In this podcast episode, EWG President and co-Founder Ken Cook talks with Mona Vand, previously a pharmacist and now a content creator focused on nutrition and healthy living.
Finding something healthy to eat can be tricky and inconvenient for many people, whether that’s because of work, personal obligations or any other reasons. Vand explains how to reframe thinking about food options to make it easier to find healthier choices.
Disclaimer: This transcript was compiled using software and may include typographical errors.
Ken: Hi, it's Ken Cook and welcome to Ken Cook is having another episode. I have them all the time. This episode is coming out during the holiday season. This usually means spending more time with your loved ones, traveling, a lot of eating. I'll be doing a, uh, a 20 K run on Christmas morning. No, I won't. I'll be eating on Christmas morning and opening presents.
And for those of us who want to eat. cleaner and healthier. All that traveling can make it really tough to make good choices because the choices aren't there. While I was in New York recently, I got the opportunity to speak to someone who has a really great take on health and wellness, in my view. My guest specializes in integrating environmental concerns Into a health and wellness philosophy.
Mona Vand is a holistic pharmacist, content creator, and health and wellness expert. She received her doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts college of pharmacy and health sciences. And she uses her expertise to connect with people of all backgrounds to share health information in a relatable and literally digestible way.
Mona believes that food is powerful medicine, but she doesn't believe that perfection is the pathway to health. Instead, she focuses on all the little efforts we can make that add up to a big difference. She shares her tips, tricks, and recipes on her website. MonaVand. com and on her social media at MonaVand.
I'm so excited for you all to hear my conversation with Mona. So let's dive in.
Thanks for coming on to the show.
Mona: It's an honor to be on your show. Thank you.
Ken: So we talked on your podcast about a whole range of things. Tell me a little bit about your trajectory from we talked about on your podcast, but I wanted on mine to a little bit about your trajectory, about how you went from being focused on getting a advanced degree in pharmacy to now, you know, moving in the direction of health and wellness that in spans nutrition and other, because what I was struck by is when I go to a pharmacist, I'm expecting them to tell me about the pill that's prescribed or prescribed Walk me down the aisle at CVS and say this is what you need for your rash or whatever it might be.
Yep And I don't think of it holistically at all. It's like, okay, you've come into this Pharmacy, I'm gonna deal with you as I see you in the moment and do the best I can nothing long term nothing holistic There's no time for it. How did you move in that direction to fill that part of your
Mona: That's why I've started referring to myself as a holistic pharmacist because what's interesting is in pharmacy school, we, we got into actual med chem pharmacokinetics, those things like, you know, year four, year five, because it's a six year doctorate.
So the first three years and even some of the fourth year, we're really learning about the body. We're learning about health and disease state management and just all of the basics. Like how does your body absorb food? How do you metabolize? So one of the biggest things they tell us is step one is always lifestyle modifications.
We learned this in school. So I graduated thinking, all right, step one is diet and exercise and lifestyle. But unfortunately in practice, it just doesn't happen. People either don't want it or they don't give us the time for it.
Ken: Right.
Mona: Right out of school, I went and worked at a retail pharmacy. And it was like the worst experience.
Ken: Because there's a line of people waiting for their prescriptions. You want to get that right.
Mona: Oh yeah, and they're mad and listen, some people aren't feeling well, they're frustrated. Other people just look at it like a McDonald's line and they want to get out of there as soon as possible.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: Then you're dealing with insurance where it's not going through.
Then you have people addicted to narcotics who are angry and aggressive. So you've got all this. Oh, and then the people who are like, where's the toilet paper? Where's the bathroom key? Yeah. So it's a whole situation, you know, and I'm like, I didn't go to school for this. I actually loved the parts where someone would ask me, you know, I have this and this symptom and I got to go and like cherry pick what they should take over the counter.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: So I jumped from job to job as a pharmacist. I was in retail. Then I went to a closed door and did specialty. And then I worked for an independent retail and I kept trying to find something that would fulfill me. I was also just so imbursed in health and wellness because I'm living in Los Angeles.
