When we first set out to make healing foods for specific life moments, we were faced with some big questions: Which definition of healing foods should we follow? Should we subscribe to Western Nutrition Theory? If so, which one and from which era? Should we design all of our products according to Ayurveda? Should we focus on incorporating the healing properties of herbs?
These were really important decisions that could impact both the efficacy and credibility of our products.
Ultimately, we decided to draw from as many healing disciplines as possible. There is so much confusing and conflicting information out there about what to eat to support vibrant health, and we imagined that the more research, experience, and perspectives we had, the closer we would get to ‘the truth.’
This, of course, would make things a bit more complicated. We would have to define for ourselves what we believed in, who we trusted, and how we would navigate any contradictions we came across between (and within) each discipline. We immediately knew that we wanted some help with this process. And thus, the concept of our Medical Advisory Board was born.
We knew from the start that we wanted our advisors to have a breadth of experience and expertise. We planned to bring on a Western Medical doctor, a nutritionist, an Integrative Medicine doctor, a Functional Medicine doctor, an herbalist, a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and an Ayurvedic doctor.
Then came the next challenging part - how to find the right people to join us.
We took lots of phone calls, meetings, and coffee chats with health practitioners across dozens of disciplines, and when we met with a practitioner who got excited about Agni’s mission (and had the bandwidth to support us), we interviewed them and invited them to join our board. Through this process, we got extremely lucky, and we found a wonderfully talented group of deep thinkers who have exceptional experience with both research and clinical practice in their fields.
Below is a list of our current Medical Advisory Board members.
Eve Henry, MD | Western Medicine, Functional Medicine, Integrative Medicine
Education: Princeton BS, Vanderbilt MD, Stanford Residency, University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Training
Current: Director, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
Suhas Kshirsagar, MD | Ayurveda
Education: BA and MD in Ayurvedic Medicine, Pune University, India
Current: Founder and Practitioner, Ayurvedic Healing, Advisor and consultant to the Chopra Center, author of Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life
Sarah Buscho | Herbalism
Education: Clinical Herbalist, Ohlone Herbal Center, BA, UC Santa Cruz
Current: CEO, Earth tu Face, Herbalist
Tammy Chang | Holistic Nutrition
Education: Nutrition Counseling, Bauman College, BA, Duke University
Current: Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach, author of The Nourished Belly Diet
Manisha Kshirsagar, MD | Ayurveda
Education: BA and MD in Ayurvedic Medicine, Pune University, India
Current: Founder and Practitioner, Ayurvedic Healing
Gina Bria, MA | Anthropology of Food Medicine, Hydration
Education: BA, MA Anthropology, Columbia University
Current: Founder and ED: Hydration Foundation, author of Quench
Manas Kshirsagar, MD | Ayurveda
Education: BS, Physiology, MA, Ayurvedic Medicine, Maharishi University of Management
Current: Resident Doctor, Ayurvedic Healing
Various practitioners | Traditional Chinese Medicine
While we have been grateful to receive guidance from a number of practitioners, none have had the capacity to come on as an advisor yet. If you are a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner (or know one) and are interested in advising, we’d love to hear from you.
If you are a practitioner from any of these health disciplines (or know one!) and are interested in advising, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at partners@agniforall.com.
