Three of the myths we often hear about going plant-based is that is time consuming, expensive and difficult. So today we have three plant-powered pioneers in the plant-based space who are busting every single one of those myths and teaching us how easy, affordable and fun it is to eat a vegan diet.

First up is Toni Okamoto, author of Plant‑Based on a Budget: Delicious Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week who is here to share her tips and knowledge on making eating delicious plant-based faire easy and affordable.

Then Alli and Suzy are talking to Maya Kaimal, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Maya Kaimal Foods and winner of the Julia Child Award for her cookbook Curried Favors, Family Recipes from South India to learn more about plant-based indian cuisine.

And finally Alli sits down with Food Heals favorite Leslie durso, who is currently the vegan chef at the Four Seasons Punta Mita and the Four Seasons Santa Barbara to hear her plant-powered tips and advice for making vegan easy and not compromising style for sustainability.

Nicole Davidsohn is the cofounder and herbalist at Eva, a unique self-care company that uses organic superfoods and hemp flowers to give people a better quality of life. 

When Nicole was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, she thought things couldn’t get much worse. 

Enter: Traumatic Brain Injury.

Months of pain and pills, fatigue and struggle, Nicole was ready to give up.

Until she discovered the plant that would play a critical role in her journey back to health.

Enter: Hemp.

The raw cannabis juice from hemp began to give Nicole her life back and she and her partner, Dane soon discovered a way to preserve the raw plant in its raw form while retaining 99% of all vitamins, minerals, cannabinoids, terpenes, and more.  

In October 2016, Nicole’s dog Mary Jane was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a form of canine cancer, and given 90 days to live. Nicole and Dane decided to skip the expensive chemotherapy treatments, and began feeding Mary the raw cannabis juice. She immediately responded with energy and a decrease in symptoms.

With high hopes, they continued the holistic treatment, giving her an additional 33 months of a happy, healthy doggy life. She was chasing geese 3 days before she passed away from old age, at 15.

Nicole continues to educate people on the benefits of eating raw cannabis flowers, buds, and juice through her company Eva. Eva is the first company known worldwide to do the first ever nutrition test on Cannabis Flowers. They also recently launched a line of Hemp Seasonings that contain 2000mg of their proprietary Flower Powder™.

These seasonings allow people to see cannabis as another vegetable/ herb, something to eat daily for nutrition. Eva is pairing up with chefs, restaurants, and grocery stores to supply hemp flowers as another food, similar to hemp seeds and hemp oil already found within stores. Check out https://evaworldwide.com and use the coupon code foodheals for 20% off.

Following the premature death of his mother from breast cancer, Dr. Platt began the journey of assimilating his knowledge about hormones and the importance of keeping them in balance for optimum health and wellness.

Through the observation of thousands of patients, he uncovered secrets to the body’s master system, namely hormones. In 1995, he opened a clinic in Palm Desert, California where he has been consulting with his patients and clients employing his Platt Protocol, a natural approach to hormone balance and wellness.

Since 1997, the Platt Wellness Center has been a pioneer in the research and advancement of the therapeutic use of progesterone cream and other bio-identical hormones. Platt is considered an important pioneer in observational, functional, alternative, and allopathic medicine focused on bio-identical hormones and adrenaline overload.

His award-winning books, “The Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones”, How I Lost My...fatigue, hot flashes, ADHD, ADD, fibromyalgia, PMS, osteoporosis, weight, sexual dysfunction, anger, migraines… and “Adrenaline Dominance, A Revolutionary Approach to Wellness”, detail his Platt Protocol: solutions for conditions modern medicine considers ‘incurable’ and that are ‘treated’ with drugs, endless office visits and tests as well as billions spent on research.

He has identified many conditions that respond positively to bio-identical hormones, especially progesterone. Conditions that affect millions of people worldwide such as: ADHD, fibromyalgia, autism, depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, weight gain, anger, road rage, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and more.

In 2012, JJ Virgin was in a hospital room next to her sixteen-year-old son who was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left for dead. She was told by doctors that he wouldn’t last through the night and to let him go.

With every reason to give up, JJ chose instead to invest her energy into the hope that her son would not just survive, but thrive.

In the latest episode of Food Heals, she shares the journey of overcoming the worst moment of her life.

It’s a story of western medicine and holistic healing modalities working together to heal a young man and a mom that wouldn’t take no for an answer.

During this difficult time, JJ learned valuable personal lessons that helped her rebuild her life and find success and purpose in herself, her work, and teach her sons and community how to face their own obstacles and trials.

JJ believes that inside every mother is a fierce, resilient, intuitive woman who has the ability to tap into an indomitable mindset and create heroic outcomes—for her children, her family, her community and for herself—she is a Warrior Mom!

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody with co-hosts like Suzy Hardy, Leslie Durso, Whitney Lauritsen, Sophie Uliano, and more – all self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health!

This sexy, savvy show provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

You already know meditation is incredible for your mental, spiritual and emotional health. You may have even tried to meditate before. But, you can’t seem to get into the regular habit. You really want to and you know it’s time to figure it out.  

Today’s guest, Katie Krimitsos teaches us that a regular meditation practice doesn’t have to look like getting up at 5am and meditating for an hour with incense burning every single day.  It can be so much more simple!  And completely customized for you.

Creating your own regular meditation practice can make you feel more calm, reduce stress and anxiety, help you sleep better and ultimately help you connect to your inner wisdom...which all lead to a happier, more fulfilled life!

Ready to feel more calm, connected and happier? Check out the Women’s Meditation Network!

The Women’s Meditation Network is the home for guided meditations that are created for the very special journey that we women walk throughout this life. While we are all different and unique, there is an underlying connection and shared experience between us that is so beautiful, complex and deep.

The intention of Katie’s podcast and the entire network is to give you easy access to guided meditations and helpful products and services that will support you on your extraordinary journey in this world!

Each week on Tuesdays, you’ll receive a new meditation somewhere between 7-30 minutes that is intended to help you relax, let go, be present, find gratitude and ultimately, help you connect to the most brilliant, vibrant parts of your soul that so often feel dimmed. My hope is that this becomes a home for you to pick and choose the meditations that you need to hear in a particular moment, situation or feeling, over and over again.

ABOUT KATIE:

Katie has used the tool of meditation since she was 18 years old. First, as it was introduced to her during the last few minutes of yoga classes. Then at multiple Buddhist centers during regular meditation classes. Later in intimate group meditations. And eventually, through miraculous technologies like podcasts and apps that provided guided meditations, she could use during the darkest and lightest seasons of her life.

Katie is a woman who is deeply interested in continually evolving herself, in becoming more mindful, trying to live the most vibrant life she can possibly live. She’s a mom, a wife, a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She has been a podcaster since 2014 and has had the privilege of supporting women in business under her Biz Women Rock banner. She’s an athlete, a vegan, an adventurer, a recovering perfectionist and a gladiator. She doubts herself, has struggled with loving her body, has felt the pangs of comparing myself to others, let fear keep me from doing things she really wanted to do and has carried way too many things on her shoulders. She is perfectly imperfect and always searching to understand herself better.

Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!