Amazing Brains – 004 – Dr. Elliot Smith
In this episode, Micah sits down with Dr. Elliot Smith. In the show, they cover topics including neurotransmitter, chiropractic, gut and mental health.
Show Notes
Neurotransmitters
- Neurotransmitters are any chemical that the body creates to talk with other parts of the body
- Anxiety and depression may be linked to gut health
- Science is so young in gut health
- The things we don’t know far exceed the things that we do know
- We’ve had access to this technology in spiritual healing modalities, and now we can do it on a computer
- In the 1900’s, after people would get adjusted, they would be told to sit and relax for 2 hours
- Imagine if we had people rest for 2 hours after therapy and biofeedback and chiropractic assistance today?
Chiropractic and Neurotransmitters
- The first step for everyone is awareness
- The first step is to find that the brain chemistry is off
- Dr. Elliot starts with gaba, getting people out of fight or flight, and then reprogramming
- When you work on the trauma piece, you reach a deeper healing
- When people get into that parasympathetic response, he says he focuses on breathing with them
- He finds out what relaxes them, whether that’s intense yoga, exercise, etc.
- Dr. Elliot suggests eating healthy all the time, not just dieting
- The goal is teaching people what it feels like to be calm, some people just have no idea what that looks like under constant stress and anxiety
- Its helping people understand a relaxed state and recognize it and have awareness with it
Prebiotics
- Chicory root is where a lot of pre-biotics come from
- It starts with understanding what prebiotics are and where they come from
- Eat sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, etc
- Fermentation does produce some alcohol content
- A lot of people don’t realize that large amounts of vitamin C and magnesium cause diarrhea
- Its hard in this day and age, everyone thinks that supplements are great, but it differs from person to person
- Just because one supplement is good for person A, doesn’t mean its good for person B
Final thoughts
- 5htp can help, but it is not good to take with an SSRI, or antidepressant
- Serotonin Syndrome is really bad
- It’s important to focus on the mind-body-spirit as a whole aspect for health
- Proper diet and nutrition, healthy stress relief, and balance all lead to ultimate health
Links
About Dr. Elliot Smith
After graduating Life University in 2000, Dr. Elliott Smith practiced in Vail, CO for three years, gaining extensive experience with sports injuries. He then moved to Denver to start a successful practice, where he worked for 13 years. Dr. Elliott is excited to move his practice back to the mountains in Frisco, CO and bring his experience, skills and knowledge to serve and educate Summit County. Dr. Elliott has a broad scope of training in diagnostic technologies, chiropractic, acupuncture, laser, orthotics, and clinical nutrition to be able to treat the physical, mental, and chemical aspects of a patient’s health challenges. His main goals are to find the underlying cause of your problem and tailor an individual treatment plan.