10 And you get NHS, you know, in this country, posters saying antibiotics are no good for viruses.
0:29:12 Please don’t ask your doctor for them.
0:29:18 So for many of these things, colds and respiratory problems, for example, there are many spices.
0:29:24 I mean, some of the things on that plate there are particularly good for colds and viruses up here.
0:29:44 And so we put that all together in the package and said we can encourage people not to ask the doc for an antibiotic and use some of these home easy, free or sometimes treatments to use instead of the antibiotics.
0:29:59 When you say antibiotics are the most urgent health issue of the moment, I want to fully understand why you think it’s so urgent, because we’re going to develop a resistance, which means that we’re more susceptible to disease.
0:30:00 It’s already happening.
0:30:21 And that’s not me that’s saying these are the guys who look after our health care for us, like the World Health Organization, who are really getting close to panic about this issue, because already the number of people dying from antibiotic resistance infections is beginning to rise dramatically.
0:30:33 And new antibiotics, unfortunately, there’s less financial incentive to develop them because they’re often handed out free in various countries, so you don’t get the margins back.
0:30:38 And the pipeline of new antibiotics is not good.
0:30:43 So all you need to do is check on the World Health Organization to get the chapter and verse on that.
0:30:47 It’s actually quite frightening.
0:30:53 I’m on the World Health Organization site now, and I found a definition of antibiotic resistance.
0:30:59 It’s when bacteria stops responding to antibiotics and is mainly caused by overusing or misusing antibiotics.
0:31:06 In 2022, U.S. doctors gave out about 236 million and…
0:31:07 Fuck it.
0:31:08 What?
0:31:15 U.S. doctors gave out 236 million antibiotic prescriptions,
0:31:18 roughly seven prescriptions for every 10 people.
0:31:24 Studies show that at least roughly 30% of antibiotic prescriptions in the U.S. aren’t needed,
0:31:27 especially in places like doctor’s offices and emergency rooms.
0:31:32 In 2020, about 13 million antibiotic prescriptions were given out in the U.K.
0:31:36 Children aged 0 to 14 made up 3.6 million of those.
0:31:40 And in 2023, the World Health Organization declared antibiotic resistance
0:31:48 one of the top global health threats and estimated that it is responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019
0:31:52 and contributed to almost 5 million deaths.
0:31:53 That was 2019.
0:31:58 I can tell you that the figures have risen dramatically since then.
0:32:02 So that’s what people think.
0:32:07 And just on a personal basis, you know, you go and you need an operation
0:32:12 and you know that that’s going to involve exposure to hospital infections,
0:32:16 which is one of the most serious of the ones in the average hospital.
0:32:20 There’s some of the most lethal ones there.
0:32:27 Increasingly, that is going to be a risk that you get something that you can’t treat.
0:32:30 You’re not saying don’t take antibiotics.
0:32:34 No, I’m saying take them carefully.
0:32:38 Use them when you need them and not otherwise.
0:32:41 And again, it’s not me saying this.
0:32:46 Most responsible doctors would wish that their patients wouldn’t keep asking for them.
0:32:54 So there’s sort of three things that I’ve been able to ascertain
0:32:57 as risks of misuse or overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics,
0:32:59 which is the impact on the gut microbiome.
0:33:04 You’re contributing to the rise in antibiotic resistance and…
0:33:07 Those are the main things.
0:33:11 I guess even with the diseases you get, you’ll be slower to heal
0:33:14 because you’re less if you’ve got that resistance.
0:33:20 That is one of the things that we do see, particularly those who are long-term ill,
0:33:23 you know, that they lose some of the healing capacity.
0:33:28 And that’s so much of the work I do is to aim to put some of that right.
0:33:31 And there’s links to colorectal cancers?
0:33:34 Yeah, but that’s it because we’re talking about the microbiome, you see.
0:33:36 So those are the cancers in the lower gut.
0:33:41 And we know that the microbiome is a major factor in how well the gut is.
0:33:46 So things like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis and cancer of the bowel,
0:33:49 very closely linked to the state of the microbiome.
0:33:50 Ah, okay.
0:33:55 So are there alternatives on this table or in the world of plants
0:33:59 to antibiotics that I should maybe also consider
0:34:03 instead of just jumping straight to antibiotics for everything that I experience?
0:34:04 Yes.
0:34:11 If you’ve got a serious gut or other infection, you may need the antibiotics.
0:34:12 So let’s put that straight away.
0:34:20 But if you’ve got a cold, flu, virus, a viral problem, particularly the airways,
0:34:24 you, A, antibiotics will have no use at all.
0:34:28 And B, as we just said, they just add to the risk of more.
0:34:30 Because every time you take an antibiotic,
0:34:33 you’re growing a small population of that,
0:34:36 of the species of bacteria that’s affected,
0:34:40 who are resistant to that is natural selection.
0:34:44 You know, you have a thousand little bacteria,
0:34:46 that’s a small amount by their terms,
0:34:49 and you kill 999 of them.
0:34:53 The one that survives will then become two in 20 minutes
0:34:57 and four in 40 minutes and suddenly become a new population.
0:35:01 And, you know, I’d duck that bullet.
0:35:05 And so that group of bacteria will already be resistant.
0:35:08 So we’re creating resistance every time we use an antibiotic.
0:35:12 So let’s try and do something else, shall we?
0:35:14 So let’s say you’ve got a cold.
0:35:16 You’re feeling the cold.
0:35:18 It’s got a good name, by the way.
0:35:22 So cold is one of the things you feel when you’ve got a cold.
0:35:26 And that’s interesting because in former times,
0:35:28 we didn’t have tests, we didn’t have laboratories,
0:35:29 we didn’t have paramedics,
0:35:31 we didn’t have people poking things in you.
0:35:33 All we could know is what it felt like.
0:35:37 And when you’ve got a cold, you often feel cold.
0:35:40 And you feel chills and you want to wrap up
0:35:43 and you want hot water or you want to have a hot bath.
0:35:48 All that in the old language meant that you were cold.
0:35:50 And what you needed to do was to heat up.
0:35:54 Now, you take this fella.
0:35:55 This is ginger.
0:35:59 It’s grown widely around the world.
0:36:02 In its original Asian form,
0:36:04 it was made extinct around the time of the Romans.
0:36:06 So popular was it.
0:36:11 And ever since, all the ginger scents of this species
0:36:13 has got to be going from rootstock
0:36:15 because it no longer seeds itself.
0:36:19 So this has been the most valuable natural commodity ever
0:36:23 in its dried form worth more than its weight in gold.
0:36:26 And, you know, the reason why all those Europeans
0:36:29 ended up in Asia and running India and the Dutch
0:36:31 and Indonesia and so on,
0:36:33 it’s because that’s where these things came from.
0:36:35 That’s where the spices came from.
0:36:39 And so we decided, you know, like good capitalists
0:36:41 to go and control the business.
0:36:45 So ginger became very popular over here
0:36:47 because we don’t have nothing like it over here.
0:36:49 The nearest thing we got is horseradish,
0:36:51 which I promise you is no substitute for this.
0:36:54 So how do we use this?
0:36:56 We’ve got a knob of ginger here about the size of your thumb.
0:36:59 That’s about a good dose.
0:37:04 You grate it, fresh ginger, into a mug.
0:37:05 Can you do that for me?
0:37:08 I’ve got a grater for you.
0:37:12 So we’ve got here a piece of ginger,
0:37:14 as I say, about the size of your thumb.
0:37:16 The thumb’s a good measure because it’s your measure.
0:37:20 So if you’re a small person, you’ll have a small thumb.
0:37:23 But I’m a bigger person, so I’m going to use…
0:37:24 And you literally…
0:37:26 It’s making a bit of a mess here.
0:37:28 But when you’re doing this at home,
0:37:29 you don’t mind a bit of a mess.
0:37:30 So you’re literally grating.
0:37:32 It grates nicely, isn’t it, into a mug.
0:37:36 And let’s say that was the whole thumb.
0:37:37 I don’t want to take up too much time on this.
0:37:39 And then…
0:37:44 The one thing that works brilliantly with ginger is cinnamon.
0:37:48 Now, this is cinnamon you buy in any shop.
0:37:50 It comes in different forms.
0:37:53 There’s one from China called scassia.
0:37:56 Which looks like one big curled bark.
0:37:59 If you look at this one,
0:38:00 you’ll see that it’s tightly wrapped
0:38:04 with lots of little filaments in it.
0:38:05 That’s the one you go for.
0:38:06 It’s more aromatic.
0:38:11 And you either grate that with a spice mill
0:38:15 or you take a teaspoon of it.
0:38:18 Let’s say there’s a teaspoonful.
0:38:23 And you put that in your mug.
0:38:25 So that’s ginger and cinnamon.
0:38:26 Ginger and cinnamon.
0:38:26 That’s it.
0:38:29 Then you add your hot water.
0:38:32 There.
0:38:38 You’re going for real, right?
0:38:39 I’m going for the real one.
0:38:41 Good on you.
0:38:43 At this point, a sieve is useful.
0:38:44 Why?
0:38:45 What for?
0:38:46 Because it’s going to be…
0:38:48 It’s full of…
0:38:48 Oh, bits.
0:38:49 Bits.
0:38:54 And then let’s say this is a nice Japanese green tea mug.
0:38:56 But let’s say this is your mug.
0:39:02 And we’ll pour a little bit in there.
0:39:04 You see all the stuff that you leave behind?
0:39:06 Oh, yeah.
0:39:07 Oh, OK.
0:39:13 And if you don’t mind sharing a mug.
0:39:17 So what’s in here?
0:39:18 This is…
0:39:19 Just ginger and cinnamon.
0:39:20 Just ginger and cinnamon.
0:39:21 It’s fairly weak.
0:39:23 Oh, it is nice, though.
0:39:25 It’s nice, isn’t it?
0:39:25 It is nice.
0:39:27 Now, can you feel it warming already?
0:39:28 Yes, straight away.
0:39:28 Yeah.
0:39:29 It’s really nice.
0:39:29 Yeah.
0:39:32 Now, you see, what’s happening there is that you…
0:39:38 I mean, ginger is an example of a group of remedies,
0:39:40 which includes turmeric, by the way,
0:39:40 and that’s other root.
0:39:42 The other root there.
0:39:43 Oh, this one, yeah.
0:39:43 That’s turmeric.
0:39:46 It’s normally seen in a yellow powder.
0:39:48 We might talk about that later.
0:39:50 And black pepper and chilies.
0:39:52 We’ve got a chili here.
0:39:56 Which, when you take them,
0:39:59 you think you’re burning your mouth, don’t you?
0:40:01 The interesting thing is that
0:40:04 there’s no burning.
0:40:07 You can actually have
0:40:11 full madras-level chili,
0:40:13 and no harm will be done
0:40:15 to your lining
0:40:16 because there’s no burning going on.
0:40:17 What you’re doing is
0:40:19 you’re stimulating the pain fibres.
0:40:22 So you’ve got pain fibres
0:40:23 all the way through the lining
0:40:25 of the mouth.
0:40:28 When you take a hot thing like ginger,
0:40:30 it’s stimulating the pain fibres,
0:40:32 and immediately there’s a,
0:40:35 what we call a reflex response,
0:40:37 which opens up the blood vessels.
0:40:40 It’s called hyperemia, more blood.
0:40:43 And the vessels lining these mucosa,
0:40:45 the ones that you’ve just swallowed
0:40:47 and including a little bit up
0:40:48 in the nasal passages,
0:40:49 are opening up.
0:40:53 The mucus cells producing mucus
0:40:54 will loosen up,
0:40:57 and you get more runny mucus,
0:40:59 which is helping to flush through
0:41:02 the grot on the mucosa.
0:41:05 And the main thing you feel
0:41:05 is the warmth.
0:41:08 And if you’re dealing
0:41:09 with something down here
0:41:09 in the lungs,
0:41:10 you’ll actually start bringing up
0:41:14 more gunk up the airways.
0:41:16 There’s a natural escalator
0:41:16 that we use,
0:41:17 that the body uses
0:41:19 to get stuff out of the lungs.
0:41:20 That’s stimulated.
0:41:22 And the mixture of cinnamon
0:41:23 and ginger was created,
0:41:24 I think,
0:41:24 in heaven.
0:41:25 I mean,
0:41:26 I think there’s
0:41:27 such a natural compliment,
0:41:29 and anybody can do that.
0:41:32 And the point about it
0:41:34 is that it’s warming,
0:41:36 and in the old days,
0:41:38 that was the key thing.
0:41:40 It didn’t matter
0:41:41 if you had a headache
0:41:42 or a joint pain
0:41:44 or a menstrual cramp.
0:41:46 If you wanted to put
0:41:47 a hot water bottle on it
0:41:49 or heat it up,
0:41:51 then that was a cold problem.
0:41:54 And putting a heating medicine
0:41:56 would begin to make a difference.
0:41:58 So you can use the same thing
0:41:59 if you have a headache
0:42:00 and you want to put
0:42:01 a hot pack on it.
0:42:02 If you’ve got a menstrual cramp
0:42:03 and you want to put
0:42:04 a hot water bottle on it.
0:42:05 If you’ve got a joint pain
0:42:06 and you want to put
0:42:09 a heating liniment on it,
0:42:11 you can use the same thing.
0:42:12 Ginger,
0:42:13 just because it’s heating.
0:42:16 And that’s simple,
0:42:17 old medicine.
0:42:20 So when you’re experiencing
0:42:21 different types of pain
0:42:22 or a cold,
0:42:24 then cinnamon and ginger
0:42:24 are good.
0:42:28 Well, only if it responds
0:42:28 to heat.
0:42:30 Now, if you want to put
0:42:31 an ice pack on,
0:42:32 I mean, the old doctors,
0:42:33 when someone came
0:42:34 with a migraine would say,
0:42:35 tell me,
0:42:37 would you prefer a hot pack
0:42:38 or an ice pack
0:42:39 for your migraine?
0:42:41 And migraine sufferers
0:42:43 generally split 70-30,
0:42:44 preferring heat,
0:42:45 70,
0:42:47 but a third of people
0:42:48 with migraines
0:42:50 actually want a cold pack.
0:42:52 You don’t use ginger for that.
0:42:54 You use cooling remedies,
0:42:55 which we might come on to later.
0:42:55 Okay.
0:42:57 My girlfriend,
0:42:59 she drinks ginger tea
0:42:59 all the time,
0:43:01 almost every day.
0:43:01 Yeah.
0:43:02 She likes the heat.
0:43:03 She likes the heat.
0:43:04 Yeah.
0:43:06 She drinks it before bed as well.
0:43:07 She can help with sleep
0:43:09 if that’s the way it goes.
0:43:10 I mean,
0:43:11 people are different
0:43:12 and
0:43:14 there are some people
0:43:15 who can’t take
0:43:16 ginger at all
0:43:17 because their stomach
0:43:17 objects
0:43:20 or because it,
0:43:21 you know,
0:43:22 literally heats them up too much
0:43:24 so they get stimulated by it.
0:43:26 But that’s where
0:43:27 the individuality comes in.
0:43:28 Okay.
0:43:29 So any condition
0:43:31 where I might be looking
0:43:32 for heat,
0:43:33 ginger and cinnamon?
0:43:34 First place to go.
0:43:35 First place to go.
0:43:35 Yeah.
0:43:36 You could,
0:43:37 if you want it to be Tex-Mex,
0:43:38 you can take the chilies.
0:43:40 As well.
0:43:40 Well,
0:43:41 you know,
0:43:41 that’s a,
0:43:43 we think of them
0:43:44 as a much more extreme version
0:43:45 of the heating
0:43:46 and,
0:43:47 you know,
0:43:48 remind ourselves
0:43:49 it was only when
0:43:51 Europeans discovered
0:43:52 Americas
0:43:53 that
0:43:55 chilies became used
0:43:56 over here.
0:43:57 You know,
0:43:58 can you imagine
0:43:59 an Italian meal
0:43:59 without,
0:44:00 you know,
0:44:01 without tomatoes
0:44:02 and chilies?
0:44:03 But in the old days
0:44:04 there were none of those
0:44:05 because they all
0:44:05 came from America.
0:44:08 But yeah,
0:44:09 chilies were the
0:44:10 American equivalent
0:44:11 of ginger
0:44:13 used for the same purpose.
0:44:15 So if someone comes to you
0:44:15 and they say,
0:44:17 Simon,
0:44:18 when should I use
0:44:19 chilies
0:44:21 as a form of medication?
0:44:22 What would you say?
0:44:23 First of all,
0:44:24 I don’t know yet.
0:44:26 And,
0:44:26 you know,
0:44:27 if I’m dealing with someone
0:44:28 at a distance,
0:44:28 you know,
0:44:29 online or on the phone
0:44:29 or something
0:44:30 and they say,
0:44:30 you know,
0:44:31 what should I try?
0:44:31 I said,
0:44:32 the first thing to do
0:44:34 is you figure,
0:44:35 figure it out.
0:44:36 You could start
0:44:37 with herbal teas.
0:44:40 You aren’t,
0:44:40 are you?
0:44:42 I’m going to drop it
0:44:42 into the,
0:44:43 I’m going to drop it
0:44:44 into here.
0:44:44 Is that a bad idea?
0:44:44 Yeah,
0:44:45 yeah,
0:44:45 no,
0:44:45 go for it.
0:44:48 But you should notice
0:44:49 that should be
0:44:49 quite a hot one.
0:44:52 I will suggest
0:44:53 that they start
0:44:54 with herbal teas
0:44:54 because herbal teas
0:44:56 are a very low dose.
0:44:57 But they’ll allow you
0:44:58 to figure out
0:44:59 what suits you.
0:45:01 and you can divide
0:45:03 as I was hinting at earlier,
0:45:04 old medicines
0:45:05 were often divided
0:45:06 into those
0:45:07 that were more warming
0:45:08 that we would now call
0:45:10 stimulating circulation
0:45:11 and more cooling
0:45:13 which we would now
0:45:13 translate
0:45:15 as stimulating digestion.
