Friendship · Lifestyle medicine · Human connection
🤗 Anthony Masiello
Chief Flourishing Hugger™
An honorary tribute from founder Nathanael Elijah Smith.
Anthony leads Lifestyle Telemedicine, a national online medical practice whose licensed physicians use lifestyle medicine and whole-food, plant-based nutrition to address the root causes of chronic disease.
💚 A friendship tribute from Nathanael
“Anthony Masiello is one of my best friends—and, in my opinion, he gives the best hug in the world!”
— Nathanael Elijah Smith, FNP-C, DipACLM
🌻 Change is easier with people who encourage us, welcome us, and remind us we belong. This page celebrates that kind of friendship, and the work Anthony does to help more people find lifestyle-focused care.
📝 Nathanael’s personal tribute. Chief Flourishing Hugger™ is an honorary title celebrating friendship; Anthony has not formally accepted it, and it is not a job, executive, or clinical role.
🧭 Jump to
🎥 Watch Anthony
⭐ Featured · recorded interview
Anthony Masiello – Making Plant-Based Physicians Accessible to All
🎙️ PLANTSTRONG Podcast (Rip Esselstyn) · Recorded · episode #207, from when Anthony led Love.Life Telehealth (the episode page has no date)
Anthony tells his story, from the NIH and Novartis to losing 160 pounds, and explains why he set out to make lifestyle-medicine physicians easier to reach. Press play when you’re ready; it won’t start by itself here.
▶️ More videos
Tap a card to play it on its own page. Anthony’s interviews belong to the publishers named on each card; the “Latest uploads” card comes from Lifestyle Telemedicine’s own channel.
📡 Live now: none found · Upcoming: none found (checked October 9, 2026). 🔄 Only the “Latest uploads” card refreshes by itself; the others are selected recordings we check weekly.
🏥 Anthony’s work today
🌐 Lifestyle Telemedicine: Anthony is introduced as its Founder and CEO on The Exam Room podcast (June 29, 2026). The practice offers online appointments with board-certified physicians across the U.S. who focus on nutrition, movement, sleep, stress, and social connection.
🩺 Who provides the care: Lifestyle Telemedicine’s patient care comes from its licensed physicians. Anthony’s role is leading the organization, not providing clinical care.
🗝️ Why it began: in interviews, Anthony says people kept asking him how to find a lifestyle medicine doctor. Building an easier answer to that question became his work.
🗂️ Earlier career: bioinformatics at the National Institutes of Health on the Human Genome Project, then research and development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He co-founded Plant Based TeleHealth in 2019; it later became Love.Life Telehealth after John Mackey’s Love.Life acquired it, and Anthony joined Love.Life’s leadership team.
🔎 Some 2025–2026 interviews call Anthony a co-founder of Lifestyle Telemedicine, and its website doesn’t list leadership titles. Older bios naming Plant Based TeleHealth or Love.Life Telehealth describe earlier roles.
🤝 A possible future with nurses
Our sister site, Flourishing Nursing™, is exploring whether qualified nurses might one day work alongside Lifestyle Telemedicine, connecting practical food education with licensed clinical care. Nothing has been agreed.
🌄 His story, as he tells it
📋 At 33, Anthony was turned down for a 20-year term life insurance policy. In his published biography he describes weighing more than 360 pounds, taking blood pressure medication, and living with psoriasis, eczema, migraines, and sleep apnea.
🥦 In the mid-2000s, after reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live, he changed to a whole-food, plant-based diet and a healthier lifestyle. He reports losing 160 pounds and that those conditions resolved, and in 2025–2026 interviews he talks about keeping that health for about 20 years.
👨👩👦👦 He has said family was part of his reason to change, and he speaks openly about the hard parts: comparison, family pressure around food, and building habits that last.
🧭 This is Anthony’s personal experience, which he has shared publicly. It isn’t a promise of the same results for anyone else. Please talk with your own clinician before changing medications or starting a new eating plan.
