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Vic Strecher was a stellar public health researcher and entrepreneur when his life lost all meaning. A professor at the University of Michigan, founder of the Center for Health Communication Research, and creator of an online health coaching company that was bought by Johnson & Johnson in 2008, Strecher was at the top of his game.And then in 2010 his life fell apart when his daughter Julia died at the age of 21.It wasn't unexpected, exactly. Julia had had her heart destroyed by a chicken pox virus at six months old, and had received a heart transplant and had suffered from health problems for her entire life.

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Vic Strecher was a stellar public health researcher and entrepreneur when his life lost all meaning. A professor at the University of Michigan, founder of the Center for Health Communication Research, and creator of an online health coaching company that was bought by Johnson & Johnson in 2008, Strecher was at the top of his game.

And then in 2010 his life fell apart when his daughter Julia died at the age of 21.

It wasn't unexpected, exactly. Julia had had her heart destroyed by a chicken pox virus at six months old, and had received a heart transplant and had suffered from health problems for her entire life.

But she had lived a big life despite her pains and limitations: softball team, girl scouts, traveling. And Julia wanted to give back, so she enrolled in the University of Michigan School of Nursing. And then, during a family vacation in the Caribbean, she died of a heart attack in her sleep.

Since Julia's first diagnosis, Vic's purpose in life had been to give Julia a big life, for however long as it lasted. With her passing, Vic lost his own purpose.

Until one day on a kayak on Lake Michigan, Julia spoke to him, telling him to move on.

Vic heeded her words, and in so doing, utterly transformed his career and the field of health communications and behavior. You see, he had found a missing piece of the puzzle that was so big, no one had really identified it before: purpose.

In his own studies and in his reinterpretation of the scientific literature, Vic pointed to finding a meaningful, transcendent life purpose as the key ingredient in sustaining even difficult behavior change. His new book, Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything, connects the philosophical concept of life purpose to concrete health outcomes.

And shows pretty convincingly that if you want to eat better, exercise more steadfastly, get more sleep, and do all the other things that our culture makes so difficult, the first and most important step is to connect the benefits of those actions with a big, juicy, meaningful, joyful purpose in life.

Our conversation was a total joy for me. Vic is not only a brilliant researcher, but a genuinely present and caring human being. He's been through a lot, and has transformed suffering into wisdom and compassion, which he generously shared with me.

I'm a better person for talking with him.

We covered:

* Vic's early work using the internet to deliver algorithm-based coaching

* medical education neglects how to motivate behavior change

* the strengths and limitations of the Health Belief Model

* people smoke to control stress – so why do we stress them out by warning them of the threat of death from smoking?

* Vic's headstone epiphany

* how the CDC rejected Vic's offer to share his online coaching system with them for free – and how he was forced to build a $55 million company to license health coaching to Kaiser and Blue Cross

* the biggest research question: “why are people defensive?”

* the fine art of tailoring information to the user, and the risks and benefits of “filter bubbles”

* Julia's big life – and the impact of the possibility of her death at any time (“life went from black and white to technicolor”)

* the Lake Michigan kayak visitation, and Vic's journey to build a new purpose in his life

* “start teaching every student like they were my own daughter”

* the twin pillars of energy and willpower, and how to develop them

* wisdom of the stoics

* two types of happiness, and which one improves immune function

* how to deal with the Boring But Important stuff in our lives

* how exploring purpose defangs defensiveness

* Vic's latest company, JOOLhealth, and the purpose app

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Kim Williams, MD, is past president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).Let's take a moment to appreciate how amazing that is.First of all, he grew up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago. One winter he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia; his family couldn't afford to buy him a coat. His step-dad died of an intercranial hemorrhage when Kim was five years old.Second, Dr Williams chose medical school over a promising career as a professional tennis player.Third, he's the first and thus far only president of the ACC to "come out" as a vegan. The current chairman of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has been vegan himself since 2003, and now recommends a vegan diet to his patients as the first line of defense against heart disease.

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Kim Williams, MD, is past president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

Let's take a moment to appreciate how amazing that is.

First of all, he grew up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago. One winter he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia; his family couldn't afford to buy him a coat. His step-dad died of an intercranial hemorrhage when Kim was five years old.

Second, Dr Williams chose medical school over a promising career as a professional tennis player.

Third, he's the first and thus far only president of the ACC to “come out” as a vegan. The current chairman of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has been vegan himself since 2003, and now recommends a vegan diet to his patients as the first line of defense against heart disease.

I was thrilled when he agreed to be a guest on the podcast. What I didn't realize was the breadth and depth of the conversation we would have, ranging from tennis to his work in encouraging communities of color to produce cardiologists who can return to their communities to reverse and eventually prevent their epidemic of heart disease.

On the Internet, Dr Williams is best known for a meme quote: “There are two kinds of cardiologist: vegans and those who haven't read the data.” What's missing from that seeming dismissal of 99.9% of his profession is first part of his statement: “I like to joke…”

This is important because Dr Williams isn't trying to trash his colleagues. When I asked him about this, his reply was simple: “I don't want to stop until the leading cause of death among cardiologists is no longer cardiovascular disease.”

