Podcast Summary: What Are You Made Of? – "Clean Energy, Clear Faith, and Building Organic Muscle with James Benefico"

Host: Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco
Guest: James Benefico (CEO, Organic Muscle)
Date: December 15, 2025

Main Theme

This episode dives into the deep connections between physical health, spirituality, and entrepreneurship. Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco and guest James Benefico discuss how treating the body as a "vehicle" for consciousness enables clearer faith and life purpose. They explore James’s personal journey—his transformation through holistic health, clean energy supplements, plant-based living, and faith—alongside lessons from entrepreneurship and early Christian teachings.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Are You Made Of?—Spirit, Body, and Consciousness

[00:07 – 02:18]

• James opens with a metaphysical answer:

  "I am consciousness, but I also have this physical body, this vessel... the health of your body allows the light of God to shine through." (James, 00:21)

• Mike draws analogies: Communicating with God is easier with a 'high-speed connection'—drinking or poor diet makes that line ‘intermittent’ or 'dial up.'

  "When we drink, it basically puts us back to dial up with intermittent service and you can't hear the clear message, if at all." (Mike, 01:55)

2. Alcohol, Early Christianity, and Clarity

[02:00 – 04:01]

• James shares personal experience: quitting alcohol crystalized his momentum and mental clarity. He connects this with historical Christian teetotal traditions.

  “It was like I had to start pushing the rock downhill from scratch... Best decision I ever made to stop drinking.” (James, 02:41)

• Discussion about wine in religious history and modern health; uncertainty about whether Biblical wine was alcoholic.

3. The Organic Muscle Origin Story

[04:17 – 06:25]

• James recounts creating Organic Muscle after a health scare from conventional pre-workouts:

  “I almost had a heart attack, drinking conventional pre workout... became obsessed and created my own.” (James, 04:31)

• Launched 11 years ago; now nationally distributed.

4. “Clean” Pre-Workout Ingredients & Philosophy

[05:19 – 07:29]

• James details Organic Muscle's ingredients:
  • Organic beetroot, pomegranate (for circulation), mushroom blends, clean caffeine, herbs (ashwagandha, rhodiola).
  • Avoids processed ingredients (no citrulline or creatine under organic certification).
• Mike emphasizes nitric oxide’s role in workouts.

5. Personal Fitness Journey & Family Catalyst

[07:36 – 09:47]

• James opens about gaining weight after college, feeling unhealthy and unconfident.
• Mother’s stage IV cancer diagnosis (and the hospital serving junk food) angers him; becomes his motivator to research health and lose 75lbs.

  “Doctors gave her a couple months to live...the nurse comes in and brings her a hamburger and chips and soda. It intuitively pissed me off.” (James, 08:12) “Realized there was corruption in the system and it led me down this path to learn about nutrition.” (James, 09:29)

6. Early Entrepreneurship: Commitment Over How

[12:07 – 13:59]

• Mike stresses commitment over knowing “how”—just commit, then the ‘how’ will follow.

  “You don't need the how. You gotta commit, and commitment will develop the how… Commitment comes first.” (Mike, 12:07)

• James describes his naïveté and obsession as a young entrepreneur. Partnership with a rare organic manufacturer.

7. Faith, Uncertainty, and Building Character—Entrepreneurship as Spiritual Growth

[13:08 – 13:59]

• Entrepreneurship equated to a faith-building process:

  “If you want to develop your faith, entrepreneurship's a great way because it’s turbulent, it’s challenging. Diamonds are made under pressure.” (James, 13:13) “Just ask God for help. And I promise the answer will come often in a form that you don’t expect.” (James, 13:44)

8. Bootstrapping and Raising Capital Through Values

[14:15 – 16:09]

• James raised initial funds from family and friends, then through relationships.
• He stresses aligning values and principles with investors.

  “You want to vibe with the investor... have similar principles. I think that will take you a lot further...” (James, 15:18)

9. Faith Journey: Loss, Mystical Experiences, and a New Relationship to God

[16:44 – 19:06]

• James describes losing his best friend to suicide, leading to a dark period and ultimately a transformative spiritual breakthrough:

  “It was through that process where I found God and a few miraculous experiences...an amazing peace come over me in the most difficult period of my life...” (James, 17:37)

• Inspires obsession with early Christianity and embracing the philosophy of compassion.

