Healing with Dr Helena

Dr Helena Popovic

Welcome to my podcast, Healing with Dr Helena, where I challenge the limiting way we currently view disease, and offer a new paradigm for vibrant health and true healing. If modern medicine isn’t providing you with enough answers, and you want to come alive and thrive, rather than merely survive, this podcast is for you.

It’s also for people who want to:
- boost their brain to perform at their peak
- avoid Alzheimer’s and other dementias
- grow bolder rather than older
- and live longer, stronger, healthier and happier.

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27 episodes
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Avg 47 min
English

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S1 · E23
Sunday · 47 min
Improve your mind by being kind (EP23)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Improve your mind by being kind. Being kind to YOURSELF lowers stress hormones, and lights up the brain’s reward centres to improve brain function and overall well-being. The brain’s reward system is a network of brain structures designed to ensure our survival. When we do something beneficial — like exercising, socialising, or practising self-kindness — this network is activated, and releases neurotransmitters that improve the workings of our brain. For example, one of the neurotransmitters that plays a key role in the reward system is dopamine. Apart from motivating us to do pleasurable things, dopamine acts as an internal spotlight. It signals to your prefrontal cortex (your decision-making and planning centre) that your current activity is highly valuable. This clears away mental fog, and helps you focus intensely on the task at hand. Dopamine also instructs the hippocampus (our learning hub) to ‘save this file.’ This means the connections between brain cells are strengthened, which makes it easier to absorb and retain new information. So whatever you’re doing, treat yourself with kindness while you’re doing it. What does that look like? Talk to yourself the same way you’d talk to your best friend, and remind yourself that not getting everything right, is simply being human. No one can always be on top of their game. No one always makes the best decisions. And on one executes every plan perfectly. But nothing is failure — if we regard it as feedback. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Disease is a normal response to an abnormal world. Most people have come to regard chronic disease as one of the unfortunate facts of life. High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, digestive disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, have become so common that we almost expect them. But that does NOT mean there’s anything wrong with our bodies. Chronic disease is our body’s normal response to an abnormal world. It’s a normal response to the speed and the speed and stress of our lives, air and soil pollution, social disconnection, desk jobs that cut us off from nature, a toxic food environment, and suppression of our emotions. All those factors conspire to make us sick. Of course our body is going to revolt! Disease is our body screaming at us to pause, reflect, and re-connect with what’s truly meaningful and brings us a sense of peace and safety. * * * * * What’s Missing From Modern Medicine is asking the right questions. Modern medicine is focused on the wrong questions. That’s why it’s coming up with ineffective answers. Instead of asking: How do we get rid of this symptom? Or how do we eliminate this disease? The compassionate questions we need to be asking are: What is this symptom inviting me to notice? Where in my life is my voice saying ‘yes’ but my body is saying ‘no’? * * * * * Today’s Whether Report is from Nadine: I’d like to know whether you can provide a list of resources for dealing with chronic pain. Yes, I can. You can download the list from drhelenapopovic.com/podcast and scroll down to Resources. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E22
October 4 · 43 min
Visualise to actualise your healing (EP22)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Visualise to actualise your healing. Have you ever imagined something so vividly that your body responded as if it were real? You imagine your child falling off their bike, and your heart skips a beat.You picture success, and your posture lifts. You visualise biting into a lemon, and your lips pucker. Nothing has happened, but your brain activates the same neural circuits that it does when you’re having the experience in real life. Brain scans show that your motor cortex, planning networks, and co-ordination pathways are all active when you visualise moving. How is this relevant to healing? Several studies on stroke patients found that when the person repeatedly visualised moving a paralysed limb, they improved their ability to function, reach, and use the affected limb. The same goes for people unable to move because of chronic pain. When they visualised, they actualised healing. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Pain is your friend, not your foe. There’s an extremely rare genetic condition called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP), in which a person is born completely unable to feel physical pain. At first glance, it sounds like a super power. ‘Go on, punch me in the face! Bring on the school bully because there’s nothing they can do to hurt me!’ However, it’s actually a life-threatening disorder, because you can have a massive wound on your back and be bleeding to death, and not be aware of it. People with CIP have a genetic mutation that blocks their ability to send an electrical signal to their brain to alert it to harm or damage. This translates into a life of unnoticed severe injuries, silent infections — such as appendicitis — and unrecognised trauma of all kinds. The consequence is that very few people with CIP survive to adulthood. Modern medical monitoring is slowly improving this, but it’s a treacherous way to live. * * * * * What’s Missing From Modern Medicine is prescribing visualisation instead of sedation. The exception, of course, is having surgery. Obviously you need to be put to sleep for an invasive procedure. But a lot of painkillers — especially opioid medications — can make you feel sluggish or sleepy, and they’re highly addictive. Medicines like codeine, oxycodone, morphine and tramadol affect the nervous system, slow down brain activity, and cause drowsiness. They’re great for severe acute physical pain, but inappropriate for chronic pain. I’m also using the word ‘sedation’ as a metaphor for simply trying to eliminate pain without treating the underlying cause. By not exploring the psychological and emotional factors that perpetuate pain, we are sedating ourselves from experiencing a more fulfilling, meaningful, and truly joyful life. This episode explores the specific details of effective visualisation to retrain your brain to release chronic pain. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report answers the question: I’d like to know whether a bigger brain means a smarter brain? The short answer is no. Brain size relates more to body size. Whales and elephants have huge brains but they’re not the smartest animals. Albert Einstein had a smaller-than-average brain. Intelligence depends on how WELL your brain cells connect, not on how big your brain is. By intelligence, I’m referring to the nine different intelligences proposed by philosopher Dr Howard Gardner: Word smart Number smart Picture smart Body smart Music smart People smart Self smart Nature smart Life smart No matter how good we get at all the ‘smarts’, our brain won’t grow out of our skull! * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E21
September 27 · 45 min
