284: Healing Addiction Now - with Jason Giles
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
Release Date: 05/16/2025
297: Insurance Rigged Against You - with Chris Hamilton
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
Health insurance in America is expensive on purpose, not by accident. Chris Hamilton argues that confusion and hidden incentives are the real products big carriers sell… and employers and employees pay the price. How Insurance Giants Game the System Under federal rules, large insurers in the USA can only keep about 15 percent of premiums as profit, which sounds protective until you realize it pushes them to grow the total cost of care. To do that, they've built a "massive ecosystem that's able to bill the insurance company" by buying physician groups, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit...
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296: Emerge From Behind Logo - with Paige Velasquez Budde
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
The old playbook of "buy ads, rank for keywords, and wait for patients" is failing. According to Paige Velasquez Budde, CEO of Zilker Media and author of The Strategic Business Influencer, we've entered an era of "corporate suspicion." Trust in institutions is at an all-time low, while trust in individuals is skyrocketing. For health and wellness organizations, you can no longer rely on your company brand alone. AI Search Demands Leader Visibility Patients now find health providers through AI platforms like ChatGPT, not just Google. Budde calls this Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike...
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295: Your Fatigue Has Hidden Roots - with Martha Carlin
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
Are you constantly battling fatigue, brain fog, and persistent bloating? You might be dealing with a silent instigator: LPS endotoxins. We recently dove deep into this topic with Martha Carlin, a pioneering microbiome researcher and founder of The BioCollective. Here's what you need to know about this stealthy driver of chronic inflammation. What is LPS? LPS, or lipopolysaccharide, is an endotoxin—a component of the cell wall of gram-negative bacteria in your gut. While these bacteria are normal, problems arise when they die and release inflammatory debris. In a healthy gut, this isn't a...
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294: Oral Health “Mouth Mapping” - Jonathan Levine
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
With long-term health, the mouth is often overlooked. For most people, the dentist is someone only seen for a cleaning or to fix a problem like a cavity or crown. However, according to Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, a world-renowned oral health expert, we are undergoing a massive paradigm shift. It is time to stop seeing the mouth as separate and recognize it as a critical data center for your entire body's well-being. This new approach, which Dr. Levine's practice calls "mouth mapping," is poised to change how we manage everything from heart disease to sleep. The Biological Connection: Mouth...
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293: Not Willpower, Your Roots - with Amber Romaniuk
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
It is a staggering statistic that an estimated 90% of women and up to 50% of men in North America struggle with binge and emotional eating. For those caught in this exhausting cycle—marked by shame, frustration, and the feeling of being completely out of control—the common response is often another diet, followed by self-blame for lacking willpower. However, according to emotional eating and hormone expert Amber Romaniuk, focusing on willpower is exactly the wrong approach. Individuals are attempting to fix a deep, multi-layered issue with a surface-level solution. The true healing, she...
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292: The Key to Aging Strong - with Alan Rozanski
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
We all want to age with vitality and independence. Yet, there's a stark statistic looming over Americans: 1 in 3 people over 65 will suffer a fall. This "overlooked aging crisis" isn't just about a broken bone; it's often the starting point for a decline in health, confidence, and independence. According to Dr. Alan Rozanski, a distinguished professor of medicine, the solution isn't a new drug or a complex medical procedure. It's a proactive, powerful strategy he calls "muscle care." The Real Reason We Fall The primary driver behind this crisis is a natural process that we've accepted for too...
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291: Master Your Marriage, Health, Business - with Keith Yackey
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
Keith Yackey is a 20-year veteran of high-performance philosophy and the founder of Married Game. His journey was forged in failure. "Jesse left 8 years ago. I messed up this relationship. I was selfish." When Yackey met his wife, he was "185 pounds of tiger meat wrapped in barbed wire." Five years later, he was 250 pounds. The man she married was gone. Only after doing the hard work did other high-performers start noticing his "code." What is that code? Your marriage, health, and business reflect your personal standard. The Health and Marriage Connection Why do successful men fail at home?...
