The Dr. Jules Plant-Based Podcast

Electrolytes are suddenly everywhere, and the pitch is bold: you need a packet to lift, run, recover, and sometimes to simply get through the day. We’re not buying blanket claims. We walk through what electrolytes actually are, why sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride matter for hydration, muscles, nerves, and heart rhythm, and why that truth gets twisted into “everyone is deficient” marketing.

We get practical with real-world context: how sweat losses change with heat, humidity, intensity, genetics, and sport, plus why sodium is the most important electrolyte for longer training. We also talk about why most p...

Une voix assurée sur les réseaux sociaux peut faire paraître presque n'importe quelle affirmation crédible, surtout lorsqu'elle nous dit exactement ce que nous avons envie d'entendre. Dans cet épisode, nous discutons de ce qui se passe après qu'une publication devient virale et que notre boîte de réception se remplit de questions comme : « Devrais je prendre de la vitamine D3? », « Ai je vraiment besoin d'une statine? » ou encore « Mon médecin dit que le cholestérol n'a pas d'importance, alors pourquoi m'en préoccuper? ». Nous ne pouvons pas donner de conseils médicaux personnalisés sans...

L'internet adore les explications simples sur l'obésité. Mangez moins, bougez plus, faites preuve de volonté. Dans cet épisode, un chirurgien bariatrique et une psychologue clinicienne expliquent pourquoi cette vision ne tient pas compte de la réalité humaine ni de la biologie. Si vous vous êtes déjà senti jugé en raison de votre poids, ou si vous vous êtes déjà reproché d'avoir repris du poids, cette conversation remplace la culpabilité par la science.

Nous abordons l'obésité comme une maladie chronique influencée par la génétique, les hormones, le métabolisme, les médicaments, le stres...

Your brain is not broken, it’s doing what it was designed to do: panic over vivid, rare threats and ignore the slow, familiar ones. That’s the risk perception gap, and it’s why a headline about hantavirus can feel more urgent than the everyday drivers of cardiovascular disease, even though heart disease remains a top killer worldwide. We get candid about how fear gets “calibrated” online, why viral health content often misses the point, and how to stop stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.

We walk through the real-world risk factors that actually move the needle...

La plupart des gens ne pensent à leur vue que lorsqu’un problème survient. À ce moment-là, les conséquences peuvent sembler très inquiétantes. Nous voulons changer cette façon de voir les choses en parlant de la santé des yeux comme nous parlons des maladies cardiovasculaires et du diabète, soit comme d’un aspect de la santé que l’on peut souvent influencer grâce à de bonnes habitudes de vie, un suivi médical approprié et un dépistage régulier.

Tout commence par une situation clinique qui a changé notre perspective. Un spécialiste de la vue a reco...

The day my face swelled shut and I landed in the hospital, I stopped feeling like the “indestructible” doctor and started feeling like a patient who was genuinely scared. That experience, plus years of asthma, eczema, chronic hives, and exercise-triggered angioedema, forced me to confront something I had ignored for too long: health is not just prescriptions and procedures. It’s the daily inputs, the stress, the sleep, the food, and the habits we repeat when nobody’s watching. 

Then my daughter was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy and started showing similar allergy and skin issues. That’s wh...

Detox teas. Juice cleanses. Colon flushes. Charcoal smoothies. If you’ve ever scrolled past a “7-day reset” and wondered, Wait, am I actually full of toxins, we’re talking to you. We dig into what detoxification really is in human physiology and why the wellness industry can make normal symptoms like fatigue, bloating, and brain fog feel like proof that you need a product. 

We walk through your body’s real detox systems: the liver as the metabolic powerhouse, the kidneys filtering waste into urine, the lungs clearing volatile compounds, and the GI tract eliminating what you don’t absor...

Les algorithmes récompensent souvent les opinions les plus bruyantes, mais la santé ne se construit pas sur des positions extrêmes. 

