S2E27: Shefaly Ravula - Nutrition That Heals Can Also Taste Good

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S2E27: Shefaly Ravula - Nutrition That Heals Can Also Taste Good

Dr. Philip Ovadia

Aug 02, 2022

The confusion over diet or nutrition is because patients have no idea what to eat. It's not a lack of money or a busy schedule.

A physician assistant turned culinary and nutrition educator, Shefaly Ravula provides a personalized approach to her patients to develop their diet plan. When her father, a vegetarian and a thin man, had a heart attack, she was left perplexed. It was an example of TOFI - thin outside, fat inside. The experience made her immerse herself to study nutrition for cardiac health. She also studied cardiology and even lipidology. She attended different conferences on integrative medicine, functional medicine, and culinary medicine.

She now focuses on teaching food-as-medicine cooking classes. Her desire is to help address diseases with the right food to eat. She continues to work with cardiologists and gastroenterologists to help the patients improve their health through proper diet.

Quick guide
2:36 Guest’s background
5:50 The decision to be a cooking instructor
11:59 The purer the food, the more we can enjoy it
14:05 TOFI - thin on the outside, fat on the inside
15:42 A health perspective centered on food
19:12 The profile of patients in her practice
21:38 Food-as-Medicine Academy
26:39 Her role in the present healthcare system
31:17 What’s that one thing we have to do
35:34 The power of learning to cook
38:40 Our connection to the food we eat
44:22 Most medicinally powerful foods
47:19 How can this be affordable for people

Get to know our guest
Shefaly Ravula is a board-certified physician associate with a career in conventional and alternative medicine. As young as 9 years old, her mother taught her how to make Indian food. Without proper culinary background, she used to spend hours watching Food Network to learn about cooking. She believes cooking classes empower people. Her food-as-medicine classes allow her to share her knowledge in both medicine and nutrition and guide patients with the proper diet.

“You have to get it's the mindset like, do we need to be having the cigarettes that costs blah, blah, blah, and do we need to be having that Frappuccino? Cut that out. And you could get yourself a really nice piece of salmon.” - Shefaly Ravula

Connect with her
Shef’s Kitchen website: https://shefskitchen.com/

Episode snippets
9:13 - 9:45 - Flavor is important to help in patient care
10:34 - 11:03 - Condiments are key
15:42 - 16:56 - Teaching food as medicine
19:12 - 19:50 - Solve nutrition ambiguity
22:15 - 23:14 - FODMAP diet
26:53 - 28:04 - Interaction with the healthcare system at present
31:17 - 32:03 - Cut out inflammatory foods
36:00 - 37:04 - The importance of cooking skills
49:39 - 50:17 - Change in mindset for the younger generation