Full Transcript Summit Introduction and Fiberu2019s Role 0:00 Welcome everyone to the Gut Health and Longevity Summit. 0:03 I am so glad you're here, and I want you to pause for a moment, 0:06 because what you're going to hear over these sessions could genuinely change 0:10 the way you eat, the way you feel, and the way you age. 0:14 Most people have never been told 0:17 that a single, unglamorous nutrient fiber 0:21 may be the biggest lever they have for a healthy gut and a longer life. 0:26 And our experts are here to change that. 0:28 So today's conversation is one about how fiber and how a whole plant, foods 0:34 that carry it, feed the bacteria and protect us from the inside out. 0:39 My next guest lost her father to Alzheimer's after years of watching heart 0:44 disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer take hold of him 0:49 and that loss center looking for answers in research 0:52 and what she found changed the entire trajectory of her own health. 0:56 Kim Murphy did dug into something on a Whole Foods 1:01 plant based eating, and decided to put the test to herself. 1:04 Within three months, she lost 17 pounds and 20in, 1:07 regained her energy and cleared the brain fog she'd been living with for years. 1:11 She holds a plant based nutrition certificate from Cornell and the Colin 1:16 Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, and a health coaching certification. 1:20 And now she coaches thousands through her program Plant Powered Life. 1:24 She's a founder of Simply Plant Based Kitchen and the Amazon bestselling 1:27 author of Plant Power, where she helps busy people make 1:30 whole plant based eating simple, doable and sustainable. 1:34 No perfection a required. 1:36 So here we have it. 1:38 Welcome, cam to our interview today. 1:42 Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. 1:44 And I want to start with the first question here. 1:47 So gut health seems to be a topic everywhere. 1:51 Everyone's talking about it. 1:53 Whether it's in the longevity and healthy aging conversation. 1:57 And you keep coming back to this one word fiber. 2:01 When so many people are trying all these different hacks 2:05 and trying all these different diets from, 2:08 you know, the keto diet to the low carb diet 2:12 to the carnivore diet, all of these. 2:15 So let's get into tell me a little bit more about the word fiber 2:21 and what that means, and where it plays 2:24 a role in longevity and healthy aging. 2:28 Yeah. 2:28 So I think, you know, the research has finally kind of caught up to something 2:33 that's pretty intuitive once you learn about it, is that your gut 2:38 isn't just about digesting food, it's actually talking 2:41 to every other system in your body, your immune system, your brain, your 2:45 inflammation levels, your blood sugar regulation, your heart 2:48 health, your hunger, your hormones, even your mood.
Types of Fiber and Why Diversity Matters 2:51 And when researchers started looking at populations who lived the longest, 2:55 like the blue zones, places like Okinawa, Sardinia. 2:59 One of the biggest things that these populations have in common 3:02 is that they're eating somewhere between 90 to 95% whole plants. 3:06 And that's not a coincidence, because these diverse, plant rich diets 3:11 feed a diverse, healthy population of gut bacteria. 3:15 And that diversity turns out to be 3:17 one of the strongest markers we have for healthy aging. 3:21 And the piece, I think, makes us so urgent for everyone instead of just kind of, 3:25 oh, that's interesting, is that most of us are not feeding our gut bacteria 3:30 anywhere near what they need, and that fiber is the food source that they eat. 3:36 And when they eat it, they ferment it, and they produce compounds that help to 3:41 lower inflammation throughout your body, the short chain fatty acids. 3:45 And, you know, depending on your age, you need to be your gender. 3:48 You need to be somewhere in the range of 25 to 34g of fiber a day. 3:52 But that's actually still pretty low, 3:54 you know, on a whole food plant based on a diet. 3:56 We can easily get more than that, 3:58 but the average American is only getting about 14g. 4:03 That's like roughly half of this low level of fiber. 4:06 And what's more striking is that one widely cited analysis found 4:11 that 95% of Americans aren't hitting their recommended fiber intake. 4:16 95%. That's that's like almost everybody. 4:20 So when we talk about gut health 4:22 and suddenly becoming this big topic in longevity, 4:26 you know, part of the honest answer is almost all of us are walking around 4:29 with an underfed microbiome, and this research is finally connecting 4:34 that gap to the exact chronic diseases that we're all trying to avoid as we age. 4:39 And I think where people get misled, honestly, is that food 4:43 companies are now taking this fiber conversation 4:46 and they're slapping, you know, high fiber on all these junk foods and things. 4:52 That's a source of fiber. 4:53 But really, they're just these package and processed foods that they added fiber 4:57 to fiber, added cereals, fiber added protein 5:00 bars, fiber fortified snack cakes, you know. 5:04 And on paper you go, oh, sweet. Yeah. 5:06 You know, checks the box, Scott fiber. 5:08 But a lot of times it's just junk food disguised as healthy food. 5:12 They just added a, you know, fiber to it, but it's still something 5:15 that's ultra processed and full of stuff that your body doesn't need anyway. 