Making Fast Food Healthy with John Vincent #6
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee speaks with John Vincent, co-founder of Leon, about making healthy fast food accessible and affordable. They discuss the challenges of modern healthy living, the "pleasure trap," and Leon's innovative approach to employee wellbeing, including practical tips for improving personal health.
Deep Dive Analysis
8 Topic Outline
Introduction to Leon: Healthy Fast Food Concept
The Challenge of Healthy Choices in a Modern Environment
Leon's Strategy for Accessibility and Affordability
The 'Pleasure Trap' and Societal Imbalance
Leon's Influence on the Healthy Fast Food Market
Historical Shifts in Health and Affluence
John Vincent's Personal Health Struggles and Small Changes
Leon's Approach to Employee Well-being
3 Key Concepts
Fast Food in Heaven
This concept describes Leon's reframing of fast food to be delicious, healthy (following Mediterranean diet principles with limited sugar and bad fats, lots of olive oil, nuts, seeds, fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices), affordable, and kind to the planet, aiming to contribute to people's well-being.
The Pleasure Trap
This refers to the idea that humans are hardwired to seek scarce resources like sugar, fat, rest, and reproduction for energy preservation. In modern society, the general availability of these things, along with substitutes that trigger dopamine responses, leads to an 'off-balance' state, contributing to societal unhealthiness.
Well-being Multiplier
This is Leon's internal concept for understanding the ingredients that contribute to health, which includes mental health, positivity, being in tune with the planet, and resting, aligning with the Four Pillar Plan of food, movement, sleep, and relaxation.
6 Questions Answered
Leon aims to provide fast food that tastes amazing, does good (based on Mediterranean principles), is affordable, and kind to the planet, essentially 'fast food in heaven' to make healthy eating easier for everyone.
The modern environment is often set up to make healthy choices challenging, with easy access to unhealthy, cheap options, and busy lifestyles that neglect sleep, exercise, and proper nutrition, making knowledge and personal responsibility insufficient on their own.
Historically, in times like post-WWII or Victorian eras, being less well-off could paradoxically lead to better health due to harder work and less access to energy-rich, unhealthy foods. Today, lower socioeconomic status often correlates with poorer health due to the availability of cheap, calorie-dense, unhealthy options.
The Pleasure Trap describes how humans are hardwired to seek scarce resources like sugar, fat, rest, and reproduction for energy preservation. In modern society, the general abundance of these (and substitutes) leads to an 'off-balance' state, contributing to societal unhealthiness.
John Vincent moved his phone out of his bedroom, stopping late-night email checks and early-morning social media/email checking, which he found had a dramatic positive impact on his mental state and overall well-being.
Leon applies a 'well-being multiplier' to its employees, focusing on positive relationships, providing free healthy meals and discounts, offering a Chinese well-being space (quun) with massage, Wing Chun, Qigong, and yoga, and providing a safety net with trained support for those struggling.
11 Actionable Insights
1. Remove Phone from Bedside
Move your phone out of the bedroom to avoid checking emails or social media late at night or first thing in the morning, as this small action can dramatically improve mental health and reduce information overload.
2. Adopt Mediterranean Diet Principles
Base your eating on the Mediterranean diet, incorporating lots of olive oil, nuts, seeds, fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices, while limiting sugar and bad fats, to ensure your food promotes good health.
3. Eat Three Meals Daily
Make time to consistently eat three meals a day, as this fundamental habit can significantly improve your overall well-being.
4. Exercise More Regularly
Prioritize exercising a little bit more, even if not aiming for perfection, as increased physical activity can dramatically improve how you feel.
5. Choose Healthy Fast Food
When busy and on the move, actively seek out healthy fast food options that nourish your body without compromising your diet.
6. Practice Mindful Eating
Emulate the habits of healthy, long-lived individuals by not eating ‘a tonne of food,’ suggesting a practice of moderation and mindful consumption.
7. Prioritize Employee Wellbeing
As an employer, explicitly prioritize employee wellbeing by considering their eating habits, work environment, and overall health, recognizing that well employees lead to happier customers.
8. Foster Positive Work Relationships
Cultivate positive relationships at work, based on kindness, courage, and self-leadership, to reduce employee stress and enhance support, which can even improve health outcomes.
9. Provide Healthy Employee Meals
Ensure team members have access to healthy food by offering deep discounts or free meals at work, supporting their nutrition and overall health.
10. Offer Free Wellbeing Practices
Provide free access to physical and mental wellbeing practices for employees, such as massage, Wing Chun, Qigong, and yoga, to support their holistic health.
11. Provide Mental Health Support
Establish a safety net with trained support for employees struggling with mental health issues like depression or fatigue, ensuring they receive necessary assistance.
6 Key Quotes
If the environment makes it challenging for us to be healthy, you know, knowledge, personal responsibility only goes so far.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
The most ill-looking people are typically the people looking after the other ill people.
John Vincent
The irony is that it was a lot healthier to be less well off in the 40s than it is today.
John Vincent
We can't just do organic cafes in the middle of nowhere in posh hotels. We have to be on the high street where a traditional fast food chain used to be.
John Vincent
There shouldn't be a separation between how we treat ourselves and how we treat our employees. It's one and the same thing, really, or it should be in any event.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
We wanted to contribute to people's well-being and make it easier for everyone to eat and live well by solving a big problem that we felt existed around fast food.
John Vincent
1 Protocols
Leon's Employee Well-being Approach
John Vincent- Prioritize positive relationships at work, based on kindness, courage, and self-leadership.
- Ensure team members eat three good meals a day by offering deep discounts on food and providing free meals when working.
- Provide access to a 'quun' (Chinese well-being space) for free massage, Wing Chun, Qigong, and yoga practices.
- Establish a safety net with trained support for employees who suffer from depression, fatigue, or other challenges.