One Simple Meal At A Time: The Real Secret To Health Transformation

Introduction to Food as Medicine 0:00

Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food. We all have heard that famed quote by Hippocrates, and we all know that eating more fruits and vegetables and whole foods are good for our health. But knowing and doing are two completely different things, especially when life gets busy, meals are rushed and health changes feel overwhelming. And hey, we get it. Mom, Izzy and I, we have seven kids and we don't always have the time to make home cooked meals from scratch with the best ingredients possible.

And today's guest, Kim Murphy, understands that tension deeply as well. Kim is a certified plant based health coach and the founder of Simply Plant based kitchen. She spent 17 years as a high school teacher before a wake up call, and a deep personal loss led her to reevaluate everything. After losing her father to Alzheimer's and experiencing brain fog, chronic joint pain and fatigue. Kim found plant based living to be the path that she needed to get through her struggles, but she took a different perspective.

Progress. Not perfection. Kim focused on simple, flavorful meals made from real food. No guilt, no gimmicks, no diets. And in just three months, she dropped 17 pounds in 20in. But more importantly, she felt like herself again, clearheaded, energized and free. Now, Kim helps thousands of people every year, simplify healthy eating and feel amazing without shame, stress, or extreme rules. She's not here to guilt you into going vegan or pressure you to eat, quote unquote perfectly. She's here to offer hope, grace, and a practical path forward.

In this episode, we talk about why most people struggle to eat healthier and how to make it easier. How food can help reduce inflammation, brain fog, hormone imbalance, and drastically reduce your risk of Alzheimer's, cancer and the top causes of death. We're going to discover practical ways to eat more whole foods, especially when you get picky eaters and busy schedules in the way. And we're going to talk about the importance of joy, faith and mindset in sustainable health. This is not a hard sell to go vegan.

It's an invitation to listen to your body. Nourish it well. Go back to nature and experience a transformation that can happen one simple meal at a time. If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or discouraged on your health journey, this conversation will be an absolute blessing for you. So get ready! You're going to love this interview with Kim Murphy. All right, Kim, thanks so much for being here, my friend. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Now, our first time connecting like this, which is really cool.

We've promoted each other's work over the years. I'm a big fan, and that's one of the reasons why I love doing this kind of stuff. Because I get you're my captive now for 30 minutes. So I'm going to pick your brain. Are you ready to do it? Yes. All right. You're beautiful. You're young. And I'm saying that to say I look like my grandma. Because my grandma was always the one that said, eat your fruits and veggies. Eat your fruits and veggies. So, folks, this conversation is in the context of how to be healthy or.

Kim Murphyu2019s Plant-Based Journey 3:00

And we're looking at prevention of chronic disease and whether it's cancer, Alzheimer's, dementia, fatty liver. We're looking at how to feel better now, how to thrive through perimenopause, how to thrive through menopause, how to how to get your kids in a position where they're not dealing with osteoporosis when they're 6070. And it really all starts with what you're putting in your mouth. Bottom line is this. And I want to. But here's my big disclaimer. This is a going to be a diet agnostic discussion.

But admittedly, Kim is plant based and she'll share her story in a minute. But here's one thing my argument is this we all need, and I think we agree. Like grandma said, we need to be eating more fruits and veggies, the right kind of fruits and veggies. But the problem that I hear from my audience, Kim and we've been doing this now since 2014, is I don't know how it's hard, you know, how do I get my kids eat this way? How do I get my husband? And the husband's always how do we get my husband to eat this way?

They just, you know, so we'll attack breads a little bit. Everyone just wants to eat breads all the time, I get it. So, this isn't meat or no meat. We're not going to try to convert you into, you know, going vegan, because that's not the point of this. Because I'm not vegan. But I'll tell you, a big part of my diet is whole food plant based because we need to. It's how God designed this, I believe. So anyway, with that said, thank you, thank you. I'm really excited because this is what you do. I want you to talk about your boot camp.

You've helped thousands upon thousands of people and they're just getting better. And so give us a little background of how and why you're you're so passionate about this. And, we'll go from there. Yeah. So this kind of for me, this all started back, it's kind of twofold. I first kind of dabbled in plant based eating or eating more vegetables. My personally eat plant based, was, after my second son was born, I was just trying to lose baby weight. And I read a book about eating, you know, more plant based.

