Latest / NHA Today Podcast / Dr. Columbus Batiste: Why Moderation Kills and What to Do Instead | NHA Today
Transcript
- Stephan Esser: Hello and welcome to another edition of the NHADS Day podcast. Today I'm joined by Dr. Columbus Batiste, also known as the Healthy Heart Doc, a board-certified plant-based cardiologist who focuses on reversing cardiovascular disease through nutrition, stress reduction, and lifestyle. He attended Oakwood University for undergrad, Loma Linda for medical school, and then on to complete training in interventional cardiology. Now the regional chief of cardiology for Southern California Permanente Medical Group. He's authored books, laid down fantastic TED Talks. Columbus Batiste: Yeah. Stephan Esser: Speaks on international stages and is a passionate proponent for plant-based nutrition and self-empowerment. Dr. Batiste, welcome to the show today. Columbus Batiste: thank you for having me. It's good to see you. Stephan Esser: You know, I'm gonna start with a softball here. in your fridge, what are four must haves for promoting your own personal health? Four must haves that are in your fridge. Columbus Batiste: Blueberries, blackberries, pomegrance seeds, green leafy vegetables specifically. Well, that's gonna be more than four, so let's leave it at green leafy vegetables. Yes. Stephan Esser: ⁓ music my ears. I'm coming to your house. And then what about in your pantry? Four must-haves likewise in your pantry. Columbus Batiste: Yeah, so I I tend to keep as a whole flax seeds, ground flax seeds actually whole and I'll churn ⁓ up. I also include in there my my beans, legumes. ⁓ Typically I'll an array of those. It'll be black, it'll be ⁓ red beans. My folks are from New ⁓ New Orleans, red beans and ⁓ and rice is a staple back in in in New Orleans and and also our garbanzos. I love it because there's so many different iterations of things I can make. with it from whether or not it's the liquid, whether or not it's a chickpea tuna type deal, or whether or not it's just kind of roasting them or adding them on boards. That's a main staple. And then last what I'll I'll I'll have is I'll have some blend of a grain typically there. And that that rotates to be honest with you. But so it's easier to say grain. And whether or not it's ki ⁓ you know, if it's amaranth or if it's if it's bulgur or if it's brown rice. And so there's there's a multitude of different things mixed in with quinoa. Stephan Esser: Sounds fantastic and sounds very tasty. A lot of options in that fridge and in that pantry. You know, when I looked through kind of a little bit about your resume, right, and the things that you're doing, you've got so many irons in the fire. and I know a lot of our viewers probably feel like that in their own personal lives sometimes too. What are the top three ways that you balance professional responsibilities, personal health, and transforming lives for good? Columbus Batiste: Yeah. So well let's first start with the professional in the community or or transform transformation lives. I've been very blessed in that I have sort of a thinn diagram of overlap in terms of my professional career along with my community action. So part of what my role is is I oversee cardiac rehabilitation and that is a lifestyle centered program. So emanating out of the out of that, there's a lot huge areas of overlap between what I do in the community and the work. regarding nutrition and education and narrowing the gap in terms of awareness and and what people can do on their own. So that's really a blessing and very fortunate. ⁓ I do love technology. I'm all geared up with with ⁓ monitoring of my my every aspect of my life from my sleep all the way through my heart rate variability. So I deal a lot with technology in my professional career, both in the cath lab as well as in overseeing the cardiac rehab program. And so Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Columbus Batiste: That education comes into play, the technology comes into play because I find new ways of educate, of making sure that the information I'm trying to convey, it resonates to patients in real time. So I obviously, if it doesn't make sense, I see it immediately. It's almost like a comedian goes out and they, they're gonna test their jokes inside of a small venue first to see if it works. So I'm doing testing of my analogies and some of the thought process and see what resonates with patients and the nurses who are listening there. And the patients will either tell me, that was great, or I don't quite understand. It's like, okay, I need to go back to the drawing board with that one. ⁓ so that that's that part. Now, the more difficult, challenging part of what you mentioned is how do I maintain a healthful balance on my own? And that's a struggle, to be honest with you. That's something that isn't easy. And, you know, you alluded to kind of the book I wrote in terms of