Javant Benton: The Diet That Helped Him Lose 85 Pounds and Rebuild His Health

0:03Darin Olien:Welcome to Super Life with me, Darin Olien, a podcast where we explore, discover, and share solutions that promote a healthier life and a better world. Together, we'll ignite possibilities, inspire change, and build sovereignty, creating a roadmap towards a super life for you and for all. Get ready to start living your super life.

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1:25Darin Olien:to help you reconnect with your body's natural intelligence. This is real wellness. Honest, grounded, family-made. This is Therisage. It's safe, low EMF, and no weird flicker of lights. It's in many sizes, small size as well as big size. And when I lay on this thing, my full body is fantastic. You can go to Therisage.com and get 15 % off your order. Just type in Darren, D-A-R-I-N, and magically, you get 15 % off. I'm super stoked for Therisage. I love their company. I love what they're doing, and you will too. Welcome to Super Life Podcast. I'm stoked you're here. Man, where are you coming from right now?

2:19I'm in North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, right around the corner from University of Chapel Hill. Oh, nice.

2:26Darin Olien:Is that where you grew up? I did, right here in this area. Yeah, you got an interesting story. It didn't start off so well, right? Well, you know, it depends on how far back you go. Ignorance is bliss until it's not. And so for a while, I thought it was going fine.

2:49Darin Olien:yeah so talk to me about how you grew up and how obviously lifestyle and the way we go about things you know back in the day they used to say like our genetics are what they are so it is what it is look at your parents all that stuff but now Of course, epigenetics expression of our health is a choice by choice, day to day, year by year situation. What was it like for you in the habits and the lifestyle that you initially had? Yeah, again, it depends on how far back we're going. You know, as a kid, I'm just I'm doing what my parents, you know, dictate. So what they put on the plate is what I eat.

3:40You know, what they say to do is what I do. And again, you know, youth, you're under the covenants when you're young, you know, because you're young, things just kind of work and you don't feel the ill effects of some of your behaviors when you're a teenager, you know. And so you think, oh, yeah, what I'm doing is fine because I feel great. But like most people, or at least in my case, as I got older, I started to wear some of my choices. I put on weight, and it was gradual. It wasn't like overnight I bloomed, just was overweight. But gradually, I put on weight and became pre-hypertensive, pre-diabetic.

4:22and I had seen that in my family. You know, diabetes was on one side, a high blood pressure was on the other and because I grew up seeing my uncles and my parents with these things, it really didn't alarm me when I became pre-diabetic and pre-hypertensive. I was a little concerned, but I was like, okay, well, I'm going to take my medicine or take my insulin and I'll just, I'll be fine. But then they were saying that I had lymphoma. You know, they're not supposed to be with lymphoma. And that's when things really got serious. Yeah. Now, I never got the official diagnosis because I was literally in the chair about to get the biopsy.

5:00And I said, no, I'm not going to do it, you know. And so at that point, I was like, boy, what do I do now? I'm obviously on the wrong track and I want to get on the right track. But the big question was, how do I get on the right track?

5:16Darin Olien:hmm well you know it goes to show like god dang you know the the more what we are surrounded by especially as kids right it's like that's that's our environment you know and it is what it is and then so all these habits you're surrounded by it you're just doing it and then god getting the I can't imagine. How old were you when you got the diagnoses and the lymphoma? Probably about 37, somewhere in there. 37, 38. That must have been scary. Oh, very much so. And unfortunately, that's how it goes for a lot of people, man. And we don't get serious about our health until something very unfortunately happens and that fear factor is initiated.

6:13And then you start going, oh, OK, I've got to I've got to I've got to do something.

6:19Darin Olien:Yeah, you know, it just you know, I've dug into a lot of things around food, water, things like that. And, you know, from glyphosate to microplastics to PFAS and everything else. And it's like it's those things that are hidden from us even. If it was just food for food's sake, okay, we're just eating too much food. But, you know, at the same time, yeah, that might be true. But we're eating like a bunch of processed food. It's kind of like, and why the hell is this so dangerous? And why are we sitting in, you know, that's what pisses me off a lot of the times too. is because like, okay, we grew up in a certain way and the food, whatever the food that we are eating, it should be freaking healthy and it shouldn't, it shouldn't be dangerous, you know, and that's where it's on top of the over consumption.

