Jan. 27, 2025

326: Protein Anxiety? Why You Can Rest Easy About Plant-Based Eating

Power On Plants | Meal Prep Ideas, Plant Based Diet, Vegan Food, Fatigue, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Healthy Food, Vegan Recipes, Weight Loss, Christian Healthcare

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Tired of wasting money on expensive protein supplements and still wondering if you're getting enough nutrients? Struggling to eat healthy on a budget? Healthcare professionals Jarrod and Anita Roussel break down the important science of essential amino acids, debunking common protein myths while showing you a simple way to save big money with whole food plant-based eating.

You’ll learn why you don't need expensive protein supplements or animal products for complete protein nutrition, and how the right, affordable plant-based protein supports lasting health without any harmful cholesterol, saturated fats, or hormones.

Key topics include:

Understanding essential vs. non-essential amino acids
How plants create amino acids from scratch
Biblical evidence for plant-based nutrition (The Daniel Fast)
The way to keep plant-based meals budget friendly
Natural sources of plant protein
Sustainable whole food plant-based eating
Natural, lasting health through whole plant foods

Whether you're concerned about getting enough protein on a plant-based diet, looking for affordable healthy eating options, or seeking natural health solutions, this episode provides evidence-based insights for thriving as a healthy vegan.

Join us to learn how to break free from protein anxiety and embrace food freedom while supporting your body's true nutritional needs - all while saving money on groceries!

💃🏻 Ready to learn how to stop falling off the healthy eating wagon for good so your body can finally feel great? Inside Accelerator, we'll take you by the hand & walk you step-by-step through our proven 5-Step WFPB Framework so you can heal naturally to actively live your God-given dreams. Join the Waitlist Here, and be the first to know when the doors open next!

🎁 Not yet a member of our FREE plant-based community? Once you're on the inside, every single podcast episode becomes searchable for you. 😲 Join us to gain the plant-based encouragement, real health-changing ideas, and sustainable plant-based inspiration you've been praying for! 💕

🥣 Grab our Cookbook Bundles today to learn the simple way to make whole food plant-based eating quick, enjoyable, and sustainable.

🤔 Wondering what's in our new Thrive Cookbook? Click here for the inside scoop!

00:00 - Plant-Based Diets and Amino Acids

07:11 - Dispelling Protein Myths for Health

14:56 - Empowerment Through Health and Freedom

WEBVTT

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Hey sister, welcome to the Power on Plants podcast.

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Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better?

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Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health?

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Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do?

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Hi, we're Jared and Anita Roussel, christ followers, healthcare professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food.

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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 the traditional route.

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So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living.

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The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods and it's not hard.

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You just need the way.

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That's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived.

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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.

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So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started.

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Today we are talking about Legos, legos, legos.

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Yes, this is a topic that my 18-year-old son would love.

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He's always been a huge, huge Lego fan.

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Now, as he's gotten older, his interest is in more intricate sets and things like that, much more intricate.

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But today, yes, I want to talk about Legos.

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Now Legos come in many different shapes and sizes.

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Each of them has a common design principle to it.

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Like they've got the little knob on top and you've got the little recessed area on the bottom I'm sure there's a name for them, I just don't know what they are and they pop onto one another.

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They kind of fit.

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So each one of them has those exact same design principles.

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Now I'm 53.

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I had Legos when I was younger.

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They looked very different then.

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It was a lot more basic, not quite so many options available, probably had a handful, but we made all kinds of stuff with them.

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As you can probably imagine, we're not going to be discussing Legos in today's episode.

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Legos was a metaphor.

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I hear all the time when we talk about protein.

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I hear that from my patients.

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What about the protein?

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What about amino acids?

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So I thought today, all right, we talk about protein and we mention how there are certain amino acids that you must get from food that we do not make the essential ones and then there are non-essential ones, and that got me to thinking.

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We talk about amino acids, but do we really fully understand them?

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And don't worry, I'm not going to go into detail here, but I am going to put on my professor hat for just a moment and talk about amino acids.

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So, just like the Legos, amino acids have two characteristic little side chains and this is where they get their name and this is what makes them an amino acid.

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You have an amine group, which is a nitrogen-based side chain, and then you have the carboxyl group, which is a carbon bound to oxygen, and it creates a slight acidic side chain there.

