What The Doctor Ordered

Author and founder of The Doctor’s Kitchen, Dr Rupy Aujla believes culinary medicine is the way forward

- Kate O’Brien

Dr Rupy Aujla believes that what you choose to put on your plate is the most important health intervention you can make. This straight talking, 32-yearold, Imperial College London-trained GP and NHS doctor and author is founder of The Doctor’s Kitchen and one of the most exciting new names on the global wellness scene. After 15 years of medical training, learning about human biochemistry and disease, his attention is firmly focused on the impact of food on our genes, brain, gut and the power of a healthy lifestyle.

Aujla is living proof that food is far more powerful than any pill. In 2009, working as a junior doctor he suffered Atrial Fibrillation (AF), a condition where the heart beats irregularly, inefficiently and fast, with episodes lasting up to 16 hours, a couple of times each week. Numerous tests later he was offered a choice of lifelong medication or an ablation procedure with potentially serious complications including stroke and death.

To appease his mother, Aujla started to experiment with food to overhaul his lifestyle, while juggling a frenetic work schedule. He says, “Reading all I could about nutrition I entered a new world of wellness. Out went the cereals and toast for breakfast, in came dark green leafy vegetables with miso, nuts and seeds. No more soggy sandwiches – now my Tupperware brims with cruciferous vegetables cooked in delicious spices and tasty fats. Realising the impact of stress on my diet, I started meditating and exercising, while trying to improve my sleep.”