I had this background in health. I'm passionate on it. So I just kept getting closer and closer to wanting to do natural, holistic things. And then it was kind of a progression where I was like, I don't like this job is just not what I'm put on earth to do.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: And you know, you have this moment where your first year, like I was 24 when I graduated.
So I'm thinking, I just spent six years of my life. I just spent, you know, over 150, 000 in student loans. How could I switch careers? Yeah. But now as I've evolved my consciousness, spirituality, six years of your life is nothing. So I pivoted out and luckily I was so passionate about health and wellness that I was still able to use my degree.
So towards something I like, so then it just really transitioned and it kept getting more and more deep on cleaner, non toxic, holistic, and that's what led me to where I am now.
Ken: Prevention, focusing on that so that by the time, if you really need the medicine.
Mona: Exactly. Yeah.
Ken: We have all kinds of, you know, medical professionals on our board of directors, Mark Hyman's on it and Harvey Karp is on it and, uh,
Mona: I love Mark Hyman.
Ken: They blend. alternative with conventional medicine. I mean they are always looking at the holistic dimension of health, but they're not saying forsake conventional medicine. How do you think about that and talk to people about it, Mona?
Mona: I'm very aligned. It's we refer to it as integrative medicine. Yeah.
And I'm really aligned with integrative because I don't like to shame people who want to go the medication route. And there's times where it's been very helpful.
Ken: Sure.
Mona: I think there's such a sweet spot. And I think As much as you can do to prevent, you do. And then, you know, maybe sometimes it can be helpful short term.
For example, post surgery. It's extremely important to lower inflammation, lower pain, because when you're in pain post surgery, your body is in a more of a stressed state and you aren't going to heal as well. So I've worked with even some of the most natural naturopaths, who I'm saying don't even have Wi Fi, live in the middle of the woods.
And they're like, make sure you take this after surgery because you don't want to stress your body out. So I think there is a time and place short term, but you have to just be open minded. And hopefully, the time and effort and money that you I guess invest into holistic remedies and eating well will prevent you the time and money later on that you're going to spend on it.
Ken: Yeah. No, that's exactly, I think the, the balance that you're trying to strike. And there are times when, you know, if you're right on the edge of a serious health problem and you don't have time to develop, you know, tests for the biomarkers by changing your diet and doing all these other things. Sometimes a straight forward conventional medical fixes is what you need, but even for myself, it's hard for me to stay in the routines when I travel and, you know, trying to find the right food, trying to, trying to exercise.
I'm terrible about exercising when I travel. I am
Mona: too actually. I'm always, that's one thing I struggle with.
Ken: There's something about going down to a hotel gym. It's depressing. It is depressing.
Mona: The lighting.
Ken: They're always in the basement. Uh huh. Uh, and yet there are mirrors. So the one thing you don't want to see is how you
Mona:That overhead light is not flattering.
Yeah. Yeah. You know what's really helped me with that? I don't know if you like, do you like group classes?
Ken: I haven't done very many. I used to do spin classes long ago. Yeah.
Mona: I love when I'm in a city like
Ken: Try that.
Mona: Miami, LA, New York, trying out a new Pilates class because it's so intentional and I paid for it and I'm going to go because, you know, versus like The hotel, like Exactly. Oh, it's,
Ken: I'll just, yeah, maybe I'll fold my socks.
Mona: And it's, I enjoy, I really think I have this weird hobby of when I'm in new cities, Finding a little healthy cafe, finding something clean to eat, finding a workout studio. So it becomes something enjoyable for me to do on the trip and save.
Ken: Yeah, I've taken to finding good grocery stores and trying to skip a few meals of bad stuff and just eat, you know, fresh fruit or something in the room just to kind of Me too.