Wow. That's powerful.

And so is everything else about this brilliant, passionate, energetic, and graceful human being.

In our conversation, we covered:

* growing up poor, black, and underserved by the medical profession

* taking responsibility to do something about that – and starting by becoming a better student of science and math

* becoming one of the best chess players in Illinois

* trying out for the tennis team on a lark

* getting into The Program in the University of Chicago (UC) for tennis, and getting admitted to UC

* paying tuition by giving tennis lessons

* the back injury that changed everything – possibly for the best

* discovering the work of Ancel Keys

* David Jenkins research on plant sterols and soluble fiber equaling statins in reducing cholesterol

* what is nuclear medicine, and specifically nuclear cardiology

* the crisis of underrepresented women and minorities in cardiology, and the lack of mentors and positive role models

* the surprising “Grey's Anatomy” effect on a generation of female surgeons

* how industry skews and misrepresents data on food and diet

* the watering down of government-sponsored nutritional guidance

* how to tell the difference between science and pseudo-science (hint: follow the money)

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

NY Times article: “Advice from a Vegan Cardiologist”

Dr Williams' professional page

Cardiology magazine profile of Dr Williams (includes amazing 1971 photo of him about to hit a backhand)

Transcript

Download the PDF transcript,

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Susan Orenstein, PhD, is a couples therapist in Cary, North Carolina. She's also a long-time friend (I believe we met in 1986) and neighbor (since we moved to NC in 2005).I wanted to pick her brain about a challenge that many of my clients face - navigating their health journey in tandem with their significant other.Many of my clients and students feel like they don't want to impose their new healthy way of eating and living on their partners. Others feel blocked by their spouse's disapproval or resistance or defensiveness. And still others feel supported, but don't know how to get their partner to join them on the journey to wellness.

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Susan Orenstein, PhD, is a couples therapist in Cary, North Carolina. She's also a long-time friend (I believe we met in 1986) and neighbor (since we moved to NC in 2005).

I wanted to pick her brain about a challenge that many of my clients face – navigating their health journey in tandem with their significant other.

Many of my clients and students feel like they don't want to impose their new healthy way of eating and living on their partners. Others feel blocked by their spouse's disapproval or resistance or defensiveness. And still others feel supported, but don't know how to get their partner to join them on the journey to wellness.

Susan and I got together in the Shedquarters (the glamorous converted garden shed that serves as Plant Yourself World Headquarters) to record this conversation about the fundamentals of relationship as they pertain to health habits and behaviors.

We covered:

* attachment theory and PACT therapy

* the importance of safety and security in primary relationship

* pushing each other's buttons and the fight or flight response

* attachment can be learned, and relearned

* when it's best to just stop talking

* the significance of mirror neurons

* the dynamics of recovery from substance abuse and violence

* broadening our repertoire of connections

* being open to simply having fun together

* the importance of putting the relationship first

* “we act out what we don't say”

* on celebrating and benefiting from conflict

* the dangers of becoming domineering – even if you're right

* developing a safe “couple bubble” in which to navigate the world

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Orenstein Solutions – practice site and blog

PACT Couples Therapy – an introduction

Wired For Love

Secure Attachment and Bonding

Video: Attached – The Science of Attachment – Anxious and Avoidant Loving

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons

– Kim Harrison

– Lynn McLellan

– Anthony Dissen

– Brittany Porter

– Dominic Marro

– Barbara Whitney

– Tammy Black

– Amy Good

– Amanda Hatherly

– Mary Jane Wheeler

– Ellen Kennelly

– Melissa Cobb

– Rachel Behrens

– Christine Nielsen

– Tina Scharf

– Tina Ahern

– Jen Vilkinofsky

– David Byczek

– Michele X

– Elspeth Feldman

– Viktoriya Dolomanova

– Leah Stolar

– Allan Kristensen

– Colleen Peck

– Michele Landry

– Jozina

– Julianne Rowland

– Stu Dolnick

– Sara Durkacs (rhymes with circus)

– Kelly Cameron

– Wayne Pedersen

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Alon Civier is the Customer Experience Manager at HomeBiogas.com, an Israeli startup whose mission is to bring clean and elegant biogas technology to the world.I discovered biogas when I lived in South Africa six years ago. Some remote Zulu villages had installed underground tanks near their cattle, and every day shoveled manure into these tanks.Somehow, as the bacteria in the tanks went to work on the manure, methane was produced, which was siphoned off for use in cooking and heating.

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Alon Civier is the Customer Experience Manager at HomeBiogas.com, an Israeli startup whose mission is to bring clean and elegant biogas technology to the world.

I discovered biogas when I lived in South Africa six years ago. Some remote Zulu villages had installed underground tanks near their cattle, and every day shoveled manure into these tanks.

Somehow, as the bacteria in the tanks went to work on the manure, methane was produced, which was siphoned off for use in cooking and heating.

