Can whole-food, plant-based nutrition serve as an effective lifestyle intervention alongside medical care?
In this episode, host Ida Fanelli sits down with Dr. Vivian Polak—a Canadian physician specializing in perinatal psychiatry, plantrician, and co-founder of World Maternal Mental Health Day.
Dr. Polak shares her personal health journey, the emerging research surrounding whole food, plant-based (WFPB) nutrition, and how lifestyle factors may complement care for chronic conditions such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, and maternal mental health challenges. Perinatal Psychiatry & IPT: Supporting maternal mental health through evidence-informed approaches like Interpersonal Psychotherapy (covered by OHIP for Ontario residents). Lifestyle Medicine & Nutrition: The role of plant-based dietary patterns in supporting cardiovascular wellness, metabolic health, and chronic disease management. Dairy, Hormones & Skin Health: Examining current evidence on dairy intake, dietary factors, and skin conditions. Plant Protein & Bioactive Foods: Addressing common nutrition myths, blood sugar management strategies, and bioactive compounds in foods. Empowering Self-Care: Practical, sustainable steps for supporting long-term health through resources like Benessere North.
Connect with Dr. Vivian Polak
Websites: https://www.vivianpolak.ca/ Email: dr.vivian.polak@gmail.com
Health Canada Disclaimer
This video and description are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The content shared is not intended to replace professional medical advice, evaluation, or care from a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical condition, dietary changes, or health concerns. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of information presented in this content. Like, share, and subscribe to the Channel for more episodes
Connect with Ida Fanelli: Link in Bio
#DrVivianPolak #Plantrician #FoodAsMedicine #MaternalMentalHealth #PerinatalPsychiatry #WholeFoodPlantBased #WFPBNutrition #LifestyleMedicine #WomensHealth #InterpersonalPsychotherapy #OHIPMentalHealth #BenessereNorth #PlantBasedDoctor #HolisticHealth #CardiovascularHealth #MetabolicHealth #NutritionScience #SelfCareScience #WhereScienceMeetsSelfCare
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Welcome to Where Science Meets Self-Care with
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Ida Fanelli. With over 30 years in beauty and
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 wellness and a background in medical science,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 Ida blends clinical knowledge with holistic care.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 Each week, she and her guests share insights
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 to help you achieve healthier skin, balanced
00:00:19 --> 00:00:23 energy, and empowered self -care. Now, here's
00:00:23 --> 00:00:32 your host, Ida Fanelli. Today, I'm pleased to
00:00:32 --> 00:00:36 welcome Dr. Vivian Pollack, a Canadian physician
00:00:36 --> 00:00:40 specializing in perinatal psychiatry. She completed
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 her medical training at the University of Alberta
00:00:42 --> 00:00:46 and her psychiatric residency at Dalhousie University
00:00:46 --> 00:00:50 and has dedicated much of her career to supporting
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 women through pregnancy, the postpartum period,
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 and other important stages of women's health.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 Dr. Pollack is also a co -founder of of World
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 Maternal Mental Health Day and the Canadian Alliance
00:01:02 --> 00:01:06 for Maternal Mental Health, initiatives that
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 have helped raise awareness of maternal mental
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 health and the importance of timely access to
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 care. She offers interpersonal psychotherapy
00:01:14 --> 00:01:18 or IPT for postpartum depression and importantly
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 this program is covered by OHIP for residents
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 of Ontario helping to remove one of the biggest
00:01:25 --> 00:01:29 barriers to care. Alongside her clinical work,
00:01:29 --> 00:01:33 Dr. Polak, who refers herself as a plantrician,
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 a physician who integrates plant -based nutrition
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 into clinical practice, has developed a particular
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 interest in lifestyle medicine and the role that
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 nutrition may play in supporting overall health.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 Through her not -for -profit organization, Ben
00:01:49 --> 00:01:54 Essere, she works to educate and support women
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 interested in evidence -informed approaches to
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 nutrition, lifestyle, and chronic disease management.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 What makes this conversation especially powerful
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 is her personal journey after experiencing a
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 significant health challenge herself. She became
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 interested in the emerging evidence surrounding
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 whole food, plant -based nutrition, and lifestyle
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 medicine. Today, she works with women on nutrition
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 and lifestyle approaches that may complement
00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 conventional medical care she regularly shares
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 whole food plant -based recipes and educational
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 resources on social media helping women translate
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 science into something they truly can live and
00:02:35 --> 00:02:39 enjoy every single day in today's conversation
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 we'll explore maternal mental health interpersonal
00:02:42 --> 00:02:46 psychotherapy, lifestyle medicine, and the current
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 evidence surrounding nutrition and women's health.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 We'll also discuss how physicians evaluate emerging
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 research, communicate scientific uncertainty,
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 and help patients make informed decisions about
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 their health. Dr. Pollack, thank you for joining
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 us. It's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be
00:03:06 --> 00:03:10 here. And do I call you Ida? Yeah, that's Ida.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 Yeah. Okay, yeah. You have such a strong foundation
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 in conventional medicine. What first drew you
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 into perinatal psychiatry? I was really drawn
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 to psychiatry in my medical training, even though
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 initially when I went to medical school, I thought
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 I wanted to be a pediatrician and work in developing
00:03:29 --> 00:03:33 countries. Before I got into psychiatry, I also
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 really loved obstetrics. I loved catching babies
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 and seeing babies in bellies all day. So when
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 I was in my fourth year of psychiatry, I learned
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 that perinatal psychiatry is a thing. It's a
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 subspecialty. And I thought, that's perfect for
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 me. You know, babies, bellies, moms, you know,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 all day. That sounds great. So that's what I
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 did. And a lot of doctors are very nervous prescribing
00:03:57 --> 00:04:01 to moms who are pregnant or breastfeeding because
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 of the impact that the medications can have on
00:04:03 --> 00:04:07 babies. So that's why it's a specialty. You've
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 shared that you've experienced a significant
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 health challenge yourself. Can you take us into
00:04:12 --> 00:04:16 that moment? What shifted for you? So that was
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 about 10 years after I graduated from medical
00:04:18 --> 00:04:23 school. I suddenly had very high blood pressure,
00:04:23 --> 00:04:27 and I'm pushing down on my head like this because
00:04:27 --> 00:04:31 it felt like my head was going to explode. There
00:04:31 --> 00:04:36 was a pulsating pain that was in waves from 10
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 out of 10, like worst pain ever, and then it
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 would go down to about 6 out of 10. And initially,
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 so I went to the emergency department because
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 my heart rate was half of what it was. should
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 be, it was about 32. And my blood pressure when
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 I got into the ambulance, everyone had left work.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 And so I was on my own. And so I just had to
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 go by ambulance. When I got into the ambulance,
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 it turned out my blood pressure was 220 over
00:04:59 --> 00:05:04 114, which is very scary, high, both numbers
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 were double what they should be sort of. And
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 so initially, the doctors were saying that there
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 was a chance that this sudden onset, very high
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 blood pressure, symptomatic blood pressure could
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 be cancer, it could be a tumor that is causing
00:05:19 --> 00:05:23 it. And so that just led me, you know, I had
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 three young children at the time. And that led
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 me down the rabbit hole of nutrition, lifestyle,
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 I did a two day course at the Integrated Cancer
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 Care Centre in Vancouver, where we were at the
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 time. And it just really opened my eyes to all
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 the things I actually hadn't learned anything
00:05:38 --> 00:05:42 about in about a decade of medical training.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 And so it really shifted for me is learning that
00:05:46 --> 00:05:51 not only can we heal our bodies, that our bodies
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 are self -healing mechanisms, but we can reverse
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 diseases. We can and we can reverse them fast,
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 like often days to weeks. We can be reversing
00:06:01 --> 00:06:05 diseases that we've had for years. So it was
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 really eye opening for me. It sent me down this
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 rabbit hole that I've just never come out because
00:06:10 --> 00:06:14 it's beautiful down here. What did you discover
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 during that time that perhaps wasn't emphasized
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 in your medical training? One thing I learned
00:06:19 --> 00:06:23 was there's a lab in Montreal where the researcher
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 takes different petri dishes of different cancer
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 cell lines and sprinkles various types of food.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 So, you know, broccoli, tomatoes, and then meat,
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 dairy. And what he finds is that some of them,
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 the cells all disappear. The cancer cells all
00:06:39 --> 00:06:43 die. and in others they grow into tumors and
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 I'm like what okay mind blown I have never heard
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 anything like this never in all my medical training
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 did they teach us in nutrition classes or anywhere
00:06:52 --> 00:06:58 that food has this kind of power wow many people
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 don't realize how common maternal mental health
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 challenges are. What are you seeing clinically
00:07:04 --> 00:07:08 today? So about maternal mental health, there's
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 more depression and anxiety than there used to
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 be. There's apparently a tenfold increase in
00:07:12 --> 00:07:16 depression since World War II. And it's not just
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 medications that some women need, and some women
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 don't need medication at all. But what I've learned
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 is that food can make a big difference. There's
00:07:25 --> 00:07:29 a number of studies that show that Adding more
00:07:29 --> 00:07:33 plant -based foods to your diet can decrease
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, improve
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 functioning, and just help people feel better
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 overall. Another thing that I'm seeing clinically
00:07:42 --> 00:07:46 is a lot more ADHD. There's a lot more, I get
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 a lot more requests for ADHD and she's taking
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 stimulants and wanting to get pregnant, for example,
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 and what should we do with the medication? So
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 it's not just about depression, anxiety, there's
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 bipolar depression, there's psychotic disorders,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 there's substance use disorders. But what we're
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 seeing, and a lot of my colleagues have been
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 finding this as well, is we're getting a lot
