#281: Eat More Plants. Your Life Depends On It.
Watch the Original Live Episode on YouTube
Eating more plants is not just a dietary choice; it's a crucial step towards better health and longevity.
In this live episode that premiered in January 2023, Rip discusses the importance of incorporating whole plant foods into our diets to combat rising health issues such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes.
Key takeaways of this live Q&A include:
Why Plants are the Mothership of Health
Why We Love Whole Plant Foods
The Difference Between Processed Carbohydrates and Whole Food Carbohydrates
The Abundance and the Importance of Macronutrients and Micronutrients found in Whole Plant Foods
The Benefits of Fiber for our Health and Microbiome
A Live Q&A with Audience Questions
Rip invites the audience to embrace a plant-based lifestyle for vibrant health because, as he says, our lives depend on it!
Episode Highlights
0:05 New Year Reflections
3:25 Plants are the Mothership of Health
8:10 Why We Love Whole Plant Foods
18:50 The Abundance of Macronutrients and Micronutrients in Whole Plant Foods
21:55 The Importance of Fiber
26:00 The Live Q&A Session Begins
41:45 Closing Thoughts on Health and Invitation to Join our New Year’s PLANTSTRONG Reset
Episode Resources
Watch the Original Episode on YouTube
Learn more about our 2025 Plantstrong Retreat in Sedona, AZ - April 6-11, 2025
Learn more about our 2025 Plantstrong Retreat in Black Mountain, NC - Nov 9-14, 2025
PLANTSTRONG Meal Planner - https://home.mealplanner.plantstrong.com/
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Full Episode Transcription via Transcription Service
I'm Rip Esselstyn, and you're listening to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast.
New Year Reflections
[0:06] And just like that, we're turning the page on another year. Can you believe it? So much has happened with me and my family this year. And before we hop into this episode, I want to encourage all of you to look back at 2024 for. And think about what have been some of your favorite moments? What have been some of your great successes? On the flip side, what have been some of your biggest learning moments and challenges?
[0:43] Each day, we have an opportunity to do something really beneficial for ourselves. And that's what this episode is all about, especially as we move forward into 2025. five. Now, not long ago, I hosted this Facebook live event to share with you all the good news about eating more plants. And by good news, I mean the science and the data that so supports this because this isn't just me telling you to eat more fruits and vegetables. This is backed by decades of research. And let me tell you, adding more whole plant foods into your diet is not just essential to longevity. It can be life-changing. So as we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another, I know that many of you are thinking of making some habit changes and one of those habits may be, just may be, incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. And here at PLANTSTRONG, we love that and we want to help you.
[1:53] In early January, we're going to be kicking off an all-new PLANTSTRONG plan.
[1:59] And if you're tired of wondering, what in the world am I going to eat? The PLANTSTRONG plan is here to make plant-based living easier than ever. There's no complicated recipes. There's no endless grocery lists. We're talking about vibrant health, one effortless meal at a time. Now, this isn't just a product bundle. It's a simple, stress-free way to experience the benefits of the PLANTSTRONG lifestyle. With everything planned for you, it's perfect for those who have said, just please tell me what to eat. It includes a curated product bundle, a seven-day meal plan, a simple grocery list for fresh and frozen items, and daily emails to help guide you on your journey. Get ready to experience the simplicity and the results of a PLANTSTRONG lifestyle. Now, be sure you subscribe by going to plantstrong.com and adding your email onto our mailing list to be one of the first to know when our January reset launches. Until then, listen and learn why you should eat more plants because, as we say, your life really does depend on it.
The Power of Plants
[3:24] Good to see everybody. So today, let's dive into eat more plants because you know what? Your life depends on it and it absolutely does. So what I'd like to do to start out, and I'm probably going to talk for about 15 to 20 minutes, and then what I'd love to do is take some questions from you guys.
[3:47] So let's level set just to kind of get things going. And according to the CDC.
[3:56] Roughly one in three Americans has high blood pressure. It's kind of crazy how many people are medicated for hypertension. One in six of us has what's considered high cholesterol, which is really anything over 200. Although the crying shame here is that 35% of heart attacks occur in people that have a total blood cholesterol between 180 and 200 milligrams per deciliter. So even that is not doing the trick, and that's not considered elevated.
