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Dr Rupy Aujla on How To Eat Your Way To Better Health #269

May 10, 2022 2h 9m 19 insights
Do you believe that food can be medicine? Most of us would agree that a healthy diet – whatever that means to the individual – is vital to our wellbeing. But can the right foods actually prevent and even cure illness? I know what I think, and my guest today not only agrees, he provides living proof! Dr Rupy Aujla was just 24 when he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a heart condition rare in someone of that age. But it wasn’t Rupy’s years of medical training or even his consultant’s advice that turned his life around. It was only when he listened to his mother, looked to his diet, and transformed his eating that he was able to defy medical expectations and reverse his condition. This experience led Rupy to do a deep dive into how this ‘impossible’ feat was achieved and in this conversation, he shares some of the explanations he’s uncovered, including a reduction in inflammation and an improvement in the health of his gut.  Back in 2015, he founded The Doctor’s Kitchen, a movement to inspire and educate people about nutritional medicine and help them eat well every day. He not only shares recipes but also explains the clinical research behind them and how they can help you with your health. And he does this via his bestselling books, podcasts and social media posts. Recently, Rupy has taken the decision to pause his NHS career and focus on making healthy eating more accessible by launching the Doctor’s Kitchen app, which is set to become a must-have resource for finding research-backed recipes tailored to your personal likes and health goals. It is available now on the App store. Rupy is a great friend and our lives have followed a similar path in many ways. We talk in-depth about the concept of food as medicine, as well as the polarising nature of discussions around diet. We also consider identity when it comes to career choice, and what it really means to be a doctor in the modern world. If you can help hundreds of thousands of people live better through your public platforms, is that any less meaningful than helping patients in a surgery or hospital each day? There’s lots to think about in this conversation and I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed chatting. Thanks to our
Actionable Insights

1. Adopt Whole Food Diet

Transition from a processed diet (e.g., cereals, sandwiches, pasta) to a whole food diet (e.g., oats, nuts, seeds, leftovers, dark green leafy vegetables, miso, pumpkin seeds, root vegetables, quality fats) to improve gut health, reduce inflammation, and enhance overall well-being.

2. Increase Phytonutrient-Rich Foods

Actively incorporate a wide variety of phytonutrient-rich (plant-chemical rich) foods, especially general greens, into your diet to activate endogenous anti-inflammatory pathways and achieve a net anti-inflammatory benefit at a cellular level.

3. Food Builds Body Resilience

Shift your perspective to view food not as a ‘pill’ or symptom killer, but as a fundamental tool to build a more resilient body and mind, enabling your body to take care of itself.

4. Eat Intuitively for Health

Pay attention to how you feel after eating different foods, using your intuition to identify what makes you feel sluggish versus what makes you feel better, as a guide for healthier choices.

5. Integrate Mind-Body Practices

Incorporate practices like yoga and meditation into your daily routine, alongside dietary changes, to improve overall mental and physical well-being.

6. Build Health with Small Habits

Implement small, consistent habits and build a supportive system around them, as this approach is key to achieving long-term health improvements and healing.

7. Define Weekly Happiness Habits

Identify and consistently prioritize 3-5 weekly ‘happiness habits’ (e.g., spending quality time with family/friends, engaging in meaningful work) to bring intention to your life and achieve desired long-term outcomes.

8. Live Your Authentic Life

Reflect on the common deathbed regret of wishing one had lived their own life rather than one expected by others, and proactively make decisions now to align with your personal desires.

9. Prioritize Values Over Identity

Focus on universal values rather than fixed identities (e.g., ‘doctor’) and wear identities loosely, as this approach provides resilience against life changes and prevents distress if an identity is lost.

10. Practice Empathetic Perspective

When struggling with others’ actions, adopt the mindset: ‘If I was the other person, I’d be acting in exactly the same way as them,’ to foster compassion, reduce emotional triggers, and enable rational decision-making.

11. Curate Digital Information Intentionally

Be intentional and selective about the health information you consume online, unfollowing or disengaging from content that negatively impacts your well-being or causes anxiety.

12. Track Health Episodes

Meticulously track any recurring health episodes, noting frequency, duration, and preceding activities or dietary intake, to identify patterns and correlations with lifestyle factors.

13. Simplify Cooking with 3-2-1 Method

Employ the ‘Three, Two, One’ cooking method (3 portions of vegetables, 2 servings, 1 pan) to prepare practical, time-efficient, and vegetable-rich meals, minimizing washing up and increasing daily fruit and vegetable intake.

14. Access Doctor’s Kitchen Resources

Utilize The Doctor’s Kitchen app or website for research-backed recipes tailored to specific health goals, dietary preferences, and allergies, to simplify and consistently improve healthy eating.

15. Offer Gentle Lifestyle Suggestions

When encouraging others to adopt lifestyle changes, offer subtle, suggestive hints rather than giving direct rules, to increase the likelihood of adoption without resistance.

16. Seek Nuanced Health Information

Actively seek out nuanced information on complex health topics and be open to holding conflicting views, especially when engaging with character-limited platforms like social media.

17. Mindfully Use Health Trackers

Before using health trackers, assess your personal relationship with them to ensure they provide useful insights without causing anxiety or negatively impacting your mental well-being.

18. Traditional Cold Remedy

For a cold or sore throat, drink hot water with finely cut ginger, pepper, turmeric, and manuka honey, based on traditional cultural practices.

19. Explore Elimination Diet

Consider trying an elimination diet, such as consuming only brown rice and spinach, to identify potential food triggers and address idiopathic conditions.