Arm yourself with knowledge.
“Without knowledge, action is useless, and knowledge without action is futile.”
— Abu Bakr
I have heard too many times health care professionals discouraging patients from “Googling” or researching their symptoms and/or medical question. I would like to advise the opposite. Do your research. Simply do it from reputable sources. Check out some of my favorite books, podcasts, devices, and more below. — Dr. Jessica
Books:
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Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.
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A scientist reveals the groundbreaking evidence linking many major diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease, to a common root cause—insulin resistance—and shares an easy, effective plan to reverse and prevent it.
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This book compiles, for the first time, Stephen W. Porges’s decades of research. A leading expert in developmental psychophysiology and developmental behavioral neuroscience, Porges is the mind behind the groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory, which has startling implications for the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, and autism. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy.
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After suffering for years with unexplainable health issues, Dr. Ben Lynch discovered the root cause—“dirty” genes. Genes can be “born dirty” or merely “act dirty” in response to your environment, diet, or lifestyle—causing lifelong, life-threatening, and chronic health problems, including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, anxiety, depression, digestive issues, obesity, cancer, and diabetes.
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A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.
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Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.
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The Hormone Cure is a groundbreaking book that demonstrates how balancing your hormones can cure underlying health issues and result in restored sleep, greater energy, improved mood, easy weight loss, increased productivity, and many more benefits. Dr. Sara Gottfried’s The Hormone Cure will transform your life.
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In this lively and compelling account—now updated with new material by the author—Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.
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The author of the blockbuster New York Times best sellers The Happiness Project and Happier at Home tackles the critical question: How do we change?
Gretchen Rubin's answer: through habits. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.
So if habits are a key to change, then what we really need to know is: How do we change our habits?
Better Than Before answers that question. It presents a practical, concrete framework to allow listeners to understand their habits - and to change them for good. Infused with Rubin's compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better Than Before explains the (sometimes counterintuitive) core principles of habit formation.
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Everything you believe about how to lose weight is wrong. Weight gain and obesity are driven by hormones—in everyone—and only by understanding the effects of the hormones insulin and insulin resistance can we achieve lasting weight loss.
In this highly readable and provocative book, Dr. Jason Fung, long considered the founder of intermittent fasting, sets out an original theory of obesity and weight gain. He shares five basic steps to controlling your insulin for better health. And he explains how to use intermittent fasting to break the cycle of insulin resistance and reach a healthy weight—for good.
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After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists.
Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hypercompetitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.
Eventually Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.
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In How to Do the Work, Dr. LePera offers readers the support and tools that will allow them to break free from destructive behaviors to reclaim and recreate their lives. Nothing short of a paradigm shift, this is a celebration of empowerment that will forever change the way we approach mental wellness and self-care.
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A motivational and inspiring guide to wholehearted living, rather than just the average self-help book, with this groundbreaking work Brené Brown, Ph.D., bolsters the self-esteem and personal development process through her characteristic heartfelt, honest storytelling. With original research and plenty of encouragement, she explores the psychology of releasing our definitions of an “imperfect” life and embracing living authentically. Brown’s “ten guideposts” are benchmarks for authenticity that can help anyone establish a practice for a life of honest beauty—a perfectly imperfect life.
Educational Links:
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A list of articles, websites, recipes, and more from the Institute of Functional Medicine.
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The Tennessee Chiropractic Association details information on what chiropractic is and how it could help you.
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Articles and more information on Positive Psychology.
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Explore Mayo Clinic’s plethora of information from symptoms to tests to supplements and beyond.
Podcasts:
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You don't have to be born a Genius to become one. Follow health and science journalist, New York Times bestselling author, TV personality and nutrition expert Max Lugavere as he speaks to the most insightful minds of our time about what it means to live like a Genius.
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Dan Harris is a fidgety, skeptical journalist who had a panic attack on live national television, which led him to try something he otherwise never would have considered: meditation. He went on to write the bestselling book, 10% Happier. On this show, Dan talks with eminent meditation teachers, top scientists, and even the odd celebrity. Guests include everyone from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Brené Brown to Karamo from Queer Eye. On some episodes, Dan ventures into the deep end of the pool, covering subjects such as enlightenment and psychedelics. On other episodes, it’s science-based techniques for issues such as anxiety, productivity, and relationships. Dan's approach is seemingly modest, but secretly radical: happiness is a skill you can train, just like working your bicep in the gym. Your progress may be incremental at first, but like any good investment, it compounds over time.
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Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast.
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You might think more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations would make you happy. You’re dead wrong. In "The Happiness Lab" podcast, Yale professor Dr Laurie Santos will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will forever alter the way you think about happiness. She's changed the lives of thousands of people through her class "Psychology and the Good Life," and she'll change yours, too.
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The Mindful Kind, hosted by Rachael Kable, shares exciting insights into mindfulness journeys and provides listeners with simple and effective practices to incorporate into their own lives.
Being mindful can be a fun and interesting journey and has amazing potential to increase general wellbeing, from managing stress to improving sleep quality.
With The Mindful Kind, you will have weekly access to new ideas, personal experiences and practical mindfulness exercises!
