Ep. 329: A Tribute to Trailblazers - Honoring the Legacy of Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Baxter Montgomery, and John Robbins

What can you do today to protect your brain decades from now? Dr. Josh Helman joins Rip for a deep dive into Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, cognitive decline, sleep, exercise, inflammation, vascular health, vitamin deficiencies, stress, environmental exposures, and nutrition. After more than 20 years in emergency medicine, Dr. Josh shifted his career toward helping patients experiencing cognitive decline and other neurological conditions. In this conversation, Rip asks the questions many families want answered: What exactly is the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia? What does someone mean when they claim cognitive decline can be “reversed”? How strong is the scientific evidence? Why is deep sleep so important? What role do blood vessels, exercise, and diet play in brain health? And what can we start doing right now?

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau—the author, speaker, podcaster, and longtime advocate known as the Joyful Vegan—returns to the Plant Strong Podcast for a thoughtful conversation about compassion, sustainability, and creating change without burning out. Colleen explains why anger, remorse, isolation, and rigid thinking can make a plant-based lifestyle harder to sustain. Rather than making “being vegan” the ultimate goal, she encourages people to focus on their deeper North Star: living as compassionately, healthfully, and responsibly as possible. Her message is simple and liberating: Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something—anything. Rip and Colleen also explore her eighth book, A Year of Compassion: 52 Weeks of Living Zero-Waste, Plant-Based, and Cruelty-Free. The book brings together the themes that have shaped Colleen’s work for more than 30 years, including plant-based food, animal advocacy, sustainability, wildlife, responsible consumption, and human connection. Colleen shares practical ways to reduce waste without chasing an impossible standard of “zero.” She explains wish-cycling, why recycling symbols can be misleading, how to extend the life of the things we own, and how neighborhood Buy Nothing groups can keep usable items out of landfills. They also discuss compassionate travel, the surprising plant-forward foundations of many global cuisines, simple everyday meals, protein awareness, social-media misinformation, and why joy and pleasure are essential parts of lasting change. Ultimately, this conversation is an invitation to release perfection and recognize our connection to one another, the animals, and the natural world. You do not need to solve every problem today. You simply need to take the next compassionate step. Episode Webpage Watch on YouTube Learn More About our 2027 Live Plant Strong Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Our new Meal Planner is LIVE: visit https://goplantstrong.com/ and use code podcast to receive an additional $10 off an annual subscription (It’s just $69/year!) Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More About Our Corporate Wellness Program: https://liveplantstrong.com/corporate-wellness/ COMPLEMENT: Use code PLANTSTRONG for 30% off at https://lovecomplement.com/pages/plantstrong-special-offer

In 2011, a routine physical revealed a total cholesterol of 240 and LDL of 170 for Vince Rountree. Told there wasn’t much he could do beyond medication, Vince (a chemical engineer) wasn't buying it and kept searching—and eventually found the work of Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. So he went all-in. For six weeks, Vince ate a 100% whole-food, plant-based diet with no exceptions. When he retested, his total cholesterol had dropped to 132 and his LDL to 78. That experiment changed the course of his life. Today, Vince is a health coach and founder of The Food Fixer Path, helping others explore what whole-food, plant-based nutrition can do for their health. He and Rip dig into type 2 diabetes, heart disease, ApoB, behavior change, social pressure, and why community and a strong WHY can make all the difference. They also talk about Vince’s latest experiment: getting stronger after 60. Since beginning serious strength training, Vince says he has added roughly 20 pounds of body weight and increased his bench press from around 175–185 pounds to 315—all without protein powders, shakes, peptides, or tracking macros. His approach is refreshingly simple: eat whole plant foods, train consistently, and keep showing up. You'll hear: Vince’s six-week cholesterol experiment Discovering Dr. B. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and the carb debate Heart health, cholesterol, and ApoB Why Vince created his five-day health challenge The importance of community and behavior change Finding a WHY strong enough to keep you going Building muscle after 60 Getting stronger without protein powder or macro counting Why consistency matters more than complexity

