Full Transcript for Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health: Age Like a Yogi | Victoria Moran

We're all on our way out at some point and 73 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:16.019 people start to kind of get to know that as 74 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:18.620 we get a little bit older, but to still give 75 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:22.040 ourself the very best odds of being healthy and vibrant 76 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:24.560 as long as we can possibly be and do good 77 00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:25.500 in the world while we're here. 78 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:27.800 I think that's, you hit the nail on the head 79 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:30.160 as far as why a lot of people gravitate toward 80 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.939 eating a healthier diet, especially, you know, here in our 81 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.889 plant-based circle. Like so many people come for health reasons. 82 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:42.029 How much of, the yogic lifestyle ties into the vegan 83 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:43.089 and the vegetarian diet? 84 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:48.040 To me, it's what made me vegetarian and ultimately inspired 85 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.240 my becoming vegan because that concept. 86 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:55.279 Of ahimsa, of non-harming, non-killing, reverence. 87 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:59.730 For life, is hard-baked into yogic philosophy. It's actually the 88 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:03.569 first moral precept. Yoga is an interesting thing. It has 89 00:05:03.649 --> 00:05:06.189 lots of layers. I think it's maybe like a person 90 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:08.829 that way. You meet somebody because, I don't know, you 91 00:05:08.850 --> 00:05:11.829 guys both like kale. And then you find out you 92 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:15.560 have these deep memories that connect and maybe you have 93 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:18.279 some mutual friends or you went to the same school. 94 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:20.180 And that's how it is with yoga. 95 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:22.339 And the cool thing is that you can take it 96 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:26.300 as far or as not very far as you want. 97 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:30.439 So A lot of people come to yoga for fitness 98 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:33.949 or for calmness, for becoming a little bit more flexible. 99 00:05:34.449 --> 00:05:37.889 But then if you stay and see what's there, this 100 00:05:38.029 --> 00:05:41.149 ahimsa principle is so important. In fact, for me, I 101 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:45.100 discovered yoga when I was 17 years old. We're talking 102 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.600 the 1960s when you actually had to discover it. And 103 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.379 there were three books on yoga in the Kansas City, 104 00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:55.139 Missouri Public Library. And they all agreed that if you 105 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:58.480 were going to be serious about yoga, you needed to 106 00:05:58.519 --> 00:05:59.540 be vegetarian. 107 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:03.939 Now, dairy, that's a thing in Indian philosophy. 108 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:07.899 So they were cool with dairy, but otherwise good vegetarian, 109 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.230 no fish, no eggs, vegetarian, and then come. 110 00:06:13.149 --> 00:06:15.670 To these physical and spiritual practices. 111 00:06:15.949 --> 00:06:17.709 And they're going to be deeper and you're going to 112 00:06:17.730 --> 00:06:21.279 have more integrity and when you're putting good out into 113 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.810 the world instead of harm, even if you don't know 114 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:26.089 you're doing harm. And I think most people who are 115 00:06:26.149 --> 00:06:29.170 eating animals aren't thinking that this is doing harm to 116 00:06:29.230 --> 00:06:32.360 somebody else, but we grow and we evolve, and that's 117 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:35.649 what yoga's about too. You know this much, so you 118 00:06:35.670 --> 00:06:38.370 do this much. You know this much, and then you're 119 00:06:38.410 --> 00:06:39.490 called upon to do more. 120 00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:42.779 So it comes from more the peaceful aspect of eating 121 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:47.199 the plant-based diet more so than the anti-inflammatory properties, which 122 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:49.680 by themselves I find to be quite calming. You know, 123 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:51.620 the system's a little bit calmer, you feel a little 124 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:53.740 bit better. But it sounds to me like it's all 125 00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:54.759 about peace, correct? 126 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:56.439 It's not all about that. 127 00:06:56.490 --> 00:06:58.889 That's one of the things that's so wonderful about yoga 128 00:06:58.910 --> 00:07:01.699 is Another thing that attracted me, we all know about 129 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.740 yoga's asanas, postures, that hatha yoga, the physical practice. So 130 00:07:07.139 --> 00:07:09.379 I was a fat kid and I never. 131 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:10.480 Me too. 132 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:11.730 Tell me the tales. 133 00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:15.990 Yes, it's this fraternity, sorority that nobody wants to be 134 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:18.470 a member of, but if you're in it, we're really 135 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:23.170 cool people. And so I was always chosen less for sports. 136 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:26.480 I didn't like to sweat and I seemed like I 137 00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:29.410 sweat every time I tried to be active. And then 138 00:07:29.470 --> 00:07:33.129 I found this beautiful system that said you can do 139 00:07:33.189 --> 00:07:36.889 it slowly and you can hold a position, you can 140 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:40.939 pause there, and you can let the benefits of this 141 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:45.740 practice really take root within you. So we've got this 142 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:48.079 physical and spiritual, if you. 143 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:51.680 Will, crossover. And it's the same with the food. 144 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:55.360 So on the one hand, we want to be vegan 145 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.870 for Ahimsa, but we also want to do it Because 146 00:08:00.009 -->

00:08:03.680 in yoga, one of the goals is meditation. Because if 147 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.360 you're on the route to enlightenment, which again, you don't 148 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.699 have to take it for that, but if you want to, 149 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:12.660 you want to be able to sit comfortably for a 150 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.959 long period of time. So these ancient yogis, and this 151 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:18.319 is one of the things that I find so fascinating 152 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.839 about both yoga and its sister science of Ayurveda, which 153 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:25.769 I think we'll get into, that they had what we 154 00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:31.500 could call the scientific method 5,000 years ago because these rishis, 155 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:36.590 these sages, were observing nature. They were looking at what 156 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:40.039 happened when people did certain things and when they refrained 157 00:08:40.070 --> 00:08:43.809 from doing certain things. They watched the seasons, they watched animals, 158 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:49.090 and came to develop these very wise systems that went 159 00:08:49.269 --> 00:08:54.049 on to seed traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Tibetan medicine, that 160 00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:56.750 have come to the fore again and are being used 161 00:08:56.870 --> 00:09:00.720 even in large medical centers today. So that's two parts 162 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.639 on the food front. But the third part is that 163 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:09.049 when these yogis of old were looking at what's it 164 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:14.730 gonna take to give somebody the ability to sit in 165 00:09:14.769 --> 00:09:19.990 meditation and create this more enlightened state. So they talk 166 00:09:20.049 --> 00:09:24.480 about gunas, and these are aspects of the universe. There's 167 00:09:24.580 --> 00:09:28.559 one that's called tamas, and that's the energy of inertia. 168 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:33.419 And it's not terrible because sleep is tamasic and what 169 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:37.059 goes on in a compost bin is tamasic. But when 170 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:40.700 you're living a tamasic kind of life, it means that 171 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:45.330 You're not interested in higher things. You don't really want 172 00:09:45.350 --> 00:09:49.889 to better yourself or better the world. Your food inclinations 173 00:09:49.970 --> 00:09:52.730 are what we would call today more junk food or 174 00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:58.710 ultra-processed kinds of foods. And anything that's rotting. So tamasic 175 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:04.639 foods would include. alcohol that's been distilled, fermented and meat 176 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.759 because of course meat is rotting, aged cheese, all those 177 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.120 kinds of things are going to make a person really 178 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.580 slow and tired. 179 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:15.600 And then if they try to meditate, they fall asleep. 180 00:10:16.110 --> 00:10:18.190 But on the other side, we've got these foods that 181 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:21.370 are called rajasic and they're very, very stimulating. And they're 182 00:10:21.409 --> 00:10:23.509 things like lots of salt and lots of too much 183 00:10:23.549 --> 00:10:26.529 hot spice and lots of eggs and coffee, coffee, coffee. 184 00:10:26.149 --> 00:10:28.889 And tea that you can make really, really strong. 185 00:10:28.909 --> 00:10:31.220 Because in cultures where they don't have coffee, they make 186 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:34.139 the tea so strong it can almost walk by itself 187 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:36.460 because we like stimulation. 