10. Plant-Based Shift Through Christian Philosophy

[19:12 – 23:22]

• James’ diet shifted from hardcore animal-based to plant-based, influenced by the study of early Christians (e.g. James the Just, John the Baptist).
• He discusses Biblical passages suggesting God’s ideal is a peaceful, nonviolent kingdom (like Eden and Isaiah’s vision).

11. Morality, Jesus, and Dietary Debate

[23:22 – 29:44]

• Discussion on whether Jesus ate meat—James suggests Jesus may have emerged from an Essenic lineage, a group that rejected animal sacrifice.

  “There was different types of Jews back in that time...and we are very convinced that Jesus came from this lineage called the Essenes...they rejected the Temple.” (James, 24:12)

• Modern factory farming tragic compared to ancient times:

  “I think Jesus would probably be horrified by our factory farming system that we have today.” (James, 25:46)

• James questions the authenticity of “fish stories” in the Bible, speculates possible later additions for broader appeal.

  “...they never mentioned the fishes. They only mention the multiplication of the loaves...possibly a later interpolation to include the fish...” (James, 28:37)

12. Corruption, Institutions, and Personal Faith

[26:38 – 28:24]

• Critique of religious institutions—loss of trust due to abuse scandals, corruption, excessive wealth.
• Emphasis on personal relationship with God over institutional allegiance.

13. Vision for the Future

[29:51 – 30:31]

• Expand Organic Muscle, grow the podcast, continue spreading a message of physical, spiritual, and ethical well-being.

  “Our main goal is to help people heal their relationship with God because we find that a lot of people have been traumatized out of religion, but we need God, and it's the path to healing...” (James, 29:51)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The health of your body allows the light of God to shine through.”
  — James Benefico [00:21]

• “When you drink, it basically puts us back to dial up with intermittent service and you can't hear the clear message, if at all.”
  — Mike "C-Roc" [01:55]

• “I noticed with alcohol... it would just kill my momentum… days after my mind was clouded.”
  — James [02:41]

• “Doctors gave her a couple months to live...the nurse comes in and brings her a hamburger and chips and soda. It intuitively pissed me off.”
  — James [08:12]

• “You don’t need the how. You gotta commit. And commitment will develop the how.”
  — Mike [12:07]

• “If you want to develop your faith, entrepreneurship’s a great way... Diamonds are made under pressure.”
  — James [13:13]

• “Anxiety is basically worshiping the devil in a way, because peace, joy, confidence, these are fruits of the Holy Spirit...”
  — James [16:59]

• “There’s no violence in the Garden of Eden… God gives dominion, and then prescribes a fruit and plant diet.”
  — James [21:41]

• “There’s no slaughterhouses in heaven. Heaven is pure peace and love and compassion between all beings.”
  — James [22:45]

• “If people accept the fish stories in the Bible, it’s a reasonable position. I would say to them, if these guys ate fish a couple times a month, does that mean that it’s moral for us to support...slaughter of 80 billion land mammals...?”
  — James [25:46]

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:21: James on consciousness, body, and the “vehicle for light”
• 01:55: Mike’s “dial up to fiber optic” analogy for spiritual clarity
• 04:29: How Organic Muscle was born—product origin story
• 05:37: Ingredients and nutrition philosophy of Organic Muscle
• 08:12: Catalyst for James’s transformation: mother’s cancer, hospital food system
• 12:07: The “commitment over how” principle in entrepreneurship
• 16:44: James’s faith journey, loss, and mystical experiences
• 19:12: James’s switch to plant-based: early Christian influences
• 24:12: Theory on Jesus’ Essenic lineage and implications for dietary law
• 28:37: On fish stories as biblical interpolations
• 29:51: Forward vision: healing relationship with God, ethical entrepreneurship

Overall Tone & Language

The conversation is authentic, reflective, and at times philosophical, with James blending practical experience, candid vulnerability, and spiritual exploration. Both host and guest maintain an encouraging, no-nonsense tone, mixing personal anecdotes with broader societal observations, always returning to questions of commitment, faith, and living in alignment with one’s highest values.

For listeners seeking inspiration on health, faith, and purpose-driven business, this episode offers a wholehearted, holistic perspective—delivering real-world advice and deep, thought-provoking discussion.