A Deep Dive on Food, Love, and Community with Dr. Mark Hyman

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We can eat really well, get great sleep, and workout several times a week in an effort to feel our best. These steps are all clearly important, but they don’t mean anything if we’re missing love and connection.

I was so excited to be the guest on this week’s episode of The Broken Brain Podcast and sit down with my good friend, business partner, and one of the best humans I know, Dhru Purohit.

We jump into why community and connection are so imperative for our health. Years of working in medicine—from the ER and other hospital settings to Canyon Ranch Resort and my Functional Medicine clinic—taught me that accompaniment was key for success. What I mean by that is we need to accompany each other on the journey to better health by having, and providing, support.

Dhru and I talk about what that looks like and I get to share a bit more about my personal community and how I’ve kept my own tribe close throughout this pandemic. It’s something I’ve been very intentional about and I feel it has one hundred percent helped me get through the last year in a better place.

One of the questions I often get is “Dr. Hyman, do you eat perfectly all the time?” And the answer is no! But I always do my best. I tell Dhru about my weakness for pancakes and how I make a healthier option (that I sometimes even eat for dinner!) and we discuss what it looks like to choose the best option within any food category. I’m all about freedom, not restriction, and years of eating real food has helped me be free of cravings for things like candy and junk food.

If you missed it, my new book The Pegan Diet just hit shelves yesterday! Dhru and I talk about where the concept of Pegan came from and why this way of eating is sure to help everyone create a healthier body and planet. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not a diet but a way of life, and I’ve seen it transform my own health and the health of so many others. It’s a set of principles I truly believe in and I’m so excited to share this book with the world.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The most potent form of medicine besides food (1:47)
• The power of love, community, and friendship on overall health (3:59)
• Techniques and tools to change your emotional state (9:16)
• How to become resilient in terms of food and your biology (12:29)
• The real truth about dairy (15:32)
• Where the term Pegan diet came from (23:15)
• How to leverage personalized nutrition for your health (28:05)
• The power of polyphenols (41:04)
• The importance of diversity in your diet (45:01)
• How to eat like a regenetarian (48:14)
• The COVID-19 dilemma America is facing (52:52)
• How do we make America more immune resilient (1:04:59)

For more on Dr. Hyman you can follow him on Instagram @DrMarkHyman, on Facebook @DrMarkHyman, on Twitter @DrMarkHyman, on YouTube @DrMarkHyman, and through his website longevityfilm.com. Get his book, The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World at https://pegandiet.com/.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat
• The Doctor’s Farmacy Episode 131: Why Most Everything We Were Told About Dairy Is Wrong with Dr. David Ludwig
• Milk and Health by Dr. David Ludwig and Dr. Walter Willett
• Kiss The Ground Documentary
• A Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19

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