188 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.740 A little bit of that, fine. 189 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:41.840 But if you eat too much of that, you're going 190 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:45.200 to be too shaky to meditate or have the calm stillness. 191 00:10:45.610 --> 00:10:49.230 And then in the middle, they talked about these beautiful 192 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:50.929 sattvic foods. 193 00:10:51.049 --> 00:10:52.190 You want to know what they are? 194 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:53.169 I would love to. 195 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:58.629 You already know what they are because they are fruits, vegetables, 196 00:10:59.149 --> 00:11:04.409 whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Now, the ancient yogis 197 00:11:04.509 --> 00:11:08.309 did include what they called milk from healthy cows. I 198 00:11:08.350 --> 00:11:10.389 don't know that you're going to find many healthy cows, 199 00:11:10.669 --> 00:11:13.070 and I do not believe in this day and age 200 00:11:13.149 --> 00:11:17.960 it is possible to get Karma-free milk, harmless milk. I 201 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.889 believe it causes harm to the cows and the calves, 202 00:11:21.169 --> 00:11:24.830 and it causes harm to our body. But with that exception, 203 00:11:25.330 --> 00:11:30.789 that list of foods that these wise souls 4,000 to 5,000 204 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:34.240 years ago were saying people ought to eat for their 205 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.639 health and their spiritual progress are so similar to what 206 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.960 we're talking about today, it's kind of amazing. 207 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:43.350 So, all right. So those foods are good. I call 208 00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:49.379 that produce, but what's, what's the term here? 209 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:50.379 Satvic. 210 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:55.159 Satva is this interesting yogic concept. So it has to 211 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:00.080 do with these beautiful foods, very gently prepared, but there 212 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:04.129 are other sattvic activities that kind of match the foods 213 00:12:04.350 --> 00:12:07.990 that go along with them. So time in nature, time 214 00:12:08.090 --> 00:12:11.529 with somebody that you really enjoy talking with, time with 215 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:15.820 those that you love, being around art or

creating art, 216 00:12:16.259 --> 00:12:18.679 all these things that we think of as uplifting. 217 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:20.139 One of my chapters in. 218 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:24.000 Age Like a Yogi is elevate everything. And that's really 219 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:27.159 what we do as we move toward this more sattvic lifestyle. 220 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:29.100 And a lot of people will say that when they 221 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:33.860 change their diet, they also became interested in other things. 222 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:36.990 You know, lots of times I'll hear from people that say, well, 223 00:12:37.090 --> 00:12:39.379 I changed my diet for my health and now I'm 224 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:41.419 all in for the animals. Or I came in for 225 00:12:41.460 --> 00:12:43.960 the animals and I realized I didn't want to eat 226 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:46.980 processed vegan food anymore. I wanted to be vegan for 227 00:12:47.019 --> 00:12:48.850 the animals and as healthy as I can be. 228 00:12:49.330 --> 00:12:51.649 So the cross-pollination is really beautiful. 229 00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:54.070 Yeah, I always talk about that on the show so frequently. 230 00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:57.429 There's what I call the holy trinity of being vegan. 231 00:12:57.509 --> 00:12:59.990 You come in for one reason, but inevitably... You know, 232 00:13:00.029 --> 00:13:02.029 if you come in for nutrition, you get into the 233 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:04.389 animal aspect, and then there's the environmental aspect as well. 234 00:13:04.450 --> 00:13:04.789 Of course, yes. 235 00:13:04.809 --> 00:13:07.460 You know, it's one out of three, and then inevitably, 236 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:10.799 you know, they're all intertwined. I'll be honest with you. 237 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:14.740 I almost feel like we need a glossary of definitions 238 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:18.259 for our conversation today because it feels like, you know, 239 00:13:18.299 --> 00:13:21.840 we're— You're talking one language, and I'm keeping up because 240 00:13:21.889 --> 00:13:24.159 I have been doing a lot of yoga recently. But 241 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:25.700 I think there's probably a lot of people who are like, 242 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:31.159 asana what? Himala what? It's kind of fun, though, learning 243 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.450 these new terms and languages. But it seems like, as 244 00:13:35.470 --> 00:13:39.049 you were just explaining with those foods, it's like you said, well, 245 00:13:39.070 --> 00:13:41.009 you already know what they are. So now you're just 246 00:13:41.049 --> 00:13:43.529 kind of giving a different word to it. That's pretty neat. 247 00:13:44.009 --> 00:13:44.610 You mentioned Ayurveda. 248 00:13:44.629 --> 00:13:45.350 Ayurveda. Yes. 249 00:13:45.429 --> 00:13:47.350 And that's that to me is kind of a buzzword. 250 00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:50.190 I first learned about Ayurveda or at least heard the 251 00:13:50.230 --> 00:13:52.110 word way back in

the 80s. 252 00:13:52.750 --> 00:13:53.460 You were early. 253 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.460 You know, my mom was kind of a little crunchy 254 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.139 at times. You know, she ebbed and flowed with the crunch. 255 00:13:59.259 --> 00:13:59.919 Yes. 256 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:03.279 And so I heard about that, but I never really 257 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:05.320 knew what it meant. And I'm going to be perfectly 258 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.740 honest with you, Victoria. I'm still not 100 percent sure 259 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.679 I know what it means. What is that? Because I 260 00:14:09.710 --> 00:14:10.909 know that that's a big part of the book. 261 00:14:11.110 --> 00:14:14.870 Yeah, well, the translation is science of life, or you'll 262 00:14:14.889 --> 00:14:18.850 sometimes see it translated science of long life. So Ayurveda 263 00:14:18.970 --> 00:14:22.909 is yoga's sister science, grew up around the same time 264 00:14:23.289 --> 00:14:28.179 with some of these same rishis, these same enlightened teachers. Now, 265 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:32.480 what is interesting about why you and I didn't hear 266 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:35.139 about Ayurveda until you were in the 80s, I was 267 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.759 in the 90s even, I heard about yoga. 268 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:38.990 In the 60s, because.... 269 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:44.980 Yoga, when India was a British colony, they didn't mess 270 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.379 with yoga because they considered that's a spiritual thing. And 271 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.480 if you want to be a good colonizer, you let 272 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.779 people keep their spirituality because you don't want to have 273 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.519 an uprising. But the things that are more cultural, you 274 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.419 wipe out. So Ayurveda was outlawed and it went underground 275 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:05.759 for 300 years. It was actually made legal a few 276 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:09.649 years before the British left India and But it didn't 277 00:15:09.730 --> 00:15:13.080 have all that time to make its way from India 278 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:17.340 like yogic ideas did, like ideas of vegetarianism. So much 279 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.519 of how vegetarianism was a thing in the UK and 280 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:24.899 in Europe in the 19th century was what had come 281 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:34.009 from the India-England connection. So Ayurveda is basically about physical 282 00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:37.679 health alone. And so many people get confused with that 283 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:40.220 because when they think of yoga, they think about what's 284 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:41.320 going on at the gym. 285 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:44.240 And so this has got to be for health and fitness. Well, 286 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:45.090 that's part of it. 287 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:51.070 But really, yoga is about the calmness, the connection, and 288 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:55.070 ultimately a spiritual connection, if you want to take it 289 00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:59.929 that way. But Ayurveda is just about health of the body. 290 00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:05.220 So there's not so much talk about what's going on 291 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:08.539 with your soul. It's really about how you are as 292 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:11.120 a physical person and how you're going to do well 293 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.539 as a physical person as long as you're here. And 294 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:21.830 Ayurveda is a healthcare discipline. It's recognized by the World 295 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:27.230 Health Organization. And in India, they have 3,000 Ayurvedic hospitals. 296 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:31.470 which I find utterly fascinating. 297 00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:32.370 A whole hospital? 298 00:16:32.389 --> 00:16:33.409 A whole hospital. 299 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:37.870 Because in the United States in the early 1800s, there 300 00:16:37.909 --> 00:16:41.529 were different sorts of ways to go if you were 301 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:47.450 sick other than simply allopathic medicine. So there were homeopathic hospitals. 302 00:16:47.590 --> 00:16:50.649 They were in Denver and New York and all around. 303 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:53.440 It was a choice that people could make. I'm not 304 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:55.500 an expert on homeopathy. I don't know if it's a 305 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.139 good thing, a bad thing, or an indifferent thing. but 306 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:02.379 I know that existed as a choice. And now in India, 307 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.220 the Ayurvedic choice is just very much there. If you 308 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:09.650 were to see an Ayurvedic physician, you might see one 309 00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:15.190 who specializes in pediatrics or geriatrics or dermatology or all 310 00:17:15.210 --> 00:17:18.289 the various medical kinds of specialties, just like we have 311 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:23.599 in Western medicine. But what I really find intriguing about 312 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:27.400 Ayurveda is not simply what they're doing on the healing 313 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:31.140 side of it, which is pretty impressive, but what's happening 314 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:34.619 on the self-care side. And we're coming to that with 315 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:38.710 Western medicine, certainly with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. 316 00:17:39.430 --> 00:17:43.609 People are saying here in America, in Western Europe, in Australia, yes, 317 00:17:43.710 --> 00:17:45.670 the way you live your life has a lot to 318 00:17:45.710 --> 00:17:48.990 do with your health outcomes. Well, Ayurveda has been saying 319 00:17:49.009 --> 00:17:52.859 that for thousands of years. And as somebody who's always 320 00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:57.119 been fascinated by self-care, who's always noticed when I wasn't 321 00:17:57.180 --> 00:18:00.119 quite as fond of myself as we all ought to 322

