"We can fix this and dance until we're 103!" With Top 5%er Nora De La Torre

We just removed 34 pounds of sugar per student per year in one district. We removed a bunch of toxic ingredients. We are just testifying to get food dye out of kids' food, especially red food dye and other things are linked to ADHD and behavioral issues. Some of these things affect people's metabolic health, but 10 days, 'cause in 10 days they found that you can change your metabolic health. 10-day zero added or free sugar challenge as a family. My whole family did it for my birthday month.

What are the top 3 trends that you see in the American food diet that you would wanna bring awareness to our audience as the CEO of it will. Thank you so much, Nora, for joining us at Driving Impact. And for the Driving Impact Hive today, I'm so pleased to welcome the she's the CEO and co-founder of an award-winning nonprofit, which is called Eat Real. And Nara is able to galvanize a lot of individuals around an important mission, which is really eating real food and eating sustainable food, which is an important topic of our time. And for us, especially at Driving Impact, because we're trying to figure out how can we live better and more fulfilling lives, how can we drive more impact in our career, in our industry, in the world, for our families. But it, it's not possible if we're not able to eat high-quality, nutritious food all over the world. So welcome to Driving Impact, uh, Nora. Thank you.

Thank you. It's so good to be here. I'm so happy to be in conversation with you. Thank you. And thank you for helping people become more alive and more vibrant. I think it's—

thank you—

what this life is all about.

And I wanted to kick it off because at Driving Impact, we look at, at the world through a lens of like purpose, passion, and impact. And you can, if you can find your passion, you can find your purpose, then you can drive even more impact. And it seems like you found your passion, which is helping people like eating real food. So what was the catalyst that helped you find this, this purpose or this path in your life?

Yeah, so I have a background in food systems, sustainability. I always love food. I've always been kind of a foodie. I helped green my college campus. I helped build the fair trade movement. Actually, it was with fair trade folks yesterday who, you know, about global sustainability and global farming. And I've always just looked at myself as a global citizen and just been concerned about that. But I think, you know, I became a new mom 5 years ago and that just turbocharged my passion for making the world happier, healthier, more vibrant. And when you become a new mom and you're thinking about getting pregnant and then you get pregnant and you just become really aware of what are you putting in your body? What are you putting on your body? Around your body and how do you give your kid the best chance at becoming their strongest, healthiest selves. And so, I think for me, that was a really pivotal moment where I became super aware and super concerned because I learned about in that moment that, because I was confronting, what world am I bringing my child into? And, I realized for the first time in US history, we're actually, kids are having shorter less healthy and less happy lives. And that's like the definition of the decline of progress. Like, we want all— I think we all want to give our kids a better life. And so you're bringing kids in the world, you're like, how do I give them a better life? Or these are good a life as childhood as I had. Like, I want to, you know, keep making progress and keep giving them opportunity. And I looked at the health collapse that's happening in America and the fact that lifespan is declining and that healthspan is declining. And I just wanted to do more. And so I learned about this nonprofit, Eat Real, and I became a co-founder. I was like, had a 6-month-old, was new mom, new CEO, was like, it was founded by some amazing doctors. And I told them, give me the keys, let's go big with this idea. I'll be a co-founder. And so yeah, becoming a new mom made me find this nonprofit, want to be working in something that was the intersection of my background in food sustainability and my emerging deep passion for nutrition at the time. And so yeah, I just, I kind of, it's like, it's the perfect mix of my background, you know, using my superpowers and my passion, getting to live in purpose. And I just, every day I love my job.

It's incredible. Like a life change. Cause I had the same similar experience, right? When I became a new mom, that's when my purpose fell on my head like a brick.

Yeah.

It should be positive. Yeah. But I think you become more conscious of what you put in your body, but also where you spend your time, what you spend your energy. So very similar.

If you're not going to be with your family, it better be very worth it, right? It's like, if I get— if my little one isn't getting me, if something else is getting my attention and my energy, then it better be something really powerful, or that's something that's really clear on why I'm doing it. Yeah, I totally feel that. It makes you be so laser focused.

Yeah, and it, it must matter, and that's what I'm hearing from you. So you said so many things in As you talked about your purpose, you said so many things that, that really drove my attention and brought a lot of attention. Like you talked about lifespan. So at Driving Impact, we want to make sure that we drive impact in our industry, in a career, in the world, but also live in a more sustainable and eco-conscious world. And like, we see that what we're eating is becoming less and less nutritious. Right?

Right.

Like, like we can talk about food trends, but why don't we talk about like health spans? Because there's different studies. There was a, there were studies that talk about health spans that we're living longer lives, but that was a study from the 1900s. So what are you seeing in terms of health spans now that we're in 2024?