0:45:17 and depending on
0:45:18 which of those
0:45:19 you prefer
0:45:20 would really
0:45:21 give me a clue.
0:45:21 So,
0:45:23 if you were looking
0:45:24 at warming remedies,
0:45:25 it could be ginger tea,
0:45:26 it could be fennel tea,
0:45:27 you know,
0:45:28 that’s a warming remedy
0:45:29 or it could be cinnamon
0:45:30 or
0:45:32 any of the spices.
0:45:33 Cardamom
0:45:34 is one of my favourites,
0:45:34 by the way.
0:45:36 This is,
0:45:37 I use cardamom,
0:45:39 this is the cardamom pods
0:45:41 inside the little black seeds.
0:45:44 Absolutely lovely taste.
0:45:44 Do you know him?
0:45:45 Do you know cardamom?
0:45:46 Have you tried it?
0:45:46 Not really, no.
0:45:47 Oh, have a bite of that.
0:45:48 Do I just bite the seed?
0:45:50 Yeah, just bite into it.
0:45:50 You don’t,
0:45:51 just get a hint
0:45:52 of the taste.
0:45:55 In many parts
0:45:55 of the Mideast,
0:45:56 cardamom
0:45:58 is one of the main flavours,
0:45:59 things like coffee
0:46:00 and so on.
0:46:01 Reminds me of,
0:46:02 oh,
0:46:03 I was going to say
0:46:04 Indian food
0:46:04 that I’ve had.
0:46:05 Yes.
0:46:06 used a lot in India
0:46:08 and in China
0:46:09 it’s a
0:46:10 convalescent tonic
0:46:11 so they use it
0:46:12 when people
0:46:13 are building up
0:46:13 their digestion
0:46:14 after being ill
0:46:15 for a long time.
0:46:16 They will often
0:46:17 use cardamom.
0:46:18 It’s one of my favourite
0:46:19 remedies for that
0:46:20 when people
0:46:20 really run low,
0:46:22 their digestion
0:46:22 isn’t functioning.
0:46:23 It has appeared
0:46:24 in one or two
0:46:25 of these stories
0:46:25 I’ve got here
0:46:27 because I prefer
0:46:28 that to most
0:46:28 of the other spices
0:46:30 when I need warming,
0:46:31 as I said before,
0:46:32 but also
0:46:34 sustaining
0:46:35 and nourishing.
0:46:37 so you
0:46:38 ask them
0:46:39 do you prefer
0:46:40 teas that are
0:46:40 warming
0:46:41 or
0:46:43 would you like
0:46:43 something more
0:46:44 cooling?
0:46:44 Now one of the
0:46:45 most cooling
0:46:46 remedies
0:46:47 that people
0:46:48 know about
0:46:49 is this,
0:46:51 which is mint.
0:46:54 That’s spearmint,
0:46:55 the best one
0:46:56 is peppermint.
0:46:58 It’s got a lovely
0:46:58 smell,
0:46:59 isn’t it?
0:47:01 that has always
0:47:02 been thought of
0:47:02 as cooling
0:47:04 and it’s a simple
0:47:05 test.
0:47:06 Would you prefer
0:47:07 ginger or
0:47:07 peppermint tea?
0:47:09 And are you
0:47:09 beginning to
0:47:10 narrow things
0:47:10 down a bit?
0:47:12 the main
0:47:14 cooling remedies
0:47:15 throughout history
0:47:17 from the very
0:47:18 beginning and
0:47:19 in every part
0:47:19 of the world
0:47:20 you’ll find them
0:47:21 saying exactly
0:47:21 the same thing.
0:47:23 The main
0:47:23 cooling remedies,
0:47:24 so-called,
0:47:25 are the bitters
0:47:27 and they
0:47:28 taste
0:47:28 rarely
0:47:30 bitter.
0:47:31 When you say
0:47:32 cooling,
0:47:33 you mean
0:47:33 I feel
0:47:34 hot,
0:47:35 so I want
0:47:35 something to
0:47:35 cool me
0:47:36 down.
0:47:36 That’s right.
0:47:37 And there’s
0:47:37 certain conditions
0:47:38 where I will
0:47:38 feel,
0:47:39 I’ll feel
0:47:39 hot.
0:47:40 Fever.
0:47:41 Fever.
0:47:42 And they
0:47:42 were often
0:47:43 used to
0:47:44 manage fever.
0:47:46 And what
0:47:47 happened,
0:47:47 you remember
0:47:49 when we were
0:47:49 young we were
0:47:50 told,
0:47:51 if you’ve
0:47:51 had a big
0:47:51 meal,
0:47:52 don’t go
0:47:52 swimming.
0:47:54 You weren’t
0:47:54 told that.
0:47:56 I can’t
0:47:56 swim,
0:47:56 so.
0:47:57 No,
0:47:57 there you
0:47:57 go.
0:47:58 But that
0:47:58 was one of
0:47:58 the things
0:47:59 that some
0:48:00 of us in
0:48:00 my generation
0:48:00 at least
0:48:01 were always
0:48:01 remembered,
0:48:02 we were
0:48:02 told,
0:48:02 if you’ve
0:48:03 got a big
0:48:03 meal,
0:48:04 it’s not
0:48:04 a good
0:48:05 idea to
0:48:05 go swim
0:48:07 because the
0:48:07 blood’s
0:48:08 moving into
0:48:09 the digestion
0:48:10 and you
0:48:11 won’t get
0:48:11 as much as
0:48:12 you want
0:48:12 where you
0:48:12 need it
0:48:13 in the
0:48:13 limbs.
0:48:15 And that’s
0:48:16 true.
0:48:17 When you’re
0:48:17 digesting,
0:48:18 a lot of
0:48:18 blood
0:48:19 investment,
0:48:20 shall we
0:48:20 call it,
0:48:21 is going
0:48:21 into the
0:48:22 digestive
0:48:22 system because
0:48:23 there’s a lot
0:48:23 of work
0:48:24 needed to
0:48:24 break down
0:48:25 this food,
0:48:26 turn it
0:48:26 into something
0:48:27 useful.
0:48:27 It is an
0:48:27 investment.
0:48:28 You put a
0:48:29 lot in,
0:48:29 get much
0:48:30 more out.
0:48:31 But what
0:48:31 it means
0:48:32 is that
0:48:35 digestion
0:48:36 is all
0:48:36 about,
0:48:37 I’m just
0:48:38 being a bit
0:48:38 loose here
0:48:39 with the
0:48:39 language,
0:48:39 but it’s
0:48:40 not about
0:48:40 language,
0:48:40 it’s like
0:48:41 bringing
0:48:41 blood into
0:48:42 the core.
0:48:44 when you’ve
0:48:44 got a
0:48:45 fever,
0:48:47 the blood’s
0:48:48 all charging
0:48:48 around and
0:48:49 your body
0:48:49 temperature’s
0:48:50 going up,
0:48:51 which is
0:48:53 great because
0:48:53 fever actually
0:48:54 is a
0:48:54 defence measure.
0:48:55 You know,
0:48:55 when our
0:48:56 body temperature
0:48:57 rises by a
0:48:57 couple of
0:48:57 degrees,
0:48:59 our white
0:48:59 blood cells,
0:49:00 the ones
0:49:00 that are
0:49:00 doing the
0:49:01 leg work,
0:49:03 two or
0:49:03 three times
0:49:04 as active.
0:49:05 So fever
0:49:05 is what the
0:49:06 body uses
0:49:06 when it
0:49:07 needs to
0:49:07 bring out
0:49:08 the big
0:49:08 guys,
0:49:09 bring out
0:49:09 the fight.
0:49:11 There’s a
0:49:12 slight design
0:49:12 problem,
0:49:12 it’s almost
0:49:13 as though
0:49:14 the
0:49:15 creator
0:49:16 put a
0:49:17 purposeful
0:49:18 fault in
0:49:18 the system
0:49:19 because a
0:49:19 lot of
0:49:20 fever comes
0:49:21 from the
0:49:21 gut.
0:49:22 You know,
0:49:23 you get gut
0:49:23 infections,
0:49:23 you know,
0:49:24 that’s one
0:49:24 of the main
0:49:25 places.
0:49:26 And at that
0:49:27 moment all
0:49:27 the blood’s
0:49:28 going out
0:49:28 here and
0:49:28 you want
0:49:29 more of
0:49:30 it going
0:49:31 in,
0:49:31 more digestion
0:49:32 if you
0:49:32 like.
0:49:33 So when
0:49:34 you take
0:49:34 a bitter,
0:49:36 when you’re
0:49:36 taking a
0:49:36 bitter,
0:49:37 you’re actually
0:49:38 triggering
0:49:38 taste buds
0:49:39 up here.
0:49:39 A bitter?
0:49:40 A bitter,
0:49:41 something that
0:49:41 tastes bitter.
0:49:42 Are there
0:49:43 any plants
0:49:44 that are
0:49:44 bitter?
0:49:44 Yeah,
0:49:45 bitter plants
0:49:46 are very
0:49:47 common and
0:49:48 were highly
0:49:49 valued in
0:49:50 the old
0:49:50 world.
0:49:53 In our
0:49:53 times,
0:49:54 probably the
0:49:55 most bitter
0:49:55 plant that
0:49:56 people used
0:49:57 in European
0:49:58 terms was
0:49:58 something called
0:49:59 wormwood.
0:50:00 Now,
0:50:01 you may not
0:50:02 be familiar
0:50:02 with that
0:50:02 word,
0:50:03 but the
0:50:04 French for
0:50:04 wormwood is
0:50:05 vermouth.
0:50:06 And you
0:50:07 think of the
0:50:08 use of a
0:50:09 drink before
0:50:09 a meal.
0:50:10 The idea
0:50:11 was they
0:50:11 used to
0:50:12 call it
0:50:12 an aperitif,
0:50:13 something that
0:50:14 stimulated your
0:50:14 appetite.
0:50:15 So they
0:50:16 would use
0:50:17 bitters to
0:50:18 improve your
0:50:19 appetite and
0:50:20 a low
0:50:21 level of
0:50:22 wormwood would
0:50:22 be one of
0:50:22 them.
0:50:24 Dandelion and
0:50:25 burdock are
0:50:27 two other
0:50:28 bitters, which
0:50:28 we now have
0:50:29 as a soft
0:50:30 drink, you
0:50:30 know,
0:50:31 particularly in
0:50:31 America.
0:50:34 And we
0:50:34 know that
0:50:35 bitters do
0:50:35 switch on the
0:50:36 appetite, so
0:50:37 we sometimes
0:50:38 use them when
0:50:38 appetite is
0:50:38 poor.
0:50:40 And, you
0:50:42 know, there’s
0:50:42 all sorts of
0:50:43 reasons why
0:50:43 you’ve got a
0:50:44 low appetite,
0:50:44 but bitters
0:50:45 can really
0:50:46 help, particularly
0:50:46 if you’re
0:50:47 recovering from
0:50:47 an illness.
0:50:49 They can
0:50:50 help with
0:50:52 getting the
0:50:53 digestion juices
0:50:54 flowing and
0:50:54 the appetite
0:50:54 up.
0:50:55 Because they
0:50:56 bring blood
0:50:56 to the
0:50:56 digestive
0:50:57 system.
0:50:57 Well, they
0:50:57 do all
0:50:57 sorts of
0:50:58 things,
0:50:58 actually.
0:50:58 When you
0:50:59 switch on
0:50:59 these receptors
0:51:00 in the mouth,
0:51:00 these taste
0:51:01 buds, they’re
0:51:02 hardwired and
0:51:02 they produce
0:51:03 hormones.
0:51:04 down here in
0:51:05 the stomach
0:51:06 that switch
0:51:06 on all
0:51:06 sorts of
0:51:08 things and
0:51:08 effectively
0:51:09 increase
0:51:09 digestive
0:51:10 activity,
0:51:11 which involves
0:51:11 more blood
0:51:12 coming into
0:51:12 the area.
0:51:13 So, yes.
0:51:15 Let’s imagine
0:51:15 you’re living
0:51:16 in some part
0:51:17 of, you
0:51:17 know, the
0:51:18 desert area
0:51:19 in the
0:51:19 Middle East.
0:51:21 You know,
0:51:21 you’re eating
0:51:22 a sheep or
0:51:22 something that
0:51:23 hasn’t seen
0:51:23 a refrigerator
0:51:25 and it’s a
0:51:25 bit dodgy,
0:51:26 you know,
0:51:27 and you
0:51:28 think after
0:51:29 a meal,
0:51:30 you turn to
0:51:32 something easily
0:51:33 available in
0:51:33 that part
0:51:33 of the
0:51:34 world.
0:51:34 It’s a
0:51:35 plant called
0:51:35 cafea
0:51:36 arabica.
0:51:37 We call it
0:51:37 coffee.
0:51:39 You ground
0:51:40 the coffee
0:51:41 into a
0:51:41 sludge at
0:51:42 the bottom,
0:51:42 pour a bit
0:51:43 of hot water
0:51:44 and drink
0:51:45 that straight.
0:51:46 That’s bitter.
0:51:47 So if you
0:51:48 ever had an
0:51:48 espresso without
0:51:50 sugar, that’s
0:51:50 a bitter.
0:51:51 Okay.
0:51:53 And that was
0:51:53 used as a
0:51:54 digestive.
0:51:55 In other
0:51:56 words, after
0:51:56 you’re eating,
0:51:57 it would help
0:51:59 cope with some
0:52:00 pretty rough
0:52:00 food.
0:52:02 So bitters
0:52:02 were always
0:52:04 seen to be
0:52:04 good for your
0:52:05 digestion and
0:52:05 appetite.
0:52:07 And in
0:52:07 fever, that
0:52:08 actually meant
0:52:09 lowering your
0:52:09 body temperature.
0:52:10 And we can
0:52:11 see that
0:52:11 happening.
0:52:13 It means that
0:52:13 some of the
0:52:14 anger out here
0:52:15 just gets
0:52:17 sublimated into
0:52:18 digestion.
0:52:19 So that was
0:52:19 where the
0:52:20 bitters got
0:52:20 their cooling
0:52:22 reputation.
0:52:23 And we can
0:52:24 now laugh at
0:52:24 this is all
0:52:25 medieval nonsense.
0:52:26 But the
0:52:27 point that I
0:52:27 keep coming
0:52:29 back to when
0:52:29 I’m seeing
0:52:30 patients, I
0:52:30 start with
0:52:30 that blank
0:52:31 sheet of
0:52:31 paper.
0:52:34 It’s because
0:52:34 the only
0:52:36 test of what
0:52:36 these do to
0:52:37 you is to
0:52:38 take it.
0:52:39 And as you
0:52:40 notice with
0:52:41 your ginger and
0:52:41 cinnamon, you
0:52:42 don’t need
0:52:42 long.
0:52:43 You’ve got it
0:52:44 there straight
0:52:44 up.
0:52:45 And, you
0:52:46 know, if I
0:52:46 give a bitter
0:52:47 to somebody
0:52:49 and, you
0:52:49 know, someone
0:52:50 is really
0:52:52 bitter, they
0:52:52 will know
0:52:52 within an
0:52:53 hour or so
0:52:54 what effect
0:52:54 it’s having.
0:52:57 If you’re
0:52:57 starting a
0:52:58 business, that
0:52:58 means you’re
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0:53:14 unique to me.
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0:53:57 No way.
0:53:59 On this point of
0:54:01 antibiotics, I’ve
0:54:01 heard you talk
0:54:02 about vitamin D,
0:54:02 vitamin C, and
0:54:05 zinc as a
0:54:06 potential
0:54:07 alternative to
0:54:08 jumping straight
0:54:08 from…
0:54:09 Not straight
0:54:09 alternative, but
0:54:10 in improving
0:54:12 your natural
0:54:13 resistance,
0:54:14 particularly to
0:54:15 viruses and
0:54:15 such like,
0:54:17 then there is
0:54:18 evidence for
0:54:20 both vitamin
0:54:20 D and
0:54:21 vitamin C,
0:54:21 but also
0:54:22 zinc as
0:54:23 backups in
0:54:24 subform,
0:54:25 supplement form,
0:54:27 that do seem
0:54:29 to add to
0:54:29 your resilience
0:54:31 in the face
0:54:31 of infections.
0:54:32 I’m quite
0:54:33 concerned because
0:54:34 I’ve got dark
0:54:36 skin, and in
0:54:37 the weather that
0:54:37 we live in here
0:54:38 in the UK,
0:54:39 when I am in
0:54:40 the UK, I
0:54:41 worry that I
0:54:41 won’t get
0:54:41 enough vitamin
0:54:42 D.
0:54:43 Are these
0:54:44 quote-unquote
0:54:44 supplements
0:54:45 important, do
0:54:46 you think?
0:54:46 What are the
0:54:47 supplements that
0:54:47 you think are
0:54:48 imperative?
0:54:50 None.
0:54:50 None.
0:54:52 Not for
0:54:53 everybody, but
0:54:54 there are
0:54:54 certain situations.
0:54:56 I think vitamin
0:54:56 D is a good
0:54:57 one, and it’s
0:54:58 not just people
0:54:58 with dark skin
0:54:59 that have a
0:55:00 vitamin D
0:55:01 deficiency.
0:55:02 It’s pretty
0:55:03 widespread in
0:55:05 darker countries,
0:55:05 if we can call
0:55:06 our weather, and
0:55:07 that we know
0:55:08 where there’s not
0:55:08 enough sun,
0:55:10 vitamin D
0:55:10 deficiency is
0:55:11 quite widespread,
0:55:12 and increasingly
0:55:13 doctors do
0:55:14 suggest you have
0:55:14 vitamin D
0:55:15 supplementation
0:55:16 through the
0:55:16 winter,
0:55:16 particularly.
0:55:18 even just
0:55:19 having a
0:55:19 15-minute
0:55:21 outdoors with
0:55:22 the sun will
0:55:22 give you a
0:55:23 fairly hefty
0:55:23 amount.
