The mindbodygreen Podcast

Latest Episodes:

77: Taryn Toomey, Founder Of The Class, On Mindful Movement, Running A Brand With Intention & Giving Pain A Purpose Oct 16, 2018

Show notes

If you live in New York, chances are you've heard of The Class by Taryn Toomey. A combination of strength training and meditative movement, it's designed to promote self-study through physical conditioning. While other workout classes might encourage you to tune out the pain, The Class will tell you to do the opposite: Listen to the negative voice in your head, and then learn from it.

With devotees including Jennifer Aniston and Christy Turlington, The Class speaks to anyone looking for a toning workout with a side of pure release.

In this podcast interview, I sat down with Toomey to track the evolution of her brand: from the moment she started teaching it in the basement of her apartment to how she is intentionally scaling it today. Along the way, we cover the self-care practices that keep her grounded, the importance of infusing your physical movement with meaning and observation, and how to give the pain a purpose. Enjoy.

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76: Gisele Bündchen Opens Up About Her Anxiety, Her Relationship & The Secret To Finding Purpose & Meaning In Life Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

Gisele Bündchen is an internationally renowned supermodel, a global ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program, and a freshly minted author—her book, Lessons, hit shelves last week.

After meeting Gisele for the first time earlier this year, it was very clear to me that she was one of "us"—a true wellness warrior, someone whose life mission was to make the world a better, healthier, and happier place, someone who truly understood that mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, and environmental well-being were all connected. I'm honored to call her a friend and a supporter of mindbodygreen—and the newest member of the mbg Collective.

I was lucky enough to sit down with her at her house outside of Boston to dive deep into previously unshared facets of her life. Between her numerology readings (Gisele is an enthusiastic, borderline professional, numerologist), she opened up about the secret to making her relationship with her husband, Tom Brady, work and how having kids changed their lives. She's recently shared her struggles with anxiety for the first time ever publicly, and we explore her journey at an even deeper level, going into why and how the anxiety started and the practices she relies on to this day to feel better.

She talks about the spiritual practices that have shaped her life and the various, well, lessons she's learned about meaning and purpose over the years. We also get into the nitty-gritty, more fun stuff: what she eats in a day, her morning routine, and more. Finally, we talk about our shared passion for the environment and how she thinks we all need to shift our thinking to effect real change.

This episode is a must-listen if you're a fan of Gisele, an environmentalist, an anxiety sufferer, or simply a human being, trying to live the most fulfilling, satisfying life possible. Gisele will make you laugh and cry and inspire you in ways that will linger long after you've finished listening.

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75: Bulletproof Founder Dave Asprey Talks About Why He Thinks Kale Is Bad For You & How He Plans To Live To 180 Years Old Oct 02, 2018

Show notes

When Bulletproof founder Dave Asprey stopped by the mbg office in his blue-light blocking glasses, I knew we were in for a special podcast—and I was right. Dave is the founder of the Bulletproof diet, and the Bulletproof line of products. He's also the author of a number of best-selling books, including The Bulletproof Diet and the upcoming Gamechangers.

On this episode, Dave shares his personal health story and how he went from weighing 300 pounds, with brain fog, low energy, and general lack of health, to the healthy, fit person he is today. Then we get into some of the current health hot topics, discussing whether coconut oil is, indeed, pure poison (spoiler alert: it's not, but it's far more complicated than you think).

I ask him to predict the future of what's going to be on your grocery store shelves, and he shares where he thinks the food industry is going, and the mega-healthy nut that he's obsessed with, but no one's heard of.

He talks about why he thinks kale is terrible for you, and the dark leafy green that he recommends people eat instead. He also ranks his favorite green vegetables, his favorite fruits, and favorite nuts. He also analyzes the positives and pitfalls of vegan, paleo, and more diets.

We also get into how measure gratitude, the positive function of gratitude in your daily lives, what he does when he's having a bad day or feeling off, and who he goes to for spiritual guidance. Finally (whew!), we talk about the dangers of mold, and how to actually test for it. This is an unmissable podcast if you're interested in optimizing your health or life!

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74: Ellen Vora, M.D., On Inflammation & The Connection Between Blood Sugar & Anxiety Sep 25, 2018

Show notes

Ellen Vora is a psychiatrist, mindbodygreen Collective member, and instructor of the mindbodygreen class Managing Depression. When it comes to approaching mental health from a holistic perspective, she's one of the world's best. Her goal is to help her patients manage their mental health with diet and lifestyle changes as much as possible, only turning to medications as temporary tools or as a last resort.