Yeah. So 6 years prior to the pandemic, lifespan in America peaked. So we were seeing gains in lifespan and then it started to drop. Far before the pandemic. And what people don't realize is that drop, the biggest driver per the World Health Organization is preventable, ultra-processed food lifestyle-related diseases. So these are diseases like heart disease and certain cancers and type 2 diabetes that are, are preventable and they're largely driven by our food system and lifestyle and preventable interventions. And so that was their biggest cause of decline of lifespan and healthspan globally and in the United States. And so now I was just running numbers. I just did a TED community town hall at the main stage last minute for 1,000 people, which was, you know, I found out at 9:30 in the morning at night. And then by 8:00 AM, I was backstage and I was pulling numbers that evening just to refresh them. And actually, as I was preparing for that talk, I realized that I have a 3-year-old, I have a 5 and a 3-year-old, that my son Nico, who's 3, his generation will see 1.5 fewer years than I will as a 38-year-old. Wow. So that's hundreds and hundreds, over 500 sunrises that he and his peers won't see because their lifespans are projected to decline. And that's not even considering all the soaring diseases that are showing up now in kids that are preventable. So it's, likely going to be worse than that. But at a minimum right now, their lifespans are on track to be 1.5 years shorter than, than mine. And I just think that's so unacceptable. So I'm like, okay, how do we right this ship? Like, this bad trend started in 2014, 10 years ago, but we can fix it. It's fixable. It's only in the last 50 and 70 years that we've really been failing with our food system. And so we can rethink it. And it's— this is the wake-up call. And so I think that that's probably the thing that people don't realize. And so what's wild is that unprecedented longevity is possible. Like, I study centenarians, like I study people that live a long time. And one woman just passed at 116, but at 114 she threw herself a birthday parade. At 103 she wrote a letter to her local paper. The title was "Come Dance with Me," and she was looking for a new dance partner at 103. Like, we can dance until we're 103, but instead we're dying in our early 70s. Like, that's what's going to start to happen. We're dying earlier, and then you're sick for the majority of your adult life. Or like, now kids are getting sick. Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, fatty liver disease, pediatric cancers, depression soaring in kids. Diseases that used to show up late in life are now showing up early in life in our kids because we're aging our kids and we're giving them these diseases. And not we, we were not doing this intentionally, but I just mean like our system is.

So you talked about 2014. What happened in our food system in 2014?

And it was starting to build at that point, right? Like we're learning that millennials in the '80s missed a critical growth spurt and we're actually shorter. And the biggest driver is ultra-processed food. So It started to, it started to happen in 2014, but it was the, you know, when you look at the rise of ultra-processed food and now 67% of kids' calories are ultra-processed calories, there's a correlation with the rise of ultra-processed food, how ubiquitous it is, how 93% of Americans started to be metabolically sick, like our bodies stopped functioning optimally. And so that's like, that kind of wave was beginning to build and then it peaked.

And can you give us some examples of like some of the worst ultra-processed foods that we're consuming?

Yeah. And it's also like, I think what I want, what I want to point to people to is real food, like whole foods, just like when you can cook it, few ingredients, not packaged. One of our doctors says if it has a label, it's a warning label. Like, but there are, there's a spectrum of processing, right? There's like a whole, a whole fruit, a blueberry, and then there's dye that's like a blueberry flavor that has no blueberry in it, that's put in, mixed with 20 other ingredients, you know, like that's such a process. So there's a range here and it's about, it's about clinging to more of the real, the whole, those foods that have nourished humans for thousands of years, like looking to those foods that, that are abundant and that we can enjoy and that have served us and really getting to those kind of ancestral food pathways and indigenous food pathways and getting back to that, there's a range. And then when you think about some of the biggest kind of offenders within processed food, like sugar is one that people— medical consensus is around now, and that we used to eat like 4 pounds of added sugar and now we eat over— kids eat over 64 pounds of added sugar, like a bathtub of added sugar a year. So they used to have it once in a while as a treat. But now we're having it dessert multiple times a day.

It's—

there are 200, over 200 names for sugar. So they're having it in syrups and all sorts of different things hidden in products. By breakfast alone, Americans often are getting 2 to 4 times the amount of sugar they should have the whole day. So sugar is one where it's sneaky because it's everywhere. And then there's like syrups and it's just— it's, it's, it's sneaky and everywhere. And then it's so high frequency throughout our diet and then it's so much a part of our culture. And so that's one that's like really powerful. And, you know, we've run a 7-day sugar challenge and I've done it multiple times with my family. And if you remove sugar for 10 days, they found that you can start to change your metabolic health, even keeping starches, even keeping like carbohydrates. And so it's just like, just added sugar is one of those things I think then you're hearing a lot about. Yeah, I just think, yeah, sugar-laden, ultra-processed foods, like super packaged foods with lots of preservatives, long ingredient lists, food dyes. I think you want like the shorter the better the ingredient list. Like technically pickles are processed food, but they're really great for your gut. It's basically cucumbers and some vinegar or whatnot or some dill and some ingredients. And like, so, you know, that's a process, but like that's a great whole food that's in a package.

I love it. Because basically what you're, Sonora, you're encouraging us like as parents or as human beings to eat real food. And going back to the basics, what is real food? Is anything that doesn't come in a packaging, right? Ideally, right? I had a friend when I was in the Bay Area.