selfish, which are pillars of components, and we may speak about that in the in the future, but Stephan Esser: Ha ha ha. Columbus Batiste: I try and make sure at a minimum I have the food. The exercise is the next one I try and make sure that I get. The third one I try and make sure I get is sleep. and so that's the order of priority. ⁓ then I also incorporate in there my mindfulness, my spirituality that becomes important that I start the day off with. ⁓ those are the four that I try to make sure I get. And then I sprinkle in the others ⁓ I'm as much as possible. The humor I may sprinkle in, obviously try and spend some time with relationships. But here's the key. ⁓ and my wife calls me, she holds me honest with this all the time. Spending time with her while I'm on my phone is not spending time with her. Spending time time with her while if I'm if I'm answering emails or doing something of that sort is not spending time. So spending focus, being present in the moment is something I'll be honest, that I struggle with. Stephan Esser: Right. Columbus Batiste: And that but when I do it, I feel rejuvenated. I feel renewed when I spend that time and I do that. So yeah. Stephan Esser: Well, I mean, what a beautiful awareness, right? You're saying that you do struggle with that. And so that gives you the opportunity for an area to work on. And because each of us have our challenges that we struggle with. Sounds like you've got nailed down the food, right? Your pantry's full of good stuff, your fridge is loaded up. But that's the beauty of life, isn't it? We each have another day, another opportunity, another breath, right? To kind of ⁓ continue to try to enhance and improve where we can. So that's that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that with us. You know, when you think about heart health, which is obviously at the heart of your passion, Columbus Batiste: Yes. Stephan Esser: What are the three most heart healthy food groups in your mind that you encourage everybody to think about? Columbus Batiste: Yeah, yeah, why I I actually almost said those in regards to my pantry. So, you know, I I believe wholeheartedly in terms of the importance of daily green leafy vegetables. And so why that's so important to me is not solely in terms of the dietary nitrates that they provide, that can help dilate the vessels, that help restore the endothelial health, that can help lower the blood pressure, ⁓ we speak too about the fiber that they provide. Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Columbus Batiste: So we understand that's gonna be a consistent theme throughout all of the recommendations is fiber and its ability to to transform the gut microbiome, its ability to go lower the cholesterol burden, up increase the LDL receptors there, lower the markers of inflammation. That's powerful. That with every bite, with every fork, I'm giving myself a therapeutic intervention. And so that's why that becomes a mainstay. Whether I have cooked greens, if I have if I have Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Columbus Batiste: raw greens are there as I try and make sure I get some iteration of arugula and kale and bok choy that's mixed together in terms of a salad that's that I put together. It's a core component. I think that you cannot go wrong without berries. Berries are the core foundation for your mental being your learning stuff in terms of of learning of of blood pressure, of heart health overall. So the berries and pomegranates, we understand the importance there with the anthocyanin ins which means giving it the its particular color. That color, the more colorful, the better off it is. So whether or not you do you mix it in soups, salads, or smoothies. So smoothies are my go-to. I'm having a little bit little pieces of mango, but I'm having a wide array of berries inside of there. And then also I lend with with beans, with legumes become extremely important for me, personally, not only for the resistant carbohydrates, for the protein, for the f the fullness that I achieve with it. ⁓ it gives me that satiety. So those are staples. And tell you, you asked a very important question as it relates to what do I recommend for heart health. What I say to my patients is this: when I start off speaking with them in the cath lab when they're laying there, tell me what you eat for your health. Don't tell me what you eat. I I it's very specific and intentional. It's very interesting. ⁓ When ask that very specific question of what do you eat for your health, Stephan Esser: ⁓ huh, I like it. Columbus Batiste: You'll see lots of different tangents that start to happen. ⁓ well, I I eat protein or I I I I don't eat carbohydrates and say, well, wait a minute, don't tell me about macronutrients. said, tell me about what eat for health. And he said, Well, then they'll start. I said, So why is it that you think that that's healthy? Tell me what you what why you believe that that's healthy. And so it's interesting to to listen. And I'm listening, I'm information gathering in this moment, right? Stephan Esser: Ha ha. Mm-hmm. Right, right. Columbus Batiste: I'm just information. I'm not lecturing. I'm not vilifying. I'm not critiquing what they're doing. I'm just information gathering and asking questions. it's interesting to see where people will navigate through as we walk through on how ⁓ would you grade that? Is that with that? Be a green light, like this is no dispute. Is this somewhat red? Like there's a lot of dis but I don't have it, or is it somewhat yellow that it's a gray zone that some people like it, some people don't? Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Right. Columbus Batiste: And interesting as we start to tease those factors out when I speak to patients about that very topic. Stephan Esser: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And you've got them in that very that moment, that time of vulnerability too, right? I mean, they're they're there to see you because they're concerned, About that heart. And that's a beautiful time to get them to open up, right? And expose a little bit more about themselves. I love that that I I you know, be and I like how you add that in rather than just what do you eat, what do you eat for your health? Yeah. So because I feel like so many people just eat for social norms, right? Or just because it's convenient or they're bored. Columbus Batiste: Yeah. Yeah. Stephan Esser: whether depressed or angry or sad, how many of us really eat for our health? Yeah, speaking of Columbus Batiste: Or or maybe even the opposite. Maybe they're eating because of their, they want a physical appearance. Maybe they're eating because they're saying, I want to increase my gains if they're a young man. I want more muscles. Or they're saying, I want to have this particular body. And that's what they're eating for. That's their focus and their intention. And so really getting into their, what's their why? Obviously, we eat for enjoyment. We eat for culture. We eat because it's, it's who we are, but there are a lot of other evolutions as to why people eat. Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. Columbus Batiste: as you mentioned, for mental health, it could be for other physical appearance. So it it is it's interesting when you start asking more questions than providing answers. Stephan Esser: Yeah, kind of opening up the onion, taking layer by layer back. You know, I read that you had a powerful personal experience that motivated you to incorporate more plants, right? Plant-based nutrition into your personal, professional life. Can you share with our audience a little bit about that? Columbus Batiste: Yeah. So, you know, I mean, like everyone, everyone has an origin story, right? Everyone has something that set them off on the journey of life of where they're at. And there could be like in in the words of ⁓ these superhero movies, there could be a thousand different iterations of your life's journey if right circumstance. And so for me, you know, I I was the surprise aha child. I always call myself not the mistake, but the surprise in terms of my brother sixteen years older than I am. And My father had diabetes. That was just part of what my his existence was, as far as I was aware. so he ended up passing away after I was done with training and I was in practice. I actually at that point had become chief of cardiology locally ⁓ that point in my career. ⁓ he passed away from the effects of diabetes. And here's the part that really was impactful for my dad and his experience was that. My dad, if you saw my dad, you wouldn't say that he was overweight or he had any type of vice. He didn't smoke, he didn't drink, he didn't really he actually had a health food store back in the 70s. sold vitamins ⁓ in the 60s and 70s. He ⁓ He ju he had juicers so much so that my mom always jokes that one of my older siblings, they seemed like they were orange in appearance because all the carrot juice ⁓ that he he ⁓ he had her drink. Stephan Esser: ⁓ Right. Columbus Batiste: And he would talk about oatmeal and everything, but my dad, he loved sweets. he loved sodas and so he'd have it. He'd have chips. It was that was his thing. And it was almost like this dichotomy. ⁓ would go to the grocery store and my mom would make at that time tofu from scratch, gluten from scratch, and everything of that sort, would teach cooking classes. So you'd have one side of the the big dining room table, and we'd go grocery shopping, put all the groceries there. That was all health promoting foods in their natural state, cooked beans, everything of that sort. And the other half, you'd have all the processed junk food and some TV dinners that was starting to come into around that time. And what life told me and taught me is none of us ever quite know the exact amount