00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.920 be fond of ourselves, I don't want to take as 323 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:07.180 good care of myself when I'm not feeling as happy. 324 00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:12.000 And so with Ayurveda, with this combination of yoga and Ayurveda, 325 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:15.339 it kind of gets under there and helps us do 326 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.940 some of the things that maybe we've learned elsewhere we 327 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:21.500 ought to be doing but we haven't been doing it. 328 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:25.230 Yeah, to me, that just seems like the practice of 329 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:27.970 keeping the life in balance a little bit. And I 330 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:34.190 know what you're describing there is the core of what 331 00:18:34.210 --> 00:18:37.000 I've been going through this past year. And you're talking about, 332 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:39.240 you're starting to see some of these practices now infused 333 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:43.000 in Western medicine. I've been going to the Mayo Clinic 334 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:47.380 to unearth the secrets of what's been going on with me. 335 00:18:47.819 --> 00:18:52.710 I was blown away and shocked by how many holistic 336 00:18:52.789 --> 00:18:57.069 type treatments they employ there. And a lot of it 337 00:18:57.109 --> 00:18:59.849 has to do with like breathing and, you know, like let's, 338 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:03.410 you know, train yourself to, you know, call and it's 339 00:19:03.470 --> 00:19:06.849 not prescribed or cut. You know, the first line is like, 340 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.569 let's see what we can do for you to help yourself. 341 00:19:09.890 --> 00:19:12.789 And then we'll take that next step. I love that 342 00:19:12.849 --> 00:19:16.680 because in my ideal world, you have the first line 343 00:19:16.700 --> 00:19:20.180 of defense, which is what we're talking about today. And then, 344 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:23.759 you know, you can incorporate some of the more intrusive 345 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:27.160 type treatments. You know, Western medicine absolutely has a place. 346 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.900 I celebrate it. I think it's fantastic. You know, but 347 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:31.720 what can we do for ourselves first? 348 00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:32.240 Exactly. 349 00:19:32.269 --> 00:19:33.789 How can we get ourselves back in balance? 350 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:34.089 Right. 351 00:19:34.109 --> 00:19:34.700 I love that. 352 00:19:35.309 --> 00:19:37.630 It's priorities. Yeah. 353 00:19:38.150 --> 00:19:41.849 And sometimes it's very surprising. And it's often very surprising 354 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:45.170 to doctors when sometimes we don't have to go as 355 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:47.609 far as maybe we thought we did. Yeah. 356 00:19:47.609 --> 00:19:50.960 And it's it's so funny. I will never forget taking 357 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.359 a ride in the elevator at, at the Mayo last year. 358 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:57.039

And there's a guy and like, just, he's got on 359 00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:00.130 his football jersey. He's got on, you know, a hat and, 360 00:20:00.170 --> 00:20:05.230 you know, just a guy's guy clearly had his mind 361 00:20:05.450 --> 00:20:08.049 blown by his session. And he was having some GI 362 00:20:08.089 --> 00:20:11.349 symptoms and he's like, what is this breathing stuff that 363 00:20:11.369 --> 00:20:13.630 they're talking about? Like, you know, I came here to 364 00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:15.549 get treatment. It's the Mayo Clinic. And I was like, 365 00:20:15.769 --> 00:20:17.970 I actually was like, look, dude, I used to cover 366 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:20.369 sports for a living. I, you know, hosted a show 367 00:20:20.410 --> 00:20:23.650 with NFL players. Like this is, I'm telling you, this 368 00:20:23.690 --> 00:20:26.759 stuff works. And just to have somebody who's on that 369 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:29.579 same kind of level, like as a sports journalist, somebody 370 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:31.519 who I'm sure he and I could go and watch 371 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.779 a game and just have a grand time together. Like 372 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:38.119 it was almost comforting and reassuring because it seems so foreign. 373 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:41.039 to how the majority of us in the States live 374 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:45.819 our life. How do you recommend that we begin the 375 00:20:45.859 --> 00:20:49.079 process of kind of telling ourselves it's not taboo, it's 376 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:53.490 not weird, it's actually, it's kind of neat. Like, embrace it, people. 377 00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:57.329 Well, most of this stuff is pretty simple because it 378 00:20:57.390 --> 00:21:00.710 really is about living in harmony with nature. And when 379 00:21:00.750 --> 00:21:04.450 it seems kind of odd or woo-woo, maybe it's because 380 00:21:04.509 --> 00:21:08.119 we've gotten so far away from nature that coming back 381 00:21:08.569 --> 00:21:12.670 seems a little odd. So one of the suggestions in Ayurveda, 382 00:21:12.710 --> 00:21:15.930 for example, is to go to bed early and get 383 00:21:16.029 --> 00:21:21.240 up early. Now, that doesn't sound revolutionary. I mean, Benjamin Franklin. 384 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.299 Told us early bed and early to rise. 385 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.839 And yet, every time I talk about this in a presentation, 386 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:28.960 there are always a couple of people come to me 387 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.279 later and say, well, I'm a night person. It's like, 388 00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:34.599 I know you think you're a night person, but a 389 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:38.400 night person prior to Edison would bump into the funeral, 390 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:45.539 into the furniture. Maybe that was a Freudian. Because we're 391 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.210 creatures who are supposed to be alive during the daytime. 392 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:53.490 So to get to bed by 10, to get up 393 00:21:53.890 --> 00:21:57.390 by 6, which also gives you a chance to do 394 00:21:57.490 --> 00:22:00.970 some of these practices that are good for health and 395 00:22:01.009 --> 00:22:05.619 good for attitude. It's something that some people say, I 396 00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:08.819 don't know about that. And yet it makes so much sense. 397 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:12.400 And you look at how we treat children. We want 398 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:14.420 them to go to bed on time. We want them 399 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:16.440 to get up early. We want them to get some 400 00:22:16.539 --> 00:22:19.829 fresh air. We want them to get some exercise. Why 401 00:22:19.869 --> 00:22:22.410 not us too? We are all so valuable. Yeah. 402 00:22:22.670 --> 00:22:22.930 Yeah. 403 00:22:23.069 --> 00:22:23.390 I agree. 404 00:22:23.410 --> 00:22:27.630 I agree. Before we get to the nutrition part of this, 405 00:22:27.650 --> 00:22:29.930 because I know that there are some really, really good 406 00:22:29.990 --> 00:22:33.119 nutrition nuggets in there. I want to address this. We 407 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:37.210 had a guest on the show recently. who one time 408 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:41.460 was talking about, you know, a yogi and saying that 409 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:45.299 the yogi lived to be three, maybe 400 years old. 410 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:48.759 And we did get pushback in the comments. They were like, 411 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:53.740 that's just not scientifically possible. And so, you know, I 412 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.720 don't want people who are listening or watching us today 413 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:00.140 to say, well, are they really saying, like, if I 414 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.809 got my life imbalanced today, Ayurveda? Am I going to 415 00:23:02.829 --> 00:23:05.349 live to be three or 400 years old like a yogi? 416 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:07.210 That's not what your message is. 417 00:23:07.450 --> 00:23:10.190 No, I don't know any yogis that live to that age. 418 00:23:10.450 --> 00:23:14.029 I will say that my first yoga teacher, Stella Churfis 419 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:18.480 in London, I moved to London at 18 and discovered 420 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.900 her classes. I'd found the books back in Kansas City 421 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:24.160 when I was 17. And then I started taking yoga 422 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:28.180 with Stella. She turned 100 last month. She is still 423 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:32.269 teaching one chair yoga class a week, And her apartment 424 00:23:32.430 --> 00:23:36.170 is on the fourth floor, and she walks. So she's 425 00:23:36.210 --> 00:23:39.430 doing really well at 100. And she is the first 426 00:23:39.490 --> 00:23:42.470 to say, people aren't supposed to live this long. 427 00:23:44.329 --> 00:23:45.410 It's a long time. 428 00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:49.549 So how wonderful for some people to be able to 429 00:23:49.890 --> 00:23:54.130 reach that century mark and a little bit beyond.

