May 6, 2025 • 56 mins
Ashmi Health is revolutionizing how women manage hormonal disorders like PCOS by harnessing the power of AI for personalized nutrition solutions. Food and nutrition play a crucial role in healthcare, especially in women’s health, influencing conditions both positively and negatively. By analyzing individual needs, AI can guide users toward dietary choices that help regulate hormones, reduce symptoms, and improve overall well-being.
Technology is a powerful tool—one we carry in our pockets every day. AI-driven apps like Ashmi Health can empower women with real-time, science-backed guidance to make better nutrition choices tailored to their unique bodies. However, for such a platform to be truly effective, diversity must be a priority. Cultural and ethnic backgrounds significantly impact dietary habits and health outcomes, meaning broad representation in research and testing is essential. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work—only by including a wide range of users can we create a solution that genuinely supports all women on their health journeys.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:25):
This is healthcare uprising.
We are here to shine a light on the innovators implementing positive change in Americanhealthcare.
In the patient experience stories, good and bad that can help others navigate thesometimes overwhelmingly complex American healthcare system.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Uprising.
talk to doctors and we don't play one on TV.
If you need medical advice, consult with your physician or healthcare professional.
All right.
(01:06):
Hello, Health Heads.
Welcome and thank you for checking into this dose of the healthcare uprising.
I'm your producer in the back, Jeremy Carr, here with your host in the front row, HeatherPierce.
So let's tell them what's on the agenda for today, In today's episode, we're chatting withPiyali Chakraborty, the CEO and co-founder of Ashmi Health, a platform using AI to help
(01:27):
women manage hormonal disorders like PCOS through personalized nutrition solutions.
She has over a decade of experience in the food technology space and holds a PhD from theuniversity of Queensland, where she was exploring how to make plant based milk taste
better.
starting Ashme Health, Piali worked as a scientist at Wajinan-jin University.
(01:50):
Close it up.
my gosh, creating 3D printed personalized foods.
And as the chief technology officer of See and Believe, where she developed the world'sfirst plant based cod.
Yes, I just said plant based cod.
That's true.
(02:11):
She started Ashme Health after seeing how overwhelming and isolating it can be for womento navigate hormonal health challenges without clear guidance.
Piali is now dedicated to making it easier for women to understand their bodies and takecontrol of their health.
I'm sorry, but the phrase plant-based cod makes me think today's catch of the day,broccoli.
I'm sure that's not accurate.
(02:32):
So let's go learn what that means.
Without further ado, here's our conversation with Piali from Match Me Health.
Hi, and welcome to Healthcare Uprising podcast, Piyali.
Nice to meet you guys.
(02:53):
Excited to be here.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Thanks for coming on today.
So, um, let's just jump right in.
Uh, let's get some history here.
So Piali, if you would just share with us your background, experience, kind of whatultimately brought you to establishing.
Ashmi health and kind of the origins of the company and kind of where things are at today.
(03:17):
So.
Yeah, great.
So I'm Tiali.
I am originally from India.
I grew up in a very small town in India.
Growing up, you know, like there was so much of taboo around talking about sexual health,reproductive health, or even something like period.
(03:39):
So it really bothered me.
um I had very bad cramps growing up, but that was something where you
can't discuss it publicly.
And I wasn't the only one, my cousins, my friends, my mom, she was going through somethingreally severe.
So she was in severe pain for a very long time because of her hormonal health, but wecouldn't talk about it openly.
(04:05):
So what happened is I saw people around us just hiding their symptoms, not talking aboutit, it became intense.
For my mom, she had endometriosis, but I think nobody other than just the family knewabout it.
She underwent a hysterectomy where they remove uterus and ovaries, and she was in suchpain, but there was no support available.
(04:30):
There wasn't a forum where you can ask questions or when you can get lifestyle support.
So that kind of stayed with me.
Then I moved abroad, uh I got a PhD in food technology and nutrition.
And I kind of saw this other part of the world where people are so conscious about theirhealth, they are talking about their health, they are doing conscious things to improve
(04:55):
their health.
And that made me think like, why can't it happen in countries like India?
Why can't, especially for women, they are juggling so many different things.
We don't have enough time to take care of ourselves, but at least there should be
be some platform where you can ask questions, where you get support.
And that kind of led me towards building Ashmi Health, where I wanted to be a platformwhere women who look like me, who haven't had any education or training on sexual health,
(05:29):
reproductive health, or even nutrition growing up, they can find a safe space to talkabout their problems.
They can find a safe space.
to get advice from experts.
And here in the US also, know, women in again, underserved communities, they don't havethe resources to go talk to a nutritionist or they don't have the resources to get
(05:53):
continuous help.
So we are providing them a platform as well to get this specialized care, specializedhelp.
So that is how I started this company and yeah, very excited to talk more about it.
Can I start with a question?
You said you have a PhD in food technology.
(06:16):
What is food technology exactly?
What do you actually study when you get a PhD in that?
Right, uh I can talk about the PhD itself.
So what I was doing is have you had these plant-based oat drinks?
I haven't.
I drink a lot of almond milk myself.
Yeah, it's like...
(06:36):
milk.
Yeah.
Something like that, but we were adding a lot of fibers and we wanted to make it reallynutritious.
The challenge was people weren't liking it.
There was the company that I was partnering with during my PhD, they weren't able to sellas many products.
So as a food technologist, what I was doing is connecting the ingredients to what isexactly happening in the mouth.
(06:59):
So looking at the physics of what the particles are doing, how is it dropping against yourtongue and palate.
and how that we can translate that to user experience.
So what would make people to eat or drink more healthy?
What are the challenges that we can solve through technology?
So we decided on a new shape structure of the particles that kind of enabled a moresmoother experience.
(07:26):
If you can imagine like mouth feel like when you drink your coffee, if you have somethings and particles in there, how it feels versus
like a very creamy experience when you add milk and cream.
So we were designing those kinds of experiences by changing the physics of theingredients.
Wow.
That is very start.
You're like molecular engineering food.
(07:47):
That's wild.
Yeah.
Well, it's basically engineering, but as a system, we have food and as users, we havehuman beings.
We use them as kind of like we design experiments where we feed them different things andlook at their responses and talk to them and try to measure how they are feeling about the
(08:09):
food.
It's always about the feeling, like, what are you thinking?
What are your childhood experiences around that food?
What would enable you to, you know?
Think more about it.
It's all about the feelings.
It's very interesting connecting engineering to human.
It's got a little bit of Willy Wonka in it.
The schnazberries taste like schnazberries.
(08:33):
good way.
But like the soda that makes you float and things like that.
The blueberry stuff that turns you into a blueberry.
And we realize a lot of it is people's childhood experiences, what the experiences werearound food, what smell or what memories come into picture when they think of foods or
(08:56):
some sort of an experience like, my grandma made this, or we had this Christmas thing thatthis is a special thing.
uh Most of these foods revolve around ingredients which might not be good for you.
So it is very hard when you bring in new diets or new ingredients.
that was the challenge.
(09:17):
That is what we were working towards, like how to make new ingredients look and taste likesomething that you've already tasted, something you already have memories of.
the impossible burger, right?
of idea, which I've never had one of those by the way.
Well, it's almost like the reverse of what the candy and soda people do.
(09:37):
They try to make engineer their food to basically be addictive and like make you want moreand more and more.
You're doing a similar thing, but you're aiming it towards health rather than justconsume.
That's cool.
That's really interesting.
Cause everybody's heard, you know, heard of how the candy and soda people do it.
It's nice to know somebody's doing it on the good side too.
(09:59):
That's good.
So obviously you've spent a lot of time, your, your, your bio and your background is quiteinteresting with the food technology and some of the things that you were doing around
plant-based, which is fantastic.
But Ashmi health, obviously it's an app, right?
It's around hormonal health.
um
(10:21):
And oh food plays into that.
mean, nutrition, we've actually had a number of uh episode interviews recently wherethere's this common thread.
And I think it's just kind of in the universe now about, you know, food is medicine andhow nutrition and what we put into our bodies is so important.
I mean, it's always been important, but now we're actually doing something about it andbecoming, I think, a little bit more conscientious.
(10:45):
So in terms of like the actual.
app itself and what you're doing with Oshmi Health, like how does food play into that?
Like can you talk a little bit about really what the app intends to do, really kind of allthe things so that we can understand that and who might want to use it too?
So how it started or how I uh actually started was designing these nutrition meat plantsfor my friends and family.
(11:11):
And what happens is they are excited, they tried for a few days and then uh drop-offshappen.
Motivation kind of lowers down and people are not interested anymore.
And this was a recurring theme for a while and that made me realize that
More or less we all know what is good for us and what is bad for us.
But what happens is when life happens, like you're busy, there is stress, there are somany different things going on in your life.
(11:38):
It's really hard to stay on top of everything.
It's really hard to plan your food and plan your wellness activities around that.
So that was a big thinking point for us.
Like how can we use tech to make all of this easier?
to not have people to think so much of how do I eat the best thing possible.
(12:02):
So that is where AI comes into picture where AI can actually make these experiences verypersonalized.
And we realized when your, whatever recommendations or whatever learnings you're gettingis personalized for your own needs, there is more adherence, more and more people are
interested.
So this is what uh Ashmi Hilt is doing where
(12:23):
we look into multiple data points.
So as I mentioned before, hormonal health, menstrual cycle, symptoms, your sleep, stress,all of these are really important in managing your health.
So we make sense of all that data points and use that to design these nutrition insightsfor you.
And it's not like a static plan.
(12:44):
It's not like go on keto for three weeks.
These are very bite-sized recommendations that will keep changing as
things happen with your life or as you are giving feedback to the application that this isnot working for me or I want something different or like let's say your cultural
preferences are different.
So this interaction keeps happening.
(13:07):
And the other innovation that we have is the companion.
So we have a health assistant system built in where users can come and chat to talk abouttheir hormonal health struggles.
But this is also the accountability partner which
provides them nudges or motivation when all of these, you're also dealing with life andother stuff.
(13:28):
So the app is like a combination of a nutritionist and a companion or a friend like systemthat not only just provides you advice, but also follows up and helps you keep on track.