of these foods that will cause harm. Stephan Esser: Mm. Columbus Batiste: That will cause harm inside of us. And so we're walking around thinking, comparing ourselves to everyone else. I look better than they look for their age. I'm more fit than what they are for their age. Hey, ⁓ my numbers look good compared to theirs, but we're ⁓ we're a sample size, a comparison of one ourselves, just the man in the mirror, right? That's all we can compare ourselves to. And you don't know. And so I've prescribed thousands of pills in my life as a physician. Stephan Esser: Yeah. Columbus Batiste: And I've had individuals where a very small amount can cause a detrimental effect. I've had others where a large amount doesn't touch them at all. You don't know quite for sure where that patient is going to fall. so what I learned is that moderation kills. And around that time of my dad's death, after he passed away, I started reading voraciously. And I had started a little bit before that because patients started asking me, ⁓ what should I eat? What should I do? And I realized the ⁓ of my training. across the board from med school all the way through to interventional cardiology. And so I started just doing some arbitrary reading, but I it intensified. And I read a chapter in Cobwell Essleston's book at that time. That that's one of the books I I one of the first of many that I read. And it the chapter title was Moderation Kills. And I and I I that just hit me in the head like a brick. And I stopped and I thought, that's my dad. Stephan Esser: Mm. Columbus Batiste: You know, anyone would say he was moderate, that he was temperate, that he was in good health, that he looked good, but you don't know the effect on you. And then that moderation could be the thing that sinks you and kills you. so and the last I'll say as it relates to it, we kind of move on, but it's just what I've realized when people talk about moderation, and I'll ask you, how often have you heard people reference moderation as it relates to berries, green foods, water? ⁓ or sleep, right? I I don't hear things like moderation when it comes to that. I only hear moderation in the context of things we probably know we shouldn't be doing. And with some there's no problem to it. ⁓ I've just had I'm moderate in my candy consumption or my sugar sweetened beverages, my sodas, or my wine, or my this or that or the other. It's a moderate amount of it's it's important to be temperate or moderate just a little bit. We have to be balanced. We only make that statement about things to justify. Stephan Esser: Right. Red, red. Columbus Batiste: that our inner being tells us we don't need to have. It's very interesting. It's interesting the human mindset when you look at that. that that's that's ⁓ in my journey with that. Stephan Esser: Yeah, I mean that's so deep though. Really appreciate you sharing that, because I can imagine I mean, I just hear that story and I wonder, you know, what would you say to your father now if you had the knowledge that you do now, And the opportunities you do, what would you say to him? Do you and do you think it would be impactful? Columbus Batiste: I do I do think it would be impactful. Here's what I realized. When my dad would go to his doctors and talk about what else could be done, or about vitamins and so forth, and and and recognizing in my mind now, I recognize that this is someone who's open. This is someone who's ready. This is someone who's willing to give it a trial, and they're doing a tag I'm at home when they come and see me to make sure they're on the right course, as to my father being advised to eat. Animal products because his iron is low. At being advised to eat that so much, so so strongly that my mother had to decide she was going to start trying to him that at one point in his life. And that is a disservice. With fact of the matter is, so what I would tell my father is, is you right. You're on the right course. ⁓ You have stick with the right course. That you have to once again recognize, as I tell everyone now, it's like, what is it that you want? That's always my first question. What is it that you want? I didn't come up with this. I read it inside Kelly McGonagall's book. I loved it, The Willpower Instinct. If you haven't read it, read that. It's not even a lifestyle one. What do you want? What are you willing to do to get what you want? What won't you do to get what you want? what you want is you want health and vitality. If what you want Is to be there for your kids and your grandkids. If what you want is to be there for your spouse, if what you want is to live a life of purpose, are you willing to do and what won't you do? Now, as I would sit my down with my dad inside of clinic there and I will talk with him about that and recognizing ⁓ know what he wants. And he would be very eloquently, he would eloquently. ⁓ convey that to me about what he wants. And now