NEW: Plant Yourself merch designed by my daughter, Yael Zivan.

Healthy Penis, Healthy Life with Aaron Spitz, MD: PYP 372

If you had asked me in advance which scene would steal the show in one of the great documentaries of all time, The Game Changers, I might have guessed one of the following:

  • Patrik Baboumian setting a world record for carrying the most weight for 50 meters
  • GOAT Ultrarunner Scott Jurek triumphantly climbing Mt Kahtadin to set the world record for running the Appalachian Trail
  • Dotsie Bausch pedaling her way to a comeback silver medal in cycling in the 2012 Olympics, the oldest cyclist ever to win an Olympic medal
  • Damien Mander training anti-poaching forces in southern Africa

These were all incredible, memorable, and powerful moments in the film. They highlight great spirits, resilient warriors, and committed advocates and activists at their peak.

But almost everyone I talk to about the film points to a different segment as the one that “convinced” them that a plant-based diet is the optimal way of eating for human performance: The Penis Doctor and the College Athletes.

Aaron Spitz, MD, is the director of male reproductive and sexual medicine at Orange County Urology Associates. He's served as president of the California Urological Association, was the lead urology delegate to the American Medical Association, and has been an assistant clinical professor at UC Irvine's Department of Urology for the past decade and a half.

Impressive, no doubt. But cinematically compelling? You might not think…

In one of the final parts of the documentary filmed before submitting it to Sundance, Dr Spitz performs an experiment with three male college athletes. They eat a meat-filled burrito for dinner one day, and a plant-based version of the same burrito the next. Both nights, the guys are hooked up to devices that measure the size and duration of their erections.

The look on their faces when the get their results is priceless. Whatever instincts led James Wilks to push to include this scene, at significant expense in terms of time and money, they were spot on.

What I didn't realize until talking with Dr Spitz, the results were a surprise to him as well. At that's putting it mildly.

In our conversation, we cover all things penile.

  • Why his book, The Penis Book, is so damn funny (in a good way, and on purpose!)
  • Why so many men are insecure about their equipment – and why they shouldn't be
  • The corrosive effects of frequent pornography viewing on sexual health and performance
  • What LeBron James can teach us about how to think about porn stars
  • Why you do not want a career in front of the camera in the pornography industry, no matter how good you look on camera
  • The epidemic of erectile dysfunction in adolescents
  • The connection between diet and penis health and happiness
  • And the unconventional journey Dr Spitz took to discover the power of plant-based eating to support and strengthen Mr Johnson

If you have a penis, or care for anyone who does, I hope this conversation opens your eyes as wide as it did mine.

Get The Penis Book, check out his frequent appearances on The Doctors, and follow him on the social media (links below).

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.

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