 So, welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast where we've all heard the term superfood before. But when you start calling almost everything a superfood, how do you actually know what's super and what's just plain old good for you? Well, my guest on today's episode is here to straighten it all out. He's Darren Olien, the founder of SuperLife and author of SuperLife, the five simple fixes that will make you healthy, fit and eternally awesome. Why? These are big promises. He's been nicknamed the superfood hunter for his remarkable ability to track down many of the world's most exotic and powerful foods. And today, Darren's here to chat with me about what he's learned in his travels, the one superfood almost no one is eating except probably Darren and me. And why that needs to change. Darren, welcome to the Dr. Gundry podcast and it's great to have you on. Oh, it's great to be here, Dr. Gundry. Thank you. All right. So, let's start with your background. What? I mean, why did you start studying food as medicine? It really started when I had a career ending football injury and my sophomore year in college. So that kind of stopped me in my tracks and I kind of went through this depression and I realized, well, I care about not only health and nutrition, but I want to get my body strong again. And so I changed my major to physiology and nutrition and once I started digging into the miraculousness of the body and then the interaction that foods and plants and medicinal plants had on it, it kind of turned on this forever curiosity. And so that kind of set the stage for me to start digging in a little bit more. How did this all start? You know, you graduate from college and go, okay, I'm going to get on a bark canoe and float down the Amazon and I'm going to, you know, land in a village and I don't speak the language and I'm going to point to the pot and say, oh, what is that? I mean, how do you do that? I think our listeners would love to hear this story. Yeah. Well, I think the first ones were, I was actually looking into, because I was starting to formulate some stuff. So individually, I was very curious to bring some things to market. So I started looking into, I think, I think it was Maka back in the early 2000s. It was Sasha Enchi, which was revered as ink and gold by the Incas. It was this other, which you'll probably find really fascinating, called Yakon syrup, which is one of the highest prebiotic foods that we know of. Yeah. Huge, huge. And so I know the top researchers that look into that. And so I was poking around because knowing and needing that I needed to reach out, I had hired a good friend of mine, an indigenous guy that was an expert in plants. And so once we started seeing who was processing what, we got some names, we got some numbers, we started having relationships, we started getting on the phone. And then eventually those processors, who are really the more of the businessmen of it, and then they have a chain of suppliers. And so we contacted them. We said, hey, we want to show up and see what kind of supply you have and see. And if you're open to it, we want to see the whole supply chain. And they were like, really? You want to go out and be on top of the Andes or be in the jungle? And I said, absolutely. So it kind of started, I mean, there was a little bit in India back in 2003 in Himalayan salt, but it really started in Peru. And so when I showed up in Peru and met these people that I had been conversing with for six months, and they took me around, and it was really that you come away with not only greater knowledge that you could possibly gather from any research, but also you have a list of another 25 things you've never heard of. So then that just turns on this whole other aspect. And then I guess over the years, Dr. Gundry, it was just poking around 40 different countries. It just kind of becomes, hey, check this out, check that out. And you have to weigh it on many different levels. You have to weigh it on, OK, what is this botanical? What is it used for? Is it a medicinal plant? Is it trying to combat certain ailments? Is it a food? And what is that food? What's volatile in it? Can it even be commercialized? Can it even be scaled? Because volume is a huge component. And if you are scaling it, how are you doing that? You have to work with the people. And then all of that and about 50 other questions, you can go, OK, who's processing this? And who can pass the rigorous audits that you have to apply? Because then you're going into testing and testing compounds and anti-nutrient testing and active ingredient testing and microbiological testing and simply just how they're processing audits. They have to pass certain tests. There can't be birds flying around and pooping in your product. I mean, as much as we think that should be thought about, believe me, I've been in facilities all over the world and you will never guess how, by the way, many products existing today don't have a clue where their stuff's coming from. And I'm telling