5:20 And the fiber that you actually get from a whole plant, 5:23 you know, an apple, a lentil, a sweet potato that doesn't come alone. 5:28 It comes as a whole package, 5:30 you know, with vitamins and minerals 5:31 and antioxidants and nutrients that your gut bacteria are also depending on. 5:36 So you can't just isolate this one nutrient fiber, 5:40 add it to processed food, you know, and expect to get the same benefits. 5:44 So my advice is don't shop those health claims on the front of the box. 5:48 You know, 5:49 get your fiber from the foods that actually grow 5:51 out of the ground in the first place. 5:53 So, you know, this gut health thing, I don't think it's a trend, but 5:57 I think we need to be careful about, you know, how we're understanding, 6:01 you know, fiber and where it's coming from. 6:03 But it's definitely something that's super interesting. 6:06 I love, like hearing about it because I think we're just really 6:09 scratching the surface about, you know, our gut health and microbiome 6:13 and how it has such a big influence on our health and longevity. 6:17 Yeah. 6:18 So just just to kind of summarize that a little bit for the people listening, 6:23 our gut is really the common thread when it comes to underlying inflammation. 6:27 When it comes to our weight, our mood and all of our chronic diseases. 6:31 Now fiber, which you mentioned, Americans are not getting enough. 6:35 And I know when I like, I have patients who are like, 6:41 I went and got some fiber powder, and now I'm having a bowel movement 6:45 and I'm like, no, that's not the solution. 6:47 I'm glad you're having a bowel movement. 6:49 But the reality is a majority of the diet 6:53 that people are eating, which is meat, dairy and cheese. 6:57 Where's the fiber? Right. 6:59 So with that, let's talk a little bit
Why Many Healthy Diets Still Miss Fiber 7:03 about the different types of fiber before we go into more more details 7:07 like I want people to understand like what is actually fiber 7:12 in Whole foods plant based because we can get it from many things. 7:16 We can get it from fruits, 7:18 we can get it from vegetables, we can get it from legumes, you know. 7:22 So what is the different types of fiber when we are thinking about fiber? 7:27 Yeah. So there's lots of different types of fiber. 7:30 The soluble and insoluble fibers. 7:32 And you know they kind of do different things. 7:34 Some of them, you know, bulk up the stool so that you can, you know, 7:38 like you said, have a bowel movement, things like that. 7:40 Other types of fiber actually, you know, kind of like 7:43 act as a, a vacuum cleaner for your intestine. 7:47 And so they can, you know, clean out toxins, 7:50 clean out excess cholesterol, clean out excess hormones. 7:53 And so they they just kind of like your vacuum cleaner. 7:57 And there's clean out everything and take away, you know, 8:00 some of the excess, you know like toxins and things like that that can build up. 8:04 But the different fibers I mean, there's just so many different fibers. 8:07 And that's why we wanted a diversity of different plants, 8:10 because they're going to feed different strains of our microbiome. 8:13 And we want that diversity in our gut. 8:15 We don't just want, you know, one type of bacteria in our gut, you know, 8:19 overpopulated everything because then we can have an imbalance in our gut. 8:23 So we want to have a lot of diversity in our in our diet, you know, 8:27 eating different vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and lentils and, 8:32 and getting that variety really helps to, you know, create that diversity 8:36 so that the different types of hundreds and thousands 8:39 of different types of bacteria can, you know, feed on what they like. 8:43 And then you have that diversity and that just really helps to improve the health 8:48 and the create all the different short chain fatty acids and lower inflammation. 8:52 So it's really just about that diversity. 8:55 Yeah. 8:55 So I have a lot of people who who say I'm eating a healthy diet. 8:59 Like people will be like, oh, my diet is fine. 9:00 I eat really healthy, I eat lean protein, I eat salad, 9:04 a little fruit, but yet they still fall short on fiber. 9:09 So why do you think Americans are falling 9:12 short and fiber like, what would a meal 9:15 that's healthy on paper but fiber poor look like? 9:20 Walk us through? 9:21 Like where people really are and where we need to get to? 9:26 Yeah. 9:26 And I think that, you know, I hear this a lot. 9:29 Yeah. 9:29 I'm eating, 9:30 you know, some plants and things like that, but they're not eating enough. 9:34 Like, it's really, 9:35 you know, a lot of meat, a lot of dairy, a lot of processed foods. 9:38 And especially in, you know, the processed foods because 9:42 they are devoid of a lot of fiber. 9:45 They've been stripped of their nutrients, refined grains, white 9:49 flowers, things like that. 9:50 So it's really, you know, people think that they're eating healthy 9:54 and they're but if you're consuming a lot of processed foods, then 9:58 you're just not getting fiber because you've got to have 10:00 those whole grains that have been unrefined. 10:03 So like whole whole wheat instead of white flour 10:07 and beans and lentils are such a great source of fiber. 10:11 And most people don't eat, you know, enough legumes. 10:14 That's such a great food that one of the the foods that most of the blue zones, 10:18 they all ate a different type of lagoon. 10:20 It's high in fiber, high in protein.
