#36 Taking back control of your health with Dr Gemma Newman

Dr Gemma Newman is no ordinary doctor. A GP now for over 17 years, she entered into the medical professional with one main goal, which was to help people. Over the years she has grown to understand how wonderful, yet how limited the conventional medicine model can be. Chronic modern medicine is fantastic, and when we have a car accident, and need emergency surgery or a life saving course of antibiotics, the advances in modern medicine has been extraordinary. However the same cannot be said for the treatment of chronic disease.  Things like back pain, heart disease, diabetes, depression, auto immune disease, are much tougher nuts to crack.  Over the last fifteen years I have had plenty of experience of this trying to manage my own multiple sclerosis.  In 2006 I got very ill, diagnosed with MS one year later and started a range of medications to help manage my symptoms.  I was injecting copaxone to 2016, when I decided that the conventional path to managing my condition was not the best path for me.  In April 2016, I switched to a plant based diet, and started to practice a lifestyle approach to managing my health, trying to induce and fast track the healing process.  I have to tell you it is people like Dr Newman, who have validated every single decision I have made over the last 5.5 years.  Dr Newman is a wonderful example of a new group of medical practitioners, who have a deep understanding of our bodies and an appreciation for the role our lifestyle plays in our health.  In this conversation I start of by asking Gemma, when did she know she wanted to be a doctor, and who continues to inspire her today.  Gemma over the years has become much more open minded on what is the best course of action for her patients to implement programs and lifestyles that kickstart the healing process in people's bodies and allow them to go on and lead better healthier happier lives.  She learned more about psychological interventions, ways she could support people to change their mindset to facilitate change and growth, and to help her patients with their mental health. Her own journey to plant based advocacy came by chance, as it was her husbands transition to this way of living who convinced her to give it a go.  Curiosity got the better of her and with a family history of heart disease, and after seeing her husband benefit from the transition, she herself went plant based and started to see a remarkable improvement in her own health within the first 28 days.  Over the next number of months, everything about her health started to improve including going from a size 18 to a size 8.  This gave Gemma the foundation and confidence to bring her new learnings into her professional setting and with over 3000 patients in her family practice, Gemma spends alot of time speaking to her patients about ways in which they can change their lifestyle, what they eat, how they move, think and interact with people, and the difference this can make to their all round health.  This is a wonderful conversation and I know you will get some incredible value from it.  Please also check Dr Newman out across her social media channels as everyday she is sharing free content, all designed to help people become healthier.  Her website is also an excellent resource www.gemmanewman.com and her new book, The Plant Power Doctor, is a wonderful investment and I believe should sit in every family home. I can tell you that by me changing the way I life and changing my environment, I have been able to totally transform my life and my health.  I know and have met many others in the last ten years who have had a similar experience.  This is a subject matter close to my heart as I know if you decide to give this a go, commit, and be disciplined in your approach, the return on that investment will be incredible and actually it is also great fun. You can reach me at [email protected]