331: Nourish Your Health A Culinary Medicine Workshop | Dr. Riz, Dr. Colin Zhu & Maya Acosta

Dr. Colin Zhu  00:00

You know, back in the day, we used to have home economics. And I don't know, if we still have that, you know, remember that school systems have been trying to decrease recess, decreased physical activity decreased the, you know, the musical arts. And so it kills me It pains me to, because these are essential skills. You know, what the pandemic has shown us is that, you know, if you did not have these skills to begin with, then you are reliant on outsourcing is what I call, you know, and to me, what I teach people is your health starts in the kitchen. This is the healthy lifestyle solutions podcast, and I'm your host, Maya Acosta. If you're willing to go with me. Together, we can discover how simple lifestyle choices can help improve our quality of life, and increase our longevity in a good way. Let's get started. Welcome back friends to another episode of the healthy lifestyle solutions podcast. I'm your host, Maya Acosta. And before I introduce today's topic, I want to tell you about a couple of changes I make into the podcast. And that's mainly as a result of my feeling a little overwhelmed with so much on my schedule. First, I want to remind you that for the most part, in the month of June, I was releasing an episode almost every day, I went to the vegan Women's Summit, and I did all these interviews that I wanted to share with you. And so most of them that run from thirst from Wednesday through Friday, were recorded live on location. And those are interviews were with some of the leaders and speakers of the vegan Women's Summit. So I hope that you got a chance to listen to those. And so now I'm switching the format. You know that I have an episode every Monday called doctor in the house with my husband, Dr. Rizwan Bukhari. And so I'm going to keep that segment every Monday, when possible, most of the time, we are going to have Dr. Reyes is our guest expert here on the show. We recently completed a four part series on Blue Zone living that you might want to check out. And so I'm going to keep that every Monday. What I'm going to switch as my interviews had been falling on Tuesday, typically for the last couple of years, and I'm going to move those to Wednesday. That way, I can space out my episodes a little bit more. And so Monday will be with Dr. Risk, Wednesday will be a guest interview. And if I have a third episode, it'll fall on Friday, that way, the episodes are more spaced out. So that's going to be starting June 26. That'll be June 26 28, and 30. I have episodes and then June July 3, fifth and seventh, I have an episode. So I am going to be keeping three episodes for the next few weeks. And then I'm switching to two episodes again, Monday and Wednesday. Now this coming weekend, we're headed to Cleveland, Ohio for the NA che that's a National Health Association conference that's happening, where they will be celebrating 75 years. And I do plan on reporting, sitting down with Dr. Riz and speaking to you about our experience at the conference. That way you will know what to expect next year if you're interested in going. Keep in mind there's also a virtual component as well. And so lots of great content coming up.

Maya Acosta  03:26

I would say that, as of right now I have content scheduled to be released all the way through August. So I do stay pretty busy. And I'm hoping that after going to NHK I'm going to have a lot of more possible interviews to to do to conduct and then to release. Alright, so going into today's episode, you're going to hear myself Dr. Risk. And our friend Dr. Colin Xu talk about a project that we're working on together. And so I hope that you enjoy this episode, all the links will be in the show notes. We do talk about a workshop that we will be conducting on July 22. I don't have that link ready yet to record but I will include it in the show notes and in future episodes as well. Please tell me what you think about today's episode and I hope that you enjoy. All right friends. Welcome back to another episode of the healthy lifestyle solutions podcast. I'm your host Maya Acosta and I have Dr. Is Dr. Rizwan Bukhari, and also Dr. Colin Zoo. Hi, Dr. Xu. Ah, Hi,

Dr. Colin Zhu  04:29

good morning, afternoon or evening, depending on how you're receiving this.

Maya Acosta  04:33

Right. Okay. All three of us are coming together to present to you a collaborative experience. And I'm going to first tell you about a workshop that we're working on. I'll tell you, I'll read a little bit of a description and then you get to meet all of us individually. We'll talk about what we bring to the table when it comes to this workshop that we are working on. What do you guys think? So wasteland TV. We are so excited as you know Dr. Riz and I are here in Dallas. Dr. Xu is a friend of ours who's also trained in lifestyle medicine. He's in California. And we've been brainstorming ways that we can help, you know, meet some of the needs here in the Dallas area, especially when it comes to teaching you about culinary medicine, food as medicine. And of course, that aspect that we talk about a lot on the podcast, which is lifestyle medicine. So we came up with a workshop that we'll be offering here in Dallas on July 22. You're going to learn all the details about that today and what you can expect and it's titled nourish your health, a culinary medicine workshop. So let me go ahead and read a little bit and then you'll get to meet the doctors that are going to be part of this program. So join us for an enriching and transformative experience at the nourish your health, a culinary medicine workshop, this immersive workshop offers a unique opportunity to discover the power of whole food plant based nutrition in optimizing your health and your well being led by esteemed physicians. Dr. Colin Zhu, also known as the chef doc and Dr. Rizwan Bukhari, the journey begins with a guided grocery store tour, which will be led by Dr. Xu, he'll show you how to navigate through the aisles and rambling, I don't know how to say that word, unraveling the secrets to selecting quality produce and making informed decisions. And we're going to talk about why that's important. But I will say that when I first went whole food plant based diet, I did not know that I was supposed to hold off on, you know, choosing the bananas that were ready. And sometimes people don't know when a produce is ready to be consumed. Like if you pot if you buy tomatoes for that day, you sort of have to know how to pick them for that day. And also avocados can be very tricky.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  06:51

Yeah, I mean, that's, that's still tough for me. And you know, picking for that day versus having some ready for a few days later.