you, if they don't look under the hood, it's just playing Russian roulette because you have to do the research yourself. You have to send your own crews. It's not easy. It takes time and money. But from my point of view, especially this modern day world where money drives so much, we have to, as companies, as food companies, as supplement companies, you have to do your own quality control and audit controls. I mean, that's just a mandatory from my point of view. No, I think you're absolutely right. Recently, we had gotten a lead that there was this incredibly rich, polyphenol-rich olive oil in the deserts of Morocco. And the testing looked fabulous. But I actually took our team there to come on. What's this guy doing? And this guy, a wonderful young man by the name of Othmane, who's a fourth generation olive oil grower. And he had this nutty idea that great wines come from stressed grapevines. And they're underwater. They're in rocks. They're struggling. And he got the nutty idea, he asked his father if he could do it, to go to this rocky part of the desert, Moroccan desert, and plant the olive trees right next to each other, almost in hedge rows, so that the roots competed. And the amount of rock that he had to move just to get these things in and then underwater them. And it turns out his polyphenol content was 30 times what the assays in the French government had ever seen. So I'm going, the guy's a genius. And I said, so then I go, OK, well, how are you going to process this stuff? Well, he realized that he didn't want to truck these olives through the Moroccan desert two hours in the blazing sun, because it was going to destroy everything he did. So the minute they're picked, he built a plant in the olive grove. And nitrogen, minute it's pressed, nitrogen gas is everywhere, so there's no oxidation. Right. And if I hadn't seen that and seen the detail that they had gone into that, you're right, you've got to be there. That's a perfect example. That's a perfect example, because that's usually the challenge where someone will find a good, good product and then somewhere along the line, the process fails, the power of the plant or how they're growing it. So he put that plant under stress that in order for that plant that olive tree to grow, it had to fight its way, which increased the antioxidants, the vitamin, the mineral contents. And then I've seen it so many times where you don't process it correctly or at the source and then you lose all of the stress that was created in the beneficial compounds. That's a perfect example of how you have to walk down the road of doing every part of the process in order to preserve that, which you've taken so much time to create in that plant to benefit us. So, all right, so now you've figured all this out. Give me, how do you find out, how do you find a new superfood? How do you, what's the process? Just go in and say, hey, any superfoods around here? I would say that ultimately, number one, by showing up, many times it's happened by way of being in a village, watching how people eat and also eating with them. I found Moringa aloe vera that way about eight years ago, going, what is that plant and why are you cooking it? Oh, it's Moringa, it's a vitamin tree, it's all of these things. And you're like, holy, now I've seen it and researched it on seven different continents. And then, all of a sudden, you realize it's one of the most powerful leaves and plants in the world. And so there isn't one way, but there's many, like the Baruchas, for example, the nuts I found out of Brazil. Like I was in Brazil looking at some interesting palm fruits in the Amazon, like not even close to the Sahadu, where it comes from. And I had a guy reach out to me because he saw pictures on social media. And he says, hey, you're in Brazil. I'm Brazilian. I found this nut. Is it any good? Next thing I know, he's sending me samples. We're looking at research in Portuguese and bingo. I tell you what, it's when you're not looking. You're showing up for one thing and when you're open. Because for me, I feel like Dr. Gundry, it's wild to me that in this day and age, I can end up in the middle of nowhere and feel like I'm looking at something for the first time and many people don't know about it. And that's pretty remarkable. When you find a new mushroom in Bhutan, you find a new palm fruit in the Amazon that no one could harvest before, that turns into incredible high fat milk. And then you show up in the middle of the Sahadu, the Savannah of Brazil, and this nut that is the most delicious, nutrient-dense nut in the world. So I think it's being open and forever being a student, and that is you have to show up. Just like you had the experience of your olive situation, you've now have seen it, you've met the people. That product to you will probably be different than any other ones that you haven't had the opportunity to see, not that it hasn't passed all the tests, but when you physicalize it and then you know the people, so now it's dimensional. You're like, wow, this is