00:08:06 --> 00:08:12 more referrals for ADHD. Wow. How do untreated
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 maternal mental health conditions impact not
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 just the mother, but the child and the family
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 long term? One is they impact the whole society.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 And I think it's important that our society and
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 our government knows this. London School of Economics
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 did a study in the UK that found that for every
00:08:29 --> 00:08:33 case, every person with untreated postpartum
00:08:33 --> 00:08:37 depression or anxiety, It costs society about
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 $150 , translated into Canadian dollars,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 in terms of future mental health care for her,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 for the baby, the criminal system, the court
00:08:46 --> 00:08:50 system. There's so many social systems and so
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 many aspects that are impacted. So that's just
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 the financial one. But in terms of the baby,
00:08:56 --> 00:09:01 him or herself. The impacts include social and
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 behavioral problems than their peers who were
00:09:04 --> 00:09:08 not impacted by depression, as well as more cognitive
00:09:08 --> 00:09:12 deficits. And for me, I think the saddest impact
00:09:12 --> 00:09:16 is the attachment disorders that they can go
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 on to have and the difficulty they can go on
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 to have over the years, over their lifetime.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 making friends, keeping friends, meeting a life
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 mate. For me, that's because that's really hard
00:09:26 --> 00:09:30 to treat as an adult rather than just preventing
00:09:30 --> 00:09:35 it in the first place. Can you explain interpersonal
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 psychotherapy and why it's so effective and also
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 that it is accessible through OHIP for Ontario
00:09:41 --> 00:09:46 residents? Yeah, so IPT, interpersonal psychotherapy,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 is one of the first line treatments for depression.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 in actually all age categories, all genders,
00:09:53 --> 00:09:57 but I really like it in the perinatal population
00:09:57 --> 00:10:01 because it just works so well. There are four
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 different focal areas in IPT, and they're so
00:10:06 --> 00:10:12 common in perinatal moms. So one is conflict,
00:10:12 --> 00:10:16 and there tends to be some increased couple conflict
00:10:16 --> 00:10:20 when she's pregnant and then especially postpartum.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 And then for role transition is another one.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 And I mean, all pregnant and postpartum moms
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 are all going through a role transition. And
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 so that's sometimes the main focal area. Grief
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 is another one when there's been history of miscarriage
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 or loss of a loved one that can get the depression
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 going or keep it going. And then social isolation
00:10:41 --> 00:10:46 is also a big one for these moms. And so what
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 you do in IPT is you choose collaboratively.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 with the patient, one or sometimes two focal
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 areas. And that's the focus for the rest of the
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 therapy. It's usually 12 to 16 weeks long, and
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 it's just super effective. And it's actually
00:11:01 --> 00:11:05 really fun as the therapist to help these moms
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 navigate their interpersonal world in a better
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 way that serves them, that serves the relationship
00:11:11 --> 00:11:16 better, and gets them out of depression. very
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 much helps anxiety as well. We often see a decrease
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 in anxiety scores, even though anxiety is not
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 the focus of IPT. I just find it can be really
00:11:25 --> 00:11:29 effective. And I think moms also tend to like
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 it. A lot because there's no homework. The only
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 homework is stuff that they need to do anyway.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 And it's their own goals. It's their own things
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 that they want to achieve, their own objectives
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 that they're really trying to work on. Whereas
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 CBT, I'm certainly not knocking CBT. It works
00:11:45 --> 00:11:49 great as well. But there's homework in CBT. And
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 time in between sessions is not something that
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 these moms have a whole lot of. And so it can
00:11:55 --> 00:11:59 be hard for them when a lot of the benefit from
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 CBT is from doing the homework between sessions.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 So IPT is really fun. I did a research study
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 on group IPT because when the first World Maternal
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 Mental Health Day was coming up back in 2016,
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 we were really concerned we were going to get
00:12:14 --> 00:12:18 an influx of referrals since. we assumed a lot
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 more mothers and families would realize that
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 perinatal depression is a thing. It's not just
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 they've become a nasty person or something. It's
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 they've got a real illness and it's very much
00:12:28 --> 00:12:33 treatable. And so we did a study on group IPT
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 and I couldn't resist. I collected a little bit
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 of nutrition data. And when the statistician
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 looked into it, he found that not only did the
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 moms who ate a little more plant -based foods
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 do a little better. and the ones who stayed the
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 same over the course of this randomized controlled
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 trial. But the ones who ate a lot more plant
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 -based foods did a lot better. And the ones who
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 ate fewer plant -based foods from beginning to
00:12:58 --> 00:13:02 end did worse in terms of lower mood, worse anxiety,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 higher anxiety, and worse functioning. In terms
00:13:05 --> 00:13:09 of research talk is we didn't power the study
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 for the nutrition data. So we can just say we
00:13:11 --> 00:13:16 did an exploratory analysis and have these findings.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 It certainly corroborates the bigger meta -analyses
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 that are out there and other randomized controlled
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 trials that the more plant -based foods you eat,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 the better you feel, the better your mood, better
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 your anxiety, better your functioning, the better
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 your pain, the better your physical health, all
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 kinds of things get better. So that includes
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 for everybody, not just women that are pregnant,
00:13:38 --> 00:13:42 right? Right. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Would it
00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 help anybody that's bipolar as well? Yeah. I
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 think yes. I mean, one of the things we know
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 about bipolar, and I can tell you about a patient
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 of mine as well, who was able to decrease her
00:13:53 --> 00:13:57 meds. But with bipolar, we know that the more
00:13:57 --> 00:14:02 processed foods, for example, the worse the mood
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 episodes can become. And the more you eat whole
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 plant foods, I haven't seen a lot of data on
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 this, but the more whole plant foods you have,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 the less processed and ultra processed, the better
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 you feel, the fewer episodes. episodes you have
00:14:16 --> 00:14:20 and the less severe. And so I just think it's
00:14:20 --> 00:14:25 worth it for everyone to eat this way. Yeah,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 it's one thing is making this switch because
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 some people are just really firm on having their
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 meat, right? Some people are. Yep. Some people
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 are. They're the people I decided I wouldn't.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 try and convince anymore. There's enough people
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 out there who really want help to eat this way
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 and who are, even if they don't want help to
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 eat this way, they're hungry for the information.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 When I first learned this stuff, I assumed all
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 my colleagues would want to know this. They'll
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 want to share this with all their patients. And
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 I was just dumbfounded that almost none of them
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 were interested. at all and so that's when i
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 decided well i don't just want to lose all my
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 friends by convincing everybody i just want to
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 share this information with anyone who wants
00:15:11 --> 00:15:15 to listen so that's when i bit the bullet i created
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 my own info session some of the high quality
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 compelling ethical research that's out there
00:15:21 --> 00:15:25 and i just Email friends, neighbors, sometimes
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 colleagues and people overseas and just say,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 hey, I'm going to do this info session. It's
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 totally free. If you want to come, here's the
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 Zoom link. And just started sharing that. And
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 then at the end of that, the first two times
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 they gave it, the first question was a woman
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 putting up her hand and saying, so I'm completely
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 convinced. I know I need to eat this way. Where
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 do I start? And I was like, oh, I have nothing
00:15:48 --> 00:15:53 prepared for that. So that's when I. My husband
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 and I chatted and we're like, let's just start
00:15:55 --> 00:15:59 a not -for -profit and help people do this. And
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 then business friends said, you need to niche
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 down. You can't just say you help everyone because
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 then you'll help no one. So now I help women.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 So I have a little membership for women. And
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 another business coach said, you need to niche
00:16:12 --> 00:16:16 down more. So I say, help women with joint pain.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 But I know that it helps women with all kinds
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 of chronic diseases. So that's sort of. just
00:16:22 --> 00:16:26 to be known and then, you know, I can help lots
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 of people. And now we'll take time for a commercial
00:16:29 --> 00:16:34 break. Welcome back. You speak very passionately
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 about whole food plant -based nutrition. What
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 was the most surprising discovery for you in
00:16:38 --> 00:16:42 the research? One thing that's so surprising
00:16:42 --> 00:16:46 to me is, one, I mean, how powerful food is,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 that it can actually reverse diseases. Not just,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 you know, a little prevention if you eat a little
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 bit better, but it can actually reverse diseases.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:58 And the other is how fast it tends to work. You
00:16:58 --> 00:17:02 know, I'm thinking of one study on diabetes where
00:17:02 --> 00:17:06 they had 50 people, 25 with type 1 and 25 with
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 type 2 diabetes. They were all on insulin, even
00:17:09 --> 00:17:14 the type 2s. And after just three weeks, 24 out
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 of the 25 with type 2 diabetes were all off insulin.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 all with normal blood sugars. And the 25th also
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 reversed his diabetes, but it took eight weeks.
