Originally posted on Sep 26, 2018, 10:36 am. Updated on Oct. 16, 2019.

If you’re doubtful of the healing power of food, just ask Brooke Goldner, M.D. When she was 16 and diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Nephritis with stage four kidney disease, she never thought she would reach the age of 40. Now she’s healed, healthy and was featured on the cover of Vegan Health & Fitness magazine’s Fit Over 40 issue in April 2018. That’s a transformation that she credits almost entirely to the way she eats. Today, as a best-selling author, the founder of VeganMedicalDoctor.com, GoodbyeLupus.com and creator of the Hyper-Nourishing Nutrition Protocol for Lupus Recovery, she’s helping others to heal themselves with food as well.

As I was interviewing Dr. Goldner for my post on Exploring a Plant-Based Diet, she shared her story with me. There was simply no way I could fit in all of the powerful information she gave me into that one post, so I decided to begin my new profile series on the Healing Power of Food with Dr. Goldner’s journey from disease to health. She reveals the not-so-secret way that she overcame her debilitating and potentially deadly disease and some things you can do to heal your body and feel your best.

** The end of this post was updated in October 2019 with information about the amount of nutrition training U.S. doctors get in medical school.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included on this page. You can read my disclosure policy here.

A Grim Outlook

When Dr. Goldner was diagnosed with Lupus as a teenager, she was already in stage four kidney failure from the disease, she had arthritis throughout her body, would get long-lasting migraines, and some days couldn’t even get out of bed. She was told she had at best six months to live unless she did “above and beyond aggressive medical therapies.” To say the prognosis was extremely grim would be an understatement.

After two grueling years of chemotherapy and high doses of steroids, Dr. Goldner’s disease went into remission. Even though she was stable at the time, she knew that she was going to be someone who didn’t live a long life and that she would probably end up handicapped at some point, more than likely by the time she was in her 40s. As she started medical school, she remembers thinking, “If I go into medicine, I can help people, and even if I don’t live a long life, I’ll have done something important.” Because of the rigorous schedule she had to keep in medical school, Dr. Goldner ended up getting sick again and developed new antibodies that caused blood clots resulting in a mini-stroke. When that happened, they told her that getting pregnant was not an option because she may have a massive stroke or repeated miscarriages and that she would have to be on blood thinners for life. Her expected life span and quality of life were looking fairly grim again.

“I had just graduated medical school at the time. I knew that nutrition had nothing to do with disease!” – Brooke Goldner, M.D. 

A Healing Discovery

When Dr. Goldner was 28, she asked her celebrity trainer fiancé Thomas Tadlock, M.S. to train her for their wedding. As part of that training, he put her on the meal plan he had developed. She says, “He had figured out that you can increase people’s metabolic state, by feeding them huge amounts of raw vegetables, high Omega 3s and a lot of hydration, and at the time, he also thought you needed meat for muscle building. This was a long time ago. So, it was kind of like the best version of paleo could be nowadays. He was doing that and getting great results.” Since Dr. Goldner was a vegetarian at that point, she didn’t eat the meat, but she added tofu and followed the rest of his plan. Within a few months and with nutrition being the only thing that had changed, her Lupus tests were negative for the first time since she had been diagnosed 12 years before, and they have been ever since. That was 13 years ago.

Dr. Goldner has easily maintained low body fat and high fitness levels and was even able to have two healthy pregnancies and to give birth to two healthy sons. She says, “I have an amazing life now. It’s quite remarkable to compare the 12 years prior and the 13 years after. It’s like I’m in a different body altogether, and really I am. The body I live in now is built out of kale, spinach, broccoli, flax and chia seeds instead of being built out of macaroni and cheese, Doritos and eggs like it was before.”

According to Dr. Goldner, what she discovered for herself about the healing power of food holds true for everyone. “All of our cells, every single cell in our body, is made out of what we eat. There’s no way around it. Literally, that expression, you are what you eat, is true. We make ourselves out of our foods. The reason that people get sick is that they’re either eating foods that make them sick and/or they’re not eating the foods that their body uses for repair and healing.” What do our cells need for healing and repair? Dr. Goldner says the not-so-secret secret is in the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all the different phytonutrients we get from living plants. In other words, a whole foods, plant-based diet that she strongly believes can cure most of what ails us.

