The MD and Chef Team Podcast
Combined expertise of a Medical Doctor and a Culinary Nutrition Expert Chef: With decades of experience in traditional medicine, professional cooking, and functional/integrative medicine, we can assess your health and lifestyle from all angles. We provide whole-body health guidance while also showing you how to use food as medicine every day. We're bringing health home using our combined 40+ years of helping people heal.
Because health doesn’t start and end at the doctor’s office. It starts with your thoughts, the foods you eat, and the habits you nurture each day. At home, work, schools, and places of worship.
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The MD and Chef Team Podcast
Sleep's Secret Saboteur How Apnea Steals Brain Health
Dive headfirst into a health revolution that prioritises prevention, with our latest episode where Chef Michael and I, Dr. Isabel MD, explore the under recognised connection between obstructive sleep apnea and brain health.
We're peeling back the layers on why this sleep disorder shouldn't just be a footnote in your health narrative, but rather a pivotal chapter you attend to with urgency. It's a call to arms—or should we say, a call to breath—for those unaware of the silent threat lurking in their sleep.
As we navigate the nuances of nasal breathing and mouth taping, we're arming you with not just knowledge but practical steps to transform your nightly slumber into a fortress for your mental well-being.
From the potentially life-changing Stop Bang questionnaire to the nitty-gritty on CPAP machines and mouthguards, we're spotlighting strategies that can halt sleep apnea's stealthy encroachment on your brain's territory.
Tune in for a heart-to-heart on the small, patient steps you can take toward safeguarding your cognitive future and boosting your overall health—one restful breath at a time.
STOPBANG Questionairre - http://www.stopbang.ca/osa/screening.php
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Hello and welcome to the MD and Chef Team Podcast. It's culinary nutrition expert, chef Michael, here, and I'm joined by my beautiful wife, your Dr Isabel. Hi, hi everyone.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us. How's?
Speaker 1:it going today darling Very good, yeah, I know, I know it is.
Speaker 2:We've been next to each other all day doing work.
Speaker 1:You've been having an amazing day. We've been next to each other all day doing work. You've been having an amazing day. We've been having a great day. Yes, it's an awesome day. Well, hon, I was wondering. I have a question. I was wondering if somebody might be out there listening. Why should I bother with this podcast? Why should I even come back? Why should I even listen to this MD and chef team? What's this all about? What would you say to that question?
Speaker 2:That is such a good question, so good on you for asking that question. Well, the reason we recommend that you watch this actually listen to it, because this is on audio is we're going to be talking about looking through a new window into your future. Medicine is changing dramatically and it's empowering people to reclaim their health, so that you're in control of your health, not your doctor. I mean, it's crazy for us to think that healthcare starts in a doctor's office. It does not, I'm telling you. I've been a doctor now since 1991, over 30 plus years and really your health care begins way before you come into the doctor's office and you know how. Christopher Columbus had a big project. He said no, the world is not flat, it's round. That was a paradigm shift, and I'm here to let you know that healthcare is experiencing a paradigm shift. You are in control of your health and you can prevent a lot of these things.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I have focused on because, as you know, I am a suicide survivor and being dropped into that world as a medical doctor just 10 years ago and realizing, holy moly, is this what it's like for somebody with quote mental unwellness? Michael and I are over on the other side and we've come to understand that we don't have a mental illness problem. Rather, we've got a brain health issue Everybody's working on. Oh, we got to fix anxiety and depression. Well, actually, that's the downstream event.
Speaker 2:What we really need to be starting to focus on is the upstream event. How do we take care of our brain health? Because, as you know, your brain is your number one muscle. It controls everything. And when we start focusing upstream, we want to have the downstream event. To mention things like sleep apnea, which we're going to be talking about today, things like anxiety, depression. One of the best pictures I can draw for you in your mind is imagine mopping up the floor while the sink is overflowing instead of just turning off the faucet. Well, turning off the faucet is what we're talking about is working upstream. So I just want to let you know that. That's why we encourage you to stay here and listen and take control of your health.
Speaker 1:And we're here for you. So stay with us, be with us. Our mission is to walk alongside you and help you to get strong, physically, emotionally. We got the roadmap. You just take small, consistent steps, and that's what we do.