How Fiber Feeds the Gut and Lowers Inflammation 10:22 So yeah, I think that it's really kind of a balance of, 10:26 you know, we really need to center our plate around whole plants 10:31 and getting just the money we can in our diet, you know, different types of, 10:37 you know, different type of beans and lentils 10:39 being kind of the center tofu, tempeh, soy, 10:43 those can be great, you know, kind of protein sources 10:46 to build your meal around and then making sure we're getting whole grains too. 10:50 I think that's a lot. 10:51 You know, it's kind of silly to me that some people are afraid to eat 10:54 whole grains and, you know, things like whole wheat, oats, quinoa, what else? 11:00 Bulgur, sorghum. 11:01 There's just so many different 11:03 kinds of whole grains that you can really explore and, 11:06 you know, add to your plate to, you know, just really beef up the fiber. 11:10 But also, I mean, and they're also a great source of protein too. 11:13 Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 11:15 I mean, I know run a lot of advanced testing on my patients. 11:19 And I have a lot of plant based patients, and I have a lot of omnivore patients, 11:24 and both are really nutrient deficient because one I'm finding, 11:30 especially in populations over, say, 40, that they are just 11:35 not eating nutrient dense foods to give them the vitamins, minerals, 11:39 antioxidants that they need for their body and their cells to function. 11:44 So and then even when I show them my plate, like, 11:47 I'll show them like, okay, this is what a meal looks like for me. 11:50 And I've got 6 to 8 cups of dark leafy greens on this plate. 11:54 And they're like, what? 11:56 Like they're like literally having like, like a little handful. 11:59 I'm like your cells. 12:01 Your body is literally starving. Right? 12:03 So let's get into the mechanism a little bit for our gut health audience. 12:07 When fiber reaches the colon, what actually happens there 12:12 and how does that process affect inflammation and long term disease risk. 12:18 Yeah. 12:18 So like we've been talking about the fiber is the food 12:22 for our gut microbiome and our gut microbiome, our good gut bugs 12:27 that populate our colon, our intestines. 12:31 They when they eat that fiber, we can't digest it, but they can. 12:36 And when they digest it and ferments it, they produce short chain fatty acids. 12:42 And these short chain fatty acids are some of the most anti-inflammatory 12:46 compounds on the planet, and one of them being butyrate. 12:50 And butyrate is a great marker. 12:52 It's been shown that the people who, you know, have 12:55 the most butyrate in their bodies, they tend to be leaner. 12:59 It's because it helps activate leptin, one of the appetite suppressant hormones. 13:04 And so, you know, just by eating beating your friendly flora, 13:07 you can actually be keeping your hunger and cravings down. 13:10 And I think that's one of the things that is really fascinating 13:14 is that when we feed our gut bacteria, they do so many things for us. 13:17 So besides the short chain fatty fatty acids being so anti-inflammatory, 13:22 you know, it's also helping with hunger and it's helping with GLP one and, 13:26 you know, keeping those cravings down and feeling feeling full 13:30 because the, you know, the gut bugs and the short chain fatty acids, 13:34 those are all working throughout our body. 13:35 So even though we can't digest the fiber, our gut microbiome can. 13:41 And they in turn are giving us these, you know, important 13:45 nutrients, these short chain fatty acids that we need to keep inflammation down. 13:50 Yeah, absolutely. 13:52 It's kind of like when you don't feed the gut bacteria fiber. 13:57 The opposite of this when you are eating a processed, ultra processed diet 14:01 or a highly animal based diet and you're not giving the gut fiber, 14:06 it does not create that microbiome or the microbiota or those organisms. 14:11 So if you don't have those organisms, that can then make the compounds like 14:16 the short chain fatty acids like butyrate, you can't keep inflammation down. 14:20 This is why when we eat an ultra processed diet one, not only are
