Podcast Episode #26: The THREE Main Causes of Illness and Poor Performance

Ben Greenfield (0:01)

Podcast episode number 26 from bengreenfieldfitness.com.

Welcome to the bengreenfieldfitness.com podcast, your free weekly audio exposure to cutting edge fitness, nutrition, and wellness information. My name is Ben Greenfield, and I'm an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, and nutritionist. Each week, I'll be bringing you information that goes outside, run-of-the-mill exercise and diet advice. So whether you're an Ironman triathlete, or you're just trying to lose a few pounds, enjoy this week's podcast episode from bengreenfieldfitness.com.

Welcome to this December 15th, 2008 edition of the bengreenfieldfitness.com podcast. This is Ben Greenfield, and today I have a fascinating interview with Dr. David Minkoff.

And during this interview, Dr. Minkoff, who's a complementary and alternative medical practitioner down in Florida, reveals some really interesting techniques that he uses to help heal his patients, and he sees everybody from people suffering chronic fatigue all the way up to professional Ironman triathletes. He's got a lot of really useful information in this podcast about toxins, nutritional deficiencies, allergies. So I really encourage you to listen in to that interview. We also have a listener Q&A about whether or not running in cold weather can actually damage your lungs.

Now, I also will have a couple special announcements about some new programs rolling out in 2009 for nutrition assistance and personal training. And then finally, if you haven't subscribed to the newsletter, I would highly recommend it. You can do that at bengreenfieldfitness.com. Remember, every week, there's information coming out that's not featured in the podcast or in the blog, and so if you're not signed up for that, then you're missing out on some great material. And this week, we actually will have a little hiatus in the articles on nutritional myths by metabolism mastermind John Gilbert. And instead, this week's newsletter article is going to be focused on the close tie between mental health and physical health, which is actually something that comes up during the interview with Dr. Minkoff in today's podcast.

So, let's move on to today's listener Q&A.

For today's listener Q&A, I want to actually answer a question that one of the triathletes that I coach asked me concerning winter running. And in particular, this athlete was concerned about the fact that they had been told that running in the cold, especially in severe cold, like we're experiencing up here in the Pacific Northwest, can actually freeze the lungs or can damage the lung tissue.

Well, the fact is that you cannot freeze your lungs basically in nearly any climate known to man. This is because what you feel, that burning sensation that you feel when you breathe in cold air, that's just the cold air going right through your mouth and your throat. Now, by the time the air gets to your lungs, it has passed through your windpipe and already been heated up to your body temperature. And so basically what happens is that in order to warm the air up to your body temperature, your body has to basically humidify the air with warm water molecules found inside your body. And this is because cold air is not only cold, but it's also very dry. And so once you finish a run in the cold weather, you can have a dry throat, it can feel raw, you can have kind of a dry cough. And so when all these things add up, it feels like it's possible that your lungs might be damaged. That's not really the case. The cough or the discomfort that exists in your throat after a run or after exercise in the cold weather is simply your body's response to having had to warm or humidify that dry, cold air that you're breathing in. So I personally have two solutions to this problem. The first solution is probably the easiest, and this is to wait until a really good college basketball game is on TV and then hop on an indoor treadmill and do your run. That's my favorite solution. The second thing that you can do and a more practical approach to actually running outdoors is to cover your mouth with basically an outdoor running mask or any type of clothing or garment that you can pull up over your mouth, and what that can do is help to warm and humidify the air before it even gets to your throat, and so you'll get less of those cold, dry throat symptoms after you run. So that is today's listener Q&A.

Before we move on to this week's interview with Dr. David Minkoff about the three main causes of illness, chronic fatigue, or any lack of performance, whether it be athletic or any type of physical performance, what I want to do is give you a couple of special announcements. The first is that on January 4th, and I did announce this in last week's podcast, but January 4th, Sunday at 5 o'clock p.m. Pacific Time, I will be live on video answering all your questions on anything to do with fat loss, weight loss, exercise, fitness, nutrition, wellness, et cetera. Now, the way that this works is I will be live on video, and you will be able to actually type your questions into me via a special chat box that appears beside the video of me. Now, this will not actually be at bengreenfieldfitness.com. I will have a link on the website that you can click to to go to a special TV page, an online internet TV page that will allow me to broadcast video live to you while you type in your questions to me. So it's gonna be very interesting to see the type of questions that we get, as well as to be able to answer your questions live and interact with you in real time. So that's gonna be about 90 minutes long, and it's also going to include a special where I'm going to present 12 of my top fat loss techniques for 2009, and I promise that I won't be giving you basic run-of-the-mill advice. So you're definitely gonna be at this 5 o'clock p.m. Pacific time, Sunday, January 4th. Now the second announcement is about a huge opportunity that I am offering to any of my newsletter subscribers or podcast listeners. And basically, it is the chance to actually work with me as your personal trainer and your nutrition consultant during 2009 for a very, very low rate. Now, the only way that you can qualify for this special is if you adhere to two of my requirements. The first is that you have to be able to write down a clear number one, highest priority, closest to your heart, defined health-related goal for 2009, whatever that might be, to tone your butt, abs, and thighs, to complete a triathlon, to win a triathlon, to pass your physical with flying colors, to lower your blood pressure, whatever the case may be, you have to be able to write that down and give it to me.