How to Boost Your Child's Brain Health with Dr. Hokehe Eko

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I am joined by Hokehe Eko MD, MPH, FAAP to talk about her unique approach to pediatric care, blending conventional and complementary medicine to treat children with ADHD and autism. Dr. Eko shares her inspiring personal journey, discusses the importance of brain health, and offers insights on holistic practices that support the overall well-being of children and their families.

Dr. Hokehe Eko is an Integrative Pediatrician who specializes in ADHD and Autism. She collaborates with parents to empower them in enhancing their child's overall health by addressing underlying issues such as constipation, picky eating, and poor sleep, which contribute to behavioral problems. Her approach is designed to help the entire family thrive.

Her favorite health tips:
- "When you fall in love with the health of your brain, your life changes."
- "You are not stuck with the brain you have, your brain can improve."
- "Food is medicine, we are what we eat."

0:28 - Introduction of Guests
1:00 - Dr. Eko's Approach
2:07 - Educational Background
2:56 - Personal Motivation
8:03 - Brain Health in Children
12:04 - Nutrition and Brain Function
14:16 - Holistic Health Approaches
19:54 - Non-Traditional Treatments for Constipation
22:36 - Parental Guidance and Support
25:07 - Family and Community Impact

Connect with Dr. Eko
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/drhokeheeko
Website: www.glowpediatrics.com

Connect with Dr. Reller
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamily
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy Website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwaterallergy/home

Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, iheartradio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.

Transcript

Kerry: 0:28

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller. And today we have a very special guest, Dr. Hokehe Eko. Welcome to the podcast.

Hokehe: 0:39

Thank you, Dr. Reller. Such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

Kerry: 0:44

We're very excited to have you. We would like to have you back in person because as you will, I guess, hopefully introduce yourself and tell us about who you are and what you do, we'll see why you were in Tampa Bay during your training. But anyway, who are you? What do you do? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hokehe: 1:00

Okay, wonderful. So I'm a board certified pediatrician, integrative trained. And what does that mean? That simply means I combine conventional medicine and evidence based complementary medicine so that I'm looking at the whole child from the inside out. So I'm an integrative pediatrician who specializes in taking care of children with ADHD and autism. I do medical diagnosis for ADHD and autism as well as ongoing care for them, because this population of children are often overlooked and I want to be able to give them the best care so that they can thrive and not just them, but the entire family, because I believe as a pediatrician, my job really is to help the whole family thrive by taking best care I can of the children. And what else do I do? I'm a podcast host. It's called Brainpower with Dr. Eko. I also run a nonprofit for foster children. That's called Kids of Hope. I'm a mom of three kids. I'm a mommy of three kids that keep me on my toes and keep me running around and yeah, I'm so happy to be here. So, thank you.

Kerry: 2:07

Yeah, I was reading a lot about you and you are very impressive with everything that you've done. And one thing I wanted to point out since it's the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast is that you did training at USF, right at University of South Florida in Tampa. And I know you said you haven't been back, so you'll have to come back and visit us at some point

Hokehe: 2:24

I will, I actually plan to come back this year. I have a really good friend there. So then I'm going to have to, now I have two good friends there.

Kerry: 2:32

Yes, exactly. Yeah, we'll have to have you back

Hokehe: 2:35

Yeah. Yeah. I had a really good time at USF. I did a master's in public health in tropical diseases and that it was a blast. So yeah, I definitely enjoyed my time there.

Kerry: 2:44

that's neat. I didn't know they had that. How did you get into doing what you do then? Like if you were going through a master's in public health, how did you get into what you're doing now with ADHD and autism?

