Fit or Fad

There is an ongoing debate in the US and internationally over whether it is fair and safe for transwomen to play on teams or against CIS women, who are people who were assigned female at birth and their gender identity is female. The topic has been growing particularly here in the United States in recent weeks as more than thirty states have already passed laws that require transgender athletes to play for the team that goes against their gender identity. What many of the debates are missing is the question of what, if any, hormones transwomen have taken or are taking.  There are currently some accepted guidelines based off very sparse research surrounding what the appropriate level of testosterone for transwomen is to compete on women’s sports teams, but much more research needs to be done. One person who is involved in a study looking at the science behind including transwomen on women’s sports teams is Blair Hamilton. She currently is pursuing her PhD at Brighton University in the UK and is working with a team on the Tavistock Transgender Athlete Study, which is specifically looking at how to integrate transwomen and differences of sex development athletes into elite women's sport. She is a transwoman herself and has played football, soccer as we call it here in the US, since she was young, even playing for University of Aberdeen while she pursued her undergraduate degree in exercise and health science. Here’s what she had to say.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the education system to its core. Students have had to say goodbye to their friends and teachers, and parents have had to take on new roles as learning facilitators at home. Mental health in students has suffered as a result.  To find out what the specific impacts of the pandemic have been on children, I spoke to Aaron White, LPCC and PPS. We continued our conversation about mental health during the pandemic from episode eight.  Here's what he had to say.

Vaccines. They've been a topic of controversy among some for years. And even after a year of closures, cancellations, and quarantines, some people are still hesitant about receiving the Covid-19 vaccines.  Many other people are waiting their turn in eager anticipation to receive a dose. Once enough people are fully vaccinated, there is a chance that some form of normalcy will return. To meet the demand, teams of researchers around the world have worked to create dozens of different vaccines in record time. Of those potential vaccines, several have made their way successfully through testing, and are now being administered in the arms of patients in the US and abroad.  Now, there are several vaccines in the US and UK that are approved, or on the road to approval for emergency use. To find out more, I spoke to Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce. She’s a UK healthcare reporter for Business Insider, which is a technology and business news website. She is also a doctor in the NHS. She has been closely following the vaccine developments in recent weeks, here’s what she had to say.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every person around the world, and athletes have been dealt some harsh circumstances. Games and practices were canceled, indoor workouts became nearly impossible with closing gyms and in-person social interactions among teammates were suspended.  These challenges were heaped onto the already present high mental and physical expectations for athletes to be their best. So, how important is it for athletes to work on improving their mental health? To find out, I spoke to Aaron White. He’s a mental health professional with both Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Pupil Personnel Service certifications in California. He is also a cofounder of Saga, which works with coaches and teams to address the needs of the humans behind sports.

Society has a history of underestimating pregnant people. Surely most women who are expecting can expect more from themselves than bedrest for nine months, right? I spoke with Dr. Audrey Merriam to find out more. She’s a practicing OBGYN at Yale University and she has a personal training certification. So, she has experience on both sides of the fitness and pregnancy discussion. 

Diet culture has one main goal: to make society skinnier. It doesn't care about a person's feelings or even their health. It’s prevalent in society from the way our doctors talk to us about our BMI to the social media ads influencers share about detox supplements.   But are all diets “bad”? What’s the difference between a “weight loss” diet, and using the term diet to describe what we eat? I talked with Registered Dietitian Desiree Nielsen to find out more. She has her own practice, is the author of two books- with another on the way- and is the host of Gusto TV’s show, The Urban Vegetarian.

Influencers have taken over social media. Fitness and health influencers seem to always be busy promoting their products and lifestyles, but what actually makes someone an online influencer? And are all influencers bad news? NASM-certified personal trainer Avery Weiler sits on the fence between influencer and trainer. She sees from the inside the harm that unqualified influencers can cause by spreading incorrect information. In this episode, she explains how she went from fitness newbie to having an Instagram account with 24,000 followers. And she answers the question: are unqualified influencers fit or fad?

This episode contains descriptions of food, diets and eating disorders. Did you know there are as many neurons in our gut as there are in a cat’s brain? And that our brain and gut are always talking to each other? That means that our relationship with food is more important than many may realize. In the second part of our Valentine's Day special two-parter episode, Dr. Fenster (AKA Chef Dr. Mike) explains how we can repair our relationship with food and build back better.

This episode contains descriptions of food and diets. Food should primarily be used to fuel our bodies, right? But we know it does more than that: food makes us happy, it connects us to traditions and it strengthens our other relationships. So what happens when we look at eating through the lens of culinary medicine? That's where Chef Dr. Mike, America's only Board-Certified Interventional Cardiologist, professor of culinary medicine and professional chef, steps in. In part one of this two part Valentine's Day special episode, Dr. Fenster (AKA Chef Dr. Mike) explains what culinary medicine is and how it connects to our relationship with food.

Is personal training really all it's cracked up to be? Are the long days in the gym with low pay worth it to get grow your client-base? As a client, can you trust that your PT is even certified? Host Samantha Wanderer talks to Long Island personal trainer Alex Moreno-Lapierre about his experience in the industry to find out more.

Can eating a vegan diet actually be a healthy choice? Or is it just one of the newest fads in the health industry? In this episode, host Samantha Wanderer talks to plant-based physician Dr. Kimberly Ratcliffe to find out if it's possible to grow muscle and perform efficiently while avoiding animal products.