Pain can be modified by your mind (EP21)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Calm your fear, and pain will disappear. Last week I did a deep dive into pain, and the key points were that there are two types of pain, classified by their cause: Physical pain — caused by being punched in the nose (or some other kind of injury). Neuroplastic pain — caused by an over-protective brain circuit. There’s no physical damage, no broken nose, and no pulled muscle, but your brain generates pain because it thinks you’re under some kind of threat. Following on from this, I’m going to answer some important whether questions from Peter. How do I know whether my pain is physical or neuroplastic? Last week you provided a comprehensive list of conditions — such as fibromyalgia, tension headaches and IBS — that were classified as neuroplastic, because there was no physical damage to a person’s muscles or head. This I can understand. But you also gave chronic neck, shoulder and back pain as examples of neuroplastic pain. I’ve had chronic lower back pain for more than one year, and an MRI scan showed that I have disc degeneration, as well as a bulging disc. I also get intermittent shoulder pain, but no one can find a cause. Is my shoulder pain neuroplastic, or could the doctors be missing something? I’d also like to know whether the principles of curing neuroplastic pain, could also reduce my back pain? The majority of adults who are completely pain-free have what LOOK like severe structural issues on their MRI scans. These are famously referred to as ‘normal abnormalities’. In other words, as we age, we all start to get grey hair, wrinkles, and disc degeneration. None of these cause pain. Grey hair does not cause pain. Wrinkles do not cause pain. And degenerative discs do NOT cause pain. The belief that disc degeneration and herniation DO cause pain is one of the biggest misconceptions in modern medicine. A massive systematic review published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology highlighted that normal abnormalities on MRI scans are almost ubiquitous findings in healthy pain-free populations. Tune in to learn how to distinguish physical back pain from neuroplastic back pain. * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Pain can be modified by our mind. The most famous example of acute neuroplastic pain is the case of a 29-year-old construction worker who jumped down onto a scaffolding plank and accidentally landed on a long sharp nail that was pointing upwards, and pierced right through his boot. The nail was so long (18 cm or 7 inches) that the tip of the nail could be seen poking out of the top of his heavy boot. The man was rushed to the emergency department of Leicester Royal Infirmary in the UK, and because he was in so much agony, he had to be sedated and given intravenous opioids so that the medical staff could cut the boot off his foot. When they did so, they were absolutely astounded to find that the nail had passed BETWEEN his toes and his foot was completely unscathed! There was zero injury to his foot. There wasn’t a drop of blood. When the man came out of the sedation and was told what had happened, his pain immediately vanished. Calm the fear, and pain will disappear. Intense pain can occur without physical injury or actual tissue trauma in any situation where our brain perceives or anticipates danger, be that physical or emotional danger. * * * * What’s Missing From Modern Medicine is recognising that calming fear can make pain disappear which is today’s Brain Booster, and also Step 3 of the 6-Step Process to retrain your brain to release chronic pain. Step 1 was Educate before you medicate Step 2 was — be Curious, not critical And Step 3 is Calm your fear, and pain will disappear. Feeling SAFE is absolutely fundamental to all healing. In Step 3, you’ll gather concrete evidence that there’s nothing to fear, and then use this evidence to self-soothe. Only when your brain is absolutely convinced that you’re safe, will it stop sending pain signals. Listen to this episode for the details.
S1 · E20
September 20 · 42 min
Retrain your brain to release chronic pain (EP20)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Retrain your brain to release chronic pain. Since starting my podcast I’ve received a lot of questions about how to manage chronic pain, including back, neck and shoulder pain, migraines, fibromyalgia and RSI (repetitive strain injury). This is not surprising because chronic pain is one of the biggest public health challenges globally. Worldwide, 1 in 5 adults live with chronic pain. In Australia, 5.5 million adults have chronic pain, and in the US, it’s 50 million people. That’s a lot of people in a lot of pain. But do not fear, a solution is here! That’s what today’s podcast episode is about. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that nothing can be done for your chronic pain. When a health professional says ‘there’s nothing we can do’, what they mean is, there’s nothing THEY can do. But there’s plenty YOU can do. If you’ve had constant or intermittent pain for over three months, it’s highly likely you have what’s known as neuroplastic pain. This is pain generated by the brain in the absence of physical damage to any of your muscles, tissues or organs. What’s going on? In some cases, pain can become a habit. For example, you injured your back while moving furniture. You had physiotherapy for a month, and the injury has now healed. However, your brain got used to generating pain whenever you moved a certain way, and the circuit now keeps firing, even though your muscles have recovered. It’s like something in your brain is stuck on repeat. Another term for this is learned pain. The good news is that what is learned can be unlearned. In other cases, chronic pain is a manifestation of severe stress or anxiety — even if there was NO triggering injury. Pain can also result from suppressed emotions like anger, rage, resentment, or grief. If we don’t allow ourselves to feel our feelings, they will be expressed in our body — in many cases as chronic or relapsing pain. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: The purpose of pain is protection. The purpose of pain is to alert us to danger — be that physical, psychological, or emotional danger. Have you ever developed a headache when you’ve been snowed under at work? Or neck pain when you’ve felt pressured to meet a deadline? That’s neuroplastic pain arising from the threat of failure. No one suddenly hit you on the head with a hammer, or jarred your neck to cause a physical injury. Yes, you might also be dehydrated, and your posture might have contributed to the neck pain. But in the absence of a specific injury — more often than not — it’s the fear-inducing situation that precipitated the pain. Therefore, if the cause of pain is fear, the cure for pain is safety. What do you need to do, or say to yourself, to make yourself feel safe? * * * * * What’s Missing From Modern Medicine is recognising that chronic pain can be cured. An important step on the path to healing is to be curious, not critical, of your pain. When pain strikes or flares up, are you able to simply observe it? If it’s really excruciating, take whatever medications you usually use, and wait for a time when it isn’t unbearable. But if you can tolerate it, even for just a few seconds, can you simply put your attention on the pain, and survey it? Can you just be with it, and feel it, without judgement, resentment or anxiety? When you’re able to come to a neutral, watchful state, ask yourself the following 5 questions: Where exactly in my body is the pain? Is it in a well-defined spot, or does it cover a larger more diffuse area? Does it stay in one place, or does it move around? Is the pain dull, sharp, throbbing, burning, tingling or pulsating? What’s the quality of the sensation? Are there any accompanying symptoms such as dizziness, light headedness, fatigue, heaviness or nausea? By making peace with your pain, you calm your brain’s fear circuits, and start the process of healing. * * * * * Email whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com References: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E23
September 13 · 43 min
Can the shingles vaccine lower the risk of dementia? (EP19)
Today’s Brain Booster was prompted by a whether question from Maya: My doctor said that the shingles vaccine can reduce the risk of dementia. I’d like to know whether this is true, and if so, why? Yes — there is strong and growing real-world evidence from major epidemiological studies showing that the shingles vaccine is linked to a significant reduction in dementia risk. Shingles is a painful, blistering viral infection caused by re-activation of the chicken pox virus. That means you can only get shingles if you’ve had chicken pox. The virus infects cells around the spinal cord, and even after your chicken pox clears, the virus stays dormant in your nerve tissue. In many people, the virus stays asleep for their entire life and never gives them any trouble. However, if your immunity declines for any number of reasons, you can get re-activation, and the second time around, it doesn’t cause chicken pox, it causes shingles. So today’s Brain Booster is: do what you can to Shun Shingles. And getting the shingles vaccine is one effective way to shun shingles. * * * * * Today’s HEALTH HEADLINE is: both men and women who receive the shingles vaccine have a lower risk of dementia. But the risk reduction in women is significantly greater than that for men. Why? Two simple reasons have been proposed. The first is that women generally mount a more robust immune response to vaccinations than men, and the second reason is that dementia — particularly Alzheimer’s — is twice as common in women as in men. So if women face a higher baseline vulnerability to the disease, any medical intervention that successfully reduces brain inflammation or viral damage, is going to have a bigger statistical impact on them. But the most important question is: what causes reactivation of the Zoster Varicella virus in the first place? Tune in to discover the unexpected things that can weaken our immune defences and allow the virus to cause a painful outbreak of shingles. