S10 E223 - You Are What You Eat

Host Wendy Jones sits down with Jac Hilgendorf, General Manager at Nekter Juice Bar in Michigan, a health-focused juice bar and nutrition brand.

Jac breaks down the foundations of healthy aging in a simple and practical way, focusing on how daily habits—what you eat, how you sleep, how you move, and your mindset—directly determine long-term health outcomes.

We dive into the concept of “you are what you eat,” expanding it into a broader lifestyle framework that emphasizes balance over perfection, including the 80/20 rule for sustainable health choices and the importance of reducing chronic stress.

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Key Highlights in this Episode:

Mindset and Self-Value:

Jac emphasizes that healthy living starts with believing you are worth taking care of. He introduces the idea of using simple personal mantras to guide better daily decisions and encourages an 80/20 approach—healthy most of the time, flexible occasionally—to create sustainable habits.

The Importance of Sleep:

Sleep is described as the body’s natural repair and rebuilding phase. Jac explains how the brain clears toxins during sleep, how hormones regulate recovery and growth, and why consistent sleep schedules, dark environments, and reduced nighttime stimulation are essential for overall health.

Nutrition and Gut Health:

A major focus is placed on fiber intake. Jac highlights how fiber and fermented foods support gut health, immunity, and inflammation control, and suggests easy ways to increase intake through smoothies containing fruits, leafy greens, chia seeds, and flax seeds.

Movement as Medicine:

Movement is framed as essential for longevity, circulation, and brain health. Jack stresses that walking is one of the best daily habits for older adults, while also encouraging “habit stacking” strategies to naturally integrate movement into everyday life.

Podcast Schedule: Tune in to Next Steps for Seniors with new episodes dropping twice a week at 7:00 AM!

Every Tuesday: Educational and insightful content to help you navigate the practical steps of aging.

Every Friday: Spiritual and emotional support to encourage your heart and mind.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is Next Steps for Seniors with your host, Wendy Jones. Each week, Wendy brings resources and information to help guide you through those next steps with elderly parents and loved ones. If you have questions or topic suggestions, you can call us at 248-651-5010.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Hello and welcome to Next Steps for Seniors Conversations on Aging. I am here today with an incredible guest, and it's somebody that I see every week because I walk into Nectar and I get my healthy asai bowl that I love. And I am a huge advocate because it's healthy and it tastes good. And that's why Jack is with us today. Jack's last name is Hilgendorf. And he is the general manager at Nectar here locally in Michigan, but you've probably seen them all over. Every time I go to the store, we talk about health and nutrition. And finally, I was like, okay, that's it. Everybody needs to know all the knowledge that you have in your head, Jack. So I'm so blessed to have you with us today. You're very honoring. Our topic is you are what you eat.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Yes, beautiful topic.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Because you are.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Because you are. And you're worth considering what you eat. If everyone knew their value and knew it in their mind, they would reconsider what they're putting in their mouth. So when it comes to that topic, you are what you eat, it's because what you're built out of is going to give you the best chance for the best you the next day. You're already here today. What we want to value is just part of my today's got to be to set up a good tomorrow. Strong immune system, open, clear arteries, clear brain, joints that feel good, energy for the body. So if we're choosing habits that support that, then we're going to bring our only us that'll ever exist to tomorrow in a good way. So there's a difference between foods that can help you survive and thrive. And we all deserve to thrive.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

We do deserve to thrive, but yet we all have these taste buds in us, like pizza and pop. I'm just going to throw it out there. I know, I know what you're saying and thinking right now. But every once in a while, a pizza and pop is great. But don't you feel like in moderation, you just can't have pizza and pop every week.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

A little less than moderation. I like the 80-20 rule. You know, I live that 98%, 2% rule, but 80-20, most people can be extremely healthy. So that 20%, don't worry about if the 80s on your side. You're going to win the day. You're going to be Vegas. You're going to odds are on your side. But you don't want to be the gambler where you're sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, or mostly lose. You want to be the house. And when we're being the house, we're putting the odds on our side. And that is more good in than bad. I love this.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Okay. So talk to us about the top four things that we need to really pay attention to.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

The most important, because this is what helps you make those choices. This is why you walk in the store. If you have the mindset and truly understand your value, and that you truly understand you get one ship to carry you in this existence. And to honor that, you have to know the difference between a food that tastes good and keeps you just alive or sustained, and ones that will help you thrive. So that mindset is very important. So first thing we ought to do is have the perspective and will and strength to choose things that are give us the best chance at a strong immune system, open clear arteries, energy, building material that I want to, don't you want to be built out of the best stuff? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

And the inside is more important than the outside.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

A lot more important.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

And we just don't pay attention to it.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