good for them because we're paying them fairly. This is good for the environment because we're creating food and opportunity in areas that didn't have it, and then it's benefiting the customer. And then you get to tell the story from your experience that no one can take away from you. And so that to me is some of the biggest advantages of showing up innocently. And honestly, I'm not the only white person that's shown up. Unfortunately, a lot of people have been screwed over, not necessarily intentionally by people of my skin color, but it's happened. And when you get to rectify that by your ethics and your morality and showing up and doing what you say you are going to do, then that really pays dividends. I think that's very interesting. Give me an example of how an indigenous people have been screwed in this process without naming names. Well, I can tell you with the Baruchas story, because it's so close to us, we were in areas so the nut comes from the Bato Zeta tree. And that Bato Zeta tree goes from Paraguay, most of the Sahara of Brazil and into Bolivia. So we were in Bolivia looking at and talking to the indigenous people. Well, it wasn't necessarily they got screwed over from an intentional standpoint, but they were given this indigenous group that was trying to make the Baruchas expand. They were given money, a lot of money by an NGO. And within, without having a lot of structure, they ended up kind of having indigenous wars as a result of so much money, so fast and not really understanding how to manage it. So it kind of exploded in their face and became almost impossible for them to get this nut out. So it wasn't like they were getting screwed over, but it was imploding in what they were trying to do, but they didn't have the infrastructure to do it. And in other situations, you know, well, specific to Baruchas, you'd have people come in and literally say, hey, we're going to buy this amount from you. So the people would go out and forge, which is not easy. They'd come back and then there was no, oh, you know what? I don't have the money. The market didn't really work out well. So I can't pay you. And that would happen over and over and over again. And you cannot do that. That is just will destroy virtually everything because you have to have integrity. So that's something that we're extremely proud of, that we say to those people in Brazil, you gather the Baruchas, we'll pay. In these areas, we'll pay, we'll give you these fair wages, which will announce on the radio so no one can undercut you. And we'll buy it for the next 20 years. So we'll create security, longevity, and integrity. Okay, now I know everybody's wondering, what the heck is a Baruca nut? I tell you what, man, the Barucas is a nut that we found out of the Sahadu of Brazil. So a landmass the size of three states of Texas that's south of the Amazon. No one knows really what it is. It doesn't get a lot of press, but here's the thing. It's producing the highest nutrient value of any nut and it tastes better than any nut. Believe me, I couldn't believe it when we actually found it. This is what it looks like. So this little thing is found in this. So this is what we call the fruit. So there's a light fruit layer, which by the way has a lot of prebiotic activity, which is fantastic, high antioxidants, high fiber, but there's one nut per fruit. You cannot, you cannot grab it early. You can't pick it from the tree. You have to let it drop, right? And it's a completely wild food, which scaling on a wild food is virtually unheard of in this day and age. So you have that huge landmass. We've had to gather tens of thousands of indigenous people to collect, but what you get in this nut is lower calories. So this is like the perfect example of what a superfood is. Lower calories, high nutrient value. So you have lower fat calories. You have six grams of protein per serving, which is virtually the highest nut protein and all the amino acids, which is crazy. And then in terms of antioxidants, let's compare it to now it's poor cousin, which is an almond, a regular old almond. Number one, almonds have all artificial irrigation. Baruchas has zero. It comes from the rain. It's in the wild, no irrigation, no pesticides, no herbicides, none of that stuff. And it has over 300% more antioxidants than an almond. It's off the chart. So you're getting an a third higher than any other nut and fiber. And then you have magnesium, calcium, copper, zinc, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, in terms of its minerals. So it's like this little vitamin pill, antioxidant, fiber rich, high protein, low calorie, super dense food. And it happens and you'll, you know, I love to hear you describe it because for me, when I ate it for the first time, it blew my mind that it could be this good for you and taste this good. And that to me, instead of trying to formulate around things, which I've done in my career where things are bitter, pungent, sour, salty, have lots of tannins, and you want people to ingest it, but it's too