Episode 214
Joseph G. Jacko, MD:Why Blue Zone Residents Live to 100 Without Knowing Any Medical Science
Joseph G. Jacko, MD:
Why Blue Zone Residents Live to 100 Without Knowing Any Medical Science
Dr. Joe Jacko joins me to discuss his journey from sports medicine to sick care and back to preventive medicine.
He shares insights from his book about how patients only receive half the information they need to make informed decisions, the flaws of evidence-based medicine, and the importance of lifestyle factors like diet, movement, and purpose in achieving optimal health and longevity.
He shares insights from his book about how patients only receive half the information they need to make informed decisions, the flaws of evidence-based medicine, and the importance of lifestyle factors like diet, movement, and purpose in achieving optimal health and longevity.
First Aired on: Oct 20, 2025
Episode 214
Joseph G. Jacko, MD:Why Blue Zone Residents Live to 100 Without Knowing Any Medical Science
Joseph G. Jacko, MD:
Why Blue Zone Residents Live to 100 Without Knowing Any Medical Science
Dr. Joe Jacko joins me to discuss his journey from sports medicine to sick care and back to preventive medicine.
He shares insights from his book about how patients only receive half the information they need to make informed decisions, the flaws of evidence-based medicine, and the importance of lifestyle factors like diet, movement, and purpose in achieving optimal health and longevity.
He shares insights from his book about how patients only receive half the information they need to make informed decisions, the flaws of evidence-based medicine, and the importance of lifestyle factors like diet, movement, and purpose in achieving optimal health and longevity.
First Aired on: Oct 20, 2025
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
Introduction
Dr. Joe Jacko is a physician specializing in internal medicine, sports and regenerative medicine, preventive medicine, and longevity science. He's also the author of "Bamboozled, Duped, and Hoodwinked: Keys to Escaping the Tricks, Deceptions, and Half-Truths of the Medical Industry." In this episode, he joins me to talk about why lifestyle medicine succeeds where conventional approaches often fall short.
Episode Highlights
Dr. Jacko's Medical Career Evolution
Dr. Jacko shares his journey from focusing on athletes and function optimization to practicing in the sick care model, and eventually returning to preventive medicine.
- Started his career treating athletes with a focus on optimal function
- Moved into the traditional sick care model where medication was the primary focus
- Became frustrated with the limitations of drug-focused treatment
- Now runs a comprehensive preventive medicine clinic with fitness center, exercise physiologist, and dietician
The Half-Truth Problem in Medicine
Dr. Jacko explains how patients receive incomplete information that prevents them from making truly informed decisions.
- Drug studies are presented using relative risk instead of absolute risk
- A 33% reduction in heart attacks sounds impressive but actually requires 100 people on medication for 5 years for one person to avoid a heart attack
- Financial agendas behind studies influence how results are presented
- Medical literature often contradicts itself, unlike exact sciences like physics or math
The Flaws of Evidence-Based Medicine
Dr. Jacko discusses how the concept of evidence-based medicine has been distorted from its original intent.
- Originally meant to consider the highest level of evidence for each individual patient
- Has become cookbook medicine where all patients receive the same treatment
- Medical establishment picks and chooses when to follow evidence-based principles
- Population-based medicine prioritizes insurance company cost savings over individual patient needs
The Power of Purpose in Health
Dr. Jacko emphasizes how having a strong sense of purpose can outweigh poor health markers and drive better outcomes.
- You need to know what you're willing to live for and what you're willing to die for
- Purpose doesn't have to be grandiose - it can be as simple as having people depend on you
- People with strong purpose often live longer despite having risk factors
- Retirement without purpose can lead to rapid health decline
Lifestyle Medicine Fundamentals
Dr. Jacko outlines the key lifestyle factors that form the foundation of optimal health.
- Anti-inflammatory diet focusing on fruits and vegetables
- Regular gentle movement rather than over-exercising
- Proper sleep and stress management
- Learning to view food as nourishment rather than just calories
Patient Empowerment Strategies
Dr. Jacko provides practical advice for patients to advocate for themselves within the medical system.
- Patients have access to the same medical information as doctors
- Do your own research and bring questions to appointments
- Medicine should be a partnership between doctor and patient
- Look for physicians who have training outside conventional medicine
Blue Zones and Longevity Secrets
Dr. Jacko discusses what we can learn from populations that regularly live past 90 and 100 years old.
- Blue Zone residents know very little about medical science but live exceptionally long lives
- They stay active throughout the day rather than exercising formally
- They eat real, unprocessed foods as part of their culture
- Elderly are viewed as wise sages who can still contribute to society
- They live at a slower pace with strong community connections
Notable Quotes from this Episode
Patients are only getting about half the information they need to make the best decision for themselves.
Dr. Joe Jacko
You have to know what you're willing to live for and to some degree you have to know what you're willing to die for.
Dr. Joe Jacko
If you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to get it.
Dr. Joe Jacko
Focus on eating properly and do your research. Trust your instincts.
Dr. Joe Jacko
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Joseph G. Jacko, MD
Connect with Joseph G. Jacko, MD
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Dr. Joe Jacko: the Blue Zones. Are pockets throughout the globe where people live, over 90 and some of 'em are over a hundred and it's basically all lifestyle. And what's interesting, they know very little science, but they're living longer.
Julie Howton: Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Houghton, and today we're joined by Dr. Joe Jacko, a physician specializing in internal medicine, sports, and regenerative medicine, preventative medicine, and longevity science. He's the author of Bamboozled, duped, and Hoodwinked Keys to Escaping the Tricks, deceptions, and Half-Truths of the Medical Industry, which is a guide that empowers readers to navigate the corruption and misinformation in healthcare in his practice in Ohio.
Dr. Jacko helps individuals achieve optimal health and vitality beyond the limits of conventional medicine. In today's conversation, we are talking about effective medicine as a partnership between the patient and physician, and the importance of lifestyle and the impact of purpose on health.
Dr. Jacko, welcome to the podcast.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Thank you, Julie. Thank you for inviting me.
Julie Howton: I am so excited for, for listeners to learn from you. Um, and I, I tried to stop myself from chatting too much before we hit record, so that we're all kind of, it's a fresh conversation. Tell us a little bit about. A either what drove you to write the book or just your shift in perspective of how you're practicing medicine now versus, um, making an assumption here, but how you were practicing outta med
Dr. Joe Jacko: Sure.
Well, the book is basically an increasing amount of frustration over 35 years of practicing medicine. Now, the first two thirds of my career, I mainly was dealing with athletes and middle-aged people who wanted to be active as well as elderly people. And in that population, uh, the focus on medicine is to help the patient achieve optimal function.
And then the last third I gravitated into the sick care model, and I just saw
Julie Howton: you went backwards.
Dr. Joe Jacko: I went backwards, but then I went back again.
Yeah, I went backwards and I, uh, I tos a lot the shortcomings of the sick care model, where the emphasis is primarily on, uh, medication, use of medications. Very little emphasis on the foundations of health, like such as exercise and diet, as well as stress management and, proper sleep and those things.
And then. Since then, I have gravitated back to more of a wellness model Over the last three years, I have a preventive medicine clinic that focuses on exercise, nutrition, longevity medicine. We have a fitness center, exercise, physiologist on staff, dietician. So it's gone A complete
Julie Howton: Full circle.
Yeah.
I
love it. I love
it. I'll say you're one of the rare ones who actually started out. Kind of focusing on function optimization, which is, but I, I get you got there through the sports medicine kinda aspect.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, that really goes back to medical school. I always, I was injured a lot, I played a lot of sports and I was hurt a lot. And when we in, in my medical school training, I, uh, graduated from medical school in 1986. And I, as we were being taught things, I always looked at it from the focus of an athlete.
And there are things that we do to, you know, the average person, if you will, that you would not do to an athlete. You wouldn't treat the blood pressure the same way. And so I was, so even back then, I was questioning a lot of things.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Yeah. So
let,
let's talk a little bit about the book. I, I
feel like it,
you definitely have, and it's, I, I, it's, to me, it's spot on. Um. But obviously strong
feelings,
bamboozled, duped and hoodwinked, keys to escaping tricks, deceptions and half trues of the medical industry.
And, and I, I kind of understand the context a little better that I could see the frustration. Had you been practicing sick in the sick care model all
along?
But starting with more of a lifestyle focus and then changing, I, I can imagine it was like, holy cow, this is, this is not right.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct that, yeah, that conversion back to the sick care model was really an eyeopener. And then in, in the intervening periods, there were so many new medications have, you know, came out that I knew very little about. So I had to educate myself. And part of that education process was sitting down and meeting with pharmaceutical reps, uh, to learn about their medications.
And I kind of. Caught on to how they, uh, shall I say, misrepresent some of the data, uh, to make, to paint the best picture for medications.
Julie Howton: Yeah, yeah. Well, and then and the business of medicine, right? When you Yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah.
It's very much a business. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with it, but I think that has taken primary focus away from what we're really here to do, and that's to help, you know, patients.
Julie Howton: Ben, so as you're practicing medicine now with that full, and I, I love what you guys are
doing
at your clinic where you are, you know, to have
a, a
jam, you know, to be able to go and, and really incorporate. like. True lifestyle medicine where people can literally come and, and work out and, um, have the, the right people there to support them.
I, I
think is, is really cool. That's our dream for our clinic. We would love to be able
to
have, incorporate
a little
more of that into, into our clinic as well. Um, I, I want. To, to what are some,
I've
heard some of the things you've said and I was excited to talk to you about. Um, when somebody goes to a typical Western doc, I'll, even we're an autoimmune podcast, I'll say, you know, rheumatology, if somebody's lucky enough to have, it's, it's rare even still to have a rheumatologist who is.