0:55:24 Do you
0:55:24 supplement?
0:55:26 Not myself.
0:55:28 No, I
0:55:28 don’t.
0:55:29 I haven’t
0:55:30 spotted a
0:55:32 need, but
0:55:32 that doesn’t
0:55:33 mean that I
0:55:34 don’t recommend
0:55:35 supplements to
0:55:35 people.
0:55:36 Well, there
0:55:37 is a need.
0:55:39 And garlic?
0:55:40 We’ve got
0:55:40 garlic.
0:55:41 I don’t know if
0:55:41 that has an
0:55:43 antibiotic role.
0:55:46 garlic, what
0:55:47 used to be
0:55:47 called Russian
0:55:48 penicillin, and
0:55:49 after penicillin
0:55:50 was invented,
0:55:51 because some
0:55:52 parts of the
0:55:52 world, they
0:55:53 used garlic
0:55:54 instead of
0:55:56 penicillin,
0:55:56 which was hard
0:55:57 to come by
0:55:57 originally.
0:55:59 And it was
0:55:59 used in places
0:56:00 like the First
0:56:01 World War to
0:56:02 avoid some of
0:56:03 the trench foot
0:56:03 and other
0:56:04 problems that
0:56:05 soldiers would
0:56:06 get in those
0:56:07 lousy conditions.
0:56:09 Garlic, when
0:56:09 talking raw
0:56:11 now, is a
0:56:12 very powerful
0:56:13 prebiotic.
0:56:14 In other
0:56:15 words, it
0:56:16 helps the
0:56:17 gut flora, the
0:56:18 good guys down
0:56:18 here in the
0:56:19 microbiome.
0:56:20 And there’s
0:56:21 evidence to
0:56:22 show a lot
0:56:23 of these other
0:56:23 ones do as
0:56:24 well, but
0:56:24 garlic is
0:56:25 particularly
0:56:25 strong.
0:56:28 And when
0:56:28 I’m dealing
0:56:29 with a
0:56:30 disrupted gut
0:56:31 flora, a
0:56:32 microbiome, I
0:56:33 will sometimes
0:56:34 refer to raw
0:56:36 garlic as a
0:56:36 treatment.
0:56:38 But you
0:56:38 need to do
0:56:39 it with
0:56:39 a little
0:56:41 care, because
0:56:42 you don’t
0:56:42 want to
0:56:43 lose too
0:56:43 many
0:56:43 friends.
0:56:45 What’s wrong
0:56:45 with gut?
0:56:46 Is it
0:56:47 pungent?
0:56:48 It’s the
0:56:49 aroma you
0:56:49 give out
0:56:50 afterwards.
0:56:52 Your friends
0:56:52 will be very
0:56:53 polite, but
0:56:53 they’ll rather
0:56:54 wish you
0:56:54 hadn’t.
0:56:56 And some
0:56:57 people find
0:56:57 that it
0:56:58 does upset
0:56:59 when they
0:56:59 swallow.
0:57:01 But I
0:57:02 have a
0:57:02 little trick
0:57:03 which I
0:57:04 call the
0:57:04 garlic
0:57:04 intensive,
0:57:06 which is
0:57:07 when everything
0:57:07 is down,
0:57:08 the gut
0:57:08 is in the
0:57:09 state,
0:57:09 maybe
0:57:10 got a
0:57:11 lung
0:57:11 infection
0:57:12 or
0:57:12 whatever
0:57:12 and
0:57:12 there’s
0:57:13 a lot
0:57:13 of
0:57:13 need
0:57:14 for
0:57:15 an
0:57:16 antibiotic
0:57:16 type
0:57:17 of
0:57:18 treatment.
0:57:19 Raw
0:57:20 garlic,
0:57:20 what you
0:57:21 do is,
0:57:22 and for
0:57:23 all sorts
0:57:23 of reasons,
0:57:24 Friday evening
0:57:25 is the best
0:57:25 time to do
0:57:26 this,
0:57:26 because you’ve
0:57:26 got the
0:57:27 weekend ahead
0:57:27 of you.
0:57:29 You take
0:57:29 one of
0:57:30 those
0:57:30 cloves,
0:57:32 first of
0:57:32 all,
0:57:34 on that
0:57:34 day you
0:57:35 haven’t eaten
0:57:35 so much,
0:57:36 so you
0:57:36 don’t have
0:57:36 so much
0:57:36 on the
0:57:37 way.
0:57:38 Then you
0:57:38 take one
0:57:38 of these
0:57:39 cloves,
0:57:39 you peel
0:57:40 it,
0:57:41 chop it
0:57:41 up,
0:57:42 small
0:57:42 pieces,
0:57:44 and swallow
0:57:45 it with
0:57:45 water.
0:57:45 You don’t
0:57:46 chew it,
0:57:46 just chop
0:57:47 it up and
0:57:47 swallow it
0:57:48 with a little
0:57:48 bit of
0:57:48 water,
0:57:50 and wait
0:57:51 for half
0:57:51 an hour,
0:57:52 just to
0:57:52 make sure
0:57:53 that that’s
0:57:53 okay,
0:57:54 your stomach’s
0:57:54 okay,
0:57:55 to go ahead.
0:57:57 If it is,
0:57:57 take another
0:57:58 clove,
0:58:00 chop it up,
0:58:01 swallow it,
0:58:02 another half
0:58:02 hour later,
0:58:03 take another
0:58:03 clove,
0:58:05 and if
0:58:05 you start
0:58:06 at six
0:58:06 o’clock
0:58:07 by ten
0:58:07 o’clock
0:58:07 in the
0:58:07 evening,
0:58:08 you’ve
0:58:08 got eight
0:58:09 cloves inside
0:58:09 you.
0:58:11 Eight?
0:58:12 And what’s
0:58:13 that going
0:58:13 to do?
0:58:14 Well,
0:58:15 at this point
0:58:16 you usually
0:58:16 go to bed
0:58:17 and I would
0:58:17 suggest you
0:58:18 go to bed
0:58:18 alone at
0:58:18 this point
0:58:19 because you’re
0:58:19 not very
0:58:20 friendly at
0:58:20 this point
0:58:21 because you’re
0:58:21 oozing
0:58:22 garlic,
0:58:24 the aroma of
0:58:24 garlic is
0:58:25 coming out
0:58:25 of all
0:58:25 your pores.
0:58:27 Incidentally,
0:58:27 it’s also
0:58:28 coming out
0:58:29 of your
0:58:31 lungs and
0:58:32 there was an
0:58:32 old trick
0:58:32 where you
0:58:33 used to be
0:58:33 able to,
0:58:33 if you had
0:58:34 enough garlic,
0:58:35 breathe on
0:58:35 a Petri dish
0:58:36 in a laboratory
0:58:37 with various
0:58:37 pathogens and
0:58:38 you could kill
0:58:38 them just
0:58:39 by your breath.
0:58:41 The oil of
0:58:42 garlic is a
0:58:43 powerful antiseptic.
0:58:45 But what it’s
0:58:45 doing in the
0:58:47 lower digestion
0:58:48 is it seems
0:58:49 the good guys
0:58:49 down there
0:58:50 quite like it.
0:58:52 But the bad
0:58:53 guys, you know,
0:58:53 in the old days
0:58:54 we had garlic
0:58:55 was, you know,
0:58:55 against the devil
0:58:57 and it looks
0:58:57 as though the
0:58:58 bad guys down
0:58:58 there don’t
0:58:59 like garlic.
0:59:00 So just doing
0:59:02 that over a
0:59:02 weekend
0:59:04 can make a
0:59:05 big difference
0:59:05 to your
0:59:08 good guys
0:59:09 in the microbiome
0:59:10 and if you’ve
0:59:10 got a low
0:59:11 level gut or
0:59:12 lung infection
0:59:13 that can be
0:59:14 really helpful.
0:59:15 But that’s,
0:59:16 you know,
0:59:17 something you can
0:59:18 do at home
0:59:18 but you don’t
0:59:18 want to do
0:59:19 that too
0:59:19 often.
0:59:19 In fact,
0:59:20 I would suggest
0:59:21 that one garlic
0:59:22 intensive is
0:59:22 probably enough
0:59:22 for most
0:59:23 people.
0:59:24 So prebiotic
0:59:25 effects,
0:59:26 it has an
0:59:27 antimicrobial
0:59:28 properties.
0:59:32 Is it good
0:59:32 for pain?
0:59:33 Called it
0:59:34 Russian penicillin,
0:59:34 is it?
0:59:35 Yeah, well it
0:59:36 depends where
0:59:36 the pain is
0:59:37 coming from.
0:59:38 But if your
0:59:39 pain is a cough
0:59:40 or a chest
0:59:40 infection,
0:59:41 yes,
0:59:42 particularly good
0:59:43 for chest
0:59:43 infections.
0:59:44 Some people
0:59:45 do use it
0:59:45 for arthritic
0:59:46 problems.
0:59:47 It will
0:59:47 depend on
0:59:48 what’s causing
0:59:49 the arthritis.
0:59:51 it’s very
0:59:52 hard for me
0:59:52 to say
0:59:54 one of these
0:59:54 things will
0:59:55 do it for
0:59:55 everybody.
0:59:56 It won’t.
0:59:56 It will do
0:59:57 in certain
0:59:58 situations.
1:00:00 And what we
1:00:00 learn when
1:00:01 we’re dealing
1:00:01 with plants
1:00:02 is that
1:00:03 you’re the
1:00:03 boss.
1:00:05 You find out
1:00:05 for yourselves.
1:00:07 All people
1:00:07 like me do
1:00:08 is say,
1:00:08 well give
1:00:09 this a try.
1:00:10 This is worth
1:00:10 trying.
1:00:11 This is
1:00:11 valuable.
1:00:12 Why don’t
1:00:13 you give it
1:00:13 a go?
1:00:14 How do you
1:00:14 think about
1:00:15 chronic pain?
1:00:15 There’s so many
1:00:16 people living
1:00:17 with a variety
1:00:18 of different
1:00:18 types of
1:00:19 chronic pain.
1:00:20 It affects
1:00:21 51.6
1:00:22 million people
1:00:22 I believe
1:00:23 just in
1:00:23 the US
1:00:24 alone.
1:00:25 And the
1:00:26 most common
1:00:26 forms of
1:00:27 chronic pain
1:00:27 are conditions
1:00:28 such as
1:00:28 arthritis or
1:00:29 migraines or
1:00:29 lower back
1:00:30 pain or
1:00:30 other types
1:00:31 of nerve
1:00:31 damage.
1:00:32 Roughly
1:00:34 75 to 85%
1:00:35 of Americans
1:00:35 will experience
1:00:36 some form of
1:00:37 back pain
1:00:37 during their
1:00:37 lives.
1:00:38 When I think
1:00:39 about this
1:00:40 big array
1:00:41 of plants
1:00:41 that are in
1:00:42 front of me
1:00:42 and other
1:00:42 plants,
1:00:44 what is the
1:00:44 first place to
1:00:45 go in your
1:00:45 mind if you’re
1:00:46 dealing with
1:00:47 chronic pain?
1:00:48 It depends
1:00:48 again where it
1:00:49 is.
1:00:49 let’s take
1:00:50 joints and
1:00:51 back.
1:00:52 You know,
1:00:52 when you’ve
1:00:53 got a joint
1:00:54 that’s causing
1:00:55 and it’s because
1:00:56 it’s inflamed.
1:00:57 Yeah.
1:00:58 so when you
1:01:00 have inflammation
1:01:00 you add
1:01:01 itis to the
1:01:02 name of the
1:01:03 plant.
1:01:03 So this is
1:01:05 arthritis because
1:01:06 it’s an
1:01:06 inflammation of
1:01:07 the joint.
1:01:09 You have
1:01:10 cystitis which
1:01:11 is the
1:01:11 bladder.
1:01:12 You have
1:01:12 bronchitis if
1:01:13 it’s the
1:01:14 lungs, gastritis
1:01:14 if it’s the
1:01:14 stomach.
1:01:15 So itis tells
1:01:16 us there’s an
1:01:17 inflammation and
1:01:19 mostly with
1:01:20 arthritis it’s
1:01:20 an inflammation
1:01:22 inflammation and
1:01:23 briefly it’s
1:01:25 because there’s
1:01:25 junk being
1:01:26 dumped on
1:01:27 the joint.
1:01:29 The joints
1:01:30 have got very
1:01:31 poor circulation
1:01:32 by design
1:01:33 because, you
1:01:33 know, there’s
1:01:34 surfaces being
1:01:35 pressed against
1:01:36 each other and
1:01:38 so the tissue in
1:01:38 the joint is
1:01:39 cartilage,
1:01:41 gristle, if you’re
1:01:43 eating it, which
1:01:44 is designed to
1:01:45 survive with very
1:01:46 poor circulation
1:01:46 because, you
1:01:47 know, when you’ve
1:01:48 got two things
1:01:48 pressing it,
1:01:48 there’s not
1:01:49 much room for
1:01:49 blood in there.
1:01:53 So if there is
1:01:54 metabolic waste,
1:01:55 let’s call it
1:01:57 junk, in the
1:01:58 system, it’s
1:01:58 more likely to
1:02:00 come out in
1:02:01 these places where
1:02:01 there’s poor
1:02:02 circulation.
1:02:03 Sometimes things
1:02:03 are a bit like
1:02:04 a U-bend under
1:02:05 a basin, you
1:02:05 know, if there’s
1:02:06 any stuff in
1:02:07 the sink it’s
1:02:08 going to come
1:02:09 to deposit
1:02:09 there.
1:02:10 So I think of
1:02:10 joints as a
1:02:11 bit like a
1:02:11 U-bend.
1:02:14 So the first
1:02:14 thing that people
1:02:15 did with a
1:02:17 joint pain, an
1:02:17 inflammation of the
1:02:18 joint, or
1:02:18 was to help
1:02:20 to clean the
1:02:20 joint, bring
1:02:22 more blood into
1:02:23 the area, and
1:02:24 that’s what the
1:02:24 inflammation is
1:02:25 doing.
1:02:28 It hurts like
1:02:30 billy-ho, but
1:02:30 what it’s doing
1:02:31 is bringing more
1:02:32 blood in by
1:02:33 brute force to
1:02:34 do what I was
1:02:34 just saying.
1:02:36 But if you
1:02:37 were to put on
1:02:37 a mustard
1:02:40 plaster, or
1:02:40 a cayenne
1:02:43 plaster, which
1:02:44 you simply put
1:02:45 on on the
1:02:46 outside, and
1:02:47 you can buy
1:02:48 these in
1:02:48 pharmacies and
1:02:49 so on, it’s
1:02:49 called
1:02:50 capsicum,
1:02:53 it’s a
1:02:54 standard
1:02:54 prescription
1:02:57 dressing for
1:02:58 a pain.
1:02:59 What it
1:02:59 does is it
1:03:00 brings the
1:03:01 blood in
1:03:03 directly, and
1:03:03 that means the
1:03:04 inflammation doesn’t
1:03:05 have to do it.
1:03:06 And the
1:03:06 inflammation is
1:03:08 sore, what
1:03:08 you’re doing
1:03:09 isn’t.
1:03:10 So by
1:03:10 definition, you’re
1:03:11 reducing the
1:03:11 pain level.
1:03:13 that’s an
1:03:14 example of
1:03:15 using plants
1:03:16 in a creative
1:03:17 way, which
1:03:17 people always
1:03:17 did.
1:03:19 They used to
1:03:20 do that back
1:03:20 in the day?
1:03:21 Oh, yes.
1:03:22 Yeah, I mean, if
1:03:23 you go to North
1:03:24 America, the
1:03:25 native populations
1:03:26 would regularly
1:03:28 use cayenne as
1:03:30 their salve for
1:03:31 bad joints.
1:03:33 In Europe, it
1:03:33 was mostly
1:03:34 mustard.
1:03:36 We’re talking
1:03:36 the yellow
1:03:37 mustard, the
1:03:37 one that’s
1:03:38 strong, uses
1:03:39 a plaster
1:03:40 over a
1:03:40 joint.
1:03:41 And if
1:03:41 you’ve got
1:03:42 arthritis in
1:03:43 your fingers, and
1:03:44 this is something
1:03:44 anyone can do
1:03:45 with, you know,
1:03:46 suffering the
1:03:47 pain here, use
1:03:48 a mustard bath.
1:03:49 Put your
1:03:50 fingers into a
1:03:51 dilute, warm
1:03:52 solution of
1:03:52 mustard.
1:03:54 And it’s
1:03:55 amazing how
1:03:56 quickly they
1:03:57 ease up.
1:03:57 Or you could
1:03:58 put a plaster on
1:03:59 the hip or
1:03:59 whatever.
1:04:01 People always
1:04:02 did this.
1:04:03 Have you seen
1:04:04 this work in
1:04:04 your practice?
1:04:05 Oh, yes.
1:04:06 And I often
1:04:07 recommend it to
1:04:07 patients, and
1:04:08 they keep
1:04:08 reporting back.
1:04:10 It really
1:04:10 makes a
1:04:10 difference.
1:04:12 I think I
1:04:12 worry about
1:04:13 lower back
1:04:13 pain because
1:04:14 I spend so
1:04:14 long sitting
1:04:14 down.
1:04:15 I’ve got
1:04:16 lower back
1:04:16 pain too.
1:04:17 And I
1:04:18 didn’t use
1:04:19 herbs very
1:04:19 much for
1:04:19 that.
1:04:20 What did
1:04:21 you do?
1:04:22 Well, it
1:04:22 was a long
1:04:22 story, but
1:04:23 there was a
1:04:24 very good
1:04:26 West African
1:04:27 combo called
1:04:29 Ocebisa, which
1:04:30 I saw back in
1:04:31 the day when
1:04:31 I had really
1:04:32 bad back.
