The Book That Started It All: Foods that Heal by Dr. Bernard Jensen
8/31/20262 min read
It all started with a single book.
I picked it up at a Barnes & Noble off 183 and Belt Line at the Irving Mall back in 1999 or 2000. It was my last year of college, and as I walked past a stack of books, it caught my eye. I bought it on impulse.
That single read shifted my entire worldview.
By the following year, I was shopping at the Dallas Farmers Market and learning about Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) on NPR. From that point on, I became deeply passionate about a principle that now anchors my life and work: food is medicine.
When that book was published in 1998, talking about food as medicine made you look a bit kooky. Coming from a family full of medical doctors, bringing up the healing power of food wasn’t exactly standard conversation at the dinner table. My mom and I were the only ones who saw its potential. For a long time, I kept my interest quiet.
Fast forward to today, and ingredients like collagen, whey, and bone broth are all over social media. Years ago, I used to make my bone broth in secret because my roommates thought it was disgusting—though they happily ate the soups I froze and cooked for them!
Ask almost any immigrant family, and they’ll tell you about traditional foods they grew up with that were once misunderstood, but are now mainstream trends. But beyond trending, once a healing aspect of food is discovered, it often gets commercialized—think golden milk, matcha, and acai.
Looking back, swimming against the current and feeling like the "crazy hippie" for years was daunting and frustrating. But it also laid the foundation for my career as a health and wellness coach. Over time, as I built programs centered around nutrition, stress management, and sustainable habit building, I watched the world slowly catch up. Today, as countless books, podcasts, and doctors echo what ancient traditions have known for millennia, one truth is clear: our health is truly in our own hands.
We also have a responsibility to the next generation. If our children aren't equipped with basic knowledge of real food, cooking, and nourishment, they will face unprecedented health challenges. There’s no going back to the era of our grandparents. Industrialization is here to stay, and environmental toxicity is on the rise. That isn't meant to sound doom and gloom—it’s simply our reality, and it demands that we take active control of our well-being.
Food as medicine isn't a new trend; it’s over 6,000 years old. Practices like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have honored these principles for centuries.
Food is more than nourishment or medicine. It’s home. It’s culture. It’s family. It’s tradition. And most importantly, it’s our future.
As I launch my new website today, I’m taking a moment to honor where this journey began and how far we’ve come. Thank you for being part of this movement toward holistic, empowered health.