PLANTSTRONG Podcast

Download the Seven-Day Rescue Road Map

If you’ve never had a chance to see Rip Esselstyn live at your local market, this is a chance to hear him riff on the seven pillars, dispense myths and rumors about the foods we consume, and inspire change in his no-nonsense effective way. 

This special episode is a primer on the Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Program and the seven pillars that go along with the program. It's the program outlined in Rip’s third book, The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet and it’s also the speech Rip gives on his Whole Foods Market tours around the country.

The Seven-Day Rescue is also the roadmap used during the Engine 2 seven-day medical immersion programs, where we do a serious deep dive into the seven pillars while building the daily habits that will allow participants to sustain this lifestyle and the results that it delivers over the long haul.  Anyone can follow along!

This episode literally is a “how-to” on the Engine 2 Diet. Rip lays out exactly what foods to enjoy and which to avoid in this handy download. Consider this your roadmap to plant-strong longevity. 

Who is this episode (and the Seven-Day Rescue) for? 

• Anyone that's looking to aggressively reverse symptoms that have been caused by the standard American diet. 
• Anyone who feels buried under excessive weight, high blood pressure, type two diabetes, etc. - lifestyle diseases which can be reversed.
• Anyone who is avoiding a trip to the Doctor because they know a prescription awaits.
• Or, anyone who is already on a stack of prescriptions and wants to get off of them.
• Anyone who has gotten off track - perhaps they are already eating a “plant-based” diet, but want to clean it up and get back on track without oils and processed foods. (Guilty! -- Summer travel and vacations do make it hard to stay on track) What are the Seven Pillars?
• Why we love plants 
• Why we love whole plant-based foods - no processed junk and no oils
• Why we do not want to drink our food - we want to chew, more satiety, nutrients
• Why we want to be mindful of calorie density
• Why we want to limit protein
• Why we limit the amount of salt, sugar and fat we consume -- read labels!
• Why we want to move

As Rip says in the episode, this is the VARSITY program so that you can yield the greatest results in the shortest amount of time. We’re with you on this journey to health and vitality.

Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

If You are the Cause, you CAN be the Solution.

Today's conversation with Adam Sud shines a bright light on some of the dark and often unspoken mental barriers that prevent making a change.  Adam's internal and external health hurdles were significant.  Saddled with hundreds of extra pounds, numbing himself with prescriptions and fast food, and a self-dialogue that was brimming with self-hate, Adam finally found a way out by learning to fall in love with the process. He consistently started making the next right decision, even when it didn't feel "right".  He disconnected from his headspace and decided he would get comfortable being uncomfortable.   This episode is for anyone who doesn't feel worthy - because here's the thing:  you most definitely are. Eating a plant-based diet coupled with realizing that you are deserving of real, affirming connection, is a powerful combination in turning your life around.

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Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

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Engine 2 Website

Adam Sud Instagram

Adam Sud Facebook

This week, it's Part 2 of our discussion with vegan Chef, Chad Sarno. We talk go-to dishes, sauces and easy meals that will wow any guest or friend.  

Cooking plant-based can be intimidating for some, but Chef Chad Sarno keeps it simple, practical and delicious for all taste buds. From meal prep planning and key plant-strong ingredients to practical kitchen utensils and tools, Chad dishes on his favorites that will help you kick up your own kitchen skills.

And this week, we've done the homework for you! These last two episodes were packed with so many tips and kitchen tricks that we've compiled them all in an exclusive FREE downloadable document. Click below to receive behind-the-scenes details on each weekly podcast episode, as well as the free download all of the valuable information that was packed into Episodes 13 and 14.

Chad Sarno - Kick Up Your Kitchen Skills - Tips from Ep. 13 and 14

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Interested in taking your plant-based kitchen to the next level? Enroll in Rouxbe, the world's leading online culinary school with over 530,000 students across the globe. 

Learn More and Enroll in Rouxbe 

About Chad Sarno:

Chad Sarno is the co-founder of Wicked Healthy, a thriving, mission-driven online community that focuses on culinary education, consulting, innovation, training, and product development for manufacturers, retailers, and food service outlets.

Chad is also the co-founder and VP of Culinary for the plant-based seafood company, Good Catch Foods which offers a line of ‘seafood without sacrifice’, now available in stores.

Chad formally held the position of VP of Plant-Based Education at Rouxbe Online Culinary School, the world’s largest online culinary school, and launched the first accredited plant-based culinary courses online.

Internationally, Chad has launched a boutique plant-based restaurant brand throughout Europe in Istanbul, London, and Munich, and has consulted on restaurant launches globally. Chad’s mission of health inspired plant-based eating and education has reached all corners of the globe.

