In this episode we’re joined by registered dietitian Soraya Pineda, to explore the science of weight loss, satiety, and appetite regulation.

Soraya has extensive experience supporting individuals with weight management, metabolic health, and behaviour change. Her work focuses on helping people move away from restrictive dieting towards sustainable, evidence-based approaches that prioritise long-term health.

As interest in GLP-1 medications continues to grow, this episode explores how a high-fibre, plant-based diet may naturally support appetite regulation, offering a practical and sustainable alternative or complement to pharmacological approaches.

We also discuss why traditional weight loss approaches often fail, and why so many of us regain weight and enter a yo-yo dieting pattern, so join us today to hear more about effective approaches rather than relying on restriction alone.

To connect with Soraya and learn more about her work:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/soraya-pineda/

https://linktr.ee/plantnutritionwithsoraya

To read the Plant-Based Health Professionals weight loss fact sheet:

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FS-EnergyDensity-260310.pdf

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membershipYou don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.And please consider leaving a review, it helps more people discover the podcast and supports our mission to share evidence-based nutrition.

Ever found yourself drawn to a supplement and don't know why? With brand names like Bulk, Impact, and Warrior, it's no wonder you may have asked yourself more than once whether you should be taking a daily dose. In this week's Nutshell nugget you will find our attempt to cut through the advertising to take a look at the science to date on the pros and cons of supplementing. We hope it helps you decide, as you may be surprised to learn both omnivores AND vegans alike will not be getting anywhere near the standard daily amount recommended as a supplement through diet alone.

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membership

You don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37968687/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39940383/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40395689/

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/should-you-be-worried-about-creatine-on-a-plant-based-diet

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/cjdjrvr4dk5o

What children eat at school has the potential to shape their health for decades to come.

In this episode, we speak with Sophia Millar from ProVeg UK about the School Plates initiative- a programme working with schools and local authorities to support more plant-rich, nutritious, and sustainable meals for children across the UK.

For healthcare professionals concerned with prevention, childhood nutrition, and the growing burden of diet-related disease, school food represents a powerful but often overlooked lever for improving population health.

We discuss why schools are such a critical setting for shaping lifelong dietary patterns and how initiatives like School Plates are helping schools make healthier food the default.

To find out more:

https://proveg.org/uk/https://proveg.org/fsd-article/ultra-processed-foods/To join us at this years Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Conference and for early bird tickets:https://nlmc.org.uk/If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membershipYou don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

This week's nugget discusses the evidence around including oil in our diets, showcasing a special interview with expert patient Sue Brewer who in recent years has been managing the cardiovascular consequences of 40 years on dialysis with an oil-free plant-based diet.

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/oil-or-no-oil-a-viewpoint

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/seed-oils-bad-pressed-myth-busting-misinformation

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2831265

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.035034

https://www.dresselstyn.com/site/

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membershipYou don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

In this episode we explore how agricultural systems shape human and planetary health.

We are joined by Professor Amir Kassam, a globally recognised expert in conservation agriculture (CA), whose work has helped advance sustainable farming systems worldwide. Professor Kassam explains the scientific foundations of CA and how it differs from the increasingly popular concept of regenerative agriculture.

Drawing on his contributions to global food systems discussions, including work aligned with the EAT-Lancet Commission, we examine how agriculture must operate within planetary boundaries to safeguard soil, water, biodiversity, climate stability, and ultimately public health.

For healthcare professionals, this episode reframes prevention at a systems level, highlighting agriculture as an upstream determinant of health. If we are serious about sustainable diets and long-term wellbeing, we must also consider how food is grown.

