1. Meta-analysis: A research method that involves analyzing and combining data from multiple studies to draw more comprehensive and statistically significant conclusions.

2. Ultraprocessed Foods: Highly processed food products that often contain additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients. These foods are typically low in nutritional value and high in unhealthy additives.

3. Social Circles: The networks of relationships and connections people have, often including friends, family, and other social groups.

4. Chronic Disease Epidemic: A significant and widespread increase in the prevalence of long-term medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

5. Cultural Cravings: The specific desires for certain types of foods or eating habits that are influenced by one’s cultural background and societal norms.

6. Fight or Flight Response: The body’s physiological reaction to stress, preparing the body to either confront or flee from a perceived threat.

7. Parasympathetic Nervous System: The part of the autonomic nervous system that promotes relaxation, rest, and digestion.

8. Oxytocin: A hormone and neurotransmitter associated with social bonding, trust, and emotional connection.

9. Bioidentical: Referring to substances that are structurally identical to naturally occurring compounds in the body, often used in the context of hormone replacement therapy.

10. Gratitude Practice: A routine or habit of expressing thankfulness and appreciation for positive aspects of one’s life, often through reflection and sharing with others.

11. Neurons: Nerve cells in the brain and nervous system responsible for transmitting information through electrical and chemical signals.

12. Wire Together: Refers to the process of strengthening connections between neurons in the brain as a result of repeated activities or experiences.

13. Unifying entity: Refers to something that brings different elements together into a unified whole. In the passage, it is used to describe the dinner table as a unifying entity for the family.

14. Compassion: The feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. In the context of the passage, it is mentioned as a quality that sharing experiences at the dinner table can help develop.

15. Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is highlighted in the passage as a quality that sharing personal struggles at the dinner table can nurture.

16. Perspective taking: The cognitive ability to understand a situation from another person’s point of view. It is mentioned in the passage as one of the qualities that can be developed through sharing experiences and challenges at the dinner table.

17. Cravings: Intense desires or longings, often related to food in this context. The passage discusses cravings in the context of cultural preferences for certain types of food.

18. Ultra-processed foods: Foods that have undergone extensive processing and often contain additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients. The passage emphasizes the impact of a high percentage of ultra-processed foods in the American diet.

19. Nutrigenomics: The study of how individual genetic variations affect a person’s response to nutrients and dietary compounds. It is briefly mentioned in the passage in relation to the impact of dietary intake on gene expression.

20. Glyphosate: A herbicide widely used in agriculture. The passage refers to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group indicating high levels of glyphosate contamination in grain products.

21. Microculture: The specific cultural practices and behaviors within a smaller social unit, such as a family. The passage discusses the importance of addressing the microculture in one’s own household for effective transformation.

22. Domino effect: A chain reaction where a series of events are triggered by a single initial incident. In the passage, awareness is described as the first domino in the process of transforming dietary habits.

23. Procure: To obtain or acquire through effort. In the passage, it is used in the context of procuring food from a farmers market.

24. Enfranchise: To grant or bestow rights or privileges. In the passage, it is used in the context of being disenfranchised from one’s own home and kitchen due to the influence of the food industry.

25. Epidemic: Widespread occurrence of a particular phenomenon, in this case, the high prevalence of chronic diseases in the population.

26. Incite: To encourage, stimulate, or prompt to action. In the passage, it is used to describe the motivation and joy elicited by creative cooking experiences.

27. Creativity: The ability to generate novel and valuable ideas, solutions, or expressions. The passage emphasizes the creativity involved in making meals with limited ingredients.

28. Simplicity: The state or quality of being simple, easy to understand, or uncomplicated.

29. Anthocyanins: Pigments responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors in many fruits, vegetables, and flowers. They have been found to have health benefits.

30. Metabolic Health: The state of the body’s metabolism, including processes related to energy production, storage, and utilization.

31. Neurotic: Experiencing or characterized by anxiety, obsessive thoughts, or other mental health issues.

32. Efficacious: Capable of producing the desired result or effect; effective.

33. Microplastics: Extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment, often resulting from the breakdown of larger plastic items.

34. Nanoplastics: Even smaller particles than microplastics, falling in the nanometer range.

35. Carcinogen: A substance capable of causing cancer.

36. Cardiovascular: Relating to the heart and blood vessels.

37. Modulate: To regulate, adjust, or control.

38. Luau: A traditional Hawaiian feast or party, typically featuring food, music, and hula dancing.

39. Microculture: A small, distinct social environment or culture, often referring to the unique dynamics and habits within a family or specific group.

40. Tribe: A social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties.

41. Tipping Point: The critical point at which a change becomes unstoppable.

42. Functional Medicine: An approach to medical care that focuses on addressing the underlying causes of disease rather than just treating symptoms.

43. Optimize: To make the best or most effective use of something.

44. Garbage Bag: A large bag used for collecting and disposing of household waste.

45. Reclaim: To take back or recover something, often implying a restoration of control or ownership.

46. Supplement: A product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins or minerals) intended to supplement one’s diet.