But 430 00:23:54.289 --> 00:23:56.710 I think some of these other things, when we're talking 431 00:23:56.769 --> 00:24:03.160 about 300-year-old yogis, that's more... Either a matter of faith 432 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:06.119 or a matter of legend. Right. I agree. 433 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:10.339 But man, 100 still doing the fourth floor walk up, 434 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:13.200 teaching a class every week. That's strong. 435 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:13.460 Yeah. 436 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:16.539 That's impressive. It is. But to me, that's a much 437 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:19.039 more realistic goal for us to have because we know 438 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.380 scientifically that is possible. Stella is living proof of that. 439 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.559 You tell Stella that I'm proud of her. 440 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:26.480 I'll tell her. I'll have her listen. 441 00:24:26.950 --> 00:24:28.990 All right. Let's talk about the nutrition stuff in the 442 00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:31.029 book because we do have a lot of nutrition nerds 443 00:24:31.069 --> 00:24:33.269 in here. Just flipping through before we talk, I came 444 00:24:33.309 --> 00:24:38.000 across another new term, OJAS, O-J-A-S. Spell it and you 445 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:40.680 have a nice chapter in there. What are OJAS? 446 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:48.289 OJAS is the idea of vitality, that kind of vital sap. 447 00:24:48.869 --> 00:24:52.589 what we think of is the essence of youthfulness and 448 00:24:52.789 --> 00:24:56.779 energy and attraction. And we tend to believe that it 449 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:00.599 kind of goes south over time. And so what can 450 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:04.339 we do to keep that ojas up? Well, it's a 451 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.309 lot of the same things that I talked about when 452 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:10.630 we were talking about sattva. So doing things that are uplifting, 453 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:15.349 doing things that just make you feel wonderful, hot bath, 454 00:25:16.529 --> 00:25:18.769 go to an art museum where there's an artist that 455 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.410 you love who's on display. All of these things are 456 00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:25.950 going to help you produce this essence of liveliness. It's 457 00:25:25.990 --> 00:25:28.200 sort of like somebody goes on vacation and they come 458 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.539 back and you say, wow, you look good. What have 459 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:35.119 you been doing? Well, they rested. They were probably out 460 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:39.009 in the sunlight. And so in addition to whatever else 461 00:25:39.049 --> 00:25:43.430 was going on, they were developing, according to Ayurveda, more ojas. 462 00:25:43.829 --> 00:25:49.420 And there are also some foods that are more ojas producing, supposedly, 463 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:52.339 than plant foods in general, and all plant foods in 464 00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:55.240 general are good. So some of these foods would be 465 00:25:55.339 --> 00:26:04.009 citrus fruits, dates, avocado, barley, blanched almonds, And so there's 466 00:26:04.029 --> 00:26:07.750 an interesting list in Age Like a Yogi. But the 467 00:26:07.890 --> 00:26:12.769 idea is that when you're digesting your food well, and 468 00:26:12.890 --> 00:26:15.529 when you're living what we would think of as a 469 00:26:15.849 --> 00:26:20.579 clean lifestyle medicine sort of life, then you're going to 470 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:26.490 have this essence of youth. Some places describe it as 471 00:26:27.190 --> 00:26:30.410 a golden fluid. It's obviously not a fluid that a 472 00:26:30.470 --> 00:26:34.670 phlebotomist is gonna take out of your veins, but it's 473 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:42.190 the concept of this almost palpable glow. Pregnant women, people 474 00:26:42.230 --> 00:26:46.519 who are newly in love, regardless of age, just have 475 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:49.940 this kind of vitality, and that's Ojas. 476 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:55.920 Ojas, I like that. Well, you mentioned blanched almonds. Why 477 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.259 blanched as opposed to raw or roasted? 478 00:26:58.619 --> 00:27:02.599 Well, raw is ideal, or actually you can roast the 479 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:07.529 blanched almonds. The reason that they recommend blanching is because 480 00:27:07.569 --> 00:27:11.190 there's some tannin in the skins, which is also found 481 00:27:11.349 --> 00:27:15.170 in black tea, and it's supposed to be easier to 482 00:27:15.230 --> 00:27:19.849 digest the almonds without the skins, but None of this 483 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:21.490 is etched in granite. 484 00:27:21.630 --> 00:27:23.099 None of this is rocket science. 485 00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:26.980 And the great thing is when you're in the ballpark, 486 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:31.200 it's good. And I always think of my dietary life, certainly. 487 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:33.680 People will say to me sometimes, do you think you're 488 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:36.509 on the best diet there is? And I say, hmm, 489 00:27:37.150 --> 00:27:43.289 at home, maybe. But out on the road with other people, restaurants, eh, 490 00:27:43.390 --> 00:27:47.029 not so good. And yet if you're doing that at 491 00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:51.039 home regularly, pretty close to fabulous thing all the time 492 00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:52.920 then you got a little bit of. 493 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:58.140 Leeway gotcha you also mentioned basmati rice in the book 494 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:01.579 in this what is it in particular about basmati rice 495 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.480 that that is powerful here Yeah. 496 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:10.150 The Ayurveda loves basmati rice because it's easily digestible. And 497 00:28:10.210 --> 00:28:12.890 it's interesting that you would bring that up because although 498 00:28:12.910 --> 00:28:17.349 you can get basmati rice, brown basmati rice, we generally 499 00:28:17.410 --> 00:28:20.509 think of it as white. My

understanding is that it's 500 00:28:20.569 --> 00:28:26.200 not as polished as non-basmati white rice and that it's 501 00:28:26.380 --> 00:28:29.700 easier to digest. And I was talking to someone here 502 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:34.059 who had had a great amount of recovery from from 503 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.180 serious digestive issues. And one of the things that she 504 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:41.970 was eating was the white rice until she could handle 505 00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:44.930 the higher fiber brown rice. 506 00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:47.730 I like it because of its flavor. Just to be 507 00:28:47.789 --> 00:28:50.640 honest with you, for whatever reason, it tastes like amazing. 508 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:54.599 I have a basmati and wild rice blend that I do. 509 00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:59.289 And I mean, Do that with like vegetable stock. I mean, just, oh. Yeah, 510 00:28:59.329 --> 00:29:02.190 that's nice. I'm telling you, like, it is the ticket. 