200: Pediatrician Dr. Bill Sears on Modern Healthy Parenting

“Most of my patients, and probably our listeners, don’t realize that you are blessed with a giant pharmacy inside. So, take care of it by what you eat, how you think, and how you move.”
-Dr. William Sears

As the father of eight children, Dr. Sears and his wife, Martha, have written more than 45 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, childcare, nutrition, and healthy aging. Dr. Sears is also the co-founder of the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute for training health coaches, and he runs the health and parenting website, AskDrSears.com. Dr. Sears shares with Dr. Barna what inspired him to become a pediatrician and eventually a successful author. He mentions what he calls the “helper’s high”, and that he realized how much of a lasting impact his teachings and advice could have on both parents and their children.

In his practice, Dr. Sears saw that children were growing, but they weren’t thriving. Many of the parents that came into his office would have concerns that their child had ADD, but the symptoms were due to a nutritional deficiency. For healthy developing brains, Dr. Sears and his wife discovered that much of the nutritional advice of the past was no longer relevant, especially when it came to healthy fats. In addition to nutrition, Dr. Sears helps parents provide tools to relax and lessen the “fear factor” that’s so prevalent today. We discuss parenting as a physician, how to shape a child’s taste buds, how Dr. Sears trains health coaches, the body’s internal pharmacy and much more.

Dr. Bill Sears has been advising parents on how to raise healthier families for over 50 years. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the world’s largest children’s hospital. While at The Hospital for Sick Children, Dr. Sears was Associate Ward Chief of the newborn intensive care unit before serving as the Chief of Pediatrics at Toronto Western Hospital, a teaching hospital at the University of Toronto. He has served as a voluntary professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, the University of South Carolina, the University of Southern California’s School of Medicine, and the University of California Irvine. 

What’s Inside:

• What inspired Dr. Sears to become a pediatrician and author.
• Why do children need a “smart fat” diet and “grow foods”.
• Dr. Sears’ experience with physicians as parents.
• How a child’s tastebuds are shaped.
• How Dr. Sears trains health coaches.
• The body’s internal pharmacy and how it works.

Mentioned In This Episode:
AskDrSears.com

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