Today’s show is a little bit different from the norm. I’m catching up with good friend of mine and fellow GP, Dr Ayan Panja. You’ll recognise him from previous episodes where we discussed heart and brain health and he has been practising medicine for 22 years since qualifying from Imperial College School of Medicine (my old university).He co-founded and teaches on the RCGP accredited course “Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine”, he’s writing a book that I cannot wait to read, due for publication in January 2023, plus he’s the host of a brilliant podcast called “Saving Lives in Slow motion”.This is where Ayan takes 15 minutes of your time to give his perspective on health and wellbeing which is “quietly-mind expanding” as he puts it. Informal, but professional and very very listenable. So good in fact, that I’ve embedded one of my favourite episodes that you’re about to listen to before me and Ayan chat on my podcast. This is on medical myths it runs for about 12 minutes and then you’ll hear me and Ayan talk about a number of other topics:BereavementLifestyle MedicineAyan’s new bookWhy medics need to take a breakSome of our favourite UK artistsDo check out thedoctorskitchen.com for links to everything we discuss today and the eat, read, listen newsletter that I send once a week! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey,  I’m basing this end of year podcast on my newsletter format where I share something to Eat, Read, Watch or Listen to every week. Today, I’ll be talking through my top 3 book suggestions, 3 podcasts I reckon you should listen to or revisit from my archive and 3 brilliant movies and series to watch!Read:How to Live well Prof Robert ThomasThe Pain-Free Mindset Deepak RavindranThe Paradox of Choice Barry SchwartzListen:Sustainable weight loss Dr Nick FullerWatercress as Medicine Dr Kyle StewartThe female ageing brain Dr Lisa Mosconi Watch:Road RunnerHigh on the HogMeat me HalfwayCatch the links to them all and the references to what was discussed on thedoctorskitchen.com website where you can also sign up to the newsletter! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

https://www.sabiobank.org/If you’re listening to this and you are of South Asian descent, this episode might be a bit of an uncomfortable listen. Because what we’re chatting about today is why, despite the advances in medicine, people of south asian origin are twice as likely to suffer cardiovascular disease, three times more likely to have diabetes as well as many other related diseases that you can think of including cancer and dementia. And I know the title of this pod is “Why south asians are at worse risk”, but the honest answer as you’ll hear from my guest today, is still “we don’t have a good idea”.This is why, if you are between the ages of 18-85 and of South Asian heritage, no matter if you are of mixed background or whatever, look at the description in the podcast notes on your pod player right now. There is a link right at the top of this episode for the BIOBANK study at sabiobank.org. Click on the link, stop listening to this pod for 5 minutes and book an appointment immediately at https://www.sabiobank.org/My guest today is Professor Jaspal Kooner, who is leading the South Asia Biobank Research study. Professor Kooner is one of the leading cardiologists in the country with over 30 years’ experience in the treatment of general cardiovascular disorders. He is a Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare Trust, and an active researcher who has pioneered some major discoveries and published numerous times in journals such as Nature including research revealing novel genetic variants that underlie coronary heart disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, and other highly prevalent disorders.I think this podcast is going to be a real inspiration particularly for young medics out there, or even people thinking about medicine. Prof shares his stories of his upbringing in Nairobi and his move to Kent in England, plus his journey to medicine, his thoughts on medical education today, when he first learnt of the disparity between health in certain populations as well as how he navigated the system.Full show notes can be found at www.thedoctorskitchen.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What can we learn that’s relatable from a modern day action man, who trained as a marine commando and sniper, who runs into active volcanoes, risks his life interviewing Mexican Narcos, survived Ebola and broke the Guiness World record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean?Well it turns out quite an incredible amount!Aldo Kane is an Adventurer, Explorer, a Fellow at the Royal Geographic Society, Producer, Author & TV Presenter with a penchant for the world’s most dangerous, extreme and remote locations. Aldo was recently the on-screen Expedition Leader for National Geographic’s latest flag-ship feature length Natural History series One Strange Rock, hosted by Hollywood star, Will Smith. This saw Aldo lead a prominent American Scientist deep inside one of Africa’s most dangerous volcanoes whilst it was erupting and the description of this in his book “Lessons on the Edge” is absolutely riveting! Over the last 7 years Aldo has worked on many ground-breaking (and as he describes them “fairly tasty”) TV shows! He’s been held at gunpoint, charged by black Rhino, abseiled into an active volcano, escaped Ebola and dived on Captain Kidd’s pirate ship, and that’s just the last year or two. Aldo has appeared with Hollywood A-Listers like Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody & Henry Cavill in some of the most extreme environments on earth. We talk about so many themes today:Mental fitnessCompartmentalisingFlow statesConsistency over Skill as the secret to successStoicismGroundingA bit of background if you haven’t seen him on one of his many TV shows. Aldo joined the Royal Marine Commandos at the age of just 16 and went on to become one of the youngest Elite Commando Reconnaissance Snipers in the UK armed forces.  No mean feat with the hardest, and longest infantry training in the world.   Aldo saw active military service from Northern Ireland to the Middle East and became a survival expert in many environments.As you will hear today, he’s probably one of the humblest and nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing. Calm, collected, jovial, chatty and altogether ‘grounded’, as I would describe it. I could have chatted to him easily for hours, but instead I recommend you either read or listen to his book “Lessons from the Edge” that you can find in all good bookstores. A fantastic book for Christmas, it is perfect escapism. Just a bit of warning, the language is a bit salty on this episode. So just take care if any kids are listening in. And remember check out thedoctorskitchen.com newsletter where I share weekly mindset tips, many of which Aldo puts into practice when he’s in extreme environments, such as breathwork and reframing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/noonegoeshungry2022If you love listening to passionate and enthusiastic visionaries, You’re going to love my guest today. Sarah Bentley is the founder of plant-based community cookery school Made In Hackney. They fired up their hobs for the first time in 2012 and if you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been a supporter and ambassador for them since 2016.The school delivers cookery and food growing classes across London with the aim to inspire people to grow, cook and eat more plants for the benefit of both human and planetary health. I’ve led a few classes in the past and they are wonderful celebrations of food, community and culture.Their work crosses the fields of food justice, climate action, community cohesion, health equality and so much more. And now, thanks to their online programme, people can experience Made In Hackney's multicultural plant-based global cuisine focused classes from anywhere in the world. In addition to their cookery classes the school provides free nutritious meals delivered by cycle courier to households in need of food support. This was a service started in response to the pandemic that left vulnerable people at risk of hunger and I’m glad to say that this service is still up and running and has been added as yet another service that MIH will offer their community in 2022. They are crowdfunding to support this service here: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/noonegoeshungry2022 for another year so if you’re interested and fired up to support them.Prior to founding Made In Hackney Sarah was a freelance journalist with a specialism in reggae music and was a community food grower and gardening teacher. You’re going to hear more about her story right now. Enjoy!Check out www.thedoctorskitchen.com for full show notes and details on this and all other episodes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.