I'm fairly intimate with the juicing world. Less than a year ago I watched the juicing documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, bought my own juicer, and was shortly thereafter hired by Claire (a client-turned-friend) to help her brand her own juice cleansing and coaching business. In fact, when she hired me she was making plans to open her own juice bar in Tulum. I remember my mind was blown when Claire told me and Tara as we were taking her through The Braid Method that she chants over and blesses her batches of juice before sending them off with her clients. It was the first time I really saw someone blending food, spirituality, and business in such an explicit way.
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Over 3 years ago I made a New Year's resolution to eat as local as possible. I had just read Michael Pollan's life-changing book In Defense of Food and was ready to make some serious changes in the way I consumed food. An interesting side-effect was that eating differently didn't only change the way I looked and felt – it changed the way I thought. The biggest being that all of a sudden my job in advertising seemed out of alignment with my values – and I feel certain that this shift in thinking came from the food I was eating. I also felt more connected to the world around me on an almost spiritual level.
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So Claire and I find ourselves at a juice bar in a hippie commune filled with dream catchers, tents, golden labs, and tanned naked babies. The woman working the bar introduces herself as Katerina from Slovakia. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when I told her I had just been hiking through the High Tatras in Slovakia this past summer. She doesn't run into many people in Tulum who have been to her motherland. We bonded over the shared meaning of our name which is "pure" – a rather boring meaning when a teenager but something both of us have been grateful to grow into.
The juice bar itself had so much character and life to it. Katerina made us a drink from the chard, celery, and pineapple she had on hand. I became hypnotized as she skillfully prepped and cut the produce on a well loved wooden block. She placed a juice in the center of a sacred geometric painting on the counter and told us we must activate our juice with intention prior to drinking it. Oh hell yes – we've come to the right place. Claire activated her juice first – then it was my turn. I was instructed to align my spine, relax my shoulders and place my hands around my cup of juice. I closed my eyes and set an intention. Katerina was silent for a few moments and said "You are a magician." I felt a warmth flood from the crown of my head down into my fingertips and into my cup of juice. It was the single most woo-woo moment I've had in my life. And then I drank the kool-aid, so to speak.
I left with the reminder to consume with intention – that food has power and it not only nourishes our bodies but also our souls.
I am so on board with food being more than just nutrition. It's an entire facet of my life - especially eating it with other people. I'm going to request "You are a magician!" be the prayer before every meal eaten with my friends now. That's delightful.
ReplyDeleteBut I couldn't finish In Defense of Food! I have a family member who is a scientist and studies Glut 4, and metabolism, basically a bunch of proteins and processes that help decipher diabetes. I couldn't get past the author's dismissal of nutritional science. I think he's intending to speak of food scientists employed by corporations rather than a scientist in a lab studying insulin transport, but still the tone really put me off. Regardless if information is being cherry picked to sell margarine as healthy or to sell organic as healthy, selective science is a dangerous thing.
Does he move away from harshing on nutritional scientists as the book goes on? Maybe I should try it again. But the scientists I know who study metabolism and what food does in our bodies have such diligence and resilience, and they go through so many years and so many dollars in order to obtain proper data I get a little prickly and defensive when I read arguments that are opinions on debunking data using interpretation rather than using better data. The discussion is sure great though. Glad it's up for talk these days. Here's an interesting article on the book written by a food chemist: http://www.gobigread.wisc.edu/resources/foodchemistsperspective_lucey.pdf
Rory – Ah, I hear what you're saying. I think for me it was the first time I realized that Kashi may not be the healthiest choice in spite of the fact that it says "MORE FIBER! 4g of PROTEIN!!!" on the box. You know? I think perhaps he's speaking on a broader sweeping scale and more to a consumer vs. a scientist. If that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteBUT! You should check out It Starts With Food. I think they approach the science of food in a very cool way.
I totally understand if this is too personal but I can't help but wonder if you suffered any gastro effects from eating so many fresh fruits/veggies....
ReplyDeleteI visit the Yucatan every year and never had trouble until last year when I decided to throw caution to the wind and enjoy a fresh pressed fruit juice at a Venezuelan restaurant.
Let's just say I was feeling the "effects" of that fruit juice for almost a month! :(
And if you were totally fine, do you have any tips for how to acclimate your stomach? I heard some people take probiotic "pearls"...
my favorite mexico post yet! i just love it! how'd you stumble upon this commune? so amazing.
ReplyDeletealso, my name means "pure" as well ;)
I miss your vacation posting schedule! I'm sure you're back to work and busy busy busy with Braid projects, but oh man - I loved these green-juice-blessing, whole-fish-eating, jungle-cruising posts from Tulum.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I'm sure real life is calling. But please keep up the woo-woo posts. I love it, especially as someone who comes from a very non-woo-woo background myself and is also starting the transition towards urban hippie-dom.
I am totally in love with this post Kathleen. I was just looking at VitaMixes when I read your post. I think juicing and making green smoothies is just a wonderful way to nourish the body and the soul. I didn't get a vacation this year, but I've been living vicariously through the Tulum posts!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Jaclyn! I got a smidge of a stomach bug but nothing dramatic. Probiotics help!
ReplyDeleteKatelyn – The place we were staying in Tulum just had one long road. So we found the commune while riding bikes.
Tara – Ah, thank you! Yes – I'm back and busy busy. But I'll be going back to Mexico next week (!!!) so get ready for more posts.
Katie - Thank you! I completely agree. Nourishing our bodies with good food is an act of self love.
What a beautifully written story. I love juices (although personally I don't like substituting a juice for food), I prefer eating whole fruits and vegetables. Your experience in Mexico and your friend's business sounds really fantastic though! Michael Pollan and other food authors also changed my way of eating and buying food. I highly recommend the book "Never Be Sick Again" for those interested in living life at the their optimal health. It's a little preachy, but full of valuable information that will change the way you live your life!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious too, what did you do next when you realized your job in advertising didn't fit with your values? I work as a designer in the mass-market fashion industry, and in light of recent events, am seriously considering stepping away from it very soon.
Melinda – Ha! I put in a month notice, quit my job, hiked through Nepal, and started my own business. Do you have any sort of exit strategy? A side gig? A side passion?
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