The Science of Good Stress: Dr. Sharon Bergquist on Hormesis, Resilience & Longevity

The Ready State Podcast

Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett

Fitness, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 623 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

View This Week's Show Notes

Start Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility Coach

Join Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The Ambush

Discover why you need stress with Dr. Sharon Bergquist, an award-winning physician and author of The Stress Paradox. In this episode of The Ready State podcast, we explore how stress, often misunderstood as harmful, can actually help you live longer, healthier, and happier. Dr. Bergquist breaks down the science of good stress, including the concept of hormesis and how small, manageable stressors can regenerate your body, boost resilience, and improve mental and physical performance.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why “stress-free” living is not the goal — and may actually be a risk factor
How your daily discomforts build long-term disease resistance
The 5 good stressors your body needs to thrive (and how to reintroduce them)
Why eating late at night might be as bad for your sleep as drinking alcohol
How plant-based foods gently “stress” your cells to make you stronger
Why the science of hormesis is the future of preventive medicine

Learn why stress is essential for growth, the importance of aligning eating habits with your body’s natural clock, and how even emotional and mental challenges can enhance your capacity to thrive. Packed with actionable tips and real-life examples, this conversation will reshape how you view stress and empower you to embrace it as a tool for better living. Listen now to unlock your full potential!

Key Highlights:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:14) - Laird Superfood Benefits

(03:18) - Guest Introduction: Dr. Sharon Bergquist

(06:28) - Comfort in the Modern World

(07:05) - Benefits of Stress

(10:22) - Importance of Longitudinal Observation

(14:13) - Stress as a Thermostat

(16:40) - Utilizing Stress as a Tool

(20:47) - The Comfort Conundrum Explained

(28:52) - Importance of Hydration

(31:37) - Best Protein Sources for Health

(33:55) - Key Stressors in Modern Life

(34:50) - Phytochemicals: A Positive Stressor

(42:00) - Circadian Fasting Benefits

(48:48) - Minimum Viable Dose Explained

(54:30) - Surprising Research Findings

(57:41) - Mental and Emotional Stress Insights

(01:05:25) - Key Takeaways on Stress

(01:05:56) - Growth Through Discomfort

(01:08:13) - Finding Dr. Bergquist Online

(01:08:54) - Outro

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Lack of stress is a hidden risk factor.
0:03.6	And if we do not course correct,
0:06.3	I do not think we will be able to mitigate
0:09.6	the harms that we are incurring in
0:11.6	as a function of our daily lives.
0:14.8	We're gonna be talking with Sharon Berkwist.
0:16.9	She's an award-winning physician.
0:18.8	An innovative healthcare leader,
0:20.1	a visionary researcher renowned.
0:22.2	She was trained at Yale and Harvard Medical School.
0:24.9	Her book is called The Stress Paradox, Why You Need Stress.
0:28.3	To Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier.
0:30.5	We highly recommend it.
0:31.6	This is a really good one.
0:33.2	I needed to rethink the way I was delivering care.
0:36.9	And that took me down a path of trying to reverse the causes of disease, not just managing and treating disease,
0:44.3	but ultimately that led me down a path of using lifestyle as medicine, so whether it's food as medicine,
0:50.3	exercise is medicine, social connections as medicine, to realizing that the most powerful levers
0:56.9	we have are actually stress. You know, your thesis is that stress is actually good for us, or at least
1:04.6	certain types of stress. Why? And I know, how did you get there? This episode of the Ready State podcast is brought to you by Laird Superfood. Okay, full disclosure. I may have a sweet tooth. Really? Also full disclosure, I try not to eat past a certain time. And it's tricky for me because I'm, I'm eat, and then I'm like a little calorie and I'm like, oh, just one more little snacks. Yeah, because you, the quantity of food you eat in a meal is like less than our teenage daughters. So oftentimes you need a little extra snacks. But it's not good for me to eat so like for it to bed. Like, let me eat just this jar of peanut butter and a It's less, less good. But lately, I've been seeing you enjoy this amazing little tea-like beverage. So one of the things that the Laird family has done is wrapped their arms around my sweet treat need. And they have created a tea, which is a sleep and recover tea. Well, I would say it's like a tea like item.
2:01.9	It is a tea like item.
2:02.9	What's nice is that I have this hot beverage, and I think there's a couple things
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.