The LiveHealthy Podcast

Farah Hillou is an Abu Dhabi-based integrative and functional nutrition certified practitioner. Farah focuses on addressing nutritional and physiological imbalances, as well as environmental triggers, to help get to the root cause of an individual's health challenges including gut health and hormone imbalances. Her approach uses mind-body medicine and “food as medicine” to help achieve optimal health and longevity. She also provides concrete and easy-to-follow tips for managing your blood sugar, to avoid bigger problems...

John Sanei is a keynote speaker, a future strategist, a bestselling author, future documentary filmmaker and co-host of The Expansive podcast. His work rests at the intersection between neuroscience, human science, quantum technology and business strategy. Through his work in the UAE and throughout the world, talks and masterclasses, he helps companies and entrepreneurs learn how to navigate the only thing that is constant: change.   Highlights:   Why we resist change The number one...

Dr Hasan Baydoun is an orthopedic surgeon with a special interest in sports medicine and he is based at Healthpoint in Abu Dhabi. During his career on two continents he has served as assistant team physician for several major league sports teams in the US, including the football team the New England Patriots, baseball team Boston Red Sox and the hockey franchise the Boston Bruins. He's very active in research, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and...

Dr Ruqqia Mir, the consultant neurologist at Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center talks all about the cutting edge work at the center, which recently conducted the UAE's first bone marrow transplant on a patient with Multiple Sclerosis.   Highlights:   What stem cells are and how they work CAR (Chimeric antigen receptor) therapy, which harnesses the body’s defense system by reprogramming certain white blood cells (T cells) to identify and attack cancerous cells How the...

Livehealthy editorial director Ann Marie McQueen interviews Rashi Chowdhary, founder of PLAAY, a nutrition expert, and a diabetic educator with a clinical practice in Dubai and Mumbai. She is an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers, giving advice on everything from healing endometriosis to balancing hormones to how what we eat impacts both our gut and our mental health.   Highlights:   Her endometriosis story + how she healed Why it's not okay to...

Emile Zarife is a former women's magazine fashion editor turned renaissance man: he blogs in Arabic at Anasharqi.com – “I'm Middle Eastern” – as well as to 45k plus followers on Instagram about fashion, fitness, wellness and mental health. Livehealthy editorial director Ann Marie McQueen spoke to Esquire magazine's Best Dressed Man about what it means to be a Middle Eastern man in 2023 and much much more. Highlights: Changing stereotypes of what it means...

Pamela Durant is a Dubai-based wellness and lifestyle medicine coach, a mindful eating coach and facilitator. She's also the mother of a son who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just 20 months old. In 2016 this experience inspired her to leave a successful corporate career as a healthcare consultant for clinics and hospitals to start her own company, DiapointME, which provides a space for people who have been touched by diabetes.  ...

Livehealthy editorial director John Bromley is a public health consultant and director of the U.K.-based National Social Marketing Centre, and he has been a driving force behind Abu Dhabi Sports Council's Abu Dhabi 360 program. He has more than 20 years of experience in developing, implementing and evaluating behavior change programs in the UK and internationally. And he joins us to talk about how the Abu Dhabi government is working to engage everyone in the...

Livehealthy editorial director Ann Marie McQueen speaks with Denis Liam Murphy, a performance coach for everyone. He's worked with entrepreneurs, parents, children – anyone looking to get past their pain and move into health, wellbeing and emotional freedom. He has just written his first book, The Blame Game, and in it he does what no one else seems to be doing: unpacks how our personal – and historical, societal and cultural – addiction to blame...

As a doctor, co-founder and chairman of the integrated diabetes company GluCare.Health, you wouldn't think Ali Hashemi would be one of the many silent cases of pre-diabetes walking around Dubai. Yet that is exactly what happened – and his slim wife was too. Ali joins Livehealthy editorial director Ann Marie McQueen to talk all about Zone.Health, a new metabolic program powered by coaching, tracking, the latest science, knowledge and curiosity to help turn obesity, insulin...

Christine Clinton is co-founder of Junior Genius Global, which provides support to parents, children and their teachers. She is also Chair of the Wellness for Children Initiative with The Global Wellness Institute. She joins us to talk about the Home Wellness Collection, which was launched in Dubai and around the world during the pandemic to help support parents, caregivers and children with all the tools they would need to get through homeschooling. Christine talks about...