Maya Acosta  06:58

Exactly. So explore the vibrant world of plant based ingredients and covering their nutritional benefits and mastering the art of label reading, which can also be difficult. Most of us don't go to school to learn how to read labels, on our, you know, food labels. So this is a hands on experience that ensures that you'll feel confident and empowered to make healthy choices. Whenever you shop, we're going to return to the workshop venue, and Dr. Xu will lead an interactive culinary workshop and meal preparation session. And I'm going to hold off on the details. I want him to tell you what it's you know what he's going to be teaching you. And then the most wonderful part of all this is that we get to sit down as a community after the meals have been prepared, and we get to eat together and meet one another. Yeah.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  07:44

How nice is that? You know, oftentimes, when you watch these meal preps, you don't get to actually eat them. And I'm sitting there watching the make the food, and I go, when do I get to get a taste? And they say, No, no, we're not going to be passing that out. So that'll be nice to sit around the table and enjoy the food to

Maya Acosta  07:58

write out when it when you get to share about the details of what you'll be doing. You can talk about biometrics. And we'll conclude by telling you about continuing education credits that Dr. Xu is was able to make this eligible this workshop. So let's get started by first speaking to our friend Dr. Xu, welcome again, Dr. Xu.

Dr. Colin Zhu  08:21

Hey, guys, thank you so much for having me on. Great, great privilege and honor and super, super stoked because off camera. We we guys have been very, you know, very good friends over the years. And I'm very, very grateful for that.

Maya Acosta  08:36

I don't know how I communicated it. But I I've known of your podcasts. You've been on my radar in terms of all the things that you're you have created. I've read your book, I've taken your audio course. I pretty much follow a lot of the things that you're doing. Yeah, we've downloaded his app. That's right, you have an app. Okay, there's so much that we can talk about. So we're all over. Please tell our audience a little bit more. You have been on the podcast as well. But please introduce yourself to our audience. Yes,

Dr. Colin Zhu  09:08

yes. Well, thank you for that, you know, warm, you know, the memory walkthrough memory lane. I actually didn't start my podcasts until 2019. So I must have you must have picked on on something. I was still growing in terms of the the chef dive platform, so But I appreciate it. So yeah, so um, Kai, everyone, you know, for those that do not know me. My name is Dr. Colin. I am originally from New Jersey and based in Southern California, I'm the founder of the chef doc. And what do I do a whole bunch of stuff. But what I love is really connecting, teaching, educating inspiring others through hopefully plant based diet on nutrition as well as different pillars of learning how to thrive and I met these two lovely, lovely couple. They are pioneers in their own right And when they're together, they are a force of nature. So I'm really, really, you know, super, super stoked to be here, not just on this podcast, but our upcoming, you know, venture together.

Maya Acosta  10:12

We're really excited to partner with you. And this is why we're doing this recording to let all our listeners know that there's this partnership that's developing with Dr. Xu. So he'll be coming out July 22. And this will be our first sort of event that we're doing together. And then let's meet doctors. Let's talk more with Dr. Risks. In case you're not familiar with Dr. Reyes, and then we'll tell you sort of the name we're all going under. But doctor is

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  10:39

well hi, everyone. My name is Rizwan Bukhari, I'm a vascular surgeon. Most people call me Doctor is It's something my staff goes by the patients go by it's real easy. I always joke that I was hoping it would take on meaning like Dr. Oz, but it hasn't quite gotten that level of attention yet, but there's still time. So I'm a specialist in vascular surgery. And at the root of that is cardiovascular disease. And so I do a lot of teaching related to nutrition, whole food, plant based lifestyle and lifestyle medicine, and its effects on our health. So I'm excited to be a part of this workshop and continued collaboration and relationship. My contribution is going to be in the area of cardiovascular disease, I'll be talking specifically about food as nutrition and, and in particular, some areas where particular foods that we can eat that help improve our cardiovascular nutrition. I'll also be bringing biometrics to our workshop. And we'll be looking at hemoglobin a one C, and a lipid profile, which includes triglycerides, LDL, and HDL. So I think those will be some nice things to add. And we can talk about those results. And, and, and understand that stuff a little bit better.

Maya Acosta  11:54

Yeah, and let's add, let's just mention the value of just doing that. And again, biometrics, you just described what that means. You're, you're just be drying a little bit, you'll be picking a little bit.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  12:05

Yeah. Okay, so I get to talk a little bit more. i Yeah, cuz

Maya Acosta  12:09

I want people to understand what that is, is

Dr. Colin Zhu  12:11

gonna show up with a bunch of roses.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  12:18

Whatever it takes, you know, biometrics just means biological data. And I'm a big fan of biometrics. And there's all sorts of biometrics, it can be something as simple as a heart rate, or a blood pressure, it can be stuff a little bit more invasive, where you draw blood. In this case, we're going to be using a finger prick method just to draw a couple of drops of blood, and we can get all that information from there. And the and I have the mission, the stuff to get the results within five minutes. So you're gonna get immediate feedback, it's not one of these things where you get your blood drawn, and you have to wait a few days to get the results. So we're gonna have immediate results. And there's all sorts of biologic data. And I'm a real big fan of it. And we are, we can even talk about that where we look at all sorts of stuff. And with that feedback, you can make changes to your lifestyle.