So trying to think about like your maybe ideal user, is it somebody who has some kind ofcondition that they need to manage?
(13:56):
Is that kind of your idea?
I mean, could it be anybody?
also is the maybe who gets the most benefit out of something like this would be somebodywho's maybe dealing with a chronic issue or chronic condition, that inflammation from
certain food, right?
Like if you eat and you're tracking it, it'll say,
I felt really bad or, it made me feel this way.
(14:17):
OK, don't eat that food.
Maybe try this.
Is it kind of along those lines?
Yeah.
So to start with, we were thinking of PCOS, but as we kept building and talking with theusers, we found a lot of interest from uh women who are either trying to get pregnant, is
going through pregnancy and postpartum.
(14:38):
And like I have my personal experiences, like during pregnancy, I was at risk for uhgestational diabetes and I knew, okay, I have to eat or not eat those things.
But then every week is different.
body keeps changing, your hormones keep fluctuating so much, and the staticrecommendations do not work anymore.
(14:58):
And this is what a lot of our early users who are going through a similar situation havetold us.
So right now, our first, these target users are women who are going through oh these verydrastic hormonal changes where...
We kind of look at their symptoms or give them a space where they can track theirsymptoms.
(15:21):
We tell them what is going to happen.
Maybe it's going to happen in the next few months.
And then we have these nutrition recommendations that keep changing as their needs andtheir hormones are changing.
Okay, so it's kind of as you're talking, I'm thinking you you get more out of it based onwhat you put into it.
(15:45):
Is that kind of a fair statement?
most AI applications work, the more you use or data you provide, it gets all the morepersonalized.
But that's the thing, like there is this initial friction involved where you're askingpeople to put in a lot of information and not getting value straight away.
So this is where our oh health assistant comes into picture, where we are already givingyou value because of all the data that we have accumulated.
(16:13):
Our AI models have been...
trained on our clinical data.
So we can already give value even if you don't provide any data itself.
But as you get used to the platform, you start using it more, users are providing more andmore information.
And then the personalized experience is just getting a lot better with usage.
(16:34):
And is it, is the app internally generative and that it will add the data it's gettingfrom the new users into the data it already has and keep updating its information on its
own.
Exactly.
So it keeps updating and we are also getting data from other sources.
We have some partnerships with our research organizations.
(16:55):
So we also have access to clinical trials.
So that is also kind of, you know, making our oh models more intelligent and humanshealthy data, you know, it's not something that is readily available.
So we are lucky that we got access to some very good quality data.
and we're getting access to more and more.
So we are kind of always training our models to get better.
(17:20):
Yeah.
And the more people that sign up, the more info that has to work with and the bettereverybody's process goes in the end.
Right.
mean, the concept.
also with this kind of data, diversity is really important.
Again, the clinical trials we are talking of mostly based on Caucasian women.
uh A lot of our users, think 70 % of our users are based in India.
(17:42):
So of this diverse data, so we know that something that is working for the Caucasian womenmight not work for an Indian woman, might not work for women based in Nigeria.
At least to start with, have an Indian uh cohort of women using it and uh women in the USusing it.
(18:04):
So we still have some diversity just starting out.
So that is very, very interesting.
Well, let's bring this thing global and make it really work for everybody here.
problem like you know like everybody can relate that yes I have that problem as well soit's a very universal problem the nature of it is like everybody nobody is like very happy
(18:27):
with what food they're eating or their lifestyle there's always some challenge associatedwith it.
Yeah.
Doesn't matter what country you live in or where you live.
We all struggle with that.
And, also too, you know.
Either not enough of this stuff or too much of that stuff or PCOS and, and Demetri theydon't have geographical boundaries.
(18:49):
So PCOS.
my next question.
What is PCOS?
I I feel like PCOS is probably one of the conditions that is, um,
common, I guess, uh for somebody who's using this app.
feel like we maybe have talked about that em when we met briefly.
So yeah, let's use this as an education opportunity.
(19:10):
It's polycystic ovary syndrome.
uh It's a condition where you have cysts in your ovary and there are a lot of differentsymptoms that kind of spin out.
So your periods uh are not regular and that also kind of causes cysts in your ovary.
And then you have this unexplained weight gain for a lot of women.
(19:32):
You have insulin resistance where your body cannot process insulin well.
Again, that leads to weight gain.
kind of if you keep continuing that path, some women also go into infertility challenges.
And then if all your symptoms are there and you have not really taken care of it,ultimately it can cause diabetes or cardiovascular disorders.
(19:55):
Now the biggest challenge is there is no cure for this condition.
So you can just manage the symptoms.
And the way it is done these days is through hormonal contraceptives.
So you are asking your body to stop producing the hormones.
And you can imagine when you just stop a natural process, again, it leads to furthercomplications.
So it's basically like, it's a domino effect.
(20:20):
And when women go for medical help, they are told that, because you're overweight, that iswhy you're having all of these challenges.
But this condition itself causes you to gain weight.
So there is no help available.
When you go to ah lifestyle management, that probably would work.
(20:43):
But again, every PCOS is different.
Women, everybody is different.
How you're processing, what is happening is different.
So again, there is no customized help available.
So it is a big challenge.
And more and more women are getting diagnosed with PCOS.
It might be because the...
Women are actively going to doctors and getting themselves checked or our environmentalfactors as such that we just start having these conditions more and more.
(21:10):
But it is a very serious problem.
Yeah.
know a few people have had PCOS and infertility being one of the symptoms or outcomes ofthat.
you know, that can be pretty devastating for a woman, especially if she wants to, youknow, her own children.
(21:31):
yeah.
uh Question for you too, and we didn't really talk about this when you were kind of givingyour intro background.
Ashmi Health, how long has it been around?
And you just mentioned, obviously, 70 % of your users are in India.
This is where I'm sure you launched it and it will be global or becoming global.
But uh how long have you been around, actually?
(21:54):
Almost a year.
uh We started, uh like we built the beta last year, I think around February last year.
And then we ran that for about eight months.
And that is when we started getting our users.
We got a lot of interesting feedback.
And that is when this concept of a health assistant came into picture.
(22:16):
And we just finished building our health assistant last month.
And now we are testing with our
first set of users and getting all the feedback.
And then we uh start building the next version of the product.
Okay.
I knew you were really new, but I wasn't sure how like active, you know, and we have a lotof conversations with a lot of founders like yourself with these kind of early startups.
(22:42):
And so everyone's kind of at a different place.
And so it's, it's interesting to hear.
So are you going really more for like the direct to consumer or are you looking to partnerwith providers?
Like where's kind of, where do you see Ashme Health presenting itself, I guess, to, getmore folks using the app?
(23:03):
initially direct to consumers as we learn more about our consumers, learn if you'reactually solving their problems and define or design a product accordingly.
We're also getting interest from other health tech companies that are getting requestsfrom their users to have nutrition insights, which has been quite interesting.
(23:23):
So we are still early, we are still kind of navigating those relationships.
But going on, we want to really have oh
partnership with providers, insurance companies, that nobody has to like it happensthrough insurance, which ideally it should be.
So you're still early in kind of having that relationship, but this is more we want tohead towards.
(23:47):
That's, um, that's, those are some pretty big goals, but you know, there's, there's anappetite, appetite.
Hey, like maybe I'm funny pun intended or not, but there's an appetite for it.
And I think, you know, that's one of the things and maybe you can talk about this a littlebit too, is we have become in Jeremy and I were actually just talking about this
(24:15):
yesterday.
It seems like the shift in healthcare is that us as like the individuals, the consumers,the humans, whatever, we call them humans on our show, um that we have to really take
control of our healthcare, right?
Like we're deciding, we're becoming, we're getting more of that power in literally in ourhands, right?
(24:36):
Like in our phones.
um Are you seeing that shift from?
you know, from the spaces that you work in, the other founders that you, I'm sure you talkwith, I know that that community is really tight.
Like what, what do you think's changing too?
Other than the fact that like AI and tech are huge, but do you think it's something elsein the universe?
(24:57):
Is it just attitudes?
Is it, I don't know, just people thinking more conscientiously about their, their healthand they want that control.
I just feel like we've always been such a reactive society and now we're changing, youknow, that.
and it used to be just a healthcare thing.
We need, you know, preventative care and value-based care, and that's a lot of places thatI've worked in.
(25:18):
But now people are actually becoming part of that formula to push this forward and say,I'm demanding this.
I want an Amazon for my app or for my health, you know, that sort of thing.
I think it's a combination of everything.
So if you look at the healthcare system, it is overburdened.
If you have to see a specialist, you have to wait like four to six months.
(25:41):
So think about it, you're having PCOS, you are in intense pain or you're bleeding for amonth straight and you can't see your specialist.
So there is a lot of frustration.
And even when you go to the doctor, a lot of time you're gaslighted, ah you're told thatyour symptoms do not matter or
because you are, like as I mentioned before, because you're overweight, this is where thatis why you are having all these challenges.
(26:04):
So women are not getting the help that they need, so they are frustrated.
So this is one big thing.
And then the other thing is medication.
Like once you take medications for a while and you face all these side effects, you startthinking like, what is really happening?
Like, I can't be like, this can't be my life, right?
I have to get a better life.
(26:25):
And this is where, you know, holistic healing,
and getting something which is non-medical has no side effects and can actually look atthe root cause and solve it at the root, this is where it comes in.
And I think Gen Z is a big advocate for that.
Food as medicine, I think this concept is kind of driven by them.
(26:48):
They are more vocal about it, talking about it with their friends and that kind of hasseeped into these other generations as well where we are thinking.
Okay, this is actually possible.
We can actually eat, start eating well and that is affecting our health.
So there's a lot of awareness around it.
A lot of buzz in social media, which has definitely helped, even though there is somemisinformation, but I think this buzz is actually driving this entire thing forward.
(27:16):
So that's really good news.
Yeah, I know it's interesting with the food is medicine kind of revolution.
It's seemed to gathered some steam here.
I feel like in the last five or so years.
Yeah, I think there was always this interest, but there weren't any actionable insights onwhat exactly to do.
(27:38):
And this is where this AI and tech has come into place, where we can actually analyze hugeamounts of data.
We can make experiences very personalized.
