Hey plant based curious friends,

What happens when a high-performing, travel-intensive working mom hits a wall of severe burnout and declining health? For me, that low point became the unexpected launchpad for a radically different way of living and in this episode, I get to share my story with you from the other side of the mic.

I was recently invited to join Dr. Jean Storm, Medical Director at Quality Insights, on her podcast Taking Healthcare by Storm. And let me tell you this conversation was special. Dr. Storm and I went deep on what it really means to rebuild your health from the inside out, without perfectionism or pressure.

If you've been flirting with the idea of eating more plants but don't know where to start or you're simply tired of health advice that ignores your mind, spirit, and real-life schedule this episode was made for you.

In our conversation, I open up about my personal journey from exhaustion to integrated wellbeing, including how I learned to reframe discomfort as a catalyst for growth. Dr. Storm and I explore:

• Why plant-forward eating doesn't have to be all-or-nothing (spoiler: small steps count)
• The power of "movement snacks" for sustainable energy even on your busiest days
• Quick, science-backed stress resets that actually work for working parents and professionals
• A bigger-picture vision for healthcare one rooted in prevention, lifestyle medicine, community support, and whole-person measures of wellbeing

Whether you're already plant-based, still plant-curious, or just searching for a more compassionate way to heal, I truly believe this episode will leave you feeling seen, empowered, and ready to take one small step forward.

Listen in, and then come find me over on my page I'd love to hear what resonated with you.

📣 Have a topic or guest you'd love to hear on a future episode of Plant Based Curious? Reach out anytime.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by me and my host are our own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of Quality Insights. 

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

In this solo episode of Plant Based Curious, I’m walking you through my three-part playbook for navigating social situations as the only plant-based eater in the room. We start with the mindset play: finding your anchor why (mine started with a health scare and grew into something much deeper) and discovering the quiet courage to stay true to your values even when it feels lonely. I share the personal story behind my journey, including the moment I stopped using the word “meat” and started saying “animals,” and why that small shift changed everything.

Then we move to the strategy play: how to show up as the generous guest with a show-stopping dish (instead of the person nibbling on sad lettuce by the cooler). I’ll tell you what I learned from my friend Pam, whose vegan mac and cheese made everyone forget they were eating plant-based, and how I stopped feeling left out and started feeling proud.

Finally, the communication play: your go-to scripts for the questions that always come whether it’s genuine curiosity, a direct challenge, or the tough guilt trip. I’ll give you the exact words I use to stay gracious, hold my boundary, and pivot the conversation toward connection instead of conflict.

If you’ve ever regressed under social pressure, felt like the odd one out, or just wished someone understood what it’s like to be the only vegan at the table, this episode is for you. You’ll walk away with a game plan, some courage, and the reminder that you deserve to take up space exactly as you are.

Plus, I’ll tell you about my book, A Whole Life Nourished, for anyone ready to go deeper into building a life that feels good from the inside out.

Let’s get curious together.

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

Welcome back to Plant Based Curious. It’s been three years since I started this podcast, and I’m reaching back to share the episode that started it all;a conversation that captures why I created this space.

I sit down with Yvonne Pierre of Let’s Talk Healing to talk about my own journey from sickness to plant-based living. I open up about struggling with hypertension and gut issues at a young age, and how a doctor’s visit revealed that my food was at the root of it all. That moment sparked a shift that went far beyond diet, it led me to a vegan philosophy that opened my heart to animals and the environment.

This episode also shares the story behind the Plant Based Curious community I launched in 2021 (which closed in 2024). Though the community is no longer active, the podcast remains a welcoming space to explore plant-based living without pressure or judgment.

Whether you’re new or have been here from the start, I invite you to listen (or listen again). Let’s go back to where it all began. I’m so glad you’re here.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why I was getting sicker despite thinking I was “healthy enough”
• The turning point that connected my gut health to my diet
• How plant-based led me to a deeper vegan philosophy
• The inspiration behind the Plant Based Curious community and podcast

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

This week, I'm talking with Molly Patrick of Clean Food Dirty Girl and trust me, you're going to love her.

Molly has never eaten meat. Not one bite. She grew up in a teepee in New Mexico while her parents’ hand-built their home, and today she lives on Maui leading a global community of over 280,000 "Dirties." Her approach? Warm, hilarious, and sprinkled with just the right amount of swearing.

We get into:

• Why vegan and whole food plant-based aren't the same thing
• What "batch block" is and the one small step to finally break free from it
• How growing up off-grid shaped her relationship with food
• The surprising muscle sobriety and plant-based eating share

What I loved most about this conversation? Molly doesn't care if you're perfect. She cares if you're still showing up.

