Talking to Gina Bonanno-Lemos; the founder of 360 Health Connection, and award winning author

Today I am talking with Gina Bonanno-Lemos. Gina is the founder of 360 Health Connection, the award-winning author of What The Fork?: The Secret Cause Of Disease, the author of 13 Steps To A Cancer-Free Kitchen, and a brand new e-book titled, Fit After 40.

This series features conversations I conducted with individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to Vegan research, businesses, art, and society. This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. 

https://www.instagram.com/ginabonannolemos/ | https://www.facebook.com/360healthconnection/ | 360healthconnection.com

 

TRANSCRIPTION

[00:00:10] Hi, I'm Patricia. And this is investigating Vegan life with Patricia Kathleen. This series features interviews and conversations I conduct with experts from food and fashion to tech and agriculture, from medicine and science to health and humanitarian arenas. Our inquiry is an effort to examine the variety of industries and lifestyle tenants in the world of Vegan life. To that end. We will cover topics that have revealed themselves as Kofman and integral when exploring veganism. The dialog captured here is part of our ongoing effort to host transparent and honest rhetoric. For those of you who, like myself, find great value in hearing the expertize and opinions of individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to their ideals. You can find information about myself and my podcast at Patricia Kathleen dot com. Welcome to Investigating Vegan Life. Now let's start the conversation. Hi, everyone, and welcome back. 

 

[00:01:15] I'm your host, Patricia. And today I am sitting down with Gina Bonano Lemos. She's the founder and author of 360 Health Connection. You can find out more on her Web site at 360, Health Connection dot com. Welcome, Gina. Hi. How are you? I'm well. I'm so excited to unpack. You've got just a prolific history of two books. You have a Web site. You offer all sorts of services, coaching and advising. I'm I'm really excited to climb through everything that you're doing. Thank you for having me. Yes. And for those of you listening, I will read a quick bio on Gina before I do that, a roadmap of today's podcast so that you know where we're headed for my inquiries. I'll first look at Gina's academic background and professional history as it relates to her Vegan story and personal journey therein. 

 

[00:02:06] Then I will start unpacking 360 health, connections, ethos and philosophy behind the impetus of that launch. 

 

[00:02:14] And within that, I would like to get into her books. John has written two books and it has a third one coming out soon with the fork. The Secret Cause of Disease, three steps to a cancer free kitchen and the brand new e-book titled Fit After 40. I'll climb through those briefly and get the synopsis and maybe some interesting threads throughout those. And then we'll turn our attention to the Vegan training programs that she's offering through 360 health, as well as other avenues. And we'll turn our attention next towards goals and advice. We'll wrap everything up with advice that she has. For those of you who are either looking to get involved with her, follow some of her study or even practice Emina, emulate some of her career success. A quick, quick bio on Gina before we get started. Gina is the founder of 360 Health Connection, the award winning author of What The Fork The Secret Cause of Disease. The author of 13 Steps to a Cancer Free Kitchen and a brand new e-book titled Fit After 40. Gina is the creator of the Vegan Training Program. Your plant based guide. And she's currently in the process of creating a new training program specifically designed for women. The ultimate whole body reset. Gina is a dual certified in into integrative nutrition and Vegan nutrition and has worked and shared the stage with world renowned medical professionals and plant based leaders, including Dr. Michael Klaper, Dr. Joel Kohn, Dr. Garth Davis, Ocean Robbins, Gene Bauer, Jane Veles Mitchell and many others. And so some of those names may not mean a lot to people in the audience. And some of you may recognize them as the axiomatic pillars of kings and queens that they are. Gina, before we dove into all of your work and your research that you've done, unpacking all of that, I'm hoping you can draw us a brief academic and professional history that kind of sets the stage for who you are and what your brand currently is. 

 

[00:04:12] Sure, sure. I first studied integrative nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and that really is it kind of embodies what 360 Health Connection was founded on. So it kind of marries all lifestyle aspects of health and wellness. So your sleep, your stress levels, how your relationships are with with everyone in your life. You know, it's not just diet and exercise, although it does it does include that as well. But it really focuses on the entire person, you know, because we are really in our health is really the sum total of everything that's going on in our life. And every practice that we follow, we're doomed. So that was a great foundation across the board and gave me, you know, a lot of information and various subjects in regard to health. But I decided that I really wanted to focus on veganism and help people to achieve their goals, more specifically in the way that I found my health. So that's when I went back to the Vegetarian Health Institute and I took their vegan mastery course. So got certified in that took the portion of the course that that allows you to get certified. And that was primarily taught not solely, but primarily by Dr. Michael Klapper. He he was. The main physician, you know, that provided a lot of the education. 

 

[00:06:02] So absolutely. And I'm wondering, so your career, we've kind of glossed over it very, very quickly in the bio and an explanation of the roadmap for today. I'm hoping you can kind of put things in a chronological sense before we start diving into some of the issues. Did you write your book? Did you develop the 360 Health Connection first? It's a Web site. It also has a lot of different elements to it. A lot of services and information. So which one came first? In which order? And then can you kind of tell us what the Web site has on it so that we can get a sense for and then climb into it? 