Hokehe: 2:56

okay, great question. So I did my bachelor's then I came to USF for my master's and then I went to medical school. So I became a pediatrician and been one for the last 11 years. And then I have a brain story. So I'll tell you that quickly. When I was a junior in college, I was in two car accidents exactly six months apart. And after that, I started to struggle in school and wasn't doing well. And so my parents took me to see a neuropsychologist and the doctor asked me what I wanted to do. And I told him I've wanted to be a pediatrician since I was five. Not sure how I remember that, but that's what I've grown up with saying. I'm going to be a pediatrician. And believe it or not. This lady you see here used to be that kid that needed five people to hold her down in the hospital because I was so scared of hospitals, but I said I wanted to be a pediatrician, so go figure. Anyways, so I told him that and he said to me, you are only average, you will never go to medical school, I suggest you go find something else to do. And yes, I believed him, unfortunately, and I proceeded to completely fail out of school that semester. And I was depressed, They didn't know what to do because I was like, that's the only thing I've wanted to do since forever. And then the whole, your average and all of that, I'm like, well, I was a chemi major. What do you mean I'm average? But of course I believed him anyways. But my parents didn't. So after I failed out that semester, they were like, You're going right back to college. It doesn't matter what he said. And what does he know anyways? You're going to be a doctor. And of course, so it was the thing of, They believed me. I didn't believe in myself anymore. I went back, of course, because I had to obey what my parents said. So, I went back to school. And, was it a struggle? Yes. But through that and like relearning how to learn because I hit my head both times and so I had I had some difficulty with short term memory and learning and all of that so I had to relearn how to learn but I made it so I often tell that story because A lot of us go through different things in our lives which can sink us and for kids they just need one, one adult that's gonna say yes you can, yes you can. So I'm encouraging everybody to be that one adult for a child that's in your life. In some way, shape or form, but yeah. So after that brain injury and I went on to be a pediatrician, I came across this training one day for brain health for clinicians. Do you know how you sometimes you forget memories? Like you bury memories in your head from like traumatic things. So for the longest time, I. I forgot that I had any brain injuries, And so once I saw this training, I was like, Oh my goodness, I have to do that. And then that's when I remembered the story and I was like, wait a second, aha. So this happened to me and all of that. So I did the training on brain health. And then one thing led to the next thing. And I was like, Oh, wait, there's all these kids and they have ADHD. What if I learned how to take care of them? Like really address what's going on with their brains because it's brain based. And so I dove into that. And then that's what led me to doing my TEDx talk on ADHD, which is about, we must change the way we treat children's ADHD. And to me, it's not so much about, Let's just okay these are your symptoms and here's medication. There's all these other things that influence what we see as hyperactivity, and if we never ask those questions, then we're gonna miss it. So I'm not against medicine, I'm just like, let's look at the whole child, right? So we are not missing things like lead, things like black mold that I've seen cause hyperactivity in a child. and they are not really hyperactive because once they got out of that environment, the hyperactivity disappeared. Trauma does the same thing. So I'm not saying there is no ADHD but let's ask all the questions so that we are addressing the child. Like addressing the whole child and not just the symptoms that we see that we classify as ADHD. So that's what led to that. But then I kept working and then I said, I had to quit my job because I was being harassed at my job. And so I was like, what am I going to do now? So I decided to start a practice. And I was like, what am I gonna do? And I was like, Oh, wait, I have this TEDx and this whole training on ADHD, right? So then I started taking care of children with ADHD. And then I was like, well, there's a two year waitlist in my state for the autism diagnosis. And you often hear pediatricians talk about how important it is for kids with ADHD. to get diagnosed early with things for early intervention so that we can help make changes early because zero to five is when the brain growth is so massive that whatever changes we need to make in terms of therapies we need to do it then. So, I decided to go get trained on how to do the medical diagnosis of that, and so now my practice has become doing evaluations for children with ADHD and autism and ongoing care for them. So, sorry for the long answer.

Kerry: 8:03

No, I love actually hearing this story. I think it really helps see the passion behind what everybody does and it's so important. Thank God for your parents being supportive and everything because you wouldn't be here doing these wonderful things for these people, you know, these kids now if you didn't have that support because people run across the world thing, like other people that say these terrible things, like you're not good enough, blah, blah, and it's just like crushes your mindset. So really, really having that supportive person is just so important to get through it all. And honestly, having a journey or something of your own is really, you know, another way to, I guess, connect with everybody as well. So I appreciate you sharing the story. I really, I really do.

Hokehe: 8:47

My pleasure. Yeah.

Kerry: 8:48

So I think what we wanted to kind of focus on today was, I think what you called how to boost your child's brain health. And I'm sure you're gonna tell us everything you can about that, but where should we start with that?

