Live Purely with Radhi Devlukia-Shetty

Elizabeth Stein 00:00
Hi, everyone. I'm Elizabeth Stein, founder, and CEO of Purely Elizabeth. And this is Live Purely with Elizabeth, featuring candid conversations about how to thrive on your wellness journey.
This week's guest is Radhi Devlukia, a plant-based cook, recipe developer, mission-driven entrepreneur, and co-founder of Juni Tea. Her eagerly anticipated debut cookbook Joyful debuts this month. As a modern-day advocate for holistic well-being, Radhi practices conscious cooking and embodies the idea that nourishing the body can be an enriching and pleasurable journey without compromising flavor. She's amassed a global audience of millions of loyal followers through her natural lifestyle brand, sharing recipes, nutritional insights, and mindfulness practices. In this episode, we talk about Radhi’s journey to step out of her comfort zone and launch her first cookbook, tips on improving digestion, bloating, and gut health along with her favorite ways to live a joyful life, including the importance of prioritizing home cooked meals, meditating, building deep relationships, self-love rituals, connecting with nature and so much more. I love Radhi’s energy and curiosity and know you will keep listening to learn more.
I have some super exciting news purely for fans. I am so thrilled to announce that our newest product line of cookie granola is finally here. We've created a one-of-a-kind recipe where a delicious cookie meets our wholesome granola. It's made with organic gluten-free oats and coconut flour, 100% whole grains baked with coconut oil and almond butter, and only six grams of sugar. These snackable granola clusters have all of the flavor and crispness of your favorite cookie recipe, but an indulgence you can feel good about. It comes in three flavors to obsess over: Chocolate Chip, double chocolate, and my favorite oatmeal raisin. Find our cookie granola at Walmart, Whole Foods, Publix, and on our website at purely elizabeth.com. To find the store near you use the link below in the show notes. I hope you're as obsessed with this new product as I am. Enjoy.
Elizabeth Stein 02:29
Radhi, welcome to the podcast. I'm so honored to have you on today. Honestly, I'm such a huge fan of yours, your energy, your nutrition, your philosophy, and just everything that you exude.
Radhi Devlukia 2:43
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. And yeah, I was just saying I was just eating a granola this morning. So I felt connected to you in that way.
Elizabeth Stein 02:51
So excited to connect here. Would love to start with foundationally your background. Have you always been a foodie? Have you always been interested in cooking? And where did your love for nutrition come from?
Radhi Devlukia 3:09
Yeah, so I've always been obsessed with food. I was really lucky to have a mom who made food just so exciting and interesting. She would make fresh meals every single day. It was just a blessing, she would just create the best foods. So definitely been a foodie my whole life. But in terms of my passion for cooking and creating, I studied to be a nutritionist, so I did a nutrition degree and then I became a dietitian as well. I had a deep interest in understanding how food affected the body. At first, I wanted to go into pediatrics. But then when I moved to America, I started learning about Ayurveda. I read the course and I had an ayurvedic teacher, who I was learning. She was an incredible cook. Her name is Divya. She's in New York. I just fell in love with the philosophy beyond the things that were taught generically from a Western philosophy point of view, this took into account the deeper levels of understanding of the body. So I started to appreciate the food, mind, and body connection. I guess it wasn't one specific thing. It was so many people and places and experiences that I had that have brought this love for food and understanding of the body around me.
Elizabeth Stein 4:35
I love it. I resonate with so much of that and I'm also a big lover of the ayurveda philosophy. So can't wait to dive into that and hear more about like, how you explain your nutrition and wellness philosophy and kind of the content that you show with your community today.
Radhi Devlukia 4:55
I'd say my philosophy honestly especially now after the pandemic after everything. It's helping people to understand their bodies better and take their health back into their own hands. I think we become so used to from a young age when you're not well, you go to the doctor when there's anything wrong, and especially even now online with social media, there are so many different philosophies, so many different people telling you that this is best for you. When the person who knows what's best for you is you. And that doesn't mean when you have medical issues, you don't go there. But the day-to-day understanding of our body is I think what's lacking and creating this disconnect, that disconnects then creates bad health, and then lack of understanding of what the food we are eating is doing to our body. So the philosophy that I try to share is not telling people what to do, but helping people to understand what they need. So they can tell themselves what they need and what they need to do for their own life and body. And that's really what I've been advocating for.