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

The Healing Power of Food

When Dr. Goldner is trying to help people recover from illness, she implements a protocol with them that focuses on what she calls hypernourishment. This is her specialty – to use the healing power of food to help her patients learn how to nourish themselves from the cellular level. She does this by getting them to focus not only on what to get rid of but what to add. “Every bite that you put in your mouth is something that your cells use for cellular repair – nothing else.” This means making sure that 75 percent of what you eat is coming from green salads, green smoothies and fresh foods “because that’s what our bodies should be built from.” She says that in the long term, people can eat things like whole grains, beans and other things but when she’s helping people with what she calls rapid recovery (a matter of weeks to a couple of months), she doesn’t use any cooked plant foods. The focus is on raw foods, especially greens.

She says that even if people just want to get closer to a healthier version of themselves, adding what they’re missing, even if they’re still eating foods that aren’t so good for them, is the best place to start. “If you’re not eating processed foods, you’re not eating animal products, you’re getting a good dose of Omega 3s every day to create your anti-inflammatory immune system, and you’re eating lots of fresh foods like vegetables, you’re going to go a long way toward general good health.”

Dr. Goldner believes that eliminating animal products is critical in healing because they may very well be what’s making us sick in the first place. She says, “There’s a lot of research that shows that eating meat increases mortality by 50 percent, that processed meats are in the same category of carcinogens as asbestos and cigarettes, and that it increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.” Dr. Goldner also blames dairy products for illness because they’re “probably the most inflammatory thing that people eat. That’s why as a vegetarian, I was still extremely ill because I ate a ton of eggs and cheese every day. Those increase your inflammatory markers, they encourage the production of your inflammatory immune system, which is going to drive inflammation up and trigger your genes for illness. When you get rid of animal products, you are automatically increasing your ability to heal disease and eliminate inflammation.”

Getting Down to the Numbers

If you’re looking for amounts to guide you on a daily basis, Dr. Goldner likes to see the following:

• At least eight cups of raw vegetables a day
• At least 96 ounces of water a day
• A handful of flax or chia seeds a day (her suggestions include either ground up into your smoothie or in a chia pudding)

She says this isn’t as intimidating as it may sound at first. “Drink green smoothies and eat salads all day, so that you’re raw all day, and then come home and cook dinner with your quinoa and beans and vegetables or something like that.”

Dr. Goldner believes that based on her own experience and her experience with treating her patients that if people can follow this way of eating, it’s not only going to help with any kind of disease they already have, but it’s going to keep them healthier than they would normally be.

Resources for Healing

Dr. Goldner is so passionate about making sure that everyone has access to healing resources that in addition to her books Goodbye Autoimmune Disease (affiliate link) and Goodbye Lupus (affiliate link), she also offers free 6 Steps to Reversing Disease with Supermarket Food online classes. In addition, Dr. Goldner’s husband Thomas Tadlock, M.S. started smoothieshred.com, which offers FREE smoothie recipes, workouts, group support and mentoring. If you don’t want to give any personal information, you can still access the smoothie recipes without signing in.

If you’re dealing with a chronic illness, Dr. Goldner suggests talking with your doctor about the possibility of incorporating nutrition into the treatment plan. But, she cautions, don’t be sidetracked if you meet resistance. According to her, doctors weren’t taught about the role of nutrition in illness, health and healing in medical school. Now, they should be getting more exposure to how it’s all connected, but “This is a ground up movement. Patients are the ones that are going to have to bring it to their doctors.” After all, it is your health, and ultimately, eating a lot more vegetables can only help to fuel your body and your recovery.

October 2019 update: While doctors should be getting more education about the role of nutrition in illness, health and healing in medical school, recent studies show that in most cases, they’re not. According to the research article The State of Nutrition Education at US Medical Schools published in The Journal of Biomedical Education, as of 2013, most U.S. medical schools (71 percent) fail to provide the recommended minimum 25 hours of nutrition education and 36 percent provide less than half that much. That’s based on survey responses from 121 of all 133 U.S. medical schools. Bottom line: Trust your doctor but don’t be afraid to educate yourself about the healing power of food and bring what you learn back to them. Together, you’ll be better equipped to support the best you possible. 

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Growing your own food is about as intentional as it gets when it comes to connecting your mind, body and nutrition. There’s just something about planting a seed or a starter plant, caring for it, watching the vegetables, fruit or herbs emerge from what you planted, harvesting and then eating it that’s about as fulfilling as anything you can imagine. I grew up with a Dad who only knew how to garden the Texas way, which meant that we always had a HUGE garden that could feed us plus our neighbors if needed. While I can’t say I appreciated picking beans out in the hot summer sun as much as I probably should have, as an adult, I’ve certainly gotten back to my roots and truly understand the value of what he was doing for us and teaching us to do for ourselves – even in my little slice of suburbia as compared to the farm I grew up on.

