Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation Episode 580: Pediatricians and Plant-Based Diets ft. Dr. Reshma Shah and Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster
This week, plant-based pediatricians Dr. Reshma Shah and Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster join Jasmin to share their thoughts on how both adults and children can best transition from a standard diet to a plant-based diet, and discuss how they each made that change themselves during their medical careers. Dr. Yami shares how she got lost in a plant-based rabbit hole on her search for facts, while Dr. Shah provides insight into how veganism helped her connect to her roots. They discuss how the medical community often adopts an extreme point of view in regards to veganism, and whether this dissuades people from trying to live more plant-based. Both doctors also give their number one tip for advocating for veganism and share how we can change society as we know it if we all go vegan.
Dr. Reshma Shah is a board-certified pediatrician with nearly two decades of experience caring for children and families in the San 
Francisco Bay Area. She has a Master’s degree in Public Health and also received additional training in plant-based nutrition, leading her to write Nourish, a guide for plant-curious families who want to support their health and well-being. Also a board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster is a lifestyle medicine physician, a health and wellness coach and a passionate champion of the power of plant-based diets for the prevention of chronic disease. The founder of VeggieFitKids, she also hosts the podcast Veggie Doctor Radio where she explores plant-based nutrition and healthy living.
This Week in Our Hen House:
- Why, as adults, we have to be more aware of how we behave around food in front of children
- Why and how we should avoid becoming too anxious about our diet
- Why the plant-based offerings at fast-food restaurants are a great way for people to explore plant-based diets
- Why both doctors are so outspoken on the issues of veganism and plant-based living
- Their go-to resources for up-to-date information
- Intuitive eating, what it is, and why Dr. Yami created her parent’s guide to intuitive eating from a plant-based standpoint
- Why Dr. Shah decided to sit down during a global pandemic and write a book about eating and feeding your family a vegan diet
- The current, inadequate role of nutrition in medical training
- How to use nutrition to manage your health from a lifestyle medicine perspective
- How we can most effectively advocate for veganism from a social justice perspective
Connect with Dr. Shah and Dr. Yami:
- Nourish website
- Yami website
- Nourish on Facebook
- Yami on Facebook
- Reshma Shah on Instagram
- Yami on Instagram
Connect with Our Hen House:
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This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.
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Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.
The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.