Michael Askew and Matthew Gaziano are the co-founders of ASKWHO, a made-in-the-UAE app designed for getting people off their phones and out in the real world. The social media platform they launched in October 2021 now has 130,000 users and is growing 60 percent, month-on-month. Highlights: • How, where and why the app was born • How it works, and why it's not like Tinder or other social media for friends • The mistakes we make when...

This is an episode from our archives where Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen talks to Dubai's Dr David Roze about the pioneering field of biological dentistry. This look at a holistic approach to dental care was one of the most fascinating episodes of The Livehealthy Podcast: Get ready to reconsider everything you thought you knew about your teeth.

Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen interviews Dr Arif Khan, a specialist in pediatric neurology and a consultant and director at Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi. He also founded the first comprehensive children's neuroscience center in the UAE, called Neuropedia. We talk all about what happens before, during and after an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, the rise of ADHD, and what he sees as the number one problem for all children's brains: screen time. This...

After spending time in Dubai during Covid, British three-time Olympian, celebrity personal trainer and body transformation specialist Sarah Lindsay decided it would be the perfect location for the first outpost of her London-based personal training gym Roar.   The 42-year-old trainer and nutrition coach tells us all about her latest venture and dives into some of the latest in wellness and fitness. Highlights include:   Why she chose Dubai for her fourth location What is...

Dr Jonathan Conroy is a British surgeon and engineer who has done over 1,000 surgeries. But he's not the one wielding the scalpel in all these hip and knee replacements: a robot is. These robotic-assisted surgeries have been brought to the UAE by Mubadala Health partner Healthpoint. Yet while the evidence shows that this new technology provides greater accuracy, better outcomes, faster recovery, and less pain for patients, in a recent poll conducted by the...

عبد الرحمن الزعابي هو مرشد سياحي معتمد لإمارة أبو ظبي. وقد كرّس نفسه للتجول في عاصمة الإمارات العربية المتحدة بهدف واضح: العثور على الجواهر الخفية للإمارة، وإظهار ما تقدمه أبو ظبي لكل من المغتربين والمواطنين مع الرغبة لتثقيف الناس عن الفن والثقافة والتاريخ الإماراتي. في حلقة اليوم، يخبرنا الزعابي المزيد عن مغامراته الغنية وتعاليمه وآرائه، بالإضافة إلى إلهامه وراء كل ذلك. يتحدث أيضاً عن تغلبه على الصدمة الثقافية بعد تخرجه من مدرسة ثانوية للبنين في...

This week on the Livehealthy Podcast we catch up with Dr Nasr Al Jafari, a functional medical specialist, medical director of DNA Health & Wellness Centers in Dubai, co-host of the Wellevate Life Podcast and a member of the Livehealthy expert panel. Dr Nasr joins us to talk about some of the most pressing health issues facing men.   In this episode we discuss:   What is ‘Low T' and how is it presenting Why...

Michael Omann is the founder of MovEvo, a holistic approach that stands for “move in the sense of evolution.” He was also the head of Sports Science and Movement Therapy at the Vivamayr Health Clinic in Austria, where he was part of a multi-professional team of experts who take a systemic approach to their clients' health. Michael believes that due to the comforts of modern life, many of us are not able to execute basic...

Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen speaks to Gaj Ravichandra, an organizational psychologist, career, mindset and peak performance coach and mental toughness expert. Gaj splits his time between Sydney and Dubai helping a roster of international clients with everything from overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome, job search and interview skills, mental toughness and resilience, all through the lens of psychology. This episode is from the Livehealthy Podcast archives.

Dr Julio Gomez is a consultant pulmonologist and sleep respiratory medicine specialist at Fakeeh University Hospital. Every day he sees patients who have no idea that they are having periods where they stop breathing every night when they sleep, and that this is creating a cascade of health problems. We speak to him about how to recognize the signs and what can be done if sleep apnea is the culprit.   Highlights: The signs of...