Mona: I'll get, um I'll even pack with meat with either Wild Planet or Safe Catch Tuna or Wild Salmon little packs. Oh,
Ken: that's smart.
Mona: Yeah, even Wild Planet actually has 100 percent grass fed and finished organic beef.
Ken: Oh, wow.
Mona: And it's just, I mean, look, it's not ideal, but it's better, it's better quality. At least I know it's grass fed and finished and organic.
Ken: Yeah. Let's go back to, so six years getting your doctorate in pharmacy. What is the sort of. The best things you pulled out of that experience, what was obviously a grounding in science that is super helpful, a grounding in nutrition, a grounding in how doses of different chemicals affect your body, specifically drugs, of course, what do you carry with you?
You think every day that's separate from your self taught exploration of nutrition and other dimensions of healthy living. What did that 150,
Mona: 000 of student loan? Yeah,
Ken: better be good.
Mona: Well, first of all, even I think it contributes to my self exploration and self education because when you're learning with such a deep knowledge of science and how the body works, you can understand it in a different way.
And I, you know, I nerd out on that, which I really like. Also, I would say, education aside, the discipline that it gave me and the work ethic that it gave me, I mean, I went into my freshman year thinking like, I could study like I did in high school. I got a rude awakening the first year. And look, if you fail one class, you're back a year, which I was not interested in.
So I had to learn. how to really study, how to focus. It got me organized. So I think now I have this work ethic almost to a fault where I just don't know how to sit. And it
Ken: crystallized during that period.
Mona: Yes, it really, because I was not like that in high school. I was not organized. I did not clean my room.
I didn't, wasn't efficient with my time. And then I had to be in college. So
Ken: you've met my son.
Mona: Yeah, well, send him to pharmacy school and he'll come back all set. Need to send
Ken: him to the Marines, but yeah.
Mona: I also think. Like, look, as much as I don't like to rely on conventional medicine, when I'm looking at supplements, it really gave me a base knowledge of how it works.
Like, okay, what's the half life? I understand why it may be taking it twice a day. What is a
Ken: half life? Explain what that is.
Mona: So a half life of a drug is how long it takes for half of it to excrete out of your body. And this is a term that we use for every single drug and we have to understand. This is how you dose it, it's how you know how many times a day to give it, this is how you know how safe it will be, for example, how much of it will be in your body later on.
So that's why sometimes when people will say, take two a day, I'm like, is it two at the same time, or is it one twice a day? Because if the half life is 12 hours, then you take it every 12 hours. And just knowing those little things, I think, on medical terminology. I can tell by the end of a word sometimes how it's going to work or what the chemical structure is, which impacts a lot of different things.
So I did get a lot of value out of it. And luckily I do love it. The health and wellness space, so it brought me value.
Ken: For me, I mean, I was a history major in college, but I was interested in environmental stuff. And this is back in the early 70s. The first Earth Day, in fact, 1972.
Mona: Oh, that's cool.
Ken: Yeah. How about that?
And, um, then I went to the first Earth Summit in 73 in Stockholm. So I really, I was way into it, but I, I kept thinking, you know, I don't want to be afraid of science. I want to know what it's like to at least be able to step into the scientific literature on a given topic and not be totally intimidated.
Not to assume that if I, my background's in soil science, that I therefore know about, you know, physiology or know about toxicology. You're not an expert. You just have a deep literacy in your field. It helps you then sort of step into, could be ecology, could be water chemistry, whatever it might be. It gives you a little confidence to explore, at least it does for me.
Mona: It does. I feel so confident in anything medicine related because of the literacy I gain, but it's funny you say that. That's me with politics. I'm so interested in helping fight and protest for some of the ingredients, but I'm very intimidated by politics. So I keep trying to find like a politics for dummies, you know, like a little YouTube course.
If anyone knows of one, I would love it. Maybe I should teach one.
Ken: Honestly, teach one.