 

[00:06:37] Sure. Sure. Yeah. I had started this site. I always really been into health and fitness and nutrition. But I most of what I believed was what's out there in the itoh. So, you know, what's popular and that you see in fitness magazines and so forth. And so that's what I thought health was. So that's how I thought you were supposed to be. Healthy weight, you know, lean meats and you exercised, you know, five or six times a week and so forth. And so it wasn't until my health really started going downhill. 

 

[00:07:19] I mean, it really hit its peak. I've never been a really healthy person. I was always physically fit, but not healthy. That's when I stumbled upon veganism and turned my health around. And that's when I decided to go back to school, essentially, and get my certifications. So the website started first, but it really took a turn towards veganism and, you know, really a focus on plant based diet. After I became certified and after my own health transformation. 

 

[00:07:57] Right. 

 

[00:07:58] I'm guessing because I have read what the fork and the secret cause of disease. And that chronicles a little bit in the beginning at, you know, and it's kind of sandwiched by these bookends of your journey. It's kind of placed within the format, if you will. And then all of your it sounds like your education, both formally and personal, has been like sandwiched in the body. In between that sense, it chronicles that. I suspect that it came after 360. What year was 360 Health Connection launched, do you remember? 

 

[00:08:33] I can't I'm not 100 percent sure. 

 

[00:08:38] But that's OK. Now, it's clear that it's the book came after that. 

 

[00:08:42] I think it's quite fascinating that you started this, you know, this health advice and connection and then kind of let it evolve with, you know, with your Vegan journey and enterprise, because a lot of people do that backwards. You know, they become Vegan and then develop. So seeing that transition play out is interesting. Really quickly, looking at like unpacking 360 Health Connection. If I pretend I haven't been there, it's right now and I hit your Web site. What are the first things I'm going to be presented with? Like, what are the different expertize information, all the different services that I will find? 

 

[00:09:22] Well, there's a I put a large emphasis on new studies that come out know because I'm not a physician, I have to be careful in giving medical advice. So I try to keep everything very factual and science based. And so I always note where I'm getting the information. But I really I find it fascinating to read news studies that come out so, you know, kind of a nerd in that way. But I'm constantly getting, you know, alerts from Google and getting new information, whether it be about, you know, how garlic affects cancer or things like that. So you're going to find a lot of that type of information on either specific compounds in foods that prevent and reverse disease or, you know, various studies, or then there are some recipes that you'll find and some opinion pieces. But for the most part, it's going to be most of that scientific information and new stuff that's been coming out. 

 

[00:10:33] Absolutely. And then there's information about different training programs and things like that, right? Your own personal services. Are there other links like how does it relate back to your brand? 

 

[00:10:45] Yeah, I actually have to update that. I haven't been working with clients one on one for quite a while. I had yeah, I had launched my online training program, which was your plant based guide. And then in two thousand eighteen, I actually turned it into a live event because people were saying, you know, this is great information, but I would really like that in-person connection. So I held a big two day health conference in Costa Mesa, California. 

 

[00:11:18] And it was this in-person or Facebook ever, OK? 

 

[00:11:22] I held it. I had it. The Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa, California. And we had two full days. I had, I think, about six doctors that spoke and then six or seven other of us that that also spoke over those two days. So a total of 13 present presentations, but it was a huge success. Everybody really loved it. You know, they got a lot of time, which each with each of the presenters, we got to their books and mingle. We had a dance party and stuff like that. Excellent. So it was just it was a big undertaking and very expensive. And so, yeah, I'm kind of reimagining how I can do it so I don't lose everything. I do it again. And so, yeah, right now I'm in the process of redoing the online training program for people who still want to take that leap. 

 

[00:12:22] But then also focusing on my new project, which, as you mentioned, is specifically more for women. Yeah. And I've been around a plant based diet. 

 

[00:12:33] Yes. And I'm I'm obsessed. And I'm very enthralled with I have to say that your technique and how you approach all of your books and it sounds like even your educational format on your Web site as well as your techniques as. As an old school academic. I really love being, you know, thwarted with both personal opinion and backed up, you know, scientific advice to merit that opinion and to kind of cement it. And I want to climb through right now what the for the secret cause of disease. I've talked a little bit with you off the record and then mentioned briefly here. I really appreciate the fact that it's this and a great deal of scientific gathered information that it from the most powerfully profound studies and correlations and causations and things of that nature sandwich book ended, if you will, in your own personal journey and narrative. And so I'm hoping, if you will, really quickly, before we start getting into some of the questions or having you give us a synopsis of what the fork start us off with, what that book actually begins with, which is your own personal journey, starting from childhood all the way up until this diagnostics of early perimenopause. You know, at one point and your friends meeting that brought veganism into your life. Can you give us a brief story, if you will, of your personal Vegan story? 