we will begin the process of, okay, let's outline how are we going to go about doing this. Okay, so now we're gonna, now that you say this is what you want and you're willing to do it, we have to put pen to paper. Let's put it down. Don't tell me in this perspective, I'm going, I'm willing to eat better. What does that mean? Practically, tangibly, tangibly, yes, ⁓ Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So tangible, objective, specific things. Yeah. Columbus Batiste: Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based. We want to be very intentional in our efforts. Now, once we outline that with my father, now I want him to do what I like to characterize as kill the plan. Kill the plan. I want you to come up with every reason why this is going to fail. reason why you got busy, bills came up, you got you didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping, you were hungry and you were out and there was nothing else to eat. I want you find every reason why you're gonna fall off the plan before and now I want you to solve for it called premortem planning. You're gonna kill that plan, you're gonna solve for it, and we're gonna move to a better state of health. And now we're going to inspect what we expect. We're gonna see what are the effects my father who was smart. So they're checking the blood sugar, not checking A1C, and they're just like, okay, I'm gonna eat healthy right before I go in. numbers look good, Mr. Batisse. No, no, no, no. Let's measure the right thing. So at one point in my career, I actually sent a handwritten note. I said, Dad, bring this back to your your doctor. I wrote down labs. Why is he on this regimen like this? Do you feel that this is standard of care and the treatment for diabetes? What's this screening been for this? What's this, this, and this? And and he just handed it to, he told afterwards, he handed it to the doctor and the doctor was. kind of jumped back and was like, ⁓ I didn't tell you to do that. well, yeah, we need to get these tests done. And I'm not sure why, why, you know, I thought I told you to get these Listening and intentional, inspecting what you expect. Those are the conversations that I hope, and and those are the conversations I was unaware from my training to have with my father. And so that's the reason of that's what drives me in terms of my purpose now. ⁓ at the local level, large scale level, by doing the the things that I do out in the community. Stephan Esser: Beautiful. Well, I think we can both speak to it, right? We've seen some transitions that are positive, With bringing that sort of conversation that you're discussing there, This motivational interviewing, These different aspects, prochaska's stages of change that I could feel kind of welling up a little bit in your conversation there. Where is the patient, And how do we move them to the next level? you know, and I I think we can both attest to that residencies, medical schools are starting to do little bit more of that, which I think is great to hear and to see with some of the residents that come through, etc. You know, and but we need more. Of course. Columbus Batiste: It is. Well, you know, here here here's so one, first let me start with the positive. I am like you, I'm ecstatic with the direction things are going in terms of the awareness. I think that awareness has been driven from a ground level because there is a grassroots of of folks demanding this from healthcare providers. And there is data from those who are doing the research that are showing increasingly the impact of lifestyle, of nutrition, of exercise, and mindfulness in terms of disease. of the non communicable disease health outcomes. But here's where we're still failing, and this is where I I I have pause. Until we incorporate this into the testing for for med students, step one, step two, your board certifications. People will not invest their time if it's there's no payoff, right? So so they they will listen, they'll be interested, they'll listen back, but are they truly investing their time or are they skeptical? Because if it's not tested, if it doesn't account for 20% of the step boards, Stephan Esser: Mm. Mm-hmm. Right. Columbus Batiste: I won't invest in making sure I understand it. But then here's the next level caveat. If reimbursement doesn't reward this thought process, now once you're done, I have to focus on the things that are going to pay the bills, that going to keep my doors open. And that's not one of them. And so where our system is not set up currently until the of a Dr. Esser and others who can really kind of transform. Stephan Esser: That's it. Right. That's right. A hundred percent. Columbus Batiste: The direction of the system as a whole to really support this initial groundwork. So it sounds good on paper. ⁓ we're teaching a little bit about nutrition and about motivational energy. It sounds wonderful. And it's