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is accurate advice on maintaining a robust immune system. Forget high dose vitamin C, echinacea, and any number of supplements purported to ‘boost’ your immune system. They don’t. They’re just myths, misconceptions, misinformation, and marketing. However, if you have a blood test and are found to have a vitamin or mineral deficiency, by all means correct it with the appropriate supplement. Also the word ‘boost’ isn’t the right term when it comes to our immune system. Instead, we need a Goldilocks approach: not too much, and not too little. An under-active immune system won’t be able to ward off infections and stop cancer cells from developing. However, an over-active immune system could turn against our body’s own healthy cells and lead to allergies or autoimmune diseases. So where do we begin with maintaining an optimally functioning immune system? What has been found to have the clearest impact on the health of our immune system? Answer: long-term STRESS. Your brain perceives distress as a threat, and triggers a biological alarm system — the fright, flight, fight branch of your nervous system (the sympathetic nervous system or SNS). This results in your adrenal glands pumping out stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to prepare your body for fast physical action. To conserve energy for this survival response, your body temporarily dials down your immune system. This suppression is perfectly healthy during brief intense bursts of fear, such as swerving to avoid a car accident, because an hour later, your immune cell counts return to baseline. However, when you experience unrelenting, long-term stress, this hormonal response never switches off. This means that cortisol levels remain chronically elevated, which steadily erodes your immune defences over time, and leaves you vulnerable to illness. Email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E15
September 6 · 54 min
Your Mind Can Mend Your Maladies (EP18)
Today’s Brain Booster is Elevate your expectations! Last week I spoke about how our beliefs become our biology — especially how negative ageist stereotypes actually drive how we age. Today we’re going to build on that and discover how our mind can mend our maladies. When you let go of limiting labels and assumptions about symptoms, pain and disease, you boost your brain’s ability to activate healing. And the most direct way to do that is to elevate your expectations. In every situation you find yourself in, ask yourself, ‘What would be the best possible outcome?’ And imagine it happening to you — because it could. You’re not trying to convince yourself that the best possible outcome will happen. You’re entertaining the possibility that it might happen. Even a small glimmer of hope can significantly boost physical healing by reducing stress, and changing how your brain processes pain and illness. * * * * * Today’s HEALTH HEADLINE is placebos prove that our body holds a latent natural power — an innate ability to heal — that simply requires the right stimulus to awaken. By changing what we believe, we trigger a cascade of chemical reactions that can restore our health and wellbeing — because the most powerful pharmacy on earth is already inside your mind. In the 1940s, Dr Henry Beecher was serving as a military medic and anaesthetist in the United States Army, and during World War II, he was treating severely wounded troops on the front lines in Europe and North Africa. During a period of intense combat, the field hospital ran out of morphine, while heavily mutilated and traumatised soldiers continued to pour in and require immediate surgery. Desperate to calm a soldier in agonising pain, Dr Beecher decided to inject the soldier with a saline solution (sterile salt water) and tell the soldier that it was a highly potent dose of morphine. To the medical team's astonishment, the soldier immediately calmed down, his pain subsided, and he didn’t go into shock. So Dr Beecher started to use saline more often, and was actually able to perform surgeries on soldiers, using only saltwater and the power of suggestion. And over the course of his battlefield experience, Dr Beecher observed that roughly 40% of the soldiers reported significant pain relief from the fake morphine. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is recognising — rather than rejecting — the power of placebos to promote healing. This is NOT about deceiving patients and prescribing fake medications or pretending to operate on them instead of performing real surgery. It’s about telling patients how placebos work so the patient can use their own mind to mend their maladies. Because placebo pills can work even when the patient is told they are receiving a placebo. This is known as ‘open-label placebos.’ Doctors prescribe a completely fake treatment but tell the patient exactly what it is. For decades scientists believed the placebo effect depended entirely on deception. It was assumed that if a patient discovered their medicine was just a sugar pill, the illusion would shatter, and the physical benefits would instantly vanish. However, pioneering research by Dr Ted Kaptchuk at Harvard Medical School completely upended this assumption through his studies of open-label placebos (OLPs) — ie honestly prescribed placebos — where the bottle is actually labeled — ‘placebo.’ Clinical trials showed that OLPs provide significant physical relief for chronic conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), lower back pain, migraines, and cancer-related fatigue — even when patients know exactly what they’re taking. How does this happen? Tune in to find out. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report is another question I’m frequently asked: I’ve heard that we only use 10% of our brain. Can you tell me whether this is true? The short answer is NO. Brain scans show that we use almost all of our brain over the course a day. Resources and references: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E4
August 30 · 58 min
Our beliefs become our biology (EP17)
Today’s Brain Booster is Think bolder, not older — because our beliefs influence our biology. In fact, our beliefs BECOME our biology. In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, people holding negative beliefs about ageing demonstrated significantly worse memory performance after 38 years than those subscribing to less negative age stereotypes — and this was after adjusting for education, depression, chronic illness, and other variables that could affect a person’s powers of recall. The decline in memory performance for those aged 60+ was 30.2% greater for those holding the most negative age stereotypes compared with those who had the most positive attitude to ageing. The first step to ageing better is to feel better about ageing. When an older person forgets where they parked their car in a big shopping centre carpark, they immediately call it a ‘senior moment’ and fear they’re getting Alzheimer’s. When a young person forgets where they parked their car, they immediately call it a ‘junior moment’. Of course they don’t! They tell themselves not to be in such a hurry, and to pay more attention next time. Same incident but different interpretation based on our expectations and cultural stereotypes. And here’s the danger of it. Fearing you might be getting Alzheimer’s triggers cortisol release, which causes brain freeze, and damages cells in the hippocampus (the memory and learning centre of our brain), thus increasing the likelihood of more memory lapses. We then become hyper-vigilant for further signs of weakening memory, and start avoiding situations where our memory is put to the test. Use it or lose it. Before we know it, we’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Beliefs aren’t rules. We need to use them as tools. Beliefs are the lens through which we see the world, and if we never question our beliefs, we blind ourselves to the broader possibilities within our reach. * * * * * Today’s HEALTH HEADLINE is exercise REDUCES — not increases — hunger! No way! Yes way! Then why do most people think they feel hungrier after exercise? This is another example of our beliefs tripping us up. Most people ASSUME that exercise increases hunger because you’ve burned more calories than when you’re sitting on the couch. Yes, you’ve burned some extra calories, but no, your body does not respond by ramping up hunger. In fact, the opposite happens. Immediately during and after a vigorous workout — vigorous being the operative word — your body goes into a phase called exercise-induced anorexia, meaning your hunger drops sharply. Tune in to discover how this happens. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is recognising the power of our beliefs to profoundly change our biology, and providing a plan to revise our beliefs if they’re not serving us. In this podcast episode you’ll receive a 4-step plan, which forms the acronym ACED. But you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out what the letters stand for. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report addresses a very sensitive but critically important question: I’d like to know whether you can really reverse cognitive decline after you start noticing symptoms? You provide a Brain Booster every week, and I’m completely on board with reducing one’s risk of of dementia. But once a person receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s — isn’t it too late to stop the process? The vast majority of doctors and other health care professionals would answer that dementia is irreversible. That’s the current medical consensus. However, I, and a very small handful of other doctors — namely Dr Dale E Bredesen at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California — would argue that even after a diagnosis, you CAN stop the process. He’s seen it, and I’ve seen it. Listen to today’s podcast episode to discover the details. * * * * * For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E13
