Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
This weekly podcast will cover in detail, people, clubs and activities here in The Villages, Florida. Each show will run 10-30 minutes. Become a Supporter of this show for $3/month. Supporters will have access to all episodes. Our newest Supporters will get a Shout-out during a show.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
Pathways to Enhanced Well-Being in Aging Dr. Becky Specky's Expert Advice
Uncover the secrets to aging with vitality as Dr. Becky Specky joins us to illuminate the path towards a proactive, lifestyle-centric approach to health. As a retired functional medicine physician, Dr. Specky breaks down the shift from treating symptoms to empowering patients with the tools for robust longevity. We peel back the layers of diet and nutrition myths, focusing on balance and education rather than unnecessary restrictions, a message that resonates deeply for those over 55. Dr. Specky's expertise guides us through understanding how individualized lifestyle changes can significantly enhance our well-being, challenging us to embrace a new paradigm in our health journey.
Embrace the astonishing benefits of strength training as it relates to your cognitive fortress; a topic particularly intriguing for the 60 to 85 demographic. Dr. Specky elucidates the connection between muscle growth and mental acuity, backed by recent studies on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Moreover, we canvas practical advice on improving sleep and managing stress, from temperature tweaks to pre-sleep rituals fit for a more mature audience. Shifting gears, we discuss the indispensability of nutritional supplements like vitamin D and B12, which play crucial roles in cognitive health and stress management for seniors. Dr. Specky advocates for regular blood testing and navigates us through the nuances of B12 supplementation, ensuring our golden years are not just longer, but richer in quality.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida is Produced & Directed by Mike Roth
A new episode will be released most Fridays at 9 AM
Direct all questions and comments to mike@rothvoice.com
If you know a Villager who should appear on the show, please contact us at: mike@rothvoice.com
Welcome to the Open Forum in the Villages Florida podcast. In this show we talk to leaders in the community, leaders of clubs and interesting folks who live here in the Villages to get perspectives of what is happening here in the Villages Florida. We are a listener-supported podcast.
Mike Roth:And listeners, I'm thrilled to share with you this podcast, which is my passion project for you. This podcast brings me joy, brings you knowledge, inspiration and a lot of things that people need to know about the villages and the people that are living here and what's actually going on. Creating this podcast is a labor of love, even though it demands more time than I can easily spare. But hey, time isn't something we can buy back right Now. Here's where you come in, the unsung heroes and heroines. You can help us keep the podcast alive and thriving. How? By becoming a supporter.
Mike Roth:There are two simple ways that you can support us. The first is a small monthly donation. Visit our podcast website, openforumcom and click on the black supporter box. Even a small monthly donation. Visit our podcast website, open forum in the comm and click on the black supporter box. Even a small three to $10 a month donation makes a difference. And guess what? You can cancel anytime, no strings attached. The second way that you can contribute to the podcast is by making a purchase of an Amazon product at Amazon standard prices and we are paid a small commission on each purchase as an Amazon affiliate. That way, there's no extra money out of your pocket, but you are supporting the podcast. Check every week because we're going to be adding new Amazon products that you can buy and support the podcast with. Thank you, and your support means the world to us. Stay curious, stay inspired and keep those headphones on. This is Mike Roth on Open Forum in the Villages, florida. I'm here today with Dr Becky Specky, and thanks for joining us today.
Dr. Becky Specke:Thank you, glad to be here.
Mike Roth:Why don't you give our listeners a little bit of a background on yourself?
Dr. Becky Specke:I'm a retired functional medicine physician, and once my husband and I moved down here to the villages, one of the things that kind of stirred up in me is, though I'm not in private practice anymore, I still have the knowledge that I learned from my zillions of years in school, and so I enjoy going around to the different rec centers talking about various topics related to health and especially healthy aging. Since all of us here in the villages are in the 55 plus range, my focus was on how could I help patients regain their health? What were the strategies that I could utilize with them? What tools could I give them so that they would want to take charge of their health and do the things that they could to become more vibrant and healthier than they ever knew possible?
