There are many health prophets out here and some seem to aim to become gurus on television offering expensive books and videos. The new book by Ewa Doctor, living in Tiburon across the Golden Gate Bridge, is very different: A practical streamlined guide based on science and her own experience as a nutritionist and wellness coach for more than 30 years both in Sweden and the USA. A hands-on practical guide of 50 pages with 17 brief chapters. This is not only a book on nutrition but a wholistic review of o wide range tools to optimize wellbeing such as: Deep Breathing, Sleep, Touch, Poise and body language, Outdoor activities, and the role of Tears, Trust, and Gratitude.
Here are her answers to my questions.
Where were you born? Tell us about your family and first encounters with the church in Sweden and the US.
I was born in Borås, Sweden. My first encounter with church was ”Katarina ringen” a sort of Sunday school, teaching about the Swedish traditions in church. My parents were not church goers so I found my own way to church in my late teens when I went to a Christian ”folkhögskola”.
I decided that the Christian message was true and right for me and started reading the bible and Christian books. It took many years till I found my first church home in California. I moved to California when I was 25 but it took more than 10 years till I found my church in the Bay Area.
What made you decide to study nutrition and become a wellness coach?
My mother had Crohn’s disease and she took me to a health retreat when I was 10. There we learned about how food and lifestyle could be healing.
I was fascinated and wanted to learn more, and my main goal was to help my mother heal.
Since then, my purpose in life has been to learn about health and help people to achieve better health and wellness.
Where have you studied and worked and who has been your greatest inspiration?
I went to Uppsala University and studied therapeutic nutrition and dietetics.
I worked at Karolinska Hospital as a clinical dietician in endocrinology and worked closely with Professor Kerstin Brismar who became one of my greatest inspirations.
After moving to California and studying more nutrition and exercise physiology at Cal State University in Long Beach (CSLB) I started my own consulting business in LA. The last 10 years in the Bay Area I’ve been working with Integrative Medicine clinics in Marin and Palo Alto.
What role can the church play as an advocate for a holistic view of health wellness.
I think the church has a potentially important role to play in promoting holistic health since I believe that ”We are what we eat, drink, breathe and think” As an authority the church can positively influence many people.
Your book has the title THE REDOX PLAN. Tell us briefly about what this means and most effective way to change wrong eating habits.
The Redox Plan: Add To Reduce is a metaphor taken from a chemical redox reaction, which means a reduction and oxidation happening simultaneously in the cell.
The Redox Plan is a habit-forming concept that makes it easier to create positive habits that last and benefit both us and the planet.
By focusing on adding positive habits there is less room for negative habits. It’s a simple, common sense concept that can be applied to all areas of our lives.
An example for eating habits is by adding more plants in our diets there is automatically less room for processed food.
What is your next project?
That will likely be a Redox cookbook where I invite famous chefs from around the world to add their favorite recipe with ingredients that we should add more of in our diets.