’The Stress Paradox’ With Dr. Sharon Bergquist

What if the key to resilience isn’t eliminating stress—but embracing the right kind of it? This week on Sisters in Sobriety, we take on the fascinating world of cellular health, good stress, and regenerative wellness with Dr. Sharon Bergquist—a Harvard-trained physician, Yale biophysics grad, and pioneering force behind Emory’s Lifestyle Medicine and Wellness program. Dr. Bergquist is the author of the upcoming book The Stress Paradox, which challenges everything you thought you knew about aging, health, and how to build a body that thrives.

In this conversation, we'll explore essential questions: What makes some stress beneficial—and how can we harness it without burning out? Why does modern comfort leave us more fragile, and how does plant-powered eating reshape the trajectory of chronic disease? They also explore what lifestyle medicine actually is, and how behavior change works from the inside out—at the cellular level.

You'll come away with actionable insight into how to reframe stress, build long-term resilience, and slow aging with everyday tools like circadian fasting, thermal therapy, interval training, and plant-based nutrition. Dr. Bergquist explains the science behind dopamine recovery in sobriety, the myth of needing to do it all at once, and why stacking "good stress" needs to be a gentle.

This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our Substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.

Episode Highlights

00:01 – Why Dr. Bergquist fell in love with the human body

03:20 – How seeing long-term patient outcomes changed her approach

05:15 – Why standard medical care misses the root cause of disease

07:10 – The five “good stressors” that help your cells regenerate

09:50 – The difference between toxic stress and beneficial stress

12:30 – Why numbing stress with alcohol creates a dopamine deficit

14:40 – How good stress like cold exposure gives you dopamine without burnout

17:20 – Over-optimizing for comfort—and how that backfires

19:00 – Pick your discomfort: cold, heat, exercise, or emotional growth

21:15 – What stress actually does to your brain and cells

24:45 – What we’ve lost in the modern world (hint: it’s not just screen time)

26:30 – Why we must reintroduce discomfort strategically

28:00 – The link between resilience and meaning

30:30 – Can you stack stress? Not in early sobriety

33:20 – Why sobriety itself is already a stressor—and that’s OK

35:10 – When and how to add other good habits without overwhelming yourself

37:50 – The science behind a plant-powered diet

40:15 – Why it's not “plants vs meat”—and the real stats on fiber and phytochemicals

43:00 – How to start eating plant-forward without going broke or gourmet

45:10 – The secret sauce (literally) that makes veggies taste good

48:05 – Debunking the protein panic: what research really says

52:00 – Why labels like “vegan” or “carnivore” miss the point

54:30 – The real takeaway: 1 in 10 Americans get enough fruits and veggies

56:00 – What Dr. Bergquist is building at Emory—and her vision for health systems

59:00 – Making lifestyle medicine mainstream and accessible

Links

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