Thrive on Plants

When a substitute teacher mentioned that half his students showed up hungry, Elizabeth Potter didn't form a committee. She and her husband drove to Walmart, bought food and backpacks, and found a way to help solve the problem. That was the spring of 2010. This past year, Food 4 Kids sent home more than 17,500 bags of food to children across Lincoln County, New Mexico, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation.In this episode of Thrive on Plants, Dr. Daphne Bascom sits down with Elizabeth Potter, founder of the Ruidoso / Lincoln County Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, vegan athlete, and 2023 New Mexico Magazine "True Hero." This is a conversation about what it actually takes to feed a child with dignity, why a butternut squash can change a family, and the hard truth that programs like hers are, in Elizabeth's words, "a band-aid on a gushing wound."Right now in the U.S., about 1 in 5 children, roughly 14 million kids, live in households without reliable access to enough food. That number is near its highest level in a decade, and the burden falls hardest on rural counties and on Black and Hispanic families. This is what frontline child hunger looks like, and what one determined person can build in response.Highlights from our conversationHow a backpack program actually worksThe "no qualification, no questions" model: removing shame so families will say yes to helpWhy she calls Food 4 Kids "a band-aid on a gushing wound," and what real change would requireThe food-quality dilemma: 53% of parents said no to "healthier options," and what that taught herWhat happens to these kids over summer, holidays, and when SNAP benefits suddenly stopWhy "an open mind" is the one thing she wishes every donor and volunteer would bringA few numbers from the conversation:17,500+ food bags distributed in a single program year67% of families served report living on $2,000 a month or less; 89% on $3,000 or lessOver 50% of children served are Hispanic; 14% are Native American, and growing100% volunteer-run, no paid staff, no overhead: every dollar becomes foodSupport Food 4 KidsEvery dollar donated becomes food for a child in Lincoln County. To donate, volunteer, or learn more, visit lincolncountyfood4kids.org. As Elizabeth says: give a dollar, and she'll turn it into food for a child.A note on the data: Statistics on national child food insecurity reflect current USDA-based estimates for 2023 through 2025. Program figures are as reported by Elizabeth Potter and Food 4 Kids.#Food4Kids #FoodInsecurity #ChildHunger #PlantBased #FoodAsMedicine #Nonprofit #NewMexico #BackpackProgram #ThriveOnPlants #FoodEquity #CommunityImpact #FoodJusticeAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

Melatonin isn't just a sleep aid. It might be one of the most misunderstood molecules in your body, and understanding it could impact your healthspan.Most of us know melatonin from the supplement aisle: something you take when you can't sleep. But Dr. Deanna Minich has spent years making the case that this "sleep hormone" is actually a primordial, multitasking molecule she calls the "mother molecule," made not only in your pineal gland but in your gut, skin, ovaries, and even inside your mitochondria. In this conversation, Dr. Minich and Dr. Daphne get into what melatonin really is, why your own production drops sharply as you age (a decline she calls "melatonopause"), and the practical, plant-forward ways you can protect it starting tonight.Dr. Deanna Minich is a nutrition scientist with a doctorate in medical sciences, a Fellow and past president of the American College of Nutrition, and Chief Science Officer at Symphony Natural Health. She spent a decade working alongside Dr. Jeffrey Bland, the father of functional medicine, and is the author of The Rainbow Diet and Whole Detox. In 2022 she published the review "Is Melatonin the Next Vitamin D?"Read Dr. Minich's full bio: https://deannaminich.com/professional-bio/In this episode:Why melatonin is far more than a sleep hormone, and what it does in your mitochondria"Melatonopause": how your levels fall from childhood to your 50s and 60sThe single most important lever for your circadian health (hint: it's free)Why so many of us have a "darkness deficiency," and how to fix itHow your plate builds melatonin, from tryptophan to the cofactors you needThe dosing "sweet spot," and why more is often not betterWhy you might feel groggy on melatonin, and what caffeine tells you about your own metabolismThe plant-based melatonin conversation, and what the early research actually showsA note on the science: Melatonin is a true hormone with real interactions, so please talk with your own clinician before starting any supplement. This conversation is educational, not medical advice.Learn more about Dr. Minich: https://deannaminich.com (visit the Resources tab for free downloads, including a melatonin summary)Explore the plant-based melatonin discussed: Symphony Natural Health at https://symphonynaturalhealth.comDisclosure: Dr. Minich serves as Chief Science Officer at Symphony Natural Health. Some research referenced involves their formulations.#Melatonin #Menopause #Healthspan #CircadianRhythm #PlantBased #FunctionalMedicine #Longevity #Perimenopause #SleepHealth #WomensHealthAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