511 00:29:02.309 --> 00:29:04.549 It is the ticket. What are some of the common 512 00:29:04.609 --> 00:29:07.559 questions you get from readers, you know, who have, you know, 513 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:10.460 thumbed through here? Like if they come to you and say, hey, Victoria, 514 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:12.319 you know, this is the part of the book that maybe, 515 00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:14.579 you know, I have a question or two about. What 516 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:15.859 are some of the common ones that you get? 517 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:17.660 Well, you talked about terms. 518 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:19.660 And I guess in this hour, we're just going to 519 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:21.970 throw out every term that's in this book. So you 520 00:29:21.990 --> 00:29:24.309 can at least know if you've heard this and you 521 00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:28.259 read the book, you'll be smart. There are, in Ayurveda, 522 00:29:28.599 --> 00:29:33.529 the idea of body types called doshas. And the cool 523 00:29:33.569 --> 00:29:37.990 thing about doshas is yours is perfect, whatever it is. 524 00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:41.099 So we've been told for centuries, many years I think 525 00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:44.720 especially women women of my generation you're supposed to be 526 00:29:44.859 --> 00:29:47.440 skinny you're supposed to be this tall you're supposed to 527 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:52.529 have these measurements It's very difficult for 97% of people 528 00:29:52.730 --> 00:29:56.089 to be what only 3% of people are. So things 529 00:29:56.130 --> 00:30:00.309 have changed in society. We are somewhat more accepting of 530 00:30:00.470 --> 00:30:04.170 differences in body shapes and sizes than we used to be. 531 00:30:04.869 --> 00:30:09.789 And Ayurveda says that at the moment of conception, you 532 00:30:10.029 --> 00:30:14.950 are imprinted with one of these three energies, actually with 533 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:18.910 all three of them, vata, pitta, and kapha. But everybody 534 00:30:18.930 --> 00:30:23.940 has more of one or more of two, less of another. 535 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:28.700 A few people are pretty even. But the idea is not, oh, 536 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:31.200 I'm way too much pitta. 537 00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:31.920 No, you're not. 538 00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:36.039 You're absolutely perfect as you are. So for me, this 539 00:30:36.099 --> 00:30:40.180 is such a beautiful starting point because health in Ayurveda 540 00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:45.740 is to not stray from your own balance point. If 541 00:30:45.779 --> 00:30:51.680 you can keep yourself steady with your own amount of vata, pitta, 542 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:54.900 and kapha, then you're going to be healthy through your life. 543 00:30:55.539 --> 00:30:59.250 So you can take a dosha quiz online. People could 544 00:30:59.289 --> 00:31:01.910 write to me. I can email them a dosha quiz. 545 00:31:02.309 --> 00:31:05.990 And you get an idea which one of these types 546 00:31:06.049 --> 00:31:11.450 is predominant for you. So pitta, for example, people tend 547 00:31:11.470 --> 00:31:14.460 to be kind of average size. They build muscle easily. 548 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:20.180 They're pretty strong and They have executive functioning. They can 549 00:31:20.220 --> 00:31:23.579 take care of things. Out of balance, they tend to 550 00:31:23.619 --> 00:31:27.900 get inflammation. They tend to get red in the face. 551 00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:32.450 They tend to have skin outbreaks, ulcers, and anger. And 552 00:31:32.470 --> 00:31:37.410 so they're a hot kind of dosha. And then kapha 553 00:31:38.190 --> 00:31:41.049 are people who are maybe a little bit rounder. They 554 00:31:41.089 --> 00:31:43.730 have a little bit more flesh, more energy. 555 00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:45.119 Bigger bones. 556 00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:48.079 People always say big bones when they don't want to 557 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:51.099 say obese, but there really are people. They just have 558 00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:55.500 a stronger frame. This is more the kapha type of person. 559 00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:59.720 The celebrity that I always use for a standard kapha 560 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:00.859 is Deepak Chopra. 561 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:02.700 He's just like, you want to see a kapha? 562 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:09.799 That's Deepak Chopra. Oprah Winfrey would be a kapha. These 563 00:32:09.859 --> 00:32:13.920 people may get some, they don't like to exercise a 564 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.579 lot And so there may be some overweight situations, there 565 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:19.359 may be some type 2 diabetes, and there may be 566 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:23.509 some respiratory issues. But generally, they tend not to get 567 00:32:23.609 --> 00:32:28.089 sick because they are a slow-moving kind of dosha. Now, 568 00:32:28.250 --> 00:32:31.890 pitta that I talked about first is prevalent in the 569 00:32:32.430 --> 00:32:40.230 prime of life, kind of late teens through mid-50s, early. 570

00:32:39.069 --> 00:32:40.039 60s, that kind of time. 571 00:32:41.430 --> 00:32:46.079 Kapha dominated everybody in childhood, regardless of your own personal 572 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:47.660 doshik makeup. 573 00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:49.440 Then we've got vata. 574 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:55.740 Now vata, regardless of your own personal prakriti, which is 575 00:32:55.779 --> 00:33:00.140 your body type, and that doesn't change, but there's an 576 00:33:00.369 --> 00:33:04.210 influence of kapha in childhood, an influence of pitta in midlife. 577 00:33:04.619 --> 00:33:06.500 And when you get into later life, and there's a 578 00:33:06.539 --> 00:33:09.259 little bit of controversy about, is. 579 00:33:09.220 --> 00:33:09.920 This like 50? 580 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.720 Is it more like 60? Well, I think it kind 581 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:15.079 of starts around 50 and it just gets more as 582 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:20.380 we go. Everybody is more Vata. And that's really the 583 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:25.430 revolutionary age like a yogi message that Ayurveda. 584 00:33:24.750 --> 00:33:25.329 Has for us. 585 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:28.410 That if we can deal with Vata, we can deal 586 00:33:28.450 --> 00:33:32.740 with aging. So that Vata energy is very light and airy. 587 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:38.200 My celebrity examples are Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. So 588 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:40.680 you get that kind of, you know, dancer sort of 589 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:46.390 way of being. And Vata, when they're in balance, they're creative, 590 00:33:46.430 --> 00:33:49.410 they're energetic, they light up a room. And when they're 591 00:33:49.490 --> 00:33:52.869 out of balance, they're cold, they're shaky, they're. 592 00:33:52.670 --> 00:33:54.230 Nervous, they're scared of everything. 593 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:57.299 And some of these things that we think of as 594 00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.359 signs of aging are really vata. Like the first sign 595 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:05.299 of aging I noticed in my body, because I'm vata predominant, 596 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:08.719 was bones and veins showing up in my hands. I 597 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:11.900 didn't have those in my 20s, but by my 40s, 598 00:34:12.449 --> 00:34:15.530 I did. That's kind of early, but because I'm vata dominant, 599 00:34:15.809 --> 00:34:19.809 that started to show for me. So what happens with vata, 600 00:34:19.909 --> 00:34:26.349 because it's a cold dosha, is if You feed it warm, soupy, 601 00:34:26.969 --> 00:34:32.349 porridge-y oatmeal cooked in your favorite plant milk, and it's 602 00:34:32.389 --> 00:34:34.170 a little bit runny, and then you put all the 603 00:34:34.210 --> 00:34:39.659 wonderful fruits and blanched almonds on it. You calm this 604 00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:44.380 vata dosha. So putting on a sweater when you need one, 605 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:50.500 taking a warm shower, drinking hot almond milk at night 606 00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:55.170