Elizabeth Stein 6:02
I love how you say, what you eat, along with your daily habits, and the thoughts that you think, as an ability to completely transform every aspect of your health. And that so resonates with me. And I think a philosophy that I've personally always felt. And I've shared that. But I think, quite honestly, it hasn't been done recently, I've had some of my gut issues this past couple of months. So dealing with some gut issues with SIBO, which I found out that I had, which was a surprise, and have changed my diet and some other things just in the last six weeks. I've seen the profound effect of taking gluten and dairy and some digestive changes. Now I'm sleeping better and having hair growth and not having bloat and to see the power of that is so meaningful. I think a lot of people can hear it, but until you experience it for yourself, I think a way to encourage people to believe and to try these things. Because it's one thing to hear it. But then when you try it yourself, it becomes so much more powerful.
Radhi Devlukia 07:21
Agreed. And I think we're so used to other people telling us what to do. Like we'll experiment with so many different things in life. But as soon as it comes to our health, unless someone's telling us what to do, we find it difficult to implement and try things out. Like you said, let me try using different spices in the kitchen to see how it affects my body. We're used to eating different things, but not then during the process of understanding what it's doing to our body or how our body is feeling after it. And you're right. Sometimes it takes some sort of health issue or a scare in life to get us on track. I think the pandemic did that for a lot of people. So many people realize how little they were focusing on themselves and their health that I think during that period, especially because we didn't know even what we were doing to COVID. Like it was something so unfamiliar, we had to start taking kind of what's the word for like inventory of what we're doing in our own life?
Elizabeth Stein 08:19
Yeah, for sure. So for you, what have you had any big transformation like that through this practice? And how have you seen the power of food and lifestyle affect your life?
Radhi Devlukia 08:31
Good question. I would say I didn't have necessarily a big health issue or a big transformation. But I was, I was fairly overweight when I was younger. I used to just love eating, but I didn't understand. My mom was so amazing at creating healthy food. She was also a fitness instructor when I was growing up. And so I would always watch her. But it never quite translated to me because it never attracted me like working out. And even thinking about the concept of movement of the body wasn't part of my mindset when I was younger. And as I grew up, I knew that I didn't want to get healthy or lose weight through crash dieting, or doing anything that affects my body. I've always been very mindful of that. When I started learning about different food groups and things, it started my connection to understanding things from a deeper level. That's honestly what I'd say, my being overweight when I was younger started it off. But then it was seeing how in the world, we are so disconnected from our food because we eat out all the time. We buy things in cans or in jars to know where food comes from. Like I remember when I was doing clinics with children when I was a dietitian in a hospital. And it was amazing to see the lack of connection between what the food is on our plate and where it comes from. Even that simple detail of where do you think this grows? Like how do you think you're getting the food that is presenting itself on your plate? All of that spurred me to want to get into this connection to deeply connect with our food. I don't think it was one particular thing, it was a mixture of the blessing of all the teachers that I've had in my life that I thought if I come across all these people who have done so much in my life for me, other people don't have that, so many people don't come into contact like that. So I kind of just saw myself as the bridge of whether it was spirituality, whether it was cooking, whether it was information about my body and food connection, I felt so grateful to have those teachers in my life. And it kind of felt like my duty to be the bridge between them and hopefully other people finding that for themselves, too. When you find something that you love, or that has transformed your life, you have this desire for other people to feel that too. You want them to feel that joy that you felt from eating a certain way or being a certain way or a practice that you have. And I think that's really what has inspired me to keep going and sharing it.
Elizabeth Stein 11:05
Yeah, that's amazing. That was gonna be a good segue to ask how you started to go from being a dietitian or nutritionist to then saying like I want to put myself out there and build this whole amazing community which you have done so beautifully.
