New Normal Project

This episode’s guests are Natalie and Stuart McIntosh. Stuart and Natalie (also known as Jai Ma), created the documentary “Serving Love”, an excellent movie sharing the stories of people who have experienced the profound health benefits of following a high raw plant based lifestyle, including overcoming cancer, illness and depression, whilst also developing new loving and healthy relationships with people, nature and life itself. The movie also features interviews with Dr Michael Klaper, Dr Malcolm Mackay, philanthropist Philip Wollen, ultramarathoners Janette Murray-Wakelin and Alan Murray, and Yoko from Shoko Iku, as well as Natalie and Stuart. After watching the documentary, I simply had to interview them for the podcast. I was warmly welcomed to their beautiful farm in Beaconsfield, Victoria, where apart from our conversation I was able to see the diverse array of organic fruit and vegetables they grow there. Given the movie is mostly about raw wholefood plant-based eating, you will likely expect that to

What are the 5 top evidence-based tips to maintain your gut health? And which 3 questions should your doctor be asking you about your diet? Dr Alan Desmond, a plant-based gastroenterologist from the UK, is fascinated with the diet that is most likely to improve the gut health of his patients, especially those with gastrointestinal problems like inflammatory bowel disease. And having reviewed the medical literature he has come to learn that the more plant foods and the more whole foods we eat the better our gut health will be, whether we have a gastroenterological problem or not. So now not only does he eat a wholefood plant-based diet but he also recommends this to his patients and asks them 3 simple questions to help them improve their diets. You will hear these questions in this episode of the New Normal Project podcast. Alan is originally from County Cork, Ireland and having completed his medical and specialty training in Cork, Dublin and Oxford is now a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Devon in the South

Episode 50 of the podcast is here! And it’s the 2nd birthday of the podcast too. That’s two years and many hours of enjoyable podcasting to acknowledge, especially given the value our inspiring guests have provided. After a busy first year followed by 12 months of far fewer episodes, I thought it was time to clarify what the true purpose of the podcast is and to realign its direction. My wife, Claire, and I started the New Normal Project with the aim to produce a podcast on the topic of a healthy lifestyle. We made our lifestyle transformation based on 6 healthy pillars: (1) eating more plants, (2) getting more sleep, (3) practicing mindfulness, (4) being more active, (5) building healthy relationships with people and things, and (6) better understanding our authentic purpose. We continue to aim for the most healthy, fulfilling and conscious life we can live. 50 episodes later the podcast is still going and, despite Claire deciding not to work on the podcast for the time being, I remain passionate to listen,

What’s the best way to speak when helping people understand the benefits of a plant-based diet?   This week’s New Normal Project podcast guest, Dr Scott Stoll, has been thinking about this question for a long time. After representing the USA in the Olympic bobsled, Scott completed his medical specialist training in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, and then around 15 years ago found he did not have the answers to all of his patient’s health woes. He read widely and came to recognize that a plant-based diet, especially whole-foods plant-based nutrition, had an excellent scientific basis for improving human health. As his family, including his children, transitioned to this diet, he realized that his patients would likely benefit from this too. What has followed is a radical transformation of both his medical practice and his family. His wife and 6 children, like Scott himself, are vibrantly healthy and thrive on this way of living. Since then Dr Stoll has become a leading light of the plant-based nutrition

Is heart disease from clogged arteries a food-borne disease? Can eating the right foods really reverse heart disease? Which foods have a powerful antioxidant effect in your blood vessels?   Dr Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr is a superhero in our family. And this American surgeon who turned his career on a head to become a provider, researcher, advocate and international expert of a wholefoods, plant-based nutrition to prevent and reverse heart disease, is this week’s special guest. Dr Esselstyn grew up on a beef farm, won a Gold medal at the Olympics with the United States rowing crew as a university student and began his medical life as a surgeon. He then had an important mid-career epiphany, realizing that cutting out the cancer of an individual person was less valuable than understanding why some populations had extremely low rates of both cancer and heart disease. When he learned these healthier populations ate a predominance of plant-based wholefoods he began eating that way himself. He then took a group of pa