To find out more:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amir-Kassam

https://fable.co/author/prof-amir-kassam

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/sustainable-farming

https://www.thelancet.com/commissions-do/EAT-2025

Rockström J, Kassam A, Friedrich T, et al. Conservation agriculture: helping to return to within planetary boundaries. Global Sustainability. 2026;9:e11. doi:10.1017/sus.2025.10045

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/conservation-agriculture-helping-to-return-to-within-planetary-boundaries/3641F08ABCEF6438590242B968C8FAD1

To get NLMC tickets:

https://nlmc.org.uk/

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membershipYou don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

This week on the Nutshell , Daisy and Clare discuss whether paying more for organic produce pays off in terms of health benefits. There are lots of things to think about from pesticide burden to the nutrient values in the foods themselves. But with ever rising food bills, should you prioritise organic, or can we afford not to?

Smith-Spangler C, Bravata DM, Hunter-Goren A, et al.

“Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives? A systematic review.”

Annals of Internal Medicine, 2012; 157(5):348–366.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-157-5-201209040-00007

Baranski M, Średnicka-Tober D, Volakakis N, et al.Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses.British Journal of Nutrition. 2014;111(5):794–811.doi: 10.1017/S000711451300284X

Baudry, J., Assmann, K. E., Touvier, M., Allès, B., Seconda, L., Latino-Martel, P., Hercberg, S. (2018). Association of frequency of organic food consumption with cancer risk: Findings from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort study.mJAMA Internal Medicine, 178(12), 1597–1606.

https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4357

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php

https://www.pan-europe.info/

https://www.pan-uk.org/

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membershipYou don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

From fears around hormone disruption, thyroid health, breast cancer, fertility, and even feminising effects in men, soy has been surrounded by controversy for many years.

Yet at the same time, populations consuming soy regularly tend to have lower rates of chronic disease and longer life expectancy. So what does the totality of the scientific evidence actually say?

To answer that question we’re joined by Dr Mark Messina, one of the world’s leading researchers on soya foods and health.

Dr Messina is Director of Nutrition Science and Research at the Soy Nutrition Institute (SNI) Global. He has dedicated his career to studying the health effects of soya foods and has published over 125 articles and book chapters over his three decades of work in the field.

In this deep dive we will distinguish the scientific evidence from pervasive online misconceptions and examine what the current research indicates about soya's effects on cardiovascular health, cancer risk, endocrine function, and well being.

To contact Dr Messina:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-messina-985ba642/

To read more about Dr Messina's research papers:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Messina-Mark-2

And please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast, and share this episode with one other person today.

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membership

You don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.

Discover evidence-based approaches to transform hospital meals in our upcoming Global Healthy Hospital Network webinar.

Join us on 4 March 2026, 16:00 GMT to explore practical strategies to make hospital meals healthier for patients and staff while reducing environmental impact.

This session is designed for healthcare professionals seeking actionable, evidence-based ways to transform hospital food environments.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-rnYGLwqQ9-ZQPh-P1cfPw

The Global Healthy Hospital Food Network is a collaborative initiative led by PAN International, Plant-Based Health Professionals UK, ProVeg International, and Greener by Default.

In this week's nugget, Plant-Based Health Professionals' founder, Dr Shireen Kassam takes us through two recently published papers exploring what oncologists may and may not know about diet and cancer, the reasons for this, and what they tell their patients.

Kassam S, Kassam Z, Nemirovsky D, et al. Oncologists Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Providing Dietary Guidance to Patients With Cancer. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2026;0(0). doi:10.1177/15598276251414349

Patel A, Kassam S, Shah UA. Food for Thought: Addressing a Research Gap for Dietary Trials in Hematologic Malignancies. Blood Cancer Discov. 2025 Sep 3;6(5):406-411. doi: 10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-25-0141. PMID: 40778663; PMCID: PMC12405862.

And please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast, and share this episode with one other person today.

If you'd like to support our work and be part of a growing community of like-minded people working towards creating a healthier and more sustainable future please join the Plant-Based Health Professionals UK following the link below:

https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/membership

You don't have to be a health care professional to join, but by doing so you’re not only supporting our work, you'll be improving your own health; with membership starting from as little as £15 a year, join us now and be part of the change you want to see.