intense, this is like the opposite. This is like people and kids reach for it out of their instincts. And that to me, it was a slam dunk. And of course, then connecting it to planting trees in the Sahadu, we plant a tree for every five pounds we sell. We have nurseries, we give it back to the indigenous people. We're funded through a charitable trust that our goal is to plant trees, millions, tens of millions of trees in the Sahadu while sharing this amazing nut. So, but yeah, I'd like to hear your, how did you, I mean, when you ate this for the first time, how was that for you? Well, first of all, for people who are listening to the podcast, I describe this, it looks kind of like a beer nut for most people. And the thing that got me interested, and maybe you've done the research, does the skin of the baruchin nut have resveratrol in it? That's a very good question. We haven't specifically, we've realized there's two or three polyphenols in there. And I think we can definitely zero in on what those are, but yes, the antioxidants in the skin are off the chart. Off the chart. Yeah, and it tasted polyphenol rich to me. And I literally have three bags in my house at any one time and I must say it's become my go-to nut. I have no relationship with you and I'm not a paid spokesperson. But I actually have talked about it before and I was so excited to get you on because this is a win-win. You're helping indigenous people. It's an amazing nut that people do need to try. And I haven't found anybody that doesn't like it. So... Yeah, me either. And we've done a lot of historical data. We've done a lot of anti-nutrient tests. People with severe allergies, we can't say it's a dangerous thing to say everyone can't, but we've had a lot of people try this with their doctors and not have reactions. We've done historical data as far back as we can go. We've talked to the two or three PhDers in Brazil and have found no direct allergen warning for this thing. So it's super exciting and I love your story because it wasn't through a promotion. It was through you looking into this, you finding comfort in the nut and then enjoying it. And I love that because the nut speaks for itself. It not only tastes great, but it's so rich in nutrients that we always believe that our marketing is. If people can try it, then we got them because like you said, no one doesn't like it. Yeah, it's interesting. One of the things, I was actually approached by a James Beard award-winning chef about this nut years ago. And he said, what do you know about this nut? And I said, really, I don't know anything. He says, well, I need to know if it's got lectins in it. So literally I did find a report that there aren't any lectins in it. And I went, oh, that's cool. Well, I got to find out more about this nut. So that's how I got involved in it. And just as an aside, I won't let any of my patients in my offices try a supplement or a product that I don't know much about until I've researched it number one and I've tried it on myself. And it's funny because a lot of what I've learned, particularly about medicinal plants, is a patient asking me, what do you know about such and such? And back in the good old days, I didn't know much about it. And I said, well, I'll be back with you. Yeah, and so can you imagine a regular physician testing all the prescriptions that he gives to patients on himself? Of course, who would be that crazy thing of the side effects? Exactly. So yeah, so good for you. All right, so how do the indigenous people eat baruchas? Yeah, so the interesting thing is we were seeing them in this day and age try to crack this nut open with a rock or machete and then someone who had these old ovens that they would toast the baruchas to liberate the nutrients. And that was what's going on literally now, but in digging into some of the older people who are familiar with baruchas, they used to take the whole fruit. So they would take this whole thing. They would throw it on the fire at the end of the day. And in the morning, it was toasted inside, more easily cracked open, and they would consume it that way. So yeah, extremely cool. And then they would also realize the animals were eating the fruit on the outside and then just spitting out the hard shell. So of course, I saw this not breaking down in the wild. It was out exposed. And that's why I started shaving this off. We tested it and saw the high fiber, the high antioxidant. So yes, right now you can get the dehydrated fruit with the nuts as our trail mix. It's the perfect alchemy. Oh wow, and that's your website, huh? Absolutely. Okay, other than eating them like beer nuts, what other ways can you use barucha nuts? Yeah, well, they're great on smoothie bowls. They're great with salads. We're doing a lot of R&D with the butter. That's probably one of the most highly requested when you're making a butter. Here's the thing, the fat content is so low that we have to add back oil a little bit so that it becomes, but I've also added back yucca syrup. So now we're