Speaker 1: 0:00

Sunshine. Are you feeling tired? If you're tired and you've lost the pep in your step, you are going to love this episode, because we're sharing with you five foods we eat every week that will help you boost your energy. Hey sister, welcome to the Power on Plants podcast. Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better? Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health? Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do?

Speaker 1: 0:39

Hi, we're Jared and Anita Roussel, christ followers, health care professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food. We, too, tried exercising more, eating natural and clean foods, but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes, and we weren't finding answers to traditional routes. So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living. The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods and it's not hard. You just need the way that's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived. If you're ready to enjoy your meals, no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life, then you're in the right place. So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started.

Speaker 2: 1:29

I had absolutely no idea where you were going with that intro.

Speaker 1: 1:33

I kind of messed you up a little bit, didn't I? Well?

Speaker 2: 1:35

that was not planned. It was totally off the cuff. I honestly I thought you were about to sing John Denver's Sunshine on my Shoulder Makes you Happy.

Speaker 1: 1:46

Listen, one of our daughters walked in and she said you sound like Dory from Nemo, it's just, it's created quite the stir.

Speaker 2: 1:55

But I'll tell you it's funny.

Speaker 1: 1:56

I mean, isn't that really like how we are, though All the time? We're always doing stuff like that in real life, so why not? This is real life. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 2:04

We like to cut up every now and then.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Every now and then. Okay, regularly, daily, regularly. So welcome to our living room. We're so glad to have you with us. We love that you're part of the Power and Plants family.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Listen, we know what it's like to live with no energy. This was my story 70 years ago. If you haven't heard it, go back and listen to episode one. Okay, so maybe we weren't as lively on the first one we were just getting behind the mic, but we want you to understand what we went through and how we understand what you're going through, because we were dealing with so many health issues that just did not have to be. And, as a medical professional and a nursing professional, jared and I still did not have the answers. We were not taught these things that we've shared with you in these 300 plus episodes, these things that we share with you in our cookbooks, these things that you're going to be learning in our upcoming course, these things we share every week on the podcast. Right, we didn't know these things back then. If we had only known. It's like Jared always says you don't know what you don't know, but once you do, you can do better.

Speaker 2: 3:11

And then you're armed with the knowledge and then you can do better.

Speaker 1: 3:14

But Jared and I are not the plant-based police. We're not going to force plant-based down your throat. We're not here to force you to do anything you don't want to do. But we realize there comes a time when you want an answer and you don't feel good, and when somebody shares this stuff. It's when you put these steps into motion, when you take the action on the things that you're learning. One step at a time, then another step, or if you're desperate, like I was, and you just jump in with both feet, you're going to get results so much faster.

Speaker 1: 3:39

It's going to happen in ways that will just blow your mind, and this is one of the things we're talking about today. You've got to get past the point where you don't have the energy to do the things you want to do in life because it's going to hold you back from your God-given purpose, and that purpose may be multifold. It may be that you have children or grandchildren or nieces and nephews in your life that you want to play with and run around with and see, get married and walk them down the aisle, or whatever those things are in your family. Maybe you want to travel with your family, your friends, your spouse, experience the world that you haven't gotten to see yet. Maybe you're running a business and you're thinking I just can't get to the next level because I'm constantly having brain fog and I'm exhausted and I'm crashing before noontime comes.

Speaker 2: 4:28

Or you feel like you're always in survival mode and you want to get past that where you're just catching up with yesterday's things, so that you can go ahead and be in a position where you can plan for the future, have great ideas, redirect, grow the business, make it prosperous.

Speaker 1: 4:38

And every one of these was a different reason that we wanted to feel better. But when I was at my lowest of lows, I just didn't want to die. I mean, I'm just going to be honest with you. I looked at him. I said I feel like I'm dying. You're going to have to take me to the hospital or we're going to have to do something. We just reached a point where we just didn't know what to do and thank God, we started seeing truths from his word, started digging into the research, because Jared has a cellular and molecular biology degree. He has a background in research even before he became a physician assistant. So he loves the nerdy stuff, he loves digging into the research. We don't go super deep on it here because I feel like you need those practical steps, but you're going to get that from him. From time to time You're going to get the science-y things and those kind of nerdy things he loves to nerd out on that stuff.

