Cutting back on alcohol consumption and curious if non-alcoholic or "near beer" is ok on a PLANTSTRONG diet? Rip shares his thoughts with this insightful audience question. Learn More About our 2026 Live PLANTSTRONG Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More About Our Corporate Wellness Program: https://liveplantstrong.com/corporate-wellness/ COMPLEMENT: Use code PLANTSTRONG for 30% off at https://lovecomplement.com/pages/plantstrong-special-offer Foll...
Jan 23, 2024•4 min
From “Chicago Med” to a cozy Michigan farm… Today, we talk love, compassion, and self-care with actress, musician, and philanthropist, Torrey DeVitto. You may know Torrey from her six-years on the TV Show "Chicago Med" playing Natalie Manning, or from her many other film and TV credits, but she also spends a tremendous amount of time advocating for causes that encourage more compassion and conscious living. Torrey is a self-proclaimed, “Jill of all Trades.” Her father, Liberty DeVitto, is the lo...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 232
Rip shares a harrowing rescue story from the Lakeshore Apartments fire during his time as an Austin Firefighter. This experience reminded him of the fragile nature of life and inspired him to create the Engine 2 Diet and write a book encouraging others to prioritize health through plant-based living. Learn More About our 2026 Live PLANTSTRONG Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More About Our Corporate Wellness Program: https://liveplantstrong.com/co...
Jan 16, 2024•14 min
Mastering the ten essential habits to help you move freely and live fully starts from the ground up. Literally. If you’re having trouble with movement and mobility, know that it's not your fault. Our modern-day society has conditioned our bodies to become more inflexible, especially as we age. We sit at desks, on our couches, in cars. We hover over screens and laptops. Our bodies are losing the ability to move freely, but we can combat this. Kelly and Juliet Starrett share their physical practic...
Jan 11, 2024•2 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 231
In our final minisode, Rip reviews the Simple tenets for eating a plantstrong diet and how to make the healthy choice the easy choice. Eat your veggies and leafy greens Eat plenty of whole fruit Eat intact whole grains 100% whole grain items - look for the words, “whole, rolled, cracked, and sprouted.” Eat Your BEANS Add Extra Flavor - herbs, spices, vinegars, hot sauce, mustard, ketchup - these are a secret weapon of taste. Don't drink your calories, but do drink water, black coffee, and tea Wh...
Jan 09, 2024•13 min
We talked about this in yesterday's minisode, but it bears repeating: Don’t drink your calories! What’s left to drink, then? Here’s a hint: It’s colorless, odorless, transparent, and it’s the most important liquid in the entire universe. Of course, we're talking about water. Not vitamin water, coconut water, fruit water, or any other flavored calorie-infested beverage that tries to pass itself off as water. Just plain old water. Not drinking enough of it has been linked to bone fractures, heart ...
Jan 08, 2024•11 min
Today, Rip shares one simple rule that will help you to determine if a beverage is good or bad for your health. Does it have a ton of calories and sugar? Then, don't drink it. It really is that simple. And, yes, we're also even talking about juices and smoothies. Learn about all of the health benefits you'll receive when you chew your calories instead of drinking them. Join the FREE PLANTSTRONG 7-Day Challenge: https://plantstrongfoods.com/pages/plantstrong-seven-day-challenge Learn More About o...
Jan 07, 2024•17 min
You may have heard that high blood pressure, or hypertension, is a “silent killer.” Today, Rip unpacks what that means and how ingesting too much sodium leads to serious problems. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is known as a “silent killer” because in most cases it has no symptoms. People with elevated blood pressure are straining their hearts by making them work harder to move blood around. Their hearts sweat and pound and gasp away, but they’re none the wiser. For this reason, ...
Jan 06, 2024•10 min
We know that many of you around the world are exploring and embracing the goodness of whole, plant-based foods. Perhaps you’re motivated by the many health benefits, or you’re eating more plants for social or environmental reasons. Regardless, we at PLANTSTRONG welcome you wherever you are on your journey and hope to provide you with plenty of resources to help. Today, Rip explains why you should run, not walk, away from milk and dairy products. Join the FREE PLANTSTRONG 7-Day Challenge: https:/...
Jan 05, 2024•8 min
Welcome to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast with Rip Esselstyn. We know that many of you around the world are exploring and embracing the goodness of whole, plant-based foods. Perhaps you’re motivated by the many health benefits, or you’re eating more plants for social or environmental reasons. Regardless, we at PLANTSTRONG welcome you wherever you are on your journey and hope to provide you with plenty of resources to help. Today, Rip addresses the elephant in the room - PROTEIN. What is it? How much do...