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 And then for the type ones, overall, they were
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 able to reduce their insulin by 40%. I mean,
00:17:31 --> 00:17:35 and this is in like a few weeks. It's just incredibly
00:17:35 --> 00:17:39 powerful to me. So yeah, important to tell people
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 before you start eating this way, you must talk
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 to your doctor if you have certain... medicated
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 illnesses. High blood pressure is another one
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 that comes to mind because you're not going to
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 need as much medication. You're going to need
00:17:52 --> 00:17:56 to start reducing your doses and start dropping
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 medications under your doctor's guidance because
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 otherwise you're going to be dizzy and falling
00:18:01 --> 00:18:05 down. Dizzy is okay, but falling and hitting
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 your head on the coffee table or falling down
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 the stairs, these are not okay. Yeah, they have
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 to work with their doctor if they're seeing you
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 for sure. Oh, and if they're seeing me, yes.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 Yeah. In the nonprofit, it's all, it's not under
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 my medical license. Yeah. If somebody doesn't
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 have a very good drug plan, this would be a good
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 thing for them because they'll save money on
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 their drugs. Yeah. If they don't have a good
00:18:27 --> 00:18:30 drug plan, I mean, the way I see it is this is
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 actually cheaper than free. If they're currently
00:18:33 --> 00:18:38 an omnivore or carnivore or something, then this
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 is actually, my membership is actually cheaper
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 than free because Just on groceries alone, you
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 know, the studies that I've seen say they save,
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 one study said on average people save about $750
00:18:49 --> 00:18:54 per year. And the three other studies I found
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 on cost say they save anywhere between, I think
00:18:56 --> 00:19:01 12 % was the lowest, up to 34 or 31 cents. So
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 that's a huge cost savings just on groceries
00:19:04 --> 00:19:08 alone. So not to mention the medications you
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 maybe on. right now that you may not need anymore.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 No one can give anyone a written guarantee of
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 what's going to happen with their health. But
00:19:15 --> 00:19:19 certainly from the thousands of studies now done
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 on nutrition, on whole food plant based nutrition,
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 and what that can do with human health with all
00:19:25 --> 00:19:29 kinds of chronic diseases, it just seems like
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 a no brainer. If you want to feel fantastic and
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 be as healthy as you can be, it seems a no brainer
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 that you want to eat more plants. What does the
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 current evidence tell us about the role of nutrition
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 in managing hypertension or gestational diabetes?
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 Can you explain the physiology behind that? So
00:19:47 --> 00:19:51 the current Western medicine management is going
00:19:51 --> 00:19:55 to be medicines to manage these diseases. The
00:19:55 --> 00:19:59 food, I mean, people are told to eat more fruits
00:19:59 --> 00:20:02 and vegetables, which is great. I mean, these
00:20:02 --> 00:20:07 are diseases that can often be... reverse with
00:20:07 --> 00:20:10 enough of the right food. The problem with diabetes
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 is not a disease of sugar. It's often called
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 sugar diabetes, but sugar is not the problem.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 Sugar is just the symptom of what's happening.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 High sugar in blood vessels. So if you think
00:20:20 --> 00:20:24 of a cell, there's blood vessels going by a muscle
00:20:24 --> 00:20:28 cell or a liver cell. What's happening is when
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 sugar is high in the blood vessels, It gets out
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 of the blood vessels to enter the cell. And the
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 way it gets into the cell is sort of a two -step
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 process. Insulin needs to bind to an insulin
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 receptor and basically turn the key to open the
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 sugar doors, to open the sugar transporters so
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 the sugar can get in. But what happens with most
00:20:49 --> 00:20:53 Westerners is they're eating. meat dairy and
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 eggs these high -fat foods and that coats the
00:20:56 --> 00:21:00 cells and Plugs up the insulin receptors in fat
00:21:00 --> 00:21:04 in saturated fat in animal saturated fat And
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 so insulin can't actually bind to insulin receptors
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 properly, and therefore you have insulin resistance.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 As a result, there's some doctors out there saying
00:21:13 --> 00:21:16 to their patients they need to eat a ketogenic
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 diet, which is 70 % fat. And most suggest eating
00:21:20 --> 00:21:25 just lots of meat, bacon, cheese. And so then
00:21:25 --> 00:21:28 what happens is... Yes, they're lowering blood
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 sugars because they think fruit is a bad thing
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 and they don't eat as much fruit. So they're
00:21:33 --> 00:21:36 not eating any sugar. They don't eat root vegetables
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 because they believe these are bad and they increase
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 blood sugars. But what's actually happening is
00:21:42 --> 00:21:46 they're only tricking the body into thinking
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 that blood sugars are low because when they do,
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52 there's a test that's often done to check on
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 someone's progress with diabetes. It's called
00:21:54 --> 00:21:58 hemoglobin A1c. And what hemoglobin A1C measures
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 is the average blood sugar over about a two or
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 three month period. So ideally, you're wanting
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 these to go down. And so with the medications
00:22:06 --> 00:22:10 that Western doctors will give you, ideally,
00:22:10 --> 00:22:13 this number will go down. But if you're eating
00:22:13 --> 00:22:17 a keto diet, a meat based keto diet. then what
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 happens is that number will go down, but you're
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 not fixing the root of the problem, which is
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 insulin resistance. You're still coating those
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 cells with even more fat and making the insulin
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 resistance actually worse. And I have read some
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 studies that show that these people still have
00:22:34 --> 00:22:38 the complications of diabetes with eye disease,
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 kidney disease, nerve disease. They're still
00:22:41 --> 00:22:46 having these complications of diabetes. even
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 though it looks like their blood sugars are better.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 And so getting to the root of the problem, which
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 is getting rid of all that saturated fat and
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 flooding the body with the nutrients that are
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 really needed to reverse the diabetes and get
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 rid of insulin resistance altogether is what
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 I think is a lot more effective. That's really
00:23:05 --> 00:23:08 interesting. You've talked about how your medical
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 training suggested that blood pressure naturally
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 increases with age but your own research led
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 you in a different direction. What did you discover
00:23:16 --> 00:23:20 that really shifted your thinking? Yeah, they
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 did teach us that, you know, just with increasing
00:23:22 --> 00:23:26 age, certainly over our 40s and 50s, blood pressure
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 will just naturally go up. And so here are all
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 the pills. You start with this one and then start
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 with that one. Then if that doesn't work, then
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 add this and that. And so you often see people
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 on three or four blood pressure medications.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:41 But what I learned, there are studies in rural
00:23:41 --> 00:23:45 Africa. There's a study in China where they show
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 that. Blood pressure does not increase with age
00:23:47 --> 00:23:51 at all. In fact, it stays about the same. I forget
00:23:51 --> 00:23:54 if it was the Africa or China one. In one of
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 them, it stays the same at about 110 over 70,
00:23:56 --> 00:24:00 75. In the other one, it actually decreases a
00:24:00 --> 00:24:03 little bit with increasing age. Starting at,
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 I think that was the one in China, it starts
00:24:05 --> 00:24:11 at about 115, 120. over 70s. And then with over
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 age 40 or 50, they actually decrease to about
00:24:14 --> 00:24:19 110, 105 to 110 over 70 or 70s. And so food is
00:24:19 --> 00:24:24 what makes the difference by and large. I really
00:24:24 --> 00:24:27 appreciate how you connect circulation with overall
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 health. How does elevated blood pressure affect
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 blood vessel and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 to tissues? So this is, I mean, I'm a perinatal
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 psychiatrist. This is not my expertise, but my
00:24:39 --> 00:24:42 understanding is that you can think of our blood
00:24:42 --> 00:24:48 vessel system as highways and tiny side roads.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 When people are eating an animal -based diet,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:55 they're clogging their arteries, and so blood
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57 pressure is increasing. And when blood pressure
00:24:57 --> 00:25:02 increases, it... puts more pressure on the walls
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 of these tiny blood vessels or arterioles or
00:25:05 --> 00:25:10 capillaries. And what happens is they get harder.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 And so that makes them thicken and they eventually
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 close off. So then you've got the same amount
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 of nutrition, the same amount of oxygen trying
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 to get through all the tissues through fewer
00:25:21 --> 00:25:25 open side roads, so to speak. And so it becomes
00:25:25 --> 00:25:28 a vicious cycle because you're clogging those
00:25:28 --> 00:25:31 side roads and then they're shutting off and
00:25:31 --> 00:25:34 then, you know, right? So the Western way is
00:25:34 --> 00:25:39 to give medications that through various mechanisms
00:25:39 --> 00:25:43 of action will decrease blood pressure. Yeah,
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 and they thin the blood too, right? And then
00:25:44 --> 00:25:48 people don't have as much energy. Oh, they've
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 got lots of side effects. Yeah, we're giving
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 one that causes these side effects. So then sometimes
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 we give another medication to counteract the
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 side effects of the first drug that's counteracting
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 the blood pressure problem. Whereas we're not
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03 getting to the root of the problem by just prescribing
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 medications. We're not unclogging the arteries,
00:26:07 --> 00:26:11 which we can do with food. Calcium can be a problem
00:26:11 --> 00:26:14 for people with heart trouble too, though, right?
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 It can clog the arteries as well. Yeah, calcium,
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 I've learned not to take calcium supplements.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 I try to get all my calcium in food, largely
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 beans and greens. Taking calcium supplements,
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 I mean, you know, people need to talk to their
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 doctor about this. It might be different for
00:26:30 --> 00:26:33 different people, depending on where their calcium's
00:26:33 --> 00:26:37 at and what their disease profile is like, how
00:26:37 --> 00:26:40 their body's doing generally. But overall, my
00:26:40 --> 00:26:45 understanding is that calcium can calcify. arteries
00:26:45 --> 00:26:48 and also add to the hardening of the arteries
00:26:48 --> 00:26:52 and make them very stiff and unable to open wide.
