The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee

Dr. Kerry Graff hoped the doctors in Forks Over Knives were wrong. Then she tried a whole food, plant-based diet herself—and says she lost 25 pounds in three months without feeling hungry.
After 17 years in family practice, the experience changed how she understood her own health and how she helped her patients.
Dr. Graff joins Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room to share her journey from skepticism to lifestyle medicine, including the changes she experienced in reflux, constipation, and mood. She also explains why helping someone change their diet means understanding their sleep, stress, relationships, and reasons for wanting to feel better.
Today, she brings that personal, practical approach to her work with Lifestyle Telemedicine and as medical director of Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute.
In this conversation:
Why being vegetarian did not automatically mean she was eating well.
How she evaluated the nutrition claims that challenged her medical training.
Ways to make the transition to more fiber easier on your digestion.
Why trying one new recipe a week can make healthy eating more sustainable.
How to handle holiday meals when your family eats differently.
Why she looks for positive motivation when working with patients.
Her experience working with autoimmune conditions and why responses vary.
How telemedicine physicians collaborate and how to find a doctor available in your state.
🎬 Reversing Diabetes Watch Party
Join host Chuck and Dr. Neal Barnard for a screening of PCRM's documentary Reversing Diabetes. After the film you'll enjoy a behind-the-scenes conversation with the stars of the film, including Dr. Barnard, Dr. Hana Kahleova, and former University of Michigan football star Marc Ramirez and his wife Kim.
Marc shares his experience reversing type 2 diabetes after seeing the disease profoundly affect his family. We'll explore the personal stories, blood sugar regulation, insulin resistance, and research behind the film. The event benefits the Physicians Committee.
🎟️ Tickets
https://www.pcrm.org/watchparty
🩺 Lifestyle Telemedicine
https://lifestyletelemedicine.com
🩺 Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute
https://www.rochesterlifestylemedicine.org
👩🏻‍⚕️ Dr. Kerry Graff
https://www.kerrygraffmd.com
- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of more than 175,000 members across the United States and around the world.

Why can ultra-processed foods be so hard to stop eating? Kevin Hall, Ph.D. explains the surprising results of a brain-imaging study—and why they do NOT settle the debate about food addiction.
The nutrition, metabolism, and obesity scientist joins Chuck Carroll to unpack research that challenged his own expectations. After participants consumed an ultra-processed milkshake high in fat and sugar, researchers did not detect the average increase in dopamine they anticipated under the study conditions.
But Hall is clear: that does not prove food addiction is imaginary or that ultra-processed foods cannot drive overeating.
For Chuck, who once weighed 420 pounds and ate as many as 10,000 calories of fast food and junk food a day, the findings raise deeply personal questions.
In this conversation:
What the 50-person milkshake study measured—and what it could not establish
Why overeating and addiction are different research questions
How calorie density and combinations of fat, sugar, and salt may influence food intake
How Hall's team changed calorie intake while keeping diets highly ultra-processed
Why Hall left the NIH after 21 years
His account of restrictions on communicating research findings
His concerns about research funding and the next generation of scientists
Hall also discusses his subsequent work at AstraZeneca on obesity medications.
🥤 Milk Shake Study
https://bit.ly/milkshakestudy
👨‍🏫 Kevin Hall, Ph.D.
https://www.kevinhallphd.com
Exam Roomie of the Week
- Judy Leahy
Make a gift to support The Exam Room Podcast and the life-saving work of the Physicians Committee. All gifts of $20 or more receive a mention from Chuck. Gifts of $100 or more receive an exclusive Exam Room Podcast tote!
🙏 Support The Exam Room Podcast & PCRM
👉 https://bit.ly/SupportExamRoom
- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of more than 175,000 members across the United States and around the world.