Shop the perimeter of the store, go to a farmer's market. Yeah.

Keep it simple. Like if it, if the kids could have access.

Back to the basics.

Yeah. That's the basics.

I think life, a lot, a lot of health right now is just get back to the basics. Eat real food, sleep, get blackout blinds, like sleep in a cave. Yeah.

Totally.

Sleep, sleep in darkness. Love your families, quality time, get off your screen and walk outside, get outside, get sunshine. Like, it's like some— let's just like get back to the basics. Be with our friends, laugh, eat real food, sleep like more, move more. Like, this is like— it's so powerful, these basics.

Yeah, I think it's super interesting because when I think about— I have a 4-year-old, and when I think about— I grew up in Montreal, and we used to live next to a forest. We used to go and pick strawberries and then my grandmother would make jam with strawberries and the taste of a strawberry when I was 5-year-old versus the taste of a strawberry today. Right. It's a whole different world. Every time I'm eating a strawberry and I'm sharing them with my son, I think about the strawberry when I was 5 or even the strawberry when I was 17-year-old. So there's a lot of stats that talk about the fact that our food is not as nutritious because there's, okay, we're going to eat real food. Now the second parameter, how can we eat, make sure that we're eating nutritious food? Because there's a lot of studies that talk about the fact that the food that we're eating, there's less nutrients in every single crop that we're eating. So how do we make sure as consumers that we're getting nutritious food and we shop in a way that's responsible?

Yeah. And how do you get the most nutrient-dense food where it's like peak nutrients in that food and the brightest color, most colorful food, etc. I think, you know, a lot of that does have to do with like you're hearing more about soil health and there are amazing films and our friends at Kiss the Ground, they just came out with this really good film, Common Ground, that I saw this weekend at the premiere and one of the local premieres. And we're learning more and more about just how important it is to source products from farms that have really strong soil, really healthy soil bacteria, learning about microbiome in our stomachs. There's also a microbiome in the soil and the soil health. And so you need to have really strong soil health in order to have a really strong, beautiful fruit and strong plant, etc. And it affects the nutrient density. And so it's so interesting because this weekend I was visiting one of the blueberry and strawberry farms that JSM Organics that supplies a bunch of our schools. And they had the day before dropped off these like bright red strawberries and I got to pick one off of, you know, I actually didn't pick one. I picked a lot of like we picked. It was so amazing. And it was The most delicious fruit I've ever had. It was like peak ripeness. And our schools had just gotten them as well. And like they were beautiful and so scrumptious. So like best blueberries of my life. My little guy just sat next to a blueberry bush and he was in pure heaven. I'm like, wow, Nico, you are living the good life, aren't you? He's like, yes. He was like peak bliss. And it was so nutrient dense in the soil. There was intercropping. It was organic. I felt safe with him without his shoes on or whatever. He like, because there weren't chemicals everywhere. And so I think it's about how do you source direct when you can, like farmers markets, and they have like EBT, SNAP dollars for some people that like in certain farmers markets. And I know it's hard with timing for some people and whatnot, but farmers markets are powerful and incredible sourcing direct and sourcing organic when possible, especially on things like with thin skins like blueberries and strawberries and getting that like as nutrient dense as possible. And then shopping and getting a lot of colors, I was just talking to someone and they were like doing the 37 different types of plants in a week challenge. So like, you know, just having a lot of variety so that like, yeah, maybe one is slightly less nutrient dense, but then you've had 26 other types of plants and fruits and vegetables and colors and vitamins and nutrients in your diet. So you're getting a huge variety. It's really hard.

Yeah.

One of our board members of this challenge, Dorothy, and it's really hard to get that many, but just to have a lot of variety. So it's like, think about where you're getting it from. Buy locally, have it be whole and real, have a lot of variety if you can, et cetera.

So those are the ways for us to be able to get to the store. So basically what you're saying is that if I go to the supermarket and I'm looking at a different variety of blueberries, I might not find that quintessential blueberry that tastes—

yeah.

When I was a 5-year-old, that's what I'm—

a lot of stores do have that though. A lot of like, I wouldn't, I think a lot like fruits and vegetables in stores are often very, very fresh too. Like if you go to a farmer's market, but like a lot of stores do have amazing organic sections. They have, they highlight the local farm. Like I think just step one is like shop the perimeter, like get those healthy fruits and vegetables, like get those fresh products. I think that's most important. And if you get a variety of those, then you have to worry less about nutrient density because you're getting so many variations of nutrients.

It seems like one signal on a label would be that if it's coming from a local farm, then potentially it could be locally sourced such that there would be less of the— it would be better.

Yeah, especially if it's organic or regenerative organic and whatnot. Yeah.

Okay. I think that's— so I'm trying to figure out like what's feasible.

Find your trusted sources. Like, is it your local supermarket? Is it your local farmer's market? Like where can you buy ingredients and food that you trust and know and like, and, and have a lot of variety.