Mona: I would love just because I think what knowledge is power and knowledge gives you confidence. And. I'm just so immersed in what I care about. Sometimes I'm like, okay, wait, maybe I should broaden my horizons a little bit, but I do understand that.
Ken: It's interesting. Robin O'Brien, who was on our show, she's an amazing leader in the health and wellness space at the intersection of finance and health and wellness, actually. And she's been a friend for many years. And she talks about the importance of getting your personal home family act together when it comes to health and wellness, being responsible, caring for your things.
But then she talks about, you know, stepping out your front door, by which she means, you know, stepping into civic discourse, stepping into political discourse, stepping into the broader world armed with the information and convictions you have and expressing your views. Because. On the other side, on a lot of these issues, whether it might be pesticides or artificial additives, there are people paid to step out their front door and make things happen in the policy world that we don't have the ability often to counter, and some of the most important ways to counter it are having real people with their experience step into the political realm.
And it's not that different from just, you know, connecting to people. I mean, the congressional staff, legislative staff, whether it's in Albany or in Washington, DC, they're just people and they really value direct contact with constituents. But it's, it is hard to kind of figure out, well, how do you do that?
It's the Senate, it's the Congress, whatever it might be. It's, it's a little intimidating. And I think, I think we need to do a better job in the public interest community, helping people just realize, hey, you know, they're really working for me if they're representing my state or my congressional district.
I just want to tell them what I think because industry is telling them what they think.
Mona: Yes. Yeah. Yes. Honestly, I even had a podcast episode on this, and we did a whole episode on how you can literally get a law passed. And it seems so, like, out of reach, but it's actually not. We have more power than we think we have.
Ken: Yeah, that's exactly right and you know give that that first step which Robin says right, you know it once you do it It's always a little bit easier to take the second step.
Mona: That's such a good point.
Ken: So I need to lose weight
Mona: Are you saying hypothetically because you look great?
Ken: No, I know I here's why I need to lose weight for my health I need to lose weight be around for a long time.
I'm 73. I have a 16 year old. And so I need to live to, I don't know, 130, 140, something in that range. So I am struggling to keep with my schedule and everything else on the bike. I'm struggling a little bit with diet because I'm exposed to all kinds of unhealthy food. And there are times when I, so, If you were advising someone who's 73, busy, has a young child, has opportunities to exercise, plenty of opportunities, what would you say, okay, here's how you build in your brain and in your behavior, kind of a. a system to help you achieve your goals.
Mona: I mean, this is something you already know, but everyone needs a reminder. Sticking to whole foods, I can't express enough how, it's almost like, I don't know, do you ever, when's the last time you ate McDonald's or Burger King or fast food?
Ken: A long time.
Mona: Long, but do you remember how before when we used to eat it, we thought, and now it's like, that actually seems like poison.
Ken: Yeah, it does. So
Mona: when you, you end up getting to these, when, when you. Get used to eating a certain way. Grabbing something packaged or processed becomes almost that bad in your brain. For example, today I was 10 minutes late to this podcast because I was running out the door and I was so hungry I hadn't eaten all morning.
I cannot grab a bagel that's processed with all these ingredients unless it was homemade. Didn't have any at the time. You know, I was like, whatever. I threw my leftover lentil soup into the pot, I cracked an egg on there, I made it into kind of like a shakshuka, whatever, like my own version. And I packed it in a Tupperware and I ate it in the car on the way over here.
And it's like when you just. It seems so extra.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: But you get used to it and you just end up making these because I've demonized those other things because I know they're not good for me. One thing I also think about where I'm like, how many times am I eating in a day? Usually three to four. I don't, I don't snack that often.
I'm more of a meal person. That's not that many times. So what am I going to choose in those few times that I'm going to put into my body? I also love food. I love, I'm such a foodie, but clean food. So I'm like, I don't want to waste one of those times on something that's bad or processed. I'd rather eat something clean.
