The Baby Boomer Diet

For Baby Boomers, always transforming and defying expectations, our greatest test will be how we handle and redefine aging. How will we live … and what will survive of us?

I began writing the first chapter of this book sitting on the white, pristine beaches in Jupiter, Florida. Four years later, as I write the last one, I sit on the opposite coast of this great country, near Venice Beach, California.

It’s interesting how reflective you become when you sit near the ocean. It is so vast and permanent—an ever-changing witness to millions of years of life. It humbles me, because unlike these ancient waters, my life is transient.

Scientists say that approximately 6,000 years ago a great flood occurred and the earth was completely covered with water. This flooding is depicted in the biblical tale of Noah’s ark and in the legends of many other cultures. With the real threat of famine, disease, polluted water and air, infertility, childhood diseases, and on and on, it seems we may once again need a modern “ark” as our means of survival.

In 1962, while the oldest Baby Boomers were still in high school and the youngest were learning to talk, a scientist named Rachel Carson wrote a forward-looking and penetrating book called Silent Spring. Carson warned us then that man-made chemicals were interfering with the development of our own offspring. She was right. Her book had huge prepublication sales, was serialized in the New York Times Magazine prior to publication, and was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 30 weeks. Reaction to its content was loudly and publicly debated. It also inspired a small group of field biologists to begin observing widespread evidence of damage in the birds, fish, and other wildlife throughout the Great Lakes. For their efforts they were reprimanded and given lateral transfers, and their findings were stuffed away in the bottom drawer of a supervisor’s desk … never published.

Our universal purpose as a generation and as individuals is to become a doorway for change and to help nourish righteous action so that a superior way of life is born.

Thirty-five years later, Theo Colborn wrote a book that picked up where Silent Spring left off—Our Stolen Future. She, too, warned us that man-made chemicals interfere with the natural ones that tell our cells, tissues, and organs how to develop and function. In her acceptance speech for the Rachel Carson Leadership Award in 1997 she said:

Scientists now realize that although effects have been reported in adults who were directly exposed to some of these chemicals, the most sensitive period to exposure occurs prenatally and shortly after birth. The damage is insidious and irreversible and expressed in offspring as inconspicuous loss of function. These are population-wide effects, unlike cancer, acute toxicity, and obvious birth defects. Your children, their children, and all future children are at risk.¹

Once the enormous wave of Baby Boomers began entering this world, we changed it forever. In some ways, it is a better place—in many other ways, it is not.

Clearly, our influence as a generation cannot be denied. If we choose, our ability to continue to effect enormous change on this planet is far from over.

Many of us born between 1946 and 1964 are finally waking up to the fact that we are heading in the wrong direction and cannot continue on this flawed path any longer. I am quite concerned about the younger generations and their future. I am sure you are as well.

Over the course of more than 20 years of training and working in the area of natural foods and healing, I have wondered why we are not doing more to stop the suffering we see around us. For many decades to come, there will be a great deal of pain and heartbreak for all of us because those who suffer the most will be the younger generations.

So far, we haven’t really taken heed of the red flags all around us, yet we still have great potential to reverse our course. Like Noah, let’s create an “ark” together and try to save our own families, friends, and the animals we share the planet with. The Body Ecology Way of Life can be a kind of “ark,” with answers that will lend us strength through these troubled times.

But how does each one of us give purpose to our time spent here on Earth? First, we need to experience a calling, a true and passionate conviction about what we want our lives to mean.

As teens, we asked the questions Who am I? and Why am I here? As adults, we are still asking ourselves questions, but they have changed, and we have more of them.

We are now asking: Who have I become? Has my existence really mattered? I’m here now, but how much time do I have left? Will I leave behind a meaningful legacy? Is there more I need to do?

Science won’t give us the answers to those questions … but if we look with our “spiritual eye,” the answers become crystal clear.

Our universal purpose as a generation and as individuals is to become a doorway for change and to help nourish righteous action so that a superior way of life is born.

We are willing to make personal sacrifices to get things back on track. After all, the lives of our children and grandchildren depend upon it.

We will change … because survival is the strongest force in nature, and if we don’t change, we humans won’t survive. This ocean in front of me will once again be witness to the ending of another civilization.

So, how do you want to use your current interests, skills, and passions to influence the world around you?

About 20 years ago, it began to dawn on me that we were created to serve, and that we are happiest when we are making a difference in the world around us. While you may have purchased this book to learn the secrets to recapturing your constitutional “prenatal jing,” there is an even more deepseated reason for us to recapture the vibrancy of our youth—we must regain the power we had in our youth to transform this planet before we leave.

Indeed, it is why we came. We cannot become a burden to the younger generations who will have to care for us if we are no longer able to care for ourselves. Clearly, we must focus our intention on a common purpose, and we cannot leave here until our mission is complete.

In the past, a tribe was a clan of people who descended from a common ancestor. A tribe today can be defined as a group of people or a “subfamily” that holds common interests or a collective passion. Together they share knowledge and find and implement solutions.

In Seth Godin’s book Tribes, he talks about how the individual has more power than ever before to create change. When people have a shared interest and a shared way of communicating that interest, “miracles” happen. The legacy of the Boomers—to challenge the status quo and act from a place of vision—is now bringing an entirely new business and socialchange culture to the world. As Godin says, heretics have become the new leaders. These new leaders don’t “manage.” They connect and inspire. They are not concerned with earnings reports. They are concerned with leveraging skills and resources in ways that make palpable change in suffering lives.²

With our enormous resources … our wisdom, our talents, and our wealth … we are more ready than ever to have an intentional and positive impact in the world.