Radhi Devlukia 11:25
Well, at the beginning, my blog, or my Instagram page is called veggieveganveda. Veda means knowledge. And it was the beginning of when I started. I moved out of my house, I was married. And it was the first time I was cooking regularly for myself and my husband. It was a private account. It was just when I started cooking and making food for people, that people would ask for recipes. So I thought why not? Let me just share it within my community. So at the beginning, it was honestly just a friends and family page that I was sharing recipes with and taking, I loved the concept of food looking beautiful, I think it's such an important part of eating when you're attracted to the food you're eating. And so I would love to present in certain ways. And that's how I started it. And then naturally, as Jay created his community, people want to know who his family is or who he's connected to. And so when people started kind of filtering through to my page, I realized I wanted to give people something of essence that was going to help their lives in some way. I was like, they can either come, they may be coming to me because they know me through Jay. But I want them to be able to stay because they're learning or gaining something from what I'm sharing. Also, I was going through that journey myself. When I was in New York, I was doing my yoga teacher training, and I was doing an Ayurveda course. I started this journey of my spirituality that I was learning so much and I was like, wow, I feel like I'm being bombarded with all this information. I feel like I need a vessel to pour it out into. So it was almost a way for me to process what I was learning through sharing it. And I think sometimes sharing is the best way to take in and process what is coming to you.
Elizabeth Stein 13:06
Yeah, absolutely. What are you learning right now that you're excited about anything new or different?
Radhi Devlukia 13:13
Yeah, good question. I feel like I go through phases that I'm sure many people do. I went through a phase of years of learning from my first degree to my second degree to my ayurveda course, to my yoga teacher training. I had almost at least eight years of learning, just taking information in. And then for the past couple of years, I've been in this era of trying to share every day, I'm learning in different ways, whether it's online, whether it's in books, in different parts of my life, but I'd say I'm craving going back to education. So this has been my year of trying new things and trying to get myself out there. Next year, I'm thinking about all the courses in different parts of my life that I want to do for my spiritual practices and my food. I want to do a course to understand, that I love spices so much, but to understand herbs and spices so much more. I've touched on it in my read, of course, but doing a course is just different. So I want to kind of stick my teeth into that next year.
Elizabeth Stein 14:21
I feel the same. I feel like I could constantly learn and it keeps me so excited. One of the things I wanted to ask you and I know Ayurveda touches on this, but as I mentioned with my gut issues I was having some of that has been around low digestion or not being able to digest and I did this baking soda test. Have you heard of that?
Radhi Devlukia 14:47
Yeah. What's the process of that?
Elizabeth Stein 14:52
I can’t remember but you put a teaspoon of baking soda and a quarter cup of water. And if you burn within two minutes, then you have digestive eave enzymes. And if you don't, you have low digestive enzymes. So I did not burp. So it turns out apparently that I don't have many digestive enzymes. And so the person I was working with gave some suggestions like not drinking a lot of water while eating. But we'd love to hear any tips that you can share with our community on better digestion, and bloating and really like some of the best ways to eat because it's not just what we eat, but how we eat.
Radhi Devlukia 15:30
Definitely. Some of the main things that I share with people as a baseline foundation, that I've noticed people have said has helped them, especially with their gut. The first thing I would say is, if your gut is weak, you will know when you start eating raw foods. Like generally raw foods are much more difficult to digest. If you think about your stomach, ayurveda talks about your stomach being like Agni. It's fire like you have a fire of digestion. And so if your digestion and your digestive fire is weak, when you're putting things which are uncooked and harder to digest into your stomach, it's going to cause more bloating, more gas, more discomfort. So I would start by saying, if you are noticing that, have cooked foods. Let your stomach rest a little bit. If anything, you can even do a soup bowl, I sometimes do just steamed vegetables every time I want a gut reset. I'll do steamed veg, and some soups, really allowing your gut to have a moment to just repair itself. And you could do that for a couple of days. You could do that for a week if you wanted to. Still getting nutrients into your body, but allowing your gut to just replenish for a little bit. Then I recommend spices. Spices help to ignite your digestion. Some irritate but there are three in particular, which are great for all body types, and they help rekindle your fire but at the same time help to soothe your gut. And those spices are cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds. In Ayurveda, it's considered the super spice blend. It's incredible for your gut. I boil all three of them in water in the morning and I'll drink it first thing in the morning. It helps to detox it helps to ignite the fire but it also helps to cleanse the stuff that you've accumulated overnight out of your digestive tract.