Awesome. Nora, I want to ask you a couple of questions that are brass tacks, which is like basic things that you see on the internet, but nobody knows what the answer is, or I don't know what the answer is. Like, how do you wash? How do you cook? How do you like process food in a way that it's going to be good and sustainable for your family? First, how do you wash your fruits and your vegetables such that the pesticides are out? Like, I'm looking at videos online. It's like you put vinegar. Like, is this a real thing?

Oh my gosh. I mean, there's— I love the EWG's Dirty Dozen. And also they have a list of which fruits and vegetables you should definitely try to prioritize organic and are worth spending a little bit more on organic that then don't come with the side effects. And which ones like that have thicker skin, like a big melon where it's okay and you don't have to like obsess over it as much. And it's, you know, if you're gonna have a mix in your cart of a little bit more expensive organic items and non-organic items, then go with some of the thicker. So I would point people towards the EWG source 'cause it just lays it out really clearly. And it's like, you can print, you can just take a screenshot on your phone, save it in an album of like food tips and tricks, which is great of like things to do. I think like, yeah, rinsing them, it's like, you know, I don't, like, we don't use fancy washes at my house. We just like rinse them. We also like plant some stuff here, whether it's like in the front yard garden or, you know what I mean? Whatever it is.

Yeah, we have our own in-house garden and— Fun! The quality of the food is so good. The like the strawberries.

Yeah.

I don't know why I'm so obsessed with strawberries. And kids will eat it.

And my daughter like, loves snap peas because she planted them. So yeah, yeah, that's so cool. I love it. Yeah, and you can have it on a windowsill, you can have it in the front yard, you can have it in no yard, you know, like there are lots of ways to do it. On the countertop, there are options. Yeah, so I think it's about that. I think like take a cooking class. My husband, we went for Valentine's Day, he brought me to a fermentation class, which I was like, this was like 10 years ago too. It was like when we first started dating, but it was so cool. We like, and then we had a kimchi party and we had a bunch of friends over and we had a kimchi night and we bought all the ingredients. Then we chopped and we made like super fuego, mucho fuego. My husband's Peruvian, and so we had a whole range of spices, and it was like, and my best friend's Korean, and so she brought her mom's recipe, and it was like, we just had a chopping party, and we had just taken this cooking class, so we knew exactly how to chop, exactly how to do it, and you can take 'em online, you can do 'em in person. Whenever we travel, we take cooking classes, but I would say get kitchen confident. So one is know how to source and rinse and wash things, but don't, and then know how to chop and process. So that's like get some kitchen confidence, some knife skills, like practice, One of my really good friends is a chef and she just got me a really beautiful knife and I'm just going to like refresh my knife skills. You know, it's like something you got to keep working on and like chop a chopping day, a chopping night with your friends. I joined a cooking club at my old job and then I got to try all these different recipes and I would cook for the other people. And so I just had to like learn. I think batch cooking with friends and family on the weekend for the week is a great hack. And then you're like learning tips and tricks and You know, my husband's parents live with us and they're amazing cooks. So I just like learn so much from that family exchange and that group cooking time. So I think it's all about sourcing what you can and then just like get cooking and get the kids involved. My 3-year-old uses a butter knife and cuts the strawberries too. You know, like every, he says, "I'm a chef," you know? And she's like making her own things too. And she's like, "I'm gonna do peanut butter and yogurt." I'm like, "Cool, like you're the chef right then, go ahead." You know, like they crack the eggs at 2, he's like mixing them sometimes with his hands and whatever. Yeah, my son is a chef as well.

He's like, "I wanna do bacon." mouth.

Yeah, it's the best.

Let me do it. It's the best.

I love it. Yeah. So I think that there are some simple ways that you can just like get cooking and just get started. And you're gonna know what ingredients are, you know what oils you can use, olive oils, and you, you'll know exactly what's in it because you made it. So, and then you'll be more critical of how other people are making your food.

Can you help, like, can you help us with oils? Every time I choose an oil, I read something that it's not good. Like, I literally chose coconut oil for cooking and then olive oil for salads. And then, then I read that coconut oil is not great for cooking. Is that true?

It's so confusing. And we're actually updating because like the science like is evolving on it and more and more information. And I will agree, the internet is a wild, wild west about which oils to use. And there's a whole bunch of like, you know, and like the idea of seed oils and da da da, it's super confusing. I think like what we know, especially in Blue Zones, like olive oil has served people for a very long time as an oil to both cook with and to use in dressing. So I think olive oil is one that's like super awesome, and there are ways that you can get it in bulk. We buy it at Costco, you know, like there are definitely ways that you can do it that make it more affordable. So I think an olive oil is like an easy go-to kind of default one. If you can, some avocado oils. Primal Kitchen is one of our supporters, and their sauces— I love their sauces because it's clean and they use good oils and good ingredients and whatnot, high-quality ingredients, and they're an awesome, awesome company that really walks the talk. So there's also some brands out there that are brands that are options, but you can also just buy the olive oil and make your own dressings and whatnot. So I think olive oil and avocado oil are two that are kind of good. And then, yes, once in a while using coconut oil, probably not every day. And it's like this balancing of omega-3s and omega-6s, and it gets really complicated. And I think to just simplify it, I would say beaming people towards olive oils that aren't new, that are like, have been used for a really long time by people and in regions where those people, like in blue zones, like in Sardinia or wherever else, have lived long lives. And so it shows that then.

