What if one simple blood test could reveal a genetic risk factor for heart disease that affects 1 in 5 people worldwide? Rip sits down with physician, endurance athlete, and author Dr. Akil Taher to talk about a critical—but often overlooked—marker for cardiovascular risk: Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a). Despite decades of research linking elevated Lp(a) to heart attacks, strokes, and aortic valve disease , fewer than 2% of Americans have ever been tested. Dr. Taher shares his remarkable personal stor...
Apr 30, 2026•58 min•Season 4Ep. 351
What happens when a 37-year-old father of six suffers a stroke with no clear cause? For Ali Essig, it became a wake-up call that changed everything. In this powerful conversation, Rip sits down with Ali—creator of PlantWhys —to talk about how her husband’s stroke sent their family on a journey into whole-food, plant-based eating. What started as a search for a “heart-healthy diet” quickly became a lifestyle shift that improved his cholesterol, triglycerides, and overall health. But Ali’s approac...
Apr 23, 2026•59 min•Season 4Ep. 350
Rip sits down with Dr. Elizabeth George and Chef Nick Iula , co-authors of Healthy Eating Adventure , to explore how whole food, plant-based eating can transform health and lives. Dr. George helped launch the Healthy Eating Adventure program more than 15 years ago, helping hundreds of participants reverse chronic disease through nutrition. Chef Nick Iula joined the program after decades in professional kitchens and, after he changed his own diet, he experienced a dramatic health transformation —...
Apr 16, 2026•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 349
For over 50 years, Dr. Michael Klaper has practiced medicine. And today, he says something that stops you in your tracks: “I am profoundly embarrassed to be a physician in America today.” Why? Because most doctors are never trained in the most powerful tool available to prevent and reverse chronic disease: nutrition. In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, Rip sits down with Dr. Klaper to discuss his new book, Moving Medicine Forward: What More Doctors Should Know About Nutrition ...
Apr 09, 2026•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 348
What does it really mean to be “forever fit”? Rip sits down with fitness coach and author Maxime Sigouin to explore sustainable strength, whole-food plant-based nutrition, and the mindset required to stay fit for life — not just for a season. It’s all in his new book, Forever Fit. Maxime shares his personal journey from loss and hardship to helping thousands of people transform their health through his Forever Fit framework. They also unpack the misunderstood topic of body recomposition, protein...
Apr 02, 2026•1 hr 24 min•Season 4Ep. 347
Rip sits down with Peggy Kraus , a clinical exercise physiologist and diabetes care specialist with over 30 years of experience in cardiac rehab. Peggy shares how she moved beyond conventional nutrition advice to embrace a fiber-centric, whole-food, plant-based approach—helping patients reverse type 2 diabetes, lower A1C levels, lose significant weight, and reduce or eliminate medications. They discuss why cutting carbs misses the point, how fiber stabilizes blood sugar, the role of movement aft...
Mar 26, 2026•56 min•Season 4Ep. 346
What if the foods you love most—the ones tied to family, culture, and comfort—could also help you heal? In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Rip sits down with Javant Benton, creator of Healthy Vegan Eating and author of Make Your Own , to talk about food, family legacy, self-love, and breaking generational cycles of disease. Javant shares how a frightening health wake-up—pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension, and a suspected lymphoma diagnosis—forced him to confront the way he was eating...
Mar 19, 2026•50 min•Season 4Ep. 345
What if your breakfast could power you through the entire morning—without cravings, crashes, or hunger an hour later? In this episode, Rip sits down with Molly Patrick, founder of Clean Food Dirty Girl, to dive deep into the breakfast bowl that has become a cult favorite. Molly shares the story behind her hearty, nutrient-packed “Hippie Porridge Bowl” —a recipe she spent nearly eight years perfecting after realizing her usual steel-cut oats weren’t keeping her satisfied. The result? A powerhouse...
Mar 12, 2026•53 min•Season 4Ep. 344
At just 43 years old, Charles Gassenheimer was 75 pounds overweight, pre-diabetic, struggling with joint pain and memory loss, and taking high-dose cholesterol medications. His doctors were managing his decline — not reversing it. Then one conversation changed everything. After meeting cardiologist Dr. Robert Ostfeld, Charles committed to a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. The results were extraordinary: he lost over 70 pounds, came off medications, reversed his cardiovascular risk markers, an...
Mar 05, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 343
What if your health wasn’t just shaped by what you eat—but by what’s hidden in your medications? In this episode, Rip sits down with pharmacist-scientist Dr. Sachin Shah , a leading voice in medication transparency and patient safety. Together, they explore why food truly belongs at the center of health, how modern medicine sometimes misses the human in healthcare, and why knowing what’s inside your pills can be just as important as knowing what’s on your plate. Dr. Shah also breaks down alpha-g...
