Dan Churchill's The Epic Table

Latest Episodes:

Ross Mackay on Removing Chicken From The Human Diet Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

“If you love chicken, you will love daring. Wherever you want to eat chicken, there is a world where you can substitute it with daring.” - Ross Mackay

Legends, I am stoked to bring you today’s episode with Ross Mackay! Ross is a good friend of mine, an absolute beast in the gym, and the CEO and Founder of Daring. Daring is a truly incredible company making plant chicken with the mission of making chicken better for people, planet, and chickens. I love that. I have known Ross for a little while now and he is truly one of the hardest working, most driven, and visionary people I have met. At the age of 27 in 2017, he had the idea for Daring. Only two years later he headed to NYC with a backpack of samples to meet with potential investors and received a lot of “no’s”. A year later Daring launched and Ross returned to NYC with millions of dollars raised and in full pursuit of their mission to remove chicken from the market by making chicken better: making it out of plants. Fast forward to 2021 and Daring has raised over 130 million dollars with investors such as Drake, Cam Newton and more. In the span of three years Ross ideated, developed, and launched Daring, getting it into thousands of stores such as Sprouts, Walmart, and probably your local grocery store. The dude is a LEGEND! In today’s episode we discuss Ross’s passion for health, his love for training, why he is plant-strong (Ross is committed to renaming plant-based as plant-strong), how he approaches team building, and how he launched Daring.

We specifically dive into:

How to build a successful team
- Your business needs to attract talent
- Have a CEO that brings on talented, trustworthy, driven, passionate, and fun team members
- When building a brand, you should enjoy spending time with the people you surround yourself with for the next 10 years
How to identify your target market
- Identify the market that you want to penetrate
  - In Daring’s case: chicken
- Greatest impact comes through being better than chicken
  - Being better than the competing product
How to beat your competitors in business
- Identify the customers most relevant in your market
  - For Daring: chicken lovers
- Create a better product than your competitors
  - For Daring: better for human health
- Identify the impact your product has beyond the customer
  - For Daring: environmental and animal impact

To conclude, Ross also announces for THE FIRST TIME what Daring’s new product will be! Daring has removed over 700,000 chickens from the American diet and are continuing to remove many more. Follow along with their mission and get yourself some Daring chicken!

Connect with Ross at the following links:

Ross’s Instagram

Ross’s LinkedIn

Find daring:

daring’s Website

daring’s Instagram

Danny Del Ray on Surviving One of The Bloodiest Battles & Become a D1 Athlete Jan 04, 2022

Show notes

Team, today Danny Del Ray who is a legit legend joined us on the show. Danny is a military veteran having received the purple heart from his service in Afghanistan. Danny survived two years overseas and one of the bloodiest battles in history. Danny was one of the few US soldiers stationed at an outpost in a valley surrounded by mountains that thousands of Taliban attacked. Danny and some of his fellow brothers in arms fought them off and survived. This battle is recapped in the movie The Outpost and Danny stars in it. Already, Danny’s story is unique and truly incredible. However, this is just the beginning. After returning from war, Danny played in the NFL for the Rams to honor his promise to his fallen brothers. After a couple of years in the NFL, Danny decided to pursue his music career which was his passion before he joined the Military. Danny has one of the most powerful stories I have ever heard and it was an honor to have him in the studio.

Connect with Danny at the following links:

Danny’s Music

Danny’s Instagram

Danny’s Website

The Best of 2021: Reflecting on an Epic Year Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

Team! As the year comes to end, I want to take a minute to reflect on and appreciate all that we were able to experience this year. Looking at the guests we had on the podcast in 2021, I am filled with so much gratitude for all of you. YOU, my epic team, are the reason I am able to host these incredible guests who are at the top of their fields, pushing the boundaries for what is possible. You all listening to the episodes, downloading them, sharing them, and leaving reviews are what drives the growth of the show. My goal for this podcast is and always has been to learn how we can all improve our performance and life from amazing individuals. I truly hope that the conversations we have on The Epic Table have and continue to help you in your day-to-day life. Looking forward into 2022, I am so pumped to continue helping you all control the controllable while having a ton of fun! If you want to connect more, follow me on Instagram and reach out!