1:04:34 And the
1:04:35 music got so
1:04:35 into me that
1:04:36 I loosened
1:04:37 up and
1:04:37 began to
1:04:38 jive and
1:04:39 dance around
1:04:39 and realised
1:04:39 that my
1:04:40 back had
1:04:40 gone and
1:04:41 it stayed
1:04:41 gone for
1:04:42 decades.
1:04:43 It’s just
1:04:44 unlocked a
1:04:44 knot.
1:04:45 So that
1:04:46 wasn’t any
1:04:46 herb, that
1:04:47 wasn’t any
1:04:47 plant.
1:04:49 Dancing?
1:04:50 Dancing.
1:04:51 I mean,
1:04:52 letting the
1:04:52 music get
1:04:53 into you.
1:04:54 What’s the
1:04:54 difference?
1:04:56 Well, you
1:04:56 know, when you
1:04:57 feel the music
1:04:58 running through
1:04:58 you, you know,
1:04:59 you’re just
1:05:00 moving in with
1:05:01 the beat, you
1:05:02 know, that
1:05:03 loosens up a
1:05:04 lot of knots.
1:05:05 you know, I
1:05:06 don’t just
1:05:06 do plants.
1:05:08 I talk about
1:05:08 breathing, I
1:05:09 talk about
1:05:10 exercises that
1:05:10 you can do
1:05:11 for yourself.
1:05:13 And sometimes
1:05:14 when you’ve got a
1:05:15 joint pain, it’s
1:05:16 all about, it’s
1:05:18 locked and you
1:05:19 can find ways
1:05:21 of loosening
1:05:23 that joint.
1:05:26 Ibuproofen.
1:05:27 Yes.
1:05:28 People reach for
1:05:28 this all the
1:05:29 time.
1:05:30 I mean, I was
1:05:30 looking at some
1:05:31 of the search
1:05:31 trend data for
1:05:33 ibuproofen and
1:05:34 it is absolutely
1:05:35 exploding.
1:05:36 Yes.
1:05:37 That’s the
1:05:38 search graph
1:05:39 ibuproofen.
1:05:41 It is, but it’s
1:05:42 one of the most
1:05:43 widely used drugs
1:05:44 in this country.
1:05:45 It’s obvious
1:05:46 because it works
1:05:48 and it’s
1:05:49 based on
1:05:51 a plant
1:05:53 substance called
1:05:54 salicylic acid
1:05:57 which gave
1:05:57 us aspirin.
1:06:00 And we
1:06:02 still use the
1:06:03 basic molecule
1:06:03 to create the
1:06:04 what we call
1:06:05 non-steroidal
1:06:06 anti-inflammatory
1:06:06 drugs or
1:06:07 NSAIDs.
1:06:08 Anibuprofen is
1:06:09 one of the most
1:06:10 widely used of
1:06:10 those.
1:06:11 and basically
1:06:13 they cut the
1:06:13 inflammatory
1:06:16 process, just
1:06:18 cut it, and
1:06:20 the inflammation
1:06:21 just diminishes.
1:06:22 Which is good,
1:06:23 right?
1:06:25 Well, if it gets
1:06:25 rid of the pain,
1:06:26 it is, but
1:06:28 there’s always a
1:06:29 follow-up question.
1:06:30 Why was that
1:06:32 inflammation necessary?
1:06:33 Because inflammation
1:06:34 is a defence.
1:06:35 It’s one of my
1:06:36 most powerful
1:06:37 defences we have
1:06:37 in the body.
1:06:40 And whenever
1:06:41 someone is
1:06:42 saying, I need
1:06:43 ibuprofen, my
1:06:44 next question is
1:06:45 what can we do
1:06:46 to reduce the
1:06:47 need for the
1:06:47 inflammation?
1:06:49 So when I was
1:06:49 talking about the
1:06:51 arthritis, I was
1:06:52 saying this
1:06:53 junk, shall we
1:06:54 say, being
1:06:55 dumped on the
1:06:55 joint, can we
1:06:56 help to relieve
1:06:56 that?
1:06:57 Can we go
1:06:59 upstream and
1:07:00 reduce some of
1:07:00 the metabolic
1:07:00 strain?
1:07:02 People eat
1:07:02 sometimes the
1:07:03 wrong food and
1:07:04 sometimes increases
1:07:05 arthritis.
1:07:06 You can improve
1:07:07 your arthritis by
1:07:08 switching to
1:07:08 more plants
1:07:09 very often.
1:07:11 But there are
1:07:11 other things that
1:07:12 we can give that
1:07:13 seem to help
1:07:14 reduce some of
1:07:14 those pressures.
1:07:16 But the pain
1:07:17 might be somewhere
1:07:17 else.
1:07:18 It might be
1:07:19 linked to a
1:07:20 full-blown
1:07:22 disease, you
1:07:23 know, and in
1:07:24 that case, you
1:07:25 know, using
1:07:26 anti-inflammatories
1:07:26 is the only thing
1:07:27 you can do.
1:07:29 But if there is a
1:07:30 way in which we
1:07:31 can help reduce
1:07:32 the need for
1:07:33 that inflammation
1:07:33 in the first
1:07:34 place, I would
1:07:35 much prefer to
1:07:36 do that than
1:07:37 just suppress a
1:07:38 natural defence.
1:07:39 We tend to
1:07:39 think of
1:07:40 inflammation as
1:07:40 the enemy.
1:07:42 We do, and I
1:07:43 think we’re
1:07:43 wrong.
1:07:45 We think of it
1:07:45 as the disease
1:07:46 itself.
1:07:47 We are wrong.
1:07:49 It’s the
1:07:50 consequence of a
1:07:51 problem, and
1:07:52 inflammation itself
1:07:53 is a healthy
1:07:53 response.
1:07:55 It’s when we
1:07:56 bring out, you
1:07:57 know, I
1:07:57 sometimes use
1:07:58 military language
1:07:59 here, and
1:08:00 there’s a bunch
1:08:00 of white blood
1:08:01 cells that I
1:08:02 liken to
1:08:02 marines.
1:08:04 these are guys
1:08:06 who, when
1:08:06 they’re working
1:08:07 well, they
1:08:07 just go in
1:08:08 and do the
1:08:08 job.
1:08:09 They don’t
1:08:10 sort of figure
1:08:10 it out, they
1:08:10 don’t ask
1:08:11 questions, they
1:08:11 just go and
1:08:12 do the job.
1:08:13 We’ve got a
1:08:14 whole bunch of
1:08:14 white blood
1:08:15 cells that are
1:08:16 a bit like
1:08:16 that, they
1:08:18 just, we call
1:08:19 neutrophils, and
1:08:20 there’s various
1:08:20 others of that
1:08:21 group, and they
1:08:22 just go in and
1:08:22 whack them.
1:08:25 Inflammation is
1:08:25 bringing those
1:08:26 guys out faster
1:08:28 and harder, so
1:08:29 we’re bringing in
1:08:29 more of the
1:08:30 marines, if
1:08:31 you like, to
1:08:31 finish the
1:08:32 job.
1:08:33 What’s wrong
1:08:33 with that?
1:08:34 You know, that’s
1:08:35 what we want
1:08:35 to do.
1:08:36 It happens to
1:08:37 be sore.
1:08:41 Then, if
1:08:41 they don’t do
1:08:42 the job and
1:08:43 the junk or
1:08:43 the problem
1:08:44 keeps piling
1:08:45 in, then the
1:08:46 marines become
1:08:46 the problem, and
1:08:48 then we use
1:08:49 the ibuprofen to
1:08:50 shut them up.
1:08:51 But as I
1:08:51 said, there’s
1:08:52 always a
1:08:52 question, you
1:08:53 know, why
1:08:55 are we, what’s
1:08:56 the consequence of
1:08:57 stopping this
1:08:58 internal
1:08:59 cleansing
1:09:01 process that
1:09:03 is so
1:09:03 important.
1:09:03 So, inflammation
1:09:05 is not the
1:09:05 enemy.
1:09:07 Inflammation is
1:09:08 the defence
1:09:09 measure that
1:09:10 can sometimes
1:09:11 overstay its
1:09:11 welcome.
1:09:12 I had an
1:09:13 injury in my
1:09:13 ankle a couple
1:09:15 of months back
1:09:15 because I
1:09:16 pulled some
1:09:17 of the ligaments
1:09:18 down there, and
1:09:18 my ankle
1:09:20 swelled up, and
1:09:21 I was getting
1:09:22 conflicting information
1:09:23 from people about
1:09:23 the inflammation
1:09:24 because I had
1:09:24 this big football
1:09:25 game coming up
1:09:26 for this charity
1:09:26 match called
1:09:27 Soccerade at
1:09:27 Old Trafford.
1:09:29 And I had
1:09:29 one of my
1:09:29 physios telling
1:09:31 me to apply
1:09:32 the ice thing
1:09:32 and take
1:09:33 anti-inflammatories,
1:09:34 and I had
1:09:34 another one
1:09:35 telling me
1:09:35 something else
1:09:35 about the
1:09:36 inflammation, but
1:09:37 actually I
1:09:37 didn’t want
1:09:38 to combat
1:09:39 the inflammation
1:09:39 because it
1:09:40 was doing
1:09:40 its job.
1:09:42 And so it’s
1:09:42 quite difficult
1:09:43 to navigate
1:09:44 whether one
1:09:45 should let
1:09:45 inflammation
1:09:48 stay or if
1:09:48 I should be
1:09:48 taking
1:09:49 anti-inflammatories
1:09:50 or ibuprofen.
1:09:52 Well, if you’ve
1:09:52 got a match to,
1:09:54 you sometimes need
1:09:55 something just to
1:09:55 get your match
1:09:57 fit or match
1:09:57 acceptable.
1:09:59 But if it’s
1:09:59 a short-term,
1:10:00 we call it
1:10:01 acute inflammation,
1:10:03 then overwhelmingly
1:10:04 the advice is
1:10:05 don’t suppress it
1:10:07 because in the
1:10:07 short-term,
1:10:08 you know,
1:10:09 we get a cut,
1:10:09 get a bit of
1:10:10 dirt,
1:10:10 get swollen,
1:10:11 maybe a bit of
1:10:12 pus and so on,
1:10:13 and after a while
1:10:14 it sorts itself
1:10:15 out.
1:10:16 That’s this miracle
1:10:17 I talked about
1:10:17 earlier,
1:10:18 the body heals
1:10:19 itself all the
1:10:19 time.
1:10:20 That’s inflammation
1:10:21 doing its job
1:10:22 properly,
1:10:23 cleaning out,
1:10:24 the marines
1:10:24 go in,
1:10:25 clear all
1:10:26 the stuff
1:10:26 out,
1:10:27 back to
1:10:27 their barracks,
1:10:28 back to
1:10:29 normal.
1:10:30 That’s great.
1:10:32 It’s only if,
1:10:32 as I said,
1:10:33 the junk
1:10:34 keeps piling
1:10:35 in and the
1:10:36 job doesn’t
1:10:36 get finished,
1:10:37 we call that
1:10:38 chronic inflammation,
1:10:39 that’s when
1:10:40 you sometimes
1:10:41 need a bit
1:10:42 of help.
1:10:43 And chronic
1:10:44 inflammation is
1:10:45 often caused
1:10:46 by something
1:10:47 further upstream,
1:10:47 right?
1:10:48 So you try and
1:10:49 think about what’s
1:10:50 causing it upstream.
1:10:50 Exactly so.
1:10:51 And what tends
1:10:51 to be the
1:10:52 perpetrator upstream?
1:10:54 The gut is
1:10:55 where most of
1:10:56 these things
1:10:56 begin,
1:10:57 because when
1:10:58 you think
1:10:58 about it,
1:11:00 that’s where
1:11:01 we take most
1:11:01 foreign material.
1:11:02 Almost all of
1:11:03 it has to be
1:11:04 dealt with by
1:11:04 the gut.
1:11:06 So that’s
1:11:06 where most of
1:11:07 our immune
1:11:07 system is.
1:11:08 We talk about
1:11:08 the immune
1:11:09 system,
1:11:09 but the
1:11:10 majority of
1:11:11 the immune
1:11:11 system is
1:11:12 a few
1:11:13 millimetres away
1:11:14 from the
1:11:14 lining of the
1:11:14 gut,
1:11:15 because that’s
1:11:15 where the
1:11:16 action is.
1:11:17 That’s where
1:11:17 all the
1:11:17 foreign stuff
1:11:18 is.
1:11:19 So if
1:11:19 there’s a
1:11:19 disruption
1:11:20 there,
1:11:22 that’s the
1:11:22 first place
1:11:23 to begin,
1:11:24 because it’s
1:11:24 usually the
1:11:25 best place
1:11:25 to begin.
1:11:27 And if we
1:11:27 add what we
1:11:28 talked about,
1:11:29 the microbiome
1:11:30 as another
1:11:31 big factor,
1:11:32 then there’s
1:11:33 plenty of
1:11:33 work to be
1:11:35 done with
1:11:35 down there.
1:11:36 So if there’s
1:11:37 a chronic
1:11:37 inflammation,
1:11:38 I will spend
1:11:38 a lot of
1:11:39 time looking
1:11:39 at what
1:11:40 might be
1:11:40 going on
1:11:40 down there.
1:11:42 And what’s
1:11:42 the typical
1:11:43 suggestion if
1:11:44 it is a
1:11:45 gut-related
1:11:46 problem?
1:11:46 well, the
1:11:46 first thing
1:11:47 to do is
1:11:49 to get
1:11:49 the best
1:11:50 food you
1:11:51 can down
1:11:51 there,
1:11:51 which is
1:11:52 mostly
1:11:53 plant-based.
1:11:54 I mean,
1:11:54 there are
1:11:55 exceptions to
1:11:55 that.
1:11:58 But if we’re
1:11:58 looking at
1:11:59 restoring your
1:12:00 good health
1:12:00 down here,
1:12:02 the gut does
1:12:03 seem to like
1:12:04 plants at this
1:12:04 point.
1:12:06 So we talk
1:12:07 about, you
1:12:07 know, having a
1:12:08 wide range of
1:12:09 plants.
1:12:10 You know,
1:12:11 the current
1:12:13 advice from
1:12:13 one or two
1:12:14 people is that
1:12:15 you would aim
1:12:15 to have 30
1:12:16 different types
1:12:17 of plant per
1:12:18 week, you
1:12:18 know, just to
1:12:19 get the
1:12:19 diversity, because
1:12:20 we don’t know
1:12:20 which one you
1:12:21 need, so
1:12:22 why don’t you
1:12:22 give as much
1:12:23 difference as
1:12:24 you can?
1:12:26 And, you
1:12:28 know, people
1:12:29 think you
1:12:30 can’t afford
1:12:31 to eat
1:12:32 healthily.
1:12:33 All I would
1:12:34 suggest is that
1:12:34 you go and
1:12:35 travel to
1:12:36 somewhere like
1:12:37 India or
1:12:37 anywhere in
1:12:38 Asia where
1:12:39 they eat
1:12:40 pretty much
1:12:41 a lot of
1:12:41 plants, mostly
1:12:43 plants, for
1:12:44 pennies.
1:12:45 you know, you
1:12:46 can make a
1:12:46 healthy meal
1:12:47 by, if you
1:12:48 know how to
1:12:49 cook, by
1:12:49 just mixing
1:12:49 some of
1:12:50 these simple
1:12:51 ladals and
1:12:53 the root
1:12:54 vegetables and
1:12:54 the other
1:12:55 vegetables, easily
1:12:56 mixed together,
1:12:57 a few spices in
1:12:59 there, absolutely
1:13:00 delicious, and
1:13:03 your gut and
1:13:04 your microbiome
1:13:04 will be
1:13:05 chomping with
1:13:05 glee.
1:13:06 You talk about
1:13:07 eating your
1:13:07 rainbow.
1:13:08 Yes.
1:13:08 What does that
1:13:09 mean?
1:13:10 It means as
1:13:11 many colours as
1:13:11 you can fit in,
1:13:14 literally, because
1:13:15 each colour is
1:13:17 produced by a
1:13:18 constituent of
1:13:20 plants, many
1:13:20 of them we
1:13:21 call polyphenols,
1:13:24 which we know
1:13:25 have a range of
1:13:26 effects on all
1:13:29 sorts of, mainly
1:13:30 on the microbiome
1:13:30 again, because
1:13:31 they’re all in
1:13:32 different ways,
1:13:33 prebiotic, they
1:13:34 all help good
1:13:36 guys prosper down
1:13:36 there.
1:13:37 But then after
1:13:38 the microbiome is
1:13:39 processed them,
1:13:39 which is
1:13:40 interesting, the
1:13:41 microbiome is
1:13:44 critical for
1:13:45 processing
1:13:45 polyphenols.
1:13:47 They don’t get
1:13:48 absorbed unless the
1:13:49 microbiome breaks
1:13:49 them up already.
1:13:52 So the benefits of
1:13:53 the colours depend
1:13:54 on the good guys
1:13:55 down here.
1:13:56 When they get
1:13:57 into the blood,
1:13:58 they start doing
1:13:58 all sorts of
1:14:00 wonderful things to
1:14:00 the lining of the
1:14:01 blood vessels, for
1:14:02 example, up into
1:14:04 the brain, where
1:14:05 we’ve got what
1:14:06 we call a blood-brain
1:14:07 barrier, which is
1:14:08 actually a very
1:14:09 exciting interface.
1:14:12 The polyphenols, the
1:14:14 colours, all have
1:14:17 well-established
1:14:18 mechanisms that
1:14:19 improve the health
1:14:20 all around the
1:14:20 body.
1:14:22 So, simple.
1:14:22 If you’ve got a
1:14:24 child who used to
1:14:24 say, eat your
1:14:25 greens, we now
1:14:26 say, eat your
1:14:26 rainbow.
1:14:27 The more different
1:14:28 colours, the
1:14:28 better.
1:14:29 I wonder if that’s
1:14:30 why they put so
1:14:31 many artificial
1:14:32 dyes in junk
1:14:32 food.