[4:34] We have one out of two of us, doesn't matter if you're male, female, or what color your skin is that are dying from some form of cardiovascular disease. One in nine of us is considered to be type 2 diabetic, but when you also factor in prediabetes, it's almost one in three Americans is prediabetic or type 2 diabetic. 70% of us on average are overweight or obese, which is absolutely just kind of getting crazy. Now, some other kind of numbers I'd like to share with you. Less than 23% of us are getting the recommended daily amount of exercises, which is just 20 minutes a day.
[5:28] 50% of America's calories are coming from flour, oil, and sugar. 50% from flour, oil, and sugar. 9% of Americans are now getting the recommended daily vegetable intake, which is just two to three cups per day. So just to kind of level set on that, one cup is the equivalent of two medium carrots. It's also the equivalent of five or six broccoli florets or one bell pepper, one small sweet potato, one ear of corn, one large tomato. I think you get the gist of this, you know, one-fifth size serving of steamed kale, Swiss chard, arugula, something like that. So only 9% of us are getting the recommended daily amount of vegetables.
[6:31] Only 12% of us are getting the recommended daily fruit intake, which is just one and a half to two cups. And I would consider a cup just a piece of fruit. So like, for example, this little sumo orange here would be considered a serving size, a banana. So you get the gist there.
[6:54] We have pediatric obesity that has tripled recently. And we have almost one in eight Americans that now fit the criteria for alcohol disorder. So it's not a very pretty picture that's been painted here. And the reality is that we're over-medicated, we're sick, we're obese.
[7:19] We're under-exercised, we're over-sendentized, we're under-sleptitized. That's a big fancy word for sleep. And that's just kind of the reality of where we are. So to me, when you look at just about any study that's out there, it indicates that more plants will reduce your risk of overall mortality, whether it's cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, right? More fruits, more vegetables, more whole grains, more beans will head you in the right direction. When you eat more processed meats, more meat, more dairy products, all those numbers, when it comes to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, they all start to go up.
Plant-Based Nutrition Essentials
[8:07] So not very good. So let's talk about plants, why we love plants and why your life depends on more plants. So I love to say, and you've probably heard me say this a number of times, but I'm going to say it again.
[8:26] Plants is where the true deep dive in nutrition lives. This is where all the glory is found. This is the mother source of all that is good and beneficial and healthy and strong when it comes to nutrition. And we all were raised thinking that strong food was meat for protein, dairy for calcium, you know, oils, to be heart healthy, to be brain healthy. And the reality is these are not strong foods. These are the weak foods that we want to relegate to the back burner, right? Literally. The true strong foods are the fruits, the vegetables, the whole grains, the beans. These are the superheroes that are going to elevate our health and help mitigate and prevent us from coming down with the cancers, the diabetes, the cardiovascular disease, and the Alzheimer's. But I want to take this a step further with you all, and that is the reason why we really, really, really, really love whole plants is...
[9:41] Is because this is the true mother's source, right? So we want to eat fruits and vegetables and whole grains and beans as close to grown as possible that are minimally processed. And this way, this will ensure that we're getting everything that we want that's beneficial. So I'm talking about sweet potatoes, grapes, broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, Uh, pinto beans, black beans, navy beans, lentils, oranges, bananas, apples, brown rice, quinoa, farro, barley, right? All these wonderful whole plant-based foods. What I'm not talking about here, gang, is I'm not talking about French fries, right? Let's pivot to potatoes, not French fries. I'm not talking about the fake cheeses, like the diet cheeses that are out there. All this stuff that I'm talking about right now, these may be plant-based, but they are.
[10:46] Calorie-rich and very processed, and they can be just as detrimental to your health as the animal-based products. So I'm also talking about donuts, right? All the vegan donuts and the pastries that are out there right now. It's just flour, sugar, and oil, all right? I'm talking about all the ice creams that are out there. Ben & Jerry's now has 11 varieties of plant-based ice creams that are out there, but it's all loaded with coconut milk, coconut fat. It's loaded with saturated fat. So it's creamy. It's got that mouthfeel, but don't let them pull the wool over your eyes or rather pull the saturated fat over your eyes. Don't fall for it. All the veggie burgers that are out there specifically, I'm talking about the Impossible and the Beyond that are really just frankenburgers with no whole food ingredients in them.
