pixelfitGetty Images
Let's face it: As much as many of us love the feel of a paperback book, sometimes our lifestyles don't allow us the luxury of being able to read every day. The good news is that podcasts provide hours of entertainment for the morning commutes, evening walks, and long road trips that require your hands to be busy doing something else.
And just because you're listening to the content rather than reading it, doesn't mean that you're being compromised from learning extremely insightful or hilariously entertaining information about, well, seemingly anything. Specifically, the health, wellness, and fitness podcast category is booming, and there's no shortage of shows related to fitness, nutrition, weight loss, health conditions, mental health, sex, and much more. Choosing which podcast to dive into can be overwhelming, though, so we've sifted through hundreds of podcasts to zero in on the best of the best.
Here are the best health and fitness podcasts that'll keep you informed, entertained, and inspired to reach your goals.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
If you've ever wondered whether essential oils can really cure your migraines or if the 7-minute workout is actually effective, then Gimlet Media's spunky Science Vs is for you. In each episode, host Wendy Zukerman tackles a hot topic and breaks it down, providing science-based facts so you can form an educated opinion.
Listen to Science Vs
Food Psych Podcast, hosted by Christy Harrison, RD, MPH, CDN, aims to breakdown women's disordered relationships with food, body image, size acceptance, and more. She opens up about her own journey with disordered eating and offers tips to help others improve their relationships with food and body image. Harrison also calls out the fad diet and weight loss gimmicks that fuel the diet culture in America.
Listen to Food Psych Podcast
If you're ready to get serious about fitness but need a little nudge, then Elevated with Mara may be a good place to start. Hosted by ABC news correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, the 30-minute podcast discusses health and wellness topics—like staying mindful during the holidays and reinventing yourself at any age—in an approachable, interesting way. Schiavocampo draws on her own journey of losing 90 pounds after struggling with her weight for many years.
Listen to Elevated with Mara
Whether you're an avid runner or just starting out with dreams of running a marathon, you'll find Ali on the Run both useful and inspiring. Host Ali Feller sits down with everyday runners, professional marathoners, and entrepreneurs in the running world to learn what has driven them and glean some applicable life lessons.
Listen to Ali on the Run
The overwhelming amount of health and wellness content out there these days can be hard to sift through. If you'd like your health news a little more curated, then check out Optimal Health Daily, which scours the web for the best blog content, then reads it (with author permission). They address the latest health trends and your most pressing questions on topics like intermittent fasting, flu vaccinations, flossing, and more.
Listen to Optimal Health Daily
In each episode of Hurdle, host Emily Abbate chats with someone who has overcome an obstacle or tough times by incorporating wellness into their lives. Guests have included the co-founder of Headspace, the creator of TRX, magazine editors, and athletes, who share valuable insight into how they've overcome hurdles in creative ways, from meditation to cycling in the Swiss Alps.
Listen to Hurdle
While not a traditional health and fitness podcast, the New York Times column "Modern Love" is an excellent choice for those interested in mental health and the complexities of interpersonal relationships. For its podcast format, the heart-wrenching personal essays are read by celebrities and delve into real human stories—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny or uplifting—about experiences like grieving a loved one or online dating.
Listen to Modern Love
For some serious health and fitness motivation, who better to inspire than an ultra-marathoner like Rich Roll? Featuring intimate, intense conversations (not interviews, he insists) with health experts, nutritionists, and even artists and entertainers, the podcast seeks to empower listeners to "unleash your best, most authentic self."
Listen to The Rich Roll Podcast
What happens when you have a panic attack live on Good Morning America? For ABC newsman Dan Harris, he turned—skeptically—to meditation. In the podcast, he interviews executives, musicians, and even a former Guardian Angel to learn about what drew them to meditation, what their own practices look like, and whether it's helped them become a little happier.
Listen to 10% Happier with Dan Harris
TEDTalks are known for providing big ideas in short timeframes, and the TEDTalks Health podcast curates some of the best health-related talks from their conferences and events. One episode dives into a fascinating explanation of how cancer cells communicate; another highlights a program that trains grandmothers in Zimbabwe to treat depression. Each enlightening episode is brimming with ideas to inspire and uplift.
Listen to TEDTalks Health
With an eye toward the high rates of depression and addiction within the creative community, comedian Paul Gilmartin interviews comedians, artists, writers, friends, and doctors about their experiences to normalize and de-stigmatize mental illness. For those who struggle with a mental illness, The Mental Illness Happy Hour is a space for people to openly discuss fears and traumas they don't feel comfortable discussing anywhere else.
Listen to The Mental Illness Happy Hour
Think bedtime stories are just for little kids? Think again. Inspired by his own childhood insomnia, host Drew Ackerman (also known as "Scooter" to his listeners), started the Sleep With Me podcast, in which he tells long, meandering stories that are funny and interesting, but designed to lull you to sleep. Considering the podcast has been going strong for six years now, it's clearly helping people catch their Zzz's.