1:14:33 Well, I wish they
1:14:33 wouldn’t.
1:14:34 To try and trick
1:14:35 our brains into
1:14:36 thinking it’s, I
1:14:36 don’t know.
1:14:37 No, there’s
1:14:37 nothing quite
1:14:38 like the
1:14:38 original.
1:14:40 In terms of
1:14:41 fruit, what are
1:14:42 your favourite
1:14:43 fruits to
1:14:43 sort of recommend
1:14:44 people to eat
1:14:44 and why?
1:14:46 Probably the, if
1:14:47 you wanted to
1:14:48 have a, you
1:14:48 know, a top
1:14:49 list, the
1:14:50 darker the
1:14:50 colour, the
1:14:51 better.
1:14:52 So, we talk
1:14:53 about purples
1:14:54 and I’m
1:14:55 pleased to see
1:14:56 that your team
1:14:57 has found a
1:14:57 purple carrot
1:14:58 there.
1:15:00 We remind
1:15:01 ourselves that
1:15:02 most vegetables
1:15:03 were purple
1:15:04 once upon a
1:15:04 time.
1:15:05 If you think
1:15:06 of maize,
1:15:06 you know,
1:15:07 the sweet
1:15:08 corn and the
1:15:09 maize that you
1:15:09 grow in the
1:15:10 Americas, that
1:15:11 mostly was
1:15:12 originally purple
1:15:13 and we bred
1:15:13 the purple out
1:15:14 because it
1:15:15 didn’t look so
1:15:16 appetising and
1:15:17 we’re probably
1:15:18 purple deficient.
1:15:20 I think we
1:15:20 could do with
1:15:21 more purple in
1:15:22 our lives
1:15:23 because the
1:15:24 purple and
1:15:25 blue colour
1:15:26 is something
1:15:27 called anthocyanins.
1:15:28 These are
1:15:29 types of
1:15:30 polyphenol and
1:15:31 they’re particularly
1:15:33 powerful, particularly
1:15:34 with the blood
1:15:34 supply.
1:15:35 We’re talking
1:15:36 about things like
1:15:37 eyesight and
1:15:38 brain health and
1:15:40 circulatory health,
1:15:41 blood pressure
1:15:42 control and all
1:15:42 those sort of
1:15:44 things can be
1:15:45 improved just by
1:15:46 having more purple
1:15:47 in our lives.
1:15:47 So we’ve got
1:15:48 beetroot, that’ll
1:15:48 do.
1:15:49 We’ve got the
1:15:51 berries, red
1:15:52 grapes are
1:15:53 probably more.
1:15:54 We’ve got the
1:15:55 red grapes here,
1:15:56 that’s got more
1:15:57 of these than the
1:15:58 yellow grapes do.
1:16:00 So I would start
1:16:01 with the reds and
1:16:01 purples.
1:16:03 You said you
1:16:04 think we’re
1:16:05 purple deficient.
1:16:05 Yeah.
1:16:06 I mean, just
1:16:08 think of something
1:16:09 interesting to say,
1:16:10 but there’s
1:16:11 probably something
1:16:11 in that.
1:16:16 And in terms of
1:16:17 vegetables, what are
1:16:18 your favourite go-to
1:16:19 vegetables that you’d
1:16:19 recommend?
1:16:20 I start with the
1:16:21 roots, the root
1:16:22 vegetables, the
1:16:23 carrots, the beet
1:16:24 roots, the parsnips,
1:16:26 the various other root
1:16:27 vegetables out there,
1:16:28 not all of which are
1:16:29 people’s favourites,
1:16:31 but they have
1:16:34 fibre, sort of
1:16:35 starch in them,
1:16:36 which is
1:16:36 particularly
1:16:38 prebiotic.
1:16:39 And some of the
1:16:40 most powerful
1:16:41 prebiotics are the
1:16:42 root vegetables.
1:16:43 So those are
1:16:44 definitely worth
1:16:44 having.
1:16:46 The greens,
1:16:47 obviously, and
1:16:47 broccoli.
1:16:49 And interestingly,
1:16:49 I found a purple
1:16:51 one, which is
1:16:51 easy enough to
1:16:51 get.
1:16:53 So you can get
1:16:53 the purple or
1:16:54 the green.
1:16:55 Obviously, there’s
1:16:56 a value in the
1:16:57 purple there.
1:16:58 But any
1:16:59 broccoli, any of
1:16:59 the cabbage
1:17:01 family, is
1:17:02 full of all
1:17:03 sorts of other
1:17:04 ingredients that
1:17:05 have their own
1:17:06 benefits in
1:17:07 all sorts of
1:17:08 ways, metabolism,
1:17:10 gut, hormonal,
1:17:12 blood supply.
1:17:13 So greens,
1:17:16 roots, and the
1:17:17 big one in most
1:17:18 people’s lives are
1:17:20 the grains, you
1:17:21 know, wheat, for
1:17:22 example, but
1:17:24 cereals, lentils,
1:17:26 dahl, peas and
1:17:28 beans, all of
1:17:29 these have their
1:17:29 own benefits,
1:17:31 particularly for
1:17:33 the microbiome.
1:17:35 You know, again,
1:17:35 I don’t know
1:17:36 exactly what
1:17:37 even I need,
1:17:38 let alone what
1:17:39 anyone else
1:17:39 needs.
1:17:39 So the best
1:17:40 thing to do is
1:17:41 to have as
1:17:43 much diversity
1:17:43 as possible.
1:17:44 What is your
1:17:45 diet?
1:17:46 It’s a mix.
1:17:47 Are you vegan?
1:17:47 Do you eat meat?
1:17:48 Yeah.
1:17:51 I just have a
1:17:51 broad range of
1:17:52 what most humans
1:17:53 have eaten, which
1:17:54 is a mixture of
1:17:55 things.
1:17:56 I do, obviously,
1:17:57 many of my
1:17:58 patients are
1:17:58 vegans, and
1:18:00 you can live
1:18:00 quite well with
1:18:00 them.
1:18:01 You have to
1:18:02 add a few
1:18:02 extra things just
1:18:03 to cover your
1:18:04 back on a few
1:18:04 areas, but
1:18:05 you can live
1:18:06 perfectly well,
1:18:07 at least when
1:18:08 you’re a grown
1:18:08 up, an adult,
1:18:10 on a plant-only
1:18:11 diet.
1:18:13 But, you know,
1:18:15 who am I to
1:18:15 say that an
1:18:17 Inuit in the
1:18:19 Arctic who
1:18:20 never sees any
1:18:21 vegetable ever
1:18:22 and only lives
1:18:23 on, traditionally,
1:18:24 only lives on
1:18:26 seal and whale
1:18:27 meat and blubber,
1:18:28 is any less
1:18:29 healthy than
1:18:30 someone in
1:18:30 Thailand who
1:18:31 lives only on
1:18:31 rice and
1:18:32 vegetables?
1:18:33 You know, we’re
1:18:34 all, we can
1:18:35 cope with all
1:18:36 sorts of variety
1:18:36 of foods.
1:18:37 There isn’t one
1:18:38 food for
1:18:38 everybody.
1:18:40 I think we
1:18:40 were discussing
1:18:41 before we
1:18:41 started recording
1:18:42 that I’m
1:18:43 currently on a
1:18:44 ketosis diet,
1:18:45 the keto diet.
1:18:46 Keto diet, yes.
1:18:46 Which basically
1:18:47 means that I’m
1:18:48 extremely low
1:18:49 carb in my
1:18:49 diet.
1:18:50 Yes.
1:18:50 Basically
1:18:51 consuming no
1:18:51 sugar.
1:18:54 What do you
1:18:54 think of the
1:18:55 keto diet?
1:18:56 What’s been your
1:18:56 experience with
1:18:56 it?
1:18:58 It can be
1:18:58 and I think
1:18:59 you’re one of
1:19:00 those that would
1:19:01 get a lot of
1:19:02 benefit from it
1:19:04 because it, I
1:19:05 mean, sugars
1:19:06 are, you know,
1:19:07 they’re in a lot
1:19:07 of vegetable
1:19:08 material and of
1:19:09 course unfortunately
1:19:09 we have sugar
1:19:10 now as an
1:19:12 added to our
1:19:12 diets.
1:19:14 They tend to
1:19:15 slow down
1:19:15 various parts of
1:19:16 your metabolism
1:19:16 and they tend
1:19:18 to make
1:19:18 metabolism a
1:19:19 bit more like
1:19:20 hard work and
1:19:20 so if you take
1:19:21 those out and
1:19:22 some of the
1:19:23 more sugar
1:19:24 producing carbs
1:19:25 then you’re
1:19:26 freeing up a
1:19:26 lot of energy.
1:19:28 So a lot
1:19:29 of people on
1:19:30 keto diets
1:19:31 find that, you
1:19:32 know, they’re
1:19:32 sharper.
1:19:33 That’s probably
1:19:33 what you do.
1:19:35 But there are
1:19:37 potential downsides.
1:19:39 Interestingly, you
1:19:39 know, and the
1:19:40 first thought was
1:19:41 well that can’t
1:19:41 be very good for
1:19:42 your microbiome
1:19:43 because they rely
1:19:46 on vegetable
1:19:46 material to a
1:19:47 large part.
1:19:48 But when we’ve
1:19:49 looked at the
1:19:50 microbiome of
1:19:52 keto, after
1:19:53 keto diets, it’s
1:19:53 not as, it’s
1:19:54 actually there’s
1:19:55 some good guys
1:19:55 things that
1:19:56 re-emerge
1:19:57 with a keto
1:19:58 diet.
1:19:59 So it’s a
1:19:59 mixed bag.
1:20:01 The only thing
1:20:02 is that when you
1:20:03 don’t have as
1:20:04 many plants in
1:20:05 your diet, then
1:20:06 there’s slightly
1:20:06 more strain on
1:20:07 things like liver
1:20:08 and kidney
1:20:08 function.
1:20:10 So someone who’s
1:20:11 taking keto for
1:20:12 a long term, it’s
1:20:13 always a good idea
1:20:13 to check that
1:20:14 they’re okay.
1:20:16 And some of the
1:20:17 more long-term
1:20:18 concerns have been
1:20:18 around kidney.
1:20:20 because if there’s
1:20:20 a lot more of
1:20:21 the animal-based
1:20:23 material in
1:20:24 food, then
1:20:26 that can be
1:20:26 more hard work
1:20:27 for the
1:20:27 kidney.
1:20:29 So it’s always
1:20:29 worth checking
1:20:30 that those
1:20:31 functions are
1:20:32 doing well.
1:20:33 But I come
1:20:33 back to the
1:20:34 point, there
1:20:35 is no one
1:20:36 size fits all.
1:20:37 We are
1:20:38 omnivores, we’re
1:20:39 designed to eat
1:20:39 almost anything.
1:20:42 My girlfriend,
1:20:43 she’s doing keto
1:20:44 as well, and she
1:20:44 noticed that her
1:20:45 menstrual cycle
1:20:46 became more
1:20:46 regular.
1:20:47 Yes.
1:20:48 She was
1:20:48 shocked by
1:20:49 it, and
1:20:49 she’s really
1:20:50 done a lot
1:20:50 of A-B
1:20:51 testing over
1:20:52 the last
1:20:52 couple of
1:20:52 years.
1:20:53 And whenever
1:20:54 she’s in a
1:20:55 ketogenic diet,
1:20:56 very low-carb,
1:20:57 very low-sugar diet
1:20:59 for six weeks,
1:21:00 she was shocked
1:21:01 that she could
1:21:02 predict the day
1:21:03 when her period
1:21:04 would come.
1:21:05 And outside of
1:21:06 that, sometimes
1:21:07 it’s really
1:21:09 varying.
1:21:10 Well, there’s a
1:21:10 very good point
1:21:11 about keto.
1:21:12 One of the most
1:21:12 effective things
1:21:13 that keto does
1:21:15 is it reduces
1:21:16 insulin resistance.
1:21:18 which is
1:21:18 something that
1:21:19 most of us
1:21:20 suffer as we
1:21:21 get older and
1:21:22 larger, as we
1:21:23 get through our
1:21:23 life.
1:21:25 Insulin is the
1:21:25 hormone that
1:21:27 packs sugar away
1:21:29 into the tissues
1:21:30 and into the
1:21:30 liver.
1:21:33 And thank God,
1:21:33 because if we
1:21:34 didn’t have
1:21:35 insulin, we
1:21:35 would have
1:21:36 diabetes.
1:21:39 Insulin
1:21:42 resistance is
1:21:43 growing, and
1:21:44 that leads to
1:21:46 diabetes increasingly.
1:21:47 diabetes is, in
1:21:48 many, most
1:21:48 parts of the
1:21:49 world now, is
1:21:50 becoming another
1:21:51 big health issue.
1:21:52 And it’s mainly
1:21:53 because we have
1:21:53 too many carbs,
1:21:55 too much sugar in
1:21:55 the diet, because
1:21:57 whenever we eat
1:21:57 sugar, particularly
1:21:59 sugar, there’s
1:22:00 more work for the
1:22:00 insulin to do, so
1:22:01 it gets more
1:22:02 likely to get run
1:22:02 down and tired.
1:22:04 When you’re on a
1:22:05 keto diet, it’s
1:22:07 been observed that
1:22:09 you get more
1:22:10 insulin sensitive.
1:22:12 So in other
1:22:12 words, insulin
1:22:13 works better.
1:22:14 So you can
1:22:15 reverse early
1:22:16 stages of
1:22:17 diabetes by
1:22:17 switching to a
1:22:18 keto, for
1:22:18 example.
1:22:20 Now, interestingly,
1:22:22 many menstrual
1:22:23 problems are
1:22:24 linked to
1:22:26 insulin resistance,
1:22:27 and there’s
1:22:27 something called
1:22:29 PCOS, which
1:22:30 affects quite a
1:22:31 lot of women
1:22:33 now, in which
1:22:34 the ovaries
1:22:35 basically produce
1:22:36 more hormone-
1:22:38 producing cysts,
1:22:39 polycystic
1:22:40 ovary syndrome,
1:22:42 and that is
1:22:43 increasingly linked
1:22:44 with insulin
1:22:44 resistance.
1:22:46 So it affects
1:22:47 people who are
1:22:48 more likely to
1:22:49 be in the
1:22:49 pre-diabetic
1:22:51 phase, putting
1:22:51 on weight and
1:22:52 that sort of
1:22:52 thing.
1:22:54 The insulin
1:22:55 resistance itself
1:22:57 switches the
1:22:59 hormone balance,
1:23:00 and the
1:23:00 menstrual cycle
1:23:02 is a wonderful
1:23:03 choreography.
1:23:04 I mean, when
1:23:05 you think about
1:23:05 it, you know,
1:23:06 all around the
1:23:08 world, it’s a
1:23:08 pretty predictable
1:23:10 cycle, and it
1:23:11 runs itself.
1:23:12 But if there’s
1:23:12 something like
1:23:13 insulin resistance
1:23:14 getting in the
1:23:15 way, then that
1:23:16 can disrupt
1:23:17 the hormone.
1:23:19 So someone
1:23:19 like your
1:23:20 girlfriend might
1:23:21 find that
1:23:21 switching to a
1:23:22 keto diet
1:23:24 abolishes or
1:23:25 reduces that
1:23:25 disruptor.
1:23:27 Yeah, I was
1:23:28 just reading some
1:23:29 stats on that.
1:23:30 It said 80% of
1:23:31 women with PCOS
1:23:32 have some degree
1:23:32 of insulin
1:23:34 resistance, even
1:23:35 those who aren’t
1:23:36 overweight, and my
1:23:36 girlfriend does
1:23:37 have PCOS, which
1:23:37 she’s talked
1:23:38 about publicly
1:23:38 before.
1:23:39 So it’s no
1:23:40 surprise that
1:23:42 when she comes
1:23:43 off, she takes
1:23:43 sugar out of
1:23:44 her diet, her
1:23:45 menstrual cycle
1:23:46 seems to fall
1:23:46 back in line.
1:23:48 And I think
1:23:48 there’s also
1:23:49 links to
1:23:50 insulin resistance,
1:23:52 PCOS, and
1:23:53 I guess ovulation
1:23:53 infertility.
1:23:55 Yes, it is so.
1:23:56 I think, I mean,
1:23:58 the modern woman,
1:23:59 the modern man,
1:23:59 for that matter,
1:24:00 has a whole
1:24:01 string of burdens
1:24:02 to carry because
1:24:02 we have too much
1:24:03 sugar.
1:24:04 I mean, when you
1:24:04 think about it,
1:24:06 you know, sugar
1:24:07 only emerged as
1:24:07 a common
1:24:08 ingredient, you
1:24:10 know, 140
1:24:11 years ago, 150
1:24:11 years ago.
1:24:13 Up till that
1:24:13 time, only very
1:24:14 rich people could
1:24:15 afford it.
1:24:16 Then we had the
1:24:17 industrial sugar
1:24:20 production, and a
1:24:21 lot of slaves over
1:24:22 in America is
1:24:23 producing vast
1:24:24 amounts of cane
1:24:24 sugar.
1:24:26 That is a modern
1:24:27 phenomenon, and our
1:24:28 bodies were designed
1:24:29 to deal with the
1:24:30 amount of sugar
1:24:31 that we now feed
1:24:31 it.
1:24:33 And it does put a
1:24:33 strain on the
1:24:34 system, and
1:24:35 insulin is one of
1:24:36 the guys caught
1:24:36 in the mix.
1:24:38 So if you’re
1:24:39 trying to have
1:24:40 kids, which we
1:24:42 are now, I
1:24:42 guess you want to
1:24:44 remove the…
1:24:44 If that’s a
1:24:45 factor, I would
1:24:46 be looking at
1:24:46 reducing your
1:24:47 sugar intake at the
1:24:48 very least, yeah.
