The Gut Connection: Solving Health Mysteries with Dr. Rob Silverman
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
Release Date: 04/19/2025
The Supplement Trap: What You Actually Need
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Are you spending hundreds of dollars a month on supplements you can't even remember why you're taking? Dr. Pedram Shojai exposes how the $50 billion supplement industry has convinced health-conscious people to swallow 20-30 pills daily—creating more confusion and expense than actual health benefits. He reveals the uncomfortable truth: most people are medicating symptoms they don't have, optimizing pathways that aren't broken, and actually creating deficiencies through nutrient competition and over-supplementation. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why taking more supplements doesn't equal...
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Food Fear Pandemic: Break Free from Food Anxiety
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Dr. Pedram Shojai addresses one of the most pervasive issues in modern wellness: the food fear pandemic. Are you spending 20 minutes reading ingredient labels? Avoiding social situations because you can't control the food? This isn't about real food sensitivities—it's about the crippling anxiety that's turning food into the enemy. Dr. Shojai reveals why the stress of restriction might be more inflammatory than the foods you're worried about, and shares a practical framework for shifting from fear-based eating to body wisdom. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why "healthy eating" becomes...
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The Invisible Thief: How Social Media Steals Your Self-Worth
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Dr. Pedram Shojai exposes the invisible thief stealing your peace, presence, and authentic self-worth: social media comparison culture. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why your brain—evolved for tribes of 150—now compares you to billions of curated highlight reels 24/7 The five-step neuroscience behind the comparison spiral (from comparison trigger to deepening spiral) How chronic "not enoughness" drives anxiety, depression, elevated cortisol, and inflammation The difference between true inspiration and toxic comparison Practical protocols: three-breath awareness practice, ruthless...
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The Science of Hormesis: How Strategic Stress Makes You Stronger
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Discover why deliberately stressing your body might be one of the most powerful health interventions available—hormesis: the principle that low to moderate doses of stress trigger beneficial adaptations that make you anti-fragile. 🎯 What You'll Learn: The science behind cold therapy, strategic fasting, and exercise as consciousness-expanding tools The adaptation cascade: from immediate stress response (minutes) to long-term resilience (months) Four-week cold therapy progression protocol (300% norepinephrine increase, 250% dopamine boost) Three-level strategic fasting approach:...
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The Gut Reset Revolution: How Microbiome Transplants Are Reversing Chronic Disease
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is emerging as a breakthrough treatment for patients who've exhausted conventional and functional medicine options. Dr. Pedram Shojai talks with Dr. Jason Klop and neuroscientist Dr. Shaina Cahill about how this ancient practice is now backed by modern science and delivering remarkable results. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why FMT works by transplanting an entire healthy ecosystem rather than isolated probiotic strains Rigorous donor screening process (only 1% of applicants accepted into the program) Clinical results: 52-week sustained IBS improvements,...
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Become a Detective of Your Own Body: Mastering Interoception for Early Disease Prevention
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ Dr. Pedram Shojai delivers a transformative guide on developing interoceptive awareness—the ability to sense and interpret your body's internal signals before minor symptoms become major health crises. Using the powerful analogy of a car's check engine light, he reveals why most people ignore their body's warning signs and choose to "tape over" symptoms rather than investigate root causes. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why modern culture has systematically disconnected you from your body's intelligence through "no pain, no gain" mentality, stimulant dependence, and symptom suppression The...
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The Sleep Quality Paradox: Why 8 Hours Isn't Enough
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ In this essential Urban Monk weekly call, Pedram explores the critical distinction between sleep quantity and sleep quality—revealing why many people who log 7-8 hours still wake up exhausted. Drawing from his experience owning sleep labs, he breaks down the architecture of restorative sleep, identifying common saboteurs from blood sugar dysregulation to environmental factors that prevent deep sleep and REM cycles. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why sleep is a symphony of stages—light sleep, deep sleep (the repair shop), and REM sleep (the brain's therapy session)—and you need 4-6...
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Healing Parkinson's Through the Microbiome: Martha Carlin's Journey from Accountant to Microbiome Pioneer
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
🎙️ When Martha Carlin's 44-year-old marathon-running husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2002, she applied her auditor's mindset to examining the evidence behind this "old person's disease." What followed was a remarkable 20+ year journey from studying food toxins to pioneering targeted probiotic therapies that significantly improved her husband's condition. 🎯 What You'll Learn: How Martha discovered two distinct Parkinson's phenotypes distinguishable by gut bacteria and developed targeted probiotic "teams" instead of single-strain approaches Why her husband's UPDRS...
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From Workaholic to Presence: Eric Farewell's Journey to Freedom Through Somatic Healing
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
In this poolside conversation, entrepreneur Eric Farewell shares his transformation from a workaholic aviation CEO to a presence-focused coach helping executives escape the trap of their businesses. After building multiple seven-figure companies but sacrificing his health and relationships, Eric's brother's tragic death at 22 became the catalyst for change. Unable to walk due to emotional trauma manifesting physically, he discovered somatic healing, breathwork, and nervous system regulation. Through years of intensive inner work, Eric learned that presence—not productivity—creates true...
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PEMF Technology for Pets: How NASA Tech is Revolutionizing Animal Wellness with Mark Fox
The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai
In this episode of the Urban Monk Podcast, Dr. Pedram Shojai interviews Mark Fox, a NASA rocket scientist turned inventor who has adapted PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) technology for pet health. After discovering the technology 27 years ago when his own dog developed arthritis, Fox has created affordable, portable devices that help pets with anxiety, inflammation, pain, and various health conditions. The conversation explores how this same technology used for humans is proving remarkably effective for dogs, horses, and cats, offering a drug-free alternative for common pet ailments like...
info_outlineIn this enlightening podcast, the host speaks with Dr. Rob Silverman, a chiropractor who expanded into functional medicine after discovering the profound connection between gut health and overall wellness. Dr. Silverman shares how he initially focused on musculoskeletal issues but found that many patients' chronic pain and inflammation stemmed from gut problems.
The conversation explores several key topics:
- The critical importance of gut health as "the epicenter of health" with 80% of immune cells located there
- How leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability) allows undigested food particles and pathogens to enter the bloodstream
- The role of zonulin and occludin proteins in regulating gut barrier function
- Why food sensitivities can cause symptoms up to 72 hours after consumption, making them difficult to identify
- The benefits of modern testing over traditional elimination diets for identifying food triggers
- How common substances like glyphosate, processed seed oils, and NSAIDs damage gut barrier integrity
- Practical advice for making better food choices, including eating organic when possible
Dr. Silverman emphasizes the importance of "testing, not guessing" to create personalized treatment protocols, particularly through food sensitivity tests and gut permeability panels that provide crucial baseline information for addressing chronic inflammation and health issues.