You know, lifestyle focused. and, and I know that can be an uphill battle for people. What are some of, I know you mentioned exercise. What are, are, are some of the lifestyle factors, um, that you believe are essential for people to, to incorporate into their daily routines?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well,
the biggest challenge I would say is proper heaving, you know, exercise. Relatively easy to get patients to exercise three or four days a week. But eating's a 24 7, 365 challenge, and many of us are on a pro-inflammatory diet, which is something that you would wanna avoid if you have an autoimmune or a rheumatoid problem.
You certainly wanna focus on more in my my opinion, fruits and vegetables, and particularly if someone has rheumatoid arthritis.
Gentle exercises to maintain joint flexibility and and
motion.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
I like, and I like that you say gentle. I've worked with so many people that are over exercising. They may have, you know, a handful of autoimmune diagnoses and they're, and I was there for
a period
in my journey too.
They
just didn't
wanna let go of that piece and didn't realize that they were really driving more inflammation by overdoing it
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah.
I. And it's unfortunately for those with autoimmune disease, it's really a, uh, what I find a trial and error. You just have to find what is
Julie Howton: tell you.
Dr. Joe Jacko: what's your load? Yeah. The body's, unfortunately, it doesn't tell you sometimes till the next day.
Julie Howton: Well, sure. But I mean, at least if you're then not
ignoring it and, and
adding on, that's kind of how we, how we learn.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Right.
Julie Howton: Um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: everything really starts with movement.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Well see. So true to your roots, right? And what, what we're, our bodies are designed to move. Um, and I really think that that, that the, you know, when, I don't know how many years ago it was when they came out with like sitting as the new smoking, but really, and it's kind of like eating
right?
Like
we're, we really always have to be conscientious about are we sitting too much? Are we moving enough?
Are we, you know, versus. Whether we choose to pick up a cigarette or not, which hopefully no listeners are, but you know, it's this consistent check-in with, I get it sometimes. 'cause I, I work at a stand desk a lot, it's adjustable and then sometimes I'm like, oh shoot, now I've been standing all day and I should I, you know, move around more.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yes. Our ancestors didn't really have to worry about that too much. You know, we're all, most of us are very sedentary and we do have to, as you say, make a conscious effort to get up and move around.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: sometimes it just happens, you know, helps to have a, a schedule or some type of a program in place that reminds you to get up and move around every so often.
Julie Howton: Well, and now with, are you a, a wearables fan? I mean, I, I feel like,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I, I actually don't,
Julie Howton: Okay.
Dr. Joe Jacko: I think it has a role.
I think sometimes we get too driven by the by things. You know, we have patients waking up at three in the morning to see if they're sleeping okay. Which seems
Julie Howton: I have, I have told people before, like,
you
know, because people do, they get really, you know, and I'm like, you need to just put that away and stop looking at it.
But I think some of those things
can be
helpful, whether it's an app on the phone, you know, if you're somebody who, which always amazes me. I encounter this a lot though. People who don't drink water. Right. Like it's just not, it's so interesting to me that like, it's almost like
that, you know, either someone's
a good water drinker or they're not.
Um, and just for creating the new habit, not relying on
Dr. Joe Jacko: correct. That's a good way. I think it's helpful in those early stages, and it's similar to what I tell patients about eating. We, when we eat, we're always converting things back into calories. And it's, I would say it's gotta be more like learning a language. At some point when you learn a language, you gotta quit translating it back into English.
You just have to appreciate what that language means in that language. So when you look at a plate of food, you just have to appreciate this is a healthy meal. I got it in a good balance of fats, uh, meats, protein and carbs
Julie Howton: I love that food is nourishment and, and it
is.
Kind of sad that somewhere along the way we lost touch with that in day-to-day life, at least in this country. And, and so, you know, shifting that, thinking back to like you just said, like,
you
know, really what's on your plate as nourishing your body and, and, you know, uh, um, and whole real
food,
is a whole nother
Dr. Joe Jacko: Ah, correct. It's, uh, yeah, too much processed food in our diets.
Julie Howton: Yeah. So, but it's all, you know, we're, we're shifting and,
and, so, um, hopefully
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, when I see, I see patients being more aware of those things than maybe prior generations or even my generation. When I played sports, we weren't even supposed to strength train 'cause the thought was, would muscle bound you? And there was no discussion on pre-game meals or post-workout, nutrition or anything.
Julie Howton: They used to do that. I remember like the spaghetti dinner for the,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah. exactly. That's, that's what we had.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Well, we're, we're not too dissimilar in age. but even back then though, even though, they didn't know as much and the focus was a little different.
The, there was more real food. Even if it wasn't the best choices, it
was at least
made from real ingredients.
Um, and I, I think that that's. you know, that's a whole nother, that should be a, a part two book. 'cause I believe it really is all connected
to this,
you know, business of medicine being driven by pharmaceutical company model to me the same.
It's
inter,
it's like the
body, right? It's interconnected with the food system.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Very much so. And, and some of it has to do with just the way we live life. many times people don't have time to make a home homemade meal and we're relying on restaurants
Julie Howton: Yeah. And then I hear,
I don't have, it. I can't afford to, you know, get pastured meat and I'm like, wait a minute, you spend 10 bucks on something they call coffee every morning. That's not coffee. You know,
Dr. Joe Jacko: if
you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to get it.
Julie Howton: yes,
it's
true.
That is, that is
very true.
I've heard you talk, I wanna touch on,
and then
we're gonna dive a little deeper into the book. But, but, um, I've heard you discuss the importance of purpose in wellness and, and, um, I think it's really under discussed in medicine. what to share with listeners, you know, what you've seen in your years of practice.
Um, about sometimes.
We, we
look at a lab report, you know, we're, we're looking for the answer on a lab value. And, and I feel like purpose is, is often can be that that driver of somebody getting well or staying
well.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, when you have a structure, so I would say you have to know what you're willing to live for and, and to some degree you have to know what you're willing to die for. We sometimes don't talk about that, but I've, among my patients, I've seen those who are, have a very strong purpose. And it doesn't have to be anything earth shattering or, or game change.
Yeah. You don't have to save the world or the whales, but you, you do have to have some reason to get up in the morning. And it could be some, I remember, I recall gentlemen, uh. Gosh, back in the 1990s, he was overweight, had high blood pressure, but he had a manufacturing plant and employed 200 people and he would walk about four miles a day.
And just the fact that he had 200 people relying on him gave him a very strong sense of purpose. And in my opinion, if, if, uh, outweighs some of his bad numbers, if you will, habits,
and then you see people who, they retire and then in 30 days they die.
Julie Howton: Yeah, yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: One of 'em was a, a famous coach for the Alba, Alabama, mayor Bryant.
He retired and I think 30 days later he, he died. so you have to have a strong sense of purpose.
And
with that, I,
I just think when it helps you to get up in the morning, you, you're energetic. You can't wait for the day to begin. And all that spills over into other parts of
Julie Howton: Absolutely. Uh,
do you feel
that purpose. Can change throughout life, like you said, like not everybody has that. I'm gonna save the whales, you know?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Oh, for
sure. Um, are you familiar with old Earl Nightingale? He was
A A personality in 1950s. He discusses that, uh, he kind of breaks people into two parts. He goes, there's the goal oriented person, and then there's the, the river or the stream person. And that's the person who, the river person's, a person who had a very young age, knows what they're supposed to do.
They immersed their life in it. You could not imagine them doing anything else. And then there's, and I would say I'm probably a goal oriented person. You have a goal, you achieve it, you do something else, you achieve it. But at some point, all those experiences kind of point
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: thing. And for me, I think all my experiences in medicine.
Probably enable me to, to write the, the book. 'cause I have maybe a broader spectrum. I see. I've worked with surgeons. I see how they think I was in preventive medicine. I see how they think I did the sick care model. I see how they think. And so I think all those experiences just, you know, kind of open up,
Julie Howton: shape us, right? Yeah.
Yeah.
so I, we, and, and I, I do think it's important for people to, I mean, as a health coach,
I need,
we need to tap into purpose. To create change. Right. Because Some change is not always fun and it's not always easy. And so, um, if somebody has to, has to
find
their why if they're not in touch with
it,
Um, yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Change. I, and you may disagree. I, I think people have to change themselves, but they can do that by having someone like you bring some awareness to the situation
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and maybe ask them some probing questions that kind of gets them to reflect and look at their life. And it's, you know, get 'em going in a, a direction that's healthy for
Julie Howton: Absolutely. Absolutely. But
the
just, you know, I want, I wanna feel better
It, like
it, it needs to be a little deeper than that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah. So we, so if a patient comes to us, we, we will ask 'em, what are your goals? What, what do you wanna accomplish? And, you know, weight loss, well, I'll say, well, how much weight do you wanna lose? You know, it has to be, as you know, it has to be specific.
It's nice to tie a timeframe to it. I wanna lose 15 pounds in three months, that those persons are more likely to achieve that than the person's death
Julie Howton: Sure, sure. Yeah. Or I just wanna feel
better
or, Yeah. What are, uh, I would love for you to share with us some of the big, and I know there's a lot, um, a a lot of ahas the book.
Um. But I, I
want you to share Yeah, like if you could share three things with listeners, you know, to inspire them to go get the
book.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Okay. There's probably three or four points that I, I try to really hit home one. Number one, patients are only getting about half the information they need to make the best decision And a lot of that has to do with the way particularly drug studies are, are couched. for instance, if you hear that a drug will lower your risk of heart.
Heart, uh, heart attack by 33%. That's pretty impressive. What you're not told is that it takes a hundred people to be on that medication for five years for one person to avoid the heart attack.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: So that's, so you get to have truth. Um, I also make the point that medical science is different than, say, physics or math, where there's one, one right answer.
