Vani Hari Uncovers the Truth About the Food Industry
TRANSCENDENCE – Live Life Beyond the Ordinary, an FMTV original 5-part docu-series, is all about learning from the personal experiences of those who have been in the darkest trenches, healed from trauma, and recovered from great adversity, to lead us in finding our true potential. Food activist Vani Hari shares her powerful story of doing exactly that. In Episode 1, titled ‘What’s In Our Food?’, Vani shares how a lack of education lead her to illness after illness, and in that feeling of defeat, she finally found her passion to fight.
Vani Hari grew up with two Indian immigrant parents. Being new to America, they naturally trusted the American food system and fully immersed themselves into the culture by taking on the standard American diet; McDonald’s, Wendy’s, whatever they wanted to eat, they did.
These eating habits, mostly caused by a lack of nutrition education, lead to a plethora of different health issues for Vani – asthma, eczema, endometriosis, appendicitis, & allergies – resulting in a life lived in and out of the hospital.
Discouraged and feeling like her body was letting her down, she finally had the passion and drive she needed to really take back control of her health, leading her to question all that she knew about food.
Comparing the standard diet to a healthy diet, her mind was blown, realizing that the majority of the food she had been eating was in fact, not food but heavily processed, dead food created in a laboratory. She quickly changed her diet and eating habits, turning her life, and ultimately her health, around.
This great change became the catalyst for her to begin a journey of justice in the food industry. Through her blog Food Babe, Vani investigates what really goes into our food and holds big corporations accountable. From food dyes known to cause ADHD, to sports drinks chock full of sugar, she’s tackling the monster that the money-hungry food industry has become, one product at a time. Lack of education is what leads to a life of sickness for her, but she is doing all she can to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else. It’s time we all start asking, what’s really in our food?
You can hear all of Vani’s story, along with many other inspiring experts, including Novak Djokovic, Jon Gabriel, Dr. Libby Weaver, Marie Forleo, Vishen Lakhiani, Bruce Lipton, Dr. Mark Hyman, and more in TRANSCENDENCE
About the Author
The Herb Purslane Is A Nutritional Powerhouse
The lovely, moist succulent known as purslane, is 93% water, features dark magenta stems, and rich green, rounded leaves. Also known as Portulaca oleracea, this nutritious, edible weed has collected some colorful nicknames over the years, including: little hogweed, pigweed, and fatweed.
A first-century historian named “Pliny the Elder” suggested that Romans used purslane as the primary vegetable during dinners and as a crunchy addition to salads. Some 18th-century French farmers were known to hate the plant, saying “it’s a mischievous weed meant for pigs.” The herb can be found in Africa, North America, Asia, and Australia.
Some say that Europe is purslane’s native home, but given its succulence, it most likely originated nearer to deserts. The plant has been native to India, Greece, and Persia for centuries, but may have first appeared in North Africa some 4,000 years ago. Some archeologists suggest the plant is prehistoric. Slightly sour and infused with nuanced flavors akin to watercress and spinach, the fleshy purslane is loved by millions throughout the world.
This jade-like plant can be sautéed, juiced, boiled, pickled, drenched in butter, or featured in a delicious salad with oil, salt, and vinegar. It’s a versatile weed that can be grabbed from the Earth and immediately consumed. As it’s often found in plentiful heaps strewn across the countryside, the plant is easy to grow and has provided helpful sustenance throughout the ages, especially during times of famine.
“I have made a satisfactory dinner on several accounts, simply off a dish of purslane, which I gathered in my cornfield, boiled, and salted.” — Henry Thoreau