Chad joined the global team at Whole Foods Market as the company’s Global RnD Chef and culinary media spokesperson for the Whole Foods healthy eating program.

Chad’s celebrated recipes have also allowed him to publish, together with his brother Derek, The Wicked Healthy Cookbook (released May 2018), and the Whole Foods Cookbook (released October 2018). He has served as contributing author to more than 10 health-related books, including New York Times bestselling cookbook The Conscious Cook, and to co-author the bestseller Crazy Sexy Kitchen with Kris Carr. Over the years, he has been a guest on dozens of morning shows and food-focused programs on national and international television and radio. Chad has been featured and quoted in numerous media outlets ranging from CNN, NBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and The Guardian, and has been a contributing author to publications such as VegNews, Men’s Health, Self, Shape, and Prevention magazines.

Chad calls the US home, and, when he is not spreading his mission of cooking and eating more plants, can be found in his garden with his two amazing kids, his wife, and a variety of woodland creatures.

Wicked Healthy WebsiteGood Catch Website

. Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

Engine 2 Website

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Whether you’re new to plant-based cooking or looking to elevate your current cooking methods, we're filling the next two episodes of the Plant-Strong Podcast with great kitchen tips and techniques that, in our opinion, every cook should know! 

Cooking plant-based can be intimidating for some, but Chef Chad Sarno keeps it simple, practical and delicious for all taste buds. From meal prep planning and key plant-strong ingredients to practical kitchen utensils and tools, Chad dishes on his favorites that will help you kick up your own kitchen skills. 

Interested in taking your plant-based kitchen to the next level? Enroll in Rouxbe, the world's leading online culinary school with over 530,000 students across the globe. 

Learn More and Enroll in Rouxbe 

About Chad Sarno:

Chad Sarno is the co-founder of Wicked Healthy, a thriving, mission-driven online community that focuses on culinary education, consulting, innovation, training, and product development for manufacturers, retailers, and food service outlets.

Chad is also the co-founder and VP of Culinary for the plant-based seafood company, Good Catch Foods which offers a line of ‘seafood without sacrifice’, now available in stores.

Chad formally held the position of VP of Plant-Based Education at Rouxbe Online Culinary School, the world’s largest online culinary school, and launched the first accredited plant-based culinary courses online.

Internationally, Chad has launched a boutique plant-based restaurant brand throughout Europe in Istanbul, London, and Munich, and has consulted on restaurant launches globally. Chad’s mission of health inspired plant-based eating and education has reached all corners of the globe.

Chad joined the global team at Whole Foods Market as the company’s Global RnD Chef and culinary media spokesperson for the Whole Foods healthy eating program.

Chad’s celebrated recipes have also allowed him to publish, together with his brother Derek, The Wicked Healthy Cookbook (released May 2018), and the Whole Foods Cookbook (released October 2018). He has served as contributing author to more than 10 health-related books, including New York Times bestselling cookbook The Conscious Cook, and to co-author the bestseller Crazy Sexy Kitchen with Kris Carr. Over the years, he has been a guest on dozens of morning shows and food-focused programs on national and international television and radio. Chad has been featured and quoted in numerous media outlets ranging from CNN, NBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and The Guardian, and has been a contributing author to publications such as VegNews, Men’s Health, Self, Shape, and Prevention magazines.

Chad calls the US home, and, when he is not spreading his mission of cooking and eating more plants, can be found in his garden with his two amazing kids, his wife, and a variety of woodland creatures.

Wicked Healthy WebsiteGood Catch Website

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Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

Engine 2 Website

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This week's podcast episode features a candid conversation with ultrarunners, Scott and Jenny Jurek.  Scott's record-breaking run of the Appalachian Trail is chronicled in his latest book North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail, and in the upcoming film The Game Changers.

Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

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Engine 2 Website

Scott Jurek Website

Game Changers Movie Website

If you think one person can't make an impace, think again.

In 2016 at the young age of 54, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams listened as his doctor gave him a grim diagnosis of Type II diabetes. Sadly, he felt it was an inevitable fate because of rampant family history. What didn’t sit with him was relinquishing control of his health and realizing that he was going to be on medication for the rest of his life as his body continued to deteriorate. Refusing to be buried by this diagnosis, Adams did something that would change the course of his life forever. Instead of googling, “Living with Diabetes,” he typed, “Reversing Diabetes” and a seed was planted. Fortunately, that seed has produced a bountiful harvest of hope and inspiration. In just three short years since that diagnosis, Eric Adams has made a remarkable personal recovery plus a resounding impact with whole foods plant-based initiatives in New York City. He has lived a rich life committed to public service as an NYC Police Officer, New York State Senator, and Brooklyn Borough President. But this new chapter may be his most vital act of service yet - improving the lives and vitality of families and children in New York and beyond. One person can, indeed, create meaningful change and leave a legacy of hope. Will you be the next?