We can have something on our phones which can track.
So we have such good real-time data that we can actually make sense of it and havesomething that works for your bodies.
(27:59):
So this gives people hope that, okay, this is easy.
This is not as difficult as we thought it would be.
So again, helping all that movement and helping people to realize that we don't have todepend on just the healthcare system.
We don't have to go to the doctor or think about our health when we get really sick.
(28:20):
We can do something every day to improve our health.
Yeah.
And I think it is a cultural shift that people are becoming more proactive about suchthings just generally.
Cause, uh, I mean, it's been a long time now and you know, more and more so there there'skind of a you're on your own sort of approach to healthcare in America.
(28:41):
And I think people have finally realized, okay, if, if it's up to me, then okay, let'sstart doing something about it and let's give people the power to actually do that for
themselves.
And a lot of our episodes have been about such things.
I don't know, probably a good half of our episodes to this point have some kind of aspectof that in it.
(29:01):
At home testing and apps like this and ah even the social prescribing episodes we'redoing, like there's people out there, you know, helping other people out and getting
insurance companies to pay for helping with their depression kind of stuff.
Like, I really do think there's a cultural shift going on in that.
I didn't know that until we started this podcast.
(29:22):
It's, uh, you know, once again, it's part of the whole uprising part of this, that, youknow, we're bringing this information to people and showing them that it's not all just
gloom and darkness and melancholy when it comes to American healthcare.
There's actually people out there trying to make it better for everybody, which is great.
So I appreciate what you're doing is the short version of that.
(29:44):
We're here, we're literally here for it.
And yeah, it's, you know, it is that education piece, I think, and social media, you know,for better, for good, you know, in terms of the existence of it at all.
I mean, we get some good, we get some benefits out of it.
And I think one of those things is that sharing of information that we didn't have, youknow, I'm even thinking back, you know, when I was younger,
(30:09):
know, in the nineties when we were teenagers, Jeremy, um, in the 20th century.
Yeah.
But, you know, we didn't have this kind of access to information and, and we have thatnow.
And so, so we're empowered, um, with, with that.
And then the healthcare system itself, I think it's just, the healthcare system just gotso complex and complicated and kind of, I described it yesterday as
(30:37):
It's like adding things onto a house, like multiple additions.
And then ultimately things start falling apart and they just don't make sense.
know?
so ventilation doesn't work right.
Cause it's connected.
Exactly.
You open a door to some weird creepy hallway that, know, and, so it feels kind of likethat.
And so I think with, with apps and organizations and people like you, know, with Ashmehealth, um, you're empowering us to.
(31:08):
decide how we want to build our houses, right?
Like, and it's kind of our domain and insurance is a much smaller part of it now.
Insurance is kind of like the underlying, like, okay, well, we're going to pay for thisbit, this and this and that and the other thing, but like everything else, right?
Like all the apps, the food parts, the mental health, everything else, we get to decide,we get to control that.
(31:29):
And I think that's kind of maybe one of the most beautiful things.
that it has come out of COVID quite honestly because so much of this did happen whileeveryone was locked up in their houses for two years, you know.
good ideas happened during that time.
uh Yeah, really.
I mean, we were forced.
How many companies, people I've talked to that we've talked to that said, well, I had tofigure out how to pivot really, really fast so that people can access what they needed,
(31:58):
you know, virtually or out of their out of their homes some way.
And so, you know, there's one silver lining of COVID.
We've got a lot of great healthcare tech companies that were born out of it.
behavioral changes also happen.
Realizing like, wow, my health is so important.
Yeah, that's true.
But now you have these very severe consequences later on.
(32:24):
Gosh, when you're not so busy running around and you have time to actually stop and take alook at your life.
think about what's really important, right?
Right.
It was quite a moment.
Everyone at the same time was forced to stop and look at their own life in a real way.
Yeah.
(32:45):
All at the same time.
You're going to get cultural shifts.
It's going to happen, especially with the high pace.
Yeah.
The go, go, go.
Don't stop to think, just go kind of attitude we before that.
That's interesting.
That's yeah, that's true.
And, kind of bringing it back to this food and nutrition part of it.
Piali because that's obviously where you've spent a good amount of your time.
(33:09):
um Food technology, I'm still just absolutely fascinated by food technology and what allyou were doing.
um What have you seen change from a nutrition perspective and just kind of the, and maybeit is behavioral shifts, right?
Because food is so hard for people, right?
(33:31):
To eat well and to eat well consistently.
and to create those habits.
um What do you see from your perspective around maybe some of the challenges or like, howdo we change people's behaviors?
Is this app one of those ways to do that?
Right?
Because it's almost like having, I don't want to say a personal chef because they'recertainly not in your kitchen, but I think that's one of the hardest things for people is
(33:53):
to figure out what to eat.
Right?
Without, always say, God, I wish somebody would just tell me what I need to eat, you know?
Yeah.
So I think behavioral shift is very difficult to achieve and especially like you canachieve it for a small duration of time, but like having built that as a habit.
just this morning I was in my Uber and my driver said, you're doing this.
(34:17):
You know, I was so good with my food and I had everything in track.
And then I moved from Florida to Cape Cod and bam, I gained 50 pounds in what, like amonth or so.
And this is what happens, right?
Your life gets busy, everything happens at the same time.
It's really hard to everything in track.
(34:38):
So we are not really bringing behavior shift like that.
We are just making it easy for you to do the things that you're already doing.
So what we have seen that like, let's say you want to go to the gym by yourself, it's hardto do it after a while.
But if you have your partner or your friend going with you,
makes the experience a lot more easier.
(34:59):
You have that accountability partner.
So we have realized like if there is that gentle nudge or some companion-like thing, thatreally, really helps.
Now we can't really have a companion or everybody can have the luxury of having acompanion all the time.
And this is the experience we are creating through AI.
So again, the tech has made AI very personalized.
(35:21):
We can send really personalized messages.
that can mimic human emotion or human companionship.
And this is, think, the real difference that we are making, where we are making a personfeel that there is somebody out there for you, understands you, understands the struggles,
the daily struggles that you're going through, and I will help you stay on track.
(35:43):
So for example, for our cohort of pregnant women, we are helping them look at, know,doctor's appointments or...
keep track of their appointments or understand what all do they need to even think aboutwhen there's a baby coming in.
So all of these little things that kind of add to the mental load, we help navigate thatso that you don't have to worry so much about what to do.
(36:10):
So making it just easier to follow a diet or making it easier to follow specific plans.
Do you have actual social spaces on your platform for the actual users to interact witheach other?
Like if they have similar problems, is there a chat space so that they're not just talkingto the AI, they're actually really talking to other people.
That is interesting.
(36:31):
So community is something that we really want to create.
So maybe that's going to be like the next thing that we build once we test out theexisting features.
Because we have seen like community really helps.
Like you have these Reddit platforms with thousands and thousands of users and womenhelping each other, uplifting each other, being there for each other.
So we want to kind of have that space.
(36:53):
It's not just AI and human talking, but real humans interacting with one another and.
motivating each other.
So that's something we do want to build in future.
Yeah, that would be a great addition to that, think.
Yeah, community.
mean, I would say just going back to social media, at least one of the only redeemingqualities of Facebook anymore are the groups because I love the community that you get
(37:18):
there.
you got to pay for your posts to be seen by anybody.
the groups are great.
You're struggling with something and you see somebody else also going through the samething.
It gives you hope and then you learn how this problem was solved by this person.
it's very hopeful.
You're not alone, That's people don't, they need connection.
(37:42):
They need understanding and yeah, communities certainly, especially women, right?
Women like just crave community and connection and we just need others in our lives.
It's just what it is.
Sometimes we just need to vent, talk about your problems.
Yeah, like, you know, someone who has the same problem will understand your problem.
(38:06):
People who don't have the problem aren't necessarily going to really understand whatyou're going through.
So it would be in a lot of people, I'm sure, especially, you know, women having issuesthat only affect women, there's, you know, it's that much less likely there's someone in
their direct life that has the same problem.
So yeah, it'd be great if they could like, just go on that platform and be like, Hey, whoelse is dealing with this?
(38:29):
Cause I need to rage for a minute.
And somebody who understands their rage will rage with them.
It's, you know, it makes you feel better.
Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers than people within your family.
Yeah, that too.
There you go.
actually speaking of the people that might need to raise in a community setting or atleast vent in other ways, um from the people that have been a part of your beta test group
(38:57):
last year and anyone who's in it now, can you share any like anonymous, like positiveoutcomes that you're starting to see just to show really how valuable the
Ashmi Health app is for these for these women.
And it's so, there have been so many I'll share just one.
(39:18):
So there was this person and she's a friend of mine.
So she gained this huge amount of weight in a very short time and she had insulinresistance and again, no idea of how food is affecting her body.
And she spent five years trying to figure out.
So after she came into our platform, so a lot of in our beta, a lot of it wasn'tautomated.
(39:40):
It wasn't through the app.
So I had to do.
manually so kind of had these consultations with her and that made her realize like whatis the real problem.
So she didn't know she had insulin resistance and the doctor was like you have to do theseexercises you have to like have like a 1200 calorie diet and it doesn't work for our body
(40:00):
so when her body is put into such intense stress whether it's physical or whether it's torestrict her calories it kind of increases her cortisol
and it just makes the whole situation worse.
Now not having that information and living with that frustration that, I'm not even ableto do this.
I'm not even able to restrict my diet.
(40:22):
I'm not even able to go on, you know, run every day.
ah So she lived with that guilt and shame for years.
But, you know, after she came to know that her real problem is something completelydifferent.
So now she knows better, like she has to eat better.
She has to eat more nutrient dense foods rather than just empty calories.
(40:43):
And last time I spoke to her, she lost almost 30 pounds and she hasn't gained back theweight.
still like, she still has lost that weight and that is still doing really well.
And her mental health is improved.
That is one really important thing is once you are trying to reduce weight or you're
(41:04):
bothered with the symptoms, your mental health kind of declines and nobody takes that intoaccount.
So very, very uh interesting.
All of these symptoms, like not just a real symptoms, but all these associated things thathappen, that is where, you know, I think a real value comes in.
