Alive and Kicking Full Episode 5/7/26

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Alive and Kicking with Clare McKenna 43 min 4 speakers 4 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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What does Claire McKenna discuss in the opening of the episode?

Clare McKenna 0:01

Alive and kicking with Claire McKenna on News Talk. Yes, you can email the show alive and kicking at newstalk.com, or you'll find me on Instagram, I'm a Claire McKenna Presents. Coming up this morning, Dr. Alan Desmond on what your doctor isn't telling you about food, and Caroline Foreign on what she wished she'd known about anxiety and the roadmap she'd have loved access to. So what kind of a health and wellness week did I have? Well, life is good. Can we keep these daylight hours, please, Mother Nature? I actually love my energy in summer. I mean I know we're meant to slow down, get cozy, and hibernate in the winter, and I do love that. But I'm more into this energy I have with this early daylight brightness into the night.

Clare McKenna 0:45

I I'm into it. I'm into the person I am. You kind of jump out of bed a little bit easier in the morning, don't you? Early. Ten past six, I'm like, there's the bird song, and I'm ready for the day. Ten o'clock at night, I'm still tootling around, and and it seems to be suiting me. I was out for a walk the other day and I was looking at all the blooming flowers and blossoming trees, and I was thinking Yeah, I'm feeling I'm feeling like the gardens are looking. And now both kids have finished school for the summer, so it takes the pressure off the mornings, and everything is just a bit more relaxed. So I'm fully enjoying and appreciating this summer season. And I announced this week that I'm hosting another Would You Be Well retreat in May of next year at the Deerstone in Wicklow.

Clare McKenna 1:26

And they've put a payment plan in place so people can tip away between now and And then I know it's a very early announcement. You're thinking, I don't know what I'm doing next May, Claire. I'll announce some of my guests over the next while, but my retreats are all about pause, rest, recharge, and reset. So while there will be gentle movement on some workshops, I'm more about the relaxation, the stunning surrounds, the connection and fun. For more, you can go to wouldybewell.ie or my Instagram at Claire McKenna Presents. You can also email the show, tell me how your summer is, aliveandkicking at newstalk.com. Now, Dr. Alan Desmond is a consultant gastroenterologist who works for the NHS and his own private practice based in Devon.

Clare McKenna 2:08

He's published numerous research papers and regularly lectures around the world on the benefits of a plant-based diet. His latest book, What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You About Food, is a look at how we are eating in the modern world. World, its impact, and the simple changes that make a big difference. And Dr. Alan Desmond is on the line now. Alan, how are you?

Dr Alan Desmond 2:27

Hi, Claire, good morning, and thanks so much for having me back on your wonderful show.

Clare McKenna 2:31

Alan, this is a fantastic book. Um, and you do a great job of giving stark statistics and information that we need to sit up and take notice of, but also having an empowering sense of of hope. That's not a that's not an easy thing to do. Were you conscious that you had to have both of those strands?

Dr Alan Desmond 2:53

Absolutely Claire. It's so important because overall this is a message of hope. The uh the underlying message can sound a little bit overwhelming, right? I mean, the the whole concept of the book, what your doctor is not telling you about food, the answer to that question is far too much. Um, unfortunately, in the twenty-first century, food Has become our main driver of poor health. Now that can f sound a little bit abstract, but in real terms across Europe, around 800,000 people die every year because of the way our modern food system has reshaped what we eat. Europeans lose about 14 million years of healthy, productive life every year because of the food on our plates. And The you know, the high meat, low fiber, high junk food diet that we used to call the standard American diet, and then it became the standard Western diet, and now it's the standard global diet, is one of the major forces driving heart disease, increasing rates of type two diabetes, uh obesity, and increasing rates of cancer.

Dr Alan Desmond 4:03

So that can all sound a little bit depressing, can't it?