Elizabeth Stein 17:25
I make my Khichadi with those three, I don't know if that's supposed to be in it. I do love that. Good to know I’m on the right track.
Radhi Devlukia 17:33
Yeah, the khichadi cleanse is great too. If you don't want to do liquids, you could just have khichadi breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And that helps to keep your gut filled but also allows it to rest. Sometimes having a monotonous diet without changing things, allows your stomach to do the same thing. So that's great. I love khichadi. And then the third thing you mentioned was water, and just like I said digestion is like fire, a lot of people have a lot of cold drinks in their diet from morning to evening. You can drink cold water, cold beverages, everything is cold. So try swapping out as difficult as it is, maybe if you don't do all of them at once, you could swap out a couple of your cold drinks for hot water or room-temperature water during the day. Hot water is amazing for digestion. You can add in those spices like I said with other things, but those are probably the three that I would recommend at first to start with and see if they help.
Elizabeth Stein 18:29
I'm so excited to announce that we have launched two new superfood cereal flavors, chocolate almond, and cinnamon raisin almond. Our cereal is intentionally crafted with whole food ingredients you can see and taste like sorghum, oats, chia, and quinoa. Each spoonful of our superfood cereal combines crunchy ancient grain flakes with delicious granola clusters for irresistible taste and texture. Plus, they are an excellent source of vitamin D a good source of fiber, and have over 30 grams of whole grains per serving. You can find these new flavors along with our existing flavors, honey peanut butter, and vanilla blueberry almond at your local Whole Foods and as always on purelyelizabeth.com.
So we're gonna move on to talk about your first cookbook that is coming out. Huge congratulations. Would love to hear how was it. At the time to write the cookbook, how did you decide and tell us what it's all about?
Radhi Devlukia 19:32
I'm the type of person who never feels ready to do anything or put anything out. I'm always like, yeah, I still have so much more to learn. I'm still a student and I don't think I'm ready yet. But I was encouraged by so many of my friends and family around me to just take the leap and start writing. And I'm so happy that I did because like I said it made me realize how much I had in my mind that I wanted to share with people that has changed my life. There are 125 plant-based recipes. But then there are also in-between little sections of wellness rituals, meditation practices, how to build a connection between your mind your body, and the food that you're eating, and simple principles for gut digestion. There's just so much through it that I tried to intertwine. So it's more than just recipes. It's helping you to reconnect to yourself. And the book is called Joyfull with two L's. And there's just so much, it is just dense with information with beautiful. Oh my gosh, my photography. There is so beautiful, that she's done such an incredible job, Alana, and when you've put so much love into something, I spent two years creating this book to more than two years. And I finally got to the place where I've detached from it. And I'm like, I know I've done everything I possibly can. And I've poured as much as I can into it. And now hopefully, it does what it's supposed to and helps heal people and quite a bit of space in life for them.
Elizabeth Stein 20:57
That's amazing. Well, congratulations. It's truly so beautiful. And I love as you said, how you're incorporating the lifestyle tips within it. And all the recipes look delicious. Give me like top three favorites.
Radhi Devlukia 21:14
It's hard to do. I can't do it. But right now, especially because it's starting to be hopefully a bit colder weather. I love the beans and lentils section, I find that's where I go for my hearty, wholesome warming meals. And so I've got a red lentil coconut milk dal in there. That's one of my go-to's. But then I'm also someone who loves a bit of comfort foods. So we've got these jalapeno cheese dough balls in there, too. And then there's also really warm and comforting soup. So I feel like there's everything from your comfort cheeky foods to healthier options. Then for me, the nutrient-dense meals, make you feel great during this time of year. Sorry, I couldn't pick one. There are a few.
Elizabeth Stein 22:02
How was it doing the recipe development along with your daily content and managing the back and forth of those projects on a day-to-day basis?
