John Bradshaw - Overcoming Addictions
Welcome to Take Charge of Your Health, brought to you by It Is Written. In each of these presentations we talk about ways that you can take charge of your health, decisions you can make, things that you can add into your life or leave out of your life that will enhance your health and give you a better chance at a healthy future. We're going to discuss something that affects everyone. The more we learn about stress, the more we find out how damaging it can be. But there's plenty you can do about it, and it won't cost you anything to see real results. Thanks for being part of Take Charge of Your Health.
This is Take Charge of Your Health. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. If we learned anything at all from the pandemic, it's that our health is precious and that it's wise to be making decisions now that will help us to be in the best possible shape later. And as we look at stress, we're going to learn something, in fact, a lot about the benefit of rest. We're going to learn about an ancient anti -stress remedy that's helped literally millions of people ward off the damaging effects of stress. Tonight we will speak with medical professionals; we'll be inspired by real-life stories of people who have seen great results. Dietician and health professional Dr. Fay Kazzi is going to stop by, and Dr. Steve Lee is going to show us how easy it can be to exercise effectively. Chef Ani will also be joining us. So, let's get started.
John Bradshaw: Now to discuss rest, I am joined by a panel of physicians. Dr. Roger Seheult is a pulmonologist, critical care specialist, and sleep specialist. He's based in Redlands, California. Dr. Seheult, thanks very much for being here.
Dr. Roger Seheult: Thank you.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Mark Sandoval is the medical director at Uchee Pines Institute, located in Seale, Alabama. Dr. Sandoval, certainly appreciate you taking your time.
Dr. Mark Sandoval: It's good to be here.
John Bradshaw: And Dr. Naren James is the medical director at the Optimal Health Center, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dr. James, thank you very much for giving your time.
Dr. Naren James: It's great to be here, thanks.
John Bradshaw: Now let's talk about rest. I wanna start with you, Dr. Seheult. Let's begin at the beginning: What's rest? And really, what I mean by that is, what constitutes good rest, the kind of rest the body needs and just can't do without?
Dr. Roger Seheult: Well, it's very interesting, John; rest is basically stopping what you were doing previously. So if we're talking about awake, resting from being awake is being asleep. And for that, the recommendation is for adults at least seven hours of sleep per night. Uh, if you're talking about work, rest would be, you know, a weekend. Uh, if we're talking about other things, there's, there's rest involved there on a weekly basis as well. So, if we're talking about sleep specifically, seven-plus hours per night of sleep is the recommended from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Sandoval, let me ask you, does that vary from person to person, from age group to age group? And I want to ask you this: What about the people who say, almost boastfully, "I get by on four hours of sleep a night"? So two questions for you really. Does it vary from people group to people group, demographic to demographic, and can you get by with significantly less than those seven-plus hours?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Well, there are variations that individuals can have in regards to sleep needs. And, in fact, we find that there are variations from age to age, so, younger individuals needing more sleep, older individuals actually getting some less sleep. Um, and, as far as ethnic groups, I don't think that there are major variations between ethnic groups because there's basically laws that govern the function of our being, and, those laws dictate how much rest that an individual needs to have.
John Bradshaw: What about the folks who say, "Well, I get by on four hours, five hours, four and a half hours"? Can you cheat it really?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Well, the answer is no, you can't cheat it. Um, there are some individuals that, uh, appear to function okay on a lesser amount of sleep. But if we actually studied them and we looked at how their functionality would be when they got a sufficient amount of sleep, we would find that their productivity would increase. And, so we have basic needs, we need to meet those basic needs, and when we get outside of the confines of those basic needs, then we have dysfunction.
John Bradshaw: Dr. James, what are some of the negative byproducts, really the negative effects, of someone getting not enough sleep? Maybe they're short-term effects and effects that might be seen over a longer period of time. What might they be?
Dr. Naren James: Well, there is just a lot of data on sleep deprivation out there, and it's quite, remarkable, I mean, sometimes worse than alcohol, on the road and so forth, that would be more probably protracted. Uh, but, over time obviously there's increased secretion of stress hormones, cortisol being one of them, that leads to increased weight gain and a lot of untoward negative effects; uh, the concentration is affected. And overall, just, just function overall is just, it's just so much less, despite the effort of thinking they can stretch that candle and burn it on both ends.
John Bradshaw: Let me come back to you, Dr. Seheult. So, if people have got their eyes open lately, you'll have seen in, in, online, or wherever you read your articles, more and more and more talk about the importance of sleep and how difficult it is to try to get by on less sleep. So, somebody's who's honest with themselves and says, "Dr. Seheult said seven-plus hours, and, maybe I should take that seriously, but I'm getting significantly less," how do you, as simple as it may sound, how do you coach people through actually making changes so they can get more sleep? How do we go about it?
Dr. Roger Seheult: Well, the first thing to do is to go through something called sleep hygiene. And anybody can go to the internet and just type in "sleep hygiene tips". This by itself is probably not enough, but it's a good place to start. And you would be surprised at how many people are just doing things that are really impeding their ability to get good sleep. I would say probably the most common one that I see is staying up far too late. You know, if you think back, just a hundred years ago, before electricity, lightbulbs, TVs, iPads, iPhones, we didn't have as much light coming to our eyes. We know that light going to the back of our retina causes a decrease in melatonin. And at the critical moment, which is when we're about to go to sleep, that can impede our ability to fall asleep. And so that's, by far, I think, one of the most important things to do is to make sure if you're having trouble falling asleep, if you're not getting enough sleep, it's to really turn those things away. This idea of turning night into day is really a pernicious practice.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Sandoval, are there other things that people do, that's, there's one right there, are there other things, common mistakes that people are making that impacts the quality of the sleep that they get?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Yes, absolutely. Um, we find the opposite, that Roger was mentioning, is true as well, but, the time period is different. What one, thing that individuals are doing that disrupts their sleep is actually not getting enough light during the daytime. And it's not the, just the type, the amount of light that an individual has, but the type of light. So, if you are getting indoor light, and that's what you're getting during the daytime, your production of melatonin during the nighttime is significantly reduced. But if you get outdoors and you get actual sunlight, then you have a significantly increased production of melatonin during the nighttime.