Kori Lindsay and Manny Djorner are co-founders of MEN-tality, which they formed after personal challenges and some deep conversations to help support men in Dubai. They do their work through the twice a month MEN-tality podcast, which you can also find on YouTube, through MEN-tality events, Brotherhood DXB Meetups – for men only – and also through personal training, coaching and community events.   Highlights:   • How Manny + Kori found their way to MEN-tality...

تقول الفنانة الإماراتية شما العامري ، إن “اللغة العربية مقدِسة للغاية لتاريخنا وهويتنا. كما لها تأثير قوي علينا وعلى المجتمع. فالكلمات تُمْلي علينا كيف نتصرف. توجد بعض الكلمات في لغة ما ، ولكنها غير موجودة في لغة أخرى … وهذا يدُل كثيرًا عن تأثير اللغة على هوية المرء “.   في الواقع ، تعد اللغة جزءًا أساسيًا من حياتنا ، وبالتالي ، فإن أحدث معرض لشما ، بعنوان “إذا صح التعبير” .، هو معرض مؤثر...

October is World Menopause Month and to mark it, we speak to two doctors about the first dedicated menopause clinic in Abu Dhabi: Dr Deepti Kansal, a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a member of the British Menopause Society, as well as Dr Maryam Al Ali, Consultant Family Medicine. The doctors tell us all about perimenopause and menopause, a transition that can happen when a woman is in her 50s,...

The AD Movement was launched in 2016 to empower women in the capital on their own holistic journey. Now after a Covid-19-length break, they are back offering health and wellness events that promote inclusivity, self-love, positivity, and empowerment for Emiratis and expats. We talk to co-founders Abeer Amiri and Sarah Al Nowais about what's been happening and what they have in store.   Highlights:   • The comeback of the AD movement • How it...

Dr Stephen Grobmyer is chair of the oncology unit, professor of surgery and director of breast cancer surgery at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. We catch up with him every year ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month to talk about the latest developments in the fight against breast cancer, best practices, and what women can do to minimize their risks. Highlights: The latest guidance for breast cancer treatment How quickly you need to act on a...

David Golding went from a career in banking and software engineering to becoming a sober lifestyle coach – and he got there the hard way. And since it's Sober October, a month when people all over the world experiment with what it feels like to give up alcohol, we checked in with him to talk about all things to do with addiction, including his own story of struggling with gambling and alcohol. David talks about...

غالباً ما يتم السعي إلى الكمال لكسب القبول والتقرب من الآخرين. ومع ذلك، فإن المفارقة العصبية هي أن الكمالية تدفع الناس بعيدًا، وتربط الشخص بالعدوانية. يرتبط السعي للكمال أيضًا بمجموعة من مشكلات الصحة النفسية. لم الكثير منا كماليين؟ كيف ترتبط بهذه النتائج الضارة؟ ما هو “فخ الكمال”؟ هذه بعض الأسئلة العديدة التي ستجيب عليها ضيفة اليوم، شيماء جلال، المدربة المحترفة المعتمدة من ICF ، وممارس البرمجة اللغوية العصبية ومدربة التفكير. هذه الحلقة من أرشيف البودكاست...

Irina Sharma is a Dubai-based health and wellness specialist and ‘cultivator' with decades of experience in media, communications and PR. She's also co-host of the Wellevate Podcast with Dr Nasr Al Jafari and founder of the new LiveWell with Nakheel series, which kicked off in June and continues monthly with a focus on men's health. Irina and I spoke about how she approached her breast cancer diagnosis, why men can't cry and the most important...

ضيفنا في برنامج اليوم هي نوار سوريج، معالجة نفسية ومدربة حياة مقيمة في المملكة المتحدة. ستتعمق سوراج في العلاج النفسي وكيف يمكن أن يكون ذا قيمة لحياتك حتى عندما لا “تشعر” أنك بحاجة إليه. سيناقش نوار أيضًا العلاج النفسي في المنطقة العربية، والتعامل مع الصد من المجتمع وأهمية العلاقة الصحية بين المعالج والعميل. .هذه الحلقة من أرشيف البودكاست العربية لدينا

Dhbaya Al Qubaisi and Shama AlMazrouei are two Emirati friends and recent university graduates who love lifting weights and one day talked about launching their own line of fitness apparel. One year of hard work later and Pushed was born. You may have also started seeing their stylish, workout tights and trendy bottles around Abu Dhabi. In this podcast Dhbaya and Shama speak about their love of lifting, what made them put their idea into...

