Ancient Health Podcast

If you have swollen lymph nodes, this episode will teach you how your mighty glymphatic system drains toxins from your brain to what in Chinese Medicine is called your stomach 12 point. In this episode, Doctor Chris Motley explains the ins and outs of caring for your lymphatic system and how to promote lymphatic drainage through the activation of your triple warmer in Chinese Medicine. He also shares how to look after your body's lymph flow while taking a GLP-1, and the right way to do lymphatic massage on yourself.

Key Points from this episode:

The recently discovered glymphatic system drains toxins from your brain into your stomach 12 point in Chinese Medicine. This system is powered by sleep: good sleep is essential (wear a sleep monitor to ensure you're getting the deep level of sleep needed for your glymphatic system!).

How to know when you're not reaching the cleansing layer of sleep needed for your glymphatic system to operate fully: The tell is when your brain fog won't clear until 2 in the afternoon!

Dr. Motley's Best Lymphatic Recommendations: 1) Lymphatic massage or ELT (electrolymphatic therapy) or self-massage and dry brushing (work your way UP, not down).

2) Herbs: Hemoguard helps support blood flow, which is an essential link to lymph flow: https://tinyurl.com/yvzbs8au

Manjistha Supreme promotes good lymph flow: https://tinyurl.com/mu9u5yx7

How caring for your liver and spleen are important to the lymphatic system. Doctor Motley explains that in Chinese Medicine the spleen is in charge of moving your fluids from your food and drink through your body.

How to know if your spleen is weak through a Chinese Medicine lens: Doctor Motley recalls a patient who suffered from spleen fatigue, and the tell-tale sign was a ring around the lips (chapped lips is a sign as well!).

How to strengthen the spleen and liver to promote lymphatic health:

Grass-fed sheep thymus: https://tinyurl.com/3kduh2n6

Grass-fed beef spleen https://amzn.to/3QS265f or a PMG supplement from standard process are Doctor Motley's recommendations for optimizing the spleen.

Flush the liver with Dandelion root and Schisandra:

https://tinyurl.com/a24kyuzz

How to be mindful of proper lymph flow when taking a GLP-1. This is not an anti-GLP-1 episode (in fact Doctor Motley's own patients use them now and then), but it's advice for helping the medication work properly. If you're losing muscle, be on the lookout for fluid buildup. Take proteins that work for you, flush your liver, strengthen your spleen and get some moderate exercise to help protect your lymph flow while on GLP-1s.

The emotions connected to your spleen in Chinese Medicine that could be affecting lymphatic drainage: worry, overthinking (or, in Chinese Medicine terms "too much mind."), obsessing over outcomes. If you're a chronic worrier, this could affect your immune function. To tend to these emotions well, Doctor Motley recommends emotion work like EMDR.

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It’s that time again, the fall season, back to school, AKA the time when kids come home with a rough virus or two. Dr. Chris Motley explains why kids get the same cold or sinus infection at the same time every fall, and why it's usually a dormant infection resurfacing rather than a new one from school. He covers the Traditional Chinese Medicine mechanism behind it, how to read facial signs for which organ is struggling, and the specific herbs (astragalus, elderberry, olive leaf, chrysanthemum, acerola, golden thread) he recommends to build a child's immune system before cold season hits.

[00:00:00] - Opening: the cold that hits your kid at the same time every single year

[00:01:15] - Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast, and the disclaimer up front [00:02:00] - Why it's not a new infection from school. It's an old one waking up

[00:04:47] - The Five Element cycle: why fall energizes the lungs and large intestine

[00:06:58] - Lungs and colon are paired organs, and the embryology behind it

[00:09:08] - Modern life broke hibernation, and why the immune system pays for it

[00:11:13] - The classroom "perfect storm" and the walking pneumonia bacteria almost everyone carries

[00:13:38] - Reading the face: puffy cheeks, swollen temples, and what they mean

[00:15:43] - Dark circles, tongue coating, and the kidney connection

[00:18:50] - Chapped lips, swollen glands, and cleaning up the air and water at home

[00:24:57] - Neti pots, sugar, and testing for hidden food sensitivities

[00:26:51] - The herb list: astragalus, elderberry, olive leaf, chrysanthemum, acerola, golden thread

[00:33:39] - Bone broth, seaweed soup, and the antimicrobial spice cabinet

[00:36:03] - The long game: consistency, adult dosing, and why this isn't a one-season fix

Key Takeaways

The "new" cold is usually an old infection resurfacing. Doctor Motley argues that when a child gets the same infection every season (strep throat, ear infections, chronic bronchitis), it's rarely a fresh case picked up at school. It's a dormant infection already living in the body, stimulated back to the surface by outside stress.

