Rockgevity Story
“ALL DISEASE BEGINS IN THE GUT”
Hippocrates
And, as I chomped down my M&M’s, I had no idea how sick I was, but I was soon going to find out...
It all started with a text from my son, Stone.
Stone noticed that I was repeatedly failing at quitting smoking. During a (now not so) recent Cabo surf trip, the amount of coughing rather than surfing I was doing told him something had to change. My son found a smoking cessation study at UCLA that offered free medication to be a part of the clinical trial. He texted me a link, and in short order I was an active participant!
This was the tipping point...MIRACLE DRUGS REWIRED MY BRAIN!
After only three months of taking Chantix and Naltrexone, I quit smoking and drinking.
My brain felt different...as if things were clearer. I quickly realized that I was on a collision course. I was living a stressful, unsustainable lifestyle. I knew that I had to return to some roots, but leave Los Angeles to do it. Straying too far from the ocean and surfing has always had negative consequences to my overall health and well being. So I shut down businesses, sold my home of 30 years and moved to a small farm in Hawaii. I set out to lose the weight and get healthy for the fourth and final time.
You see, my health and weight management issues are, in part, a direct result of my profession. I have been a professional chef for 35+ years and I was not prepared for what I was about to discover. Although I had more training in nutrition than the average American, I had no idea of the inexcusable and deadly conspiracies that keep information from the public.
Lies, lies, it was all lies!
My sister came down with a very aggressive form of cancer, so I immediately went into research mode. I quickly found multiple studies linking meat and dairy to cancer, and I started studying the Gerson Therapy.
Dr. Gerson had been curing cancer since the 1930’s with a vegan diet and juicing. Big Pharma fights the use of this therapy vigorously, and attacks its validity, despite clinical trial proof. There are even accounts of poisoning Dr. Gerson and removal of his research notes.
Why were we eating things that were cancerous? Why was no one pointing this out? To the contrary! It actually seemed as though all efforts were being made to cover it up!
I went to the best school in the nation, The Culinary Institute of America. I worked all over the globe cooking for high profile clientele such as the Sultan of Brunei, Hollywood’s finest including Max Factor, Michelle Pfiefer, Michael Keaton, Dustin Hoffman, Aaron Spelling and the “Governator” to name a few. I opened and ran the kitchens for numerous hotels including the iconic Ritz-Carlton at Laguna Niguel as well as boasting classics such as The Beverly Hills Hotel and Tavern on the Green in New York City.
I also opened numerous successful restaurants of my own; Whitney’s on Montana Ave, Whitney’s at the Beach Club, Roast Organic Delis and more. I studied for years and performed careful practice of craft for competition in the American Culinary Federation Competition circuit as well as heading the organization as President for many years.
Then, the ultimate contradiction; I became a spokesman for the “National Cattlemen's Beef Association” to promote the “safe consumption” of traditional stockyard, grain fed animals.
I was advocating the consumption of animals I now tell people never to eat! I was blind to the real truth the whole time. It’s understandable to be skeptical of big business, however, most would tend to believe what the USDA tells us.
None of these contradictions opened my eyes. I thought I was pretty intuitive and perceptive. It was all lies and deceit from big business, big pharma, the FDA and the USDA.
I felt duped...why didn’t cooking school teach us these hidden truths?
Why are farmed animals, especially farmed fish, fed corn and soy? Is corn and soy readily available to eat in the ocean?
Come to find out, these cattle and fish are not the same animals anymore! They have mutated and the fish do not contain Omega 3’s anymore, and that is the main reason we eat fish! Feeding corn and soy to fish sounds so wrong that, for my entire career, I must not have been paying any attention.
Why had the top cooking school in the nation not informed me that the dairy council was in bed with the USDA? That they aided in the production of the food pyramid and telling us, “Milk does a body good” and to have dairy at every meal! Even the american diet RDA’s (recommended daily allowances) are influenced by beef and grain companies and all of this is being kept a secret. Why the big secret? Because Nestle or Cargill just built the new wing in the cooking school!
It is all driven by the almighty dollar with no regard to our health. Not to mention big pharma that wants to sell the antibiotics and steroids to farmers to fatten up the animals and sales prices. All of this ensures the public eats these diseased and medicated animals and keeps us unhealthy so that many must seek treatment resulting in more sales for big pharma!
Unfortunately, I had missed an opportunity to positively affect the lives of so many Angelinos. As the chef at a prominent, family country club on the westside of LA, I had direct access to the mouths, hearts and minds of hundreds of impressionable diners. Although I was known for fresh and healthy delicious food, I now know that I was not serving food with the correct health guidelines in mind:
“Gut Healthy Foods”
I am now on the correct journey, in search of the perfect gut healthy foods, gut healthy cuisine and gut healthy living.