ضيفة اليوم هي أسماء الزهيري وهي مجدف محترفة، ولكنها أيضاً دليل حي على أن الوقت لا يفوت أبدًا لمحاولة وإتقان شيء جديد. بدأت الزهيري حياتها المهنية في التجديف في السابعة والعشرين من عمرها، وهو سن متقدم نسبياً لبدء مسيرة رياضية تنافسية. لقد أنجزت أكثر من ذلك بكثير منذ ذلك الحين، بعد أن أسست أيضًا أكاديمية التجديف الخاصة بها، (رو ان) وانضمت إلى المنتخب المصري الوطني للتجديف، وفازت بالعديد من البطولات الوطنية، وسجلت الرقم القياسي لمصر...

Yasir Khan is an entrepreneur, transformational mentor, and founder of Transform Your Body and this month he is launching a huge new holistic gym concept. It's a long way from the kid who used to sell milk and sweep the gym floor to opening his own 75,000 square-foot facility in Al Quoz – which will be one of the biggest in the GCC and can accommodate up to 500 people at a time. Yasir talks...

Stephanie Hamilton is a mom to three girls including 16-year-old Ruby, who has Down Syndrome and Autism. Ruby has been the catalyst and inspiration behind Stephanie's quest for true inclusion in the UAE for the past decade. Stephanie was the parent voice and a catalyst for the launch of the KHDA Inclusion policy, and was named one of the country's top influencers in education. Stephanie has participated in many initiatives and panels on inclusion to...

Dr Natalia Spierings is a consultant dermatologist at Kings College Hospital who splits her time between Dubai and the UK. She's also author of the new book Skintelligent and a major voice in the very skincare conversation that dominates social media. But you won't find her endorsing any brands, products or services – and we talk to her today to find out why. Get ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about taking care...

في الواقع، لا يوجد فن يؤثر على وعينا ووجداننا في الطريقة التي تفعلها الأفلام، وضيفنا اليوم، نديم صفي الدين هو خبير في تقييم البرامج التليفزيونية والأفلام، والذي من خلال مدونته يوجه الجمهور إلى الفيلم أو العرض الذي يبحثون عنه بينما يخلق أيضًا مجتمعًا مزدهرًا حيث يمكن للناس مشاركة شغفهم بصناعة الأفلام. .Nad's Reviews وقد فعل صفي الدين ذلك من خلال إنشاء مدونة   على مر السنين، لم يتلاشى شغفه ولا قاعدة جماهيره المتزايدة. Nad’s Reviews حيث...

Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen talks to Claudine Gillard, the founder of Sweet Dreams Sleep Consulting. We talk all about “sleep hygiene”, address some sleep myths and look at why most parents need to hit rock bottom before they address their children's unhealthy sleep patterns. This episode is from our Livehealthy Podcast archives.

Mary–Justine Todd is the founder and executive director of Shamsaha, the first and only 24 hours a day, seven days a week domestic violence crisis prevention program operating in the Middle East. Shamsaha, which means “her sun” and launched in 2016, has 120 trained and certified women’s crisis advocates working in English and Arabic, with a new app that offers a wealth of information and research as well as text, phone and video crisis counseling....

Rose O’Donovan didn’t set out to try and eradicate mouth breathing. The Irish is a personal trainer and Dubai resident who was focusing on female health and the specific hormonal problems women can have. She is also a master instructor with Oxygen Advantage, the breathwork training program developed by the breathing and sleep expert as well as best-selling author, Patrick McKeown. As with many of our issues, all of these phases are impacted by and contribute...

Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen speaks with Emirati entrepreneur Maitha Alowais about launching her healthy business Maitha & Treats, finding out about her own food intolerances, healing from binge eating disorder and launching her Treat Tribe, an online community interested in vegan eating and sustainable living. This episode is from the Livehealthy Podcast archives.

Irina Sharma is a Dubai-based health and wellness specialist and ‘cultivator’ with decades of experience in media, communications and PR. She's also co-host of the Wellevate Podcast with Dr Nasr Al Jafari and founder of the new LiveWell with Nakheel series, which kicked off in June and continues monthly with a focus on men's health. Irina and I spoke about how she approached her breast cancer diagnosis, why men can’t cry and the most important...

