HBOT Conversations:
Dr. Hemal Mehta & Fasting (Part 1)

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HBOT News Network welcomes Dr. Hemal V. Mehta, M.D.; Medical Director of Vibrant Health of North Carolina.

After the first 10-15 years of his medical career focusing on interventional pain management, Dr. Mehta started to get involved in regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicines is a newer field of medicine involving PRP – Platelet Rich Plasma, stem cells, and different techniques (like HBOT) to help regenerate tissue in the body. When he first started using regenerative medicine, Dr. Mehta witnessed his patients doing considerably better and improving to the point that he was able to even wean them off of opioid pain medications. It was then that Dr. Mehta started integrating Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT or HBO Therapy) into some of the individualized patient healing plans he would develop for optimum healing.

Dr. Mehta touches on inflammation and how inflammation is one of the greatest problems people today deal with on a daily basis. Bad food choices, injuries and even stress all contributes to an increase of inflammation.  Targeting inflammation is key to a healthy body and mind.  Hyperbaric oxygen is an ideal therapy to address inflammation by upregulating the anti-inflammatory gene and downregulating the inflammatory gene.  Dr. Mehta also mentions other therapies that assist in reducing inflammation in the joints and body — regenerative treatments using stem cells, PRP, ozone injections and exosomes.

According to Dr. Mehta, too much focus and energy goes into the promotion of pharmaceutical drugs to ease every ailment, indication or condition. He mentioned that when he was studying for his medical degree, he had almost two years of pharmacology classes but only one six-week semester of nutrition.  It’s unfortunate that nutrition is not stressed more to young doctors, because much of the food we purchase at the grocery store is toxic and very pro-inflammatory.  Dr. Mehta stresses that “you are what you eat”.  Processed food is one of the worst things for our bodies. In his opinion, processed food is a major oxygen depleter since our bodies have to use extra energy and oxygen to break it down. Our bodies have to work much harder to break down processed junk, so he encourages our viewers to eat foods that are natural and avoid processed.

Since nutrition is a HUGE part of a person’s health, it’s important to look at alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs – like Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and fasting. In Dr. Mehta’s opinion, fasting is an excellent way for people to maintain health. Our bodies don’t necessarily NEED 3 meals a day, so when we overeat our bodies store the excess. Dr. Mehta is a big believer in fasting and reminds us that fasting is the ultimate detox. Food, especially processed food, sugar, and food with high fructose corn syrup, can be very pro-inflammatory and toxic. Fasting accelerates the process of the liver cleaning out toxins and gives our organs a much needed break to heal and rejuvenate. Fasting dates back to the Bible and beyond – every religious facet has fasting as part of their religion.

Fasting is nothing new, so try it and add Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy into the mix too; something magical is truly happening to the body when you fast and receive HBOT. Dr. Mehta reminds us that there is also a strong association between fasting and reduced cancer risk, which he will get into more in Part 2 of our Conversations with Dr. Mehta about fasting & HBOT.  Stay tuned to learn more about how fasting starves the cancer cells from the sugars and nutrients they need to feed and grow.

*Pease consult your doctor to see if fasting is right for you.

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