The Health Feast

The Health Feast is a podcast about making good health feel joyous, communal, and abundant—like a feast. Hosted by Dr. Rak (short for Rakesh Jotwani), a board-certified internist and Lifestyle Medicine physician, the show dives deep into what truly supports well-being in real life. Each episode, Dr. Rak talks with physicians, chefs, athletes, artists, and changemakers who are redefining what it means to be healthy—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Conversations are rooted in science, but never lose sight of heart, culture, and lived experience. Whether you’re working to reverse chronic disease, reconnect with purpose, or simply show up for your life with more energy, The Health Feast offers practical tools, fresh perspectives, and stories that nourish. New episodes weekly. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Live well and RAK ON.

The Health Feast is a health podcast hosted by Dr. Rak, with 72 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Dr. Rak hosts The Health Feast, a health show with 72 episodes published.

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  The Health Feast

  This Former Monk Left the Monastery to Tell Us Bliss Is a Trainable Skill with Liam McClintock

  Sep 18, 20261h 19m

  Liam McClintock left a career in finance to build FitMind, the meditation app I have used for years. He went back to school for a master's in applied neuroscience. Then he became a Buddhist monk, gave away his savings, and spent three years training under a master teacher, planning to stay for life. Seven months ago he came back, and in this conversation he explains why. There is a message he wants us all to hear. Most of us were taught two ways to handle an unwanted feeling: suppress it or express it. Liam teaches the third option, releasing it, and makes the case that it is a trainable skill, that it should feel good, and that the more you relax, the deeper it goes. Near the end, he leads a live guided release. In this episode: Suppress, express, or release: the third option nobody taught us The shock study, and why sitting with your thoughts is a trainable skill The four R's: recognize, release, relish, remain Three years as a monk, and why he came back Why loving-kindness beat the breath, and why the more you relax the deeper it goes Find Liam: the FitMind app (free and donation based): fitmind.org And his book, Fit Mind: 4 Steps to Lasting Bliss can be found wherever you buy books. The Health Feast is where health stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like a joyful and abundant feast. Hosted by Dr. Rak Jotwani, board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine and Internal Medicine. New episodes every other week. If this episode was useful, leave a review. It is the best way to help the show reach more people. Live well and RAK ON. This episode is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with your own physician or healthcare provider. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your exercise, nutrition, or health routine. The views expressed are those of the hosts and guests only and do not reflect the views of any employer or affiliated institution.

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  The Health Feast

  Optimism Is a Muscle. Here Is the Five-Minute Workout, with Charles Inniss

  Sep 4, 20261h 13m

  Optimism is not a personality trait. It is a muscle, and muscles grow with reps. My friend Charles Inniss, a physical therapist turned optimism coach and author of Up Your Optimism Game, returns to the Feast to break down the 24 mental muscles behind joy, confidence, and peace of mind. Charles gives you a five-minute daily workout to build them. In this episode: The 24 mental muscles, and the three that count as core Doom scrolling as pessimism cardio, and how to reprogram your feed "How do you want to be?" Picking an emotional goal, not just a career goal Affirmations that feel like lying, and the four keys that make them believable The strengths resume, live, plus the five-minute daily mental workout Chapters: 0:00 Intro: the voice in your head 2:28 The men's group question: who trained us to be this way? 3:48 Pride goeth before the fall 9:25 Mental muscles: the premise of Up Your Optimism Game 12:10 Doom scrolling is pessimism cardio 21:28 The pit, and three words: joy, create, connect 25:09 How do you want to be? 27:57 Wrecking your mental health to fix your physical health 31:53 The skeptic: gratitude fatigue and affirmations that feel like lying 36:08 When does hope become denial? Growth vs protection 41:15 Chop down the blaming tree 46:01 Rak in the chair: the strengths resume 51:09 The five-minute mental workout 56:19 Strengths glasses and the forgiving wimp 1:06:09 We see the world as we are 1:07:57 Joy through the journey, game night, and a thank you Find Charles: charlesinniss.com (which includes a link to the his book on Amazon). The Health Feast is where health stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like a joyful and abundant feast. Hosted by Dr. Rak Jotwani, board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine and Internal Medicine. New episodes every week. If this episode was useful, leave a review. It is the best way to help the show reach more people. Live well and RAK ON. This episode is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with your own physician or healthcare provider. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your exercise, nutrition, or health routine. The views expressed are those of the hosts and guests only and do not reflect the views of any employer or affiliated institution.