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So you have amino and you have carboxyl, since carboxyl is slightly acidic.

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That's where you get the name amino acid.

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So every amino acid that we find in nature has those commonalities, and that's important, because what happens when you have the amino acids that are actually making proteins and there are many of them that do not, but the ones that make protein, the carboxyl and the amino groups bind to one another and creates this long chain, and it's the side chain the carboxyl and the amino groups bind to one another and creates this long chain, and it's the side chain, the major side chain of each of those amino acids that gives it different characteristics.

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So then, when you string them together, they fold up and then they become whatever the DNA has coded.

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But there are many amino acids that are not used in protein formation.

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But all proteins are made up of strings of amino acids.

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Yes, there are 20 of them For humans.

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Nine of them are essential.

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The rest of them are considered quote non-essential.

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So what does that mean?

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And I've thrown these terms around before?

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Essential means we do not make them.

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But the interesting thing is is we don't make any amino acids completely brand new.

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The essential ones we must get from food.

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The non-essential ones we make from the essential ones.

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But they're not completely brand new.

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We just kind of reconfigure them, add a little side chain here, alter it the way that the body needs.

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The amino acids are used not just for protein building but also for other processes within the body, like there are some that are converted to dopamine or norepinephrine or epinephrine, which are neurotransmitters that are converted to dopamine or norepinephrine or epinephrine, which are neurotransmitters.

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Tryptophan is converted into serotonin, also a neurotransmitter.

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Histidine is converted into histamines, which are used in immune responses but also stomach acid regulation.

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There are many different processes that utilize these.

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So there's a lot of importance with amino acids.

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As I said, there are ones that we must get from our diet, but animals also have this very same requirement.

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They have different amino acids that they do not make and must get from their diet.

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So what does this mean, if animals don't make certain ones, then where are they getting it?

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Hmm, I wonder.

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Well, it turns out that plants are the only thing on the earth that make amino acids completely brand new.

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In the chloroplasts of all your green plants, where they make energy, they also make amino acids.

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They're grabbing the carbon and the hydrogen and the nitrogen and the oxygen and the sulfur and making these essential amino acids Again completely brand new.

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So what you're saying is the source of all the building blocks.

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Of protein is found in plants.

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Yes, so even though we may get those essential amino acids from animals, they don't make them, so eventually it comes from a plant.

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If you have a carnivore that eats an animal that has eaten an animal at some point in time, one of those animals was an herbivore that ate a plant that got that amino acid, and so it's simply being recycled and sent down the chain.

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And sent down the chain.

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So why not just cut out the middle moo, exactly, or the middle cluck?

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Or the middle cluck, or the middle fishy, or the middle whatever.

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You can insert whatever animal in there.

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And earlier I was highlighting the point about the non-essential amino acids.

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Well, it almost makes it sound like we don't really need those in our food because they're quote unquote, non-essential.

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But again, we do not make any amino acids brand new.

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They're all configured from the essential ones that originate at some point in time down the chain, whether directly from us eating it or from whatever animal we're eating it had to originate in a plant, from a plant.

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So that highlights the point.

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Is a plant-based diet completely adequate for our protein slash amino acid needs?

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And I know that was one of the questions that you absolutely had to have answered for you before you felt like whole food, plant-based was a proper way to eat.

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It was one of the first questions because, of course, we heard all the same advertising and the same messages that everybody else heard you need protein, you must eat animals.

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So when we started wrapping our minds around, wait a minute.

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Plant-based is this true, is this real?

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That was one of the first questions that I asked and it's a resounding yes.

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Plants are completely adequate for meeting your protein needs.

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But those amino acids coming from animals come with a host of other things, such as the cholesterol, the saturated fats, hormones, arachidonic acids, like we talked a few episodes back.

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So it comes with other things in that package that aren't good for us.

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They're detrimental to our health.

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And not only are they detrimental to our health, they don't come with the other beneficial things that plants come with.

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So it's like this double whammy of sorts.

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That's what I call it.

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You're getting these things that are not good for you in the name of quote health.

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So if I'm eating my meat to get my protein, then I'm getting secondhand protein.

