Foodie Pharmacology Podcast

This week on the show we’re going to learn about plant medicines from the beautiful islands of French Polynesia. Our guest is Dr. Francois Chassagne; he’s a research group leader at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development. He works on developing ethnobotanical and pharmacological tools to validate the use of traditional remedies in developing countries and French Overseas territories. We discuss some of his latest research on medicinal plants for treating diarrhea...

Every culture has monsters that eat us, and every culture repels in horror when we eat ourselves. This week on the show, we explore the inhuman acts of consumption found in stories of anthropophagous monsters and cannibals. Our guest is Kevin Wetmore, author of Eaters of the Dead and many other books. Kevin is an actor, director, stage combat choreographer, and professor of Theatre Arts at Loyola Marymount University. We discuss the cultural and environmental conditions that create myths of...

Did you know that an estimated 80% of the world relies on medicinal plants as their main source of medicine? This week, I speak with Amanda Thiel, who is working towards her PhD in Anthropology at Washington State University. She shares insights from her research on medicinal plants and home gardens of the Q’eqchi’ Maya people of Guatemala. We discuss how certain fruit trees are used as food and medicine, and how community relationships and sharing of plant resources fosters health...

Who’s hungry for meat? How about plant-based meat? Our guest this week is Jody Boyman, co-founder of Hungry Planet, a plant-based meat company that offers a full range of inventive products, from burger patties and chicken to Italian sausage, crab cakes, pork Thai meatballs and more. Jody shares the story of building the company and developing flavorful plant-based products. You can check out more about Hungry Planet products on Instagram @hungryplanetfoods. #plantbased #vegetarian...

Humans have practiced the art of fasting across cultures and religions over millennia. But its only just in the past few years that the science behind how fasting impacts our health has begun to emerge. This week, I speak with Dr. William Hsu, Chief Medical Officer at L-Nutra. Dr. Hsu walks us through the different modalities of fasting and how this practice can lead to a longer healthspan. #healthspan #fasting #diet

This week, we take a closer look at how technological innovations are changing the landscape of the foods we eat. Not so many years ago, eating a veggie burger was a rather dull, mushy experience. Yet, today, you can find plant-based foods in the meat section of the grocery store that actually make a convincing pass at the flavor and texture of everything from ground meat to chicken nuggets! These techie foods are made with an assortment of plant-derived proteins and flavors… but just how...

Throughout human history, humans have faced periods of intense food shortages and even famines. The cause of famines can differ, and whether it is due to poor economic policy, drought, crop disease, or pests, one thing remains the same: humans seek out alternative food sources to fill the gap. My guest this week is Dr. Paul Minnis, an ethnobiologist and expert on famine foods! We talk about the role of famine foods in history and their importance to the future of food security. To learn...

This week, we get to the root of things! Literally! I speak with Dr. Eve Emshwiller, ethnobotanist and expert on the Andean tuber crop “Oca” in the genus Oxalis. We dig into the fascinating genetics, chemistry, and morphology of this staple food source. We also discuss how research on crop wild relatives can contribute to food security for the future. #oca #Andes #crops #eveemshwiller

I speak with archeologist and paleobotanist, Dr. Matthew Biwer, about some exciting new research on ancient beer brewing practices in the pre-Columbian Andes. We discuss evidence that Peruvian peppertree (molle, the source of pink peppercorns) was used as a beer ingredient along with a DMT-containing plant (a bean tree locally known as vilca). While vilca was used as a hallucinogenic snuff by other groups, archeological evidence at Quilcapampa indicates that it may have also been used in...

At Foodie Pharmacology, we’re not only fascinated with the incredible pharmacological potential of medicinal plants, but are also eager to learn more about how this translates into integrative medicine. We have a wonderful guest today to discuss this topic: Dr. Stephen Dahmer. Dr. Dahmer is a board-certified family physician whose passion for health and healing has taken him around the globe. A fellow of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, for over two decades he has studied the...

It’s an incredible thing to learn how humans have sorted through nearly 400,000 species of plants over the centuries and have determined which plants are useful as foods, medicines, tools and more. Yet when it comes to food, despite access to what feels like every type of cuisine globally, our modern diets are less varied than ever. Of the more than 6,000 species of plants once consumed by humans, only nine remain staples today. And of those—rice, wheat, and corn—now make up half of our...

Have you spent much time exploring the water? Whether by swimming, kayaking, or hiking along the edges of aquatic habitats—there is always something interesting to see… and sometimes even tasty to eat! On this episode I speak with Susanne Masters, author of the new book Wild Waters: A wildlife and water lover’s companion to the aquatic world. We discuss curious creatures like eels, anemones, kelp and watermint and explore their history and present roll in the culinary traditions of Britain...

This week on the show, we’re going to get a little wild, exploring the wild food traditions across geographic borders in the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, Balkans and Middle East! I’m joined by Professor Andrea Pieroni, a leading ethnobiologist who studies the food traditions of diaspora and minority populations. We discuss the ties between traditional knowledge and community resilience, and celebrate some of the incredible foods found in some of the most remote regions of the...

We’ve talked a lot about the topics of food security and food choice on the show, and I think most of you will agree that it can be hard to keep a healthy diet. But, have you ever considered if some of our food decisions are beyond our control? Are certain foods engineered to be addictive, like drugs or alcohol? An how complicit is the food industry in creating and marketing such foods? We’ll cover these topics and more today with our special guest, Pulitzer prize winning and best selling...

Human health and the sustainability of our global food systems are both intimately linked to the health of planet Earth. But, with the rise of climate change, our world is less healthy than ever before. Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is nowhere to be found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. We have so much to learn from Indigenous holistic land, water and forest management. This...

Modern supermarkets bombard shoppers with colorful displays and marketing featuring terms like “healthy” and “all natural”… but what do those marketing titles really mean? Paco Underhill, founder of the behavioral research and consulting firm Envirosell Global LLC, and bestselling author of books like Why we Buy: The Science of Shopping joins us on the show. We chat about his new book, How We Eat: The Brave New World of Food and Beverages, and the evolution of the modern...

The science behind how the gut microbiome affects our health rapidly evolving with new tools that enable scientists to not only sequence the complex mixtures of microbes in the gut, but also with new laboratory models that enable the study of single microbes in otherwise sterile systems. This week, I welcome an expert in the field of gut microbiome studies, Dr. Rheinallt Jones, to the show. He’s an Associate Professor at the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition of the...

Did you know that your mental, emotional, and spiritual connection to the food you eat influences your health? This week, I speak with Dr. Peter Kozlowski, a physician who keeps functional medicine at the center of his medical practice. We discuss how food sensitivities impact our health and how the process of a food elimination diet can help identify foods that may be problematic for you. We also explore the benefits of intermittent fasting and how changes in diet influence the dynamics of...

Out of all of my kitchen pantry items, olive oil holds the place of honor for being the most important ingredient in most of our meals, whether in dressing salads or sautéing dishes on the stove. But, not all extra virgin olive oils in the grocery store are alike. There have even been issues with companies adulterating EVOO with other inferior oils to make a bigger profit. In this episode, I chat with Lucas Soler, co-founder of The Olive Oil Grove, about how the quality of olive oil begins...

Ayahuasca, also known as Yage, has long been integral to shamanic healing rituals in western Amazonia. Consumed in healing and diagnostic rituals, this mixture of plants includes ingredients like monoamine oxidase inhibitors and dimethyl tryptamine, which when consumed together, yields strong purgative and hallucinogenic effects. Other plants, known as Chondur (Cyperus spp.) are also important elements of the ritual, and are key in both cleansing spaces and guiding visions. This week, I chat...