Yeah, them's fighting words in the title of today's episode. And Garth David, MD, my lead author of Proteinaholic and co-conspirator in a mission to tell the world that chronic disease and obesity are preventable and reversible, is a fighter. Read more »
Martica Heaner PhD, is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist and health writer. She is an adjunct associate nutrition professor at Hunter College in NYC and the author of 6 books including Cross-training for Dummies and Lean Mommy. She has been a group fitness instructor for over 30 years and starred in a fitness TV show while living in London in the 90s. She has been a vegan for 5 years (prior to that was vegetarian for 32) and teaches plant-based nutrition in a conventional nutrition 101 class. Read more »
Janice Stanger, PhD, is author of The Perfect Formula Diet and a genius at getting other people to become nutritional geniuses. Her approach to any topic - diabetes, pregnancy, hormones, whatever - is to dig down into first principles and build from there. This way of thinking helps non-experts understand the issues without having to rely on experts or gurus to tell them what to think. Grok the first principles, and you can build your own understanding on any topic. Read more »
Michael Klaper, MD, is one of the world's most eloquent, convincing, passionate, and persistent advocates of a plant-based diet. He's studied the health effects, the environmental ramifications, and the psychological aspects of eating meat and junk food, and can put the most complex science in totally accessible terms. Here's how he explains the vast majority of chronic disease in the Western world: "We're putting diesel fuel in a gas engine." Read more »
Jeff Stanford combines a scientist's mind with a vegan's heart and a mystic's soul. He's co-founder of the Stanford Inn by the Sea in Mendocino, California, an eco-resort complete with a fully vegan restaurant, The Ravens. Sid Garza-Hillman, who's the nutritionist at the Stanford Inn, suggested that Jeff would provide fascinating content for the podcast, and Jeff did not disappoint. Jeff's a longtime spiritual seeker, an old-school "back to the land" hippie, and a philosopher. And an advocate of a vegan diet, from all the usual perspectives as well as some that are uniquely his. Read more »
Dr Saray Stancic became an infectious disease specialist in response to the HIV and hepatitis C crisis of the 1980s and 90s. On October 11, 1995, the then-3rd year medical resident found a short nap window at 2am, and collapsed in fatigue in the on-call room of the hospital where she worked. When she was awakened for her next shift, Dr Stancic couldn't feel her legs. She was rushed to the ER, and an MRI revealed multiple sclerosis (MS) with multiple lesions in the brain and spinal cord. In addition to the neuropathy in her legs, it turned out that her kidneys were also failing. She was admitted to the hospital, given an IV steroid drip and a bunch of other medications. And just like that, a young, energetic, ambitious doctor was converted into a frightened, confused, dispirited patient. Read more »
Pam Popper makes her fourth appearance on the podcast, to further expand on her assertion that most of us make better decisions about buying blenders and toasters than we do around the healthcare options that can often mean life or death. I invite Pam onto the show at least once a year to remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing, and also to keep me strong and curious in defending my own health and my family's health in the face of industry shenanigans. Also, I think the Wellness Forum Health annual conference is awesome, and really important if you're the sort of person who likes to base your choices and actions upon good evidence, and you're kind of a health geek. Read more »
Michelle McMacken, MD, is a leader in the field of plant-based lifestyle medicine. She's an assistant professor at New York University's School of Medicine, and the director of a medical weight-loss clinic at Bellevue Medical Center. She's also responsible for teaching doctors-in-training at Bellevue, where she gets to introduce the next generation of medical professionals to the wonderful world of lifestyle medicine. Read more »
Florence Williams is the author of a must-read book, The Nature Fix. Why must-read? Because contact with nature, it turns out, is one of the foundational elements of human health and well-being. Read more »
One of the unsung heroes of modern medicine is Richard J. Ablin, professor in the Pathology Department of the University of Arizona. The discoverer of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), Dr. Ablin has spent decades warning doctors and the public that the PSA test is not only useless for population screening for prostate cancer, but is incredibly harmful. For every man whose life is saved via early detection of a deadly tumor, dozens are maimed by treatments for tumors that were never going to hurt them. Read more »