really, it's an interesting dynamic that we're playing with the butter. It's ridiculously good. And how about flour? Can you make it into a flour? Yeah, you could. I mean, we've done it in Brazil. We've also pressed the oil out of it, but economically it's just better and more full to consume the whole thing. Yeah, so then we're also looking at certain bars that we're making, sprinkling the fruit chips on top. You can certainly mix it up in the smoothie, like literally blend it up and it gives that peanutty flavor with zero obviously craziness of peanuts. And also the trail mix, you add a little almond milk or whatever kind of milk you want. And it becomes an incredible cereal with the barucanuts and the light sweetness from the fruit layer. So yeah, there's a lot to do and we're digging into it. Yeah, you know, speaking of the fruit layer, I mean, most people I think still are unaware that the coffee bean is the nut inside the coffee fruit and the coffee fruit has so many great qualities, probably far more than the bean itself, including neuron boosting potential. I actually use coffee fruit extract every day. Yeah, so you're right. It's these fruits maybe even better than the nut. Yeah, for sure. And it's the alchemy of those two because even with the coffee fruit, because I've about 10 years ago got to work with the guys perfecting the coffee fruit in Mexico. And you're right, because they found out that the fruit combined with the slow drying of the seed in this case the coffee bean, it created that neuro generative effect. And so they weren't as good on their own, definitely had benefits, but when you combine the two, you get this what's called a like a pleomorphic effect. You get infinitely more alchemical interactions when you start understanding why they're together, keep them together in many circumstances, you just observe nature and nature will reveal that path. Yeah, it's exactly right. So sometimes the hole is better than the parts. Exactly. So give me three super foods that you really think are essential for human health. You only get three and longevity. Oh God, that's tough. That's tough. Well, I mean. You're stranded on an island and you only get to take three things with you. I think I would take the king of all mushrooms. I would take chaga, chaga mushrooms. I take it every day as a supplement. Beautiful. And my dog's name's chaga, so I have to roll with that one. And my Nordic culture consumed chaga, so I have to do that. And then I do have and I've done a lot of experiments in terms of growing and stressing and processing from Africa to Thailand to Cambodia to the Philippines with Moringa. Moringa as the African people would call it, never die. So if you take it, you never die. So that one for sure, cause it's the vitamin tree. And come on, of course I'm gonna take the highest nutrient value nut in the world because I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of that if we have two that don't taste that great and one that tastes great. So I'm gonna take the third one, Baruchus. Perfect, all right. So speaking of never die, you've gone all over the world and as you know, my latest book is the longevity paradox. How to die young at a ripe old age. So what have you learned all over the world? What are these super old people doing? Is there any commonality or any tricks you've learned? Absolutely, well, you know, I've seen a lot of people in villages and older elders. And I actually this past year in 2018 got to interview a few 102 and 104 year old women in Sardinia, which is as you know, a healthy blue zone and got to hang out with Dr. Pez and Dr. Volter Longo. So we really got to dig into that. So you quickly realize also from my travels, you quickly realize in talking with these people that it's not one thing. Of course, we all want the one thing, but it's everything. And I would say the first vital nutrient is needed is that is open heart community, good people around you, that is huge. Even a good, healthy pet to expose you to other microbes and all those things. And then purpose, every one of these people that I talked to had a purpose. It doesn't matter if it was changed the world, it could be, hey, I'm here to make my grandchildren better. I'm here to pass on my knowledge. So those things for sure. And then it's more of certainly diversity of food. We've gotten so far away from that. So as you know, very clearly that color and diversity of food is just indicators of all the other polyphenols and antioxidants. So diversity of food is also combating micronutrients so that you're getting a balance of micronutrients. And obviously moderate consistent movement go to work, take a break, go work some more, take a break, do some work, take a break, those kinds of things. And also food that's close, that's for sure. Food that's close to you is extremely important. So if you can grow your own food, great. If you can support your local farmers markets, all that stuff, extremely important. Yeah, I think those are all points well taken. Actually, they're all