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteering in America is at a 30-year high. In fact, the number of Americans volunteering in their communities jumped by 1.6 million in 2009, the largest increase in six years.³ And Baby Boomers have made more charitable contributions than any other age-group. Their interest in and commitment to volunteerism are the primary reasons for a 37 percent increase in volunteering among midlife Americans since 1989 (from 23.2 percent in 1974 and 22 percent in 1989 to 30 percent in 2005).⁴

What makes the way we give unique? Well, first, we are noticeably more engrossed in making use of our existing expertise and interests, and we want our volunteer activities to reflect our beliefs and what we care about. We have high expectations, want diversity of choice, and tend to bypass opportunities that we don’t find interesting or challenging. “Making a difference” is the top reason why we volunteer, and because we see retirement as a new chapter to our lives rather than an ending, we are more upbeat about the future and always on the lookout for ways to stay involved and learn new skills.⁵

Sweeping and transformative change is not something that only Boomers do. In fact, our children may be even more successful at it than we are.

More and more universities are changing the focus and curriculum of their business programs. Why? Because their students are demanding it! Schools like the University of Maryland have made social entrepreneurship a priority, giving students the opportunity to align entrepreneurial vision and problem solving with philanthropy and social change. See: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/svc.

Baby Boomers won’t follow the sedentary ways of our aging parents, nor will we allow ourselves to become as isolated. In the 1960s, some of us became hippies and tried to live in communes or ashrams, but we weren’t mature enough to make these succeed. Still, we have retained that deep need to connect with others and build community. And today we are creating new communes and tribes where we can be bonded with passionate members like ourselves—even if they live across a vast ocean—by using technology such as online social networks.

Mother Teresa often said that isolated people are the poorest people on the planet. Don’t let loneliness and separation enclose your life as the years fly by. Get involved. Become a member of a tribe that shares your passions.

Envisioning the “Coffee Shop” the Body Ecology Way—a New Kind of Fast Food

More and more people are working virtually. Today, as many as one in five employees avail themselves of some type of telework, and this number will only grow as we become more technologically self-sufficient. For the self-employed or the telecommuter, the coffee shop has become an all-important meeting place to network and conduct business. But with the typical coffee shop serving caffeinated beverages and fatty/sweet pastries, what is the health-conscious person supposed to do? Many diets fail because they are by nature “antisocial”—they force people to avoid social situations where unhealthy and fattening food is served. This isolation causes many dieters to feel despondent, which in turn makes them want to eat and return to their old habits! For the healthy Baby Boomer today, the coffee shop has become a Catch-22.

But what if someone were to start a chain of “probiotic cafés”—places where people could meet in a more communal setting, socialize, do their work, and eat healthfully at the same time? Instead of a caffeine buzz, customers would enjoy the rush of a CocoBiotic cocktail or a green smoothie, or an anti-aging soup. Wouldn’t it be great if you could order your favorite fermented foods as takeout, or enjoy a dessert that satisfies the munchies but doesn’t pack on the pounds?

Is your passion food? Consider taking a workshop on how to use whole foods to make quick, inexpensive meals. You can pass on what you’ve learned to your busy adult children.

Is your passion sustainable agriculture? Join your local Slow Food movement (www.slowfoodusa.org), or get involved in your community’s farmers’ market. If none exists, start one!

Is your passion exercise? Perhaps you will be the person who develops a radical new and fun program to motivate sedentary people to become active and strong so that they are not as prone to injury and illness in their later years.

Is your passion educating children? Why not start a garden at a nearby school or in your community? These local gardens are a great way to get kids outdoors and to teach them about vegetables and other healthy foods. They can actually see the food growing; it helps them make a connection between what’s on their plates and where it came from.

Is it your passion to go back to school and learn? I love to learn, and I love to teach. And I am passionate about changing the way the world eats because I know how important this is. I think my greatest love is to teach young women how to create beautiful, healthy babies. I also love giving online classes and teleseminars to explain the Body Ecology Way to anyone and everyone who wants to learn.

Find something that ignites your passion and do it. Your chances of being successful are very high because you have earned wisdom from your successes and failures.

In another 30 years, the oldest of us Boomers will be hitting our 90s; the youngest of us will only be in our 70s. Imagine what you can accomplish with another 30 years of energy to pursue your dreams. Imagine what we will have accomplished as a generation in that much time as we harmonize our amazing resources!

Never underestimate the power of one person! You can make a huge difference in the world—and with social-media outlets such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, it has never been easier to do. A new idea or theory, new research, and especially new solutions can find their way around the world in a matter of minutes.

An eternal optimist, I know we can overcome the many challenges facing us, and I am certain that you know this, too. That is why I wrote this book.

I want us all to have the energy we need to create a healthier, happier world by serving in the way each of us is trained or is called to do. I wrote this book for you.

Yes, Baby Boomers are witnessing an era coming to an end. Yet, as we all know so well, every ending is also a new beginning.

We are the generation given the task to open the door to a new and much better way of life. You are alive now in these ending/beginning times; and when you focus on restoring your vital energy to serve, you can help herald a shiny, bright new beginning… .

Nourish your body and your soul well … and when you draw your last breath, you can proudly say, “My life really mattered. I’m glad I came.”