Main Street Vegan

What if vibrant health and lasting joy could be cultivated through a few simple, daily practices? In this uplifting and energizing episode, I welcome longtime colleague and renowned wellness expert Susan Smith Jones, PhD, for a conversation filled with wisdom, warmth, and inspiration.
Susan and I were born in the same year and met in the 1970s when we called the health side of vegan living "Natural Hygiene" and when this was a very unusual life choice indeed!
Drawing on decades of experience in holistic health, Susan shares her signature W.O.N.D.E.R.S. framework, seven powerful pillars designed to support healing, vitality, and a positive, balanced life at any age. With humor, heartfelt stories, and practical guidance, she reminds us that true wellness is both an art and a daily choice.
This special episode also celebrates Susan and Victoria’s long-standing friendship and shared history in the wellness world, making for a truly joyful and meaningful exchange.
✨ In This Episode
Susan’s journey into vegan living and holistic health
The W.O.N.D.E.R.S. framework for total well-being
Why mindset and outlook shape our health outcomes
The healing power of nature and time outdoors
How a whole-food, plant-based diet supports vitality
Staying motivated with exercise and daily habits
The importance of rest, sunshine, and joy in everyday life
👤 About Our Guest
Susan is a globally recognized holistic health and lifestyle expert specializing in anti-aging, optimum nutrition, and balanced living. She taught at UCLA on being healthy and fit for 30 years and has been a passionate advocate of vegan living. Through her books, lectures, and media appearances, Susan inspires people of all ages to embrace vibrant health, inner peace, and joyful living.
🔗 Connect with Susan
Website: https://SusanSmithJones.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SusanSmithJonesPhD
X: https://x.com/SusanSmithJones
📚 Featured Books
A Hug in a Mug
Uplifted
Joy & the Butterfly
Mentioned Links
The National Health Association (publishers of Health Science magazine), www.healthscience.org
Main Street Vegan Coach Training Academy (www.mainstreetvegan.com)
Subscribe, rate, and review our Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality and compassion.
Sign up for our blog and newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049
 
Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check our their new product Sulfora HERE, and enter 'MAINSTREET' in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

Episode 555, air date May 21, 2026. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Can improving your eyesight also deepen your insight into life? 

In this expansive and heart-centered conversation, I speak with Dr. Elisa Haransky-Beck about the powerful connections between vision, consciousness, nature, and spiritual awakening.

Elisa shares her decades-long journey as an optometrist and wellness practitioner, and how she came to integrate natural eyesight improvement with movement, nutrition, and spiritual practice. She explains how reconnecting with our inner and outer vision can help us rediscover purpose, presence, and alignment with our true path. This episode is an invitation to see more clearly, not just with the eyes, but with the whole self.

✨ In This Episode
How natural eyesight improvement became her calling
The connection between vision, awareness, and inner truth
Why nature and groundedness are essential for healing
How multiple disciplines weave into one life purpose
Simple practices to support eyesight and overall well-being
Her passionate outlook on leather and plastics

👤 About Our Guest
Dr. Elisa Haransky-Beck is an optometrist and wellness practitioner, spiritual nutrition counselor, EmbodyVision somatic yoga teacher, educator, and speaker. She specializes in facilitating natural eyesight improvement to deepen insight and supports individuals in rising into their true mission in life, their “raison d’être” for being here at this extraordinary time. Her work integrates vision, movement, nutrition, nature, and spirit into a holistic path of awakening.

🔗 Connect with Elisa
Website: www.EnliveningConsciousness.com
Facebook: Dr. Elisa Beth Haransky-Beck
Instagram: EmbodyVision
LinkedIn: Dr. Elisa Beth Haransky-Beck (Elisa Beck)

Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049

Can our daily food choices shape not only our health, but the future of humanity itself? 

In this conversation, I speak with bestselling author, former Zen monk, and longtime vegan advocate Dr. Will Tuttle about the deep spiritual, cultural, and psychological implications of the way we eat.

Drawing from decades of teaching and writing, Will explores the ideas behind The World Peace Diet, Food for Freedom, and The World Peace Way, explaining how modern food culture reinforces systems of domination, disconnection, and violence and how compassionate living offers a path toward healing.