John Bradshaw: Dr. James, what, what does, what does food have to do with this, diet have to do with this? Is diet in any way connected with the kind of rest, the sort of food you eat and when you eat, does that impact the quality of rest, understanding how important rest is?
Dr. Naren James: Oh, definitely. I think the recommendation is to eat several hours before bedtime, I, you know, I think, maybe three or four hours before bedtime. Too often, eating just before bedtime has so much effect; the stomach keeps working. Uh, there is reflux, gastroesophageal reflux, what we call GERD, which can interfere with sleep and the ability to get to what you call REM sleep, or rapid eye movement sleep. I'm sure we'll talk about that later. But basically we have to get deep sleep, and, I think too often people just don't build rest into their schedule. They just think of it as unnecessary, as an unnecessary intrusion into their very busy lives. Unfortunately, evidence, over time has proven that to be wrong. As a matter of fact, if you look at our own society now, we have gone to, before, we didn't always have a five-day work week. At one point, during war, I was told that women did, they found that people who were, they put them to work way over many hours, and they had more accidents, more, and they had less productivity. So over time, even government has come to recognize that people are better off getting their cycle of rest. And, that's pretty much built in by the Creator. We just can't overcome a natural, thing that's been built into our, our system, for rest.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Seheult, Dr. James has mentioned, REM sleep, rapid eye movement sleep. So, so, there's different kinds of sleep, different stages of sleep? Walk us through some of that.
Dr. Roger Seheult: Yeah, so, at the very beginning of sleep, you've got something called slow-wave sleep, concentrated toward the beginning of the night. And toward the end of the night is REM sleep, or rapid eye movement. Let's talk about rapid eye movement first, as he mentioned. Rapid eye movement sleep is a sleep where typically you dream. It's typically where your body is completely paralyzed, it doesn't move, and that's a good thing because you don't wanna be acting out your dreams. As we mentioned, this is more towards the end of the night. You may recall sometimes when you dream, it's right before you wake up in the morning, and that's, that's why that's the case. The thing about REM sleep, in addition to making your body paralyzed, it makes your neck muscles paralyzed. And so, because of this, people with the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea could find that their sleep apnea might be worse at those times. And so, we may be trying to get the right quantity of sleep, but if we don't have the right quality of sleep, if we're snoring or if we have, uh, we're overweight, if our, person next to us that's sleeping hears us snoring, this is also a reason to maybe, uh, get on the phone with your doctor and get a sleep test to make sure that that's not happening, because that can have a, a lot of consequences. And then, real quickly, going back to the beginning of the night, slow-wave sleep is a completely different type of sleep. It's more physically restorative, and it's actually connected with the secretion of growth hormone. There's been a lot of interest in this type of slow-wave sleep. So if you're going to bed late, you're missing out on a lot of those hours, and, as, as one, uh, as many famous people have said in the past that, the hours before midnight are worth twice as much as the hours after midnight, and it's interesting to see how science is bearing that out.
John Bradshaw: So it's significant that we actually get to bed and get to bed at a realistic hour and build that into our schedules. Dr. Sandoval, so someone snores, and, bothers the person next to them. The quality of their sleep is, is not great. When that person comes to you and says, "Doctor, what do I do about my snoring", and maybe, maybe that's associated with sleep apnea, and maybe it's not... how do you counsel them?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Well, the major factor that contributes to sleep apnea and snoring, the concern about snoring is the, is the fact that the neck muscles are relaxing, and that is causing the, the tissues to relax back, and then it's starting to obstruct the airways. And if you are snoring, there's a good chance that you actually are stopping breathing for periods of time at night. And the major reason for that is weight, so, having an individual that's overweight or obese and that extra weight pushing down on that, that area. And so the major recommendation for that is weight loss. And how much weight loss does an individual need to have? Well, it depends; really it depends on the individual. Uh, there's a family member of mine that's built somewhat like I am, which is fairly thin, that had an extra, oh, I don't know, maybe five pounds or 10 pounds on his belly, and, after he lost about five pounds, the sleep apnea went away. But other individuals have a significant amount of weight that is contributing to that. There are some dental implants that individuals can use, an oral device that kind of helps push the lower jaw out to create a little bit of space. Uh, and there are some other interventions, but the major one that people can take, charge of on their own is that of losing weight.
John Bradshaw: Dr. James, someone comes to you and they say, "Look, Doc, I just can't sleep". Before you go to medication, we'll talk about that a little bit later, what are the things that you say? "Okay, try these things. I want you to try these things". What are two, three, four, five things that you would say to a patient? "Here's what I want you to try".