[11:45] Yes, there may be a time and a place for these. They can sometimes act as transition foods. But if you're doing the Beyond Balls, the Beyond Burgers, you know, the Impossible Nuggets three or four nights a week, that is a problem and that's going to hurt you. Um, I'm also talking about alcohol here, right? Alcohol is not the Mediterranean French super, uh, super drink. Uh, it is a known toxin to every organ of the body. It's about 120 calories per serving. And, uh, it's just basically simple sugars that inhibit our body's ability to burn fat by about 30%. So I want you all to be really, really judicious with the alcohol cereals. There's so many cereals that are screaming, I'm healthy, you know, me, me, me, me, me. And the reality is, is that most of these cereals on the shelves are just posers. They're not true healthy cereals. Buttery spreads.
[12:47] There's so many of these vegan buttery spreads like the Earth Balance spread. 100 calories per tablespoon. First and second ingredients are usually some sort of oil, canola oil, palm oil. And these are going to really do a number on you. Fried chips. Yeah, we all love, right? Dipping those chips in salsa, in guacamole, but make your own out of corn tortillas. Don't buy the fried ones that are 50% fat and loaded with all kinds of oils. And then of course, we've got all the different glorified candy bars that are out there that are just calorie dense and for the most part processed. So be super careful about snacking on too many of the candy bars slash bars that are out there right now. And you all know how I how I feel about oils, whether it's olive, safflower, sunflower, avocado, flax, walnut, 120 calories per tablespoon. And yeah.
[13:46] These oils are to the fat world what sugar is to the carbohydrate world, just empty calories with no nutritional oomph to speak of whatsoever. So now let me dive into what I love about whole plant-based foods and why your life depends on them. We're going to break this down into two categories, macronutrients and micronutrients. Now, macronutrients, right, big, large, they have calories, and I'm talking about protein, carbohydrates, and fat. And for the most part, almost all foods have protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The exception is meat.
[14:37] Animal meat basically just has fat and protein. It has no carbohydrates. Now that's not a good thing, right? Our primary fuel source as human beings is glucose. It's sugars, it's carbs. So don't think that meat is a healthy product because it doesn't have carbohydrates. The protein that it does have is kind of janky. It's messed up. It raises cholesterol levels. It's going to do a real number on your kidneys and your liver. It, uh, it siphons calcium from your bones to buffer the acid load. Um, and, uh, just not a very smart, intelligent form of protein.
[15:21] On the other hand, you look at plants and plants, all plants are a complete protein. Don't let that fool you. And it's got the perfect combination of the essential amino acids and the perfect proportion and composition that all of us need without wreaking any havoc on us. So I like to think of plant-based protein as the absolute Goldilocks, Goldilocks when it comes to a protein. Now, when it comes to carbohydrates, carbohydrates have gotten a kind of a bad rap and because of how we eat carbohydrates in America, deservedly so, the carbs that we wanna ingest come from whole plant-based foods. So I'm talking about that list that I talked about recently, right, grapes, sweet potatoes, pinto beans, black beans, bananas, apples, brown rice, steel cut oats. These are the type of carbohydrates our bodies need and will run off very efficiently. What we don't like are the white rice, the white pasta, the white sugar, the donuts, the soda pops, all these things. These are problematic. Now, when it comes to fats, plants are running and humming on the perfect fats. There's no trans fats in plant-based products.
[16:50] Whole plant-based products. You have very little to no saturated fat unless you're really going down on the nuts and specifically the coconuts. The coconuts are the one big exception there. But otherwise, for the most part, plant-based foods have no saturated fat. But what they are teaming in is wonderful, delicious, essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are the omega-6s and the omega-3s that our bodies need to get from food. Now, the exception to this rule is oils and all this processed and refined plant-based foods. Because when you eat a lot of oil and calorie-rich and processed foods, it throws this very delicate at omega-6 to omega-3 balance in disarray. And then we typically like to have a balance of omega-6s to omega-3s of a ratio of one-to-one, two-to-one, three-to-one omega-6s to omega-3s. However, when you start adding in all the oils, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of canola, you're eating packaged and boxed and canned foods where the second, third, and eighth ingredient or some kind of some type of oils.
