My Story
I was born in 1991 and grew up eating what many 90s babies ate...Hot Cheetos, Fruit Roll Ups, Gushers, Dunkaroos, Spaghetti Os. And for “healthy” snacks? Dole fruit cups, granola bars, Chexmix, Gogurt. Almost every processed food there was, I happily ate, even the school’s cafeteria food. Teriyaki Dippers on Thursdays for school lunch...never missed it! My brothers and I loved Taco Bell dinner nights. I was addicted to junk food as a kid. I had no clue that my diet was the reason why I was so tired in the classroom and why I was always sick.
I did know what disease looked like growing up. I never got the chance to know my mom’s mother, my Grandma Coco. But, all of the stories told of her, I know she would have been an amazing grandmother to me. She passed at 53, four days after I was born. She was born with very weak lungs from second hand smoke and was on a ventilator during her final years due to pulmonary fibrosis. My other grandmother, Grandma Helen, passed when I was 8. I remember the day she received her prosthetic legs. I didn't think much of it other than she was older, but she had diabetes. She was such a nice grandma. She ended up passing from a heart attack.
When I was 10, it seemed like cancer was hitting my Mom’s side of the family back to back. I would accompany my mom when she would visit my aunts at the hospital or in their home with hospice. I would listen to the conversations with the doctor or caretaker and it never would sound hopeful. We lost 3 of my grandma's sisters to cancer. Then, in 8th grade, my Mom’s cousin, CeCe, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was just a few years older than my mom. She was the life of every family party. She was loud, fun, and hilarious! We miss her deeply. After CeCe's passing, I started asking why were we losing our family to diseases? No one had a real clear answer other than “it just runs in our family.”
Fast forward to college, I took two courses that opened my eyes: Toxicology and Nutrition. I began to understand more about why my family became sick. Food and environmental toxins are what I believe contributed to their sicknesses. Years of exposure and accumulation without cleansing are a recipe for disease. My grandma's sisters all worked in the fields and factories where they were exposed to dangerous chemicals such as pesticides. I come from a Mexican family. At gatherings and celebrations we ate so much meat, chicken, pork, rice, beans and tortillas. Like most families, we had cake, cookies, and drank sodas at parties. "It runs in a family" was suddenly a clear answer to my question. I finally started to examine what foods I've eaten all of my life, especially since childhood. I also looked at the products I used on and around me. I was creating disease in my own body and I didn't even know it before those two classes.
One month before graduating from SJSU, I received a text from my Dad that my mom was in the hospital for high blood pressure. All that went through my head were the memories of my aunts and cousin. I could not lose my mom to disease. I prayed to God that night and asked Him to take care of her. I knew changes to her diet and lifestyle would be most beneficial, and I also knew I needed to make changes too.
I went home for the summer. Exactly one week after graduation, I learned about a raw whole foods product called Juice Plus+ from a friend going into the NFL. It was Godsend. I ordered and received the first shipment on June 14, 2014. Mom and I shared the capsules together and that was the beginning of our healthy journey. It was a wonderful catalyst for us, especially because we didn't know where to start. Changes and new habits began taking place one after the other and we were so excited to see our health improve! We felt great and had an enormous amount of energy!
I attended a health conference the following year and a doctor said the words, “Over 75% of chronic disease is preventable.” OVER SEVENTY-FIVE percent...I was mind blown. This statistic filled me with so much hope! Hope for Mom's health, for my family's, and for my own. It showed me I have so much control over my health. After that conference, I often found myself day dreaming of opening up a juice and smoothie shop so I can offer people healthy choices. In 2017, I started Plant-Based Mami Juices.