📎 Sources: his biography as published by the True Health Initiative and the Plant Based Coaches podcast; The Exam Room (June 29, 2026); Forks Over Knives (January 24, 2025).
🎧 Listen to Anthony
⭐ Featured audio · press play right here
🌿 Lifestyle is Medicine with Anthony Masiello
🎙️ Plant Based Coaches podcast · recorded episode · 2026 · about 50 minutes · audio
How one repeated question, “How do I find a lifestyle medicine doctor?”, led Anthony to Lifestyle Telemedicine, and why he sees lifestyle medicine as the future of care.
🩺 The Doctor Visit That Could Change Your Life | Anthony Masiello
🎙️ The Exam Room (Physicians Committee) · recorded podcast · June 29, 2026 · host Chuck Carroll
Root-cause care, why doctors need time to listen, habits that last, family pressure around food, and what a Lifestyle Telemedicine appointment is like.
🆕 More 2025–2026 conversations
Recorded interviews about his story and Lifestyle Telemedicine.
🗄️ Earlier interviews (archive)
Recorded when Anthony led Plant Based TeleHealth or Love.Life Telehealth. Company names, links, and services mentioned in them may be out of date.
🎥 Looking for video? Anthony’s video interviews are in Watch Anthony above.
📚 Read
📰 Forks Over Knives profile (January 24, 2025): an interview on his journey from patient to lifestyle medicine leader, with his advice for people building careers in plant-based health. Written when he led Love.Life Telehealth.
💌 “2024 – A Year in Review,” by Anthony: a thank-you letter to Lifestyle Telemedicine’s patients, physicians, and team.
🩺 Lifestyle Telemedicine Insights: free articles by the practice’s physicians and staff on habits, metabolic health, and more.
📖 In someone else’s book: his published biography says his story appears in Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s bestseller Eat to Live. Anthony didn’t write that book, and we found no book written by Anthony.
🌱 Free and paid
🎁 Free
- 🧪 Free Metabolic Health Check-In from Lifestyle Telemedicine (self-guided; not a diagnosis)
- 🎧 Every podcast interview on this page
- 📰 Lifestyle Telemedicine’s articles and email newsletter
💳 Paid outside services
- 🩺 Lifestyle Telemedicine appointments and assessment bundles (prices on their site)
- 🤝 Partner programs their physicians support, such as the McDougall 12-Day Program
Kitchen Monk stays free. We use no affiliate links and receive nothing from any of these services.
📅 Events & appearances
🔔 No upcoming public appearances by Anthony were listed as of October 9, 2026. When a dated event is announced, we’ll add it here and move it to the archive once it has passed.
🔗 Official links
“Anthony” is his personal account. “Lifestyle Telemedicine” links are the organization’s accounts.
🩺 Anthony on Flourishing Nursing
Kitchen Monk shares Anthony’s work for everyday life. Flourishing Nursing looks at what it means for nursing teams and professional learning.
🔄 How this stays current: there’s no automatic feed for Anthony’s appearances, so Kitchen Monk checks this page in its weekly review. Last checked October 9, 2026.
🤝 Chief Flourishing Hugger™ is an affectionate honorary tribute from Nathanael Elijah Smith celebrating friendship and human connection; it is a proposed honorary title, pending Anthony’s acceptance, and not a credential. It does not designate an employment, executive, or clinical role. Anthony’s professional organizations and linked resources are independent, and this page does not imply that Anthony or Lifestyle Telemedicine endorses Kitchen Monk’s recipes, clinical statements, or programs. No payment is involved. Kitchen Monk earns nothing from any link here: no affiliate commissions and no payments. Professional details come from public sources as of October 9, 2026. 📷 No photo is shown because we don’t yet have one approved for this use. Not to be confused with Anthony M. Masiello, former mayor of Buffalo, New York. Educational information only, not medical advice. Transparency notes → Last updated October 9, 2026. Corrections: rfjeep@gmail.com
