What is the most common myth about adopting a whole food plant-based diet? (Ok- besides that crazy fear of not getting enough protein)...The biggest misconception is that this way of eating is expensive, unattainable, and elitist even. This simply isn’t true. I mean, what’s more economical than potatoes, beans, and rice?! Toni Okamoto ( plantbasedonabudget.com ) has been on a mission to bust this myth to smithereens since she launched her website in 2012 to prove that healthy eating doesn’t have...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 186
For almost 15 years now, we’ve been beating the drum about the positive health impacts of a whole-food plant-based diet. We know that it can improve your physical health in remarkable ways but, surprisingly, no research study has ever been done on the impact of a plant-based diet on addiction and recovery— until now. Enter our friend, Adam Sud and the Infinite Study . Inspired by his own addiction and mental health recovery, Adam sought to prove that his own recovery wasn’t a fluke so he piloted...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 185
Bonjour, mes amis. This week, we’re heading to the bayou to celebrate Mardi Gras with Camryn Clements, The Plant-Based Cajun ! Dan Buettner from the Blue Zones was the first to introduce us to Camryn because she’s one of the chefs featured in his new book, The Blue Zones American Kitchen . Camryn is a busy Mom and when her young family moved from Louisiana to Texas for her husband’s medical residency, she found herself missing her cajun culture, especially being so isolated and far away from hom...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 184
D. Anthony Evans loves pain. Pain, you might say, is his superpower, which is a good thing because he lives with excruciating pain every second of the day. D. Anthony was born with Neurofibromatosis (NF), a rare genetic condition causing multiple tumors to grow on the nerve tissue. He has hundreds of them on and in his body. Unfortunately, they can become malignant and turn into an aggressive, mostly terminal, form of cancer. In 2012, D. Anthony was diagnosed with this cancer. Doctors removed hu...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 183
Let’s cut right to the chase today. A whole food, plant-based diet CAN save your life. It sounds like hyperbole, but it isn’t, because today’s guest is living proof. John Tanner was out on a run in 2009 and went into cardiac arrest. He collapsed to the ground and his heart stopped beating. Fortunately, the quick action of others to get help saved his life. In recovery, John started reading everything he could about the causes of heart disease and how to prevent it. His research, of course, led h...
Feb 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 182
Rip welcomes the mover, shaker, and influencer that is Pinky Cole - founder of The Slutty Vegan restaurant chain based in Atlanta. In 2018, Pinky started selling her vegan burgers from her kitchen in Atlanta on Instagram. Yes, Instagram! They immediately became an enormous hit and now, just five years later, she’s gone from her apartment kitchen to nine brick-and-mortar locations in and outside of Georgia– including her newest locations in Brooklyn and Harlem. Pinky Cole is unapologetic about he...
Jan 26, 2023•38 min•Season 4Ep. 181
We’re happy to welcome back the popular, Jessica Hegarty, to the podcast! Jess and Rip did this Facebook live event a few weeks ago and the response was so powerful, we wanted to share it with all of you. Jess is the Director of Food Development and Strategy around all of our PLANTSTRONG food lines. She’s the one who researches every new product and ingredient we look at for our foods and if it doesn’t pass her sniff test, it doesn’t make it into the mix! Needless to say, we trust her implicitly...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 180
We're honored to introduce you to a fellow kale-loving athlete, Dominick Thompson. Imagine growing up poor in Chicago’s west side, witnessing your first murder at age 5, doing whatever it takes to protect yourself and provide for your family, and going to prison at age 21 – all while still excelling in school, athletics, and work. It’s a background that is so different from most, but such an important story to tell because, to understand Dom now, you simply have to look back on his past. Today, ...
Jan 12, 2023•2 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 179
Dr. Uma Naidoo has been called a “triple threat” for her work and knowledge in food and medicine. Not only is she a psychiatrist, but she’s also a trained professional chef and nutritionist. If there was ever anyone more qualified to talk about the impact that foods have on our brain and well-being, it’s Dr. Naidoo. In addition to her work at Harvard and Mass General, Dr, Naidoo is also the author of the best-selling book, This is Your Brain on Food . where she explains the ways in which food ca...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 178
Rip explains the dangerous impact of a sedentary lifestyle and what sitting too long does to our bodies. He also explains the scientific research advocating for us to get up and moving! It doesn’t matter if you’re training for a triathlon, a bodybuilding competition, or seeking the energy to enjoy a day with your grandkids, becoming plantstrong is a true game changer. Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active will: Improve y...
