LECTURES
Dr. Allen gives lectures three to four times a year at the Santa Monica Public Library in Santa Monica, CA, on various topics from the cutting edge of integrative medicine.
His most recent lecture was “Design Your Blueprint for Health in 2016”, where he discussed some of the most important components of how to create a health and wellness plan that will lead to optimal vitality. Among the areas highlighted were:
- Controlling hidden infections and inflammatory processes in the body
- The importance of a carefully-targeted nutritional supplement program
- The absolutely crucial role of adequate sleep on a regular basis
- Finding ways to control the negative stresses encountered in life
- The importance of daily exercise, varied in type (cardio/flexibility/resistance) but NOT overdone
- Balance in the HPA axis: hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
- Becoming aware of what an extremely toxic world we live in, and developing personal strategies for mitigating as many toxins as possible
- Learning about what “xenobiotics” are: chemicals or substances that once inside the body act as “endocrine disruptors”, mimicking the effects of hormones, and disrupting the normal functioning of our highly sophisticated and intricately balanced endocrine system
- The important role of detoxification in maintaining optimal health, and how we can help our bodies rid themselves of the dangerous chemicals and substances that we are constantly exposed to
He was joined for this lecture by noted LA-based integrative nutritionist and wellness coach Marlyn Diaz, CN, who outlined ways we can approach our diet that will promote optimal wellness. A key point made was the importance of cultivating a sense of mindfulness around food, avoiding fad diets and deprivation: we should always be enjoying delicious meals and snacks made from simple, clean and whole ingredients. Eating should be a pleasure, not a source of denial, guilt or unhappiness!
For more information about Ms. Diaz, please check out her website http://www.marlyndiaz.com.
His previous lecture “Living In The Nexus: The Hidden Dangers of Wi-Fi, Cellphones, EMFs and Radiation” was the third in a series of lectures concerning the dangers of the polluted and toxic environment that nearly all of us live in.
Having previously discussed the chemical overload found in our homes, and in our air, food and water, Dr. Allen outlined the potential harmful effects of exposure to Wi-Fi, electromagnetic frequencies, cellphones, and other forms of radiation, all of which form an invisible, powerful and omnipresent “nexus” in the background of our modern world. The discussion included specific, actionable strategies for protecting oneself from these dangers, and ways to preserve health and vitality now and in the future.
His previous lecture on Detoxification, “How To Design a Toxin-Free Lifestyle”, focused on chemical toxins in our food, water and surrounding environment. During the course of the lecture he presented some key strategies for safeguarding your health from allergies and other autoimmune illnesses, chronic degenerative diseases, and even cancer. Joining him for the evening was noted LA-based integrative nutritionist Marlyn Diaz, CN, who discussed some simple but very important steps each of us can take to begin cleaning up our diets and living more consciously and healthfully.
Dr. Allen’s first lecture on this subject was “Detoxification: Maintaining Your Body’s Equilibrium in Today’s World”, held in October 2014.
Detoxification is a primary part of health maintenance, as our modern world and our lifestyles often expose us to a vast assortment of chemicals in the air we breathe, in our water and food, and in the products and materials we use on an everyday basis. We are also living in a vast nexus of electromagnetic frequencies and radiation from countless sources around us, which are beginning to be implicated as causative factors in many illnesses.
Faced with this onslaught, the body’s mechanisms for detoxifying often get overwhelmed, and we can feel sluggish, have problems with our immune systems, and even begin to develop some of the chronic degenerative diseases that are epidemic today.
A regular, consistent and safe program of healthy detoxification is crucial if we are to achieve a long and healthy life. During this fun and informative evening, Dr. Allen discussed the body’s main mechanisms for detoxifying itself and showed how you can safely and sanely use his detox protocol to help maintain your body’s equilibrium in the challenging environmental conditions we all live in.
He also recently co-hosted a workshop at the prestigious Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, with internationally-renowned yoga expert Larry Payne, Ph.D., founder of the groundbreaking Yoga Therapy Rx program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Dr. Allen also recently lectured on “Understanding Your Genetics”.
The most exciting frontier of medicine is currently being explored in the rapidly expanding field of human genetics. In his lecture, Dr. Allen introduced the cutting-edge area of “epigenetics”, or how your genetics and lifestyle are intimately linked together. We tend to think that our genes are our “destiny”, but emerging research is showing that the interplay between our genes, environmental factors and our lifestyles is complex and fluid, and possibly quite a bit more under our control than previously thought.