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290: How Wholeness Leads To Healing - with Udo Erasmus
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
The Quest for Harmony Born amid the chaos of World War II, Udo Erasmus's journey began with trauma and survival. Fleeing Poland as a child, dodging bullets and bombs, he experienced fear, hunger, and deep mistrust in the world. By age six, he was already wondering, "There must be a way people can live in harmony." That question became the compass of his life. As Erasmus grew, so did his search for answers. He studied science, biology, psychology, and medicine, only to find these disciplines offered fragmented insights—not the holistic understanding he craved. Psychology taught thoughts and...
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289: Reclaiming Your Power In Perimenopause - with Chemaine Linnie
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
Perimenopause is a significant transition for many women, bringing with it a series of hormonal and physical challenges, including often-unexplained weight gain, particularly around the midsection. Health expert Chemaine Linnie, a certified hormone specialist and fitness coach, offers valuable insights from her own 165-pound weight loss journey and years of guiding women through this hormonal shift. Rock Bottom to Transformation Chemaine's personal journey began at her lowest point as a teenage mother in Dublin, weighing 280 pounds. A pivotal moment—her sister cutting her out of a...
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288: Heal Fascia, Recharge Your Energy - with Cathy Goldstein
BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
In the wellness world, many chase surface-level fixes, like creams, cleanses, and crash diets, while ignoring the internal systems that actually drive energy, detoxification, and glow. Cathy Goldstein, a holistic practitioner with over 40 years of experience, sees the body differently. She believes the real fix lies in supporting two overlooked systems: fascia and lymph. Cathy describes most people as walking around with a “traffic jam of toxins.” This buildup in the fascia and lymphatic system can lead to puffiness, swelling, fatigue, dull skin, and even emotional heaviness. Fascia is...
info_outlineDr. Jason Giles, a board-certified addiction medicine expert, former anesthesiologist, and a person who has personally battled and overcome substance addiction, recently appeared on the *Awesome Health Podcast* by BiOptimizers. With over 27 years of medical experience and leadership in managing 40 addiction treatment centers, Dr. Giles offers an honest and compassionate view into addiction and recovery.
Addiction isn't just a medical condition, but a human challenge impacting all facets of life, from drugs and alcohol to screen time and food. These behaviors often serve as emotional coping mechanisms, hijacking the brain’s reward system and substituting pleasure for well-being.
Modern Addiction Triggers
Substance use is not new, but the availability and potency of substances and stimuli have changed. Modern addictions are amplified by 24/7 access, social pressures, and chemically engineered substances that overstimulate neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. Addiction isn't a lack of willpower, but a rewiring of the brain.
Substance use builds tolerance, creating a cycle of withdrawal, craving, and temporary relief. "Addiction is when we begin treating withdrawal with the very thing causing the problem," says Dr. Giles. This makes addiction chemical, emotional, and behavioral.
The Journey Through Addiction
Dr. Giles simplifies addiction into three stages: Fun, Fun with Problems, and Just Problems. It begins as an enhancement, then consequences mount, and eventually, the behavior continues despite harm. This trajectory isn't limited to substances, as emotional eating or overworking can follow the same path.
Raised in an alcoholic household, Dr. Giles became a successful anesthesiologist, but carried an internal void. Medical access led to experimentation, and Fentanyl became his drug of choice. An intervention led him to a recovery program with a 95% success rate.
Redefining Recovery
Detox is only the first step. True recovery is slow and non-linear. Dr. Giles believes in meeting patients where they are, using medication to ease withdrawal and building trust. Many team members are in recovery themselves, creating supportive environments. When the pandemic hit, Dr. Giles led in telehealth for addiction care, reducing relapses and shortening the gap between treatment and reentry.
Emerging therapies, like GLP-1 agonists and TMS, offer hope, but long-term change requires behavior shifts. Anyone can struggle with addiction, and everyone deserves a path out. "We have to stop treating people like problems and start treating them like people," says Dr. Giles.
In This Podcast You’ll Learn…
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The three stages of addiction and how to identify them.
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Why modern society amplifies addictive behaviors.
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How Dr. Giles overcame his own addiction.
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Emerging therapies for addiction treatment.
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The importance of compassion in addiction recovery.
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