7:18Darin Olien:We've got this other stuff going on with the chemical exposures to things. So it's like, so when I'm listening to you, It's like, yeah, the fear of it all. But if it was just, let's say you have your own garden and your own farmer's markets and you had fresh food around, chances are, even if you were overeating, which is harder to do anyway when you're eating whole food, chances are you probably wouldn't have the level of diagnoses that you had. And so there's this overconsumption of poor food, but at the same time, this chemicalized side of it too. So it's like this double-edged sword and then everyone around us is doing the same thing.

8:12Darin Olien:So after you had that happen and that fear set in, what was that next step? Well, for me, it was finding the answer, you know. Unfortunately, like you said, the environment you're in kind of dictates, you know, what you see and what you know. I didn't have anyone around me modeling a healthy diet look like or what healthy lifestyle behaviors look like. And so I was really on my own. And so I took to social media and I started, you know, Googling and and trying to find how to get healthy. and a funny thing happened. It kept coming back to food. People will say, well, you know, if you change what you eat, you can change your outcome.

9:05And this was foreign to me. I always thought of health as, okay, I got to exercise and I got to eat some more vegetables, you know, but what does that mean really? But when I start seeing that, wow, it really makes a difference. People are saying that they changed their diet and they changed their outcome. And so I was like, okay, so what do I need to eat? And you would think, okay, now I've figured out, just eat the right thing. But man, there's so much, there's so many opinions out there, you know, eat carnivore, eat for your blood type, you know, eat, you know, it's just so many different, so many different ways and approaches out there.

9:42So even that was confusing. Even when I figured, okay, I need to change what I eat, figuring out what that was. So at one time I was following Mark Sisson and he's, one of the head figures in the paleo diet. And that was an improvement. Everything's an improvement over the American diet, at least the way I was eating it. It was an improvement because it brought in more vegetables and it took away some processed foods, but the meat consumption was too high. I didn't know this at the time, but eventually I figured it out. But it was when I got to Dr. Furman that the light bulb really went off for me because his way of presenting information, very factual, very confident, backing things up.

10:21I read all his books.

10:23Darin Olien:Research, research, research, right? Yes. Yes. Yes. And it was his information that really, you know, was my savior because I was like, okay, this is resonating. It's making sense. And I can, I'm going to start applying this. And so that was the big turn turning point for me. yeah so you start getting the and i love joe he's he's the best and he's been you know these guys some of these ogs around plant and research they're just they've been saying the same thing regardless of all this kind of stories that get thrown around and regurgitated these guys have been saying the same thing for a long time and educating from that place and and yeah so the light bulb went off for you around, oh man, I might be eating too much, uh, meat and all of that stuff.

11:17Darin Olien:And, um, so then how was that transition? Because again, you're coming from, I'm surrounded by, you're kind of an Island on your own now. Uh, you're still surrounded by your friends, your family, your community. And then you're like literally swimming the other way. so what was that like when you're like hey man i'm i'm eating all plants yeah it's radical uh but as i always tell people you know they say what about the peer pressure and i said well i had something that trumped that the fear pressure right you know because that that fear element for me was no no individual no group of people were going to get me off my game man because my health was on the line and the fear, you know, definitely trumped the peer pressure.

12:08So that was the thing for me. And, you know, earlier you mentioned things like, you know, the microplastics and the glyphosate, and I was pretty convinced. And even now, I'm not certain that the healthiest diet isn't a plant-based diet as I practice it now. I am vegan now, but a plant-based diet, but with a little bit of fish, maybe four times a week, fatty fish, because when you don't have that fatty, well, let me, let me back up. So for about seven years before I became completely vegan, I was eating a plant-based diet and I was eating fatty fish, either sardines or wild caught salmon, like four or five days a week.

12:48You know, I wouldn't eat a lot, you know, somewhere between four and six ounces. But then I started hearing about the dioxins, you know, and the microplastics and nanoplastics, like you said. And I was like, wow, maybe this isn't the best route to go. But when you remove that salmon, when you remove that fatty fish, you have to be on your game because there's certain things that you're probably going to have to supplement because it can be difficult to get enough zinc because the phytates are bonding the zinc in the plant food. And then you got to be on top of your omegas and you got to be on top of your iodine.