And and it was great. I lost weight and everything, but, you know, it's it's hard. I struggle, I couldn't keep it going. And so it didn't last. But then what was really a turning point for me was, in, 2018, I lost my dad to Alzheimer's. And so that was a ten year, you know, 2008 to 2018, ten year journey of watching him decline with Alzheimer's. He also had heart disease and prostate cancer. And it was that was really hard just watching him go through that process and, being at his bedside, watching him pass, holding his hand.

Just I don't know, it was just something just kind of switched in my mind and my heart. And I just thought, I can't, you know, put my kids through this. I can't go through this myself. And so I just really was digging into all the research after that, trying to figure out, okay, how can I prevent this? What can I do? I want to I'm like, I like to have control. I want to have, you know, some, you know, put my myself in that and, you know, do something instead of just be a victim and, you know, oh, well, it's going to happen, you know, his genes and all that stuff.

And so, all the research I was reading was pointing to more plants, eat more whole plants, you know, fill your body with, you know, anti-inflammatory nutrition. And, and so I started down that path of just, you know, eating more whole foods, plant based. And I wasn't perfect from the beginning either. And I will still tell you, I'm still not perfect. And so I just want to put that out there for anybody is like, you know, just, you know, adding more plants to your diet is a great way to start. And that's where I started.

And so, I started eating more whole food plant based. I felt better. My brain fog that I was experiencing just lifted. I was worried, I was like, is this the start of Alzheimer's? I don't know, and so it just really kind of led me down this path, this journey of, of transformation and health and, taking control of what I can, eating healthier, exercise, getting enough sleep, stress reduction, all of those things. They all play a part. And, I decided I was going to, you know, basically quit my teaching job that I had been doing for 17 years.

I was in the public school system, and, began teaching people online how to can you eat more plant? How can you, you know, take control of your health destiny and prevent these chronic diseases from taking away, you know, your best years of your life? And, yeah, that's really how it kind of started. I got my, certification and health coaching plant based eating, and yeah, I've been doing this for, gosh, six years now. It's awesome. Congratulations. That's huge as a huge transition. Yeah, really transitioning from the pain into a purpose.

And I think manifesting into a plan and have it be your profession. Right. It's a lot of peace. And that's pretty cool. I mean that's that's the goal. That's the dream. And folks, for those of you who are even inspired by that as much as I am, you might be the next person, right? I mean, there's a lot that you could do. Thank God for online and social media and everything. A couple different things. I want to talk about out of your your story, that I know you have from all the thousands of people that you've coached is you mentioned you proverbially falling off the wagon.

Right? You got a quick win, you let you file off. And let's just context of you just didn't eat good, right? Just you just didn't eat well, ultra processed foods, maybe. Whatever stuff. What is the number one obstacle that your students are facing right now, and how are you helping them overcome it? The number one obstacle, I think, is overwhelm. When people look at changing their lifestyle, their diet especially, you know, you've got a lot of habits, a lot of family traditions, you know, favorite recipes.

And it can just feel overwhelming, like, where do I even begin? And the diet culture in general, I think, is really just detrimental in the fact that they encourage us people to have to be feel like

Overwhelm and Small Habit Changes 9:00

they have to be perfect, and that they have to make these dramatic changes overnight. That is just it's unrealistic for people to stick with, that way, because we have these habits ingrained that take time. And, you know, if you're going to start eating more whole food plant based, if you're not a cook, if you're used to, you know, frozen and packaged foods and drive through and DoorDash, then there's a learning curve. You know, there's you're going to have to learn a how to cook, what kind of ingredients, learn new recipes.

You know, it can be very overwhelming for people. And so I would say that a lot of people just never even get started because they just feel like it's too much. And so part of what I do is try to help people. A like I said before, progress, not perfection. What can you do? Don't think about like it's too much is too hard. I can't be perfect so I'm not going to do anything versus what can I do? What small change could I make today and stick with that for a few weeks and then make an add on another change or two.

You know, so it can literally be, you know, start with breakfast. What could I eat for breakfast that is more health promoting than, packaged, processed muffin or donut? I mean, there's so many options that, you know, you start your day off, right? And I, and I really encourage people to start with the first thing they eat, whether that's a traditional breakfast or lunch or whatever. Because you're kind of setting yourself up for the rest of the day how you feel. Your gut microbiome really, kind of just it influences your mood and your energy and your cravings throughout the rest of the day.

