Pay the Farmer, Not the Pharmacy
Meera & Ashok Vasudevan bring 50+ years of experience as leaders in the Plant-based & Natural Food industry. Their entrepreneurial journey continues with the recent acquisition of 2 heritage brands- Annapurna & Captain Cook
In this timely podcast series titled "Pay the farmer, Not the Pharmacy" they show you how to unleash the magic in your kitchen with evidence-based tips & tricks that improve digestion, enhance gut health, build immunity and provide simple solutions to affordable wellness. Pay the Farmer, Not the pharmacy. Brought to you by CSAW, the Centre for the Spread of Affordable Wellness.
Also, included are other talks, interviews and discussions of Ashok Vasudevan on a range of issues, not only related to food to wellness
Episodes
64 episodes
Kitchen Pharmacy ( Brain) 2/8— The Beating Center
Your heart beats 100,000 times a day. It pumps blood through 60,000 miles of vessels. And the foods you eat can either protect it or slowly destroy it. The good news? Your kitchen is full of heart healers—and the science is rock solid.In...
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6:29
Kitchen Pharmacy ( Heart & Circulation) 1/8—The Beating Center
Your heart beats 100,000 times a day. It pumps blood through 60,000 miles of vessels. And the foods you eat can either protect it or slowly destroy it. The good news? Your kitchen is full of heart healers—and the science is rock solid.In...
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6:19
Kitchen Pharmacy Series (Opener) 0/8—Your Grandmother Was Right
Your grandmother wasn't guessing. She was practicing medicine—she just called it dinner. Turmeric for inflammation. Ginger for nausea. Honey for a cough. Garlic for everything. These weren't old wives' tales. They were clinical wisdom, passed d...
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6:48
Quarter, Quarter, Half Or The Balanced Plate, Part 4: The Evening Plate — Dinner Done Right
Dinner is where families gather, traditions are passed down, and the day finally slows down. It's also the meal where seniors often eat alone, where busy parents throw together whatever's fastest, and where late-night eating can wreck tomorrow'...
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5:38
Quarter, Quarter, Half or The Balanced Plate, Part 3: The Midday Plate — Lunch That Works
A sad desk sandwich. Fast food grabbed between meetings. Or worse—skipping lunch entirely and crashing by 3pm. For working people everywhere, lunch is where good intentions meet brutal schedules. Convenience wins, balance loses.In Part 3...
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5:22
Quarter, Quarter, Half or The Balanced Plate, Part 2: The Morning Plate — Rethinking Breakfast
Cereal and milk. Toast and jam. A muffin with your coffee. For most of the Western world, breakfast is where the balanced plate goes to die—75% carbs, minimal protein, vegetables nowhere in sight. But here's the thing: your body just spent eigh...
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5:21
The Balanced Plate or Quarter, Quarter, Half - Part 1: A Smarter Way to Build Your Plate
The food pyramid. The inverted pyramid. Michelle Obama's MyPlate. Low-fat, then low-carb, then keto, now carnivore. American nutrition guidelines have kept us spinning for decades—a new shape every few years. But what if the answer isn't anothe...
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6:35
Break the Inflammation Cycle, Part 4: The Exit — Anti-Inflammatory Eating That Actually Works
This is the 4th and the final episode in the inflammation cycle: stress hijacks your cravings, wrecks your sleep, and pushes you toward quick fixes that make everything worse. Now it's time for the exit.In Part 4 of "Break the Infl...
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5:31
Break the Inflammation Cycle, Part 3: The Overcorrection — When Protein Obsession Backfires
You're stressed. You're exhausted. You know you need to eat "healthy." So, you reach for a protein bar, a shake, maybe some beef jerky. It feels virtuous. But is it actually helping—or just a different kind of overcorrection?In Part 3 of...
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5:25
Break the Inflammation Cycle, Part 2: The Fallout — How Stress Wrecks Your Sleep (And What to Eat About It)
You survived the stressful day. You ate okay. But now it's 2 AM and you're staring at the ceiling, brain running laps. In Part 2 of "Break the Inflammation Cycle," Ashok and Meera explore the stress-sleep connection—and why a bad night sets you...
