The Doctor's Kitchen Podcast

One of the best experiences I had in a restaurant was when I sat at a table in Marylebone (London), decorated with floral cloths and comfy pillows. Nestling into my seat I was struck by beautiful spicy notes, warming ginger that mirrored the welcome from the maître d'. Perusing the menu, almost everything was a blend of cultures, cuisines and flavours. Dishes that are so unfamiliar, yet deserve to...

Todays Snacksize Doctor’s Kitchen podcast is all about motivation and the power of a positive mental mindset. I hope listening to this snippet from my conversation with Ed Jackson on episode 112 is the pep in your step you need to supercharge your day. Ed Jackson broke his neck and suffered a spinal cord injury which left him paralysed from the neck down. Doctors said that he would never...

On todays episode I chat with friend of the podcast, Dr Nick Fuller from University of Sydney about everything to do with sustainable weight loss including why losing just 5% of your body weight triggers a cascade of processes that slows your metabolism and ultimately leads to weight gain. We discuss calories in, calories out and a broader view on energy balance, protein requirements and the impor...

Todays Snacksize Doctor’s Kitchen podcast is all about arthritis. Arthritis is one of the commonest conditions that GPs across the UK and beyond see in clinic. But is there something we can do with food to help pain associated with arthritis? In this snacksize podcast I talk through some of my go to ingredients including olive oil, ginger, polyphenols, turmeric and an anti-inflammatory diet. Subsc...

I personally love my airfryer, I’ve been using it at home and in the Doctor’s Kitchen studio since the start of the year, but can they be considered a ‘healthier’ cooking method? This is a question I’m often posed online so we did some research and looked at a few studies.  Air fryers aren’t a new invention, in fact they’ve been around for a number of years but the popularity of them has soar...

Todays Snacksize Doctor’s Kitchen podcast is all about fasting. I’m often about fasting and the proposed benefits, how to fast and more. I’ve done a selection of podcasts with experts from around on this topic including Sachin Panda on episode 153, Valter Longo on 163 and Mindy Pelz on 216 if you want to dive deeper. But here is my overview from all of those conversations in under 10 minutes. I ho...

Friend of the podcast and one of my favourite authors Dr Tara Swart is back on The Doctor’s Kitchen show today. Neuroscientist, former medical doctor and author of “The Source”, a book that has been hugely impactful to my career and mindset. She’s also host of top rated life sciences podcast “Reinvent Yourself with Dr Tara”, and brand ambassador in beauty and well-being. Today we’re going to talk...

Today we’re wrapping up our podcast year with 5 impactful conversations from 2023. This year has been an incredible journey learning more about food and medicine and I hope you’ve found the lessons from the podcast as fascinating as I have! First off I share a snippet from my conversation with Dr Robert Lustig ( #209 Why a calorie is not a calorie ) about whether you can you be a sugar aholic? Rob...

“How to eat with friends and be healthier” When was the last time you sat down at a dinner table and shared a meal with friends over laughter and stories? If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to remember a time in the last couple of days. And if you’re averse to the idea of going through the effort of having to find someone to share a meal with, research shows it has benefits! Recent studies found that...

Carbohydrates are a food component that is regularly debated in the nutrition world – they have a bad rep for weight loss and diabetes, but on the other hand they are prioritised by athletes? There have been quite a few studies on the associations between total carb intake and health outcomes, but still there are still some contradictions and nuances, especially because studies often group all car...

You can tell how excited I was to have Donna Hay visit our studio this week! I’ve been an avid fan for years and we were privileged to have her grace our kitchen to record a recipe for our YouTube channel and even jump on the podcast! Donna Hay is Australia's favourite and most trusted home cook, a household name, and an international food-publishing phenomenon. Donna's 29 books have sold more tha...

Today I’m talking about SAD, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder because I was recently asked to explain it on BBC morning TV. It’s surprisingly common and debilitating for millions of people in the UK alone, and frustratingly there is not too much known about the cause and a real lack of research. SAD is also referred to as Winter Depression and may have similarities to depression in the wa...

