#52 Creating Accidental Activists to Improve Health in a Post Pandemic World with George Monbiot

It was an absolute pleasure to host Thomasina Miers on the podcast today. Entrepreneur, cook, TV personality, activist, writer and so much more. There isn’t much that this incredible person can’t do.Like many of us, she learnt to cook at her mothers side and after attempting to forge a career in advertising, journalism, digital consultancy, she followed her heart and went to cookery school.Fast forward a few years, after travelling the world, she went on to win Masterchef and create Wahaca inspired by the food markets of Mexico during her trips.Tommi cares deeply about where our food comes from, how it is grown, supports the soil, biodiversity and the planet and believes everyone should have access to good ingredients.I learnt so much more about Tommi and we chat about:The importance of soilHow the Chefs in Schools charity is changing what our children eatHow Groove Armada sold his record rights and started an organic farmWhy the ancient Mayan civilisation disappearedRemember you can check out Tommi’s incredible book “Meat Free Mexican” which has some glorious dishes and her regular column in the Guardian.All the links to our discussion topics can be found on www.thedoctorskitchen.com/podcasts🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet meWe would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think,and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

22 Mar 20231h 20min

Thyroid conditions. It’s a subject I’m consistently asked about online and one that really requires some understanding of how interconnected our systems are and how you can’t simply ‘eat for your thyroid’ without appreciating the multiple insults to our thyroid glands from lifestyle factors, drugs, toxins, sleep, stress and our wider environment.This is a hefty subject but my guest on the podcast today Dr Amy Gajjar is an expert with over 2 decades of experience treating patients and a rich understanding of integrative medicine.Dr Amy is an Integrative Physician (GP) combining Functional Medicine, Coaching, Yoga and an Ayurvedic Lifestyle. She trained at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London and worked as a GP for several years. In Sydney, she has undergone extensive further training and is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine and a Board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician. Her main interests are thyroid disease, gut health and autoimmunity. She has also completed courses in coaching, NLP, ayurvedic lifestyle, meditation and is a certified hatha and kundalini yoga teacher.Dr Amy believes in taking a holistic approach to patient care, embracing all aspects of health – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.“Slow butterfly; how healing your thyroid transforms everything” is her first book and hopes to empower people living with Hashimoto’s/Hypothyroidism and inspire them to become the best version of themselves.By the end of this podcast you should be able to understand what the thyroid gland does, how disruption of the gland can manifest in a variety of vague symptoms, what tests to think about, how to take control of your lifestyle to better manage low thyroid conditions with a practitioner.We talk about:The spectrum of thyroid conditionsWhy poor thyroid health affects your gut, mood, weight, cholesterol, muscles and moreWe focus on Hypothyroid conditions and the differential diagnoses to considerWhy conventional tests and treatment lack a focus on the root cause of issuesThe biology of thyroid hormone release from the pituitary glandWhy disruption to normal thyroid hormone release leads to ‘hibernation’ symptomsStress, Sleep, Movement, Toxins, Nutrition and Herbs🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Mar 20231h 24min

Today I welcome Dr Saliha Mahmood onto the podcast, winner of masterchef in 2017,NHS gastroenterologist and author of 3 cookbooks including the latest “The Kitchen Prescription” which is out at the end of March.The more diversely we eat, the lower our risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and the more enhanced our immunity. Saliha and I chat about how we put this into practice on a day to day basis, both with patients and our own personal lives. Saliha has a real passion for gastronomy that she pairs with an incredible empathic approach to gastroenterology and I really think it comes across in our chat today.We talk about:Functional Gut DisordersHow Saliha approaches food in clinical practiceThe spectrum of gut disordersThe beauty of cookingHow to increase diversity in kids meals to improve gut health🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet meWe would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think,and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Mar 20231h 6min

Shoots, sprouts, microgreens, saladgreens, grasses, activated nuts it’s a confusing business! But I have Doug Evans on the podcast today, the sprout man himself, to talk us through how powerful and easy sprouting your own can be!Doug Evans is an early pioneer in the natural food industry. In 2002 he co-founded Organic Avenue, one of the first exclusively plant-based retail chains in the country. Doug has quite the idyllic lifestyle in the Mojave Desert on a permaculture hot springs oasis. Revolutionising gardening and growing your own food right in your kitchen in an affordable and accessible way is going to be a gamechanger for a lot of you and if you haven’t sprouted, and you have my first cookbook, I actually talk about sprouting and how to sprout broccoli and mung beans! But for the definitive guide, do check out Doug’s “The Sprout Book” to learn how to grow and eat the most nutritious food on the planet.🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet meWe would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think,and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode.Links:https://www.foundmyfitness.com/topics/sulforaphaneBroccoli sprouts on weightInflammation and Broccoli sprouts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Mar 20231h 9min