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  The Health Feast

  Why the Loudest Health Advice Is Usually the Worst with Kaveh Hoda, MD

  Aug 21, 20261h 13m

  Two doctors, no filter. My friend Kaveh Hoda, MD (gastroenterologist and host of The House of Pod) and I get into why the loudest voices in health are usually the least trustworthy, what supplement companies never have to prove, and the three questions I use with my patients to reorganize a whole health life. We recorded this over a year ago for his show, and I am finally releasing it on mine, because when something is true, it stays true. And because it is Kaveh, we laugh the entire way through. In this episode: Why the loudest health advice grows fastest, and why real medicine sounds boring "Expensive urine" and what actually shows up in liver clinics The three most important questions: experience, growth, contribution Why habits fail when your life keeps changing The carnivore diet, the manosphere, and why fiber is your friend Chapters: 0:00 Intro, the certainty trap 1:49 Why the loudest health advice wins 3:58 Supplements, false hope, and expensive urine 9:11 The three most important questions 10:27 Question 1, what do I want to experience? 17:49 Question 2, how do I want to grow? 22:46 The exercise and weight loss trap 25:53 F3, community, and loneliness 34:57 Question 3, how do I want to contribute? 39:35 A foodie's case for eating more plants 54:57 The carnivore takedown Find Kaveh: The House of Pod, anywhere you get your podcasts, and on Bluesky @KavehMD. The Health Feast is where health stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like a joyful and abundant feast. Hosted by Dr. Rak Jotwani, board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine and Internal Medicine. New episodes every 2 weeks. If this episode was useful, leave a review. It is the best way to help the show reach more people. Live well and RAK ON. This episode is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with your own physician or healthcare provider. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your exercise, nutrition, or health routine. The views expressed are those of the hosts and guests only and do not reflect the views of any employer or affiliated institution.

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  Episode #68

  Is AI Secretly Sabotaging Your Health? with Dr. Aaron Neinstein

  Jul 24, 20261h 6m

  There's someone new in your life. They help you write, plan, think through problems. They're available at 2am, when you can't sleep, because they never get tired of listening to you. You know it's not a person. But your brain isn't always so sure. One in four Americans have already used AI for their health. A third of people under 30 use it like a therapist. A Harvard study found daily users are 30% more likely to show signs of depression. That's an association, not proof. But it's the question that's been sitting with me: are these tools making us healthier, or reaching for something that quietly makes us worse? Dr. Aaron Neinstein is an endocrinologist who's spent his career building technology inside healthcare. We trained together in residency almost 20 years ago, taking care of ICU patients side by side, long before either of us could've guessed where this was headed. Aaron tells me about the night he almost brushed off his dog swallowing a thread — until ChatGPT told him, at midnight, that it was an emergency. It probably saved her life. We talk about where AI is closing real gaps: the oncology visit patients walk into with zero prep, the colonoscopy prep calls that never used to happen, the ambient scribe that finally let him look at his patients instead of typing notes. Then we get honest about what it's costing us. Aaron's sleep has slipped 90 minutes a night for four months. His guitar has sat untouched. I told him about my own late nights on Claude Code, and the spirals I've caught myself in that I now recognize as rumination dressed up as productivity. FREE RESOURCES What is a plant-based eater's best friend? A good sauce. Start with the Sauce Library, a free collection of whole-food sauces and dressings that make anything taste incredible. It comes with Health That Flows, a free 5-day email series built around the same approach that helped me lose over 80 pounds and reverse my own chronic diseases. One idea a day. Nothing to overhaul. Get it free at https://rakyourlife.com/experience-life/ CONNECT WITH DR. AARON Website: aaronneinstein.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aaronneinstein CONNECT WITH DR. RAK Website: https://rakyourlife.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rakyourlife Podcast: https://rakyourlife.com/podcast Timestamps 00:03 – Cold open: the tool that never gets tired of listening 02:22 – The stats: 1 in 4 Americans, and a Harvard depression study 04:39 – AI as healthcare's "get out of jail free card" 09:36 – Colonoscopy prep calls and cutting cancellations in half 15:49 – The ChatGPT message that saved Aaron's dog's life 25:09 – Rak and Aaron confess: losing sleep to Claude Code 27:19 – Inside Aaron's AI chief of staff 35:16 – Why there's no universal truth in an AI's answer 39:54 – AI as sophisticated rumination, Rak's honest confession 44:26 – Setting guardrails before your bad moments arrive 55:08 – Sycophancy, and what a good therapist does differently 1:00:41 – Life philosophy: enjoy every sandwich 1:02:18 – How Dr. Aaron makes his own life a health feast