with wonderful spices in it, All these things take this flighty, ooh, 607 00:34:55.210 --> 00:34:57.550 I'm just airy and I'm just going to float off 608 00:34:57.610 --> 00:34:59.659 somewhere and just say, it's okay. 609 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:02.679 It's okay, honey. You just calm down. 610 00:35:03.539 --> 00:35:09.320 And this is unbelievably helpful as you get to be 611 00:35:09.780 --> 00:35:13.460 older because the kinds of things, I used to wonder 612 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.739 why all the retired people moved to Florida and Arizona. 613 00:35:17.219 --> 00:35:20.159 It's because they were cold. Who knew? Yeah. 614 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:22.880 And the same thing with a digestion. 615 00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:25.579 In fact, what got me interested in Ayurveda, I always 616 00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:28.320 had a cast iron stomach and I was whole food 617 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.440 plant-based and nothing wrong with what I was doing. But 618 00:35:31.480 --> 00:35:35.829 I started to notice that when I traveled, my digestion 619 00:35:35.869 --> 00:35:38.429 would get funny. And I tried to just ignore it 620 00:35:38.849 --> 00:35:41.590 until I realized that I always had on my packing 621 00:35:41.630 --> 00:35:45.449 list those individually packed prunes. Like, wait a minute, I 622 00:35:45.469 --> 00:35:47.070 don't eat those things when I'm not traveling. 623 00:35:47.110 --> 00:35:51.159 What's going on? Well, as I learned about Ayurveda, I learned. 624 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:55.969 That upsetting the routine, changing time zones, these are all 625 00:35:56.170 --> 00:36:00.809 aggravating to vata, and the seat of vata is the 626 00:36:00.969 --> 00:36:05.530 digestive area. And so when I just planned a little 627 00:36:05.590 --> 00:36:09.389 better on those trips, when I changed a little bit 628 00:36:09.429 --> 00:36:13.179 of how I ate, more of the warm herbal teas, 629 00:36:13.489 --> 00:36:16.840 little bit more planning time, little bit more recovery time 630 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:20.960 at the end, I stopped having to buy the individually 631 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:25.300 packed prunes and then came on to learn so much 632 00:36:25.380 --> 00:36:28.659 about this beautiful system, which I think combined with my 633 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:32.489 whole food plant-based lifestyle is doing a good job. 634 00:36:32.929 --> 00:36:36.789 It's funny. I feel like the body thrives on routine, 635 00:36:36.809 --> 00:36:41.630 almost universally. I feel like we thrive on routine. And 636 00:36:41.789 --> 00:36:44.289 it's funny because when you do go on these trips, 637 00:36:44.329 --> 00:36:48.239 like you don't think about how these little changes can 638 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:51.340 upset your apple cart, so to speak, so substantially. You 639 00:36:51.389 --> 00:36:56.170 mentioned the individual prunes. The average person is probably eating 640 00:36:56.250 --> 00:36:59.090 things on their vacation, on their travels, that they

would 641 00:36:59.389 --> 00:37:01.969 never eat at home. And then they wonder, why am 642 00:37:02.070 --> 00:37:04.289 I feeling bloated? Why am I feeling sluggish? Why am 643 00:37:04.329 --> 00:37:06.909 I feeling tired? Especially if it's a vacation where you're 644 00:37:06.929 --> 00:37:12.320 supposed to feel rested and relaxed and rejuvenated. But you're 645 00:37:12.340 --> 00:37:14.380 feeling anything but. You come home and you almost need 646 00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:17.219 a vacation from your vacation, as the saying goes. It's 647 00:37:17.300 --> 00:37:18.679 funny how sensitive we can be. 648 00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:19.579 It's so true. 649 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:23.280 And according to Ayurveda, the kapha person, the Deepak Chopra 650 00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:26.409 kind of person, needs some stimulation. 651 00:37:26.570 --> 00:37:28.110 In fact, this is interesting. 652 00:37:28.130 --> 00:37:31.449 Ayurveda is not crazy about caffeine, but they will say 653 00:37:31.489 --> 00:37:35.949 for kapha people, go ahead. Because you need something to 654 00:37:36.030 --> 00:37:36.550 get you out. 655 00:37:36.489 --> 00:37:39.090 Of bed and off the couch. And Pitt is kind 656 00:37:39.110 --> 00:37:39.690 of in the middle. 657 00:37:40.250 --> 00:37:45.079 Vata, according to Ayurveda, really needs that routine. But like 658 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:48.280 you say, it is universal. Everybody needs it. And there's 659 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:52.320 a whole aspect in Ayurveda about daily routine. So we 660 00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:55.550 talked about getting to bed early, getting up early. But 661 00:37:55.710 --> 00:37:58.269 also there are some things that we can do, which 662 00:37:58.389 --> 00:38:02.230 now are being echoed by chronobiology, which is a new 663 00:38:02.289 --> 00:38:06.449 part of Western science, that when we do something can 664 00:38:06.469 --> 00:38:09.510 alter rival in importance that we do it at all. 665 00:38:09.929 --> 00:38:12.250 So one of the morning things that we hear from 666 00:38:12.289 --> 00:38:16.289 the chronobiologists, as well as from Ayurveda, is open the 667 00:38:16.389 --> 00:38:17.349 shades and. 668 00:38:17.289 --> 00:38:18.360 Then get outside. 669 00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:22.500 Get outside, get some sunlight on your eyes early in 670 00:38:22.539 --> 00:38:25.880 the morning, get some fresh air, and that is not 671 00:38:25.960 --> 00:38:28.000 only going to help you wake up and have a 672 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:31.219 good mood, but it's going to help your body produce 673 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.969 the melatonin at night that's going to help you sleep. 674 00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:35.750 And then some.... 675 00:38:37.170 --> 00:38:41.420 Morning activity, some scraping the tongue is a big thing 676 00:38:41.500 --> 00:38:44.059 in Ayurveda to get rid of that little bit of 677 00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:47.280 debris that builds up overnight. 678 00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:50.460 In Ayurveda, they