[18:12] All of a sudden that delicate ratio of sixes to threes goes to like 15 to one or 20 to one or 30 to one. And this promotes all kinds of inflammation, which as we know, then leads to chronic Western disease. So the protein that you're getting from whole plant-based foods is the Goldilocks version. It's completely complete and you're getting all you need. You're getting romping healthy, unprocessed, unrefined carbohydrates that fuel our 10 trillion plus cells in our body.
Macronutrients vs. Micronutrients
[18:46] And you're also getting the ideal essential polyunsaturated fatty acids that we need as human beings. So we're covered when it comes to the macronutrients. Let's now look at micronutrients. Now, micronutrients have no calories in them, but they're essential for us to take our health to the next level. And I'm talking about vitamins. There's really 13 vitamins that we need as human beings. Of those 13 vitamins, 11 originate from plants.
[19:23] 11 of them. The two exceptions are vitamin B12, which I'm sure most of you know, comes from the microorganisms in the soil, right? And then vitamin D, which is the sunshine vitamin, which is really more of a hormone. So you take a little supplement that costs you $15 a year on your B12, and then you get enough sunshine and you're totally set.
[19:50] So when it comes to vitamins, plants are, again, they're the mother source. They're the originator. When it comes to minerals, there's basically 17 major and minor minerals that are out there between your potassium, your sodium, your calcium, your magnesium, all these things.
[20:08] And I love to say that minerals originate, right, in the soil. This is where they're formed. Plants grow and romp in the soil. So the best way for you to get your retainable, absorbable, calcium, magnesium, iron, all these things, is from plants. It's not from animals, okay?
[20:33] Now, next, let's move on to antioxidants. Antioxidants. It's well known that plants on average have 64 times, that's an X.
[20:45] Times, not a plus sign, X, 64 times more antioxidants than animal-based products. And these antioxidants, they are going to basically, they're going to mitigate oxidative damage that's caused from pollution, from just us living, from us breathing. All right. Super, super important. And the same thing with phytonutrients, phytochemicals. It's a big fancy name for plant nutrients or plant chemicals. There's over 20,000 known that exist and they exist only in plants. And they're kind of like another form of antioxidants that help mitigate oxidative damage, prevent DNA damage, and help prevent chronic Western disease. So when you're really like rifling in the steel cut oats and the sweet potatoes and the kale, the Swiss chard, the broccoli and all these things, you are getting all the vitamins, all the minerals, all the antioxidants and just crushing it with phytonutrients. It's like you're making yourself a bulletproof fortress from these chronic Western diseases.
The Importance of Fiber
[21:57] And that's incredibly, incredibly exciting. Now, the other thing I want to talk about is fiber. Fiber has no calories, but, you know, we are just now starting to realize all the myriad benefits that fiber brings to us as as human beings.
[22:17] You know, I talked about this when I talked about fiber a couple of weeks ago, but I'm going to repeat it. The American Gut Project that followed over 10,000 people for a number of years around the world determined that the number one factor in determining gut health was the number and variety of different whole plant-based foods you were able to consume in a week. And that also included herbs and spices. Okay. That magic number was 30. So believe it or not, that's not hard to do. But I want you to know that your life and your gut and your autoimmune system depend, right, on you trying to achieve this number.
[23:09] I want you to think of it in this way. More plants equals more good bacteria. More good gut bacteria equates to a stronger immune system and a stronger immune system equates to a healthier and a more vibrant life for you. When you are eating all these whole wonderful plant-based foods that are just loaded with soluble and insoluble fiber, what it's doing, it's drawing out toxins from our system. It is bringing down your cholesterol levels. It is keeping us as regular as Swiss commuter trains. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you're off to the races. It helps prevent colorectal cancer, right? Instead of having that fecal matter rub up against the intestinal wall and be there for days at a time, creating those polyps that then turn into problematic cancers, you are just constantly ushering through all that fecal matter, and it's not an issue anymore.
[24:29] It also helps keep us satiated. You know, when you eat that fiber and it combines with water, it has this wonderful bulking effect that keeps us satiated.
[24:42] It helps regulate blood sugar levels. Anybody that has these wild swings in blood sugar levels, start eating more whole plant-based foods, and all of a sudden it will level out your energy. It's a wonderful thing. Um, just kind of in the same vein as keeping you regular when you're consuming all this fiber, because it's so bulky, it also creates, uh, and stimulates the intestines by, uh.
[25:13] Creating something called periostalsis, which is basically this contraction that occurs when you have a certain amount of mass and bulk and water in your intestines. And you also are creating this wonderful, healthy gut garden that is creating a fortress, a fortress of an immune system for you. And it also helps prevent any kind of leaky gut. So all these things are wonderful. And then of course, when you're eating whole plant-based foods, you're also getting a tremendous amount of water that's just naturally inherent in these fruits and these vegetables and these whole grains that we cook in water. And the same thing with the beans.
Q&A Session Begins
[26:03] So I have kind of gone off on a bit of a diatribe there about plants, but they are just, they are nature's secret to everything that is healthy and bountiful and wonderful in the world of nutrition. And, you know, I want you all to know, eat more plants because your life truly depends on it. So with that, I'd love to see if there's any, any question that you guys would like to shoot me.
[26:35] And let me just take a peek here. Raw vegan folks say cooking any veggies kills them and it kills all the enzymes. Do you believe this? Is this thinking militant? I have me fearing any cooked foods. Hey, Karen, really good question. And I can tell you that if I was to break down what I eat in a day, I would say that half of it is cooked and half of it as raw, please do not be spooked by cooking your foods. We know that when we cook certain foods, it enhances the nutritional profile of those foods. Yes, sometimes it may diminish them, but you know what? If you're eating a predominantly whole food plant-based diet, whether it's cooked, whether it's raw, you are going to be crushing it. And there's a whole Another philosophy is the the macrobiotic philosophy where they actually want everything to be cooked because it helps with digestion. So there's different philosophies, obviously, when it comes to raw versus cooked. And I would tell you that.
[27:48] You know, if you want to mess around with them all, go ahead. But don't be spooked into thinking that you're not getting enough nutrients and that they're somehow they've been diminished or blocked when you cook them. All right. That's my answer to that one.
[28:05] Gelaginous says, I've been whole food, plant based, no oil for three years and my triglycerides are still over 200. Any ideas? Thanks. Yeah, absolutely.
[28:13] So what I have found is that if you're doing Gelaginus, if you could answer this, and then Bess, if you could put his answer in here, how many different smoothies are you doing a week? And how many glasses of wine or beer or alcohol are you having a week? All right, that would be my first question to you. And that is because alcohol will raise those triglycerides through the roof. If you have a glass of wine or a beer the night before you get tested, you can expect those triglycerides to be between two to four hundred easily. Right. Just from that one glass. And then if you're doing smoothies, if you're juicing it, you're you're our bodies have a hard time with all that sugar. And again, that's what alcohol is. It's simple sugars. That's what those smoothies are. That's what those juices are. And they come without the fiber. So that's a real problem. So I would tell you, stop the alcohol, stop the smoothies, stop the juicing, and you'll see those triglycerides come down tremendously. The other thing that hurts triglycerides are if you're doing white bread, if you're doing a lot of white sugar, if you're doing jams, things of that nature. So can unsaturated oils affect cholesterol levels?
[29:39] Um so i guess you're talking about the monounsaturated and the polyunsaturated um you know i would tell you that yes especially if you're overdoing it absolutely it will affect cholesterol levels um there's been some pretty powerful research done and i cannot remember the name of the gentleman that did it, but he actually was able to show that monounsaturated fats actually can cause atherosclerosis at almost the exact same rate as saturated fats. So just because something is an unsaturated fat doesn't necessarily mean that you can go hog wild on it.