"EAT FOOD, NOT TOO MUCH, MOSTLY PLANTS"
Michael Pollan
However, this is not easy and there is a world of trouble out there in the plant kingdom for the human digestive system. Making the switch from the “Standard American” diet to a “Vegan” or “Vegetarian” diet can be daunting and full of surprises like constipation, diarrhea, bloating or even worse if the proper steps are not taken. There are naturally occuring “Danger Foods” in the plant kingdom that need to be respected. After going totally vegan and realizing the difficulties for digestion of a total plant based diet I have settled on “Pegan,” or “Vegan plus protein.”
The Rockgevity Project is based on my interpretation and combination of these trusted and known leading specialists’ work in diet; Christa Orrecchio's “Heal your gut, heal your life,” principles, Dr. Gerson’s “Anti-Cancer” Vegan Juicing Diet, Dr. Hyman with the “Pegan Diet” and Dr. Gundry’s “Anti-Lectin” protocol.
The Rockgevity Project also follows Dr. Villoldo and Dr. Sinclair’s “Anti-Aging” protocols as well as Dr. Volter Longo’s fasting research with the “Longevity Diet” and his “fasting mimicking” system.
Virtually all of these doctors are recommending a combination of proper diet, fasting and exercise as the main form of health and longevity. But what is the proper diet?
I set out to find the answer, once and for all...
To compile the lists and basic information, I started with Dr. Gundry's lectin-free list of good and bad foods. I cross referenced Dr. Gundry’s list with oxalate lists and removed any high oxalate foods such as pine nuts or sesame seeds. In most cases I ended up removing items such as seeds, nuts, spinach and more. However, in some cases, I added back foods such as oats. Oats have become an important staple for vegans and vegetarians and they are gluten free! However, oats have been found to have high levels of glyphosate or “Roundup,” the common weed killer. Why does the entire population not know oats have levels of toxins proven to cause cancer? Anyway, that’s what got them on the “no” list. You will see I offer solutions and options where to buy glyphosate free oats.
Dr. Hyman’s Pyramid is close to what I am proposing, as it wipes out the dairy and reduces protein. Dr Gundry has found that A2 milk, in small amounts, is acceptable because it does not trigger a casomorphin auto-immune response.
Although I have given up milk and milk products such as cottage cheese and yogurt, I have included Dr. Gundry’s lists of acceptable dairy to tailor the program to all needs. I still eat small amounts of goat cheese, as it is high in MCT's, as well as small amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano and cheese or butter from Southern Europe as the milk from these cows is free of a1 casein protein which is the problematic protein unlike a2 casein protein found in Jersey cows still in Europe today.
The Gerson therapy and many others are convinced dairy should be avoided completely. We are only meant to drink milk as infants, and studies show links to both prostate and breast cancer.
So how do we decide what to eat?
Let the science of gut health make your choices. As a matter of fact, all of your health concerns should be guided by your gut and proper “gut health,” and most of the guidelines are just common sense. If you ask the question, “was man meant to eat this” or “is it the right time of year to eat this” or “how often should I eat this,” you will probably answer your own question.
For example, contrary to popular belief, fruit is not your friend. The fructose is turned to fat in a process called “de novo lipogenesis.” Studies found people that consumed high levels of carbs with high levels of fructose had their blood sugar go haywire, de novo lipogenesis increased sixfold, and their triglycerides skyrocketed. Fruit was only meant to be eaten at the end of the summer to fatten us up to prepare for the famine of winter.
Likewise, meat was scarce and eaten only when a hunted gazelle was found left by last night's lion feast. This meant that man survived through times of long fasts on nothing but leaves and tubers as the main diet. No fruit or meat for days, weeks or months, and certainly no refined starches or grains—just leaves, tubers, fats and protein...that was the “Standard American Diet!”
It wasn't until a few thousand years ago that the invention of agriculture changed our “fats & protein” based diet to a “grains” based diet.
“THIS GRAIN or CARB/SUGAR based diet feeds the NEANDERTHAL brain triggering FEAR, AGGRESSION and fight or flight responses whereas a GOOD FATS and PROTEIN based diet feeds the HIGHER BRAIN.”
Alberto Villoldo, PhD
The Rockgevity Project follows Dr. Gundry’s protocol and cuts legumes & fruit from the diet completely. The exceptions being pressure cooking the legumes and "in-season" fruits in moderation.
However, unlike Dr. Gundry, the Rockgevity Project takes a similar aggressive approach to limiting animal protein. There are many studies that link animal protein to different cancers and the Gerson therapy is convinced Vegan is the way to go to keep cancer cells from multiplying.