Maya Acosta  13:07

If a patient were to visit their doctor and ask for this testing to take place, how much would that cost? Or does the insurance company charge? I mean, take care of that. It's so

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  13:19

variable in this world today. Sometimes insurance covers it, sometimes it doesn't. It depends on whether it's ordered by your your primary care depends whether you have an HMO or a PPO, there's so many variables that go into whether something's covered,

Maya Acosta  13:31

how much would this cost if I just went if I wanted to, okay, the reason I mentioned this is because I think in 2021, I just went ahead and ordered my labs, using a website and went straight to what did I use? I don't remember I

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  13:46

think we use LabCorp. And I mean, I think beauty is now nowadays people are allowed to order there are a lot of their own labs online or go to LabCorp depends on what state you're in. And that determines what labs you're allowed or independent of a physician. And but at the same time, then you don't have the physician to help you interpret it. So a lot of people get these labs and then take them to their doctor and talk about them. Right, which I think is really the best way to do it. And there's all again getting back to bio, the cost of what we're doing is about probably a value of about $100 Yeah, and so that's the the cash value whether you know a you get paid whether your insurance pays for it or not. It will of course won't for us it's included in the workshop that's

Maya Acosta  14:30

the main point that I wanted to drive is when we talk about how much it'll cost this five in it's a five hour workshop we'll go into more detail about what that all consist of like the agenda what things to expect but the what you'll be offering with this testing kit that we have is $100 value, which if you went and did it yourself and most people don't do a test like this more than once a year probably and this are battling with something right

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  14:58

right depending on if you have the diseases that we're looking at here, you might have it once a year or more often, you know, again, depending on what therapy you're on and what your doctor recommends, and also what your progress is.

Maya Acosta  15:09

Okay? So I'm very excited about that. Because, by the way, the reason we even have this kid is, is some of you if you've been following us here in the Dallas area for quite a while we were working on many things in 2020, those things came to a halt. And then now 2023, with our friend, Colin zoo, Dr. Colin zoo, we are now kind of excited about reviving some of the programs that we wanted to have in 2020. And so having these testing kits are is sort of part of what we had initially. And so in the past, our goal was to kind of give you a baseline of where your numbers are, and then give you education as to how you can improve your health through lifestyle changes, and then follow up with you six months later or a year. That was kind of like our goal initially and 2020. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Dr. Xu, would you like to add anything else about what we just discussed? Well, yeah, I

Dr. Colin Zhu  16:09

actually want to add, you know, the values, you know, you know, for this, because I think, you know, just to kind of reiterate, you know, this is a five hour workshop, we're going to be going through a grocery tour, we're going to be doing a interactive calling and medicine workshop, led by me, we're going to be demonstrating three recipes. Okay. We won't review that until, you know, people actually signed up. And then you know, Dr. Riz is going to talk, he's going to do the screening, and then we're going to talk about other frequently asked questions and upcoming events. And the value from this is, you know, you can go on YouTube, and you can go online nowadays, you can just look up on how to, you know, go through the grocery, you can look up on how to, you know, clean out your pantry, but what you won't get is, you know, all this that's led by, you know, two board certified lifestyle medicine physicians, I personally, you know, went through a lot of detours, you know, after medical school, because I felt like I was really ill prepared. So I actually enrolled myself into a plant forward, how supportive Culinary Arts School right after medical school. And so I didn't want to learn just about nutrition, I wanted to understand where food came from, how its source, how different, you know, flavors, taste profiles came together. And, you know, I'm doing this with Dr. Riz Meyer, to be able to bring incredible value, you know, for you guys. And, you know, he just mentioned screening, how long, you know, do doctors spend, you know, talking with you after those results, like five minutes, even less, like very short, and you get to have this for five hours? With two doctors, you know, so it's, it's an incredible value. And, you know, I, you know, that's why I wanted to add,

Maya Acosta  17:57

exactly, that's wonderful. And as a lay person, I'll first of all, I'll add what I bring to the table and the perspective that I think I have as a lay person. So just like you Dr. Xu, and just like Dr. RES, who also went on to learn about lifestyle medicine, so you can be fully equipped to speak with your patients about the lifestyle modifications that they can make to to improve their health. I too, have always been invested in my health, that's where my money goes. And now you, you know, as being together, I think it's pretty obvious to my husband, when he in front of us, I have a whole bookcase of some of the books that I have not all, because I rotate my books out, I read a lot. I'm very invested in learning all of this. As you know, I don't have a background in nutrition or I'm not a dietitian, but I feel comfortable with all that I do in terms of reading and educating myself. And Dr. Xu I might have mentioned mentioned to you that many many years ago, as I too was trying to heal my own health I did. I did things from like pain to learn how to cook in a chef's house, where we just watched the chef prepare the food in her own kitchen and then we all sat down and dine and got to know each other. So that was a wonderful community experience for me. So I've done all of that I've taken classes by actual chefs where I learned how to cook meat, believe it or not, because I didn't eat meat, but I wanted to entertain my guests. So I I've invested in classes like this in the past. And then the other thing that I did was I took the culinary the Ruby culinary course because I love being in the kitchen. So I'm really excited that you're going to be here Dr. Xu because I get to see you work in your element. Not that your kitchen but in your in your world. I get to see how you because I've seen other people and how they cut and slice and all of that and I feel like we lack everyday skills. Most of us that you know, have not been in the kitchen too long. You know, I