Listen to Sleep With Me
As most moms know, trying to balance motherhood with fitness and self-care (and, well, everything else) is challenging to say the least. That's why Katie Wells—host and founder of popular mom blog Wellness Mama—started a podcast to share tips for healthy eating, exercise, stress, sleep, and more, all while managing life with kids as well.
Listen to The Wellness Mama Podcast
With an emphasis on creating positive relationships with food, host Paige Smathers, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, interviews experts as well as folks who have overcome eating disorders, weight struggles, and more. You'll get helpful, actionable advice on all things nutrition, like how to maintain a healthy relationship with food through the holiday season and how to feel happy during your health journey.
Listen to Nutrition Matters
If you want to pack in a short podcast rather than commit to hour-long shows, then check out The Nutrition Diva. In bite-sized, 10 minute episodes, Monica Reinagel, a licensed nutritionist and culinary school grad with an MS in human nutrition, addresses the science behind the latest health trends, like mushroom coffee, and offers simple tips on how to guard against common illnesses, increase your intake of certain nutrients, and more.
Listen to The Nutrition Diva
This is a comedy podcast for people who like fitness (or is it a fitness podcast for people who like comedy?). Either way, hosts Eugene Cordero and Ryan Stanger—improv comedians with professional fitness backgrounds—take a refreshingly lighthearted approach to wellness. They manage to be both entertaining and motivating at the same time, delivering useful information without sacrificing their fun tone.
Listen to The Dumbbells
For those interested in the scientific links between diet and health, tune in to the Found My Fitness podcast. With a PhD in biomedical science, host Rhonda Perciavalle Patrick aims to challenge the status quo while promoting wellbeing by using cold hard science. She interviews experts on fascinating topics like how Alzheimer's disease could be reversed and whether the keto diet can increase lifespan.
Listen to Found My Fitness
You can tell from their conversations that Food Heaven Podcast hosts Wendy and Jess are best buds IRL. As registered dietitians with master's degrees in nutrition and certified diabetes educators (yes, both of them), they know their stuff when it comes to healthy eating and bring that wealth of knowledge to their weekly podcast in the form of healthy living tips and interviews with experts.
Listen to The Food Heaven Podcast
Calling all fitness nerds! If you want to hear experts and researchers weigh in on everything from the importance of fascia to how the fitness landscape is changing, then this is the podcast for you. By focusing on both the business of fitness and the science behind it, Pete McCall gives a true behind-the-scenes look at the world of fitness.
Listen to All About Fitness
Whether you take your coffee blended with butter or not, Bulletproof Radio from tech entrepreneur and biohacker Dave Asprey is worth a listen as he takes listeners along on a journey of upgrading the human body through the use of technology. Speaking with a range of guests from CEOs to scientists, Asprey explores intriguing ideas like living longer and pushing the boundaries of conventional medicine with technology.
Listen to Bulletproof Radio
The Fat Burning Man Show may seem a bit gimmicky at first, with its claims of teaching listeners to drop fat without giving up delicious food or hitting the gym six days a week. But host Abel James simply promotes clean eating, without starving yourself or counting calories, and at the same time, sheds light on the health industry and how deceptive advertising and marketing tactics continue to prolong the obesity epidemic. It's fascinating stuff.
Listen to The Fat-Burning Man Show
Have you ever dreamed of running a marathon? The Marathon Training Academy podcast offers stories of people who have gone the distance, as well as practical, real world advice to "unlock your potential to master marathon training and life." Host Angie Spencer is a coach, marathoner, and registered nurse who explains how to go from couch to marathon and shares actionable tips for pacing yourself.
Listen to The Marathon Training Academy
Calling all yogis! Host Peg Mulqueen, who has a master's in psychology and two decades of yoga practice under her belt, talks with a range of Ashtanga yoga teachers and students about their practices, ranging from deep, philosophical conversations to the science behind yoga poses.
Listen to Ashtanga Dispatch
Ultrarunner, cookbook author, and vegetarian Matt Frazier wants to dispel the notion that all serious athletes must eat meat. Without being sanctimonious, he chats with fitness experts about the benefits of a plant-based diet and how it can promote weight loss, boost your speed and energy levels, and more.
Listen to No Meat Athlete
Biochemist, author, and podcast host Katy Bowman is a leader of The Movement Movement, which claims our society has become too sedentary and people should move more, and the Nutritious Movement, which advocates for not only overall movement, but also a focus on moving our individual parts, from the head to the toes. Bowman's conversations, which touch on topics like breathing, the power of gardening, and better sleep habits, will inspire you to move more every day in surprising ways.
Listen to Move Your DNA
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
These Health and Fitness Podcasts Will Help You Reach Your 2019 Goals, Source:https://www.prevention.com/life/g25458803/best-health-podcasts/