summed up in my book. One thing I think we forget as actually Americans during World War II, 40% of all the food consumed in the United States was from victory gardens, backyard victory gardens. And I mean, it boggles the mind that, 60 years ago, 40% of everything we ate came out of our backyard. It's like, if you think about it, I've often fantasized about this. If we all planted our front yards over to a vegetable garden, imagine what that could do. It's mind boggling. I mean, it's good for you to have a garden, believe it or not. Exactly, get in the dirt for sure. Get in the dirt, yeah. When my kids were growing up in Michigan, we had a victory garden and we'd go out and you know, you pull the dumb carrot out of the ground and you brush it off on your pants and you eat the dumb thing. Exactly, exactly. You wouldn't wash it off. Oh, of course not, good enough. If I can't see it, it's good. And little did we know we were seeding our microbiome. Totally. All right, so you've got Baruchanuts. What research are you excited about right now? Anything new and exciting? Well, I mean, I'm certainly doing a lot of R&D on the Baruchas, different variations of how to use it, different variations on the fruit layer on the outside, researching that. I am helping a friend with some palm fruits out of the Amazon and seeing if we can, he created these harnesses to be able to climb to trees that haven't been able to be climbed to before and it's a totally sustainable new palm fruit that's got me excited. So other than that, focused on Baruchas and what we can do there, it's a big task to coordinate around the Sahadu and we're also mechanizing certain things. But yeah, it's tough for me to focus because I do find so many interesting things that I wanna participate in and help get to the market because these things are literally lifesavers for us and nothing gives me greater joy than to help indigenous people thrive and also help the environment and then help the end consumer. I mean, I'll do that for free for the rest of my life, for sure. Well, that's great. Now, where can listeners find out more about you, super life and the other work you're doing? Yeah, so I got superlife.com soon to be coming out darenolene.com got a lot of new interesting stuff coming down the pipe, super life living on all social media platforms and then of course we have at Eat Baruchas for social media as well and baruchas.com for the nuts. And where can people find Baruchas besides your website? Yeah, so Amazon all over. We've got some Southern California Airwan stores and some smoothie shops and we're also, I can't say it yet but we're launching in some very big retailers at the moment. They're simply coming to us but we like a really good customer. We actually like the kind of people that listen to your show because they know enough to care about what they're getting. They know enough to by them voting with their hard earned money and getting something great. They're also supporting directly these indigenous people in this land. So we love the direct online customer and the ones that care. So we know that we're selling out of these Baruchas so we want the customers that care. That's really what matters to us because we care so much and the people in the Sahadu do as well. Great. Well, thanks again for being on the program and keep hunting. I can't wait for your next discovery. Thanks Dr. Gundry, appreciate it. Hey, pleasure to meet you. Okay, it's time for our audience question. We've got a question from Isaac on YouTube. What about lactofermented fruit? Are your rules different for this due to the sugars being consumed by the good bacteria? Well, lactofermentation often refers to the first process of fermentation. For instance, pickling is often referred to as lactofermentation, chutneys are also referred to as lactofermentation. And while this does remove some of the sugars, it actually doesn't remove most of the sugars. So the same rules apply. You could use this like a chutney as a condiment but please don't be fooled that it's a low sugar food. It's the same way I've talked about Cambuchas. A true Cambucha actually ought to be fermented what residual sugars are there should be virtually nil. But so many of the Cambuchas that are commercially available have tons of added sugar. So please read the label carefully because these are mostly sugary drinks and if you pick up a bottle of Cambucha notice the serving size is two. You actually have to multiply that sugar content by two to actually see what you're gonna drink because I rarely see anybody consume half the bottle and leave the other aside. So just be careful with these but fermentation does help reduce lectins but lactofermentation really isn't gonna get rid of a lot of sugar content. Great question. So we'll see you next week. Thanks for listening and tuning in to the Dr. Gundry podcast. Before you go, I just wanted to remind you that you can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts because I'm Dr. Gundry and I'm always looking out for you.