What are blue zones?

Blue zones are placed pockets around the world. Dan Buettner has a whole special on Netflix that's really cool about blue zones. That's awesome. Definitely recommend nerding out on that. But it's, there are pockets around the world where people tend to live a lot longer and live longer than lifespans. There are more 100-year-olds there, and they study like what are those things that those people are doing. And so it's things like in Japan, sitting on the ground and having to get up multiple times a day. So you're very mobile and you're very strong and you're doing squats and you have— you're less likely to fall and you're eating. And like, what are the different habits around the world that help people die young at a very old age? Like what are those things that help people live long, long, healthy lives? And what are the foods that they're eating? What are the— and usually they're eating more Mediterranean, more real. They're eating real food. Spoiler alert, they're eating real food. And then like, what oils are they using, etc.? I mean, olive oil is one of the key ones that's used.

That's amazing. Let's talk about flour. I used to be a big baker and then I stopped. Don't ask. So what are the flours if you're not a gluten— if you don't have any allergy to gluten, what are the flours that are better for your body in terms of digestion and really making you like feel like full of energy, but also like help you digest.

I think it's, it's also so super personalized on what works for you, right? Mm-hmm. Like how do you feel afterwards is big, right? Like testing it. I think flour is processed because it takes the original grain and it mills it down. Mm-hmm. And so then it's pre-broken down for you, right? It's not a whole and intact grain. Then it, your insulin can get spiked, et cetera. And so that's why you're seeing more and more people move to low carb or low flour, et cetera. But then you're seeing people reach for things like almond flour and buckwheat and some kind of more whole grain rich and less processed flour. And so I don't have— so like whole grain mix, but it's all already broken down and then your body doesn't break it down. So it's just knowing that it's different. Like you're not eating a piece of sweet potato, you're eating something that's milled and broken down, which then can So feed. So you just, you just, it's, it's a spectrum, I think. And so just also researching and again, organic, especially because a lot of traditional wheat is sprayed with things like glyphosate and chemicals. And so going, reaching for organic flours when possible and whole grain when possible.

So let's talk about kids. So when we, you and I had a, a little chat earlier, like I have a 4-year-old, you have a 5-year-old and you have a 3-year-old. And talked about like, we all live busy lives and like my calls sometimes can start at 7:00 AM because of the East Coast. Yeah. I'm trying to, and I was reading some studies cuz sometimes my son is very active, very sportsy, and I'm trying to figure out how do I make sure to feed him such that he doesn't get all hyperactive and have behavioral issues.

Yeah.

And then I was reading some studies about like mental health for kids, ADHD and all those things. Mm-hmm. And the impact of sugar. So you and I were like riffing ideas of like what does a breakfast for a toddler could look like.

Yeah.

If you're a busy mom and you don't have time and you don't wanna give like the sugary cereals. What are the ideas for parents? Yeah.

How's it going?

Yeah.

Did you try any new things?

Yes, I did cheesy eggs.

Okay, how was that?

He liked it.

Ooh.

Yeah.

Did he like it twice?

He liked it once 'cause I did it once.

Okay.

Okay. And then I did peanut butter and banana sandwich on a bread that was oat bread. Was it oat bread? That was the most, it was like peanut butter and banana sandwich on a bread that was oat bread. That was not like, I don't know. I don't know if it was good, but he, yeah, yeah. That really like made my week incredible.

And was he, and it was also like he was open to trying different things, right? Like just not the standard. Every day. Like, that's like also good. That's the variation. Like, my kids really just try not to every single day that are eating.

I cut the cereal. So the cereals were very problematic and they were very popular, but I think the cereals had too much sugar and then too much sugar. When I look at the videos that I saw online where like a lot of kids were becoming hyperactive at school and they were jumping right and left, it's because there are a lot of like sugar in the US particularly. The same cereals were sold in Canada and they were not allowed to come with all those colors and sugar, etc. So then I did the experiment after we had the conversation, like we talked about creating more like oatmeal types. I didn't have time to do the oat, but I did the cheesy egg.

Well, and oatmeal, just basic oatmeal with sugar is like not great either for, so we do like, yeah, we, and we try to bring that in sometimes where it's like, yeah, with chia or flax or, you know, and whole grain and da da da. So it's like, it's complicated.

Yeah.