47. Metabolism: The set of chemical reactions that occur within living organisms to maintain life.

Coming up on this episode of The Doctor’s Pharmacy.Currently in the United States, only about 30%of families eat together on a regular basis.So my question was, could this be pullingaway some protective factor for us when itcomes to human health and longevity?And this led me to some really fascinating research.Hey, everyone. It’s Dr. Mark.Now, I know a lot of you out thereare healthcare practitioners like me helping patients heal, usingreal food and functional medicine as the framework forgetting to the root cause of the issues.Now, in my practice, this often means looking atlots of internal variables to find the most effectivepath to optimize health and reverse disease.But up until now, that meant we were usuallyordering tests for one patient from multiple labs.Now, I’m sure many of you can relate tohow time consuming and complicated lab ordering can befor functional medicine practitioners like me and our patients.That’s why I love using Rupa health.With just a few clicks, I canorder from 30 plus lab companies.That’s over 3000 tests for free in one single portal.That means one invoice forall labs paid online upfront.Plus, patients get practitioner pricing and receive fullpatient support through easier personalized collection instructions, automatedfollow up super bills, and answers to testingquestions and so much more.Just go to rupahealth.com.That’s Rupahealth.com to sign upfor your free account today.It’s hard to overstate how important sleep is.Our bodies know this, and that’s why we spend,on average, a third of our entire lives sleeping.Now, I’ve had my own share of issues with fallingand staying asleep over the years, and as a result,I spent a lot of time optimizing my sleep.And one of the best toolsI found is Bioptimizer sleep breakthrough.Now, most over the counter melatonin productscan actually cause you to overdose onmelatonin, which can be kind of dangerous.Sleep Breakthrough, on the otherhand, is melatonin free.Instead, it gives your body the precursorsto melatonin and the molecules that helpyour body produce melatonin naturally.That way, the body doesn’t downregulate melatonin productionand you don’t become dependent on sleep supplementsand you don’t experience any sleep hangovers.With Sleep Breakthrough, you’ll fall asleep in minutesand wake up feeling refreshed and energized.Now, Bioptimizers is offering my listeners 10% off sleepBreakthrough, and if you buy two or more, you’llget a free bottle of magnesium breakthrough.This is a limited time offer, so go tosleepbreakthru.com hyman and use the code hymen ten.And now let’s get back to thisweek’s episode of The Doctor’s Pharmacy.Welcome to Doctor’s pharmacy. I’m Dr. Mark Hyman.That’s pharmacy and I have aplace for conversations that matter.And one of the things that mattersmost is the integrity around eating.And not just eating for ourselves, but eatingas a social act, eating as a wayof bringing people together, bringing families together ofactually healing through food but in community.And it’s such an important topic.And I’m so pleased today to have one of my goodfriends, an incredible human being who’s written a new book aboutthis, and I’m so excited to talk to him.Sean Stevenson, he’s the author of many books.His new book, which is out called The Eat SmarterCookbook, is really about food in a different framework thatI think we’re going to talk about today in waysthat I think are going to blow your mind.And that will reveal some of the failures of ourcurrent food system, the failures of our way of eating,and the potential to really turn that around and improvethe health of ourselves, our families and America.Literally, one meal at a time.So Sean is the author of manybooks, including Eat Smarter, the international bestsellingbook, sleep Smarter, which is great.He’s also the creator of the Model Health Show,which I’ve been on a number of times.Number one, one of the numberone health podcast in the US.With millions of listeners and downloads each month.A graduate of Missouri St.Louis University, he studied business biology,nutritional science, and was the cofounder of Advanced Integrative Health Alliance.He’s been on lots of media outlets.Forbes, Fast Company, New YorkTimes, muscle and Fitness.I want more of his muscles.He’s got more muscles than I do. I’m working on it.I’m working on it and many other shows.And he’s just an awesome dude.So welcome, Sean.Mark, always love talking with you.You’re one of my superheroes in this field.So thank you. Thank you.So listen, I remember reading this bookcalled Connected and also looking at theresearch of Nicholas Christakis from Harvard.And in his research, he basically talked about thepower of our relationships to determine our health.And in particular, he talked about obesity,used, I think, the framingham data.And he found that you were 171% more likelyto be overweight if your friends were overweight thanif your family, for example, is overweight.If your family or sister or brother overweight.You may be 40% more likely.But it was really these social threadsthat connect us, that determine our health.And one of the things that’s happened over thelast 60 years that I’ve been alive is thedisconnection from the kitchen and from the home cookedmeal and from the family dinner.And I remember even in the know, I’m reallyold, so I was alive in the that thefood industry basically insinuated themselves in the American kitchen.They basically hijacked our kitchens and they put in allsorts of things like Betty Crocker, I don’t know ifyou remember Betty Crocker, the Betty Crocker cookbook.You remember that, Sean?Yes, my grandma had it. Yeah, right.And I thought Betty Crocker was a real person.She was not a real person.She was a fabrication of the food industryto actually insinuate their products into home cookedmeals, to slowly disrupt the relationship between ourfood and family traditions and get the foodindustry’s crap into the American home.And so, if you remember, the cookbook was like,add one can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soupto this casserole or put one roll of RitzCracker crumble on top of your broccoli.Or it was like all this weird crap.And then we got into more and moreprocessed food and more and more prepared foods.And so most of the meals that are eatenin homes today are meals that have been thecooking has been outsourced to factories, to corporations whoare producing hyper palatable, biologically disruptive foods that haveled to this unprecedented obesity, diabetes, and chronic diseaseepidemic we’re facing in America.And anybody listening to this podcast before, you’ve heardme talk about this ad nauseam, but basically we’rein a storm of bad health that is bankruptingus, and I think we’re now $4.3 trillion.One of the things that I believe is thesolution for this is what you wrote about inyour book, The Eat Smarter Cookbook, which is bringingback kind of the family dinner, bringing back homecooked meals, bringing back a tradition of connecting andbeing together as a family.And now if people do eatat home together, they’re probably eatingdifferent meals cooked in different factories.Or I wouldn’t say cooked, but manufactured and inventedand synthesized at different factories, all cooked in microwavesor heated up an oven while they’re all watchingTV or on their phones and not connecting toeach other and maybe lasting 20 minutes.And that, to me, is really one of the fundamentalbreakdowns in our society that nobody really talks about.And I’m so glad you wrote a book about this.And I think the research has really shown thatwhen you sit down with some people you loveon a consistent basis, that it improves our health,our diet, reduces stress, improves our body composition, lowersbody fat, increases muscle mass.It’s not just what we eat, but it’s how we eatand who we’re eating with that makes all the difference.So can you talk about how food canbring families and communities together and why familymeals are on the endangered list? Absolutely.That’s a great set up.And what I did was I kind of went on a rant.I went on a rant. Sorry.Even as I was writing this book, I knewthat in particular, this would be special for youbecause we have very similar perspectives about this becauseit’s so much bigger than the food itself.The food itself is definitely an issue, but the cultureis really guiding so many of our food decisions.And so one of the things that I highlightin the book was a huge metaanalysis that wasput together by researchers at Brigham Young University, andthey looked at 148 studies on the impact ofour social circles on our health outcomes.This included about 300,000 study participants,so it’s huge data set. Wow.And they found that people who havehealthy social connections have about a 50%reduction in all cause mortality.So basically, if we have healthy relationships, this isabout a 50% reduction in risk for basically, death. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM” From all causes premature death.And so this is just like alsoanother kind of echoing sentiment right nowwith some researchers out of Harvard, dr.Robert Waldinger, another friend, and he’s thedirector of the longest running longitudinal studyon human health and longevity.And their research indicates that ourrelationships are the biggest determinant ofour longevity and our health outcomes.And for me, it’s just like, how is that possible?And what it is, really, is that our relationshipsare such a controlling force over our food decisions,over our exercise habits, over our mental health, andthe list goes on and on and on.It’s like a real powerful governing force.And so I took that data and built uponit in tying in nutrition and social science inthis book in a really palatable, fun way.And so what I uncovered was that andI started with some research that was collectedout of Harvard, and I was blown away.And I’m already hesitant to even talk about thisbecause it’s sad that everybody doesn’t know this, right?You know, to actually go through the data.And just like, I had to hold my chinup because my jaw just kept on dropping.Like, how do people not know this?And so what they uncovered was that families thateat together on a consistent basis, number one, thechildren consume far more vital nutrients that help todefend their bodies against chronic diseases.And they found that they consumed significantly less ultraprocessed foods, as you were just alluding to earlieron, chips and soda and things like that.And here’s what else they found.And this was the thing that really got meto really put this book together, was over time,just within the last couple of decades, you’ve seenit, the degradation of the family meal.And right now, currently in the United States, only about30% of families eat together on a regular basis.And so my question was, could this bepulling away some protective factor for us whenit comes to human health and longevity?And this led me to some really fascinating research.And I’m just going to sandwich these together.Published in Pediatrics, published in theJournal of Pediatrics, and also JAMAJournal of the American Medical Association.And what the research was found was thatpeople who eat together with their children justthree times a week, those kids have significantlylowered incidence of developing obesity and disordered eating.All right, now what about the parents?Well, I also shared in the book this studythat was done on office workers at IBM.And they found that just by them being ableto make it home and have dinner with theirfamilies on a consistent basis led to higher workmorale, lowered stress levels, and better work performance.And as work obligations cut into that family mealtime,they began to have a lot more unrest, loweredmental health, higher stress, and lower job satisfaction.And why does this all matter?To put a bow on top of it?Stress is really the leading component toour chronic disease epidemics in different ways.And this was published in JAMA as well.They found that up to 80% of allphysician visits are for stress related illnesses.And so there’s something protective about gettingtogether with friends and family, getting togetherwith the people that we love.We can unpack why, what’s happening behind thescenes, but it’s something protective for our health.And this is something that has been onthe endangered species list, as you alluded to.And this is something that we’re on amission right now to rekindle this powerful protectivemetric and get people reconnected under the spiritof health and wellness and good food. It’s so true.It reminds me of the movie Fed Upthat I was in and helped with.And it was, I think, released in2014, and it was about childhood obesity.And we went down to South Carolina, this placecalled Easley, South Carolina, one of the poorest areasin America, and also one of the worst foodenvironments in terms of food desert.They have something called the Retail FoodEnvironment Index or something like that.And it’s basically like, how many convenience storesand fast food restaurants are there to agrocery store where you can buy produce.And it was like ten to one.This family of five lived in a trailer.The father was 42, already diabetic, on dialysisfrom kidney failure at 42, and very overweight.The mother was huge, and the son was 16.To other kids who weresmaller, they weren’t that overweight.But the 16 year old was like, 50%.Body fat normal is ten to 20 for a male,you pretty much diabetic at 15 years, 16 years old.And I went in their trailer, and rather than giving alecture and saying, oh, you should eat this, you should dothat, I said, Why don’t we cook a meal together?So I got a guide from the Environmental Working Group whereI’m on the board called Good Food in a Tight Budget,which is how to eat food that’s good for you, goodfor the planet, and good for your wallet.And we cooked a meal, and now I went through theirkitchen, and they didn’t have r1 food ingredient in there.Everything was in a box, a package of canned,frozen the ingredient lists were like four pages long.You couldn’t pronounce them, know what theywere, and they had no clue.And they thought they were trying to do the rightthing, and they were desperate because the father needs tolose 45 pounds in order to get a new kidney,and he couldn’t lose weight, and they were regular.So I basically, like, cooked a meal with them.I said, here’s how you peel onions.Here’s how you stir fry a vegetable.Here’s how you roast a sweet potato in the oven.Here’s how you make some turkey chili.Here’s how you take simple salad ingredients andmake olive oil and vinegar dressing rather thansomething in a bottle that’s got high fructosecorn syrup and refined inflammatory oils and gumsand thickeners and who knows what else.And we had this delicious time together.We literally cooked and chopped and talked andhung out, and they loved the food.They were, like, shocked.The one kid didn’t ever eat vegetables.He was like, shocked.These are vegetables in this.I’m like, well, they’re like candy onions.And the one kid said to me, says, Dr.Hyman, do you eat like thiswith your family every night?And I’m like, yeah.No matter how busy I was, no matter how hardI was working, I always made sure I cooked dinnerfor my family at home, and actually often breakfast, too,when my kids were little and we ate together.And it was really a time of being together, ofcooking in the kitchen, of having the experience of evenshopping together, including your kids in the process, including themin the preparation and the menu design.And what was amazing to me was thatthis family, I gave them my cookbook.I gave them this guide on how to eat well for less.And I said, you guys can do this.And I didn’t even know, right?They didn’t even have cutting boards or knives.And literally on my way home, I basically orderedon Amazon a bunch of cutting boards and knivesand had them sent to her because we werecutting, like, sweet potatoes with, like, a butter knife.And they lost over 200 pounds in the first year.The father got a new kidney.The son lost 50 pounds, gained it back because hewent to work at Bojangles, but then kind of gotsorted out and wanted to work with me and endedup losing 134 pounds and was the first person’s kidfamily go to college and then ended up asking mefor a letter of recommendation for medical school.And it kind of blew my mindbecause I was like, Wait a minute.If people want to do the right thing, it’snot like people are like, I don’t care.I just want to be overweight, andI don’t care if I’m sick.And people don’t really have the information.They don’t have the knowledge.They don’t have the skills.And being in the kitchen is a skill.And I think what you’re providing with the EatSmarter Cookbook is a roadmap for people to kindof reclaim their kitchens, reclaim their health, reclaim theirfamily connections, reclaim that fabric of our social networksthat actually is the essential act of being human.We are social beings.There’s no way around it.You stick a naked human out inthe forest by himself, and he’s screwed.We’re interdependent.And so what you’re hinting onis just such an important topic.Yeah, what you’re talking about as well when you mentionedeven him making that pivot when he started working atBojangles and gaining the weight back, that is pointing tothe influence of culture and the environment.Because even our cravings are cultural.Our cravings are cultural.And let’s define culture really quick.Our culture is the shared values, attitudes,beliefs, and behaviors that are then passedon from one generation to the next. All right?So a lot of this andour behaviors are really unconscious.And so, for example, we know that hunter gatherer tribes thatreally there’s a subconscious belief that if I don’t move, Iwill die, because I need to move in order to procuremy food and to provide for my family.It is required in our culture today.Movement is optional. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ It’s never been as optional now asit has been in the past.And so our culture is really influencing our choicesand our beliefs and even sharing that insight.This is what is so special about your perspective.And my perspective coming together is that I comefrom that environment of a low income atmosphere where,when I was in college, as you mentioned inmy bio, I lived in Ferguson, Missouri.And this is a food desert of the highest order.And in fact, as soon as I came out ofmy apartment complex going to school, there’s a huge liquorstore right there and there’s so many of them, justlike shelves filled with ultra processed foods.There wasn’t a, quote, organicsection in my grocery store.There weren’t any gyms.There weren’t any gyms in my area.I didn’t know what yoga was.None of this existed to me.And every fast food that you can name waswithin a two mile radius of my apartment.I’m talking we can go down the list, you name one.It was around me.And so that’s really all that I knew.But something else that was really special for me wasI came across a study that was looking at minoritychildren that would generally be in the context of alow income environment like I come from.And this was published in theJournal of Nutrition and Behavior.And they found that children who ate with their familiesfour meals a week, no matter what those meals were,those children ate five servings of fruits and vegetables atleast five days a week just by the act ofeating together on a consistent basis.And they ate significantly less ultra processedfoods, things like chips and soda.And the researchers noted in particular whenthe TV was never or rarely on.Now, for me personally, I’m not going tobe somebody who’s going to be dogmatic.We all go through our dogmatic phase and just kindof like being very hyper focused on doing everything right.I love getting together with my family and havinga movie night or watching the game and havingsome food, but we were missing out on somethingthat was protective for our children.And part of this, why this is so powerful,is that when we get together with people thatwe love, our chemistry changes, we’re shifting over fromthat fight or flight sympathetic nervous system as indicatedin that study I mentioned on those office workers,and shifting more into the parasympathetic rest and digest,right, rest and digest system.Because one of the chemistry changes that happensis we start to release more oxytocin, right?And so we know that oxytocin kind of counteractsthe activity of cortisol in some really interesting ways.And just by getting together with