Dans cet épisode, nous expliquons comment la médecine du mode de vie permet de dépasser le bruit ambiant en combinant des données scientifiques solides avec un véritable accompagnement du changement. L’objectif est d’aider les gens à agir plus tôt, à éviter les pièges fréquents et à maintenir des habitudes durables. Nous passons en revue les piliers essentiels de la santé, la nutrition, l’activité physique, le sommeil, la gestion du stress, les liens soc...

Protein talk online has gotten weird fast: more scoops, more bars, more “high-protein” everything, with almost no attention to where that protein comes from. We take a calmer, evidence-based look at the question people ask most: where do you get your protein, and does the source actually change your health? The short version is simple. Your body uses amino acids, but it also responds to the entire food package that delivers them, and that package can push physiology toward protection or toward chronic disease.

We walk through what large population studies report when people shift protein intake towa...

La douleur peut rétrécir une vie et la coincer dans des espaces étroits. Pourtant, certaines personnes transforment encore leur courage en salle de classe. 

Dans cet épisode, nous rencontrons une patiente vivant avec une polyarthrite rhumatoïde sévère qui, malgré la douleur quotidienne, choisit d’enseigner aux étudiants en médecine comment les soins fonctionnent réellement. Elle parle d’un langage qui respecte l’identité des patients, d’une empathie qui ne promet pas l’impossible et d’un accès aux soins qui se manifeste quand cela compte vraiment.

Au fil de la conversation...

If healthcare “works” on paper but people are afraid to walk through the doors, what are we really measuring? I’m joined by Roxanne Sappier, a longtime First Nations health leader and executive director for a health and wellness organization representing 15 First Nation communities, to talk about what it takes to redesign care so it actually serves the people it’s meant to serve.

We start with Roxanne’s personal journey from growing up in community, learning early lessons about service, and stepping into leadership after decades in health administration. From rebuilding local health services to using accreditat...

Et si les voix les plus fortes dans le domaine de la santé nous éloignaient de ce qui fonctionne réellement? 

Nous levons le voile sur les excès des influenceurs et plaidons pour une approche nuancée et utile, en combinant données scientifiques, accompagnement concret et un modèle de soins collaboratif qui mise sur la prévention bien avant l’apparition d’un diagnostic.

Nous expliquons les piliers fondamentaux de la médecine du mode de vie, la nutrition, le mouvement, le sommeil, la gestion du stress, les liens sociaux et la réduction des...

Les sachets d’électrolytes connaissent une popularité fulgurante, et leur promesse est séduisante : une meilleure récupération, de meilleures performances et une hydratation « optimale » dans une simple cuillère de poudre. Pourtant, les électrolytes ne sont pas magiques, et traiter chaque épisode de transpiration comme une urgence peut pousser certaines personnes vers des habitudes coûteuses, inutiles et parfois même nuisibles.

Dans cet épisode, nous explorons la physiologie des électrolytes et le rôle réel du sodium, du potassium, du magnésium, du calcium et du chlorure dans l’équilibre des fluides, la contraction musculaire...

Headlines shout, ads glow, and reaction videos roll their eyes, but your heart health deserves more than noise. 

We take a calm, from-the-heart look at omega-3 supplements and why the research appears to clash, then trace the real reasons studies diverge: who gets studied, how long they’re followed, what dose they take, and which outcomes actually matter. 

No hot takes here, just clear thinking you can use the next time a confident voice tries to sell you certainty.

We start by disentangling observational research from causation, showing how healthy user bias and soci...

Losing your vision is a quiet fear a lot of people carry, because it threatens the things that make life feel like yours: reading a book, driving safely, recognizing a loved one’s face, staying independent. We start with a real moment from clinic life that stopped me in my tracks: an ophthalmologist’s report that didn’t just list diagnoses like early diabetic retinopathy, signs of age-related macular degeneration, and possible glaucoma. It also recommended a Mediterranean-style, plant-forward diet and regular physical activity.

From there, we connect the dots between eye health and the rest of the bo...

Votre intestin ne chuchote pas. 

Il influence activement l’humeur, l’appétit, le sommeil et la concentration grâce à une communication constante et bidirectionnelle avec le cerveau. Dans cet épisode, nous décortiquons ce lien à l’aide d’une science claire et pratique. Nous expliquons ce que sont les microbiotes, ce que signifie réellement le microbiome, et pourquoi les plus petits organismes de votre côlon peuvent avoir des effets majeurs sur votre énergie quotidienne, votre clarté mentale et votre bien-être global.