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  19:58

think that's an important The thing is that what Dr. Xu is going to do for us here is, in this day and age, a lot of people don't have kind of basic kitchen skills, and cooking skills, because we live in a very mobile society, in the kind of society where we do a lot of eating out, buying fast food and going to restaurants. And most of all, there's a lot of people where most of their meals are prepared for them by somebody else. And then also, then when when they come home, they often do kind of these fast preparation things and which doesn't involve a lot of cooking. And what we're trying to teach people to is how to cook healthy foods and for themselves. And so this is a very, very, really important, basic skill set that Dr. Xu is going to be teaching. And then I think he's going to show how wonderful the food is, too. So because, again, people got to eat it. And when we're done, yeah,

Dr. Colin Zhu  20:51

yeah, I think I mean, you know, what you guys iterate is super, super important that I want to drive home is, you know, back in the day, we used to have home economics. And I don't know, if we still have that, you know, remember that school systems have been trying to decrease recess, decreased physical activity decreased the, you know, the musical arts. And so, it kills me, it pains me to, because these are essential skills, you know, what the pandemic has shown us is that, you know, if you did not have these skills to begin with, then you are reliant on outsourcing is what I call, you know, and to me, what I teach people is your health starts in the kitchen, because you know, what goes into your food, when you're cooking from your kitchen, and everything else is outsourcing. And so with this workshop, you know, we want to teach those skills, we're going to be going over basic knife skills, we're gonna be you know, touring through a pantry, how to stock a fridge, freezer pantry, navigating through the supermarket, and very simple, we're not trying to be you know, on chopped or Iron Chef, you know, it's not, you know, it's not a dramatic zation of that. It's

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  21:57

gonna be a later workshop.

Dr. Colin Zhu  21:58

Yeah, that'd be a later super secret ingredient workshop. But it's really about you know, that transition, learning essential skills, learning to cook with each other, your loved ones, and understanding what a family dinner family meal is, at the end of the day, because I think that we're also missing that in today's society as well, because we're so distracted.

Maya Acosta  22:19

That's right. And I want to add to that when we talked about the grocery tour, because I had forgotten what I was going to say and, and now I remembered, which is, a few years ago, Dr. Xu, I was learning about how sugars and flours affect our health. And it was based on the grocery tour that I did that I participated in was based on this particular book. And so I signed up for it, someone that at Whole Foods, and we went up and down the aisles and looked at the things that we need to stay away from. And this time in this tour, I don't think we're going to focus so much on what we need to stay away from, as much as we'll focus on becoming more comfortable with how to navigate a grocery store and where to start. And there is one trick that I just want to throw out there that we all teach I think, which is have food in your system before you go to the grocery store before you go to a grocery store, and then have a list of what you want for the meals that you're you'll be cooking that week. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to just grab things, put them in the cart. And then a week later, you're disposing of these foods because you didn't use them in your in your meals.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  23:29

Yeah, I mean, that's important, I think be deliberate and have a plan, just like with anything else in life.

Maya Acosta  23:33

But believe it or not, that's a skill that a lot of us forget to us. Because again, we live very busy lives. What do you think? Dr. Xu?

Dr. Colin Zhu  23:41

Yeah, I mean, for most, I don't know, when you're in a supermarket, it's really, you know, how its structured and laid out is very strategic. There's a lot of competing interests there. And they're all meant to derail you. And so you're going to be learning things about, you know, real estate within supermarket, you know, not the real estate that we buy, and so on, you know, on on HGTV and, but we're not, we're not doing that we're talking about real estate in terms of how these food companies have, you know, had to compete with each other in terms of getting your attention to buy them off the shelves. And so we'll talk about that in terms of how the aisles are set up and caps, you know, the impulse, you know, counters in terms of cashiers how to produce and, you know, everything is set up there, how to read labels, you know, what is the magical number in terms of number of ingredients to buy or put back on the shelves? What is considered an actual food and what's considered what I call a food related product. And so you're gonna be learning a whole bunch of stuff. And you know, that right there is, you know, I think is a true, you know, huge value of the workshop self but we're going to be giving a lot so,

Maya Acosta  24:51

yeah, and I know that we're not going to have time to cover everything but at least you get the gist of the things that we that are important for us to help I'll teach you and Dr. Xu was recently on Chef AJ, AJ, and you were talking about food waste. And that's part of the conversation that we were just having right now that a lot of times we're tricked by the marketing strategies that happen in the grocery store, we bring food home, and then we waste a lot of food, especially because we either don't want to eat leftovers, we have this mindset that every day, we should have a different cuisine from a different part of the world. You know, taco night, one night, you have Mexican, I mean, you have Italian the next day, and, you know, you're just used to this mentality of eating out, and the kitchen experience has to change, it has to become more of, you know, based on the skills that I've learned, what can I put together with what I already have in my refrigerator?

Dr. Colin Zhu  25:49

Yeah, I mean, I teach, you know, individually in terms of patients and clients on how to repurpose leftovers, how to batch cook, how to, you know, meal prep, you know, how to put you know, certain things together, and that's a really good point that you brought up my own is that six to 8%, of greenhouse emissions is, you know, coming from just food waste. And so if we can, you know, reduce that, we're not contributing to that, because this is a very critical decade. And, you know, and we will talk more about how, you know, sustainable our individual practices are not and I think the pandemic has shown us a lot of clues, that no matter what we do or not, do say or not say, it affects, you know, someone else down the road, and that also, is also influenced by our individual choices, not just in terms of food, and what we put in our system, but also in terms of the other pillars of lifestyle medicine. And, and also, you know, how that affects each other as well. I also want to define culinary medicine, you guys are probably, you know, the ones that are listening, probably the ears are perked up. So culinary medicine is defined, as you know, the blending of the, you know, arts, the culinary arts, with the science of nutrition, and how that is used and apply to optimize someone's health. So, it is also, you know, called Food as Medicine as well. But yeah, we're going to be teaching you that plus more in this workshop.