Rip sits down with longtime friend, former triathlon coach and Primal Kitchen founder, Mark Sisson, for a wide-ranging conversation about biohacking, longevity, chronic cardio, walking and foot health. Rip and Mark go back more than three decades — and although their nutritional philosophies couldn't be much more different, Rip has always admired Mark's entrepreneurial spirit, curiosity and willingness to take risks. In this episode, Mark explains: - Why he calls biohacking “the day trading of health” - Why he believes the basics should come before gadgets and supplements - His problem with chronic cardio - Why he favors lots of easy movement plus occasional high-intensity work - How his own endurance career changed his thinking about exercise - Why he now walks at least 45 minutes most days - Why mobility matters so much for longevity - Why he believes foot health has been largely ignored - How Peluva grew out of his own search for better footwear - Why maintaining strength, balance and movement matters more and more as we age - What decades of entrepreneurship have taught him about taking risks Two old-school triathletes. Two very different approaches to food. And plenty of common ground around one big idea: Keep moving for life. Learn More About our 2027 Live Plant Strong Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Our new Meal Planner is LIVE: visit https://goplantstrong.com/ and use code podcast to receive an additional $10 off an annual subscription (It’s just $69/year!) Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More About Our Corporate Wellness Program: https://liveplantstrong.com/corporate-wellness/ COMPLEMENT: Use code PLANTSTRONG for 30% off at https://lovecomplement.com/pages/plantstrong-special-offer

Who are you—and why do you do what you do? Most of us spend our lives answering questions about what we want to accomplish, what career we should pursue, and what steps we should take next. But Dr. Gary Sanchez believes we’re asking the right questions in the wrong order. Gary is the founder of The WHY Institute and the creator of a system designed to help people discover their WHY, their HOW, and their WHAT—the personal operating system behind how they think, communicate, lead, make decisions, and find fulfillment. Before becoming known as Dr. WHY, Gary spent decades as an accomplished dentist. He continually invested in education, technology, and training, yet struggled to explain what made his practice different from every other dental office. His search for an answer eventually led him to the concept of WHY—and to a new understanding of himself. Gary discovered that his own WHY was to find a better way and share it. His HOW was to clarify, and his WHAT was to simplify. That discovery transformed his dental practice, but it also revealed that dentistry was no longer the work he felt called to do. After a life-threatening internal bleed gave him a second chance at life, Gary finally walked away from his practice to pursue the work that gave him energy: helping other people discover who they are. In this lively and deeply personal conversation, Rip and Gary explore the nine WHYs, the difference between the golden rule and the platinum rule, and why your family, career, or business may be important to you without necessarily being your underlying WHY. Gary also walks Rip through his own results. Rip’s WHY is to contribute to a greater cause and make an impact. His HOW is to challenge the status quo and think differently. His WHAT is to create trust and become a source others can count on. They also examine how purpose can support lasting health behavior. Instead of relying only on rules, discipline, or temporary motivation, Gary encourages us to understand why being healthy matters and what our health will allow us to contribute, experience, and accomplish. His memorable conclusion: Willpower is temporary. WHY power is permanent. You’ll also hear why successful entrepreneurs can feel lost after building businesses that no longer need them, how knowing a child’s personal operating system can transform family conversations, and why it is never too late to choose a path that better reflects who you are. Episode Webpage Watch the Episode on YouTube Take the Free WHY Discovery Quiz Learn More About our 2027 Live Plant Strong Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Our new Meal Planner is LIVE: visit https://goplantstrong.com/ and use code podcast to receive an additional $10 off an annual subscription (It’s just $69/year!) Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG Journey Learn More About Our Corporate Wellness Program: https://liveplantstrong.com/corporate-wellness/ COMPLEMENT: Use code PLANTSTRONG for 30% off at https://lovecomplement.com/pages/plantstrong-special-offer