Dec 29, 2022•50 min•Season 4Ep. 177
We’re thrilled to share this special bonus episode with you as we head into the New Year and give us all something to look forward to…The Future of Medicine. Dr. Zach Burns is a 2nd-year family medicine resident who also works with Dr. Michael Klaper’s Initiative, “Moving Medicine Forward,” where they speak to schools and medical students across the globe about whole food, plant-based nutrition. Dr. Burns is a bright spot in the medical community and his knowledge, tenacity, social consciousness...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 176
We’re honored to welcome Dr. John McDougall back to the podcast for another hearty discussion. Dr. McDougall was on the podcast on Episode 151 , and we took a look at his storied life and career as a pioneering physician and talked about his discoveries that informed his unwavering practice of a starch-based diet. In this episode, Rip dives in on very specific topics to get his opinions on procedures like mammograms and colonoscopies, bone density scans, blood pressure medications and other pill...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 4Ep. 175
Picture this – you’re about to be wheeled into the operating room for triple bypass surgery. One artery is 100 percent blocked and two others are 65 percent blocked. You have an enlarged heart, leaky valves, and a heart murmur, among other issues. At the eleventh hour, your cardiologist says, “Look, we can do this triple bypass, or you can try whole food, plant-based diet.” You have no idea why, but you choose a plant-based diet. Surely it’s easier than a triple bypass. Thanks to the work and en...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 174
Mr. Bluezones is back! That’s right, Dan Buettner is back on the PLANTSTRONG podcast to discuss his newest book, The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100. As most of you know, Dan Buettner uncovered the five places around the world where people consistently live past 100 years old. It isn’t the exception. It’s the norm. Only one of those Blue Zones happens to be in the United States - Loma Linda, California – but, did you realize that our traditional American food is firmly “p...
Dec 08, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 173
This week, we present a bonus episode from our friends at Switch4Good . If you’re not familiar with the work of Switch4Good , they are an evidence-based nonprofit, advocating passionately for a dairy-free world. For too long, society has accepted the distortion and misinformation Big Dairy feeds us. So Switch4Good exists to set the record straight, for the sake of human health, food justice, and the future of our planet. They work with health experts, athletes, social justice warriors, enlighten...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Rip welcomes back our cancer-crushing warrior, Dr. Kristi Funk, for her third appearance on the PLANTSTRONG Podcast Dr. Funk is a board-certified breast cancer surgeon & physician, bestselling author of the book, Breasts - the Owner’s Manual , and women's health advocate. Simply put, she is an encyclopedia of knowledge and a dynamo personality, which is why she’s the perfect expert to dig into the latest in cancer prevention research. They catch up on some of that research and discuss four h...
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 172
Dr. Dawn Mussallem is a board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician at the Mayo Clinic Jacoby Center for Breast Health where she works with breast cancer patients during and after their diagnosis to heal and thrive using the pillars of lifestyle medicine alongside their conventional cancer treatments. Dawn has many remarkable stories of patient recovery, but the biggest recovery story of all is her own. You see, in addition to being a physician, teacher, wife, and mother, Mussallem is also a ca...
Nov 24, 2022•1 hr 31 min
This week in the United States, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving, which is why we decided to drop this BONUS “Friendsgiving”- themed episode featuring my Mother, Ann, and my sister, Jane. This recording was taken from a LIVE event we did a few weeks ago where Jane and Ann whipped up two wonderful holiday-themed dishes - Mommy’s Mushroom Gravy and Twice-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. Yes, you can absolutely listen to the show, or you can watch the YouTube broadcast in its entirety. Not only will you...
Nov 22, 2022•58 min
Hellah Sidibe is the first black man to run across America (fueled by plants!) and has been running every day since May 15th, 2017. That’s officially over 2000 days in a row in every weather condition imaginable! This year, he also completed the iconic Leadville 100 Trail Race in Colorado. And, it all started with a commitment to run just 10 minutes a day. Like many, Hellah hated running but started moving his body to lift himself out of a dark period in his own life. It was his way of taking re...