Maya Acosta  27:17

Yes. And now I'm gonna bring it back to Dr. Risk. But before that, I want to give you a little bit of background for those listeners that are new to listening to the podcast is that before the pandemic, I almost want to say I use another term, rather than saying that but I myself, I have a background in education. So I have a master's degree in any kind of platform, or job I've ever held. I've always been the educator. So I see things that way. When I, when I'm scripting or putting together content for the podcast, I'm thinking like a teacher, like how I teach how I would teach this content. And so. So that's sort of what I bring to the table along with the fact that I've sort of become an event planner, without really knowing that I was going to do that. But Dr. was, and I were doing a lot of different things before the pandemic. So I was the person putting the events together, whether it was collaborating with our library, or other people that I consider experts in our community, or even people in the food industry that could offer a whole food plant base, I would collaborate with them to bring everyone together so that you can have more resources as you're making this transition. One of the things that we did that i in terms of Dr. Riz, because he did one of his missions had been to take this message of food is medicine to medical schools, and in 2019, we hit up several medical schools, if you want to talk about that. And yeah, please tell us more about that.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  28:48

So yeah, we, we participated in several medical schools, you know, particularly I went back to my alma mater, UT Southwestern. That was nice, I got to speak with the first and second year medical students. And in fact, it was back down in the exact same lecture hall that I spent my first two years in medical school. And so that was kind of exciting for me and brought back memories, but it was a it was a good talk was well attended. We also went to UTMB in Galveston recall that same year, and so we've been one of our missions is to try to get the word out to our young doctors and doctors and training so that it'll be a little bit different for our general population. Now, you know, back when Colin and I were in medical school, nutritional training and food as medicine were very little to none, I got zero and I don't know how much did you get Colin?

Dr. Colin Zhu  29:40

I had 10 credit hours and it was all Biochemistry and everything was like either a macro and micronutrients. So

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  29:49

yeah, and same same for me. It was all physiology and not you know, so we understand what a protein and a fat and and carbohydrate are, how many calories are They are and how they're metabolized. Right? But what we weren't taught about the actual, you know, the the bigger picture, which is how nutrition is and, you know, there we can study nutrition at different levels and, but we weren't taught about the nutrition, and how to actually get those, those calories, those proteins, those fats into our body and what's optimal. And so now I'm trying to, you know, we one of our missions has been to try to get that message to our doctors and training and medical students so that patients today will have a better or the patients of the future will have a better nutritional guidance that I think the reality is and and Colin can attest this to us today, if you ask 10 Different doctors how to eat, you're gonna get 10 different answers. And that's really a testament to the fact that none of them got any consistent training on what is optimal health and optimal nutrition, what's important at the basis of optimal health and nutrition. And so they're just really giving you their opinion, based on the same cultural and experiences that they've had. As throughout their lives,

Maya Acosta  31:05

right. Yeah. And I want to add that by the time this episode airs, I will already have announced the Dr. Laurie Marvis Eventbrite link. So as many of you and I've teased about it on the podcast, I were organizing an event for Dr. Marvis here in the Dallas area, we are collaborating with her as well in terms of risk, we'll go into more detail as everything develops in terms of how you working with her, and more medical. But what I want to bring up is that we do still collaborate and make other events that are available for anyone who wants to attend in the in the Dallas area. But what we've done with this event, is we also have invited doctors, because for me, I've been very passionate about helping more doctors come on board, to hear the message to understand that there is power in eating whole food plant based foods. I want to add that you've been working on your end with people that you work with at the hospital or even in a in a setting where you're in surgery, you spend a lot of time sharing the message to people that are willing to listen.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  32:12

Well, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think those of us who are in this space are very excited about what we do. There's a passion about helping people become healthier, you know, it's not with this isn't just a silent thing that we we are a part of we want to we want to we want people to be healthier, I joke that I'm trying to put myself out of business. And, and so and you know, pretty vocal about nutrition, and how important it is to our health. And and then fortunately I work in a smaller community, it's real tight knit. So people kind of know about what I do and, and when they are interested in the message I'm very happy to share. And I work on at several levels, I've tried to get the cafeteria that serves as food to offer healthy options. And that we have come a long ways in many years over that which is in a positive way. And, and many people that I work with have have transitioned to a more plant slant, or plant based diet. My my CEO is very much on board for a healthier lifestyle. And we have conversations all the time. Our new CFO, just the other day he came to me and said, you know, Dr. Riz, I think I need to go vegan. And I was like, Okay, well, let's sit down and talk. And so, you know, I think that people recognize that there's a healthier way to live. And I think everybody knows that. And so then they're when they find out that there's resources or opportunities or people that they know, I'm happy to share. And my my next big deal is to nutrition services. I don't know if they're happy to see me or if I'm a thorn in their side. But the next big thing is to try to improve the the food we serve our patients.

Maya Acosta  33:59

Right? Oh, my God, imagine creating a change for that. Dr. Xu says we're talking about other professionals in health care, please tell us who is this workshop for? And tell us about the continuing education eligibility that that people can take advantage of?