people that we careabout that system, that tweak that shift is happening.And on top of that, we know that bythe way, when I’m talking about this chemistry change.Our thoughts create chemistry instantaneously.Our thoughts are really a powerful internal pharmacy, andit isn’t bioidentical like it is made for you,by you to fit your receptor sites.So your thoughts instantly change your chemistry.And so this is an opportunity.Another reason why this is so powerfulfor our children is that sitting downthe dinner table is really a unifier.I’m not saying this just for dinner,by the way, but it’s a unifier.It’s an opportunity to see your child, tosee your family member, to be able tonotice subtleties in their character, right?To be able to offload stress as well.And so some of the things that wedo is, like, just taking a moment.For centuries, it’s been one of thosethings where we have prayer, right?Why do people pray before they eat?Are they praying that maybe the food was dangerous back inthe day, that the food isn’t going to kill them?That’s not really what it’s for.It’s a moment to press pause,to center oneself, to be present.And so whether it’s prayer, whether it’s a gratitudepractice, so this is something we’ve integrated over theyears, is before we eat with my family, weall go around the table and share three thingsthat we’re grateful for from that day. Beautiful.And it could be small things, could be did well ona test, or it could be something big that happened, butwe’re able to start to share and open up.It’s kind of like thesethings that transition that into.And also, we know how the brain works.Neurons that fire together, wire together.So it’s like opening upthat pathway to connection, right?And also, we’ve done things and tested thingslike share one thing you failed at.Today we’d go around and share.That just like getting an opportunity to hear whatmy kids might have struggled with or reframing opportunity.And also us sharing as adults, lifeis not all super smooth and sweet.Like, we go through our own challenges, andfor my kids to develop more compassion andempathy and understanding and perspective taking.And all these things take place at this unifyingentity that we call the dinner table versus we’veall got a lot of stuff going on.And so if we don’t have this unifier in place,it’s easy for life to kind of get swept up.And I’m thinking of the wizard of Know.We end up in this tornado of craziness, and wemiss out on the things that are most important.And so the last piece I want to sharehere on this cultural front, know, I mentioned thisearlier that cravings are cultural as well.This true story.And, Mark, you might even know this.There are people in Cambodia right nowthat are munching on spiders, all right?Tarantulas are a delicacy incertain places in the world.I can’t see I crave eating a spider.It’s never a craving I’ve had.I’m like, let me go to the fridge and seeif I can rip up some spider stir fry.But that’s the thing.It’s deep fried spiders in.And my wife is from Kenya, so it mightbe Nyamachoma, which is like barbecue meat, preferably goat.Right?And then there’s other places where it might be.One meat I don’t like is goat. Right?And it’s just I think also, again, it’scultural as well, because goats are even calledthe baby goats are called kids.So it’s just even another layer of strangeness.But some people might cravefermented know, in Icelandic regions. Right?Our cravings are cultural and in our culture today, asyou noted earlier, and a lot of people have heardthis by now, you’ve shared this as well.The BMJ, one of the most prestigious medical journals inthe world, published data just a couple of years agoindicating that the average American adult, their diet is nowmade up of about 60% ultra processed foods.But here’s the thing. I’m kidding.This 67% exactly.I’m in a special place where I get to publishthe first major book that’s sharing that data and reallygetting that out to the world in a big way.Because that study that you just mentioned that waspublished in JAMA, they tracked the food intake ofkids for almost 20 years in the US.And found that in 1999, the averageAmerican child’s diet was 61% ultraprocessed food.And by 2018, it was almost 70%of our children’s diet is ultraprocessed food.And this is kids two to 19.And so we have now aculture where fake food is normalized.It is the normal thing to eat.And let’s make a real quick determinant.The last little part here.Humans have been processing food forever, all right?Cooking is processing. Right?We’re not talking about taking anolive and pressing the oil out.We’re talking about a field of wheat.We’re talking about a field of corn being so denatured thatin adding sugar and food colorings and artificial flavors and listgoes on and on to where that field of wheat isnow a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, all right?Or that field of wheat becomes Pop Tarts.Or that field of corn is now Lucky Charms.Or the list goes on and on.It’s so denatured and removed from anything natural.That’s ultra processed food.So we just want to make thatclear distinction between the two, all right?So ultra processed foods are really, at itscore, foods that aren’t even real food anymore.And that’s making up the ingredientsthat are making us up now. Yeah. Really?There’s so much in there.That was beautiful dissertation, Sean. Really.Hey, everyone, it’s Dr. Mark here.The American food system is broken.This is an unfortunate reality, but something that hasbecome increasingly obvious over the last few decades.It’s created a situation where low quality, highly processedfoods make up the vast majority of calories consumedto our great detriment kettle and fire.Bone broth is trying to help right this ship.They are committed to doing what they canto improve the food system as a whole.By using only grass fed and grass dish beef bones,organic free range chicken bones, they’re supporting the farmers andranchers who are making food the right way.The result is high quality bone brothsmade without artificial ingredients, preservatives and chemicalsand that are produced sustainably.Not to mention bone broth is one of my favorite. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Favorite healing foods.I’m always either cooking soups or stews withit or drinking it on its own.I love that it’s so beneficial for my gut,my joints, my skin, and so much 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Getsensate.com Pharmacy anduse the code Pharmacy Farmacy to get10% off your Senseate device today.That’s Getsensate.com Getsensate.com Pharmacy and usethe Code Pharmacy to get 10%off your Senseate device today.And now let’s get back to thisweek’s episode of The Doctor’s Pharmacy.I just want to comment on a couple of things.One, the science is really clear that oursocial relationships determine so much about our health,and not just on an emotional, spiritual, orpsychological level, but on a biological level.And loneliness is arguably one ofthe biggest killers in the world.And the science around the gene expression changesin social relationships to me is fascinating.I call it sociogenomics, which is howour social relationships influence our gene expression.Turning on genes of health or diseaseof inflammation or antiinflammation of longevity or,like, shortening our life, literally.Our social connections determine so much of that.So what you said is so right on.Second, just to kind of reemphasize the importance of family dinnersand sitting with your kids at meals and making it apriority, when you look at the data, kids are right nowsuffering in such a way that I just have never seenin my entire career as a doctor.The levels of ADHD, levels ofdepression, the levels of eating disorders.I mean, it’s just out of control.And when you look at the data on familydinners, if you eat with your kids like yousaid, they’re less likely to be obese, they’re lesslikely to have eating disorders, they do better inschool, they have better relationships and friendships in school,they have less addiction and drug use.I mean, these are big deals, and we’re talkingabout something that is actually fun, which is sittingdown with your family and having dinner.I mean, yeah, family’s got their craziness anddrama, but if you can kind of getover that, you actually can start to createa beautiful culture around dinner and food.So it’s a beautiful thing.And I think lastly around the ultraprocessed food, just to kind of emphasizethat what is ultra processed food?It’s not a can of tomatoes with tomatoes,water, and salt, or a can of sardineswith olive oil and sardines and salt.It’s basically food substances that were grown in theground, like corn, wheat and soy, like you said.But they’re deconstructed, andso chemically they’re altered.And if food is information, it actually works basedon the shape and the structure, the chemical structureof the ingredients which are signaling our biology todo different things in different times.When you deconstruct these molecules, when you rip themapart, when you pulverize them, when you create allkinds of weird things that aren’t ever something thathumans ate before, and you reassemble them into thingsthat look like food, it’s actually not really food.And it’s what’s driving somuch of the disease epidemic.For every 10% of your diet that’s altered processed food, yourrisk of death goes up by 14%, and it’s 60% ofour adult died and 67 or 70% of our kids died.So really we’re seeing an increasing awarenessabout the dangers of ultra processed food.And of course, the food industry islike, oh, well, what does that mean?And how do you define it?And it’s not so bad.And we always process food, and processing is fine.In my book, Food Fix, I kind ofcataloged this research that was published, I think,in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, whichis a very premier nutrition journal.But look at the funding of the journal,and it’s all like 40% food industry funded.And one of the articles is like, processingfood is actually healthy, and it’s okay.And I’m like, what?And I read who funded the study?And it’s all up, excuse my French.But anyway, yeah, you’re justsummarizing what I experienced.In college, I took a fancy nutritional science class,this big auditorium classroom, and it was drilled intous, the food pyramid, very