Warning: this episode may ruffle some vegan police feathers.

Here at Thought For Food, we try to keep not only judgement-free, but also realistic and inclusive. But we also want to change paradigms, and paradigms are not shifted by being safe, censored, and idealistic. So, with this episode, we pushed the boundaries a bit.

It's extremely common to hear vegans claiming things like: going vegan will make you stronger than you've ever been. You'll never get sick again! Going vegan will save the world, or you will no longer be aggressive or angry because you aren't consuming fear and death. Essentially that eating a completely plant-based diet is a panacea for all that ails us. These idealistic and unrealistic claims can often get out of hand, and create an unfavorable depiction of plant-based diets. Now, we're obviously not saying going vegan isn't amazing, it is. We just prefer to stick to the science and evidence to come to conclusions rather than sensational claims that are too often used in nutrition and lifestyle media. And since most of these claims are wrong, it makes it difficult for people who aren't finding the results they desire to stick with the lifestyle.

In this episode, Aaron and Jackson go through many of these common claims and debunk them. It may come off as a bit negative at times, but the overall message is that we need to be realistic and objective when talking about these things. If we want the masses to change for the better, then we have to keep it real. We appreciate the support and let us know what you think! Do you find it frustrating when certain vegans make sweeping claims?

Thank you to everyone who's been sharing the show with your friends and family and on social media! It seriously kicks ass. Also a big thank you to those who have left iTunes reviews, this really helps us out a ton and keeps growing this message and movement towards healthier living. We honestly couldn't do this without you, so keep doing what you're doing!

Go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Aaron and Jackson

Show Notes:

Follow us on social media:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube: Thought For Food TV 

Music by:

soundcloud.com/peterkuli

soundcloud.com/dcuttermusic

 

I first met Ben through a mutual friend, who introduced us because Ben is a vegan triathlete. Little did I know, Ben is also the Vice President of Boulder Food Group, a venture capitalist firm in Boulder that invests in early stage organic and non-GMO food companies. That's one of the coolest part of being part of a cycling or endurance sport culture, we're all on the same playing field out on the bike or on the trails. We've since become great friends and training partners, as Ben drags me out at the buttcrack of dawn to ride up all the canyons in Boulder!

Okay. Brief intro for Ben: VP of Boulder Food Group. Graduated from and played lacrosse at Duke. Worked in finance in New York City, moved to Boulder to start a nut butter company and then ended up at BFG. Vegan triathlete, completed multiple half-Ironmans. Overall: super nice guy and certified Ladykiller.

In the conversation we cover everything from the current and future state of the natural foods sector, and how plant based food technology fits in from a business perspective to training and racing as a vegan triathlete while also working a hectic and time consuming job. He even has a pretty hilarious story about Rich Roll. What's really interesting about Ben is that his work is aligned with his philosophy: a focus on investing in health, athletic performance, and compassion. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who has supported the show by writing us amazing reviews on iTunes, sharing on social media, and generally being awesome fans online. This is why we do this: to provide value and be of service to help YOU! Keep sending in your questions to [email protected] and keep up to date with us on our various social media platforms (links down below).

Go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Jackson

Show Notes:

Boulder Food Group: www.bfgpartners.com

TFF on Social Media:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube: Thought For Food TV

Music:

www.soundcloud.com/peterkuli

www.soundcloud.com/dcuttermusic

This is an episode we've wanted to record for a long time, and we hope to continue and expand on this conversation further. As two vegan dudes, we feel a responsibility to stimulate a dialogue among men regarding the masculine ideal in the 21st century as it relates to diet, lifestyle, and health. We believe that the masculine ideal needs a makeover, and should be focused on protection, compassion, and strength over dominance, power, and aggressiveness.

In today's show, we talk:

* The definition of masculine

* How the masculine ideal relates to diet and lifestyle

* Examples of masculine pressures

* Why compassion, vulnerability, and protection should have a higher priority in the masculine ideal

* And more!

What do you think? How should masculinity be shifted in today's world? Does being vegan increase or decrease your masculinity? Girls: what do you look for in a man? Let us know!