[30:28] All right. Hi, Rip. I wonder if you could please advise on eating fruits, vegetables while someone is on as. Yeah. When it is very difficult to eat anything more than a tiny amount per meal, what calorie dense, nutritionally whole food would you recommend? So I have no idea what those medications are and what they what the side effects are. So I guess it affects your your appetite is what you're saying there, Miriam. And so if you're trying to eat more calorie dense, I can tell you that it's going to be your your potatoes, your beans. Obviously, if gaining weight is an issue, they'll probably want to do more of the whole grain breads, pastas and and maybe even some nuts and seeds and avocados.
[31:24] Yeah congratulations getting into Wegmans team up with your mom and your sister and bring them to Rochester New York which is the home of Wegmans I'd love to meet with you thanks Debbie so much you know what we just launched into Wegmans is our chilies and stews it's our uh our firehouse chili our creamy white bean chili and also our Indian lentil stew and our Thai carrot chickpea stew. Super proud to get those into Wegmans. They're also available online, and they are quick heat and eat meals. You simply just push up the ends, tear the perforated line along the top, pour it into your microwavable bowl, and you are good to go for a quick lunch or dinner over brown rice or green leafies or something like that. Tell us your view on coconut-based foods, yogurt, coconut water, et cetera. Andrea.
[32:25] Great question. And, you know, we did a whole podcast on coconuts. Listen to it. It's a really powerful 40 minutes. Actually, we did it as a Friday Facebook Live a couple of weeks ago, but it's a really incredible slideshow and deck that we put together for you there. But I can tell you just in a coconut shell that we stay away from the coconut. It's got more saturated fat than any food on the planet. And all iterations of coconut are problematic. Even coconut water is just basically sugar water at 60 calories. A serving, coconut milk, coconut yogurt, coconut oil, all of this is just loaded with saturated fat. The one exception to the rule might be coconut sugar.
[33:18] I'm trying to remember where we landed with coconut flour, but most coconut items, we're not buying it. Can familial high cholesterol lemia be reversed? I am whole food plant-based in the oil and can't get my total below 200. So Janice, yeah, I would, you guys know I'm not a doctor, but I hang out with a lot of doctors and I've heard my father talk about this a whole bunch and it can't be reversed. But what you can do is by eating whole food plant-based, you can do everything in your power to make sure that you're not allowing, um, the, the, the LDL, the LDL, which is those lethal cholesterols to burrow down and promote, uh, plaque formation. And so really the most important thing is what's passing through your lips, um, and, It's not necessarily how high that cholesterol is in most cases. So all is not for not. You can do everything in your power to help prevent yourself from going down
Dietary Adjustments and Recommendations
[34:26] that cardiovascular disease path. But you, more than most people, have to be super careful with what you're eating and what's passing through your lips.
[34:36] Are flax and chia enough fats to get that boost in nutrient absorption for fat-soluble nutrients? I would tell you that there's enough fat in almost every whole plant-based food to get that nutrient absorption. We really only need 3% to 5% of our calories coming from the polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. And if you're eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, you're going to be getting that minimum easily. So the answer to your question is definitely yes.
[35:13] What do you think about quinoa? Good. Yeah, I think quinoa is great. I think it's a great substitution for for for for brown rice to mix it up for for barley, for farro. I'm a fan of quinoa for sure. Yes.
[35:31] Lisa Scott, are nut butters okay used minimally? I would tell you this is a personal question depending upon what your goals are, whether you're trying to, if you're an athlete and you don't have elevated cholesterol or heart disease, then I would say absolutely. If you're somebody that's diabetic, you're overweight, I would not do nut butters. Instead, I would do the PB2 that has been defatted and has a fraction of the fat that nut butters do. So that's probably a smarter route for those people to go in. What do you think of seitan and do you make it ever? So Teddy Boo Boo, love that name. Um, I do not make seitan. However, I do consume seitan. We probably have it once a month at our house. And, uh, when we do stir fries and, you know, it's, um, it's, it's lightly processed. It comes from gluten. Uh, it's about 80% protein. You know, the Buddhist used to call it, uh, uh, like Buddha meat because it's got such a similar texture and flavor profile and that umami tasty taste. But I don't overdo the seitan, but I do do it probably once a month with the family.