13:24So to me, pescatarian was an approach where I was like, okay, I'm good. The only thing I got to do is maybe take some D3 because I'm not getting enough sun, but everything else is good. But when I removed that source of fish and it was just plants, now you have to really, you know, be conscientious about your approach and know that you're covering all your bases. But you asked me, what was it like to go all plants? I loved it. I loved it. My only concern is what I just mentioned is the things that I would be lacking. But I said, OK, I can supplement and cover those bases. And now I'm good. And now I'm good.

14:01Yeah. And I think it begs to share this broader point where, you know, it's so easy to reduce things down to like, well, you need to eat meat and you need to eat plants. But now what we're really also pointing to, and like you said with the fish, even this wild-caught nonsense is because of our environment is full of runoff.

14:27Darin Olien:And unfortunately, as humans, we've infected most of the planet with industrial pollutants. And it's bioaccumulating, especially in flesh of other animals. And so our wild whatever doesn't also hold up because of dioxins, because of bioaccumulations of PFOS and you name it. And then just adding on the meat side of things. Before we continue the pod, I want to share something. I've tried so many supplements. I've been in the space for 25 years. And every so often, something really pops out. Mana Vitality is that difference. It's not just about adding minerals. It's about tuning your body to the higher frequency, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

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17:11Darin Olien:And that is accumulating in people's bodies. So it's this broader conversation of clean food as well as obviously as we share predominantly colorful whole food from plants. And that kind of fatal convenience of whatever people are getting their meat from or food in general, we need to be aware because of that chemical exposure, because of the endocrine disruptors and the other factors. So I just want to say that because as you astutely figured out, hey man, this fish that I'm eating is maybe I'm getting the omegas, maybe I'm getting some other things from it, but I'm getting these other toxic compounds that are infinitely worse for me than a nutrient that I can easily harvest from another way.

18:10Darin Olien:So I just want to make that point because we're missing some, especially on social media and things like this, we miss some of these nuances that is really important. And, you know, it's just growing because of this industrial kind of food matrix that we live in. But so, yeah, so you dumped the fish and you went full plants and you're learning along the way. I think you actually studied with Dr. Fuhrman as well, correct? Well, under him, not side by side. But, you know, I went through his programs and became certified as a nutritarian coach and cook and nutritarian studies. So, you know, I really, really dove in.

18:58Darin Olien:Yeah, so you're full on. And your new cookbook, Make Your Own. and you're fully got into, because you do have to be the CEO of your own health too, right? And so where did that inspiration come from to just start putting in the work of understanding kind of, because a lot of times we have to reverse engineer foods that we like in order to then engineer them in a way that we want them. And it takes a little effort, but there's always a way to create foods that are healthy and also delicious at the same time. Where was that kind of moment where you – because you made this your life. It wasn't just this lifestyle change.

19:50Darin Olien:You've made this your life now. Yeah, and it all happened organically. I never sat down and had a plan, a strategy. Hey, I'm going to get from here to doing a cookbook on making your own. But what I saw, though, is that people would see my progress because I lost 85 pounds, right? And they would say, man, you look great. What are you doing? And I would tell them, I'm eating a plant-based diet now. I'm vegan. And I'm eating a lot of salad and hummus and tabbouleh and nuts and seeds. And I'd be like, hey, where are you going? I mean, they turn and walk away. I got later for that. I don't want no part of that.

20:30Right. Because because like me, they grew up eating these things that are, you know, full of fat and sugar and salt as the main, you know, flavorings of things. And so when you start eating things like salad, it's boring. So I saw this disconnect and people who wanted to get healthy, they wanted to eat better. But if it meant boring foods, it was like, I just can't do it. And so I had this kind of challenge myself, like, well, how can I get people I love, people I like to eat healthier without them feeling like it involves deprivation and that they're giving up everything? And I was like, well, why can't we make burgers or lasagna or, you know, a cookie or a pie?