Dr. Naren James: Yeah. As a board- certified family physician for the past 27 years, I can tell you this is a frequent, uh, often people come to me, and just, um, their, their first response is some sleep medicine. And the first thing I discuss with them is sleep hygiene. And essentially it's just going back to what we just talked; like, for example, how do you prepare yourself for bed? Uh, do you take a lot of naps during the day? If you take a lot of naps during the day, you're probably not going to be sleepy. If you're, if you're not physically active during the day, you're probably not going to have a, a reason to feel like you need to rest. Uh, so there's a whole, you have to build your whole schedule around getting some more rest and, at night. Uh, so sleep hygiene includes avoiding caffeine for sure. And I usually tell people who come to me and say, "I only take one cup in the morning," and I say, "Look, if you're having a sleep problem, you don't, you need zero, zero caffeine, period. You don't have the luxury of drinking any coffee, or caffeinated drink". So get rid of anything that mitigates that. A, a big thing also is just dealing with the mind. So much of, so much of sleep is not just comfort. It's just people getting their minds to wind down. They're just, looking at things or reading things that are too stimulating just before bedtime, extremely damaging. You can't, you have to be winding down; you have to get the routine where you're literally winding down, and your body is, is aware, yes, I'm about to go to sleep.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Seheult, let me ask you about medication. Because when you start to talk about sleep problems or sleep challenges, I think many people think, "Well, that's easy: sleeping pills". Are they the best option? Are they a good option? How should we relate to pharmaceuticall y-induced sleep?
Dr. Roger Seheult: So, you know, sleep medicines have been studied, and actually there's been quite a number of studies that have looked at this, and this is what they found. In a very short-term type of use, they can be helpful for people who have a very acute problem with trying to fall asleep. But really, they should not be used for more than six weeks in general. And when they looked at looking at the, the type of therapies that we as sleep physicians and family practitioners do, we're talking about, we can talk more about this, but sleep restriction therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy; these are therapies that don't involve medications at all. When they compared those type of therapies with just straight-out medication, medication was not as long lasting, wasn't as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy, sleep restriction therapy, and, and sleep hygiene. So, clearly sleep medications do have a role in the short term but certainly not in the long run, and the science has borne that out.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Sandoval, there's something Dr. James alluded to a moment ago I want to, I want to ask you to maybe elaborate on a little bit. What's the role of... okay, the mind in sleep? What I'm wanting to ask you is sort of a spiritual approach. Is there a place for approaching getting better sleep with experiencing better overall mental health, the sort of assurance that comes from knowing that your, your life is in the hands of a loving God? Is there a correlation there that you see?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Yes, absolutely. The major reason why I find that my patients can't sleep is because they're worried. Uh, they're usually overthinking; they go to bed and they want to get asleep, but, but they can't because their mind is running, and they can't get their mind off the things that it's running upon. And it's usually worry. It usually has some form of fear associated with it as well. And it's a seeking to control the, the surroundings and the events which one cannot control. And the one solution that I have found that has been the best for individuals to help them in this situation is to teach them to use bedtime as intervention, as, as interventional prayer, intercessory prayer for others. And so, they go to bed, and they immediately, they have a prayer list for individuals that they, you know, in their life and so on, and pray for this one and then for that one and then for this one and so on. And if their mind starts wandering, that's fine; just bring it back and continue the list where you left off. And if you get to the end of the list, well, that's fine; start the list over again. And the spiritual, mental issues are the major driving factors for individuals, not being able to get to sleep, not to mention the fact that spiritual, emotional issues then drive behaviors which we have been talking about already. So, it's, it's the key component to individuals not being able to sleep.
John Bradshaw: One thing I find fascinating about the subject altogether, Dr. James, and that is that.. .the, the Creator built rest not only into our, our daily routine and rhythms, there's day and then there's night, but He also spoke about this when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments way back then at Mount Sinai. So pick up on that for me, Dr. James: rest, as given to us as a gift by God.
Dr. Naren James: So, certainly we read in Genesis that, after having completed Creation, ending with, with man, uh, God rested on the seventh day, and that was quite and this was, obviously we know God didn't need to rest. He is, all powerful, omnipotent, and, it was more of an example to us. Uh, that obviously was an example already, but then it was reiterated in a very direct way on Sinai with Moses and written on the tablets of stone. Uh, so I think, I think that this reflects, in, uh, the, the fourth commandment, uh, requiring, rest one day per week, the seventh day. So I think it, it speaks highly of the fact the Creator, the One who created us, who knows every fiber of our being, actually built that into the creation of man and enjoins upon us to take that rest. And subsequent data, secular data has supported that day of rest as being critical for longevity and quality of life in general.
John Bradshaw: That's very fascinating that way back in the beginning, God rested, and He gave rest, Sabbath rest, to the human family, and clearly, even the scientific literature would bear out that that is extraordinarily beneficial to us today. Dr. Seheult, I'd like to leave the last word with you. Wrap this up for us. Share something with us that you know is significant, we haven't touched on it yet, or maybe you'd like to take something a little deeper than we've been so far.
Dr. Roger Seheult: So, one of the things that I'm really interested that I've seen is a study regarding, immunity and natural killer cells that was done in Japan with a, people walking in the forest. And so what they did was they had these, these tourists walking through the forest, as compared to a city, and they measured these, uh, chemicals that were coming off of the trees, these phytoncides, basically. And when they measured them, they found that just walking in a forest actually increased the amount of natural killer cells. And what they found after they tested it was the results of the increased immunity lasted for about seven days. And so, you could basically get at a increasing your immune system if you did this once every seven days. And I thought, how interesting is that, that once every seven days a rest from the city, a rest from the busy workplace, going into the forest and communing with nature and taking a rest from what you're doing is just enough to increase your immunity in, in that sense. And I think the more that we look at this in science, the more we start to see this period of, of seven days.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Roger Seheult, sleep specialist, Redlands, southern California, thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it greatly.
Dr. Roger Seheult: Thank you.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Mark Sandoval from Uchee Pines Institute in Seale, Alabama, thank you. I'm so grateful to you for taking your time.
Dr. Mark Sandoval: My pleasure.
John Bradshaw: And Dr. Naren James from Optimal Health in Chattanooga, Tennessee, appreciate you being here, Doctor, thank you so much.
Dr. Naren James: It's been a pleasure, thank you, sir.