Whole Food Plant-Based vs. Vegan Junk Food 14:25 we still hungry and we want more food, yeah, we're creating inflammation in turn. 14:31 That's why when when you've just eaten like a bag of crackers or or like 14:35 a thing of cookies, you're like, oh, I just want more because you haven't 14:39 satisfied your gut to actually create the compounds that it needs 14:44 and the biochemical metabolites and all this that you're saying. 14:47 So great. Okay. 14:48 You speak about a very specific language here. 14:52 Whole food plant based versus just eating vegan. 14:55 So technically someone could go vegan 14:59 and eat mostly processed food with almost no fiber. 15:02 And I actually have such a patient. 15:04 They I met them on the a vegan cruise. 15:08 Right. 15:09 And they've been going to this vegan cruise for years 15:12 and they thought they were learning, you know. 15:14 All right. Eat vegan. 15:16 But what they were eating was, you know, vegan nuggets 15:19 and vegan hot dogs and vegan burgers. 15:21 And when they'd order out at restaurants still like vegan Chinese, 15:27 but they didn't get healthier, 15:28 they actually got worse because they weren't understanding that. 15:33 What it means that like, what the difference is. 15:38 So let's talk about the real distinction here 15:41 and why this matters so much for healthy aging. 15:45 This I get so many people coming to me that have been vegan 15:49 for years, decades, and they are overweight, even obese. 15:54 They have high inflammation. 15:55 They even have, you know, could have high cholesterol 15:58 because maybe they're getting too much saturated fat from these processed foods. 16:01 So that's a big distinction. 16:03 I try to teach people, and I even teach my kids is like, 16:06 just because something's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy. 16:09 You know, Oreos, vegan exactly. 16:12 Where you are vegan. Yes. 16:13 There are so many. 16:15 There's so much vegan junk food out there. 16:17 And it's just it's kind of getting bigger and bigger. 16:19 And people, you know, 16:20 they're looking for something quick, maybe they're really busy 16:23 and they see something that says plant based or vegan and they think, sweet. 16:28 That's that's what I need. 16:29 It's healthier. 16:30 And in some cases it's just as bad. 16:32 And so the difference is like we kind of talked about touched on before, 16:36 is these processed foods have been well, they don't even look like the whole food. 16:42 It came out of the ground, you know. 16:44 And they have a lot of additives, added sugar, added salt, added boils 16:48 and artificial ingredients and things that are actually increasing inflammation. 16:53 And you don't 16:54 have the fiber coming with it, plus all the antioxidants and nutrients 16:58 and phytochemicals that you're not getting in those processed foods. 17:02 And so a whole food plant based diet is one that's 17:06 based on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, 17:11 all the different beans and lentils and peas and soy, nuts and seeds. 17:15 And so those are the categories that a food 17:18 that you want to be filling your plate with. 17:20 All the different colors of the rainbow have different antioxidants that are doing 17:24 different things in your body. 17:25 And like we said, the, 17:27 you know, the diversity of all the different fibers 17:30 and all those different kinds of plants, even spices can really make 17:33 a big difference. 17:34 And so we want to make sure we're filling our plate 17:37 with those whole plants first, you know, and then crowding out the calories 17:42 of all the other things like the processed vegan junk food. 17:47 And really instead, you know, so that's really 17:50 that's the center of the diet is the whole plant foods. 17:53 So since you're mentioning that I am going to share 17:56 meal prep from yesterday, which was Sunday, with you, 17:59 because I sent this to to my community of patients 18:02 and they're like, I need to go do that, right? 18:04 And honestly, it's not complicated. 18:06 This is this is nothing fancy. I'm busy. 18:09 So when people tell me 18:10 they're really busy, I'm like, I promise you, nobody's busier than me, okay? 18:14 So if I can make this happen. 18:16 So I'm going to show you. Let's see if we can see. 18:18 So this is my four wedge salads for the week, the number 18:22 of veggies in here. 18:24 And then of course it's going to be topped with like a tofu 18:26 and some white beans and some hemp seeds.