The amazing guests we had this season that I want to highlight are:

January

Dr. Will Cole on intermittent fasting

February

Team Sherzai on eliminating Alzheimer's disease

March

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz round 2 on gut health!!

April

Nick Bare on eating disorders in males, entrepreneurship, and health
Drew Harrisberg on reversing Diabetes

May

Harpreet Singh Rai on Managing Sleep

June

Angie Asche on eating for performance, not aesthetics

July

Camilla Bazley on overcoming an eating disorder

August

Hellah Sidibe on first Black Transcontinentalist
Kurt Seidensticker on Vital proteins
Simon Hill on a plant-based diet
Rich Roll on becoming a vegan athlete

September

Adam Klink on Hybrid Athletes

October

Eric Conover on physical and mental health

November

Liz Plosser on health trends in 2022 and morning routines

December

And to wrap up the year, we had Robbie Balenger, one of the elite plant-based athletes in the space, on the show.

Connect with me:

My Instagram

My Website

My TikTok

My Pinterest

Robbie Balenger on Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

To Celebrate The Victories, It Had to Get Dark at Some Point - Robbie Balenger

Team, today we have Robbie Balenger, one of the elite plant-based athletes in the space, on the show today. Robbie started running at 29, so well into his life, and decided to see how far he could go with it. Robbie is a plant-based, ultra-endurance athlete who has completed the Trans-con which involved a 3,175-mile transcontinental run starting in Huntington Beach, CA, and ending in Central Park, NYC. This involved 14 states and an average of 43 miles a day for 75 days. He also completed the insane Colorado Crush which incorporates the Leadville Trail Marathon, The Leadville Silver Rush 50-miler, and the Leadville Trail 100-miler. Robbie got in 1,200 miles and more than 300,000 feet of elevation gain over 63 days. And team, these are just two of three epic challenges he has finished so far! Robbie also completed the Central Park Loop challenge which consists of running the most number of loops around Central Park in NYC during the park’s opening hours of 6am to 1am the next day. Robbie got in 16 full loops around the park with almost an hour to spare, breaking the previous record of 11 loops. These are incredible accomplishments, however, this lifestyle that Robbie lives in is relatively new to him. In today’s episode, we discuss Robbie’s childhood, his experience as a successful restauranteur, and his gradual transition into a plant-based ultra-endurance athlete paving the way for others in the space.

We specifically discuss:

How to set clear boundaries to prevent burnout
- Setting boundaries with self
How to be selfish in a way that improves your life
The pain plateau - How to push through the pain barrier

Connect with Robbie below:

Robbie’s Instagram
Robbie’s Website

How Sleep Affects your Blood Sugar Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

Team, today I walk you through a brand new paper released today that studied the effects of sleep on blood glucose metabolism. Last week we had world-renowned Professor Paul Franks join us to discuss diabetes, genes vs lifestyle. We touched a new sleep study he was the leading researcher in. Today I have the pleasure of walking you through that study!

Specifically, we discuss:

An overview of the study itself: Impact of insufficient sleep on dysregulated blood glucose control under standardized meal conditions
How the study was carried out
What the researchers looked at: Sleep duration, sleep midpoint, sleep efficiency
What is the sleep midpoint?
The results of the study
How sleep affects blood sugar
Should we be sleeping in if we go to bed late?
What happens to our blood glucose with insufficient sleep

Quick shout out to the team from Zoe for getting this study together. This podcast is all about getting you all the best in resources to help you improve your performance and having access to this study is a clearly an indication of how much you all love this podcast so thank you!!!
You can find Zoe at the links below:

Zoe's Website
Zoe's Instagram

Paul Franks on How to Prevent Diabetes through Food & Lifestyle Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

“Genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger.”