Nous abordons ensuite la trilogie essentielle : les prébiotiques, les probiotiques et les p...

Les protéines sont devenues une sorte de religion sur les réseaux sociaux, et les voix les plus bruyantes répètent constamment le même message : plus il y en a, mieux c’est. Dans cet épisode, nous adoptons une approche plus nuancée et fondée sur les données scientifiques en posant une meilleure question : la source de vos protéines influence-t-elle votre santé à long terme, et pourquoi?

Lorsqu’on prend du recul, on réalise qu’on ne mange jamais des « protéines » en isolation. On consomme plutôt un ensemble d’aliments. Les lentilles n...

Et si les valeurs qui font un excellent coéquipier étaient les mêmes que celles qui permettent aux habitudes santé de durer ? 

Après une soirée passée à parler devant un groupe de Scouts, nous retraçons le lien surprenant entre la curiosité, le service et le mouvement, et comment ces racines nous ont aidés à nous entraîner pour des compétitions de Ninja à Las Vegas, Orlando et en Californie. Les histoires sont amusantes, mais elles mènent à quelque chose de plus profond : un guide clair pour un changement qui dure au-delà des échéances et des cures dé...

A heart attack can feel like lightning out of a clear sky, but the body usually leaves a long trail of clues. We’re talking about the slow, quiet build of cardiovascular disease and why so many people are shocked when something finally happens even though the risk factors have been stacking for years in blood pressure readings, cholesterol numbers, blood sugar trends, sleep quality, stress load, and daily movement.

We dig into two of the most important global studies in heart disease prevention and stroke prevention: Interheart and Interstroke. Across dozens of countries, cultures, and health sy...

Et si le « médicament » le plus puissant pour bien vieillir se cachait dans vos bras et vos jambes ? 

Nous plongeons dans les raisons pour lesquelles construire et protéger votre masse musculaire change tout, du contrôle de la glycémie et de la santé du cerveau jusqu’à l’équilibre, les projets de voyage et le simple plaisir de porter vos propres sacs d’épicerie. Le cardio vous aide à rester ici plus longtemps, mais la force vous permet de faire plus avec les années que vous gagnez.

Nous commençons par la vue d’ensemble : la capa...

You probably don’t think about public health until something goes wrong and that’s exactly the problem. We sit down with a New Brunswick public health physician and leader to talk about the work that protects you quietly every day: tracking infectious diseases, stopping chains of transmission, supporting schools and long-term care with infection prevention policies, and coordinating responses that can shift from local to province-wide in hours.

We also go straight at the hard part people rarely see: decision-making under uncertainty. During COVID, the data changed fast, staffing was stretched thin, and the public wanted simp...

Un titre alarmant peut voyager plus loin que la vérité, surtout lorsqu’il suggère que votre médicament pourrait nuire à votre cerveau. 

Nous abordons de front le récit « statines et démence », en expliquant ce que le LDL fait réellement dans vos artères, pourquoi le fait de le faire baisser change des résultats concrets, et comment distinguer une association accrocheuse d’une véritable relation de cause à effet. En chemin, nous décortiquons la différence entre les études observationnelles et les essais randomisés à l’aide d’une analogie simple de « résolution de caméra »...

Heart disease rarely strikes from nowhere. It brews quietly for years, injuring blood vessels until it shows up as chest pain, clots, strokes, leg cramps while walking, or erectile dysfunction. 

We unpack that bigger picture and share a practical path to protect your arteries long before emergencies happen, using the most powerful daily lever you control: what’s on your plate.

We walk through the evidence linking whole, minimally processed plant foods to lower inflammation, improved endothelial function, and reduced cardiovascular events. No silver bullets here, just beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fru...

What if “processed” isn’t the enemy, and the biggest health gains come from something far simpler, eating more real plants most of the time? 

We take a clear-eyed look at the processing spectrum, from chopping and freezing to fortification and engineered ultra-processed products, and map out where processing genuinely helps and where it quietly pushes us toward overeating.