Lana Nahawi, a female embodiment coach based in Dubai who helps women fully discover, grow and express themselves. She views labels like ‘Boss Lady’, ‘Super Mum’, ‘Superwoman’, and even her own label, ‘Embodiment Coach,’ as restricting – a set of adjectives that only conveys one aspect of our multifaceted lives. Instead she encourages women to look  inside, rather than outside, to reconnect to our authentic, intrinsic power – just by being ourselves. This episode delves...

اشتهرت الإمارات العربية المتحدة بأنها مركز الفن في الشرق الأوسط.   ما يقف في مقدمة هذا المشهد الفني المتطور باستمرار هم فناني الإمارات، مثل ضيفتنا في حلقة اليوم، روضة المزروعي.   روضة هي فنانة تشكيلية إماراتية من العاصمة أبو ظبي، أثبتت مهاراتها في الرسم، لا سيما في مجال الرسم الزيتي وعرضت أعمالها من خلال العديد من المعارض بما في ذلك معرض المرأة الإماراتية والثبات.   في الآونة الأخيرة، أكملت روضة أيضًا افتتاح معرضها الأول تحت...

Dr Sara Suliman is a consultant endocrinologist and diabetologist at the Imperial College Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi. She studied at the world-renowned Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, earned her Phd at Oxford University, has authored several research papers and presented her research at major international conferences. She was a member of the team selected by the Emirates Diabetes and Endocrinology Society to update UAE guidelines for management of type-2 diabetes in 2020...

Livehealthy editor Ann Marie McQueen speaks with Dr Saliha Afridi, founder and managing director of Lighthouse Arabia. Dr Afridi is a clinical psychologist with training and experience in a wide range of mental health issues, and she's got some very sage advice for navigating life's ebbs and flows, and finding and maintaining some form of inner peace during our current turbulent times. Highlights: How to thrive in times of uncertainty Everyone is a victim The...

Christiana Maxion wants you to be the CEO of your dating life. The Dubai Matchmaker is re-writing the blueprint for the Dubai dating-verse, helping men and women attract their ideal partner through her elite matchmaking and customized dating programs including the Dating Do-Over – and she's boasting an 80 percent success rate. That sure beats Tinder. We'll find out how she makes that happen, what the Dubai dating scene is really like, and what most...

Josh Davies is head of strength and conditioning at Wellfit, Dubai's state-of-the-art multi-sport fitness center dedicated to motivating and educating UAE's youth in applying active living to their everyday lives. With a background in professional rugby and an 8-year career as a regionals level CrossFit athlete, Josh knows a thing or two about training and competing at the highest sporting level. He also has a master's degree in strength and conditioning and is currently undertaking his...

Today’s guest is Sara Al Madani. She is the only Emirati on the first edition of the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Dubai (RHOD), which screens in the UAE on OSN+. But only a few episodes in, the 36-year-old, twice-divorced single mom from Ajman has set herself apart, not only as a mediator between the drama of the other women on the show, but as an authentic, decent person. Although she has...

Asim Amin is the Dubai-raised founder and CEO of Plumm, a workplace mental wellbeing platform that recently launched in the UAE. They offer personal online therapy, expert-led courses, guided meditations and more.   What Plumm does, how it works and the very personal reason Asim came to launch it Plumm's recently released white paper that highlights the connection between physical and mental health, which a lot of people still treat separately Expanding the concept of...

Aliya Rajah is a personal and professional development coach based in Dubai, who helps people do more in both their personal and professional lives. Aliya talks about how to implement before-work habits that have a positive impact on the day, reframing exercise as an act of self-love, overcoming guilt when doing the things we enjoy, plus practical strategies to set clear goals and improve time management. We talk about: How to deal with the nasty...

Sophie Smith is founder and CEO of Nabta Health, the company she launched in 2017 to create the Middle East's first hybrid model of elective, preventative health care. Nabta Health offers a range of online testing for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic diseases, and unlike so many healthcare startups, they are focusing on women in emerging markets. Sophie also speaks about some of the biggest health problems women are facing today, and what...