Like you're not just reducing PCOS symptoms, but you're kind of changing the other aspectsthat can be affected if you have a condition as severe as this.
(41:33):
Amazing.
I love hearing a good success story.
Yeah.
It's a food is everything.
It really does just play such a huge role in our lives, both from a connection andcommunity perspective, right?
Like sharing a meal with a friend, you know, there's something about, you know, familydinners and then the actual food that you put into your body and how it impacts you.
(42:01):
And it just, it's such a
central piece of the human existence.
Is there a focus in your practice at all with ah eating natural whole foods as opposed toprocessed and you know, like artificial flavors and like, like GMOs, is that a thing that
(42:22):
like, is that a tool that it depends on how you use it or like?
Definitely there, the more natural and the more better foods you eat, the better you get.
But we also have these restrictions.
We can't always eat like very clean, all natural foods.
So it is also about understanding how different foods are affecting you.
(42:43):
Like if you know about, you know, continuous glucose monitors, they have found a cookieand glucose relationship.
It is different for different people.
For some, the
change is very drastic, for some it is not.
For some, if you take a walk outside, your kind of glucose gets back to normal levels.
(43:05):
For some, it takes more time.
So with our app, when you're tracking so much, when you're getting so much of data, youalso understand all of those.
You also understand how seemingly junk food affects you so that you have better control ofdeciding, okay, should I eat it now or how should I plan my junk food?
(43:26):
so that it doesn't really drastically impact my health.
It's also like a visual tool to see how different kinds of food is affecting your health.
In the perfect world, we'll all be eating clean foods.
We'll all be...
Sure.
So it really is like, so your platform really is very personalized to the specific user.
(43:46):
Like it tracks you and applies it all the known data to you and your physiology and yourdiet and everything like that.
Okay.
Cool.
That's pretty cool.
That does differentiate it from the other ones we've been talking about on here too.
They all kind of have their own specific niche and their own specific approach, which iscool.
(44:06):
Yeah, they do.
As we begin to wrap up here, um I have one question I want to ask you because I think it'simportant to know these origins of names because I love understanding and knowing where
the names of these whole new companies.
What does Oshmi stand for?
(44:27):
Ashmi is the Sanskrit word.
It means strong, resilient.
uh I really like the meaning.
I think looking back when I was looking at names, kind of reminds me of my mom,particularly.
So as I mentioned, she had endometriosis and she was in so much of pain, but it neveraffected how we were brought up.
(44:52):
Me and my sister were brought up as kids.
We got all the care, everything.
that we could from her.
you know, as women, even though you are going through all of these, you know, lifechanging symptoms, you still manage to do everything that you plan to do, right?
You're just strong, resilient women who are extraordinary.
(45:12):
kind of Ashmi is a reflection of those women, know, celebrating those women.
I love that.
All the names of the companies like yours that we get to meet have really great storiesand meaning.
um Meaning behind the names that they choose, just like this, but also the reasons thatthey start the companies to begin with.
(45:37):
They always seem to be initiated from personal experiences that inspire them.
And I don't know, there's just something about that that just makes me.
Makes my heart happy.
I love it.
I love it.
So any big achievements, milestones coming for Ashme Health that you want to share with usas we wrap up today's chat.
(46:02):
Yeah, because MindStore was just finishing building the product and now testing with ourusers.
We are continuously testing and continuously building and refining the product.
And we really happy with what we have achieved in two months' time.
So very happy about that.
m I think it's cool how early we got you on.
(46:23):
We're going to be one of the first to bring you to the world here.
Hopefully it helps.
uh Just, yeah, just, just remember us when you go big.
That's right.
We'll bring you back on when everybody's on your platform and see how it's going.
Yeah, that's exciting.
So where can someone find you online?
(46:46):
Obviously download your apps on the regular app locations, but share your website,anything on social where we can.
on our website.
ah The application is on our website.
We haven't launched it on the App Store yet, this version.
It's still on the website, but people can go onto the website and try and test and give usfeedback.
That's ashmhealth.com, right?
(47:08):
A-S-H-M-I.
m
Got it, okay, awesome.
We'll put that in the show notes as well.
We will, absolutely, yeah.
Well, this has been, again, another enlightening, fascinating conversation.
We really get to meet some of the coolest, interesting, most brilliant people who havegone to some of the, literally some of the best universities and colleges in the world.
(47:33):
And how lucky are we, Jeremy, that we get to talk with all these brilliant folks?
You guys are doing some great stuff.
So anyway.
Thank you, Piali, for coming on the show today.
This has been really helpful for us to get yet another perspective and another greatproduct coming on the market for women and empowering them in their healthcare journeys.
(47:56):
And thank you for the amazing questions.
was so interesting.
Even when I'm thinking, I'm like, OK, this is food technology.
And maybe a lot of people don't really know this is a real job and this is what reallyhappens.
It was amazing in the talking about.
Yeah, it's cool to meet somebody who actually does that stuff.
(48:16):
Like you hear about the scientists in the lab making the new foods and stuff.
But it was an abstract concept in my mind until today.
Now I have a of a face and know there's real people doing real things that making that.
be surprised the extent to which research happens, even like something like your burritochips, the way it breaks and the sound it makes, has been like extensive research done on
(48:44):
that to make it actually crispy and have that experience.
And it really breaks down, like you go all the way down to the molecular level kind ofthing.
Exactly.
You go to the smallest level possible and try that to the user experience.
So very, very interesting.
That's why we can't read our ingredients lists.
(49:07):
Exactly.
Well, again, thank you so much.
And there you go.
Our conversation with Piali from Ashme Health.
Uh, once again, learned a lot.
know what food technologists do now in a way, very Willy Willy Wonka.
(49:28):
Actually, I appreciated that aspect of it.
I hope she didn't take that wrong because there's mad respect in me for Willy Wonka.
Uh, but any who I'm, I'll stop rambling because I went off on a tangent immediately rightthere.
What's our main takeaways from that Heather?
Not surprisingly, the role of food and nutrition and healthcare.
you know, especially in women's health based on all the different phases of life we gothrough, know, between, you know, pregnancy, post pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, all
(49:57):
things.
and it just affects certain conditions and bad or good ways.
Um, and it's just becoming more and more a part of healthcare plans, you know, the, therole of food, which is not terribly groundbreaking.
Like, yeah, we know food's important, right?
We all know that like what you put in your body.
can be great for you and it can also be really bad.
(50:19):
But what they're doing with, with Ashme Health in particular focused on women'sconditions, know, like PCOS, endometriosis, I can't say that word, whatever, let's
continue.
It's like food literally can cause issues that then have that domino effect.
(50:39):
And so I think um what they're trying to do with this app and like getting that controlover
the nutrition piece of it, um, to help manage those conditions better and have betteroutcomes is, is, is pretty awesome.
So.
Yeah.
You don't want to put sugar in your gas tank, you know?
Yeah, exactly.
And then also to, um, you know, AI, this is a, you know, a common topic, um, or part ofour conversations on this show.
(51:06):
So, and with Ashme Health, um, AI plays a really big role as a tool.
So, um.
you know, and it helps, it helps us guide us in making better decisions for ourselves,because sometimes we need to be told what to eat.
Because when you're left to your own devices, you're not going to make good choices.
You're going to eat the pizza and the burgers and grab the bag of chips and all thethings.
(51:28):
And like I said, you know, wouldn't it be nice to have like a personal chef and not thatthat's what this is, but to get guidance when you have a, particularly when you have like
a health condition that makes you feel pretty bad.
Right.
Um,
to be kind of guiding you on what to eat.
I mean, that's quite a handy tool in your pocket.
Yeah, and the fact that it's not, this diet and like very strict diets with very,extremely limited things that you can do.
(51:59):
They don't really work for people.
I love the dynamic kind of kinetic nature of this, where it's very personalized and trythis and if it doesn't work, try this and if it doesn't work, try this.
It's not.
dropping you in a box and like, if this box doesn't fit, there's nothing else we can dofor you.
know, it's, let's, let's learn who you are and then find the things that work for you.
(52:23):
And you know, there might be a process of elimination stuff, but in the end it's, it's amuch more useful approach than most people will take to that stuff.
Yeah.
That I've heard of in the past anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think the other thing too, I want to make sure I mentioned, um, that we talked aboutis the importance of diversity.
in how we look at groups of, you know, in this case, in the users of an app, right, orjust in clinical trials and clinical anything for that matter.
(52:50):
um You know, because cultural, ethnic origins, backgrounds, things like that play a bigrole in our personal health.
uh And so you can't just, you know, beta test with white women, right?
You have to get other types of people in
to your kind of test group to gain a real true understanding of what you're trying to doin order to create something that can help everyone.
(53:13):
Cause the goal isn't just to help one group of people, it's to help all women.
Um, no matter your, your, color of your skin or the country of origin or the cultural, youknow, specifics, right?
You know, from one country to another, you know, we have different.
It's, it's like the role of the WHO, know, the world health organization is actually.
(53:36):
a great thing because it can globally gather that data.
It's not country to country and population based to population base.
It's the whole thing at once.
And you can learn so much more about what's really going on with people that way.
Yep.
Sickness and.
This is kind of that sort of approach.
You know, if you, if you can get this sort of approach to go global on these differentplatforms and have the proper types of AI, you know, generatively building the data and
(54:01):
building the proper responses, then yeah, I mean, ultimately.
Yeah.
You know, it's great for everybody.
Yeah.
Illness and conditions don't, they don't have geo, they don't have geographicalboundaries.
They don't know where one country ends and begins.
Right.
So.
And, and at the same time, we all are our own biosphere.
We all do have our own physiologies and different things work for us on individual basis.
(54:23):
So combining those two things is tough, but it sounds like there's a lot of people workingon it right now.
both are important.
So.
All right.
That's a, that's a really deep thought.
My brain hurts.
Can we go now?
Yes.
you can find us on, if you like what you heard, you can find us on, all the majorlistening platforms plus YouTube.
And if you like what you heard, please hit all those happy little fun buttons before yougo the likes and subscribes and shares, things like that.
(54:47):
And if you really liked it, we have a Patreon you can join for as little as a dollar amonth, which really supports the uprising.
can become an official member of the uprising there.