Fall specifically activates the lungs and large intestine. In TCM's Five Element cycle, autumn is metal season, and the lungs and colon (paired organs, both developing from the same embryonic endoderm) get extra energy to detoxify the body ahead of winter. That detox process is what pushes dormant infections out as cold and sinus symptoms.

The lung and large intestine claim actually holds up. Unlike some of the embryology claims flagged on prior episodes, this one checks out: both organs develop from endoderm during early fetal development, which is the real anatomical basis for why TCM treats them as a linked pair.

A child's face tells you which organ needs help. Puffy, pale swelling points to lung weakness. Swollen temples or tight ears point to the spleen. Dark circles under the eyes point to the kidneys. Chapped lips point to a swollen spleen and possibly the lymph nodes. None of these are diagnoses on their own, but Motley uses them as a starting point for what to get checked.

Constipation backs up into the lungs. If a child isn't having regular bowel movements, Motley says the body starts pushing toxins out through the breath instead, which shows up as bad breath, tonsil stones, and chronically congested sinuses.

The herb list, in the order Motley reaches for them: astragalus first, as his go-to immune builder; elderberry for antiviral support; olive leaf to block viral replication; chrysanthemum (sold as Vital Guard Supreme) as the gentlest, pregnancy-and-nursing-safe option; acerola for vitamin C and hydration support; and golden thread (Coptis chinensis) as the stronger antimicrobial for a deeper, more stubborn infection.

One correction worth knowing before you repeat it: Doctor Motley names anaplasma as a cause of "walking pneumonia" alongside mycoplasma. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the actual, well-established cause of walking pneumonia. Anaplasma is a tick-borne bacterium that rarely affects the lungs at all.

Resources Mentioned

Tools & Products: Astragalus - https://tinyurl.com/39j4xpnx

Elderberry Supreme - https://tinyurl.com/kxvnrtep

Chrysanthemum ("Vital Guard Supreme") - https://tinyurl.com/ebnszurf

Acerola Supreme - https://tinyurl.com/mprbuyhz

Golden Thread Supreme (Coptis chinensis) - https://tinyurl.com/mvf6rftr

HawaiianPharm, hawaiianpharm.com

Woodland Essence, woodlandessence.com: liquid herbal tinctures

"Thieves" or "OnGuard" style blends

Dunwoody Labs, dunwoodylabs.com: dietary antigen (food sensitivity) blood testing

ALCAT test (Cell Science Systems): food sensitivity testing via white blood cell reactivity

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Fall doesn't always cause your sinus congestion. It just knows how to find whatever was already sitting there. In this episode, Dr. Chris Motley walks through the Traditional Chinese Medicine map that connects the exact location of a headache or a patch of sinus pressure to a specific internal organ, and why that map keeps showing up in his practice.

Key Takeaways

Your headache location is diagnostic, not random.A two-week case of post-nasal drip traced back to a bladder infection: Dr. Motley's patient cleared her sinus congestion only after he treated her bladder and kidney meridian points, a connection her prior doctor visits hadn't made.

Fall triggers stored trauma, not just cold weather. Because the body encodes every sense during a traumatic event, seasonal cues like cooler air and shorter days can resurface them as physical congestion.

Dr. Motley argues sinuses, kidney nephrons, gallbladder bile ducts, and the brain all develop from the same cell line, which is why infections jump between them. Standard embryology backs the sinus and brain half (both are ectoderm) but not the kidney (mesoderm) or gallbladder (endoderm) half.

00:00:00 Opening: why fall seems to trigger sinus headaches, post-nasal drip, and migraines

00:01:19 Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast

00:01:33 The core rule: where your headache sits tells you which organ is involved

00:03:05 Case study: the E.coli bladder infection hiding behind a patient's post-nasal drip

00:04:19 Why fall specifically resurfaces old emotional trauma as physical congestion

00:06:34 EMDR, neurofeedback, and tapping: clearing the trauma before it becomes sinus pain

00:11:54 The organ map: bladder, gallbladder, stomach, triple warmer, small intestine, and more

00:14:13 Get checked: the hidden UTI, kidney, and gallbladder infections behind your headache

00:16:30 Beam Minerals and why mineral depletion undercuts everything else on this list

00:17:53 The biofilm problem: how old strep and mono build a fortress in your gut

00:24:29 The embryology answer: why sinuses, kidneys, gallbladder, and brain get infected together