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 And then another... Problem when you have high
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58 blood pressure is when you get these thickened
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 arteries or these thickened side roads, there's
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 also less nitric oxide made. And nitric oxide
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 is this magical molecule that causes vasodilation
00:27:07 --> 00:27:11 or a widening of the arteries at times of greater
00:27:11 --> 00:27:15 need, like when we're exercising or snow or.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18 walking, brisk walk or running or something.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:21 We need wider arteries so more blood flow can
00:27:21 --> 00:27:25 get through to our muscles. Or with healing,
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 we need wider arteries and more nourishment to
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 get through. Well, definitely, if you don't have
00:27:30 --> 00:27:33 the blood circulating, cells die, right? That's
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 right. That's right. Yeah. Or they don't get
00:27:35 --> 00:27:38 the nourishment they need, so it's harder to
00:27:38 --> 00:27:41 heal. This can be controversial. How do you respond
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 to skepticism from both patients and other practitioners?
00:27:45 --> 00:27:49 Oh, there's so much skepticism out there. I think
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 the main thing is I stopped fighting it. I stopped
00:27:51 --> 00:27:55 trying to argue with these people who not everyone
00:27:55 --> 00:27:59 is open to changing their nutrition. And I think
00:27:59 --> 00:28:02 I just had to accept that that's a fact. Nutrition
00:28:02 --> 00:28:05 represents so much, right? It's not just tastes.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:10 It's tradition. It's family. It's love. It's
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 when we get together, we feed people. There's
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 so much tied into nutrition. It's socializing.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 It's going to restaurants. It's enjoying life.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 When I realized my colleagues really weren't
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 open to hearing about this, I thought, that's
00:28:22 --> 00:28:26 okay. I just want to tell people who are open
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 to hearing this because I really felt like I
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 was sitting on a world secret. And people are
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 suffering. People are dying young. They're leaving
00:28:33 --> 00:28:36 children behind sometimes. It just wasn't acceptable
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 to me to... sit back and do nothing about it.
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 So that's why I created my first informational
00:28:41 --> 00:28:44 session and just emailed it out. I'm open to
00:28:44 --> 00:28:48 talking with people. And if they're open to respectful
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 dialogue, I'll talk to anyone about this. It's
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 kind of become my passion to learning about nutrition
00:28:53 --> 00:28:58 and lifestyle. watching good quality videos and
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 reading studies pretty much every day because
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 it's just so fun for me. There's so much that
00:29:03 --> 00:29:07 we don't know about healing the human body and
00:29:07 --> 00:29:09 the incredible role that food plays in that.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 And now we'll take time for a commercial break.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:16 Welcome back. How do you integrate nutrition
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 and lifestyle medicine into a system that is
00:29:18 --> 00:29:22 still largely medication focused? Well, this
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 is why I kind of jumped out of the system. I
00:29:24 --> 00:29:28 still do my medical work and OHIP work. That's
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31 all perinatal psychiatry. I still do e -consults
00:29:31 --> 00:29:35 for people anywhere in Canada. But that's why
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 I started the not -for -profit, so that I could
00:29:37 --> 00:29:41 help women all over the world who are ready to
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 make the changes they need so they can really
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 take their own power back in terms of improving
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 their own health and well -being. So you do help
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 people outside of Canada? I do. Do you see a
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 future where physicians are trained more deeply
00:29:56 --> 00:29:59 in nutrition and prevention? Oh, absolutely.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:03 I'm counting on it because my plan is this not
00:30:03 --> 00:30:05 -for -profit that I started and this little membership
00:30:05 --> 00:30:08 that I've started and I'm trying to grow is this
00:30:08 --> 00:30:11 is my retirement passion project that I'm going
00:30:11 --> 00:30:14 to be doing this until the day I drop dead. or
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 hopefully less time than that, because it will
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 become mainstream knowledge. So once it becomes
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 mainstream knowledge, we're teaching it to all
00:30:21 --> 00:30:25 our future doctors in medical training. The governments
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 are finally doing the public health pushes that
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 need to be done. We're teaching it in our schools.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 Then once everyone knows how to do it, the not
00:30:33 --> 00:30:36 -for -profit won't be needed anymore, and I can
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 close up shop and retire. That's my plan. So
00:30:39 --> 00:30:42 I don't know when it'll happen, but there's a
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 growing cohort of us. I'm in a WhatsApp group
00:30:44 --> 00:30:48 of Canadian physicians, dieticians, and nurses,
00:30:49 --> 00:30:52 et cetera, as well as a WhatsApp group of UK
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 professionals, plant -based lifestyle medicine
00:30:54 --> 00:30:57 professionals. And so we're a growing cohort,
00:30:57 --> 00:31:02 but we're still a teensy number. of practitioners
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 who know about this stuff and are trying to share
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 it widely. So I'm not sure when it'll happen,
00:31:08 --> 00:31:11 but I'm sure it's going to happen in my lifetime.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:14 You know, if we compare the tobacco world, there
00:31:14 --> 00:31:18 were about 6 studies that had come out before
00:31:18 --> 00:31:22 our Minister of Health in Canada, Judy LaMarche,
00:31:22 --> 00:31:27 came out and publicly said in 1960... four, I
00:31:27 --> 00:31:31 think three, that, hey, guys, looks like smoking
00:31:31 --> 00:31:34 causes lung cancer, maybe we should stop smoking.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:37 And she herself was a longtime heavy smoker.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 And so kudos to her for getting that ball rolling.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43 Six months later, the US Surgeon General said
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 basically the same thing. Unfortunately, she
00:31:45 --> 00:31:49 died at 55 from cancer, but she got the ball
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 rolling. And so that was after 6000 studies.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:55 And I have heard that there's been at least 9
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 studies, and that was a few years ago. I
00:31:57 --> 00:32:00 don't remember where that number came from, so
00:32:00 --> 00:32:02 I'd have to, don't quote me, but there's been
00:32:02 --> 00:32:04 thousands more studies that have come out on
00:32:04 --> 00:32:08 the healing power of plant -based nutrition for
00:32:08 --> 00:32:11 preventing, improving, and reversing all kinds
00:32:11 --> 00:32:15 of chronic diseases in humans. And so how many
00:32:15 --> 00:32:18 more studies do we need before we're going to
00:32:18 --> 00:32:21 start recommending it to everyone? I mean, we
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 know that it can prevent and reverse the commonest
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 chronic health challenge in the planet, which
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 is heart disease. In Canada, it's actually the
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 second most common chronic disease. Cancer is
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 first. But if it can prevent and reverse the
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 most common one, why wouldn't we make it the
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 default diet? As I think, who said that? I think
00:32:40 --> 00:32:43 Michael Greger. And if we can prevent the most
00:32:43 --> 00:32:46 common one, it would make sense that we start
00:32:46 --> 00:32:49 doing that. And then we see that it helps all
00:32:49 --> 00:32:52 these other... diseases as well. I mean, it just
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 seems like a no -brainer to me that this is the
00:32:54 --> 00:32:56 way you want to eat if you want to feel fantastic
00:32:56 --> 00:32:59 and reduce your chronic disease burden and live
00:32:59 --> 00:33:03 longer and feel great. What role does patient
00:33:03 --> 00:33:06 empowerment play in helping women make sustainable
00:33:06 --> 00:33:10 lifestyle changes? Personally, I used to think
00:33:10 --> 00:33:14 that it was luck of the draw. We're dealt cards
00:33:14 --> 00:33:17 in life and it's largely based on our gene and
00:33:17 --> 00:33:19 you're going to get cancer, you're going to get
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 heart disease, you're going to die of a stroke,
00:33:21 --> 00:33:24 you know, because it's in the family. And now
00:33:24 --> 00:33:29 I know that we have the power, largely. It's
00:33:29 --> 00:33:32 not our doctor who holds the power for our health
00:33:32 --> 00:33:36 and the medications we take. But it's we hold
00:33:36 --> 00:33:39 the most power in terms of the food we eat and
00:33:39 --> 00:33:42 the kind of lifestyle we live that we decide,
00:33:42 --> 00:33:46 by and large, how our health trajectory is going
00:33:46 --> 00:33:49 to go. And I think that's very empowering. I
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52 love how you frame health as more than just symptom
00:33:52 --> 00:33:55 control. How do you define successful outcomes
00:33:55 --> 00:33:57 when using nutrition and lifestyle interventions
00:33:57 --> 00:34:01 alongside conventional care? When a woman joins
00:34:01 --> 00:34:03 the membership or takes my intensive course or
00:34:03 --> 00:34:07 something, my aim is to reverse her diseases
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 wherever possible. I mean, no one can give anyone
00:34:10 --> 00:34:14 a written guarantee. A lot of diseases can be
00:34:14 --> 00:34:18 improved and reversed with just food and lifestyle.
00:34:18 --> 00:34:21 So that's always my aim. Sometimes it requires
00:34:21 --> 00:34:24 getting people off certain medications. I recently
00:34:24 --> 00:34:28 had a woman in my intensive course who was on
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30 a proton pump inhibitor, an acid blocker, and
00:34:30 --> 00:34:34 it made it hard for her to do some of the things.