That's a patreon.com slash healthcare uprising.
Uh, where else did they find us other?
You can find us online, healthcareuprising.com and also on all of the social mediachannels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, just search healthcare uprising
(55:12):
podcasts and you will find us pretty easily.
And yeah, I think that's about it.
You can take us on out here.
Until next time, keep looking for the good in the world.
Sometimes it's where you least expect it.
(56:22):
This has been a Shut Up oh
This is healthcare uprising.
We are here to shine a light on the innovators implementing positive change in Americanhealthcare.
In the patient experience stories, good and bad that can help others navigate thesometimes overwhelmingly complex American healthcare system.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Uprising.
talk to doctors and we don't play one on TV.
If you need medical advice, consult with your physician or healthcare professional.
All right.
(01:06):
Hello, Health Heads.
Welcome and thank you for checking into this dose of the healthcare uprising.
I'm your producer in the back, Jeremy Carr, here with your host in the front row, HeatherPierce.
So let's tell them what's on the agenda for today, In today's episode, we're chatting withPiyali Chakraborty, the CEO and co-founder of Ashmi Health, a platform using AI to help
(01:27):
women manage hormonal disorders like PCOS through personalized nutrition solutions.
She has over a decade of experience in the food technology space and holds a PhD from theuniversity of Queensland, where she was exploring how to make plant based milk taste
better.
starting Ashme Health, Piali worked as a scientist at Wajinan-jin University.
(01:50):
Close it up.
my gosh, creating 3D printed personalized foods.
And as the chief technology officer of See and Believe, where she developed the world'sfirst plant based cod.
Yes, I just said plant based cod.
That's true.
(02:11):
She started Ashme Health after seeing how overwhelming and isolating it can be for womento navigate hormonal health challenges without clear guidance.
Piali is now dedicated to making it easier for women to understand their bodies and takecontrol of their health.
I'm sorry, but the phrase plant-based cod makes me think today's catch of the day,broccoli.
I'm sure that's not accurate.
(02:32):
So let's go learn what that means.
Without further ado, here's our conversation with Piali from Match Me Health.
Hi, and welcome to Healthcare Uprising podcast, Piyali.
Nice to meet you guys.
(02:53):
Excited to be here.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Thanks for coming on today.
So, um, let's just jump right in.
Uh, let's get some history here.
So Piali, if you would just share with us your background, experience, kind of whatultimately brought you to establishing.
Ashmi health and kind of the origins of the company and kind of where things are at today.
(03:17):
So.
Yeah, great.
So I'm Tiali.
I am originally from India.
I grew up in a very small town in India.
Growing up, you know, like there was so much of taboo around talking about sexual health,reproductive health, or even something like period.
(03:39):
So it really bothered me.
um I had very bad cramps growing up, but that was something where you
can't discuss it publicly.
And I wasn't the only one, my cousins, my friends, my mom, she was going through somethingreally severe.
So she was in severe pain for a very long time because of her hormonal health, but wecouldn't talk about it openly.
(04:05):
So what happened is I saw people around us just hiding their symptoms, not talking aboutit, it became intense.
For my mom, she had endometriosis, but I think nobody other than just the family knewabout it.
She underwent a hysterectomy where they remove uterus and ovaries, and she was in suchpain, but there was no support available.
(04:30):
There wasn't a forum where you can ask questions or when you can get lifestyle support.
So that kind of stayed with me.
Then I moved abroad, uh I got a PhD in food technology and nutrition.
And I kind of saw this other part of the world where people are so conscious about theirhealth, they are talking about their health, they are doing conscious things to improve
(04:55):
their health.
And that made me think like, why can't it happen in countries like India?
Why can't, especially for women, they are juggling so many different things.
We don't have enough time to take care of ourselves, but at least there should be
be some platform where you can ask questions, where you get support.
And that kind of led me towards building Ashmi Health, where I wanted to be a platformwhere women who look like me, who haven't had any education or training on sexual health,
(05:29):
reproductive health, or even nutrition growing up, they can find a safe space to talkabout their problems.
They can find a safe space.
to get advice from experts.
And here in the US also, know, women in again, underserved communities, they don't havethe resources to go talk to a nutritionist or they don't have the resources to get
(05:53):
continuous help.
So we are providing them a platform as well to get this specialized care, specializedhelp.
So that is how I started this company and yeah, very excited to talk more about it.
Can I start with a question?
You said you have a PhD in food technology.
(06:16):
What is food technology exactly?
What do you actually study when you get a PhD in that?
Right, uh I can talk about the PhD itself.
So what I was doing is have you had these plant-based oat drinks?
I haven't.
I drink a lot of almond milk myself.
Yeah, it's like...
(06:36):
milk.
Yeah.
Something like that, but we were adding a lot of fibers and we wanted to make it reallynutritious.
The challenge was people weren't liking it.
There was the company that I was partnering with during my PhD, they weren't able to sellas many products.
So as a food technologist, what I was doing is connecting the ingredients to what isexactly happening in the mouth.
(06:59):
So looking at the physics of what the particles are doing, how is it dropping against yourtongue and palate.
and how that we can translate that to user experience.
So what would make people to eat or drink more healthy?
What are the challenges that we can solve through technology?
So we decided on a new shape structure of the particles that kind of enabled a moresmoother experience.
(07:26):
If you can imagine like mouth feel like when you drink your coffee, if you have somethings and particles in there, how it feels versus
like a very creamy experience when you add milk and cream.
So we were designing those kinds of experiences by changing the physics of theingredients.
Wow.
That is very start.
You're like molecular engineering food.
(07:47):
That's wild.
Yeah.
Well, it's basically engineering, but as a system, we have food and as users, we havehuman beings.
We use them as kind of like we design experiments where we feed them different things andlook at their responses and talk to them and try to measure how they are feeling about the
(08:09):
food.
It's always about the feeling, like, what are you thinking?
What are your childhood experiences around that food?
What would enable you to, you know?
Think more about it.
It's all about the feelings.
It's very interesting connecting engineering to human.
It's got a little bit of Willy Wonka in it.
The schnazberries taste like schnazberries.
(08:33):
good way.
But like the soda that makes you float and things like that.
The blueberry stuff that turns you into a blueberry.
And we realize a lot of it is people's childhood experiences, what the experiences werearound food, what smell or what memories come into picture when they think of foods or
(08:56):
some sort of an experience like, my grandma made this, or we had this Christmas thing thatthis is a special thing.
uh Most of these foods revolve around ingredients which might not be good for you.
So it is very hard when you bring in new diets or new ingredients.
that was the challenge.
(09:17):
That is what we were working towards, like how to make new ingredients look and taste likesomething that you've already tasted, something you already have memories of.
the impossible burger, right?
of idea, which I've never had one of those by the way.
Well, it's almost like the reverse of what the candy and soda people do.
(09:37):
They try to make engineer their food to basically be addictive and like make you want moreand more and more.
You're doing a similar thing, but you're aiming it towards health rather than justconsume.
That's cool.
That's really interesting.
Cause everybody's heard, you know, heard of how the candy and soda people do it.
It's nice to know somebody's doing it on the good side too.
(09:59):
That's good.
So obviously you've spent a lot of time, your, your, your bio and your background is quiteinteresting with the food technology and some of the things that you were doing around
plant-based, which is fantastic.
But Ashmi health, obviously it's an app, right?
It's around hormonal health.
um
(10:21):
And oh food plays into that.
mean, nutrition, we've actually had a number of uh episode interviews recently wherethere's this common thread.
And I think it's just kind of in the universe now about, you know, food is medicine andhow nutrition and what we put into our bodies is so important.
I mean, it's always been important, but now we're actually doing something about it andbecoming, I think, a little bit more conscientious.
(10:45):
So in terms of like the actual.
app itself and what you're doing with Oshmi Health, like how does food play into that?
Like can you talk a little bit about really what the app intends to do, really kind of allthe things so that we can understand that and who might want to use it too?
So how it started or how I uh actually started was designing these nutrition meat plantsfor my friends and family.
(11:11):
And what happens is they are excited, they tried for a few days and then uh drop-offshappen.
Motivation kind of lowers down and people are not interested anymore.
And this was a recurring theme for a while and that made me realize that
More or less we all know what is good for us and what is bad for us.
But what happens is when life happens, like you're busy, there is stress, there are somany different things going on in your life.
(11:38):
It's really hard to stay on top of everything.
It's really hard to plan your food and plan your wellness activities around that.
So that was a big thinking point for us.
Like how can we use tech to make all of this easier?
to not have people to think so much of how do I eat the best thing possible.
(12:02):
So that is where AI comes into picture where AI can actually make these experiences verypersonalized.
And we realized when your, whatever recommendations or whatever learnings you're gettingis personalized for your own needs, there is more adherence, more and more people are
interested.
So this is what uh Ashmi Hilt is doing where
(12:23):
we look into multiple data points.
So as I mentioned before, hormonal health, menstrual cycle, symptoms, your sleep, stress,all of these are really important in managing your health.
So we make sense of all that data points and use that to design these nutrition insightsfor you.
And it's not like a static plan.
(12:44):
It's not like go on keto for three weeks.
These are very bite-sized recommendations that will keep changing as
things happen with your life or as you are giving feedback to the application that this isnot working for me or I want something different or like let's say your cultural
preferences are different.
So this interaction keeps happening.
(13:07):
And the other innovation that we have is the companion.
So we have a health assistant system built in where users can come and chat to talk abouttheir hormonal health struggles.
But this is also the accountability partner which
provides them nudges or motivation when all of these, you're also dealing with life andother stuff.
(13:28):
So the app is like a combination of a nutritionist and a companion or a friend like systemthat not only just provides you advice, but also follows up and helps you keep on track.
So trying to think about like your maybe ideal user, is it somebody who has some kind ofcondition that they need to manage?
(13:56):
Is that kind of your idea?
I mean, could it be anybody?
also is the maybe who gets the most benefit out of something like this would be somebodywho's maybe dealing with a chronic issue or chronic condition, that inflammation from
certain food, right?
Like if you eat and you're tracking it, it'll say,
I felt really bad or, it made me feel this way.
(14:17):
OK, don't eat that food.