What has Claire been up to lately? And what is her New Year’s resolution?   In this episode, Claire is back on the show! Early in 2018, my wife and co-host Claire Davies announced she was taking a break from the podcast. This is only a temporary appearance and you should enjoy the opportunity of hearing what Claire has been doing over the past year and just what her ongoing passion is. Claire is an amazing human being. After working as a nurse for over 2 decades, the last decade as a working Mum, she took some time off to help get the New Normal Project off the ground. Her calm, measured and wise way of being brought a valuable voice and philosophy to this podcast, something that many of you have fed back to us. But after a year of speaking on the podcast about the plant-based lifestyle we adopted, and how much healthier and happier we both feel for living this way, Claire realised this was neither her true purpose nor the best use of her skills and experience. It shocked me when she said she no longer wanted

Have you ever considered an alcohol-free challenge? Are you worried you might be drinking too much? Do you need help with your drinking?   If any of these questions resonate with you, this podcast is one you may learn something from. Andy Ramage, a passionate ex-professional footballer who is now an equally passionate oil broker in London, UK, is this week’s guest. In 2015 Andy co-founded the global lifestyle phenomenon OneYearNoBeer.com, a 28, 90 or a 365-day alcohol-free challenge to help transform people's relationship with alcohol. His first best-selling book The 28-day Alcohol-free Challenge, co-authored with his colleague Ruari Fairbairns, was released in December 2017. Andy is one of the world’s leading behavioural change & performance coaches. He works with CEOs, business professionals, athletes, entrepreneurs, actors and influencers to transform their relationship with alcohol to improve their health, their careers and their day to day lives. Andy is working towards a Masters degree in positive p

After an 8 month break, the New Normal Project podcast is back, aiming to inspire and empower you to live a more healthy, fulfilling and conscious life. Claire is taking a further break from the show so I invite you to stick with me, Andrew, on a search to improve your health and happiness, and indeed mine. My father’s recent death with cancer has reinvigorated my passion to help as many people as possible to live the healthiest lives possible to give us the best chance of a longer and disease-free life. The podcast focuses on the pillars of a healthy lifestyle such as eating more plants, becoming more mindful, moving our bodies more, improving our sleep, developing healthier connections and refining our sense of purpose. This interview is with Dr Neal Barnard, a physician, clinical researcher, author, and an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington DC, USA. In 1985, Neal established the Physicians Committee for Responsibl

How would it feel to need to sit down in the middle of the road because the pain in your chest was so bad? You couldn’t even wait until you got to the other side. And what if your cardiologist said “I’ve done all the stents I can, the blood vessels in your heart are falling apart and there is nothing wrong with sitting down”? Dulcie Corbett didn’t like to hear this. She was too dynamic to be crippled by heart disease. She had gone trekking in the Himalayas on the day she retired from work at aged 60. She wasn’t even sure she had heart disease. All she knew is that to relieve the terrible pain in her chest she needed to sit down and hug herself. And she needed to do it often. So when her GP recommended the book “How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” by Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, at first she read it and thought it all sounded too hard. But when the pain continued unabated, she read it again. And she realised that Dr Esselstyn was simply asking her to make a choice. A choice between living with the crippling of

If you had heart disease, wouldn't you prefer advice from a cardiologist who is trying to make themselves heart attack proof? Dr Kim Williams is a vegan cardiologist. Yes you read it right. He adopted a plant-based diet 15 years ago when his cholesterol level was found to be higher than it should have been and he'd recently seen a patient's heart scan improve remarkably with a plant-based diet. He now understands that a whole foods plant-based diet should give him a longer life and should also give his patients the opportunity to reverse their heart disease, one of the greatest killers on this earth. Hence he eats, advises and advocates plant-based nutrition. After graduating from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Kim became board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, nuclear medicine, nuclear cardiology, and cardiovascular computed tomography. He has worked at the Pritzker School of Medicine, the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit and since 201