00:34:34 --> 00:34:37 that I'm helping people do. And it made a huge
00:34:37 --> 00:34:40 difference for her when she did get off that
00:34:40 --> 00:34:44 in terms of her gut function and her ability
00:34:44 --> 00:34:48 to eat the most healthy foods. And so I think
00:34:48 --> 00:34:51 both are intermingled. I'm certainly not anti
00:34:51 --> 00:34:54 -medication. I think Western medicine has a place,
00:34:54 --> 00:34:58 medicines have a place, and they can save lives,
00:34:58 --> 00:35:01 they can improve lives. You know, I've seen women
00:35:01 --> 00:35:04 have severe postpartum depression, sometimes
00:35:04 --> 00:35:08 with psychotic features, or severe bipolar disorder,
00:35:08 --> 00:35:12 a manic episode lands them in the hospital. medicines
00:35:12 --> 00:35:15 can save these women's lives but then I also
00:35:15 --> 00:35:18 love to teach about all the non -medication strategies
00:35:18 --> 00:35:22 that can also help to keep them well sometimes
00:35:22 --> 00:35:25 in addition to medications and for some women
00:35:25 --> 00:35:29 they can actually get off medications when they
00:35:29 --> 00:35:32 have a really impeccable lifestyle. You're helping
00:35:32 --> 00:35:35 women with conditions like hypertension, weight
00:35:35 --> 00:35:39 concerns, autoimmune issues and more. What patterns
00:35:39 --> 00:35:41 are you seeing in what actually helps women feel
00:35:41 --> 00:35:46 better? The more all in they are, the faster
00:35:46 --> 00:35:50 their symptoms disappear and the more motivating.
00:35:50 --> 00:35:53 And this is huge that the more motivated they
00:35:53 --> 00:35:57 are to keep going in the membership. I teach
00:35:57 --> 00:36:00 women either here's a healthy whole food plant
00:36:00 --> 00:36:03 -based diet and I help them get onto that by
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 adding different foods, not by taking things
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 away. That's too scary for most people. Say,
00:36:08 --> 00:36:10 well, I'll never have meat again. No, no, no.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:13 You have all the meat you want, but add this
00:36:13 --> 00:36:15 and then add that and we kind of go around the
00:36:15 --> 00:36:18 circle for them. The other way, because I always
00:36:18 --> 00:36:21 tell women at the start, if they have an autoimmune
00:36:21 --> 00:36:25 disease, for example, that they may need a certain
00:36:26 --> 00:36:30 protocol to reverse that disease more completely
00:36:30 --> 00:36:33 or more quickly. This way can work for a lot
00:36:33 --> 00:36:36 of women. One woman, when she started, she said
00:36:36 --> 00:36:40 she was on the slow road for reversing her high
00:36:40 --> 00:36:44 cholesterol and for losing weight. After a few
00:36:44 --> 00:36:47 weeks of seeing other women in the Q &A sessions,
00:36:47 --> 00:36:49 she was like, wait a second, yeah, my doctor
00:36:49 --> 00:36:51 wants to recheck my cholesterol in three weeks.
00:36:52 --> 00:36:55 I want to see what the more rapid healing diet
00:36:55 --> 00:37:00 can do. And so she jumped into that. So I love
00:37:00 --> 00:37:05 that the women impact one another and the more
00:37:05 --> 00:37:09 all in they are, like the healthier they eat,
00:37:09 --> 00:37:13 the faster they heal and the more motivated they
00:37:13 --> 00:37:16 are to keep going. So she was amazed at the weight
00:37:16 --> 00:37:19 she lost, her doctor calling her after that blood
00:37:19 --> 00:37:21 work and saying, I don't know what you're doing,
00:37:21 --> 00:37:23 but keep doing it and don't take that statin.
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 Cholesterol is coming down nicely. And she really
00:37:26 --> 00:37:28 thought she'd be on a statin for the rest of
00:37:28 --> 00:37:31 her life. And she was 52 at the time. Both her
00:37:31 --> 00:37:33 parents had high cholesterol. And she's like,
00:37:33 --> 00:37:35 well, I just figured I would eventually get it
00:37:35 --> 00:37:38 as well. But now she keeps it up. She'll probably
00:37:38 --> 00:37:41 not. need that statin and her cholesterol will
00:37:41 --> 00:37:43 stay at a nice low. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn says
00:37:43 --> 00:37:46 a heart attack proof zone. For someone listening
00:37:46 --> 00:37:49 who feels overwhelmed, what is the first step
00:37:49 --> 00:37:53 they can take today? I think the first most important
00:37:53 --> 00:37:57 step is actually forget about food for a second.
00:37:57 --> 00:38:02 Picture yourself in 10 years. In 10 years, how
00:38:02 --> 00:38:04 do you want to see yourself? picture yourself
00:38:04 --> 00:38:07 how healthy are you how vibrant are you you know
00:38:07 --> 00:38:10 where are you where are you located who are you
00:38:10 --> 00:38:13 with what are you doing day to day how are you
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 feeling what's your energy like how are you sleeping
00:38:15 --> 00:38:18 all of these things picture that what's your
00:38:18 --> 00:38:21 blood work looking like how's your health and
00:38:21 --> 00:38:25 picture the person you want to see and what is
00:38:25 --> 00:38:30 that person doing every day every meal to keep
00:38:30 --> 00:38:35 up that kind of health. And that's the person
00:38:35 --> 00:38:38 that you want to start becoming right now. So
00:38:38 --> 00:38:40 you don't have to be perfect. You don't have
00:38:40 --> 00:38:43 to be fully whole food plant based today or tomorrow.
00:38:43 --> 00:38:48 Just what's the next step on that journey? You
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 know, I remember when Christine joined the membership,
00:38:50 --> 00:38:52 she said, Oh, Dr. Pollack, I don't think I can
00:38:52 --> 00:38:54 eat what you want me to eat. And I said, Oh,
00:38:54 --> 00:38:56 Christine, first of all, it's not what I want
00:38:56 --> 00:38:59 you to eat. But if you want to feel fantastic,
00:39:00 --> 00:39:03 If you want to reduce chronic diseases, your
00:39:03 --> 00:39:05 chronic pain, if you want to feel better and
00:39:05 --> 00:39:08 live a longer time, this is definitely the way
00:39:08 --> 00:39:13 you want to eat like forever. So make it tolerable.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:16 She said she had a number of food sensitivities,
00:39:16 --> 00:39:20 medication sensitivities. And I said, then go
00:39:20 --> 00:39:23 slowly, go slowly as your body needs to go so
00:39:23 --> 00:39:26 that it's tolerable and just increase it every
00:39:26 --> 00:39:29 week. And after a few weeks, she said, you know
00:39:29 --> 00:39:32 what? This is easy. I'm not having any problems
00:39:32 --> 00:39:35 with it. And she was someone who did have an
00:39:35 --> 00:39:38 autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's. She said, what
00:39:38 --> 00:39:41 was that diet you said I might need to do that
00:39:41 --> 00:39:44 was more stringent? And so she started on that
00:39:44 --> 00:39:48 and her Hashimoto's antibodies, autoantibodies
00:39:48 --> 00:39:50 completely disappeared. She had to reduce her
00:39:50 --> 00:39:53 medication. Chronic pain got so much better.
00:39:53 --> 00:39:56 Just so many things got better. She felt better.
00:39:56 --> 00:39:58 She felt more resilient. She could get more done
00:39:58 --> 00:40:02 in a day. Just so many things happen when you
00:40:02 --> 00:40:05 start to change what you eat. It's so remarkable
00:40:05 --> 00:40:08 to me. You share practical recipes on your social
00:40:08 --> 00:40:12 media, like your non-dairy yogurt. Would you
00:40:12 --> 00:40:14 like to share a simple example with listeners?
00:40:15 --> 00:40:17 Oh, sure. I can tell you how I make yogurt. It
00:40:17 --> 00:40:21 takes literally maybe 15 seconds of my time.
00:40:22 --> 00:40:25 So I have an Instant Pot. You can do it without
00:40:25 --> 00:40:27 an Instant Pot, but you know, there's yogurt
00:40:27 --> 00:40:29 makers and different things. You can use your
00:40:29 --> 00:40:31 oven if your oven goes low enough. But anyway,
00:40:31 --> 00:40:35 I do it in an Instant Pot. I put in two cartons
00:40:35 --> 00:40:38 of soy milk, and I use a kind of soy milk that's
00:40:38 --> 00:40:40 just soybeans and water. There's nothing else
00:40:40 --> 00:40:44 in it. And I add a probiotic capsule. I whisk
00:40:44 --> 00:40:47 and that's it. Put the lid on. Turn on the, push
00:40:47 --> 00:40:49 the yogurt, plug it in, push the yogurt button,
00:40:49 --> 00:40:54 and it's ready in 15 hours. Does it have to be
00:40:54 --> 00:40:57 soy milk? Can it be almond milk? You can use
00:40:57 --> 00:41:01 any plant milk. I happen to use soy milk because
00:41:01 --> 00:41:04 the research shows that it's the healthiest kind
00:41:04 --> 00:41:07 of plant-based milk. But, you know, any of them
00:41:07 --> 00:41:10 are going to be better than... When we look at
00:41:10 --> 00:41:14 Cacao versus cocoa: processing can affect things
00:41:14 --> 00:41:16 like polyphenols and other bioactive compounds.
00:41:17 --> 00:41:20 Can you walk us through what changes during processing
00:41:20 --> 00:41:22 and whether those differences are clinically
00:41:22 --> 00:41:28 meaningful? Cacao is the raw, unprocessed product
00:41:28 --> 00:41:32 that comes off that bean. And part of that, I
00:41:32 --> 00:41:34 don't know all the details of the processing,
00:41:34 --> 00:41:38 but I think the first step is fermenting. As
00:41:38 --> 00:41:42 I recall, that removes about 80 % of the good
00:41:42 --> 00:41:45 stuff. And in Dutch processing, you lose about
00:41:45 --> 00:41:49 98 % of the epicatechins, I think they're called.
00:41:49 --> 00:41:53 So cacao has a lot of flavanols, and flavanols
00:41:53 --> 00:41:55 are really good for reducing inflammation. They're
00:41:55 --> 00:41:58 a good brain food. They also help reduce blood
00:41:58 --> 00:42:01 pressure. They reduce LDL cholesterol, the bad
00:42:01 --> 00:42:04 cholesterol. It can help with insulin resistance.