So one of the biggest things I do is cook and freeze anytime I'm making a super stew. Actually, last night I had nothing for dinner. In my freezer, I had a tupperware of pesto that I had made from stems. So I save all my even like stems, you know, like kale, leaves, whatever. I blended it into a pesto one day because I didn't know what to do with it.
Put it in the freezer. So then I took my kelp noodles out. It takes two minutes to prepare. Throw on the pesto. And I had myself a little dinner. Yeah, it's. And then, okay. For example, I have, I try to get so many greens in in a day because I think one thing people forget is we're not just eliminating, it's what you're adding in.
It's really, it's like life, it's nourishment. So it's obviously sometimes it takes too long. It's annoying to like wash and dry, but when you're steaming it, I had this huge thing of like green Swiss chard and a little bit of dandelion greens, washed it all, didn't even dry it, stuck it in a steamer. 15 minutes, it's done.
Put it in a Tupperware, and over two days, I was like, I don't, I don't like to keep leftovers for more than 24 hours. So I'm like, I have to finish this Tupperware within 24 hours. So I ate some last night with the pesto.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: This morning, the leftover, I stuck into my lentil soup with the eggs, and that was what I ate on the way over here.
So it's just like, It seems complicated, but it's not Steaming. Greens takes two seconds.
Ken: Yeah. It's the new habits and on the road. And I wanna, I wanna get your road routine too. Yes, I will.
Mona: I have lots of tips.
Ken: You know, I just find myself kicking myself like I, I know all of this stuff. Mm-hmm. I, you know, I know.
Mona: That's why I'm like, I know. You know what I'm saying? So
Ken: what I'm getting at is the, is is the, it's not the knowledge. It's the behavioral cues, it's the habits that you, you know, try and form to stay in the groove and when I'm in it, I'm thinking, why would I ever leave it, and then There I am in the rut, thinking, you know, how do I get out of this?
Mona: So I packed, we were in London two weeks ago, I packed my Safe Catch. So Safe Catch, I love this brand because they mercury test each batch of tuna, right?
Ken: We eat that at home.
Mona: So I packed wild salmon and tuna in there. I also packed like two cans that have, of Wild Planet that had olive oil. Usually I just get the fish in water.
Ken: Yep.
Mona: But the one with the olive oil is so good because you can just eat it right out of there and it's like ready to go. I packed some True Vani protein powder.
Ken: Yep.
Mona: Yep. Our friend
Ken: Vani.
Mona: Exactly. I love Vani. Are you a fan of basil seeds?
Ken: I don't know that.
Mona: So basil seeds don't, not enough people know about them.
It looks exactly like a chia seed, but it comes from basil.
Ken: Okay.
Mona: And there is no lectins, so people who are afraid of lectins or, you know, who have any kind of intolerance.
Ken:I don't know from lectins. Maybe, yeah, I don't even know.
Mona: Some, um, lectins, it got hot a few years ago of, like, anything with seeds. seeds, beans, legumes.
So some people avoid seeds. Well, if
Ken:Well, if it's two years ago or so, that's about my speed. Mostly, I'm mostly two or three years behind. So that's perfect.
Mona: There you go. Yeah. Well, basil seeds don't have lectins and you know how chia seeds, you need like hours to let it gel up within minutes. So it’s a really good breakfast.
I also, okay, do you know the brand E3 Live? People
Ken: People are going to think we're crazy.
Mona: I know. You know what? I used to be like, I don't want people to think I'm a little extra, but I think I'm just, I embrace it and like, look, take it or leave it. This is really helpful.
Ken: So
Mona: E3 Live, do you know the algae brand?
Ken: No.
Mona: They're very good, high quality. They have spirulina algae. They have these little packs of blue spirulina that are travel.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: It's just so good for energy. So you don't have to have caffeine. You can just add water to the basil seeds, a little bit of nut butter, which you can pack with you. And it's like the most amazing breakfast.