 

[00:13:54] Sure. Sure. Yeah. I let as I mentioned, I had always been somewhat ill, you know, even as a child, I had a lot of ear infections and started as I got older getting sinus infections on a regular basis. And it definitely got worse after I had my son. I had him kind of young and it just seemed to put a lot of stress on my body. At least that's what doctors think. And so everything just got worse and worse. You know, most people grow out of allergies and asthma. Mine kept getting progressively worse. And so I got to the point where I literally was having a sinus infection every single month. And I would joke with people that it was like having a period because, you know, they'd say already want to go out Saturday. And I'm like, oh, let me check the calendar. Oh, no, I'm going to be sick that weekend. And they'd laugh at me, but it was true. I mean, I literally could, you know, count out the the weeks and. No. Oh, no. It's going to kick back in. And so is honest, you know, perpetual, a vicious cycle of antibiotics, which, of course, made me worse and destroyed my microbiome. And, you know, but I didn't know, of course, at the time. But it was just I was spiraling. 

 

[00:15:17] And so it was I was forty one actually, when I was just miserable and I had just had two back to back lung infections that were really severe. I was constantly using an inhaler. Or using a nebulizer. And I really was. I felt like I was rock bottom. I didn't know what to do. And as I said, you know, I always kind of studied health independently. And so I was doing all the right things right. Chicken and fish in turkey. You know, the lean meats and. And I always had fruits and vegetables. So I thought I was doing everything right. All whole grains. But I went and had coffee with a friend. And she's about 20 something years older than I am. And I hadn't seen her in a while. And so when she ordered her coffee and didn't want cream, I said, oh, are you intolerant? I was just thinking, you know, dairy intolerance. And she announces that, no, she had gone vegan. And by doing so, she had actually reversed her heart disease. She had gotten rid of her lifelong eczema. So this really you know, I had a mix of, like, thinking she was off her rocker. And then also very curious about this. And then when she told me that her boyfriend had reversed his diabetes by doing the same thing, that really, you know, kind of let me up. So started researching and the science was just undeniable. You know, it's just that I couldn't refute it if it was just so clear cut. So I kept researching and, you know, is kind of in and out and tell people use kind of the hokey pokey with me. One foot in. One foot out. Yeah. But when I finally made that emotional connection, you know, when it went from. Yeah, I know I should do it. I know it's probably right. But, you know, I always I always say, and I'm sure other people have said, when you want to do something, you'll find every way to do it and make it happen. And you don't want to do something, you're going to find every excuse not to. Yes. So that's where I was at when I was in the excuse phase. You know, my husband will never go for it. My kids will never eat it. It's you know, it can be too hard. And when I finally made the emotional connection due to the animal cruelty side of it, and that became part of my consciousness, that that was it. There was no turning back. I didn't care what I had to do. So I found my way and my health did a complete 180. So I went from one of the sickest people I know to three, literally three solid years without a single cold flu infection. Nothing. It was unbelievable. Somebody gave me a new body. 

 

[00:18:27] Well, it is setting in a remarkable turnaround because, you know, you have this instance you describe in the book where a doctor is just kind of paused with this, like, overwhelming moment of reading your chart and you're sitting there contemplating what he's going to be saying next. Like, you have a rare disease and he looks at you and says you're very allergic. And I was just this kind of understanding that you are allergic to everything under the sun. And that was going to be something that played out throughout your adulthood. Have your allergies have. Have they taken a lesser role or are they still prevalent? 

 

[00:19:00] Oh, no. It's unbelievable. I was somebody I had always been an animal lover my whole life. And because of my allergies, I couldn't have animals. I couldn't even go to someone else's house with an animal because I knew I would be sick and it would culminate in a sinus infection. You know, that was just the natural progress for me. So I now well, at one point we had three dogs. We we just lost one a year ago. But so now we have two dogs and now a cat, which is unheard of because their dander is actually airborne. And so I couldn't even hug someone who had a cat before because they're dangerous, not only airborne, but it's sticky. So it sticks to your clothes and your hair and the walls and everything. And so if I even hugged someone who had a camel, I would be so sick. I mean, using my inhaler down for weeks with a sinus infection. But, yeah, this one I mean, he sleeps curled up next to me every night. It's unreal. Remarkable. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

 

[00:20:08] So looking at what the fork, you know, I've had a lot of opinion and summary over it. And just speaking with you now and I'm wondering how you as the author. 

 

[00:20:18] When you when you reflect back on writing, it's and and how would you describe how it's developed and the information it is conveying to your audience in a synopsis. 

 

[00:20:33] You know my well, my goal in writing it, because I think you always have to set, you know, your goals and the expectations for any project. I wanted it to be fun, but factual. And I you know, I believe I accomplish that from feedback that I get from people. You know, they do. 

