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PLANTSTRONG PodcastAuthor: Rip Esselstyn
The PLANT STRONG Podcast is for people who want real answers about food, health, and longevitywithout the noise, fear, or extremes. Maybe youve been diagnosed with a chronic condition and want a path forward that actually supports healing. Maybe youre an athlete looking to fuel performance and recovery. Maybe youre a parent trying to escape the ultra-processed food aisle and feed your family real, nourishing meals. Or maybe youre simply tired of being confused about what healthy actually means. The challenge? Eating more real food can feel overwhelming. Youve heard warnings about protein, cost, or restriction. Youve been told its complicated, boring, or socially isolating. This podcast exists to change that. Each week, host Rip Esselstyn sits down with leading doctors, researchers, athletes, authors, and everyday people who are provingthrough lived experience and sciencethat eating more whole plants and moving your body consistently can deliver powerful, lasting results. Were not interested in perfection or dogma. Were here to be extremely practical, extremely evidence-based, and extremely encouraging. Rips work began more than two decades ago, when he helped transform the health of his fellow firefighters using simple, whole foodsguided by the groundbreaking research of his father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. That experience launched a lifelong mission to help people reclaim their health through real food and active living, and ultimately led to the creation of PLANT STRONG. Today, the podcast is an extension of that mission: cutting through misinformation, challenging cultural norms, and showing whats possible when you fuel your body with food that actually supports it. Youll hear conversations about: Preventing and reversing chronic disease Strength, endurance, and recovery Gut health, inflammation, and longevity Behavior change that actually sticks How to build habits you can sustain in real life Youll also hear about REAL30our simple, powerful framework built Language: en Genres: Alternative Health, Health & Fitness, Nutrition Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Ep. 365: Kendale Ritchey, DPM - A Podiatrist’s Own 30-Year Mystery Illness Solved with Plants — and the Devastating Effects of Diabetes on Your Feet
Episode 365
Thursday, 6 August, 2026
Dr. Kendale Ritchey is a podiatrist in Knoxville, Tennessee, a former University of Tennessee swimmer, and a self-described “recovered barbecue-aholic.”For nearly three decades, Kendale lived with recurring episodes of intense abdominal, chest, and joint pain, along with fevers and debilitating inflammation.Then, after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Forks Over Knives with his wife Connie, Kendale decided to try a whole food, plant-based lifestyle.Within weeks, he noticed something extraordinary: the episodes were milder. Then they stopped.In this conversation, Rip and Kendale talk about his years of unexplained pain, his eventual discovery of Familial Mediterranean Fever through genetic testing, and why a plant-based lifestyle became the turning point in his health.They also discuss Kendale’s work as a podiatrist and the devastating toll of type 2 diabetes on the feet, including neuropathy, poor circulation, infections, and preventable amputations.You’ll hear:Kendale’s background as a swimmer at the University of TennesseeThe construction accident that may have triggered decades of inflammatory episodesWhat Familial Mediterranean Fever is and how he eventually discovered the diagnosisThe documentaries that changed everything for Kendale and his wife ConnieHow whole food, plant-based eating helped calm his symptomsHis 60-pound weight loss and renewed energyWhat he eats now and how he makes the lifestyle workWhy type 2 diabetes is so devastating for the feetThe connection between blood sugar, circulation, nerves, immunity, and amputationsWhy Kendale now plants seeds with his own patients about food and lifestyleWatch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pmsjP92_xH8Episode Webpage: https://www.plantstrongpodcast.com/blog/kendale-ritcheyLearn More About our 2026 Live PLANTSTRONG Events: https://plantstrongevents.com/ Let Us Help Your PLANTSTRONG JourneyLearn 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 Follow PLANTSTRONG and Rip Esselstynhttps://plantstrong.com/ https://www.facebook.com/GoPlantstrong https://www.instagram.com/goplantstrong/https://www.instagram.com/ripesselstyn/ Follow the PLANTSTRONG Podcast and Give the Show a 5-star RatingApple PodcastsSpotify