So starting with just breakfast can be a really simple thing to start with and, and develop a habit. And, you know, hey, what do you like? You know, you might trump, try something and hate it. That's okay. Try something else. You know, figure out what you like, how you're going to prep it, how are you going to have it ready to go. So it's consistent. And I find that really consistent small habits are so much more powerful long term than, you know, pardon the pun, but going cold turkey, everything all at once.

Now, granted, I have had people tell me that has worked for them. Great. If it does, awesome. But a lot of people, the ones that are overwhelmed and don't know where to start, those are the ones who are like, I can't do that. It's just too much. And and I was like that, you know, I really needed those those small wins, those small things that I could do consistently over time and build on that. You kind of really, you know, you get that confidence that you can do it and you can keep it going. Awesome.

In my world, we live in this lower toxic world where we're just trying to help people one swap at a time, right? Whether it's a fragrance in your body care item or your your spray that you might be putting in your bathroom or something, just one swap at a time. So with that mentality, give us a couple quick swaps. Like, like these are just super easy, tasty. You might not forget what the other thing tasted like. Like what? What are quick swaps for you? Oh, there's so many. I would say, beans are a great one to use.

Like in, in tacos and, you know, you can make, lentil meatballs for your pasta marinara. You can make, you know, I love overnight oats because they're so simple for a breakfast, you know, and you can throw in some berries and some nuts and seeds, and it can be really filling, for a really great breakfast. What other swaps I like, you know, snacking on fruit, nature's candy. So instead of reaching for the donuts, you know, bring some berries with you. Bring an apple. Bring an orange. I mean, it's literally like the perfect snack.

And and so just like, little things like that really can add up and affect how you feel, you know, for the rest of the day, I love that. I love making black bean brownies. Oh yes. Avocado pudding. I like making my overnight oats. And I'll tell you, there was just a study. All that just came out because oats are debated and I don't hey, I get it. But hey, mic drop for people. They found Paleolithic portal. Pesto. And I'm sorry, mortar and pestle and, tools that had oat microfibers. Obviously, something was going on in the Paleolithic period where they were grinding abouts for a reason.

So all that to be said is this grains are not the enemy. It's a type of grains. Make sure non-GMO, organic, yes, but there is a recent study. I don't know if you've heard this or not about, forever Chemicals. They found that if you consume, what, three grams, which is roughly a pound, a cup and a half of oatmeal a day, your body naturally starts to detox from forever. Chemicals and nothing on the planet has been shown to help you cleanse from forever chemicals. That's why they're called forever.

So yay! And overnight oats are a great way. And plus they're great for weight loss and satiating. And yeah, it's like yum. And, the rest of you have some recipes on your website and things that people can go to and what the what and what's your website again? Yeah, simply plant based kitchen.com tons of recipes. We come out with new ones every single week. I love it, I love it, and just think about that mentality one swap at a time and before we go into some of the things that you really teach, because I would love for you to be able to share that.

A big concern we have with people when it comes to cancer prevention, specifically chronic disease prevention, is nutrition. And we've just been inundated and I'm I'm struggling through the reality here. Like how much is our soil really depleted? How much are we nutrition deficient? Do we need all of the supplements that people are telling us that we need to take? And I'm in this right now. I'm deep, and a friend of mine just wrote a book, just opening up my mind to maybe we're over prescribing supplements.

So walk me through through your research.

Easy Whole-Food Swaps and Breakfast Ideas 15:00

If someone really has a heavy plant based diet, where does supplementation come into play? Yeah, and I think that supplementation really needs to take kind of a back seat to what the most important thing is. And the most important thing is what you put on your plate every single day, you know, what are you eating three times a day, 4 or 5 times a day? That's really where we need to focus on getting the majority of our nutrition. And if you're eating, you know, a variety of different whole foods like beans and greens and fruits and nuts and seeds and legumes and, you know, all the different colors of the rainbow.

So if you're eating a wide variety of those foods every single day, you're going to be getting the majority of your, you know, supplements, your body ones, your minerals, everything. I think there's just a few that are typically more, harder to get if you're eating mostly plants. B12 is one that comes to mind. And, and it's not actually made, you know, by animals we talk about, you know, eating, getting B12 from eggs and things like that. But that actually they're eating the grass and the dirt, and the B12 is actually coming from bacteria.

