Today, it’s first and foremost 1 out of 2 of us will die from heart disease. 100 years ago, heart disease wasn’t even on the map as one of the top 10 killers of Americans. So, right here we have the leader of the pack, we have heart disease. The dragon that I’m slaying today, is what I call “ The 5-headed chronic western disease dragon” And This, over the last 100 years, has gained more strength and power and momentum and it is flying around, and it is creating more death and destruction on different individuals, families, cities and states in this country, it’s just absolutely amazing.ĪLSO READ: How Alzheimer's Patients Rediscovered Their Identity Through Graffiti: Damon McLeese at TEDxMileHigh (Transcript)Īnd let me introduce you to this 5-headed dragon. So, I’m no longer fighting fires, but I now and still, I am helping people, I’m saving lives, and I’m slaying – I’m slaying a different type of dragon. Now, I retired from firefighting a little over 3 years ago.

And so, we as firefighters have to use all of our wit and we have to outwit, outsmart it and outlast it, and whether it’s an offensive fire or a defensive fire, there are certain tactics.īut the essence of basically killing a fire is: “You got to put the wet stuff, on the red stuff” and it doesn’t matter if it is a house fire, an apartment fire or high-rise fire, or if it’s a wild land fire, we got to put the wet stuff, on the red stuff. And a fire is really a living, breathing entity, and it’s hell-bent on creating all the destruction and devastation that it can. Now, obviously, we are not slaying real dragons, but that’s our term for slaying fires. So, I became a firefighter to help people, to save lives, and to slay dragons. I’m doing it on purpose and I’m doing it to help people turn their health around.Īnd they say: “Well, how do you do that?”Īnd here is the story. And I do this from time to time, and when somebody says it, I say: “ I know… I’m wearing my shirt inside out. So I’m wearing my shirt inside out and a lot of you have pointed that out to me. Listen to the MP3 Audio here: Rip Esselstyn TED talks on Plant-Strong & Healthy Living In 2012, Engine 2 and Whole Foods Market unveiled the Engine 2 food line. Esselstyn inspired his fellow firefighting crew at the Austin Engine 2 station to follow a plant-based diet and dramatically heal their health. In this TED talk, Rip Esselstyn, a former firefighter and author of The Engine 2 Diet, advocates a plant-strong diet to combat chronic diseases.

Rip esselstyn