00:28:25 The protocol: sprays, acupressure points, and the antimicrobial herbs he actually uses

00:33:56 Homeopathy, lab testing, and how to decide where to start

Dr. Motley's go-to herbal recommendations:

Cat’s Claw Supreme: https://tinyurl.com/yu8ntvu7

Japanese Knotweed: https://tinyurl.com/296dkaby

Alchornea Supreme: https://shorturl.at/3HSJ

Elderberry Supreme: https://tinyurl.com/kxvnrtep

Echinacea Supreme: https://tinyurl.com/ms9ectd4

Usnea Supreme: https://tinyurl.com/ye5ks88c

DesBio Headache: https://dbscript.com/product/headache/, Dr. Motley’s practitioner code is f9367150

*Most of us are mineral deficient and we don’t even know it! Want to get your minerals in? BEAM Minerals is a simple shot of minerals each morning. Try BEAM Minerals at beamminerals.com/DRMOTLEY and use code DRMOTLEY for 20% off your first order.

*Do you have a ton more in-depth questions for Doctor Motley? Check out his course on emotions and the body in his membership. You’ll find other courses full of his expertise and clinical wisdom, plus bring all your questions to his weekly lives! To try risk-free for 15 days click here: https://www.doctormotley.com/15

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Why are so many young women experiencing painful periods, endometriosis, Hashimoto's and hormonal chaos? After falling ill with Graves Disease in medical school, functional endocrinologist Dr. Cassie Smith made it her life’s mission to chase these kinds of questions. In her new book Fix Your Gut, Fix Your Hormones (https://a.co/d/0gbCrVD6) she tackles the real gut-hormone connection behind estrogen dominance, PCOS, thyroid dysfunction, and painful periods. Dr. Smith shares the answers she found, a roadmap for better health, better periods and common-sense steps to become the CEO of your own health.

In this episode you will learn:

Why younger women are struggling with their periods

Why low progesterone is so common in women in their 20s

How constipation and poor fiber intake worsen PMS, bloating, and breast tenderness

The impact of long-term birth control use on hormone production

Simple, affordable lab tests most OBs don't order but should

Exactly how your gut affects your hormones, step by step, by way of your vagus nerve.

How a young person could experience a cycle of stress, a bacteria or strep infection, then their antibiotics for treating the strep as well as birth control and acid-blockers can impair their guts affecting their cycle.

How, if, as women, our estrogen leaves our body down the four-hydroxy pathway (the pathway that can lead to cancer), more often when we have increased visceral fat, excess stress or intense gut dysbiosis.

How important our health is, and the value in taking responsibility for our good health. Self-value, seeing the sun enough in a day and movement all play a role in balancing our hormones.

Not only can excess estrogen affect our moods, but it puts extra stress on our bodies revving up our cortisol and lowering progesterone (the calming hormone), throwing our mood and sleep out the window.

Nutritional changes can make a difference. Avoid sugar in your food and drinks (read the

labels!), and aim for thirty-five grams of fiber for regular, healthy bowel movements.

Estrogen dominance from dysbiosis doesn’t necessarily mean you have enough of the estrogen you need.

How having a Dutch test every few years is incredibly useful for locating early signs of hormonal imbalances.

A roadmap to fix painful periods. Laser in on how much sugar you’re eating (and drinking!) Don’t eat wheat made in America if you have Hashimotos, because it may cause a high TPO antibody to attack your thyroid.

How babies rely on their mother’s thyroid until 18 weeks in-utero, so if you want to get pregnant, optimizing your thyroid is a must.

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Follow Dr. Cassie Smith:

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Buy her book Fix Your Gut, Fix Your Hormones: https://a.co/d/0gbCrVD6

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*You can get cell support in gummy form: Mitopure now starts at $79, when you go to timeline.com/DRMOTLEY.

*Join Doctor Motley’s newsletter for TCM insights and regular podcast updates https://www.doctormotley.com/

*Do you have a ton more in-depth questions for Doctor Motley? Check out his course on emotions and the body in his membership. You’ll find other courses full of his expertise and clinical wisdom, plus bring all your questions to his weekly lives! To try risk-free for 15 days click here https://www.doctormotley.com/15

After performing thousands of open-heart surgeries, Dr. Philip Ovadia recognized that the vast majority were preventable…if his patients had improved their metabolic health in the first place. In this episode, Dr. Chris Motley sat down with heart surgeon, author and podcaster Dr. Philip Ovadia to learn about the underrated relationship between insulin resistance and heart disease, and what you need to know to arm yourself at home and in the doctor’s office. Small correction from the intro: Dr. Ovadia is a board-certified cardiac surgeon, not a cardiologist. He has performed over 3,000 heart surgeries across 25-plus years

If heart disease has been the number one killer for so long, isn’t it possible that we’re tackling it the wrong way? Dr. Ovadia’s belief is that our emphasis on cholesterol has done us a disservice when it comes to heart health.