Welcome back to Part 2 of the Best of New Normal Project in 2017! It's hard to believe that this time 12 months ago New Normal Project did not even exist and the podcast was but a twinkle in our eye. And now here we are at episode 42, with a compilation of some of the best bits from guests we've interviewed this last year. It hasn't been easy to chose which ones to include, but this combination has resulted in a collection of experts and powerful stories that touched us and (hopefully) touched you too. The process of listening again to these episodes reminded us why we chose to interview these guests. Every single one of them was a joy and we are so grateful to them for giving up their time and allowing us to share themselves with you. And thank you to each and every person who has taken the time to listen to our podcast, share it and connect with us. We started New Normal Project with the aim to share with the world those people who inspire us to be better. Even if you've listened to these guests before this

Welcome to 2018! It's hard to believe that this time 12 months ago New Normal Project did not even exist and the podcast was but a twinkle in our eye. And now here we are at episode 41, with a compilation of some of the best bits from guests we've interviewed this last year. It hasn't been easy to chose which ones to include, but this combination has resulted in a collection of experts and powerful stories that touched us and (hopefully) touched you too. The process of listening again to these episodes reminded us why we chose to interview these guests. Every single one of them was a joy and we are so grateful to them for giving up their time and allowing us to share themselves with you. And thank you to each and every person who has taken the time to listen to our podcast, share it and connect with us. We started New Normal Project with the aim to share with the world those people who inspire us to be better. Even if you've listened to these guests before this episode is full of pure gold, the wisest, the mo

What a year it has been for New Normal Project! Claire and Andrew Davies created New Normal Project to inspire others to adopt healthier and happier lives after a four year period where they made changes focused on improved health, vitality, relationships and sense of purpose. The podcast is where they have conversations on key pillar topics like eating more fruit and vegetables, becoming more mindful, moving our bodies more, improving our sleep and developing healthier connections with ideas, things, activities and people. New Normal Project also started running events in Australia to build community around these hugely important yet straightforward ideas. "Living The Plantpower Way" featuring Rich Roll and Julie Piatt was their first event held in Sydney and Melbourne in March 2017. Rich and Julie were also the first people they interviewed on the podcast. As a tribute to their key role in developing and launching New Normal Project, it seemed fitting to replay that interview to mark the end of an exciting

If you missed out on attending the recent New Normal at Serotonin event you can listen in and feel like you were there. Claire and Andrew from the New Normal Project had a great night with a wonderful bunch of people and recorded the audio of their presentation as a live podcast with an audience. This was a night to celebrate the end of the New Normal Project's first year as an organisation that aims to inspire others to lead healthier and happier lives. Over the last few years Claire and Andrew have made some basic lifestyle changes that have helped them enormously and they enjoy sharing these ideas to inspire people who are curious for themselves. This event merged plant-based eating, mindfulness, optimising sleep (by scheduling the event in the early evening) and connection to community at a fabulous plant-based eatery called Serotonin. They also merged their prime methods of inspiring others by combining an event with a podcast. So after a delicious-tasting, visually-brilliant and plant-based meal, they g

Whether you are thinking of improving your health by simply eating more vegetables or you are already eating and advocating a whole foods plant-based diet, there is much to gain from this interview with Dr Michael Klaper. Dr Klaper is a leading general (family) practitioner, an internationally recognized educator, and a highly sought-after speaker on diet and health. For over 40 years he has helped thousands of people around the world to reclaim their health and to improve their well-being. He is the author of several books (including Vegan Nutrition: Pure and Simple and Pregnancy, Children, and the Vegan Diet) as well as numerous DVDs and Videos on Demand and a series of “Healthy YOU Webinars”. Dr Klaper graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1972. He served his medical internship at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia, Canada and undertook additional training in surgery, anaesthesia, orthopaedics and obstetrics at the University of California Hospitals in San

