Plant-Based Canada Podcast

In this episode we talk to Dr. Julie Chan, a plant-based Naturopathic Doctor, Registered Acupuncturist, and Founder of Liberty Wellness Clinic in Markham, Ontario. 

The focus of her practice is to provide individualized, functional, integrative medicine to her patients. Combining modern medical diagnostics, her extensive knowledge in pharmacology, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, Homeopathy, and Nutrition, she provides evidence-based therapies to help promote optimal wellness and disease prevention.  Julie is also a passionate food, climate and animal activist and spends much of her spare time doing non-profit work as she believes human health is intricately connected to planetary health. 

We hear about Julie's personal health journey, and explore her evolution to being a plant-based health practitioner. We talk about her passion for education, her on-line course on plant-based nutrition at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and her upcoming talk at our conference, the Canadian Plant-Based Nutrition Conference in May 2021.  We discuss Julie's philosophy on the interconnected of individual health, planetary health and our treatment of non-human animals, and her non-profit Peace Fur Paws. Finally we talk about Julie's love of baking and volunteering at one of our favourites, the Vegan Danish Bakery. Julie's passion , clarity of purpose, and compassion shine through. 

You can find details of Julie's practice and contact at: www.libertywellness.ca and the non-profit Peace for Paws at https://peacefurpaws.org/

The episode is hosted by Dr. Zahra Kassam, co-founder of Plant-Based Canada

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In this episode we talk to Matt Noble, the founder of Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank, a volunteer-powered charity that has served over 250,000 meals worth of whole-food plant-based groceries to people struggling with poverty and food insecurity.  
 
We learn about the importance and operation of a vegetarian food bank and delve into a deeper discussion on social justice, food insecurity and policy. Food security represents a state in which food is available, accessible, and affordable such that there is physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. There is often the concern that a vegetarian or vegan dietary pattern is expensive and out of the price range for those with food insecurity. Matt discusses these concerns, the challenges, the current situation, and what he believes could help potentially address these issues.

Matt also shares some news about exciting initiatives, he and his team are working on, such as veganic agriculture and education. Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank will be breaking ground on a new project – The Veg Food Bank Farm – in partnership with Piebird Farm Sanctuary in the Summer of 2021. 
 
 You can find details about Matt’s work and the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank on Instagram and Twitter @vegfoodbank and on Facebook at Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank.
 
 The episode is hosted by Dr. Stephanie Nishi and Cassandra Carey, of Plant-Based Canada.

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We sit down with Dr. Tushar Mehta to talk about the global impact of animal agriculture. Dr. Mehta is an ER physician working in Brampton and Georgetown, Ontario, and has practiced family and addictions medicine in the past. Over the years he has worked with Project Canoe - a Toronto-based organization serving youth. He's also conducted medical outreach with village schools in India, and works with health education Project Haiti.

Along with a small team, Dr. Mehta founded Plant Based Data (plantbaseddata.org), an online database which collects and organizes the most important academic and institutional literature regarding the impact plant diet on health, environment and food security, including the role of animal agriculture in creating pandemics.

In this episode we also discuss:

• How our food choices impact our environment, and how our food systems work.
• The amount of resources like land use ad fresh water usage that go into raising animals and growing crops.
• How does animal agriculture stack up to other greenhouse gas emitters and other side-effects like ocean dead zones, water pollution, species extinction, and biodiversity loss.
• Food insecurity, poverty, and environmental racism.
• How our treatment of and relationship to animals can lead to zoonotic disease like COVID-19.
•  What we can learn from past zoonotic diseases like SARs and MERs that can help us better understand COVID-19 and potential future diseases.

Socials:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Plantbaseddata.org

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Dr. Matthew Nagra is a Naturopathic Doctor devoted to bringing the most up-to-date evidence-based nutrition information to his patients at his clinic in Vancouver. In 2018 he graduated from the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine after completing his bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology at the University of Victoria.

He’s certified in plant-based nutrition through Cornell University and has written articles for Dr. T Coln Campbell’s Center for Nutrition Studies. He also volunteers for nutritionfacts.org – a science-based public service providing free updates in nutrition research through bite-sized videos.

Dr. Nagra is known for his social media platforms, where he often tackles misinformation around diet and nutrition, and deep dives into the latest nutrition studies.


In this episode we discuss:

How he incorporates evidence-based medicine into his practice. 

The biggest advantages to following a plant-based diet.

Myths around the consumption of soy products.

Getting enough vitamin K2 on a plant-based diet.

The debate over whether vegetables oils are healthy.

Recent results from the prospective EPIC-Oxford study suggesting non-meat eaters might be at a higher risk of bone fracture. 
 
The science behind fad diets, like keto, paleo, and carnivore.

The importance of tacking misinformation online, including from plant-based circles. 

Whether a healthy diet can ward off infectious diseases like COVID-19.

Socials:

Dr. Nagra's website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter


This Podcast was hosted and edited by Clinton Stamatovich.

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In this inaugural episode of the Plant-Based Canada podcast,  the co-founders of Plant-Based Canada, Dr. Zahra Kassam and Michelle Fedele RD talk about their personal journeys, why they co-founded Plant-Based Canada, and what they hope to achieve.

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