Team, today world-renowned Professor Paul Franks joins us to discuss diabetes, genes vs lifestyle, the nature vs. nurture idea, precision nutrition and more! Professor Franks received his B.S. from Brunel University, his M.S. from Exeter University, his M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Clearly, the man is a weapon. He focused his education on epidemiology, biostatistics, and genetics and then concentrated his research to study Type 2 Diabetes, specifically lifestyle interventions to improve health. Currently, he is the Genetic Epidemiology and Deputy Director at Lund University Diabetes Center in Sweden, the Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology Unit., and he is an Adjunct Professor at Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Professor Franks is truly one of the most knowledgeable people I have had the privilege to talk to in this space. He is also an elite athlete having run 50ks at 11 years old and having completed his first Iron Man at 21. In this episode we discuss what disease is, specifically diabetes, and how it is affected through genes, lifestyle, and the ways we can prevent it.

Specifically, we discuss:

How to eat, train, and get good sleep all in a way that is healthy, disease preventative, and ENJOYABLE.
In this episode we breakdown the nature vs nurture myth
How can we adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent diabetes and improve our performance when the foods offered to us are in direct contradiction
Does our current science telling us how to improve the way we eat decrease mortality or do we need a better approach?
We dive into using machine learning to find the best optimized food for individuals to combat diabetes
We explain precision nutrition and how it can be used to prevent disease
We discuss the struggles in accumulating strong nutritional data
And Professor Franks provides a rule of thumb to ensure you are eating healthy:
Less processed foods
Plant centric
Everything in moderation

Legends! I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from professionals such as Professor Paul Franks, and I owe so much of this opportunity to you my epic team so I want to say THANK YOU!

You can find Professor Paul Frank’s info below:

Professor Frank’s Twitter
Professor Frank’s Harvard Page

Liz Plosser on How to Build Your Perfect Morning Routine Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

Have you ever wondered what the director of Women's Health thinks about health? Team, an absolute legend is joining us today! In this episode Liz Plosser, the Editor-in-Chief at Women’s Health joins us to provide an inside look at how COVID has changed so many of the ways we approach health, and what new health trends we can see forming. Liz identifies many ways that COVID has affected people’s behavior such as people becoming more prone to exercising outdoors, doing home workouts instead of returning to gyms, and we discuss the future of wearables in the health industry. Liz is genuinely one of the most bad-ass people I know. Not only is she the Editor-in-Chief at Women’s Health, but she is also the author of Own Your Morning. This book will help you gain the tools you need to unlock your full potential.

In this episode we discuss:

Should I count calories?
Should I track my sleep?
How has COVID affected habits?
How has COVID changed self-care routines?
What is a good self-care routine?
What should I add to my morning routine?
How to start a morning routine and stick to it?
What is your perfect morning routine?
What is meditation?
How to meditate?
When should I meditate?

I truly hope you can take away some key additions for your morning routine to help you own your day and improve your life. If you are interested to share your experience owning your mornings, use the hashtag #ownyourmorning. You can find Liz’s links below:

Liz Plosser’s Instagram
Own Your Morning

Dr. William Li on How Food Can Prevent Cancer Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

My mission in life is to help people love their food and love their health at the same time - Dr. Li
Team! Today we have a true legend paving the way when it comes to using food to prevent disease and ultimately make us healthier and happier individuals! Today we are joined by Dr. William Li. He is a physician and a research scientist, the founder and leader of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a renowned speaker, and the New York Times Best Selling Author of “Eat to Beat Disease.” Dr. Li does amazing work. The Angiogenesis Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization disrupting disease through angiogenesis, the process the body uses to grow new blood vessels. Their mission is to find a common denominator behind diseases to find a single arrow that you can send through all of them at once. His groundbreaking work has impacted more than 74 diseases including cancer, diabetes, blindness, heart disease, and obesity. Dr. Li has a diverse approach to combating disease. In his work as a physician, he also developed a dedication to prevent, not only treat, disease through food. Through this dedication, he decided to focus on writing his book “Eat to Beat Disease” where he collided the worlds of life science and cuisine to learn how to achieve great health through the science of food.