Dr. Colin Zhu  34:17

Yeah, for sure. So the workshop is for noxious people that are health and wellness oriented, that want to improve and optimize their health that are curious about how to transition. I don't know where to go, I don't know what resources you know, there are and what we've created is something very, very concentrated, led by, you know, us three, and I think you have a whole package, but we also have the ability to make this continuing education eligible. And, you know, it is for basically, who can all actually earn credits for our workshops is physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians associated pharmacists, dentists and dietitians and dietetic technicians. And so, you know, the the content itself is, you know, we go through an exercise, we go through a lot of reflective processes alongside the content we present. And it's a very streamlined process. As well as everything, we want to make it as simple as possible. And we wanted to make it as open as possible. So not only do you, you know, learn and receive a lot of value, but you also can apply that towards your continuing maintenance of certification, whichever you have,

Maya Acosta  35:38

oh, my goodness, that means that if we have anyone in the healthcare field that it could benefit from continuing education, like our doctors, and you said, like our physician associates, we can refer them to this five hour workshop, and how many credits do they get?

Dr. Colin Zhu  35:54

Five, five credit hours? Wow,

Maya Acosta  35:57

that is great. How many credits are there are people supposed to have every year?

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  36:02

I think it varies from state to state, I'm required to get 30 per year, every two years. Okay, so I have to get 60 Every time I renew my license, and, and there's a some variety that's involved in it. So hey, Colin, can I get credit for doing the workshop? Unfortunately, I don't think we get credit, if we put it on, I've done that before. Yeah, whenever I give the CME talks, I don't get to get a CME, which is really weird.

Dr. Colin Zhu  36:31

And for those that are listening, I'm sure you guys share this, as well as that it is sometimes a hurdle, you know, just to, you know, get the credits, you have to pay an exorbitant amount of money, you have to fly to XYZ conferences, you know, which are really, really cold, and, you know, sit through lectures that you may enjoy, not may enjoy, and we want to be able to bring a wonderful experience, and also be able to, you know, make it eligible for you guys. So this is just another option, you know, especially in person as well. So,

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  37:04

yeah, that the value is very good. I, you know, I sat there and calculated when I have to fly, I remember I remember one time, I had to fly to Phoenix, to go to a society of vascular surgery meeting, and I was getting 30 Something credits for the entire meeting over an entire week. And when I sat there, and I calculated it all out, it came out to several $100 per credit, that was airfare hotel car registration, and also income loss to me. And, and so you know, this is actually quite a quite a good deal.

Maya Acosta  37:33

It is ours. And we're bringing it to you. This is the first of many collaborations that we'll have with Dr. Xu. So he's coming out here for to make this happen. For all of us here in the Dallas area, we can only take 10 person participants. So we want you to be serious. And in just as interested in getting involved in learning, even if you already have a little bit of background in understanding the power of you know, whole plant based foods, I think it'd be great, it would be a great opportunity to come in build the community and network with other professionals if it becomes more professional than the people. But I want to do a recap. And then we can talk about what people can expect in terms of how much it costs, how to register and all of that. And then we can continue to add more information, more details if you'd like. So we're recapping in the sense that, you know, we'll do an introduction, everybody gets to introduce themselves and talk about what brought you here to the workshop, why you want to do the workshop. And even a little bit of background about yourself if you have any health issues or if you work with patients and what you've seen. And then Dr. Xu is going to guide us in the grocery store. We're all going to be there. And Dr. Xu, I think you might have said that we will also be assigned food to purchase for the meal that you'll be preparing. Is that right?

Dr. Colin Zhu  38:55

Yes. So basically, when we're doing the grocery supermarket navigation, not only are you learning the anatomy of the supermarket, but we're also going to be signing to help out in terms of, you know, gathering all the ingredients for the workshop in the middle of the of the actual duration. So we could you know, see how, okay, if I'm grabbing this, what am I looking at? If I'm grabbing this, what am I looking for, and to be able to contribute for it because it's going to be a collaborative event? Like, you know, mine, Dr. Riz has said, you know, there's a lot of different types of cooking demos and workshops have been put on before, but this is super, super interactive, very hands on and you know, how I like to teach and lead by workshops is really, you know, hands on using all five senses, and we're working as a team. So yes, to answer your question. Yeah.

Maya Acosta  39:48

I have a lot of questions, and I don't expect them to be answered during this grocery tour. But I will tell you Dr. Zhu seven years in eating this way, I now know from experience that when I buy A papaya for example, it's going to be sitting on my counter for a few days before I can eat it. When I lived in California, very different experience, I could eat an avocado the same day I purchased, it went way too, you come out to Texas, you buy an avocado, and it'll be sitting in your fridge for a while. But I've heard that there are different ways of figuring out when it's ready to be eaten along with bananas, and even cantaloupe. Remember, like the whole cantaloupe? Like they say you have to, you know, knock on it or hit it to know and there were so many tricks to picking

Dr. Colin Zhu  40:33

a Morse Morse code you have to and the camera was supposed to respond back in.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  40:39

Yes and no more. So I understand the response. Right.

Maya Acosta  40:41

So okay, so just recapping, again, the grocery tour, and then we'll be back to the workshop venue, where you'll learn some culinary skills and meal preparation. And, you know, Dr. Xu will talk a little bit about how to navigate your own kitchen, by showing you how things are stored. And, and you'll see how I put together some stuff with that as well. And then we'll be sitting down and having a communal experience of just networking, we recently just finished a four part BlueZone series and community is one of the key things that the blue zones have the people the longest live people in the world value spending time together with loved ones, and we want to give you that experience, most of us eat alone, for the most part, and most families don't necessarily always sit down at the table to dine. And so that you'll have that experience, you get to meet each other talk about your background, kind of I call it networking. We'll do afterwards biometrics doctor is at some point where you can and by the way, this can be personal. So you'll have a separate space for doing the biometrics and speaking to people about what that means for their numbers. And then we'll just tell you again, we'll we'll we'll finish off by telling you how you can obtain your CPE credits. And then of course, we want testimonials. So if you're open to that, we'll have a waiver that you can sign we would love to hear what this experience was like for you because we'd like to continue to do this right. Dr. Xu?