1:24:49 I mean, we
1:24:51 spend, I spend a
1:24:52 lot of time with
1:24:54 women who are
1:24:55 having difficulty
1:24:56 conceiving, and
1:24:57 you know, I
1:24:59 think I have
1:25:00 about 13 herb
1:25:01 babies, you
1:25:02 know, in other
1:25:04 words, babies who
1:25:05 were born with
1:25:05 women who were
1:25:07 having challenges
1:25:09 getting pregnant.
1:25:10 And that was
1:25:11 mainly, I think,
1:25:12 because we were
1:25:12 stabilising the
1:25:13 menstrual cycle and
1:25:15 making the fertile
1:25:16 phase a bit more
1:25:17 productive.
1:25:18 And what do you
1:25:19 say to those
1:25:19 women?
1:25:21 What do you
1:25:22 prescribe, I
1:25:22 guess?
1:25:24 I do.
1:25:25 I mean, that’s my
1:25:25 business.
1:25:26 I will be
1:25:27 prescribing, so you
1:25:27 see there’s some
1:25:28 bottles there.
1:25:29 These are the
1:25:30 sort of things
1:25:30 that we use in
1:25:31 the practice.
1:25:34 So I’ve given, I’ve
1:25:35 got a couple here
1:25:38 that just, you
1:25:39 know, the sense, the
1:25:40 smell sense.
1:25:41 So this is fennel,
1:25:42 which we all think
1:25:44 we know, but these
1:25:46 are very strong
1:25:47 extractions that
1:25:48 only practitioners
1:25:48 use.
1:25:49 So these are
1:25:49 practitioner-owned
1:25:50 supplies.
1:25:52 And when you
1:25:52 smell it, you
1:25:55 realise that they
1:25:55 are strong.
1:25:59 So a teaspoon of
1:26:00 that is a really
1:26:01 powerful.
1:26:03 Now, if you
1:26:06 really want to
1:26:08 realise the
1:26:09 power of herbs,
1:26:12 this is a
1:26:12 remedy called
1:26:13 Echinacea, and a
1:26:14 lot of people know
1:26:15 about Echinacea, and
1:26:16 it’s a major
1:26:16 supplement.
1:26:19 This is a root
1:26:21 extraction from a
1:26:22 variety of, a
1:26:23 species of Echinacea
1:26:24 called Angustifolia.
1:26:25 And I’m just going to
1:26:26 put a little bit in
1:26:26 there.
1:26:27 I’m going to
1:26:28 taste it myself
1:26:28 before I give it
1:26:30 to you so I’m not
1:26:31 poisoning you.
1:26:33 So you just take
1:26:35 a little.
1:26:41 Do I put it on my
1:26:41 skin or?
1:26:41 Put it on.
1:26:43 Or did you want me
1:26:44 to shot that?
1:26:44 Just lick it.
1:26:47 Whoa.
1:26:49 Wow.
1:26:49 Wow.
1:26:52 Hmm.
1:26:54 So these are the
1:26:55 sort of things, this
1:26:56 is just a
1:26:57 particularly striking
1:26:58 example of the
1:26:59 sort of things that
1:26:59 we use in the
1:27:00 practice.
1:27:02 And so some of
1:27:04 the women that
1:27:04 come to me, for
1:27:05 example, with
1:27:06 fertility or
1:27:06 menstrual problems
1:27:07 will go out with a
1:27:08 mix of herbs
1:27:10 drawn like this
1:27:11 from about a
1:27:11 hundred or so
1:27:13 different plants
1:27:14 that I have on the
1:27:14 shelves.
1:27:16 And they are
1:27:17 often, as I said
1:27:20 earlier, remedies
1:27:22 developed by women.
1:27:25 And incidentally, North
1:27:27 America is a prime
1:27:28 site for some
1:27:29 really powerful
1:27:31 women’s remedies.
1:27:33 And interestingly,
1:27:34 when you look at
1:27:35 them, you find
1:27:36 they contain plants
1:27:37 equivalent of
1:27:37 steroids.
1:27:39 They’re not
1:27:39 steroids, but they
1:27:40 seem to interact
1:27:41 with our own
1:27:43 hormone mechanism.
1:27:44 And some of
1:27:44 them were
1:27:45 particularly good
1:27:46 at re-timing
1:27:47 the menstrual
1:27:48 cycle.
1:27:49 And the one or
1:27:50 two that were
1:27:52 particularly warned
1:27:53 women should not
1:27:54 take unless they
1:27:54 wish to be
1:27:54 pregnant.
1:27:55 So effective,
1:27:56 were they?
1:27:57 What’s that
1:27:58 doing to you?
1:27:58 It’s still right
1:27:59 on the edge of
1:27:59 my tongue.
1:28:00 It’s like, it’s
1:28:01 more, so
1:28:02 basically, for
1:28:02 anyone that
1:28:03 can’t see what
1:28:03 we’re doing
1:28:03 because you’re
1:28:04 listening on
1:28:05 audio, he put
1:28:05 a little drop
1:28:06 of this solution
1:28:08 Echinacea on
1:28:09 my finger.
1:28:10 And I licked
1:28:11 it off my
1:28:11 finger.
1:28:13 And at first
1:28:13 I was like,
1:28:14 there was this
1:28:15 sort of taste
1:28:15 journey, which
1:28:16 was interesting,
1:28:16 it kind of
1:28:16 tastes like
1:28:17 Maggi seasoning,
1:28:18 some kind of
1:28:18 food seasoning.
1:28:20 I’m now 60
1:28:21 seconds later, and
1:28:22 I can still, it’s
1:28:23 like got more
1:28:23 intense.
1:28:24 It’s a bit
1:28:25 like fireworks
1:28:25 going on.
1:28:25 Yeah, it’s
1:28:26 like fireworks
1:28:26 going off in
1:28:26 my mouth.
1:28:27 And all it
1:28:27 was, it was a
1:28:28 little lick of
1:28:28 it.
1:28:30 It’s getting
1:28:30 spicy.
1:28:31 What we use
1:28:32 that for is
1:28:34 for infections
1:28:35 or problems
1:28:35 of the mouth
1:28:36 and the throat
1:28:36 particularly.
1:28:38 What’s it
1:28:38 doing?
1:28:40 Well, you
1:28:40 know, you
1:28:41 have to use
1:28:41 a bit of
1:28:42 unscientific
1:28:42 language here.
1:28:43 But remember
1:28:44 I talked about
1:28:44 the Marines,
1:28:45 you know, the
1:28:45 guys who do
1:28:46 all the
1:28:46 battling for
1:28:46 us.
1:28:47 A lot of
1:28:47 them hang
1:28:47 out.
1:28:48 Their barracks
1:28:48 are in the
1:28:48 throat.
1:28:49 You know, we’ve
1:28:50 got tonsils,
1:28:50 we’ve got
1:28:50 adenoids,
1:28:52 we’ve got the
1:28:52 glands that run
1:28:53 down our neck
1:28:54 here that
1:28:54 sometimes get
1:28:55 swelled up.
1:28:55 You know, if
1:28:56 we’ve got an
1:28:57 infection in
1:28:58 this area, you
1:28:59 have to take
1:28:59 something to
1:28:59 take the
1:29:00 taste away.
1:29:02 It sometimes
1:29:03 gets in the
1:29:03 way of talking
1:29:03 as well.
1:29:04 And I was
1:29:05 hesitating before
1:29:06 giving it to
1:29:06 you, didn’t
1:29:07 want to stop
1:29:08 you in your
1:29:09 stairs.
1:29:09 But what’s
1:29:10 that tingling,
1:29:13 cut as I
1:29:13 said a rather
1:29:14 confusing story
1:29:15 short, those
1:29:16 are constituents
1:29:17 that almost
1:29:18 seem to talk
1:29:19 directly to
1:29:20 those white
1:29:21 blood cells and
1:29:21 make them
1:29:23 more active.
1:29:25 And so
1:29:27 echinacea, in
1:29:27 that form
1:29:29 particularly, works
1:29:31 primarily on the
1:29:31 front line, shall
1:29:32 we call it, of
1:29:33 our immune
1:29:35 system, these
1:29:36 battlers that
1:29:37 sit up there.
1:29:39 And so often
1:29:40 that’s where you
1:29:40 want to start
1:29:41 the job.
1:29:42 And you might
1:29:42 have an
1:29:43 infection somewhere
1:29:43 else in the
1:29:44 body, but if
1:29:45 you can work
1:29:46 up here with
1:29:47 these guys, you
1:29:48 can kick off
1:29:48 all sorts of
1:29:49 benefits.
1:29:50 And as you’ve
1:29:51 just discovered,
1:29:51 it doesn’t
1:29:52 take long.
1:29:54 So who
1:29:54 should be
1:29:55 thinking about
1:29:55 echinacea?
1:29:57 Certainly if
1:29:58 you’ve got an
1:29:59 upper respiratory
1:30:00 problem, and
1:30:02 you do need to
1:30:02 get that tingle
1:30:03 if you want to
1:30:03 get that
1:30:04 particular effect.
1:30:05 I mean, you
1:30:05 can have
1:30:05 echinacea in
1:30:06 other forms,
1:30:07 pills and
1:30:08 tablets and so
1:30:09 on, and there
1:30:10 are some which
1:30:11 don’t have that
1:30:12 tingle factor,
1:30:12 they’ve got other
1:30:13 elements to it.
1:30:14 But for the
1:30:15 tingle factor,
1:30:16 it’s anything to
1:30:17 do with an
1:30:18 infection that
1:30:19 has a link to
1:30:20 what’s going
1:30:21 on up here.
1:30:21 And that
1:30:22 could be for
1:30:23 lower down in
1:30:23 the gut as
1:30:23 well, because
1:30:25 our gut begins
1:30:26 up here as
1:30:26 well.
1:30:27 But it could
1:30:28 be a sinus
1:30:28 problem, it
1:30:29 could be a
1:30:29 middle ear
1:30:30 problem, it
1:30:30 could be a
1:30:31 throat problem,
1:30:32 it could be a
1:30:32 gum problem.
1:30:34 We’ve got all
1:30:34 sorts of gum
1:30:36 problems and all
1:30:37 sorts of problems
1:30:37 we have with
1:30:37 mouth.
1:30:39 We’ve got a
1:30:40 microbiome up
1:30:41 here as well.
1:30:43 This can, with
1:30:44 one or two other
1:30:44 things, some of
1:30:45 the plants we
1:30:46 use in this
1:30:47 form contain
1:30:47 resins.
1:30:50 an example is
1:30:51 frankincenses.
1:30:52 We’ve got some
1:30:52 tablets there.
1:30:53 These ones?
1:30:53 Yeah.
1:30:55 Otherwise known as
1:30:56 boswellia.
1:30:57 And this just
1:30:58 comes in the
1:31:00 form of
1:31:00 tablets.
1:31:04 And they just
1:31:04 look like any
1:31:05 other tablets
1:31:05 except for that
1:31:06 sort of greeny
1:31:07 yellow colour
1:31:08 because that’s
1:31:09 just ground up
1:31:12 resin.
1:31:13 What’s
1:31:13 resin?
1:31:14 Resin, we
1:31:15 know about that
1:31:16 because it’s the
1:31:16 sort of thing you
1:31:17 get out of pine
1:31:19 trees, you know,
1:31:19 that very tacky
1:31:20 stuff.
1:31:22 All we need to
1:31:22 do is remember
1:31:23 the Bible story.
1:31:25 There were three
1:31:26 gifts that the
1:31:27 baby Jesus got,
1:31:28 didn’t he, for
1:31:28 his birthday from
1:31:29 those wise men.
1:31:31 One was gold,
1:31:31 fair enough.
1:31:32 The other two
1:31:33 were resins,
1:31:34 myrrh and
1:31:34 frankincense.
1:31:35 This is the
1:31:36 frankincense.
1:31:38 I use myrrh in
1:31:39 a liquid form
1:31:41 and you almost
1:31:42 like you’re lining
1:31:43 the mouth with
1:31:45 this resin,
1:31:45 you know.
1:31:48 It’s, when
1:31:50 you put some
1:31:51 myrrh on the
1:31:51 mouth you
1:31:52 definitely feel
1:31:54 the mucosa
1:31:55 firing up.
1:31:56 And it was
1:31:57 most widely
1:31:59 used medicine
1:32:00 and the reason
1:32:01 why it was so
1:32:02 valued in those
1:32:03 days by the
1:32:04 three wise men
1:32:05 is because myrrh
1:32:07 was, first of
1:32:07 had to bring
1:32:08 it out of
1:32:09 Africa, you
1:32:09 know, which
1:32:09 is where it
1:32:10 comes from.
1:32:13 Remember the
1:32:14 Queen of Sheba
1:32:15 who married
1:32:16 Solomon, you
1:32:16 know, in the
1:32:17 old Bible
1:32:19 story, Queen
1:32:19 of Sheba had
1:32:20 the trade
1:32:20 routes of
1:32:22 East Africa
1:32:22 sorted, so
1:32:24 Solomon married
1:32:24 wisely by
1:32:25 marrying the
1:32:26 Queen of Sheba
1:32:27 because she
1:32:28 had the
1:32:29 monopoly on
1:32:30 myrrh,
1:32:32 particularly, and
1:32:32 on frankincense.
1:32:34 those, and
1:32:36 Echinacea, maybe
1:32:37 with a licorice to
1:32:38 help it work
1:32:39 well, are
1:32:41 amazing at
1:32:42 reducing
1:32:43 infections in
1:32:44 this area, in
1:32:45 the mouth and
1:32:45 the throat and
1:32:46 the sinuses and
1:32:48 the areas around.
1:32:51 It completely
1:32:51 blows my mind
1:32:52 that most people
1:32:53 will lock their
1:32:53 front door before
1:32:54 they leave the
1:32:54 house, but
1:32:55 they’ll sit in a
1:32:55 coffee shop,
1:32:56 connect to the
1:32:57 public Wi-Fi
1:32:58 and log into
1:32:58 their bank without
1:32:59 a second
1:33:00 thought.
1:33:01 Every time you
1:33:01 go online in a
1:33:02 shop, in an
1:33:03 airport or a
1:33:04 hotel, you’re
1:33:04 trusting the
1:33:06 Wi-Fi is safe, but
1:33:08 often it’s not, which
1:33:09 makes your online
1:33:10 data vulnerable because
1:33:11 all it takes is one
1:33:12 person with the
1:33:13 wrong intentions to
1:33:14 steal everything, your
1:33:15 passwords, your
1:33:16 private messages, even
1:33:16 your identity.
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1:34:49 I will speak to you there.
1:34:58 Do you think that things like
1:34:59 water fasts, people are doing
1:35:00 a lot of these sort of water
1:35:02 fasts and these sort of seven
1:35:03 day prolonged fasts are
1:35:05 effective medicines?
1:35:08 My usual answer when I’m
1:35:10 faced with a question and
1:35:11 what someone needs to ask
1:35:12 from is to think back a bit.
1:35:14 What did humans evolve to do?
1:35:16 And when we were
1:35:17 hunter-gatherers, which, you
1:35:18 know, was three or four
1:35:19 hundred thousand years we
1:35:21 were hunter-gatherers, and
1:35:22 what we’re doing now is a
1:35:24 tiny, but we evolved to eat
1:35:26 intermittently.
1:35:28 You know, when you’re a
1:35:29 hunter-gatherer, there are
1:35:29 times when you’re not eating
1:35:31 at all, especially off-season,
1:35:33 and you get very hungry, and
1:35:34 then you eat a lot and you
1:35:35 have a big feast.
1:35:38 So I think our systems were
1:35:39 designed to be intermittent
1:35:41 fasting, and fasting is
1:35:43 probably part of our gene
1:35:43 makeup.
1:35:45 You know, that’s what we
1:35:46 were, in a sense, meant to
1:35:47 do.
1:35:49 So the fundamental principle
1:35:50 of fasting is probably
1:35:51 right on.
1:35:54 Issue is, is that sometimes
1:35:56 if your metabolism, your
1:35:59 digestion, your hormones, or
1:36:00 other functions are not at
1:36:04 prime place, fasting,
1:36:05 particularly if it’s extended,
1:36:06 can actually be damaging.
1:36:09 so you do need a bit of
1:36:10 advice if you’re going down
1:36:11 that route, just to make
1:36:12 sure it’s okay for you.
1:36:15 And at the start of the
1:36:16 conversation, you referenced
1:36:17 that you deal with a lot of
1:36:18 cancer patients.
1:36:19 I think you said one-third?
1:36:22 About a third of my, a
1:36:23 quarter, maybe a quarter to a
1:36:25 third, yeah, are living with
1:36:25 cancer.
1:36:27 Living with cancer.
1:36:28 Which is something that’s
1:36:29 relatively new, remember,
1:36:31 because, I mean, that is a
1:36:34 testament to what modern medicine
1:36:34 has done.
1:36:36 Because when I started out all
1:36:39 those decades ago, most people
1:36:40 died with cancer.
1:36:42 We’re increasingly getting people
1:36:43 living with cancer for extended
1:36:44 periods of time.
1:36:48 and, you know, the cancer is not,
1:36:50 I mean, there are things we can do
1:36:52 to help, and there is evidence to
1:36:54 show that we can help reduce the
1:36:55 risk at least, and if not,
1:36:59 sometimes the virulence of cancer.
1:37:01 But mostly what we’re doing is
1:37:03 helping people to function better
1:37:06 while they’ve been through chemo or
1:37:07 various other treatments, while
1:37:08 they’re still recovering from the
1:37:09 cancer and its effects.
1:37:11 And it could be digestion, could
1:37:13 be things like sleep, it could
1:37:14 be, you know, all sorts of other
1:37:15 things that we can do to help.
1:37:18 So there’s the preventative
1:37:19 element, which is doing things
1:37:20 within your sort of lifestyle
1:37:23 choices, your diet, to reduce the
1:37:25 likelihood you’ll get cancer.