So the, you know, by eating meat, it's really supplementing. And a lot of the animals are supplemented anyways, because they are deficient. And so, you know, you can just take a simple vitamin B12 supplements, you know, just to make sure that you're having enough. But I think it's really important for people, to be tested because I've actually had people, you know, taking their B12, you know, religiously, they go get tested and there's actually two high. And so, you know, it really it's very individualized.

And I think that it's best, you know, if you're really wanting to supplement, to be, you know, judicious with it and really only focus on the things that you need, you know, get a simple blood test, you know, are you low in anything or are you not, you know, another one that's really common vitamin D? A lot of people are low in vitamin D, just we don't spend a lot of time outdoors. It's the sunshine vitamin. We wear sunscreen cover up where, you know, working in in a building all day long. We're just not getting enough of the good Ole sunshine, you know, to make the vitamin D.

Another one that's really common is omega threes being low on that. But, you know, eating more whole food plant based diet, you're going to really bring that, you know, the omega threes up especially from nuts and seeds and things like that and reducing processed foods. You're bringing down the omega six. And so you know, you're coming more into a better balance of that. But occasionally some vegans are or plant based eaters are low in omega three. So that one might be another one to consider. But again, it's really best to find out what you personally need.

And then you can go from there and and really just use supplements just to kind of fill in the holes. Because nobody's a perfect eater. I'm not a perfect eater. And so just being kind of smart about that. Yeah, I think we can unpack a lot there. And I would, I would echo what you said the vast majority of and all of our nutrition should be in our food and we can't rely. And maybe you could talk a little bit after this just about powders and maybe the super grains and the supplementation stuff, because that is a quote supplement, even though it's whole food form.

But my big concern are a lot of these supplements are synthetic bass. You mentioned vitamin D, I mean, that's extracted from sheep's wool at its most natural form, if not petrochemicals. Right. So you're looking at citric acid, sort of like acid. These bioidentical compounds that we got only knows my my gut instinct is really cautioning me against from oversupply over supplementing. And the less I take, the healthier I feel. And a lot of this is to. So yes, get tested, work with a someone. Hopefully you have a doctor or a functional medicine practitioner who understands.

But just because you might be low in something doesn't mean you need a quote supplement with it, because what's the root cause of it being low and what is low even mean anymore? Right. So there's a lot to unpack here. And I'm glad you said that because our bottom line our nutrition is in our food. And we need to look at that. Not in a multi right. Not in another supplement but walk us through. What are your thoughts on these super green powders and things that appear to be whole food plant based? I mean is that a scam?

I don't know, yeah. I you know, I don't know if it's a scam or not. And again, I think that me personally, I don't take any of those things because I'm getting my super greens from the greens on my plate, you know, and maybe there's people who are in the beginning of their journey. They're just they really hate kale and things like that. They can add it to a smoothie to, you know, get those extra nutrients in the very beginning. But I really encourage people to, you know, focus on the food on your plate, getting getting those nutrients from the cleanest form, the most natural form, rather than, a powder or a supplement.

And one thing that people should be really aware of is a lot of these supplements are tainted. You know, they've got pesticides, heavy metals, contaminants, and they aren't required to be tested. So, you know, they don't even have what they say they have. So had to be really careful about, you know, taking these concentrated supplements that may actually be doing more harm than good. Yeah, that's a good point. And and considering harm no good. I made a note. Just, pepper you with a couple little popcorn type of questions.

I see a lot of gluten free stuff out there. I see a lot of plant based stuff out there. I look at the ingredients and all, and she. So walk us through again. I listen to you, okay, I get it. I, I'm not going to rely. And here's the take home like and we can prove this. You cannot rely on supplementation. Your health cannot be in a pill. Yeah. And we we literally have traded big pharma for big supplement. And when you look at who owns these companies Nestle and PepsiCo and you go through Procter and Gamble, who do you think owns your supplement company and it gets wild.