John Bradshaw: Let's go to Phoenix, Arizona. I'm joined by Tony Anobile. We're gonna talk about rest, and I'm going to ask Tony about something that, that has worked for him. Tony, thanks so much for joining me.
Tony Anobile: It's a privilege to be here, Pastor John. Always good to see you. Thank you.
John Bradshaw: Hey, thank you. Now, listen, when ya talk about rest, the doctors will tell you, get, get your seven-plus hours in, relax, you know, back off from those things that wind you up and cause stress. But when we talk about rest, let me ask you, is there something that has worked for you?
Tony Anobile: Sure. And I thank you for that question, and I'll tell you, Pastor John, I mean, I grew up in a Christian home, I'm a pastor now, but I grew up with a mindset at, in our house that the biblical Sabbath was a day to rest. So the first thing I would say to you, that it was a mindset. Uh, on Friday evening, and we believe in our home it was sundown to sundown, Friday night to Saturday night, it was, it was a different mindset. So already, you know, we'll get to the physical rest in a second, but my mind, you're at ease, whether I was a student, in elementary academy and then in college, or now, you know, I've been working for 37 years, the ability to know, just mentally, that on Friday evening I'm gonna be able to rest. And Sabbath just was a special day because I knew I didn't have commitments, I didn't have to worry about other things, I could enjoy that relationship with God, and it really is something that just revives your body. And I think that's why God put it in place, even from the beginning.
John Bradshaw: So how do you think that works? You know, in some people's minds they say, "Well, wait a minute. That, that's my busiest day, got to run the business on that day". I, I have had student friends, ever since I can remember, who have said, "I just don't study on that day; it's the day of rest". Their friends in university are saying, "How in the world do you get by"? So, how do people get by? We both know business owners who shut the business down on that day, students who don't study, and so on and so on. And it seems like they're not disadvantaged. How's that?
Tony Anobile: Well, yeah, not only are they not disadvantaged, in my opinion anyway, and in my experience it's the opposite. You know, I'm a workaholic, and I know you, I know how committed you are, and I'll tell you, even recent events, here in the year 2020, my life pretty much came to a stop in terms of, because of what's going on. And, and I didn't realize how fast I was going. And I think that happens to a lot of us. We are just so, life in the fast lane is so consistent that if we don't stop, you know, first of all we're, we're killing ourselves literally. Um, so not only does it not disadvantage you; it, it, you're, you're recharging your batteries. I mean, if, if you enter into this, and I happen to believe in the Bible with all my heart, so I, God is giving me a defined period of time to rest, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. So, you know, when, when I had exams and I was in college, I remember how refreshing it was for Sabbath, to just rest, and then I would hit the books Saturday night or Sunday, whatever, but I, I was in a better spirit. I was literally refreshed, so, yeah, I don't think it's a disadvantage at all. And I've talked to business owners, like you have, that have put God to the test in that sense, and, and they have been abundantly blessed, because it really does allow you to slow down and recharge and give you energy for the following week of labor or studies or whatever it is.
John Bradshaw: So spiritual health and mental health are very, very closely related. So what do you think this does for a person's relationship with God? If they're saying, "I'm stopping down here for this 24-hour period," what do you think that reminds us of in terms of who God is and the role God plays in our life?
Tony Anobile: Yeah, and that's a great question. You know, and again, if you look at the Bible, the Bible says that God, you know, created, one, two, three, four, five, six. On the seventh day He rested from His labors, and He saw that it was good. So, if I take that and recognize that this is the time that God wants to talk to me, and I'm intentional, and I use that word intentionally- -focused on Him, you know, it, God does amazing things. And so, you know, He talks to us in different ways, and everybody has their journey, You know, mine is that I will mediate on His Word, and I've tried even recently, you know, uh, a lot of people, and there's nothing wrong with reading the Bible all the way through, as quickly as you can. I think that's great. Any, anything in God's Word is good, but I've tried to slow down and say, "Lord, today I'm going to focus on this, this, and this. Help me understand Your Word thoroughly". And, and Sabbath allows me. Not, not because I'm a pastor, but in my spiritual journey, it allows me to see what God wants to tell me and connect in a way that I don't normally during the week. And, and I'll be honest. My mindset shifts on Saturday night until the following Friday afternoon, I'm in work mode, and of course I love God, and I have my daily devotionals, but the Sabbath is a moment in time when I can connect in a special way with God. And I believe that God, because He promised that He does, opens the windows of heaven on that day in a special way, because He, He's looking forward to spending that time with me as well.
John Bradshaw: As important as rest is, and the experts tell us it's more important than most of us will ever realize, God, too, has given us rest. It's a gift, intended to be a blessing. Tony Anobile, I really appreciate you taking your time. Thanks for joining me.
Tony Anobile: Thank you.
John Bradshaw: Joining us once again is Chef Ani. Chef Ani, welcome back to Take Charge of Your Health.
Chef Ani: Thank you, John.
John Bradshaw: Ani, tonight we're dealing with stress and rest in particular. So what do you have in the way of food that can help with that?