While my entire property isn’t as large as my dad’s garden was, I have learned that it is possible to grow food in whatever space you have – whether it’s a backyard, a patio, a deck or a screened-in porch. That’s where container gardens come in. They make it so that growing our own food – at least to some extent – is something we can all do no matter our income or space limitations. Because Bountiful Backyards specializes in edible landscaping, I went to Operations Manager Keith Shaljian to find out how we can fuel our health with container gardens and to get some tips on how to get started.

Please Note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included on this page. You can read my disclosure policy here.

Peppermint Tea & Me:  What are container gardens?

Keith Shaljian: Container gardens are a distinct environment for plants to live in where you can manipulate the conditions according to what they like the most. They’re versatile and particularly good in small spaces.

PTM: Why is growing our own food good for our health?

KS: Food grown in home gardens is much more nutrient-dense, vitamin-packed and fresh than even organic food that we buy at the grocery store. When it comes to vegetables, freshness is key because they lose a lot of energy very quickly. The further they are from their source, the more nutrient energy they lose.

PTM: How is growing our own food one of the best ways to truly connect all aspects of our lives as far as our mind, our body, and our nutrition?

KS: There aren’t too many other avenues that hit on all three of those things. I think it goes back to the Chinese saying, “The best fertilizer is the gardener’s footsteps.” The more you interact with the growing of your food, the more it steadies your mind, connects you to nature and all things, while providing a lot of value for your health and your home economics.

PTM:  What kind of space is needed for a container garden? Can these really be done anywhere to some extent?

KS: Yes, you can do a container garden pretty much anywhere. Certain plants are going to like different conditions, so if you want to put a fig in a container, you want to have it in full sun. But if you put, let’s say a blueberry in a container, you might not want that in full, blasting sun on a patio. Culinary herbs work particularly well in containers.

PTM: What are some of the best vegetables and fruits to start growing in containers, if this is someone’s first time doing it?

KS: I would say for fruits a dwarf fig. There’s one called Violette de Bordeaux. It’s very compact and doesn’t have a huge root system. Russian Pomegranates are also very easy and like containers. Pretty much any vegetable, if you create the right conditions, will grow fine in a container. And then, culinary herbs. They love container gardening, especially if you create the right drainage, which you have to do with containers.

PTM: What types of containers should we be looking for?

KS: There’s a lot of different types that you can use. Aged wood of one sort or another is good. We use a lot of stainless steel – stuff you can get at an agricultural supply store. Those are really good and pretty inexpensive. Then there are all kinds of other ones. There’s one for vegetables that a couple of our clients have had a lot of success with called EarthBoxes. But we mostly use the stainless steel.

PTM: You mentioned drainage. Is that key for container gardens?

KS: It is very important. I’ll just walk you through our four-step process for creating a container. 1) First thing is to pick a container that’s the appropriate size for what you’re trying to grow. 2) You would drill holes about three or four inches apart in the bottom of the container with just a regular home drill, otherwise that water just sits there at the bottom. 3) Depending on the size of the container, anywhere from one-fifth to one-quarter of the bottom fill would be gravel, a small pea gravel, followed by two inches of sand. 4) Then top it off with compost topsoil mix.

PTM: When you say topsoil, what kind of soil should be used? Especially if the grower wants to keep it organic.

KS: Any soil that’s sold in a garden center that says it’s organic should be fine. Black Kow is a good one that can be found in just about any garden center. If you’re going for organic, you definitely want to stay away from Miracle Grow Soil Mix and things like that. Those are not organic.

PTM: Are there any fertilizers that are safe to use if the grower wants to keep it organic?

KS: Oh, there’s tons. Harmony Organics is a really good one that’s OMRI-certified (Organic Materials Review Institute), and any of the Espoma products. They have all different products for different types of plants. That’s like Holly-tone, Garden-tone, Plant-tone. They have a huge selection.

PTM: When it comes to location for container gardens, what are the most important things to keep in mind?

KS: The most important thing to consider is how much sunlight the plants that you’re putting in there need and want. Providing some afternoon shade can be helpful, so if you have a spot where you can put the container that is protected a bit from the most intense part of the day, that’s always good.

PTM: Are there any surfaces or conditions where there’s too much heat or sunlight that should be a consideration?

