I am regularly regaled with the benefits of Coconut oil (predominantly a saturated fat) but personally I am not a fan. By all means moisturise with it, use it as a mouth cleanser, rub it through hair etc, but don’t eat too much of it. The purported health benefits just don’t stack up in the research. On the other hand Olive oil (a mono-unsaturated fat) has a bucket of research showing positive health benefits including this recent report indicating that extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) protects memory and learning ability and further, decreases the risk of brain changes commonly associated with Alzheimer's.

Holistic Pain Management - Part 1

In this podcast I discuss the origins and assessment of chronic pain with Andrew Whitfield-Cook. It was important for me to get across that chronic pain persists for reasons beyond peripheral input. While that may be part of the issue, or even the origin, the reason chronic pain persists is about a myriad of factors including central nervous system input, neuro-inflammation, attention, beliefs, emotions, lack of human connection to name a few. This podcast discusses some of these factors.

Read on for the transcript, Part 1.

Covered in this episode:

What is the societal burden of pain, Contributors to pain mismanagement, How should pain be assessed, What actually is pain, Theories of pain, Factors influencing pain perception, Why medical care misses the mark, Holistic approaches to care.