Join Dr Karan, TikTok's favourite General Surgeon, as he meets the world's foremost experts in science and medicine to cut through the BS of modern health advic...
How Your Gut Bacteria Are Controlling Your Brain with Dr Jonathan Swann
💬 “Microbes can influence things like behaviour, mood, cognition. We're starting to see links with things like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease as well.” ~Dr Jonathan Swann
⚡️ Dr Jonathan Swann from the University of Southampton is one of the UK’s leading experts on the gut microbiome, with a particular interest in the gut-brain axis.
⚡️ In this episode Jonathan and I explain how your brain and gut communicate with each other, and why you might experience IBS, depression and other negative health effects when that connection breaks down.
🎧 Stay tuned to find out:
➡︎ How your gut not only talks to your brain, but your brain also talks to your gut
➡︎ Why meditating monks have super-healthy guts.
➡ How you can give a mouse depression by messing with its gut microbiome
➡︎ Whether gut-brain therapies like psychobiotics are any good
➡︎ News about human trials of poop transplants
📕 Chapters
(1:12) How the gut-brain axis works
(6:22) How many microbes live in the gut?
(9:32) What can go wrong with the gut-brain connection?
(18:19) Diet and mood
(20:07) Gut transplants
(21:48) The role of fungi and viruses
(24:35) “A gut feeling”
(26:11) Psychobiotics
(32:22) Antibiotics
(33:37) Microbiome’s impact on Alzheimer’s
(36:34) Age-related cognitive decline
(38:28) Management strategies
(43:24) The problem with poop analysis
📱 Connect with me:
TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan
Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr
📱 Connect with Jonathan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-swann-58a83b66/?originalSubdomain=uk
Website: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5y5nsv/doctor-jonathan-swann
🔥 Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts and science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe
🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook 🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.
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46:49
How to Enjoy Running Even If You Hate It: Tips from Ultra Runner Tommy Lewis
💬 “If you are doing it with too much grit and a snarly face and “I'm really tough”, it's not actually that sustainable and enjoyable. It's not that deep. You're just going for a run” -Tommy Lewis
⚡️ Tommy Lewis is a London based ultra runner with a love of the outdoors. He shares his passion for running with a devoted following on Instagram, in an attempt to inspire people of all fitness levels to enjoy the sport.
⚡️ In this episode Tommy and I explain how running might just change your life, and debunk the myth that running will injure you.
🎧 Stay tuned to find out:
➡︎ How to embrace the boredom of running
➡︎ Why running is actually GOOD for your knees
➡ How running deepens your self-awareness
➡︎ From fitness trackers to electrolytes, what gear you really need
➡︎ The best shoes you should be wearing (and what to avoid)
📕 Chapters
(1:12) How to overcome the boredom of running
(3:47) Running benefits your whole life
(9:25) The “runner’s high”
(11:21) Running vs other sports
(12:58) Fuelling creativity
(15:52) 30% drop in all cause mortality
(21:36) Stop taking running so seriously
(24:46) Does running kill your knees?
(31:29) Best shoes for running
(38:10) Avoid Nike trainers?
(42:11) Are fitness trackers important?
(44:25) Important of zone 2 training
(45:59) Are electrolytes worth the money?
(48:19) What drives an ultra marathon runner
(50:33) Tommy’s top three tips
📱 Connect with me:
TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan
Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr
📱 Connect with Tommy:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommyrunpt/
Website: https://www.tommyrunpt.com/
🔥 Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts and science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe
🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook
🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.
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54:31
Eargasms, Earwax & The Earplug Craze: How To REALLY Protect Your Hearing with Dr Joseph Manjaly
💬 “I'm out here to raise awareness about something that is so precious. We only realise the value of it when we lose it.” ~Dr Joseph Manjaly
⚡️ Dr Joseph Manjaly is a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon, who works at the internationally renowned Royal National ENT Hospital in Central London. He also runs The Ear & Hearing Specialist Clinic and has a strong following on social media.
⚡️ In this episode Joseph and I discuss everything from tinnitus to earwax and even eargasms, to help you better understand how to protect your hearing and look after your ears.
🎧 Stay tuned to find out:
➡︎ How to spot hearing loss (and the biggest warning signs)
➡︎ Why earwax is NOT a hygiene issue (and how to safely clean your ears)
➡ How hearing loss is linked with up to a 5x increased risk of dementia
➡︎ Why people with misophonia hate the sound of people chewing food
➡︎ That tinnitus doesn’t have to be a lifelong condition
📕 Chapters
(1:03) Getting proactive with your hearing(4:00) What can go wrong with the ear
(6:02) How does sound damage hearing?