like, well, Columbus, why are you being so negative? Well, because the reality of life and practice is we've all been there. We do what we have to to get through the next level. And we're now entering a phase of an AI generation of future physicians. How much? Stephan Esser: Right. Ha ha ha. Right. Right. Which will be fascinating to see how that, yeah. What's gonna happen? Columbus Batiste: Yeah, so so how is that going to play as it relates to to this testing and so forth? So but there's hope. Stephan Esser: Yeah, and you bring, you know, I hear that from my residents all the time. I was on faculty for three different residencies for years, you know, and it was like exactly that, right? They'd come in, they'd hear me speaking with patients ⁓ integrating some of these approaches, but they're like, I'm gonna have five and a half minutes per patient. I'm not a specialist like you are with the extra time. Where am I working this in? ⁓ I do, you know, it's interesting you talk about AI, and I'll get ⁓ veer over there for a minute because I'd love your take on this. ⁓ think that one of the greatest frustrations in medicine today for the patient is the lack of human connection. And the lack of, like you said, the intentionality, connection with the patient, with the physician, et cetera, just feeling like a number, right? You're in, you're out, boom, boom, off you go. My fear with AI is that's only gonna worsen that rather than deepen the human connection and relationship. Now it could be used for pro or you know what I mean? It can help with some stuff, but then what about the other? So I'm curious your take on AI, just ⁓ in its application to medicine. Columbus Batiste: Mm-hmm. Well, it's it's a great conversation. I think that this is one of the greatest travesties of medicine and with the the the profession of medicine is that now physicians, as you said, not only are we spending a short truncated amount of time with patients, during that time we're not even looking and engaging with you. We're on the computer typing and reviewing the charts. So there's a disconnect. We're all our levels of communication we're not engaging to listen. And the touch and the feel. We barely do a physical exam. We order the testing. And so what that's done is it's led to a level of mistrust. And there's no longer a trust the same way it was. There's been an erosion of the trust in physicians. And what have people turned to? They've turned to social media. Why is it have that they've turned to social media? Because their favorite influencer is always there for them. They're sitting right in front of their face, they're talking to them. Stephan Esser: Yeah. Columbus Batiste: They're making them laugh. It seems as if they understand them. They're engaging with even their comments, their doctor, they email them. It takes them several weeks and they get something back from a nurse and not the physician because we don't have the time. And so this has created this, this, this, this chasm that now something has to come in and feel it. Now, ⁓ back to the point in the question about AI. So I'm obviously, as I said, I'm kind of a techie, I'm a pseudo-techie person. I'm interested in all that stuff. So I stumbled on this. Stephan Esser: Mm. Right. Columbus Batiste: In a amazing and a concerning at the same point in time presentation by a major AI company. And were showing AI agents. We were joking about that before we went on on air. And they everyone was identif was notified that listen, you have the option of kind of having an AI agent speak to you or not. So they're playing an audio clip of an AI agent that is speaking with a patient. And this patient is an elderly man. And they're asking a specific line of questions and they start off, and the man veers, as patients oftentimes do, to tell his story about his daughter who passed away and the struggles. And the AI agent, they show empathy in the moment and saying, I'm so sorry to hear about your loved one. That must have been hard. Then they go ahead and they slowly redirect back over to their point of their conversation. He veers again. They once again veer with him and then redirect it. They're present. Stephan Esser: Mm. Columbus Batiste: They're present to you. They're there. They're not absent from the moment. And so now all of a sudden at the end, this elderly man says to, he says, Miss Such and Such, this way he called her. He was obviously a very respectful man. I know you're not real, but this is the best call I've ever had. Stephan Esser: Wow. ⁓ wow. Columbus Batiste: So now I tell you, if I can have an AI agent that's always present in the moment, that always is available 24-7, that can speak any language, that can now go ahead and apply their apply ⁓ the principles of lifestyle specific to your situation, to your culture, to where you're at, it's it's exciting and scary at the same moment because we've taken for granted