Mike Roth:You used a word that many of our listeners really won't understand. You said you're a functional physician. Could you describe the difference between functional? And a regular primary care physician.
Dr. Becky Specke:Sure, the first place that I saw that paradigm shift was at Harvard Med School. That I saw that paradigm shift was at Harvard Med School. I happened to get an email, just like any other licensed physician anywhere in the United States and, again, whether that was at the time an MD, a DO or a DC would get these emails that would talk about upcoming continuing education courses. Because we have to get X amount of hours of our continuing ed year after year.
Dr. Becky Specke:And so Harvard had sent something that said Introducing Lifestyle Medicine. My brain got ooh, I could have something that says Harvard on my wall. Trust me, patients love it when you have certification from Harvard hanging up on your office wall.
Mike Roth:Right.
Dr. Becky Specke:But anyway, and I thought, what is this lifestyle medicine? And it initially started because enough doctors were concerned about people with type 2 diabetes just coming to the doctor's office being initially prescribed a pill, oral medication, metformin being the most common. And what would happen for most people is, year over year, the metformin being the most common and what would happen for most people is, year over year, the metformin dose would go up and up until metformin didn't work effectively anymore and then they'd have to go to the injectable insulin. So doctors at harvard said we've got to come up with a way to really let people know again, especially with type 2 diabetes. To come up with a way to really let people know again, especially with type 2 diabetes, hey, there are really things you as the patient can do at home that can help to turn those blood sugars around. And so I took the.
Dr. Becky Specke:At that time it was called lifestyle medicine and I took the certification program in endocrinology, primarily for the type 2 diabetics, and then, after Harvard tapped their toes in a little bit with what they called lifestyle medicine, then Cleveland Clinic and Dr Mark Hyman they jumped full force into the pool and then turned it to the term functional medicine. And again that was where doctors are saying, instead of just you coming in, we're telling you what's wrong with you and we're going to write you a prescription. We're going're telling you what's wrong with you and we're going to write you a prescription. We're going to tell you what's wrong with you, but we're going to then work on lifestyle strategies. We're going to get your body to function better. And so that's how functional medicine. Again, that all started, as far as I know about the early parts of the 2000s.
Mike Roth:Okay good. Have you ever heard of a guy named Dr Peter Otto?
Dr. Becky Specke:Yes.
Mike Roth:His book Outlive. And I have heard of the book Difficult book to read because he talks about a lot of medical terms and particles that are in your blood. But he does talk about this idea of medicine 3.0 and how that's better to an ounce of prevention than a pound of cure. Medicine 2.0 is all about the pounds of cure and he does talk about diabetes in the book.
Dr. Becky Specke:For me. The message that I really want to get out is that vilifying a food, a whole entire food group, wherever that is, is not a healthy way to look at food and it's also not sustainable. The things that I like to talk to the people in the audience about, especially when they say, oh, I'm keto, so I don't eat any carbohydrates at all, I'm carb-free. Sadly, the truth is virtually nobody that says that knows what a carbohydrate is. Most people think a carbohydrate is oh, that's all the grains. I'm not going to eat any breads, but blueberries are carbohydrates. Lettuce is carbohydrates. Our healthy fruits and vegetables are also carbohydrates and want to make sure people understand that there are good carbs all your fruits and veggies and there are not so good carbs, which would be the processed grains.
Dr. Becky Specke:I also think it's really important for people to understand the difference between good fats and not so good fats. Virtually everybody here in the villages lived through that window of time when fat was bad and everything was fat-free. It must be healthy. There's no fat, pay no attention to all the sugars and again, I fell prey to this marketing just the same as everybody else. It's important for people to know that, again, fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, are wonderful fats that are so crucial to the body, and so I wouldn't want people to be afraid of eating good fats, as well as all the wonderful fats that are in fish, those omega-3 fatty acids that bathe the brain, that bathe the heart. So those are just a few things that I think are important to know there are good carbs and not so. To know there are good carbs and not so good carbs. There are bad fats and great fats, and it's important to know the difference and not be afraid and vilify a whole food group.