(8:14) Impact of headphones
(9:30) The earbud craze
(15:01) Dealing with earwax
(22:30) Dementia and hearing loss
(27:39) Misophonia
(30:56) Tinnitus
(34:06) Eargasms
(37:25) Action based strategies
(41:27) Red flag symptoms to look out for
📱 Connect with me:
TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan
Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr
📱 Connect with Joseph:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earsurgeonjoe/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earsurgeonjoe
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jm2476
🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook
🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.
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47:33
The Blue Zones Are A Scam: Dr Saul Newman Reveals the Biggest Corruption in Longevity Research
💬 “82% of people in Japan over the age of 100 turned out to be dead. And they didn't check them all. It is crazy. It is completely crazy.” -Dr Saul Newman
⚡️ Dr Saul Newman from the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, won an Ig Nobel Prize for research debunking data on the world’s oldest people. His soon to be released book ‘Morbid: an iconoclastic debunking of ageing science’ is all out about fraud, wishful thinking, and ageing research.
⚡️ In this episode Saul and I debunk the fantasy of “blue zones”, where an extraordinary number of people live beyond 100. Should we really be basing health and fitness advice on these longevity hotspots?
🎧 Stay tuned to find out:
➡︎ Why some of the most unhealthy and poorest regions are churning out so many centenarians
➡︎ How “blue zone certificates” are being sold to US towns for $40mil
➡ Why the blue zone myth is dangerous to our health
➡︎ The real secret to living beyond 100
➡︎ How blue zones even impact insurance premiums
📕 Chapters
(6:14) What classifies as a blue zone?
(15:35) Do people forget their age?
(18:05) The real secret to a long life
(25:25) Dangers of the blue zone myth
(27:31) Facing “big alcohol”
(31:07) What do we know about longevity?
(33:19) Corruption all the way down
(35:59) How blue zones impact insurance premiums
(38:19) Who benefits from the blue zone lie?
(46:51) What works for healthy ageing?
(48:17) Selling blue zone certificates for $40mil
(54:18) Will blue zones ever go away?
(56:56) Anti-ageing drugs?
📱 Connect with me:
TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan
Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr
📱 Connect with Saul:
X: https://x.com/saul_newman
📕 Sources:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.06.24313170v1.full-text
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/704080v3.full
🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook 🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.
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1:01:05
Do Your Genes Make You Fat? With Dr Giles Yeo
💬 “People think I’m anti-physics. I’m not anti-physics. Calories don’t give you the information to improve your diet.”
⚡️ Dr Giles Yeo is a geneticist at Cambridge University specialising in obesity and how our brain controls food intake. He’s also the author of ‘Why Calories Don't Count’ and ‘Gene Eating’.
⚡️ In this episode Giles and I dig into the science of genetics and hunger hormones and why some people struggle with their weight more than others. I also challenge him on the notion that calories don’t count.
🎧 Stay tuned to find out:
➡︎ How over 1000 genes are involved in body weight and controlling your appetite
➡︎ Why obesity isn’t a moral failing and should be thought of as a disease
➡ The huge variety in how different ethnicities are impacted by obesity
➡︎ What exactly “calories don’t count” really means
➡︎ Why fad diets should be ignored and how to find the diet that works for YOU
📕 Chapters
(1:29) Obesity is not a moral failing
(4:01) Is obesity a disease?
(6:00) The role of genetics
(8:39) Obesity phenotypes
(10:59) Best diet for weight loss?
(13:14) Where’s the data coming from?
(15:44) How different ethnicities are affected by obesity
(20:02) Calories don’t count?
(24:34) The truth about ozempic
(26:49) Hungry hormones
(30:11) Not all calories are the same
(32:09) How poverty affects obesity
(34:14) Environment v genetics
(36:19) Reframe the blame
(39:16) Do we need policy change?
(43:18) Our outdated biology
(49:04) Does taste affect weight gain?
(53:59) The microbiome
(58:07) How to take action
📱 Connect with me:
TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan
Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr
📱 Connect with Giles:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gilesyeo/
X: https://x.com/GilesYeo
📕 Grab Giles’ book here: https://amzn.eu/d/hoAnVLr
🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook
🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.
Join Dr Karan, TikTok's favourite General Surgeon, as he meets the world's foremost experts in science and medicine to cut through the BS of modern health advice.
Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts & science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe
UK