Radhi Devlukia 22:10
It was a lot. When I was creating the recipes, I had to decide because of my content, I was filming everything, editing everything, and doing everything myself. So I decided that while I was creating the recipes over those months, I would avoid doing food content because I couldn't do both. And I would just share whatever else I was doing in my life or ease up on content online because I needed to focus on just getting the book done. So I found it quite a struggle balancing both. But I had to just take away the guilt from it. Because I was like, Look if I want this book to be great. I'm not someone who can do 10 things at once I know that about myself. I need full focus on one thing, pour everything into that, and then continue and move on to the next thing. So I couldn't do all of it. So many people do. But I just chose to focus and I don't regret that at all. I think it was what I needed to do.
Elizabeth Stein 23:04
Well, I think that's such a good lesson for people to hear. You don't have to do it all and listen to your body to know what works best for you. Super important. So as you think about the tips that you share in the book, lifestyle tips, and some of the ways to have the most amount of joy in your life, tell us some of the ways that you feel the best and maybe share some of your morning routine night routine or any sort of favorites that you have in your day.
Radhi Devlukia 23:36
Yeah, I think for me, if I think about what is included in having a joyful life, it's everything from, of course, the food we eat, to being able to fuel the body that we need to carry out the things that we want to do in life, whether it's serving ourselves, serving other people, the work that we do, the foundation of fuel is so important. So yes, regarding the food that I eat, I try to be more mindful about not eating out too much, even if it is just eating a really simple meal at home. I know it's always gonna be better for me than getting things, exactly what the ingredients are in. So I tried to focus on home-cooked meals a lot and prioritize whether it was for my breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Then my morning rituals and meditation have been part of my life for nearly 10 years now. I woke up seeing my mom meditate every single morning and I started my practice about 10 years ago. And no matter where I am, I pretty much feel like it's the anchor. I used to travel a lot. That would be the one thing that stayed the same throughout my life and it's been my spiritual and mind fuel just as food is to the body. I think meditation and time with yourself is fuel for your mind and your heart. And relationships, building deep relationships. We're so used to connecting online and on phones and I've prioritized especially this year building more connections with friends and family in person. Seeing people in person, having eye contact, hugging people. Because as humans, that's what we want. We want an intimate connection with people that also fuels us. It gives us energy, we thrive off each other. Another part that I've been working on when it comes to creating more joy in my life is thinking about how I am thinking of other people and myself, the words that I'm using, and the thoughts that I'm thinking about other people. Because even if it's in your, even if it's something that doesn't come out of your mouth if it's in your mind, that is what you are breathing inside of you. So whether it's towards another person or myself, I haven't got there, but I'm working on the language and the way that I am seeing other people and the perspective I'm seeing them with, and also the way that I'm seeing and I'm treating myself. So many other things, but I'd say those are the things I'm working on most right now.
Elizabeth Stein 23:56
I love that. So let's dive a little bit into that last one. What does that look like for you? How are you working on that, I think it's such an important thing. I too have been focused on that, personally of the things that you think in your head sometimes like you would never say to another person about. And when you stop to take that in, I think that's powerful. So I'm curious to hear kind of how you're working on that practice of maybe being more mindful about it, or what you're doing around that.
Radhi Devlukia 26:23
I do a couple of things. So one of the things I started doing when I started seeing a lot of negative talk in my mind was writing down at the end of the day, all the things that I remembered or even at the time that I noticed my mind saying and then writing down what I wish I would be saying instead. So almost creating new thought patterns by repetitively writing them down. That helped me. And then another thing I've been doing is, I think it's very easy to focus on other people's weeds. It's almost easier. When you can look at other people and see their faults and makes you feel so much better about yourself. And so instead of doing that, I think that quiet time with myself whether it's journaling, whether it's meditation, it's a reflective practice that allows me to internalize and see what I'm working on. And I honestly think if you notice the things that you need to work on, it gives you way less time to focus on other people's things that they need to work on. So, reflective practice is necessary to be able to see perspective, be less judgmental, and recognize that even though we see things in other people, there's a lot in ourselves that we need to be working on and focusing on that rather than someone else is going to be far more beneficial. So reflective practice, writing down the things that I'm noticing or repeating in my mind. The food is such an important part of this too. Doing things that nourish and make me happy because the happier you are and the more nourished your body and mind feel, that's what you're going to give out. You can't give out what you don't have inside of you. So for me, I know when I'm eating a lot of things that aren't great for me, when I'm not sleeping enough when I'm prioritizing watching things and absorbing things into my mind that is filled with gossip or reality TV or whatever it is that I'm absorbing in me, that's essentially what I'm thinking when I'm walking around the world. That's the perspective and the lens that I'm looking at the world through. So limiting those things and thinking about what is uplifting me and nourishing me and creating an environment internally to allow my external environment to also reflect that.