Speaker 2: 5:27

I'm over here grinning because I'm thinking nerdy is actually not a bad word, he loves it so much.

Speaker 1: 5:32

So this is where we're coming from. We're not just sharing anecdotal information that oh well, it worked for us, so surely it's going to work for a lot of people. No, we wanted to feel better. We wanted to save ourselves, so to speak. We know that nobody's saving themselves.

Speaker 1: 5:50

As fellow believers, you know what we're talking about here. But the point I'm making is these foods were created with the ability to fuel your body optimally so you can finally feel good and do all those things you're put here on the planet to do. You have a purpose for being here. We're going to be talking about that more as we go, but I want you to understand that you also have a specific calling, and it may not be the same thing your entire life. That's another funny thing. We were raised to believe that there's one calling, there's one purpose, like Jared was just called to be a PA and that's all he was born to do, but God has used him to do many different things throughout his life. Same with me, like I was called to be a nurse, but I'm also a homeschool mom, and I'm also an entrepreneur and a friend and a daughter, and there's all these different things that God calls us to be and do. But you can't do those things optimally if you're bamboozled, if you're sideswiped.

Speaker 2: 6:43

If you're waylaid.

Speaker 1: 6:44

If you're bamboozled, if you're sideswiped, if you're waylaid, if you're waylaid by foods that are not really foods. Some of them were never meant to be foods. Some of them we shouldn't even call foods because they're so processed and pulled out and mixed up and oh my word, I'm getting on a soapbox right now. I could go on forever. There's so many lessons here that we want you to learn. This is one of the reasons I'm writing the course, because I cannot stand how we don't have enough time here to go through all the things that I want to teach you, and we want you to understand these things in a systematic way. Here's step number one, here's step number two, here's step number three, and you can watch us cooking in the kitchen and explain these things as we go. And also the spiritual truths, not the hoo-ha truths. You get a lot of that in the whole few plant-based vegan space A lot of the hoo-ha, new agey like. You're not going to find that here. If you don't like me saying that this may not be the place for you, we welcome you if you want to stay, but I'm just saying some people don't like it, and that's okay because we love you all, no matter where you're coming from. But we are going to speak truth here because this is the platform that God's given us to do that, and we're going to speak it in love. But there are things that you need to know, like something I shared on the bean episode.

Speaker 1: 7:59

Okay, the last episode. You got to go back and listen to it. Was it 305? 305. Yeah, y'all got to go back and listen to that episode because it was number four, I believe. Thank goodness I didn't make it number two, but it was number four. Listen for that because it's gross, but it's something you need to know, you need to know.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Yeah, as I just told you, we're going to be sharing and getting into these deeper things inside the program, because we'll have the time and the ability to do that more when we're showing up together and we have video where you can see what we're doing and we can walk you through it step by step. But, as you know from our previous 300 plus episodes, we're all about giving you steps that will help you now and you need to start feeling better. You don't need to stay stuck in low energy and brain fog and exhaustion. So what are just five? We're just going to talk about five foods today. Oh, there are so many more, so many more.

Speaker 1: 8:55

The Power Feed Group is what it's all about. You don't know what those are. Come into our free group pie and search Power Foods or five power foods. That's at powerandplantscom forward slash P-I-E or powerandplantscom forward slash pie. You're going to get the answers there on the power foods.

Speaker 1: 9:13

Each one of these things we're going to mention today are found in the power foods. That should not surprise you if you've been around here for very long, but these things are going to give you that boost you need and if you think well, I don't know how to get all those things. You are going to give you that boost you need, and if you think I don't know how to get all those things, you're going to learn how to just get one, and then you're going to learn how to get it in a different way and then you're going to add the next one and the next one. That way it's not overwhelming, it's going to be sustainable for you and, most importantly, you're going to add it in the ways that are simple and actually enjoyable to you and really taste good. Not like like telling yourself oh yeah, this tastes so good, while somebody else is eating something next to you and you're dreaming you wish you could have that. No, that's not going to set you up for success. We're not going to do that to you.

