The role of nutrition and functional medicine in breast cancer – Toral Shah - Episode 21

In this episode, I have a conversation with Toral Shah. Toral is a chef and a nutritionist with a background in medicine. We talk about nutrition, functional medicine and the role it has in breast cancer and health. One of Toral’s interest is looking at the role food plays in the prevention of disease, specifically in cancer.

We had a fantastic conversation covering a wide range of topics. Toral shared her story about what made her interested in the role of food in medicine, how she was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age and how she became an advocate of functional medicine.

In light of recent events, Toral also talked about the challenges faced by the BAME community in healthcare, what we can do to improve it and the strategies she uses to raise awareness in this area.

We also explored the important role of exercise plays in breast cancer recovery. Toral shared how she was back at the gym more or less immediately after her breast cancer surgery. Although it was challenging and hard, she felt that the benefits were immense. Exercise definitely speeds up recovery and is something we talked about at length.

Functional medicine a relatively new speciality within healthcare. As far as I can remember, it was not around when I was in medical school, which may actually say something about how long ago I was in medical school. Toral explains what functional medicine is, the positive aspects in brings in approaching disease and health, and how it can be used to treat diseases in a more encompassing way.

Toral’s two pieces of advice to kickstart a healthier lifestyle:

Eat the rainbow. This is a great aide memoire to make sure that you have enough variety of foods on your plate.
Get enough sleep. Yes, the importance of sleep is absolutely underestimated. Toral explains the some of the reasons why sleep is so important.
It was an absolutely fascinating roller coaster of a conversation. I enjoyed it immensely, and I hope you do to.

Connect with Toral at:
www.theurbankitchen.co.uk

Instagram @theurbankitchen

Facebook at urbankitchenlondon

Resources mentioned:
Breast Cancer Haven – a charity that provides support to those affected by breast cancer.

Book: Frontiers of Health by Dr Christine Page. Breast cancer on p 181 but worth reading the whole chapter.

#BreastCancer #MyBreastMyHealth #Podcastforbreastcancer#BreastCancer #BreastCancerAwareness #LivingWithBreastCancer #MyBreastMyHealth #CelebsWithCancer