Mike Roth:And now let's listen to a short Alzheimer's tip from Dr Craig Curtis. This is Mike Roth and Dr Craig Curtis. We're talking about Alzheimer's disease, omega-3 and omega-6. How should people get that from their?
Dr. Craig Curtis:diet Primarily. You should get that through beans and nuts and legumes and fish. You can take a supplement of omega-3, omega-6s. However, don't overdo the supplementation of omega-3. Specifically, there was a large study published by the American College of Cardiology a few years back that seemed to show that people that took too much omega-3 might have an increased risk of a heart arrhythmia. So my recommendation is if you buy omega-3 supplements, take it as written.
Warren:With over 20 years of experience studying brain health, Dr Curtis's goal is to educate the villages's community on how to live a longer, healthier life. To learn more, visit his website craigcurtismdcom, or call 352-500-5252 to attend a free seminar.
Mike Roth:There is a lot of debate whether or not someone over 50 years of age can increase their strength and build muscle. Can that actually be done?
Dr. Becky Specke:There was a study that was just published in. I believe it was in August, but it could have been in July of 2023. So, again, very new study. And they followed. Every participant in the study was aged 60 to 85 years old, so virtually everybody here in the Villages listening audience would fall into that age range. They followed these people for 12 weeks. They did resistance training for 12 weeks and they had done imaging and blood tests before they started the 12-week resistance training and after and again they had the control group who did the resistance training and then the placebo group wasn't really a placebo group but the control group who did nothing. At the end of 12 weeks not only were muscle cells created and then developed and, by the way, this study, they only did exercises two times a week, resistance training two times a week. 12 weeks New muscle cells created, developed.
Dr. Becky Specke:But for me what was even more exciting was what happened in the brain and they could see that the area in the brain that's called the hippocampus and when you're looking at Alzheimer's and dementia and you'll see that part of the brain area shrinking away. But they could see on imaging that after 12 weeks that part of the brain started filling out again and they noticed that the body was making more of a really important brain factor. It's called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, bdnf, and the role of BDNF is to make brand new brain cells. So not only do you get to make your body stronger, which then reduces your risk of falling and having all of the complications associated with a hip fracture and what that entails, but it also fills in the hippocampal region, makes your brain healthier to reduce your risk of Alzheimer's and dementia. So, no matter how old you are, no matter if you've never exercised in your life, you can start now, even if it's just like this study did, where it was only two times a week.
Mike Roth:That's good. And how old were the study patients?
Dr. Becky Specke:Again 60 to 85.
Mike Roth:Okay, so it's similar to the age group here.
Dr. Becky Specke:This is the target audience, correct.
Mike Roth:And the strength training they did. You said it was with resistance bands.
Dr. Becky Specke:It was, believe it or not, and this is the part that got me so excited. They saw these studies, these great changes, two times a week just doing legs. That's how they were working in this study. Legs two times a week triggered the body to make muscle cells and new brain cells.
Mike Roth:How long was each session?
Dr. Becky Specke:20 to 30 minutes two times a week.
Mike Roth:Okay, what's a good night's sleep? Studies have said sometimes it's six hours, some people it's eight hours. What can people do to improve their sleep?
Dr. Becky Specke:There are two easy to do, but the second one's super easy. The first one is easy, but it might take a little discipline. So the first thing I'm going to suggest is please get off of your cell phone or your tablets at least one hour before bed.
Mike Roth:It is addictive.
Dr. Becky Specke:Yeah, and so again, it's easy to put it down, but it takes the willpower to do it.
Mike Roth:You know how to do that. On most, at least all the Android phones, you set up a routine for sleep and then, if you want to go to sleep at 10 o'clock, you set the routine to kick in at 9 pm and then the phone goes dark, there are no sounds, or you could set it up so it's in sleep mode. The screen is turned off.
