On an overcast Saturday morning, I bike to the
Vancouver Health Crawl, a local wellness brands social and market organized by
the Entrepreneurs in Health & Fitness on April 22, 2017. I am excited
to learn as much as possible from the food, health, and fitness entrepreneurs. Brimming
with curiosity, I prepare 5 questions for the Vancouver Health Crawl.
Expecting rain, I wear bike pants and a bright orange
jacket to be more visible for the 16-km round trip between Kitsilano and
Downtown Vancouver. I carry spare clothes of black leggings and a wool
zipper dress to slip into at the event. The cherry blossoms and magnolia
trees pop with hues of pink against the grey skies. I coast down the bike lanes
and along the water for a super chill ride. It’s my first bike ride all the way
to Gastown.
Feeling pumped, I arrive energetic, proactive, and
inquisitive. The event introduces me to the folks
at the MVMTLAB, Lorna Jane, and L’Atelier Coworking spaces. I
speak with the entrepreneurs, vendors,
and participants to learn as much as possible, and take notes of the memorable
moments in my notebook. Here are my questions:
1. How can I improve my nutrition?
COOCOOBOX founders prepare bitesize squares
of cauliflower coocoo. Simple and delicious, I plan to improvise
cooking the dish with the ingredient list: cauliflower, onion, chickpea
flour, cashews, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, garlic, cumin,
paprika, turmeric, olive oil, and avocado oil. The cauliflower gives
the texture while the turmeric gives the yellow color.
Naked Snacks serves super fresh trail mixes with nuts,
dried fruit, and chocolate. I try the Wholesome Yogi mix with raw almonds,
roasted cashews, pumpkin seeds, Greek yogurt chips (that look like white chocolate),
and dried cranberries. I like the salty Hearty Tamari with cashews, almonds,
and spices. Overall, the snack inspires me to experiment mixing my own
blends without salt.
Coast Cricket Protein serves morsels of sweet peanut
butter and chocolate energy bars. After tasting the protein bars made with
peanut and cricket flour, I still do not know what crickets taste like.
Perhaps the peanut butter, honey, and chocolate overpower the cricket
flavor. I can understand that the flour gently introduces the concept
of eating insects. Marketing crickets as food to Westerners may
indeed require masking the textures and flavors of the insect. That seems
rather low key though. As a more adventurous eater, I feel ready
now to take on the full flavor and texture of each bite. One
day I may be open to foraging for insects as well. Paprika
crickets, chocolate-covered ants, and sriracha earthworms,
anyone? Hakuna matata!
The Body Energy Club brings an entire smoothie bar with
mini 2 oz bottles. I like the swampy green energy shot, which contains
orange, carrot, spirulina, chlorella, and ginseng. The B12 shot, which
contains B12 complex and orange juice, tastes like a yummy,
syrupy medicine. The ingredient lists inspire me to try blending my own
energy shots for friends and family at home.
Vytogo offers smoothie samples with hemp protein,
chlorella, moringa, and sea buckthorn berry. These
four ingredients deliver full spectrum nutrition with bio-active vitamins,
minerals, and amino acids. Tasting the smoothie mix allows me to travel
the world through my stomach. I have the great pleasure to speak with both
co-founders Sebastian Roberts and Dan Nesbitt. They source the
purest ingredients worldwide with moringa from Ecuador, seabuck thorn
berry from Tibet, chlorella from Asia, and hemp seeds
from Canada. Seabuck thorn berry now grows in the Okanagan. Does the
blueberry have some competition? Of course, all berries reign
supreme. Sebastian gives a brief talk about delivering powerhouse nutrition
through bioavailability. I learn that chlorella, unlike spirulina, has bioavailable B12.
Hemp seeds boast Edestin protein.
Biota Fermentation offers carrot, beet, and
cabbage sauerkraut. They ferment the veggies in lactic acid, not
vinegar. I ask the co-founder James Kidd how to make my own kombucha,
and he recommends the starter kits at from Hoochy ‘Booch.
Amai Vegan Treats makes decadent delights with all
natural ingredients. The talented Jillian Aiken passionately makes
fresh blueberry lemon, chocolate caramel, and pumpkin spice cheesecakes.