August 23 · 51 min
Your Brain has the Power to Heal (EP16)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Yearn to learn. In order to powerfully boost your brain through learning, look for something that fulfils the following criteria: It’s something you genuinely love doing, it keeps you intrinsically motivated, and it makes you lose track of time. It requires effort, and pushes you to learn new rules, acquire new skills, or continuously stretch your abilities. It takes you to new environments — whether that’s a natural wilderness, historical site, art gallery, museum, mathematical landscape or creative mind frame. Anything from mastering a foreign language, playing a musical instrument, birdwatching, digital photography, quilting, or navigating the intricacies of astronomy, will help you build cognitive reserve and lower your risk of dementia. (This is by no means an exhaustive list.) * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Your brain has the power to heal, recover and improve after a concussion, traumatic brain injury, stroke or diagnosis of ADHD, Parkinson’s or dementia. Don’t believe anyone — health professional or otherwise — who says there is nothing that can reverse your condition. What they’re saying is there’s nothing THEY can do for you. But there’s plenty that YOU can do for YOU. When you break a bone or tear a muscle, they can heal with the right treatment and strengthening exercises. When you have a glitch in your brain, it can also work around the problem and restore functioning with the right treatment and strengthening exercises. The difference is that the treatment is not yet mainstream so it has to come from you. Tune into today’s podcast to discover how you can stimulate your brain to heal. Even if you haven’t had a brain injury, your brain is a bundle of untapped potential. Your brain holds a treasure trove of possibilities waiting to be unlocked. And there’s the rub. Those possibilities need to be unlocked. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is an easily implementable prescription for optimising our brain health on a daily basis. So I’m going to give you a prescription now. Here are the 3 underlying PRINCIPLES. Seek out NOVELTY. Novelty forces your neurons to fire in new patterns, which physically changes the structure of your brain. Routine, in contrast, means your brain is operating on autopilot, using existing, well-worn neural pathways. This does not lead to growth. Navigating a novel situation also releases DOPAMINE, which sharpens your focus, enhances memory, and boosts overall motivation. Switch hands for tasks you routinely do with your dominant hand. Seek out NEW CHALLENGES. When we’re challenged, we release my favourite chemical messenger, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which is a protein that acts like fertiliser for our brain. It supports the survival of existing neurons, and encourages the growth of new ones. A fun at-home challenge is learning to juggle. PUSH YOUR BOUNDARIES. This builds a denser network of neural connections, which acts as a buffer against cognitive decline. Find a new word in the dictionary at the start of each week and use it in conversation as often as you can over the next seven days — even if it’s just talking to yourself! * * * * * Today’s Whether Report answers a question I’m asked at every presentation: Can you tell me whether doing crosswords and Sudoku helps to keep my brain sharp, and lowers my risk of dementia? The short answer is: crosswords and suduku are good for your brain, only IF you’re not good at them! Whether crosswords and Sudoku boost your brain depends entirely on your current skill level. If you’re already an expert at them they DO NOT build significant new neural connectivity. But if you find them genuinely difficult, they will help create new neural pathways. Tune in for more details. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E15
August 16 · 31 min
Are you medicines messing with your microbes? (EP15 Part 2)
Last week I finished with the question: what drugs, other than antibiotics, disrupt our gut microbiota — the trillions of micro-organisms that live in our digestive tract? An obvious contender is antacids — also known as heartburn medications — which are drugs that reduce stomach acid production to treat reflux. Decades of research have established a strong link between acid suppression, gastrointestinal changes, and depression — especially in relation to the class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Healthy stomach acid acts as a sterile shield that kills ingested pathogens and bacteria. When the environment becomes less acidic, bacteria from the mouth and upper respiratory tract survive the journey downward and can trigger what’s known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Symptoms of SIBO include (but are not limited to) bloating, abdominal cramping, excessive gas (especially after eating carbohydrates), altered bowel habits, chronic fatigue, brain fog, and joint or muscle pain. Another big class of microbial disruptors is Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, referred to as NSAIDs. These are the most common medications used for pain caused by inflammation or swelling. You’ll know them as Ibuprofen (eg Advil, Nurofen, Motrin), Naproxen, Indomethacin, and Diclofenac (eg Voltaren). Aspirin also directly disrupts the gut microbiome, and long-term or daily low-dose aspirin use suppresses the growth of beneficial, anti-inflammatory bacteria. Other common microbial disrupting medications include metformin (for type 2 diabetes), antidepressants, benzodiazepines, statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) and laxatives (because they speed up gut transit time which can prevent beneficial microbes from properly establishing themselves). Now I’m NOT suggesting that you abruptly stop taking any of these medications if you’re on them. I’m letting you know there’s a lot more to good gut health than food. All medications come with side effects and need to be used judiciously. * * * * * Today’s Brain Booster is: Mend your Microbes! Your body has two incredible systems that help you adapt and survive in a changing world: neuroplasticity and microbial plasticity. Neuroplasticity is your brain and nervous system's ability to rewire its connections when you learn or experience something new, or heal from an injury. Microbial plasticity is your gut’s ability to quickly change its mix of bacteria, and the chemicals they produce, based on what you eat, the medications you take, how well you’ve slept, how regularly you exercise, and how stressed you are. Both systems work like continuous learning programs to keep you healthy, shape your behaviour, and make your body resilient. So what can you do NOW to mend your microbes and improve your gut health, regardless of what’s happened in the past? You’ll have to tune in to hear my top 7 calls to action. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report addresses the question: I’d like to know whether I should get a microbiome home test or not? I know the evidence is not clear yet, and scientific papers have shown that it is an unregulated field with controversial findings. Yet, how else can we know what is wrong with our gut? That question actually prompted me to do this entire four-part gut series. My short answer is: no, don’t waste your time and money on a microbiome home test. Why not? Microbiome home tests are direct-to-consumer kits that analyse a stool sample to identify the micro-organisms living in your digestive tract. Some of them also provide dietary advice based on your results. However, the science highlights a huge gap between what these tests promise and what they actually deliver. My long answer is recorded in this podcast episode. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E15
