Essential Ingredients Podcast 054: Noodles Without the Guilt: Comfort Food Gets a Healthy Makeover with Jonathan Carp
“An interdisciplinary approach to medicine is probably the way the future is going to go. There will be dieticians and a whole host of different people involved in helping someone to heal.” —Jonathan Carp
For too long, we’ve been told that health comes in a medicine bottle or a doctor’s office, but what if the real power lies in the food we choose every day? If you’ve ever felt frustrated by quick fixes that don’t last or wondered how to make healthy changes that actually stick, you’re not alone—and this episode is for you.
Dr. Jonathan Carp is a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Miracle Noodle, a company born from his passion for using nutrition and lifestyle to transform health. With years of experience helping patients and building a wellness brand, he’s on a mission to make healthy eating accessible, enjoyable, and truly life-changing.
Tune in as Justine and Dr. Carp break down the myths about comfort food, reveal how small changes can lead to big results, and share real stories of healing, grit, and the surprising joy of eating well.
Meet Jonathan:
A Dermatologist since 2000, Dr. Jonathan Carp started Miracle Noodle in 2006. In 2004, he had a patient who healed herself from lupus through nutritional and lifestyle modification.
Since then, he has treated hundreds of patients through lifestyle modification, especially nutritional changes, with a special interest in auto-immune diseases. This has turned into a nutritional obsession that led to his learning about the health benefits of the konjac plant.
While he still practices medicine, a significant amount of time is now also devoted to Miracle Noodle and exploring and testing healthy, healing food options based on traditional cultural diets. Dr. Carp firmly believes that all that ails us in the world today could be solved by going back a few generations and making sure that the nutritional wisdom of our ancestors is remembered and combined with the latest science. While Miracle Noodle keeps him busy, it has allowed him the resources to investigate and learn about the nutritional wisdom of the world and how to get products and knowledge out to the world through his patients and his companies.
Connect with NextGen Purpose:
Episode Highlights:
02:15 Miracle Noodle: From Japan to Your Plate
06:02 Food as Medicine: Why What We Eat Matters
11:29 The Fast Track to Retail: How Press and TV Changed the Game
16:26 Real Stories, Real Impact
21:17 On the Job MBA: Learning Business the Hard (and Fun) Way
26:44 From Miracle Noodle to Miracle Living
30:16 The Importance of Community and Consumer Engagement