The world's first award winning organic whole foods feeding tube formula. Doctor approved, RD recommended! Whole foods for the whole body since 2006♡
In 2005 my beloved father had a minor fall but suffered a very severe traumatic brain injury and numerous doctors said there would be very little chance of his surviving the surgery, and he had even less of a chance of being in anything more than a vegetative state if he were to pull through.
Upon receiving the news, my husband and I rushed from our home in Ohio to Michigan, where we spent the next six weeks waiting for my father to regain consciousness. At some point throughout this ordeal, I began to realize that what his medical doctors were offering gave us little hope. His prognosis was grim. I began to research TBI, and dug out every piece of information I could find on alternative treatments and options. After conducting much research and using tools that we did not find through normal medical care, my dad finally came out of the coma. Our excitement was short lived, however, as he had suffered many secondary complications while in the hospital.
One day while sitting at my dad’s bedside, out of sheer boredom, I picked up the can of formula that the nurses had been pouring down dad’s feeding tube four times a day for the last 18 months. When I read the label, I realized there was nothing in the formula that would heal him. It was balanced; it met all the RDA requirements, but as the only thing my father was getting in the way of “nutrition”, the formula was barely sustaining him.
I knew I had to help my father. I had spent the past twenty years working in the health food industry, and because of this, I had always been drawn to the more holistic side of medicine. I decided to research the healing properties of food. I searched the Internet, libraries, and health food stores for information on alternative healing for traumatic brain injury.
Throughout my research, I came across a book titled Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford. I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the book but encouraged by the fact that it contained information about traumatic brain injury. I purchased it, and once I began reading, I could not put it down. The information was amazing; the way Pitchford used food for healing resonated deeply with me. I felt as though I had come home.
I immersed myself in Healing with Whole Foods and started to develop a meal replacement formula. It would include not only the foods Pitchford recommended for traumatic brian injury but also those that would address my father’s secondary conditions (and there were many).
This was the beginning of my love affair with food as medicine. I was quite familiar with whole foods, but my mission helped me truly realize their power. There were foods that would clear mucus from my father’s lungs, foods to help with his failing renal system, and foods to guard against his constant urinary tract infections.
One day, during another visit to my acupuncturist, I told her about the fascinating book I had found and how it had inspired me to put together a meal replacement formula for my father. She revealed that she had the book, too, and had wanted to study with Pitchford for years. She told me that he would be teaching a course in northern California. Once at home, I immediately set up an appointment with him.
The consultation would change the course of my career and ultimately my life. Not only did Paul help me complete the formula for my father, but he also became one of my greatest teachers.
The most difficult part of creating the formula—which we called “Liquid Hope”—was finding a medical doctor who would support me. I was fortunate enough to find Dr. Deepak Sarwal, a western-trained internist who was open to alternative methods of healing. Dr. Sarwal let me try the formula, beginning by replacing the old formula once a day. Gradually we replaced each feeding with the old formula with “Liquid Hope.”
The difference in my father was unbelievable. At the beginning of this process, my dad was barely conscious as he was wheeled into the doctor’s exam room on a gurney. Six weeks later, he returned to the same doctor, this time sitting up in a wheelchair, his big brown eyes and his smile both shining brightly. After that visit, I received a phone call from the doctor. “It is a miracle what you have done for your father,” he said. “No,” I replied, “It is simply nutrition.”
As my father continued to receive “Liquid Hope,” I realized that there were a lot of other people suffering needlessly who could benefit from the formula.
After developing the feeding tube formula, I began to see a great need for quick and easy prepared foods utilizing the food as medicine model. We are living in times much disease and sickness in this country and it is my belief that food can heal you or food can destroy you. Therein lies my my passion and is the very core reason I created my entire product line.
My father ultimately succumbed to his death as a result of internal bleeding. I am so grateful that I was able to be with him during his last days, and that I could use my skills and training to add to his quality of life in a very real way. Sometimes out of our greatest pain come our greatest gifts to the world. Through this experience, my father validated for me my belief that food can be used to heal, and for that in addition to all of the other gifts he gave me, I am truly grateful.
Robin Gentry McGee is a whole foods chef and holistic health coach. She is currently working in private practice in Ohio. She has just completed her first book" A Turn for the Worst" about her journey with her father through the care of his traumatic brain injury.
We are honored to offer Rebecca Katz "Magic Mineral Broth" from which a percentage of profits are donated to the Healing Kitchens Institute.
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