Dr. Colin Zhu  42:14

Yes, yes, very much.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  42:16

So yeah, I'd like to comment on a couple of things that you both brought up. And first off, it's limited to 10 people. And that's really important, it's going to be a very cozy, intimate group of people, and that 10 people is going to have access. So it's not going to be this large crowd where you feel disconnected, you're actually going to be in the action, participating in the shopping, but you know, more one on one interaction with the experts here. And so it's going to be a really meaningful experience as far as I'm concerned. And so I think these place, these spots are going to go fast. So I wouldn't wait around. And, you know,

Maya Acosta  42:54

I and by the way, I want both of you to jump in and tell me what the value of this would be. So I'm just thinking, if I were to go out and have dinner with friends, okay, and the dinner is cooked by a professional chef. So we're talking about plant based eating. And that's hard to find in Dallas, because we don't have a place where we can actually eat healthy food healthy plant base. But if I were to go out to dinner, and on top of that have a networking event that I attend and have my biometrics taken and also learn how to do a grocery tour properly so that I can have the tools to you know, pick my produce exactly how I want it to be when I'm ready to cook those foods. Oh, and did I mention culinary skills? What's the value of all of that package? Why would people pay if they paid separately? For something like that?

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  43:46

Oh, a lot more than what we're charging. I can tell you that. I just saw something online where a group of 10 can do a have a plant based meal cooked for them. And it was $150 a piece. Yeah, just for that just for the meal.

Maya Acosta  44:02

Just the male Dr. Zhu, what do you think the value of all of this is?

Dr. Colin Zhu  44:06

Well, I also want to add that, you know, it is led by two board certified lifestyle medicine. physicians to doctors, right. Yep. And it's an incredible value, I would say, you know, at least $1,000 Easy.

Maya Acosta  44:20

Yeah, exactly, though. Yeah. And so the fact that you're getting all of this for 399 For a five hour workshop, plus continuing education credit, if you if it applies to you. Exactly. And so, we were going to share, I'm going to add a link in the show notes, and I'll make sure I get it out there too. Because we're still working on the details for the Eventbrite but then probably by the time this airs, we will have all that information but look out for the for the link so that you can register. We take there is going to be a link when you look at the deed tells of Eventbrite, you'll be able to see, I tried to think of all the different questions that people would have. And I'll just throw some out there. I was pulling, I was trying to pull up my, I have frequently asked questions, so I'm just going to answer them real quick. Not all of them. Who is this workshop suitable for? It's suitable for all individuals of all backgrounds with an interest in culinary experience, you don't have to have any experience because that's why you're coming to learn. Whether you're a healthcare professional, a food enthusiast like myself, or someone looking to improve their health through nutrition, this workshop is for you. Are there going to be hands on cooking demonstrations? Will there be a immersive experience that way? Dr. Xu?

Dr. Colin Zhu  45:45

Yes, it's going to be immersive, we're going to be cooking together, we're going to be leading three different types of recipes. Everyone's going to be working in the kitchen. And I think that's one of the best hands on experience. And methods of cooking is using all five senses. You know, demonstrations are great, you know, very elegant and very, you know, a lot of glitz and glamour. But I believe it's more of a one way experience. And so I want I want it to be a two way experience. And so it's there's a lot of interactivity. Yes.

Maya Acosta  46:18

Okay. Another question that people may have is, is this workshop suitable for dietary restrictions? Or allergies? We know that nowadays, people deal with gluten sensitivity and not allergies, and all of that, will we take this into consideration? Dr. Zhu,

Dr. Colin Zhu  46:35

I think it's important to take this in consideration, I do want to reiterate that, you know, we are doing, you know, whole food plant based recipes. So people who are interested not just in a culinary experience, but also in terms of learning how, you know, I want to include more plants in my diet, I want to include more, you know, plant for, you know, recipes, you know, I have a loved one that's battling a chronic disease, you know, how do I learn, you know, so it's not just a culinary experience, it's learning how to use food as medicine in terms of optimizing one's individual health and or someone else's. So you're going to be learning that in totality?

Maya Acosta  47:14

Yes. So you'll be receiving an email from me when you register and a will have a questionnaire and one of the things that you let us know is if you do have any allergies, and we'll definitely take that into consideration. Okay, a couple of other things. What should I bring to the workshop?

Dr. Colin Zhu  47:31

An open mind? Stay here.

Maya Acosta  47:33

Yeah, there you go. Curiosity? To appetite. Oh, that'll be nice.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  47:38

How about a big knife? Or no, I think we're providing

Dr. Colin Zhu  47:42

we have the equipment. Yeah, they don't have to, you know,

Maya Acosta  47:46

so you'll receive a folder with a goodie bag, but all the content that you'll need will print be printed for you. And you'll have a place to write down your biometrics and take notes. So we'll provide like the pin pad, or the notepad and the pen for you. So all you need to do is just show up and and, and have a good time. Can children attend the workshop? So what we said is, while the workshop is primarily designed for adults, you know, we do welcome mature teenagers with an interest in culinary medicine and nutrition to attend, but please contact us directly. If you're if you have younger people, we actually are gearing this for adults. All right, another question that can participants bring alcohol to the workshop? So to answer what I have written in the Eventbrite is, as the focus of the workshop is on culinary medicine and healthy lifestyle practices, we kindly request that attendees refrain from bringing alcohol to the event. This helps us to maintain a cohesive and health oriented atmosphere throughout the workshop. Anybody want to add to that?