Speaker 2: 9:54

We have not found a way to make cardboard taste like cake and thankfully we don't have to.

Speaker 1: 10:00

Thankfully, we don't have to Listen. If you're trying to eat healthy and you're powering through, yeah, you don't have to do that. Just leave that behind right now, because that's never going to work. Sadly, many people don't know how to do it any other way. You've just been convinced and lied to that that's how it has to be, but it's just not true.

Speaker 2: 10:23

If your baked goods could be used as those discs for skeet shooting, you're probably doing it wrong. It does not have to be.

Speaker 1: 10:37

No, no, such a good point. So the number one food we recommend you start with if you need energy is ginger. I don't care how long you've been eating whole food plant based If you stop yourself and get a ginger shot somewhere or make one if you have a juicer. Now you can get ginger into your food very easily by grading fresh ginger root and buying the powder. You should be getting it on a regular basis, but drink yourself a ginger shot. Just do that for yourself and notice what happens to your energy. It'll only take once or twice for you to understand the difference that this is going to make for you. Game changer, why is that, jared?

Speaker 2: 11:11

The very first moment you drink a ginger shot, that heat and ginger goodness is just going to smack you right there on the cheek. If you're waking up super early in the morning and you need a boost, that is going to do it. But there are many compounds within ginger that help to fight inflammation and that is important because what it does is decrease inflammation within the blood vessels, because when there's inflammation, the vessels begin to get harder, they become stiffer and that increases the amount of pressure that the heart has to use to pump it, but it also decreases the blood flow. So whenever you decrease inflammation or eliminate it altogether, the blood vessels can relax and the blood flows better and more freely.

Speaker 1: 11:50

So then you may think well, how does that improve my energy? Well, if the blood cannot get through your vessels, it cannot get to your organs, to all of your cells, to give the nutrients that your body needs, and it also cannot remove the waste.

Speaker 2: 12:04

And also the oxygen Oxygen and nutrients.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Blood flow is everything. I feel like it's largely either ignored or just not recognized at how important it is, and blood flow is everything everywhere. We think about cardiovascular disease, where there's decreased blood flow in the heart, but it's in the muscles, in the tissues of the arms and legs to your brain. It's everywhere and if you can increase that, then you're going to improve the amount of oxygen and the nutrients that the rest of the body gets, that it needs, and you're going to feel better. I mean, it just makes sense.

Speaker 1: 12:38

It makes perfect sense. And then there are greens. We should be eating more leafy greens every day, particularly raw. Eat them cooked. They're great for you. Cook, but eat some raw too. Look for ways to add your greens to everything. They're high in iron and those dark leafy greens are going to improve nitric oxide.

Speaker 2: 13:02

They increase nitric oxide production, which then helps the blood vessels to heal, be healthy and to relax Again, increasing blood flow. There are other minerals thoughium, copper, b vitamins. B vitamins are found in greens and those are necessary for energy production within our cells. So get more leafies Then there's tempeh.

Speaker 1: 13:23

Now, tempeh may be foreign to you because it's not something that a lot of people eat, but I'm here to tell you when you find ways to work it into your life, I think you're going to enjoy it. It's meaty, it has a different flavor, but when you can get sauces on it, it's a lot like tofu in that it takes up the flavor of those sauces, and then you have another meaty alternative that can be very enjoyable, particularly on sandwiches or wraps or salads. There's all kinds of ways I can show you to do that. Why would tempeh boost your energy?

Speaker 2: 13:54

Well, it is a bean, so it does have a higher mineral content, like what we were discussing, but tempeh, which is a soy product, soy has isoflavones, which are the phytoestrogens things that we have talked about on this podcast before. What we know is that the phytoestrogens will activate beta estrogen receptors that are found in our blood vessels that stimulate nitric oxide production, which, as we said a moment ago, helps to relax the blood vessels, increasing blood flow. So there's more than one mechanism involved with activating nitric oxide production or inhibiting it.

