March 18, 2021

A few months ago, I was having dinner with my friend Jordan Rubin, and—between bits of my friend Andy Neale's MCT-infused-coconut milk, collagen superfood ice cream—Jordan fascinated me with stories of the crazy animals and superfoods he now grows on his farm, all in a sustainable and regenerative way that could feed a lot of people with very low acreage requirement.

So I just knew I had to get Jordan on the podcast to talk about his farm and his techniques.

After growing up in a health-focused household, Jordan attended Florida State University. But at age 19, a life-threatening case of Crohn’s disease struck. After losing 80 pounds, Jordan was just 104 pounds and ravaged by inflammation. (His doctors didn’t expect him to live much longer.) With conventional medicine utterly failing him, he turned to nutritional-based healing and began specifically studying Biblical references to nutritional health and lifestyle.

Making Bible-based diet adjustments, unlocking the power of fermented food, and utilizing probiotic supplementation teeming with soil-based organisms, Jordan turned his health around and healed himself of Crohn’s disease in weeks. Fast forward years later to 1999, and he and his wife, Nicki, founded Garden of Life, which quickly grew into an award-winning retail powerhouse nutrition company.

Jordan is now one of America’s most-recognized and respected natural health experts and is the New York Times bestselling author of The Maker’s Diet and 26 additional titles, including his latest work, Essential Fasting. An eco-entrepreneur, author, and lecturer on health and nutrition, Jordan has shared a message of health and hope across the globe for the last 22 years. In addition to co-founding Garden of Life, Jordan founded Beyond Organic, a vertically integrated organic food, beverage, and dietary supplement manufacturer. Jordan has formulated hundreds of dietary supplements, functional foods, and beverages—including many #1 top sellers in the Healthy Foods channel.

In 2016, along with co-founder Dr. Josh Axe, Jordan launched Ancient Nutrition, a company that brings the principles of ancient nutrition to the modern world. Jordan is also the founder of Heal the Planet Farm, a regenerative permaculture retreat located in Missouri’s Ozark mountains within the four-thousand-acre Beyond Organic Ranch. Jordan and his beautiful wife Nicki are the parents of six wonderful children.

During this discussion, you'll discover:

-Why Jordan prefers to eat yak and water buffalo over cow…9:30

• Jordan wants to provide food that is helpful, sustainable, etc. and end certain diseases
• Do things on a small scale (kind of a paradox considering how Jordan is known in his circles)
• Water buffalo meat is higher in many essential vitamins and minerals
• Lower fat

-Key differences in water buffalo milk from cow milk…15:00

• Water buffalo milk is a game-changer
  • Naturally homogenized
  • Free of A1 beta-casein (the devil in the milk); original cows from India, Africa, and the Middle East do not have A1 beta-casein; human milk is only A2 beta-casein
  • The milk is naturally white
  • 110% more magnesium than cow's milk
  • Almost every nutrient is higher in water buffalo milk
  • Twice the fat
• Naturally homogenized milk:
  • Yak milk
  • Water buffalo milk
  • Camel milk
  • Sheep milk
  • Goat milk
• The Lowdown on Pasteurization and Homogenization: Why Grass Fed Raw Milk and Dairy Products Are the Best
• Dietary Factors That Affect the Bioavailability of Carotenoids
• Ben switched his son to goat milk and almost instantly solved an asthma issue
• Guernsey cows have a predominance of A2 beta-casein
• A2 Milk
• Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford
• Overview of carotenoid bioavailability determinants: From dietary factors to host genetic variations

-Why duck eggs over chicken eggs…21:00

• Albumin (white) is much thicker in a duck egg
• Greater proportion of yolk to white
• Duck eggs contain 8x the vitamin B12 (highly bioavailable) than chicken eggs
• 3x more cholesterol in duck eggs
• Trace amounts of testosterone in egg yolk
• 35 raw eggs have same effect as Dianabol (bodybuilding testosterone)
  • 35 eggs per day in the treatment of severe burns

-How these types of foods can be available to the masses…26:10

• 300 million water buffalo in the world (only ~6,000 in the U.S.)
• Water buffalo can live 20-25 years in a healthy domestic setting
• No foot problems, no eye problems
• Live in almost any environment
• būf Creamery water buffalo cheese from Colombia
  • Why cheese made with A2 Milk is better
• Certain cultures consume duck eggs (in Asia mainly)
• Century duck eggs
• If there is demand, there will be a supply

-Fun facts on raising ducks…31:30

• Not completely necessary to own a body of water
• Possible to live in a greenhouse
• They coexist with chickens
• Guinea fowl (the chickens of Africa); great for pest control; eats ticks

-Pros and cons of camel milk…36:45

• Desert Farms camel milk
• Lower amount of milk produced
• High maintenance animals
• Long gestation (2 births in 3 years)
• Much thinner than other animals' milk, but loaded with naturally occurring immunoglobulin and lactoferrin; sequesters iron to keep it away from microbes growing
• Very expensive
• Very good for the gut biome

-Superfoods Jordan is raising on his farm in Tennessee…39:00

• Jordan was raised in a concrete jungle
• Annual plants (kale, carrots, etc.) can be very disruptive to the environment
  • Plant each year from seeds or from propagated cutting; constantly disturbing topsoil
• Perennial plants are the answer to our environmental and physical health issues
  • Plant once and they live for years
• Garden of Eden was a “perennial food forest”
• Genesis 3:17: “Cursed will be the ground” – i.e. annual tilling, hard work
• Perennial plants:
  • Chokeberry has become popular because of its antioxidant potential
  • Hackberry
  • Pawpaw
  • Persimmon
  • Graviola or soursop; largest land fruit in America
  • Papaya