Eating More Plants for Weight Loss and Gut Health 18:30 Right. So it's going to be great. 18:31 Then the other thing I made is I'm making 18:35 a lettuce tempeh wraps. Right. 18:39 So this once again with quinoa. 18:41 So we're not afraid of food. 18:42 We eat a lot of food. 18:44 Which brings me to my next question. Right. 18:46 Because I really want to have people have a better relationship with food 18:50 and not be afraid of it. 18:52 And you often say, eat more, not less. 18:55 And that runs against almost everything. 18:57 People have been taught about weight loss. 18:59 So how does eating more actually support weight loss and gut health? 19:04 And where does the fiber fit into that? 19:07 Yeah, I love this question, and I think this is 19:09 what made me fall in love with a whole food plant based diet 19:13 the most because I was, you know, dieting for decades before 19:18 this and was always about restriction and perfection, tiny portions. 19:22 And you just can't keep that up and is when you're hungry all the time, 19:27 you know, you're going into these, you know, binging and yo yo dieting spirals. 19:31 And so, you know, being able to eat more 19:34 and still lose weight is like I think it's like magical. 19:38 And so biggest reason one of the biggest reasons is fiber. 19:41 And we talked about this being, you know, the missing nutrient. 19:44 But fiber does so many things all at once that work in your favor. 19:48 And so first it's, you know, bulky and filling so you can eat a larger 19:51 volume of food, a big bowl, a big, you know, full plate. 19:55 And it's still a good spot for weight loss because whole plants are naturally lower 20:00 in calorie density than animal products and processed foods. 20:03 So you're filling up your stomach. 20:05 You're satisfying that need to eat, you know, a real large 20:08 volume of food, stretching your stretch receptors in your stomach. 20:11 You're also, you know, activating those nutrient receptors. 20:14 So that helps to turn down hunger and keep it down with fewer calories 20:19 than, say, if you were eating 20:20 the same volume of processed foods, it would probably be like, 20:23 you know, 4 to 5 times the number of calories. 20:26 And so fiber also, you know, directly crushes cravings 20:29 because and there's a real mechanism behind that, not just a feeling. 20:32 And it's a fun parallel here because it's something. 20:35 Everybody's talking about right now with the GLP one drugs. 20:39 That whole conversation and part of how these drugs work is 20:42 they activate golpe one and it tells your brain, 20:46 I'm full, stop eating, even if you haven't really eaten that much. 20:49 But what most people don't realize is that fiber does this too naturally. 20:54 So eating more fiber triggers your own body to release more GLP one, 20:58 so you get the same version of that appetite 21:01 suppressing effect without paying hundreds of dollars a month for, 21:05 you know, a drug just by building your plate around the whole plants. 21:09 And we also talked about the gut bacteria fermenting fiber 21:13 and those short chain acids producing butyrate. 21:17 That also helps to, you know, keep, activate leptin 21:21 and suppress hormones, suppress appetite suppressing. 21:25 And so, you know, the interesting thing is that, you know, being able 21:28 to eat whole plants, you know, you get your gut bacteria to thrive. 21:33 It helps control your appetite. 21:35 And so you kind of naturally settle into a healthier weight 21:39 almost as a side effect of a healthy gut. 21:42 And it's not not like the direct goal you're chasing. 21:45 So by eating more plants, it's not just a slogan, 21:50 you know, it's really what happens when you build your plate 21:53 around whole plants instead of animal products and processed foods, 21:57 because you get to eat more food by volume and lose weight 22:01 naturally because the type of food change, not the amount. 22:05 So you're, you know, 22:06 putting your gut bacteria to work for you rather than against you. 22:10 Yeah. 22:11 And one of the things is it's also empty 22:16 calories in the sense of there's no calorie density in processed food. 22:21 Right. 22:22 So with whole plants you're getting that volume. 22:24 Which is why. 22:25 Yeah you get full off of eating a big salad. 22:29 You actually do. Yeah. 22:31 If you eat enough of it. Right. 22:32 Fiber also will slow digestion. 22:35 So that means that your blood sugar spikes that you get with, you know, the 22:40 Starbucks coffee and the bagels and stuff aren't going to happen. 22:45 Right? 22:45 So the shift is is not coming from cutting food out. 22:49 It's coming to crowding more with more plants. 22:52 Right. So that's what we're saying. 22:53 That's where the weight and the gut health benefits would follow. 22:56 So for somebody who's listening to this and just is feeling
Simple Plant-Based Swaps for Busy Families 23:00 overwhelmed by all of this, 23:02 what are the simplest plant based changes that make the biggest impact? 23:07 And realistically, how do you make any of this work 23:11 if your family is not on board or you are just two plain busy? 23:15 Yeah. 23:15 So I think and this is what I really teach people, 23:19 and this is really important, 23:20 is that you don't need to overhaul your entire diet overnight. 23:24 That approach rarely sticks because it there's so many things 23:28 to learn, so many new habits, so many new ways of cooking. 23:31 So I say start ridiculously small, 23:34 like add a serving of beans to one meal a day. 23:37 Swap white rice or brown rice or quinoa instead of white bread. 23:42 Use, you know, sprouted whole grain bread. 23:44 Aim for adding, not subtracting. 23:46 So add a big full salad to a meal. 23:49 Try to make one meal a week fully plant based and you know. 23:53 And then then gradually, you know, learn a little bit more and a little bit more. 23:57 And if there's one single number you want to hang on to, 24:00 and this is my favorite, is to aim for 30 different plants 24:04 a week, not 30 servings, but just 30 different types of a week. 24:09 Because this is getting back to that diversity and that variety. 