Speaker 1: 14:30

We could sit here all day long and pull up every single nutrient that every single one of these things has and tell you why and how it works. That we know of and I'm not just saying Jared and I don't know it I want you to understand that the remainder of the scientific community doesn't understand or know it either. We're just barely scratching the surface of the plant nutrients that there are that God has put in these foods. I want you to understand that they have identified tens of thousands of them that they haven't even named yet, and that's not to mention all the ones they haven't identified and they don't know because they're not God.

Speaker 2: 15:06

And this may sound ridiculous, but there are actually new discoveries even within the human body.

Speaker 1: 15:12

Yes.

Speaker 2: 15:13

That from time to time they'll discover something. Now, typically these aren't brand new organs, but microscopic things that they didn't know were there until more recently, in the last few, maybe five, 10 years even.

Speaker 1: 15:25

Now let's talk about when some people start eating whole food, plant-based, how they come to us with the question. You know, I just don't feel energized. I feel like I'm having an energy slump and what do we always find out is happening? It is generally that that person is not eating enough calories. You're used to eating little side salads and not knowing how to bulk up your salads and eating just the vegetables.

Speaker 1: 15:56

Fruits and vegetables are, by nature, by creation, they are the lowest calorie, highest nutrient dense foods on the planet, so being by nature the lowest calorie, and you're used to eating certain amounts of food and you've been pre-programmed by the establishment to think that you need to limit your portions. You start eating this way and limiting your portions, you are going to run out of energy fast because these foods are naturally lower calories. So you need to pull in some of the foods that are a bit higher fat or that will sustain you for longer periods of time because they have higher calories. You're still not going to get into the level with most of the foods that are higher calorie on the level of animal foods cheeses, dairy meat, eggs, those kind of things.

Speaker 2: 16:48

And the pressed out oils, Because if you're going into whole food plant based then you're either eliminating or greatly reducing the amount of pressed out oils, which are just empty calories. 120, right Per tablespoon 120 calories per tablespoon.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Such a great reminder. But I want to point out there when I say eating higher fat foods, you automatically, if you have dieted any amount of time, you're thinking, oh, fat's going to make me fat. The right fats don't make you fat and a calorie is not a calorie. I know that blows your mind. I'm gonna go deeper into this in the course but I want you to understand all calories are not created equal, so it's not just calories in and calories out. It's where the calories are coming from that actually make the biggest difference, and this is proven time and again in studies when they look at things like nuts and seeds, things that you would think people would gain weight if they were eating it and it's not true. Yet even in the plant-based spaces I see these rumors and these lies keep going around and around and they've been disproven by research.

Speaker 1: 17:47

Enjoy your nuts and seeds, it's okay. You need to get some of these things onto your whole food. Plant-based meals that are going to sustain your energy, giving you not just those quick bursts of sugar, and whole plant foods aren't going to do that as much anyway, because you're going to have the fiber and all these other nutrients in there. You don't have to be scared of bananas. You don't have to be scared of bananas. I said it twice so that you really wouldn't be scared of a banana. But I want you to understand. You need some of the foods in your life on a daily basis that are more extended sources of fuel. So we want to look at things that have a little bit more of the fats, like avocados, nuts, seeds, beans Also with beans, jared touched on this with the tempeh but you get a lot of iron as well, and so if you're getting the iron, we know that that affects your energy if you're low in iron, but you're going to get that with the beans and these are the foods that are going to keep powering you through.

Speaker 1: 18:47

And then let's look at the fifth food. We recommend quinoa. These grains, these whole grains. Like quinoa. They are slow-release carbs again for sustained energy throughout your day. So you're not going to have this crash and burn. Really, whole plant foods just don't give you the crash and burn Like. How many times have you had a crash and burn with your energy since we started eating 100% whole food, plant-based?