If you've ever felt like you need to get it right to start, this episode is your permission slip to just begin.

Find all of Molly's links in the show notes. Until next time, stay curious.

Website:  Clean Food Dirty Girl

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

The One-Liner:
Think plant-based eating is too expensive? I’m shutting that myth down with real strategies from my own life; from my days as a single mom to navigating inflation today.

What I’m Covering Today:

My Story: Two very different seasons of budget-conscious eating (single mom years vs. today’s economy) and what they taught me about real, nourishing food.

The Myth: You don’t need expensive specialty products. Plant-based eating is about whole foods, which are historically the cheapest items in the store.

The Four Pillars of Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Eating:

Pillar 1: The Affordable Pantry

• Stock up on beans, lentils, rice, and oats (pennies per serving).
• Buy spices from bulk bins.
• A little nutritional yeast goes a long way.

Pillar 2: Make Friends with Frozen

• Frozen fruits and veggies are often more nutritious than fresh (flash-frozen at peak ripeness).
• They’re cheaper and eliminate waste.

Pillar 3: Shop Farmers Markets Strategically

• Go at the end of the day for discounts.
• Ask for "seconds" (cosmetically imperfect produce sold at a steep discount).
• Buy what’s in season.

Pillar 4: Meal Prep to Prevent Waste

• Cook once, eat three times (batch cook beans, rice, and roasted veggies).
• Use the "three ways method" with one ingredient (e.g., sweet potatoes).
• Save vegetable scraps to make free stock.

The Game Changer: The Kitchen Audit

• What it is: Taking inventory of everything in your pantry, fridge, and freezer before you shop.
• Why it works: The biggest budget killer is wasted food. This helps you use what you have first.
• Your Challenge This Week: Do a kitchen audit. Shop your own kitchen before you hit the store.

Resources & Next Steps:

•  Share your Kitchen Audit results: Plant-BasedCurious.com
• Next Episode:  Living Plant-Based Without Perfection (with Molly Patrick): A follow-up conversation about her plant-based lifestyle, meal plans, recipes and more.
• Rate & Review:  If this episode helped you, please rate and review the show. It helps other curious folks find us.

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

Ever feel like sugar and refined carbs have a strange hold on you? You’re not alone, and it’s not just a lack of willpower. In this week’s incredibly clarifying conversation, I sit down with Lewis Bertus, PA-C, to unravel the real reason so many of us struggle—and how to break free for good.

Lewis shares a genius analogy that finally made "carbohydrates" make perfect sense to me. He asks: "If you could only carry a limited weight in currency, would you fill your pockets with heavy coins… or lighter, more valuable dollars?"

Suddenly, the cycle of craving "coin carbs" (like sugar and white bread) and struggling with "dollar carbs" (like sweet potatoes and brown rice) becomes brilliantly clear. We dive deep into:

• Why sugar addiction isn't a moral failure, but a physiological response to the "coins" we’re feeding our body.
• How to identify and satisfy your body’s true energy needs with "dollar" foods, so the cravings for "coins" naturally fade.
• Practical, compassionate steps to reset your palate, stabilize your energy, and make food freedom feel simple and sustainable.

If you’re tired of the guilt-shame cycle with sugar and refined foods, this conversation is your new starting point. Lewis offers the logical, empathetic framework I wish I had years ago.

Listen to discover how to break the addiction to "coin carbs" and invest in lasting energy and health.

Lewis Bertus's Website:  https://www.lewisbertus.com 

Social Media Links:
Facebook.com/lewisbertusdiabetes180
Instagram.com/diabetes_reversal_coach/
Youtube.com/@lewisbertus

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

What if I told you the grass is literally screaming when you mow it? Or that a forest shares an underground internet made of fungi? Or that the key to healing chronic illness could be growing on a tree in your backyard?

In this mind-blowing episode of Plant Based Curious, I sit down with plant biologist, fungi evangelist, and host of the Flora Funga Podcast, (KK) Kaitlyn Kuehn. KK has a gift for making complex science feel like a thrilling discovery—a skill born from her own profound journey using fungi to heal her rheumatoid arthritis when conventional medicine fell short.

We dive deep into the wood-wide web—the astonishing fungal network that allows trees to communicate, share resources, and send distress signals. KK explains how this hidden collaboration beneath our feet is the true foundation of life on land.