So I don't have to have hotel breakfast. And then you can get little instant decaf organic Swiss water decaf coffee. You can get a Whole Foods, get a water kettle to the room, all your breakfasts are taken care of. And then my favorite thing to do when I travel, I never, ever order off room service. I'd say 90 percent of the time, I, once I get to the location or even before in my Postmates or Uber Eats, I'll put in the address and then I'll search keywords.
So I'll say grass fed, organic, wild salmon, and then the restaurants populate that have it. And there's Yeah. Always something. Yeah. Every, like, every small town even has this little organic juicery or something. Yeah. And then I'll just, Postmates my food. Yeah. And then look, if you're there with friends, go out to a meal and don't worry about it.
But if it's, if you're there for four or five days, these are the habits you do. But if you're there for one or two nights and you've got some dinners with friends, of course, go live your life and don't stress about it.
Ken: Yeah. Yeah. Of course. So, did you go through the phase where you were that person at the dinner table wherever you was?
Mona: Oh, yeah, yeah,
Ken: Oh great. Mona's coming.
Mona: People expect it now for me and you know what I find is I've always shared this. I don't talk about it. People ask me like they're the ones who are always like making a thing of it. I'm just here to eat clean. So I usually do. I just look up the restaurant before I go. I just check out the menu and then I do this trick with the waiter.
I'm like, Can you come over here? I have a question on the menu and that way you're not shouting it across the table. Then they come next to you and then I, you hold the menu over your face and you're like, all right, let's talk. Is your meat grass fed? Is your salmon well? And you can ask your questions.
Yeah. And I just say, I'm sorry, I have a really strong intolerance to canola oil. It really bothers my stomach. Can you please make sure? And 90 percent of restaurants are using canola oil.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: So it's something I always, always ask for.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: And if they can't, usually there's a workaround. They can either steam it or use olive oil or something.
Ken: Well, that's great. So that's my new on the road routine. I got to get this. Is that overwhelming?
Mona: Or does it actually. You know, it, it.
Ken: The, the thing that's overwhelming is the stress and worry about trying to solve these problems and then giving up and just ordering room service. And then feeling
Mona: bad after?
Ken: Yeah. That's, to me, that's it. And my motivation for staying healthy is mostly that I do have a young son. What a blessing. You know, I want to be around for him.
Mona: Yeah. That's the most beautiful motivation. Right. I mean, even mine. Of course I like to look good, but really my biggest is I want to live long, a good life.
I want to feel good in my body.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: And be healthy.
Ken: He's very focused on me, uh, being able to continue to do the things like mountain biking that he and I do together. And it's a little unusual, not out where I live in Marin, there's people in their seventies mountain biking everywhere. But when I describe it to people, they feel like, well, isn't that a little, shouldn't you maybe knock off the mountain biking because you could get hurt?
And his view is that, uh, he doesn't want me to race mountain bikes anymore. Okay. I won't race. I wasn't good anyway. He really now has taken over the role of watching out after me on the trail.
Mona: So sweet.
Ken: Riding, he's like, Dad, I think I'll, I think I'll ride behind you. We're, we're going down this kind of expert trail instead of the regular trail because you made a wrong turn, Dad.
So for me. This is the, the most genuine motivation I've had in my life is we're doing something together and he's just happy about it. And I want to, I can't do it forever, I know, but that for me is the health motivation.
Mona: And I think that the average, the norm is not what we should be aiming towards because the average person in America is not that healthy.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: You know, you do see those, what about those people who are one off in the blue zones who are a hundred and still. walking or running or riding a bike. So why can't that be what we aspire to? I also think it's a mental state where, because to me, you, you're like young, healthy, energetic, like, you know, I think the typical, oh, someone's 73 when they're younger, we would think aren't doing these things.