This episode is both philosophical and practical, inviting listeners to consider vegan living not merely as a diet, but as a transformative spiritual practice rooted in peace, awareness, and compassion for all beings.

✨ In This Episode

The central message behind Will’s life work and books
How food choices affect cultural, ecological, and spiritual well-being
The connection between freedom, health, and compassion
How vegan living supports personal and collective transformation
Why these ideas are often overlooked in mainstream culture
What each of us can do to contribute to peace and healing every day

👤 About Our Guest

Dr. Will Tuttle is the author of the international bestseller The World Peace Diet. Publishers have released the book in 18 languages. He also wrote Food for Freedom, The World Peace Way, and several other books on spirituality and healthful living.

Will has followed a vegan lifestyle since 1980 and previously lived as a Zen monk. Alongside his spouse, visionary artist Madeleine Tuttle, he has lectured in all 50 U.S. states and in 50 countries.

🔗 Connect with Will

Website: www.worldpeacediet.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WillTuttle

Subscribe, rate and review the Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality and compassion.

Sign up to the Main Street Vegan newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive a FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

Become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049

Where did the foods we eat every day actually come from and what stories do they carry? 

In this fascinating and far-reaching conversation, Victoria Moran speaks with prolific author Nathaniel Altman about the origins, evolution, and healing potential of plant foods across human history.
Nathaniel and Victoria also reminisce about their early days at the Theosophical Society in America in the early 1970s, a formative time that helped shape their shared interest in spirituality, consciousness, and compassionate living. We touch on the influence of spiritual teacher Geoffrey Hodson, whose work Nathaniel has helped reintroduce to modern audiences.
Nathaniel explores how ancient food traditions, global migration, and cultural exchange have shaped the plant-based foods we know today. The conversation also nods to an earlier Main Street Vegan Podcast episode featuring Dr. David J. A. Jenkins, creator of the Portfolio Diet, connecting historical food wisdom with modern clinical approaches to lowering LDL cholesterol and improving heart health.
This episode is a rich reminder that food is more than nourishment it is history, medicine and a thread connecting body, mind, and spirit.
✨ In This Episode
The origins of the world’s oldest plant foods
Surprising stories behind everyday ingredients
What phytochemicals are and why they matter
Foods linked to disease prevention and longevity
The global roots of modern plant-based diets
The spiritual influences that shaped Nathaniel’s work
Connections between traditional diets and modern health science
👤 About Our Guest
Nathaniel Altman is a Brooklyn-based writer and the author of more than twenty books on diet, alternative healing, metaphysics and relationships. His extensive body of work includes titles on vegetarianism, natural health and holistic living, reflecting a lifelong interest in the connection between food, healing, and human consciousness. His latest project, The Genealogy of Plant Foods, explores the origins and cultural journeys of the foods we eat.
🔗 Connect with Nathaniel
Website: https://foodgenealogy.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathaniel.altman.9/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanielaltmanauthor/
Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.
Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at https://www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049

What would it take to truly transform the global food system? 
In this compelling episode, Victoria Moran speaks with nonprofit leader and animal protection advocate Dan Shannon about the strategies, challenges, and breakthroughs shaping a more humane future.
Dan shares insights from his decades of experience in advocacy, philanthropy, and corporate campaigns, explaining how sustained public pressure and collective action are driving major shifts, including recent landmark victories in the push toward cage-free eggs. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at how change happens at the highest levels of the food industry and why progress, while complex, is accelerating.
This episode explores how everyday choices, combined with organized advocacy, can help reshape a system that affects billions of animals and all of us.
✨ In This Episode
What consumers might not realize about the egg industry
Why transforming the food system is urgent and possible
What the shift toward cage-free eggs really means
Surprising trends in consumer behavior
How global campaigns create change across cultures
The power of collective action in animal advocacy
What a fully humane food system could look like in the future
👤 About Our Guest
Dan Shannon is a seasoned nonprofit strategist with over two decades of experience in campaigns, philanthropy, and animal protection, including leadership roles at PETA, Purpose, and Tides. As CEO of The Humane League, he drives corporate campaigns, public policy, and global coalition-building to accelerate progress toward cage-free eggs and end factory farming. He is also the co-author of two acclaimed vegan cookbooks and continues to promote compassionate living through his writing and advocacy.
Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.
Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at https://www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049