In the latest episode of Plant Based On Fire, Bryan dives into an engaging conversation with Anthony Masiello, the co-founder and CEO of Love Life Telehealth. This dynamic episode explores the intersection of business, entrepreneurship, and the plant-based lifestyle. Masiello's journey is nothing short of inspiring, from personal transformation to building a telemedicine platform focused on prevention and wellness.
Catalyst for Change
Masiello's story is a testament to the power of change and determination. After being denied a life insurance policy due to his morbid obesity and health conditions, he embarked on a transformative journey. Through Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, "Eat to Live," Masiello discovered the potential of whole food plant-based nutrition. Remarkably, he shed 160 pounds in 20 months and overcame a host of health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea.
Plant-Based Entrepreneurship
Masiello's personal transformation paved the way for Love Life Telehealth. Driven by a passion for preventing and reversing diseases, Masiello created a platform to connect patients with healthcare professionals who share his vision. Focused on lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition, Love Life Telehealth offers accessible and comprehensive medical services across the nation.
Telehealth Revolution
Telemedicine is rapidly reshaping healthcare, and Love Life Telehealth is at the forefront of this revolution. The platform's innovative approach enables patients to connect with doctors via teleconferencing, eliminating the need for travel and wait times. Appointments start and end on time, providing a convenient and efficient experience for patients seeking quality healthcare.
Holistic Approach
What sets Love Life Telehealth apart is its holistic approach to patient care. The platform's extensive intake process delves into medical history, current conditions, and personal health goals. Doctors then develop personalized lifestyle treatment plans that encompass nutrition, stress management, and overall well-being. This patient-centric model is a paradigm shift from traditional healthcare, focusing on prevention and long-term health.
Empowering Lifestyle Choices
Masiello's vision extends beyond medical consultations. He's passionate about empowering individuals to make informed lifestyle choices. With a commitment to supporting and educating people, he advocates for the adoption of a whole food plant-based diet as a cornerstone of preventive healthcare.
Plant-Based Unity
Throughout the interview, Masiello emphasizes the importance of unity within the plant-based movement. His "Real Men Eat Plants" initiative and "Plant-Based On Fire" podcast aim to dispel myths and misconceptions while fostering a supportive community. Masiello's dedication to changing mindsets and habits underscores the collaborative spirit of the plant-based business world.
In the realm of plant-based entrepreneurship, Anthony Masiello's journey exemplifies the transformative power of change and the impact of innovative ideas. His pioneering efforts through Love Life Telehealth are redefining healthcare, offering a beacon of hope for those seeking a holistic approach to well-being. Through education, empowerment, and unity, Masiello is not only changing lives but also fueling a thriving plant-based movement.
>Transcription:
Bryan (00:01.282)
Hello everyone and welcome to Plant Based on Fire, where we talk about plant-based businesses and their inspiring stories to thrive in the industry. I am your host, Brian, and joining us today is Anthony Masiello. He is the co-founder and CEO of Love Life Telehealth, a national lifestyle telemedicine service focused on providing access to medical services centered on the prevention and reversal of disease and optimizing wellness.He utilizes a lifestyle medicine and whole food plant-based nutrition. So welcome to the show, Anthony.
Anthony Masiello (00:35.32)
Thanks, Brian. Yeah, it's really great to be here. Thanks.
Bryan (00:38.386)
It is so great to catch up with you again. I know it's been probably a little over a year since the last time we spoke and you've been on a couple of our other podcasts. So it's great to have you on here and really talk about, uh, Love Live Telehouse. So give us a little background on you and your journey and what brought you to such an amazing telemedicine company.
Anthony Masiello (00:44.256)
I think so.
Yeah.
Anthony Masiello (00:58.113)
Yeah, um.
You know, my journey starts off because I was denied a 20-year term life insurance policy at age 33 when my wife was pregnant. And that wasn't the way I wanted, that wasn't the news I wanted to receive. And it really wasn't the way I wanted to live and certainly wasn't the way I wanted to start a family. So I was super determined. The reasons I was denied was because I was morbidly obese. I was on medication for high blood pressure. I had high cholesterol.
with sleep apnea, I got frequent migraine headaches, I had eczema on my fingers, you know, I weighed 360 pounds, 54 inch waist, and I guess all of these things added up, you know, didn't give me a good outlook for what my life was gonna be like. So just to speed through it, I found Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live. I bought it, I did exactly what it said, I lost a total of 160
in just 20 months. And even more important than losing the weight was I got healthy. You know, all of those medical concerns and conditions disappeared. And truthfully, even more valuable than that is my I had so much energy. I felt better than I ever imagined I could feel. And really ended up raising my kids. They're 17 and 19 now. You know, my first wasn't even born
Bryan (02:09.398)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (02:28.258)
Yeah.