He discussed how each of us can learn more about our individual genetic makeup, through simple, low-cost genetic testing that is now available. The results of this testing can be used to understand our potential vulnerabilities, so that strategies can then be developed to protect optimal health now and in the future.
Dr. Allen also introduced the concept of the all-important methylation cycle, one of our body’s most crucial biochemical processes, and the profound effects dysregulated methylation can have on our health (or lack thereof). Genetic abnormalities in methylation are beginning to be implicated in a wide variety of disorders such as depression, autism, anxiety, and fatigue/lack of energy, to name just a few, as well as in a decreased ability for the body to detoxify itself, which can then often lead to many kinds of serious illness.
PAST LECTURES
Other recent lecture topics have included the following:
Achieving Optimal Sexual Wellness
We are surrounded by sexual imagery and messages in almost every part of our hypersexualized society, creating the assumption that everyone is perpetually fixated on sex, and ought to be having a lot of great sex all the time. The truth is, however, that a great many men and women find they are actually experiencing varying degrees of dysfunction in this most intimate and vital part of their lives, in addition to becoming aware that the human sexual drive exists on a vast, complicated continuum that waxes and wanes through one’s lifetime. When dysfunction is perceived to be occurring, however, it can run the gamut from such problems as lack of libido and disinterest in sex, to erectile dysfunction/performance issues in men, to inability to orgasm/lack of lubrication in women, or, on the other end of the spectrum, to a compulsive and joyless “sex addiction”, in both men and women.
One Hundred Years of Health: Avoid the Chronic Disease Trap and Enjoy the Rest of Your Life”.
Advances in anti-aging and longevity medicine are currently happening at an unprecedented rate. Though aging and our eventual mortality are inevitable, it is no longer a given that our later years will be defined by disease and disability. Dr. Allen discussed some of the latest, cutting-edge advances in longevity medicine, including the following:
- new developments in cardiovascular and brain health
- the importance of carefully individualized bioidentical hormone replacement
- the optimal diet/nutritional supplementation protocol for healthy and vibrant aging
- the role of exercise in maintaining physical, mental and emotional health as we age
He also discussed some of the new genetic testing, available in his office, that can detect weaknesses that may predispose you to developing one or more serious illnesses. Once these mutations are identified, intervention can be made at an early stage, which can then prevent or at least lessen the severity of these conditions should they develop.
“Live Your Best Life Now, Part Two”, the second in a series which addressed how to create the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual synergy that allows for optimal wellness and longevity. Dr. Allen was joined by Gary Kobat, noted athletic trainer, elite athlete and integrative performance coach.
“Becoming Your Best You” featured lecture on the Ebell of Los Angeles’s lecture series. The Ebell is one of LA’s oldest and most prestigious educational and philanthropic women’s organizations. His lecture focused on the latest research and information in the all-important areas of hormones and anti-aging.
“Your Brain, Your Heart and Your Joints”, Esalen Institute in Big Sur, part of a weekend workshop co-hosted by Larry Payne, Ph.D, an internationally-renowned yoga expert and founder of the Yoga Therapy Rx program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
“Live Your Best Life Now”, first in a series co-hosted by special guest, Gary Kobat, who is a well-known physical trainer, elite athlete and integrative performance coach. Their lecture was the first talk in a series examining ways that each of us can identify and begin to achieve our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual goals. Beginning with some of the physical aspects of optimal health, this lecture covered several important topics such as diet and longevity; the role of telomeres in human aging; key aspects of cellular energy production; inflammation and its role in chronic degenerative diseases; optimal eating for cardiovascular health; and the importance of the right kinds and right amount of exercise for optimal wellness and longevity.
Some of Dr. Allen’s other past lecture topics have included:
“Environmental Toxicity and Its Impacts on Your Health”
“Integrative Approaches to Stress, Anxiety and Depression”
“Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Allergies”
“Keeping Your Heart Healthy”
“A New Year, A New You”
“Achieving and Maintaining Optimal Brain Health”
Dr. Allen Interview: Santa Monica City TV
Autism in the South Bay: David Allen, M.D.
Past Lecture Audio Files