How are you feeling about the lead up to Christmas time? At this time of celebration and “year end catch ups”, there can seem so much to wade through. Things like multiple social functions, family Christmas dinners, gift buying, suboptimal food offerings at work parties and simply fitting everything in. This period of the year can be stressful. Especially if you eat a whole foods plant-based diet or are drifting that way. Claire and Andrew’s new normal life is a fairly recent change. Only in the last few years have they adopted health-focused choices like a whole foods plant-based diet, regular meditation, a better approach to sleep and frequent exercise. And it hasn’t always been easy. In this episode they discuss their approach to the coming festive season, including (1) what they intend to eat at the family occasions, (2) how they will deal with the frequent celebrations, (3) their gift buying plans in this highly commercialised period, (4) managing the overall stress of a busy schedule, and (5) maintainin

Emily Hazell deals in happiness. And who doesn’t want to be happy? Emily is the owner and self-described Head Serotonin Dealer at her café, Serotonin Eatery, located in Burnley in Melbourne. Not so long along she was diagnosed with clinical depression and advised to take anti-depressants. Curious about alternatives, she learnt about the naturally occurring nutrients in food that cause the release of the powerful neurotransmitters responsible for mood, such as dopamine and serotonin. Fast forward a few years and she now runs an establishment which truly serves food that makes you feel good. Not food that starts off good and ends with guilt. You know what I’m talking about - fat, sugar and salt. The food at Serotonin is designed to nurture and sustain us. It gives us a hug from the inside. No guilt. No remorse. In an environment that’s bright and uplifting. With swings. Swings in the cafe. We talk today with Emily about how she came to manifest her dreams of creating a gift to the world. A movement to nourish,

Justin Caffrey is an Irish business and family man in his early 40's who from a tough and humble childhood experienced tremendous success after he left his university course prematurely. He worked hard in the finance industry becoming a serial entrepreneur and self-described ‘unconscious capitalist’. This gave him tremendous professional and financial success but when his son Joshua died he found both his business and personal life close to collapse. In this special 2 part episode Justin tells us his life story with themes around depression, suicide, psychiatric support, medication, meditation and alcohol excess. Gratefully the overriding moral of the story is one of accepting life's challenges to transform oneself to a life that's in alignment with core consciouness-founded values. It’s an epic tale and one that may trigger strong responses as you listen. But stay with it and you'll hear how Justin has come out on the other side. He's now an advocate for living a life of authenticity, with clarity, with a fo

Justin Caffrey is an Irish business and family man in his early 40's who from a tough and humble childhood experienced tremendous success after he left his university course prematurely. He worked hard in the finance industry becoming a serial entrepreneur and self-described ‘unconscious capitalist’. This gave him tremendous professional and financial success but when his son Joshua died he found both his business and personal life close to collapse. In this special 2 part episode Justin tells us his life story with themes around depression, suicide, psychiatric support, medication, meditation and alcohol excess. Gratefully the overriding moral of the story is one of accepting life's challenges to transform oneself to a life that's in alignment with core consciouness-founded values. It’s an epic tale and one that may trigger strong responses as you listen. But stay with it and you'll hear how Justin has come out on the other side. He's now an advocate for living a life of authenticity, with clarity, with a fo

Why and how did Claire start eating a plant-based diet? And how did that lead to the New Normal Project?   In this episode, the tables are turned and New Normal Project co-host Claire Davies is interviewed about her story. Claire was featured in a Question and Answer session, hosted by yoga teacher Atika Fraval, at the Body Flow Yoga studio in Windsor in Melbourne. So instead of interviewing a guest herself, this week Claire answers questions from Atika and the live audience at the studio on her journey to plant-based eating, the resources she and co-host Andrew have used to guide and support them, and much more. If you are intrigued as to what might lead an otherwise healthy middle-aged woman and her husband to change their eating habits from a standard meat-laden Australian diet to a healthy plant-based diet, then you will enjoy this podcast. Claire tells several stories about her and her families journey, detailing some resources you will no doubt benefit from checking out, and discussing other topics such