Hesh Goldstein
While running a routine errand, longtime Honolulu resident Hesh Goldstein was at the bank when a friend spotted him and shouted his name. With that, a woman came up to him and asked, “Are you the Mr. Hesh that is on the radio?” When he responded that, yes, he was in fact the same Hesh, the woman put her arms around him and started crying. And although Goldstein had never met this woman, she said to him: “I owe you my life.” From there, she told him that she used to have arthritis so severe that it was difficult to leave her house, and her husband had had heart disease. After hearing Goldstein’s weekly radio show, Health Talk Hawaii, the pair adopted a vegan diet, the benefits of which Goldstein had discussed on the show. Within a few months, the woman’s arthritis was gone, as well as her husband’s heart problems.
Goldstein hosts Health Talk Hawaii from 8 to 9 a.m. every Saturday on K-108 Radio, 1080 AM, which he has been doing since 1981. Over the years, he has helped many people like the woman in the bank overcome health problems through promoting a vegan diet of non-processed foods – the sort of diet he follows.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Goldstein adopted a vegan diet in his 30s. He claims that this lifestyle change made a difference in his health and says that he simply seeks to spread the word. As a kid, he was prone to illness and suffered from asthma and a range of allergies – all of which dissipated after he changed his diet. A trained accountant, he left crunching numbers behind and worked in a variety of health food stores before making his way to Oahu. He then worked as CFO and co-manager of Down to Earth for years. In 1987, he earned a master’s degree in nutrition. Today, the 73-year-old doesn’t take any medications, plays softball and exercises.
“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” he says.
On his show, Goldstein also discusses issues including GMOs, water quality, farming practices and government regulations regarding food production. He admits that he tends to gravitate toward controversial issues and likes to tackle conspiracy theories regarding the food industry.
“I try to give (listeners) information that they are never going to see on TV, in the newspaper, or hear on other radio shows,” explains Goldstein, who also recently completed an as-yet-unpublished manuscript on related topics.
It’s the idea that he might be able to help others that has motivated him to keep his radio show – which he pays for himself in order to avoid the pressures of advertisers – going all of these years.
“I am just a guy on the radio having a good time, and I am giving out information that can help people if they take it to heart and try to follow it,” he says. “I’m just trying to help people, that’s it.”
For more, visit healthtalkhawaii.com, or contact Goldstein at heshgoldstein@gmail.com.