Speaker 1:We bring in snackable bites each podcast of different types of topics, and so today's topic, as Dr Isabel alluded to, is sleep apnea. This is such an important topic. I mean, it only became aware to us I believe both of us in the last 10 years about how important sleep is For our brain health. For our brain health, I mean, you and I both were under the kind of I don't know whether it be society, business, entrepreneur, but the old saying of you know, I'll sleep when I'll die, let's grind, I'll stay up all night, I'll sleep a couple hours. And you know and you know, especially you for your medical training, where you only got to sleep a couple hours every couple days and that was supposedly okay that we've learned how bad that is for our brain health, those thought processes, and so, yeah, I'm excited to hear you today talk to everybody about sleep apnea. So if it's important to you to learn about sleep apnea and your brain health, stay tuned, because here it comes.
Speaker 2:Here we go. Don't go anywhere, babe.
Speaker 1:I need you here too.
Speaker 2:I'm right here All right, okay, see, I'm out of here.
Speaker 1:Go ahead I need you here, I'm right here, all right, okay, see, I'm out of here, I'm here.
Speaker 2:I'm here. So, essentially, like Michael had alluded, we had learned from Dr Dale Bredesen, who wrote the book the End of Alzheimer's, and he's trained Michael and I and 2000 other physicians and practitioners around the world to prevent and reverse early Alzheimer's. Yes, you heard me right Prevent and reverse early Alzheimer's. And one of the contributing factors of poor brain health in the form of dementia of the Alzheimer's type is sleep apnea. So sleep apnea, what is it? Well, it causes you to stop breathing for short periods of time throughout the night, and that robs you of restful sleep and leaves you dragging, unfocused, forgetful, throughout the day. Excuse me, it's also associated with heart attacks and cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure. Obstructive sleep apnea has also been linked, as we alluded to, to cognitive impairment, memory, focus, learning and increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Speaker 2:What is? How do we manage obstructive sleep apnea? Well, we learn to breathe properly. The key is we want to start learning how to breathe through our nose. You see, with sleep apnea, what happens is when you lay on your back, your tongue kind of falls back in the back of your throat and it blocks your air passage. Your trachea, I mean, yeah, your trachea, which is where your oxygen goes in and out, and then you hear people snoring, or snoring, or snoring. So that's one of the signs, and we manage it by learning to breathe properly through our nose. The key is to learn to breathe through our nose, which helps filter out dust and allergens, and it boosts our oxygen uptake and humidifies the air we breathe. I don't know about you, but the more I realize how important it is to breathe through your nose, I see so many people breathing through their mouths. Have you noticed that, honey?
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of people. You can see them as they're doing things, their mouths open, they're breathing through their mouth and I know you're going to talk about this in a moment, but just myself talking to people about it. My biggie was understanding that the, the nose, is our filter of air. You know the nose has the, has the nose hairs to filter out all the as much as it can, the baddies in the air, but our mouth doesn't. And I know you're going to explain more about this in a bit why that's so bad for oral health, that that air just coming through our mouth not getting filtered. Because I had a problem with oral health and that's part for another show but understanding that that probably contributed to my poor oral health because I used to breathe a lot through my mouth, not even thinking about it and understanding about it. Yeah, it's a biggie, the mouth breathing thing for many reasons, right?
Speaker 2:So if you're a mouth breather, close your mouth and breathe through your nose, because mouth breathing can increase your risk of bad breath and gum inflammation and infection, especially your gum disease. You can start having gum disease and the problem with gum disease is you get pockets, deep pockets in your gums, and that's where bacteria grow. And the mouth is very close to the brain and we now know, through a test called the oral microbiome swab, that you can harbor really bad bacteria that cause dementia in those pockets in your gum. So when you go, when you go to your dentist, next time, I encourage you to get a perio chart, that's p-eE-R-I-O chart. Do you want to explain what that is, hon, because you've had several of them.
Speaker 1:Yes, I have.
Speaker 1:And yours have improved greatly. Well, they take a little pick and they put it down between your teeth to your gums and they measure the distance in the pockets between your teeth to the gum, and anything over three millimeters is considered problematic, shall I say, and especially when you get up around that you know five, six and beyond. Uh-oh, there's some problems there, because that means your gums are receding, there's some problems happening in your gum and you got gaps going on. So, yeah, it's very, very important to get that perio chart done, and I had never done that for years and of course, had poor gums, gum disease, had to go through a two year process of recouping my gums, I guess you would say, and getting them right. And now I get a perio chart done every at least six months, but every six months at the dentist and they check those just to make sure they're all coming out ones, twos and threes.