Jan 04, 2024•12 min
Rip welcomes Dr. Gemma Newman, the Plant-Powered Doctor, to discuss her new book, Get Well Stay Well - The Six Healing Health Habits You Need to Know . Inspired by a real patient story, Gemma introduces her GLOVES acronym, which serves as the framework for her six healing habits. Gratitude Love Outside Veggies Exercise Sleep This uplifting and approachable book is the antidote to pills and prescriptions. Dr. Newman’s holistic prescriptions found in the book are accessible, evidence-based, and ha...
Jan 04, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 4Ep. 230
Welcome to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast with Rip Esselstyn. We know that many of you around the world are exploring and embracing the goodness of whole, plant-based foods. Perhaps you’re motivated by the many health benefits, or you’re eating more plants for social or environmental reasons. Regardless, we at PLANTSTRONG welcome you wherever you are on your journey and hope to provide you with plenty of resources to help. We also know making profound changes can be hard and overwhelming. That’s why we...
Jan 03, 2024•8 min
At age 49, Rip's guest, Robert Band, had a stent because he had 95% blockage in his carotid. Surgery "fixed" him, but at age 60, he discovered that the blockage was returning. Four years ago, through the recommendation of a Lifestyle Medicine physician, he found the work of the Esselstyn family, including PLANTSTRONG. Today, thanks to a radical change in his diet and lifestyle, he now has 0% blockage and lives a vibrant, active life in Colorado. In this live session with Rip, we'll learn a thing...
Dec 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 229
Plant-based physician, Dr. Laurie Marbas , joins Rip LIVE to answer your health questions! Dr. Marbas is a renowned board-certified Lifestyle and Family Medicine physician. She is licensed to practice in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Questions and highlights from this Q&A include: Is it bad to combine berries with bananas? Should we wait to shower for optimum vitamin D absorption? Is there anything that can help with COPD? Is vital wheat gluten (used to make seitan) too processed? How c...
Dec 21, 2023•55 min•Season 4Ep. 228
In this episode of the PLANTSTRONG Podcast, Rip Esselstyn speaks with Dr. Chris Miller, a former emergency room physician who shares her journey with autoimmune disease and her commitment to a whole food plant-based diet. Imagine being a young and rising emergency room physician when you start to notice alarming changes in your own body- including chest pains and stiff, painful joints. At the age of 36, Dr. Chris Miller started experiencing these and other symptoms and her subsequent bloodwork l...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 227
Dr. Michael Greger is back with a barnburner of a new book, How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older . None of us loves the idea of feeling older, but it doesn’t mean getting sicker. As we say here at PLANTSTRONG, we do have a powerful influence on our aging process with what we eat – and the 13,000 studies that Dr. Greger cites in his new book show us that, once again, it’s plants for the win! Today, Dr. Greger shares some of this research and a slew of grea...
Dec 07, 2023•54 min•Season 4Ep. 226
We hear the phrase, “metabolic health” a lot, but do we really know what that means? And, more importantly, how much do we understand the massive impact that metabolic health has on literally every system of our body? Today, we explore that line of thinking with Dr. Casey Means. Casey was trained as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, but in recent years, she has become a self-proclaimed “Food as Medicine” evangelist. Why would she make such a drastic change in a successful budding career? Well, a...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 4Ep. 225
Our stress levels are high and food is in abundance during the holidays! How can you possibly stay on track with the many temptations? Join Rip and health coach Cyd Notter as they discuss four ways to stay on track during the holiday season. The key to staying motivated just might be right between your ears! Watch the Original Broadcast on YouTube Episode Webpage Learn More About our 2026 Live PLANTSTRONG Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More Abou...
Nov 23, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 224
Grief is an interesting thing, isn’t it? Sometimes a loss is overwhelming and debilitating. Other times, grief spurs us into action and advocacy. That’s the story of Maxime Sigouin. After Maxime's fiancée passed away from breast cancer seven years ago, he made it his mission to help others "disease-proof" their bodies with a whole foods, plant-based diet and consistent training. The transformations of his Fit Vegan clients are nothing short of inspirational. "Taking imperfect action," he says, "...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 223
Currently there are 37 million people in the United States with diabetes and another 96 million Americans who are currently pre-diabetic - and the vast majority of those people aren’t even aware of it. About 70% of those cases of pre-diabetes will turn into diabetes unless the progression of the disease has stopped. Unfortunately, the U.S. healthcare system isn’t designed to prevent and reverse until it’s too late, and THIS is the impetus for today’s discussion. We’re in need of a Type 2 Diabete...
