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Podcast

PYP 134: Glenn Murphy on the New Science of Stress

December 22, 2015

Glenn Murphy is a science writer and educator, bestselling author, and longtime student of the Russian martial art known as Systema. He’s also my teacher, my friend, and a hilarious guy with a kick-ass British accent.

It turns out that a great deal of science of human stress and resilience was done in the former Soviet Union which was embargoed and unavailable to the West until recently. This neuroscience of performance was tested and validated in work with Olympic gold medalists and spec op forces – both of whom are under a great deal more stress than most of us will ever know.

And these insights are baked into Systema, which teaches relaxation and selective use of tension in response to physical threats rather than rigid stances and hyper-aggressive techniques.

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PYP 133: Kathy Hester on Beans, Oats, Slow Cookers, and Just Having Fun

December 15, 2015

Kathy Hester is the author of five vegan cookbooks (more if you count the Halloween ebook), including the new Easy Vegan Cookbook: Make Home Healthy Cooking Practically Effortless and OATrageous Oatmeals: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain.

I discovered to my delight that she’s also a neighbor, and now, after a lunch date, an interview, and a family dinner gathering to which she brought an amazing dessert, she’s become a friend.

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PYP 132: Jay Oliveira and Michelle Muench on Thriving Through Plants, Passion, and Consistency

December 8, 2015

Jay Oliveira and Michelle Muench are pretty much poster children for an athletic, plant-based lifestyle. YouTube and Instagram stars, with tens of thousands of followers, Jay and Michelle share their philosophy, their fitness and food strategies, their often-salty opinions, and the ups and downs of their lives in a public and powerful way.

Both began their journey by watching Forks Over Knives, and they haven’t looked back. Jay practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitively, while Michelle engages in daily yoga as a practitioner and instructor.

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PYP 131: Anthony Dissen, RD, on Empowering vs Preaching

December 1, 2015

Dietitian Anthony Dissen has the plant-based science down cold, like many of us. What sets him apart is his research in and experience with group programs to change behaviors in an engaging, positive, and sustainable fashion.

We met through an email correspondence over Proteinaholic, and quickly discovered several common elements in our histories and interests. When he told me his story about running plant-based wellness programs for employees of a hospital, and showed me the results of the pilot run, I knew he’d be a great guest.

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PYP 130: Dr Ted Crawford on Healing Himself and His Patients

November 25, 2015

Ted “Dr Herbivore” Crawford grew up in Iowa, eating meat and dairy at every meal. Even as a Doctor of Osteopathy, he thought that healthy eating meant less red meat, and more chicken and fish.

His own health was a mess: medicated for high cholesterol and hypertension (the latter at the highest allowable doses), suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, overweight and experiencing frequent migraines. His wife had survived breast cancer, and was dealing with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

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PYP 129: Dr Rekha Chaudhary on Giving Hope to Cancer Patients

November 17, 2015

Dr Rekha Chaudhary is an oncologist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Until a chance viewing of the documentary Forks Over Knives, Dr Chaudhary had never once encountered the concept that diet could affect cancer intiation, progression, or outcome.

Unwilling to shove this new data under the rug, she invited T. Colin Campbell to conduct Grand Rounds at her university, and was amazed at the animal studies showing that environment (specifically, the amount of animal protein in the diet) could turn cancer cells on and off.

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PYP 128: Queenie Moore on Being Black, Plant-Based, Fit, and Curvy

November 10, 2015

I met Queenetta (Queenie) Moore at her booth at the Raleigh VegFest, where she was promoting a “21 Day to Plant-Based” Challenge: Soul Food edition.

Her outreach to the Black community fascinated me as a marketer, and I wanted to explore the differences between her approach and what I’m used to in the suburban white world. When we got talking, however, it turned out that there were dozens of fascinating things about Queenie and her work and her take on life.

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PYP 126: Jill McKeever on Cooking Speedy-Healthy-Delicious

October 27, 2015

Jill McKeever is not an introvert, I suspect. I began to form this suspicion when we started our video Skype conversation and I noticed she was wearing fuzzy bunny ears.

Plus she hollers “Woot Woot” every time she speaks or hears the words “Instant Pot.”

Good thing Jill is preaching the message of healthy cooking and delicious eating!

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PYP 125: (Bonus) Glenn Livingston and Howard Jacobson on Proteinaholic and Suspect Science

October 20, 2015

So I helped Dr Garth Davis write Proteinaholic, which came out this month (and is getting lots of love at the bookstores and in amazon reviews, so thank you very much).

(Note to reader: for maximum effect, this next paragraph should be read in one long breath.)

And the book basically says (spoiler alert) that we’re obsessed with protein, and we’re eating way too much of it, and excluding many other important nutrients because we’re so obsessed with protein (I’m looking at you, fiber), and we would be healthier and slimmer if we just calmed down a bit and ate a plant-based diet that limited our protein intake to levels appropriate for humans.

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PYP 124: Samantha Carrie Johnson on Eating Real and Living Our Passion

October 20, 2015

Samantha Carrie Johnson, at age 30, has already accomplished several lifetimes worth of personal and social achievement. A chef, restauranteur, entrepreneur, actor, model, Miss Pennsylvania 2007, and MTV reality show star, Samantha devotes her energy and her time to raising consciousness, promoting plant-based health, and keeping her own life balanced.

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Hi, I’m Howard Jacobson, host of the Plant Yourself Podcast, co-author of You Can Change Other People and Sick to Fit, and co-founder of WellStart Health Coach Academy.

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