Feb 26, 2026•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 342
What does it look like when plant-based living moves beyond personal choice and into real systems change? This episode answers that question in a big way. Rip sits down with longtime friend and food policy powerhouse Rachel Atcheson , founder of Food Policy Pathways , for a wide-ranging conversation about how food policy can transform public health, reduce chronic disease, and make healthy eating the default — not the exception. Rip and Rachel unpack how initiatives like Meatless Monday and Plan...
Feb 19, 2026•47 min•Season 4Ep. 341
In this deeply grounded conversation, Rip sits down with Jan Liband — a former college athlete, longtime plant-based advocate, and expert in food and environmental sustainability. What began for Jan as a single pamphlet exposing the environmental toll of animal agriculture became a lifelong commitment to plant-based living nearly 40 years ago. Jan shares his journey from a meat-centered, “healthy by 1980s standards” diet to discovering how plant-based eating dramatically improved his energy, rec...
Feb 12, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 340
It’s been way too long since Jackie Akerberg ( @jackfruitfulkitchen ) was on the podcast, and this episode is a true catch-up in every sense of the word. Jackie is a plant-based cook, creator, and community builder who brings joy, honesty, and seriously good food into everything she does. In this conversation, we talk about how Jackie went plant-based and never looked back, how her health completely transformed, and how she’s grown an incredibly engaged online community by keeping things real—bo...
Feb 05, 2026•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 339
Firefighters are trained to run toward danger — but too often, their own health is what’s at risk. In this episode of the Plant Strong Podcast , Rip sits down with fellow firefighter Andy Schaefer of Avon, Ohio, whose journey into plant-based eating began with a life-altering decision: donating one of his kidneys to his brother-in-law. Determined to be as healthy and resilient as possible, Andy adopted a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle more than five years ago — and the results were undeniable...
Jan 29, 2026•55 min•Season 4Ep. 338
In this episode, Rip sits down with Jet, a 66-year-old husband, father, hiker, and former keto devotee whose health collapsed despite doing “everything right” according to low-carb gurus. After a terrifying calcium score, debilitating angina, and near-widowmaker blockage, Jet found himself out of breath, unable to hike his favorite mountains, and feeling an impending sense of doom. A reunion — and one shocking scar from a friend’s open-heart surgery — jolted him into action. Jet pivoted from yea...
Jan 22, 2026•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 337
What does it mean to live intentionally ? In this inspiring conversation, Rip sits down with endurance athlete and author Joe Gagnon , who shares how he shifted from chasing external success to living with deeper purpose and awareness. Joe explores the mindset and habits that fuel his growth — from building strong health pillars and saying “yes” to new challenges, to embracing discomfort as a teacher. Through endurance racing, reflection, and a plant strong lifestyle , Joe has learned that inten...
Jan 15, 2026•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 336
Inflammation is running rampant — and it’s not starting in your joints or your arteries. It’s starting in your gut . This week, Rip is joined by world-renowned gut health expert Dr. Will Bulsiewicz , aka “Dr. B,” author of the book Plant Powered Plus . (Release Date: January 13, 2026) Together, they break down why chronic disease, fatigue, weight gain, autoimmune disorders, and even emotional burnout so often trace back to what’s happening inside your microbiome. Dr. B reveals his powerful three...
Jan 08, 2026•2 hr 30 min•Season 4Ep. 335
Eating healthier shouldn’t feel confusing, overwhelming, or impossible to sustain—and if it ever has, you’re not the problem. In this 30-minute REAL30 ™ webinar, Rip Esselstyn and Laurie Kortowich introduce a simple, science-backed framework designed to help you eat more real, whole plants and stay consistent without turning your life upside down. The REAL30 is built on three approachable pillars: 30 days of simple daily action (progress over perfection) 30 minutes of movement per day (any movem...
Jan 01, 2026•44 min•Season 4Ep. 334
This episode originally dropped in October, 2024 Dr. Dawn Mussallem joins Rip for an enlightening discussion on the vital role of personalized precision lifestyle medicine in breast cancer prevention and recovery. They dive deep into the importance of nutrition, emphasizing whole food plant-based diets, supplements, and the power of social connections in enhancing health outcomes. Dr. Mussallem shares her insights on various supplements, including the benefits and risks associated with Vitamins ...
Dec 25, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 4Ep. 333
Rip sits down with Andrea Freeman, James Beard Award-winning author of Ruin Their Crops on the Ground . Drawing on more than 20 years of research, Andrea unpacks how food, race, and class have shaped America’s food system, exploring the historical roots of inequality that still influence what ends up on our plates today. Their conversation takes listeners on a journey from the Trail of Tears to contemporary food policies, revealing how government decisions and corporate interests have systematic...