Chef Ani: John, I really think you're going to like this recipe. I call this one my "refreshing watermelon cooler," but you can basically call it "stress-reducing watermelon cooler" because the ingredients help reduce stress. So our first ingredient is watermelon. Cut into this big watermelon here. It's good to have a good sharp knife and some muscles for this. Look at that. Isn't that beautiful? Watermelon is actually the fruit of choice for people who are looking to relieve stress. It is actually 92 percent water, but don't let that fool you; it is packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Obviously, we want a whole bunch of watermelon in our lives. That's why I'm adding a whole bunch right now. Now we're going to add some ginger. Ginger actually helps reduce stress as well, and it helps with worrying, which is really good. Now, an easy way to peel ginger is just to use a spoon to scrape off the peel. The next thing we're going to add is some lime juice. And I have a fresh lime here. This also helps reduce stress, and if you roll it a few times over your cutting board like this, you will get more juice out of it. Smells so good in here with the lime and the ginger and the watermelon; this is gonna be incredible. Now, some of you may like this drink a little sweeter, and then you could add a little apple juice concentrate. But the watermelon may be sweet enough just as it is, so it's good to blend it, taste it, and then if you want it a little sweeter, add a little apple juice concentrate. And I have some fresh mint here, which I'm just going to chop up on the side, and you don't want to blend this in with the drink because it could give the drink a funky color, which we... may not like so much. Look at that. That is happiness in a glass, don't you think? And there you have it. This is my stress-reducing watermelon cooler. I hope this brings some sunshine and happiness into your life.
John Bradshaw: Ani, that's the kind of drink I could imagine myself drinking on a, on a tropical island, maybe a little umbrella stuck in the end of it, with my family. You know what, I haven't tasted that drink, but I already feel less stress.
Chef Ani: That is wonderful.
John Bradshaw: Ani, as always, thank you so much.
Chef Ani: It's my pleasure.
John Bradshaw: It's time now to bring in Dr. Fay Kazzi. Dr. Fay Kazzi is a registered dietician. She is a health professional. She is an author. She has had her own research published in peer-reviewed journals. In other words, she knows what she's talking about. Dr. Fay Kazzi, welcome to Take Charge of Your Health, thanks for joining me.
Dr. Fay Kazzi: Thank you again for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
John Bradshaw: Hey, let's take a moment, a few moments to talk about nuts. When you're talking about your health and your diet and getting the good things in, as well as getting the bad things out, nuts are really, really good for you. Tell me how good and, and why, and then tell me things I may not even know already.
Dr. Fay Kazzi: Sure. So, nuts are actually what we would describe in the nutrition world as a complete food. And that's because it has all three of the macronutrients; it has carbohydrates, it has fat, and it has protein. So unlike other foods in the plant-based community, this is like the one area where you can get the best of all three of those worlds. So nuts are fabulous that way. Um, you can survive on nuts alone if for some reason the entire world, all the food fell off the face of the earth and only nuts were available, people would survive quite okay. And that's because all those macronutrients and a lot of essential, vitamins and minerals are available in nuts. So they are quite, healthy nutrition.
John Bradshaw: Fantastic. So if I stopped at the gas station and said, "Oh, I'll get a bag of salted peanuts," uh, I mean, is that doing the trick? Or is there, is there a better way?
Dr. Fay Kazzi: It's a good question. So the little bag of salted peanuts at your gas station might not be organic, though, and it might mean that if it's in a bagged container and whatnot, it might be roasted and heavily salted. Roasting it is not terrible; it just tends, that high heat tends to, denature some of those essential fats that are really important to maintain their integrity in the raw nuts. So if you're able to get raw nuts, they are a lot more, um, nutritionally dense, and their, I guess, for lack of a more sophisticated explanation, their components are more intact than if they're heavily roasted.
John Bradshaw: So, it's probably not rare; most people would probably say, "You know, I probably don't get enough nuts into my diet". So if somebody was trying to get more nuts into their diet, how would they go about it? Recommend a couple of steps. Uh, here's what you need to do.
Dr. Fay Kazzi: So, yeah, for sure. Uh, the best way I like to get nuts in my diet: I love to have sliced apple with a nice big hefty helping of all-natural peanut butter. I love peanut butter. And I'm probably getting all my nuts' worth in that one serving of peanut butter because I put a lot. But it's all natural; there's nothing added to it, except maybe the salt. Um, that's one way. Another way is, for example, in my cookbook I talk a lot about it; it's creating salad dressings through nuts, with the use of nuts. You soak the nuts, and then you blend them in a Vitamix to make it really smooth and creamy, and you do that mostly with cashews. It, it's wonderful. Um, another way is, to make your desserts with a lot of nuts. Um, and, we were talking earlier, for example, baklava, which is a typical Lebanese very famous dessert. It basically has the base, all the stuffing, is ground nuts, you know. And so there's lots of great ways you can incorporate, um, nuts, in your diet, and you can always use almond meal to create, to bake your cakes. It's basically ground blanched almonds, and so you can incorporate different types of nut flours into your cooking. Uh, so there's lots of wonderful ways to do it. And I even make a walnut, I make burgers in my, I love to make burgers using walnuts. And you ground the walnuts, and you use that as a really great, texture and substance. It adds a lot of almost meatiness once it's cooked. So, it's, it's quite wonderful, and, yes, there are lots of ways to incorporate nuts.
John Bradshaw: The thing about nuts, too, is they're just so good. So you can leave out something that's not so good and say, "I'm gonna eat nuts instead". You'll love them. Do yourself a big favor. So, we know that in your book, "The Earthy Canvas," you'll have plenty of recipes incorporating nuts. By the way, you can get that cookbook, it's fantastic, at itiswritten.shop and other places as well. Dr. Fay Kazzi, thank you. Really appreciate you joining me.
Dr. Fay Kazzi: Thank you so much for having me again.
John Bradshaw: It's time now for our frequently asked questions dealing with the subject of rest. I want to start with you, Dr. Roger Seheult. What is a question someone, uh, you are commonly asked about rest, and how do you answer?