But this conversation gets personal. KK opens up about the frustrating diagnosis process, the elimination diet that revealed her triggers (even some so-called "health foods"), and how incorporating medicinal mushrooms like reishi became a cornerstone of managing her inflammation. Her story is a powerful testament to becoming your own health advocate.

We also tackle the hard questions about our food system. Driving through the "strawberry capital" of Florida, KK witnessed the chemical reality behind perfect-looking produce, sparking a crucial discussion on pesticides, soil health, and what we’re really consuming when we don't ask where our food comes from.

This conversation changed how I see everything from my backyard to my plate. It’s a passionate call to recognize the genius of the natural world—a world that is far more connected, intelligent, and healing than we’ve been led to believe.

Tune in to get your "mushroom eyes" and see the world anew.

Listen to Plant Based Curious on: [Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.]
Connect with KK: Flora Funga Podcast on all platforms @florafungapodcast
Visit: plantbasedcurious.com

Episode Quote: "Nature always wins." – KK

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

What if I told you the most powerful climate technology on Earth isn't in a lab, but right under our feet? In this episode of my podcast, Plant Based Curious, I sit down with the brilliant filmmaker and regenerative thought leader, Rebecca Tickell, Documentary Filmmaker of Common Ground to get to the root of a truth we all learned in grade school but have since forgotten: the profound, world-changing power of photosynthesis.

Rebecca helps me revisit that simple, magical process—where plants breathe in carbon and breathe out oxygen—and she reveals the hidden half of the story that changes everything. She explains to me how carbon isn't just exchanged; it's actively drawn down through the plant and fed directly into the soil through its roots. She calls this the "liquid carbon pathway," and it’s the very foundation of the rich, living web of soil that sustains us all.

In a moment that truly reframed my thinking, Rebecca shared a stunning, full-circle truth with me: the majority of the excess carbon now overheating our atmosphere originally came from this same soil, lost over centuries. This means that by understanding how plants feed the soil, we aren't just growing food—we're activating the planet's original carbon drawdown system.

I invite you to join Rebecca and me for a conversation that fundamentally changed how I see the ground beneath my feet. It’s my personal invitation to you to reconnect the dots between the plants on our plates, the health of our soil, and the stability of our climate.

Here’s what I discovered in our conversation:

• The hidden journey of carbon from leaf to root to soil.
• Why I now see healthy soil as so much more than "dirt"—it's a living carbon bank.
• How the climate crisis is, at its heart, a story of misplaced carbon.
• Practical ways our food and farming choices can align with this ancient, healing cycle.

Tune in with me for this essential conversation on how to heal our planet from the ground up.

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

One of our most practical episodes is back! We sat down with retired analytical chemist Mel Weinstein to decode the hidden world of food additives and ultra-processed foods.

Mel didn't just reveal problems—he gave us powerful solutions. He introduced us to lifesaving apps like Yuka, which lets you scan any product to find a healthier alternative. This tool has become a non-negotiable part of my shopping routine!

Listen to learn:
• The truth about hazardous ingredients in common foods.
• Why current food labels fail us.
• How technology can be your best ally for healthy eating.
• Mel's vision for transparent food labeling.

Empower yourself to make the best choices for you and your family. Listen now!

Links & Mel's Resources: https://www.foodlabelsrevealed.com

#FoodLabels #Nutrition #HealthTech #PlantBased #Wellness

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."

In one of our most popular episodes ever from Season 1, I had an incredibly grounding conversation with my guest, Marla Rose, the founder of VeganStreet.com.

We tackled the questions and fears that held me back for so long, and that I know stop so many of you: Is going vegan too expensive? How do I deal with my family's skepticism without causing a scene?

With over 30 years of lived experience, Marla offered the kind of compassionate, no-nonsense advice I wish I'd had when I started. We talked about why courage is more important than perfection, how to build meals around cheap, staple foods, and her brilliant "broken record" technique for handling tough social situations with grace.

She also shared the amazing free resource she created: her "Guide for New Vegans," which is the ultimate starter toolkit to cut through the overwhelm.

This episode is a dose of reassurance and practical strategy for anyone who's curious, struggling, or just needs a friendly reminder that this journey is about progress, not perfection.

I still go back to this conversation when I need a boost, and I think you'll find it just as valuable.

Mentioned in this episode:

• VeganStreet.com’s Free Guide for New Vegans: https://www.veganstreet.com/guidefornewvegans.html

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"Thanks for listening to The Plant-Based Curious Podcast. If this episode helped you, please share it with one friend who might need it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a step on your journey. For questions or to connect, visit me at plant-basedcurious.com."