Speaker 2:That's right and we do the same thing. We have that also done for our patients that we help prevent and reverse cognitive decline. When they come to us saying I think I'm having some memory issues, we make sure that they're going to the dentist and getting a perio chart every six months. Managing obstructive sleep apnea Also, another intervention is addressing physical obstruction which could be enlarged. Tonsils or adenoids can have a very significant impact on children and adults' health and well-being. So keep that in mind too. Identifying and treating obstructive sleep apnea in patients patients being you because we're sitting face-to-face right now okay, that's the way I see it. The key is it's going to promote overall brain health and reduce the burden of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. An untreated obstructive sleep apnea triples your risk of depression. Okay. So tell me, has your doctor talked to you about sleep apnea and increasing your risk of depression three times? To you? About sleep apnea and increasing your risk of depression three times? I was never taught to do that.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:And that's why it's so important to start training people up.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's why healthcare doesn't begin in a doctor's office, it begins on these podcasts. It can also make it very difficult to lose weight.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah Interesting yeah, yeah, interesting, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So some of the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea in children and adults are frequent and loud snoring or snorting. Snorting, I just snorted for you, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's happened, I've heard that, gosh, I've heard it. Where you? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's happened, I've heard that, gosh, I've heard it. Uh, when you're traveling or something, and maybe you're with a group or people you don't you know for even friends that you've never obviously slept around, and then maybe they're in the same room for whatever reason and you're like, oh my god and you nudge them like or throw the pillow at them.
Speaker 2:Hey, pausesuses in breathing, choking sounds and small gasps for breath are another symptom. Frequent open mouth breathing, agitated sleep, moving around a lot and that is the body's message to you, saying I'm not getting enough oxygen to my brain, so move around so that you can get the oxygen to your brain, isn't your brain is so smart.
Speaker 1:Controls everything it does. It's your number one muscle.
Speaker 2:I've heard that before. Also, symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea is excessive sweating, abnormal sleep positions like sleeping sitting up or with your neck hyperextended. That's one of the signs. Night terrors in children have been identified, sleepwalking, bedwetting, morning headaches, poor appetite and waking up with a dry mouth, especially if you're mouth breathing and early morning waking. Now, one of the things that Michael and I have done since learning about this is we realized we were mouth breathers when we were sleeping.
Speaker 1:When we were sleeping, yeah we were sleeping when we were sleeping.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, so now we tape our mouth shut with this tape? Um, you can get it at the chemist. It's called hyperfix. Yeah, hyperfix. I think it's h-y-p-e-r-f-i-x. That's the kind of tape we have here in New Zealand.
Speaker 1:Now I do have to interject. When this first started, when Isabel started talking to me about taping my mouth shut at nighttime you know this is a G rated podcast but my thoughts were like what's going on? Is this something kinky or weird, or what are you? What are you? You're going to tape my mouth shut? What the heck is going on here? Okay, and then. But then you know she explained what's going on and what it's all about and it's like, ah, okay, what is it like? You're going to put duct tape over my mouth or something? But no, that's not.
Speaker 1:There's actual and you can. You can see that on, seen on social media. There's all kind of ads and you'll see ads out there. There's a lot of different types of kinds and Isabel's going to explain a less expensive kind. But once I started to understand it and what we're doing, ever since we started using that, you can speak for yourself in a moment. But I know for me, I've been waking up pretty feeling pretty good in the morning, like I've had really good night's sleep I mean, I'm always been a great sleeper, but even better and feel really rested and, yeah, having a very good night's sleep. You know how about you?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, I feel, I feel good, I knew that I would now. Well, that's the way I wake up feeling.
Speaker 1:I do feel good.
Speaker 2:And I'm not waking up with those headaches.
Speaker 1:Remember how I was waking up in the morning with these headaches.