Yeah. Yeah. But that doesn't have to be the normal. If you're taking care of your body and, you know, really focusing on your health, I don't see why we
Ken: shouldn't be able to do these things. Yeah, exactly right. And so someone who's watching this is feeling unmotivated How do you help them find that motivation because to me We know all of the steps that have to be taken once you decide to take them.
But how do you get people to sort of embrace that motivation, that energy to start down the path and self heal?
Mona: I really think that it's so individualized. What I can do, I can share what motivated me. So when I was in pharmacy school, I did not exercise or go to the gym. I, I grew up eating pretty healthy.
My Persian background, I ate a lot of fruit and vegetables and I liked healthy food. But I was so focused on school and I hated going to the gym. So my last year of school, we were on rotations and I had a little more time. And my roommate and I joined a gym down the street, not in my school. And I took a cardio kickboxing class.
And that was literally the catalyst to my, I swear, my whole wellness journey. And yes, the pharmacy school background helped, but it was so much fun and I had never had fun doing a workout class. And I feel that when you find something that really resonates with you, because you will, like if you asked me to do a cycling class, I would hate it.
If you asked me to go for a jog, I would hate it. But I have things that I like. And that high that I would get after, you know, and that started me being like, you know what, I'm going to try to eat like a little bit healthier and there it was and it just went from there. So I think everyone has to find their motivation and you just have to get started and keep like, there's so many cool classes you can take now, you know, like, and yes, at home workouts are less expensive and convenient, especially when you travel.
But I think when you're trying to find your motivation, there is something about a community and a group class. Being in a
Ken: group. Yeah. You get that
Mona: energy. I get energized from people.
Ken: Yeah. I think that's right. Right? I think that's right. I much more enjoy group rides on my bike or riding with a friend than just riding by myself.
Mona: I think in general, humans, like we, I like to be in packs. Like it's normal for us to want community. It also makes you live longer. Yeah. Friendship and community.
Ken: For sure.
Mona: I mean, that's actually been proven in all the Blue Zones. The biggest thing across all of them is community.
Ken: It's people. And purpose.
Ken: Yeah. Yep. So in your, in your life now, busy as it is, and fragmented with all these activities and all these responsibilities and all the things you're doing. What's the spot that you return to when you need to be centered and remember who you are and put everything else out just for enough of a recharge to then go through the next set of projects, which life is.
It's all projects, one after another. But how do you do that?
Mona: I would say family. My home life and family life is family. The most important thing to me. And whenever work stresses me out, and then I come back to that, I'm like, it literally takes the stress away because I remember my priorities and what really matters.
And it's the people like work is fun and I have so much passion and I have drive behind it. But at the end of the day, I would always choose family and love over it. So I think it just helps me ground myself. And my meditation practice has really deepened over the last three years. I've been doing it for eight or nine years, but the first four or five I feel wasn't really getting there.
Uh huh. And now the last few years I've really gotten to an amazing place where, you know, when you see the, the, the Buddha smile, that on his face, like that smile will just come to my face when I'm meditating and I'm not even doing it on purpose. My body just goes into it and I'm like, Oh, I'm so relaxed.
Like my mind is relaxed, my body's relaxed. So I know it can sound cliche, but it's such a powerful tool and it just. makes me feel like everything is aligned as it's supposed to be. So don't stress about anything.
Ken: So what do you think changed three or four years ago when it started to really deepen for you?
Mona: Joe Dispenza. So I got really, I got really into his work. I was trying his meditations, wasn't resonating. Then I went to his weeklong retreat, completely changed my viewpoint on life and everything because he mixes science with spirituality so well and coming from a science background, I needed to see the proof to believe in a lot of it.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: So then I was doing his meditations for a couple years, religiously, and they're intense. They're like an hour and a half long. Yeah. And it's a lot. It almost trained me, whereas now I don't need anything. I can just sit silent and I immediately go into this relaxed state. So I feel like it was a good base.