[36:53] Uh, what's a good way to make the switch to a plant-based diet, Heather Campbell. Um, I'll tell you that this too is very personalized. If you're the type of person that likes to do things and you go all in, then just, as I say in my first book, the engine to diet, um, I have two paths, the firefighter or the fire cadet, the firefighter jumps in from day one, whole kale. And abstains from all the meat, the dairy, the processed refined foods, and you're focusing in on whole plant-based foods. And I find when you do this, you get to see the results immediately. You're not ever having to arm wrestle with your palate because your palate changes very, very quickly. We have about 10,000 taste buds in our tongue, and those receptors and those taste buds will adapt very quickly when you're all in. Now, what I find is a little bit more arduous, but some people prefer to go the slower route is when you just kind of slowly, week by week by week, you remove the offending food group. So week one, you're removing all meat, but you're still doing dairy. You're still doing some processed refined foods.
[38:17] Week two, you remove the meat and you remove the dairy products, but you're still doing the oils and some of the processed, refined, plant-based foods. Week three, you remove all that stuff. And then week four, you're all in. So I would recommend doing one of those two paths for a month. And then in either case, do before and after biometric screenings. So you can see with your own eyes what happens and what can happen in a very, very short period of time. What are your cholesterol numbers, Rip? Brett, the audacity of you asking that. That's a wonderful question. Thank you for asking. So I usually get my numbers checked once a year. The last time I had it checked, my total was 136. My LDL was somewhere right around 68. My HDL, which my HDLs are typically super, super low, was about 36. And my triglycerides were about 130.
[39:25] So I'm super happy with those numbers. You know, the triglycerides, we typically want those below 150. And know that I typically have 8 to 10 pieces of fruit a day. Our total cholesterol, you know, if we don't have a high HDL, we love those total cholesterol numbers to be below 150. And the LDL, we like to see those below 80. Okay, let's take one more question and then we're going to call it good. Do you use or recommend any supplements? Deborah, thank you so much for the question. You know, this all depends. If you have a known deficiency, then definitely there's probably going to be a need to supplement. But I can tell you that most of these meta-analyses that are out there show that supplementation with vitamin A, vitamin C, again, unless there's a deficiency, in some cases, vitamin D, selenium, do more harm than good when you supplement with these. And it's because the human body doesn't recognize these in their, in these quantities, these huge quantities, but they recognize them when they're in their whole, when you eat them and consume them in their whole food, um.
[40:43] Whole food part. So the one thing that everybody agrees that you should supplement with is vitamin B12 because, um, whether you're a meat eater or whether you're, you know, just a plant-based eater, everybody can, can use B12 because the food supply is so clean these days are meaning our fruits and vegetables. The, the dirt has basically been knocked off them and those microorganisms are no longer there in the quantities that we need them to be. So what my father and Dr. Greger and Michael Clapper recommend is typically somewhere between a 500 microgram to a 5,000 microgram. If you're doing 5,000, just do it once a week. If you're doing 500, you can do it three times a week. And 100, you can do it every day. And it'll cost you like 15 bucks a year. So the B12, yes. And everything else, it's kind of a matter of,
Closing Thoughts on Health
[41:46] you know, what you're comfortable with. And if there's, if there is in fact a deficiency, this was fantastic. Thank you so much. Remember, eat more plants, eat strong food. Your life depends on it and, um, keep it PLANTSTRONG until then.
[42:06] And that puts a wrap on 2024. I can't believe that it's been five years now since we launched the PLANTSTRONG podcast back in January of 2019. And I want to thank and appreciate each and every one of you for being such great listeners of the podcast from deep down in my PLANTSTRONG heart. I want to wish you all a happy new year and know that we're here for you in 2025. Remember, you can go to plantstrong.com or stay tuned to all of our social media channels to learn more about our January PLANTSTRONG Reset where you'll be part of a community with thousands of others just like you starting the year with a big kale yeah and as always always keep it PLANTSTRONG see you in 2025.