Elizabeth Stein 28:36
I love that what is your first couple of go-twos that you know I mean, food certainly is an easy one of change what you're eating to feel differently, but do you have any other instinct go-tos to try and maybe a day around or an afternoon around if you know you're going to go down a rabbit hole.
Radhi Devlukia 28:53
Self-love rituals, I love doing abhyanga, which is self-massage practice. It's something that I do every morning and every night, even if it's a couple of minutes, even if it's just my feet or my scalp. It's an oil massage and showing a little bit of love to yourself if you're not ready to do it mentally but physically, it allows a small space to open up in your heart. I appreciate that practice. And I've been doing that a lot. Outside connecting with nature. I think we disconnect from nature so much but nature is there in so many ways holding space for us that we don't even realize that going out for a walk, looking into the distance being able to see nature around you, and admiring the beauty, like finding something that you find beauty and/or gratitude for can again change and shift that perspective internally. So nature is a big thing for me. And having moments of silence. I think we feel things like TV, and music in the car, I started kind of switching off when I'm in the car rather than blasting music and having it as an opportunity to hear what's happening in my mind because I think we do try and make ourselves busy and create noise during times we don't want to hear what's happening inside of us. So trying to reduce the noise around me and stop trying to busy myself, so I can get some time with myself.
Elizabeth Stein 30:12
I love that. And that's such a great tip, I can relate. I've been recently realizing that I'm going walking my dogs every morning, I'm putting my air pods in and listening to a podcast, I'm trying to learn and multicast and then it's like, no, you could just have some silence and all the things come to you in that space.
Radhi Devlukia 30:33
Right. I'll be doing anything, I have five minutes spare, I'm like calling my friends on the phone, or I'm looking at Instagram, so much time the in-between spaces we fill up, and I'm trying to let those spaces just actually be spaces.
Elizabeth Stein 30:49
So I want to come back to the food and mood because I think that's something that a lot of people can relate to, but a lot of people they in-between can't relate to it. And so we'd love to hear both, I think on the side of how what we're eating affects our mood, but then also how do our energies affect what we're eating, and how we're cooking and kind of how that's all interconnected in your mind.
Radhi Devlukia 31:15
So much. I was talking about my mum earlier about the food that she makes. And I know that even though she's a good cook, it is the love and the thought that she pours into the food when she's making it that makes it impossible for me to ever recreate. She will tell me bit by bit every single detail of the ingredient, I will write it down and she's making it but it will never taste the same. And it's not because I'm not following the recipe exactly. It's because there is something about energy that is poured through your hands into the food that you're making. And there was this study, and I'm sure you've heard about it about the water that was different music in different rooms, and how it affected the composition when it was frozen, like the crystals that were made from it. And I always think about that when I'm creating. And I think now we cook wood spoons and stuff. But I'm quite a hands-on person when I'm in the kitchen. Because I think when you end up touching what people are eating, and you've got the mindset. Energy may not be physically visible, but it is felt. And we're not used to thinking about things that we can't see. But if you think about it, when you meet people, and you spend time with them, there's an energy shift, there's an energy transaction that happens. And the food is the same. So I do little things like playing spiritual music in the background when I'm cooking, or thinking before I step into the kitchen, about what I'm about to cook, what is my intention for the food that I'm cooking for the people that I'm cooking for? What do I want them to feel? We have a practice in my tradition where we offer food. So before we eat before we taste the food, ideally, we offer food, if you have an altar at home, or even back to the sun or God or universe in whichever way you want to. But you offer it back first and you take a moment. I have a prayer where you're just thanking every single element that has participated in creating this food, whether it's the sun, whether it's bad, whether it's the farmers, so much to feel grateful for, but almost offering it back to them before you then indulgent it yourself. And I think all these little practices, one, helps better with digestion because you're ready to welcome the food rather than just scarfing it down and you've got an appreciation for it, you're savoring it, but also benefits that other people eating it too because you've put so much into it yourself in your mind.
