Darin Olien is probably the only kid who did a grapefruit cleanse during middle school in Small Town, Minnesota – and those three days set the course for the rest of his life. It was the first time that Darin realized how the things he put into his body either healed him or hurt him.

And Darin needed a lot of healing. Born prematurely and only three-and-a-half pounds, Darin grew up feeling weak and fragile. Later, a football injury broke his body again. But every time Darin perceived weakness, he saw that as an opportunity to make a shift and do something about it.

So Darin started eating superfoods, picked up some dumbbells, and stumbled upon a simple recipe for transformation: make a choice and follow it with action.

Today, Darin is bringing his hard-won wisdom to the rest of the world as an exotic superfood expert, supplement formulator, and environmental activist who travels the planet to discover new and underutilized medicinal plants – and I can’t get enough of his latest discovery.

Darin found the exotic baru nut, or Barukas, in Brazil. These little guys are packed full of healing goodness: anti-aging antioxidants, good fats for brain fuel, plenty of fiber, muscle-building protein, and incredible amounts of disease-fighting micronutrients that your body craves. On top of that, they taste delicious, somewhere between an almond, cashew, and peanut.

So if you want the benefits of the healthiest superfoods on the planet plus a flavor better than almost any other legume, it’s time to hop on the Barukas train.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• How Darin’s body called him to use plants as medicine
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• The injury that changed the course of Darin’s life
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• What’s wrong with the commercial wellness industry
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• Why all superfoods and supplements available in stores are not made equal
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• How both Luke and Darin ended up working with Beachbody
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• Discovering and resurrecting the use of ancient superfoods
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• Helping people and areas around the world become more sustainable through environmental activism
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• Darin’s most exciting ethnobotanist adventures in places like Bhutan, Brazil, and Peru
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• Why moringa is one of the most powerful, all-inclusive plants on the planet (and why there is no great moringa on the market)
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• How creating a sustainable economic engine can help provide higher quality superfoods and support indigenous people
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• The downsides of regulatory certifications
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• Creating more transparency in the supply chain of almost everything
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• The scariest thing that has happened on Darin’s superfood hunting excursions
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• The philosophical realizations Darin has been gifted by the people he has met in his travels
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• How Darin is bringing the unique magic of Barukas to the West

More about this episode.

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TONIC WELLNESS BOUTIQUE. I’m about to let one of my best-kept secrets out of the bag: Tonic Wellness Boutique, the best place for hot and cold relaxation therapies in LA. Everything you’ll find here...