Today on the podcast I have Dr Sally Moorcroft and we’re talking about Herbal medicine, also called phytotherapy, which refers to using a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes.Dr Sally embarked on a medical career almost many years ago but her experience in hospital medicine, coupled with her travels to France and Australia that introduced herbal medicine, led her to complementary therapy which she’s practiced for almost 2 decaded. Today we talk about a range of things on a subject I’m not terribly familiar withThe history of herbal medicineThe overlap with native america, ayurvedic and traditional chinese medicineHow we extract the products from plantsWhat adaptogens are and how to use themAnti-inflammatory herbsResources for people interested in medical herbs, how to source quality products and potential drug interactionsAnd we also workshop some cases like patients with gastritis or high cholesterol and how Dr Sally would approach themIf you’re new to things like slippery elm, marshmallow root, devil’s claw, rhodiola and boswelia (like me!) I think you’ll find this episode useful and I’m certainly going to dive into the resources that Sally recommended!Dr Sally Moorcroft is an award winning integrative and functional medicine doctor, she has a life long interest and passion in food as medicine and leads a team of doctors, nutritionists and practitioners. She has a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine and is currently completing IFM certification. She has also trained in medical acupuncture, TCM and is passionate about using a personalised, holistic and root cause approach. Her special interest is women's health, especially menopause, perimenopause, endometriosis and PCOS; and the gut microbiome.🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

22 Feb 20231h 44min

My guest today has been on multiple journeys. Picking himself up after his athletics dream was crushed. Overcoming and managing a significant speech impediment. Finding joy, balance and his passion in helping others achieve a pain free life.James Davies, author of “Body”, is the founder and CEO of Rising Health, which he started 10 years ago and his clients include David Beckham, Kylie Minogue, Philip Schofield, Mo Farah among many others. He has worked globally with professional athletes ranging from Olympic champions, premiership footballers, NFL and rugby union players, as well as A-List actors like Eva Mendes. He is the sought after therapist and even served the Great Britain team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.But rather than being trained as a physiotherapist, like most practitioners are who work for national teams, James actually trained at the British School of Osteopathy. He studied Massage and Sports injuries at the London School of Massage, Tecar Therapy in Italy, Tok Sen in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and is a noted authority on laser therapy, dry needling, acupuncture and cupping.As a performance therapist and athletics coach, James is able to integrate a range of therapies including, massage, biomechanics and functional and structural applications. He developed the ethos of relieve, restore and perform based on his own personal experience as a young athlete, and his experience working with elite athletes.This is a really cool conversation for me to have, I loved chatting with James, I learnt a lot from his new book ‘Body’, the language of pain, finding joy in movement and I loved how the majority of what we talked about came down to finding balance and creating a stress free life. Enjoy!🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet meWe would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think,and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Feb 20231h 17min

🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free“Humans have become like tuning forks that vibrate sweetly to the sounds of nature.”Sometimes, when the spirit is soothed with a little extra care, the body returns to balance all by itself. And that’s why today we’re talking about why Woo Woo works with Dr David Hamilton.After completing a PhD in organic chemistry, David worked in R&D in the pharmaceutical industry, developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Inspired by the placebo effect, and how some people's conditions would improve because they believed a placebo was a real drug, David left the industry to write books and educate people on how they can harness their mind and emotions to improve their mental and physical health.Today, I want you to keep an open mind. We talk about crystals, energy biofields, visualisation, the law of attraction and a bunch of concepts that make the sceptical part of my brain nervous to even consider talking about. But reading the book “Why Woo Woo Works”, the surprising science behind meditation, reiki, crystals and other alternative practices, has opened up my mind to the possibility of why these are practices that hold merit.We talk about:The mechanism behind placeboPositive vs Pessimistic consultations in general practiceVisualisation and the immune systemNature, fractals and responses to pain with plantsReiki and biofield energy therapiesEmotional contagion via mirror Neurons?You can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan📷 Follow on Instagram🐦 Tweet meWe would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think,and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Feb 20231h 20min

I’ve spoken to 1000s of people about nutritional medicine in clinic. In most part, people who optimise their plates to contain more fibre, mostly plants and variety tend to thrive. They feel better, lighter, happier and in many cases it sparks a new zest for life. The trick is helping people maintain a habit of eating well consistently (which by the way is why I developed my app).But for the minority, the opposite is true. Whatever healthy items they include in their diet … their body reacts negatively. And it can set them up for a life of restriction, anxiety around eating a diverse collection of ingredients and a digestive system that is intolerant to many foods.If this is you. You’re not alone. And there are solutions. It doesn’t require a barrage of investigations, intolerance tests and supplements but it does require motivation and persistence.My guest today is Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (or "Dr. B") a gastroenterologist and the New York Times-bestselling author of Fiber Fueled and The Fiber Fueled Cookbook. He sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of ZOE, has authored more than twenty articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and you’ll find him on social media as the @theguthealthmd and his website theplantfedgut.com.This is a long episode so for those of you who want the TLDR here it is.Fibre is super importantIt has connections with immune health, mental health, cognition, heart health and inflammation.Everyone's gut is unique and a diverse diet with mostly plants is a great starting point.However … many people have gut microbe imbalances that prevent them from eating a diversity of foods and particularly foods with high amounts of fibre that are paradoxically great for the gut.If this happens to be you, a strategy for improving your guts adaptability and ultimately creating a flexible eating method that allows you to eat tons of food is to:Keep a food diaryRule out other causes such as gallbladder dysfunction or constipationRestrict, Observe and ReintroduceConsider the wider impacts of lifestyle on your gut🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for freeYou can download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free to get access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Feb 20231h 56min