21:15Why can't we make it taste really good, but without, you know, the refined wheat, the refined sugar? Why can't we make, you know, something that mimics chicken nuggets or that mimics, you know, some kind of a burrito or even eggs, but without the eggs and without the meat? and so i was like well how do you do that and so that became my mission is to figure out how to make those things now like anybody you know it does you have a certain amount of creativity that you bring to it but you're still going to go somewhere else to someone who's been successful doing it so what i did is i went online and i would google how to make a vegan this how to make a vegan that how to make an oil-free wheat-free refined sugar-free this and that and back at the time when I was doing it, there were not a lot of options out there.

22:02And someone might be making it without the refined wheat and the refined sugar, but they would still have the oil. And so I'd have to figure out how to figure that out. And so it was a lot of trial and error. And what I tell people is that, you know, my recipes reflect all the sweat and the mistakes and errors that I've had to make so that you don't. And now I've figured out how to make all these dishes. I mean, everything, Man, I've made Girl Scout cookies on my page, which don't sound like the healthiest thing, but compared to an actual Girl Scout cookie, it's very healthy. So what I try to do is make it so people have no excuses, no reason whatsoever not to eat healthier.

22:42Because they go, yeah, I would eat it, but my dad just loves macaroni and cheese. He can't give it up. And I say, look, I got a great mac and cheese. I got a great mac and cheese. Still has the flavor. Still has the right texture. But without the jump. Without the jump. And so that kind of became my mission. And now it's become my forte is to make traditional dishes without the harmful ingredients. I always say you don't have to change what you're eating. Change the way you make it. Don't change what you make. Change the way you're making it. That's huge, man.

23:12Darin Olien:It's huge. And it takes a lot of trial and error. But there's also, did you find like the alchemy, kind of the artistry of it all? it kind of comes it's fun it's dirt you start playing yes yes i tell people that i love it it's just a fun process now there's been some frustrating moments early on but like you said the more you do it the more adapt you become and now uh you know things that ideas that i go well how do i make that happen oh man it's three times as fast now as it was two or three years ago right yeah yeah because there's all those little tricks that you learned along the way like the the consistency of flax seed is kind of like the the egg right or the you know those kind of little things and how can i sweeten this instead of let's use whole dates rather than whatever all this is and so yeah it's always this fun kind of side to it and then the benefit that people aren't spending that much time uh the benefit is they get to benefit from from the hard work that you do so So, like, how many different recipes are in this book?

24:25It says 120 plus. I think it's about 134, somewhere in there.

24:30Darin Olien:Wow. Yeah. People, like, you know this. Like, when people say, oh, my God, plants? I'm just going to eat salads all day. And I'm like, well, hey, it's not so bad, actually. But, no. Like, there's a lot of incredible, incredible food. that, um, that people miss out and they don't understand. And then that, you know, it takes that bridge, you know, and especially, especially where you're from and your family and your community, it's like, you gotta create bridges. You gotta create bridges. So it doesn't, it's not difficult for people to make those, take that step. And I'd love to hear those moments, that you've made food and it may have be a traditional food in your family or something, but you made it healthy.

25:29Darin Olien:How many moments have you had of a non-vegan eating some food and they were blown away? Oh man, a lot, particularly early on. Now I'm kind of not undercover anymore. So people know it's going to be vegan. It's going to be oil free. But early on, I literally would make things with mushrooms and people would have no clue that they weren't eating like a chicken nugget. And I'm serious. I mean, it would just blow them away or chicken salad or, you know, I've got my most popular recipe is my veggie ground. And so I would make lasagna or spaghetti or a gyro or something and people and I wouldn't tell them and they would have no clue.

26:10And then And I told them, yeah, that's mushrooms. But that's not beef. That's not chicken. That's mushrooms and this and that and that. They go, come on. Yeah, there's no oil in it. Come on. But it's what? They wouldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it.

26:22Darin Olien:Texture of the mushroom and everything and the flavor. You just got it dialed in and they had no idea. Absolutely. Absolutely. But one thing I want to do, you said something that's so strong. You said a bridge. Because I think one of the holes that I saw in our game, And when I say our game, us people who are vegan, who are trying to tell other people the wonderful, how wonderful it is to be plant based and how beneficial it is, is that a lot of times what I notice is that if you listen to a Dr. Furman or Dr. Greg or a Dr. Clapper or Dr. Whomever is fill in the blank or even myself at times and maybe you.