KS: Any area that has full sun and is on an impervious surface is going to be more water-needy. It’s going to need to be watched. Plants don’t photosynthesize 14 hours a day. They don’t need 14 hours of sun every day, so I would say keep it to like, if possible, five to eight hours of sun. Definitely an impervious surface can act as a heat-sink and make things even hotter than they already are. If you have those types of conditions, you may need to water more or pick plants that love full sun. That’s one of the main things to remember. Always pick plants that are going to enjoy the conditions that you’re providing.

PTM: Is there any specific advice that you would give about watering?

KS: Don’t over water your plants. That’s the main cause of people’s plants dying is over-watering them, babying them. You’ve got to achieve the right balance with watering by observing the plants and being connected to them. That’s the surest way of success.

PTM: What are your top three tips for someone just starting out with container gardening?

KS: 1) Dream big but start small so that you can become familiar with the process. 2) Grow vegetables, fruits and herbs that you’re interested in eating. 3) Learn about the vegetables or fruits that you want to grow by finding out what type of sun exposure, space and support systems they need.

Keith also adds that container gardens are wonderful options for people that may have health issues or are in some kind of environmental situation, such as a backyard that floods, where a garden that takes up a lot of space simply isn’t an option. Whatever your situation, and whether you decide to be elaborate with your container garden or go small, growing your own food is truly one of the most satisfying and rewarding things that you can do for your health and your overall wellbeing.

Additional Resources

• Container Gardening Complete: Creative Projects for Growing Vegetables and Flowers in Small Spaces (Affiliate Link) by Jessica Walliser.
• Grow Your Own Vegetables (Affiliate Link) (great resource for regular or container gardening)

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Does the idea of meal planning make you break out in cold sweats or cause your shoulders to tense up? If so, you’re definitely not alone. This is one of those tasks that can cause even the most seemingly together women (or men) to crumble. It doesn’t have to be that way though, and I’m talking to you about it because I strongly believe meal planning is one of the first steps to good nutrition, good health and overall wellness. Real health does at the very least, include a shopping list (made so much simpler these days by some very easy-to-use meal planning tools).

How Can Meal Planning Change my Life?

I’m not promising a major miracle, but it will make a profound difference in how healthy you and your family are able to eat, and it will save you time and money.

If you plan your meals and snacks in advance, you’re taking control of what you eat. You know (or are learning) what fuels you and what makes you feel your best. My bet is that’s not something that comes out of a vending machine when the 3pm energy slump hits, and it’s not something that’s handed to you through a drive-thru window because you’re too tired to even think about what you want to eat, let alone make it. This practice will take what may seem like lofty goals and help turn them into your healthy reality.

Key to Successful Meal Planning

The key to successful meal planning is that you actually plan out every meal that you and your family are going to have during the week. That may sound tedious and mundane, but it’s the critical first step. Luckily, if you have a smart phone, there are a number of tools out there that can help make this part of the process a lot easier.

5 Best Meal Planning Tools

As an experienced meal planner, I’ve done a lot of the legwork for you while keeping in mind that not everyone has the same needs.

I tested over a dozen meal planning tools, and here are the top five, listed in no particular order, that I found the most helpful. They fill everything from the most basic needs to fairly advanced.

Out of Milk

This one speaks to my very frugal soul! It’s purely a grocery list program, but it’s free and will help keep your budget in check.

Helpful features:

• It lets you put the price in and totals up what your entire shopping list should cost. It can also include tax rate in the settings and then includes tax in the total price of your list. Unless you add a bunch of stuff to your shopping cart that’s not on the list, you should have a pretty good idea of what your shopping trip will cost before you set foot in the store.
• If you’re on a fairly strict budget, this is a great tool. Simply go through once with your template and pantry lists and enter average prices so that you have a good idea of costs. You can adjust within individual weekly lists for sales.
• You can share lists with your entire family, so anyone can add to a list when they notice you’re running low on something (if you don’t want to see cookies magically appearing on your list every week, I suggest that you not share access with your 5-year-old).
• You can have a template grocery list of things you buy every week and then easily copy them into a new list each week. This one is a must in my book. If you have to write down and manually enter the same things week after week, inevitably something critical is forgotten.
• You can add to the list through Alexa.
• It’s browser-based but also has an app.

Cooksmarts

If you’re stuck in a rut and need some inspiration, this meal plan and recipe service may be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s browser-based but very user-friendly. A subscription costs $6-$8 per month depending on whether you do annual, quarterly or monthly, but a trial offer is available that includes three free meal plans.