00:42:04 --> 00:42:08 I don't know of... clinical research that's compared
00:42:08 --> 00:42:13 cocoa versus cacao with blood pressure, cholesterol,
00:42:14 --> 00:42:18 etc. But I would just presume that cacao must
00:42:18 --> 00:42:21 be better, right? It's the whole food source.
00:42:21 --> 00:42:23 And as much as possible, I try to eat whole food
00:42:23 --> 00:42:28 sources, rather than extracts of foods or processed
00:42:28 --> 00:42:30 foods. The flavor isn't as good though, right?
00:42:31 --> 00:42:33 I don't know. I guess it's so long since I've
00:42:33 --> 00:42:36 had cocoa powder that maybe I don't even know
00:42:36 --> 00:42:40 anymore. But I make, you know, ice cream and
00:42:40 --> 00:42:44 sort of brain food ice cream for my mother all
00:42:44 --> 00:42:46 the time. She loves it. And I use cacao powder.
00:42:46 --> 00:42:49 It's mostly turmeric. Like it's two teaspoons
00:42:49 --> 00:42:53 of turmeric per, you know, ice cream serving
00:42:53 --> 00:42:56 that I make. But I put a little more cacao powder
00:42:56 --> 00:43:00 than fresh turmeric. And it just makes it taste
00:43:00 --> 00:43:02 like chocolate. But you're right. Like a lot
00:43:02 --> 00:43:05 of the flavor, I think, for cocoa comes from,
00:43:05 --> 00:43:08 for chocolate comes from the roasting. So it's
00:43:08 --> 00:43:10 fermenting and then a couple of other processes
00:43:10 --> 00:43:13 and then I think roasting. And that's what apparently
00:43:13 --> 00:43:16 gives it more chocolatey flavour. But you know
00:43:16 --> 00:43:21 what? For me, it's all about health. And sometimes.
00:43:22 --> 00:43:25 taste follows like we get a whole new crop of
00:43:25 --> 00:43:28 taste buds about every 10 to 14 days, depending
00:43:28 --> 00:43:30 on the taste, but it's every 3 to 21 days because
00:43:30 --> 00:43:32 there's different kinds of taste buds so somebody
00:43:32 --> 00:43:34 can eventually like it is what you're saying
00:43:34 --> 00:43:37 if they stick with it I would say absolutely
00:43:37 --> 00:43:41 if I just want a chocolate snack in the afternoon
00:43:41 --> 00:43:45 and we don't have any dark chocolate in the house
00:43:45 --> 00:43:48 which I don't always keep around I will have
00:43:48 --> 00:43:52 a little bit of cacao powder a little date syrup,
00:43:52 --> 00:43:54 because that's a whole food. That's my sweetener.
00:43:54 --> 00:43:57 That's a whole food. And a little turmeric, not
00:43:57 --> 00:44:00 for the taste, but for the health of it. And
00:44:00 --> 00:44:04 I don't mind the taste. And then a little mix
00:44:04 --> 00:44:06 of almond butter and hazelnut butter. I'll stir
00:44:06 --> 00:44:08 that up. If it needs more liquid, I'll put in
00:44:08 --> 00:44:10 a little soy milk or could be water, I guess.
00:44:10 --> 00:44:13 And stir that up. And it's delicious. It's a
00:44:13 --> 00:44:18 sweet treat. It's chocolatey. Super healthy.
00:44:18 --> 00:44:22 And yeah, I personally, I love it. It might not
00:44:22 --> 00:44:25 appeal to someone who's just starting to eat
00:44:25 --> 00:44:27 this way. So it might not be something I'd share
00:44:27 --> 00:44:31 with someone in their early days. They were concerned
00:44:31 --> 00:44:33 about their cognition. Then I'd be like, look,
00:44:33 --> 00:44:36 we need to get you on lots of turmeric and blueberries
00:44:36 --> 00:44:39 and, you know, the things that really stand out
00:44:39 --> 00:44:41 for brain health. We need to get you on those
00:44:41 --> 00:44:43 every day and find a way that's going to be delicious
00:44:43 --> 00:44:47 for you. I've experimented with recipes that
00:44:47 --> 00:44:49 incorporate beans into desserts to help stabilize
00:44:49 --> 00:44:52 blood sugar. From your perspective, how effective
00:44:52 --> 00:44:55 is that kind of approach? Why not? If you're
00:44:55 --> 00:44:58 going for a dessert and you can make it healthy,
00:44:58 --> 00:45:01 I'm all for that. I've had a decade of fun trying
00:45:01 --> 00:45:05 to make delicious recipes really healthy because
00:45:05 --> 00:45:07 for me, it's health first. I want to feel I'm
00:45:07 --> 00:45:10 addicted to feeling fantastic. Someone brings
00:45:10 --> 00:45:13 a birthday cake and I know it's got dairy and
00:45:13 --> 00:45:17 eggs. I just have no interest in even a taste.
00:45:17 --> 00:45:20 It just I'm just not even tempted. And then another
00:45:20 --> 00:45:24 thing about your question is. Compared to what?
00:45:24 --> 00:45:27 I don't think I would say get all your beans
00:45:27 --> 00:45:29 from brownies that you make with black beans.
00:45:30 --> 00:45:34 But if you can make your brownies tasty and healthy,
00:45:34 --> 00:45:38 I'm all for that. And I know they can be tasty
00:45:38 --> 00:45:41 and healthy with beans in them. So why not? I
00:45:41 --> 00:45:43 don't think that's the only way you're going
00:45:43 --> 00:45:44 to get your beans, though, because it's probably
00:45:44 --> 00:45:47 going to have a lot of, even if it's not processed.
00:45:47 --> 00:45:50 sugar it's going to have a lot of sweetener and
00:45:50 --> 00:45:52 things you probably don't want to have tons of
00:45:52 --> 00:45:54 it's still a it's still kind of a fun food right
00:45:54 --> 00:45:56 and now we'll take time for a commercial break
00:45:56 --> 00:46:00 welcome back what are some of the biggest myths
00:46:00 --> 00:46:03 around protein dairy or plant -based eating that
00:46:03 --> 00:46:05 you'd like to clear up well protein a question
00:46:05 --> 00:46:09 about protein is the first question I tend to
00:46:09 --> 00:46:11 get from people when they're first learning about
00:46:11 --> 00:46:14 plant -based eating And the answer I would say
00:46:14 --> 00:46:16 to that is you really don't need to worry about
00:46:16 --> 00:46:19 the protein. There's protein in literally everything,
00:46:19 --> 00:46:24 almost everything. Broccoli is one third protein.
00:46:24 --> 00:46:27 There's protein in vegetables, fruits, grains
00:46:27 --> 00:46:30 have lots of protein. And of course, legumes
00:46:30 --> 00:46:33 have tons of protein and nuts. So if you're eating
00:46:33 --> 00:46:36 balanced diet over the course of a day, a course
00:46:36 --> 00:46:40 of a week. you're getting plenty of protein.
00:46:40 --> 00:46:42 A lot of people think you need lots of protein
00:46:42 --> 00:46:45 to build muscle. And what you need is exercise.
00:46:45 --> 00:46:47 You need resistance training to build muscle
00:46:47 --> 00:46:50 and to maintain muscle, especially with increasing
00:46:50 --> 00:46:54 age. So we need protein for sure. Ask your doctor
00:46:54 --> 00:46:57 how many people they've diagnosed with a protein
00:46:57 --> 00:47:01 deficiency. And unless they've had severe folks
00:47:01 --> 00:47:04 with severe anorexia or folks with advanced cancer
00:47:04 --> 00:47:07 where the cancer is just consuming their body,
00:47:07 --> 00:47:10 they're not seeing protein deficiency. Yet what
00:47:10 --> 00:47:14 is deficient in almost every Canadian's diet
00:47:14 --> 00:47:18 and North American's diet is fiber and all the
00:47:18 --> 00:47:23 micronutrients that we get from plants. Don't
00:47:23 --> 00:47:25 worry about protein. You're getting plenty. You
00:47:25 --> 00:47:27 know, a keto friend of mine once said to me,
00:47:27 --> 00:47:29 well, how much protein do you eat? And I said,
00:47:29 --> 00:47:32 honestly, I don't even know. And she said, well,
00:47:32 --> 00:47:35 if you ever figure it out, let me know. So I
00:47:35 --> 00:47:38 did. I asked Chad GPT, you know, how much protein
00:47:38 --> 00:47:40 is in this is this and I put down my diet for
00:47:40 --> 00:47:44 a day. And I was getting between 1 .1 and 1 .2
00:47:44 --> 00:47:47 grams per kilogram of body weight, grams of protein
00:47:47 --> 00:47:50 per kilogram of body weight, which is buckets
00:47:50 --> 00:47:53 of protein. I'm not an Olympic athlete. So that's
00:47:53 --> 00:47:56 more than enough. You know, the data say we need
00:47:56 --> 00:47:59 between 0 .8 and one gram. And I'm getting even
00:47:59 --> 00:48:01 more than that. So I really think we don't need
00:48:01 --> 00:48:05 to worry about. protein. What to know about dairy
00:48:05 --> 00:48:08 is you don't need it. It's not good for your
00:48:08 --> 00:48:10 bones. To quote one of my colleagues in Western
00:48:10 --> 00:48:13 Canada, Dr. Jesse Pawarachuk, I think his exact
00:48:13 --> 00:48:18 words were, dairy is worse than useless for the
00:48:18 --> 00:48:22 preservation of bone mass. I mean, I was taught
00:48:22 --> 00:48:24 in my medical training, we need meat for the
00:48:24 --> 00:48:29 protein, we need milk for our bones. Then I saw
00:48:29 --> 00:48:32 data that shows that actually the countries that
00:48:32 --> 00:48:36 consume the most dairy have the most hip fractures.