 

[00:20:55] A lot of people will tell me that many books like this are so dry and, you know, hard to get through. So I definitely wanted to marry the, you know, both sides of my personality, really, because I have, like, a really goofy side of me that's like crazy and imaginative and, you know, kind of out there. And then I've got the grounded part that's factual. And, you know, let's look at the facts here, man. So, yeah, I would say it's got both of those. You know, I. I definitely wanted to. Let people see the science behind it and not just be my story. My opinion. I wanted them to know that this is you know, this is fact. This is science. 

 

[00:21:47] Yeah. And it's interesting because you don't just cover I find that a lot of books written and for great reason are written just covering one industry, you know, the slaughterhouse industry, the agricultural industry, the scientific study, research industry, the relationship to cancer and famous diseases and things of that nature. 

 

[00:22:05] And you really include all of it. And it's done by chapter. It's not just the kitchen sink, but you really do go through your personal vision with every single aspect that is in your life, from the cruelty to the environmental impact to the great studies from the China study all the way through, you know, Ornish and people that have done incredible studies and much more obscure, smaller ones in between. And it's interesting because I feel like that endeavor would be to encyclopedic to handle. But you've done it in a way that I felt very concluded with and I felt very much so. 

 

[00:22:42] Yeah. And I understand your voice as well as it as a Vegan. I think a lot of people think that it's those who love animals or those who want to help the environment. It's not this collaboration, you know. And I think that it's important. I want to climb now into three steps to a cancer free kitchen, which I'm not so familiar with. And so I'm hoping you'll start off there with launching into what it is and what you were trying to convey with that endeavor. 

 

[00:23:09] Sure. Sure. Yeah. That is that's an e-book. And so that's on my Web site for anybody who goes there right now. They can download it for free. That will be replaced with a fit after 40. E-book. That's coming up. So the 13 steps to a cancer free kitchen will be available for only a little bit longer. But really, I wanted to touch on not just a plant based diet and let people know, yes, of course, you can try to avoid or prevent and reverse cancer with a plant based diet, but also the other factors, because part of my journey and I referenced it in what the fork was that I was made aware of the Food Revolution Network and their incredible work that they do in their summits every year. And so there were so many things that came to light for me that I had never heard about in all of the fitness magazines and, you know, all of my travels all over the Internet about toxins and other things that really we don't even think about. And they are poisoning us every single day. And so I thought, you know, let me just do it. And I might write other books. Other book e-books as I go along. But, you know, I thought let me just focus on the kitchen floor right now and what different things in our kitchen are lurking that we don't even know about. We're just not even aware. But we're using them, if not on a daily basis. On a weekly basis. And they're affecting us. They're harming our children, our spouses, you know, all of our loved ones. And with just simple tweaks, just simple changes you can make. And it makes all the difference. 

 

[00:25:06] Yeah. Those hidden factors. 

 

[00:25:07] I think that that that'll catch even the most sage of nutritionists or health advocate or anyone, you know, those hiding, lurking moments I just spoke with at a Vegan and 100 percent organic cosmetic line distributor out of Paris. And he was saying the average woman by the end of her lifespan will have eaten two kilograms of lipstick. And if you research what is in most lipsticks, you would pass out. Oh, and he became aware of this when his daughter was coming of age. But it's really true that, you know, like looking towards the kitchen, I think even the most sage of us would have things that snuck in somehow. And we're not even aware of what they're doing and what they could be promoting. You know, let alone not helping to fight. And you talk in your book. 

 

[00:25:55] I would just quickly revisit what the fork, because you do talk about these genetic switches and this propensity, these triggers of, you know, you don't have to be a product of your genetics, but you can definitely help not trigger things that may be in latent and things that have arrived from in utero that we're now studying and understanding. But that linking back to this those things being in the kitchen without us knowing, you know, and and all of those factors. So now I want to turn towards what you just teased about. And I don't know how much you're comfortable relinquishing. I'm a come from a family of writers and asking them about their new publication is like getting the. Top secret codes out of, you know, the president tonight, but we'll go there and try for you anyway. The new e-book is called Fit After 40. And you do have an emphasis towards women in this one. Can you kind of let us know you're saying it's replacing three steps to cancer free kitchen? What to what end will it replace it? And what are you addressing with that? 

 

[00:26:57] So I've seen a need for women in particular, because so much of what I've come across on the Internet is just general nutrition information and general fitness information. You know, and I see a lot of men especially giving this information. And it just doesn't resonate for women and it doesn't help women. More importantly, because we have very specific needs, you know, our hormones are so different, so vastly different than men. And so, you know, you and your husband can eat the same exact things. And, you know, you'll gain weight and he won't because of our hormones. And, you know, here I am approaching 50 and it's that time, you know, unfortunately. And so, yeah, I started to notice changes in my own body. And, you know, I had a huge change, of course, from when I wasn't Vegan to when I went Vegan. But now I'm noticing more changes. And so I really wanted to help women with that. I wanted to address their specific needs. And I also recognize the need to really reach women because I believe that they are the heart of the home. I believe that they are really the ones who at least I know in my home I do this and most of my friends are this way. We're the ones that bring the new information to our families. You know, the ones who are more connected. And I don't know if that's because just as women, we naturally share more with our friends where, you know, men keep things more on the surface and women talk more about their health issues and their life and their stress. And, you know, those deeper issues, as they say, we we tend in befriend, you know, or the men or like the fight or flight. 

