PLANTSTRONG Podcast

We welcome one of our all-time favorite plant-strong BROC-STARS back to the podcast, Dr. Michael Greger! You know him from his website nutritionfacts.org or even his wildly popular books - How Not to Die and How Not to Diet , in which he lays out, in much detail, the science behind the benefits of whole food plant-based diet. Today, Rip talks with Dr. Greger in-depth about his new book - How to Su...

Adam Sud and Tara Kemp, two rising stars in the plant-based movement, have been enveloped in a groundbreaking research study into the far-reaching impacts that plant-based nutrition can have on addiction and recovery; not just to help people stay sober, but in all facets of recovery - resilience, self-compassion, physical health, and spirituality. Believe it or not, this study is the first of its...

Getting ready to pop an antacid or a swig of your favorite mouthwash? Wait! Hold up just a moment. Today, we take a deep dive on the subject of nitric oxide with Dr. Nathan Bryan, the preeminent expert on the subject and author of “The Nitric Oxide Solution.” It may be new to you, but know this...Our body’s ability to produce nitric oxide is KEY to staving off those killers - stroke, heart disease...

In honor of Father’s Day last week, I gathered up your questions and called my Dad, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, affectionately known as Essy to many. There’s nothing he loves more than helping you understand the importance of what you put on your forks to fight disease and to create and sustain healthy and vibrant endothelial cells. Essy is the ultimate taskmaster and, much to everyone’s disappoint...

Over 65 million households are homes to dogs and cats. In fact, one of the silver linings of the coronavirus quarantine has been a substantial increase in pet adoptions for companionship and, as a member of the family, you want to feed them the best possible diet for long-lasting health and vitality. Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths out there when it comes to the best diet for your pet, and...

We were overwhelmed with the positive response of last week’s episode with Chef Ken Rubin, so we decided to keep that momentum going this week with Chef Del Sroufe. If his name isn’t familiar, his work will be. He authored, “ Forks Over Knives: the Cookbook ,” “ The China Study Quick and Easy Cookbook,” and “ Better than Vegan,” the story of his struggle with weight loss and gain, and how he manag...

Ken Rubin is the Chief Culinary Officer of Rouxbe Online Culinary School , training people to become more creative, confident, and HEALTHY in kitchens around the world. A silver lining of the Covid-19 quarantine has been a trend back to rediscovering the joy of a home-cooked meal with the family. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated and, in fact, it can be fun! Rip and Ken introduce simple ways...

Ethan Brown is the Founder and CEO of Beyond Meat , a disruptive and innovative plant-based meat company. This interview was recorded pre-Covid 19 so, while we don’t discuss it, the episode is so timely since one of the areas most affected by this horrific disease is our food supply chain; namely, the animal food supply chain. Conditions are deplorable for both the animals and the humans at these...

For 65-years, Dr. T. Colin Campbell has been a courageous truth-seeker and unapologetic truth-teller in the scientific research and study of nutrition.  Of course, most know his work from  The China Study ,   Whole ,  Forks over Knives , and his repeat visits to  Plant Stock , but recently, Dr. Campbell released two articles that speak to this “revolutionary idea” that the best defense against Cov...

In 2018, after an interview about building a healthy gut on a plant-based diet went viral, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz knew he needed to do something. He wanted to continue to spread this message to a wider audience. The result almost two years later? His brand new book Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome. Fiber Fueled  ...

Dan Buettner is an explorer, National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and producer, and a New York Times bestselling author. He discovered the five places in the world—dubbed Blue Zones —where people live the longest, healthiest lives. Today, Dan and Rip discuss the Power 9, those nine mutually supporting characteristics that these Blue Zones areas have in common to promote health, hap...

“I just couldn’t wrap my head around this idea that you can poison your way back to health.” In 2003, Chris Wark received a grim colon cancer diagnosis at the young age of 26. And, as most of us know, when it comes to cancer treatment, much of the decision-making is based around FEAR. Who wouldn’t be afraid if you were told you basically had a 50-50 shot at surviving? Chris, however, took a differ...