My mouth starts watering just writing about these feel good, dairy-free
desserts. I may order some for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
2. How can I improve my fitness?
Dr. Jeff Almon, the owner and
chiropractor of MVMTLAB, introduces me to the basic concepts of functional
neurology and neural plasticity. Learning infant movement patterns resets the
brain and nervous system. Neurological change takes 20-30 days of movement
practice.
Tantra Fitness connects the mind
and body to poles and silks. I would like to try the Intro to Aerial Arts
beginners class with a friend. It sounds fun to become CirqueFit.
3. How can I improve my wellness?
Alyssa Huang, a registered acupuncturist, places an
acupressure bead in my inner ear valley. She recommends daily ear massages to
ward off stress and insomnia. I can swap out the ear bead every 3-4 days
for daily acupressure. Acupuncture can benefit prenatal and postnatal care.
Stress results in inflammation. Laura-Jean Anderson of
doTERRA gives a presentation about stress reduction through essential
oils. Essential oils are the plants’ immune system as they hold anti-fungal and
anti-viral properties. Breathing deeply allows the oil particle to enter the
lungs and blood circulation. Essential oils combined with nutrition and
breathing can combat stress. Frankincense oxygenates cells and permeates the
blood brain barrier for anti-inflammation. Oregano oil, nature’s antibiotic,
promotes gastrointestinal health. Lavender oil heals burns and helps
with sleep. Peppermint oil improves focus and blood flow. When traveling, use
peppermint oil to wake up and lavender oil to fall asleep to beat jet lag
faster. I realize that when I walk through the forest, I am breathing
the aromatic tree oils. The talk makes me want to stop and smell the flowers.
Cold therapy speeds up recovery time for athletes,
improves sleep quality, and increases collagen production. Ruby Banipal
introduces Cryo as cold therapy for recovery and rejuvenation. Liquid nitrogen
cools the air in a booth. Flash chilling the skin for 2 minutes rushes
blood to the organs for survival. When warmth returns, the blood rushes back to
the skin. Cryo therapists must carefully regulate the temperature and time of
each chill session with a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum of 3 minutes to prevent
dry ice burns, like the beginning of frostbite. After listening to the talk, I
realize that I should take more cold showers and ocean swims to liven up blood
circulation.
4. What
challenges do wellness entrepreneurs face in Vancouver?
Startups face the (fun!) challenges of marketing, sales,
and distribution. These small businesses aim to sell directly to consumers
through online delivery and enter stores. Word of mouth marketing, online
ordering and delivery, and simple websites with friendly
user interfaces are the ideal. The entrepreneurs tell me that most
Canadians, unlike Americans, prefer to shop at stores instead of online. New
products face tough competition to enter stores. The food delivery
startups, for example, offer discounts on their websites to encourage online
shopping. The small market size in Vancouver, Canada, also makes it a challenge
to sell volume. Eventually, some of the startups may expand to the US. Of
course, products containing certain ingredients, such as hemp, may face
greater obstacles doing so.
5. How can
startups practice social and environmental justice?
Vytogo contributes to social and environmental justice. As
far as I can tell, each purchase supports permaculture projects in Uganda that
distribute moringa to orphanages. Moringa seed cakes purify water, too.
Karmabitez upcycles juice pulp to make thin
crackers. The zero waste practice of ingredient upcycling reduces food waste at
the manufacturer level. Hopefully, Karmabitez co-founders Jollia and
Tiffany inspire more companies to upcycle ingredients and prevent food
waste. They may hold zero waste recipe workshops. I would like to contribute
recipes on upcycling almond pulp for puddings.
Thank you for the #HealthCrawl @ehfvancouver!
I greatly appreciate meeting everyone at this special
event. I would like to adopt more of these practices into my lifestyle. This
week I can focus on cooking coocoo, mixing nuts and dried fruit
with spices, and ordering a starter kit for kombucha. I would also like to try
out classes at the MVMTLAB and Tantric Fitness. Last of all, I need to
suck it up and take cold showers. I guess I can reward myself with an ear
massage. Thanks to everyone for teaching me so much!