 

[00:29:09] And so I don't specifically address these hormone issues. Will you segregate it by age? 

 

[00:29:18] It's actually it's for women over 40. And so, as the title implies of the e-book. So it all kind of ties together the ultimate full body reset. But it really it encompasses my early learning, really, with integrative nutrition. So it talks about things such as stress and sleep and really but it all really centers around the one core issue that all of our health stems from. And there's like a feedback loop with all of these things with our microbiome. So really, that is the core of our health. You know, as poverty's once said, that, you know, our gut is is where a disease begins. There's a direct relationship between all of these issues that I started out learning about and our microbiome, our gut health. And so it is really the make or break of our health overall and. 

 

[00:30:23] Yeah, I think that those are avenues to two conversations. And people feel like vegans or they used to is this island, you know, you belong done it or you didn't. And I what I'm loving to see now is this blending of the conversation where we get brought in. And, you know, I think that the heavy Yoshie and stew with the macrobiotic diet that was largely vegan with the exception of some poultry. My own father did that when he was fighting cancer 15 years ago. 

 

[00:30:50] And I think he's heard her stage four cancer with it. 

 

[00:30:56] Macko Yeah. And it's I mean, the Ashie Institute is the one that I'm familiar with, but it's powerful. It's got a lot of research behind it and it's very akin to the Vegan way of life. But I'm interested in these annexations, you know, these these moments in dialogs between issues or disease and then the Vegan, you know, diets and way of life and way of looking at things, because I think it's becoming less of an island and more of a peninsula. I'd like to get it back to the mainland. And that's all of our goal. You know, one day. But I think just getting to that place where you open these dialogs about hormones, gut health that you mentioned when I first started hearing about that. Back in 2017, when it was kind of getting into the rage, you know, people were kind of promoting it. Doctors were really looking at the microbiome of the gut, like really getting into Oliver's kimchi. You know, how do we increase it? What do we do? Of how pro antibiotic strip you of it, all of these things. I remember there wasn't a whole lot of conversation about diet outside of like what promoted it. And a lot of it was around dairy, like, you know, gotta have that yogurt, that probiotic yoga and different things like that. So I think people linked it to the dairy industry, which is ironic because a lot of the studies that come out sense have been and very disparate relationship with the dairy industry and the microbiome. And so to enter that conversation and get a seat at that table is crucial because the gut health is in control of so much more than other than, you know, Socrates and people like that hypothesized. 

 

[00:32:27] I think that food as a medicine has been looked at by religious institutes for hundreds of years and kind of thought of in different ways, stay with this, eat more that like all the way down to diets in the 80s that were insane. 

 

[00:32:42] And now we're still having that same conversation. You know, food is a medicine. Food is the leader. But we're doing it in a very different way. You know, I'm looking at the gut and things like that. And I'm curious with with all of your knowledge, you taken a great deal of in in what? The fork returning. You kind of have this. You have narratives as to how politics play into it. Like I like I said, there is no stone. You did not unturn, at least for me. And you talk about, you know, the World Health Organization, you talk about our current and this is in the United States. But you do talk about these world organizations on the whole and subsidies and people that are all in all those power places, power. And I'm wondering how you feel, given the current climate of the Cauvin 19 pandemic, what would you hypothetically looking at, given that you have this breadth of history with them understanding how these different political climates have played in? What change do you see like on the forefront? 

 

[00:33:47] You know, well, there's what I what I'd like to see and what I do see. You know, I know that just about a week or two ago, Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren actually introduced a bill and they are calling for the end of the majority of factory farming. I believe it's 2040. I personally think that's too far away. Based on what we're witnessing with climate change, you know, factory farming, it accounts for about 25 percent of our methane emissions. So that's huge. You know, it's it's more than all of our transportation sectors combined. So we really need to make that connection. And that's you know, it's one of the reasons why I covered all of the topics in my book, because I found that in talking with people, you know, what's important to me may not be important to you. I mean, that's the way it is and anything in life. But, you know, like for for my husband, he is much more focused on the climate change aspect of why he should reduce or remove meat, you know, from his diet. Whereas for me, like I said, the health issue was the first thing that got me interested. But what tipped me over the edge was the animal cruelty aspect. But I also am a very big environmentalist. So, you know, for me, it hits on all three points of data, the positive reasons for going plant based. Yeah, I really I was on a radio show recently and as I told them, I think we're missing an opportunity here. I think that we can take this time, especially right now with Cauvin, to show people that you not only don't need animal protein in your diet, but it's actually better for us. It's better for your health. You know, we've seen now with people not moving about, you know, transportation going down, with factory farming slowing, you know, the emission levels have reduced. So there's clearly a human impact. It's clearly being driven by our actions. We have to start putting our health and the health of the planet ahead of our greed, ahead of our our tastebuds, to be frank. You know, there's there's an absolute maybe there's a need for it. And I believe it will happen whether we want it or not with us or whether it's, you know, something that we purposely do or whether it just happens because we have no other choice. 