Maybe try this.
Is it kind of along those lines?
Yeah.
So to start with, we were thinking of PCOS, but as we kept building and talking with theusers, we found a lot of interest from uh women who are either trying to get pregnant, is
going through pregnancy and postpartum.
(14:38):
And like I have my personal experiences, like during pregnancy, I was at risk for uhgestational diabetes and I knew, okay, I have to eat or not eat those things.
But then every week is different.
body keeps changing, your hormones keep fluctuating so much, and the staticrecommendations do not work anymore.
(14:58):
And this is what a lot of our early users who are going through a similar situation havetold us.
So right now, our first, these target users are women who are going through oh these verydrastic hormonal changes where...
We kind of look at their symptoms or give them a space where they can track theirsymptoms.
(15:21):
We tell them what is going to happen.
Maybe it's going to happen in the next few months.
And then we have these nutrition recommendations that keep changing as their needs andtheir hormones are changing.
Okay, so it's kind of as you're talking, I'm thinking you you get more out of it based onwhat you put into it.
(15:45):
Is that kind of a fair statement?
most AI applications work, the more you use or data you provide, it gets all the morepersonalized.
But that's the thing, like there is this initial friction involved where you're askingpeople to put in a lot of information and not getting value straight away.
So this is where our oh health assistant comes into picture, where we are already givingyou value because of all the data that we have accumulated.
(16:13):
Our AI models have been...
trained on our clinical data.
So we can already give value even if you don't provide any data itself.
But as you get used to the platform, you start using it more, users are providing more andmore information.
And then the personalized experience is just getting a lot better with usage.
(16:34):
And is it, is the app internally generative and that it will add the data it's gettingfrom the new users into the data it already has and keep updating its information on its
own.
Exactly.
So it keeps updating and we are also getting data from other sources.
We have some partnerships with our research organizations.
(16:55):
So we also have access to clinical trials.
So that is also kind of, you know, making our oh models more intelligent and humanshealthy data, you know, it's not something that is readily available.
So we are lucky that we got access to some very good quality data.
and we're getting access to more and more.
So we are kind of always training our models to get better.
(17:20):
Yeah.
And the more people that sign up, the more info that has to work with and the bettereverybody's process goes in the end.
Right.
mean, the concept.
also with this kind of data, diversity is really important.
Again, the clinical trials we are talking of mostly based on Caucasian women.
uh A lot of our users, think 70 % of our users are based in India.
(17:42):
So of this diverse data, so we know that something that is working for the Caucasian womenmight not work for an Indian woman, might not work for women based in Nigeria.
At least to start with, have an Indian uh cohort of women using it and uh women in the USusing it.
(18:04):
So we still have some diversity just starting out.
So that is very, very interesting.
Well, let's bring this thing global and make it really work for everybody here.
problem like you know like everybody can relate that yes I have that problem as well soit's a very universal problem the nature of it is like everybody nobody is like very happy
(18:27):
with what food they're eating or their lifestyle there's always some challenge associatedwith it.
Yeah.
Doesn't matter what country you live in or where you live.
We all struggle with that.
And, also too, you know.
Either not enough of this stuff or too much of that stuff or PCOS and, and Demetri theydon't have geographical boundaries.
(18:49):
So PCOS.
my next question.
What is PCOS?
I I feel like PCOS is probably one of the conditions that is, um,
common, I guess, uh for somebody who's using this app.
feel like we maybe have talked about that em when we met briefly.
So yeah, let's use this as an education opportunity.
(19:10):
It's polycystic ovary syndrome.
uh It's a condition where you have cysts in your ovary and there are a lot of differentsymptoms that kind of spin out.
So your periods uh are not regular and that also kind of causes cysts in your ovary.
And then you have this unexplained weight gain for a lot of women.
(19:32):
You have insulin resistance where your body cannot process insulin well.
Again, that leads to weight gain.
kind of if you keep continuing that path, some women also go into infertility challenges.
And then if all your symptoms are there and you have not really taken care of it,ultimately it can cause diabetes or cardiovascular disorders.
(19:55):
Now the biggest challenge is there is no cure for this condition.
So you can just manage the symptoms.
And the way it is done these days is through hormonal contraceptives.
So you are asking your body to stop producing the hormones.
And you can imagine when you just stop a natural process, again, it leads to furthercomplications.
So it's basically like, it's a domino effect.
(20:20):
And when women go for medical help, they are told that, because you're overweight, that iswhy you're having all of these challenges.
But this condition itself causes you to gain weight.
So there is no help available.
When you go to ah lifestyle management, that probably would work.
(20:43):
But again, every PCOS is different.
Women, everybody is different.
How you're processing, what is happening is different.
So again, there is no customized help available.
So it is a big challenge.
And more and more women are getting diagnosed with PCOS.
It might be because the...
Women are actively going to doctors and getting themselves checked or our environmentalfactors as such that we just start having these conditions more and more.
(21:10):
But it is a very serious problem.
Yeah.
know a few people have had PCOS and infertility being one of the symptoms or outcomes ofthat.
you know, that can be pretty devastating for a woman, especially if she wants to, youknow, her own children.
(21:31):
yeah.
uh Question for you too, and we didn't really talk about this when you were kind of givingyour intro background.
Ashmi Health, how long has it been around?
And you just mentioned, obviously, 70 % of your users are in India.
This is where I'm sure you launched it and it will be global or becoming global.
But uh how long have you been around, actually?
(21:54):
Almost a year.
uh We started, uh like we built the beta last year, I think around February last year.
And then we ran that for about eight months.
And that is when we started getting our users.
We got a lot of interesting feedback.
And that is when this concept of a health assistant came into picture.
(22:16):
And we just finished building our health assistant last month.
And now we are testing with our
first set of users and getting all the feedback.
And then we uh start building the next version of the product.
Okay.
I knew you were really new, but I wasn't sure how like active, you know, and we have a lotof conversations with a lot of founders like yourself with these kind of early startups.
(22:42):
And so everyone's kind of at a different place.
And so it's, it's interesting to hear.
So are you going really more for like the direct to consumer or are you looking to partnerwith providers?
Like where's kind of, where do you see Ashme Health presenting itself, I guess, to, getmore folks using the app?
(23:03):
initially direct to consumers as we learn more about our consumers, learn if you'reactually solving their problems and define or design a product accordingly.
We're also getting interest from other health tech companies that are getting requestsfrom their users to have nutrition insights, which has been quite interesting.
(23:23):
So we are still early, we are still kind of navigating those relationships.
But going on, we want to really have oh
partnership with providers, insurance companies, that nobody has to like it happensthrough insurance, which ideally it should be.
So you're still early in kind of having that relationship, but this is more we want tohead towards.
(23:47):
That's, um, that's, those are some pretty big goals, but you know, there's, there's anappetite, appetite.
Hey, like maybe I'm funny pun intended or not, but there's an appetite for it.
And I think, you know, that's one of the things and maybe you can talk about this a littlebit too, is we have become in Jeremy and I were actually just talking about this
(24:15):
yesterday.
It seems like the shift in healthcare is that us as like the individuals, the consumers,the humans, whatever, we call them humans on our show, um that we have to really take
control of our healthcare, right?
Like we're deciding, we're becoming, we're getting more of that power in literally in ourhands, right?
(24:36):
Like in our phones.
um Are you seeing that shift from?
you know, from the spaces that you work in, the other founders that you, I'm sure you talkwith, I know that that community is really tight.
Like what, what do you think's changing too?
Other than the fact that like AI and tech are huge, but do you think it's something elsein the universe?
(24:57):
Is it just attitudes?
Is it, I don't know, just people thinking more conscientiously about their, their healthand they want that control.
I just feel like we've always been such a reactive society and now we're changing, youknow, that.
and it used to be just a healthcare thing.
We need, you know, preventative care and value-based care, and that's a lot of places thatI've worked in.
(25:18):
But now people are actually becoming part of that formula to push this forward and say,I'm demanding this.
I want an Amazon for my app or for my health, you know, that sort of thing.
I think it's a combination of everything.
So if you look at the healthcare system, it is overburdened.
If you have to see a specialist, you have to wait like four to six months.
(25:41):
So think about it, you're having PCOS, you are in intense pain or you're bleeding for amonth straight and you can't see your specialist.
So there is a lot of frustration.
And even when you go to the doctor, a lot of time you're gaslighted, ah you're told thatyour symptoms do not matter or
because you are, like as I mentioned before, because you're overweight, this is where thatis why you are having all these challenges.
(26:04):
So women are not getting the help that they need, so they are frustrated.
So this is one big thing.
And then the other thing is medication.
Like once you take medications for a while and you face all these side effects, you startthinking like, what is really happening?
Like, I can't be like, this can't be my life, right?
I have to get a better life.
(26:25):
And this is where, you know, holistic healing,
and getting something which is non-medical has no side effects and can actually look atthe root cause and solve it at the root, this is where it comes in.
And I think Gen Z is a big advocate for that.
Food as medicine, I think this concept is kind of driven by them.
(26:48):
They are more vocal about it, talking about it with their friends and that kind of hasseeped into these other generations as well where we are thinking.
Okay, this is actually possible.
We can actually eat, start eating well and that is affecting our health.
So there's a lot of awareness around it.
A lot of buzz in social media, which has definitely helped, even though there is somemisinformation, but I think this buzz is actually driving this entire thing forward.
(27:16):
So that's really good news.
Yeah, I know it's interesting with the food is medicine kind of revolution.
It's seemed to gathered some steam here.
I feel like in the last five or so years.
Yeah, I think there was always this interest, but there weren't any actionable insights onwhat exactly to do.
(27:38):
And this is where this AI and tech has come into place, where we can actually analyze hugeamounts of data.
We can make experiences very personalized.
We can have something on our phones which can track.
So we have such good real-time data that we can actually make sense of it and havesomething that works for your bodies.
(27:59):
So this gives people hope that, okay, this is easy.
This is not as difficult as we thought it would be.
So again, helping all that movement and helping people to realize that we don't have todepend on just the healthcare system.
We don't have to go to the doctor or think about our health when we get really sick.
(28:20):
We can do something every day to improve our health.
Yeah.