Eggs, we try to mix in eggs, like egg sauce is easy. It's like, yeah, like having my son crack them and mix them and participate in them when there's time. Also, some mornings are just busy. Or like baking. Some of our schools make egg bites, which are pretty popular, and you like make them enough, you like mix them in. You can sneak in some veggies. You could make them green, have them be green eggs and ham, like green eggs with like spinach and one that, you know, like there's different ways. But then you like make them and put them into like mom's hands. You know who I really like following? Be Well by Kelly. I've been on her podcast before with one of our food service directors who's from San Luis Coastal in Central California. And she has so many amazing mom-approved, kid-approved, like recipes. So I definitely recommend following her.

What's her name?

Be Well by Kelly. Kelly Levesque.

Be Well by Kelly.

I think that's how you pronounce it. Don't tell me if that's not how. Maybe it's Levesque, but I love her. Kelly. Be Well by Kelly. I love her.

Yeah, I'm on the hunt for like better breakfast because I feel like it sets up your kid for the day. And then I want to be able to reduce sugar drastically because we're—

Yeah, whole fruits, yogurt, smoothie, but with protein if you're going to go that route, like add in protein powders, like clean protein powders, eggs. We do like, yeah, we buy like and not everyone can do that, but like buckwheat pancakes, but it's with like eggs and, and milk. And they, maybe their job is sprinkle the fruit on them or whatnot, and fruit is game. So yeah, I think it's like just trying to switch it up. And even some, yeah, protein depending on what they like, like having them kind of get involved in it too, and helps.

No, I think that's been very helpful. And then for me, oh good, I do a smoothie for myself and he loves my smoothies. Every time I do a smoothie, it's like I know he's gonna be like, "I want the smoothie." So I don't even have, if I want him to have a smoothie, I just have to prepare a smoothie for myself.

Oh yeah. And he, that's gonna be like, "Give me that smoothie." See, a lot of it's also just eating together 'cause they do wanna do what they see what you do. So like, yeah, like that's awesome. You're like, "Oh, check out this amazing breakfast that I'm eating." That's so, and how's he like, have you like that day that you, that he had? Different breakfast and like eggs, cheesy eggs. How did that go?

I think it's more— he's more calm. I mean, he's a boy. He's 4 years old. Yeah. It's a lot of energy. I'm coming from a girl family with like 3 daughters and my dad was a minority. It's also me not being used to like, oh, let's have fun, Mommy. And definition of fun is like to jump on me and like, oh, let's do monkey and jumping on my back.

Yeah, I am the jungle gym. Yeah.

Not used to that level of energy.

I know. I just feel like I am a jungle gym sometimes. I'm like, yeah, climb up this arm, climb up that arm. Like, yeah.

So I think it's just, this is a high level of energy. So having a lot of activities like karate, more swimming, extending swimming classes, and then finding snacks that are protein-based. So I used to cook a lot, so I have to go back into cooking and baking sweet potato pancakes. So you talked about the green egg bikes. I used to do all that stuff. I used to do all that stuff and then I stopped. So it's like, okay girl, let's get back in the kitchen.

Let's go. Well, and how do you make it a family activity? How does he help? Like, how does it be like a together time? Put on good music, have him make a playlist, have it be a sing-along, like have it be themes of colors. Like we'll go to the farmer's market and I'm like, buy anything that's purple. And then we'll like do purple things that week or whatever. Make it fun, you know? I think so that it's not just all on you, cuz it's a lot of work. Like I just, it's a lot of work and moms are busy.

So I think 100%. And also identifying my friends who go to the farmer's market.

Yeah.

I found my friends who go to farmer's markets on Sundays and it's like, okay, it's gonna be a rendezvous and creating those family habits such that he's also used to that. And it's not me like calling Instacart or whatever doing.

Yeah.

So just, it's like, it's a reprogramming. Um, I also used to have the local farmers market that would deliver the basket. So just figuring out, like, it's just, we have to—

yeah, our imperfect produce or whatnot.

Yeah, I think we just— imperfect produce, that's what we used to have. So we just have to figure out what are the new habits that are going to sustain our lifestyle. And then what do we do with all those sweet potatoes? If it's a sweet potato week, is it going to be muffins? It's going to be— and then what type of sugar? Because we're not going to be using all those— I used to cook with like all those fake sugars. Like I was like a big fan. And then I discovered that those sugars are not actually good for you. And now I don't bake because I'm like, it's kind of like my software, my OS is like, don't— doesn't know what to do. It's like reprocessing. Cause I'm like, oh, you used to bake with fake sugar and now I don't know what to do. And like, I don't bake anymore. So I don't know. What do I do, Nora?

Yeah. Yeah, that's a hard one. Yeah, I don't bake a lot because it's complicated. And then a lot of those that— and then you're— yeah, it's a hard one. But I think it's— what do you do? I just cut sugar a lot. I just try to use— and yeah, some honey and some maybe a maple syrup. I just try to do low glycemic and also just like, I just— yeah, it's a treat. It's a treat. It's a sometimes food and we just try to make it— and you also don't want to stress so much that you're so stressed about it. You know what I mean? So I think it's like, yeah, make it a sometimes thing and then try to use Yeah, like the honeys or— yeah, again, in sugars there's a spectrum, but yeah, not opting— like now the xylitol and all those, they're finding out that they feed like, um, can be not, not good at all.