“YOUR OVERALL HEALTH AND AGE SHOULD DETERMINE WHICH STYLE OF DIET YOU CHOOSE”
Rock Lava
Studies show that animal protein can accelerate cancer cell growth. The Gerson therapy centers around low to no protein and cancer patients at the Gerson center are put on a Vegan diet. Conversely, a healthy senior should increase their protein slightly with age to aid in muscle retention as well as overall power and stamina.
I have settled into a Pegan diet. During the past few years of deep study into diet, I repeatedly found doctors endorsing one form or another of the Pegan diet...Vegan plus small amounts of CLEAN, HEALTHY proteins. I eat unprocessed foods that are in “as close to their natural state” as possible. I eat very small amounts of only “pastured” eggs, lamb, beef and wild fish. You will pick your basic diet style preference:
Standard - animal, plant, dairy
Lacto Vegetarian - plant based + dairy
Ovo Vegetarian - plant based + eggs
Pescatarian - plant based + fish
Vegan - all plant based
Pegan - vegan + protein
or your own combination therein
Then you will figure how much “Keto” or ketogenic quality you will work into your diet as further explained in the program. A Major reduction of carbs and increase in protein and “healthy fats” such as avocado and coconut or MCT oil will aid in achieving more ketosis and fat burning.
The Rockgevity Project explains the why’s and how’s and includes food lists with oxalate & lectin counts so that you may make reasoned decisions on your diet going forward. As you will see, many seemingly healthy foods are high in either lectins or oxalates. If you are not keeping an eye out, you could be ingesting way too many “Danger Foods” without even knowing it!
There are toxic preservatives lurking in our foods as well. MSG is often hidden as “Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein.” When deciding what pre-made foods or condiments are okay to consume, check the labels and if you see ingredients like sugar or sodium benzoate steer away.
However, I do use Worcestershire even though it contains some sugar. It packs a huge “flavor punch,” there are no preservatives and it is used in small amounts. The opposite is true if you see benzoic acid or sodium benzoate. It is used as a preservative in things like kim chee and soy sauce and reacts in the body with ascorbic acid (Vit C) to create “BENZENE”, a toxic compound.
So, be sure to buy soy sauce products free of preservatives and use very sparingly, because soy is on the “do not eat list!”
I know this all sounds so daunting and nearly everyone attempting to fix their health issues through diet is faced with this dilemma. Once presented with the information they throw their hands up and say, “What the hell can I eat?” I want to feel healthy, but what does it mean to eat healthy?
That is it in a nutshell.
What does it mean to eat healthy?
There are way too many interpretations of a proper, healthy diet. Traditional diets are formulated by assessing the nutritional value of foods and combining them to achieve an end goal of calories and nutrients. Sounds good, right?
Wrong...
Simply using a food’s nutritional information doesn't work because we are not taking into account how well our body receives the food. You see, our body must receive this outside, foreign object and turn it into “us.” Some foods are accepted by the gut and fully utilized and others are not. To the contrary, some foods are downright abrasive and toxic to the gut and your entire digestive system.
We need to have a “Gut Healthy Diet” and use the science to guide us. We must pick the foods that our gut can easily take from the outside and turn into “us,” not the whole grains or other foods that may register high on the vitamin scale, but wreak havoc in our bodies.
Although all this may get confusing at times, if you stick to the program, it will empower and unleash your ability to reach “Gut Healthy Eating Habits” for the perfect gut health.
IF YOU HAVE BALANCED GUT FLORA, YOU ARE 90% THERE!
Alberto Villoldo, PhD
Health starts in our “Second Brain,” the Gut.
As a brain, the Gut turns serotonin into melatonin; further evidence that the gut has brain function and that health needs to start in the gut because as Hippocrtes said, “all disease begins in the gut.” However, the primary “Gut Function” is to take something from the outside environment, like a piece of broccoli, and turn it into “us.”
“HEAL THE GUT, HEAL YOUR LIFE”
Christa Orecchio
There are four major gut busters:
Lectins - plant proteins
Oxalates - a calcium salt found in many health foods
Medications - antibiotics (can cause yeast overgrowth), NSAIDs
Stress - disrupts the body's ability to function correctly
Christa'a teachings emphasizes that in order to heal the gut, we have to take the following steps. Simply eating yoghurt or popping a probiotic wont do the trick.
5 Steps To Recovery
Stop Inflammation - stop eating wrong foods
Get Rid of Bad Bacteria Pathogens - stop eating wrong foods
Plant Good Bacteria - take probiotics and prebiotics
Minimize Leaky Gut - heal the lining w/ slippery elm & marshmallow drinks
Optimize Stomach Acid - eat the right foods and take digestive enzymes
Once you have reset the gut microbiome it will reset the brain, skin and mouth microbiomes and much more, remember, heal the gut and you heal your life!