Damien Mander is founder and CEO of The International Anti-Poaching Foundation and, if you’ve seen “The Game Changers” documentary, you’ll also, no doubt, remember his powerful contribution to the film as a former hunter-turned-conservationist. In this candid interview, Mander describes his former self - the alpha male who used to take aim at the vulnerable through the hunting, killing, and eating...

Dr. Michael Klaper is a friend, a philosopher, and a humanitarian. Today, he returns to the podcast for the third time to talk about the coronavirus and to answer your health questions. In this ever-changing landscape, we are dedicated to providing you with a compass - pointing you towards facts, science, and the world’s most well-trusted medical authorities on health and nutrition. In addition to...

During this time of uncertainty, we are more committed than ever to bring you science, facts, and answers to your health questions. We put the call out and you responded in a huge way and this week, we go straight to the top -- a Q&A session with my father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn. Like most of us, he and my Mother are practicing social distancing from their home in Cleveland, Ohio, so we record...

This week, during these uncertain and volatile times, we present a special episode with Brian Hart, M. Ed. Hart is a highly experienced educator with over twenty-five years in the field as a teacher, administrator, and advocate for school change in both the public and private sectors. He is also Rip's brother-in-law and the Executive Director of the Esselstyn Family Foundation, a 501c3 public char...

At age 26, identical twins Nina and Randa Nelson are strong voices in the plant-strong movement. In their early 20s, both were struck with severe acne that left them depressed, confused, and out of work...just as they were pursuing careers in the entertainment industry. Not wanting to settle for traditional antibiotics and powerful medicines with terrible side-effects, Nina and Randa refined their...

“Heaven forbid, you get a heart attack or a stroke. It's only you in that hospital bed. It's not the people at work. It's not your daughter-in-law. It's not the people you go out to dinner with. It's you. You're a grown man. You're a grown woman. It doesn't matter what people think at this point and you don't owe anything to anybody. It's nobody's business what you order for lunch.” Not many peopl...

Whenever we introduce this lifestyle to a new group, the most common question we get is, “What in the world are we going to eat?” The preconceived notions about how “limiting” a whole plant-based lifestyle can be are so incredibly erroneous. In this episode, you’re going to get a primer on what to eat directly from the Mother Source - Rip’s Mothersource. Who better to whip up some culinary creativ...

Robby Barbaro is a seeker. After being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, Barbaro set off on a quest to optimize his health, buck conventional beliefs and thrive in spite of his illness. His drive for truth has become his life’s work. “It’s not the banana’s fault,” he stresses, when it comes to the confusion and lack of understanding around eating fruit and managing diabetes. Barbaro is the...

Jesse Itzler does not negotiate his goals. He’s the author of the New York Times bestsellers, Living with a Seal and Living with the Monks , the cofounder of Marquis Jet, the world's largest private jet card company which he and his partner sold to Berkshire Hathaway/NetJets, and he also partnered with Zico coconut water, which he and his partner sold to The Coca-Cola Company. On top of everything...

After attending a lifestyle medicine conference, Dr. Michelle McMacken changed her philosophy about patient care overnight. Now, she routinely prescribes plants over pills in her practice and, through compassionate consultations, opens wide the door to change. At Bellevue Hospital in New York City, McMacken is the lead physician on a plant-based pilot program designed to provide people with educat...

"Behavioral change is the holy grail of medicine," said Dr. Robert Ostfeld at the recent Monmouth University screening of The Game Changers hosted by the Hockhockson Farm Foundation. "We all know that eating kale is good for us, but getting ourselves to do it is the hard part. Behavioral change is challenging, which is why documentaries like The Game Changers are so vital in continuing the dialogu...

"I hate being lied to," says James "Lightning" Wilks, when asked why he was compelled to make The Game Changers documentary. Together, with a vast array of experts and science-based research, Wilks set out to answer the question, "What does the evidence and the science show in the search for truth in nutrition, especially as it relates to athletic performance and recovery?" The result, after seven...

Welcome back to part two of our conversation with the remarkable and influential plant-powered couple, Jon and Tracey Stewart. If you haven't already, be sure to go back and listen to Episode Two for the first half of this conversation where they share stories of their plant-based journey and recount the serendipitous story of how they met. In today's extended interview, we pick up the conversatio...