call that ama, metabolic debris. 679 00:38:50.860 --> 00:38:53.860 And anybody who's fasted, and I'll bet some of your 680 00:38:54.070 --> 00:38:58.090 listeners have probably maybe gone to a fasting institute and 681 00:38:58.110 --> 00:39:01.269 done that. You know that when you do a water fast, 682 00:39:02.059 --> 00:39:05.659 your tongue grows argyle socks. I mean, that coating is 683 00:39:05.739 --> 00:39:09.320 just not to be believed. But when you're not fasting, 684 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.500 when you're just living, you're still fasting at nighttime. And 685 00:39:12.539 --> 00:39:14.679 so there's a little bit of that going on. So 686 00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:19.730 scraping the tongue, lovely oil massage when you have the 687 00:39:19.789 --> 00:39:23.750 time is recommended. And there was a study, oh gosh, 688 00:39:23.869 --> 00:39:27.489 maybe 20 years ago now, where they looked at people 689 00:39:27.909 --> 00:39:31.150 who wanted to lose some weight and they had one group, 690 00:39:31.190 --> 00:39:34.429 the control group, do whatever they thought was right, diet 691 00:39:34.489 --> 00:39:37.469 and exercise, go on a diet, get exercise. And the 692 00:39:37.530 --> 00:39:40.679 other group, they said, don't worry about your diet and exercise, 693 00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:43.860 just at least four times a week, give yourself a 694 00:39:43.940 --> 00:39:48.639 lovely massage with lotion. It was the lotion people that 695 00:39:48.699 --> 00:39:52.449 lost 15% more weight than the diet and exercise people. 696 00:39:52.469 --> 00:39:55.789 Because when you take good care of yourself, then you 697 00:39:55.849 --> 00:40:01.710 want to do healthy things. So this wonderful warm sesame 698 00:40:01.809 --> 00:40:05.769 oil massage is classic in Ayurveda in the morning. And 699 00:40:05.869 --> 00:40:08.199 so you do a few things or you do a 700 00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:10.820 lot of things. Maybe it's a Saturday. You can do 701 00:40:10.860 --> 00:40:13.699 some more things in the morning. And then part of 702 00:40:13.739 --> 00:40:17.730 this daily routine also in Ayurveda is is to eat 703 00:40:17.789 --> 00:40:20.179 your biggest meal at midday. 704 00:40:20.739 --> 00:40:21.599 And I know that's. 705 00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:23.780 Hard for people that work out in the world, but 706 00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:26.039 a lot of people are working from home now and 707 00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:30.050 have a little more control of their schedule. So in Ayurveda, 708 00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:31.969 digestive fire is a big deal. 709 00:40:32.230 --> 00:40:33.150 Big deal. 710 00:40:33.690 --> 00:40:37.849 If your digestion is healthy, you are likely to be healthy. 711 00:40:38.489 --> 00:40:43.320 The root of so much disease comes from improperly digested foods. 712 00:40:43.380 --> 00:40:43.940 And then on the. 713 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:50.480 Psychological side, improperly digested thoughts. So for food, if you 714 00:40:50.500 --> 00:40:53.210 can have your bigger meal in the middle of the day, 715 00:40:53.230 --> 00:40:56.389 that is huge. And that is something I've found in 716 00:40:56.449 --> 00:40:59.789 my own life to make such a big difference because 717 00:40:59.869 --> 00:41:01.650 some of the things that were starting to be a 718 00:41:01.670 --> 00:41:03.670 little bit harder for me to digest, some of our 719 00:41:03.750 --> 00:41:09.219 great fabulous plant-based foods like cruciferous vegetable, like beans, If 720 00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:11.920 I have them in the middle of the day, no problem, 721 00:41:12.019 --> 00:41:15.380 they're good. If I have them more at night, then 722 00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:18.360 they can be a little bit more like, wait, are 723 00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:21.159 those beans from last night still in my stomach the 724 00:41:21.219 --> 00:41:22.380 morning after? 725 00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.820 So you just kind of learn how to almost dance 726 00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:29.550 with nature. It's a beautiful thing. That's cool. 727 00:41:30.110 --> 00:41:32.190 And I want to close with going back to what 728 00:41:32.210 --> 00:41:34.949 you were saying. It's interesting about the weight loss study 729 00:41:35.389 --> 00:41:38.489 and those who, you know, took time to do that 730 00:41:38.530 --> 00:41:42.159 self-care with the lotion. And as you were saying that, 731 00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:44.980 I was thinking exactly what you did say. It was like, 732 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:48.159 it was that they believed more in themselves. They felt 733 00:41:48.300 --> 00:41:52.099 good about it. It empowered them, you know, to really 734 00:41:52.579 --> 00:41:55.059 take as best care of themselves as possible. So I 735 00:41:55.139 --> 00:41:58.059 love that. I love that message. I love the fact that, 736 00:41:58.300 --> 00:42:02.239 you know, self-worth kind of came into the conversation. And 737 00:42:02.260 --> 00:42:04.719 then we have data to back up the fact that, hey, man, 738 00:42:05.190 --> 00:42:08.179 Like taking good care of yourself, just saying, hey, you're 739 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:11.760 all right, you're worth it, translated to greater health overall. 740 00:42:11.900 --> 00:42:14.760 That is a powerful message, Victoria, super powerful. 741 00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:17.739 Well, you and I understand that because we both come 742 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:22.130 from an obesity background. And I remember so often thinking 743 00:42:22.230 --> 00:42:25.909 that I could judge my mental state on any given 744 00:42:25.969 --> 00:42:29.389 day by my willingness to wash lettuce. And when I 745 00:42:29.429 --> 00:42:31.440 just didn't want to touch those leaves. 746 00:42:32.920 --> 00:42:36.519 I knew things were just not well for me inside. 747 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:41.820 And so my recovery from obesity and compulsive eating, which 748 00:42:41.900 --> 00:42:48.099 is now, thank goodness, 41 years old, was the interchange 749

00:42:48.679 --> 00:42:53.139 and then the plant-based and certainly the ethical vegan lifestyle. 750 00:42:53.710 --> 00:42:56.940 It just brings everything together. I feel so lucky now. 751 00:42:57.389 --> 00:43:00.230 And I'm so glad that you have listeners in 150 752 00:43:00.230 --> 00:43:02.150 countries so everybody can be lucky. 753 00:43:02.349 --> 00:43:04.920 It's pretty cool. Kind of in this case, you can 754 00:43:04.940 --> 00:43:06.480 kind of create your own luck, you know? 755 00:43:06.699 --> 00:43:06.860 Yeah. 756 00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:08.679 Yeah, just with a little bit of time. Hey, you 757 00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:10.800 can start creating that luck with the book, Aged Like 758 00:43:10.860 --> 00:43:12.380 a Yogi. We've got a link down below in the 759 00:43:12.420 --> 00:43:14.550 show description and in the episode notes for you to 760 00:43:14.630 --> 00:43:17.130 pick up your copy. Victoria, thank you so much. This 761 00:43:17.170 --> 00:43:17.730 has been lovely. 762 00:43:17.929 --> 00:43:18.489 Thank you, Chuck. 763 00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:25.360 Again, there is a link to pick up your copy 764 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:31.340 of Victoria's book in the episode notes. True story. My producer, Liz, 765 00:43:31.610 --> 00:43:34.650 said that she loved this interview. She said it reminded 766 00:43:34.710 --> 00:43:39.010 her of her crunchy teenage years. So Liz, this one 767 00:43:39.449 --> 00:43:41.230 was for you. I love me some Liz. Liz is 768 00:43:41.269 --> 00:43:43.670 a lot of fun to work with. Now, I also 769 00:43:43.690 --> 00:43:47.010 want to say hi to my friend Kylie Buckner. And 770 00:43:47.110 --> 00:43:49.730 I was just a guest on her podcast. Kylie is 771 00:43:49.769 --> 00:43:54.550 married to Cyrus Kambada of Mastering Diabetes fame. So Kylie 772 00:43:54.829 --> 00:44:00.699 has a podcast called the Green Glow Lifestyle Podcast and funny, 773 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:03.860 but 100% true story. Not going to lie about this. 774 00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:07.199 I'm sitting outside of Starbucks this morning and I get 775 00:44:07.239 --> 00:44:11.690 the notification that the interview has just gone live. And 776 00:44:11.929 --> 00:44:15.809 I look at the graphic for the podcast on Spotify. 