Dr. Becky Specke:I love that and I did not even know that. So I thank you for sharing that information because I did not know that. But the reason that it's important to get off your devices is because they emit what's called blue light, and when your eyes see blue light, your eyes say, oh, it's a sunny day, and so the brain is then wired to say it is time to be up and moving. But the body is so awesome and we have a hormone that's called melatonin, and as the sun starts to go down, the body starts to ramp up production of this hormone, melatonin, to help you get a good night's sleep. But if you look at the devices for a long window of time, again, the brain thinks the sun is shining, so it's not creating that hormone, melatonin, that's allowing you to get a good night's sleep.
Mike Roth:The droid follows you it's called a routine and you turn on sleep. You set the hours that you want sleep to be in effect, say from 9 pm to 7 am, and then you set what is going to happen in sleep mode.
Dr. Becky Specke:Incredible, If not 68-ish max. So while you're sleeping, have your system set to between 65 and 68 degrees. When the body gets into that cooled state it allows a part of the brain that's called the glymphatic system to move debris and waste through the bloodstream from, we'll say, shoulders down. So the glymphatic system is a part of the brain that removes cellular debris and gets rid of it, sends it so that your body will excrete that waste. But the glymphatic system does not work well unless the sleeping temperature is between about 65 to 68. So right before you go to bed, just make sure you have that AC or your furnace between 65 and 68 to activate that glymphatic system.
Mike Roth:That's good. A lot of people here in the villages are good at handling stress. What do you think people should be doing to handle stress who are in their 50s to?
Dr. Becky Specke:80s. There are a million things and what resonates with you. If it's something you'll do, that's what will help. A few years ago, it became so popular to do the mandala or mandala coloring books with those very intricate patterns, and you could then take colored pencils and you just and for me, when we talk about getting off of your devices an hour before bed, that's for me.
Dr. Becky Specke:What I did is at about nine o'clock at night. I would then just get my what I call my adult coloring book out and I would sit with my pencils and I would just focus on that. That is a wonderful way just to get the body to relax a little bit. Deuce stress Again, if it's for you, if playing pickleball is something that you love doing a physical activity is phenomenal for de-stressing. Find an activity, whether it's golfing, whether it's pickleball, whether it's just walking around the block. Getting outside in nature is, for certain, going to help to bring your stress levels down Again. Doing your coloring books at night will do a good job, and something as simple as chamomile tea will also do a beautiful job. So just find something that you like to do and commit to doing it.
Mike Roth:Are there any vitamin supplements or mineral supplements that you would recommend for folks in our age group?
Dr. Becky Specke:There are four key nutrients that virtually every American is deficient in. The first nutrient and again most of these, you can get a blood test done. Nutrient and again most of these, you can get a blood test done. So the next time you go to get your physical and you're giving labs, you can ask your doctor for three of four of these that we're going to talk about in the blood test, and typically Medicare will cover the cost of these blood tests so that you'll know where your numbers are.
Dr. Becky Specke:But vitamin D we saw vitamin D deficiency running rampant during the pandemic, and virtually everybody that died of COVID during the pandemic was deficient. When they did the autopsies, we saw that vitamin D deficiency played a key role, and so I would encourage P2 to get their vitamin D. It's called vitamin D3 level. I would have them get that checked and you would likely be shocked at how deficient you are. The AMA so the American Medical Association says that the normal range for vitamin D3 would be somewhere between about 20 to 80. 20 to 30 only means you're not going to get rickets. That's how that, when the guidelines were set, it's what is the minimum number that's going to prevent you from getting a disease of deficiency. So again, optimally, you're going to want to make sure your vitamin D3 level is somewhere between about a 40 and a 50. So get your numbers tested, know where you stand, and if you are less than a 40 to a 50, it would be likely that you would need to supplement with vitamin D3. The next, vitamin B12, when?
Mike Roth:By the way, on that vitamin D3, is that the one you get by being out in the sun?