Not only was this free energy, but it replaced the messy and dangerous combustion of wood and cow patties as indoor cooking and heating fuel. And it kept the manure from piling up around the settlements and attracting flies and pathogens.

Fast forward to 2016, and I received a wonderful gift from a friend: my own biogas digester, completely unassembled, in a giant cardboard box.

After about a dozen hours and some light profanity, I had put together my HomeBiogas unit. I filled it with 100 pounds of fresh manure from a neighbor's farm, added a bunch of water, and waited.

Three weeks later, I was emptying all my kitchen compost into the unit, and getting a potent slurry of liquid fertilizer from the overflow valve.

And then the methane bladder began to fill. When my wife held a lit Bic up to the tip of the hose, yellow-blue flame appeared.

So this stuff works.

I got on the phone with Alon Civier of HomeBiogas, and had a conversation about the benefits of this old/new technology, and his company's vision for changing the world.

We covered:

* Alon's love affair with environmental sustainability

* volunteering at a wind turbine cooperative

* the difference between aerobic and anaerobic fermentation

* the difference between liquid propane gas (LPG) and biogas

* organic waste, methane and the greenhouse effect

* 12% of global warming caused by methane from garbage

* the permaculture principle of turning all outputs into valuable inputs

* searching for circular systems

* recycling – takes a lot of energy

* no electricity for biogas – just biological energy

* uncollected manure creates a nasty smell and health hazard

* aerobic composting takes months; anaerobic composting provides daily fertilizer

* minerals from food return to the garden

* designing units for rural Africa and the Palestinian Authority

*  liquid fertilizer more important than the biogas

* DIY system – can ship it and locals can install it themselves

* put it directly on the ground – don't need to dig a hole

* maintaining stable pressure with sandbags

* nickname for the system: The Answer

* pride that you're producing gas at your own home

* a miracle – don't need wood for fire

* saved two hours of wood collecting by using animal manure

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

HomeBiogas.com

Description and history of biogas

Profile of Alon

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons

– Kim Harrison

– Lynn McLellan

– Anthony Dissen

– Brittany Porter

– Dominic Marro

– Barbara Whitney

– Tammy Black

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Sid Garza-Hillman is one of the world's great bald plant-based podcasters of Jewish origin. He's also a remarkably savvy and sane health coach, and a funny and frank philosopher of what constitutes a good life.We met in person in Marshall, TX, during Healthfest, and found ourselves agreeing on lots of things that almost nobody agrees with us on. So deciding we were kindred spirits, we planned a podcast conversation around the state of plant-based practice and advocacy in 2017.Oh, and Sid gave me a copy of his book, Approaching the Natural, which is sized conveniently to fit in a back jeans pocket. So we talked about his general philosophy of health behavior change as well.

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Sid Garza-Hillman is one of the world's great bald plant-based podcasters of Jewish origin. He's also a remarkably savvy and sane health coach, and a funny and frank philosopher of what constitutes a good life.

We met in person in Marshall, TX, during Healthfest, and found ourselves agreeing on lots of things that almost nobody agrees with us on. So deciding we were kindred spirits, we planned a podcast conversation around the state of plant-based practice and advocacy in 2017.

Oh, and Sid gave me a copy of his book, Approaching the Natural, which is sized conveniently to fit in a back jeans pocket. So we talked about his general philosophy of health behavior change as well.

We covered:

* “the movement” is becoming partitioned – health, or environment, or animals

* an ethical approach to your life

* how do we help people “care” about the lives they live?

* holistic self-interest – we are selfish at our core, so let's be better at it

* the ethic of true self-care

* if we don't know how to truly self-care, our solutions to dealing with stress go off the rails

* “my problem is Ben and Jerry's” – that's your solution

* take a step back from VegFests

* weighing ourselves down in the minutiae

* looking at the big picture: is there something in my life that I want more of?

* headlines vs studies

* significant preparation before jumping into a diet

* getting stressed when we can't get our “daily dozen” every day

* the unfortunate push to purity

* feeling good: the underlying context for all health information

* the problem with framing information as “shoulds”

* show up and remind people what we're selling: “this is a better way to live”

* most people swerve to miss the squirrel

* we all compartmentalize information (ie what happens in factory farms)

* we need to advertise joy

* devaluing what we do – just make it normal

* redefining pleasure in The Pleasure Trap

* The Big Mac eater is the same as the Big Salad eater

* willpower is the same as pleasure – over a longer timeframe

* different tracks for different stages of approach

* the guru problem in the plant-based/vegan community

* devoid of context, details will make us crazy

* actual body communication vs cravings: the body communicates via inflammation and energy levels and joint soreness and fat around the midsection

* dietary differences based on lifestyle differences

* from “ignorance is bliss” to “awareness is bliss”

* what I need to know is very little

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Approaching the Natural

Sid's website

Florence Williams' lecture on June 21 in Raleigh NC

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons

– Kim Harrison

– Lynn McLellan

– Anthony Dissen

– Brittany Porter

– Dominic Marro

– Barbara Whitney

– Tammy Black

– Amy Good

– Amanda Hatherly

– Mary Jane Wheeler