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5:52
Break the Inflammation Cycle, Part 1: The Trigger — Why Stress Hijacks Your Cravings
Ever wonder why a stressful day ends with you elbow-deep in a bag of chips? It's not weakness—it's biology. In this first episode of our 4-part series "Break the Inflammation Cycle," Ashok and Meera break down the cortisol-craving connection an...
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5:32
The Sunshine Deficiency: Why Gen Z Is Ditching Pills for Real Food
In this episode of "Pay the Farmer, Not the Pharmacy," hosts Meera and Ashok dive into a surprising health crisis affecting Gen Z: a massive vitamin D deficiency that's leaving 78% of young adults drained, foggy, and fighting weaker immune syst...
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4:11
Seasonal Healing Rhythms. Autumn Foods
🍂 Episode 3 of Seasonal Healing Rhythms is here!Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they explore "Autumn Foods: Nature's Immunity Arsenal" - how fall's harvest provides exactly what you need to prepare for winter and strengthen your ...
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7:45
Seasonal Healing Rhythms. Summer Foods: Nature's Air Conditioning System
🌞 Episode 2 of Seasonal Healing Rhythms is here!Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they explore "Summer Foods: Nature's Air Conditioning System" - how Asian and tropical cultures mastered internal cooling through food science, long ...
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7:24
Seasonal Healing Rhythms. Spring Awakening
Welcome to our new series: Seasonal Healing Rhythms!Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they explore how eating with nature's calendar provides exactly what your body needs, when it needs it. First up: "Spring Awakening: Nature's Gre...
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7:24
Kitchen Balance: Cracking the Omega Code
🧩 The great fat puzzle solved! Why inflammation runs wild in modern bodies.Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they crack "The Omega Mystery" - how the delicate balance of essential fats in our diet got completely flipped over...
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6:13
The Fiber Vanishing Act: Where Did All the Fiber Go?
🌾 The great fiber mystery solved! Where did all the digestive magic go?Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they uncover "The Fiber Vanishing Act" - how our great-grandmothers effortlessly got 35-50 grams of fiber daily while we strug...
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6:39
The Vitamin Vanishing Act: What Happened to Our Food's Nutrition?
🌱 Your food isn't what your grandmother ate - and now we know why!Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they uncover "The Vitamin Vanishing Act" - how modern agriculture traded nutrition for productivity, and what you can do about it i...
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7:25
Food Forensics - "The Liquid Gold Heist"
🕵️♀️🕵️♂️Join detective duo Meera and Ashok Vasudevan as they investigate "The Liquid Gold Heist" - how the world's most precious traditional oils were systematically stolen from our kitchens and replaced with industrial counterfeits!
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7:24
The Micronutrient Detective - "The Case of the Anxious Magnesium Thief"
Think your anxiety might actually be a mineral deficiency in disguise? In this first episode of our new "Micronutrient Detective" series, hosts Ashok Vasudevan and Meera crack the case of why so many people feel anxious, can't sleep, and get mu...
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4:33
Food Forensics - "The Case of the Nutrient-Robbed Tomato"
🕵️♀️ Welcome to Food Forensics - In this eye-opening episode, hosts Ashok Vasudevan and Meera expose the nutritional heist that's been happening right under our noses. Did you know today's tomato has 62% less calcium and 30% less vitamin C tha...
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6:02
Food Forensics: The Great Grain Robbery - A Global Investigation"
🕵️♂️🕵️♀️Join hosts Meera and Ashok Vasudevan in our biggest Food Forensics investigation yet - "The Great Grain Robbery." From Wonder Bread in Chicago to instant ramen in Singapore to maida rotis in Mumbai, the same nutritional heist has deva...
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6:38
Sleep Better, Eat Smarter. How your diet powers your Zzzzs.
Discover how the foods you eat can dramatically improve your sleep! In this lively episode of “Pay the Farmer, Not the Pharmacy,” Meera and Ashok Vasudevan reveal the surprising science behind nutrition and sleep—from melatonin-rich kiwis and c...
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5:49