Forget diet fads, how do the longest living people eat? Featuring Dr Renae Thomas, MD

In Episode 59 I sat down with Dr Renae Thomas, MD who is is a Physician working in Loma Linda California, one of the Blue Zone populations that display incredible longevity and high quality of life. This is a really important podcast – sometimes in nutritional science we can become too reductionist and zoom in on potential mechanisms without appreciating the complexities of human-beings. Observational data from people displaying longevity, happiness and a high quality of life serve as a reminder that sometimes we need to Zoom Out and look to those who are living proof of what it means to be healthy.

If you want to hear from an actual expert (a qualified Medical Doctor) talk about longevity and how to eat to avoid disease then you will love this episode.

IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Where Renee grew up
Her journey to Medical School
Why she developed an interest in the role of food and medicine
Why it’s like working in Loma Linda, California
What the Blue Zones are?
Seventh Adventist’s and the AHS studies – how vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and omnivores compare in terms of health outcomes and mortality
Typical clinical patient presentations in this population of Seventh Adventist’s
Contrasting populations nearby who have different lifestyles
The type of diet that seventh adventists eat
Renee’s thoughts on the Ketogenic/High fat style diets and whether they are supported by science
and much much more

RESOURCES:

Blue Zones website & books

Renae’s website

AHS population studies:

Vegetarian diets in the Adventist Health Study 2: a review of initial published findings

Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2

Beyond meatless, the health effects of vegan diets: findings from the Adventist cohorts.

Vegetarian diets and incidence of diabetes in the Adventist Health Study-2

From the Intro:

Importance of microbiome diversity

SHARE/REVIEW:

If you enjoyed this podcast both myself @plant_proof and Renee @drrenaethomas would love to hear from you! And if you haven’t left a review for the show on iTunes yet and have 1-2 minutes it would be greatly appreciated!

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