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  The Health Feast

  The Plant-Based Backlash and the Rise of Carnivore with Rip Esselstyn

  Jul 3, 202657 min

  We live in a post-truth world. Anyone can say anything and call it a fact. Strawberries cause cancer. Beans destroy your gut. Beef tallow is the new health food. This is what happens when attention is more profitable than accuracy. When influencers sell confusion and call it health advice. Rip Esselstyn has been watching this happen for decades. He is not an influencer. He is the real thing. What we get into: why the carnivore wave is built on bro science and not evidence. The truth about carbs and why 95 percent of Americans are eating what Rip calls carbage. His father's landmark work reversing heart disease at the Cleveland Clinic. Adam Sud's transformation from 350 pounds and addicted to reversing 15 conditions in eight months on rice, beans, and oatmeal. His 90-year-old mother's Guinness World Record dead hang. And why every nourishing meal is an act of self-love, whether you feel it yet or not. Inappropriate application of a method is no reason for its abandonment. If it did not work before, that does not mean it cannot work now. This is about freedom, not discipline. Once you feel it, you will not want to go back. FREE RESOURCES What is a plant-based eater's best friend? A good sauce. Start with the Sauce Library, a free collection of whole-food sauces and dressings that make anything taste incredible. It comes with Health That Flows, a free 5-day email series built around the same approach that helped me lose over 80 pounds and reverse my own chronic diseases. One idea a day. Nothing to overhaul. Get it free at https://rakyourlife.com/experience-life/ CONNECT WITH RIP ESSELSTYN Website: https://plantstrong.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ripesselstyn PLANTSTRONG Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goplantstrong Podcast: https://plantstrong.com/podcast CONNECT WITH DR. RAK Website: https://rakyourlife.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rakyourlife Podcast: https://rakyourlife.com/podcast TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 02:25 The cultural swing back to meat and dairy and why it is not rooted in science 05:38 What went wrong with the plant-based products of 2013 to 2019 09:41 The strawberries claim and the state of nutrition confusion 15:54 His father's journey at the Cleveland Clinic reversing heart disease 18:03 Why Rip started eating whole food plant-based at 19 18:54 From triathlon circuit to firefighter and how the movement grew 24:47 Building a support system and why setbacks are not failure 32:08 Turning intention into routine with the Plant Strong food line 37:19 Building a best-for-you brand in the CPG space 43:11 Vital Signs a new gathering for healthcare providers 46:46 The 2026 monthly health challenges 47:28 His mother's Guinness World Record dead hang 51:10 Reframing health as a celebration not a punishment 55:05 The Plant Strong Podcast and moving beyond fad diets

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