Dec 18, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 332
Rip welcomes Chuck Carroll — once a “fast food junkie”- now a beloved voice in the plant-based movement and host of the Exam Room Podcast . While plant-based eating helped normalize his blood pressure, stabilize his weight, and restore his vitality, Chuck also shares a vulnerable part of his story: despite doing everything right , he’s now navigating a complex chronic illness with no clear diagnosis. His honesty underscores a truth many people quietly carry — that health journeys aren’t linear, ...
Dec 11, 2025•54 min•Season 4Ep. 331
What happens when a company decides to put real food at the center of employee wellness? In this powerful episode, Rip sits down with the team at Central Garden & Pet , a 7,000-employee organization that has taken a radically forward-thinking approach to improving the health of its people. Their partnership with PLANTSTRONG by Metabite has produced clinical-level outcomes — without drugs, deprivation, or pressure to “go vegan.” Rip is joined by Dawn Hutchins , Central’s Director of Plant-Bas...
Dec 04, 2025•58 min•Season 4Ep. 330
Today, on what is a day of Thanksgiving here in the United States, we want to take a few minutes to honor three extraordinary men—Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Baxter Montgomery, and John Robbins—who we’ve recently lost. These weren’t just leaders in the whole food, plant-based movement—they were trailblazers, mentors, and fearless advocates for health and hope. Dr. McDougall taught us that food is medicine and that living your principles matters more than pleasing critics. Dr. Montgomery showed us th...
Nov 27, 2025•14 min•Season 4Ep. 329
Rip Esselstyn welcomes back beloved plant-based author Dreena Burton , who is stepping into an exciting new chapter with Fascia Flo — her movement program designed to unlock mobility, reduce pain, and support healthy aging. Dreena shares her personal journey with injury and how it led her to discover fascia, the body’s connective tissue network that plays a key role in movement, posture, and emotional well-being. She breaks down the science in simple terms and explains how small, intentional mov...
Nov 20, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 328
What happens when a doctor becomes the patient? In this inspiring episode, Rip talks with Dr. Sunny Sharma — a lifestyle medicine physician whose life took an unexpected turn when he was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. That experience didn’t just change his health; it completely transformed how he practices medicine. Dr. Sharma shares how his journey deepened his empathy, strengthened his belief in prevention, and led him to embrace the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: plant-based nutrition...
Nov 13, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 327
In this inspiring episode, Rip sits down with Lauren Bernick , host of the podcast, Age Like a Badass Mother and creator of WellElephant.com . At age 46, Lauren was blindsided by a diagnosis of advanced heart disease, despite believing she was eating a “healthy” diet. Faced with the prospect of lifelong statins and the threat of a heart attack, she took matters into her own hands—turning to Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease approach. Now, more than a decade later, Lauren...
Nov 06, 2025•48 min•Season 4Ep. 326
What happens when you mix humor, authenticity, and a love for peanut butter hacks? You get Nikki Boes — a vibrant voice in the vegan community ( @vegan _ af _ ) who’s showing the world that you don’t have to be a “perfect vegan” to make an impact. In this lively and laugh-filled conversation, Nikki opens up about: Her personal transformation through a plant-based diet How she handles the trolls who attack her posts The way humor has become her secret weapon in advocating for animal welfare and h...
Oct 30, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 325
In this powerful before and after episode, Rip and Dr. Laurie Marbas introduce us to, Marlene Skiver , who’s goal is to reclaim her health through the power of plants. Marlene has faced her share of challenges — from pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, and Hashimoto’s disease, to the stress that followed retirement and the loss of loved ones. But instead of giving in, she’s choosing to fight back — fork in hand. Together, Marlene and Dr. Marbas explore the root causes of her chronic disease, includi...
Oct 23, 2025•56 min•Season 4Ep. 324
We all know the saying, “the body keeps the score,” and this week’s guest, Dr. Tila Kansagra , has lived it — and now helps others heal from it. A UK-based general practitioner and lifestyle medicine physician, Dr. Kansagra brings compassion, lived experience, and evidence-based practice together to help her patients move beyond symptoms and toward true wellness. In this conversation, we dive into her personal journey with familial trauma, her passion for plant-based nutrition, and how the six p...
Oct 16, 2025•54 min•Season 4Ep. 323
In this episode, Rip sits down with Chef Tara Punzone , founder of Pura Vita —the first 100% plant-based Italian restaurant in the U.S.—and writer Gene Stone , co-author of Vegana Italiana . Together, they dive into the passion and purpose behind their brand-new cookbook, which transforms beloved Italian classics into bold, satisfying vegan dishes. Tara shares her journey from growing up in a big Italian family in New York, where food and tradition were always at the center, to making the choice...
Oct 09, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 322