Nov 17, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Season 4Ep. 170
A few weeks ago, we hosted a Facebook live event with Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn to discuss the importance of green leafy vegetables in preventing and reversing heart disease. During the broadcast, Essy shared the science behind chewing vs. drinking your leafy greens and he also spent time answering viewer questions. It was packed with so much information and action, that we’ve decided to share the playback in podcast format. Ann even got in on the action because she was so darn jazzed about it! ...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 169
Are you on meds for acid reflux and indigestion? Do you take antibiotics or birth control? Do you enjoy artificial sweeteners in your coffee? Do you drink alcohol on a regular basis? These are all ubiquitous substances in our society at this point, but they are also posing a threat to our immune system. Multiple studies show that antibiotics, medicines, and substances like alcohol and sweeteners actually reduce the amount of stomach acid in your gut, wreak havoc on your gut microbiome, and actua...
Nov 03, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 169
It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention and Debbie Adler epitomizes that phrase. In 2006, she opened Sweet Debbie’s Organic Cupcakes bakery, the first to feature vegan and sugar-free treats. However, a year later her son was born with many life-threatening allergies, forcing her to take an even deeper dive into nutrition and food-related illnesses. Because of her son's needs, she developed recipes and new baked goods that were not only vegan and sugar-free, but also gluten and...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 167
As busy families, it’s easy to catch yourself coming and going, shoveling back quick meals without even thinking, and prioritizing convenience over health, especially when you’re constantly pressed for time. You know you’re supposed to incorporate healthier eating habits for your whole family, but HOW? Enter board-certified pediatrician, certified lifestyle medicine physician, health coach, and mother of two, Dr. Yami! Dr. Yami’s work and her private practice focus on how families can start to i...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 166
We’re thrilled to bring you the gravity-defying, jaw-dropping, artistic calisthenic work of Raymond, “The Noodnick.” His strength, grace, and skill of his movements shouldn’t come as a surprise because Raymond is PLANTSTRONG, baby! In fact, his Mom and Uncle were the original founders of the Nasoya Tofu brand that you see today in grocery stores. Raymond has fascinating stories and philosophies on life, love, nutrition, and compassion that he shares with his hundreds of thousands of followers an...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 4Ep. 165
Today, we share a modern-day story of David and Goliath with Dr. Baxter Montgomery. In 1997, Dr. Montgomery opened Montgomery Heart and Wellness in Houston , Texas right in the shadows of the powerful and world-renowned campus of the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center. As a board-certified cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist, Dr. Montgomery has treated thousands of patients with severe cardiovascular diseases, but he started to notice something. Even though he empl...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 164
We are "fired up" to welcome a plantstrong firefighting sister, Cindy Thompson, to the PLANTSTRONG podcast. I was so moved by Cindy’s background of why she chose firefighting as a career, but it’s her journey to plants that makes her a true hero in my book. In this male-dominated, meat-loving profession, she boldly took agency over her own health and, along the way, inspired others (including those macho male firefighters) to take a second look at their own plates and take the plantstrong journe...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 163
We’re going to introduce you to a word today that may be new but is something many of us unknowingly participate in on a daily basis. That word is “carnism.” Melanie Joy coined the word in her work as a Harvard-educated psychologist and author specializing in the psychology of eating animals, social transformation, and relationships. What exactly is carnism? It’s the Invisible belief system in our culture that conditions us to eat certain animals and not others. Her book title actually sums it u...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 162
Imagine being in the absolute prime of your life - 21 years old, going to school at Stanford to study Mechanical Engineering, playing sports for hours on end…and then, ABRUPTLY, it comes to a screeching halt when you are diagnosed with not one, not two, but three autoimmune diseases within a matter of months. Today’s guest, Cyrus Khambatta, went from “soccer stud” to “chronic disease patient” in the blink of an eye when he was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, alopecia, and Type 1 diabetes in 2002. De...
Sep 15, 2022•2 hr 14 min•Season 4Ep. 161
You know how my Mom and Sister just released their new book, Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior? Well, Jennifer Stojkovic is one of those warriors. In 2020, she founded Vegan Women Summit (VWS), a global media and events platform focused on empowering women to build a kinder, more sustainable world. She also recently released the fabulous book, The Future of Food is Female , highlighting fifteen female leaders, innovators, and changemakers in the plant-based food space. It is rare to find someone as...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 160
We’re here to make PLANTSTRONG living as simple as possible and one of the topics we receive a ton of questions about is batch cooking, or prepping food for the week all at once. Well, as the kids head back to school and we enter into Fall activities season, I wanted to talk to one of the experts about her game-changer appliance in batch cooking - the Instant Pot®. Pam Kropf, known as TrailMomma on Instagram, is a long-time PLANTSTRONG athlete, a busy mother of two active kids, and in between he...
Sep 01, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 159