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Cutting edge information in health, nutrition and functional medicine distilled into practical advice you can use to improve your health.
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We are seeing an ever-increasing burden of chronic disease, primarily driven by our food and food system. This is perpetuated by agricultural, food and health care policies that don’t support health. We need to rethink disease and reimagine a food system and a health care system the protects health, unburdens the economy from the weight of obesity and chronic disease, protects the environment, helps reverse climate change and creates a nation of healthy children and citizens. This podcast is a place for deep conversations about the critical issues of our time in the space of health, wellness, food and politics.
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What the func is Functional Medicine? How can it help you eat what your body actually needs, lose weight, and get healthy? Lower your stress level, improve your mental health, and help you thrive, mind, body, and soul? On the What the Func?! Podcast, we’re redefining HEALTHY by questioning the healthcare status quo with all the curiosity, science, and fun we can muster. Our brilliant hosts are Laura Schein, a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach and longtime health nut, and Clayton Farris, a former “garbage human” (his words!) who discovered this new way to heal when conventional medicine let him down. Each episode, they dig into new, trending, and sometimes controversial topics in Functional Medicine, and with the help of the doctors and changemakers who stop by to share their expertise, they discover new and better ways to be healthy, from the brain to the gut and beyond. Have a listen and join us in asking “What the Func is Functional Medicine?!”
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Functional medicine uses the latest advances in the areas of genomics, epigenetics, nutrition, and lifestyle to find personalized solutions that lead to improved patient outcomes. Now, more than ever, the functional medicine approach is critical to address the rising tide of chronic disease and increase resilience among the most vulnerable populations in the time of a pandemic. Everyone deserves to find their own pathway to optimal health, which requires expanding access to high quality medical care for all individuals. Pathways to Well-being is a clinician-focused podcast that will feature leading practitioners and researchers from around the world engaged in conversations about the foundations of health, the latest medical advances from the front lines of health care, and the ways in which we can all help increase access to quality functional medicine care for everyone.
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Leading functional medicine expert and best-selling author Dr. Will Cole has consulted thousands of people around the world on their health journey. Now is the time for your wellness journey. A manifesto for a new breed of health seekers, The Art Of Being Well is a fresh infusion of grace and lightness into wellness. Here we will explore exciting ways for you to nurture your body, spirit, mind, and relationships. From this place of using self-care as a form of self-respect, you can discover your own metamorphosis.
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Dr. Carri Drzyzga is known internationally as ‘The Functional Medicine Doc’. She is committed to helping patients find the root cause of their health problems and fix the cause with natural treatments so they can feel normal again.
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Each month, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald interview the best minds in Functional Medicine. Expect thought provoking ideas, new research, lots of clinical pearls for practitioners and step-change information for consumers and patients.
Devices:
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24/7 heart rate monitoring, personalized health insights, sleep analysis, and so much more.
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HeartMath has discovered that our heart rhythm patterns are the best reflection of our inner state. By adding heart, you can shift in the moment into a state of balance and renewing feelings, such as appreciation, care, love and compassion. HeartMath technology teaches you how.
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Analyze in real-time how your blood glucose levels respond to food, exercise, stress, and sleep with NutriSense.
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Gain a detailed insight with 13 essential body measurements.
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The GK+ Keto-Mojo meter takes the guesswork out of ketosis and helps you dial in your ketogenic diet. It's an essential tool for anyone following a keto or low-carb diet for weight loss, diabetes, general health benefits, or therapeutic purposes.
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Apps:
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Stress less with meditation: Access the full library of 500+ meditations on everything from stress, to resilience, to compassion.
Get the best sleep ever: Put your mind to bed with relaxing sleep sounds, dreamy music, and wind-down exercises.
Live a mindful life: Make mindfulness part of your daily routine with tension-releasing workouts, relaxing yoga, focus music playlists, and more.
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Improve sleep quality, reduce stress or anxiety, improve focus, and work on your self-improvement.
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Streaks is the to-do list that helps you form good habits. Every day you complete a task, your streak is extended. Choose or create up to twelve tasks, such as: walk the dog, floss your teeth, eat healthily, or practice Spanish.
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Habit helps you to build good habits by tracking your daily habits, reminding you to complete tasks, and analyzing your progress with easy-to-read charts. It also allows you to build habits together with your friends for even more accountability.
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The app that puts intermittent fasting at the heart of holistic health.
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Dieting is hard enough. But when you work hard, hop on the scale, and see a number that's higher than yesterday? Well, that's just not fair! Happy Scale smooths out your daily scale weights and makes insightful predictions about when you'll hit your goals.
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MyFLO is the first-ever period tracker and fertility app that tells you what to do to be symptom-free!
Learn why you have symptoms and how to fix your period naturally. Know which foods, exercise, work, social, and love are best at each phase of your cycle.
Learn how to ‘read’ your period and know if your hormones are healthy--discover what your period means about your hormonal balance.
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Take control of your goals. Track calories, break down ingredients, and log activities with MyFitnessPal.
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The ASICS Runkeeper™ app has the tools you need to become a stronger runner. Insights, workouts, and trainer guidance will get you to your goals.