Hokehe: 9:01

Good. Okay, so, where I usually start with it is telling parents that, I mean, this applies to both parents and children, you're not stuck with the brain you have. Thankfully, our brains are able to repair themselves. It's something called neuroplasticity, where the brain can repair itself. And the key there is Recognizing number one, you're not stuck with the brain you have, number two, you can make changes and if you decide to look at your health from the angle of how can I make this organ, my brain, how can I make this organ function to the best of its ability, then you're more likely to do the right things for yourself because anything you do for your brain affects your whole body, right? So I'll give you some examples. What do I mean? Okay, so the brain is the organ in the body that needs the most water, right? And you hear doctors always say, drink water, drink water, drink water. Don't drink Kool Aid, drink water, right? And everybody's like, water is boring. Who wants to drink water? But when I tell like the kids I see, and the parents, Did you know that your brain needs the most water? And so if you love your brain because you want your brain to do well, and even the little, smallest kid will say, Yes, I want my brain to do well. So if we go at it from that angle, Hey, do you want your brain to do really well? And for your brain to be happy? And they're like, say yes. I'm like, okay, so you have to give your brain what it needs. Your brain needs water. It needs lots of wonderful water. So can we work on drinking one more glass today than yesterday? Okay. So if you look at it from that angle, knowing that your brain runs you, then you're more likely to give it what it needs, right? Hopefully, you will accept that, I want to feel the best I can, so I'm going to give my brain what it needs. The other thing, the other example I give is, Oxygen, Your brain needs the most oxygen in the body of all the organs. So how can we give our brains more oxygen? If we are active, if we move, even if we are taking walks, even if we dance, whatever it is we like to do, but we are moving. When you move, your brain is getting more oxygen. So that's how I get my kids and my parents to, embrace movement because That's what gives their brain oxygen, more oxygen, right? And so their brain is gonna function better. So my message really is, let's do things and let's look at our lives from the angle of our brains. We all want to do better. We all want to be healthier. Well, how can we do that? It's by falling in love with our brains, literally. Okay, I'll give one more example. Coffee, right? There's all this research. I mean, sometimes it's like, coffee is good, coffee is not good, right? But, overall, There is so much research to show that coffee will constrict, meaning it will narrow your blood vessels to your brain. So I'm not saying don't drink coffee, just don't drink 10 cups Drink one, at the most two, because you know, even though it makes you feel good, it's not really helpful to your brain. So you're going to cut back on it because you want your brain to feel the best it can.

Kerry: 12:04

Yeah, I definitely hear the coffee's good. Coffee's bad thing. I think yes, it, you know, vasoconstrictor because of the caffeine, but the some of the I guess the antioxidants that are also included in coffee, they make it seem like it's also good. However, everything in moderation, right? If you're like, you're saying it's probably gonna effect a little bit, but I like that approach and like teaching them that the brain is obviously the most important organ. And these kids that you're probably dealing with are obviously undergoing a lot of changes and things like that, too. So keeping their brain healthy is super, super powerful and important message. And even in my practice, I probably see more older people and I am always trying to do better lifestyle changes so that their brain is functioning well because we know that like dementia and Alzheimer's are actually diseases that really start in your forties and fifties and then the diagnosis is much later. So kind of like that mentality of everybody focusing on longevity, right? Of how to keep your brain active and healthy throughout your whole lifestyle, but it really starts now,

Hokehe: 13:12

that's when they're kids. So we teach our kids. fall in love with your brain. So like for example, I taught my five year old that blueberries are God's candy, right? And we know blueberries have antioxidants, loads of it. So now she's not looking for candy. She's looking for blueberries and she pops them in her mouth like candy. So just small things like that, if you're teaching and then You as a parent modeling it for the child, so you're not telling your child, it's blueberries and then you're chugging on some candy or you keep buying it. Right. Cause I often hear parents sometimes say stop eating that. Did you hear what she said? And then I'm like, well, you're the one buying the groceries. You change what's on your grocery list because it's what they see. Children will sponge up what you do more than what you say. So it's so important for us as the adults to model it for them.

Kerry: 14:06

Absolutely.

Hokehe: 14:07

Thats the way get kids to eat good things because if you tell them that what it does to their brain and how their brain loves the food and they're more likely to try it.

Kerry: 14:16

So do you take like an approach working on nutrition with any of your children, patients?

Hokehe: 14:22

Yes, absolutely. So what I do is because ADHD and autism are both brain based disorders, I look at the way I'm trained is to look at their gut health. So their tummy, what's going on in their tummy? Because so much research showing that there's a connection between the brain and the gut. Whatever you put in your mouth goes, your gut ends up in your brain. So if you're putting foods that are going to inflame your tummy, it's going to end up inflaming your brain. There's no way around that. So absolutely. I have seen children who were not verbal become verbal because I made changes in what they were eating. Because so much research showing how gluten and dairy will inflame and are not, first of all, they're not properly digested or completely digested in, in your gut. And then, in addition to that, they can cause inflammatory responses in your gut. So a lot of the kids I take care of are mostly constipated. And that's a big thing because our bodies were built to release all that, Waste product, right? And instead we're holding it in. And so what it does over time is It starts to erode your tummy lining, and all that stuff gets into your bloodstream, and where does it go? Here. So things that should be cleared out are now ending up here, and it's only going to inflame your brain as well. So because there are brain based disorders, my big approach is nutrition. What are you eating? What are you drinking? What's going on in your environment? So I look at the pillars, I look at your brain, your gut. Your environment and emotional health. So it's not just physical environment, it's also emotional environment because that's That's key, right? To help your brain function better. So that's to answer your question. Yes.