-Mixed species combined with rotational grazing…45:55

• What A Christian-Libertarian-Environmentalist-Capitalist-Lunatic-Farmer Can Teach You About How To Eat, How To Shop & How To Think About The Way We Farm & Feed The World, with Joel Salatin
• Books by Joel Salatin
• You can take any piece of land from desert to rock and grow pasture
• Cycle of 7-year periods plant trees
• Building topsoil as you go
• Black gold is high-quality topsoil
• Trillions of tons of topsoil eroded due to annual agriculture; confined animal feeding operations
• The most valuable asset on the planet is topsoil; as topsoil goes, oxygen level goes
• As simple as composting food waste is how you create topsoil
• COVID was a bit of a wake-up call for building sustainable food sources
• Tower gardens for those who live in apartments and townhomes
• Sprouters
• Ancient Healing Secrets, Tinctures, Salves, Hydrosols & Teas, Permaculture Tips & Much More From A Little-Known Superfood Farm In Hawaii, with Doug Wolkon of Kauai Farmacy

-Jordan's personal nutrition philosophy…55:25

• Jordan's books:
  • Patient, Heal Thyself
  • The Maker's Diet
• Intermittent fasting
• Healthy oils on salads
• Favorite grain (sprouted, fermented) is einkorn for sourdough bread
• Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat flour
• Dr. Jeffery Bland
• Jordan's family consumes a lot of avocado
• It's amazing what trash becomes treasure when your perspective changes

-How perspectives on food consumption change with various epochs of time…1:01:30

• Garden of Eden environment was drastically different than most growing environments today
• Some parts of the world subsist primarily on meat and dairy
• Podcasts on the Carnivore Diet:
  • The Toxicity Of Plants, Carnivore For Athletes, Does Meat Cause Acidity, The “Game Changers” Debate & Much More With Dr. Paul Saladino.
  • Carnivore Diet Myths Debunked, Hard Questions About Meat Vs. Plants, Are Broccoli Sprouts Really Bad For You & Much More With Dr. Paul Saladino.
  • Carnivore Diet, Cleaning Out Your Colon, Eating Brains, Hunting Zebras & Much More With Paul Saladino.
  • The Truth About The Carnivore Diet: Everything You Need To Know About Dangers, Benefits, Mistakes & Hacks For Eating Only Meat, With Dr. Paul Saladino.
• Omnivorous diet is the healthiest for Jordan, but be aware of your own needs and tolerances

-Resources for following what Jordan is up to…1:03:10

• Search for “permaculture“; there are several courses available across the country
• Jordan's standard permaculture courses will teach most of the material you need
• ancientnutrition.com
• draxe.com
• Garden of Us (an idea Jordan is mulling)
• Lomo al Trapo
• Guardian Angel ice cream

-And much more!

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Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources from this episode:

– Jordan Rubin:

• The Maker’s Diet
• Patient, Heal Thyself
• Essential Fasting
• Jordan Rubin's Other Books
• Garden Of Life
• Ancient Nutrition
• Beyond Organic
• Heal The Planet Farm

– Podcasts:

• What A Christian-Libertarian-Environmentalist-Capitalist-Lunatic-Farmer Can Teach You About How To Eat, How To Shop & How To Think About The Way We Farm & Feed The World, With Joel Salatin
• Ancient Healing Secrets, Tinctures, Salves, Hydrosols & Teas, Permaculture Tips & Much More From A Little-Known Superfood Farm In Hawaii, With Doug Wolkon Of Kauai Farmacy
• The Complete Guide to Fasting: How To Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, And Extended Fasting, With Dr. Jason Fung.
• The Toxicity Of Plants, Carnivore For Athletes, Does Meat Cause Acidity, The “Game Changers” Debate & Much More With Dr. Paul Saladino.
• Carnivore Diet Myths Debunked, Hard Questions About Meat Vs. Plants, Are Broccoli Sprouts Really Bad For You & Much More With Dr. Paul Saladino.
• Carnivore Diet, Cleaning Out Your Colon, Eating Brains, Hunting Zebras & Much More With Paul Saladino.
• The Truth About The Carnivore Diet: Everything You Need To Know About Dangers, Benefits, Mistakes & Hacks For Eating Only Meat, With Dr. Paul Saladino.

– Books:

• Devil In The Milk By Keith Woodford
• Books By Joel Salatin

– Food And Supplements:

• A2 Milk
• būf Water Buffalo Cheese
• Desert Farms Camel's Milk
• Guardian Angel Ice Cream
• Lomo Al Trapo Recipe
• Einkorn
• Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat Flour
• Chokeberry
• Hackberry
• Pawpaw
• Persimmon
• Graviola Or Soursop
• Papaya
• Avocado

– Other Resources:

• Dr. Jeffery Bland
• Guernsey cows have a predominance of A2-beta casein
• Why cheese made with A2Milk is better
• Overview of carotenoid bioavailability determinants: From dietary factors to host genetic variations
• Dietary Factors That Affect the Bioavailability of Carotenoids
• The Lowdown on Pasteurization and Homogenization: Why Grass Fed Raw Milk and Dairy Products Are the Best
• 35 Eggs Per Day In The Treatment Of Severe Burns
• Tower Gardens
• Sprouters

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Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Jordan or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!