00:48:36 --> 00:48:41 So dairy does not seem to be protecting us, protecting
00:48:41 --> 00:48:45 our bones and protecting us from fractures. And
00:48:45 --> 00:48:50 so, yeah, it just, we don't need dairy for bones.
00:48:50 --> 00:48:54 That's number one about dairy. And it appears
00:48:54 --> 00:48:59 to be increasing cancer risk overall. And so
00:48:59 --> 00:49:02 Dr. T. Colin Campbell did a couple of studies.
00:49:02 --> 00:49:05 One, now these are animal studies in, I think,
00:49:05 --> 00:49:08 rats or mice or something. He would inject them
00:49:08 --> 00:49:10 with, I think it was aflatoxin, to give them
00:49:10 --> 00:49:14 a liver tumor. And this is not a study that would
00:49:14 --> 00:49:16 necessarily get ethics approval now. But what
00:49:16 --> 00:49:21 he found is that when he fed them more casein,
00:49:21 --> 00:49:25 they would watch these tumors grow in the animals
00:49:25 --> 00:49:27 that had the higher diet of casein, which is
00:49:27 --> 00:49:30 the main protein found in milk. Whereas the ones
00:49:30 --> 00:49:33 that had very low casein, their tumors shrank.
00:49:33 --> 00:49:36 Then he switched it up. He did it where the same
00:49:36 --> 00:49:39 animals were the treatment and control group.
00:49:39 --> 00:49:42 And he gave them high casein and the tumors grew.
00:49:43 --> 00:49:45 And then they lowered over three weeks. And then
00:49:45 --> 00:49:48 for three weeks, they gave lower casein and the
00:49:48 --> 00:49:51 tumor shrank and did this a few times. And so
00:49:51 --> 00:49:55 this appears to be acting as a carcinogen. So
00:49:55 --> 00:49:57 then in our own household, I mean, one of my
00:49:57 --> 00:50:01 kids had some acne and adolescence. And when
00:50:01 --> 00:50:03 I went to get grocery, I forgot to get the milk.
00:50:03 --> 00:50:06 And so we were basically without milk for a couple
00:50:06 --> 00:50:11 of weeks. And one day I noticed that. pimples
00:50:11 --> 00:50:15 were gone and I mentioned this and we both talked
00:50:15 --> 00:50:17 about like did anything else change it's like
00:50:17 --> 00:50:20 nope just no milk so and we know like that's
00:50:20 --> 00:50:22 in that that there's lots of research on that
00:50:22 --> 00:50:26 if you've got acne stop milk and there are good
00:50:26 --> 00:50:28 chance it will go away there's other things as
00:50:28 --> 00:50:31 well like sugar and well not just milk even cheese
00:50:31 --> 00:50:35 or whatever right all dairy all dairy products
00:50:35 --> 00:50:38 yeah cheese yeah absolutely cheese cheese is
00:50:38 --> 00:50:41 even worse it's even more concentrated Which
00:50:41 --> 00:50:44 researchers or studies have most influenced your
00:50:44 --> 00:50:47 thinking on this, about the dairy? On dairy in
00:50:47 --> 00:50:50 particular, probably T. Colin Campbell with those
00:50:50 --> 00:50:53 two studies I was just mentioning. Some are not
00:50:53 --> 00:50:56 specific to dairy, but they're just showing the
00:50:56 --> 00:50:59 incredible healing power of a whole food plant
00:50:59 --> 00:51:01 -based diet, which obviously does not include
00:51:01 --> 00:51:05 any dairy product, and improving. I'm thinking
00:51:05 --> 00:51:08 Dr. Dean Ornish with his... studies on heart
00:51:08 --> 00:51:12 disease and prostate cancer as well. Dr. Caldwell
00:51:12 --> 00:51:15 Esselstyn with his long, like many years, like
00:51:15 --> 00:51:20 decades study on reversing the most severe heart
00:51:20 --> 00:51:22 disease that his colleagues were referring to
00:51:22 --> 00:51:25 him. And all he did was put them on a whole food
00:51:25 --> 00:51:28 plant -based diet. Yeah. Some people suggest
00:51:28 --> 00:51:31 goat milk differs from cow's milk in its hormonal
00:51:31 --> 00:51:34 profile and physiological effects. How do you
00:51:34 --> 00:51:36 interpret the evidence particularly regarding
00:51:36 --> 00:51:40 insulin? Which one's less bad for you? Like neither
00:51:40 --> 00:51:44 is good for you. So in my mind, it's like who
00:51:44 --> 00:51:47 cares if goat milk is a little less terrible
00:51:47 --> 00:51:51 for your health? It's still full of animal protein,
00:51:51 --> 00:51:55 animal fat. It's still, we're only talking about
00:51:55 --> 00:51:57 health here. There's also ethical considerations
00:51:57 --> 00:52:01 because to get any animal's milk, we basically
00:52:01 --> 00:52:03 have to impregnate them and then steal their
00:52:03 --> 00:52:05 babies because that's how we get milk from any
00:52:05 --> 00:52:08 mammal. And then there's also the water use,
00:52:08 --> 00:52:11 the land use, like all the earth, the problems
00:52:11 --> 00:52:13 with the... earth and pollution and all of these
00:52:13 --> 00:52:15 things. But just in terms of health effects,
00:52:15 --> 00:52:18 we know dairy is terrible for us. I wouldn't
00:52:18 --> 00:52:20 compare goat's milk to dairy. You know, if there
00:52:20 --> 00:52:23 was something healthy about goat's milk, like
00:52:23 --> 00:52:26 let's at least compare it to soy milk or oat
00:52:26 --> 00:52:30 milk or something that we know is not terrible
00:52:30 --> 00:52:33 for us, or at least something neutral, like nothing,
00:52:33 --> 00:52:37 like a placebo, which is what we often do in
00:52:37 --> 00:52:42 drug trials. You created a not -for -profit Ben
00:52:42 --> 00:52:46 Essary, to support women. What inspired you to
00:52:46 --> 00:52:50 take your work beyond the clinic? I mean, I wanted
00:52:50 --> 00:52:54 to help a lot of women and helping them one -on
00:52:54 --> 00:52:57 -one and being run off my feet was not... I can
00:52:57 --> 00:53:00 help women in groups with OHIP, but I can't help
00:53:00 --> 00:53:05 women make the changes that would be really helpful
00:53:05 --> 00:53:07 in the ways that I think are really helpful.
00:53:08 --> 00:53:11 which might include being on a community forum
00:53:11 --> 00:53:15 long -term. And this way in the not -for -profit,
00:53:15 --> 00:53:18 I can help literally help thousands of women
00:53:18 --> 00:53:21 at one time. I've got a few digital courses,
00:53:21 --> 00:53:24 like brief mini courses to help them get started.
00:53:24 --> 00:53:26 And then we do Q &As and I'll just grow that
00:53:26 --> 00:53:31 as the membership grows. I basically do whatever
00:53:31 --> 00:53:34 these women need to get their health and well
00:53:34 --> 00:53:37 -being back in terms of nutrition and lifestyle.
00:53:37 --> 00:53:40 And we also talk about how they can talk to their
00:53:40 --> 00:53:43 doctor when they have certain needs or need things
00:53:43 --> 00:53:47 tested or how to talk about medications and whatnot.
00:53:47 --> 00:53:51 So yeah, in the not -for -profit sort of format,
00:53:51 --> 00:53:55 it's allowing me to help women in a way I can't
00:53:55 --> 00:54:00 do in our medical system. You offer a Women's
00:54:00 --> 00:54:03 Health Hub membership. What can women expect
00:54:03 --> 00:54:06 when they join that kind of community? Sure.
00:54:06 --> 00:54:08 So when people join the Women's Health Hub community,
00:54:08 --> 00:54:12 they'll see a welcome video and then some onboarding
00:54:12 --> 00:54:15 materials, like a series of short videos they
00:54:15 --> 00:54:18 can watch that just explains how the membership
00:54:18 --> 00:54:21 is going to help them. And I really encourage
00:54:21 --> 00:54:24 them to come live whenever they can. It's only
00:54:24 --> 00:54:27 three live sessions a month, so I figure that's...
00:54:28 --> 00:54:30 sustainable for me, like even throughout retirement.
00:54:31 --> 00:54:34 And it's easy for even the busiest women to join
00:54:34 --> 00:54:38 three 30 minute live sessions per month. One
00:54:38 --> 00:54:40 of them is 45 minutes and we have a connection
00:54:40 --> 00:54:43 call, like a monthly mingle kind of call to get
00:54:43 --> 00:54:46 to know other members. And then we've also got
00:54:46 --> 00:54:51 a recipe site that my son built. So it's just
00:54:51 --> 00:54:54 I'm putting up our family's favorite recipes
00:54:54 --> 00:54:56 that are all completely whole food plant based.
00:54:56 --> 00:55:00 No oil, no sugar and minimal salts. That's optional.
