Compared to the ‘average’ family in the United States, our diet was on the healthier side of the spectrum. My wife, after all, graduated as an RN, exercised religiously, and was a voracious reader/learner. Over the years we engaged with numerous diet and exercise programs, learning some from each of them.
Although we continued to work out 5-6x/week, a slower metabolism and a more sedentary work schedule was having its impact.
Yvonne decided to train to become a certified health coach with the Dr. Sears Health Institute. You can check out Dr. Bill Sears on the web, an internationally known pediatrician and author who by his own admission did not take care of his health until he got colon cancer and learned quick.
Maybe because he was a pediatrician Dr. Sears has a knack for describing complex biological processes in childlike terms. There were two ideas I grasped listening to Yvonne’s trainings which had a revolutionary impact.
1. I always understood eating a donut wasn’t the best thing for me. What I did not know so precisely was why. Things that we consume that are not “food” (grows from the ground, runs on the ground, swims in the sea) our systems cannot process and are considered toxic. So the body wisely wraps these toxins with fat to protect the body from them and stores them, usually in our midsection and around our organs. In time, a build up of this toxic waste releases into our system which results in many of the medical conditions we face today.
2. The liver is able to eliminate these toxins from the body by converting these fat-based particles to water-based and secreting them via our sweat and urine. One problem: the necessary ingredients the liver uses to make this conversion includes items found primarily in fresh fruits and vegetables.
Combine these concepts with knowledge that the ‘average’ American diet contains huge amounts of processed “food” (comes from a factory, lots of non-food ingredients) and less than three servings (handfuls) of fruits and vegetables and you have a likely explanation for the exponential rise in cancers and immunological diseases over the past four decades.
In March of 2014 we started putting into practice Dr. Sears recommendation to “eat real food”. And in April we added Juice Plus, a product on the market for 25 years, which is simply 30 fruits and vegetables in powdered capsule form. Both of us experienced increased energy, strength and mental clarity, as well as clearer skin, and faster growing hair and nails. I dropped 25 pounds and two pant sizes over the next few months while still eating five small meals a day.
But the empirical evidence came when I received the results from my yearly blood work. My October 2014 and 2015 reports confirmed on a cellular level what I was experiencing on the outside. My blood sugar had dropped from 100 in 2012 to 87 then to an ideal 79. My triglycerides went from 73 to 67 and then an amazing 46. My ‘good’ HDL cholesterol increased from 46 to 57, while my ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol dropped from 123 to 113 and then 97.
In the past five years our journey, and it is a journey, has only expanded. I have come to appreciate the flavor, color and texture of real food like never before and the corresponding impact that has on the human body in terms of strength, vigor and health.
I started eating real food because it made sense;
I continued eating real food because of the results;
I am an advocate of eating real food because of the joy it brings.
A primary hope of this website is that others will be inspired on their own journey and experience the joy that we have known.