NBSV 224: Veganism, fashion, food, and sustainability in Ghana with Nana-Serwa Mancell

I'm turning 40 in a few days, so (obviously) I'm hosting an online taco party Hope to see you there!   Cook along with me, or just watch and hang out. We'll do a book giveaway, Q&A, and share vegan intel with likeminded folks. Join me on Wednesday, June 17 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern. It's free, it's going to be a super-fun community event, and I'd love to celebrate with you.   Grab your spot at www.karinainkster.com/40!

Five years after her first appearance on the show, Nana-Serwa Mancell returns to share her journey from running a vegan African food business in Dubai to building a sustainability-focused retreat and community space in Ghana. We discuss West African vegan food traditions, overlooked plant protein sources, ethical tourism, sustainable fashion, environmental challenges in Ghana, and why she believes Africa's future is full of innovation, creativity, and hope.

I'm announcing the brand-new Patreon for the No-Bullsh!t Vegan podcast and giving you a peek at what's inside. Check it out at patreon.com/noBSvegan! If the podcast has helped you feel stronger, more informed, more connected, or more confident in your vegan life, this is one way to help keep it growing, while getting some fun (and possibly unhinged) bonus content and behind-the-scenes access along the way. Thank you for being part of my little corner of the internet. Whether you support on Patreon, listen every week, or just send me memes occasionally, I appreciate you!

After going vegan in 1981, Dr. Michael Klaper has spent decades helping patients use food to reverse chronic disease. He's now focused on a new mission: changing medical education from the inside out.  We talk about his transition to veganism in the early 1980s, the moment he realized food was at the root of many chronic diseases, and why most doctors still receive shockingly little nutrition education. Dr. Klaper also shares the work he's doing through Moving Medicine Forward to bring nutrition science into medical schools across North America. We discuss: why nutrition is still largely absent from medical training how plant-based diets can help reverse chronic disease the cultural and systemic barriers keeping people stuck keto and carnivore diet trends the economics of modern healthcare why he believes medicine is slowly starting to change Dr. Klaper also shares details about his new book, Moving Medicine Forward, and why he believes the next generation of doctors could transform healthcare as we know it.

What does it mean to treat veganism not just as an identity, but as a practice? I'm joined by Paul Erlandson, co-founder of Rivendell Sanctuary, for a conversation about animal sanctuaries, ethical veganism, mindfulness, and the relationships we build with farmed animals when we actually get to know them as individuals. Paul shares the story of how he and his wife started their sanctuary from scratch during the pandemic, why their first rescued pigs changed everything, and how his decades-long spiritual practice shaped his approach to veganism. We also get into some nuanced territory: rescue chickens and eggs, veganism as a "practice" versus an "identity," the discomfort of being the only vegan at the table, and why sanctuaries can be such powerful catalysts for change. We discuss: How and why Paul went from musician to sanctuary founder Why veganism isn't a "lifestyle preference" How sanctuaries help people connect the dots between dogs, cats, and farmed animals Why delicious vegan food is part of activism …and much more!

Strength training in later life might be one of the most important things you can do for your health. Jane Thurnell-Read—vegan, author, activist, and 78-year-old strength athlete—joins me to share how she went from thinking she was "too old for the gym" to deadlifting 160 pounds and getting stronger every year. We get into what actually changes when you start lifting later in life, why it's never too late to build strength, and how that strength shows up in everyday life. We also dig into the mindset side of aging: the myths that keep people stuck, and what most folks get wrong about "enjoying life". Jane shares her journey from decades of vegetarianism to going vegan in her late 60s, how she approaches training now (including working around injuries), and what she'd say to any woman over 60 who thinks strength training isn't for her. If "too late" has crossed your mind, this conversation is your wake-up call.

Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association and author of Out of Sight, shares what it's really like to spend decades documenting animal cruelty inside slaughterhouses and factory farms, and why she chose to tell her story as a memoir. We talk about how her work led her to become vegan, what she's witnessed behind the scenes in the meat industry, and the frustrating reality of trying to expose these issues through media and legal channels. Gail also opens up about living with undiagnosed OCD and a rare neurological condition for most of her life, and how those challenges shaped both her perspective and her work.   This is a conversation about persistence, empathy, and the personal cost of doing difficult, necessary work. It's also a reminder that the systems we don't see often have the biggest impact, and why bringing them into view matters.   Trigger warning: This episode contains descriptions of farm animal abuse. 

Leanna Carriere and Dr. Timm Döbert are preparing to cycle 30,000 km from Alaska to Chile as part of their Wings of Survival project, following migratory birds and raising awareness about biodiversity and climate. We talk about how they fuel extreme endurance—like cycling 150 km a day and eating up to 10,000 calories—entirely on a vegan diet. We also dig into the environmental side: land use, why animal agriculture doesn't scale, and what real change could look like over the next decade. This conversation is part science, part storytelling, and part "wait…that's humanly possible?"

Javant joins me to talk about his journey to veganism, which began with a major health scare and evolved over many years into a fully vegan lifestyle. We discuss how he moved from trying different diets to embracing whole-food plant-based eating, and how that shift eventually expanded beyond health to include empathy for animals and compassion for people who aren't vegan. Javant also shares details about his new cookbook, which focuses on familiar comfort foods made vegan, oil-free, gluten-free, and free of refined sugar. We get into his philosophy around helping people eat more plants without feeling deprived, his thoughts on fibre versus protein, and why gut health deserves way more attention than it gets. We also talk about the four pillars of health he teaches through his app: diet, exercise, sleep, and mindset.

Coach Zoe and I are back for a Coaches' Corner episode, answering the questions we didn't get to during our recent live No-B.S. Reset panel event. We dig into some of the most common (and most frustrating) myths we see in the fitness and nutrition space, especially around strength training, supplements, and social-media "advice."  If you're new to lifting, feeling overwhelmed by conflicting information online, or just tired of wellness trends that sound slick but don't actually work, this one's for you. In this episode, we cover: - The biggest mistakes beginners make when starting strength training (and how to avoid them) - Why going "too hard, too fast" backfires, and what sustainable progress actually looks like - Compound lifts vs. isolation exercises: what matters most early on - The rise of creatine gummies (and why "creatine for women" marketing is nonsense) - Why "what I eat in a day" videos can be misleading, or downright harmful - Steps vs. cardio vs. lifting: what really gives you the most bang for your buck - The lingering myth that vegans can't be strong—and why leading by example matters more than arguing - A teaser on upcoming deep dives into diet-culture obsessions like "snatched" bodies and HYROX hype As always, we bring the conversation back to evidence-based coaching, long-term health, and building strength in ways that actually work in real life, without extremes, guilt, or BS.