Dr. Becky Specke:Yes, and so this time of year by the way, if you're listening to this podcast in the summer months, because we're just now heading into spring here get out in the sun Again, for many reasons we just talked about before stress, if you could get out and be doing physical activities. So you're beating stress and you're also making your own vitamin D. But even though we're blessed to be here in Florida in those autumn and winter months, even if it's warm outside, the way the earth rotates, our angle from the sun is such that even if it was 78 degrees in all of autumn and all of winter, we could not absorb enough D from the sun because of the way the globe is angled. So virtually everybody will need to supplement during autumn and winter, and you may not need to supplement during spring and summer if you're outside and you're active. So, yeah, d3 is crucial for virtually every single function that the body has bone health, cardiovascular health, heart health, immune function. So, yes, please check your D levels with 2000, 2001,.
Dr. Becky Specke:I had seen a study that was done in NIH study and the NIH study, national Institutes for Health, and the study was done at a memory care center in Atlanta, georgia. There were many people in this care facility again memory care, so because of Alzheimer's or dementia, and a doctor had seen some research about vitamin B12 deficiency mimicking Alzheimer's and dementia. So they went through and they did lab. They drew blood and they saw where the B12 status was of this the group of patients. And then they did the study where 50% of the people that were deficient in B12 were blessed to get B12. The other 50% received the placebo. It was 16 weeks in that study, not 17%, but 74% of the participants that were deficient in B12 and got the supplement regained significant cognitive function. Some regained enough cognitive function that they were able to then leave the mammary care facility and move back home with their spouse or family members, who put them there to begin with because they just could not care for the loved one anymore.
Dr. Becky Specke:You on your own at your home, you can't do it and you don't have another choice. And so when I saw that study, it shook me to my core. And not only did it shake me to my core, it also shook NIH because they looked at it and they said, oh, this can't be right, there's got to be a flaw. They redid the study, saw the same results and said holy cow. B12 deficiency can actually mimic Alzheimer's and dementia In America. Again, I'm going to go back to AMA guidelines. In America the AMA guidelines for normal levels of B12 is between 200 and 900. Any other place in the world, so any Australia, new Zealand, japan, canada, most other countries their guidelines start at 300. So in those countries if you're less than 300, they consider you deficient. In America, they consider you deficient if you're less than 200. So you can see there's a big gap there where people may the doctors may not know.
Mike Roth:When you said they were given B12, was that by injection or was that via pills?
Dr. Becky Specke:It was yeah, and that's another, and for some people it would be injection. They did not want to traumatize the people in the facility by giving them injection, so it was sublingual. And for anybody that's listening and thinks, oh, I think I would like to supplement with B12, it is crucial it must be sublingual, whether that's in a liquid form that you just squeeze some drops under your tongue or they make instant dissolvable little pearls that you could just put right under your tongue and it dissolves instantly. That is crucial that you get sublingual.
Dr. Becky Specke:We have digestive enzymes in our stomach that again digest foods and so when you take B12 in a pill form, the digestive enzymes in the stomach oftentimes will destroy the B12 and it will never get a chance to get into your bloodstream. Beautiful thing about B12 is because it is a water-soluble vitamin. Even if you take more than your body needs, it will just excrete it out, typically through urine first, may also excrete it through feces, but it's not going to build up, so most people are safe to just start out the door supplementing with B12 again.
Mike Roth:And that's something you can get without a prescription.
Dr. Becky Specke:Yeah, and same thing with D3, vitamin D3, you can go to any health food store and get that Okay.
Mike Roth:And what are the other key nutritional elements that people over 50 should be worried about? We've heard a lot of talk about omegas.
Dr. Becky Specke:Oh, without a doubt, omega-3 fatty acids are crucial. Most people don't eat anywhere near enough fish to get those omega-3 fatty acids, and so when, if you fail to eat fish two or three times a week, it's likely you're going to need to supplement with an omega-3. And there are two key parts of omega-3s that are important to know about.
Mike Roth:There's been a lot of talk about magnesium in the diet. How is that measured and what should people eat to get the magnesium?