Thanks for listening, go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Jackson and Aaron

Show Notes:

Masculinity NPR piece: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/07/21/332329709/for-these-vegans-masculinity-means-protecting-the-planet

Follow us:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube: Thought For Food TV

Music:

soundcloud.com/peterkuli

soundcloud.com/dcuttermusic

Imagine creating a product that tastes, smells, cooks, and feels exactly like a hamburger, but without the animal involved in the equation. Which would you choose? The product based in suffering, exploitation, environmental inefficiency, and disease-causing effects, or the plant-based alternative?

This is where today's return guest to TFF, Liz Specht, comes in. Last time we spoke on the show (Listen to episode 11), Liz was working as a post-doctoral researcher in the BioFrontiers lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, and hoping to combine her skills in the laboratory with her passion for plant-based foods and animal rights. After she was recently hired as senior scientist at the Good Food Institute, we just had to have her on again to talk science, food tech, and the future of food. The Good Food Institute is a non profit organization that seeks to support, financially and educationally, startup companies in the plant-based food world to be more competitive in the market. Like the plant-based milk alternative sector, which has grown immensely, there are new and exciting products coming to the market that are going to change the game for the planet, for animals, and for our health in big ways. GFI is at the forefront by putting together a superhero team of scientists, lawyers, and businessmen to change the paradigm from all aspects of food tech. Liz is brand new to the team and it was so amazing to hear about what they have planned. We won't spoil too much of the episode, but some of the things we discuss include:

* What Liz's role at GFI include

* How GFI is working to change paradigms

* Some of the exciting and upcoming plant-based food products

* What it's like being involved in the plant-based food tech sector

We were extremely honored to have Liz back on the show before she starts her trip around the country as a digital nomad living out of a pimped out trailer. We can't wait to see where her and GFI end up! (Saving the world is high on their to-do list).

Thank you so much to everyone that has been supporting the show by leaving an iTunes review from your computer, sharing with your friends and family, and sending us questions to [email protected]. We've been absolutely blown away by the kind words, so thank you to each and every one of you! If you aren't already, definitely be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Google Play to get the newest episode first each week. Follow us on social media to get daily updates on what we're doing, links are all down below! Hope you enjoy the episode, and as always:

Go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Aaron and Jackson

Show Notes:

Good Food Institute: www.gfi.org

Impossible Burger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHayzP41CLc

Liz's first interview: http://www.thoughtforfoodpodcast.com/2016/03/tff-ep-11-connecting-science-and-compassion-with-liz-specht/

Social Media:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

YouTube Channel: Thought For Food TV

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

Music by:

www.soundcloud.com/peterkuli

www.

Alright! It's that time again: Q&A Time! We got some great questions for this round of Q&A, which we're really excited about. We're also including a special addition to the normal podcast Q&A where we also broadcasted LIVE on Facebook to get some additional questions for the end of the episode. We are thinking about including these in more of our Q&A episodes; what do you guys think? Yay or nay? Let us know.

We answer questions ranging from:

* Is the eCornell Plant Based Nutrition Certification course worth it?

* What supplements do we recommend for vegans and which ones do we take?

* Eating disorder recovery as a vegan athlete

* The economics of switching from animal agriculture to plant-based food agriculture

* And much more!

We seriously enjoyed recording and answering all of your questions, so thank you so much for sending them in! If you want a question answered, feel free to send us an email at [email protected] and we'll throw it in the pile for the next Q&A (usually every 10 episodes or so). Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest and greatest TFF action! Links below. Also, if you want a video version of the podcast, head over to our Facebook page where the Facebook Live broadcast is posted under videos. It's a different look into TFF!

Want to support us for free because you love us so much? Leave a review on iTunes from your computer by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/TFFitunes. It helps us out tremendously. And don't forget to tell your friends and family about TFF and share on social media to get the word out, you never know who our message might resonate with! Thanks dudes and dudettes.

Until next time,

go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Jackson and Aaron

Show Notes:

Supplementation information: NutritionFacts.org and Jack Norris RD

Connect with us:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram.com/tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Okay guys. If you're a veteran of the whole food, plant-based lifestyle, today's guest on the show needs little introduction. For the rest of you, Dr. Neal Barnard is a hero among the medical community in relation to diet and lifestyle management of diabetes, ending medical use of animal experimentation, and helping to dismantle the outdated paradigms of medicine.