So anyway, I don't want to go down the conspiracy theory here, but you need to get your nutrition, your health from your food. So when people hear that they go to the store and then they start buying plant based processed foods

Supplements, Powders, and Label Reading 21:00

or plant based, I'm sorry, gluten free stuff, walk us through some of the things that people need to be aware of. Especially maybe with some of the unhealthy plant based protein sources and things. Because walk us through it. Because I'm shocked. I'm shocked at how many vegans are overweight, how many vegetarians are sick because they're eating trash. Yeah. And it's like, well, what did you do. So yeah. What do you got on the exactly? It's like, you know, it's kind of a two edged sword. It's it's kind of good that the word plant based and plant based eating has become, you know, more common people have heard it on, you know, podcasts and TV and things like that.

It's like cool. That's starting the conversation. But these companies have decided, hey, let's market this. Let's, let's use this to our advantage. And so we're going to slap plant based on this product that is filled with nothing but junk and processed foods and sugar and oils and chemicals. And it's like, that's not really what we're talking about here. We're talking about whole foods, plant based eating, you know, unprocessed whole fruits and vegetables and things like that. So people are really confused by that.

You know, they'll go to the store and grab a package. Hey, it says plant based. It must be healthy. And some of it, a lot of it can be so far from the truth. It's just full of processed junk. And like you said, so many people are vegan or vegetarian and overweight and a lot of those people come to me and they're like, yeah, I'm a junk food vegan. And they get it. You know, it's like, you know, you've got to switch your diet from any of those processed vegan and plant based patties and, you know, just nuggets and things like that.

And it's like, now let's let's try to eat. Let's figure out how to eat more of the the whole food stuff. And for the gluten, the gluten free craze is kind of the same thing. You know, if you're celiac, yes, you need to be gluten free because it's it's life threatening if you if you aren't and some people, you know, gluten sensitivity is on the rise as well probably has more to do with pesticides and our gut microbiome. But, the companies use that to their advantage to their like, sweet. Let's, you know, plaster gluten free on this, you know, high protein junk food bar.

And people will assume it's healthy because it says gluten free on it. Well, just because gluten, you know, says gluten free doesn't mean it's healthy. It could still be, you know, processed sugar and junk food and things like that. Yeah. That's powerful. And it's something we need to just be aware of. And are there any little tips that you could give to help people be more educated label readers? Because that's one thing I want people to leave with is a little bit of empowerment. Like, okay, I'm going to watch out for this trap, that trap.

So in the plant based world, gluten free world, packaged food world, like, well, what are things like like you really just need to stay away from this kind of stuff. It's not what you think. Yeah, I would say it's, you know, turn the package over first. Everything on the front is marketing. It's, you know, it's just marketing. It's, you know, half of is just mumbo jumbo. Turn it over and look at the nutrition and look at the ingredients. If you don't understand what those ingredients are, if they look like chemicals or if it's a super long list of like 25 ingredients that's highly processed, you know, that's probably not things that you want to be putting in your body.

So, you know, but if it has, you know, whole real whole grains and real vegetables and real beans and, you know, real things that you can read and go, oh, I know what that is, you know, and it has a limited number of ingredients, then, you know, and yes, that is probably better. Sodium is another one. You know, the sodium is off the chart on processed foods. And so I tell people to try to do, the sodium to calorie ratio to be about 1 to 1. So if something is 100 calories, you kind of want the sodium to be around 100mg of sodium.

You know, if it's 100 calories and a 1000mg of sodium, run away. Put it back. It is way too high because really, we want to be keeping our sodium to, you know, around 2000mg a day and that, you know, eating processed foods, especially the plant based and vegan ones as well. It's really hard to do that because you'll soon start to find out the sodium is super high, because that's how they have longer shelf life and keep it to stay fresh longer. Okay, yeah, I think a natural indicate unnatural bent towards people is this push towards protein specifically because I know that's a big issue for you and in your followers is like protein, protein, protein.

Right. And you have this massive campaign against protein are against under consuming protein. And I'm just wondering, you know, are we over consuming protein now? And what is that doing? Because I don't know. What do you thoughts about protein. Yeah I think the protein thing drives me crazy. And it is like probably the number one question people have. And again, we've been marketed to they've you know, companies are smart. They are going to hook on to the biggest craze. And it's just become this kind of out of control fad thing where, you know, we've been kind of misled to believe that we need more and more and more and more protein and, you know, and that we don't eat their bars or their powders or this, that we're not going to have enough.

