jesse haas

I hired a new doctor this winter and had a pre-visit questionnaire prior to my first appointment. Among other questions about my health, the nurse’s aid asked me, “Do you get a least three servings of milk or milk products every day.” To which I responded very confidently, “Yes.” 

“That’s terrific!” she said. 

I had just lied to a health professional. 

As a Health Coach, people often ask me what supplements they should be taking. Notice, the question isn’t usually if they should be taking them at all, but what they should be taking. A lot of health care practitioners including doctors, chiropractors and nutritionists recommend daily consumption of dietary supplements, especially multivitamins. This recommendation comes in response to the average American diet, which includes only three servings of fruits and vegetables each day instead of the recommended seven to nine. French fries are counted.  

Feeling overindulgent after a season of weddings, BBQs and backyard parties last summer, I started working on my wife, trying to convince her to join me in cleansing through the month of October. I have cleansed with varying levels of success over the past decade, always learning something new about myself and my relationship with my food. After much cajoling she agreed and we harangued a few more friends into doing it with us – strength in numbers, you know?! Our plan was to eliminate animal products, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, gluten-containing grains, sugar…all the good stuff. The goal was to get really simple and find the “reset” button on our eating habits.