Dr. Roger Seheult: Yeah, so basically the question is, "How can I fall asleep at night if I have insomnia"? And, insomnia is a major problem, especially in our elderly population, not even in our elderly population, but even in our middle-aged population. I, I distinguish between those two, between those that have a difficulty falling asleep and those that have a difficulty staying asleep. The ones that I have a problem with falling asleep is often due to anxiety, as, as Dr. Sandoval has expressed this as well. And many of the, much of that is rooted in, not just being, trusting in God but having anxiety. One of the major things that I found, and many people have found, is that there is an anxiety with the bedroom itself. And so one of the things that I tell my patients to do is, if they're having trouble falling asleep, is to not go into the bedroom with thinking that you're gonna fall asleep. If you can't fall asleep, is to go to another part, go to a different room of the house and try to fall asleep or at least try to be tired there and then go into the room, so that you're not associating all of these failures of trying to fall asleep, with the bedroom, and you're gonna get this sort of a subconscious, connection. But that's one of the major questions that I get asked all the time.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Mark Sandoval, a frequently asked question regarding rest, what is it? How do you respond?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Well, it's a similar one. It's about "how can I stay asleep"? or "how can I go to sleep"? And one of the things that I have recommended for individuals, looking at the life of Jesus, we see that His life, He was very active, of course, during the day, but we also find that he spent significant time in prayer at night. And so, we're told that morning by morning He came from, He came back from hours alone with His Father. Evening by evening, He went and spent hours alone with His Father. He frequently spent the entire night in prayer. And what the individual, what the being needs is not just sleep; it's rest. And rest is more than just sleep. And we see this in the life of Jesus. And so rest also is communing with the Father; it's connecting with Him. It is the peace that comes through that connection. And so, if individuals are having difficulty sleeping, and I recommend that they pray. And so, they spend that time in prayer, again, intercessory prayer like I talked about before, not praying for their own issues, not worrying about their own issues, but praying for others and focusing on their needs and interceding with the Father on their behalf. And if they can't sleep, pray, and what they'll find is that when they wake up in the morning, they will be as, as well refreshed, even if they didn't spend as much time, sleeping as they spent praying. And one can put yourself in God's hands and say, "Okay, You, Lord, can choose how long I stay awake or how long I pray, both of which are restful, and I can be refreshed in the morning".
John Bradshaw: Dr. Naren James, frequently asked question regarding sleep, go ahead.
Dr. Naren James: It's hard to escape the same questions all of us have, basically, "How can I fall asleep"? Uh, I can tell if somebody has on my schedule insomnia as a complaint after they show up. It's a felt need, it affects them in many ways, and generally, I, I tend to see it as more of a symptom of a deeper underlying problem. And the spiritual dimension cannot be underestimated. I say that not because I'm a Christian physician, but frankly, people don't have meaning in their lives, and they're struggling with major issues, fundamental issues of meaning, it's going to carry over into their sleep and their ability to rest, and, and too often we're too caught up in ourselves, and our need to get out there beyond ourselves, like as we alluded to in our conversations here, it's so important. So I think I cannot get, I cannot go far away from that spiritual dimension that, Dr. Sandoval has dwelt upon. And I do take the time to, address it because it is so often just a symptom of underlying problems deeper.
John Bradshaw: Dr. Seheult, is there another frequently asked question that you receive, that you often hear on the subject of sleep?
Dr. Roger Seheult: Yeah, if people are on sleep medications, they wanna know, "How can I get off these sleep medications"? Um, so, what typically happens is they're on sleep medications already, they come to see me, and they're still having difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. And so what we do is we institute a lot of the things that we just talked about, behavioral changes, sleep hygiene. But I don't tell them to get off their sleep medications yet. It's only when we actually have a good night's sleep because of all of these other behavioral changes that we're making, that I'll ask them to very slowly, under a physician's supervision, start to whittle away at the dose of that medication that they're on until finally it, it's gone. And, that's, that's usually the way that we do it. I don't start in saying taking away their sleep medication at the first; I try to solve the problem, and then, uh, get off that sleep medication.
John Bradshaw: Yeah, that's an important point, 'cause someone's listening to us tonight; they're saying, "Okay, I'm just gonna pray this away and, and flush my sleep medication". You would say, "Don't do that," right?
Dr. Roger Seheult: No.
John Bradshaw: All right. Dr. Sandoval, another FAQ on the subject of sleep, what would it be?
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Well, one of the questions is, "When should I get to sleep"? Right? "When should I go to bed"? And, the question to that is, I mean, the answer to that is earlier than later. Um, how earlier than later? You wanna make sure that you get at least a couple of hours of sleep before midnight, whatever time zone that you're in. And so, we have found after, again, years of working with individuals and finding out what works for them and their physiology, that if individuals get to bed somewhere in the 8:00-10:00 range, that usually provides the, the best quality of sleep for nighttime. Um, and once you start pushing it past 10:00 and you start hitting closer to 11:00 and then getting closer to 12:00 or after midnight, then it becomes less and less productive.
John Bradshaw: Dr. James, is there one more question, a frequently asked question, subject of sleep?
Dr. Naren James: Well, more so, it's about a result, people coming to me and saying, "Why am I so tired even after I've been in bed so long"? And so often I have to refer them to colleagues like Dr. Seheult to look at because often they're overweight; they're having a very poor lifestyle; they, they're inactive. And the longer the lifestyle issues are playing into their ability to, they, first of all, they gain, they gain weight. Then they have sleep apnea. And they're not aware that they're actually not experiencing rest, what you call that deep sleep, mentioned the REM sleep, because they have obstructive sleep apnea. And it's quite common, more than we realize, and to primary care physicians, it's manifested in so many ways: high blood pressure, diabetes, uh, just resulting of purely having, not being, an unrecognized diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. So that, that's a frequent thing I have is people just feeling unrested even after they've been in bed so long.
John Bradshaw: Outstanding. Gentlemen, thank you. Dr. Robert Seheult, sleep specialist from Redlands, California, thank you very much for being here. Dr. Mark Sandoval, medical director of Uchee Pines Institute, thank you. Dr. Naren James, from Optimal Health in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thank you all. It's been great. Much appreciated.
