Meet Your Coaches
A HUSBAND & WIFE DUO
Certified Nutritionists, PN1-NC
Karli
Klintworth
I have transformed my own health through deep nutrition, and I wish I could go back in time to help my mom through - maybe even prevent - her battle with inflammatory breast cancer. She passed away just shy of 2 years after her diagnosis at the age of 60. The conventional cancer treatment process was brutal to watch but my Mom’s diagnosis came early in my nutritional awakening, so I had yet to unlock much of the practical knowledge I now possess. Despite that, even then I knew in my bones that food can have a profound impact on our physical and mental wellbeing.
At her first chemotherapy session, a day after her official diagnosis, I asked her oncologist and team of nurses what foods they recommend to reduce inflammation. They stared at me like I was crazy and handed me a trifold pamphlet on foods for diabetics. They said ‘eat whatever sounds good’, that as long as she's eating anything at all, that's very good…And then proceeded to pump her full of Adriamycin, a harsh chemotherapy drug known as the ‘Red Devil’. Side effects of this drug include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, mouth sores, loss of taste, hair and fingernail loss, red urine, and anemia - All of which my mom exhibited. The combined side effects of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, brain radiation, and the mouthfuls of pills every day were debilitating and excruciating to watch.
I’ve since learned that her healthcare providers initially screened for her cancer by using sugar. Cancer cells have such a voracious appetite for sugar that radiologists can pinpoint the location of cancerous tumors using a form of radioactive sugar, which shows up as black nodules on PET scans. This procedure is so effective because cancer cells require sugar in order to thrive. Which begs the question, why didn’t any medical professional suggest reducing sugar intake? Not to mention the fact that sugar is widely accepted to be inflammatory, and my mom was dealing with inflammatory breast cancer.
By now I’m no longer surprised, yet continually shocked, at how ignorant our medical system is in the realm of nutrition. Reflecting on my upbringing, I wholeheartedly believe that the Standard American Diet (SAD) my family craved and consumed daily - high in sugar, refined carbs, and seed oils - was the root cause of my mom’s demise. I was fortunate enough in my 20s to to be able to unhitch myself from the foods I was brought up with. Now in my 30s, I feel better than ever, and I often wonder what ailments would have begun to sneak in had I not changed the way I eat.
Being handed that dietary pamphlet on diabetes was ground zero for my nutritional awakening and broader awareness of the state of our current healthcare system and nutritional guidelines. It was at that moment that I first began to realize that our medical system is not currently set up to identify and address the root cause of our problems.
This study shows that diet alone can have a profound effect on diminishing cancer cells, suggesting that a pharmaceutical free route for treating cancer may very well be possible. At the very least, nutrition can greatly enhance the effectiveness of conventional treatment. I can't say with certainty that my mom's fate would have changed if she had transitioned to a Hi Energy diet before developing breast cancer, but I know that she could have at least drastically improved her quality of life during her medical treatment.
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Another pivotal moment in my self-driven nutrition education was devouring Dr. Catherine Shanahan’s book, Deep Nutrition. She unlocked a deeper understanding of what food really is and the profound way in which it interacts with our cells and even our DNA. Deep Nutrition lit a spark in me that has turned into a passion for food science, chemistry, and biology. I have found my calling! With a BFA in fine arts, this is far from how I expected my life to develop. Life never ceases to amaze me!
Prior to reading Dr. Shanahan's book, my view of food was rather surface level. Cooking was simply a fun and useful daily hobby. I didn't think too hard about what was going into the meals I was making. Balancing macronutrients felt like a chore. I was truly oblivious to what food is on a molecular level, let alone how our bodies process and absorb what we eat. It’s embarrassing to think about now, but at one point I asked myself “is butter a carb?” That’s how out of touch with my food I was!
Dreaming of starting a family of our own, Deep Nutrition also awakened the mama bear in me. I now think critically about what I put into and on my body because I understand that my lifestyle choices now will profoundly impact the health of my future children and grandchildren.
The best part is, my meals are far more rich, tasty, and satisfying than they ever were before! My body is sensing (and loving!) all of the vital nutrients that Hi Energy recipes have to offer. Never in a million years would I have pictured myself craving organ meats, marrow, and bone broth. I used to look at these foods and say “Yuck. No thank you!” Now I say “Yum. Don’t give that to the dogs! What a waste!”