August 9 · 43 min
Microbes mess with our genes! (EP15)
Today’s Health Headline is: Microbes mess with our genes! (The Brain Booster will come later.) Did you know that you have a gene called ‘The Guardian Gene?’ It’s official name is TP53, and it encodes a protein called p53. The reason for its colloquial name is that this protein protects our DNA, spots damage in our cells, and stops mutations in their tracks. These processes help to shield us from cancer and autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes. And it turns out that our microbes interact with this gene and influence how it behaves through a process called epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to the ability of our genes to be turned on or off by factors in our environment (including our microbes and our diet) without there being any changes to our underlying DNA. And The Guardian Gene is not the only gene affected by our microbes. Our microbes mess with many of our genes. However, in relation to this particular gene, when mice are given antibiotics within the first six weeks of their life, they lose the protective effect of this gene, and develop type 1 diabetes. Even when the babies aren’t given antibiotics themselves, but their mothers received antibiotics in the 10 days before giving birth, the babies still develop diabetes. However, when the antibiotics were delayed until after 6 weeks of age, the gene was able to do its job and stop the mice from getting diabetes. What this illustrates is that gut bacteria are needed to activate this gene, and there’s a critical window, early in life, when this activation needs to happen. When we look at the data on humans, babies who receive antibiotics within the first 2 years of life — or whose mothers received antibiotics late in pregnancy — have a higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases, allergies, asthma, diabetes, and obesity. This is not about making mothers feel guilty about having had antibiotics, or giving them to their children. Antibiotics save lives. The take home message is that gut bugs are critical to our health even before we’re born. And it means we need to use antibiotics — in fact, any medications — only when absolutely necessary. * * * * * What’s Missing from Modern Medicine is recognising that MOST medicines mess with our microbes, not just antibiotics. While antibiotics are the most well-known microbial disruptors, research shows that many common non-antibiotic drugs also significantly alter microbial composition and diversity. But let’s start with antibiotics. Australia is consistently ranked in the world’s top 10 highest antibiotic users out of comparable European and OECD nations, but I’m relieved to say we’re demonstrating a downward trend. If we continue to use antibiotics when we don't need them (as is sadly often the case) they won't work in the future when we DO need them. So what can you personally do to help the situation? Don’t use antibiotics for coughs, colds and runny noses because more than 80% of throat infections are caused by viruses against which antibiotics have no effect. If your doctor wants to prescribe you antibiotics, ask if they’re really necessary, or if he or she is prescribing them ‘just in case’. Don’t subscribe to the ‘just in case’ philosophy but remain vigilant to worsening symptoms. If you do need antibiotics, always finish the course (unless you have an allergic reaction). Not finishing gives bacteria more opportunity to develop resistance. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E14
August 2 · 32 min
Your bacterial print is as unique as your fingerprint! (EP14 Part 2)
Last week’s Brain Booster was Go with your gut — a deep dive into all things gut health. It was another very long segment so I ended it after the Health Headline. That means if you haven’t watched or listened to last week’s episode, I strongly recommend you do so before you listen to this one because last week I explained the rationale for what I’m talking about today. When it comes to gut health, What’s Missing from Modern Medicine is a nuanced, personalised approach. No two people have the same microorganisms living in their gut or on their bodies — not even identical twins. Everyone has a unique microbial identity, just as we have a unique fingerprint. This has led to crime scene investigators using not only fingerprints, but also bacterial prints — referred to as ‘touch microbial forensics’ — to track down criminals. Your bacterial inhabitants are uniquely yours, and when you touch something, you leave some of them behind. Our unique microbial signature is also why manufactured probiotic supplements often fail to deliver the hoped-for benefits. The bacteria contained in the probiotic don’t establish colonisation in our gut, and we just poop them out. But before we go on, a few definitions. Probiotics are live micro-organisms, believed to provide health benefits when we consume them. The prefix pro means ‘in favour of’, and bio refers to ‘life’ or ‘living organisms’. Natural probiotics — also known as dynamic probiotics — are live bacteria and yeasts that develop naturally in food via fermentation. The most common natural probiotics are yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, miso, tempeh and kombucha. There’s no argument that these foods provide broad health benefits because the micro-organisms they contain are alive and active. Manufactured probiotics, in contrast — also known as static probiotics — are isolated laboratory-cultured bacterial strains that are freeze-dried and packaged in precise amounts into daily supplements. But are they the ones you need for your specific condition? Prebiotics, on the other hand, are non-digestible plant fibres that pass through your stomach and small intestine and act as fertiliser to stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria in your colon. Therefore, prebiotics are food for probiotics. Natural prebiotics occur in specific plant foods such as onions, garlic, leek, asparagus, fennel, artichokes and chia seeds. All prebiotics are fibres, but not all fibres are prebiotics. To be classified as a prebiotic, a fibre has to pass through your stomach undigested, and selectively feed only the beneficial bacteria in your gut. All whole fruits and vegetables contain fibre because it forms their structural framework, but not all fruits and vegetables contain prebiotics … * * * * * Today’s Whether Report addresses the question: I’d like to know whether I should take probiotics when I'm given a course of antibiotics? I’ve received conflicting advice and don’t know what to do. This situation is a common conundrum because the relationship between probiotics and antibiotics is one of the most debated topics in gut health. The short answer is: it depends on your primary goal. The confusion stems from a paradox in the scientific data. While probiotics are effective at preventing immediate side effects like diarrhoea, they can slow down the long-term recovery of your native unique microbiome. Tune in to hear the details. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com. For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E14
July 26 · 44 min
Go with your gut! (EP14)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Go with your Gut. Is your gut sensitive, irritable, leaky or inflamed? Are you into: Prebiotics Probiotics Postbiotics Synbiotics Psychobiotics Pharmabiotics Antibiotics Penbiotics Or Panbiotics?! (I will explain all those terms over the next few episodes.) Why does it matter? For most of modern medicine, the brain and gut were treated as separate organs, with separate problems. If you had indigestion, you saw a gastroenterologist. If you had memory loss, you saw a neurologist. Today, that division is fast disappearing: what happens in our gut, doesn’t stay in our gut. Scientists now recognise that our gut and our brain are in constant communication through what’s known as the gut-brain-microbiome axis. Signals travel back and forth, every second, via nerves, hormones, immune pathways, and chemical messengers that are produced by the trillions of micro-organisms that live in our intestines. The estimated number of microbes in our gut is about 40 trillion, with a combined total weight of over 2 kg. That’s more than the weight of our brain, which is 1.4 kg! And our micro-organisms have evolved to play essential roles in maintaining our health. They help us digest food, neutralise toxins, and control how many calories we absorb, ie they influence our body weight and our risk of developing obesity. They produce vitamins, facilitate absorption of minerals, impact our mood, and train our immune system. And gut micro-organisms influence our likelihood of developing asthma, allergies, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and a whole lot more. Tune in for a whirlwind tour of your