If you have a family history of heart issues, or a heart condition yourself, learn how Dr. Ovadia believes you can stay off his operating table.

Timestamps

[00:00:00] Cold open: 95% of heart patients had this, and it was not high cholesterol

[00:00:56] Every 40 seconds: the killer that has held first place for a hundred years

[00:02:41] "The patient is never as good after they have the surgery"

[00:04:26] From five years old to 3,000 open hearts, and what the first one is like

[00:08:47] The cholesterol answer a heart surgeon is not supposed to give

[00:12:26] Insulin resistance, sugar, and the linkage he says is far stronger

[00:14:56] The five markers of metabolic disease, and the one your doctor watches instead

[00:17:33] Statins: how "high" fell from 140 to 70, and what the 33% really means

[00:21:37] "What are we saving?" Mitochondria, muscle aches, and the diabetes signal

[00:24:07] Four words to ask at your next appointment

[00:27:49] The signs your body gives years early: the belly, the face, skin tags, low energy

[00:31:18] The $10 test that comes years before symptoms, and the number to look for

[00:32:49] Real food, vitamin K2, CoQ10, and a heart surgeon defending red meat

[00:37:44] Build muscle first, because muscle is where the sugar goes

[00:40:57] Valves, strep, and the heart disease insulin does not explain

[00:44:18] Genetics load the gun. Your habits pull the trigger.

[00:46:17] Optimism, stress, and the family in the waiting room: what a surgeon looks for

[00:48:36] The elimination diet, the meat reset, and the permission slip

[00:55:23] Where to find Dr. Ovadia, and why his own team tells him to stop

In this episode you will learn:

Why cholesterol and LDLs are not the real enemy of the heart and how sugar is the real culprit when it comes to heart disease.

Why 70 years of cholesterol-focused medicine hasn't reduced heart disease — and what the data actually shows about LDL's role in cardiac events

The Kraft Test: Ovadia is referring to the work of Dr. Joseph R. Kraft, a pathologist who ran insulin assays on 14,384 patients and concluded that "those with cardiovascular disease not identified with diabetes are simply undiagnosed." The peer-reviewed analysis of his database (Crofts et al., 2016) found that more than half of patients with entirely normal glucose tolerance were nonetheless hyperinsulinaemic.

Why your fasting insulin level is the most important number most doctors never order — and how to get it tested for around $10

What exactly to ask your doctor about insulin resistance, and signs and symptoms for it: waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

How stress plays a role in heart conditions, and how emotional support can make a difference in patients’ outcomes.

Why statin drugs can be problematic, in that they hide the symptom rather than attacking the root of the problem.

The single question to ask your doctor that will immediately reveal whether they understand metabolic heart disease: "Am I insulin resistant?"

Why skin tags, belly fat, rounded face, low energy and high blood pressure are early warning signs of insulin resistance — years before chest pain or shortness of breath appear

Dr. Ovadia’s recommendations for diet and lifestyle changes to keep you off the operating table: processed food needs to go, and we must move more. If you have a desk-job, try a standing desk or simply get up and move around once an hour.

Meat is medicine. Dr. Ovadia advocates for the nutritional density of meat, yes, even red meat, and suggests that a low-fat diet has not prevented heart disease as promised.

Vitamin K2 and CoQ10 feed the mitochondria our hearts need for energy.

The effects of common viruses like strep on the heart valves.

What role genetics plays in heart disease versus habits.

Want more of The Ancient Health Podcast? Subscribe to the YouTube channel.

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Follow Dr. Philip Ovadia

https://www.instagram.com/ifixhearts/

https://ifixhearts.com/team/

https://www.youtube.com/@IFixHearts

Buy his books: https://ovadiahearthealth.com/books/

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and enter code DRMOTLEY for 20% off your mineral replenishment order.

*Join Doctor Motley’s newsletter for TCM insights and regular podcast updates https://www.doctormotley.com/

*Do you have a ton more in-depth questions for Doctor Motley? Check out his course on emotions and the body in his membership. You’ll find other courses full of his expertise and clinical wisdom, plus bring all your questions to his weekly lives! To try risk-free for 15 days click here https://www.doctormotley.com/15