24:12 So different fruits, different vegetables, different whole grains 24:16 and beans, nuts and seeds, even herbs and spices count. 24:19 And there's actually research behind this. 24:21 So one of the largest microbiome studies found that people eating 30 24:25 or more different plants a week had a noticeably more diverse 24:29 gut bacteria than people eating fewer than ten. 24:32 So diversity is the goal because those different plants, 24:34 like we've been talking about, feed different strains of bacteria. 24:38 So a bowl of oatmeal with berries, walnuts, 24:41 cinnamon and flax, you're already at 5 or 6 by 9 a.m.. 24:44 And so it sounds like a big number until you realize that herbs and spices count. 24:49 And so you can add those to different meals. 24:51 Actually, one of my favorite breakfasts, and what I had today, and almost have 24:55 every single day is a tofu scramble, avocado toast on a Z keel, 25:00 sprouted grain bread with everything bagel seasoning 25:04 and topped with microgreens and a side of, say, blueberries. 25:08 So with all the spices and ingredients, it's got 13 different plants 25:13 and a whopping 16g of fiber. 25:16 That's more than the average amount people are getting in their whole day. 25:19 And I just had it for breakfast. 25:20 And for those concerned about protein, it's got 26g of protein. 25:24 So that's one of my favorite ways to start the day with lots of diversity. 25:28 Now for the family question. 25:30 And I get this all the time. 25:31 And I and I live it too. 25:33 I'm still really busy like you were just talking about. 25:35 You're really busy and so you don't have to cook two separate dinners. 25:39 Say, for example, if your family's, you know, not on board, but 25:42 you can build one corn meal that's whole food plant 25:46 based that works for everybody, you know, like a taco or pasta or chili. 25:50 And then, you know, if they want to add something that else on the side, they can. 25:54 But nobody feels deprived 25:55 because it's really just about adding whole plants to the meal, you know? 26:00 And so over time, families tend to come around, you know, 26:03 just naturally you don't have to announce it as a big lifestyle change. 26:06 You can just kind of start making simple swaps. 26:08 So like we talked about, instead of white rice, brown rice 26:11 instead of white pasta, you could do whole grain pasta or being pasta. 26:15 They got so many legume 26:16 type pastas that are super high fiber and protein that are great. 26:19 Maybe instead of meat for your tacos, you do. 26:24 Lentils. 26:24 Taco lentils are like a staple in our house and super fast and easy to make. 26:29 And so for busy people, you know, it's really only going to work 26:34 long term if it's simple enough to survive a bad week. 26:37 And so that comes down to a few habits. And you mentioned 26:40 you meal prepping a batch cooking yesterday I did the same thing. 26:43 I batch 26:45 cooked a whole bunch of different things so you can make a big pot of grains. 26:49 I did some brown rice yesterday. 26:50 I did a big pot for me, split pea lindell soup. 26:54 I did some roasted sweet potatoes, so I batched a whole bunch of different 26:57 things. 26:58 And then you can start to use that to build meals with for the week. 27:02 And then having my pantry and freezer stocked with quick staples 27:05 I can go to so important frozen veggies, frozen fruit. 27:10 You can even get frozen whole grains, canned beans, cans 27:14 you know, things that you can heat up in a moment's notice 27:16 when you didn't plan ahead. Let's be honest. 27:18 You know, sometimes we don't. Stuff happens. 27:20 And so those are really kind of key staples that I have on handle the time. 27:25 And I keep my recipes really fast and simple. 27:27 So I've got a running list of my family's favorites. 27:30 I mentioned, you know, taco night using can lentils can't matos 27:34 taco seasoning, pasta nights, a whole grain or bean babes pasta. 27:38 You know, marinara sauce, ground up soy curls instead of beef. 27:43 A quick stir fry with frozen veggies, brown rice and tofu. 27:47 You know, it doesn't have to be complicated. 27:49 And it doesn't have to have any, like, specialty ingredients. 27:52 So I think that making it simple 27:54 and just, you know, starting small is really important. 27:57 And just think instead of taking away and restricting, 28:00 think adding, how can you add more whole plants to your plate? 28:04 And I think that that's really interesting for most busy families 28:07 is that most people don't need 100 recipes. 28:10 Most people go through and rotate, 28:12 say, 12 to 14, you know, recipes on a kind of a regular basis. 28:16 So, you know, once you kind of start to get a handful of different plant based 28:20 recipes that your whole family likes, then you can start to put those in on repeat. 28:25 And so you're not reinventing dinner every single night. 28:28 You're just kind of slowly swapping out what's on your regular rotation 28:31 for a whole food plant based version of it. 28:34 Yeah, and I would say the freezer is my friend. 28:38 Like I have an entire freezer in the garage. 28:40 So like, for example, like I was just telling you 28:42 I was away for a month and I came back and I'm like, 28:44 okay, I got to do food prep for the week and I'm like, went grocery shopping. 28:48 And I'm like, oh, 28:49 I forgot to pick up stuff for my like, ginger, lemon, orange, Merrick shots. 28:53 And then I went in the freezer. I'm like, oh, I froze a batch. 28:56 And you know, and I'm like, all right, defrost those. 28:59 And I've got my little shots ready to go. 29:01 So, you know, the freezer can really be your best friend. 29:04 Like when you're doing the food prep you can make a little bit extra. 29:06 So you know, when those busier weeks or you're going to have somebody over 29:10 or something like that, you're kind of like prepared. 29:13 And like the last thing this should do is create overwhelm, right? 29:18 We don't want to create overwhelm in the kitchen. 29:20 And I know a lot of people have not been trained how to cook. 29:23 We're not even asking you to cook. 29:25 Like some of this is just like chopping and putting it together, right? 29:29 Yeah.
