I rarely write reviews, but I’m very enthusiastic about this podcast! I started listening to it last year. I immediately dropped 65 pounds and no longer need blood pressure medicine, statins or anti-GERD meds. I’m happier and healthier than I’ve been in years!
Okay, that might be a bit of hyperbole. In truth, I did lose 65 pounds over the next year and while I still take BP meds and a statin, my numbers were within normal ranges by 6 months in. In fact, I went from having fatty liver disease and level 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) to having my numbers in normal ranges for the first time in years. I’ve been told that CKD is permanent, but my blood work says otherwise.
All because I’ve been following advice I’ve learned on the podcast. I’m maxing out those vegetables and even my picky wife is happy about it.
Here’s what Monica does right – she has a basic message, eat lots of and a variety of vegetables, legumes, and get omega 3s from fish or seeds. Get healthy fats from nuts and avocado. Limit refined flour, added sugars and alcohol. Avoid fried foods and processed or charred meat. Bonus points for getting some fermented foods daily. The rest are details that probably don’t matter if you’re doing that.
However, we tend to get whiplash if we follow the headlines. I AM a scientist, but I’m not a nutritionist, so I don’t go to PubMed and look up each new publication and analyze the experimental design to determine exactly what the study found or the limitations of the inferences that can be made from its results. I don’t go back in the literature to find all the studies so I can examine the results within the context of other research studies. Most of us don’t! Monica does, presenting us with all the facts and letting us decide how to choose based on our own priorities.
I’ve listened to ALL the episodes, yes, starting from 2008. I’m starting to feel like I have a degree in nutrition! At a recent work event that featured a catered breakfast with chia pudding, I was able to answer the question of why chia seeds are deemed healthy. (I did not point out that the danish probably canceled out those benefits 😊).
The Nutrition Diva is a kindred spirit in that she loves a good spreadsheet. Her podcast show notes are full of charts and calculators that you can use to compare the nutritional features of different foods. I’d have fun creating all that stuff, but you don’t have to!
AND, a bonus is, if you need help applying all this wonderful knowledge, she has another podcast called The Change Academy. Check it out!
