Re-Release - Feel Better in Five with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

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It’s our final week of August re-releases, where we’re sharing some of our favourite episodes from the last year. This week, I’m delighted to share with you my interview with the wonderful Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, which was one of our most popular episodes from 2019.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is one of the most influential GP’s in the UK with nearly two decades of experience. His podcast, ‘Feel Better, Live More’, is the Number 1 health podcast in the UK and he also has a number of bestselling books.

In this interview, which we recorded around the release of his newest book ‘Feel Better in Five’, we talk about how to make changes in your life. Dr. Rangan shares some simple, yet effective shifts that you can bring into your life to feel better, in just five minutes. And in our busy modern lives, five minutes is often all we have!

So, I hope you enjoy this week’s episode and I hope it resonates with you, too. As always, the conversation continues over on Instagram, so do come and join us there.

You can download a transcript of this week’s episode here.

Key takeaway’s from this week’s episode:

Dr Rangan’s Journey Towards Functional Medicine:

  • Dr. Rangan was frustrated with how medicating is always the first solution, even when lifestyle changes can resolve health issues. (04:49)

  • His son almost died from a convulsion when he was six months old. (05:21)

  • At that moment, Dr. Rangan wasn't an experienced doctor; he was just a worried dad. They immediately rushed his son to the hospital. (05:57)

  • A febrile convulsion is a common occurrence in infants and young children, and it’s associated with fever. But his son didn't have a fever. (06:14)

  • They later found out that his son had low levels of calcium in his blood due to vitamin D deficiency. The guilt of not being able to prevent it from happening to his son, especially as a doctor with high qualifications, drove him to where he is today. (06:50)

Getting to the Root Cause of a Problem:

  • Dr. Rangan read as much as he could about vitamin D, the immune system, nutrition and other related topics. He applied the principles he learned to his family and patients. (08:32)

  • He's now able to help his patients better by looking for the root cause of the problem, identifying it and giving them simple, actionable steps to start resolving it. (09:05)

  • What happened with Dr. Rangan’s son really changed him and the trajectory of his career. He’s also been working on letting go of the guilt he felt back then. (09:39)

  • For example, eczema is dysfunction on some level of the immune system. Steroid creams are used to get rid of symptoms. However, they don’t do anything to address the underlying issue. (12:45)

  • Food has a significant influence on people's skin. Before going down the route of medicating, try excluding some food from your diet to see if it can help. (13:22)

Empowerment with Functional Medicine:

  • Getting into the root cause of a problem with functional medicine is empowering. (14:16)

  • It’s hard to live a life thinking you can’t do something, like eat dairy, because someone told you so. (14:29)

  • However, it’s a different dynamic when you see the connection and experience a change for yourself. It empowers you and makes you want to keep doing the behaviour. (14:55)

Why Do Plans & Resolutions Fail?

  • People rely on willpower and motivation alone, but motivation comes in waves. It comes and goes, especially when life gets in the way. (15:51)

  • Aside from willpower and motivation, some of us also make plans that are too complicated and don't follow the rules of behaviour change. (17:25)

  • Lastly, many of our plans do not take on a holistic view of health. For instance, we don’t consider our stress levels. (17:46)

  • You can't just look at one component in isolation and expect long term-change. Health is a combination of multiple factors. (19:05)

Little Things Lead to Big Results:

  • Knowledge doesn't always lead to action. Many people struggle with this because they're so busy and can hardly have a minute to themselves. (21:04)

  • Consistently doing something every day for 5 minutes is much more powerful than doing it for an hour once a week. (22:40)

  • Get really good at doing the small things and the big things will take care of themselves. (22:58)

Feel Better In 5:

  • The content of Feel Better In 5 is a set of recommendations for the mind, heart and body that only takes a maximum of 5 minutes to complete. (23:23)

  • The habit of journaling is so powerful. Morning downloads: Something as simple as downloading the thoughts out of your mind onto paper for 5 minutes can be transformative and calming. (24:17)

  • It doesn't matter where you are in life or what your job is; everyone can have access to these simple health interventions. (25:39)

  • There's no one right approach for everyone. Everyone responds differently. (26:53)

Resentment & Lifestyle Changes:

  • The emotions we haven’t processed are like baggage that weighs us down. They also dictate much of what we do. (29:25)

  • There are practices in Dr. Rangan’s book that can help you let go of resentment. (30:41)

  • One of his patients was a lady who had high blood pressure for a long time, and no lifestyle changes would stick. Dr. Rangan observed that she is on edge, and found out that the reason behind it is her resentment about her split with her ex-husband. (30:50)

  • He helped her become aware that holding on to feelings of resentment is not doing her any good. Awareness is the key to change. (31:39)

  • Getting things right in the matters of the heart can influence your overall health positively. (33:20)

The Importance of Connection:

  • Many years ago, our ancestors were part of hunter-gatherer tribes. If you’re not part of that tribe, your body will elicit an immune response if you’re vulnerable to attack. (34:09)

  • However, in the modern world, your body does not know the difference. If you are not connected with your family and friends, you will feel isolated. This is especially true for mums. (34:41)

  • One common stress response is drinking wine. If you want to change a behaviour or a stress response, you have to understand where it's coming from. (35:35)

  • Mums often want to eat and sleep well, but it's hard when they're tired and stressed. (36:38)

  • Even the busiest mums can have 5 minutes in their day to play or dance with their kids, which is both an exercise and a bonding experience. (39:55)

How to Make a New Behaviour Stick:

  • The first thing you need to do is make it easy. (40:51)

  • If you could do it in your house, or if you can do it without buying any equipment, you are lowering the bars to entry, allowing you to do a new behaviour. (41:25)

  • To make a new behaviour stick, you need to stick it to one of your existing habits. You can also use visual triggers. (42:15)

  • When you get good at doing the little things for 5 minutes every day, you’ll start wanting to do it longer and more frequently because it makes you feel great. (45:33)

  • Listen to the full episode as Dr. Rangan shares a story of his patient who was able to make a new habit stick! (46:33)

Resources mentioned in this episode:

About Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is one of the most influential GPs in the country with nearly two decades of experience. He is the star of BBC 1's Doctor In The House, a resident doctor on BBC One's Breakfast Show, and a regular commentator on BBC Radio. Dr. Chatterjee is also the author of The 4 Pillar Plan, The Stress Solution and Feel Better In 5.

To find out more about Dr. Rangan, visit his website. You can also reach him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Re-Release - How to stop saying yes when you mean no with Sarah Knight