And yes, protein is important, but you don't have to be eating these processed foods or supplements or anything to get enough. And in fact, you can get all the protein you need from even just whole plants. And all plants have all the amino acids. You don't have to do any crazy food combining, because guess what? Our digestive system is actually smarter than we are and can recycle the amino acids as we need them. So this this thing that, you know, we need to eat more and more protein. I do think that we are over consuming protein and not consuming enough fiber.

And if we ate more fiber, oh my gosh, you know, fiber from whole plants. And I'm not talking about fiber again, from supplements, I'm talking about fiber from actual, you know, diverse range of, of whole plants that, oh, gosh, we would be so much healthier, you know, if we can, like, figure out how to, like, eat more fiber and not stress about the protein, the protein will take care of itself. As long as you're eating enough calories, you're going to get enough protein. You know, folks, you got to chase that money trail.

Kim, quite frankly, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now, and you wouldn't even have a business if people weren't sick. I mean, the reality is what we're doing isn't working. And these trends, especially the last ten, 15 years towards the gluten free movement, this fake plant based movement of fake foods, this protein overdose movement, this over supplementation movement, it hasn't helped. And if anything, I'm seeing I'm seeing people trapped because there's lack of empowerment that we have where I don't want you to lead this conversation feeling you have to make every meal, because that's not feasible for most people.

And I hope, Kim, you could give a couple recommendations that maybe brands or things like, hey, these are good, you know, couple few ingredient type of readymade meals or something because people can't have that as their to do list or they're not going to do it like you said, paralysis by analysis. They'll be overwhelmed. But we got to look at the money trail and what's getting me. And it sounds like you to a lot of these influencers and people that are pushing creatine and protein, they're selling these products.

And now we're recommending three or 4 or 5 times the dose because of a random study. Like, is the person you're following making money from the product that they're recommending? And is it really a good product? What's the actual raw ingredient? And when I found out that the raw materials for creatine were petrochemicals, it blew my mind, because you can't make that stuff from natural sources in the body

Protein, Fiber, and Processed Plant-Based Foods 29:00

naturally creates creatine. It's the biggest craze right now. It's taking over Instagram and it's like, wow, what's going on here? So this whole thing is making me just question the movement as a whole. So before we kind of go into maybe some steps and I know we're running out of time here that you share with your students, but what are some good swaps, some transitions that people can maybe get ready made at the store? There has to be something, right, that someone can buy at Whole Foods, or a natural whole food store, or even Kroger or Publix or something like that.

Can can you give us some quick little swaps? Yeah. I wish there was more, some quick little swaps that come to mind. Forks over knives. Does have some, little frozen meals that are whole food plant based. And they're starting to I know they're in my H-e-b. I've seen them. I think you can get them at sprouts and other places. Plant strong is another great brand, of healthy whole food plant based options. They have, different cereals and burgers and popcorn and a lot of things that you can really fill in and are really excellent.

And they're in Whole Foods and some targets and they're expanding. They have, but a lot of their stuff is online, from Plant Strong Foods. Yeah. I wish there was more. You know, it's it's really, you know, it's really hard, you know, with the businesses too, you know, because you're competing against these giant processed food companies and, you know, creating healthy whole foods, plant based meals, is a, is a challenge, for, you know, smaller companies. And so it's really, you know, just start with like, simple recipes, simple things that you can, you can, you know, make like we talked about the overnight oats and, and that takes five minutes to do a whole line of jars for your whole week.

And it can be it can be really simple. Okay. Let's go. And I appreciate it. And that's honesty right. And I'm glad you're not making something up just for the sake of answering it. Because ultimately we got to be firm and we can't compromise and nothing. It's like in my world that there's nothing nontoxic. I mean, everything is lower toxic. But to find a nontoxic body care, I mean, in plastic, for crying out loud like that, contaminates it, you know? So in that mindset, I love it. It's going over and over, progress over perfection.

So we're talking in context here of chronic disease, cancer prevention, healing, preventing recover, enhancing recovery and doing our best to prevent relapse. So talk to us about some of your favorite immune boosting foods that you recommend to your clients. And why are they so powerful? Yeah. Dark leafy greens, obviously a really important to include like spinach and kale, arugula, big old green salad or even just green tea. You could sip on some green tea and get a lot of those a lot of those benefits.

