Show Notes

What you do to your body today will certainly impact your health in the future. In our currently illness motivated world, patients expect healthcare systems to treat diseases, but are not focused or interested in preventing them. Now, add the COVID-19 pandemic to the mix, which has highlighted the entire spectrum of bad habits in the lifestyles of millions of people, that have ultimately led them to be exposed to the risk and lethality of the virus. The entire world has been allowed to pause for a second, and it is crucial for patients and healthcare professionals to shift their mindset into a more preventative one. In this episode, Dr. Rosie Sendher is joined by Dr. Sonal Taylor to discuss the importance of preventative health, longevity medicine and the changes we, as individuals, can make to impact entire systems.

Dr. Sonal Taylor is an Internal Medicine Specialist in Asheville, North Carolina, and has over 16 years of experience in the field. She is a preventative healthcare advocate and living proof of the effectiveness of longevity medicine, since she has reduced her biological age by 10 years. With a passion for these unexplored branches of the medical field, she’s excited to help her patients and listeners transform their lives through her advice.

This episode is loaded with insightful information around the US healthcare system, as Dr. Sendher and Dr. Taylor explore and identify all of the factors that make it so distant from a preventative driven one. You’ll not only learn about the concept of preventative healthcare, but also take easy steps with you to start your own journey towards a healthier and longer life. Learn all about the importance of taking care of your mental health, and how to manage and reduce the high stress and anxiety levels in your day to day life. Have your body and mind been craving balance for the longest time? Then this episode is definitely for you.

In this episode we chat about:

  • (00:56) - Dr. Taylor's background, her experience with functional medicine, and the reason it’s not a popular branch in the medical field — “The real problem in the western approach is that there’s no aspect of prevention and of going to these root causes because we assume that everything is just fixed.”
  • (06:08) - A double-standard education and practice: The ugly truth behind the healthcare system’s greater issue — “If we aren't maintaining that lifestyle, how are we supposed to convey it to our patients? Back in residency, we were told that we should be working for 40 hours straight.” 
  • (14:43) - The importance of the implementation of healthier habits, and how COVID-19 has exposed the lifestyle flaws and vulnerabilities of millions of people —  “I’m not saying you are not going to get Coronavirus, but the question is what kind of outcomes are you going to have?”
  • (18:25) - On obesity, patient shaming and the psychological roots of addictions — “It shifts the conversation from an individual thing to the societal weight of not having the right resources and proper support to lose weight.”
  • (25:08) - The importance of balance and the urgency for focus on a preventative present for healthier generations — “We need to make this a bigger part of our education systems from a young age. Things will be completely different, because that’s what they’ll grow up with.”
  • (30:11) - Vitamin D deficiency, ever-raising cortisol levels and high stress and anxiety: what’s really damaging our health and what can we do about it?  — “When you’re in an increased-stress state, your immunity is affected, it just is.”  
  • (38:28) - How blue screens and technology are affecting our sleep, a major key to longevity — “We’re watching screens until midnight and going to sleep until 1:00 A.M. And then we have to wake up for our work or school day, it’s really shifting our patterns.”
  • (41:43) - The elements that contribute to a rich and truly healthy diet — “You’ve got to meet people where they’re at, if you’re going to tell anybody to take everything out, they’re going to resist you.”
  • (48:22) - The secrets to longevity: how to reduce our biological age while boosting our health at the same time — “You can live as long and as well as you possibly can. It’s not about living up to 120 years, but about reaching 80 in the best shape and health possible.”

Resources

Functional Medicine Study at Cleveland Clinic 

Open Path Collective

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

How to truly feel joy by practicing gratitude with Brené Brown

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Dr. Valter Longo’s Fasting Mimicking Program & Longevity

Wim Hof’s Cold Therapy

The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung 

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