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This episode gets spicy!

If you’ve listened much, you know we're willing to dive into even the most uncomfortable or taboo topics when they may be helpful to you. This episode covers the potentially touchy subject of weight loss, which we handle cautiously here, to promote healthy body image and to avoid promoting unsustainable or even harmful approaches.

Today’s guest brings insight that goes way beyond a quick fix for weight loss! Dr. Neal Barnard highlights the power of plant-based foods to work with our bodies to achieve optimal health and well-being. The tips are not only helpful for weight loss goals, but support nearly every aspect of our overall health and longevity! Who doesn't want that??

And it's coming from an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at George Washington University and the President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Dr. Barnard has led numerous research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, and has authored over a dozen books about how to optimize our health and reverse disease through food. His latest book is The Power Foods Diet: The Breakthrough Plan that Traps, Tames, and Burns Calories for Easy and Permanent Weight Loss.

In this episode, he opens with a surprising topic: spices! And shares the fascinating role that some simple spices can play in everything from reducing appetite, trapping calories, and boosting metabolism! This conversation was so informative that we were learning new things all through it.

You have to listen in to hear some shocking myths confronted:

• How much does it cost to eat healthy? Is it really more expensive??
• An apple a day - what effects would that really have on your body?
• Do plants really cause us to miss out on amino acids?

Besides spices, Dr. Barnard reveals what other “power foods” can offer impressive health benefits, including what foods can turn on and off your “appetite switch.” He shows how easy it can be to incorporate some of these ingredients into delightful everyday meals to provide profound and lasting improvements without drastic or negative diet overhauls that cause so much turmoil.

Instead, Dr. Barnard is all about what foods truly help your body thrive, and about enjoying as much as you can by making your meals beautiful, tasty, and fun! You'll be surprised to learn:

• What starchy vegetable staple contains more protein than an egg
• What popular “health” foods may not actually be helping you
• What common sushi ingredient can prevent an iodine deficiency and save your thyroid

This episode was truly so eye-opening for us, and gave so many easy and exciting practices that we can’t wait to incorporate. It’s full of SO many health tips, and just plain drool-worthy recipe ideas, that will benefit anyone, no matter where you are in your health journey!

♡ Toni & Michelle

 EPISODE SHOW NOTES

• Dr. Barnard explains why, of all the topics he's an expert on, he chose to write about food
• He addresses the negativity in many weight loss approaches and how that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you
• What “power foods” are and what they do in the body to be called that
• Dr. Barnard explains your body & brain’s “appetite turn off switch” and what triggers it - spoiler alert: a popular fast food doesn’t!
• How the chemical compounds of specific foods can amp up healthy digestion & metabolism, even as you eat delicious carbs
• How these power foods don’t just help you slim down, but give you the nutrients that help you regulate cholesterol, blood sugar, hormones, and even mood
• Dr. Barnard confronts the myth that you have to spend a lot of money to eat healthy, and shares the study that proves the opposite
• Which spices, and specifically which cinnamon, can revolutionize your health?
• How apples do exactly the opposite of what many people have been told
• The benefits of berries, including strawberries
• What the color of foods can tell us about their antioxidants and associated health benefits
• The value of sharing food when it comes to power foods
• The hidden value of potatoes
• The British condiment you may be missing out on
• What sea veggies you can eat to prevent iodine deficiency
• Dr. Barnard confronts the myth that plants do not contain all the essential amino acids
• Popular “healthy” foods that may not actually be helpful for health or healthy weight loss
• A way to think about processed foods that you probably haven’t considered yet
• How cheese is pharmaceutically addictive and the scary hormonal implications
• How artificial sweeteners grant deceptive permission
• Cancers that have no threshold for alcohol
• Super simple but delightful dishes that contain power foods
• Dr. Barnard’s advice for meal planning: start at the end!

RESOURCES

• The Power Foods Diet: The Breakthrough Plan that Traps, Tames, and Burns Calories for Easy and Permanent Weight Loss

• Dr. Barnard's other published books

• Dr. Barnard's work at PCRM.org

• CarbonWorks Music on YouTube - did you know Dr. Barnard is also a rock star?!

• Ep. 59 - Dustin Harder: Plant-Based Cookbooks—Finding Your Match

• Ep. 75 & 76 - Dr. Will Bulsiewicz: Gut Health & Why It Matters with the Bestselling Author of Fiber Fueled

CONNECT WITH TONI OKAMOTO:

WEBSITE | YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | FACEBOOK 

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE CEHN:

WEBSITE |  YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | FACEBOOK 

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