SSP 140. Gut Health and Fitness with Dr. Angie Sadeghi

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♦︎ Gut Health and Fitness with Dr. Angie Sadeghi ♦︎

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Gastroenterologist Angie Sadeghi, MD, joins Scott to talk about gut health and fitness-related topics ranging from digestive and metabolic consequences of physique competition, fad diets, body image, to strategies for getting and staying lean.

Angie Sadeghi, MD, is a practicing gastroenterologist who advocates Whole Food Plant Based diet, and exercise, for overall health.

♦︎♦︎ “Wellness starts in your gut” ♦︎♦︎

• Angie used a plant-based diet to recover from her own health and weight problems. She began by not consuming meat and compensated for what she thought was a lack of protein by consuming more dairy. She got worse.

• Sadeghi then tried keto and other nonsense fad diets, which didn’t work.

• Keto, Paleo, Atkins…all names for the same thing.

• Forks Over Knives changed her life forever. After watching it, she began eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet, immediately dropping dairy, oils and sugar from her diet.

• To add a compelling vision for her weight loss goal, she signed up and competed in a fitness competition.

• The bodybuilding industry traditionally promotes a type aesthetic that’s seen on stage for "2 seconds", but is unhealthy in the longer term.

• You can lose weight, and build muscle using certain types of diets, but it doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Bodybuilders often go for months with little or no fiber.

• Animal protein, when consumed, doesn’t go to muscle as commonly thought.

• Depression, heart problems, exhaustion and impacted bowels are all things Dr. Angie has seen in her gastroenterology practice as side effects of bodybuilding diets.

♦︎♦︎ "The human alimentary (digestive) tract is similar to that of an herbivore, not a carnivore." ♦︎♦︎

• The right [healthy] way to eat is for the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome live in a symbiotic relationship with us; they eat what we eat.

• Short chain fatty acids are produced as the result of eating fiber, which has a healing effect on the gut. The microbiome “eat” and ferment it.

• To have great microbiome diversity, you have to eat fibrous vegetables of different colors.

• Gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance: people want evidence that they’re nutritional victims.

• Most people are not gluten intolerant. There are people who have celiac disease, an autoimmune condition, but it’s more like one out of 100 who have a problem with gluten.

• Women face a tremendous amount of social pressure related to body image.

• Self-love—a positive self-image—is often what a physique client truly wants, and not primarily the transformed physique.

• Women often don’t take care of themselves because they spend all their effort nurturing others.

• Fitness should be used as part of self-care and keep us grounded.

• A healthy diet can help treat depression because over 90% of serotonin is made in the gut.

• Angie recommends bio-identical hormone optimization to post-menopausal women for treatment of related symptoms.

• Portion control is a thing of the past. It’s almost impossible to get fat if eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet with no refined sugars or oils.

• The job of a coach is to free people from coaching. A coach empowers the client to do for themselves.

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More about Dr. Angie

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• Sadeghi is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Gastroenterology.