A lot of the medical literature contradicts itself. And, uh, so you have to, uh, take that into account. also, there's al also a. A profit or a financial, uh, agenda behind some of the studies. Certainly in my opinion, the pharmaceutical company would love you to be on every medication possible for as long as possible.
Um, I also make the point that, this concept of evidence-based medicine is, has flaws and my opinion. The medical establishment kind of picks and choose when it's gonna follow it. And then I also raised a question, how much does medicine really benefit? it really doesn't add that much to longevity, although it certainly improves quality of life.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And most of the, the increased in lifespan is more related to clean water, sanitation, use of antibiotics for infectious disease, and really less so than interventions on our part.
Julie Howton: I mean the, I always say, you know, God forbid I need emergency surgery. I'm going to a Western trained surgeon.
Like it. It's like you said, it's a great for
acute.
sick care and I, I think so much of our, this chronic illness epidemic that we're in now. Is because we have gotten so far away from how our, how we
were created
to live. You know, we were talking about sitting, standing, moving earlier, right? Like it, all the things, food isn't food, the toxin load.
And it's, it's this whole, whole bundle. And it is interesting having, 'cause our, our clinic is also focused on longevity. Um, and, and things that work. A do, increase quality of life. You know, and I, I talk about health span, like I got, maybe it's because my, my maternal grandmother
is the,
the only relative I have that lived a long life.
But, but the last 10, 15 years of her life, she wasn't really, she was.
Physically a alive,
you know, alive. But she didn't participate in life. She,
it
was not good. And so
I'm like,
no, I don't, I don't wanna
be
here. I don't need that extra 10, 15 years
of just laying
in my bed. That's horrible. Um, and so the, the health span
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct. In the book I, I talked about briefly about the Blue Zones.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: You know, for the listeners, these are pockets throughout the, the globe where people live, uh, over 90 and some of 'em are over a hundred and it's basically all lifestyle. And what's interesting, they know very little ab little about science, but they're living longer.
So
Julie Howton: right.
Dr. Joe Jacko: you,
there's a lot of it's die, A lot of it's activity. They're not exercising per se, but they're just active throughout the day.
Julie Howton: Right. And,
And, which I think is, is really important for, you know, again, back to that, how have people lived for, that's what's special about the Blue Zones is they're still living.
They have purpose, they have community, they have the movement, they have the real food. They, they have all those, all those innate
supporters
of health
Dr. Joe Jacko: and they, they, view the elderly as wise.
Sages
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: can still contribute and that they can still listen or learn from,
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and we tend to discard the elderly
at
Julie Howton: Right. And I, I think that, that, I think that back to
when you
were talking about the, the, you know, retirement. Right. I, I think having, having a society where elders are revered and have something to contribute gives them. Purpose.
right?
So they have continued purpose throughout their life. And, and so no wonder they live longer.
Like it just, and, but more importantly, better, you know, um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: And they're, they appear to be living a slower pace of life. We're, we're all guilty of it. We're all in this treadmill, and for some of us, their treadmill's really going nowhere.
Julie Howton: Yeah, absolutely. So. The concept of, you talked about the concept of e evidence-based medicine.
Um,
so
it, it
just made me think of a, a pet peeve of hours is the, the terminology, um, standard of care. Can we talk a little bit about, I'm just making assumptions now that you're on the same page with me. Um, there, you know, what is, how do you think about when you hear standard of care?
Dr. Joe Jacko: what the standard of care. Part is based on expert opinion and based scientific studies. Okay? Now if you read,
there's a Canadian physician, physician by the name of DA David Sackett. He's kind of considered the father and he would say it's not to be cookbook medicine. It doesn't take away the patient's choice.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: It's basically, you look at the highest level of evidence that applies to and, but we, we have kind of gotten away from the original meaning of that term of evidence-based medicine. And then here in the United States, it's really become very much cookbook medicine.
It really matters very little who you see.
If you're seeing an employed physician by a hospital system, you're gonna get the, the same advice most likely. Which was very different than years ago when physicians had different opinions. And as you, as a patient, you would gravitate to someone that was aligned with your, your thinking.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and I also think it's a control mechanism.
Julie Howton: Yeah, absolutely.
Well, and and
I like, we think. To, to me, when I like standard of care, I, I believe at this point, and, and I know it evolved, um, is really driven by insurance companies. And I don't want a, an insurance company making my medical
decisions where if
something is, 'cause you, you practice some regenerative medicine, longevity medicine, things that are out of that Box. Or, and it's like, well, we don't want standard of care. We want better
than standard
of care. We want personalized precision, precision medicine,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Which is what we're supposed to be doing. But in reality, we are pop. We are practicing population based and we're doing it because the insurance companies, they're hedging their bets,
so they don't mind paying for a medication, even if 99 people don't benefit from it.
It's less expensive as long as one person benefits and avoids that heart So we're putting everybody on medications. Few will benefit, but at the same time, the insurance companies save money approach.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: so I think that is part of what drives this use of voter over prescribing medications.
Julie Howton: Gotcha. Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. I wanna touch on, you talked about, because I.
I look at your book as, as empowering for people, right? It's about empowering patients.
Giving them perhaps a, a different perspective. I think a lot of people, um, will, will come away with a different perspective perhaps than, than they had before they read the book. You, but you, you talked about patients making informed
decisions.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Mm-hmm.
Julie Howton: Um. let's talk a little bit more about tips you may have for patients to advocate for themselves, because I, I still see, I work with so many people who just. Do, you know, do what the doctor said. And it's not a conversation. And they, they aren't, they don't feel like they're getting options. I've had patients with, you know, Crohn's fired by their GI doctors for, 'cause they won't take the medication and they wanna try a lifestyle approach first.
Like
Dr. Joe Jacko: So I was al always thought and, and taught that it's really a partnership between the doctor and the patient. We have gotten away from that.
And it's, I'm the doctor, you're the patient. You're gonna do what I tell So though more and more patients are finding that increasingly frustrating. Now as a patient, you may not realize it, but you have access to all the medical information that I have Now, you may not understand it, but you could at least access it. And, uh, if you have something and you have a question about it, take it in to your doctor and ask them to clarify some things. But I would always encourage you to do your own research, uh, particularly on the major You're right, doctors, if they are challenged, they don't want to be challenged, and they get offended by that.
So you have to find, you know, kind of a polite way of bringing up some of these topics. Um, it's true that they will fire you if they perceive you as
now
Julie Howton: which to me means it wasn't a good match
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct. Correct.
Julie Howton: Like,
Dr. Joe Jacko: So, you know, all, all the physicians are traditionally or conventionally trained. I don't know what the numbers are there.
Maybe two to 5% of us are willing to go outside that box. So I would encourage patients to look for someone that has gone outside the box. Now, what that means is they still have all the traditional, conventional means, but they've added things to that, whether it be acupuncture, nutrition, diet they've added, they have more tools in their toolbox to, to treat you.
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: if you
Julie Howton: and you can find that within often and sometimes not, but you know, not everybody can step out of the insurance based system, but there are plenty of open-minded, even if they're not guiding you, you just need a, a physician who will work with you
Dr. Joe Jacko: and you could, you could do both. You could still have your insurance based physician and go outside of the system for select things. One, probably the most common one would be hormone replacement therapy.
Surprisingly, that's really not taught in conventional medicine.
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: so that's, that's probably the most common area where you can go outside, you can look, go on the internet, look for functional medicine and anti-aging medicine, what have you, and you can find physician directories or find a physician in your area that, has some additional training.
Julie Howton: Yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: The other thing is you. You just wanna spend your, use your insurance, you're gonna have limited options 'cause you're only gonna get what the insurance companies will cover. So there may be times where you have to be willing to, to pay out of pocket and that's a big resistance to for many patients. So my current model, we have, uh, it's cash and we have a membership model.
And I have some wealthy patients from the prior practice and, and they can afford what our services, but they just want to use their insurance and.
Julie Howton: I, we, we experience the same.
It, it's interesting. It's for us, you know, where we're located, is geographically a little different. Um, but we've got ranchers, farmers, teachers, we've got people that, that there's a, a pastor from Nicaragua who will bring parishioners. those are the people that are willing. To, and, and, and yes, we have a blend also of people who don't blink to pay for, but, but often, uh, just our experience is very similar, that it's often the people who can totally
afford it.
That's not the barrier. Um, you know, it's mindset.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Some of our patients, they, they're in their trades and, you know, once they get to 50, they start breaking down. So they, they embrace our model more so than some of, and, and sometimes, you know, they have to really maybe struggle to, to afford what we do. Uh, but they're more, they're more, right. They're driven by their purpose.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: The other people that appeal the model appeals to are the young entrepreneurs.
Julie Howton: Yes. Well, and I, I do think, which is exciting for me, like my kids are all in their twenties it, it's fun to see that I, I feel like we're, you know, bigger numbers in, in the younger
entrepreneurial sector of,
you know, people like, and I think it's because they've, some of them have watched the breakdown in their own
family members. Um, and entrepreneurs tend to be self thinkers. and so,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I that, I like those
Julie Howton: Yeah, I,
and I think that that is who's drawn to, uh,
you know,
I'll call it wellness medicine, which is really what it is.
You.
Dr. Joe Jacko: correct. Yeah, the term wellness, sometimes a little hard to, We use it so often. Sometimes it's hard to know it, means. uh, yeah, pat, I like patients who, who, who like to think they look at things more from, I would say a common sense approach. and very few doctors do that. We're just so, we've got the blinders on most of the time and we're just and sometimes I learned a lot of things from patients
Julie Howton: yeah, it's, it's fun when patients come in with a question that you're like, I don't know. Let me research that. And, but I I think even within
the, you know, insurance-based
system. To me, it's a red flag if a doctor won't have a conversation with you about something, you know, even if it's out of their typical box.