Dr. Becky Specke:And magnesium is readily available in our green leafy vegetables. So our chard, our kale, our spinach, our romaine lettuces, our dark lettuces, pumpkin seeds, raw pumpkin seeds that's crucial, not the salted roasted, but raw pumpkin seeds those are all incredible sources for magnesium. The sad part about when I was talking about getting blood tests when you try to test for magnesium your serum levels, so the amount that you'll see in your blood will oftentimes give physicians a false sense of what's really at a cellular level. The other testing is pretty accurate by looking just at the blood, but magnesium, that's a trickier animal to deal with. But what I do know to be true is that 86% of Americans of all ages are deficient in magnesium, and so, again, the likelihood that you need to supplement with some magnesium is pretty high. And magnesium, like vitamin D, is responsible for virtually every single enzymatic activity inside of your body, so it's going to support immune function, heart health, brain health, muscular health, bowel health, digestive health. Magnesium is a huge player of health.
Mike Roth:Again off the shelf in a health food store. Can you find magnesium?
Dr. Becky Specke:Yes, but here's the caveat. You'll see, magnesium is very inexpensive. The least expensive magnesium is what's called magnesium oxide and again, it won't say it on the front of the bottle, but on the back it will say magnesium oxide. And so if you go and you bottle and say oh my gosh, look, this magnesium is $5 for this bottle and that one's 13. I'm going to grab the $5 bottle. If you're taking magnesium oxide, then likely what you're going to do is you're going to get a hold of Mike and say how do I get a hold of that? Dr Becky? I don't like her because I've been running to the restroom after taking that. Mag oxide makes loose stools. So unless you're constipated, do not buy magnesium oxide to support optimal health.
Dr. Becky Specke:Magnesium glycinate G-L-Y-C-I-N-A-T-E. Magnesium glycinate is a great form, not expensive, it's not dirt cheap but it's not expensive. But it will support brain health, bone health and it'll do a little bit for bowel health, but it won't give you the runs. So I'm a big fan for most people to take magnesium glycinate. If you've got some brain fog, then there's a specific form of magnesium that's called magnesium L-threonate and that's T-H-R-E-O-N-A-T-E. That form of magnesium breaks the blood-brain barrier, goes straight to the brain and focuses all of its energy there. So if you know you've got brain challenges, magthreonate. If you just want it for general wellness, then maglycinate would be what I would recommend.
Mike Roth:Good. So, Becky, if someone wants to get a hold of you to ask a question after the show, how do they do that?
Dr. Becky Specke:Send me an email. Email is drbecky, that's D-R-B-E-C-K-Y, no periods, just drbecky, at ALZ program A-L-Z-P-R-O-G-R-A-M, alzprogramcom, and that's where you can ask me anything. You want any questions? A 10-day eating plan. We talked about the good fats, the good carbs and good quality proteins. We didn't touch on that in this, but I'll joyfully ask you to say how can you help me start on how to eat healthfully as a 50-plus person? But I'll joyfully say how can you help me start on how to eat healthfully as a 50 plus person? Then I'll be happy to send you a free eating plan. You just send the email and I'll send it off to you.
Mike Roth:Do you have a website too?
Dr. Becky Specke:Yeah, it's allsprogramcom A-L-Z-P-R-O-G-R-A-M Alls Program.
Mike Roth:Okay, anything else you want to add before we go?
Dr. Becky Specke:No, thank you very much for letting me come and hang out with you. I appreciate it very much.
Mike Roth:Thank you very much, Becky.
Emily:Remember our next episode will be released next Friday at 9am. Should you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions, please contact us at mike at rothvoicecom. This is a shout out for supporters Tweet Coleman Ed Williams and major supporter Dr Craig Curtis at K2 in the Villages. If you know someone who should be on the show, contact us at mike at rothvoicecom. We thank everyone for listening to the show. The content of the show is copyrighted by Roth Voice 2024,. All rights reserved.