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Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

Engine 2 Diet Website

Eric Adams Bio

Eric Adams Twitter

Eric Adams Instagram

In part two of this continued exploration on the pitfalls of the popular paleo and ketogenic diets, we enlist the expertise of Dr. Michael Klaper as well as Dr. Doug Lisle, clinical psychologist at the TrueNorth Health Center, on why these two popular diets are nothing more than a physiological parlor trick you play on your health.

Like a trusty old car, the human body is amazingly resilient. In the same way that you can go several thousand miles without a proper oil change and maintenance, you can also load your body over time with processed acidic foods. The effects of this neglect and accumulation of “dirty fuel,” may not be immediate but, rest assured, they will swell into serious health issues in the long-term.

As Dr. Lisle says, “The keto diet is a credit card. It can make you feel rich, but you’re really just accumulating a tremendous amount of debt.”

The cost? Your health. Don’t trade years of a vibrant life for a few pounds on the scale.

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Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

Engine 2 Diet Website

Michael Klaper, MD Website

Doug Lisle, PhD

This week on the podcast, Rip dives head-first into the paleo-keto debate after he and Joe discussed how popular the meat-centered and carb-limiting diets are in firehouses across the country. I bet it's taking over in your circles too.  At first blush, it may seem hard to debate the merits when the paleo diet does result in weight loss and the ketogenic diet does reduce blood sugars (temporarily).  But at what cost?  Dr. Klaper has been practicing on the front lines of medicine for almost 40 years and knows a thing or two about how the body works.  He also knows a poorly designed shortcut when he sees one. Listen in and hear all about the pitfalls of paleo and how it really is like making a bargain with the devil!

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Support for this week's episode comes from Nutramilk - the easiest and fastest way to make your own plant milk at home!  Enjoy a $50 discount and free shipping with code PLANTSTRONG.

Seeking a solution for making the plant-strong lifestyle convenient and inspiring?  The Plant-Strong Meal Planner offers 1000s of recipes customized to your preferences, an integrated shopping list and grocery delivery!  Our Engine 2 Coaches are on hand to offer support and answer any questions - all for $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.  Visit our Plant-Strong Meal Planner today!

Engine 2 Diet Website

Change is a Choice.

Paul de Gelder wasn't given a choice the day he was attacked by a shark as a clearance diver in Sydney Harbor.  But he did choose how he would react. Using the mantra he’d been taught in the Army to "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome,” Paul was able to fight back from life-threatening injuries and to create a life that exceeds his most wild dreams.

In this episode, Paul shares how and why he adopted a plant-based diet and what it’s meant to his health, and his efforts to save the very creatures that nearly killed him. Now a host of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, Paul is a vocal advocate for shark education and conservation.

Buckle-up for this one and prepare to be inspired by someone who will make you question every excuse you’ve ever made.

This episode is NOT sponsored by Taco Bell. 

Fast food is highly addictive and in this week's episode, we meet a man who overcame the siren song of the drive-thru and is using plants to stay the course.

At just 5 feet 6 inches tall, Chuck Carroll weighed 420 pounds before radically changing his life.  He was taking a long walk off a very short pier.

Like so many others, he tried and failed countless times to lose weight.  Any success he achieved was short-lived as the weight came pouring back on and then some.

But then he did something remarkable and turned it all around.  Rip had a chance encounter with Chuck at the Barnard Medical Center while being interviewed for "The Exam Room". Chuck's story of radical transformation is jaw-dropping and his candid conversation with Rip highlights all that is possible with plants and determination.

Intimately acquainted with the lonely and habitual trap of fast food, Chuck weighs in on Joe’s recent slip up with Burger King and cautions against further "experimentation".  

When you're going plant-strong, it seems the world is working against you.  We can't turn on the TV or drive down the street without being tempted.  We live in a cultural mindset of "everything in moderation" - giving us the green light to indulge at every turn as long as we put in extra time at the gym.  And we know marketing campaigns are scientifically designed to trigger us - making us crave sugary, salty, fat-laden, food-like substances.

For many, including Joe, the drive-thru is a powerful siren song.  

In this check-in episode, Joe gives Rip an update on how he's doing.  Hear which recipes he's made for the firehouse plus his updated biometric results.  Joe will share his progress in building stamina and strength with exercise, and a setback where he found himself ordering Burger King (after 60 days of going 100%!).  Plus, we'll meet Joe's wife, Jennifer!