Um, I, I remember when I first found out about functional medicine and, and was just starting to, to heal from some of my autoimmune struggles. Had had a ways to go but was got the needle moving a little bit. My, my physician was, I, I told her, I said, I'm, I am gonna look for a functional medicine doc and all the things, and, and she was like, you know, please share what you learn.
Like she was great.
You know, um, very open and that's
where I, I really,
I get frustrated. Um, but then, like you said, it's a relationship, it's a partnership. And
so
I, I, I would love to see the day when patients feel truly empowered. To say, you know, that approach doesn't, doesn't feel right for me.
Dr. Joe Jacko: not, well. Two or three weeks ago, I had a patient she wanted to start hormone replacement. Her GYN looked like two doors down from her.
They've been friends she just really got mad at her consider that. Then, so she saw her primary care physician who was okay with it, just didn't feel comfortable doing it.
Julie Howton: Well,
thank goodness.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, and that's good. You need to know what. Exactly, but she was open to it and then somehow she gravitated to, to our practice. but you have two examples there. You have the, the physician who's somewhat open-minded, her her primary care. Then you have the GYN that was totally closed-minded.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and mine I, I had, I've talked about it on the podcast before I, it's been five years Um, I had a hysterectomy with ectomy
and when
I came in for my follow up, the gynecologist from surgery, the gynecologist said, well, you stopped your progesterone, right? 'cause you don't have a uterus anymore.
And I'm like, so you want
me on unopposed, estrogen,
Like, uh uh, And I just was
like.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah,
That, that, that's a,
Julie Howton: doing an amazing job with the surgery.
Dr. Joe Jacko: that's a common,
Julie Howton: when they
just say, I don't, you know, I don't do that. And patients just find the right person.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, that your story is real common among the GYNs when a woman no longer has her uterus. Ah, you don't need progesterone.
Julie Howton: And I'm like, but I have a brain and a heart and all these other organs. You know, I would like to keep healthy, you know?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah. The way I got into the hormone, it was probably about 2008, I was doing more sports medicine. I'd had a 6-year-old gentleman come in, I was treating his knee, and at the end of the visit he goes, Hey doc, uh, why is it okay for women to get hormone replaced, but, but not men?
And I said, well, you know, that's a good question. I really don't know. And then that, that led me to, to start research it. Yeah. And that, and then I ended up doing it myself. So.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Which is amazing. And that's how my husband got into it wasn't called functional medicine then. It was his family medicine practice.
And, and knew again, had
to be a
better approach. And, um. you know,
that was, but that was when hormones were
fringe.
yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: But we're getting there. Things are changing. I mean, with all the other health professionals, the naturopaths, the acupuncturists, acupuncturists, and just the internet, people are being ex exposed to more of these other health professionals. So I think it's gonna lead to a more integrative approach.
Julie Howton: absolutely.
Dr. Joe Jacko: but I think for physicians, you know, we talked about what the patients can do. Physicians I think would be wise to consider getting outside the insurance model Now. Very difficult to do and I, you know, I'm sure your husband's probably said but it, it's not easy
Julie Howton: long time ago.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Okay.
Julie Howton: Well, what he
found
was, what he did was he sold his practice and
started.
fresh and he had people that that followed. But what he found was it was difficult to change model within That existing practice, and it just seemed easier to, to just start over. Um, and, and so, you know, but I, I think it, you know, goes back to purpose and values and, and like you said, the, the self thinkers, the questioners as far as prioritizing, like where do we spend our dollars, um, and how much money Declining as
you age
gonna cost you versus finding the right physician and, and prioritizing good healthcare.
Dr. Joe Jacko: So,
you know, if economic or if economic, economic production is creating value by way of a product or a service, when we, when we go look at our chronic disease management, we're really not creating
Julie Howton: right.
Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: do, we do so on the acute care, but not the chronic
Julie Howton: Right,
right. Which is, again, I think that, and that was what the system was, was definitely
created for,
Um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I
would, uh, for a young physician to come out training you, you're, you're used to kind of being poor. I would just say
go into a, a, a more of a membership model right out the start.
Julie Howton: Yeah,
That, that's the, the wisdom from your pers perspective. Now, I'm not calling you old, by the way. I didn't
mean it that way.
Dr. Joe Jacko: No, 35 years of wisdom on in one sentence there.
Julie Howton: It is. It is amazing.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Unfortunate
thing, physicians are getting frustrated and they're leaving. Unless the system changes, it's gonna be bad for all of us. One.
Julie Howton: and I, I think, you know, there's, it always needs to be kind of a critical fail for, for a system to get recreated. Um, but I have had the question of like, who would want to become, you know, who, who would wanna put themselves
through medical
school, go into all of that debt to enter the, the model as it currently is now
it's,
it's horrible.
Dr. Joe Jacko: There's
one physician online community on social media, and they did a poll. 70% of the physicians would not discourage their kids from going to medicine. And when I see it's very sad, and when I see parents, who kids are going to college, the ones that are going to medical school come from non-physician parents.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And not coming from physicians,
Julie Howton: interesting. Well, and it, it is, it's, it's just because of,
know, the, the current situation and the current model. And
I, I think
as, as more. Functional medicine grows, you know, cash practices grow. This, this other approach gets more traction. I forget 'cause you know, I work in the clinic and I, I'm surrounded in this, in this beautiful, wonderful model.
You know, and the only reminder is if I take a different route home. 'cause we kind of live in the country and. You know, it's when I take a different route home and I. I,
see all
the lines around the fast food joints and I remember like, oh yeah, I live in a bubble. we've
made
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, there, there's nothing. Right?
Julie Howton: more
more to, to gain for sure.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, there's nothing better than being around like-minded people who love what they do. They're energetic, they're passionate. And it just spills over into everything and, and the patients sense that as well,
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Well, and they better, you know, like it, it's, again, these, the relationships are, are priceless.
I personally. From my journey into functional medicine, you know, I, that's my purpose. My passion is, is helping people take charge and really do understand, you know, I, I don't know that I'll be alive to see the day a rheumatologist tells. Somebody di newly diagnosed, you know, that, that they can heal. I'm sure there's, there are some, but in general, like I would love for nobody ever to, to be told what I
was
told, which was, you know, expected decline, we'll, we'll manage it the best we can, right?
Dr. Joe Jacko: One thing I've been using on some of my autoimmune patients is low dose naltrexone,
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and, uh, actually had a patient, she's a rheumatologist, and she was quite, uh, excited about it. She
Julie Howton: Oh,
good. See, and
that's the best is when
we, we talk about this all the time, treating other providers, right?
It's the butterfly effect because you just got buy-in, you know, and, and, and I guarantee you she'll be incorporating that into practice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, she was very, uh, the patient told me that her, the rheumatologist was very excited that someone was willing to do that.
Julie Howton: That's great. I
Dr. Joe Jacko: So we're, we are making, we're, we're
right?
We're chipping away slowly.
Julie Howton: Yeah, we're, we're getting there. So, well, I, I so appreciate it. And,
and is
Amazon the best place to find the book?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Amazon and also Barnes and Noble.
And, and then I, I do have a website. It's jacko md one eighty.com. So the 180 is, means a change in direction. And on that,
Julie Howton: smiling when I first.
checked
out your website. I was like, oh,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, there's about 1100 articles that go back about 12, 13 years and probably an article roughly every five days.
Julie Howton: Amazing. It's
amazing. And you are still seeing
patients.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Still see patients halftime.
Julie Howton: Okay,
Nice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and that's, uh, so, so our practice webs, um, yeah. Website is, uh, we are the armory.com and that's A-R-M-O-R-Y.
Julie Howton: Nice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Sounds like a military thing, but, but we have a, a medical clinic. A fitness center. We have a sports development center. A recovery center,
Julie Howton: Great. That's,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah. hopefully one stop shopping.
Julie Howton: I love it. I love it. I think that we should have those everywhere.
I really do. I, I think that that's, it's part of the solution for sure. Um, listeners are trained to lean in at this point
Because
they want your tip for one thing that they can do starting today to improve their health.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well
Julie Howton: it's 35 years. Come
on, you've learned. So you
got something for us.
Dr. Joe Jacko: focus on eating properly. And do your research
Julie Howton: I know.
at one.
Dr. Joe Jacko: your ins. Trust your instincts too
Julie Howton: Oh, that, that all,
all
really, really amazing. So, and, and I would, I'll, I'll even reverse it. Trust your instincts First.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, I agree. Now, now that I said it, I agree with
you.
Julie Howton: I
think so much
of it.
Have you seen this in practice? Um, women, and it may, it may even go
back
to that, doctors know all.
Kind of mentality that we were raised with. Sorry if I just let the secret out
of the
bag. Um, that doctors are human too, but women are taught to be polite and I, I feel like so many women that I work with, you know, part of their illness journey has been not trusting their instincts and not, you know, 'cause sometimes it's not polite.
To, do you, do you
find
a difference in your, like male versus female patients or not so
much?
Dr. Joe Jacko: I would agree with what, what you say. I think on one hand everybody understands their body, but women are more in tune to their body and than men are, per se.
And I think what women are sometimes feel, um, they may be embarrassed or don't wanna bring up 'cause they're gonna be shot down by the doctor. You know, it's, it's all in your head, not real. Don't. Yeah.
Julie Howton: Yeah. I think, I think trusting your instincts is.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well.
Julie Howton: gold.
I mean, really. And, and it's, it sounds so easy to say it, it takes relearning sometimes for people that have, have kind of pushed that down.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Right. And for women, they have raising kids, they have to, there's a lot of instinctive,
uh, habits or actions that go into that. So I think there's just an intuition that women have that maybe men don't have.
