Meghan: I turned to ancient Indian medicine during pregnancy
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that she turned to Indian medicine during her pregnancies.
The Duchess, 43, said she used the traditional ayurvedic system of medicine while pregnant with her children Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, three.
Speaking on the fifth episode of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast, Meghan said: 'During my pregnancies I had an ayurvedic doctor and so much of it was about seeing food as medicine.'
Ayurveda, which originated in India more than 3,000 years ago, aims to promote balance in the body, mind and spirit through a holistic approach to health and wellbeing with herbal remedies, dietary changes, detoxification and yoga.
The King has also long been a lifelong supporter of alternative medicine, including appointing and honouring a pro-homeopathic doctor who still leads his medical team.
Meghan's revelation was made during her discussion with Hannah Mendoza, the co-founder of a 'superfood' latte and tea company, about the power of adaptogenic mushrooms.
The pair discussed the misunderstandings surrounding the non-psychoactive mushrooms – which include Reishi and Lion's Mane – that naturally help the body adapt to stress and improve balance.
'I think a lot of people when they hear mushrooms think 'oh okay she's just being hippy dippy and grounded' and all these things,' Meghan admitted.
She added that if people 'aren't familiar with adaptogens, you can go to this place of 'oh it's feeling a little psychedelic and super woowoo',' but explained that they are 'part of our natural ecosystem and dietary system.'
'It's really just a food trend that I believe you were far ahead of in terms of saying 'hold on, these have properties that in some way make you feel differently' in a really safe way,' she told her podcast guest.
Clevr Blends, founded by Ms Mendoza in 2017 with university friend Roger Coppola, features adaptogens, superfoods and probiotics in powdered latte blends for 'better energy, stress and sleep'.
The Duchess was an early supporter of the wellness brand, investing an undisclosed sum in late 2020 as her first solo business venture after moving from the UK to California.
She soon proved her worth by roping in her 'wonderful neighbour' Oprah Winfrey to endorse the business to her 22.5 million Instagram followers.
Ms Mendoza explained how she 'fell on the floor' when she saw the video Winfrey had shared on social media making the brand's 'Golden SuperLatte''.
The Duchess explained she had shared the products with Winfrey because she wanted the company to 'authentically' succeed.
'I'm fortunate that some of the people I want to share it with also have reach, and I remember calling you and saying 'look I just want to share it with my neighbour', my wonderful neighbour, Ms Oprah Winfrey, and it was a turmeric latte that I loved the most,' Meghan said.
Ms Mendoza revealed the endorsement led more than 10,000 people to the company's website within '30 seconds' of Winfrey tagging them on Instagram and later resulted in the brand featuring on 'Oprah's Favourite Things' list for two consecutive years.
The Duchess said she had sent the blends 'from the spirit of wanting to share it with people that would enjoy it…I didn't know at the time what the submissions were for Oprah's Favourite Things.'
Ms Mendoza, who was raised in Buckinghamshire and is the daughter of wealthy British advertising veteran Marc Mendoza, described the moment as 'every founder's dream'.
Meghan also told the British-born entrepreneur, who now lives in California, that what she loved about their first meeting was that Ms Mendoza provided an alternative way 'to help soothe the nervous system' separate to 'the Western ideology of just writing a prescription for someone'.
Meanwhile, the King's appointment of Dr Michael Dixon as head of the Royal Medical Household in late 2022 caused a stir over his 'unconventional' views on homoeopathy and faith healing, but King Charles is thought to have relied heavily on Dr Dixon as he has navigated his cancer treatment plan.
The doctor, who leads the Royal Medical Household, is also said to have developed Queen Camilla's deep interest in ayurveda, which Meghan practiced during her pregnancies.
Their Majesties are also regular visitors to the alternative and holistic health Soukya resort in Bangalore, India, which is run by Dr Issac Mathai, who has spent years advising the monarch on his health.
It comes after the Duchess revealed in the first podcast episode that she suffered from a rare 'life or death' birth complication called postpartum preeclampsia after having one of her children.
The potentially life-threatening condition, where high blood pressure and protein in the urine develop after childbirth, was described by Meghan as 'so rare and so scary'.
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