What if the missing piece of your menopause care isn't a hormone at all?Cynthia Thurlow, NP, has spent more than two decades in clinical medicine. But no one, not her training, her colleagues, or her own doctors, prepared her for what perimenopause would do to her body. Or for how much of it would trace back to her gut.After a serious infection, a 13-day hospitalization, and weeks of antibiotics, she had to rebuild her microbiome in the middle of perimenopause. That experience became The Menopause Gut, which she calls "the book I wish I had had 10 years ago."In this conversation, we talk about why the gut microbiome deserves a seat at the center of midlife care, and what you can start doing about it now.You’ll learn more about:Why women can do everything right, including HRT, and still not feel wellHow chronic stress and early-life adversity may influence ovarian aging and the timing of menopauseWhy sleep and stress can't be fixed separately, and simple daily ways to calm your nervous systemWhat progesterone and estrogen can and can't do for sleepWhy heart disease remains the leading killer of women, and which labs (ApoB and Lp(a)) to ask your clinician aboutWhy Cynthia calls fiber "the new F-word," and how it may help protect your bones after menopauseConnect with CynthiaThe Menopause Gut: https://www.cynthiathurlow.com/the-menopause-gutWebsite: https://www.cynthiathurlow.comEveryday Wellness Podcast: https://www.cynthiathurlow.com/podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthia_thurlow_/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/cynthiathurlowThis video is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please talk with your own healthcare provider before making changes to your health care, medications, or hormone therapy.#menopause #guthealth #perimenopause #gutmicrobiome #womenshealth #hormonehealth #midlifehealth #plantbased #longevity #lifestylemedicine #longevitylab #longevityathleteAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

She was born vegan. Her mother had been vegan for nine years before Anne arrived. Her father founded the American Vegan Society the year John F. Kennedy was elected president.And now, at 56, Anne Dinshah is the CEO of that same organization, taking up springboard diving for the first time since high school, rowing fifteen miles at a stretch on the Schuylkill River, and building bridges between people who think differently and a philosophy she has lived every single day of her life.This is not a conversation about protein.It is a conversation about ahimsa: the Sanskrit word for non-harming that Anne's father translated as dynamic harmlessness. Doing the least harm and the most good, every day, with whatever options you have available.In this episode, Anne and I explore what that framework offers people navigating midlife. We talk about what her father understood about behavior change that the modern wellness world has still not figured out. We talk about why so many people who go vegan eventually step back, and what community has to do with staying the course. And we talk about what it means to keep saying yes to life at every age, whether that means returning to a sport you loved, leading an organization your father built, or simply getting out of bed and doing five minutes of movement before the day begins.One line from her father has stayed with her for decades, something she may have read rather than heard him say directly:"I can only do what I can do. But I can do it every day."That is what this episode is about.Contact Anne DinshahAmerican Vegan Society: americanvegan.orgInstagram: @AmericanVegansAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

What if the way you eat is directly shaping how you think, feel, and cope?Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine- the molecules your brain uses to regulate mood, motivation, and stress response- are synthesized from essential amino acids. Amino acids that come from food. That means what you put on your plate every day either supports your brain health or quietly undermines it. In this episode of Thrive on Plants, I sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Winings, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Jacksonville University, and founder of Winings Wellness, a seven-provider integrative mental health practice built on a premise most clinics still haven't adopted: mental health care should be preventive, not just reactive.Dr. Winings' path to this work started at the VA, watching patients lose limbs to poorly controlled diabetes and asking a question most clinicians don't ask out loud: when do we stop treating the consequences and start addressing the cause? That question led her to a doctoral internship at TrueNorth Health Center in California, years in inpatient pediatric psychiatry, and ultimately to founding a practice where nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and mental health care operate as one.In this episode, we discuss:The concept of preventive mental health care: what it is, why most people don't know it's possible, and how to start building it nowHow emotions work as neurobiological signals and why learning to read them changes everythingThe grief, identity, and psychological weight of cancer survivorship that medicine rarely addressesAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs), nervous system regulation, and the long arc of mental health across a lifetimeBreaking down cultural and systemic barriers to mental health care accessWhat Dr. Winings actually asks her patients about food at every single visitHow to know when your intuition is speaking and how to stop talking yourself out of itThis is a conversation about eating, thinking, feeling, and building a life that is not just longer, but genuinely more whole.Connect with Dr. Elizabeth WiningsWebsite: https://winingswellness.com/Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