Helpful features:

• It includes an extensive recipe library.
• It lets you tailor recipes you’re searching for to different dietary needs (paleo, vegetarian, gluten-free and original).
• It includes suggested meal plans that can also be tailored to different dietary needs.
• It automatically adds the ingredients from your recipes to your shopping list. **Note, you will still need to have another shopping list for items not included in recipes found through Cooksmarts.
• You can create a file of favorite recipes that can easily be called on again and again.
• It tracks which meals you’ve made.
• You can send recipes straight to MyFitnessPal.
• It includes many ideas about how to cook on a budget, eat healthier, create a functional kitchen, etc.
• The option to turn on metric measurements is available.
• You can send your shopping order through to Instacart.

Emeals

This is another meal plan service that’s very helpful if you need some variety and don’t have time to go looking for new recipes yourself. It provides suggested recipes for seven dinners based on the preference you indicate. It’s browser-based, but there is an app that goes with it. The service costs $29.99 for 3 months ($9.99 per month) or $59.99 for a year ($4.99 per month) for one specific type of meal plan (such as quick and healthy). Breakfast, lunch and dessert menus can be added to your plan for an additional cost. You can try it out with their free 2-week trial.

Helpful features:

• A variety of options for meal plans including low calorie, low carb, budget friendly, paleo, vegan, kid friendly, etc. are available. You can easily switch meal plans at any time.
• Ingredients for the recipes that you indicate you want to try are automatically added to your categorized shopping list.
• You can also add other ingredients to your shopping list so that everything’s in one place.
• It lets you keep track of your favorite recipes.
• You can link to online grocery shopping.

Plan to Eat

If you want a way to organize your recipes, plan your meals and build your shopping list all in one place, this is it. It’s browser-based but there is an app that goes with it. I liked that I can do the bulk of the work on my computer and then take it with me in an easy to use format on my phone. It costs $4.59 a month or $39 a year, and a 30-day free trial is available.

Helpful features:

• You can check off items as you go, and they don’t disappear. They just show up as a strikethrough.
• You can designate your favorite stores and build your list for those stores (it even let me add the farmers market).
• It has a meal planning calendar that you can easily drag recipes into. This is helpful because it lets you map out the week. You can also go back and see the last time you made something.
• Once a recipe is in your meal planning calendar, the ingredients automatically go into your shopping list. You can easily move items in the shopping list to their corresponding stores.
• It has a staples list that can be categorized by store and easily copied to your shopping list. One of my favorite things about this feature is that even if you copy an item to your shopping list, it keeps it on your staples list, so you’re not having to rebuild your staples list every week.
• You can add your own recipes or import them from the web.
• Hundreds of recipe suggestions are provided that you can filter into categories such as allergen-friendly, gluten-free, easy, cheap, casseroles, breakfast, side dishes, etc.

Chefling

This recipe and shopping list app is fairly basic, very easy to use and has a lot of great features. It’s also free!

Helpful features:

• You can scan in your receipt, and it will suggest recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand.
• It has a large recipe collection, which you can search to match different dietary needs.
• You can easily add the ingredients from any of your recipes to your shopping list.
• It lets you add items from your pantry list to your shopping list.
• You can add to your shopping list through the Alexa and Google home feature.
• It keeps track of how fresh your ingredients are.
• You can sync your pantry and shopping lists across family member’s devices.
• If you’ve scanned in your grocery receipts and then at a later time can’t remember whether you have an ingredient, it will remember for you.

Dollars and Cents

I know that paying a subscription fee for a service like some of these may not be possible for everyone, but one thing to keep in mind is that in most of these cases, we’re talking about what could be the cost of one to two spur of the moment dinners out because you simply didn’t have what you needed at home to be able to pull something together. If you get yourself organized with one of these tools and are able to save money because you’re prepared, you’re easily going to make up your cost.

There are other recommended tools out there, but free trial versions weren’t available at the time when I was writing this (I will continue to check and update as needed). As far as I’m concerned, meal planning and grocery shopping tools are like bathing suits, you have to try them on to know whether they fit you or not. What may work great for someone else, may not fit you at all. You won’t know that unless you try them first, so a free trial is a must.

Lean on Your Community

If you use and love a meal planning tool that isn’t listed here, please include it in the comments section below. While I tried many, I’m sure there are some that were missed. Of course, new ones are also coming out every day. If there’s one you’ve heard about but haven’t had a chance to try, share that as well. I’ll be happy to run it through my paces and share what I find.

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