And then if I feel like doing it, I can, if I want to do breath work, I can, because there's so many ways to meditate. But now I feel like I'm an advanced meditator, so I can just sit anywhere, anytime and get to that place that you do.
Ken: And you can lock in. Yeah. Amazing. When you look at sort of the, the landscape of American health right now, obviously we're not doing what we need to do for nutrition.
Obviously we're not doing what we need to be doing for activity. But. What are the things that sort of give you A sense of optimism and hope that maybe we're, we're coming out of a period where chronic illness is rampant and people are expecting the pharmacist to solve their problem where, you know, people don't take care of themselves.
And then medicine's about dealing with a crisis, kind of a emergency room writ large versus the longer term health and wellness path. What gives you hope now?
Mona: Honestly, the people. I feel like We are just, as a community, caring so much more and are so much more aware, whether it's from social media, from the internet, just from people, influencers sharing, that we're actually driving change.
Because if you look at brands, now there's Clean It Sephora, now there's like Paraben Free, Phthalate Free, Fragrance Free. They're listening to us.
Ken: Yeah.
Mona: And I think the more we come together as a group and make noise, also, it's really just supply and demand. This is what we're demanding. They're going to supply it.
Yeah. So I think that it's really inspiring to see and the health and wellness movement is so big. You know, it's, it's great to see because it's not just a trend. It's the most important thing in your life. So that really inspires me. And I feel like, I don't know, at least it's my algorithm. It's, I see it all the time now on social media where everyone's so loud about it.
And, you know, companies like EWG, the work you guys have done is so incredible. And I feel like it helps so many people and you guys really give us. It's like almost like a base and a sounding board and structure to go off of and work off of and just make change.
Ken: Well, I happen to agree. I think the change is coming from the, from the bottom up.
I think people are really metabolizing the message and understanding that you've got to take the steps yourself. You're not alone. Uh, if you need medical care, you need medical care. If you need experts to help you with a health crisis or even a condition, avail yourself. And we need good healthcare policy to make sure that that's affordable for everybody.
But a big part of my optimism is that people are showing up and they're curious. They're open to new ideas. They're a little suspicious of Silver bullets. They're a little suspicious of corporate healthcare, a little suspicious of big companies telling us this is what you can eat. It's perfectly safe and healthy.
That combination of. inquiry and self interest. It's moving markets. It's moving companies. It's making a big difference. So I'm, I'm kind of where you are and, uh, and you're one of the leaders helping people, you know, find their way. So thank you so much for all you've done and you continue to do.
Mona: Thank you.
It's really a joy and a pleasure. Fun. You know you're passionate about something when you're genuinely excited to share it. Yeah. Like, even when you're like, what do you pack? I'm like, well, let me tell you. I'm going to send you a photo because it's like you love it and you know it works. So it's exciting to share with people and help people.
Yeah.
Ken: Well, I'm going to pack differently for my very next trip. I can promise you that.
Mona: I really hope you do because it's easy and it just works.
Ken: Yeah. Mona Vann. Doctor, thank you so much. Really appreciated you taking time to sit down with me today.
Mona: This was a great conversation. I'll come back anytime.
Ken: All right.
Mona: Thank you.
Ken: Thanks, pal. Mona Vann, thank you for joining us on the show today. I also want to thank you out there for listening. If you'd like to learn, be sure to check out our show notes for additional links for a deeper dive into today's topic. Make sure to follow our show on Instagram at Ken Cook's podcast.
And if you're interested in learning more about EWG, head on over to EWG. org or check out EWG's Instagram account at Environmental Working Group. Now, if you liked this episode, send it to a friend who you think might like it too. Environmentalism is all about meeting people where they're at. And if you're listening to this, you probably know someone who might be interested in today's episode.
They just don't know it yet. My ask is that you send it to that person or to as many people as you see fit. Today's episode was produced by the extraordinary Beth Rowe and Mary Kelly. Our show's theme music, Thank You Moby, is by Moby and thanks again for listening.