1:37:27 But then once you have it, there’s
1:37:29 ways you can use herbs and other
1:37:31 sort of remedies to better deal
1:37:34 with life, generally.
1:37:37 When you think about cancer
1:37:40 prevention, do you think that one
1:37:41 of the most powerful things we can
1:37:43 do is to focus on what we’re
1:37:44 putting inside our bodies?
1:37:44 Yes.
1:37:46 And, you know, we’ve learned about
1:37:48 cigarettes a long time ago, and
1:37:49 there are other foods that have
1:37:52 got a higher risk of cancer.
1:37:53 We talk about, you know, processed
1:37:55 meats, for example, that’s
1:37:56 increasingly being seen as a
1:37:57 cancer risk.
1:37:59 But I suggest that the main risk
1:38:02 in cancer is just poor diets
1:38:04 generally, too much fat, too much
1:38:06 carbs, too much sugar, all at once
1:38:07 usually.
1:38:10 And that strains the body in a way
1:38:10 it wasn’t meant.
1:38:13 And there is evidence to show that by
1:38:16 correcting poor diet, you can prevent
1:38:18 cancer increasingly.
1:38:19 That’s accepted.
1:38:21 I’m pretty sure that the cardiovascular
1:38:24 diseases are the single biggest killer
1:38:24 still.
1:38:27 Cardiovascular in the West we’re talking
1:38:28 about, so in developed countries.
1:38:32 Catching up, I’m afraid, in other parts
1:38:34 of the world where they adopt more
1:38:35 Western lifestyles.
1:38:38 But that’s a combination of food and
1:38:41 poor, lower level of exercise that
1:38:43 we’re putting our finger on there.
1:38:46 There’s also cardiovascular disease
1:38:48 is another form of long-term
1:38:49 inflammation.
1:38:52 And increasingly, that’s been
1:38:52 understood.
1:38:54 You know, it’s not just fat or
1:38:56 cholesterol or blood pressure.
1:38:59 It’s an inflammatory mechanism going
1:39:01 on that’s causing the harm.
1:39:03 And that’s increasingly accepted by
1:39:04 cardiologists and such.
1:39:08 So if I’m trying to reduce my chances
1:39:10 of having some kind of heart-related
1:39:12 issue, are there any herbs or any
1:39:14 products here that you think are
1:39:14 beneficial?
1:39:16 Mostly it’s the food.
1:39:17 When we’re talking about long-term
1:39:20 cardiovascular health, we have plants
1:39:22 that we use to manage
1:39:26 cardiac or cardiovascular problems.
1:39:27 I mean, the classic that a lot of
1:39:29 people know about is the hawthorn or
1:39:30 the mayflower.
1:39:32 But the hawthorn, particularly the
1:39:35 flower and the leaf, used to be a
1:39:38 regular home remedy that people used
1:39:41 to use and drink as a tea for all
1:39:43 sorts of reasons, you know, managing
1:39:45 fevers and all sorts of things like
1:39:45 that.
1:39:49 But we can now see regular hawthorn
1:39:51 consumption, hawthorn leaf consumption,
1:39:53 as a preventative for some of the
1:39:55 problems of cardiovascular, just as an
1:39:55 example.
1:39:59 I would use spices as my main go-to to
1:40:01 help to fend off cardiovascular
1:40:03 problems because they all have
1:40:05 vascular benefits.
1:40:07 Spices as in?
1:40:10 The ginger, the cinnamon we talked
1:40:10 about.
1:40:12 But here’s turmeric.
1:40:14 This is something we don’t usually
1:40:18 see in, but if you can see this, in
1:40:19 fact, if you cut that with your knife
1:40:19 there.
1:40:21 I’ve just cut it open.
1:40:23 Yeah, you’ll see it’s bright, yeah,
1:40:23 it’s bright orange.
1:40:29 That’s the curcumin that people use as
1:40:30 a supplement.
1:40:32 I’ve got curcumin at home.
1:40:34 I was advised to use that when I pulled
1:40:35 the ligaments in my ankle.
1:40:36 Yes.
1:40:37 It’s an anti-inflammatory, isn’t it?
1:40:40 You can see a little bit why I don’t
1:40:42 like using anti-inflammatory because I
1:40:44 like inflammation as a friend.
1:40:46 So what I prefer to talk about is they
1:40:49 modulate or support or manage
1:40:49 inflammation.
1:40:52 But turmeric is an extraordinary
1:40:53 remedy.
1:40:55 And here’s an interesting story.
1:40:58 We talk about we need curcumin from
1:41:00 turmeric and you’ll get a supplement
1:41:02 saying, you know, my turmeric has got
1:41:04 more curcumin than yours and it’s more
1:41:04 available.
1:41:08 The interesting point is that curcumin is
1:41:11 not absorbed by, into the body at all.
1:41:13 About one or two percent maybe.
1:41:17 The rest stays stubbornly in the gut.
1:41:20 And there’s a very good reason for that
1:41:23 because in any high dose, curcumin is
1:41:23 toxic.
1:41:26 So there’s a good reason for it staying in
1:41:26 the gut.
1:41:29 But there’s a lot of work on making more
1:41:31 bioavailable, getting the levels up in the
1:41:31 blood.
1:41:34 And if you add pepper, you might get
1:41:36 from one or two percent to two to three
1:41:36 percent, you know.
1:41:40 But it’s still small beer compared with the
1:41:44 amounts of turmeric that we take, the
1:41:46 amounts of curcumin that we take in an
1:41:46 ordinary curry.
1:41:49 So what’s going on and what is going on is
1:41:52 that curcumin and turmeric is one of the
1:41:56 best remedies we have for microbiome.
1:41:59 There’s a conversation going on.
1:42:02 The turmeric is encouraging the good guys.
1:42:04 The good guys are breaking turmeric and
1:42:07 curcumin down into more available materials
1:42:08 which are active.
1:42:12 It belongs in the gut and its inflammatory
1:42:16 modulating effects come mostly from the
1:42:19 products of the microbiome working on the
1:42:22 curcumin and moving through the body that
1:42:22 way.
1:42:26 So it’s a wonderful lesson in, you know,
1:42:30 that the medicine actually relies in this
1:42:34 case almost entirely on a good microbiome.
1:42:39 An effect that is reduced, by the way, if
1:42:40 you have a lot of antibiotics.
1:42:43 Okay, so my microbiome is really the
1:42:46 processing center for many of these things.
1:42:49 And if I have a bad gut microbiome because
1:42:50 I’ve been eating the wrong foods and I
1:42:53 haven’t had diversity of plants, then even
1:42:55 if I take some of these herbs that are
1:42:57 good for me, I won’t be able to process
1:42:58 them properly anyway.
1:43:00 Not as well as you might.
1:43:02 Yes, that is true.
1:43:07 We talk about, we’ve got probiotics, which
1:43:09 is the yogurts and the kimchis and the
1:43:11 kaffirs and so on, which are actually living
1:43:12 organisms.
1:43:14 They have to get through the stomach, by the
1:43:16 way, which is quite a hard deal because the
1:43:18 stomach’s job is to sterilize foods.
1:43:19 But some of them will get through.
1:43:22 Those are the probiotics.
1:43:24 The prebiotics are what we’ve been talking
1:43:24 about here.
1:43:28 The foods that will encourage the good guys in
1:43:29 the microbiome.
1:43:31 We’ve got a new kit on the block called
1:43:35 postbiotics, which is now an industrial term
1:43:38 used for killed bacteria, which are then
1:43:39 given as a medicine.
1:43:42 But technically a postbiotic is anything that
1:43:43 the bacteria produce.
1:43:47 And we’re learning that more and more of
1:43:49 what we eat, particularly from the plant
1:43:52 side, is converted by the microbiome into
1:43:53 medicines.
1:43:57 And all those polyphenols and the colorings
1:43:59 and so on are in that group.
1:44:02 So a lot of the benefits of polyphenols are
1:44:03 postbiotic benefits.
1:44:07 There was a study done in 2007 that showed
1:44:09 curcumin, I can’t even say it.
1:44:10 Curcumin.
1:44:15 That shows curcumin upregulates anti-oxidant
1:44:19 defenses and downregulates oxidative stress.
1:44:19 Yeah.
1:44:22 There was a study done in 2016, which is a
1:44:25 meta-analysis of random control trials found
1:44:28 curcumin comparable to ibuprofen in terms of
1:44:29 pain relief.
1:44:32 Answers your earlier question, doesn’t it?
1:44:35 And there’s a lot of, lots of studies that show
1:44:37 that it’s effective for people that have things
1:44:40 like arthritis and joint pains.
1:44:41 Yeah.
1:44:43 That was leaving the best to last.
1:44:45 Yeah.
1:44:49 There’s a lot of work on curcumin and turmeric.
1:44:51 As I said, a lot of people get confused because
1:44:53 they think the age only works if you absorb it into
1:44:56 the blood and I’m saying that actually you don’t.
1:45:00 What you do is you work with the microbiome to make it
1:45:00 useful.
1:45:04 And there’s early preclinical studies taking place
1:45:07 around the impact it can have with cancers and there’s
1:45:10 promising but early studies showing the impact that
1:45:12 curcumin that comes from turmeric can have on brain
1:45:12 health.
1:45:13 Yes.
1:45:15 Well, that’s definitely a big story.
1:45:19 But just on the, when you say preclinical, that usually
1:45:20 means that it does mean laboratory.
1:45:24 So that’s A, test tubes and B, rats and other animals.
1:45:28 None of those tell us what happens when we…
1:45:29 Put it in a human.
1:45:30 Put it in a human.
1:45:33 So all a preclinical study will do is point to a possible
1:45:34 effect.
1:45:36 And time again, pharmaceutical companies will tell you
1:45:39 this, you know, a promising preclinical lead doesn’t lead
1:45:43 to a medicine because it turns out to be atoxic or doesn’t
1:45:44 agree with humans.
1:45:47 So we take preclinical evidence with caution.
1:45:51 And we’re personally, I’m mostly interested in human
1:45:54 studies because that’s the only thing that makes any sense.
1:45:59 But you mentioned brain health, because here’s one of the big
1:46:01 gaps we have, don’t we?
1:46:05 Because we’ve got a lot of brain health issues right now.
1:46:09 Dementia is still going in the wrong direction.
1:46:14 It’s a very distressing thing if you have any in your family.
1:46:19 And increasingly, there’s people saying, what can we do to
1:46:20 prevent this?
1:46:23 And Alzheimer’s is all about there being the wrong sort of
1:46:25 protein and deposits in the brain.
1:46:31 But increasingly, the focus is switching on to the blood supply
1:46:37 to the brain, what we call the vascular effects on the brain.
1:46:40 And there’s something we used to call the blood-brain barrier,
1:46:44 which you’ve probably heard of, which is seen to be the place
1:46:48 where the barrier that stops a lot of stuff entering the brain
1:46:49 and potentially upsetting it.
1:46:53 We now know this blood-brain barrier is a very dynamic,
1:47:00 interesting interface between the brains, tissue, and the rest of us.
1:47:04 It’s now called the neurovascular unit, NVU.
1:47:06 And it is so exciting.
1:47:12 And the more we look at it so far, the more we find that the things that help
1:47:17 the neurovascular unit, the blood-brain barrier, are plants.
1:47:19 And we have green tea.
1:47:29 And, you know, if you really want to help our brain health, regular drinking of green tea,
1:47:32 you know, it’s been shown to be really useful.
1:47:36 Not that, rather than the supplement, by the way, is the drink that you have.
1:47:38 Oh, I put it in here.
1:47:40 Right.
1:47:41 So we can make it.
1:47:48 So as you make that, can you explain to me why green tea is a good idea?
1:47:53 Because it contains a number of, again, polyphenols.
1:47:55 And polyphenols are those?
1:47:55 These colours.
1:47:56 These colours, yeah.
1:47:57 In this case, it’s green, obviously.
1:48:03 And remember, green tea is just the smoked, unprocessed part of the tea leaf.
1:48:07 It’s a plant called Camellia sinensis.
1:48:14 So this is a nice Japanese teapot.
1:48:16 That’s the sort of thing you’d have green tea in.
1:48:21 And these are the mugs, but we’ve filled these up already with ginger and cinnamon.
1:48:24 So let’s leave it for a moment.
1:48:26 But we can, while it’s sitting there for a while,
1:48:30 there are a number of these polyphenols in green tea
1:48:36 that seem to be particularly effective in modulating that barrier
1:48:40 that we talked about, the neurovascular unit between the brain and the rest of us.
1:48:45 And there’s all sorts of reasons why regular consumption of green tea
1:48:48 seems to be linked to less of this sort of trouble.
1:48:50 What sort of trouble?
1:48:51 The dementia-type problems.
1:48:54 Cognitive decline as you get older.
1:48:57 Do they find that in cultures where they drink a lot of green tea,
1:48:57 they have less dementia?
1:49:00 Yeah, but that doesn’t mean there’s a cause and effect.
1:49:02 So you need a few other things to establish that.
1:49:09 What we’re finding is that other plants have very likely powerful effects in this area.
1:49:10 And I mentioned the rosemary.
1:49:15 Now, all you need to do to appreciate rosemary is to press it and sniff.
1:49:19 Oh, it smells so good.
1:49:20 Really nice.
1:49:25 That’s not just nice because what you’re doing there is you’re inhaling volatile oils,
1:49:27 the things that give the smell.
1:49:31 And when you’re inhaling, they’re literally going into your brain
1:49:36 because part of the brain actually reaches the outside world.
1:49:39 It’s called the olfactory lobe and it’s right at the top of the nose here.
1:49:43 And when you inhale something, it literally moves into the brain
1:49:47 and from there into the limbic system.
1:49:51 Remember, there’s a line in a Shakespeare play called Hamlet.
1:49:54 Ophelia, the young lady, says,
1:49:57 Rosemary, that’s for remembrance.
1:50:02 Because everyone knew that this improved cognitive functions.
1:50:05 When I was working on our campus in Maryland,
1:50:08 we actually did a clinical trial with rosemary
1:50:12 in people struggling with their crosswords as they get older
1:50:15 and found that although it wasn’t a conclusive study,
1:50:20 there were pointers to it improving cognitive performance in those people.
1:50:24 And there’s been other studies since that reinforced that.
1:50:27 I would say that rosemary is one of the ones to watch
1:50:29 in terms of long-term brain health.
1:50:33 There’s another remedy called Ginkgo that a lot of people know about,
1:50:37 which is used as a prescription medicine in Europe
1:50:39 for cardiovascular problems.
1:50:43 And that’s been shown to be likely useful
1:50:47 and using the same sort of mechanisms as we’ve seen here
1:50:48 and with the green tea.
1:50:50 I’ll check it here.
1:50:51 Yeah, that looks all right.
1:50:57 You see it’s more yellow than green.
1:51:02 And this is flavoured with a little bit of mint
1:51:05 to make it a little more agreeable.
1:51:08 Sometimes people find green tea is not their favourite taste.
1:51:11 Green tea is rich in polyphenols,
1:51:15 which are linked to benefits ranging from heart and brain health
1:51:17 to fat loss and cancer prevention.
1:51:22 It’s got a nice minty flavour.
1:51:23 Yeah.
1:51:25 You could live with that, couldn’t you?
1:51:25 Yeah.
1:51:25 Yeah.
1:51:27 My girlfriend, again, she’s all over this stuff.
1:51:28 She’s always bloody right.
1:51:32 Well, you know that or learned that lesson a long time ago.
1:51:32 I know, right?
1:51:34 Like, I say it all the time on this podcast,
1:51:36 but she’s always like two, three years ahead
1:51:39 of what then someone really, really smart comes and tells me.
1:51:41 And I spend those two or three years in denial.
1:51:43 I’m like, what the fuck is she doing over there?
1:51:45 Don’t get me started on cacao.
1:51:47 If you start talking to me about cacao, I’m going to leave.
1:51:48 No, no, no, no, no.
1:51:49 She’s been telling me that.
1:51:52 I’m going to nail this because there’s a lot of people listening
1:51:53 who will want to hear this.
1:51:53 Okay.
1:51:54 Cocoa.
1:51:55 Yeah.
1:51:58 Chocolate, dark chocolate, is a medicine.
1:52:00 End of.
1:52:05 One of the best medicines around is 50 grams,
1:52:09 100 grams of 75% or more dark chocolate.
1:52:10 Do you know what?
1:52:11 I’ve just realised.
1:52:12 My girlfriend, she’s going to live till she’s 150
1:52:19 because she eats 90% or something, 80% dark chocolate.
1:52:22 She drinks green tea all day.
1:52:27 She has the ginger and cinnamon drinks all day.
1:52:30 She eats the full rainbow.
1:52:32 She should be sipping in for you.
1:52:32 I know.
1:52:33 I know.
1:52:33 Exactly.
1:52:39 No, Cocoa, seriously, brain health as well,
1:52:41 cardiovascular health.
1:52:47 I mean, they do studies where they’ve put cocoa into volunteers.
1:52:48 It means students, usually.
1:52:50 You know, so young kids.
1:52:56 And they were able to show changes in the blood flow within minutes,
1:53:00 certainly within an hour of eating cocoa.
1:53:03 Beneficial changes in your blood flow.
1:53:05 They call it the heart medicine.
1:53:07 Heart, circulation, brain.
1:53:11 So she’s, my girlfriend’s very spiritual.
1:53:13 She runs a business called Bali Breathwork.
1:53:15 Hashtag ad if I have to say that.
1:53:18 But in her business, one of the things she does at the very start of the session
1:53:23 with women all over the world that come to her retreats is she makes cacao for them.
1:53:30 And you notice instantly how people change when they’ve had a hot cup of cacao.
1:53:33 It’s all, and she says it like almost brings out their heart.
1:53:36 And I guess that’s because of the circulation reasons.
1:53:36 It is.
1:53:43 But it also, of course, we know it contains a few other beneficial stimulating effects.
1:53:48 Sort of similar to the effects of the coffee, which incidentally, as I’ve already said, is a medicine as well.