This episode of the mindbodygreen Podcast is for anyone who struggles with a mental health condition, knows or loves someone suffering from one, or simply wants to optimize their mood and energy levels. She starts off by teaching me about the link between chronic inflammation and anxiety and depression—something called the inflammatory cytokine model of depression—and explains why depression is like the flu. She also makes a compelling case for blood sugar imbalance being one of the underlying causes of anxiety.

Dr. Vora also shares the best foods to eat to support mental stability and resilience (spoiler alert: turmeric and black pepper, ginger, avocados, beets, and dark leafy green vegetables are just a few) and shares the one food she avoids in honor of her mental health. Dr. Vora's approach is gentle, holistic, and takes the whole person into account—body, mind, and spirit. Don't miss it!

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73: Michael Phelps On Water Conservation, Being A Laid-Back Parent, And The Fruit He's Finally Reintroducing To His Diet Sep 18, 2018

Show notes

This week's guest needs no introduction. As the most accomplished Olympian of our time—and any time, for that matter—Michael Phelps is a wellness icon for the ages. In addition to pushing what the human body is capable of, we can thank Phelps for using his celebrity status to bring often-taboo topics like depression to the surface.

I was lucky enough to sit down with the 23-time Olympic gold medalist to learn about one of his latest initiatives: water conservation. This is Phelps' second year partnering with Colgate on their #EveryDropCounts initiative, which aims to show how the simple act of turning off the tap while you brush your teeth can add up to significant water savings. Through the course of this episode, he shares how his growing family conserves water at home and why the water access issue strikes such a chord with him personally.

And of course, I had to ask about the more esoteric fitness and recovery practices that Phelps has helped popularize. We talk about his experience with cupping, visualization, the Graston technique(using a stainless steel tool to soothe muscle knots), and more. Phelps also dives into (sorry, had to) how his diet has evolved since the Olympic days, his laid back approach to parenting, and the guilty pleasure sugar he can't seem to give up. This one's a can't-miss episode for any Phelps fan.

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72: Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., On Wellness Addiction, Shame & What It Really Takes To Transform Your Life Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., is a world-renowned mental health expert, the CEO of IGNTD, and the host of the IGNTD Podcast. His new book, The Abstinence Myth, is all about overcoming addiction and transforming your life without judgment or shame. Dr. Jaffe is well-known for questioning the status quo and the rules we've been living by when it comes to addiction and sobriety. His wife, Sophie Jaffe, is the woman behind Philosophie, a line of superfoods that are designed to promote health from the inside out.

In this episode of the mbg podcast, I sit down with Dr. Jaffe to talk about his journey from dealing drugs and using meth to get through exams during college to becoming a researcher, lecturer, author, and successful entrepreneur. He gets candid about what he learned about life and humanity from spending an entire year in jail.

Today, Dr. Jaffe's goal is to help as many people as possible recover from their own addictions and improve their lives. His approach is unique in that it doesn't always require a person to quit their addiction first. Instead, he works on improving other issues first so that the person has built enough confidence and has the internal and external resources to get rid of whatever substance, activity, or toxic behavior they are leaning on. This episode is a must listen for anyone struggling with addiction, who has a loved one that struggles with addiction, or who wants to radically transform their life.

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71: Katlin Smith of Simple Mills On Staying Sane Through 15-Hour Workdays, Eating For Your Body, And Building A Brand That Lasts Sep 04, 2018

Show notes

By now, you've probably at least heard of Simple Mills: The line of gluten-free and paleo-friendly cookies, crackers, baking mixes, and frostings taking over grocery aisles around the country. But we bet you didn't know the story of the brand's founder and CEO, Katlin Smith.

Smith launched the health food brand at the ripe age of 24 after seeing how cutting out dairy and gluten completely transformed her life. She first set out to, as she says, "raise the standards of what healthy food looks like" by cooking up GF-muffin mix in an industrial kitchen on the weekends while balancing a full-time job in consulting. Back then, she couldn't even afford a mixer, but Smith didn't let setbacks stand in the way of her goal to add more nutrition to the center aisles of the grocery store. She started off demo-ing her mixes in three Whole Foods Market stores and the rest is history. Now, Simple Mills has 28 products sold in 12,000 stores across the country (and we're not talking specialty health shops either—you can find the brand in Target and Kroger.)