And I think it is a cultural shift that people are becoming more proactive about suchthings just generally.
Cause, uh, I mean, it's been a long time now and you know, more and more so there there'skind of a you're on your own sort of approach to healthcare in America.
(28:41):
And I think people have finally realized, okay, if, if it's up to me, then okay, let'sstart doing something about it and let's give people the power to actually do that for
themselves.
And a lot of our episodes have been about such things.
I don't know, probably a good half of our episodes to this point have some kind of aspectof that in it.
(29:01):
At home testing and apps like this and ah even the social prescribing episodes we'redoing, like there's people out there, you know, helping other people out and getting
insurance companies to pay for helping with their depression kind of stuff.
Like, I really do think there's a cultural shift going on in that.
I didn't know that until we started this podcast.
(29:22):
It's, uh, you know, once again, it's part of the whole uprising part of this, that, youknow, we're bringing this information to people and showing them that it's not all just
gloom and darkness and melancholy when it comes to American healthcare.
There's actually people out there trying to make it better for everybody, which is great.
So I appreciate what you're doing is the short version of that.
(29:44):
We're here, we're literally here for it.
And yeah, it's, you know, it is that education piece, I think, and social media, you know,for better, for good, you know, in terms of the existence of it at all.
I mean, we get some good, we get some benefits out of it.
And I think one of those things is that sharing of information that we didn't have, youknow, I'm even thinking back, you know, when I was younger,
(30:09):
know, in the nineties when we were teenagers, Jeremy, um, in the 20th century.
Yeah.
But, you know, we didn't have this kind of access to information and, and we have thatnow.
And so, so we're empowered, um, with, with that.
And then the healthcare system itself, I think it's just, the healthcare system just gotso complex and complicated and kind of, I described it yesterday as
(30:37):
It's like adding things onto a house, like multiple additions.
And then ultimately things start falling apart and they just don't make sense.
know?
so ventilation doesn't work right.
Cause it's connected.
Exactly.
You open a door to some weird creepy hallway that, know, and, so it feels kind of likethat.
And so I think with, with apps and organizations and people like you, know, with Ashmehealth, um, you're empowering us to.
(31:08):
decide how we want to build our houses, right?
Like, and it's kind of our domain and insurance is a much smaller part of it now.
Insurance is kind of like the underlying, like, okay, well, we're going to pay for thisbit, this and this and that and the other thing, but like everything else, right?
Like all the apps, the food parts, the mental health, everything else, we get to decide,we get to control that.
(31:29):
And I think that's kind of maybe one of the most beautiful things.
that it has come out of COVID quite honestly because so much of this did happen whileeveryone was locked up in their houses for two years, you know.
good ideas happened during that time.
uh Yeah, really.
I mean, we were forced.
How many companies, people I've talked to that we've talked to that said, well, I had tofigure out how to pivot really, really fast so that people can access what they needed,
(31:58):
you know, virtually or out of their out of their homes some way.
And so, you know, there's one silver lining of COVID.
We've got a lot of great healthcare tech companies that were born out of it.
behavioral changes also happen.
Realizing like, wow, my health is so important.
Yeah, that's true.
But now you have these very severe consequences later on.
(32:24):
Gosh, when you're not so busy running around and you have time to actually stop and take alook at your life.
think about what's really important, right?
Right.
It was quite a moment.
Everyone at the same time was forced to stop and look at their own life in a real way.
Yeah.
(32:45):
All at the same time.
You're going to get cultural shifts.
It's going to happen, especially with the high pace.
Yeah.
The go, go, go.
Don't stop to think, just go kind of attitude we before that.
That's interesting.
That's yeah, that's true.
And, kind of bringing it back to this food and nutrition part of it.
Piali because that's obviously where you've spent a good amount of your time.
(33:09):
um Food technology, I'm still just absolutely fascinated by food technology and what allyou were doing.
um What have you seen change from a nutrition perspective and just kind of the, and maybeit is behavioral shifts, right?
Because food is so hard for people, right?
(33:31):
To eat well and to eat well consistently.
and to create those habits.
um What do you see from your perspective around maybe some of the challenges or like, howdo we change people's behaviors?
Is this app one of those ways to do that?
Right?
Because it's almost like having, I don't want to say a personal chef because they'recertainly not in your kitchen, but I think that's one of the hardest things for people is
(33:53):
to figure out what to eat.
Right?
Without, always say, God, I wish somebody would just tell me what I need to eat, you know?
Yeah.
So I think behavioral shift is very difficult to achieve and especially like you canachieve it for a small duration of time, but like having built that as a habit.
just this morning I was in my Uber and my driver said, you're doing this.
(34:17):
You know, I was so good with my food and I had everything in track.
And then I moved from Florida to Cape Cod and bam, I gained 50 pounds in what, like amonth or so.
And this is what happens, right?
Your life gets busy, everything happens at the same time.
It's really hard to everything in track.
(34:38):
So we are not really bringing behavior shift like that.
We are just making it easy for you to do the things that you're already doing.
So what we have seen that like, let's say you want to go to the gym by yourself, it's hardto do it after a while.
But if you have your partner or your friend going with you,
makes the experience a lot more easier.
(34:59):
You have that accountability partner.
So we have realized like if there is that gentle nudge or some companion-like thing, thatreally, really helps.
Now we can't really have a companion or everybody can have the luxury of having acompanion all the time.
And this is the experience we are creating through AI.
So again, the tech has made AI very personalized.
(35:21):
We can send really personalized messages.
that can mimic human emotion or human companionship.
And this is, think, the real difference that we are making, where we are making a personfeel that there is somebody out there for you, understands you, understands the struggles,
the daily struggles that you're going through, and I will help you stay on track.
(35:43):
So for example, for our cohort of pregnant women, we are helping them look at, know,doctor's appointments or...
keep track of their appointments or understand what all do they need to even think aboutwhen there's a baby coming in.
So all of these little things that kind of add to the mental load, we help navigate thatso that you don't have to worry so much about what to do.
(36:10):
So making it just easier to follow a diet or making it easier to follow specific plans.
Do you have actual social spaces on your platform for the actual users to interact witheach other?
Like if they have similar problems, is there a chat space so that they're not just talkingto the AI, they're actually really talking to other people.
That is interesting.
(36:31):
So community is something that we really want to create.
So maybe that's going to be like the next thing that we build once we test out theexisting features.
Because we have seen like community really helps.
Like you have these Reddit platforms with thousands and thousands of users and womenhelping each other, uplifting each other, being there for each other.
So we want to kind of have that space.
(36:53):
It's not just AI and human talking, but real humans interacting with one another and.
motivating each other.
So that's something we do want to build in future.
Yeah, that would be a great addition to that, think.
Yeah, community.
mean, I would say just going back to social media, at least one of the only redeemingqualities of Facebook anymore are the groups because I love the community that you get
(37:18):
there.
you got to pay for your posts to be seen by anybody.
the groups are great.
You're struggling with something and you see somebody else also going through the samething.
It gives you hope and then you learn how this problem was solved by this person.
it's very hopeful.
You're not alone, That's people don't, they need connection.
(37:42):
They need understanding and yeah, communities certainly, especially women, right?
Women like just crave community and connection and we just need others in our lives.
It's just what it is.
Sometimes we just need to vent, talk about your problems.
Yeah, like, you know, someone who has the same problem will understand your problem.
(38:06):
People who don't have the problem aren't necessarily going to really understand whatyou're going through.
So it would be in a lot of people, I'm sure, especially, you know, women having issuesthat only affect women, there's, you know, it's that much less likely there's someone in
their direct life that has the same problem.
So yeah, it'd be great if they could like, just go on that platform and be like, Hey, whoelse is dealing with this?
(38:29):
Cause I need to rage for a minute.
And somebody who understands their rage will rage with them.
It's, you know, it makes you feel better.
Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers than people within your family.
Yeah, that too.
There you go.
actually speaking of the people that might need to raise in a community setting or atleast vent in other ways, um from the people that have been a part of your beta test group
(38:57):
last year and anyone who's in it now, can you share any like anonymous, like positiveoutcomes that you're starting to see just to show really how valuable the
Ashmi Health app is for these for these women.
And it's so, there have been so many I'll share just one.
(39:18):
So there was this person and she's a friend of mine.
So she gained this huge amount of weight in a very short time and she had insulinresistance and again, no idea of how food is affecting her body.
And she spent five years trying to figure out.
So after she came into our platform, so a lot of in our beta, a lot of it wasn'tautomated.
(39:40):
It wasn't through the app.
So I had to do.
manually so kind of had these consultations with her and that made her realize like whatis the real problem.
So she didn't know she had insulin resistance and the doctor was like you have to do theseexercises you have to like have like a 1200 calorie diet and it doesn't work for our body
(40:00):
so when her body is put into such intense stress whether it's physical or whether it's torestrict her calories it kind of increases her cortisol
and it just makes the whole situation worse.
Now not having that information and living with that frustration that, I'm not even ableto do this.
I'm not even able to restrict my diet.
(40:22):
I'm not even able to go on, you know, run every day.
ah So she lived with that guilt and shame for years.
But, you know, after she came to know that her real problem is something completelydifferent.
So now she knows better, like she has to eat better.
She has to eat more nutrient dense foods rather than just empty calories.
(40:43):
And last time I spoke to her, she lost almost 30 pounds and she hasn't gained back theweight.
still like, she still has lost that weight and that is still doing really well.
And her mental health is improved.
That is one really important thing is once you are trying to reduce weight or you're
(41:04):
bothered with the symptoms, your mental health kind of declines and nobody takes that intoaccount.
So very, very uh interesting.
All of these symptoms, like not just a real symptoms, but all these associated things thathappen, that is where, you know, I think a real value comes in.
Like you're not just reducing PCOS symptoms, but you're kind of changing the other aspectsthat can be affected if you have a condition as severe as this.
(41:33):
Amazing.
I love hearing a good success story.
Yeah.
It's a food is everything.
It really does just play such a huge role in our lives, both from a connection andcommunity perspective, right?
Like sharing a meal with a friend, you know, there's something about, you know, familydinners and then the actual food that you put into your body and how it impacts you.