1:53:54 But cocoa and chocolate does have an uplifting effect, which is why we love it.
1:54:00 And we have to be clear here, we’re not talking about hot chocolate that comes from a packet or something necessarily.
1:54:02 We would like it to be as dark as possible.
1:54:03 Okay.
1:54:05 The less sugar, the less fat.
1:54:11 So we talk about 75% cocoa solids, you know, so it’s dark chocolate.
1:54:14 And it tastes a bit more medicinal, doesn’t it?
1:54:14 It’s not as sweet.
1:54:19 But I’m saying to many of my patients, take 50 grams a day.
1:54:23 It’s a medicine.
1:54:25 Damn.
1:54:27 She’s right.
1:54:28 My fridge is full of dark chocolate.
1:54:29 I tend to avoid it.
1:54:33 But the drawer of my fridge has all of her dark chocolate in.
1:54:35 And she likes it 90%.
1:54:37 If she can get it 90%, she’ll take it.
1:54:39 Yeah, 90% is quite bitter now.
1:54:40 Yeah.
1:54:40 Yeah.
1:54:46 I was in Peru and I went to a chocolate making lesson and that chocolate making lesson changed my life.
1:54:54 And it changed my life because I didn’t realize how much sugar goes into chocolate, but specifically white chocolate.
1:54:55 Oh, my God.
1:55:00 They said, they gave me this big beaker, which was, you know, this big, like a foot high and a foot wide.
1:55:03 And they were like, right, pour the sugar in.
1:55:04 So I poured some in.
1:55:06 They’re like, they’re like laughing at me.
1:55:10 They’re like, no, fill it like 70% with this white sugar.
1:55:13 And I was like, there’s no way.
1:55:17 I poured about 60 or 70% white sugar into this massive tube.
1:55:20 And they’re like, okay, now put a little bit of this in, a little bit of this, a little bit of oil or whatever.
1:55:25 And I couldn’t believe that it’s literally like the white chocolate is like literally all sugar.
1:55:27 Then milk chocolate was like 50% sugar.
1:55:32 And then when we did, when we made the dark chocolate, it was a tiny amount, like a tiny, tiny amount.
1:55:37 And from that day onwards, white chocolates left my life.
1:55:48 This is once upon a time, a few years back when the Europeans Union, I think before we joined it, said that we shouldn’t call our dairy milk chocolate at all.
1:55:51 It’s chocolate flavor candy is what they described it as.
1:55:51 Literally.
1:55:52 Yeah.
1:55:55 So this is, so we’ve got some green tea here.
1:55:55 Yeah.
1:56:01 And you’re talking to me about the association between green tea and Alzheimer’s, which is really exciting.
1:56:01 Yes.
1:56:06 There’s quite a lot of work being done now on these.
1:56:10 They’re obviously looking for medications as well.
1:56:13 But so far, most of the data coming in relates to plant-based materials.
1:56:23 So it suggests that there’s other reasons why having plants, and again, spices come back into the mix, seem to be helpful for brain health.
1:56:28 I’m having a look at the green tea.
1:56:46 There was a study done in 2008, which supports how it improved cognitive function, memory, attention, accuracy, and long-term consumption is associated with lower risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry in 2011.
1:56:48 It’s nice to have somebody else just say what you said.
1:56:50 Yeah, but it’s exactly.
1:56:53 I didn’t realise, I didn’t, I had no idea.
1:56:55 I had no idea.
1:56:59 All those times I turned it down when she offered it to me.
1:57:00 Hmm.
1:57:02 Go and say sorry.
1:57:15 I’ve literally, literally, I’ve got a, wow, heart health, brain function, fat burning and metabolism, cancer prevention, early evidence, blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, gut and oral health.
1:57:16 What about Matcha?
1:57:21 I’m a big investor in the biggest Matcha company in Europe.
1:57:29 It’s probably more beneficial than the basic green tea because it’s more, shall we say, pure.
1:57:31 It’s finer quality.
1:57:37 So the chances are that Matcha will do more than we’ve just said the green tea will do.
1:57:40 But there’s evidence lacking on a lot of these things.
1:57:41 We need more evidence.
1:57:45 But it would point to Matcha being particularly helpful.
1:57:49 We haven’t talked much about cholesterol.
1:57:52 No, you haven’t brought it up.
1:57:56 Cholesterol is a type of fat made in your liver, which channels in your blood.
1:57:57 Yep.
1:58:04 What is, for anyone that doesn’t know cholesterol, what it is and why, if it’s a good or bad thing, what do I need to know about cholesterol?
1:58:09 And is there anything in front of us here that can help keep my cholesterol in a healthy state?
1:58:16 I think a doctor did actually tell me at one point that I had high cholesterol a couple of years ago because of my diet at the time.
1:58:19 Keto, of course, will tend to – well, it’s interesting.
1:58:24 Again, keto you think would push up your cholesterol levels, but actually there’s a mixture of effects.
1:58:28 So it’s not a done deal that it will raise your cholesterol.
1:58:34 Cholesterol is part of a range of fats that the body has.
1:58:40 Most of the fats that are in the body come from the food, and they come in as heavy fats, as we say.
1:58:53 And what the digestion does is it’s stripped down the heaviness, and it becomes more what we call high-density liposyte, HDLs.
1:58:55 My tongue is twisting around it.
1:59:03 And cholesterol is sort of in the middle of that as one of the elements within that spectrum of fats.
1:59:10 Cholesterol is actually secreted by the liver for very good reasons.
1:59:11 It helps with all sorts of things.
1:59:13 It’s the basis of some of our hormones.
1:59:15 There’s all sorts of reasons why we need cholesterol.
1:59:22 I sometimes have referred to in the past as the tiger in the tank, that it sort of helps to fire up some of our get-up-and-go.
1:59:30 And if we were physically active during the day, working on the land or whatever, you need a certain amount of cholesterol to motor.
1:59:36 We’re sitting in chairs, and cholesterol becomes increasingly a problem.
1:59:37 We have a high-fat diet.
1:59:39 That tends to put in more of it.
1:59:45 And the point is that many of us, our cholesterol levels increasingly rise.
1:59:54 And that is a risk factor, as we know, for cardiovascular disease, which we said was still one of the biggest killer.
1:59:56 So cholesterol is up there as a risk factor.
2:00:04 And so the usual thing that a doctor will do is to hand you something, a statin, basically, that will reduce your cholesterol levels.
2:00:18 They also know that there’s more pushback on that prescription than almost anything else, because the word is out that statins can do this, that or the other, in fear with your muscle strength and all the rest of it, give you little aches and pains.
2:00:43 So probably the better conversation is to have, what can we do to recontextualize the cholesterol so that it becomes more like it should be a good thing rather than a risk?
2:00:56 And the first thing is to have a more, apart from the keto, have the more vegetable-based, plant-based diet, because that in itself will tend to mop up and reduce cholesterol.
2:01:01 Exercise becomes important, because by physical activity, we can manage it better.
2:01:10 And then where we come in with the work I do is to look at high cholesterol as potentially a sign of liver distress.
2:01:23 And, you know, we like working with the liver, and there’s a number of remedies that we use to help reduce cholesterol levels, mainly by getting more out through the bile and so on.
2:01:28 So there’s not a straight answer to your question.
2:01:32 You know, the statin sounds like a simple pill that fixes it.
2:01:36 The reality is that we need to look at a much wider range of things.
2:01:38 You’re a fan of artichokes for cholesterol?
2:01:39 Yes.
2:01:42 You must have read my mind.
2:01:51 The artichoke leaf is the one we’re talking about, which is used in France a lot for basically fat liver-related problems a lot.
2:01:55 I use it a lot in the practice as a juice, actually, just as a pressed juice.
2:01:58 Yes, it’s one of them.
2:02:07 Dandelion root is another old familiar, which seems to be helpful here, mostly by, as I said, flushing stuff through the bile.
2:02:10 And there is a range of other things that we use.
2:02:16 One of the things that, you know, many people are concerned about when they’re thinking about changing their diet is just the cost of it.
2:02:26 They think it’s super expensive to buy all these fresh fruit and veg and, you know, is that the case?
2:02:30 Is that a barrier to entry to the stuff we’ve talked about today at all?
2:02:45 My usual answer to that is eat Asian, because as I said, if you can make a meal with vegetables and spices and things like lentils and so on, beans, for very cheaply.
2:02:52 It’s just that we got out of the habit or we haven’t got into the habit of doing that slightly slow cooking.
2:02:58 We will buy Indian meals sometimes from places that put a more fat in than they might.
2:03:03 So some of the meals we buy that are Asian are a bit too fatty.
2:03:10 But if you make it yourself at home, which means learning how to cook, but you can eat very cheaply.
2:03:14 What is the most important thing that we didn’t talk about that we should have talked about?
2:03:22 Well, I suppose I didn’t mention much about the Omeprazole, because that…
2:03:23 I’ve never heard of this before.
2:03:24 Omeprazole?
2:03:25 Yeah, I’ve never heard of it.
2:03:26 Oh, yeah.
2:03:28 They are increasingly a minority.
2:03:29 Oh, yeah.
2:03:36 Omeprazole is the most widely prescribed drug in this country, and I believe in the US also, and it’s for acid reflux.
2:03:44 It’s what the Americans call GERD and what we call GORD because we spell esophagus differently.
2:03:49 So we spell esophagus with an O-E, and Americans spell it with an E.
2:03:56 So it’s either GERD or GORD depending on which country you’re in, and that means gastroesophageal reflux disease, GORD.
2:04:10 And acid reflux is a real issue with a lot of people, and they find that when they go to a doctor, the doctor will routinely prescribe Omeprazole or something like it.
2:04:19 And GORD is actually diagnosed as a condition which is made better by Omeprazole.
2:04:23 I mean, it’s literally, it’s a disease that is diagnosed by the treatment.
2:04:33 And what Omeprazole does is it shuts down the acid production in the stomach so you don’t get as much damage by reflux.
2:04:38 The problem is, is that the acid’s doing a job.
2:04:43 It’s sterilizing your food, which is important, isn’t it?
2:04:49 It’s also helping to break it down so that it becomes not an immune threat.
2:04:53 You know, if you have a blood transfusion or something, the wrong blood, you get a problem.
2:04:55 We’re eating foreign stuff all the time.
2:04:59 We rely on the stomach and the juices to make it safe.
2:05:02 So the acid is there to protect us.
2:05:10 When we’re getting acid reflux, actually it’s not because you’ve got too much acid, it’s because you’re refluxing it.
2:05:11 It’s going back up into the gullet.
2:05:13 The esophagus.
2:05:16 But Omeprazole will put an end to that.
2:05:19 The problem with Omeprazole is two problems.
2:05:25 First is that the list of problems accruing from long-term Omeprazole use is beginning to grow and is serious.
2:05:34 Cancers, dementias, all sorts of things are beginning to be downstream problems associated with long-term Omeprazole use.
2:05:40 But the other thing is, is that once you’re on it, it’s really difficult to come off it.
2:05:42 And you get a famous rebound effect.
2:05:47 So you come off the Omeprazole and, wow, you get much more trouble.
2:05:50 So the only thing to do is to take more Omeprazole.
2:05:53 And people find it really hard to come off it.
2:05:58 So you have to do a lot of hard work to wean people off and do it in sorts of different ways.
2:06:01 So what do we do instead?
2:06:09 Well, one simple thing to do, and anyone can do this, and you don’t need to go very far, is to use what we call the raft principle.
2:06:15 So there are some plants that have got a lot of mucus in them, mucilage.
2:06:19 The classic example from North America is slippery elm.
2:06:24 It’s a sort of powder that looks like you make polyfiller to fill a crack with.
2:06:26 You know, it’s a white powder.
2:06:30 When it’s mixed with water, it forms this paste, this mucus stuff.
2:06:35 You want to have it as a tablet because you don’t want to swallow that stuff.
2:06:40 But when it’s in the stomach, it produces this mucus layer.
2:06:43 You don’t need to go to slippery elm.
2:06:54 There is a product here in this country called Gaviscon, which is essentially seaweed gum with, I don’t have shares in it, by the way, but it’s seaweed gum with some minerals in there.
2:06:58 And they advertise it, when you see the television ads, as the raft.
2:07:03 So what they’re doing is you’re putting a layer of mucus on top of your food.
2:07:05 So you have it out if you’ve had your last mouthful.
2:07:06 You have it there.
2:07:15 And then as the food pushes up back into the gullet, you’ve got this nice mucus coating, a raft, to stop it.
2:07:16 And back up.
2:07:19 That carbohydrate is what it is.
2:07:21 It gets digested within a couple of hours.
2:07:22 End of.
2:07:23 No problem.
2:07:24 It’s not even a medicine.
2:07:26 It’s just a physical barrier.
2:07:30 So you could have Gaviscon, you could have Supriam, you could have Aloe Vera.
2:07:34 There’s a number of other mucusy type plants that people use.
2:07:40 And that can, without any other complication at all, be one step.
2:07:44 And I use it regularly when I’m weaning people off omeprazole.
2:07:50 And I will use the raft principle to help prevent some of the harm you get with reflux.
2:07:52 The simple example.
2:07:56 You’re very fond of these plants.
2:07:59 They are living organisms, aren’t they?
2:08:05 Are you concerned about how we treat them?
2:08:16 I’m concerned about the world that they come from, because, of course, increasingly we have to produce these industrially, which sometimes mean in monoculture, what it usually means in monoculture form.
2:08:21 So they’re grown in rows and rows, and they put weed killers down to get other plants out of the way.
2:08:26 And so they become less natural.
2:08:29 And we talked about the polyphenols.
2:08:34 You know, Pucker, the company I worked for, was all organic.
2:08:44 And we were able to show that a plant that grows organically, that doesn’t have pesticides, needs to fight its own battles more.
2:08:50 Because if you’ve got a pesticide, you don’t need to worry about so much, you know, the pests and the attackers.
2:09:00 So a plant that’s grown in wild or organically without chemicals has more polyphenols, because the polyphenols are part of the plant’s defense mechanism.
2:09:06 So the more you can buy, or, I mean, that’s where foraging comes in.
2:09:16 You know, my colleague Devon is a forager, and he can walk around Hedro and show you, you can make a whole meal out of plants that people just walk past, because people used to do that.
2:09:21 So that’s real wild eating, which must be one of the best ways of eating.
2:09:27 But the more close to nature you can get your plants, the better.
2:09:32 We have to live with what we’ve got, and most plants are grown without that.
2:09:35 But they’re still better than having them, not having them at all.
2:09:37 Simon, thank you.
2:09:42 We have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next guest, not knowing who they’re leaving it for.
2:09:47 The question left for you is, our world is changing fast.
2:09:49 How do you keep up?
2:10:01 I think the world is, we all know, getting pretty scary out there, isn’t it?
2:10:14 There is a truth, which is you and the people around you are actually the only things that matter day to day, aren’t they?
2:10:19 Our closest, our dearest, the ones that we have invested most.
2:10:30 One of the reasons that I’m increasingly happy to spend my time working in the practice in Exeter, rather than chasing around the world,
2:10:43 is because as the world gets more frightening, the more you realise that it’s the connections you make with each other.
2:10:48 You put back to back, if you like, you know, face the world out there, back to back.
2:10:57 And I think it’s reconnecting with those who are closest to you, that is the best antidote I know.
2:11:02 And that also includes reconnecting with the nature and the world around it.
2:11:03 So that would be my answer.
2:11:06 And who is that in your life?
2:11:07 Who are those people?
2:11:08 I have family.
2:11:14 I have now 10 grandchildren between us, Rachel and myself.
2:11:15 Congratulations.
2:11:22 And so the electronic calendar comes into its own to keep track of all that.
2:11:27 So, yes, we’ve got a no spread around the globe.
2:11:30 So it’s a widespread thing.
2:11:36 But we’ve got people close by and, you know, obviously you’re closest and nearest to the ones that matter.
2:11:39 Simon, thank you so much for doing what you do.
2:11:41 I highly recommend everybody goes and checks out your work.
2:11:45 I’ve never had a conversation with someone that knows so much about plants and herbs in my life.
2:11:47 So I was so excited to learn more.
2:11:49 And you have changed my opinion on so many things.
2:11:53 I can’t wait to go and tell my girlfriend that she’s right about everything.
2:11:56 I’ll slip her the…
2:11:57 She can slip me the tenner.
2:12:06 I highly recommend people go and check out your website and go to your herb hour, which takes place once a month.
2:12:11 I’m sure there’s going to be lots of people getting in touch with you to try and come and see you in person as well, which is fantastic.
2:12:17 Is there anything else that if my listeners want to take a step forward from here in this direction and understand more about herbs?
2:12:19 I’ve got your books here, which I’m going to link below.
2:12:21 There’s the herb hour on your website.
2:12:23 Is there anything else that we should be aware of?
2:12:27 As I said, the website does link to this wonderful resource that’s not…
2:12:32 I mean, I contribute to the Herbal Reality one, which is where you’re going to find almost anything you want to know about using plants.
2:12:33 So that’s…
2:12:33 I’ll stop there.
2:12:37 But you can step through my website to get there because you’ll find a few other things on the way.
2:12:42 There is resources out there and it’s increasingly reliable.
2:12:46 These are not dreamt up, you know, for a TikTok video.
2:12:50 They’re well thought through and based on a lot of human experience.
2:12:53 So there is stuff out there if you’re looking for it.
2:12:53 Thank you.
2:12:57 You’re very much leading the charge to bring us all back to being human beings.
2:12:59 And I’m a big, big fan of that.
2:13:00 Thank you, Stephen.
2:13:01 It’s a journey I’m on myself.
2:13:05 So thank you so much for doing the work that you do and being a champion for nature in all its form.
2:13:13 And I really, really hope that more people, more podcasters host you so that you can get the message out there.
2:13:14 Thank you.
2:13:18 This has always blown my mind a little bit.
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2:14:07 We’ll see you next time.