We asked Smith for her best advice on creating a product that will have real traction and handling stress amidst 15-hour workdays. Tune in to learn her favorite meal prep hack, her take on the biggest trends in health food, and why you'll never find turmeric in her products.

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70: Drs. Dean & Ayesha Sherzai, MD, On Technology & Why Multitasking Is Bad News For Brain Health Aug 28, 2018

Show notes

This week, I sat down with Dr. Dean and Dr. Ayesha Sherzai—directors of the Alzheimer's Prevention Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center and authors of The Alzheimer's Solution—to talk about all things brain health, a topic that is more important now than ever before.

Did you know that half of the people who live to the age of 85 will have Alzheimer's? It's quickly becoming the most pressing health issue facing our world today. As we learned at revitalize 2018, when the Sherzais quickly won over the crowd with their well-rounded perspective on brain health—the Sherzais are on a mission to prevent Alzheimer's, slow its progression, help patients and families cope, and hopefully soon even find a cure. There's no doubt about it: They have a lot of hard-earned knowledge to share.

In this episode of the mbg podcast, you'll learn about the lifestyle factors that are hurting your brain the most. High on this list is multitasking. Many of us think we're skilled at performing more than one task at a time, but the Sherzais explain that multitasking isn't just bad for your brain, it's impossible—since you just end up doing a lot of different things poorly instead of a few things well. On the flip side, establishing deep focus on one task is one of the healthiest activities for your mind. We also talked about how finding a sense of purpose can take time—but it's well worth the time and effort—and why it's so important to use technology mindfully in parenting. Don’t miss it!

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69: Perfect Bar Founders On Overcoming Debt To Run A Thriving Family Business, The Future Of Snacking, And Eating Sugar Healthily Aug 21, 2018

Show notes

If you've ever had a Perfect Bar, you understand the hype. The protein-packed snack stuffed with superfoods has picked up a serious cult following, thanks to its simple filling ingredients and downright addicting flavor (a box of the dark chocolate peanut butter bars has been known to disappear from the mbg office fridge in about three seconds flat).

Co-founded by siblings Bill and Leigh Keith in 2005, the initial idea for the brand actually dates back to long road trips their large family took decades ago. In this podcast episode, the duo recounts how their father, Bud Keith, would use his background in nutrition and mind-body medicine to make a healthy snack product his (thirteen!) children would actually want to eat. Bud would ground up whole-foods supplements, mix them with peanut butter, honey, and protein, and the results were a sweet, hearty treat that he deemed "perfect."

Nowadays, there are still at least 20 superfoods—like kale, spinach, alfalfa, and celery—slyly packed into every refrigerated bar, and the Keith children are managing the business in their late dad's honor. Bill is the acting CEO, Leigh is President, and sister Charisse handles quality control, but everyone in the family has pitched in to turn the product into a success story. More than just a feel-good family brand, Perfect Bar is also trying to do right by its employees and the planet with a variety of social and environmental responsibility programs.

Bill and Leigh dive into all of that and more over the course of the hour. Along the way, they recount how they overcame periods of intense debt to create one of the fastest-growing bar brands in the world, describe the key to eating sugar more healthily, and predict the future of snacking. We hope you enjoy it.

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68: Dr. Will Cole On The Ketotarian Diet & How To Find Your Carb Sweet Spot Aug 14, 2018

Show notes

Functional medicine expert, mbg class instructor and Collective member, and my dear friend Will Cole, D.C., IFMCP, grew up in a wellness-focused household. But after 10 years of struggling with poor digestion and low energy on a carb-heavy, vegan diet, he knew there had to be a better way to eat plant-based. That's when he discovered the brain-boosting benefits of the ketogenic diet and fueling his body with healthy fats.

If you haven't heard of the ketogenic diet yet, it's a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet (we've written a lot about it on mindbodygreen). It's typically associated with eating lots of meat, dairy, eggs, and other animal products. But in his new book, Ketotarian, Will shares how to meld the two seemingly opposite diets—ketogenic and vegan—to get the best of both worlds. On this week's episode, I sat down with Will to explore what ketosis is, what it's not, and who should (and shouldn't) try going keto. We talked about the pitfalls of a conventional ketogenic diet and how it can work for a plant-based eater. He also shared his knowledge about how parasites can heal your inflammation and how to find your unique carb sweet spot.

Finally, he shared the first thing he drinks every morning (spoiler: It's not butter coffee) and his favorite keto-friendly dessert recipe that had me drooling. Don't miss this one!

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