Most women over 50 are doing everything they were told to do. Eating less. Exercising more. And getting nowhere.In this episode of Thrive on Plants, Dr. Daphne Bascom sits down with Debra Atkinson, an exercise physiologist, former Iowa State kinesiology lecturer, and founder of Flipping 50, to discuss why the old fitness rules stop working in midlife and what actually builds a strong, capable body for the long haul.Debra spent more than thirty years in the fitness industry before realizing that almost everything women had been taught about exercise was built on research done on young men. So she built what was missing: a science-based, hormone-smart approach to training, nutrition, and recovery for women navigating menopause and beyond.This is a practical, myth-busting conversation about strength, sleep, stress, and what it really means to age on your own terms.What we cover:Why "eat less, exercise more" backfires in midlife, and what to do insteadThe two at-home tests (grip strength and the sit-to-stand) that tell you more than your scaleWhy body composition matters far more than the number you weighThe sleep research showing better-rested women lost more fat and kept more muscleWhy your ability to recover, not your ability to work hard, becomes the key to aging wellThe one strength move Debra would keep above all othersBuilding a legacy of health that ripples out to the people who are watching youWhether you are 40, 50, 60 or 80 years young, this conversation will change how you think about aging racefullyDebra Atkinson, MS, CSCSFounder of Flipping 50, TEDx speaker, and bestselling author of You Still Got It, Girl! and Hot, Not Bothered.Website: https://www.flippingfifty.comInstagram: @flipping50tvPodcast: The Flipping 50 Show#DebraAtkinson #FitnessAfter50 #Flipping50 #MenopauseFitness #WomenOver50 #StrengthTraining #MidlifeHealth #Menopause #HealthyAging #Longevity #WomensHealth #BodyComposition #PlantBased #ThriveOnPlants This episode is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Always consult your own clinician.Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

Everyone worries about losing muscle as they age. Almost everyone is worried about the wrong thing.Dr. Brad Currier has spent his career studying what actually keeps us strong and functional into our 70s, 80s, and 90s. He earned his PhD under Professor Stuart Phillips, helped write the latest ACSM resistance training guidelines, and now leads clinical research at Timeline in Switzerland.In this episode of Thrive on Plants, Dr. Daphne Bascom asks him the questions most people never think to ask. The answers reframe how you should think about aging, from your muscles all the way down to the power plants inside your cells.No hype. No overpromising. Just a clear-eyed look at what the science supports, what it doesn't yet, and what you can do about it starting this week.Here's what you'll learn:Why the number on your DEXA scan may be lying to you about how well you'll ageThe difference between muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle power, and why the last one decides whether you catch yourself when you tripA strength test you can run in under a minute, no lab requiredWhat mitochondria actually do, beyond the line you memorized in high school biologyMitophagy: the cellular cleanup crew you lose with age, and why it may matter more than any supplementThe pomegranate problem: why loading up on the "right" foods may not give you what you thinkThe truth about urolithin A, including where the evidence is strong and where it's still an open questionThe single longevity metric Dr. Currier calls unreliable and clinically uselessAbout Dr. Brad Currier:Dr. Currier leads clinical research at Timeline, a Switzerland-based company studying cellular and mitochondrial health. His background is in muscle physiology, aging, and nutrition.Website: https://www.timeline.com/Blog: https://www.timeline.com/blog/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradcurrier.phd/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-currierGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SxVmAooAAAAJ&hl=enAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

Beta-hydroxybutyrate, the primary ketone your body produces, is turning out to be one of the most compelling molecules in longevity and healthspan science. It fuels your brain when glucose falls short. It influences gene expression. It signals your cells to burn fat more efficiently. And a single dose has been shown to improve cardiac output, ejection fraction, and stroke volume in patients with heart failure.Dr. Latt Mansor grew up in Malaysia surrounded by chronic disease. His father died of a stroke when he was 17. His half-brother died of a heart attack at 43. His mother's side of the family carries decades of obesity and diabetes. That personal history took him from Oxford, where he studied the diabetic heart under low-oxygen conditions, to leading a $6 million Department of Defense contract on exogenous ketones and elite military performance. Now he has come full circle, using what peak-performance science has revealed to help build the case for prevention.Dr. Mansor holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and serves as Research Director at H.V.M.N., the company behind Ketone IQ. In this conversation, we cover:What exogenous ketones actually are and how they differ from the endogenous ketones your body already makesHow beta-hydroxybutyrate acts as a signaling molecule that binds directly to DNA and why a recent transcriptomics analysis showed it affected up to 300 genesThe brain energy implications for women navigating perimenopause and menopauseExogenous ketones and GLP-1 receptor agonists: can they work together to protect lean mass and reduce brain fog during weight lossNew unpublished appetite suppression data showing Ketone IQ's direct effects on GLP-1, ghrelin, and leptinWhy Dr. Mansor calls it "the adaptive fuel" and what that means for how you use itThe research on exogenous ketones is still catching up to the biology.  The long-term human data is incomplete. But the mechanistic rationale is compelling, the early clinical signals are hard to ignore, and this conversation will give you the scientific foundation to decide whether any of it belongs in your longevity supplement stack.Connect with Dr. Latt Mansor:Social media: @lattmansorWebsite: ketoneiq.comThrive on Plants:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thrive-on-plants/id1793550910YouTube: youtube.com/@drdaphnebascomInstagram: @WingmanDaphneLinktree: https://linktr.ee/DaphneBascom This episode is not sponsored.Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