We start by grounding the conversation in evidence: Canadians pull 60% of calories from ultra-processed foods while only 5 to 10% come from whole or minimally processed plants. 

We unpack the NOVA categories and explain how physical processi...

Change doesn’t send a calendar invite. It shows up on an ordinary Tuesday, right when the schedule is already full. We dig into the gap between knowing and doing, and why the real lever for sustainable health isn’t more information, it’s better systems tied to a personal why. 

Drawing on decades in lifestyle medicine and a fresh read of Who Moved My Cheese?, we unpack the simple, profound truth that anticipation beats reaction when life shifts under our feet.

We share how behavior change models converge on a common thread: people act when go...

A packed school gym, 250 tickets, and nearly thirteen thousand dollars raised set the stage for a bigger conversation: how everyday food choices can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. We share what actually matters for prevention, cutting through hype to focus on the patterns that quietly shape your health over decades.

We unpack how atherosclerosis builds, cholesterol-rich particles slipping into artery walls, inflammation mounting, plaques narrowing flow, and why that “plumbing” model explains angina, heart attacks, TIAs, and strokes.

Then we translate the science into action: the Portfolio diet’s LDL-lowering power, the DA...

Ever feel whiplash from the Internet’s hot takes on processed food? 

We cut through the noise with a grounded look at what processing actually means, how the NOVA system works, and why labels alone can’t predict your health. Instead of treating “processed” as a verdict, we focus on outcomes, patterns, and smart replacements that fit real life.

We start by reframing processing as a spectrum: freezing vegetables, canning beans, and pasteurization can improve access, safety, and nutrition. Then we tackle the tough bits, refining, added sugars and fats, and hyper-palatable products designed to override...

La plupart des gens essaient de « forcer » malgré la fatigue, mais le corps, lui, garde le compte. Nous ouvrons le guide du sommeil et montrons comment la quantité, la qualité et la régularité travaillent ensemble pour protéger votre cerveau, votre humeur et votre métabolisme, et pourquoi sept à neuf heures de sommeil ne sont pas un simple luxe. Vous découvrirez précisément ce que le sommeil profond répare, comment le sommeil paradoxal aide à réinitialiser les émotions, et comment éviter de saboter les deux avec la caféine tardive, l’alcool et la lumière vive.

Nous le...

What if the biggest gains in health aren’t hiding in a lab result, but in the patterns you repeat every day? 

We open season three by tackling a paradox: modern medicine has never been more precise, yet chronic disease continues to rise because we treat parts while people live as integrated systems. After 20 years in practice, I share why I’m both grateful for specialization and frustrated by how often it blinds us to prevention, and how lifestyle medicine brings the wider view back into focus.

We break down the six pillars, nutrition, movement, sleep...

Ever wonder why “everything in moderation” keeps failing you? We take you behind the mic for a candid, unscripted walkthrough of lifestyle medicine, clearing the fog around saturated fat, LDL cholesterol, and the plant-based label that marketing loves to misuse. This is a straight line from science to your plate, framed by systems that hold when life gets messy.

I share a New Year milestone, board certification in lifestyle medicine, and what it means for training new physicians to prevent disease, not just treat it. 

From hypertension and insulin resistance to cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative risk...

A plant-based diet didn’t enter this doctor’s life through a dramatic diagnosis. It started with running, curiosity, and a single podcast recommendation that turned into a book, a fast experiment, and a surprise payoff: better recovery, less soreness, and more consistent training. From there, the conversation widens into something bigger than food, because nutrition is only one piece of lifestyle medicine and primary care is where these choices either become sustainable or fade under real life pressure.

We talk with Lise, a family physician, long-time medical educator, and now president of the New Brunswick Medical Soci...

Et si votre entraînement pouvait faire ce qu’aucun médicament ne peut faire ? 

Nous explorons comment le muscle en contraction agit comme une véritable pharmacie vivante, en libérant des myokines qui retirent le glucose de la circulation sanguine et stabilisent le métabolisme, tandis que d’autres organes produisent des exerkines comme le BDNF, qui favorisent la croissance de nouveaux neurones, améliorent la concentration et protègent la santé cérébrale à long terme. 