Alex
Klintworth
I’ve always been a health nut. Even as a kid I loved salads with as many fixings and colors as possible; grilled chicken, broccoli, purple cabbage, avocado, and pepperoncini elevate tasty to perfection. My mom cooked from scratch and we rarely had the prepackaged snacks that line the inner isles of grocery store shelves. Like any kid, I loved Doritos and Honey Bunches of Oats and these delights were one of the highlights of sleepovers at friends’ houses. But I also enjoyed the whole foods and fresh produce my parents prepared at home.
By 8 years old I was an elite swimmer, setting pool records and qualifying for national competitions. Even as a kid with Olympic aspirations, I knew that nutrition played an important role in supporting my rigorous training schedule. I was proud that my mom valued healthy food, and I held fast to the standard recommendations of minimizing sugar and maximizing lean protein with plenty of carbs to support long hours of daily training. Swimming transitioned into a dedicated four year collegiate triathlon career. Yet looking back, despite doing everything ‘right’ for peak health, I had symptoms of insulin resistance and was on the road to diabetes.
Fast forwarding to my electrical engineering desk job, I became frustrated with the sudden onset of lower back pain. When most would chalk it up to the ‘normal’ trials of adulthood, I experimented with an anti-inflammatory ketogenic diet. The pain quickly vanished! But then Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) hit me like a brick. Intense pain, bloating, lethargy, and brain fog so bad that I couldn’t even remember two moves for my first dance at my wedding in three months.
I worked with a functional medicine practitioner with a specialty in the emerging science of gut health. With her help I slowly chipped away at healing over the course of several years, but I still couldn’t manage high-FODMAP foods like garlic and onion. I don’t think there’s an ingredient harder to avoid when eating out or with friends than garlic or onion. I spent years feeling awkward not ordering at restaurants and turning down food my friends worked hard to prepare.
In my spare time I began to dive into the science of digestion, excited by Karli’s newfound love of nutrition that now rivals my own. Within months of my additional self-directed adjustments I was feeling fully healed and back to indulging in garlic and onion! While I’ve (sadly) limited my salad intake to modest levels, a breakfast of steak and eggs helps ease the heartache while my boosted energy levels and mental sharpness are my body and mind thanking me.
There remains a universe of mystery in the realm of gut health. We do know that what you eat has significant and rapid effects on your gut, and an unhealthy gut can lead to any number of diagnoses, from anxiety and depression to many autoimmune disorders. Your brain may be your CPU, but science is discovering your gut operates the keyboard. I’ve healed my gut, and we’ve helped clients ditch anxiety and depression meds by improving theirs.
I now read nutrition research study reports for fun. I enjoy diving deep and thinking critically. For example, going beyond the headline of a seminal study informing the widespread recommendation to reduce sodium intake, I discovered that among the study participants, greater salt intake was strongly correlated with higher rates of smoking. How can you conclude anything about salt when your study and control groups have drastically different smoking habits? Further, salt is a key ingredient in stomach acid production. Low stomach acid production means you can’t properly digest or absorb protein, fats, iron, zinc, or magnesium. Instead, food sits in the stomach undigested and putrefies, leading to acid reflux and SIBO. Over 10% of American adults are on a PPI prescription to lower stomach acid production to prevent reflux, yet for many it may very well be that low stomach acid is inducing their reflux in the first place. Despite the mainstream recommendations to reduce my salt intake, more salt was instrumental in kicking my SIBO to the curb for good.
This phenomenon of addressing a symptom with a medication that ultimately leads to lifelong prescriptions is all too common. Through my own health journey and helping friends and family along on their own, I’ve discovered that more often than not, the best solutions come from delicious and nurturing food that doesn’t include a laundry list of side effects.
My views on a healthy diet are unrecognizable from what I believed as a young athlete. It’s been a decade since I’ve trained athletics competitively. I haven’t had gym access in 3 years. My exercise has been hiking, a few bodyweight strength movements, and the occasional bike ride. Despite this, my performance now is nearly what it was during the peak of my collegiate triathlon career and I largely attribute my success to the Hi Energy lifestyle! An engineer at heart, I’m always seeking to improve my designs and prove my current ideas obsolete and I’ll make changes in the future when new information is discovered. Right now, my body and brain are feeling energized and I’m excited to do the things I love. That’s ultimately what being healthy means to me.