internal ecosystem, and find out how faecal transplants can save lives — holy crapsule! * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: What’s your Gut Reaction? In other words, what’s going on in your gut, and how does it impact every aspect of your health? Let’s look at some extraordinary numbers. The microbiome — which refers to the genes of all the micro-organisms in our body — accounts for more than 95% of the genes in our body. Let me rephrase that so you can get your head around it. Of all the genes in your body, less than 5% belong to you, and more than 95% belong to your microbes! It’s estimated there are more bacteria in our gut than stars in the Milky Way, and one gram of faeces contains more bacteria than there are people on earth. That’s right: a single gram of human faeces — about the weight of a paperclip — contains up to 100 billion to one trillion bacteria. By comparison, the entire global human population is about 8 billion people. One tiny gram of your stool has over 100 times more bacteria than the population of this planet. So think of your body as a planet. It’s inhabited by trillions of creatures adapted to the various environments provided by different parts of your anatomy. Most of our 40 trillion resident microbes are bacteria, but we also house viruses, fungi and archaea. So there’s no reason to ever feel lonely. The most densely populated region of our body is our colon or large intestine, but it isn’t just the gut that serves as potential real estate for microorganisms. Every surface of our body that’s exposed to the outside world — skin, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, lungs, and vagina is real estate for micro-organisms. And they’re very specific about the environments they need for their survival. Like their human hosts, what matters to them is location, location, location … * * * * * This turned out to be another very long Brain Booster and Health Headline, so I’ve ended the episode here, and I’ll continue with What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? and the Whether Report in Part 2. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com. For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E13
July 19 · 1 hr 5 min
Turn down the pressure (EP13)
Today’s podcast episode was prompted by a Whether question. So I’ll give you the question first, and then I’ll answer it in the context of a Brain Booster, Health Headline, and What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? "Can you tell me WHETHER it’s better to tackle high blood pressure with western medicine or alternative medicine? I have never smoked, do not drink alcohol, I weigh 73kg at height of 1.78cm (so not obese) and I exercise six out of seven days a week, for a minimum of one hour per day with fit-cross, swimming, running and cycling. My blood pressure sometimes spikes to 160/85 with low pulse (ranging between 40-60). I appreciate you being genuine and open to everything." This question is relevant to everyone because chronically sustained high blood pressure — known as hypertension — acts as a constant, silent, physical strain on your entire circulatory system: heart, blood vessels and lymphatics. Over time, this excess force damages blood vessels and organs, including your brain, and becomes a primary driver of life-threatening cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. Untreated blood pressure throughout midlife (between the ages 40 and 65) more than doubles the risk of developing dementia, but it rarely shows obvious symptoms until you’ve sustained significant damage. So unless you get your blood pressure checked regularly, you don’t know that you have hypertension. Tune in to find out how to measure it correctly, and why most doctors are not taking your blood pressure properly! * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: sugar — NOT salt — is the biggest driver of high blood pressure. That doesn’t mean salt plays no role at all. But it means that if you cut out sugar and refined starches, you might not need to worry about salt. Let me explain, because this comes as a big surprise to most people. In episode 6, Skip the sugary sip because every soft drink is a bullet to your brain, I discussed the biochemistry of sugar in relation to brain health. And you’ll recall that sugar (chemical name sucrose) is made up of two smaller sugar molecules: fructose and glucose. And just as fructose and glucose are involved in different biochemical pathways in our brain, they also follow different biochemical pathways in relation to their influence on blood pressure. But before we get into the biochemistry, it’s important to become aware of where the sugar in our diet is coming from. Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you don’t drink soft drinks, you don’t eat biscuits and pastries, and you don’t put sugar in your tea or coffee, you might still be eating a lot of sugar because it’s hidden in what you’d consider to be healthy or savoury foods. I’m talking about sugar that’s added to processed foods — not the sugar that occurs naturally in vegetables and fruits like carrots and berries. So where might sugar be lurking in your diet that you don’t realise? Here’s one spoiler alert: a cup of sushi rice typically contains one to two tablespoons (3-6 teaspoons) of added sugar, depending on the chef or recipe. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is effective advice on how to lower blood pressure without using medications. Here are my top eight non-pharmaceutical ways to reduce your blood pressure, in addition to quitting sugar and managing stress: Reap the benefits of sleep Abstain from alcohol Move to improve Rustle up some muscle Step into a sauna — which I covered in detail in episode 12 parts 1 and 2 Breathe, don’t seethe Pay attention to potassium Stop using mouthwash! * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E12
July 12 · 23 min
Turn up the heat! (EP12 - Part 2)
Last week’s Brain Booster was Turn up the heat! — a deep dive into how using a sauna more than 4 times a week can reduce the risk of dementia by over 60%! Given that this is a very bold claim, I spoke for longer than I’d anticipated, in order to explain the mechanisms by which heat exposure brings about health benefits. So I decided to end the episode after the Health Headline because the feedback I’ve received from you is that you prefer my episodes to be under one hour long. That means if you haven’t watched or listened to last week’s episode, I strongly recommend you do so before listening to this one because last week I explained the rationale for what I’m talking about today. Hence we’re launching straight into What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? What’s Missing from Modern Medicine is doctors prescribing heat therapy as part of standard medical care for: High blood pressure Heart failure Depression Insomnia Chronic pain Dementia-prevention Respiratory conditions Overall better health But how should heat therapy be prescribed? What’s the difference between: Dry saunas Wet saunas or steam rooms Infrared saunas Japanese Waon therapy And hot baths? Do they confer similar benefits or is one modality better than another? What dose do we need in terms of temperature, duration and frequency? If saunas are a medication, are there any contraindications? And most importantly, how can the average person — like you and me — incorporate heat therapy as part of a healthy lifestyle, without having to spend a lot of time and money? There are only so many hours in a day, and I don’t want to spend all day trying to get healthy and not leave time to actually live! Having said that, I enjoy saunas and hot baths, so it’s great to have a really good reason to indulge in them. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report is from Colin: I would like to hear whether at my age — 85 years — it’s too late to avoid Alzheimer’s? No, it’s never too late! Listen to the end of the episode to find out why! * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and send your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E12
July 5 · 44 min