Julie Howton: Or they're
not tapped in.
Dr. Joe Jacko: or tapped into. Yeah. No, I agree with that. I, I had a lady just yesterday, maybe two days ago, who really had a lot of good questions and she was just getting really frustrated 'cause she kept running into a brick wall with the, the traditional doctors.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and
almost everything she said she wanted to do. I agreed with completely. I said, yeah, I think you're, you're on the
Julie Howton: spot on.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Spot on, right.
Julie Howton: Yeah. I love it. Well, and that's why we do what we do. So it's, it's wonderful and sometimes it takes that level of frustration for people to then go find, know, the right provider.
So I'm glad she found you.
Dr. Joe Jacko: If you search, you will find
Julie Howton: uh, yep. And I bet she slept a lot better because she felt heard.
Dr. Joe Jacko: she looked a lot more comfortable leaving the office than what she did when she came in.
Julie Howton: Amazing. So I'm gonna, once again, the book is Bamboozled, duped and Hoodwinked, keys to Escaping The Tricks, deceptions and Half Drews of the medical industry.
And it is an Um, it's a great read. It's, it's really, There, it gives, gives you a lot to think about. Um, and I think you do a really good job. 'cause again, it's, you're, it's research phase. It, it sounds, you know, there's a lot of passion in the title. Um, but you, back it up and I, I know, um, as you started to research for the book, it just kind of reinforced the need for
you
to write the book.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And as you uncovered these things, it's like, do I keep this to myself or do I have an obligation? I, and I felt, I felt the obligation.
Julie Howton: Well, we're, we're glad you did, and I appreciate your time and your wisdom and, and encourage listeners to, to check out the book. And Amazon gives you like a nice, if you know, like you can preview some of it too, if.
If people are a little like, I don't um, I would say
for sure check it
out. I think that the way we're gonna change.
The, the state of illness in our country is for people to be educated about what's, what has been driving medicine and, and how we can do it differently. So, so I really, really appreciate it.
Dr. Joe Jacko: you. Thank you, Julie. I appreciate it.
Julie Howton: For everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
Julie Howton: Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Houghton, and today we're joined by Dr. Joe Jacko, a physician specializing in internal medicine, sports, and regenerative medicine, preventative medicine, and longevity science. He's the author of Bamboozled, duped, and Hoodwinked Keys to Escaping the Tricks, deceptions, and Half-Truths of the Medical Industry, which is a guide that empowers readers to navigate the corruption and misinformation in healthcare in his practice in Ohio.
Dr. Jacko helps individuals achieve optimal health and vitality beyond the limits of conventional medicine. In today's conversation, we are talking about effective medicine as a partnership between the patient and physician, and the importance of lifestyle and the impact of purpose on health.
Dr. Jacko, welcome to the podcast.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Thank you, Julie. Thank you for inviting me.
Julie Howton: I am so excited for, for listeners to learn from you. Um, and I, I tried to stop myself from chatting too much before we hit record, so that we're all kind of, it's a fresh conversation. Tell us a little bit about. A either what drove you to write the book or just your shift in perspective of how you're practicing medicine now versus, um, making an assumption here, but how you were practicing outta med
Dr. Joe Jacko: Sure.
Well, the book is basically an increasing amount of frustration over 35 years of practicing medicine. Now, the first two thirds of my career, I mainly was dealing with athletes and middle-aged people who wanted to be active as well as elderly people. And in that population, uh, the focus on medicine is to help the patient achieve optimal function.
And then the last third I gravitated into the sick care model, and I just saw
Julie Howton: you went backwards.
Dr. Joe Jacko: I went backwards, but then I went back again.
Yeah, I went backwards and I, uh, I tos a lot the shortcomings of the sick care model, where the emphasis is primarily on, uh, medication, use of medications. Very little emphasis on the foundations of health, like such as exercise and diet, as well as stress management and, proper sleep and those things.
And then. Since then, I have gravitated back to more of a wellness model Over the last three years, I have a preventive medicine clinic that focuses on exercise, nutrition, longevity medicine. We have a fitness center, exercise, physiologist on staff, dietician. So it's gone A complete
Julie Howton: Full circle.
Yeah.
I
love it. I love
it. I'll say you're one of the rare ones who actually started out. Kind of focusing on function optimization, which is, but I, I get you got there through the sports medicine kinda aspect.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, that really goes back to medical school. I always, I was injured a lot, I played a lot of sports and I was hurt a lot. And when we in, in my medical school training, I, uh, graduated from medical school in 1986. And I, as we were being taught things, I always looked at it from the focus of an athlete.
And there are things that we do to, you know, the average person, if you will, that you would not do to an athlete. You wouldn't treat the blood pressure the same way. And so I was, so even back then, I was questioning a lot of things.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Yeah. So
let,
let's talk a little bit about the book. I, I
feel like it,
you definitely have, and it's, I, I, it's, to me, it's spot on. Um. But obviously strong
feelings,
bamboozled, duped and hoodwinked, keys to escaping tricks, deceptions and half trues of the medical industry.
And, and I, I kind of understand the context a little better that I could see the frustration. Had you been practicing sick in the sick care model all
along?
But starting with more of a lifestyle focus and then changing, I, I can imagine it was like, holy cow, this is, this is not right.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct that, yeah, that conversion back to the sick care model was really an eyeopener. And then in, in the intervening periods, there were so many new medications have, you know, came out that I knew very little about. So I had to educate myself. And part of that education process was sitting down and meeting with pharmaceutical reps, uh, to learn about their medications.
And I kind of. Caught on to how they, uh, shall I say, misrepresent some of the data, uh, to make, to paint the best picture for medications.
Julie Howton: Yeah, yeah. Well, and then and the business of medicine, right? When you Yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah.
It's very much a business. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with it, but I think that has taken primary focus away from what we're really here to do, and that's to help, you know, patients.
Julie Howton: Ben, so as you're practicing medicine now with that full, and I, I love what you guys are
doing
at your clinic where you are, you know, to have
a, a
jam, you know, to be able to go and, and really incorporate. like. True lifestyle medicine where people can literally come and, and work out and, um, have the, the right people there to support them.
I, I
think is, is really cool. That's our dream for our clinic. We would love to be able
to
have, incorporate
a little
more of that into, into our clinic as well. Um, I, I want. To, to what are some,
I've
heard some of the things you've said and I was excited to talk to you about. Um, when somebody goes to a typical Western doc, I'll, even we're an autoimmune podcast, I'll say, you know, rheumatology, if somebody's lucky enough to have, it's, it's rare even still to have a rheumatologist who is.
You know, lifestyle focused. and, and I know that can be an uphill battle for people. What are some of, I know you mentioned exercise. What are, are, are some of the lifestyle factors, um, that you believe are essential for people to, to incorporate into their daily routines?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well,
the biggest challenge I would say is proper heaving, you know, exercise. Relatively easy to get patients to exercise three or four days a week. But eating's a 24 7, 365 challenge, and many of us are on a pro-inflammatory diet, which is something that you would wanna avoid if you have an autoimmune or a rheumatoid problem.
You certainly wanna focus on more in my my opinion, fruits and vegetables, and particularly if someone has rheumatoid arthritis.
Gentle exercises to maintain joint flexibility and and
motion.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
I like, and I like that you say gentle. I've worked with so many people that are over exercising. They may have, you know, a handful of autoimmune diagnoses and they're, and I was there for
a period
in my journey too.
They
just didn't
wanna let go of that piece and didn't realize that they were really driving more inflammation by overdoing it
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah.
I. And it's unfortunately for those with autoimmune disease, it's really a, uh, what I find a trial and error. You just have to find what is
Julie Howton: tell you.
Dr. Joe Jacko: what's your load? Yeah. The body's, unfortunately, it doesn't tell you sometimes till the next day.
Julie Howton: Well, sure. But I mean, at least if you're then not
ignoring it and, and
adding on, that's kind of how we, how we learn.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Right.
Julie Howton: Um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: everything really starts with movement.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Well see. So true to your roots, right? And what, what we're, our bodies are designed to move. Um, and I really think that that, that the, you know, when, I don't know how many years ago it was when they came out with like sitting as the new smoking, but really, and it's kind of like eating
right?
Like
we're, we really always have to be conscientious about are we sitting too much? Are we moving enough?
Are we, you know, versus. Whether we choose to pick up a cigarette or not, which hopefully no listeners are, but you know, it's this consistent check-in with, I get it sometimes. 'cause I, I work at a stand desk a lot, it's adjustable and then sometimes I'm like, oh shoot, now I've been standing all day and I should I, you know, move around more.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yes. Our ancestors didn't really have to worry about that too much. You know, we're all, most of us are very sedentary and we do have to, as you say, make a conscious effort to get up and move around.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: sometimes it just happens, you know, helps to have a, a schedule or some type of a program in place that reminds you to get up and move around every so often.
Julie Howton: Well, and now with, are you a, a wearables fan? I mean, I, I feel like,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I, I actually don't,
Julie Howton: Okay.
Dr. Joe Jacko: I think it has a role.
I think sometimes we get too driven by the by things. You know, we have patients waking up at three in the morning to see if they're sleeping okay. Which seems
Julie Howton: I have, I have told people before, like,
you
know, because people do, they get really, you know, and I'm like, you need to just put that away and stop looking at it.
But I think some of those things
can be
helpful, whether it's an app on the phone, you know, if you're somebody who, which always amazes me. I encounter this a lot though. People who don't drink water. Right. Like it's just not, it's so interesting to me that like, it's almost like
that, you know, either someone's
a good water drinker or they're not.