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 222
Darin Olien is the New York Times best-selling author of SuperLife and host with Zac Efron of the hit Netflix series “Down to Earth,” but it’s his most recent work that may leave the biggest impact. In his latest book, Fatal Conveniences, Olien explores some of the toxic products and harmful habits that are making us sick―and provides alternatives that are simple, non-toxic, and life-enhancing. He calls them “fatal conveniences” because so many of these things are so ingrained in our daily lives...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 4Ep. 221
If you've followed the PLANTSTRONG Podcast, no doubt you're familiar with Robby Barbaro, one of the founders of Mastering Diabetes and now, an official IRONMAN triathlon finisher! If you don’t know, an IRONMAN is a one-day triathlon where you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a marathon! Crazy, right?! It's even more awesome since Robby did it as a plant-based, Type 1 diabetic. In this episode, Rip and Robby talk about how he trained, fueled, and monitored his glucose during training ...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 220
Kate Galli is an Australian-based health coach, personal trainer, podcaster, and author. Today, she shares her journey to a plant-based lifestyle and discusses her book, T he Plant Positive Journal , which focuses on self-care and creating lasting positive habit change. In her early days as a vegetarian coach and trainer in the “bro gym culture,” Kate admits that she was focused heavily on macros and protein, sometimes eating up to 20 egg whites a day. After switching completely to a whole-foods...
Oct 19, 2023•59 min•Season 4Ep. 219
Nisha Vora was raised in a traditional vegetarian Indian household, went to undergrad at Berkeley, Harvard Law School, and then worked as a corporate lawyer for a few years in New York City. It didn’t take long for her to realize that this was NOT what she wanted to do because, even as a young girl, Nisha loved food and cooking. She was the girl who would watch cooking shows on TV and take cooking classes for fun. And, as a corporate lawyer, she definitely didn’t have time for cooking and she wa...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 4Ep. 218
In 2006, young entrepreneur, Daniel Staackmann, took out a home equity line of credit and started Upton’s Naturals in his hometown of Chicago. He placed his money on seitan and in his 17 years of business, that gamble has clearly paid off. Upton’s Naturals is the #1 selling brand of seitan in the United States and their products are sold in thousands of stores throughout the United States and beyond. Dan, a 30-year ethical vegan, prides himself on being the sole proprietor of his company and his...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 217
Twelve years ago, on the tail of the success of his book The Engine 2 Diet , Rip visited small-town America - Mercersburg, Pennsylvania - with the good news about plants. Dr. Elizabeth George, a local doctor in Mercersburg, was also on a mission to help the residents of her small dairyland town make healthier food and lifestyle choices. She heard about Engine 2 and invited Rip to come to town and speak at restaurants, churches, and even the local high school - challenging them to the Engine 2 28...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 216
The news is out and the headlines are clear - drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy DO help people lose weight and they have become "the next big thing" for weight loss. But, questions remain: How do they work? What long-term impacts will these have on health? Are they really helping the underlying cause of obesity and disease? Is it enough just to lose the weight? Will these drugs actually improve our health in the same way that a whole food plant-based diet can? Rip welcomes evolutionary psychologist,...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 215
Rip welcomes Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, “The Joyful Vegan,” to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast for a long overdue celebration of the massive growth and interest in all things plant-based - especially in the 15-20 years. An empath and advocate her whole life, Patrick-Goudreau, first began her life’s purpose and awakening at age 19 after reading John Robbins’ Diet for a New America and then later, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry by ...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 4Ep. 214
In the ever-changing world of “celebrity culture," it's hard to find someone so resolute about their activism as Moby. He's had undeniable staying power on the music scene, but it’s his vegan activism that has left the most lasting impression. Moby went vegan in 1987 and remains an ardent supporter of animal rights, climate change advocacy, and humanitarian aid. He is also the author of several books, including memoirs and vegan cookbooks. Moby, without question, is one of the most prolific and ...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Season 4Ep. 213
If you believe in a divine purpose, then get ready for an important show. The Daniel Fast is a scripture-based program that chronicles the story of Daniel from the Old Testament who “refused to eat the King’s Diet” of rich and indulgent food. Instead, in order to stay strong in body and mind, he subsisted and thrived on vegetables and water - or what we may refer to these days as a whole food, plant-based diet. Today, modern-day Daniel Fasts are conducted all over the world and that’s what broug...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 212