Certain foods produce similar pain fighting effects as Tylenol and ibuprofen. 
Dr. Michael Greger joins Chuck Carroll for an early look at his forthcoming book, How Not to Hurt, and the research that surprised him while investigating food, lifestyle, and pain.
This conversation explores ginger and cinnamon in migraine research, turmeric and curcumin, and an unexpected study comparing a kale preparation with ibuprofen after wisdom-tooth surgery.
Dr. Greger also introduces his "Soothing Seven," explains the evidence threshold for making that list, and names three members: ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric.
Plus, he discusses:
Research on topical flaxseed oil for carpal tunnel symptoms.
Why short-term pain relief and long-term outcomes can differ.
Questions raised by sham-controlled procedure studies.
Why some inexpensive interventions receive little attention.
How dietary changes can fit alongside other medical care.
There's serious science, plenty of Big Greger Energy, and a shared goal of helping people spend less of their lives hurting.
Thank you to our Exam Room VIPs for joining us before the public release! Invite a friend to become a VIP for FREE. More exclusive interviews, newsletters, and events will be announced soon.
📕 How Not To Hurt by Dr. Greger
https://link.amazon/B0dw88WWh
Make a gift to support The Exam Room Podcast and the life-changing work of the Physicians Committee. All gifts of $20 or more receive a mention on the show. Gifts of $100 or more receive an exclusive Exam Room Podcast tote!
🙏 Support The Exam Room Podcast & PCRM
https://bit.ly/SupportExamRoom
- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of more than 175,000 members across the United States and around the world.

Can a bag of frozen berries earn a place on your immune-health grocery list? What do beans and mushrooms bring to the table?
Dr. Niki Davis from Lifestyle Telemedicine joins Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room to explore five foods and food groups for supporting a healthy immune system, with practical ideas for cold and flu season.
Her five picks:
Mushrooms
Beans, peas, and lentils
Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables
Berries
Sweet potatoes
Learn why Dr. Davis highlights beta-glucans in mushrooms, how gut bacteria turn fiber into butyrate, and why variety matters when choosing plant foods. The conversation also covers broccoli and sulforaphane, frozen versus fresh berries, and different sweet potato varieties.
Beyond the plate, Dr. Davis discusses movement, strength training, sleep, and stress. Audience questions explore oxalates and kidney stones, dairy, yogurt and kefir, probiotics after antibiotics, and eating with Hashimoto's.
Plus, Chuck shares his experience eating a mushroom steak at one of the top rated plant-based restaurants in the world, and Dr. Davis reveals her favorite frozen blueberries.
🩺 Lifestyle Telemedicine
https://lifestyletelemedicine.com
👩🏻‍⚕️ Dr. Niki Davis
https://drnikidavis.com
🩺 Barnard Medical Center
https://www.barnardmedical.org
Exam Roomie of the Week
Andrea Csuvay
Make a gift to support The Exam Room Podcast and the life-saving work of the Physicians Committee. All gifts of $20 or more receive a mention from Chuck. Gifts of $100 or more receive an exclusive Exam Room Podcast tote!
🙏 Support The Exam Room Podcast & PCRM
👉 https://bit.ly/SupportExamRoom
- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of more than 175,000 members across the United States and around the world.

Before you buy another gut-health product, hear what the human research actually found. Stanford nutrition scientist Christopher Gardner, PhD, explains the evidence on fiber, fermented foods, and inflammation.
When you're trying to feel better, a promise of billions of beneficial bacteria can sound convincing. But what do those numbers really tell you about the product you're buying?
Gardner joins Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room Podcast to unpack a human trial that surprised his own research team. The fermented-food group increased gut microbial diversity and had lower levels of several inflammatory markers, while the fiber group's responses were more complicated. He explains why these findings do not mean fiber has failed, and why a study of foods cannot automatically validate every product marketed for your microbiome.
In this episode:
What prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics mean
Why a bigger CFU count does not establish a better health outcome
How fermented foods and fiber produced different results in a small human trial
Why mouse findings did not predict the human results
Why fibermaxxing can be a rough transition for your gut
The limits of research measurements of inflammation
Gardner's response to seed-oil claims
How to build a varied, plant-rich eating pattern you can sustain
What he has learned from making 250 batches of kombucha
📕 Food Sense: What to Eat and Why
👉 https://link.amazon/B0ebl1EAc
🔬 Gut Immune System Trial
👉 https://bit.ly/gutimmunetrial
Exam Roomie of the Week
- Lori Goosmann 
Make a gift to support The Exam Room Podcast and the life-changing work of the Physicians Committee. All gifts of $20 or more receive a mention on the show. Gifts of $100 or more receive an exclusive Exam Room Podcast tote!
🙏 Support The Exam Room Podcast & PCRM
👉 https://bit.ly/SupportExamRoom
- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated action