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April 21, 2025 19 mins

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Tired of feeling drained, overwhelmed, and stuck in a cycle of exhausting health struggles? What if the answer to your energy, clarity, and vitality lies in something as simple as a single ingredient? In this episode of Power on Plants, we’re diving into the surprising health benefits of vanilla—yes, vanilla!—and why the form you choose matters more than you think.
Join Jarrod and Anita Roussel, healthcare professionals and plant-based living experts, as they reveal:

  • The hidden dangers of traditional vanilla extract 
  • The life-changing benefits of pure vanilla bean and vanilla powder—think reduced inflammation, better blood sugar control, and even anxiety relief.
  • How to avoid common pitfalls when buying vanilla products (hint: not all powders are created equal).
  • Simple, delicious ways to use vanilla in your healthy vegan recipes, WFPB meals, and plant-based desserts to transform your meal prep into a nutrient-packed, flavor-filled experience.

This isn’t just about vanilla—it’s about reclaiming your health and energy with whole plant foods that taste so good, you’ll never feel deprived. Whether you’re new to whole food plant-based eating or looking for fresh ideas to simplify your vegan meal prep, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you thrive.

Imagine waking up excited to tackle your day, thinking clearly, and finally breaking free from the cycle of fatigue and frustration. With the right tools and knowledge, you can create the enjoyable and exciting lifestyle that supports your health goals while enjoying every bite!

Don’t settle for “just okay” when vibrant health is naturally within reach. Tune in now and discover how one small change can lead to fully living the active life you love!

💃🏻 Ready to learn how to actually enjoy eating whole plant foods so you can finally feel great and fully experience life? 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 & actively live your God-given dreams. Join the Waitlist Here... the Doors are Opening Soon!

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

🥣 Grab our Cookbook Bundles (and snag the incredible Bonuses 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!

Please subscribe & give the show a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other podcast providers. And don’t forget to share it with a friend for inspiration!

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Anita (00:00):
Hey sister, welcome to the Power on Plants podcast.
Are you tired of staring intothe fridge wondering what to eat
so you can just feel better?
Do you want to avoid spendinghours in the kitchen making
complicated meals in the name ofhealth?
Would you love to leave fatiguebehind and finally have the
energy to do all the things youwant to do?
Hi, we're Jared and AnitaRoussel Christ followers,

(00:23):
healthcare 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 ourselvesstruggling with what we thought
were changes that come with ageor bad genes, and we weren't
finding answers to traditionalroutes.
So we dug into the research andcreated our secret nutritional

(00:44):
weapon sustainable plant-basedliving.
The truth is, you can eat morewhole plant foods and it's not
hard.
You just need the way.
That's realistic and deliciousso you never feel deprived.
If you're ready to enjoy yourmeals, no longer be held back by
your health struggles andactively live your life, then
you're in the right place.

(01:04):
So grab your favoriteplant-based cup of happy pop in
those earbuds and let's getstarted.
Hello friend, welcome back toPower on Plants.
Jared and I are excited to bringyou another wonderful,
life-changing whole foodplant-based episode.
Why is it life-changing?
Because we show you how to eatwhole food, plant-based in the
way that's exciting andenjoyable, so that it lasts.

(01:27):
Because we know that you'retired of not feeling good.
You want to feel your bestnaturally, without having to
take a lot of medicines, and youwant to be powered to live a
long and full life, and that iswhat we're all about.
So if you're all about that,too, and you're looking for the
answer that you need, you are inthe right place.
And if you haven't been aroundhere long, I'm going to let you
in on a little secret.

(01:48):
We are very big on flavor.
We want the food to tasteamazing, and one of the ways
that you do that is you seasonyour food, and today we're
talking about seasoning withsomething that you might not
often think of as a seasoningper se, but it's a really
important one, and that isvanilla.

Jarrod (02:07):
I'm over here smiling because I don't think it's a big
secret that we're all aboutflavor.

Anita (02:12):
No, that's our thing.

Jarrod (02:14):
Of course we're into health, but it has to be
delicious, Delicious health.

Anita (02:19):
And why is that?
That's because if it doesn'ttaste amazing, you would have to
force yourself to do the thingthat you think will get you
where you want to go.
And even if it did get youwhere you wanted to go, if it
was miserable and the fooddidn't taste good, what's going
to happen?
You're never going to be ableto maintain it.
You cannot make it a lifestylebecause you don't love it.

(02:39):
So, with Power on Plants, jaredand I have created the
five-step framework for makingthese foods so enjoyable that
you never, ever want to go back.
You don't feel deprived.
You love the way you eat and itlights you up.
We had somebody we're workingwith the other day and she said
I totally get it.
Now she's just gone all in withus inside Accelerator and she's

(03:00):
doing all the steps of theframework, decided to go 100%,
give it a try.
And she said I see why you'relit up about it.
I mean this is amazing.
It is changing her life, and wesee that happen time and time
again with our clients and ourpatients, as we can help them to
understand.
It's not difficult.
You will not feel deprived whenyou do it right.

(03:21):
You just have to know themethod, because we know that.
We know this works, it works,it works, it works and that's
why we're so excited about it,because it's changed our lives
and we see it change lives everysingle day.
Actually, jared tells hispatients, if he does his job
right, he'll be out of a job.

Jarrod (03:41):
Yes, I'm giving them advice to where they may not
need me as much.

Anita (03:51):
And that is what we're all about.
So we're talking today aboutvanilla.
Now, when you think aboutadding vanilla to your food, you
probably go to vanilla extract.
That's what I went to in mymind years ago, because that's
all I knew.
I mean, that's what we boughtgrowing up, right?
We added that to our foods whenwe were cooking, even from
scratch.
But with vanilla extract therewas the imitation and the pure.
So of course we wanted to buythe pure whenever we could, and
that's what we did because wefelt like, hey, pure is

(04:13):
healthier, right, but there'seven a better way than pure
vanilla.
Why is that?
Because pure vanilla hasalcohol in that, and even Dr
Greger has brought up the factthat that can be concerning,
because things start happeningin our mouth when we eat vanilla
that has been processed withalcohol.
So any kind of alcohol, it'snot really about the combination

(04:35):
, it's the alcohol that we'retaking into our mouth.
So when it hits our mouth itcan cause problems that can lead
to cancer, and that's what I'veheard Dr Greger talk about
before.
And so we try to avoid alcoholwhenever we can.
Are we saying you can never takea drink?
We're not telling you what youcan never do ever.
But what we're saying is, drGreger says that that, according

(04:57):
to the research, is not thehealthiest thing to do.
So why not?
If you can get vanilla pure,just vanilla bean, that is the
whole plant food, right?
If you can get that instead ofvanilla extract, even if it's a
pure vanilla extract with thealcohol and some of the
additives mixed in, why wouldn'tyou want to correct?
So we want to look at how doyou get the vanilla bean in its

(05:21):
more natural, pure, whole formthat it's grown in.
But why do you want to eatvanilla in the first place?
Well, there are health benefitsto eating vanilla, right?

Jarrod (05:29):
Well, the first thing that popped into my mind is
because it tastes amazing.

Anita (05:32):
Because it tastes amazing .
That's the no-brainer.

Jarrod (05:35):
It makes everything so much better.
I have actually gotten into thehabit for the last year or so,
adding it to my morning oatsroutine.

Anita (05:43):
It's so good.

Jarrod (05:44):
It tastes amazing.
It's very easy.
I feel like doing vanillapowder is easier than doing the
liquid form, just because it'seasier to control the amount
that I put into it.

Anita (05:52):
Oh, you brought up a good point of vanilla powder.
Okay, so that's the alternativethat we want to look at.
You can either get the wholebean.
That's the alternative that wewant to look at.
You can either get the wholebean you can buy those at many
stores you cut the beanlengthwise, open it up and you
scrape out the paste that's onthe inside.
With the back of a knife youcan do that easily or with a
spoon, and the paste just comesright out.
That is pure vanilla bean, butyou can also get it dried in the

(06:16):
form of a powder.
One thing that Jared and I wantto warn you about is to avoid,
if you can, the white vanillapowders, because those white
vanilla powders usually eitherhave some protein powders mixed
in or they have a lot ofadditives, things like powdered
sugar or other sugars.
They add that to stretch itbecause vanilla can be quite
expensive, right?
So to save on their bottom line, they're trying to stretch out

(06:40):
the product so they don't haveto put as much vanilla in there.
They can stretch it with sugarand some of these other things
that just aren't good for you.
So you want to look at gettinga vanilla bean powder that is
the color of vanilla bean, whichis a brown or a darker brown.
It looks like real vanilla bean, because it is.
It has one ingredient thevanilla bean.

(07:02):
So what I'm going to do for youis, inside our free group
Podcast Insiders Experience, I'mgoing to give you our favorite
vanilla bean powder link so thatyou can find that.
And if you say, oh man, I wantthat, but now it's a year down
the road, it's two years downthe road and I'm listening to
all the podcast episodes andit's been a while, I'll probably
never be able to find that inthere, oh, yes, you will,

(07:24):
because inside our free groupwe've made everything searchable
for you.
All you have to do is type invanilla or vanilla bean powder
and it should pull up the postfor you very easily.
We have set this up to be ano-brainer, incredible resource
for you where we're setting youup for success and giving you
those first steps so that youcan start getting results.

(07:46):
Before you join us insideAccelerator, and that's when we
take you by the hand and walkyou step by step through the
five steps of our framework thatare going to change your life.
But start getting results now,putting these things into place
by joining us atpoweronplantscom forward slashP
I E.
That's the free group atpoweronplantscom forward slash P

(08:09):
I E.
You are going to find so muchgood information in there that
is searchable.
You can even search all thepodcast episodes.
It will search every word inevery episode Every time we said
it really is a no brainer, likeif you're not in every episode
every time.
We said it Really it's ano-brainer, like if you're not
in there, why are you not inthere?
Get in today.

Jarrod (08:26):
Definitely go and look and find which one is our
favorite, because when you lookat it it has a very rich dark
color to it and the smell isincredible.
And you mentioned about theimitation vanilla that's out
there.
It will smell like vanilla butit's a synthetically made
compound of just the moleculevanillin, which gives it its
primary flavor.
But there are over 200different compounds within

(08:48):
vanilla that contributes to itsflavor.
So you're really not going toget that depth of the flavor and
the nuances that are in therethat are like in the vanilla
bean.
So we highly recommend it.
It really is akin to like werecommend getting fresh ground
black pepper because it's sodifferent than the pre-ground
that it's got a littlepepperiness to it, but it
doesn't really have a whole lotof smell.
But fresh ground black pepperoh, it's a whole different

(09:11):
flavor and taste sensation.

Anita (09:14):
And the other thing too is, if you're getting the
artificial vanilla, you're notgetting the beneficial nutrients
.

Jarrod (09:22):
Exactly.
You're not going to get thehealth benefits that come with
the natural.
And what are those I mean?

Anita (09:28):
what are the big ones that we know about?
I want you to share these withthem because it really is
mind-blowing.
How much is in this.
One thing and this is where youhave to wrap your mind around
the fact that whole plant foodscan change my life, absolutely
can change your life, cannaturally reverse chronic
diseases that you may have beentold you'll have for life.
We see it all the timeAutoimmune disease, type 2

(09:51):
diabetes, high blood pressure,high cholesterol, unexplained
headaches, spine pain.
I mean we could go on and on.
It really is a no-brainer, andwhen you think about all these
flavors these foods are adding,but we're just talking about one
.
So what I want you to wrap yourmind around right now is the
fact that this is one thing, andthese are all the benefits that

(10:14):
we know of that God has putinto this one whole plant food.
When we get in its whole formlike we're eating the long pure
vanilla bean that we're scrapingout the paste, or we're eating
the dried vanilla bean powderthat is not white but it's the
dark one that we're going toshare with you inside the free
group you're going to get thesebenefits, so many benefits, but

(10:34):
your food's going to tasteamazing.
But this is just one wholeplant food.
So then you stack another, andanother, and another, and
another, and you can see whybefore very long, with all the
benefits and blessings thatGod's put in all of these foods,
how your life can change indramatic and incredible ways.
So now, instead of feelingexhausted all day, every day,

(10:56):
you're actually excited to getup and live and fulfill your
purpose and your calling andenjoy it.
So what are the other benefitsof just this one thing that
we're talking about vanilla?

Jarrod (11:07):
Well, in the list of things you've just mentioned
that's actually a lot of what'son my list here it's actually
known to help with cholesterol,diabetes, you know, blood sugar
control, high blood pressure.
It is known to help fightinflammation, has antibacterial
properties to it.
It's known to reduce anxiety,which is thought to be possibly

(11:27):
from the anti-inflammatoryaction that it has, because
inflammation affects useverywhere in the body, all
those inflammatory mediators.
They circulate throughout thebody and can even affect us in
the brain.
So you've got this low level ofinflammation that's
exacerbating all these things,so that when you have a
lifestyle that's not promotinginflammation by you're not

(11:48):
promoting it because you'removing the meat, dairy and the
eggs, but now you're taking thefoods that actually fight
inflammation.
Well, now you're getting rid ofthat inflammatory state.
So not only physically do youfeel better, but mentally,
intellectually, you feel better.

Anita (12:02):
You're thinking clearer, exactly, and that's so important
when you're thinking clearly.
Imagine running a business.
Let's say you have a businessthat you're running and you need
to get to the next level.
You're trying to get thesethings accomplished In your home
.
You're trying to get moreorganized.
You just want your life to flowmore smoothly.
In either of those situations,if you can't think clearly and

(12:28):
you have low energy and you'reconstantly exhausted and going
from this diagnosis to thatdiagnosis and trying to figure
this out and Google thosesymptoms out, how much time and
energy and brain power are yougoing to have to arrive at where
you want to be in life?
I mean, that was our constantstruggle.
We get it, but these are thefoods that can change everything
for you.

Jarrod (12:49):
And I would even say you may not even know the full
extent to which you're beinglimited, because there are many
times when people, physically,they think they're doing okay
and then they actually say, okay, I'm going to go all in, I'll
go 100% plant-based, and withina week they feel great.
But they didn't know, they feltbad because that was all they
ever knew.

Anita (13:07):
Right.

Jarrod (13:07):
So intellectually, mentally, maybe we think we're
operating at full capacity.
But what if you're not?

Anita (13:14):
What if you're not?
What if?

Jarrod (13:15):
you're not?
And what if you could take itto the next level and up your
game in whatever it is Running abusiness, running a home, like
what we did homeschooling.

Anita (13:25):
Right.

Jarrod (13:25):
In addition to running the home.

Anita (13:26):
So let me ask you this, jared how many patients or
clients have you worked withthat when you've given them this
information and they've decidedto go all in that they didn't
get any improvements in how theyfelt.

Jarrod (13:37):
Oh, none of them.
They all got at least somelevel of improvement, but the
ones that really went all in.

Anita (13:44):
They could tell the difference quickly, even within
a week, massive improvements.

Jarrod (13:46):
They felt lighter, they didn't feel tired, the food
didn't weigh them down.
I mean, they noticed thesebenefits extremely quickly.

Anita (13:52):
I honestly can't think of one person that we have worked
with that has not gottenincredible results that have
shocked them in one area oftheir life or another, something
that has just blown their mind.

Jarrod (14:05):
And I think for many of them too, it highlighted they
didn't realize how bad they feltuntil now that they actually
feel good.
They can look back and see wow,what a difference.

Anita (14:15):
When you keep bringing that up.
And that was your story.
You told me you didn't realizehow bad you felt.
I didn't realize I was so achy.
I didn't realize I had allthese things going on until you
felt better.

Jarrod (14:27):
Which further highlights just how quickly whole plant
foods can change things for you.

Anita (14:32):
Totally life-changing and it breaks my heart that this
isn't part of the generalinformation.
I mean, it is because we'reputting the information out
there, but we're trying to reachmore people with this message
which actually, if you have aminute, leave us a review.
It means so much to us becauseit's going to help us reach more
people and this is so importantto us because this is why we

(14:52):
went into health care.
We didn't go into health careto help people manage their
diseases.
We went into healthcare to dowhat we're doing now.
That lights us up and it'shelping people reverse their
disease so they can actually getout there and live life and
enjoy it.
Which brings me back to theflavor of vanilla, not just the
health benefits.
The flavor is amazing.

(15:13):
I mean, I just went in thereand made some baked potato cubes
, some sweet baked potato cubes,and I put some cinnamon and
some spices on there and I bakedthose up and then I put some of
that powdered vanilla.
Oh, wow, it really bumped upthe flavor and made them amazing
.
We love putting vanilla inthings like our cookie dough

(15:34):
hummus and our brownie batterhummus.
It's delicious All thesedesserts like the chocolate
cheesecake pie and some of ourcookie dough hummus and our
brownie batter hummus.
It's delicious.
All these desserts like thechocolate cheesecake pie and
some of our cookies.
It just goes on and on and youcan get those recipes at
poweronplantscom forward slashcookbook.
We have two cookbooks waitingthere for you, plus a load of
bonuses.

(15:55):
If you don't know where to start, or even if you've been doing
this for a while and you thinkyou know what, I shouldn't have
to force myself to love this.
I need the recipes that areactually going to make my taste
buds sing.
This is it.
Just do it for yourself, andnot only that you're going to
love it, because they will getyou out of the kitchen so much
faster.
Really, it's like one of thelast episodes where we were

(16:15):
talking about the taste and seemethod is super important.
You need to be able to tastesome whole food, plant-based
recipes that actually taste good, brownies that don't make you
want to cry because they tastebad.
They actually bring tears toyour eyes because you think, oh,
I can actually live this way.
I mean, if I can have thingsthat taste like this, or Anita's
Alfredo sauce, or theirfavorite lasagna that tastes

(16:37):
like my mom's, or pizza, orflatbreads that are gluten-free
or gluten-free millet bread orraisin bread, cinnamon raisin
bread that is so delicious.

Jarrod (16:47):
I'm sitting here thinking about some of these
different recipes that you'rementioning, and there are a
number of them that use otherspices.
So like cinnamon, because I'mthinking places where I use
vanilla and how it's not justvanilla that's in there.
We have stuff like cacao powder, cinnamon, my morning oats I'll
have oats, I'll use the vanillapowder, I'll add either

(17:09):
cinnamon or, lately, I've beenusing pumpkin pie spice, because
I started that back in the fallNot that I've ever been a big
pumpkin pie person per se, butit seemed like the right time
for it.
And now I absolutely love theflavor, but that has cinnamon
and has other spices in it.
But then the blueberries that'sa superfood.
Sometimes I'll put strawberriesin it.
All these different foods havetons of nutrient content, so

(17:31):
you're getting all these healthbenefits that stack one on top
of the other.
I think that's one of thethings that lights us up so much
about whole food, plant-based.
Even though we highlight someof these different foods and
we'll continue to do so becausewe want you to see the different
benefits in these foods andreally appreciate them but it's
in all the whole foods.
All the whole plant foods havetons and tons of nutrients and

(17:54):
health benefits to them.

Anita (17:55):
And when you're describing that, I'm thinking of
all the layers of flavor.
Again, I got to go back to theflavor because it's just
deliciousness upon healingdeliciousness and really it just
is so simple.
It's the simplest way to liveyou can imagine when you know
how.
So get inside the free groupand join us.
Grab your cookbook if you don'thave it already.

(18:18):
If you do have it and it's justsitting there, open that puppy
up and find yourself a newfavorite.
It is going to light you up andmake you so excited about whole
food, plant-based living.
Sunshine, we have loved hangingout with you again today.
You are loved, you are prayedfor and we will see you again
very soon.
Thank you.
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