Anthony Masiello (02:29.29)
and just had the most wonderful experience raising a family and lived a quality of life that I honestly couldn't have imagined. You know, I grew up obese, so it's very different, and have just been really committed to trying to figure out how to help other people to do the same for themselves. So...
Bryan (02:47.758)
Well, thank you. Thank you so, so much. I mean, and that dovetailed into the telehealth, right?
Anthony Masiello (02:53.484)
Yeah, so all the time while I was getting healthy myself, I was working in pharmaceutical research and I started to wonder, I was excited about working, my background is computer science. I was very excited to be working in a field that was committed to helping people to be healthy, get well, get rid of disease. And then as I learned how to take better care of myself without medication and without pharmaceutical intervention, not that those things are always bad, they're very necessary.
Bryan (03:04.302)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Masiello (03:23.458)
in some cases. But I just started to feel more passionate about helping people to prevent disease or reverse disease rather than treat disease. So I was always looking for opportunities and I would go to a lot of conferences. I would go to a lot of immersion weekends and I would get to share my story sometimes, trying to spark inspiration in others and help them to get started.
Anthony Masiello (03:53.518)
a doctor would be on stage and they would be talking about the science of why lifestyle medicine works, whatever pillars, and why whole food plant-based nutrition creates an environment inside the body where the body can heal, and all these things. Then they share case studies, examples like myself, examples like many others, right, who you've had on shows and things like that. And
And then they go and they talk about how these people recovered their health and are living these vibrant lives and really thriving now in life. And then they go to Q&A and someone in the audience raises their hand and they say, hello, my name is so-and-so. I also suffer from whatever chronic condition they're suffering from. Where can I find a doctor who can help me?
And there was never really an answer to that question. I mean, there are a few isolated doctors who are around different places. You can sometimes find them. Sometimes they're running, you know, sometimes they work in, like Dr. Furman now has a retreat center, but the minimum stay is 30 days, right? So you have to go there for that. We know that Dr. Esselstyn is incredibly generous with his time at the Cleveland Clinic, and he will do consults with people over the phone. But there's nowhere where someone can go
Bryan (05:06.83)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Masiello (05:13.126)
someone be their doctor to work with them on an ongoing basis. And I was very fortunate to know a lot of incredible physicians, several incredible physicians, who really wanted to practice this kind of medicine. And I also knew a lot of people who wish that their doctor practiced this kind of medicine, right? So what was missing was where did the people meet? And setting up a local in-person practice is challenging because you've only got this
Bryan (05:26.802)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (05:32.491)
Yeah.
Anthony Masiello (05:43.146)
region on where you can draw patients from. You know, unless again we get back into people traveling to see the doctors or something like that. But by telemedicine...
even a doctor with one license in one state, they can cover the whole state. And then if a doctor is licensed in multiple states, they might have a patient from New York, and then the next minute, when they go to their next appointment, that patient might be in California or Florida or wherever else if the doctors get a few licenses. And the idea is then there's enough patients out there to then support a lifestyle medicine practice, really practiced.
Anthony Masiello (16:11.634)
script and usually by the time you end the visit, get in your car, drive to the pharmacy, it's already there in a bag waiting for you. So it's really the full medical experience. Before your appointment, we have a very extensive intake form because it asks all about medical history, it asks about current conditions.
And then it deviates from what you would get at like a conventional doctor, because then it asks you about your personal health and wellness goals. And then it asks you all kinds of lifestyle. There's a full lifestyle questionnaire. So, so what does a typical day of eating look like? How many hours of sleep are you getting at night? You know, how are you feeling, um, you know, engaged and like, you have a strong purpose in life. You know, do you have a strong social network where, where you have people who care about you and people that you care about. So they, they ask you all these questions.
Bryan (16:39.884)
Mm-hmm.
Anthony Masiello (17:01.922)
that before they ever see you. So by the time that you connect for your appointment, the doctor kind of knows you, they already know your goal, so then they can really spend that half hour digging in with you. And you know, they're going to confirm things of course, they're going to talk about, you know, they're going to ask you follow-up questions, and then you're going to get to spend plenty of time developing like a lifestyle plan, like a lifestyle treatment plan. And
that treatment plan would involve changes that every person can make, you know, to get a better night's sleep, to better manage stress, to optimize their nutrition, and to optimize everything in a way that's specific, aligned with that person's medical history, their medical conditions if they have any, and also structured to help them to achieve their own personal health and wellness goals.