777 00:44:16.230 --> 00:44:20.510 I see the logo and the logo says, quote, girlfriend 778 00:44:20.570 --> 00:44:27.010 style advice on how to prioritize your health. And I'm like, uh, 779 00:44:27.829 --> 00:44:31.739 I don't think I'm qualified to give girlfriend-style advice, nor 780 00:44:32.030 --> 00:44:37.300 have a girlfriend-style conversation. I mean, had my dear friend 781 00:44:37.360 --> 00:44:40.460 Kylie told me the premise of the show before we recorded, 782 00:44:40.980 --> 00:44:43.820 I would have been super nervous. I don't know if 783 00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:45.260 I could have pulled it off. I mean, I would 784 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:51.719 have been quaking in my boots. Who am I to 785 00:44:52.469 --> 00:44:57.050 do anything in the girlfriend-style world? I'd be uber out 786 00:44:57.070 --> 00:44:59.989 of place. Fish out of water type deal. The closest 787 00:45:00.030 --> 00:45:03.070 thing I can think of is when my wife wants 788 00:45:03.110 --> 00:45:05.050 me to watch Sex and the City or The Devil 789 00:45:05.090 --> 00:45:08.389 Wears Prada with her. Neither of those things are my 790 00:45:08.449 --> 00:45:14.010 jam whatsoever. But sometimes, sometimes... you have to take one 791 00:45:14.090 --> 00:45:17.840 for the team. That's a healthy lifestyle right there. That's 792 00:45:17.860 --> 00:45:22.920 a healthy marriage, for sure. It's give and take. And 793 00:45:23.260 --> 00:45:26.380 she did, in all honesty, my wife, Julie, she did 794 00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:29.940 give me a Notre Dame comforter for my birthday, and 795 00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:35.420 she supports my sports and pro wrestling obsessions. So, we 796 00:45:35.460 --> 00:45:39.000 take some time, and we watch the girlfriend-style shows together, 797 00:45:39.659 --> 00:45:42.650 and I guess you could call that self-care, right? It's 798 00:45:42.690 --> 00:45:48.110 not self-indulgent. It's making sure that your wife is happy. Anyway, 799 00:45:48.659 --> 00:45:50.500 I have no idea what that has to do with anything. 800 00:45:50.539 --> 00:45:52.940 Just thought it was a funny story. Anyway, good times 801 00:45:53.059 --> 00:45:55.760 on the Green Globe podcast with Kylie Buckner. There is 802 00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:57.460 a link for you to give it a listen in 803 00:45:57.480 --> 00:46:00.380 the episode notes. Honestly, we do get into some of 804 00:46:00.500 --> 00:46:04.380 the latest on my medical condition and my comeback, as 805 00:46:04.440 --> 00:46:07.079 it were, and some changes that we're making. And, you know, 806 00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:09.840 it's just a really, really good conversation. So check that out. 807 00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:11.760 And I'm also looking forward to catching up with Kylie. 808 00:46:12.369 --> 00:46:15.050 At the Wellness Weekend this weekend, as a matter of fact, 809 00:46:15.090 --> 00:46:18.869 September 26th and 27th at the Canaan Valley Resort in 810 00:46:19.090 --> 00:46:23.010 beautiful Davis, West Virginia. Big event put on every year 811 00:46:23.090 --> 00:46:26.039 by Brenda Workman. And I was told by Brenda over 812 00:46:26.059 --> 00:46:28.280 the weekend that there are still a few seats remaining 813 00:46:28.420 --> 00:46:30.539 if you would like to join us. So I've dropped 814 00:46:30.579 --> 00:46:36.139 a link down there in the episode notes. Now, I 815 00:46:36.179 --> 00:46:38.769 want to take a minute. and call back to the 816 00:46:38.869 --> 00:46:41.610 last episode that we did and the conversation with Dr. 817 00:46:41.650 --> 00:46:44.510 Neil Barnard about aging healthfully kind of goes hand in 818 00:46:44.530 --> 00:46:47.989 hand a little bit with what we were talking about

today, aging, 819 00:46:48.030 --> 00:46:51.420 like a Yogi aging healthfully, but Dr. Barnard and I 820 00:46:51.880 --> 00:46:56.840 were talking about what steps seniors in particular need to 821 00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:01.000 take to ensure they are aging healthfully, just kept it 822 00:47:01.039 --> 00:47:04.599 focused on nutrition and exercise and things like that. Now, 823 00:47:06.179 --> 00:47:08.880 Let's talk about how powerful a vegan diet can be, 824 00:47:08.940 --> 00:47:14.000 especially for seniors. In the United States here, older adults 825 00:47:14.219 --> 00:47:17.719 spend about two and a half times the national average 826 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:21.320 on health care. That's a lot of money. And one 827 00:47:21.340 --> 00:47:26.070 in four spends $ 2, 000 or more out of pocket every year. 828 00:47:27.349 --> 00:47:30.010 And a lot of that is because of chronic conditions 829 00:47:30.090 --> 00:47:33.449 like heart disease and high blood pressure, arthritis and diabetes. 830 00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:37.739 These are all conditions that we know a good chunk 831 00:47:37.760 --> 00:47:41.960 of the time are largely preventable, or at least we 832 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:47.679 can greatly improve them, greatly reduce our risk. And the 833 00:47:47.719 --> 00:47:51.889 good news here is that plant-based diets, in particular, have 834 00:47:51.909 --> 00:47:55.250 been shown to turn the tide for health. Check this out. 835 00:47:55.269 --> 00:47:59.289 Some stats for those. For heart disease, vegan diet, cut 836 00:47:59.329 --> 00:48:03.469 the risk by about 40%, minimum. We've had other guests 837 00:48:03.610 --> 00:48:05.650 on who say that number is much, much, much higher. 838 00:48:05.710 --> 00:48:11.090 For high blood pressure, vegetarians, 44% lower risk compared to 839 00:48:11.130 --> 00:48:14.809 those who eat meat. Again, we've had people come on 840 00:48:14.829 --> 00:48:19.920 the show, experts, who give a much higher number than that. Diabetes, 841 00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:23.559 same kinds of numbers. Talking about people who have seen 842 00:48:23.579 --> 00:48:28.059 their insulin needs drop by nearly 30% on a low-fat 843 00:48:28.179 --> 00:48:32.300 vegan diet. We've also heard of many cases where where 844 00:48:32.340 --> 00:48:37.099 type 2 diabetes has been fully reversed. Arthritis, plant-based diets 845 00:48:37.159 --> 00:48:42.139 linked to greater amounts of inflammation reduction, way less pain. 846 00:48:43.260 --> 00:48:43.539 Why? 847 00:48:43.980 --> 00:48:49.079 Because of the anti-inflammatory compounds that are found in a 848 00:48:49.139 --> 00:48:52.800 lot of these plant-based foods. And they're also eliminating the 849 00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:56.840 other kinds of foods that trigger inflammatory responses in the body. 850 00:48:57.400 --> 00:48:59.719 So everybody wins. And when you put all of that together, 851 00:49:00.409 --> 00:49:04.679 It just shows how powerful our plates can actually be. 852 00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.400 And let's also not forget the bigger picture here. The 853 00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:14.469 countries with the longest life expectancy, places like Japan and 854 00:49:14.530 --> 00:49:19.869 South Korea and Switzerland, Italy, Spain, these places have all 855 00:49:19.889 --> 00:49:22.539 been for a very long time known for their diets 856 00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:32.360 that lean heavily on plants average life expectancies there much 857 00:49:32.420 --> 00:49:37.670 higher than here in the united states and you ready 858 00:49:37.690 --> 00:49:40.780 for some really good news If you are ready to 859 00:49:40.900 --> 00:49:43.780 eat more plants, well, then we have something special just 860 00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:47.139 for you because it is our 40th anniversary here at 861 00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:50.900 the Physicians Committee. And our Best in the World Cookbook Series, 862 00:49:51.539 --> 00:49:55.579 in celebration of our 40th anniversary, every single one of 863 00:49:55.619 --> 00:50:00.989 those books is 40% off all September long. The entire month, 864 00:50:00.989 --> 00:50:05.710 40% off. And these cookbooks are packed with easy, delicious 865 00:50:05.829 --> 00:50:10.849 plant-based recipes that the whole family will love. great recipes 866 00:50:10.909 --> 00:50:13.590 from around the world. So just click that link in 867 00:50:13.630 --> 00:50:16.809 the show notes and start cooking your way to better 868 00:50:16.849 --> 00:50:21.619 health today. Absolutely. Go for it. Those recipes in there, 869 00:50:22.039 --> 00:50:27.000 top notch, my friends, top notch. This show today has 870 00:50:27.039 --> 00:50:31.659 been top notch, but for today, that is going to 871 00:50:31.699 --> 00:50:33.619 wrap things up. I want to say thank you one 872 00:50:33.659 --> 00:50:36.550 more time to Victoria Moran and being here, raising our 873 00:50:36.610 --> 00:50:39.909 health IQs and teaching us how to age properly. like 874 00:50:39.949 --> 00:50:43.110 a yogi. And for everyone at the Physicians Committee, I 875 00:50:43.150 --> 00:50:45.920 am the weight loss champion, Chuck Carroll. Thank you so 876 00:50:45.960 --> 00:50:53.530 very much for listening. And remember, as always, keep it plant-based.