Cruciferous vegetables I think are really important, especially for cancer prevention and recurrence. Cruciferous vegetables are things like broccoli and cauliflower. Some of the, dark leafy greens I mentioned already, like kale and arugula, cabbage, bok choy. These cruciferous vegetables actually have been shown to have double the cancer fighting effects as regular vegetables. So, you know, it's a great way to boost your immune system with cruciferous vegetables. Berries are amazing. Superfoods definitely want to include you know, those are easy to add to, you know, oatmeal or snack on add them to smoothies and things like that.

Mushrooms are also an amazing superfood. I definitely encourage people to, eat more mushrooms. You definitely want to cook them. There's potential toxic, properties for some raw mushrooms, so you just want to be careful. So definitely encourage people to, you know, saute them. And you know, combining both mushrooms and greens like green tea together is super powerful. So can reduce the risk of breast cancer, by even 89%. And so, you know, putting those things together, green tea and mushrooms combined together is really powerful.

Onions and garlic, studies show that, increase consumption of allium vegetables like onions and garlic and garlic have decreased risk of cancer at almost all sites. So, you know, saute some mushrooms, some onions and garlic, you know, when you, when you make a dish, add them to your salad. I mean, it's just really easy. I think I start all my dishes basically with onions and garlic is great flavor enhancer. As well beans, legumes, and soy, actually soy. I should really encourage people to eat more of organic or non-GMO so you reduce the risk of pesticides, of course, but soy, a lot of the studies really show an overall protective effect from cancer, by people who eat more soy.

So soy can be really powerful, to include, nuts and seeds, ground flaxseed. It easy to add to a smoothie, sprinkle on some oatmeal. Ground flax seeds are you know, that two tablespoons a day can help slow tumor growth and, increase cancer cell death by over 30%. So ground flaxseed definitely want to include those. So those are a lot of the my favorite ones to, eat more of. Just see how you can make a game of it. Like how can I you know, how many of these foods can I, you know, eat a day? And there's lots of ways to do that, that we kind of talked about.

All right, demystify the soy thing. It's been attacked significantly. So what's what's your quick response to that one? Because boy, oh boy, there's research on both sides of the coin. Yeah. I mean if you really look at the studies they really show that there is overall protective and very good for you. The journal of the National Cancer Institute did a metal analysis in 2006, and they showed that are studies on breast cancer and soy and showed that soy had an overall protective effect. And soybeans were a staple in traditional Asian cuisine and may be one of the reasons why women, in Asia have had a much lower risk of breast cancer.

And part of the misinformation was that when scientists were first discovering, you know, looking at the compounds in soy, it contains isoflavones, also known as phyto estrogens. And because they look similar to our bodies, estrogen. Well before they understood how it worked in the body, they just kind of hypothesize, oh, well, if it's like estrogen, it must be bad for us. And it stuck. But the truth is, is better understood now that these phyto estrogens actually have an anti estrogenic effect in the body.

And so they're actually protecting us against our own bodies estrogen. And so it's really, you know, that part of it really frustrates me because people are not including soy in their diet because they're afraid of it. And really, the opposite is true if they include more of it. It's actually very health promoting. And I could relate to that because studying aromatherapy and teaching people how to use essential oils, I get that all the time about lavender and lavender being, estrogenic or producing breast in young boys

Immune-Boosting Foods and Soy Explained 36:00

because there was a crazy study that they took out of context. And I was like, okay, this isn't we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. So research is a two edged sword. And you mentioned that in the in this conversation, be careful. We really got to be careful and navigate. So in your opinion, what are the best sources of soy that people need to consider? Obviously non-GMO organic. Yeah. But Yeah, yeah. So tofu, tempeh, miso, soy milk, unsweetened soy milk. And what of my favorites, actually, in the past few years is soy curls.

And because they are so easy to, substitute in different meat dishes, they can, you know, they come dehydrated. It's, I buy from Butler, and they're non-GMO. Pesticides are not used on their soy, and it's the whole soybean. So you get even more of the nutrition than, say, even with tofu. So you've got the whole soybean and they're dehydrated. So they're you just rehydrate them. You can they come in strips, you can cook them like chicken. You can grind them up and cook it like ground beef. So you can literally talking about swaps.

You could take soy curls and swap that out and have more, you know, plant based proteins very high in protein. Everybody, you know, talking about protein. But a lot of these soy products, tofu and tempeh, and soy curls and even soy milk are high in protein. And so that's a great way to get some, some healthy protein, I guess. Give us a popular recipe from your blog. I'm looking at your creamy vegan avocado fudge pickles, which I know are just going to be delightful. Yeah. I'm going to lean on dessert because I get it.