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  48:53

No, I think enough, perfect. Okay. All right. Dr. Xu,

Maya Acosta  48:57

please tell us about the early bird prize. When is the deadline for that? And then tell us again, the overall prize for those that don't get the early bird?

Dr. Colin Zhu  49:07

Yeah, so the main registration costs is going to be 399. And we've you know, listed out the, the bullet points of what you're getting, and it's, you know, well more than $1,000 value in terms of Early Bird, we're going to price it at 349. And so the deadline for that is going to be July 1 of 2023. So it's very limited amount of time, quick turnover. So it's a really first come first serve. And after July 1, it's going to go back up to 399. And it's only 10 seats and we're anticipating this to sell out pretty quickly.

Maya Acosta  49:44

I'm going to announce this workshop at the Laurie Marvis a Dr. Laurie Marvis event because I know that we're going to have health care providers that we've invited but we also have people that want to take the next step. You know, Dr. Zhu, we talked about this Before we even started collaborating, that people are hungry to come back together, and people are hungry for educate, you know, for more education on how to get started on a plant based diet, but also just taking it to the next level, like the culinary experience. Now, I've been asking around how many people from our area are going to the lifestyle medicine Conference, which is coming up at the end of I think, October, or, and not that many people can fly out of town, they can't afford it, because we discussed earlier that to go to a conference takes not only the cost of the conference, but flying, they're staying there and also moving around. So transportation, we're making it easy we're bringing the workshop to you this is you get a taste of lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, from two experts that have gone the extra mile of studying lifestyle medicine and becoming board certified. So we don't have that in Dallas, we have Dr. risks. And then we have Dr. Xu that's coming in from California. And so this is the beginning of many things to come. I'm very excited about this collaboration. I think it's going to be nice, I have this feeling that this is going to be there's going to be a demand for more.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  51:14

Yeah, I'll tell you what, just talking about this right now is getting me all excited about it. I wish it was tomorrow. So we could get going.

Dr. Colin Zhu  51:22

Yeah, there's there's nothing that beats the the live in person synergy and camaraderie report that's built up, you know, when you have you know, because, you know, I'm sure we've been zoomed out in terms of, you know, virtual everything, right. And so having something like this is very, very special. And I liked the fact that it's limited, you know, it's only going to be you know, one and done. And then we move on, right? And, you know, we want to continue to have this and to bring this to the community. So, again, we're anticipating this to sell out, and I'm not even sure we're gonna have a waitlist, or we're gonna have a waitlist guys.

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  52:03

Yeah, I think we can keep a little waitlist. But you know, it's such a small crowd that I don't think that that's going to be, you know, fruitful. But we'll keep one just in

Maya Acosta  52:12

case a wait list for the next one for the for the next one. Who knows how often we'll offer this.

Dr. Colin Zhu  52:18

Exactly. All right,

Maya Acosta  52:19

any final words, before we wrap up?

Dr. Colin Zhu  52:23

I think it's never too late to take back your health. No matter where you are, in terms of your life, your life situation, your family, there's always new every day is a new day, okay? The the fact that you're above ground is a good day, you know, so you know, it doesn't matter, you know, where you are in terms of your life, your health, you can always you know, get up, start learning the tools, reach out, seek help seek support, and what better way to do this with, you know, to two great physicians, and amazing, amazing, just collaborative between the three of us, as well as joining a peer to peer, you know, community with like minded individuals and you know, who are maybe you know, going through similar life experiences in terms of you know, where they are in their health, where they're with their family, and where they are with their individual experience. So I think this is gonna be a really, really fun event. We're super excited about it.

Maya Acosta  53:19

Yep. Well, I want to thank everybody, Doctor Who, with any final words,

Dr. Rizwan Bukhari  53:24

you know, nothing much different. I just kind of echo the words of Dr. Xu. I think that this is important for people in at all points in their lives. I even tell my patients who have very advanced disease, that it's not too late to change your habits and adopt a healthier lifestyle, and learn these skills because it'll make them healthier. Yeah,

Maya Acosta  53:46

what we're bringing to Dallas is lifestyle medicine. We don't have that we'll be the first to bring you lifestyle medicine in Dallas basically,

Dr. Colin Zhu  53:53

are, you know, superhero team name is called the lifestyle wellness experience. That is what we're going on together, the three of us moving forward. So we're going to be bringing hopefully a lot of different iterations. And this is the very first one. So this is very, very special for us. And we're excited to share it with the first 10 that shot that sign up and register.

Dr. Colin Zhu  54:17

And the workshop again is called nourish your health culinary medicine workshop. Friends, we can't wait to connect with you to have you as part of this experience. So make sure that you look at the link, check below and also you can always contact me PLANT BASE maya@gmail.com For more details on the workshop, and we look forward to meeting you in person. Thanks again for listening. Thank you. You've been listening to the healthy lifestyle solutions podcast with your host Maya Acosta. If you've enjoyed this content, please share with one friend who can benefit. You can also leave us a five star review at rate this podcast.com forward slash H L as this helps us to spread our message as always thank you for being a listener