Speaker 2: 19:11

I don't know if I've ever had a crash and burn with your energy since we started eating 100% whole food plant-based. I don't know if I've ever had a crash and burn since we've been plant-based as long as we've been eating regularly. Now, if you've got a day where you're busy, you miss a meal and oh hey, it's seven o'clock at night and I haven't eaten since seven o'clock this morning. You kind of feel that, yes, but as far as like eating a true plant-based meal and then an hour or two later feeling that crash, I don't know that I've ever had that with plant-based.

Speaker 1: 19:35

I've never had it either, never since we started Whole Food Plant-Based. I used to have it all the time when we ate the SAD diet. Standard American Diet.

Speaker 2: 19:43

And the reason being I'm going to go a little nerd here is that when you're eating the refined carbohydrates, your body absorbs that very quickly. As that sugar spikes up, your body sees that it responds by releasing a lot of insulin. That insulin causes the sugar levels to drop as the body, the muscles and the fat cells incorporate that, and then your sugar level drops. And so then an hour and a half, two hours later, you're after lunch, you feel sluggish and you think, oh, my goodness, what's happened? I need a candy bar. And then you're riding that wave, that roller coaster, up and down, whereas with the complex carbohydrates they digest slowly, so you may have the same amount of sugar, but you're releasing it over eight hours not 15 minutes.

Speaker 2: 20:26

So it's there at low levels, ready for your body to use it. Another, I believe, interesting fact is that our brain runs 99% on glucose, which is a carbohydrate. So when we have those crashes we feel terrible. But as long as we have that continuous energy source, we feel great all day long.

Speaker 1: 20:46

I love this way of living. I cannot say that enough. I mean we say it all the time. We look at each other when we're not in front of the microphones. Every member of our household at some point during the week probably says people think we feel deprived. Can you believe how good this is? This is so amazing. I feel great, my body feels good, everything tastes good. It's so easy. We look at each other and go. It's just so easy. So, yes, you keep hearing me say it's simple, it's healthy, it's delicious. That's because that's what we say here all the time.

Speaker 1: 21:19

This is the reality of doing whole food, plant-based, the power on plants way. It's one of the big things that makes us different. You've got to learn how to make this sustainable. It's not just about eating more whole plant foods. How do you do that? That it works with your busy schedule that really and truly lights you up so that you never want to go back. You don't even have to think about cheat days or a thing of the past and all of a sudden, your body's healing and you're feeling great and you have the energy.

Speaker 2: 21:49

It will change your life and you're feeling great and you have the energy, it will change your life. You eat food so good that you can take it to a gathering and people have no idea that it's plant-based.

Speaker 1: 21:57

Clearly.

Speaker 2: 21:57

That's what we're all about as far as the quality of what we eat.

Speaker 1: 22:01

Absolutely. Y'all know, if you've been around here any length of time, how I grew up in my family's barbecue restaurant. Now we lived in a small town but I'm telling you people drove for hours to come to that restaurant because the food was so good. My dad was a chef in the Merchant Marines on a ship on the Great Lakes. He sailed the Great Lakes and he got on there and he started making homemade Like they were doing the potato buds and he's like no, we got to have potatoes. The sailors loved him.

Speaker 1: 22:30

He was all about fresh ingredients.