Kerry: 16:12

Yeah, no, I was wondering, cause I definitely think it's an important like topic for the kids to be, especially with ADHD and I'm not sure as much about autism, but for like nutritional health as well, because we know if their sugars all over the place, then they also are going to have even more trouble focusing and managing things as well.

Hokehe: 16:31

and even for you as an allergist, I'll tell you a story. My daughter how the other reason I got into all of this was something happened to my daughter. Her lips turned jet black, like black, like this went from pink to black and nobody could figure it out. So I took her to dermatology. Took her to allergy and then she started having like allergy shiners, like she got the crease on her nose and the stuff under her eyes and the allergist said to me, she has no allergies. I was like, how is that possible? Look at this kid. You and me, both of us, she has allergies. Her test was negative. Her skin prick was negative. So I'm like, what in the world? And I was calling, I was just looking everywhere, just desperate to figure out what was going on with my kid. And I came across integrative doctors and then I found this blood test and I did it. It was looking at IgG and it shows she was sensitive to gluten, dairy, eggs, pineapple, cashew. And so I was like, of course, I'm the mother who will completely take that all out for everybody in the whole family. I just went like, swoop everybody. We're done, we're not eating any of that. And do you know, in two months had lips cleared up and she went back to having pink lips and the allergy symptoms decreased. So food has so much, and I know, you know, that as an allergist, but when you eat the right things, or if you eat the wrong things, it has such an implication on what shows up on your body, in your body. So that's definitely an important thing. And so because of that, cause I saw that difference, that's what made me go back and get retrained. And I was like, there's more to this than, than I know, so I need to find out.

Kerry: 18:17

Well, yeah, that's very interesting, but to clarify the IgE test is the actual Allergen with the IgG is more like intolerance, but they can still have like symptoms. And then the other thing for kids, we may do like the skin prick test, but we are not necessarily going to do that next step because we don't want to poke them with the needle under their skin, which is the intradermal. So she might've had like, regular environmental allergies too, but maybe they weren't showing up on that test. And they probably might've showed up on the second test that we don't always do in kids. But Yeah, some people do get benefit from doing IgG testing. Typically allergists don't do that, but it's more of like an intolerant situation. And sometimes if dairy, could have been a culprit taking it out and that can make you feel better in different ways. Also to clarify, I am not a board certified allergist, but I do lots of allergy and asthma and obesity medicine.

Hokehe: 19:08

Yes, yes. No, you're absolutely right. And for her, it's an intolerance because I've even now when she eats anything, if she eats pineapple, I'll start to see black patches on her lips again. And so we know, okay, let's stay off of it. So

Kerry: 19:22

But it's not immediate, right?

Hokehe: 19:24

No, it's not immediate. It shows up over time. So the more she eats it, then it shows up. And then when we take it back out, it slowly fades away. So yes, it's definitely not an immediate reaction.

Kerry: 19:34

Yeah, I wanted to bring up what we were talking about before with the constipation. You were saying that instead of just giving them a medication or oftentimes a primary care or pediatrician will give Miralax as a first line for kids for treating that. And I just wanted you to kind of explain why you don't take that approach.

Hokehe: 19:54

Okay. Yes. Good question. I don't take the approach because I mean, there's recent literature showing that there's some side effects with MiraLax. So with me, I'm thinking, okay, so the child with autism or ADHD or even any kid, there's research, NIH research, all of that to show that children with ADHD and autism are often deficient in magnesium. That's one, there's multiple things, but Magnesium. And we know that magnesium helps with sleep. Magnesium helps with cleaning you out if you're constipated. Magnesium also nourishes your brain cells. So my approach is how about I give them something they're deficient in that will help with the major issues they have because most kids with ADHD and autism, they don't sleep well, and that affects their behavior. They're often constipated because they're such picky eaters. They don't drink enough water. They don't eat enough fiber. Okay. So if we, if we give them something that they're missing, that addresses the main issues they have, then that's a much better approach than just cleaning them out and then we're back to where we started, right? So I no longer think of, okay, how do I just relieve your symptoms? And then they come back up. How do we relieve your symptoms, but also maintain and build up what it is you're missing so that you don't continue to have the same issue? I think that's my approach now versus I'm just going to treat your symptoms,