I've been doing this for a long time. We're like, you know, people like their sweets, myself included. So if you're going to have people go to your blog, walk them through the number one dessert that they're going to be like, whoa, I would have no idea. This is good for me. Oh, gosh. Number one, I'm trying to think there's so many recipes on my site. Let's see of desserts that. Yeah, the avocado fudge cycles. That's a really good one. There's some peanut butter brownie. Peanut butter cookies. Excuse me. On there.

I love, peanut butter. Anything. There's lots of flour in that. So that one, is, I believe that is lentils on that one. So that is actually flour free. On whole lentils. You just. Okay. Yeah. So there's, Yeah. Peanut butter lentil, recipe on there. Let's see there is, yeah. I'm all I'm drawing a blank. There's so many I love it. So many different things. Yeah, I'm on it, I'm on it. This is great. And you get a free e-book that people can go to. Plant Based Diet beginner's guide. And, you know, let's land the plane here.

Like what we're really trying to do is incorporate more healthy, nutritious, whole foods into our diet plant based because we need it. And and I would say, you know, as a Christian, I'm convinced that's how God designed us. And when you go back, not just from the Garden of Eden, but how people evolved and lived in our ancient ancestors. You mentioned it. I go back to what did the ancient Chinese eat? What did the ancient, Middle Eastern community eat and what do they eat in the Mediterranean? And there were a lot of grains, so we cannot just throw away the whole grain idea. It's like you mentioned.

What are we doing to the grains? We've we've genetically modified them. We're spraying them the grains. We here in America are completely different than what the we they eat overseas because they don't allow what we do. Yeah. And so that's something just to open up your mind and eyes. And if you live overseas, bless your heart. You're blessed because you don't have to deal with the things that we have to deal with here. So don't be afraid of food. Embrace food. Right. And I think that's what's happened to a lot of people.

We've just been afraid. Right. The soil's depleted. This is contaminated. And I'm like, well, it doesn't matter. Well, it does matter. It does matter. So what? What kind of, parting words of advice would you like to give to people? Of course, I encourage people to check out your boot camps and the courses that you offer, and going to simply paint plant based kitchen.com. Like, again, tons of recipes. But you mention quick wins and any other things that people can really

Practical Next Steps and Boot Camp Invitation 40:00

do, like, like if you really want to do this, this is a good step by step. What do you. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I definitely got that beginner's guide on my website. That's a great starting point to really just kind of wrap your head around like how do I how do I eat this way, you know, some good things to start thinking about. And then I've got my boot camp coming up in October. And so get on my email list, you download that free guide and you'll get told about how to sign up. It's great for beginners.

Because we really walk you step by step. You have this five day challenge of not just the information, but also how we do it. You know, we do some live cooking demos, and so you can actually start cooking recipes during the week and trying it out and see if you like it. That's awesome. And if you're listening to this after October or, you could go because you, you open up enrollment to this course. What? How many times a year? Yeah, I've done boot camp usually about twice a year. So, yeah. So it's definitely like, if you don't get in this time, you can definitely get on my email list and find out about the next time.

That's awesome. Well, folks, it's beyond proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. You look at the blue zones, you look at some of the areas of the world that live longer than anyone else. You see consistencies and their health starts with their food, and it goes back to Socrates. It's just not a saying. It's really food is medicine. So everything that we put in our mouth can help or hurt us in having good plant based whole foods or organic food is only going to help us. And so you, I would encourage you to go and follow along with what Kim's doing at simply Plant based kitchen.com.

Check out her boot camps, get her free guides, make some recipes, make this fun, get your kids involved. This will be life changing and I want to encourage you all you have to live in this life now for about 23 years. And the more I go plant based, the more I see, the better I feel. Quite frankly, and I feel I have a pretty good balance here. So I hope and pray you find your balance. And Kim, thank you again for taking this time. I know you're super busy, but I appreciate it. And folks, I hope you've been encouraged or be inspired to add a couple more fruits and veggies to your diet and maybe even go one step further than that.

All right, as always, is Doctor Eric Zelinsky. My hope and prayers that you and your family truly experienced abundant life. We'll talk to you soon. Bye bye.