(42:01):
And it just, it's such a
central piece of the human existence.
Is there a focus in your practice at all with ah eating natural whole foods as opposed toprocessed and you know, like artificial flavors and like, like GMOs, is that a thing that
(42:22):
like, is that a tool that it depends on how you use it or like?
Definitely there, the more natural and the more better foods you eat, the better you get.
But we also have these restrictions.
We can't always eat like very clean, all natural foods.
So it is also about understanding how different foods are affecting you.
(42:43):
Like if you know about, you know, continuous glucose monitors, they have found a cookieand glucose relationship.
It is different for different people.
For some, the
change is very drastic, for some it is not.
For some, if you take a walk outside, your kind of glucose gets back to normal levels.
(43:05):
For some, it takes more time.
So with our app, when you're tracking so much, when you're getting so much of data, youalso understand all of those.
You also understand how seemingly junk food affects you so that you have better control ofdeciding, okay, should I eat it now or how should I plan my junk food?
(43:26):
so that it doesn't really drastically impact my health.
It's also like a visual tool to see how different kinds of food is affecting your health.
In the perfect world, we'll all be eating clean foods.
We'll all be...
Sure.
So it really is like, so your platform really is very personalized to the specific user.
(43:46):
Like it tracks you and applies it all the known data to you and your physiology and yourdiet and everything like that.
Okay.
Cool.
That's pretty cool.
That does differentiate it from the other ones we've been talking about on here too.
They all kind of have their own specific niche and their own specific approach, which iscool.
(44:06):
Yeah, they do.
As we begin to wrap up here, um I have one question I want to ask you because I think it'simportant to know these origins of names because I love understanding and knowing where
the names of these whole new companies.
What does Oshmi stand for?
(44:27):
Ashmi is the Sanskrit word.
It means strong, resilient.
uh I really like the meaning.
I think looking back when I was looking at names, kind of reminds me of my mom,particularly.
So as I mentioned, she had endometriosis and she was in so much of pain, but it neveraffected how we were brought up.
(44:52):
Me and my sister were brought up as kids.
We got all the care, everything.
that we could from her.
you know, as women, even though you are going through all of these, you know, lifechanging symptoms, you still manage to do everything that you plan to do, right?
You're just strong, resilient women who are extraordinary.
(45:12):
kind of Ashmi is a reflection of those women, know, celebrating those women.
I love that.
All the names of the companies like yours that we get to meet have really great storiesand meaning.
um Meaning behind the names that they choose, just like this, but also the reasons thatthey start the companies to begin with.
(45:37):
They always seem to be initiated from personal experiences that inspire them.
And I don't know, there's just something about that that just makes me.
Makes my heart happy.
I love it.
I love it.
So any big achievements, milestones coming for Ashme Health that you want to share with usas we wrap up today's chat.
(46:02):
Yeah, because MindStore was just finishing building the product and now testing with ourusers.
We are continuously testing and continuously building and refining the product.
And we really happy with what we have achieved in two months' time.
So very happy about that.
m I think it's cool how early we got you on.
(46:23):
We're going to be one of the first to bring you to the world here.
Hopefully it helps.
uh Just, yeah, just, just remember us when you go big.
That's right.
We'll bring you back on when everybody's on your platform and see how it's going.
Yeah, that's exciting.
So where can someone find you online?
(46:46):
Obviously download your apps on the regular app locations, but share your website,anything on social where we can.
on our website.
ah The application is on our website.
We haven't launched it on the App Store yet, this version.
It's still on the website, but people can go onto the website and try and test and give usfeedback.
That's ashmhealth.com, right?
(47:08):
A-S-H-M-I.
m
Got it, okay, awesome.
We'll put that in the show notes as well.
We will, absolutely, yeah.
Well, this has been, again, another enlightening, fascinating conversation.
We really get to meet some of the coolest, interesting, most brilliant people who havegone to some of the, literally some of the best universities and colleges in the world.
(47:33):
And how lucky are we, Jeremy, that we get to talk with all these brilliant folks?
You guys are doing some great stuff.
So anyway.
Thank you, Piali, for coming on the show today.
This has been really helpful for us to get yet another perspective and another greatproduct coming on the market for women and empowering them in their healthcare journeys.
(47:56):
And thank you for the amazing questions.
was so interesting.
Even when I'm thinking, I'm like, OK, this is food technology.
And maybe a lot of people don't really know this is a real job and this is what reallyhappens.
It was amazing in the talking about.
Yeah, it's cool to meet somebody who actually does that stuff.
(48:16):
Like you hear about the scientists in the lab making the new foods and stuff.
But it was an abstract concept in my mind until today.
Now I have a of a face and know there's real people doing real things that making that.
be surprised the extent to which research happens, even like something like your burritochips, the way it breaks and the sound it makes, has been like extensive research done on
(48:44):
that to make it actually crispy and have that experience.
And it really breaks down, like you go all the way down to the molecular level kind ofthing.
Exactly.
You go to the smallest level possible and try that to the user experience.
So very, very interesting.
That's why we can't read our ingredients lists.
(49:07):
Exactly.
Well, again, thank you so much.
And there you go.
Our conversation with Piali from Ashme Health.
Uh, once again, learned a lot.
know what food technologists do now in a way, very Willy Willy Wonka.
(49:28):
Actually, I appreciated that aspect of it.
I hope she didn't take that wrong because there's mad respect in me for Willy Wonka.
Uh, but any who I'm, I'll stop rambling because I went off on a tangent immediately rightthere.
What's our main takeaways from that Heather?
Not surprisingly, the role of food and nutrition and healthcare.
you know, especially in women's health based on all the different phases of life we gothrough, know, between, you know, pregnancy, post pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, all
(49:57):
things.
and it just affects certain conditions and bad or good ways.
Um, and it's just becoming more and more a part of healthcare plans, you know, the, therole of food, which is not terribly groundbreaking.
Like, yeah, we know food's important, right?
We all know that like what you put in your body.
can be great for you and it can also be really bad.
(50:19):
But what they're doing with, with Ashme Health in particular focused on women'sconditions, know, like PCOS, endometriosis, I can't say that word, whatever, let's
continue.
It's like food literally can cause issues that then have that domino effect.
(50:39):
And so I think um what they're trying to do with this app and like getting that controlover
the nutrition piece of it, um, to help manage those conditions better and have betteroutcomes is, is, is pretty awesome.
So.
Yeah.
You don't want to put sugar in your gas tank, you know?
Yeah, exactly.
And then also to, um, you know, AI, this is a, you know, a common topic, um, or part ofour conversations on this show.
(51:06):
So, and with Ashme Health, um, AI plays a really big role as a tool.
So, um.
you know, and it helps, it helps us guide us in making better decisions for ourselves,because sometimes we need to be told what to eat.
Because when you're left to your own devices, you're not going to make good choices.
You're going to eat the pizza and the burgers and grab the bag of chips and all thethings.
(51:28):
And like I said, you know, wouldn't it be nice to have like a personal chef and not thatthat's what this is, but to get guidance when you have a, particularly when you have like
a health condition that makes you feel pretty bad.
Right.
Um,
to be kind of guiding you on what to eat.
I mean, that's quite a handy tool in your pocket.
Yeah, and the fact that it's not, this diet and like very strict diets with very,extremely limited things that you can do.
(51:59):
They don't really work for people.
I love the dynamic kind of kinetic nature of this, where it's very personalized and trythis and if it doesn't work, try this and if it doesn't work, try this.
It's not.
dropping you in a box and like, if this box doesn't fit, there's nothing else we can dofor you.
know, it's, let's, let's learn who you are and then find the things that work for you.
(52:23):
And you know, there might be a process of elimination stuff, but in the end it's, it's amuch more useful approach than most people will take to that stuff.
Yeah.
That I've heard of in the past anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think the other thing too, I want to make sure I mentioned, um, that we talked aboutis the importance of diversity.
in how we look at groups of, you know, in this case, in the users of an app, right, orjust in clinical trials and clinical anything for that matter.
(52:50):
um You know, because cultural, ethnic origins, backgrounds, things like that play a bigrole in our personal health.
uh And so you can't just, you know, beta test with white women, right?
You have to get other types of people in
to your kind of test group to gain a real true understanding of what you're trying to doin order to create something that can help everyone.
(53:13):
Cause the goal isn't just to help one group of people, it's to help all women.
Um, no matter your, your, color of your skin or the country of origin or the cultural, youknow, specifics, right?
You know, from one country to another, you know, we have different.
It's, it's like the role of the WHO, know, the world health organization is actually.
(53:36):
a great thing because it can globally gather that data.
It's not country to country and population based to population base.
It's the whole thing at once.
And you can learn so much more about what's really going on with people that way.
Yep.
Sickness and.
This is kind of that sort of approach.
You know, if you, if you can get this sort of approach to go global on these differentplatforms and have the proper types of AI, you know, generatively building the data and
(54:01):
building the proper responses, then yeah, I mean, ultimately.
Yeah.
You know, it's great for everybody.
Yeah.
Illness and conditions don't, they don't have geo, they don't have geographicalboundaries.
They don't know where one country ends and begins.
Right.
So.
And, and at the same time, we all are our own biosphere.
We all do have our own physiologies and different things work for us on individual basis.
(54:23):
So combining those two things is tough, but it sounds like there's a lot of people workingon it right now.
both are important.
So.
All right.
That's a, that's a really deep thought.
My brain hurts.
Can we go now?
Yes.
you can find us on, if you like what you heard, you can find us on, all the majorlistening platforms plus YouTube.
And if you like what you heard, please hit all those happy little fun buttons before yougo the likes and subscribes and shares, things like that.
(54:47):
And if you really liked it, we have a Patreon you can join for as little as a dollar amonth, which really supports the uprising.
can become an official member of the uprising there.
That's a patreon.com slash healthcare uprising.
Uh, where else did they find us other?
You can find us online, healthcareuprising.com and also on all of the social mediachannels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, just search healthcare uprising
(55:12):
podcasts and you will find us pretty easily.
And yeah, I think that's about it.
You can take us on out here.
Until next time, keep looking for the good in the world.
Sometimes it's where you least expect it.
(56:22):
This has been a Shut Up oh
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.