early on.Seven to eleven servings of healthy wholegrains, which I’m going to come backand talk about a new revelation there.But also there was a huge through line whether it’sin nutritional science or whether it’s in biology, and adisconnect from understanding how food plays into it.Right as we’re studying the cells in mybiology class, we were not informed or not.Of course, my professors were blind to this as well.That as I’m looking at that mitochondria that it’s madefrom our menu, as I’m looking at the nucleus thatit’s made from the nutrients that we eat, when I’mlooking at the membrane of the cell that it’s madefrom the meals that we’re eating, we’re literally making allthe things that we’re studying is made from food.This is why we see such big ramifications.When you just talked about the epidemics ofchronic disease in our children, not just ourchildren, but us, the CDC’s numbers.Just last year, the CDC put this out.It was a cute little infographic,I guess, to soften the blow.But now 60% of American adults, according tothe CDC, have at least one chronic disease.40% have two or more, right?And the crazy thing is, so many of these issueshave skyrocketed in just the last four or five decades.Skyrocketed.And it’s a huge hallmark of this, asyou alluded to, was there’s this entire fieldof nutrigenomics, right, looking at how our intake,how our dietary intake affects our gene expression.But it’s deeper than this, because in thatbiology class, for example, and I remember this,DNA to RNA to protein, right?DNA to RNA to protein.So, number one, our nutrition is impactingwhich genes are getting read, how they’regetting expressed, let’s put it like that.Including that interaction with our DNA.But as we go down that pathway, wenever stop to ask, how are those proteinsthat we’re printing out getting made?What are they getting made from?That’s made from the food that we’re eating.So literally, as you know, colleagues who areexperts in cardiology, as they’re studying the humancardiovascular system, the human heart, veins, arteries, blood,we’re not getting educated that all of thethings that they’re monitoring in their patient ismade from what they’ve eaten.And the quality of those ingredients determine thequality of the proteins that are getting made.So food is of the highest orderof importance, and not just that.And last part here is it’s the energysubstrate itself, how all this stuff is working.Food is the fuel that is enablingour cells to talk to each other.Food is the fuel.If we’re talking about hormones,our hormones are proteins, neurotransmitters.These are all built.And how our cells are talking toeach other, they’re all made from food.And so if we’re bringing in fruity, peppers,junk in, junk out, junk out, snickers, crumbs,and Funion substrates to fuel these processes, whatdo you think is going to happen?Funyunion.That was one of my favorite hood snacks.Funions are basically potato chiponion rings, all right?Made of, like, corn starch.I grew up in the suburbs.I missed that one. Yeah.Funions and best soda, right?We didn’t have, like, the really fancy soda.Oftentimes it costs more.We get the cheaper stuff.So even with Kool Aid, we didn’t get Kool Aid wehad, you know, so we had all of these, but it’sall still made from the same ultra processed food.So, Sean, this is really know, I personallywas very lucky, know, my parents left. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Left America in 19, like 50, and they wentto Europe for eleven years and sort of theymissed the industrialization of the food system and thepush of processed food into the kitchen.Although my mom did have the BettyCrocker cook, but they shopped in markets.So they went to the butcher and they went tothe little vegetable stand and the fruit stand, and everybodyhad like a bread little bakery, and there was allthese different street markets and they made real food, andthey didn’t even really have a fridge, and they kindof had to buy fresh every day.And then my mom had a garden when we weregrowing up in Toronto, and we go eat vegetable.We had fruit trees in the backyard andshe would cook real food every night.And I learned that as a kid.And so I think that was really important.But you grew up in an environment which you wereeating all this weird stuff like you said, like flavoraid and funions and things I never heard about.How did you go from being essentially deprived ofunderstanding how to actually shop for, prepare, cook andenjoy real food to where you are now, whereyou’re making all these yummy meals with your familyand you’re teaching all this.It’s like, how did you get thereand how did you learn those skills?Because I think that to me, is the biggest challengeright now is that the food industry have been soeffective at disenfranchising us from our own homes and kitchensthat we no longer know how to cook a mealor prepare anything, even simply, and are overwhelmed and don’tfeel burdened and feel like we don’t have the time.And the food industry is very good at teachingus and brainwashing us that preparing your own food,it takes too much time, it’s too expensive, it’stoo hard, and just leave the cooking dust.You deserve a break today, right?So how did you kind of get to where youare and tell us how somebody who’s listening to this,who just like, I don’t know how to cook.I don’t have time.I got a job or two jobs, and I got three kids,and I got this, and I got soccer and I got whatever.How do I do this?Because I’m overwhelmed. Absolutely.So, to start things off, number one, becauseof the way that I was eating, asyou know, we’ve talked about this before.When I was 20, I was diagnosed with anadvanced arthritic condition of my spine degenerative disc disease.My bone density was so low that Ibroke my hip at track practice just running.And I was basically dramaticallyaccelerating my aging process, right.Kind of like a meta perspective.But really what I was doing was making mytissues out of these really, really low quality ingredients.Because at the time, even then, when Igot the diagnosis, I was eating fast foodat least 300 days out of the year.And when I wasn’t eating 300 days. Wow.Yeah, at least.And by the way, I’m not abnormal in that becauseat any given day in the United States, about 85million people are stepping into a fast food restaurant.This is a normal part of our culture.But when I wasn’t eating fast food, if I didn’t even have$2 to go to Jack in the Box, I ate, like, abowl of macaroni and cheese at home for a meal right.Or a family can of SpaghettiOs.That was one of my favorite go to.And so I was eating ultraprocessed food essentially at every meal.This is what I was making my tissues out of.And for me, there was a huge revelation becauseI didn’t know that there was a difference thatwas really at the core of it.I didn’t know that there was a difference between wildcaught salmon and the fish sticks that I was eating.I didn’t know there was a differencebetween you mentioned something earlier, and Iwant to point back to this.You mentioned the Environmental Working Group.And one of the big revelations thatI’m sharing in the new cookbook, theyjust did an analysis, which was fascinating.A lot of people now aware ofGlyphosate and some of the impacts.The World Health Organization has denoted thatGlyphosate is a class two a carcinogen.This means it probably causes cancer.But the Environmental Working Group did this hugeanalysis of some of the most popular productson store shelves and found that up to90% of all grain products in the UnitedStates on store shelves are contaminated with Glyphosate.It is crazy pants. Yeah.And so being in the environment that Iwas in, I didn’t know that there wasa difference in the sourcing of that food.Because when I was trying to get healthy,here’s the first thing that I did, Mark.I was like, I need to eatmore like an adult, all right?I was 22 years old at the time.So I’m going to stop eating my kids Honey Nut Cheerios,and I’m going to eat more of an adult cereal.I’m going to eat Quaker Oatmeal Squares because it’s highin fiber and there’s a Quaker on the box.And I don’t know if he was realor not, but he’s not a bee.At least he’s not this beewho has a dysfunctional stinger. All right?He’s a real guy.And so in that analysis, come tofind out, Quaker Oatmeal Squares is, like,top five most contaminated with Glyphosate.And so, again, I’m trying tomake to mention high in sugar.It’s all sugar.It’s all sugar.It was the framing, and it’s datingback to my university education that that’swhat I’m supposed to be eating.And the basis of our diet, the bottom of thatpyramid, the foundation, should be these, quote, whole grains andwithout paying attention to the sourcing, without paying attention tothe impact that it has on my metabolic health andmy blood sugar and all these things.And so how did I make that change in that environment?Well, number one was awareness.Awareness is really that first domino, justbecoming aware that there was a differencein how these foods were impacting me.I had no idea.Then you had to learn how to cook and learn howto chop vegetables and peel garlic and do basic simple skills.It’s a skill.We know how to use our iPhones and drivea car and use our computer, but most ofus don’t know our way around babies.You see them rolling around in their cartsat the grocery store or at the Target.They know how to mess with iPads andall this stuff at like one year old.All right, yeah, all of my,that’s a whole nother problem.My youngest son, he just turned twelve last week.Since he was like seven or eight, he’sknown how to prepare food, all right?And he’s been helping out inthe kitchen even prior to that.It’s just a part of the culture and as yousaid, it’s just a skill set in normalizing that whereasfor me, I actually grew up in a culture wheremy stepfather was an executive chef at Morton’s of Chicago.But again, we’re living in poverty, all right?I’m talking about getting food from know,the Jose house was close to ourhouse, WIC, food stamps, all these things.And it’s just like even hearing that, why don’t youjust work harder for the parents and not understanding thevolatility of the environment that we’re living in, by theway, because I grew up in the crack epidemic.And so next to our two familyflat, there’s a little gangway, little pathseparating us from