 

[00:36:43] And the legacy of that, I do want to say, I think that it will happen either way. One can be pretty and one can be really, really nasty. And the legacy is only going to impact our children and our grandchildren. It's really about the empathy and compassion you have for your own kin. You know what we hand down to them. Even this this required taste of meat is unsustainable to have in their diet three times a day for seven days a week. That won't be possible. And so giving them a, you know, a desire for that is giving them an addiction to something they will not be able to have that the lack of love in that exchange. I don't think any parent or loved one would want to inflict on the next gen. Jason, and I do think that it is in in the mix, as do you know, the statisticians and people running these numbers. I'm curious with so here's my take. I was interviewing vegans globally and I was in Australia prior to the pandemic breaking out in early February. It had broken out, but nobody was taking it seriously, certainly not in the United States, not to the sense of come home shelter in place. Right. And I was interviewing a Vegan restaurant owner and she was saying, what I love is the change in just as she was the sage Viji and she'd been vegan for 40 years. And she said the Vegan prototype is no longer a prototype. She said there's unlikely vegans coming out of all the woodwork. What she meant that by that was that there were so many people with health concerns. You know, from allergies to heart disease that we're finding the vegan diet. And then within that, discovering that the diet was benefiting the planet and all of these other things and then became these very unlikely evangelists about veganism. And she was like, it's these weird, like stockbroker's that are coming in. Like, are you aware of how well it benefits? Like, you should promote that in your restaurant? She said they're just like these people that would never probably have considered it in the past. And I kept talking to her about like these wonderful avenues that are out of tragedy. Unfortunately, we're bringing veganism to the forefront. And since the pandemic, I have wondered if there would be this, you know, kind of like reshift to like we should look into that, you know, and if there would be a relabeling of it because people didn't want to join that label, you know, of veganism, if if people would go to another area that brought up the distinction between people calling things plant based and things that are vegan. And I want to climb into that with you because it's it's a heated topic right now and for a very good reason. There's an economical factor to it. There's an emotional factor. But for you yourself, how would you define the differences between plant based and Vegan those terms? 

 

[00:39:29] You know, I think me personally, I define a Vegan as someone who really embraces the entire lifestyle. So, for example, I don't wear any animal products. You know, I don't buy leather, you know. I have things that I purchased in the past before I became Vegan. So I'm not going to throw them out. You know, because I think that's disrespectful to the animal that gave its life. So, you know, I'll use those things and tell they no longer are usable, but I don't purchase anything new. You know, if I buy a handbag or piece of furniture or whatever the case may be, I don't choose. They it has to be a faux leather, if you know or or another type of fabric. So for me, it's a whole Vegan means the whole lifestyle. Right. It means that you don't exploit animals in any way. You don't go to a circus or you don't go to the zoo. You don't play into that at an economic level anyway. Plant based. To me is more just a diet, you know, a dietary choice. And it can vary between people. I know people who are 100 percent plant based, and that's great. And then I know people who are mostly plant based, you know, but they still purchase me in a leather shoes or whatever the case may be. They don't. For them, it's not. And I found that most of the people who are just plant based and not Vegan for them, it's more so about the environment or, you know, wanting to stay healthier, you know, wanting to level up on their health and things like that. But it's not necessarily about the animal cruelty or anything like that. So that that's what it means to me. But, you know, I've heard other people with different takes on it. I try to use just the word the term plant based because I know that it doesn't rub people the wrong way the way Vegan necessarily does. So, you know, to me, it's like it all means the same thing, basically. I mean, you just you're making better choices, you know, not for you, but for the environment, for the animals, for you. 

 

[00:42:02] Yeah. 

 

[00:42:03] I wonder about products that are starting to use the terms plant based for things that aren't Vegan. I concern myself in this factor only because I love the written language and language in general and how we define and clarify our terms. But and I wonder about confusing and conflating things. And marketing is always a step ahead any of our philosophy endeavors or anything else. And there's been this acquisition of the word plant based to include on packaging just like fortified, you know, with vitamins that again in the 80s. Let's fortify everything. And it's been acquired at an alarming pace and it's been put on products that are both unhealthy, disease causing and not Vegan. And I concern myself with because most of my Vegan colleagues and, you know, and Warriors' and people fighting the good fight and putting the word out there are very akin to calling something plant based. And I was as well until I started recognizing that there were so many different products assigning that on their label. And it concerns me because then we're gonna have to do the same thing we did with vitamins, which was reeducate that nothing needs to be fortified. That's naturally healthy right now when we strip it of everything beautiful. That's when you need to go and inject things back into it. Yeah. So you're right. 