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And not only that, I'm getting all the other things that I don't want to put into my body, like you just mentioned the cholesterol, the arachidonic acid, all of these things that I don't want to have.

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But then you're also missing out on all the beneficial aspects found in plants that are anti-inflammatory, that are anti-inflammatory, that are fighting cancer that are promoting life and healing.

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So it's not just about all the things you're getting that can cause negative side effects in your body.

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It's about all the things you're missing out on when you're not eating the whole plant foods.

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Yes, Okay.

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So what is the action step today?

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What's that?

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One takeaway that, if you put it into practice, is going to make all the difference for you?

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Get your protein from plants.

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Number one and the second is don't worry about getting your protein, Stop worrying about it.

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Stop spending so much money on protein powders, protein shakes, protein bars, amino acid supplements, all these things.

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It's just like realize that these are the building blocks of protein.

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That's what an amino acid supplements.

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All these things.

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It's just like realize that these are the building blocks of protein.

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That's what an amino acid is.

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Like Jared said, think of it like Legos.

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So if you're getting those building blocks in whole plant foods which we know you are, and know you do not have to protein combine in order to get those on a plant-based diet then just eat a wide variety of plants, Get a wide variety of the nutrients you need and let that go.

00:09:10.296 --> 00:09:15.577
I mean, imagine Adam and Eve walking around the garden worrying about getting enough protein?

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Oh, Adam, we got to go to the store today because we need to get some protein bars and protein shakes and protein powders and I'm probably not getting enough protein.

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And Adam, we got to flip that puppy over and see does it have enough protein per serving to meet our needs?

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Absolutely.

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There were no labels in the garden.

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Think about how crazy that is.

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We have to wrap our mind around the fact that we have been taught to do things that just don't make sense and they take so much of our brain power, so much of our energy.

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It's no wonder we're being driven crazy about and getting frustrated by how to get healthy.

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We believed all these lies that come through these marketing agencies, through all these product manufacturers that just aren't true and cause us to worry about things, and so we spend money on their products when, in the long run, it's just not a necessary thing.

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If we eat the right way, we're going to get the right nutrients.

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And if we want to look at a biblical precedence, we call it the Daniel fast.

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But Daniel wasn't fasting, he was just eating the vegetables.

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He wasn't eating the rich meat and he was stronger after 10 days than all the other men that were eating the rich meat.

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So we have a biblical precedence there of how vegetables and eating plants can promote health and strength.

00:10:30.802 --> 00:10:31.682
Such a great point.

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Even the words we say can be misleading.

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The Daniel Fast yeah, he wasn't fasting, he was eating quite well.

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He was just eating differently than all the other people, but he was still eating.

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Right and eating the great stuff.

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They should have called it the Daniel Feast is what they should have called it the Daniel Feast.

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I like that.

00:10:49.065 --> 00:10:49.881
I think that's what we should call it.

00:10:49.881 --> 00:10:51.309
Yeah, we'll call it the Daniel Feast, the Daniel.

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Feast.

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We'll just add it.

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Call it the Daniel feast.

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I am in.

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So, after this episode, just release the whole protein myth once and for all.

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Just lay it to rest.

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You're going to get your amino acids from eating a variety of whole plant foods without worrying about protein combining, without worrying about needing to buy this protein powder and this protein shake, this protein bar.

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Find your new favorites.

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Start keeping a running list of them.

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It's going to blow your mind what I can show you how to do with that list once you get inside Accelerator, our program where we walk you through the five steps of how in the world do I make healthy, plant-based eating sustainable.

00:11:35.764 --> 00:11:40.184
It's really hard to do that when you are worried about protein and when you think it's going to be hard.

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It's going to take a lot of time and all these other lies that we believed about what it takes to get healthy, but the five steps inside accelerator are the answer to how do I stop falling off the healthy eating wagon and make whole food, plant based eating stick once and for all, so that I can finally feel good and get out there and live my God-given calling.

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All those numbers are a distraction I mean, that's really all they are is a distraction and it keeps you from walking in freedom, because that's what we have.

00:12:09.092 --> 00:12:12.443
We have food freedom because we don't have to worry about those aspects.

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We have foods that we love.

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They taste amazing, they're quick to prepare, they're not difficult.