Kim Murphyu2019s Story and Common Mistakes 29:30 So you've coached thousands of people through this and it's deeply 29:34 personal for you too. 29:35 Can you share a little bit more about your story? 29:38 And I know I mentioned it in the intro about your father. 29:41 Can you share a little bit more and what it is that you are seeing, 29:47 that the biggest mistakes that people make when they're first starting out? 29:52 Yeah. 29:52 So, you know, my this all kind of 29:55 came to me like it just it definitely didn't go looking for this. 29:59 But my dad I was watching him struggle with chronic disease 30:02 and the Alzheimer's was what really shook me. 30:06 And just watching him just fade away and then forget who I am. 30:11 That was just devastating. 30:14 And I remember just being sorry. 30:17 I'm not going to get emotional about this. 30:19 So I always do when I talk about him, but I just remember being there 30:22 with him and thinking, I don't want any of this. 30:25 And that was just such a like just a transformation in my life of like, 30:31 I need to do something and I'm such a doer and I don't want to be a victim. 30:35 And so I went researching, and how can I prevent this from happening? 30:40 And everything I kept coming back to was whole food plant based diet. 30:43 And, you know, 30:44 even though I couldn't help him, you know, he was doing what his doctors told them. 30:48 They told him there was nothing I could do. 30:51 And so now I'm discovering the science. 30:53 Oh, that's not true. There's actually so much you can do. 30:56 So much power in eating whole food plant based in, 30:59 you know, not just preventing but even reversing these chronic diseases. 31:03 And so that's really where this, this all grew from 31:06 is just that moment of losing my dad and then discovering this whole world 31:12 of whole food, plant based nutrition, and then not wanting to keep it to myself, 31:16 you know, and trying to help other people because I couldn't help my dad. 31:20 And some of the, you know, there's so many different mistakes I see people make. 31:23 There's probably three big ones. 31:25 And number one is like a kind of a quick fix, like a probiotic, a supplement, 31:29 a powder, instead of focusing on what's you're actually eating every single day. 31:34 And, and I get that appeal because we all want a shortcut. 31:38 We're busy. 31:38 And, you know, we're thinking that these things 31:41 are going to help us instead of really focusing on the whole plants. 31:45 And it's worth knowing that 31:47 different these people mix things, things up all the time. 31:51 But probiotics, the actual live bacteria you get from 31:55 you can get from naturally fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh, 32:00 and prebiotics are the fiber that feed the gut bacteria. 32:04 And those things can come from, you know, onions and garlic and oats 32:08 and beans and bananas. 32:10 And you need both. 32:11 And whole plants can give you, you know, real amounts with everything. 32:15 And one thing that surprises 32:16 a lot of people is many of these probiotic supplements aren't actually 32:20 this great upgrade that they're marketed as, because many of them contain 32:24 billions of copies of just a few different strains of bacteria. 32:28 And so we keep talking about that diversity. 32:31 That's what your your gut thrives on. 32:33 So you want a lot of different strains working together, 32:36 not billions of copies of just 1 or 2, because flooding your system like that 32:41 can actually throw things out of balance like dysbiosis instead of fixing it. 32:45 So again, a whole plants really naturally feed that wide variety 32:49 of bacteria, different fibers feeding the different strains. 32:52 And that's the diversity we're looking for. 32:55 And the second mistake I see people doing, and we kind of touched on 32:58 this, is trying to go all in overnight because there's just so much to learn 33:03 new ingredients, new habits, a completely different way of shopping and cooking. 33:08 That alone can be overwhelming enough to make people quit 33:11 within a couple of weeks. 33:13 And and there's also a physical reason behind this that can also backfire. 33:17 And this is is that your gut microbiome? 33:20 It takes time to adjust to all these different fibers. 33:23 So if you go from eating the average of 14g of fiber a day to suddenly 50, 33:29 oh my gosh, you're going to be dealing with some bloating and gas. 33:32 Now that's not your body rejecting plant based eating. 33:35 That's just your gut population. 33:37 It needs time to shift and build up to break down all this new fiber. 