Elizabeth Stein 33:40
That study of the water is so fascinating. And when you think about that, it's pretty incredible. So switching gears to another project beyond the cookbook is your tea line that you have started with Jay. Would love to hear what it's like co-founding a company with your husband and what's next for the brand.
Radhi Devlukia 34:10
We are coming out with some decaf options. It's a sparkling adaptogenic tea. It has been through many different versions. This is the best version so far in taste, packaging, and everything. We've thought about it this time round to make it the best that it could be. I'm excited because we have five flavors right now but they're all caffeinated with green tea. So they have the benefits that green tea does too. But the decaf options are coming out. So right now, we're experimenting with different flavors and taste testing and trying to get those made. So I'm excited about that. And now we're getting into a lot more distributors in stores. So, it's quite exciting. It's still at the beginning honestly, but it's been a really fun journey to create.
Elizabeth Stein 34:56
And how's it been co-creating with your husband? Is that the first project that you guys have done together?
Radhi Devlukia 35:04
This is the first time we've worked together. It's honestly great because we both have very different skill sets. So I know when I need to show up, and he knows when he needs to show up, and we both understand I get why you're not in this meeting. And he's I get why you're not in this meeting. We have quite separate roles. I'm doing all the taste testing, I'm creating the flavors, but then he's doing a lot of the finance meetings and the marketing and distribution ideas. So we generally don't overlap in our skill set much. So that kind of helps.
Elizabeth Stein 35:40
What's next beyond cookbook? Is there anything else on the horizon?
Radhi Devlukia 35:52
I just recently launched my podcast. It touches on everything and is focused on women. It touches on everything from culture, and expectations of women to health and wellness to do with, our female bodies, to emotions, and being able to embrace our feminine and masculine energy and how that impacts us. This conversation is with some of my best friends to people I find interesting. And then some solo episodes with me just to help people get comfortable with feeling emotion and understanding how much that impacts the body. So yeah, I'm excited about it. It's new. It's exciting.
Elizabeth Stein 36:28
Amazing. Well, talking about getting comfortable with that, we're gonna end before a rapid fire. What is one thing that you're currently working on to step out of your comfort zone and perhaps scare you?
Radhi Devlukia 36:41
Oh, my gosh, last year, it was my yes year. I did so many things that I would normally say no to. I spoke on a stage with 1000s of people in the audience, which I was so scared about doing. Honestly, launching this book has been so scary. I was so excited up to the point that it was supposed to come out into the world. I was like, we don't need to do that. I've read it now. I've done the work. Do we need to show it to people? So I think that's a big stepping stone for me to have out in the world and share it with people. I'd say right now that's probably been the scariest part to have people see the words that I've written in this book and try out the recipes and see if they even work.
Elizabeth Stein 37:28
It's gonna be amazing. All right, we're gonna move on to some rapid-fire Q&A. What do you wish more people knew about you?
Radhi Devlukia 37:39
I do not have it all together. For some reason, people meet me and think I have everything figured out. And that I'm very well put together. I'm not a well-put-together person in any capacity. So I just would love everyone to know that.
Elizabeth Stein 37:54
I think a lot of people can relate. Favorite cooking tip.
Radhi Devlukia 37:59
Spices, spices, spices. You cannot tell me a dish is boring if you have spices in your cupboard. A boring dish does not exist when you have spices.
Elizabeth Stein 36:15
Three favorite spices for healing.
Radhi Devlukia 38:18
Coriander, cumin, fennel. And another one, I'll give you a bonus, peppermint oil. Oh my gosh, for your gut, for your sinuses for your headaches. I have one in my bag at all times. Whenever anyone's cleaning something, I get my peppermint oil out. I put it on my temples whenever I've got a headache, put on my sinuses when I've got a blocked nose, and put it around my belly button when I'm having digestion issues. I just have a rollerball that's with me at all times. When I'm feeling travel sick, I sniff it. It's great.
Elizabeth Stein 38:51
I need it right now. Three things that you're currently loving. It could be a product, TV show, or book.