Turn up the heat! (EP12)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Turn up the heat! For thousands of years, humans have deliberately exposed themselves to heat: Roman baths, Turkish hammans, Finnish saunas, indigenous sweat lodges, and Japanese onsen (natural hot springs). And it turns out that sweating it out in a sauna on a regular basis: Lowers blood pressure Improves overall heart health and blood vessel function Reduces the risk of a heart attack, stroke and dementia Helps with blood sugar regulation Brings down inflammation Decreases depression and anxiety Improves mood Induces better sleep And prolongs your life! How could doing something so effortless and relaxing enhance your health to such an incredible extent? It sounded too good to be true, so I did a deep dive into the science of saunas. Tune in to find out what I uncovered. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Our decisions — determine our destiny. A remarkable study published in Nature Medicine in 2025 — challenges one of the most fatalistic assumptions in medicine: that our genes are our destiny. Researchers have been studying a man named Doug Whitney because he has a rare mutation in a gene called Presenilin 2. This gene is supposed to guarantee that a person gets early-onset Alzheimer’s (also known as younger-onset Alzheimer’s). That means they can get the disease as early as 40 years of age, but the average age of onset is about 54 years — still extraordinarily young. However Doug is 76 years old and remains completely symptom-free and cognitively intact. So researchers started searching for what could be protecting Doug from getting Alzheimer’s. They found two potential explanations. The first explanation — a speculative one — is that Doug possessed genetic variants not previously recognised as protective against Alzheimer’s, but which could potentially modify the disease. Scientists are looking into this. The second — more compelling — explanation is that Doug’s life may have inadvertently provided him with a form of long-term heat therapy similar to regular sauna use. From the age of 18, he spent two decades working as a mechanic, deep within the engine rooms of steam-powered naval ships, where temperatures could soar to around 50°C (122°F). Researchers speculate that repeated exposure to these intense conditions may have stimulated the production of unusually high levels of what are known as heat shock proteins in Doug Whitney’s cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These specialised proteins: Help cells cope with stress Repair damaged proteins And maintain cellular function under adverse conditions. And they’re one of the mechanisms by which sauna use dramatically reduces dementia risk. * * * * * When I recorded this podcast episode, I spoke for over 40 minutes on just the Brain Booster and Health Headline so I’ve decided to split this episode into 2 parts because the feedback I’ve received from you is that you’d like me to keep my episodes to under one hour. I’ll continue with What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? and the Whether Report in Part 2. Thank you for your comments and questions — I'll respond to them all in due course. I really appreciate your engagement. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E11
June 28 · 1 hr 29 min
Deep dive into dementia (EP11)
For today’s episode, I’m sharing an interview I had with the dynamic and inspiring Sarah Rusbatch on her podcast Stronger Bolder Wiser. Sarah is an accredited Grey Area Drinking Coach and the author of the best-selling book Beyond Booze — How to create a life you love, alcohol-free. Sarah and I immediately clicked because her approach to alcohol is the same as my approach to healthy eating in my book NeuroSlimming. Sarah’s philosophy is that ‘the goal isn’t to be sober; the goal is to love yourself so much, you don’t need a drink.’ I feel exactly the same way about food: the goal isn’t to quit ultraprocessed food; the goal is to love yourself so much, you don’t need to numb your emotions with food. Sarah is also a multi award-winning Health and Wellbeing Coach, a Menopause Accredited Coach, and a passionate ambassador for helping women live their best lives. Most importantly, Sarah lives everything she speaks, and she glows from the inside out. So although the interview doesn’t technically follow my usual format of Brain Booster — Health Headline — What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? — and Whether Report, we definitely cover a lot of brain-boosters, health headlines, and things that are missing from modern medicine, especially in relation to women having twice the likelihood of Alzheimer’s dementia as men — and how to change this. Here are some of the topics we cover: What’s the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s disease? How common is Alzheimer’s disease? Why is Alzheimer’s twice as common in women as in men? Does hormone replacement at menopause support brain health and reduce dementia risk? How much do our genes influence our risk of developing Alzheimer’s? If you have a family member with Alzheimer’s does it mean you’re more likely to get the disease? Are sugar and alcohol risk factors for dementia? Which is worse? How can we start to improve our brain health and reverse dementia? Why is physical exercise — and especially strength training — so important for brain health? Are there any foods that are especially important when it comes to brain health? When should we start being seriously proactive about looking after our brain? * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E10
June 21 · 1 hr 21 min
Give thanks for your life — and you’ll live a longer life! (EP10)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Appreciate to elevate your thinking, and recognise that gratitude is more than a platitude. It’s really unfortunate that in today’s hashtag world, the notion of practising gratitude, and appreciating our blessings, has become hackneyed and superficial. Yet behind the cliches, appreciation and gratitude boost our brain in profound and distinct ways. So today’s episode will be a fascinating exploration of the difference between appreciation and gratitude, and how they can help us build a better brain. We live in a world that constantly trains our attention toward what’s wrong. Turn on the news — conflict. Scroll social media — it’s easy to jump to negative comparisons. Check your inbox — problems to solve. Without realising it, our brain becomes exquisitely skilled at spotting flaws, threats and mistakes. From an evolutionary perspective, this is a survival feature. Our ancestors did not survive by admiring sunsets; they survived by spotting snakes. So our brain is wired to scan for problems. But what happens when that survival setting becomes our default way of seeing everything? We become mentally tired, less creative, more reactive, and ironically, less effective at solving the very problems we’re focused on. The good news is that there’s a really simple skill that can turn things around and improve how our brain functions. That skill is appreciation. Hence today’s Brain-Booster is appreciate to elevate your thinking. Today’s Health Headline is: Gratitude delays the grave! Literally. Gratitude — expressing thanks for someone or something — adds years to your life. How? A Harvard study published in 2024 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, followed almost 50 000 nurses (49 275 to be precise) with an average age of 79, for over 3 years. The researchers wanted to answer the question: Do people who notice and feel grateful for positive experiences more frequently, tend to live longer? What did they find? The nurses who felt the most grateful — those in the top third of participants — had a 9% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who scored in the lowest third of participants. Specifically in relation to heart disease, the more grateful they were, the less likely they were to die of a heart attack or stroke. Wow! What’s missing from modern medicine is incorporating gratitude into standard medical care. Gratitude improves the functioning of our immune system, and reduces chronic inflammation, hence it’s been found to improve depression, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, heart health and arthritis. Another wow! Today’s Whether Report is a common scenario: I’ve been listening to your podcast from the very start and I absolutely love it. However I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the things I need to do to get my health on track. Not only do I need to overhaul my diet, exercise more, and get better sleep, you’ve made me aware that I have a lot of conflicts in my life, and it’s definitely causing me ongoing stress. I’d like to know whether you can help me overcome my overwhelm, and tell me where to start. It feels impossible to tackle everything in the TRUE MEDICINES acronym. I’d be very grateful for any advice. Resources: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E9
June 14 · 38 min
