Ep. 408 - The Gut and the Soul: Health, Habit, and the Passions, with Dr. Mark Faries

Ep. 408 - The Gut and the Soul: Health, Habit, and the Passions, with Dr. Mark Faries

From Counterflow with Buck Johnson by Buck Johnson

April 7, 2026 · 1h 4m

About this episode

Buck Johnson interviews Dr. Mark Faries about the challenges of health behavior change and its connection to ancient teachings.

In this episode, Buck sits down with Dr. Mark Faries, professor at Texas A&M and researcher in behavior change, to explore one of the most frustrating realities of modern life: Why do we know what's healthy… and still fail to do it? Dr. Faries breaks down the science behind human behavior—why people change, why they don't, and why most attempts at improving health fall apart over time. The conversation moves beyond surface-level advice and into the deeper issue of self-regulation failure—the internal battle between what we know and what we actually do. But this isn't just a conversation about health science. Drawing from his own journey into Orthodoxy, Dr. Faries connects modern research with the wisdom of the Church Fathers, showing how ancient teachings on the passions—especially gluttony—line up strikingly well with what we now understand about behavior, habit formation, and even gut health. From more from Dr Mark, go here: http://markfaries.com/ Orthodox Youth and young adult Ministries - Removing the Veil Get the new Counterflow T-shirt before it sells out! Visit https://www.counterflowpodcast.com/store or send $30 via PayPal to buck@counterflowpodcast.com with your size…

People in this episode

Host: Buck Johnson

Guest: Dr. Mark Faries

Topics covered

  • health
  • behavior change
  • self-regulation
  • Orthodoxy
  • gluttony
  • habit formation

Keywords

  • health
  • behavior change
  • self-regulation
  • Orthodoxy
  • gluttony
  • habits
  • Church Fathers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Texas A&M, Orthodox Youth and young adult Ministries, Podsworth Media, Counterflow

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