the next building.That next building was where crackwas being cooked and sold.And so my stepfather lost his olderbrother to the ramifications of crack.And my stepfather, he just passed away two months ago.He’s been in assisted living for almost 15years due to brain damage from crack.And it’s just, again, if people understood the volatilityand also my mother trying to make ends ofme, sometimes she would sell her blood just toget $20 to get us a meal.And so she also workedovernight at a convenience store.And being in this environment, she was stabbedeight times on one of those evenings.And my mom is different.She actually subdued the guy andhe ended up getting arrested.But when she went in to get stitches and all thethings to get sewn up, the physician told her that ifyou weren’t a heavyset woman, you would have died.You being overweight.Her obesity saved her life. Right.And so do you think she’s going to bein a hurry to try to lose weight?It’s her protective force. Field, really.So these are the conditions that I’m in.Every one of my family members hasat least one chronic disease, including myself.Chronic asthma, my little brother chronicasthma, my little sister eczema.And for me, having that onset of this arthritic condition whenI was 20, finally getting this diagnosis, that was years inthe making, to get to that place where I have suchsevere degeneration that the physician is telling me I have thespine of an 80 year old man.Now, here’s how it all changes.Number one was awareness, because I didn’t know.I didn’t know.But number two is and this is reallyimportant for again, there’s two parts here, okay?There’s the cultural aspect, where, yes, weneed social change, but the most powerfulform of transformation is addressing the microculture,the microculture in your own household.And so, regardless of the fact that Iwas living in Ferguson, Missouri, I can stepoutside of my close environment, close proximity environment,and go and start to procure my food.Because as soon as I became aware that food mattered,that food could change the ingredients I was making mytissues out of, suddenly this farmers market in Ferguson, thenicer part of Ferguson, by the way, for years therehad been a farmers market, and I was oblivious tothe fact that it existed.And now I’m going there each week with my family.I’m saving, sometimes paying 50% less of whatI’m paying at Whole Foods to try toget these same foods, saving money, getting close. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ I didn’t know.But number two is and this is reallyimportant for again, there’s two parts here, okay?There’s the cultural aspect where, yes, weneed social change, but the most powerfulform of transformation is addressing the microculture,the microculture in your own household.And so, regardless of the fact that Iwas living in Ferguson, Missouri, didn’t step outsideof my close environment, close proximity environment, andgo and start to procure my food.Because as soon as I became aware that food mattered,that food could change the ingredients I was making mytissues out of, suddenly, this farmers market in Ferguson, thenicer part of Ferguson, by the way, for years therehad been a farmers market, and I was oblivious tothe fact that it existed.And now I’m going there each week with my family.I’m saving, sometimes paying 50% less of what I’m paying atWhole Foods to try to get these same foods, saving money,getting closer to where my food is coming from.And now, again, just because of my awarenessand my dedication to changing the microculture inmy household, because, as I mentioned, it wasn’tjust me going to the farmers market.I was taking my kids with me.I was taking my then girlfriend, now wife with me.And we made this into a family event,and it became a part of our culture.But how did you Sean, how did you go,God, here’s what kind of knife I need.Here’s a pot I need here’s how to chop an onion.How do I mince garlic, how do I bake?Just basic things.How did you go from basically eating infactory made food to making homemade food?And that bridge that you had to cross waslike a big expanse for most people to thinkabout who don’t know their way around the kitchen.Okay, I’m going to share two things.Number one, that wasn’t my particular story,because I grew up in a householdwhere the skill of cooking was apparent. It was there.We were oftentimes eating ultra processed food.But my mom was a great cook.My stepfather got paid to cook at high end places.We just didn’t have a lot of money. Same thing.My little brother, to this day, isn’t a fantastic cook.And so I’m going to share withyou one of my core memories.That’s unusual, right?That’s unusual. It is. So I’m going to share thatsecond thing in just a moment.But one of my core memories, andit’s so interesting that this book iscoming out, having just lost my stepfather.But one of my core memories was it’s one ofthose days we open up the cabinet, there’s nothing there.We open up the refrigerator.We don’t have anything to eat.And this is a time when he’s atthe house, and we’re just like, we’re know.And so I go to, you know, we’re hungry.There’s no food.He goes into the kitchen.And there was a loaf of Texas toastthat we got on the WIC program.There was government cheese, which is this block ofcheese, and there was some tomato sauce in thecabinet, and there was some frozen deer sausage inthe freezer that my grandfather had sent to us.And at the time, of course,I wasn’t trying to eat Bambi.I was not into that deer sausage.But what he did was he took thoseingredients and he made pizza out of them.He made pizza with those ingredients.And I will never forget that.I was, like, eight years old,and it stayed with me forever.Because, number one and by the way,it didn’t taste like Domino’s, all right?It didn’t taste exactly like pizza I was used to.But the fact that kids like pizza and I was eatingpizza, that elicited some motivation and some joy in that moment,and the fact that I got to eat with him becausewe rarely ate together, and sharing that moment with him, eatingpizza, eliciting and this is a huge part.This is what the point I wastrying to make in that environment.It really can incite such a high level of creativity.When people hear about my story and whereI come from, there can be a lotof empathy and even sympathy about that.But you don’t understand the beauty that’s thereas well, and the capacity for creativity.And so that stuck with memy entire life to this moment.And so this is bringing back to, okay, so where do wepick up these skill sets if we don’t grow up with this?And today, it’s really ironically, even though we havethis, it’s never been easier to be unhealthy.It’s never been easier to be healthy.We have access to every manner of trainingwith this, with a simple YouTube video.But what we need my mother always said,if you could read, you can cook.Meaning just follow the know.It’s like, if you can watcha YouTube video, you can cook. Right?That part, I was like, I don’tknow how to make duck breast.I’m going to watch Gordon Ramsaymake duck breast on YouTube.Yell at me virtually.Yeah.Wow, that’s not so hard.So I think even if you don’t knowhow to make everything, you can learn soeasily by just the tools we have available.You’re right.It’s never been easier to be sick or healthy.And we’ve also got to take thecomplexity out of it because it’s unnecessary.And so even a lot of great recipe books,they can tend to be a little bit complex.And so what I focus on was simplicity, high qualityingredients, real food ingredients, but also tying in some ofthe most joyful food experiences in our culture.Like, for example, one of my favorite things growing up,and in particular, when I was trying to get myhealth together and having this revelation prior to that.I love McDonald’s breakfast. All right.And I’m not alone. All right.The sausage McMuffin.But the thing was, I oftentimes didn’t get up intime to make it to breakfast because of staying uplate, playing video games, being unhealthy, all the things.But it’s one of my favorite things.So my thought was, I know thatthese breakfast sandwiches are incredibly popular.How can I upgrade this and create adelicious breakfast sandwich using real food ingredients that’sgoing to knock people’s socks off?That’s one of my youngest son’sfavorite foods, by the way.Favorite meals is this breakfast sandwich that weput into the Eat Smarter family cookbook. Love that.And the same thing with pancakes.If we’re talking about, I wouldget the hotcakes and sausage.And so I took a foundational food thathas these powerful anthocyanins that have been foundto improve the health of our know metabolichealth in the form of sweet potatoes andmake these delicious sweet potato protein pancakes. Wow.And like, again, it’s based on a real food.Deliciousness.And now we’re getting all, as you said.And I remember it changed my life when yousaid it, Mark, that food isn’t just food.It’s information. Right.So now we’re getting all these higher order,more intelligent compounds into our bodies, and itstarts to change us from the inside out.And so those are the two thingstaking away the complexity, making simple recipes.Number one, easy on ramp.And also things that we’re familiar with. I agree.I was a single father.I had two kids, worked hard as a doctor, and Ifigured out how to make simple things in the weekend.Might make a big pot of stew or soup.I learned how to make simple, quick meals.And last night as a great example.People think it’s, like, got to be onerous and takea long time and be difficult, but it really doesn’t.I had a couple of friends over last night, andwe didn’t really have much time, and I was busyworking all day and essentially just made, like, in, like,I don’t know, it was 15 minutes, maybe less.An incredible meal.I had sweet potatoes that I put in the ovenbefore, so I planned ahead a little bit, just putthem in an hour ahead, which is you throw them,wash them, throw them in the oven.It’s like a toaster oven.It’s pretty easy.I whipped together a salad.I buy, like, pre washed arugula, and Ichopped up some tomatoes, chopped up some cucumbers.I didn’t bother even mixing the olive oil and vinegar.I just pour the olive oil on, pour the vinegaron salt and pepper, toss it up, like, literally.Salad took three minutes.I cooked a steak on the grill five minutesand stirred, fried some mushrooms with garlic, and thewhole thing was like a very simple meal, butit was delicious, full of medicinal compounds.And everybody loved it, and it didn’t take a lot ofstress or a lot of time or a lot of effort.And I think people have to understand that the mythof cooking for yourself, that it’s hard or it takestoo much time or it’s too expensive, is just amyth and we need to reclaim our kitchens. Exactly.And part of that myth,again, it’s that cultural influence.And I was just going to share this really quicklywas that one of the other things on the otherside is when we’re eating in isolation and we’re notpreparing food for, for even ourselves, let alone our families.And this was published in Nutrition Journal in 2018.And I was just finding, like, is there some data showingthat if we’re not doing this, what’s going to happen?And they found that eating alone, wetend to have significantly lower diet quality. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ And lower intake of essential nutrientsthat help to prevent chronic diseases.And so it’s protective on so many different levels.Eating together with people we care about,having higher quality ingredients and taking thecomplexity out, taking back really control.Because America, we invented the TV dinner.We invented it, and that marketing and that culture.I used to eat Salisbury steak, the mushy steak. Yes.Swanson.Yes, I remember that.And we had those TV dinner trays.It was like a special tray that you’d open up to putyour TV tinfoil dinner on, and then you could watch TV.And this is like, in the 60s.It was so bad. Wow.The title of your book is so important.It’s like the Eat Smarter Family cookbook, right?This is food you can cookwith your family, with your kids.100 delicious recipes to transformyour health, happiness and connection.Health, happiness and connection.They’re all not separate, right?Your health is actually determined byyour social relationships and connections.As we started off talking at the beginning, whetherit’s inviting friends over, whether it’s family members, whetherit’s your spouse, whatever it is, if it’s twopeople, that’s a family dinner, right?So make sure you prioritize this.It’s got to be something that’s built intoa value system that you have for yourself.Otherwise it’s going to be very hard for peopleto sort of reclaim their health and for usto get out of this disaster of chronic diseaseand obesity that we’re seeing today.In so, Sean, I’d love you to sort of talkabout some practical tips around grocery shopping, around what potsand pans we should have about cooking, tips that makethings faster and healthier and easier and more fun.Can you kind of guide us through because youtalk about getting your kids in the kitchen.Take us through some of the really practical thingsin the book, because I think people would loveto sort of hear that and understand some ofthe juiciness that you’ve put together for people.Not just the yumminess, but the juiciness of howto do this in a different way that’s goingto activate your biology in a way that’s goingto create health as opposed to create disease.Absolutely.So a couple of really interestingthings that we could transition into.Also, one of the things I targeted in the bookwas transforming our kitchen culture and looking at the thingsthat we’re cooking on, as you just mentioned.And one of the big revelations recently, and I grewup with this is teflon and nonstick pans, but there’sa chemical called perfluoro octinoic acid, or PFOAs.And this has been shown repeatedly in peerreviewed studies to contribute to higher levels ofinfertility liver disease, various types of cancer.This chemical has actually been banned.It’s banned.But testing people’s blood today, the majority of peopletested still have this compound in their system becauseit’s one of those, quote, forever chemicals. All right?And so coming into this and wondering and bythe way, so I’m not just saying a bunchof studies, one of these studies was published ina journal of the National Cancer Institute, found thatPFOAs is a strong kidney carcinogen.So renal carcinogen with risk increasingin tandem with levels of exposure.And so this nonstick cookware that we’ve grownup with is not without a cost.And in particular, the higher temperature that we’recooking, the more these chemicals are getting releasedand getting into our food and also inhalingthem as well is a big risk.And so let’s pivot and look atwhat are some better options here.And also, again, we don’t want to becomeneurotic because what we did over time, livingin a low income environment was just replaceone piece of cooking equipment over time, right?We didn’t just do an overhaul, throw everything away.We just did what we could.And so one of the time tested thingsto cook on is cast iron skillet.Now, of course, some people will be like, well, there’siron, whatever, but it is far safer than teflon.And by the way, them removing that onecompound, there are several others that are reallydangerous and shown in peer reviewed studies tobe dangerous for our health.But cast iron skillets are awesome.A well seasoned cast iron skillet and it has so muchversatility, it can go from the stovetop to the oven.Stainless steel, time tested, probably thesafest of all of these.But it might not be great for what wetend to do for non stick cooking purposes, butthere are ways and skills that we can learnto be able to modulate and manage that.Ceramic is very popular right now and being ableto source it in an efficacious way, making surethat you’re getting actual ceramic coating is important becausethere are some imposters out there.So this is also speaking to knowingthe companies that you’re purchasing from.So these are all options.And you have all that in the book.You have the specifics of what to get.So people have to guess because peoplewhat should I get and what brand?And I’m like, you have all that laidout so it doesn’t have to be problematicfor people to figure out what to do. Exactly. Yes.So I was just, again, really hitting these hardhitting facts and then here’s what we can doas an alternative and also another part to kindof transition into with that as well.And by the way, this study just came out.So this was newly published and thiswas in Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics.And they were looking at the impact ofplastic bottle feeding on human infants and findingsignificant amounts of BPA metabolites in these infantsurine and higher levels of VLDL in theseinfants, higher levels of triglycerides.Of course, this can be due to theformula as well but in particular, this kindof creatine kinase offshoot that can indicate cardiovasculardamage as well, being elevated in these kids.And in particular, finding all of these microplastics.We’re talking about somewhere in the ballpark of1.5 million microplastics found per like bottle feeding.It’s like these crazy numbers and it’s just likewe’ve never been exposed to this kind of thing.So what about safety for our food and storage?So I’m talking about because for us, we had theTupperware, we had the Glad, whatever, and we take evenhot food and putting it right into some plastic containers.And you are definitely consuming a significantamount of microplastics and nanoplastics with this.So what are some things we could store our food in?Stainless steel.We’ve got a bunch of that downstairs now.Got glass containers and the like and silicone forthings like if we’re talking about bottle feeding, forexample, even silicone nipples could be better.But we got to be careful with heating on that.But that’s great for lids.That’s great for frozen know, like if you’remaking iced can or even Popsicles, you’ve gota great Popsicle recipe in the book.And this is speaking to growing up in my environment.And I don’t know if you know about this,Mark, because this is in the same vein asfunions, but we had the Ice Cream Man.Do you know about the ice cream man?Yeah, well, I don’t know about the Good Humor Man,which is all those crappy Good Humor, but they’re rollingaround the hood in a truck and it’s like abell ding and ding, ding, ding, ding.We called him the Bomb Pop man.And they would roll down your street andyou could hear him from 2 miles away.We can hear it, and we’re all going nuts.The Bomb Pop Man is coming.And they’re rolling up.And maybe if you even got $0.25, you canget at least a Popsicle from this guy.But then there were all of these Monstrosityninja Turtles was popping at the time.So like a ninja turtle face popsicle.But I wanted to take that same thing.We love those frozen treats.And we have this really wonderful cherry frozenyogurt pop that you can simple mold silicone.Ideally, you could pop into the freezer andhave these ready to go at any time.And it’s so delicious.Plus, even with that one of those ingredients, Ishared over 40 different foods, science backed foods.Cherries are one of the few foods that area dense, concentrated source of naturally occurring melatonin.All right, so that’s one of those foods thatcan yeah, it’s so cool that we have thesefoods that can help with our sleep quality.We have foods that can help with our metabolic health.We have foods that canhelp with our cognitive function.And what I did was take we havean emoji culture as well out right now.So I could send you a whole message withjust emojis, and you’ll feel what I’m talking about.You’ll know what I’m talking about?And so for each benefit that that foodis targeting so, for example, with those cherries,we’ve got a sleep emoji, right? “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Next to it in the book as we’re talking aboutit, going through the studies and then in the recipeswhere you find those cherries, you’ll see that same emoji.So you can eat for a purpose if you wantto improve your sleep quality or improve your cognitive function.Yeah. That’s amazing.I have a dream for a cookbook where we’re ina menu where you actually write what is the ingredientof it, then what is all the medicine in it?What does it do to your body and how does it work?And I think it’s pretty fascinating and so great.So so what about the people who say, Ijust don’t have time, or it’s too complicated.I just don’t know what to do in the kitchen. I’m lost.What would you say to those