“If we can’t get [men] with concern over their heart or concern over cancer, we can probably get them with concern over their penis.  A plant-powered penis is the key to a plant-powered person. It is the gateway organ,” shares Dr. Aaron Spitz in this eye-opening and *ahem* uplifting conversation giving straight answers on the topic every man cares about, but is too afraid to ask.

Dr. Spitz has a clear five-step plan to improve sexual health:  Go Fork Yourself, Sexercise, Go Offline, Detox, and Snooze or Lose.  His easy-to-implement directives cover a wide range of behaviors worth examining and will dispel any concern listeners may have about forfeiting their man card in exchange for a plant-strong diet.

Achieving real change in your life starts with losing before you can win. As the creator of The Biggest Loser on NBC, J.D. Roth built an empire giving people the tools they need to shed their identity and turn on the light switch to finding their ‘beast mode’.  

Listen as Rip and J.D. talk about the mental resiliency of a true “loser” and why we all should aspire to be one. Joe’s been gaining an average of 13 pounds a year, jeopardizing his performance as a firefighter and a father.  He needs to pump the brakes and adopt a better plan - including some lofty athletic goals. J.D. is a straight shooter when it comes to busting excuses and firmly believes that anyone can do anything.

J.D.’s wife Chrissy is a plant-strong force as well and has not only converted the couple’s teen boys, but a growing number of friends and neighbors have embraced the lifestyle due to their efforts. This plant-powered couple inspires everyone around them to step over the cultural hurdles, crush the excuses and just do it. 

Getting a good night’s sleep at a fire station is like trying to do homework at a rock concert. Dream on!  For most of us, sleep can be elusive, interrupted, and hard to come by in our tech-heavy, fast-paced world.  But good sleep is crucial for brain health, allowing our main operating system to repair and reboot.

This week, Rip introduces Joe to husband-wife neurologists Dean and Ayesha Sherzai, leading physicians and researchers on brain health and the prevention of Alzheimer’s.  

“Assume you have bad genes and then live in a way that reduces your vascular risk”, says Dr. Dean Sherzai before sharing how plant-based nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental activity and stress reduction all play pivotal roles in our ability to thrive.  

Learn tips for getting a good night’s sleep even if your life circumstances are working against you. Be inspired by some positive news about Alzheimer’s and dementia - and hear simple actionable steps we can all take today to avoid this kind of demise.  

Eating plant-based, especially in a firehouse, can be challenging.  In this episode, Rip introduces Joe to his mom Ann Crile Esselstyn, and serves up a dose of her unbridled enthusiasm.

Thriving in her 80’s, Ann is a true force of nature and embodies the many benefits of plants. She’s learned many tricks-to-the-trade since starting this lifestyle in 1984 - hear how she keeps inspired, joyful, and motivated to experiment in the kitchen.

She shares five kitchen essentials everyone should have, how to set yourself up for success, tasty hacks for adding greens to your meals plus a dozen simple and delicious ideas on what to eat.  These practical heartfelt solutions will help anyone to be brave and dive into the lifestyle, fork first!

Joe’s made progress in the kitchen too and his palate is changing. He’s working hard to keep the new foods interesting, to plan ahead, and to prepare for ‘grab and go’ situations. Can you do the same in your house?

Plant-Strong’s inaugural season marshals together an all-star line-up of some of the world’s most renowned physicians and inspirational leaders to help Bronx firefighter Joe Inga change his life. An near fatal accident on the job forced Joe, a 34-year-old husband and father of two, to face his own mortality. Instead of falling back into old destructive habits, Joe decides he wants a different outcome. Join our host Rip Esselstyn, #1 New York Times best selling author and founder of Engine 2, as he coaches Joe how to rescue his health.

Meet Joe Inga, a New York City firefighter with Engine 72 in the Bronx. Joe decides to buck the firehouse culture by doing something as nutty as eating plant based! That’s right – no meat, no dairy, and nothing that came from something with a face or a mother. As you can imagine, change is hard. But Joe is on a mission and damn the torpedoes! Between being a new father, battling addiction, and recently coming face to face with his own mortality, Joe needs support. In season 1 we’ll follow Joe’s ups and downs as he moves towards becoming the plant-strong man he knows he can be!

Also meet Rip’s dad, the world renowned Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., from the Cleveland Clinic and learn how he trekked upstream against all the naysayers to discover the causation of heart disease and how our fork can be our most powerful ally in halting and even reversing the #1 killer of Americans!

Hear why you should care about nitric oxide and the four reasons it’s critical for cardiovascular health.  Discover what foods have the highest antioxidant value, plus why and how you should eat them. And most importantly, understand all the life-saving benefits to eating a plant-strong diet from the man who pioneered the research.