Um, and just for creating the new habit, not relying on
Dr. Joe Jacko: correct. That's a good way. I think it's helpful in those early stages, and it's similar to what I tell patients about eating. We, when we eat, we're always converting things back into calories. And it's, I would say it's gotta be more like learning a language. At some point when you learn a language, you gotta quit translating it back into English.
You just have to appreciate what that language means in that language. So when you look at a plate of food, you just have to appreciate this is a healthy meal. I got it in a good balance of fats, uh, meats, protein and carbs
Julie Howton: I love that food is nourishment and, and it
is.
Kind of sad that somewhere along the way we lost touch with that in day-to-day life, at least in this country. And, and so, you know, shifting that, thinking back to like you just said, like,
you
know, really what's on your plate as nourishing your body and, and, you know, uh, um, and whole real
food,
is a whole nother
Dr. Joe Jacko: Ah, correct. It's, uh, yeah, too much processed food in our diets.
Julie Howton: Yeah. So, but it's all, you know, we're, we're shifting and,
and, so, um, hopefully
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, when I see, I see patients being more aware of those things than maybe prior generations or even my generation. When I played sports, we weren't even supposed to strength train 'cause the thought was, would muscle bound you? And there was no discussion on pre-game meals or post-workout, nutrition or anything.
Julie Howton: They used to do that. I remember like the spaghetti dinner for the,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah. exactly. That's, that's what we had.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Well, we're, we're not too dissimilar in age. but even back then though, even though, they didn't know as much and the focus was a little different.
The, there was more real food. Even if it wasn't the best choices, it
was at least
made from real ingredients.
Um, and I, I think that that's. you know, that's a whole nother, that should be a, a part two book. 'cause I believe it really is all connected
to this,
you know, business of medicine being driven by pharmaceutical company model to me the same.
It's
inter,
it's like the
body, right? It's interconnected with the food system.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Very much so. And, and some of it has to do with just the way we live life. many times people don't have time to make a home homemade meal and we're relying on restaurants
Julie Howton: Yeah. And then I hear,
I don't have, it. I can't afford to, you know, get pastured meat and I'm like, wait a minute, you spend 10 bucks on something they call coffee every morning. That's not coffee. You know,
Dr. Joe Jacko: if
you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to get it.
Julie Howton: yes,
it's
true.
That is, that is
very true.
I've heard you talk, I wanna touch on,
and then
we're gonna dive a little deeper into the book. But, but, um, I've heard you discuss the importance of purpose in wellness and, and, um, I think it's really under discussed in medicine. what to share with listeners, you know, what you've seen in your years of practice.
Um, about sometimes.
We, we
look at a lab report, you know, we're, we're looking for the answer on a lab value. And, and I feel like purpose is, is often can be that that driver of somebody getting well or staying
well.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, when you have a structure, so I would say you have to know what you're willing to live for and, and to some degree you have to know what you're willing to die for. We sometimes don't talk about that, but I've, among my patients, I've seen those who are, have a very strong purpose. And it doesn't have to be anything earth shattering or, or game change.
Yeah. You don't have to save the world or the whales, but you, you do have to have some reason to get up in the morning. And it could be some, I remember, I recall gentlemen, uh. Gosh, back in the 1990s, he was overweight, had high blood pressure, but he had a manufacturing plant and employed 200 people and he would walk about four miles a day.
And just the fact that he had 200 people relying on him gave him a very strong sense of purpose. And in my opinion, if, if, uh, outweighs some of his bad numbers, if you will, habits,
and then you see people who, they retire and then in 30 days they die.
Julie Howton: Yeah, yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: One of 'em was a, a famous coach for the Alba, Alabama, mayor Bryant.
He retired and I think 30 days later he, he died. so you have to have a strong sense of purpose.
And
with that, I,
I just think when it helps you to get up in the morning, you, you're energetic. You can't wait for the day to begin. And all that spills over into other parts of
Julie Howton: Absolutely. Uh,
do you feel
that purpose. Can change throughout life, like you said, like not everybody has that. I'm gonna save the whales, you know?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Oh, for
sure. Um, are you familiar with old Earl Nightingale? He was
A A personality in 1950s. He discusses that, uh, he kind of breaks people into two parts. He goes, there's the goal oriented person, and then there's the, the river or the stream person. And that's the person who, the river person's, a person who had a very young age, knows what they're supposed to do.
They immersed their life in it. You could not imagine them doing anything else. And then there's, and I would say I'm probably a goal oriented person. You have a goal, you achieve it, you do something else, you achieve it. But at some point, all those experiences kind of point
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: thing. And for me, I think all my experiences in medicine.
Probably enable me to, to write the, the book. 'cause I have maybe a broader spectrum. I see. I've worked with surgeons. I see how they think I was in preventive medicine. I see how they think I did the sick care model. I see how they think. And so I think all those experiences just, you know, kind of open up,
Julie Howton: shape us, right? Yeah.
Yeah.
so I, we, and, and I, I do think it's important for people to, I mean, as a health coach,
I need,
we need to tap into purpose. To create change. Right. Because Some change is not always fun and it's not always easy. And so, um, if somebody has to, has to
find
their why if they're not in touch with
it,
Um, yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Change. I, and you may disagree. I, I think people have to change themselves, but they can do that by having someone like you bring some awareness to the situation
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and maybe ask them some probing questions that kind of gets them to reflect and look at their life. And it's, you know, get 'em going in a, a direction that's healthy for
Julie Howton: Absolutely. Absolutely. But
the
just, you know, I want, I wanna feel better
It, like
it, it needs to be a little deeper than that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah. So we, so if a patient comes to us, we, we will ask 'em, what are your goals? What, what do you wanna accomplish? And, you know, weight loss, well, I'll say, well, how much weight do you wanna lose? You know, it has to be, as you know, it has to be specific.
It's nice to tie a timeframe to it. I wanna lose 15 pounds in three months, that those persons are more likely to achieve that than the person's death
Julie Howton: Sure, sure. Yeah. Or I just wanna feel
better
or, Yeah. What are, uh, I would love for you to share with us some of the big, and I know there's a lot, um, a a lot of ahas the book.
Um. But I, I
want you to share Yeah, like if you could share three things with listeners, you know, to inspire them to go get the
book.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Okay. There's probably three or four points that I, I try to really hit home one. Number one, patients are only getting about half the information they need to make the best decision And a lot of that has to do with the way particularly drug studies are, are couched. for instance, if you hear that a drug will lower your risk of heart.
Heart, uh, heart attack by 33%. That's pretty impressive. What you're not told is that it takes a hundred people to be on that medication for five years for one person to avoid the heart attack.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: So that's, so you get to have truth. Um, I also make the point that medical science is different than, say, physics or math, where there's one, one right answer.
A lot of the medical literature contradicts itself. And, uh, so you have to, uh, take that into account. also, there's al also a. A profit or a financial, uh, agenda behind some of the studies. Certainly in my opinion, the pharmaceutical company would love you to be on every medication possible for as long as possible.
Um, I also make the point that, this concept of evidence-based medicine is, has flaws and my opinion. The medical establishment kind of picks and choose when it's gonna follow it. And then I also raised a question, how much does medicine really benefit? it really doesn't add that much to longevity, although it certainly improves quality of life.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And most of the, the increased in lifespan is more related to clean water, sanitation, use of antibiotics for infectious disease, and really less so than interventions on our part.
Julie Howton: I mean the, I always say, you know, God forbid I need emergency surgery. I'm going to a Western trained surgeon.
Like it. It's like you said, it's a great for
acute.
sick care and I, I think so much of our, this chronic illness epidemic that we're in now. Is because we have gotten so far away from how our, how we
were created
to live. You know, we were talking about sitting, standing, moving earlier, right? Like it, all the things, food isn't food, the toxin load.
And it's, it's this whole, whole bundle. And it is interesting having, 'cause our, our clinic is also focused on longevity. Um, and, and things that work. A do, increase quality of life. You know, and I, I talk about health span, like I got, maybe it's because my, my maternal grandmother
is the,
the only relative I have that lived a long life.
But, but the last 10, 15 years of her life, she wasn't really, she was.
Physically a alive,
you know, alive. But she didn't participate in life. She,
it
was not good. And so
I'm like,
no, I don't, I don't wanna
be
here. I don't need that extra 10, 15 years
of just laying
in my bed. That's horrible. Um, and so the, the health span
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct. In the book I, I talked about briefly about the Blue Zones.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: You know, for the listeners, these are pockets throughout the, the globe where people live, uh, over 90 and some of 'em are over a hundred and it's basically all lifestyle. And what's interesting, they know very little ab little about science, but they're living longer.
So
Julie Howton: right.
Dr. Joe Jacko: you,
there's a lot of it's die, A lot of it's activity. They're not exercising per se, but they're just active throughout the day.
Julie Howton: Right. And,
And, which I think is, is really important for, you know, again, back to that, how have people lived for, that's what's special about the Blue Zones is they're still living.
They have purpose, they have community, they have the movement, they have the real food. They, they have all those, all those innate
supporters
of health
Dr. Joe Jacko: and they, they, view the elderly as wise.
Sages
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: can still contribute and that they can still listen or learn from,
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and we tend to discard the elderly
at
Julie Howton: Right. And I, I think that, that, I think that back to
when you
were talking about the, the, you know, retirement. Right. I, I think having, having a society where elders are revered and have something to contribute gives them. Purpose.
right?
So they have continued purpose throughout their life. And, and so no wonder they live longer.
Like it just, and, but more importantly, better, you know, um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: And they're, they appear to be living a slower pace of life. We're, we're all guilty of it. We're all in this treadmill, and for some of us, their treadmill's really going nowhere.
Julie Howton: Yeah, absolutely. So. The concept of, you talked about the concept of e evidence-based medicine.