people?Well, the first piece is we allhave the same 24 people have heardthis before, but it’s really about priorities.And even with all the wonderful science thatwe have on eating together with our families,it can get brushed under the rug, unfortunately.And so what we have to do, especially in ourbusy day to day lives, is to schedule it tolook at our own individual family and our family cultureand design it based off our own lifestyle.So for us, it might be family dinnerson Monday, Wednesday, because as I indicated inthe research, those three meals were really theminimum barrier of entry to see some significantprotective effects for our family members.So family dinner on Monday andWednesday and family brunch on Sundays.And so I’m catering this to whatfits with our family model, right?And I’m putting it on the calendar, especiallywith our busy lives, if you don’t scheduleit today, sometimes it’s not even real.It is a floating objective.And so what happens also when we knowthat we’re having family dinners on Wednesdays?Our subconscious mind is already enacting, okay?It’s bringing forth a matter of planning, like, okay,this is what we’re going to eat, right?You failed to plan. You plan to fail.Something like that.Benjamin Franklin.Shout out to Benjamin Franklin.But also if we have this as ourfamily’s mandate, modus operandi where we’re operating from.Just a couple weeks ago, for example, we had ourtypical family dinner that was scheduled, but my wife gotcaught up on the other side of La, which Latraffic is different, and she was going to suddenly nownot be able to make it home.And she had planned on cooking.And so what I did was it was a DoorDashmoment, so I ordered some higher quality foods that wecan get around us and had it delivered.And I still sat down and ate with my sons.We still ate as planned together as a family.So giving ourselves grace, allowing ourselvesto pivot if need be.And also just with that barrier of like, well,I don’t have the time things are too hard.It’s really about, again, creatingthat micro culture, right?And part of that, I’m justgoing to be 1000 with everybody.When we are going from what we’re typically doingto something new, there’s going to be some turbulence.And so being prepared for that because the real solutionis people don’t like things taken away from us.We don’t.And what I found success as working asa clinician was helping people to replace thatthing that they might have been addicted towith something of equal or greater value.And so with my kids, if they’re addicted totheir screens and their gaming and whatnot and I’mjust like, guys, we’re eating family dinner together.Shut it down.Just out of the blue, there’s goingto be some revolting by the townspeople. All right?So we’ve got to approach this in a moreintelligent way, which is let’s find some things.And by the way, this goes back to even eatingtogether so we can pay attention to our children.Because whether we acknowledge this or not,we know our family better than anybody.But a lot of times, because our mental energyis drained, we don’t want to deal with it.And so we’re just like we want people tojust act the way we want them to act.Just don’t kill my vibe.Everything’s going to be fine.Just act right.But people, without a doubt, are going to dothings that you don’t want them to do.And so by paying attention to our family members,we can know what excites them, what de excitesthem, what inspires them, what gives them even afeeling of kind of a depressed attitude.And so we can leverage psychologically thingsto inspire our kids, our significant other.Because you’ve probably seen this as well, Mark, the numberone reason people would give for not being able tomake the changes that they said they wanted to make,they would, you know, it’s just so hard with mykids because they won’t eat this.I don’t want to make two separate meals.It’s really so hard because my wife ormy husband is always you don’t understand it’s.My parents, if they would, they were always pointingthe finger at people that they love being themost difficult obstacle in them, getting from where theyare to where they want to be.And what I’m saying and supporting peoplethen is like, here are these strategies.Because that microculture that you’re creating inyour household starts with you, starts withyou, and you are a representation.And so I just took my family for the first time.We went to Maui, we went to Hawai recently.And something I realized, number one, there’s thiskind of dramatization of a luau, right?And this is something thathumans have been doing forever.Our tribe was constructed in such a waythat we hunted and gathered together, prepared foodtogether, ate together, celebrated together, this was anormal part of life, and over time, webecome further and further away from each other.But we’re watching this dramatization, and I’mjust like, we’re not doing that anymore.And there’s something special about it.But here’s the other part I noticed, eventaking my family and plopping ourselves into thisother culture, I realized we take our culturewith us everywhere that we go.We are representation of that, and we can’t help it.And Mark, I’m telling you, thishappened twice on that trip.Somebody walked by us on the airport, onthe airplane and said, I love your family.And I didn’t even know they were watching us, right?And one lady, she had to be in her 70s.She walked by us on the airplane andsaid she asked if we would adopt her. All right?There was something about my family that wasexuding, something that was infectious, because bad healthisn’t the only thing that’s communicable.Great health is as well.And this is what we have the opportunity to do andto understand, because you and I have both spent a lotof time trying to target the bigger social, what we’ll callit, the larger culturescape, to make it easier for people tomake the changes that would help them.And we can still continue to do that, butit’s going to be very, very hard and takea longer time versus let’s focus on the microculture,help people to change the culture in their householdand then that’s going to affect the people aroundthem when they walk out their doors.People can’t help but to see what’s possible.When they see their family, people can’thelp but to see what’s possible.And that’s how I think we can get to thistipping point to know I love the whole concept ofthe microculture and actually that you think change has tobe on a big scale, but it actually happens ona small scale over and over and over again.We used to have this saying backin the 70s, think globally, act locally. Right?You got to think of the big picture, but yougot to act locally, which means locally is your kitchen,is your dining room table, is your family.And I think that’s something that we lose, howeveryou define your family, whatever your family looks like.And we live in a world where families are not likethey used to be, but it’s about what is your tribe.And it could be you just have abunch of friends and that’s your tribe, andyou have maybe weekly dinners together, or youhave a supper club where you rotate through.It doesn’t have to bethe traditional nuclear family structure.That’s not we’re talking about, but it’s just the idea thatwe are social beings and that we get sick together, butwe also can get healthy together, as you said.And getting healthy is a team sport.So I’m so excited about this cookbook.Eat Smarter Family Cookbook 100 Delicious Recipesto Transform Your Health, Happiness, and Connection.It’s out now.I encourage everybody to get a copy.I think there’s some yummy stuff in there.I can’t wait to eat the sweet potato pancakes and the breakfastI don’t know what you call it in the book, but itsounds like an Egg McMuffin, but not quite as bad.Upgraded breakfast sandwich.Upgraded breakfast sandwich.All right, well, thank you, Sean, for being a light thatyou are and showing us how it’s done and being agreat friend and love having you back on the podcast.For those of you listening, Iencourage you to get the book.Check out Sean’s work.His podcast is fabulous. It’s really. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Called the Model Health Show, oneof the top health podcasts.It’s a great podcast and definitely check out thebook and subscribe wherever you get your podcast, sharethis with all your friends and family.Everybody needs to know, really how to reclaim theirkitchens and get the food industry out of there.Like, just go through there, get a garbage bag,go through your kitchen and throw out all thecrap and bring in all the real stuff.And I think you’ll see your life changefor the better in a very short time.And we’ll see you next week on The Doctor’s Pharmacy.Hey, everybody, it’s Dr. Hyman.Thanks for tuning into the doctor’s pharmacy.I hope you’re loving this podcast.It’s one of my favorite things to do andintroducing you all the experts that I know andI love and that I’ve learned so much from.And I want to tell you about somethingelse I’m doing, which is called Mark’s Picks.It’s my weekly newsletter and in it Ishare my favorite stuff from foods to supplementsto gadgets to tools to enhance your health.It’s all the cool stuff that I use and thatmy team uses to optimize and enhance our health.And I’d love you to sign up for the weekly newsletter.I’ll only send it to you once a week on Fridays.Nothing else, I promise.And all you do is go to Drhiman.com.Picks to sign up.That’s Drhaiman.com.Picks picks and sign up for the newsletterand I’ll share with you my favorite stuffthat I use to enhance my health andget healthier and better and live younger longer.Hi everyone.I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode.Just a reminder that this podcastis for educational purposes only.This podcast is not a substitute for professional careby a doctor or other qualified medical professional.This podcast is provided on the understandingthat it does not constitute medical orother professional advice or services.If you’re looking for help in yourjourney, seek out a qualified medical practitioner.If you’re looking for a functional medicine practitioner, you can visit ifm.org and search their Find a Practitioner database.It’s important that you have someone in your corner who’s trained, who’s a licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health.