Speaker 2:So I feel really good. I feel more energetic when I wake up in the morning, less headache, I'm not having any headaches and I've got the energy. So this tape that you can get, just go to the chemist or your pharmacy and ask for hyperfix or ask for surgical tape, and you might have to, you might. You want to get the the smallest width, because you just want it to go across your upper and your lower lip, that's all yeah, yeah and you might have to cut it, you know, so that it fits.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because everybody's mouth is a different size and you might have to cut it, you know, so that it fits. Yeah, because everybody's mouth is a different size, so you might have to cut it to your size. But the other day you don't want it over you know giant thing over your face. But you only need a little bit just to keep the mouth taped at night time and, uh, hopefully, uh, you'll just have your good breathing all night long without the mouth breathing. It is very, very beneficial and there's heaps of research out there on it now.
Speaker 2:And the reason we want you to do this is because we want you thinking clearly until your last breath and that's what we address is your brain health going upstream, so you don't have any problems downstream, because hey, why don't we just do this in good health until our last breath? That's our goal, exactly, and I hope you join us Now. Before we leave, I want you to know about this test that you can take online, called Stop Bang. That's S-T-O-P-B-A-N-G questionnaires.
Speaker 1:And I'll put the link to Stop Bang questionnaire in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Okay, oh fantastic, hon, and it's a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea. I'm just going to go through the questions, but I do encourage you to take it, and if you score three or more on this, then the next step is to go see your GP so that you Family doctor or family practice doctor, wherever you are in the world so that they can help you with sleep apnea, because there's a lot of things that we can do now for sleep apnea. There's a CPAP machine, there's mouth guards, there's a lot of cool things, and the CPAP machine isn't what it was in the past.
Speaker 1:It's updated yeah, much updated the paradigm shift is happening and would you suggest people to get a sleep study done?
Speaker 2:If you score greater than three, three, four, five, six, seven on this test, then, yeah, probably see your GP and get referred for a sleep study. Or if you can Google, get a sleep study, go ahead and get yourself a sleep study.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty available out there now. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So S is for snoring. Do you snore loudly? This is the stop bang questionnaire. Louder than talking, or loud enough to be heard through closed doors.
Speaker 1:And you answer yes or no.
Speaker 2:T is for tiredness or fatigue. Do you often feel tired, fatigued or sleepy during the daytime, even after a good night's sleep? O is for observed apnea. Has anyone ever observed you stop breathing during your sleep? So apnea means you stop breathing. That's what apnea means. P is for pressure. Are you being treated for high blood pressure? That increases your risk of sleep apnea. B is for body mass index over 35. And it teaches you how you can go ahead and get your body mass index measured. A is for age. Are you older than 50? N is for neck size. Does your neck measure more than 40 centimeters round? If yes, what is the centimeter measurement? And G is for gender. Are you male? Huh, I guess being a male just increases your risk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and, like I said, I'll put the link in the show notes for that questionnaire. You can check it out yourself and do the Stop Bang questionnaire for sleep apnea Right. Three or more yeses means okay, there's probably sleep apnea there and you need to talk to your family doc, your GP, whatever you want to call it, and look at getting a sleep study done. That's right.
Speaker 2:So, to recap today yes, because we're landing this ship. We are, we are landing, landing.
Speaker 1:But put, put down your landing gear, lift up your table, remove a tray. Holds up. Yeah, yeah, put your table tray up.
Speaker 2:Put your seat belt on yeah, all that goodness oh, oh.
Speaker 2:Whatever they say, I'm usually asleep when that's all happening. So, to recap, we were talking about sleep apnea and how it affects your brain health. In conclusion, if you have sleep apnea, you are increasing your risk of depression threefold risk of depression threefold. You're increasing your risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. You're increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease like heart attacks and high blood pressure. All of those things are not good for your brain health. So that's what we wanted to bring to you today and I hope we have served you well with information.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for stopping by. It's been Michael and Isabel, the MD and Chef team, here on the podcast today. So come back next time because we'll deliver more great brain health tips, insights and inspiration for you. We're not going anywhere Anywhere. We're not going anywhere, not anyway, but not anywhere. We'll be here for you. We'll help you navigate your emotional and physical self. So we'll look forward to having you come out and hang with us again.
Speaker 2:And I just wanted to say we don't expect you to change overnight. You know, these are all small, consistent steps that we encourage you to take every day, and if you go off track, oh well, the next day is another day Because we go off track, right.
Speaker 1:We certainly do, Just as we did today and had to make course corrections. That's right with our thinking. Had to make course correction that's right with our thinking yeah constant course correction. Oh, that's another. Yeah, so thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2:We're here for you. Thank you bye for now.