So every time I find a solution, then a year later or 2 years later I find that it's not a good solution actually. But actually I feel healthier.

We let it like fruit, like we just like use apple, like use like cut fruit or like and purees as much. And I do like to Yeah, exactly. And even that's pretty sweet. Like, so that, that's what we'll use. That's it.

But I just stopped baking. But anyway, I think the goal was to find different pathways for people who are trying to help reduce the level of sugar for their kids or themselves, or just live a healthier life to be able to, to drive impact. Let's talk a little bit about cooking gear. We want to eat, we want to cook, but we don't want the cooking gear to be in our stomach. Do you have any recommendations in terms of like, what should we be looking for when we're Eating real food is also— we don't want to eat the cooking gear.

Yeah. And you don't want to side of chemicals. So you're like, how do you— well, one, staying away from plastics because they found 100% of a sampling of—

every human being has plastic in them. It's too late. Yeah.

I just was like in my head going through 3 studies that I just read about in our bloodstream. It's in male testicles. It's just we're getting over— wrong with plastics and it's in our head. It's just, it's like getting to be everywhere. So not ingesting it, especially in like microplastics that leach, can you drink them? They're finding it in plastic water bottles, like just avoiding plastic. And that's containers, that's anything you heat up. That's like, if you like, like your at-home containers too, like reach for the glass ones instead. Don't put hot food in plastic.

Don't—

and even a lot of food, like lining, lined containers have a lot of plastic. So just avoiding plastics, whether that's don't not drinking water in plastic or not drinking water in a can that has a waterproof lining that doesn't say BPA-free or, you know, just really being aware of the vessels that you're consuming food in and putting food in and water in and liquids in. Just trying to reduce your exposure to plastics is one. Thinking about like cast iron and stainless steel, avoiding nonstick, like avoid nonstick pans. There's tons of people can go down and research, but avoid traditional Teflon nonstick pans because that can come— avoid cutting and chopping on plastic. So I think that that's one, is just thinking about like your kitchen gear and yeah, making it be glass and ceramic and cast iron, and again, elements that we've been cooking with for a very long time.

Yeah, no, thank you for your advice. You're answering a lot of questions that are floating for a lot of people. So thank you, really.

Yeah, I hope it's helpful. And I mean, we're learning, and it's also like, do your best. And like, you know, you know, do your best. And like, everyone trying so hard to do what's best for their family is what's most important, you know? And then like, also, how do we make structural changes? That where our nonprofit comes in, where we just try to make lives easier for parents, where they can just trust the food at school, that it's gonna be, you know— we just removed 34 pounds of sugar per student per year in one district. We removed a bunch of toxic ingredients, and the district is amazing. They're like, they really care care about their kids. They're buying from not just 5 local farmers but 11, and super nutrient-dense. And there are schools around the country that are launching in 15 states.

Yeah.

So we're trying to make the lives either easier of parents and for students and just make food where kids are already getting it delicious and safe and nutritious and sustainable and local. And so we're trying to do that. And then also working on policies. We are just testifying to get food dye out of kids' food, especially red food dye and other things related linked to ADHD and behavioral issues. So we're trying, in addition to like giving people like at-home tips and tricks— with, you can definitely do that, and it's great to like ask your friends, what are they doing? I'm trying to do this. What's your favorite product on this? Who are people like Be Well by Kelly that you can follow and that you can trust and are amazing? How do we also make structural changes so that these products aren't exposed to kids?

I think it's super important because you talk about food dyes. What are the top 3 trends that you see in the American food diet that you would want to bring awareness to our audience as the CEO of Eat Real?

In terms of what's bad or some positive things that are happening?

I think things that the normal common people should be aware of, right? Because sometimes we're so busy living our life, we're not aware of things that we do. And I think bringing awareness to the things that could be detrimental to our health is important for, for humans. The things that people are not aware of that they should be aware of in our American diet. It's more of an awareness factor. 3 things that people should be aware of in our American diet that could help them live better lives.