Bryan (17:44.491)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (17:53.362)
Amazing. Yeah. And it's just I don't know, I've been an advocate for telemedicine for years, obviously, but it is just so much easier than going and driving someplace through the traffic, sitting in the parking lot, sitting in the waiting room, sitting in the office waiting for the doctor to come in. You just get to hang out at home until yeah, I mean, wait, wait. Yeah, exactly.
Anthony Masiello (18:11.846)
Well, you said waiting a couple of times there. And we've done some questionnaires. And I even read a New York Times article that it's one of the people's favorite things about telemedicine is that the appointments start and end on time.
Bryan (18:18.914)
Ahem.
Bryan (18:25.431)
Yeah.
Anthony Masiello (18:25.464)
And you know, because of course we always sit in the waiting room until the doctor's right. And then we go into the exam room and then we sit there and we wait some more. And then we see them for a flash and then they're like, okay, well, you can get dressed and go home. And then it's like, wait, what just happened? You know, but yeah, at least with telemedicine, the appointments start on time. They end on time. We have a staff desk that you can call the number on the website at any time. And we have someone who can help if patients are having any difficulties with their patient portal, their questionnaires.
Bryan (18:33.095)
Mm-hmm.
Bryan (18:38.654)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Anthony Masiello (18:55.278)
connect to their appointment, you know, we fully support them the whole way.
Bryan (18:59.746)
That is amazing. Yeah, I think there's gonna be a paradigm shift where you're not gonna be allowed to see a doctor in person unless you've had a telemedicine visit. That's what I predict for the future. You have to go through that first and then they'll let you see a doctor in person for whatever you're doing. So I hope that's the future we're heading towards. There you go. Let's nail it. So I've got like a twofold kind of question. I mean...
Anthony Masiello (19:08.845)
Oh. Wow.
Anthony Masiello (19:14.708)
Yeah. I think they should make them have an appointment at Love Life Telehealth first.
Bryan (19:25.182)
Obviously we're both, you know, strongly plant-based, whole food plant-based. It's changed both of our lives on that front. So talk to us about that kind of connection with how you practice the telemedicine. I know you've touched on it a little bit. And then furthermore, like, uh, tell us more about the Love Life, uh, brand and, and the connection to, to whole foods and some of the other cool stuff you have going on with the bigger brand as part of the telehealth thing.
Bryan (32:27.021)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Bryan (32:44.447)
Women are the doctors of the home. Yeah, they are the doctors of the home. So yeah.
Anthony Masiello (32:45.001)
The women are...
And they're much smarter than we are because they realize how important it is for them to take care of themselves. Like, I wish more men realized that. So that's why I love what you're doing with real men eat plants. I love what you're doing with plant-based on fire. So this is all so important and we need everybody to wanna do it because we don't want the men to say, "'Oh, that's what you're gonna eat for dinner' "'and then give me whatever. "'Whatever's gonna cause heart disease the quickest. "'Like, I'll eat that.'" It's like, it's kind of really sad and absurd if you really think about it.
Bryan (32:51.074)
That's right.
Bryan (33:08.972)
Yeah.
Bryan (33:13.051)
Yeah, exactly.
Anthony Masiello (33:17.086)
on a level. So the thing that I believe we all need to do is support each other in any way we can so that we can really make this movement big and strong, right? And so that's why I'm thrilled to come on any show that you have and to also to share this with our audience so more people know more about you. And we're just thrilled that anyone would, you know, we're thrilled and humbled
Bryan (33:29.623)
Absolutely.
Anthony Masiello (33:46.226)
can find us and do that. And when people see things repeated enough, they start to think maybe it's not such a crazy idea. And I'm just hopeful that anyone out there would just give it a try, take better care of themselves and really try to live a really thriving life.
Bryan (33:47.978)
Absolutely.
Bryan (34:05.11)
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anthony, for being here and hanging out with us. So hit us one more time. How do we get to the website so we know it?
Anthony Masiello (34:10.836)
Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's love.life.telehealth. Love.life.telehealth. And even if you just end up at love.life, you have a choice. Restaurant or telehealth. But you can learn more about both. But then come on over to telehealth and meet the doctors. You know, they're some of the most incredible people. Please watch their intro videos and, you know, and consider having an appointment with one. You know, I'm certain that you won't be sorry that you did.
Bryan (34:19.277)
That's right.
Bryan (34:23.414)
That's right.
Bryan (34:38.69)
That's right. Well, thank you again, Anthony. That's really all the time we have for this episode of Plant Based on Fire, but thank you so much again, Anthony, for joining us and sharing your insights and experiences with our community. Until next time, everybody, please keep the fire burning.
Anthony Masiello (34:50.5)
Thank you.
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