Purge yourself of Plastic (EP9)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Purge yourself of plastic! Why? And what do I mean by that? Plastics have become ubiquitous in modern life. Over time, larger plastic items degrade into smaller particles — micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) — and these MNPs can infiltrate air, water, soil, food chains, and ultimately the human body. While the environmental impacts of microplastics are well-documented, human health consequences are only just beginning to be understood. A 2024 study at the University of New Mexico found triple the amount of MNPs in the brains of people with dementia compared to the brains of people without. At this stage, we don’t know if the plastics caused the dementia, or if a person with dementia has an impaired blood brain barrier, which makes their brain more likely to absorb plastics after they already have the disease. Either way, my suspicion is that plastics in the brain are not a good thing. We can’t escape plastics entering our bodies altogether, but we can try to minimise our exposure in various ways. Here’s an acronym I created to help you remember how you can purge yourself of plastic. And the acronym is PLASTIC! P stands for purify the tap water in your home. L stands for limit, if not eLiminate processed foods because so many of them are contaminated with high levels of plastics. A stands for Avoid cosmetics that contain micro-beads, and check the ingredients on personal care products for polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene. S stands for Swap plastic cutting boards, utensils and cutlery for wooden or bamboo chopping boards and stainless steel cutlery. T stands for Tyre pressure maintenance. Keep your car tyres at the right pressure so they don’t wear down as quickly because tyres are a big source of microplastics in the air and oceans. I stands for Invest in a HEPA air purifier for your home to capture microplastics from the air. C stands for Choose Clothes made from natural materials like cotton, linen, silk, or wool. Cotton and wool shed fewer micro-fibres than synthetic materials during washing. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: There’s a spoonful of plastic in your brain! According to a study published in Nature Medicine in December 2024, even in the absence of dementia, our brains contain a teaspoonful of plastic. Really? Let’s take a closer look at the study and the whole microplastics scene. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is conclusive evidence for the specific harms of plastics, and definitive advice about what we can do once plastics have made their way into our body. It’s important to recognise what we don’t yet know because jumping to conclusions, and getting into a panic, could take us down an unhelpful path. * * * * * Today’s Whether Report tackles a tricky question: I’d like to know whether microplastics cause gut disorders like inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and whether eating specific foods like blueberries, blocks the absorption of microplastics or helps clear them out of our bodies? Please subscribe to my podcast or YouTube channel so that you don’t miss an episode, and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For references and resources visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E8
June 7 · 1 hr 1 min
Feeling is healing (EP8)
Today’s Brain Booster is: Train your brain to reframe. Have you ever put your foot in it and unintentionally offended someone? Or received notification that your job interview was unsuccessful? Before you know it, your mood has plummeted. Even though physically nothing has happened to you, your heart rate and blood pressure rise, your muscles tighten, and you start replaying the event in your mind. Why couldn’t I just have kept my mouth shut? Now that person’s going to hate me. I’m hopeless at interviews. I’m never going to get a job. But all of that is just my interpretation. The person I unintentionally offended might have forgotten about the incident, or not been as offended as I thought. And the job might have had hundreds of applicants and I did well to get to the interview stage. So it’s not the event that’s inherently mood-dampening; it’s what I’m telling myself about the event. It’s the meaning I attach to my experiences that determines their impact. And that’s where a powerful brain skill can come in and rescue the day: cognitive reframing — also sometimes called cognitive reappraisal. Tune into this week’s podcast to find out why cognitive reframing can improve both our physical and mental health. * * * * * Today’s Health Headline is: Every symptom is a signal. I first introduced the idea of every symptom being a signal in podcast episode 1, but we only scratched the surface. Today we’re going to explore the concept further because it’s an example of cognitive reframing. In fact, my entire approach to healing is grounded in four cognitive reframes: Disease is a doorway — not a defect. Symptoms are a signal — not a scourge. Cancer is a catalyst — not a catastrophe. Pain is a paradox — not a problem. Instead of regarding disease as something that gets in the way of living a full life, reframe it as the very thing you need to guide you to a full life. Reframe disease as your body communicating to you that there’s some sort of conflict in your life that needs to be resolved, or at least acknowledged. This approach may take more time and energy than medications or surgery, but do you want the path of popping pills or the path to personal power? * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is acknowledging that emotions impact our physical health, not just our mental health. Modern medicine relegates emotions to the domain of mental health and psychologists. But emotions also have a HUGE impact on our physical health. Suppressing our emotions can make us sick, while learning to feel can heal. * * * * * And today’s Whether Report answers a question I was asked at a recent presentation: ‘When it comes to the benefits of expressive writing, can you tell me whether typing on a computer is as effective as handwriting in a journal?’ * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast and email your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/
S1 · E7
June 3 · 59 min
People are more powerful than pills (EP7)
I’m not going to reveal today’s Brain Booster because at the start of the episode I give you a clue and ask you to guess what the Brain Booster might be. So let’s launch straight into today’s Health Headline: People are more powerful than pills. Study after study has shown that supportive relationships are the number one way to improve our health, happiness and longevity. And it took me a long time to get my head around that. Nurturing relationships in midlife are a greater predictor of good health as we age than cholesterol level and obesity. Stop and think about that. We’re obsessed with losing weight and keeping our cholesterol down, yet we’d improve our health and longevity to a greater extent if we improved the quality and quantity of our relationships. That’s mind-blowing. All those years in medical school I spent learning about blood tests and medications and surgical procedures — and it turns out the best medical advice I can give you is to spend more quality time with the people you love. If you want to improve your health — first and foremost — improve your relationships. Tune in to find out why. * * * * * What’s missing from modern medicine is taking on board the wisdom of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama when he said: Humans sacrifice their health for wealth — and then have to spend their wealth to regain their heath. The reason our species has survived for so long is because of our interdependence and ability to co-operate. We know this intuitively. We know that social connections are fundamental to our health and happiness. But we don’t seem to be living that way. Our current culture pushes us to prioritise work and career advancement and getting a better income and ticking things off our to-do list, at the expense of looking after our health; at the expense of getting enough sleep, exercise, sunshine, and good nutrition. And at the expense of our relationships. There are so many pressures constantly pulling at us that maintaining friendships and just being present with our family can take a back seat. And that’s evidenced by the fact that more than 40% of marriages in Australia, the US and UK end in divorce. It’s not that work and paying bills isn’t important, but paradoxically, we’d actually be more productive at work, we’d get ahead more quickly, we’d be more successful, and we’d handle life’s stresses more effectively, if we spent more time building good relationships at work and at home. And here’s the other irony. We think that the reason we’re working so hard, and keeping so busy, and not switching off, is to improve our quality of life and that of our family. But is it really improving our quality of life? * * * * * And today’s Whether Report answers the question: I’ve heard that loneliness is as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I’d like to know whether this is actually true. I’m an introvert and I like spending time alone. I’m happy in my own company, but I’d like to know whether I should force myself to become an extrovert for the sake of improving my health. * * * * * Please subscribe to my podcast so that you don’t miss an episode, and send your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com For resources and references visit: https://drhelenapopovic.com/podcast/

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