33:42 So when people you know, they hit that discomfort, 33:44 they assume something's wrong and they quit when really 33:48 that discomfort wasn't assigned to stop, it was assigned to slow down. 33:52 So, you know, increase your fiber gradually. 33:55 Instead, you get two things at once. 33:57 It's, you know, easier to build the habits because it's not so overwhelming 34:01 and your gut has time to adjust. 34:03 So you kind of eliminate or reduce some of that bloating and discomfort. 34:08 And the first, first place. 34:10 And so it's easier on your motivation, easier on your gut. 34:13 And the third mistake I see is people not drinking enough 34:16 water when adding fiber to your diet. 34:19 You know, a lot of people think, oh, if I just add more fiber, 34:22 that's going to help my constipation. 34:23 But if you're already under hydrated, eating more fiber 34:27 can actually make your constipation worse because you got to have that water 34:32 for fiber to pull it in and help you help things keep moving through. 34:38 So without that water, you know that fiber can get 34:40 stuck and slow things down and make you even feel bloated. 34:44 So make sure you're drinking enough water. 34:46 At least half your body weight and ounces is kind of a a good starting point. 34:50 Those are three things that I see very common. 34:54 And yes, more fiber can be, you know, for some people 34:58 a little painful, especially when they don't 35:00 have the gut microbiome to support that fiber breakdown. 35:03 Right. 35:04 Because you got to remember you're feeding the microbiome, not yourself. 35:08 So all right, last question for you. 35:10 And I want to be very concrete here, 35:12 someone listening that has never really thought about fiber today. 35:16 What is the one thing they should start doing this week 35:21 to feed their gut for the long run. 35:24 I would say start with some simple swaps. 35:29 So we kind of talked about this switching from refined grains to whole grains.
Getting Started with Fiber This Week 35:34 So if you're using a white bread let's go find a whole grain 100% 35:38 whole grain bread. 35:39 Even better a sprouted grain bread like a keel. 35:42 And if you're using, you know, white rice let's go. 35:45 Brown rice, even better. Quinoa. 35:47 You know, adding some vegetables 35:50 to your plate a whole lot more than maybe you think 35:54 snacking on fruit instead of chips, you know, have a banana, have an apple. 35:59 You know, those simple little things can really help make a big difference 36:03 and slowly add that fiber and learning, you know, learning new recipes. 36:07 But and maybe even just a simple swap to, you know, instead of like 36:12 we talked about ground meat for tacos, I use canned lentils from Walmart. 36:18 So easy. 36:20 Drain them throwing them, 36:21 throw them in a pan, put it in your taco seasoning and you've got taco lentils. 36:25 So it can be really simple and easy. 36:28 And little swaps like that can really make a big difference. 36:32 Perfect. 36:33 You know, when you were telling your story of your father and I was just thinking, 36:38 like, when I'm walking through the halls of the hospital 36:42 and I see these patients just sitting there waiting 36:45 for their family members or coming in and like, and I'm like, 36:49 I really wish they knew, right, that 36:53 it wasn't like the end goal. 36:56 I mean, yes, hospitals can be incredible for like, you know, 36:59 getting imaging studies and emergencies and all this kind of stuff. 37:03 But 95% of health happens at home. 37:07 It doesn't happen in a doctor's office or in a hospital. 37:11 And I just look at these people and I'm like, wow. 37:14 Like the conversations I have with them, I'm like, they don't know. 37:18 Same thing happens in the grocery store. 37:19 Like, I could stand there and just watch people's grocery carts. 37:22 And I'm like, how much more can we say this? 37:27 Right? Like, why is there still confusion? 37:30 So, Kim, this has been such a clarifying conversation, the idea that one nutrient 37:35 fiber sits at the center of gut health, inflammation and how we age 37:39 is something I want everybody listening to to sit with. 37:43 Kim can be found at simply Plant-Based kitchen.com, 37:46 and I encourage you to look up her book, Plant Powered and her program Plant 37:50 Powered for life for step by step support for putting this into practice. 37:54 And here's a key takeaway I want you to take your gut runs on fiber. 38:00 Feed it well, and it will protect you for decades to come. 38:04 So thank you so much, Kim, 38:06 and stay tuned for one of our next episodes coming up next.
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