Um,
so
it, it
just made me think of a, a pet peeve of hours is the, the terminology, um, standard of care. Can we talk a little bit about, I'm just making assumptions now that you're on the same page with me. Um, there, you know, what is, how do you think about when you hear standard of care?
Dr. Joe Jacko: what the standard of care. Part is based on expert opinion and based scientific studies. Okay? Now if you read,
there's a Canadian physician, physician by the name of DA David Sackett. He's kind of considered the father and he would say it's not to be cookbook medicine. It doesn't take away the patient's choice.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: It's basically, you look at the highest level of evidence that applies to and, but we, we have kind of gotten away from the original meaning of that term of evidence-based medicine. And then here in the United States, it's really become very much cookbook medicine.
It really matters very little who you see.
If you're seeing an employed physician by a hospital system, you're gonna get the, the same advice most likely. Which was very different than years ago when physicians had different opinions. And as you, as a patient, you would gravitate to someone that was aligned with your, your thinking.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and I also think it's a control mechanism.
Julie Howton: Yeah, absolutely.
Well, and and
I like, we think. To, to me, when I like standard of care, I, I believe at this point, and, and I know it evolved, um, is really driven by insurance companies. And I don't want a, an insurance company making my medical
decisions where if
something is, 'cause you, you practice some regenerative medicine, longevity medicine, things that are out of that Box. Or, and it's like, well, we don't want standard of care. We want better
than standard
of care. We want personalized precision, precision medicine,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Which is what we're supposed to be doing. But in reality, we are pop. We are practicing population based and we're doing it because the insurance companies, they're hedging their bets,
so they don't mind paying for a medication, even if 99 people don't benefit from it.
It's less expensive as long as one person benefits and avoids that heart So we're putting everybody on medications. Few will benefit, but at the same time, the insurance companies save money approach.
Julie Howton: Gotcha.
Dr. Joe Jacko: so I think that is part of what drives this use of voter over prescribing medications.
Julie Howton: Gotcha. Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. I wanna touch on, you talked about, because I.
I look at your book as, as empowering for people, right? It's about empowering patients.
Giving them perhaps a, a different perspective. I think a lot of people, um, will, will come away with a different perspective perhaps than, than they had before they read the book. You, but you, you talked about patients making informed
decisions.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Mm-hmm.
Julie Howton: Um. let's talk a little bit more about tips you may have for patients to advocate for themselves, because I, I still see, I work with so many people who just. Do, you know, do what the doctor said. And it's not a conversation. And they, they aren't, they don't feel like they're getting options. I've had patients with, you know, Crohn's fired by their GI doctors for, 'cause they won't take the medication and they wanna try a lifestyle approach first.
Like
Dr. Joe Jacko: So I was al always thought and, and taught that it's really a partnership between the doctor and the patient. We have gotten away from that.
And it's, I'm the doctor, you're the patient. You're gonna do what I tell So though more and more patients are finding that increasingly frustrating. Now as a patient, you may not realize it, but you have access to all the medical information that I have Now, you may not understand it, but you could at least access it. And, uh, if you have something and you have a question about it, take it in to your doctor and ask them to clarify some things. But I would always encourage you to do your own research, uh, particularly on the major You're right, doctors, if they are challenged, they don't want to be challenged, and they get offended by that.
So you have to find, you know, kind of a polite way of bringing up some of these topics. Um, it's true that they will fire you if they perceive you as
now
Julie Howton: which to me means it wasn't a good match
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct. Correct.
Julie Howton: Like,
Dr. Joe Jacko: So, you know, all, all the physicians are traditionally or conventionally trained. I don't know what the numbers are there.
Maybe two to 5% of us are willing to go outside that box. So I would encourage patients to look for someone that has gone outside the box. Now, what that means is they still have all the traditional, conventional means, but they've added things to that, whether it be acupuncture, nutrition, diet they've added, they have more tools in their toolbox to, to treat you.
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: if you
Julie Howton: and you can find that within often and sometimes not, but you know, not everybody can step out of the insurance based system, but there are plenty of open-minded, even if they're not guiding you, you just need a, a physician who will work with you
Dr. Joe Jacko: and you could, you could do both. You could still have your insurance based physician and go outside of the system for select things. One, probably the most common one would be hormone replacement therapy.
Surprisingly, that's really not taught in conventional medicine.
Julie Howton: Yes.
Dr. Joe Jacko: so that's, that's probably the most common area where you can go outside, you can look, go on the internet, look for functional medicine and anti-aging medicine, what have you, and you can find physician directories or find a physician in your area that, has some additional training.
Julie Howton: Yeah,
Dr. Joe Jacko: The other thing is you. You just wanna spend your, use your insurance, you're gonna have limited options 'cause you're only gonna get what the insurance companies will cover. So there may be times where you have to be willing to, to pay out of pocket and that's a big resistance to for many patients. So my current model, we have, uh, it's cash and we have a membership model.
And I have some wealthy patients from the prior practice and, and they can afford what our services, but they just want to use their insurance and.
Julie Howton: I, we, we experience the same.
It, it's interesting. It's for us, you know, where we're located, is geographically a little different. Um, but we've got ranchers, farmers, teachers, we've got people that, that there's a, a pastor from Nicaragua who will bring parishioners. those are the people that are willing. To, and, and, and yes, we have a blend also of people who don't blink to pay for, but, but often, uh, just our experience is very similar, that it's often the people who can totally
afford it.
That's not the barrier. Um, you know, it's mindset.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Some of our patients, they, they're in their trades and, you know, once they get to 50, they start breaking down. So they, they embrace our model more so than some of, and, and sometimes, you know, they have to really maybe struggle to, to afford what we do. Uh, but they're more, they're more, right. They're driven by their purpose.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: The other people that appeal the model appeals to are the young entrepreneurs.
Julie Howton: Yes. Well, and I, I do think, which is exciting for me, like my kids are all in their twenties it, it's fun to see that I, I feel like we're, you know, bigger numbers in, in the younger
entrepreneurial sector of,
you know, people like, and I think it's because they've, some of them have watched the breakdown in their own
family members. Um, and entrepreneurs tend to be self thinkers. and so,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I that, I like those
Julie Howton: Yeah, I,
and I think that that is who's drawn to, uh,
you know,
I'll call it wellness medicine, which is really what it is.
You.
Dr. Joe Jacko: correct. Yeah, the term wellness, sometimes a little hard to, We use it so often. Sometimes it's hard to know it, means. uh, yeah, pat, I like patients who, who, who like to think they look at things more from, I would say a common sense approach. and very few doctors do that. We're just so, we've got the blinders on most of the time and we're just and sometimes I learned a lot of things from patients
Julie Howton: yeah, it's, it's fun when patients come in with a question that you're like, I don't know. Let me research that. And, but I I think even within
the, you know, insurance-based
system. To me, it's a red flag if a doctor won't have a conversation with you about something, you know, even if it's out of their typical box.
Um, I, I remember when I first found out about functional medicine and, and was just starting to, to heal from some of my autoimmune struggles. Had had a ways to go but was got the needle moving a little bit. My, my physician was, I, I told her, I said, I'm, I am gonna look for a functional medicine doc and all the things, and, and she was like, you know, please share what you learn.
Like she was great.
You know, um, very open and that's
where I, I really,
I get frustrated. Um, but then, like you said, it's a relationship, it's a partnership. And
so
I, I, I would love to see the day when patients feel truly empowered. To say, you know, that approach doesn't, doesn't feel right for me.
Dr. Joe Jacko: not, well. Two or three weeks ago, I had a patient she wanted to start hormone replacement. Her GYN looked like two doors down from her.
They've been friends she just really got mad at her consider that. Then, so she saw her primary care physician who was okay with it, just didn't feel comfortable doing it.
Julie Howton: Well,
thank goodness.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, and that's good. You need to know what. Exactly, but she was open to it and then somehow she gravitated to, to our practice. but you have two examples there. You have the, the physician who's somewhat open-minded, her her primary care. Then you have the GYN that was totally closed-minded.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and mine I, I had, I've talked about it on the podcast before I, it's been five years Um, I had a hysterectomy with ectomy
and when
I came in for my follow up, the gynecologist from surgery, the gynecologist said, well, you stopped your progesterone, right? 'cause you don't have a uterus anymore.
And I'm like, so you want
me on unopposed, estrogen,
Like, uh uh, And I just was
like.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah,
That, that, that's a,
Julie Howton: doing an amazing job with the surgery.
Dr. Joe Jacko: that's a common,
Julie Howton: when they
just say, I don't, you know, I don't do that. And patients just find the right person.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, that your story is real common among the GYNs when a woman no longer has her uterus. Ah, you don't need progesterone.
Julie Howton: And I'm like, but I have a brain and a heart and all these other organs. You know, I would like to keep healthy, you know?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah. The way I got into the hormone, it was probably about 2008, I was doing more sports medicine. I'd had a 6-year-old gentleman come in, I was treating his knee, and at the end of the visit he goes, Hey doc, uh, why is it okay for women to get hormone replaced, but, but not men?
And I said, well, you know, that's a good question. I really don't know. And then that, that led me to, to start research it. Yeah. And that, and then I ended up doing it myself. So.
Julie Howton: Yeah. Which is amazing. And that's how my husband got into it wasn't called functional medicine then. It was his family medicine practice.
And, and knew again, had
to be a
better approach. And, um. you know,
that was, but that was when hormones were
fringe.
yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: But we're getting there. Things are changing. I mean, with all the other health professionals, the naturopaths, the acupuncturists, acupuncturists, and just the internet, people are being ex exposed to more of these other health professionals. So I think it's gonna lead to a more integrative approach.
Julie Howton: absolutely.