Dr. Roger Seheult: Thank you.
Dr. Mark Sandoval: Pleasure.
John Bradshaw: I am joined now by Dr. Cedric Pritchett, who is a pediatric otolaryngologist based at the Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Pritchett, thank you so much for joining me.
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Pastor Bradshaw, good to see you. Happy and my pleasure to be with you.
John Bradshaw: Thank you. Let's do a little interpreting, though. An otolaryngologist, you're an ENT, right?
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Correct. And that is a mouthful. Uh, that's intentional, but I can't claim responsibility for choosing the title of the profession.
John Bradshaw: Yes, right. So, as we've been going through Take Charge of Your Health, people have been learning things that are gonna really transform their lives. There's one thing that I want to talk to you about, and that's this. When it comes to medical situations, sometimes things just look hopeless. They just look difficult. But very frequently, even though things look grim, there's a way through. So talk to me about your work and maybe share an experience or two about where you've seen difficult situations really work out well.
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Absolutely, happy to share that. So, you know, I guess, Pastor Bradshaw, I should probably paint a picture for you, and that is, as a pediatric physician, we see oftentimes conditions in children that are just heart-wrenching. And this, of course, has nothing to do with the lifestyle or the decisions of the child. Um, we see blindness, crippling, deafness, all kinds of challenges that children were born with, and it reminds you of that John 9 parable, or discussion, in the Bible. I have a particular interest in hearing loss, and so a good bit of my practice, is in serving children and families where that child is born unable to hear. Unfortunately, hearing loss is way too common. Um, at least two to three children out of, 1,000 are born with this, but by the time they're 12, that number swells. And most of these children are born to families that, that talk. And so, it really puts them in a position where their ability to communicate and appreciate the love and acceptance of their family is challenged. So, I certainly have had some experiences with this and, would be happy to share one in particular, if I could.
John Bradshaw: Oh yeah, please do. Yeah, I wanna hear about that.
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Yeah. So we'll just call his name Sam. Sam came to me, with his mom and dad and great-uncle. When he was about six months of age or so, he, he had been told, his family had been told, that he was born with hearing loss, and, the severest kind, which we would consider deafness. And I had to share with them that, unfortunately for them, that was gonna limit his ability to learn to talk, because it's very difficult to talk and talk understandably if you can't hear. And so, we didn't know what the actual cause was. We worked on getting him some hearing aids, but then told them we felt the hearing aids, given the severity of his loss, would be inadequate for him to achieve appropriate access to the speech sounds. They took some time. It was not an easy, prescription to embrace. They did some research. They traveled around. They visited. They even went back to see their family in a, in a different country, where they had come from originally. But finally he came back, and to get to the long of the short of it, Pastor Bradshaw, we ended up performing a cochlear implantation procedure for Sam in both of his ears. And with those procedures, which went quite well, and some dedicated therapy, speech therapy, working with his hearing specialist, that little guy came to see me about three or four months ago, and it's amazing. You would not know he is deaf if you did not see the implants on the back of his head. He sent me a little video singing happy birthday to me, which is amazing. His mother has been phenomenal. And as I reflect on their experience, you know, it just reminds me that, yes, we sometimes are caught in situations which were not our doing, but the combination for us, between a dedicated parent, a great, team, and capable hands, although the journey is hard and steep, can result in, outcomes that just make us say, "That journey was worth every step of it".
John Bradshaw: You know, these stories, I think, are so important because there are so many families, there's so many individuals that are facing situations, and they say, "There's just not a way through here. I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel". There've been great strides made in medicine. We have extraordinarily well-trained physicians, a lot of good treatment options now, and as you said, sometimes there absolutely is a way through. What a thrill to hear this little guy has got a great future in front of him.
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Oh! I'm telling ya, he is a champion of ours. And he comes in and likes to swag a little bit and, and wants to give me a high five, or at least now; initially he wasn't too fond of me, but, I'm, I'm so proud and thankful for his family. You know, one of the things that's an absolute joy for me, uh, Pastor, Pastor Bradshaw, is partnering with these parents. Parents bring their most precious asset to us in the pediatric space and say, "Can you help me"? Kind of like Jairus did with his daughter. "What can you do for me"? If they could do it themselves, they would. And so I believe that God has given me an opportunity to partner. It's been a lot of work, it's been a long journey, but to sit down with families and say, "Listen, this is a difficult condition to address, um, but we are not giving up, and sometimes even if we find that the road seems blocked, I am here with you, and I will walk this journey with you and offer you what I can". Um, that's part of the space and privilege, that I have a chance to serve, and that is as important as the, the successes and the wins that happen.
John Bradshaw: Yeah, fantastic. Hey, thank you for doing what you're doing. Thanks for sharing that heart-warming story. It reminds us again, when things seem difficult and hopeless, well, they might be difficult, but they're not hopeless. Very often there's a way through. Thanks so much for what you're doing and thank you for joining me.
Dr. Cedric Pritchett: Thank you, sir, I appreciate the time.
John Bradshaw: You know, it's interesting that if you want to get good rest, you need to be active. Activity is a key to really good rest. So we want to talk about activity now and exercise. How to get it, what to get, how to go about it, here is Dr. Steve Lee. Dr. Lee, welcome to Take Charge of Your Health.