In today’s episode we specifically dive into:

How food can cure cancer
What bioactives are and how they affect our cells
- How to understand the actual bioactives of food to know which foods yield the greatest benefits
- Bioactive chemicals
How to understand the micronutrients in foods through their geographical location and other key factors
How food actually solves medical problems on the cellular level
Anticarcinogenic food
How to make healthy food simple

Legends, I was truly blown away by the deep dive into bioactives in today’s episode. I hope you found it as fascinating as I did.

Connect with Dr. William Li through the following links:

Website

Masterclass

Instagram

Purchase his book: Eat to Beat Disease

The Angiogenesis Foundation

How to Fuel for a Marathon Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Team! It’s marathon season! As I gear up to run the NYC Marathon to raise money for City Harvest, it’s time to get dialed on all things marathon prep. In today’s episode, we dive into the primary variables to focus on to achieve your ultimate performance. One of the primary things to nail is eating enough food. Studies have shown that going from recreational running to marathon training, women on average adjusted their overall energy intake requirement by 40% and men increased theirs by 15% due to their increased training. Overall, individuals going into a marathon are significantly under fueled, and that dramatically affects performance.

So how do you know how much you should consume? First, you need to understand your body and how it responds to food. The simplest way to understand the ratio you should be shooting for in your meals is 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% protein. While approaching this ratio, increase your food quantities to the extent that feels comfortable as you increase your exercise load.

The second major component is hydration. On the topic of hydration, we are looking at electrolytes. When we are training for a marathon, we sweat a lot. When we sweat, people tend to immediately drink a lot of water. This is great, however we need to specifically focus on our electrolyte levels. When you train, you typically lose 200 - 700 milligrams of sodium per hour. We need to be increasing our sodium, potassium, and magnesium intake to improve our performance.

Specifically, we discuss:

How much food should I eat when training for a marathon?
How many carbs should I eat when training for a marathon?
How much protein do I need when training for a marathon?
How does sleep affect my performance?
How to train for a marathon?
What are electrolytes?
Why are electrolytes important?
What are the major electrolytes?

In the episode, we also dive into sleep and its importance for your training and performance.

The electrolyte supplements I recommend:

LMNT

BPN

Athletic Greens

Donate to City Harvest

Dr. Steven Lin on How Your Oral Health Affects Your Overall Health Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Legends! Today is a big one. In today’s episode Dr. Steven Lin joins us to explain the nuances of oral health and how it affects our wellbeing overall. This episode is super important. Dr. Steven Lin is a functional dentist working to end tooth decay and gum disease, help people train their bodies to breathe for better sleep, and improve their overall oral health. The conversation between Dr. Lin and I covers how our teeth show the impact of the food we eat, the effects of a high-processed western diet on our oral health, the origin of modern dental diseases, the dental structure and the modern complications surrounding it, the connection between our gut health and oral health, and much more.

Specifically we dive into:

How is overall health related to oral health?
How our teeth shows the impact of our food
The foods that cause the current problems related dental disease
A compromised oral biome directly translates to a compromised gut microbiome: Dysbiosis
Airway dysfunction leads to sleep apnea due to a loss of architectural support in our jaws
How does poor dental health affect overall health?
Why is oral health important?
How does poor dental health affect overall health?
And we discuss how the teeth provide our most ancient records of human ancestry

I really enjoyed learning about the real and important effects our oral health has on our overall health. I hope it provides you all with valuable insight.

For more, follow Dr. Steven Lin at the below links:

Dr. Steven Lin’s Instagram
Dr. Steven Lin’s Book

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