A common question I get is whether the sugar in fruit could be as dangerous and toxic as the sugar we find in canned drinks, sweets and other sources of added sugars found mostly in processed foods. And sugar has been a hot topic of discussion in the past few years particularly as people become more aware of the importance of regulating blood sugar levels and avoiding large & frequent spikes.&...

Why do women struggle with weight during and after the menopause? This is the key question I’m putting to Dr Louise Newson on todays podcast as it’s the most commonly asked question that I get from Doctor’s Kitchen followers as well as from patients during my medical career. She is the perfect person to be discussing this topic as Dr Louise Newson is one of the UK's leading medical experts on the...

You might’ve heard the terms nitrates, nitrites or nitric oxide in different contexts. There have been headlines about the “dangers” of nitrites in food, especially in processed meats like ham or bacon. But there’s also a lot of talk about the benefits of nitric oxide? It’s a very confusing topic, but hopefully after listening to todays podcast you’ll understand everything you need to know about t...

Can you eat to improve symptoms of ADHD? That is the subject of conversation today with the wonderful Dr Miguel, who is a clinical neuroscientist and applied microbiologist with a longstanding background in human nutrition. He has a BSc (Hons) Nutritional Medicine, a MSc Clinical Neuroscience and a DProf (PhD) Gut Microbiome & Mental Health. According to Dr Miguel, the top healthy habits for a...

Chef Romy Gill MBE, who is a dear friend, is on the podcast today sharing her culinary wisdom, her energy and passion for food as well as her voice for women of colour and the stigma that still surrounds the menopause. Romy is a celebrity Indian chef, food and travel writer and broadcaster. She was the owner and head chef at Romy’s Kitchen and in 2016 she was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 90th B...

In todays episode we’re going to be addressing aluminium in cookware. Every time I use foil on social media I always get comments about how toxic foil is to the brain and how I shouldn’t be promoting it,  given my position as a doctor. So I decided to review the evidence for these claims with the team and do a thorough dive into this topic and find out if there’s any evidence for these inflam...

This is a question I’m asked all the time as a GP! In todays episode we’ll go into cranberries in a bit more detail, the chemicals in cranberries that exert benefits and what the mechanism of action could be. I go into the controversies around these recent Cochrane findings, what we know and what we don’t know as well as the type of product that I recommend people try if they are interested in UTI...

“Hidden inflammation presents a unique dilemma. The idea that it may be a shared biological mechanism between diseases as distinct as obesity and aging, or depression and heart disease, fosters a new understanding of human health. It pushes us to consider preventing or treating these diseases in concert rather than in parts, taking into account the totality of a patient's body and mind, including...

Fasting is one of the hottest topics at the moment and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr Mindy Pelz to dive into this fascinating area.  Like I always say to people, fasting is potentially a phenomenal, multifunctional tool that we can use to improve our immune system and our metabolic health. But the dose of fasting, the method of fasting and whether fasting is at all appropriate if...

Today I’m talking about the supplements that I think are not as useful as the claims make out, as well as the ones that I think may have use. Supplements are a tricky subject but I think it warrants a bit more attention on the podcast considering I get asked about them so much and I’m a user of supplements myself! In summary those that I think are not worth it or require caution include: Multivita...

Today we’re diving into the world of tomatoes, one of the most consumed ‘fruits’ globally with a rich heritage and mixed opinions on whether it’s healthful or harmful?  I’m always asked whether patients should be eating nightshade family ingredients, whether it can excerbate athritis symptoms, cause stomach acid and even IBS. So today we’re going into the benefits of tomatoes, the compounds w...

Should we be reaching for the dinner plate before the pill bottle when treating mental illness? Well my next guests certainly think so. Dr Michael Dixon and Uma Naidoo are back on the podcast talking about the Food for Mood campaign, an idea that literally started around the King’s dining table last year! This idea of food as medicine is truly taking shape in the UK, but without strategies to ensu...

Today we’re discussing the connection between oral health and general health and diving into topics like flossing, Alzeihmers, the oral microbiome and supplements for your teeth. And I’m also revealing my own oral microbiome test results live on the podcast which reveal some shocking truths about my diet … you won’t want to miss it! Dr Victoria Sampson is known for being one of the leaders in prev...