Dr. Joe Jacko: but I think for physicians, you know, we talked about what the patients can do. Physicians I think would be wise to consider getting outside the insurance model Now. Very difficult to do and I, you know, I'm sure your husband's probably said but it, it's not easy
Julie Howton: long time ago.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Okay.
Julie Howton: Well, what he
found
was, what he did was he sold his practice and
started.
fresh and he had people that that followed. But what he found was it was difficult to change model within That existing practice, and it just seemed easier to, to just start over. Um, and, and so, you know, but I, I think it, you know, goes back to purpose and values and, and like you said, the, the self thinkers, the questioners as far as prioritizing, like where do we spend our dollars, um, and how much money Declining as
you age
gonna cost you versus finding the right physician and, and prioritizing good healthcare.
Dr. Joe Jacko: So,
you know, if economic or if economic, economic production is creating value by way of a product or a service, when we, when we go look at our chronic disease management, we're really not creating
Julie Howton: right.
Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: do, we do so on the acute care, but not the chronic
Julie Howton: Right,
right. Which is, again, I think that, and that was what the system was, was definitely
created for,
Um,
Dr. Joe Jacko: I
would, uh, for a young physician to come out training you, you're, you're used to kind of being poor. I would just say
go into a, a, a more of a membership model right out the start.
Julie Howton: Yeah,
That, that's the, the wisdom from your pers perspective. Now, I'm not calling you old, by the way. I didn't
mean it that way.
Dr. Joe Jacko: No, 35 years of wisdom on in one sentence there.
Julie Howton: It is. It is amazing.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Unfortunate
thing, physicians are getting frustrated and they're leaving. Unless the system changes, it's gonna be bad for all of us. One.
Julie Howton: and I, I think, you know, there's, it always needs to be kind of a critical fail for, for a system to get recreated. Um, but I have had the question of like, who would want to become, you know, who, who would wanna put themselves
through medical
school, go into all of that debt to enter the, the model as it currently is now
it's,
it's horrible.
Dr. Joe Jacko: There's
one physician online community on social media, and they did a poll. 70% of the physicians would not discourage their kids from going to medicine. And when I see it's very sad, and when I see parents, who kids are going to college, the ones that are going to medical school come from non-physician parents.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And not coming from physicians,
Julie Howton: interesting. Well, and it, it is, it's, it's just because of,
know, the, the current situation and the current model. And
I, I think
as, as more. Functional medicine grows, you know, cash practices grow. This, this other approach gets more traction. I forget 'cause you know, I work in the clinic and I, I'm surrounded in this, in this beautiful, wonderful model.
You know, and the only reminder is if I take a different route home. 'cause we kind of live in the country and. You know, it's when I take a different route home and I. I,
see all
the lines around the fast food joints and I remember like, oh yeah, I live in a bubble. we've
made
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, there, there's nothing. Right?
Julie Howton: more
more to, to gain for sure.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well, there's nothing better than being around like-minded people who love what they do. They're energetic, they're passionate. And it just spills over into everything and, and the patients sense that as well,
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Well, and they better, you know, like it, it's, again, these, the relationships are, are priceless.
I personally. From my journey into functional medicine, you know, I, that's my purpose. My passion is, is helping people take charge and really do understand, you know, I, I don't know that I'll be alive to see the day a rheumatologist tells. Somebody di newly diagnosed, you know, that, that they can heal. I'm sure there's, there are some, but in general, like I would love for nobody ever to, to be told what I
was
told, which was, you know, expected decline, we'll, we'll manage it the best we can, right?
Dr. Joe Jacko: One thing I've been using on some of my autoimmune patients is low dose naltrexone,
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and, uh, actually had a patient, she's a rheumatologist, and she was quite, uh, excited about it. She
Julie Howton: Oh,
good. See, and
that's the best is when
we, we talk about this all the time, treating other providers, right?
It's the butterfly effect because you just got buy-in, you know, and, and, and I guarantee you she'll be incorporating that into practice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, she was very, uh, the patient told me that her, the rheumatologist was very excited that someone was willing to do that.
Julie Howton: That's great. I
Dr. Joe Jacko: So we're, we are making, we're, we're
right?
We're chipping away slowly.
Julie Howton: Yeah, we're, we're getting there. So, well, I, I so appreciate it. And,
and is
Amazon the best place to find the book?
Dr. Joe Jacko: Amazon and also Barnes and Noble.
And, and then I, I do have a website. It's jacko md one eighty.com. So the 180 is, means a change in direction. And on that,
Julie Howton: smiling when I first.
checked
out your website. I was like, oh,
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, there's about 1100 articles that go back about 12, 13 years and probably an article roughly every five days.
Julie Howton: Amazing. It's
amazing. And you are still seeing
patients.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Still see patients halftime.
Julie Howton: Okay,
Nice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and that's, uh, so, so our practice webs, um, yeah. Website is, uh, we are the armory.com and that's A-R-M-O-R-Y.
Julie Howton: Nice.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Sounds like a military thing, but, but we have a, a medical clinic. A fitness center. We have a sports development center. A recovery center,
Julie Howton: Great. That's,
Dr. Joe Jacko: yeah. hopefully one stop shopping.
Julie Howton: I love it. I love it. I think that we should have those everywhere.
I really do. I, I think that that's, it's part of the solution for sure. Um, listeners are trained to lean in at this point
Because
they want your tip for one thing that they can do starting today to improve their health.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well
Julie Howton: it's 35 years. Come
on, you've learned. So you
got something for us.
Dr. Joe Jacko: focus on eating properly. And do your research
Julie Howton: I know.
at one.
Dr. Joe Jacko: your ins. Trust your instincts too
Julie Howton: Oh, that, that all,
all
really, really amazing. So, and, and I would, I'll, I'll even reverse it. Trust your instincts First.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Yeah, I agree. Now, now that I said it, I agree with
you.
Julie Howton: I
think so much
of it.
Have you seen this in practice? Um, women, and it may, it may even go
back
to that, doctors know all.
Kind of mentality that we were raised with. Sorry if I just let the secret out
of the
bag. Um, that doctors are human too, but women are taught to be polite and I, I feel like so many women that I work with, you know, part of their illness journey has been not trusting their instincts and not, you know, 'cause sometimes it's not polite.
To, do you, do you
find
a difference in your, like male versus female patients or not so
much?
Dr. Joe Jacko: I would agree with what, what you say. I think on one hand everybody understands their body, but women are more in tune to their body and than men are, per se.
And I think what women are sometimes feel, um, they may be embarrassed or don't wanna bring up 'cause they're gonna be shot down by the doctor. You know, it's, it's all in your head, not real. Don't. Yeah.
Julie Howton: Yeah. I think, I think trusting your instincts is.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Well.
Julie Howton: gold.
I mean, really. And, and it's, it sounds so easy to say it, it takes relearning sometimes for people that have, have kind of pushed that down.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Right. And for women, they have raising kids, they have to, there's a lot of instinctive,
uh, habits or actions that go into that. So I think there's just an intuition that women have that maybe men don't have.
Julie Howton: Or they're
not tapped in.
Dr. Joe Jacko: or tapped into. Yeah. No, I agree with that. I, I had a lady just yesterday, maybe two days ago, who really had a lot of good questions and she was just getting really frustrated 'cause she kept running into a brick wall with the, the traditional doctors.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: and
almost everything she said she wanted to do. I agreed with completely. I said, yeah, I think you're, you're on the
Julie Howton: spot on.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Spot on, right.
Julie Howton: Yeah. I love it. Well, and that's why we do what we do. So it's, it's wonderful and sometimes it takes that level of frustration for people to then go find, know, the right provider.
So I'm glad she found you.
Dr. Joe Jacko: If you search, you will find
Julie Howton: uh, yep. And I bet she slept a lot better because she felt heard.
Dr. Joe Jacko: she looked a lot more comfortable leaving the office than what she did when she came in.
Julie Howton: Amazing. So I'm gonna, once again, the book is Bamboozled, duped and Hoodwinked, keys to Escaping The Tricks, deceptions and Half Drews of the medical industry.
And it is an Um, it's a great read. It's, it's really, There, it gives, gives you a lot to think about. Um, and I think you do a really good job. 'cause again, it's, you're, it's research phase. It, it sounds, you know, there's a lot of passion in the title. Um, but you, back it up and I, I know, um, as you started to research for the book, it just kind of reinforced the need for
you
to write the book.
Dr. Joe Jacko: Correct.
Julie Howton: Yeah.
Dr. Joe Jacko: And as you uncovered these things, it's like, do I keep this to myself or do I have an obligation? I, and I felt, I felt the obligation.
Julie Howton: Well, we're, we're glad you did, and I appreciate your time and your wisdom and, and encourage listeners to, to check out the book. And Amazon gives you like a nice, if you know, like you can preview some of it too, if.
If people are a little like, I don't um, I would say
for sure check it
out. I think that the way we're gonna change.
The, the state of illness in our country is for people to be educated about what's, what has been driving medicine and, and how we can do it differently. So, so I really, really appreciate it.
Dr. Joe Jacko: you. Thank you, Julie. I appreciate it.
Julie Howton: For everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting Inspired Living Show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
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My Guest For This Episode
My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Joseph G. Jacko, MD
Joseph G. Jacko, MD
Dr. Joe Jacko is a physician specializing in internal medicine, sports and regenerative medicine, preventive medicine, and longevity science. He is the author of Bamboozled, Duped, and Hoodwinked: Keys to Escaping the Tricks, Deceptions, and Half-Truths of the Medical Industry, a guide that empowers readers to navigate corruption and misinformation in healthcare. With expertise in sports injuries, hormone replacement therapy, peptide therapy and functional health strategies, Dr. Jacko helps individuals achieve optimal health and vitality beyond the limits of conventional medicine.
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