#309 5 Ancient Practices to Help You Feel & Function Better | Dr Rupy Aujla
The Doctor's Kitchen Podcast
Dr Rupy Aujla
4.8 • 2.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 August 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Could modern life be a little too comfortable for our ancient bodies? This week, I’m exploring the idea that our 21st-century lifestyle might be mismatched with what our biology evolved for and how reintroducing a few ancient challenges could help you feel sharper, calmer, and more resilient.
Without going full caveman, there are a few mild and ‘natural’ stressors that may have benefits to our bodies and considering how comfortable our lives are today, would require us to purposely reintroduce.
I dive into:
🍽️ Why mild hunger and thirst may be benefit
(Not every craving needs a snack—your stress hormones might thank you.)
🌿 How plant “toxins” are misunderstood heroes
From broccoli to turmeric, these phytochemicals can trigger powerful cell protection pathways.
🔥❄️ Whether saunas & cold plunges are worth the hype
How short exposures to heat or cold, separately, might boost metabolism, improve circulation, and even support brain health.
Today’s episode was influenced by the conversation I had with Dr Leo Pruimboom about the science of ‘intermittent living’. The benefit of these challenges isn’t in the challenge itself, it’s in the recovery. And fasting, movement, temperature, and more mirror the environments we evolved in.
To enjoy the benefits of these, I don’t think it requires a complete lifestyle overhaul, I see these as gentle nudges to remind your body what it was built for. The key is dose. Not too much, not too little.
Remember, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. It’s a curious invitation to explore how mild, short-term stressors can unlock long-term health. These aren’t replacements for healthy habits, just small extras that might make a big difference.
This area of research is still evolving. Not all ancient humans lived the same way. There wasn’t one perfect lifestyle. And while the theory behind intermittent living is fascinating, it’s not a prescription.
Think of it as adding a few evolutionary ingredients back into your modern life!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today I'm going to talk you through five ancient challenges that could activate your innate |
| 0:05.8 | stress pathways that could improve your brain, heart and metabolism because it seems, |
| 0:12.3 | at least in theory, that getting back to nature is the best medicine for the prevention of disease. |
| 0:21.7 | Hi, I'm Dr. Rupi. I'm a medical doctor and nutritionist. |
| 0:25.8 | And when I suffered a heart condition years ago, I was able to reverse it with diet and lifestyle. |
| 0:31.1 | This opened up my eyes to the world of food as medicine to improve our health. |
| 0:36.6 | On this podcast, I discuss ways in which you can |
| 0:40.2 | use nutrition and lifestyle to improve your own well-being every day. I speak with expert guests |
| 0:45.6 | and we lean into the science, but whilst making it as practical and as easy as possible, |
| 0:51.2 | so you can take steps to change your life today. Welcome to the Doctor's Kitchen |
| 0:56.2 | podcast. Could modern life be a little bit too comfortable for our ancient bodies? This week I'm |
| 1:07.5 | going to be exploring the idea that 21st century lifestyles might be mismatched |
| 1:13.5 | with what our biology evolved for and how reintroducing a few ancient challenges could help |
| 1:20.8 | you feel sharper, calmer and more resilient. |
| 1:23.9 | Now, without going full caveman, there are a few mild and natural, quote unquote, stresses that may have benefits to our bodies. |
| 1:33.9 | And considering how comfortable our lives are today would require us to purposely reintroduce. |
| 1:40.7 | So I'm going to dive into while mild hunger and thirst, a bit controversial I know, |
| 1:46.5 | might be of benefit to not have a big craving need to snack. Your stress hormones might actually |
| 1:51.5 | thank you how plant toxins, quote unquote, are misunderstood heroes. So everything from broccoli |
| 1:59.0 | to turmeric. These phytochemicals that are contained within |
| 2:02.4 | these plants trigger powerful cell protection pathways. And I also talk about whether saunas and |
| 2:10.2 | coal plungers are actually worth the hype and how short exposures to heat or cold separately, very important there separately, might |
... |
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