Dr. Barnard is the founding president of the Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an organization that is dedicated to changing the way doctors and other healthcare providers approach healthcare. Shifting towards prevention over pills, PCRM is fighting for a healthier, more compassionate system to make real change. Dr. Barnard is also an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine, he founded the nonprofit Barnard Medical Center which opened in January of 2016, led a successful effort to abolish all animal experimentation in ALL U.S. medical schools, and serves as a fellow in the American College of Cardiology. He's also authored 17 books and more than 70 research papers on nutrition and health.  Essentially, this guy is dedicated to service, care, and works way harder than the rest of us.

We were fortunate enough to sit down with Dr. Barnard in Aspen at a conference on brain health he was speaking at, and we thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We talk about:

* When and why Dr. Barnard decided to pursue medicine as a career

* Myths and misconceptions about type 2 diabetes

* Why he started PCRM and its goals for the future

* How he successfully ended the use of animal experimentation in medical schools

* Recommendations for medical students looking to integrate nutrition and lifestyle medicine into their practice

* And more!

We hope you enjoy the episode, it was a complete honor to pick Dr. Barnard's brain. You can see more of the action of that day on our YouTube channel, Thought For Food TV, where we made a vlog of the experience! Keep up to date with all things TFF via our social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. Links will be down below. If you want to support what we're doing for free because you love us so much, feel free to leave us a review on the iTunes store from your computer to help get the ratings up and reach more listeners, and definitely tell your friends and family about TFF if you think they could benefit from the information we offer! Thank you guys, truly, for being the best fans and for listening each week.

Go eat some plants, and what's your thought for food?

-Jackson and Aaron

Show Notes:

Dr. Neal Barnard:

www.pcrm.org

TED Talk

Prevent and Reverse Diabetes Book

Facebook Page

Follow us on social media: 

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-473054330

iTunes

We’ve recently been thinking a lot about minimizing things in our lives to live with more purpose and simplicity. Minimalism seems to be a pretty hot topic these days so we thought it would be fun to weigh in on the subject with our own experiences. Being a “minimalist” doesn’t just mean ditching all of your possessions and living off the grid, it’s about intention, mindfulness, and understanding what’s truly valuable in YOUR life.

It’s been a while since we were both together on the show with a topic episode, so hopefully you enjoy our conversation. We go into things like:

* Why a plant based, vegan lifestyle is the best way to live in terms of minimalism

* Our own current thoughts and goals for living more simply

* How we approach minimalism in our own lives

* Why Jackson wants to become a digital nomad

* Our advice and tips for the listeners of the show

There are so many benefits to reducing clutter and stuff in your life, and we felt it was important to share our thoughts on the matter. Clearly, neither of us are experts or claim to have the best advice. But that’s what’s cool about this episode, it can start a conversation and help us (as well as you) lean more towards approaching this kind of lifestyle. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

-Jackson and Aaron

Show Notes:

The Minimalists website

Specific Minimalist podcast episode we were talking about

Follow Thought For Food:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: tfflifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Strava

Imagine following your purpose in life and utilizing that purpose to save money to travel the world in search of community, adventure, and cycling. That’s exactly what this week’s guest, Stephanie Yu, does. Steph is living the digital nomad lifestyle through creating a personal social media brand that is dedicated to helping others recover from eating disorders (something she’s been through herself), teaching the benefits of a vegan lifestyle, and making entertaining and gorgeous online content. Steph and I met briefly in Thailand this summer, and then she spontaneously decided to come to Boulder, reaching out over the internet to see if I was willing to help show her around. She recently gotten into cycling, so of course I was stoked to play tour guide. We immediately hit it off and are already great friends, and Steph is just as energized, passionate, and kind as she is in her videos! We sat down for a very informal podcast interview after she interviewed me for her YouTube channel, which should be up soon (check it out here). We talk about:

How and why she got into cycling

The silver lining from a horrific crash last year in Thailand

Her upbringing and young life, struggling with anorexia and perfectionism

Why Steph decided to start travelling for a year and some of her favorite places

The inspiration she draws from her daily blog, 365 days of gratitude

The power of connection and community

Her journey towards success on social media and how she approaches it

It was really fun to get to know Steph more deeply through her first ever podcast, and to share that experience with you guys!