 

[00:43:29] I've even seen them use the term plant based on eggs. You know, they say plant based chickens like. Well, they've always been I mean, you know, actually, that's not true. You know, there are some instances on the factory farms where they feed them back. You know, they're dead chicken friends, you know, disease trends. So. But for the most part, if if you were to let hens and chickens out in the wild, they are plant based. That's all they eat is, you know, it's the grass and so forth. 

 

[00:44:08] Yeah. Organic, naturally raised, bottled at the source. Where else are you gonna bottle it? Just like I can go on and on. Yeah, I see it with commercials and just think, what are you doing? But it's a whole nother topic. So I'm wondering, looking forward and this has changed for. 

 

[00:44:28] Lot of people, given the current climate, and for some people, it's magnified their scope and for others it's had a complete pivoting effect. But what are your future goals for the next one to three years? You're coming out with a fit after 40, which I'm excited to hear about the launch of. And what else of will you be working on for the next one to three years? 

 

[00:44:51] That's a that's a good question. So I. I really have felt like I'm being kind of torn in two directions. And it's funny that you mention in what the four how I bring up the issues around politics, because, you know, I do see so much in our country going in the wrong direction as whether it be with diet or, you know, our health in our in our health industry, in our country is just ridiculous. You know, I see so much needless suffering and so many changes that need to be made. And I just don't see fighters. And so, yeah, I'm kind of I'm kind of teetering on the edge. Or do I run for office? You know, I have a friend who also was Plant Basch, also an author. She ran for Congress in 2018, didn't didn't win her seat. But she's now working for the man who did. And she's been pushing me because she knows that I am someone who is like a dog with a bone. You know, I don't let up on things and I fight. I just I care about people. I care about the animals and the environment. And I you know. 

 

[00:46:17] And you listen to the science. Yes. Yes, you do. I endorse it right now. 

 

[00:46:24] Yes. I you know, it's it's tough because I, I like I want to help people with a plant based diet. But then I think with my you know, my time and my effort be better spent doing it by implementing laws and changing really the way things are going down. Because I you know, I see all these people who are panicking, you know, they're losing their health insurance. And yes, that is terrible and it's scary and it's horrible because there are so many sick people. And I just think, gosh, if they only knew what I know, you know, if they only knew that they don't need that necessarily that medication, I'm not telling anybody, go off of your medication. You have to do what your doctor tells you. But there's so many other things that can be done. You know, one thing that you mentioned about the current climate that I was gonna say, you know, there's there have been studies done when we've been in times of war. And they've actually noticed that in times of war in the past when meat consumption went down, just because there we weren't able to manufacture enough or people didn't have the money to purchase it and eat it on on a daily basis, as people do now, the disease rates mimicked. They actually if you charted the disease rates went down. You know, they coincided with the the reduction in meat consumption. So I think my cat here. Yeah. So, yeah, it you know, there's like I said, such an opportunity right now for people to see that there's a better way. There are other things that can be done and prevention is just so crucial. 

 

[00:48:17] You know, I always tell people it's so much easier to prevent disease and illnesses than it is to reverse it, though. And and to you know, like you were saying, people care so much about their families and their children and you want to get toxins out of their life. And if people only understood that epigenetic component because everybody thinks, well, my sister had it and my mother had it, my aunts, my grandmother, my father who ate whomever in my family. So I had those genetics. Yes, you have those genetics. But on an epigenetic level, it is literally like flipping a light switch. You can turn those on or off. And it's not a hundred percent sure that you're not going to get it, but it reduces your risk. So, so much. And so if people just understand that one component and how it's related to a plant based diet, I think everybody would go plant based to, you know, if they understood it. It's not about your genetics. You are in control and controlling. Your destiny. Up to 90, 95 percent of the time. Yeah, I think so many more people would make that switch. 

 

[00:49:36] The alleviation of suffering would create converts on the greatest scale as well. You know, we have so much sickness in this country that it should at very least give it a shot. If you're going to try a new controversial drug that has more side effects than the day is long. Why not try the Vegan diet for a month? Like. What have you got to lose? And I think that there's fear in one and there's ease and another. And that begins with education and and accessibility and all of those things to that education. You know, these grassroots movements where my father suffered polio as a child and he was around when people were still knocking on the door saying, have you vaccinated your children? You know, and eradicating our country of polio was like this grassroots effort where you had to reach people in general, communities, people who weren't dialed in and stuff like that. 

 

[00:50:28] And so I think that educational platforms need to come from both grassroots, all the way to high tech. And I think we need Vegan lobbyists. You know, we've got to get people like walking Phenix and people that are recently angry about the tragedy and everything that's going on, pool our money together and get people in Washington that are willing to make it tasty and chic and exciting and get people to sign onto our doctrine as much as they are with the people that are, you know, controlling all these subsidies for dairy, eggs and flour. 

