Health - Stress and Worry

January 24, 2012

Interview with Dr. David Agus, author of the book The End of Illness

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Mike Carruthers:
Millions of people take vitamins every day to protect their health – but maybe they shouldn’t.

Dr. David Agus:
If you look at the studies of vitamins they cause problems. If a man takes a vitamin E a day for 3 years his rate of prostate cancer is 17% elevated and it lasts for years after stopping the vitamin E.
 

December 26, 2011

Interview with Alex S. Key, author of the book The Third Basic Instinct: How Religion Doesn't Get You (Revised Edition)

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Mike Carruthers:
Every creature on the earth has two basic instincts, survival and reproduction and what makes humans different from other creatures is our third basic instinct.

Alex S. Key:
And I propose that the third basic instinct is innate human curiosity - our desire to stimulate our minds, our desire to learn, the instinct to learn.
 

December 23, 2011

Interview with Daniel Amen, M.D., author of the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness

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Mike Carruthers:
It appears that you actually have more control over your brain than you may have thought. For example…

Daniel Amen, M.D.:
How you think (moment-by-moment thoughts) have a huge impact on how your brain works.
 

December 16, 2011

Interview with Mel Pohl, author of the book A Day without Pain

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Mike Carruthers:
A third of the population suffers from chronic pain and we're all bothered by pain at some point. Here's something interesting...

Mel Pohl, M.D.:
Probably twenty percent of chronic pain is related to the injury and the tissue irritation and about eighty percent is related to our attitudes about the pain.
 

December 15, 2011

Interview with Shawn Smith, author of the book The User's Guide to the Human Mind: Why Our Brains Make Us Unhappy, Anxious, and Neurotic and What We Can Do about It

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Mike Carruthers:
The primary job of the human mind is not to keep you happy but to keep you safe.

Shawn Smith:
That’s why you’ll notice that the bookshelves in the bookstore are filled with books about how to be happy because happiness is not really the default state for our brains. Our brains are really much more concerned about us surviving.
 

November 17, 2011

Interview with Peter Walsh, author of the book Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier with Less

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Mike Carruthers:
If you want to feel really great about yourself take a few minutes to de-clutter and clean up a room.

Peter Walsh:
You cannot imagine the transformative effect that it has when you de-clutter a space and let it breathe.
 

November 3, 2011

Interview with Danny Penman, author of the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World

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Mike Carruthers:
When was the last time you sat quietly without really thinking or worrying about anything?  - probably not recently.

Danny Penman:
We are bombarded with messages advertising phones ringing, emails, text messages – we are so overwhelmed with information it’s just driving us nuts..
 

November 2, 2011

Interview with Danny Penman, author of the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World

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Mike Carruthers:
As individuals we worry a lot.

Danny Penman:
It is an entirely natural thing to do is to worry over problems to constantly turn them over in your mind. But because it’s natural that doesn’t mean that it’s the best way of dealing with a problem.
 

October 11, 2011

Interview with Alex Doman, co-author of the book Healing at the Speed of Sound: How What We Hear Transforms Our Brains and Our Lives

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Mike Carruthers:
Music is good for your health in fact it may be essential.

Alex Doman:
For example with stress levels we know that cortisol is a marker of stress and there are numerous studies to show that using the right kind of relaxing music reduces stress levels and stress is one of the leading causes of ill health in America.
 

September 23, 2011

Interview with Dr. Amy Weschler, author of the book The Mind-Beauty Connection

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Mike Carruthers:
What makes people look older than their actual years? Stress is a big culprit.

Dr. Amy Wechsler:
The fastest growing segments in the anti-aging category are twenty-year-olds. When I was in my twenties I wouldn't think of buying an anti-aging product but twenty-year-olds are buying them. I think because everyone's so stressed out and they are starting to see all these wrinkles.