En présentant le mouvement comme un véritable médicament, le message devient clair : plus vous développez et u...

Ever wonder why two “identical” diets lead to totally different results? 

We dig into the thermic effect of food and the overlooked power of food structure to show how digestion cost, fiber, and processing change what your body actually gets from each bite.

 Calories don’t arrive for free, your body must work to chew, digest, and metabolize them, and that work varies by macronutrient and by how intact or processed a food is.

We break down why fat is cheap to process, protein is expensive, and carbs sit on a spectrum shaped by fiber...

Ready for a straight-from-the-heart reset on food, health, and what actually moves the needle? 

We open up about new milestones in lifestyle medicine training and why bringing evidence-based habits into real clinics, and real kitchens, can prevent, and sometimes reverse, the most common chronic diseases.

We cut through nutrition noise with simple guardrails. Think clear saturated fat thresholds, why LDL still matters, and the power of substitution over strict labels. You’ll hear why “everything in moderation” needs numbers to be useful, how food is a package rather than a single nutrient, and where recent dietary...

Breakfast isn’t just a meal choice; it’s a timing decision that can shape your energy, hunger, and results all day long. 

We dig into why skipping breakfast often backfires, how circadian rhythms influence metabolism, and what the science of chrononutrition says about front-loading calories versus eating late. You’ll hear the real tradeoffs behind fasting strategies, from early time-restricted eating to late-night windows, and how each affects blood sugar, appetite regulation, and sleep.

We walk through the metabolic edge of daytime eating, including the thermic effect of food and the hormonal patterns that favor m...

Shaky hands and loud headlines don’t make good health decisions, you do. 

This episode dives into the messy middle where wellness advice often gets flattened into yes/no rules and scary scores. We start with chia seeds and the internet’s favorite twist: a rare, easily preventable issue turned into a sweeping indictment. The fix is simple, soak briefly or drink water, yet those details get buried by fear-driven content that thrives on clicks, not context.

From there we unpack how apps like Yuka can mislead. A natural peanut butter may get dinged for fat o...

Tired of nutrition talk that never makes it to your plate? We bring healthy eating down to earth with a flavor-first, plant-forward playbook you can use tonight. 

Instead of chasing trends or perfect macros, we focus on recipes that reduce friction: fast prep, familiar ingredients, and flexible formats that fit your life. The result is a rotation you actually crave, built on protein, fiber, and variety so meals satisfy and stick.

We share the story behind our community recipe books that raised over $40,000 for local causes, including school breakfasts, bursaries for students entering health sciences, a...

Ever been told weight loss meds are “cheating” while blood pressure pills are “responsible”? 

We pull that argument apart and look at what actually drives hunger, cravings, and regain for people living with excess body fat. Drawing on real patient conversations, we explore how GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy quiet food noise, change satiety signals, and, when paired with smart habits, reduce the long-term risks tied to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

We walk through who might be a good candidate, how semaglutide compares with older GLP-1 agonists, and what to expect across the first 12...

Chronic disease keeps rising even as medicine advances, and we’re asking the wrong system to solve the wrong problem. 

We open up about the false choice between being “pro meds” or “pro plants,” and show how a smarter path blends life-saving treatments with upstream lifestyle changes that actually move the needle. From heart disease to type 2 diabetes and severe mental illness, we share where medication is non-negotiable, and where daily habits do the heavy lifting that pills can’t.

We walk through the real drivers of today’s health crisis: ultra-processed food environments, sedentary work, eroded sl...

Struggling with 2 a.m. wakeups, low energy, or a scale that won’t budge after 40? 

We connect the dots between light, food, stress, and muscle to show how small, smart changes can unlock deeper sleep, steadier appetite, and better metabolic health. 

You’ll learn how morning sunlight flips on your natural “day mode,” why bright screens at night keep cortisol humming, and how a cool, dark room paired with a simple wind‑down routine can shorten sleep latency and smooth out those middle‑of‑the‑night awakenings.

We also dive into iron the practical way.