If you’re enjoying the podcast and want to support us for free, leave us a review on the iTunes store, tell your friends and family about TFF, and share on social media! It seriously helps us out a lot. Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes to get the latest episode right when it comes out! I also just posted my first ever VLOG this week, so go check it out on our YouTube channel, and keep up with us on all of the other social media platforms, which are linked below. Hope you enjoy the show with Steph, and don’t hesitate to send us questions about anything and everything pertaining to plant-based nutrition, health, exercise performance, or my favorite bedtime story to [email protected]. As always, go eat some plants, and what’s your thought for food?

-Jackson

Show Notes:

Steph’s social media:

Instagram: @happyandhealthy96

YouTube Channel

Website/blog: stephyu.com

Follow Thought For Food:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: tfflifestyle

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Strava

It’s pretty clear that our environment is in serious trouble. Ozone depletion, desertification, ocean dead zones, deforestation, species extinction, and climate change are some of the main problems that we’re facing. The problem is, these issues don’t always have a clear fix, and many factors play into their cause. We do know though, that humans play a major role in the acceleration of environmental degradation through overpopulation, transportation, and the focus of this conversation: diet.

Welcome to the show Peter Newton, PhD researcher and professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the environmental studies program. Pete and I met through the running community here in Boulder (Pete is a passionate ultrarunner) and I soon found out that he also focuses on deforestation in Brazil as a result of animal (specifically beef) agriculture. I was really interested to hear more about his work so of course a podcast would be a great place to start! We covered a lot of great topics including:

Pete’s background in education and research

What his work at CU looks like

All about his work in Brazil

Are the claims made by documentaries and sources like Cowspiracy accurate?

How students in his classes are reacting to the realities of animal agriculture and the solutions

What are some ways of mitigating the degradation that is occurring?

A bit on his running career

We tried to keep it pretty informal and not get bogged down by too much data, so we hope you learned something new. I really enjoyed sitting down with Pete, and hope to have him on again in the future!

Can you guys do us a huge favor? If you’re enjoying the show, it would really mean a lot to us if you told your friends and family about TFF and wrote a review on the iTunes store from your computer. Spreading the word is key to making our mission and goals more mainstream and able to catalyze actual change. Keep it up!

-Jackson

Follow us on social media: 

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @TFFlifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Twitter: @TFFlifestyle

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-473054330

More on Peter:

GIRAFFES Website: http://petenewton.squarespace.com/people/

http://www.colorado.edu/envs/peter-newton

There’s a lot of talk in our society these days about “hacking” your way to success, results, or better productivity. Aaron and Jackson are quite obsessed with being productive and learning about entrepreneurship and efficiency. But we believe that, like most sustainable and positive lifestyle achievements, productivity can’t be hacked. Okay, maybe some components can be achieved through shortcuts and skills, but for the most part it’s about finding what works for you and being consistent. Today on the show, we ramble about our approach to productivity, morning routines, and finding balance in work. In the episode, we cover things like:

* Our morning and daily routines that are essential for staying productive in school, work, family, and fitness

* Why practicing meditation can be massively beneficial for productivity

* Finding balance in your schedule

* The ultimate tip for being productive

We also want to give a big shout out to the girls at Live Planted Podcast! They just recently started up a podcast focused on practical vegan living, and they have a really nice approach. If you’re looking to scratch that vegan podcast itch, definitely go check them out on SoundCloud and iTunes!

Keep up with us on social:

Facebook.com/TFFlifestyle

Instagram: @tfflifestyle

Snapchat: TFFlifestyle

YouTube.com/ThoughtForFoodTV

Leave us a review on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/thought-for-food-podcast/id1076175941?mt=2. It really helps us out and reaches more people. Be sure to share TFF with your friends and family on your social media platforms to get more awareness circulating about the topics we cover. Thank you.

Go eat some plants, and what’s your thought for food?

-Jackson and Aaron

Music:

Peter Kuli: www.soundcloud.com/peterkuli

David Cutter Music – www.davidcuttermusic.co.uk