In a Nutshell: The Plant-Based Health Professionals UK Podcast

This week on the podcast we speak with nutritionist, author, and retired ITU nurse, Karen Lee. Karen shares her journey of following a whole-food plant-based diet to help manage her symptoms of the autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis. We cover the research showing how whole-food, plant-based dietary patterns may help reduce systemic inflammation, improve gut microbiome diversity, and improve symptoms relevant to many autoimmune diseases.
To find out more and connect with Karen:https://thesensitivefoodiekitchen.com/
To buy Karen's latest book:https://www.hammersmithbooks.co.uk/product/healing-from-the-inside-out/
Published case study discussed:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15598276221141403
PBHP Fact Sheet on MS:https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/wp-content/uploads/MS-factsheet-210519.pdf
To find out more on OMS:https://overcomingms.org/
Clare's vegan omelette recipe:
300g silken tofu
140g firm tofu 
3tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1/2 tsp turmeric 
Good pinch of Kala namak (if available)
Ground pepper
Dash of plant milk if the mixture is a bit stiff
Oil of your choice for frying (optional)
Filling of your choice e.g vegan cheese, mushrooms, spring onions, kimchi!
Blend together the silken tofu, gram flour, tapioca flour, turmeric, Kala namak and pepper. Crumble in the firm tofu and give it a final mix. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Add the mixture and give the pan a wobble to level it out. Adjust the hob heat so that you can see a bit of steam coming from the pan but it shouldn't be bubbling too vigorously. It will take up to about 20 minutes for the omelette to fully set. When it is starting to look set you can add the filling to the top to start heating through, or melting if it's vegan cheese. Just before serving, fold over the omelette in the pan, then you can slide it onto a plate and decorate with fresh herbs or chopped spring onions.

In this week's nugget, we explore some of the knowns and  unknowns when it comes to eating farmed animals who may carry bacteria known to cause disease in humans. The spotlight is on  helicobacter pylori, campylobacter jejuni, and e.coli. You might think twice about what you store in the freezer or throw on a barbeque. 
The Ingest podcast:
https://www.pcsg.org.uk/podcast/h-pylori/
Almagro-Martínez, C., Alenda-Botella, A. & Botella-Juan, L. Systematic review on the zoonotic potential of Helicobacter pylori. Discov Public Health 22, 432 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00834-w
Quaglia NC, Dambrosio A. Helicobacter pylori: A foodborne pathogen? World J Gastroenterol. 2018 Aug 21;24(31):3472-3487. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3472. PMID: 30131654; PMCID: PMC6102504.Aziz M, Park DE, Quinlivan V, Dimopoulos EA, Wang Y, Sung EH, Roberts ALS, Nyaboe A, Davis MF, Casey JA, Caballero JD, Nachman KE, Takhar HS, Aanensen DM, Parkhill J, Tartof SY, Liu CM, Price LB, .2025.Zoonotic Escherichia coli and urinary tract infections in Southern California. mBio16:e01428-25.https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01428-25

https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/news/report-into-the-sources-of-human-campylobacter-infection-published-0
Harmful impacts of microplastic pollution on poultry and biodegradation techniques using microorganisms for consumer health protection: A review
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124010344?via%3Dihub

This week we are thrilled to be speaking with Dr Michael Klaper, M.D.

Dr Klaper is an experienced physician, educator, and author who has spent decades advocating for a preventive approach to healthcare grounded in healthy, whole-food, plant-based diets.

Through the non-profit organisation Moving Medicine Forward, Dr Klaper’s current work centres on integrating nutrition and lifestyle education into medical training, empowering future doctors to use diet to prevent and reverse chronic diseases, aiming for a more holistic healthcare system.

If you’re interested in the future of medicine, climate and health, preventive healthcare, or medical education reform, this episode offers a powerful and thought-provoking perspective on how clinicians can help build a healthier, more sustainable world.

To find out more and connect with Dr Klaper: 

https://www.movingmedforward.org/

The books recommended in this episode: 

http://comfortablyunaware.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58788258-food-is-climate

Meet Dr Klaper at VCO26: 

https://www.vegancampout.co.uk/

Link to Karen Lee's book launch online meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PBkwD14YQdeGNwFyZ3Skyw?_x_zm_rtaid=FwMPrSGOTOahbsDIRb72jA.1768386534935.d80a54aa744af3c37e6b3c922ce0e42d&_x_zm_rhtaid=535#/registration

This week's bonus episode completes our two-parter on psoriasis, as we hear from PBHP member, Kate Dunbar, who prior to the adoption of a whole food plant-based diet was significantly affected by the disease. She has gone on to run marathons, and is the creative master behind many of PBHP's factsheets.Her story is an inspiration to anyone suffering from an autoimmune disease who may have been told diet and lifestyle don't matter. Her experience has even been written up as a case study. 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34366737/
Kate is always very generous with sharing her time and passion regarding the healing powers of food. You can follow her on Instagram @kate.dunbar, find her on Facebook, or email her,  [email protected]

We are so excited to be back In The Nutshell as we kick off season six with dual qualified NHS Consultant Dermatologist and nutritionist Dr Thivi Maruthappu.

We cover the inflammatory condition, psoriasis, and find out why it is considered a systemic condition, and how it links to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic health. Dr Thivi outlines the potential mechanisms through which diet and lifestyle influence systemic inflammation, immune pathways, and the gut microbiome.

We take a closer look at the APPLE study (Asking People with Psoriasis about Lifestyle and Eating), co-led by Dr Thivi and researchers at King’s College London, exploring how overall diet quality relates to psoriasis severity, and how dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods are associated with better outcomes, providing important data that lifestyle and dietary assessments have a key role to play alongside standard clinical care.

To access the study:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39973353/

Zanesco S, Maruthappu T, Griffiths CEM, Dalrymple KV, Gibson R, Hall WL. Associations between diet quality indices and psoriasis severity: results from the Asking People with Psoriasis about Lifestyle and Eating (APPLE) cross-sectional study. British Journal of Nutrition (2025)

To connect with Dr Thivi:

https://drthivi.com/

To buy Dr Thivi's book:

https://drthivi.com/skinfood-your-4-step-solution-healthy-happy-skin/

To sign up to the Veganuary myth busting talk on Tuesday 13th January 2026 please email [email protected]

The Made in Hackney book discussed :

https://madeinhackney.org/buy-our-new-cookbook-we-cook-plants-%F0%9F%8C%B1/

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.