Kerry: 21:20

Yeah, I think that's a really important point because you're treating not just, the constipation, you're also treating possibly the sleep, right? Because your sleep is this big component of ADHD and autism as well. Especially if they are on an ADHD medicine and having difficulty from the side effect of that medicine with sleeping. So I think that's really interesting. Just for my own education, how do you give the kids magnesium? I'm assuming it's not a capsule. Is it like the powder form of Magnesium Citrate or,

Hokehe: 21:50

Yes. So there's the powder form and it also comes as gummies. So for the kids who will take the gummies, they can do that. For the powder, we often talk about interesting ways to hide it in there, like if they'll take a smoothie, put it in the smoothie, or make it a popsicle, something, but, and if they don't like the taste of it or the consistency, then you cut the dose, but we still find ways to hide it so that they can get it in their system.

Kerry: 22:16

yeah, that's helpful for me. I don't do as much pediatrics, but knowing how to get the medicines in with the kids that are helpful is always, you know, a good, important thing.

Hokehe: 22:26

Like applesauce, things like that you can hide it. Yeah.

Kerry: 22:30

Yeah. Good. Well, what else would you like to share about what you do with our audience?

Hokehe: 22:36

Yes. So overall I always have this message for parents is my message for parents is you're the best parent for your child and that you should seek to embrace your child where they are. And often parents sometimes have a hard time. They may feel a lot of guilt or feel like they're not, they're not doing the best that they can. But if you're listening to Dr. Reller's podcast, then you are doing well because you're here to find out how to help your child do better. And so, I always tell parents that, remind them that they have to take care of themselves first. And so that way they are a healthier version and they can not just show their kids, but they're also able to take care of their kids as well. And I think that's really important because as a mom and as a parent, it can be so easy to get lost in the, I'm just going to do this, this, this for the kids. But then if you run yourself down, then you really don't, because then you're just teaching them that. Life is full of struggle and wildlife is full of challenges. Yes. You want to teach them how to be balanced in their lives as they grow up, because it's a lifestyle we're trying to teach our kids. We don't do diets. It's lifestyle changes we're preaching and I'm sure Dr. Reller does the same thing is how can we change our lives to be better? And it's one step at a time. And remembering, most importantly, you're not stuck with the brain you have. You can make changes to help your brain become healthier. If you've had trauma in the past, I'm an advocate for counseling, get counseling. It's not a bad word. I mean, counseling, there you go. there's something free and about being able to see what it is you're going through and get strategies to help you do better. And that's for everybody and if your children have experienced any trauma, it can definitely make changes in the way trauma affect the child functions because trauma will change the way the brain functions. So we are not going to sweep it under the rug. We're going to address it. So it's just taking a whole body approach to your child and to yourself and know that we're here to support you. And if you're looking for a pediatrician who is compassionate, who will look at your child from top to bottom and help you address ADHD or autism. Well, reach out to us, it's glow pediatrics. com. That's the easiest way and you just get on our waitlist and we'll reach out to you. I also have a book, I forgot to mention that.

Kerry: 25:06

Oh.

Hokehe: 25:07

It's called Children's Love Letters, a Pediatrician's Guide to How Your Child Spells Love. Because this thing called life and mother and parenthood, right? It goes by, right, really fast. Before you know it, your children are out of your home. And so it's not just I know one of the big things we hear about with how can we spend more time with our kids or how can we show them we love them, they often say time, but I wrote this book in a fun way because there's so much more. It's, it's in the little, little things that you don't even think counts. That's how your child spells love. And so just to encourage parents to put down those phones. My children often tell me, Mom, you're holding your phone. Put down the phones and look them in the eye and talk to them. That's how you can build the bond with the, with your family. That's it.

Kerry: 25:55

Those are very important messages down to like, putting your oxygen mask on first, taking care of yourself and also emulating what they need to be doing as well. And then putting down your phone, which is something I always struggle with as well. And they yell at me, but I I'm trying my best as well. And then I didn't know you had a book. So I'm very excited to share that with everybody and try to get ahold of it myself too. And we'll put all that kind of stuff in the show notes too. And so you you said glowpediatrics com is how they can find you. Awesome. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today, Dr. Eko. We definitely enjoyed having you and I hope everybody will tune in next week.

Hokehe: 26:38

Thank you so much for having me.