00:55:00 --> 00:55:05 I do a few retreats per year, which is just everything's
00:55:05 --> 00:55:08 online for now, although I would love to do in
00:55:08 --> 00:55:11 -person retreats where I can really help people
00:55:11 --> 00:55:15 get immersed in eating this way and lifestyle
00:55:15 --> 00:55:18 and talking about things and talking about how
00:55:18 --> 00:55:21 they can talk to loved ones who are not yet eating
00:55:21 --> 00:55:24 this way or not wanting to eat this way. And
00:55:24 --> 00:55:26 so, yeah, I see the membership as sort of an
00:55:26 --> 00:55:31 all inclusive, super affordable way to be able
00:55:31 --> 00:55:34 to get your health on track. You also have a
00:55:34 --> 00:55:37 five day starter course and free information
00:55:37 --> 00:55:40 sessions. How do those help someone begin this
00:55:40 --> 00:55:43 journey without feeling overwhelmed? I call it
00:55:43 --> 00:55:45 the five days of essentials. That was like the
00:55:45 --> 00:55:48 first mini course that I created. I had a GP
00:55:48 --> 00:55:50 friend of mine who kept bugging me to teach her
00:55:50 --> 00:55:52 how to eat plant -based, but she was like, Vivian,
00:55:52 --> 00:55:54 I don't want you to just teach me. I want you
00:55:54 --> 00:55:57 to create a thing. So I eventually created this
00:55:57 --> 00:55:59 days of essentials. I thought like, what are
00:55:59 --> 00:56:02 the, what's like the minimum someone needs to
00:56:02 --> 00:56:04 know to just get started eating this way. So
00:56:04 --> 00:56:07 that's what that is about. That's also in the
00:56:07 --> 00:56:10 membership, like any mini courses I create now
00:56:10 --> 00:56:13 are just included in the membership. And then
00:56:13 --> 00:56:16 the info sessions, that's what I started doing
00:56:16 --> 00:56:19 about five, I don't know, five and a half years
00:56:19 --> 00:56:22 ago or so near the start of the pandemic. And
00:56:22 --> 00:56:24 that was just to sort of get the word out. I
00:56:24 --> 00:56:26 had to basically get it off my chest that you
00:56:26 --> 00:56:29 can do this, you can heal. This is what the power
00:56:29 --> 00:56:33 of food can do for you. And so now I just give
00:56:33 --> 00:56:36 those sort of whenever I have time. I was mentioning
00:56:36 --> 00:56:40 earlier a business coach who helped me to make
00:56:40 --> 00:56:43 it even more lay friendly. He said, you need
00:56:43 --> 00:56:45 more stories in here, like start telling stories
00:56:45 --> 00:56:49 about your clients and what challenges they overcame
00:56:49 --> 00:56:52 to do this and talk. about the health impacts
00:56:52 --> 00:56:54 that they've had all these positive benefits
00:56:54 --> 00:56:59 that they all have and so now I'm kind of rejigging
00:56:59 --> 00:57:02 my info sessions to also include more stories
00:57:02 --> 00:57:05 but yeah especially for the doctors out there
00:57:05 --> 00:57:08 I'd say just watch the one that's all science.
00:57:08 --> 00:57:11 It's also for lay people, like it's hopefully
00:57:11 --> 00:57:13 doesn't have any jargon in it. But yeah, they
00:57:13 --> 00:57:15 can just help you learn what you need to know.
00:57:16 --> 00:57:19 So you can really be, I think, motivated to eat
00:57:19 --> 00:57:21 this way that it can really make a difference.
00:57:22 --> 00:57:25 You co founded global initiatives and now built
00:57:25 --> 00:57:28 your own programs. What drives your passion for
00:57:28 --> 00:57:32 this work? Just helping people and helping them
00:57:32 --> 00:57:35 get out of suffering is just brings me a lot
00:57:35 --> 00:57:39 of joy. personally. There's some psychiatrists,
00:57:39 --> 00:57:42 for example, who do a consultation service. All
00:57:42 --> 00:57:44 they do is one -off consultations where they
00:57:44 --> 00:57:46 might see someone twice, which is awesome. We
00:57:46 --> 00:57:50 need people like that. That's not how I like
00:57:50 --> 00:57:53 to work. I love to see them when they need the
00:57:53 --> 00:57:56 help and to actually see them through until they're
00:57:56 --> 00:57:59 feeling fantastic. That just brings me a lot.
00:57:59 --> 00:58:02 So that's what I also love to do in the membership
00:58:02 --> 00:58:05 or in the courses that I offer with food and
00:58:05 --> 00:58:08 nutrition and lifestyle to really see them through
00:58:08 --> 00:58:12 feeling fantastic, thriving. They're off medication.
00:58:12 --> 00:58:16 Like, it's just so fun for me to see these things
00:58:16 --> 00:58:19 happen. If there's one message you want every
00:58:19 --> 00:58:23 listener to walk away with about their health,
00:58:23 --> 00:58:25 what would it be? I'd say the one message is
00:58:25 --> 00:58:29 the power is in you. to change your whole health
00:58:29 --> 00:58:33 trajectory the captain of the ship and your doctor
00:58:33 --> 00:58:36 can get you part of the way there by saving your
00:58:36 --> 00:58:38 life if you're in the middle of a heart attack
00:58:38 --> 00:58:41 don't just start drinking green smoothies like
00:58:41 --> 00:58:43 get the to a cath lab and get your life saved
00:58:43 --> 00:58:47 so you can live to then change your health and
00:58:47 --> 00:58:49 clean out your arteries with the right foods
00:58:49 --> 00:58:54 but western medicine is great for acute treatment
00:58:54 --> 00:58:57 and it's not so great when it comes to chronic
00:58:58 --> 00:59:02 diseases. We just don't do chronic diseases very
00:59:02 --> 00:59:06 well because we're not teaching people to get
00:59:06 --> 00:59:09 to the core of what's driving most of these lifestyle
00:59:09 --> 00:59:12 diseases, which is food and lifestyle, exercise,
00:59:13 --> 00:59:16 getting enough sleep as well. But food is really,
00:59:16 --> 00:59:18 I think, the fundamental most important thing
00:59:18 --> 00:59:21 people can change. There's another piece that
00:59:21 --> 00:59:24 I just wanted to add to the last question, and
00:59:24 --> 00:59:28 that is you don't have to be perfect. You don't
00:59:28 --> 00:59:31 have to be a whole food, plant -based, no oil,
00:59:31 --> 00:59:36 salt, sugar purist to hugely benefit from a change
00:59:36 --> 00:59:40 in your diet. Just know that the more plants
00:59:40 --> 00:59:43 and plant -based foods you eat, the better off
00:59:43 --> 00:59:45 will be your health. There's so much research
00:59:45 --> 00:59:51 on this showing various different diets. western
00:59:51 --> 00:59:55 standard american diet versus semi -vegetarian
00:59:55 --> 00:59:58 and down like this down to whole food plant -based
00:59:58 --> 01:00:01 the healthier we get to be the less chronic disease
01:00:01 --> 01:00:05 the longer we'll live and so don't worry about
01:00:05 --> 01:00:09 being a purist good to know before we wrap up
01:00:09 --> 01:00:11 for those who feel inspired by your work how
01:00:11 --> 01:00:14 can they connect with you or learn more? Sure,
01:00:14 --> 01:00:18 they can go to my website, Vivian Pollack .ca.
01:00:18 --> 01:00:22 So that's V -I -V -I -A -N Pollack, which is
01:00:22 --> 01:00:28 P -O -L, just one L -A -K .ca. That sort of...
01:00:28 --> 01:00:31 says everything that I do. If they're interested
01:00:31 --> 01:00:34 in the nutrition part of things and reversing
01:00:34 --> 01:00:36 diseases, then they click on the vegetables and
01:00:36 --> 01:00:39 that'll take them to the other website, which
01:00:39 --> 01:00:43 is reversingdiseases .org. And if they're interested
01:00:43 --> 01:00:46 in the mental health resources or learning IPT,
01:00:46 --> 01:00:48 learning interpersonal psychotherapy, then they
01:00:48 --> 01:00:51 click on the other sites and that takes them
01:00:51 --> 01:00:55 to the mental health side of things. Thank you
01:00:55 --> 01:00:57 for joining us and sharing your knowledge and
01:00:57 --> 01:01:00 information. I'll place her information below
01:01:00 --> 01:01:03 in the description section. This episode is for
01:01:03 --> 01:01:06 educational and informational purposes only,
01:01:06 --> 01:01:09 and it is not intended as medical advice. Listeners
01:01:09 --> 01:01:11 should consult their own health care professional
01:01:11 --> 01:01:14 regarding their individual health concerns. You
01:01:14 --> 01:01:16 can view this episode on many platforms. Thank
01:01:16 --> 01:01:19 you so much, Vivian. Thank you so much for having
01:01:19 --> 01:01:22 me, Ida. It's been really fun chatting with you.
01:01:22 --> 01:01:26 Me too. Thank you for tuning in to Where Science
01:01:26 --> 01:01:29 Meets Self-Care with Ida Fanelli. Ida bridges
01:01:29 --> 01:01:33 clinical science with holistic wisdom, guiding
01:01:33 --> 01:01:36 you toward radiant skin, balanced energy, and
01:01:36 --> 01:01:39 lasting well-being. Don't forget to subscribe,
01:01:39 --> 01:01:43 share the show, and join us next time for more
01:01:43 --> 01:01:46 inspiration and practical tools to help you live
01:01:46 --> 01:01:50 beautifully inside and out. To connect with Ida,
01:01:50 --> 01:01:56 visit linktr.ee/idafanelli. Until then, take good care
01:01:56 --> 01:01:59 of yourself. And remember, self-care is where
01:01:59 --> 01:02:00 science and soul meet.