Maternal Health

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #50 – Richard Johnson, MD – Fructose and Perinatal Issues

This weeks guest is my favorite researcher, Dr. Richard Johnson.
He is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, he is a physician and nephrologist whose research has focused on the role of sugar, and especially fructose, in driving obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Much of this work has explored the role of fructose metabolism, especially the generation of uric acid, in driving this phenotype, and his work has included studies ranging from molecular biology, integrative physiology, and evolutionary biology. He is the author of The Sugar Fix which introduced the first low fructose diet, and also The Fat Switch which explores the role of fructose in driving the obesity epidemic. His newest book, Nature Wants Us To Be Fat, is a tour de force of the entire pathway of survival via metabolic events in the body related to fructose and the polyol pathway. This is a must read book.
This podcast will follow up on the original conversation, podcast #14, and the exceptional work of Dr. Johnson this time looking at how we are mismatched metabolically for the environment of modern America and our food systems from the maternal health and perinatal perspective.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 24

Breastfeeding Versus Formula
Science versus Opinion
I read with somewhat of a frustrated feeling a recent article in Scientific American entitled: It’s Okay Not to Breastfeed by Kavin Senapathy. In principle, the reality of this statement is reasonable. Then you read the article as to what makes this reasonable. She states: “Exclusive breastfeeding is not imperative, and the “breast is best” mantra can be harmful to babies and parents, especially among marginalized people.”(K. Senapathy 2023) Again, at first blush this may seem reasonable. Let’s dig into the science and the truth of breast versus cow milk based formula for optimal health for a child. Does formula in all of its forms work for infant nutrition in order to grow and survive in a reasonable way? The answer is a resounding yes, however, this does not tell the whole story, far from it…..
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast – The Growing Brain and Autism

The Growing Brain and the Upstream Etiologies of Neurodevelopmental disorders – AUTISM
This weeks guest is me! I re-recorded a lecture that I gave in Florida this month at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine. My goal in this lecture is to look at the upstream reasons that we are seeing more Autism and neurological diversity in children year upon year. It is a wide ranging look at the current state of the science and my thoughts on a unifying theory. As with Dr. Stone’s interview last week with Grow Baby, this is a follow up discussion that is a critical primer for “mother’s to be” regarding disease avoidance measures that can be taken for the best health of the maternal child dyad.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #48 – Leslie Stone, MD – Grow Baby Project

This weeks guest is an expert in the prevention of maternal pregnancy related metabolic disease and the downstream risks of metabolic dysfunction if left unchecked.
Her bio: Leslie P. Stone MD, IFMCP, board certified in Family Practice, with a fellowship in Surgical Obstetrics. She is an international lecturer on Developmental Programming of Health and Disease (DOHaD) and application of individualized functional medicine care during pregnancy.  Her passion is helping parents capture the miraculous before and during pregnancy by changing habits, their lives, and empowering lifelong resilience in their children, and their children’s children .  She is a co-founder with Emily Rydbom CN, BCHN of GrowBabyHealth.com, an individualized nutrition and lifestyle program promoting generational health, and CMO for GrowBabyLifeProject.org. She has been delivering babies since 1982 and has delivered over 5000 children. She is owner of Ashland Comprehensive Family Medicine—Stone Medical in Ashland Oregon where she continues to practice.
Her ongoing clinical research centers on combining developmental programming of health and functional medicine applied pre-conceptually and during pregnancy to optimize maternal and neonatal outcomes, with the intention of reducing the global epidemic of non-communicable disease (clinicaltrials.gov NCT05436119).
Her undergraduate degree from Washington State University in Physiological Psychiatry was followed by her MD from University of Washington, Internship in OB/GYN Oregon Health Sciences University, residency at UCLA in Family Medicine, Surgical Obstetric Fellowship at UCLA Ventura, and further certification in Functional Medicine.
growbabyhealth.com, growbabylifeproject.org

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #29 – Dr. Tieraona Low Dog – Mother’s Health

A mother, wife, herbalist, educator, author, researcher, and medical doctor, Tieraona has trained hundreds of medical professionals as the Fellowship Director at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, chaired dietary supplement expert panels for the United States Pharmacopeia, and has been appointed to numerous scientific advisory boards. In addition, she has authored best-selling books (including 4 published by National Geographic) and written over 50 peer-reviewed articles and 25 book chapters. Tieraona was appointed by the President of the United States to serve on a White House policy commission, has received many awards from academia, public health, and industry, and has lectured at over 600 conferences.

She is an incredible teacher with an equally incredible life story. In this episode, we discuss the world of maternal health as it relates to preparing for a healthy life and pregnancy setting the stage for a healthy child’s life.

I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Low Dog,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 12 Issues 4,6 and 8

SPA Audiocast Newsletter Letters 4, 6 and 8

In this issue we discuss the story of fructose, letting go and forgiveness and preparation for allergy season. There is a lot of news to use in this audiocast for allergy season preparation and how to release emotional hurts.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast – Putting It All Together #2

This week on the show, I sit down to put the recent four maternal/child health podcasts into perspective. How are these four experts tied together? We, again, examine the basic underpinnings of maternal health risks through the eyes of these thought leaders in preparation for the next series of discussions. Laying important foundations to build our health literacy upon, is critical in my mind. This show is also a way for the folks that are “on the go” to get a summary of the podcasts for their benefit.

Enjoy,

Dr. M