Most women are told menopause is a hormone story. The science suggests it is also an energy story, one that starts inside your cells decades before your last period.Dr. Siobhan Mitchell is a neuroscientist with a PhD, 80+ peer-reviewed publications, and 25 years of research on how nutrition shapes brain aging. She started this work after watching her grandmother die of Alzheimer's and she has spent her career trying to make sure that never has to happen to anyone else. She currently serves as Chief Science and Technology Officer at MitoQ. This episode is not sponsored.In this conversation, we go deep into the science that most physicians are still not talking about: how estrogen loss during perimenopause and menopause triggers a cascade of mitochondrial changes that affect your brain, your metabolism, your muscles, and your cardiovascular system, all at once.What you will learn in this episode:Why your mitochondria, not the calendar, determine how fast you ageHow estrogen acts as a master regulator of cellular energy, and what happens when it disappearsWhy women's brains start to struggle with glucose during perimenopause and what the research shows about preserving cognitive functionWhat S-Equol is, why only 25% of Western women can produce it from soy, and how to change thatThe biomarker GDF-15 that most doctors are not ordering, and why it should be on your radarHow plant-based fats, MCTs, fiber, B vitamins, and polyphenols feed your mitochondria in ways no supplement can replicateDr. Mitchell also addresses the honest evidence base for MitoQ, including where the data is strong and where more research is still needed.If you are navigating perimenopause, postmenopause, or want to understand how to protect your healthspan, you will enjoy learning from Dr. Mitchell in this episode.Connect with Dr. Siobhan Mitchell:MitoQ: https://www.mitoq.comResearch: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=s6LruaUAAAAJ&hl=enAdditional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!

What if the cleanest, most complete protein you could eat wasn't made from animals, plants, or soil at all?In this episode, Dr. Daphne sits down with Walter Ross, founder and CEO of Spacemilk, to explore a category of protein most people have never heard of: single-cell yeast protein, grown in a closed-loop tank of water, free of heavy metals, pesticides, allergens, and the resource footprint of conventional agriculture.Walter is not a food scientist. He studied economics, went to law school, and grew up watching his father pioneer hydroponic heirloom tomatoes in South Florida. The through-line? A relentless drive to find a better way. That instinct led him to baker's yeast, one of the oldest organisms in human food history, and to building what he believes is the cleanest protein powder on the market today.We cover a lot of ground in this conversation:How yeast protein is actually made, from a molasses-fed fermentation tank to a finished isolate, and why that process naturally removes purines, histamines, and heavy metals that accumulate in soil-grown proteins.Why Walter named the company Spacemilk, and the moment at a space conference that reframed everything he was building.The randomized controlled trial data comparing yeast protein to whey for lean muscle mass, and what the research actually shows.The environmental math: 40% less water and land use than soy, 97% less than beef, and a certified upcycled supply chain where nothing goes to waste.Why he third-party tests every single batch for heavy metals, 77 pesticides, molds, mycotoxins, and allergens, and why he thinks most companies simply do not.The formulation decisions behind every ingredient, from monk fruit and thaumatin to acacia fiber and algae-based omegas, and what is changing in the next product version.What living with purpose means to him, and why he believes the root of all meaning is in giving back more than you take.This is one of those conversations that quietly shifts how you think about where your food comes from.Spacemilk: https://spacemilk.comSpacemilk third-party testing: https://spacemilk.com/pages/testing-1Try Spacemilk for yourself at spacemilk.com and use code SPACE50 for 50% off your first subscription from July 2 - July 5, 2026, only! Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here  🌱  Watch every episode on YouTube⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click hereScroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’ (you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID). Thank you for your support!