Stephan Esser: Right. Right. Yeah, yeah. Columbus Batiste: Our call. It's not a job. This is our call. This is what we have decided that we are engaging in and we have neglected it. And now we're on the precipice of an artificial intelligence coming and taking over. Now there's not all good with it because it they're fed with information that's available online. And so we have to ensure that information is accurate, information is appropriate according to all sectors of the world and population. Stephan Esser: Yeah. Mm. Columbus Batiste: But there's these are chall these are exciting, but at the same point, I were I I'm concerned a bit for my kids, know, and where are they where are they going to go into? As excited as I am for all this, ⁓ the same point, it's like, what is it that they can do to ensure that they are productive, they make a good living to take care of their family and live a life of purpose. So yeah. Stephan Esser: Right. Gosh, I mean you I mean that's so deep. so deep, isn't it? I mean that just ⁓ you we all want to feel heard, respected, loved. We want to have that feeling of connection. And yet this AI is going to create it artificially. It's not even real. It's not even real. And yet it it fires the areas in our brain that make us feel that way, that make us feel validated, loved, respected, appreciated, right? All those things. ⁓ it's kind of like, wow, what is better? Columbus Batiste: Yeah. Mm-mm. Yes. Stephan Esser: The physician who's given you the cold shoulder, who spends two and a half minutes with you, who devalues you and degrades you, like, ⁓ please, why are you asking me that? Right, which we all hear from patients all the time, you know, fe so disrespected, or versus the AI agent that makes them feel heard, respected, loved, appreciated, and you know, et cetera. So yeah. Wow. Yeah. Columbus Batiste: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I it's we're we're definitely going to have to be a part of the change we wanna see. So if we wanna stop this from happening, we have to change our our perspective, you know? Yeah, it is. ⁓ Stephan Esser: Very interesting. Very interesting. Yeah. You know, ⁓ you have a non-for-profit focused on health that is called Healthy Heart Nation. Can you tell me more about that? Columbus Batiste: Yes. Yeah. So, you know, I wanted a vehicle that I could operate out of, unshackled, that I could go ahead and get into communities that are in need. And what found is that the communities that are in need don't actually have a face to them. There's no color. It's just people are in need. People are suffering. They're hurting out there. ⁓ There a gap in the absence of. of literacy. And I don't mean from a standpoint that people are illiterate in traditional education, but they're not necessarily knowledgeable as it relates to and issues of disease and the role of lifestyle. And so that's one of the areas that I I felt to be extremely important is to bring awareness, to bring knowledge and awareness in how to implement a strategy in their own time, in their own place and location to transform their lives. And so recognizing that there's so much that convolutes a person's ability to achieve health. It can be their access, their financial situation. It could be their base level of education. It could be their their access to healthcare. There's so many components of their community where they live. I mean, studies have demonstrated that we're that 80% of health is outside the physician's office. If that's the case, we have to kind of address the 80%. Well, In a traditional physician's office, we don't have the time nor bandwidth to do it, nor do we have access to social workers like that. That means you need community based organizations that are going to be targeted that can apply the concepts of listening and bringing care to individuals where they live, work, play, and pray, where they're comfortable and they're able to receive the information. So that is the intent. It's to educate, empower, to enact change. It's really across all ⁓ ⁓ racial demographics. Stephan Esser: Beautiful message. Hey, you've written a book. Tell us about the book if you would and where people can buy it as well. Columbus Batiste: Yeah. So it's called Selfish, a Cardiologist Guide to Curing a Stressed and Broken Heart. I find that stress, as we mentioned, is so involved. It's such a major issue. We turn the TV on, we're all stressed, whether it's financial, if it's political horizon, if it's ⁓ just life and general relationships. And so there is a distinct and unique mechanism of how these stressors plays a role. But also nutrition, I believe, plays a role in developing what I call nutritional stress. So this book really outlines how there's pillars of health. Selfish is is obviously an acronym. So spirituality, which represents beyond religion, but we look at although that is a core component, but looking