Overview
Inflammation is our body’s natural defense system and can be a good thing. However, when your immune system shifts out of balance, inflammation can run rampant—leading to every one of the major chronic diseases of aging: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, and more.
In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Shilpa Ravella, Dr. Rupa Marya and Raj Patel, and Dhru Purohit about why chronic inflammation is a precursor to disease and how we can live a more anti-inflammatory lifestyle.
Dr. Shilpa Ravella is a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. She is the author of A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet & Disease, which investigates inflammation, the hidden force at the heart of modern disease. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Slate, Discover, and USA Today, among other publications. Dr. Rupa Marya is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where she practices and teaches internal medicine. Her research examines the health impacts of social systems from agriculture to policing. She is a cofounder of the Do No Harm Coalition, a collective of health workers committed to addressing disease through structural change.
Raj Patel is a research professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs, a professor in the university’s Department of Nutrition, and a research associate at Rhodes University, South Africa. He serves on the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and has advised governments on the causes of and solutions to crises of sustainability worldwide.
Dhru Purohit is a podcast host, serial entrepreneur, and investor in the health and wellness industry. His podcast, The Dhru Purohit Podcast, is a top 50 global health podcast with over 30 million unique downloads. His interviews focus on the inner workings of the brain and the body and feature the brightest minds in wellness, medicine, and mindset.
Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here: