Dr Milton Mills combines an encyclopedic knowledge of human biology, anatomy, physiology, and pathology with a passion for health and justice for all creatures. Plus, he's a top-notch debater with a flair for analogy.
I attended a talk he gave this spring on the human microbiome, and scribbled notes furiously as he spoke. Later, my notes looked like they had been written in a runic alphabet beyond the bounds of recognition. All I remembered was, “This shit is amazing!”
I brightened when I thought about this podcast; maybe I could persuade Dr Mills to tell me again, this time with a recorder running.
What you're about to listen to is the happy result of our effects.
Dr Mills and I discussed:
- the limitations of the traditional “conveyor belt” view of digestion
- the three major organs of digestion
- the significance of food retention time, and how to measure yours
- who lives in our colon, and why
- the crucial importance of plant fiber for the bacteria in our large intestines
- why it took science so long to figure this out
- the difference between fermentation and putrefaction (and what that says about our natural diet)
- the two known strategies mammals use to break down fiber
- why we don't digest fiber in the stomach
- the health-promoting effects of the short-chain fatty acids produced by our colonic bacteria
- the stunning contribution of butyrate to our health
- the root cause of auto-immune disease
- how poor diet leads to chronic inflammation
- the origins of type 1 (early onset) diabetes
- the link between microbiome health and mental health
- evidence that maternal diet during pregnancy can affect the child's later risk of behavioral problems and mood disorders
- lessons from fossilized human poop
- why a compromised microbiome makes us hungry all the time
- and much (much!) more…
Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.
Links
Dr Mills' free video lectures:
Are Humans Designed to Eat Meat?
What's Wrong with the Paleo Diet?
The Biology of Disgust
The Traditional African Diet vs Today's Plate of Plantation Food
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Announcements
Check out my online TV show, Triangle Be Well. This week I talk about disabling the tripwires that trigger our unhealthy habits:
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Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Disclosure
This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive amazon gift certificates from your actions on such links.
Dr Howie Jacobson
This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).
My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.
Here are three gigs that I do:
1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation
I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.
At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.
My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.
2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance
I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.
We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.
The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.
3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams
I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.
So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.
You CAN Change Other People!
Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.
What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.
Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.
Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
Disclosure
This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.
This was a FANTASTIC interview! I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Mills speak at an Advanced Study Weekend put on by John McDougall this past March and was blown away by his presentation! I was delighted to see this epidosde pop up on Stitcher, and it was an absolute pleasure to listen to this interview. I only I wish that I had been able to take notes along the way, but use my commute time for podcasts. I will certainly re-listen to this one! Thank you, Howard, for inviting Dr. Mills to speak on your podcast about such an important, but often ignored, topic. Thank you, Dr. Mills for your time and sharing your knowledge! Keep up the great work!
Timaree, glad you enjoyed the interview. I’m continuing to bug Dr Mills to write his book 🙂
So, does this mean Probiotics are good for people who eat primarily meat products and the SAD, but Prebiotics, which are found in plant based food are at work for folks who eat whole food/plant based and that taking Probiotics by whole food/plant based folks isn’t really beneficial or necessary?
I don’t have access to all of Dr Mills’ research, but I’ve seen enough plant-based eaters benefit from taking probiotics that I still recommend them for anyone who is likely to have a damaged microbiome, whether from years of bad diet, or repeated courses of antibiotics, or caesarian birth, or bottle-feeding as an infant.
I also LOVED this lecture. I had not heard of Dr Mills before but will definitely be looking for more of his work. I also wanted to ask a question for his next interview. I’ve heard about how great fasting is to “reset your immune system” (your previous True North interview, as well as reading info from the Blue Zones Dr Valter Longo interview). This seems to contradict the message about feeding your gut flora. Is a 5 day fast harmful to your gut flora? Do they starve? What about 5 days of mimicking a fast (700-1000 cal daily, low protein as advocated by Dr Longo)?
Thank you!