at breath work, the power of breath, of breathing, and this role in our body and alleviating stress and healing the endothelium, the power the power of meditation and mindfulness and what it can do in terms of dampening the impact of stress and actually enhancing the prefrontal cortex for our decision making, the power of exercise, not just movement, but also exercising belief and faith and understanding that you can overcome this. the power of the L in love, forgiveness and gratitude. You know, there's so much things that we harbor on. We don't allow we don't allow ourselves to forgive ourselves or others. So that we have to be grateful for that we're not we don't express gratitude. But really walking through the science of how this plays a role, not only on reducing stress, but also restoring our heart health. in our body and pulling out studies that demonstrated the power of food and real food, whole food, plant-rich foods, and in engaging in nature's pharmacy to really heal our bodies, the eye intimacy of relationships, both at the individual level for positive relationships, but also community level. ⁓ love the the analogy with trees and how trees and their roots and you have this ⁓ world world a world Stephan Esser: Mm. Columbus Batiste: Wood Webb. And so how they share nutrients for those trees that are not able to reach up to the sun as high as others. And they share the nutrients back and forth between each other. That's powerful. Of there's so many reflections of that in the community of not negating someone because they age out at a particular time, but incorporating them, a core component of blue zones, and that's the intimacy of positive relationships. The S stands for sleep, and that sleep can be rest, it could be vacation, it could be staycation, it could be time away. Stephan Esser: Mm. Mm, mm-hmm. Columbus Batiste: Just to allow yourself and nature reset, right? And I was I give the ⁓ how that plays a role, mind, body, and and soul, and and the impact it has. And last but not least, the lat the H stands for humor, joy of life, and how the power of smiling, Duchesne smile and laughter, and what that does to your heart health, to your endothelium, and and your stress, and how it's ⁓ it's going to help restore you. And so walking through scientifically, I Stephan Esser: Yeah. Columbus Batiste: How each component of getting selfish help transform your health. It can end, it can lower your stress and improve your heart ⁓ as well. And I end with this, which is just we don't do all these things just we can look better. We can apparently try and look younger so we can we can try and fit into a new pair of jeans or a bathing suit. We do this to live a life of purpose. That's our lasting mark what we do for others. And so we get selfish to live a life of purpose. And that's what the book is about. And for me, it's something that resonates. It's a it's an accumulation of things that I've conversations I've had with patients at various times of certain aspects. I've recognized the the role of stress in their disease. ⁓ recognized the role of nutritional stress ⁓ how we have to build nutritional resiliency to overcome this and offset it. ⁓ and same thing with life in general. I believe health equals Resiliency divided by stress. The higher our stress, the poorer our health. But as we we can't get rid of all stressors in life, but can we build the resiliency by the selfish pillars? We can offset that and we can maintain a healthful state, and that's our goal. Stephan Esser: Powerful stuff right there. I mean, gosh, this is making me want to go sign up for the NHA annual conference where you're gonna be coming to speak and sharing this message as well. I mean, so all the viewers out there, hello, just alone to come to hear Dr. Batiste is enough of a reason to come show up in June ⁓ and sign up and get a signed copy of the book. I mean, it's just everything that you said there resonates so beautifully and expressed so eloquently. So thank you for sharing that message with all of us, you know, out here today. And I just, you know. Columbus Batiste: ⁓ yes, I love it. Stephan Esser: There's just so much to unpackage from even just that one word, which I didn't know that acronym. So I love hearing you unpackage that unravel it for me, right? Because my initial gut reaction is selfish is a negative one. And then here you unraveled it into such a beautiful orchid. You know, it's just all the different layers, all the different petals. So absolutely wonderful. You know, I really enjoyed our time together. And I know that all our viewers did as well. Thank you for taking time for us in your busy schedule. Columbus Batiste: Yes. Stephan Esser: And ⁓ we all look forward to seeing you at the conference later this year. Thank you, Doctor Batiste. Columbus Batiste: Thank you. It's a pleasure. I look forward to seeing you as well in June. June twenty fifth.