Dr. Steve Lee: Thanks, John. Let's talk about flexibility. Flexibility is a very important thing. It allows us to go through our entire range of motion and reduces injury. Flexibility improves our posture; it reduces muscle pain and soreness. We can maintain or improve our flexibility by stretching. And while there's many different methods to stretching and many different ways of doing it, there's a couple of rules of thumb. One is we should stretch every joint in our body, starting from our neck to our spine, shoulders, elbows and wrists, as well as our hips, knees, and ankles. Stretching is best done when our muscles are warm after an exercise or after a hot shower or bath. And ideally, we should stretch for 30 minutes several times a week. But even five minutes is better than nothing. So let's remember to stretch after every exercise session.
John Bradshaw: You know, it's really important to take good care of your spiritual health. So, let's dive again into the CREATION Life Study Guides. Study guide number 2 is "Rest". Stress is a killer. It's, it's bad on people. Uh, it seems like, with some frequency, we learn more and more about the deleterious effects of stress. Rest is a key component to warding off stress. As you've heard, many people can't sleep because of worry, stress in their life.
So let's take a look at the first question here inside study guide number 2. "What kind of life does God want for us"? What kind of life does God want for us? Third John, verse 2, that's the little book of 3 John, verse 2: "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers". Healthy body, healthy mind. God wants you to prosper spiritually and physically. Or let's turn that around: As you prosper physically, you're able to better prosper spiritually, and that's a key to keep in mind. Let me read here: "God cares a great deal about how we live. He's not a distant God who cares nothing for His creation but, rather, a loving Creator who wants us to have the best in life".
He cares about our salvation, but He also cares about us in the here and now. It'd be a tragedy if you thought that God was way off, distant, way up there in heaven and doesn't know or doesn't even care about what's going on in your life. That absolutely wouldn't be true. He is our Maker. The Bible teaches us to refer to God as our Father, the perfect Father, a loving Father. One of the reasons Jesus came to the world was to show us what the Father is like. Jesus lifted people up. Jesus served. Jesus loved. Jesus healed. Jesus poured Himself into the lives of others, revealing to us that's what God in heaven is like.
"How can we have the abundant life that God wants us to enjoy"? This is question number 2. Matthew 11, verse 28 says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". Isn't that a good thought? "If you're tired from the stresses of life, you can connect with [God]", how do you do that? Through prayer. Talk with Him. Uh, get out in nature and commune with God in the things that He has made. You see the handiwork of God. And you can commune with God and be one with God. In the Bible, reading God's Word, that's God communicating to you through what He inspired people long ago to write down. "As you do so, God will reveal ways your life can improve". He wants to show you the best way to an optimal life, where you're firing on all cylinders and you're happy, stress free, and rested. Well, God gave us a special gift to help us rest. And you heard Tony Anobile talking about this tonight. "What is one gift God has given us to help us rest"?
I'm gonna read from the book of Exodus and chapter 20. Listen to this: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy". Uh, let, let me pause right there. When Labor Day rolls around, or President's Day or Thanksgiving or Christmas, are you typically upset that you're not able to go to work because work is off that day? For most people, there's, not everybody, but for most people, there's no work that day. When there's a public holiday coming around, the Fourth of July, are you like, "Ugh. Aw, that's too bad. Who wants a day off"? No, of course not! Everybody looks forward to those days and says, "I can plan a long weekend. I can take a day off. I can do things around the house. We can get together with friends or family," and so forth.
A day off, God has carved out of the rock of time a day off once a week! One day in every seven. It's really interesting that if you look at this, God created us to operate on a circadian rhythm; that's the daily rhythm that regulates our life, and also, according to some scientific studies, reliable studies, a circaseptan rhythm, revealing to us that we operate on a seven-day cycle as well. It's hardwired into us. God says, "I'll give you a day out once a week, and you'll be blessed as you grab hold of it". And so the Bible says in Exodus, chapter 20, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God".
God goes on and He says, "In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it". Stress, God knew, would be such a big deal down at the end of time He put a release valve against stress right in the Ten Commandments. God knew that rest would be so valuable, and for so many people so hard to come by, that He built it into the foundation of His government, and He said, "I'm giving you a day out".
Take a day out. It's too easy today to work, work, work, work, work, and then, even when we're not working, to play like there's no tomorrow. God says, "Here's what I want you to do. Take time out. Take a day, a day a week. And not just any old day, but this day, the seventh day, the Sabbath day". Commune with God. Fellowship with others. Spend time with family. Devote part of that to serving your fellow human being and looking out for the welfare of others. That's a panacea for a lot of the worries, concerns, and stresses of life in this hectic world. It's a gift. Look into the Bible. Exodus, chapter 20, starts in verse 8, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy". And if you'll grab hold of that and put Sabbath rest into your life, you'll find your life will be revolutionized. You'll never be the same person again.
There's a rest element, which is very important, and in that there's a communing-with-God element, which is really important also. How about Jesus during His life? What was rest in Christ's life? Well, it says in the book of Mark that Jesus "said to them, 'Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.' For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat". Jesus' example was to say to His friends, "Come on now, you've got to put some boundaries around here because you're getting run off your feet. You're not resting. It's bad for you. It will take a toll on you physically. The stresses of life are going to overwhelm you. Take some time out... and rest". Are you getting enough rest? I hope you are. And remember this special spiritual rest, Sabbath rest, given us by God.
Well, I want to encourage you to download this resource at takecharge.life. It's study guide number 2 in the CREATION Life series; it's "Rest". There are other resources that you can download there as well. Uh, at takecharge.life, you can find previous Take Charge episodes in this series. Watch what you've missed out on. Get that link and share it with other people and invite them to journey with you as you and them together take charge of your health. Tomorrow night, really important subject, we'll speak to medical professionals who can help immensely with the subject of addictions. Millions of Americans are addicted. Millions more struggle with one substance or another. So find out what you can do for you or for others. Addictions tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to seeing you. You'll hear success stories that will just blow your mind. Looking forward to seeing you then, tomorrow, for more of Take Charge of Your Health.