 

[00:50:58] And this has one incredible group that is doing that and has done the most, I think, for all of us is Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. And actually, Dr. Barnard is the one who wrote the the back in doing the endorsement on the back of my book. He's the founder of CRM. So I encourage everybody to support their work because they are getting rid of animal testing in labs. But even more than that, they've exposed so much corruption. You know, as far as like the egg industry basically coming in and, you know, writing their own laws essentially and telling the public that it's healthy to eat eggs all the time. But yet they were the ones the egg industry is the one who's conducting the scientific research that proves this supposedly. You know, and this is going on constantly, whether it be with our prescription drugs, whether it be with our foods, you know, additives that are allowed every pretty much everything, you know, that affects us on a healthful level. There is there is just such a revolving door of the lobbyists that, you know, push for these things, push for the corporate interests, and then they go and you get a job in the you know, in the government. And then they actually are working to implement the laws. And, you know, it's sickening. 

 

[00:52:34] It really is. Right. Yeah, it is. And flipping. And I get sick, you know. Right. Yeah, absolutely. And I think realizing that paradigm, I'm an optimist. 

 

[00:52:46] Despite how much I read, I keep that flag above my head and I believe the day is upon us. You know, I think that we're here and it is the day of health reckoning is here. And it's about a thousand years later than perhaps one would have thought when hearing the old philosophers talk about food being thy medicine and things of that nature. But we're here, and I do believe there is going to be a shift, an awakening, and it's going to cross the aisle. You know, I don't like Kramer at all. I think his stock advice is even a little questionable. However, if, you know, Jim Cramer is touting, you know, this like meat alternative, this impossible burger, like all of those things. Yeah. Doubling down. If someone as unlikely, let's put it as him, is touting it. We're getting there like we are. This is crossing borders. We're crossing oceans. I can feel the annexation happening. It's good. 

 

[00:53:44] I'm wondering. But moving forward, we're running out of time. 

 

[00:53:48] But I wanted to ask you, given that you you do cover all of these areas and to my golly, you're looking into political conference and things like that and possibly considering a station there in yourself. I'm wondering if you can impart a few pieces of advice that you have offered or proffered your close community over the past few weeks regarding the future or things to look towards or change. That's possible. 

 

[00:54:17] Do you have an inner monologue or monitor or anything like that that you kind of keep going with cash? 

 

[00:54:25] That's a good question. You know. Yeah, I do what I what I really go back to is what I was saying is that I think all women are the key. I think women bring so many new ideas to the family, and that's really key in getting more women in power. You know, more women awake to these ideas to understand that the choices you're making are not just affecting you, they are affecting your unborn children, even, you know, going, oh, that's my dog. One of them, you know, going back to the toxin issue. You know, they've done studies to and they found that even a brand new, you know, newborn babies already have. I forget how many hundreds of different toxins in their blood. And it comes from their mother's umbilical cord. So we're pantsing so much on to our children, more so than, you know, our choices and our DNA. So it's. Yeah, I mean, if if you won't do it for you, do it for those around you, because, you know, having lost my mother in 2018 to cancer and knowing that just with changing some of her lifestyle choices, she would probably still be here. I could probably say ninety nine percent. I'm sure that she would still be here. And I thought about her a lot in creating this new training program, because so many of the pieces and components and the different modules that I teach them. If she had embraced these things, she would still be here. 

 

[00:56:24] So I would just say, if not for you, for. For everybody around you. And, you know, as they say, we're not living longer. We're dying longer. So we may be here on Earth for more years. But what are how are we living? You know, what are we enjoying those years? You're spending them in a wheelchair in a hospital bed. 

 

[00:56:51] So that's interesting. I love that. And I love the emphasis that women are the key, you know, and that kind of started this this idea for you. And it's auspicious that we just passed Mother's Day. And and I'm hoping that the legacy and the knowledge that you have and the loss of your own mother can go out and spare other peoples, you know, and it is the most painful part for me about discovering and speaking with expertize such as yourself is we talked off the record, but some of the most difficult, you know, conversations I have on the Daily are with these personal interactions with family and friends that simply don't want to have that conversation and wanting to help without ruin relationships. It's a it's a tricky dialog. We're out of time today, you know. But I want to say thank you so much. I know you're incredibly busy and I really do appreciate your time. 

 

[00:57:45] Thank you so much for having me. 

 

[00:57:46] And sorry about the the howling in the background, why there's there's no other podcast they're more welcome on. This is a Vegan situation. They should be in camera. 

 

[00:57:56] They're probably upset with you for that. And shame on us for everyone listening. 

 

[00:58:03] I want to say thank you so much for your time. We've been speaking with Gina Bonnano Lemos and she's the founder of 360 Health Connection. You can find out more online 360 Health Connection. She is also the author of What The Fork The Secret Cause of Disease. She has an e-book. There's three steps to Cancer Free Kitchen, which will be replaced shortly with fit after 40. I encourage all of you to jump on and look at her work. As I said, one of the best reads I've done in a long while, and I am I'm a bit of a nerd. Thank you. And for everyone listening, thank you for giving us your time today until we speak again next time. 

 

[00:58:44] Please be advised by myself and my love and compassion. Stay safe. Stay well. And remember to always bet on yourself.