It's Not Just Roots and Berries

Expand my horizons, eat healthier, get physically active. These three areas have been part of my mantra for my personal growth for a while. I'm a fickle kind of person though. I jump on a bandwagon for a really short amount of time, learning about something, diving in for weeks, perhaps months, but eventually slip back in my old ways and habits. However, little bits and bobs of knowledge or curtailed behaviors stay behind. I guess I am like most people trying out things that sound like they make sense, seeing how they fit in my life and rejecting, or ignoring what doesn't. Last night I tried expanding my horizon and attended a lecture at a co-op in a transitional neighborhood in Minneapolis. I've learned over the last few decades that transitional means the neighborhood used to be really sketchy and now is just sort of sketchy, but becoming more an more populated by hipster people and hipster shops and restaurants. This particular coop is a smaller sister of a larger grocery store style one a few blocks over, but features a cafe and deli with sit down tables, plus a large community room that hosts lectures like the one I attended and of course, yoga classes. 

The lecture was given by Jordan Ruben, author of Patient Heal Thyself and his newest book, which we received a copy of, Planet Heal Thyself. In Patient, Mr. Rubin wrote about how he was able to transform his sickly 19 year old body that was plagued by  a host of illness and digestive disorders by overhauling everything he ate and put in his body. With Planet, he wants to go further and implore all of us to do the same, while also taking steps that will regenerate the planet. The first book is the one that got my friend V going going grain and sugar free and she insists she is a new person inside and out from her changes. Planet, at least from the lecture I take it, will go deeper into how to be part of a revolution that moves food growers, distributors and sellers into providing more readily accessible and affordable foods free from  additives, herbicides, and other toxins that are killing our body and our worlds soil. This, Rubin says, is done through changes each of us make in what we choose to buy and consume-change though our dollars. 

He was a slick speaker, obviously on the lecture circuit for decades honing his presentations. Much of what he said has become basic knowledge. Eat real food as close to the natural state as possible. Eat artisanally-meaning how our ancestors ate, without added chemicals and preservatives. He talked about the GMO debate, and super foods, and the miraculous properties in plants as the main source of vitamins and minerals as opposed to popping tablets. Most made sense, and I was feeling a stirring of wanting to tear apart my kitchen pantry and start over again. 

Then the lecture turned from a presentation on his book and sharing of what he has learned into an infomercial for his new line of health products Get Real Nutrition. It was a 180 degree shift. In all honesty, I lost retention of 50% of what he said as he moved from all the points about saving ourselves and the world to touting these powder to mix into your smoothies and hummus. I guess I should have expected it. He was doing a free lecture, and the book was part of the evening. There had to be a marketing catch, and sure enough there was. We all received the book, a cloth bag, a magazine from his company, and three coupons for $4,00 off each box of Get Real  we wanted to purchase. I didn't buy any as I feel like I need to read more to understand what the heck he is peddling, and why, if I followed the 10 points he was trying to convey in his speech, would I need his super food powders? He lost a bit of street cred there with me.

Still, I think it is important to learn new things, challenge our status quo, even if we decide reverting back to said quo is best. I certainly agree with increasing the vegetarian meals in our diet and staying away from additives and chemical preservatives is a good thing. I was excited to hear and want to know more, about the power, not just in flavor of herbs and spices, but in their support of healthy immune and digestive system. On the other hand, removing the 8 allergens he sites, such as tree nuts, dairy, and eggs is not a change I want to take on right now. Who else has attended a lecture on a topic that is trending that you've been curious to know more about? Have a great weekend. I may be off to forage roots and berries.

As part of the free lecture, everyone got a copy of the book.
This was not an endorsement for any book or product, but
 merely my opinions and experience.