In this interview, host Salila Sukumaran talks with entrepreneur and environmental advocate John Rulak about his recent Panchakarma retreat in Kerala, India. John introduces himself as the founder of the organic food brand Nutiva, former CEO of Nativa, and producer of the regenerative‑agriculture documentary Kiss the Ground. He describes two distinct Panchakarma experiences: the first at a beachfront resort that offered a relaxed, yoga‑focused program, and the second at a more intensive Ayurvedic clinic where he underwent multiple daily treatments, herbal drinks, and a strict 7‑day digital detox. John shares how the retreat affected his long‑standing Lyme disease symptoms—some improvements in swelling, breathing, skin, and phlegm, though not a complete resolution—and notes overall rejuvenation and a younger appearance. He emphasizes the importance of selecting a clinic that matches one’s health goals and personality, advising prospective visitors to consult knowledgeable guides, consider the clinic’s focus (hospital‑like vs. resort‑like), and assess the physician’s expertise. The conversation concludes with John’s upcoming projects: a new documentary Common Ground (narrated by Woody Harrelson) and the development of KissTheGround.Earth, a line of soil‑health amendments aimed at encouraging regenerative gardening practices. Throughout, the tone remains conversational and enthusiastic, highlighting both personal healing and broader environmental missions.
Chapters
Hello everyone, today we have John Rulak with us who has come back from a recent panchakarma experience. John, please let us know who you are and what you do in the world.
Yes, I'm John Rulak. I've been a health nut since I was 21, um, and what do I do? I'm an entrepreneur. Founded a company, an organic food company called Nativa, which I stepped down as CEO 5 years ago. Also produced a film called Kiss the Ground that's on Netflix. It's all about regenerative agriculture. So I focus a lot on how we can take care of the earth in a better way. And I write some articles and basically call out the indiscretions against nature and society, which makes me not always so popular among some people.
We love that, John. I love to call John the Earth Warrior. And who has not tasted a jar of Nutiva coconut oil? When I came to America, I was so excited to find something that was so close to the quality I had found back home. So thank you, John, for giving us South Indians that little deliciousness back from home. You recently were in South India, in Kerala, for a panchakarma. And I referred you to two centers. So would you please tell us a little bit about your experience?
Yeah, I went there basically for rejuvenation, to make some improvements in my health, take a break, and do some restoration. So the first clinic I went to was beautiful by the ocean, so I swam in the ocean every day. They had a good yoga program, and the resort was, was Lovely. I just felt, you know, they offered one program a day and I felt it was more kind of a nice resort but not as, as intense. Ayurveda. So I arranged to leave after 9 days. Thank you for helping me do that. But the people there were nice and I had an intuition, and then other people who were there had said they had been to other places that they felt were more hardcore Ayurveda, you know, versus what was there. Still though, good place. Yeah.
And you know, when you came to me, we talked about it. You met the physician in advance and I thought, and you thought that this would be a good fit for you, but you were definitely wanting something more focused and something more— it's your personality. You wanna go down there and you wanna get the whole experience of it, the intensity.
Right. All of it. Yeah. And then I traveled to another place and they were gonna get me by a taxi and then someone said, well, you can take a train. And they said, oh no, you don't wanna take a train. I was like, oh no, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna take the train. So I took the train and you know, I was one of the only Westerners there. And, and it was, it was a little challenging to get a ticket, but local Indian gentleman kind of saw me in the ticket line and helped me.
So surprised you took that, but I was also glad because of your knees. And because the car ride would have been really hard on your knees. So was it a more restive experience compared to sitting in a taxi?
I think perhaps, but it was just fun just meeting people and being, being a part of the culture.
So when you reached, then you just hunkered down and you did your intense thing. I believe you got several treatments a day. Yeah. And did that help with the health conditions that you had originally planned to go to?
I think one of the challenges was for whatever reason, I'd gotten bit by a tick that had Lyme, and there's a whole issue around Lyme disease that's challenging. And I'd had it really intense like 22 years ago. It impacts everyone differently. For me, it made my right leg swollen from the Lyme disease, and then it kind of— then it jumped over my left leg a bit too. And for whatever reason, when I was in India it resurfaced like it hadn't in 10 years.
Wow.
And, and it was hard for the doctors to deal with.
Yeah.
The Bach karma helped in some ways, but it didn't really make it go down best because they were focused on that as much. And that wasn't the main reason why I was there, because I didn't really have that much of an issue. There's a lot of different things that impact, but I'm thinking maybe it could have been being in the tropics for a long time. Maybe impacted. I'm not quite sure. But since I've come back, things are improved in some, but other areas didn't maybe improve as much as I was hoping. I mean, people do tell me, you look younger, you're looking really good. And I think certain things that have happened to me, certain other issues kind of reduced the intensity of some of them. Yeah. The Lyme disease, it's a bacteria and it can do all sorts of different things.
Right.
Like sometimes I'll have issues around breathing, maybe once a year or something like that. And, and I really haven't had any of that since then. And then I think my skin improved, you know?
Yeah.
But some of my throat and digestive, maybe it got a little better, but it was a lot of intense treatments. So definitely it's the last place I was at. You know, these different herbs. You drink this intense herbal beverage and then you just drink until you can't drink anymore. Yeah. So yeah. And then some kind of stuff starts happening. That's intense.
I like that. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The food was also really amazing too.
Overall, when you look at it, do you think there is improvement?
Yes. Yes.
Okay. I definitely noticed that you used to have a lot of phlegm. You used to have drainage. That seems to— did that help?
It helps some, I think.
Would you suggest that people go to Kerala, do panchakarma? Yes, definitely.
Okay. And I was saying I was going to do it for 28 days, but I took a 7-day no cell phone, kept my phone off for 7 days.
Amazing. And for context, John is extremely connected. He is constantly in touch with at least 20, 30 people a week or more. He's meeting new people, he's conducting his business, he's doing everything, but for someone of his stature, it's difficult to completely cut themselves off. But then he did that when he was in Kerala, when he was healing.
Yeah.
What would you tell people to do if they wanted to do a panchakarma? How would you ask them to go about it with your experiences?
That's a good question. Yeah, talk to someone like you to help guide them, because it's hard to do it from the US. Decide what kind of place, like there's some that are more like hospital-like, or some that are more like high-end resorts, or some kind of a combination. So get clear, do you want to mainly just have a nice relaxation time and some healing, or do you want more intense healing?
So important to know the personality of the physician and where you are at and what they're actually good with, because not everybody is good with everything. Everybody knows how to make beautiful website and put reviews, but then what, what happens there? Exactly.
I think there's like 5,000 clinics in Kerala.
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, John. Thank you so much for giving us your time. What are you working on this year?
Well, we have a new, new film following Kiss the Ground, which is on Netflix. Woody Harrelson's the narrator. It's called Common Ground. So it's going to be an excellent film. I think it's going to be even better than Kiss the Ground, which has been seen over 10 million times. Amazing.
So.
And then I'm working on a new project to help people. It's called KissTheGround.Earth, and it's just still in the R&D phases to develop a line of soil health amendments to help people grow healthier plants and gardens and lawns and trees. So I'm in the middle of that. So it's going to hopefully available later this year sometime. Not an easy project to do.
Right, right.
So it's going to be a way to teach people about the importance of regenerating the little patch of earth that they have themselves versus just going to the store and say, okay, I'll buy some organic produce. But what are you doing with your houseplants or the lawn? And people use so many chemicals in the United States and around the world in their gardens way too much.
Thank you so much for giving us your time. We wish you the best. You're doing all this for us, for the consumers, for the human beings on the planet and for the animals on the planet. So thank you so much.