I mean, 3 things that like have been huge ahas for me in the last 5 years, even sugar, like confronting just how much, like we talked about that at the beginning, right? Just being aware and even just going, giving yourself a 10-day no zero added or free sugar, Mitch means challenge. So that means no, nothing that says added sugar, nothing in the, the problem is with labeling. It's not always clear. So like if it has a syrup also in the label or a puree or whatnot, just don't opt for it. Just don't— no added or free sugars. Just eat fruit for 10 days. And a free sugar is if you've like in a smoothie where you break it down and or you juice it. A juice is a better example. You take an orange and if you juice it, you remove the fiber. That's a free sugar. So no juices, which I don't think Americans realize how not great juice is still for us and even smoothies. Without protein and whatnot. So I would say, and like Glucose Goddess, people can follow her to see like how the effects of certain, some of these things affect people's metabolic health. But 10 days, 'cause in 10 days they found that you can change your metabolic health. 10-day zero added or free sugar challenge as a family. My whole family did it for my birthday month and it was like health changing for our whole family. So I think that's one. I think there are a lot of other food ones. I think though, thinking about sleep and eating, I think sometimes we like think of ourselves as like, what am I gonna eat? How am I gonna work out? About how am I going to sleep and we don't think about it like how did I sleep and those are all separate things, but they all interact. So, thinking about eating to sleep too. So, something as an adult, and I'm not talking about this for kids, I think about how do I stop eating a few hours before bed so that I can really rest my system while I'm sleeping. And, I found that if I— actually, my Oura Ring just buzzed me because I was out for an event and I did have a late meal, and it's like your resting heart rate was elevated, your body temperature was elevated. Like, did you have a late meal? Try eating earlier. And I was like, wow, it knows. Like, I ate late and that affected the quality of my sleep, the depth of my sleep, the length of my sleep, and how my body rested and recovered. So I was like, wow, it's super interesting to think, how do you eat to sleep too? Like, like giving your body a break and having a window where your body really recharges. And how do you stop eating a few hours before bed? I think we've had this culture where it's like, we're always snacking, we're always eating, we're always consuming and like actually being in touch with nature and like stopping eating in the evening and like early evening to really give your body rest.

Yeah.

And so I think sugar and then like thinking about how do you eat to sleep is like something that I've been learning a lot about and it's a very personal thing, but learning how, what works, what makes you feel good and whatnot. But that's super interesting from an adult perspective. I think those are two things that has like been fascinating to just watch how I eat, how that affects what I sleep and what I eat and if I eat and cutting coffee. There's a book, Why We Sleep, that's Matthew T. Walker's book, and you hear him on a lot of podcasts and he's kind of like at the forefront of sleep. But there's a lot of really interesting hacks about like, yeah, cutting out any caffeine and whatnot. So I think those are two really interesting things that if you like improve your sleep and then you start eating more real food, it's like eat less sugar, eat more real food, and think about eating to sleep. I think personally I've seen a lot of health benefits for myself in that.

And you said that your family cut sugar for 10 days. What happened?

I don't want to reveal all, all anonymize it, but someone lost, like, tens of pounds. Like, we did it for a month. Like, they felt like they literally lost weight. They felt great. It just built— I think more than that. So people, like, did, like, physically feel a difference. They also— it changed what felt sweet. So we were like, wow, blueberries are sweet, strawberries are sweet. Like, you're actually changes the flavor profile of other foods because, yeah, you're like more attuned and then you like can, you're more sensitive to it, which is good and you can feel more satiated. And so that was really interesting. And then I think it just built awareness. I think like there were physical changes and then there were like food changes. And then I think it built awareness of like, oh, that's why Nora's not being militant about blocking that from our, when we like of reading the food label, like, oh, that actually, that is way, you know, dried cranberries, which then they remove the water and break down the fiber and then they cover it with sugar. All of a sudden you're like, whoa, that had one serving has 25 grams of added sugar. That's more sugar than I should have the entire day. I think I was like, I never was aware of like that women should have less than 25 grams of sugar per day and that how much it was in everything and that like, wow. And so then the whole family became aware of like, oh yeah, we shouldn't buy those dried cranberries even though they're dried fruit. They seem like they should be good, but they're processed, they're in a bag and they have sugar on top of the dried cranberries. And like, let's not bring that in the house. So it made us all on the same page about what was in our food and it built a lot of awareness.

That's amazing. Thank you so much for all your insight.

Yeah.

I feel so excited and empowered. A last question for the road. What do you envision the ideal future of food and the food ecosystem 30 years from now? What would it look like for us to live better and more sustainable lives?

I love that question. Yeah, I think at Eat Real, we believe that every child deserves a healthy, delicious future on a livable planet. So 30 years from now, I want every kid to feel vibrant and nourished and that they had a healthy childhood because they had access to all these different nutrients and colorful variety and local regenerative organic food. And that it's— that's the default and that it's not the exception that like we call conventional food is like is like the, the default is not that today. So how do we flip it in 30 years? And the default is this like vibrant, delicious food that helps kids learn, grow, their brains develop, them achieve their academic goals, their athletic goals, their dreams, and that we're really feeding our kids' dreams and nourishing them. And that it's easy for families and that it's the default. And so we've changed the Farm Bill in America, which happens every 5 years, and we're, prioritizing growing these more specialty crops and variety and regenerative organic, and we're regenerating that soil, and that we've set up our government buying systems, whether that's schools or hospitals or the military, to source in a way that really feeds human health and planet health, and that we've started to regenerate our planet, we have healthier ecosystems, that we're confident that 30 years from now, the default is real delicious, healthy, sustainable food, and that we're helping the planet thrive as well.

I'm inspired. And let's make it happen.