Radhi Devlukia 38:57
I recently started reading Cleo Wade’s book, Remember Love. It's just beautiful poetry that helps you to think deeper about what you're feeling. It's almost like these words on the page understand you without you even speaking to anybody. It will help you process things, that's a really beautiful book. Another thing is my skincare. I appreciate this product by one of my friends, it’s called Ranavat. It's an incredible ayurvedic skincare range, and saffron serum for your skin is beautiful. And the third one, this is random, but a label maker because I've been labeling my spices right now in my kitchen. And having things organized and labeled, it's another level of clarity for your mind.
Elizabeth Stein 39:49
Okay, not part of the rapid-fire but where do you buy your spices?
Radhi Devlukia 39:53
Different places. So I either buy them from Indian stores or I have started to find organic spices on Amazon and also Burlap and Barrel, and a place called Diaspora. They both are incredible because you know where the spices are coming from. They're so thoughtful about the process and make sure everyone in the process gets paid fairly. They have on the bottle exactly where it's come from, which I appreciate.
Elizabeth Stein 40:23
It's so funny. I just stumbled upon both of those websites yesterday and I have them bookmarked on my browser right now. Like, I need to get some spices.
Radhi Devlukia 40:30
It's nice because you get to try different flavors.
Elizabeth Stein 40:37
Favorite book for growth?
Radhi Devlukia 40:43
Oh, my favorite book for growth. Is it only one? Okay, I'm gonna give you a couple. For me, the Bhagavad Gita was just a lifetime, there was a book that changed the entire trajectory of my life. A book called Spiritual Warrior II: Transforming Lust Into Love was incredible for building deeper relationships and understanding the difference between the two, which I think we all need in life. Then The Artist’s Way, it's a practical course book, but it's almost like a journey you take toward yourself. And after that Jay Shetty’s Think Like a Monk because that book was amazing and it's not just because he's my husband.
Elizabeth Stein 41:27
I agree. Favorite words to live by?
Radhi Devlukia 41:30
Favorite? I don't know. But the wavelength I'm working on for myself right now is to drink water and mind your business. Just focus on yourself, mind your own business, and stay in your lane.
Elizabeth Stein 41:44
And lastly, what is your number one non-negotiable to thrive and your wellness journey?
Radhi Devlukia 41:52
Right now, sleep. I think you need good sleep to be able to wake up, do the things you want to, and eat the way you want to, it affects everything. I probably wouldn't have said what I would have said even six months ago, but I have noticed that it impacts everything.
Elizabeth Stein 42:11
Any tips that you have around getting good sleep?
Radhi Devlukia 42:20
Yeah, I think they always say it starts with it's not it starts with how you spend the rest of your day. Like there are eight hours that you spend sleeping, how are you using the other 16 hours? Like how are you spending the rest of your 16 hours? So again, whether it's the types of food you're eating just before bed, what are you looking at just before you sleep, or what other stimulating things you are doing. And it's not just stimulating foods like caffeine, it's stimulating your mind in the evening. It's the light that you're putting on around you. So, I've tried to strip those things away close to bedtime. And also monitoring. Like, I think we have so many amazing devices. Now I don't love using devices all the time, but I will for short periods when I notice my sleep change, because it will tell you if is it your deep sleep that's affected. How many hours are you sleeping? Is your wake up saying oh my god, I'm gonna see for eight hours. Why am I so tired? Well, are you getting those eight hours of sleep? And checking your nutritional levels go get your blood work done to check whether you're feeling tired and lethargic and not getting enough sleep because you may have imbalances happening in your body that you don't realize.
Elizabeth Stein 43:28
Love this. Radhi, thank you so much for your time today. In closing, where can everybody find you, your new book, your new podcast, and all the other wonderful things you've got going on?
Radhi Devlukia 43:39
You can find me on Instagram. It's @radhidevlukia. My book is at joyfullbook.com And you can also find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and everywhere else. And Juni, our drink is at drinkjuni.com
Elizabeth Stein 43:50
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Bye.
Thanks so much for joining me on Live Purely with Elizabeth. I hope you feel inspired to thrive on your wellness journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to rate, subscribe, and review. You can follow us on Instagram @purely_elizabeth to catch up on all the latest. See you next Wednesday on the podcast.