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We don't have to worry about all the micros and macros and all that stuff in there, because we just get a good wide variety, and that's freedom.

00:12:26.442 --> 00:12:43.972
And we don't have to portion control and feel angry and jealous about what's on somebody else's plate, because we love what we're eating and we can go out to eat with our friends and enjoy it without freaking out about what we're going to eat and have when we get there, because we know the methods to doing that in a way that we enjoy.

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We can focus on the things that are most important our relationships instead of counting grams of protein and amino acids and all these other things that can make you crazy.

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Let it go and move forward.

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Enjoy, it's just not necessary.

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Jared and I lost 75 pounds together without ever using any of these nasty, miserable dieting methods, still eating the foods that we love.

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We have clients do this on a regular basis, but it's about so much more than weight.

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What's going on on the inside of your body, in in your vessels, with your gut lining and gut health, with your ability to think clearly, with your heart's ability to pump blood where it needs to go, with your body's ability to get garbage out?

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Think about when all those things happen in your body, naturally, without any side effects, except for positive ones.

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What is going to become possible for you?

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That is what this is all about.

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That is what power on plants is all about.

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That is what lights us up.

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It's why we show up for you here week after week, and why we take your hand and walk you through the accelerator framework, because this is the system that brings you lasting results and helps you break free from all these crazy myths that we believed as truth that have held us back for far too long.

00:14:07.493 --> 00:14:09.726
Go right now to poweronplantscom.

00:14:09.726 --> 00:14:10.792
Forward slash accelerator.

00:14:10.792 --> 00:14:11.976
Get your name on the wait list.

00:14:11.976 --> 00:14:18.282
If you're ready for us to walk you through, we'll take you by the hand and show you what we make, how we make it, what's in our pantry?

00:14:18.282 --> 00:14:19.764
What are our favorite spices?

00:14:19.764 --> 00:14:20.807
What are our favorite seasonings?

00:14:20.807 --> 00:14:21.990
What are our favorite sauces?

00:14:21.990 --> 00:14:24.743
How do we get dinner on the table in under 15 minutes?

00:14:24.743 --> 00:14:28.451
As a general rule, like how are you doing this thing?

00:14:28.451 --> 00:14:33.269
We can show you how to set it up so that it's lasting and that you absolutely love it.

00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:37.145
And all of a sudden, you naturally see your health struggles reverse.

00:14:37.145 --> 00:14:45.708
This is why we went into medicine and nursing in the first place, and that's why we are so happy to be here sharing these things with you.

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We love you, we care about you.

00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:49.764
You can get better.

00:14:49.764 --> 00:14:50.905
Do not lose hope.

00:14:50.905 --> 00:14:56.225
One step and then the next step, and before long you are going to be feeling so much better.

00:14:56.225 --> 00:15:04.177
And it's like Jared tells his patients when we do our jobs right you no longer need us, you just love us because we've helped you get free, and that's what we want.

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We do don't want you to stay stuck where you are.

00:15:07.105 --> 00:15:08.447
There's no reason for it.

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God has put you here for a purpose.

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There is a calling on your life to be here for your friends, your family, for all the amazing things that he has in store for you.

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That business, that dream he's given you in your heart.

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What if you finally felt good enough to get started with it?

00:15:24.691 --> 00:15:28.292
What if you finally felt good enough to take it to the next level?

00:15:28.292 --> 00:15:29.837
You can reach more people.

00:15:29.837 --> 00:15:42.673
Think about the ripple effect this is going to have when you start taking these steps and realize the joy and the freedom that you find here, when you get rid of these crazy ideas like amino acids and proteins.

00:15:42.673 --> 00:15:45.570
And what about all the other nutrients in these foods?

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And we're worried about just a few of them.

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This is just one of the crazy things that has sideswiped us from living joyfully and fully in our calling, and that does not have to be your story, because you're here and we're going to walk this journey together.

00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:01.664
Sunshine, I hope you have a great week.

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Join us inside our free group at poweronplantscom forward slash pie.

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That's poweronplantscom forward slash P-I-E.

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We can't wait to hear which step that you put into practice, that you've learned, and hear about how you're already getting results.

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We are so excited to celebrate with you.

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We look forward to getting to know you better and we'll see you again soon, thank you.