Speaker 1: 22:31

Fresh homemade breads yes, absolutely, and so I grew up with these things. I didn't sail on his ship, but in a way I did. I mean, his kitchen was our kitchen, so when he was home, he made the homemade breads, he made the potatoes, he made all these things from scratch. My parents did this and I stood by them and learned. They were my mentors and, even though I wasn't eating whole food plant based, I was learning these skills that I love teaching you how to do when applied to whole food plant based living. So I've taken the things that I learned. Even though we ate the quote healthy, we thought we were eating the healthy way because we they cooked most all of our meals, meals, and it was healthier. I'm sure we were getting a lot less of those artificial colors and flavors and things like that, but this is such a different level and they just didn't know. It's like what they didn't know. They just didn't know. But now we do, and so I take those same things that I learned and I'm applying it to whole food plant-based for our family, because it's got to work with the schedule, it's got to taste good and it's got to be super quick and just simple, and then you've got this winning trifecta of goodness that is never going to let you down. And then you start feeling good and you're thinking I feel like I'm a teenager again. This is crazy what's happening right now. And your husband starts having to make you go to bed at night because you have so much energy. You want to stay up and do this thing and that thing and get these things done. He's like look, I've got to get up in the morning and see patients. Okay, maybe your husband doesn't say that, but mine does. That's what mine says. Yours may say something totally different, but this is what's going to happen when you start getting ginger and greens and tempeh and the higher fat plant foods and the quinoa and the sustained release grains the things that we show you how to eat and you don't have to have a degree of a chef, you don't have to have a dad that was a chef or a mom that was the same thing. My mom was the same way she baked. She did bake goods. She had her own cafe little cafe, for a while, where she would bake things and deliver, and she did bakery cakes. So am I going to eat a muffin or a biscuit that's rock hard and dry and think I'm happy and living it up plant-based vegan style. No, I am not. I'm not. That's what people say to me all the time.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Anita, your recipes have changed my life, because I can't tell you the amount of times that I've gone and tried a vegan or a whole food plant-based recipe and I left disappointed. I spent all this time and all this money. I was exhausted in the end because there were all these steps and there were all these ingredients, and then I had all these leftovers, because there were all these steps and there were all these ingredients and then I had all these leftovers, so there was all this waste. These are all things that just fire me up. I can't stand any of those things and I've been through the same experience that they were describing to me. This was my life when we first started trying to figure out whole food, plant based, but I had to take the skills that I learned growing up and I really believe that a lot of it was God inspired, because he wanted to use us to help other people break free from the things that have been holding them back. Many of those things are the foods, the wrong foods, and then it's not getting the right foods and not knowing how to get those because you don't know how to make it quick, simple and delicious. So you are in the right place. We're going to show you how to do this in the way that works for you. The course is coming up.

Speaker 1: 25:55

Until then, grab your copies of the cookbook if you don't have them. We've just recently released our brand new Thrive cookbook. It has many more incredible recipes. Jared and I recently did an episode, a few back I don't know the exact number, but you can listen to it and hear exactly what's on the inside, or just go to the page where we tell you all about it, which is poweronplantscom forward slash cookbook. Again, it's poweronplantscom forward slash cookbook, and there you can see my passion and why I created the cookbook and what is on the inside, but all the bonuses. We have so many bonuses in there for you right now. I don't know how long these specific ones are going to be available, so you want to grab them while you can, because inside I'm going to show you different things, like how do you lose pounds and keep it off and how do you stock your pantry in the way that's simple, healthy and delicious. What exactly is whole feed plant based. And why does it matter? All these types of things you're going to learn just by getting the cookbook bundles.

Speaker 1: 26:56

Then come into the free group and pie. We've shown you how to do that many times on the podcast. I cannot talk enough about this group. It is absolutely amazing. Join us now if you haven't.

Speaker 1: 27:07

At poweronplantscom, forward slashP. I E-E. Get the recipe, start cooking them, ask your questions as you go. If you have any. I've made it so simple. I can't imagine you'd have very many, but ask them if you do have them.

Speaker 1: 27:19

And not only that. I've given you a photo for every recipe. That is super important to me, so important. I want to see what it's supposed to look like. That is there for you. We've set up these tools for you to succeed, so you can start seeing how this can be just as enjoyable and even more enjoyable than the way you've lived before, because now you're not gonna feel like Dory, you're gonna have energy, you're gonna feel great, you're gonna be able to accomplish the things you were put here on this earth to do, and that is what warms our hearts. That is why we are here for you and that is why this means so much to us and we keep showing up week after week for you. We cannot wait to get to know you more. Sunshine, you have a fantastic week. Pick your one thing at least one thing, from this episode that you're going to do to boost your energy, and then come inside Pi and let us know all about it. We cannot wait to hear, and we'll see you again next time on Power on Plants. Thank you.