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Healing with Dr Helena

Healing with Dr Helena

Dr Helena Popovic 7 Episodes Sep 13, 2026

Dr Helena Popovic challenges conventional views on disease, offering a new paradigm for vibrant health and true healing. The podcast aims to help listeners boost brain performance, avoid Alzheimer's and other dementias, grow bolder with age, and live longer, stronger, healthier, and happier.

Episodes

Can the shingles vaccine lower the risk of dementia?
Can the shingles vaccine lower the risk of dementia? Sep 13, 2026 00:43:37 Today’s Brain Booster was prompted by a whether question from Maya: My doctor said that the shingles vaccine can reduce the risk of dementia. I’d like to know whether this is true, and if so, why?Yes — there is strong and growing real-world evidence from major epidemiological studies showing that the shingles vaccine is linked to a significant reduction in dementia risk. Shingles is a painful, bli
Your Mind Can Mend Your Maladies (EP18)
Your Mind Can Mend Your Maladies (EP18) Sep 6, 2026 00:54:42 Today’s Brain Booster is Elevate your expectations!Last week I spoke about how our beliefs become our biology — especially how negative ageist stereotypes actually drive how we age. Today we’re going to build on that and discover how our mind can mend our maladies.When you let go of limiting labels and assumptions about symptoms, pain and disease, you boost your brain’s ability to activate healing
Our beliefs become our biology (EP17)
Our beliefs become our biology (EP17) Aug 30, 2026 00:58:39 Today’s Brain Booster is Think bolder, not older — because our beliefs influence our biology.In fact, our beliefs BECOME our biology.In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, people holding negative beliefs about ageing demonstrated significantly worse memory performance after 38 years than those subscribing to less negative age stereotypes — and this was after adjusting for education, depress
Your Brain has the Power to Heal (EP16)
Your Brain has the Power to Heal (EP16) Aug 23, 2026 00:51:24 Today’s Brain Booster is: Yearn to learn.In order to powerfully boost your brain through learning, look for something that fulfils the following criteria:It’s something you genuinely love doing, it keeps you intrinsically motivated, and it makes you lose track of time.It requires effort, and pushes you to learn new rules, acquire new skills, or continuously stretch your abilities.It takes you to n
Are you medicines messing with your microbes? (EP15 Part 2)
Are you medicines messing with your microbes? (EP15 Part 2) Aug 16, 2026 00:31:23 Last week I finished with the question: what drugs, other than antibiotics, disrupt our gut microbiota — the trillions of micro-organisms that live in our digestive tract?An obvious contender is antacids — also known as heartburn medications — which are drugs that reduce stomach acid production to treat reflux. Decades of research have established a strong link between acid suppression, gastrointe
Microbes mess with our genes! (EP15)
Microbes mess with our genes! (EP15) Aug 9, 2026 00:43:16 Today’s Health Headline is: Microbes mess with our genes!(The Brain Booster will come later.)Did you know that you have a gene called ‘The Guardian Gene?’ It’s official name is TP53, and it encodes a protein called p53. The reason for its colloquial name is that this protein protects our DNA, spots damage in our cells, and stops mutations in their tracks. These processes help to shield us from can
Your bacterial print is as unique as your fingerprint! (EP14 Part 2)
Your bacterial print is as unique as your fingerprint! (EP14 Part 2) Aug 2, 2026 00:32:42 Last week’s Brain Booster was Go with your gut — a deep dive into all things gut health. It was another very long segment so I ended it after the Health Headline. That means if you haven’t watched or listened to last week’s episode, I strongly recommend you do so before you listen to this one because last week I explained the rationale for what I’m talking about today.When it comes to gut health,
Go with your gut! (EP14)
Go with your gut! (EP14) Jul 26, 2026 00:44:38 Today’s Brain Booster is: Go with your Gut.Is your gut sensitive, irritable, leaky or inflamed? Are you into:PrebioticsProbiotics Postbiotics Synbiotics Psychobiotics PharmabioticsAntibioticsPenbiotics Or Panbiotics?!(I will explain all those terms over the next few episodes.)Why does it matter? For most of modern medicine, the brain and gut were treated as separate organs, with separate problems.
Turn down the pressure (EP13)
Turn down the pressure (EP13) Jul 19, 2026 01:05:12 Today’s podcast episode was prompted by a Whether question. So I’ll give you the question first, and then I’ll answer it in the context of a Brain Booster, Health Headline, and What’s Missing from Modern Medicine? "Can you tell me WHETHER it’s better to tackle high blood pressure with western medicine or alternative medicine? I have never smoked, do not drink alcohol, I weigh 73kg at height of 1.7
Turn up the heat! (EP12 - Part 2)
Turn up the heat! (EP12 - Part 2) Jul 12, 2026 00:23:33 Last week’s Brain Booster was Turn up the heat! — a deep dive into how using a sauna more than 4 times a week can reduce the risk of dementia by over 60%! Given that this is a very bold claim, I spoke for longer than I’d anticipated, in order to explain the mechanisms by which heat exposure brings about health benefits. So I decided to end the episode after the Health Headline because the feedback
Turn up the heat! (EP12)
Turn up the heat! (EP12) Jul 5, 2026 00:44:21 Today’s Brain Booster is: Turn up the heat! For thousands of years, humans have deliberately exposed themselves to heat: Roman baths, Turkish hammans, Finnish saunas, indigenous sweat lodges, and Japanese onsen (natural hot springs). And it turns out that sweating it out in a sauna on a regular basis:Lowers blood pressureImproves overall heart health and blood vessel functionReduces the risk of a
Deep dive into dementia (EP11)
Deep dive into dementia (EP11) Jun 28, 2026 01:29:11 For today’s episode, I’m sharing an interview I had with the dynamic and inspiring Sarah Rusbatch on her podcast Stronger Bolder Wiser.Sarah is an accredited Grey Area Drinking Coach and the author of the best-selling book Beyond Booze — How to create a life you love, alcohol-free.Sarah and I immediately clicked because her approach to alcohol is the same as my approach to healthy eating in my boo

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