Podcasts

This week I’m joined by nutritionist and lifestyle medicine practitioner, Rohini Bajekal. Having experienced her own period of ill health, Rohini is passionate about empowering everyone to take charge of their health.

We discuss:

• Both of our experience of chronic illness
• Why sleep is the foundation of health
• The science of lifestyle medicine
• The science of cravings
• How to get started on a health journey
• Improving gut health
• The impact of our current food environment

Each week I unpack a wellness trend with GP Gemma Newman. This week on Fact or Fad we’re looking at cycle syncing.

In this episode I interview two brilliant vegan oncologists, who happen to be sisters, about their book Eating Plant-Based: Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions.

We’re joined by Dr. Shireen Kassam, an NHS consultant and board-certified lifestyle medicine physician.

In this episode we discuss:

• The power of diet and lifestyle factors in health and disease outcomes
• What is an unhealthy diet?
• The impact of ultra-processed foods in the body 
• What is inflammation, how is it related to diet and how is it linked to chronic diseases?
• Diet and immunity
• Why it is never too late to adopt a plant-based diet to improve our health
• Healthcare and the commercial industry
• How to optimise health on a plant-based diet
• The role of diet in cancer
• Lifestyle habits to improve our health

Ever wonder about plant-based practices in different countries? In this episode of the Plant-Based Canada Podcast we speak with Didem Varol. Didem has experience with Plant-Based Practice in both Canada and Turkey. She completed her dietetic training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and is a Registered Dietitian and, as such, is registered with the College of Dietitians of Ontario. After spending almost 10 years working at Toronto Public Health, as a Public Health Dietitian in the field of chronic disease prevention, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey and currently runs her own private practice (@plantgevity). She has completed a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies & eCornell. She is also a “Food For Life” Instructor, which is an evidence-based nutrition and cooking program developed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. 

In this episode we discuss:

• dietetic practice in Canada & Turkey
• plant-based counseling
• food culture
• culture shocks
• vegan communities in Canada & Turkey
• plant-based misconceptions
• take home message

Please note, in the beginning of this episode there is some background noise that unfortunately could not be removed. This background noise does not persist throughout the episode.

With Helen Wilson and Faye Lewis. In this episode, we talk to Kate Strong, the vegan athlete who has secured three Guinness World Records recently in a gruelling challenge on a static bike.

Kate, who is also a champion triathlete, now holds the record for completing the furthest distance on a static bike over 24 hours.

She began the challenge at 3pm on May 26 in Bristol, UK. In order to beat the records, she had to cycle over 35.3km in one hour and 348km in 12 hours. We chat to her about her incredible journey as a vegan, an athlete and as a woman.

Viva!’s Head of Communications, Faye, joins Helen to discuss the importance of strong female and vegan role models and what work still needs to be done for veganism to become even more widespread and normalised.

• sums up plant based being better for community, animals and health
• her registered lifestyle medicine service
• the wider impact on families with lifestyle medicine
• her medical background and plant based beginnings
• the myths surrounding protein
• about a study narrowing down on health problems and reasons
• unpacking why the NHS doesn’t currently fund more into lifestyle medicine
• explores genetics and socioeconomic factors

Founder of Plant Based Health Online. A team of leading experts have come together to deliver healthcare in a way that puts their patients and families first. Dr Laura Freeman is extremely passionate about what she does – not just because of the science – but because she has seen that it has helped her patients’ lives as well as her own. Having been a GP now for about 15 years and following her own life changing health issue, she realised that she could help her patients improve their Diabetes, come off their blood pressure medication and reduce their cholesterol medication using the same methods she used for her own recovery by changing their lifestyle and following a plant based diet. We take the opportunity to speak about COVID 19 and Zoonotic diseases and the importance of supplementing with Vitamin D especially in the winter months.

In this episode, we talk to Rohini about the power of food and what her research and experience can tell us about the changes that happen when we make plants the stars of our plates.

Episode outline:

• Rohini’s journey to qualifying as a nutritionist
• Why she promotes a plant-based diet
• The effects she has seen in clients
• How eating more plants would be a positive for school staff and pupils
• Her tips for including more plants in our diets

Recorded live during Rich’s Plantpower Italia retreat in Tuscany, Rich is delighted to share a fun and highly informative conversation and audience Q&A with the delightful, whip-smart “Plant Power Doctor” herself.

Today we explore the result of Gemma’s journey. How it transformed her life and medical practice wholesale. And the simple changes you can make and sustain to improve your well-being for the long-term.