No, because people like to honor the shiny outside of things. But we all know it's the engine in the car that gets you around. It's not the wax on the on the outside. The wax is good.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

The paint is good, doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Don't put it in front of the engine, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Exactly. Right. Okay, so the first thing we got that mindset mindset, number one.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

So next, this mechanism that we have that supports us and carries us in the world needs rest. If you ain't getting adequate sleep, you're never going to be the best you because this is when the body builds you. During the day, you ask the body how to stay fit with your movement. You give it building materials with your nutrition, and then during sleep is when it builds you and resets you. It's when it cleans and stores all your memories in your brain and it cleans the brain. So if you ain't getting adequate sleep, your immune system's not going to be strong and you're not putting the odds on your side. So you got to honor your sleep.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

So I want to talk a little bit about that. And I'm glad you mentioned that because I actually went to a presentation and they talked about what happens at night while you're sleeping. It's fascinating. Can you explain it just in layman's terms? Not anything too deep.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

So we all know that when we're tired, we want to go to sleep. But if we get stimulated, the cortisol will pump and we won't sleep. And then that would have been the time when the body is cleansing itself. It does its best cleaning when you're sleeping. And there's a gymphalic system in the brain that cleans out all the toxins in the brain while you're sleeping. You got to get them out, or else you're going to have unclear thinking, you're going to be droggy. So we got to have that sleep. This is when the hormones are released for you to grow and build those muscle tissues that you challenged.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

So all of you kids listening right now, when we say you grow when you sleep, now you know what I'm talking about. Everyone's like, Yeah, that's not true. No, it is. You have got to have good rest.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

You are exactly right. And so this mechanism, so we get up, we're rested, we're revived, and we've done the good building for that day. So then you come into the next one. Number three. Number three, nutrition. What do we want to be built out of? If I were to say I could build this beautiful house out of the best building material, paint it a certain color, or I could build this house out of the worst building material and still paint it. We could make them both look good. I'd ask you which one's going to last longer. You would say, of course, the one out of the good building material. So if you want your house built out of good material, you want your products built out of good material, and you're not asking your body to be built out of good material, your perspective is.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

We're missing it. We're missing it. We're just missing it. And at the end of the day, why are all of these things happening at a younger and younger and younger age? I see it every day. It used to be the 86-year-old calling, then it was the 76-year-old calling, and now in our office, 50s. Yeah, that's that's and it breaks my heart. So if there's something we can be doing right now, why are we not doing it? Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Right. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Now some things we can't, some some things we can't control, okay, but the things we can control, like what goes in our mouth, let's control it.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

That's the brilliance right there. Because we're so lucky in this of all the work of people have done up until now to give us the opportunity to have healthy food available 24-7. But at the same time, we have the worst food available, 24-7 on every corner. And it's designed to taste great, hit that moment, enjoy and satisfaction, and press down the cortisol that's released through stress. It gives you a momentary benefit. That's why we do it, but it hurts us in the long run. So when we do that, we have to somehow in our mind remind ourselves this momentary benefit is not worth it. It's not worth it. It's coming at a price. You're worth more than that. And you have to frame it that way. Now, and once again, once in a while isn't bad, but when it's winning the day over and over again, and then you wonder why you're on high blood medication, because your arteries are getting clogged, or because your something else is going wrong, diabetes is going out of crazy.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

It's huge. It's huge right now. More than 50%, I believe, is the number. It's crazy. Right. So number one is mindset, number two is sleep, number three is nutrition. What is number four? Movement. Movement.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

I gotta move. Because if we don't move, we can't get that benefit of the endorphins. We can't get the circulation and veins and capillaries and arteries opened up through blood flow. You want to preserve your thoughts and your brain? Blood flow is number one. You gotta take care of those capillaries in the brain, those blood vessels in the brain. So if you're not having movement, that brain isn't gonna function properly. So movement's as important as challenge yourself with puzzles or challenge yourself with new tasks or learning a new thing. Movement is in that equation as much as those. So it's not only use your brain, but it's move that body so that blood is flowing.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

So let's talk a little bit about that, Jack, because at the end of the day, people have a different idea of what movement is. So what if they walk every day? Walking is so far the best thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Shown in the blue zones, people that live the longest, highest quality life, best connection, best still have purpose later in life are the people that walk the most. Because that motion alone, that jogging of the walking, the motion alone helps the lymphatic system. It helps keep the heart moving and the blood flowing. Now, if you can go to the next level and give some brisk walking, even better. Even better. Uh hill, even better.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Okay, so let me ask you this question. When it comes to us swimming, is swimming a good one? Because a lot of our older population, it's hard for them to walk. But isn't swimming easier?

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Swimming, yeah, because it's lower gravity, right? So less gravity. So swimming is great, water aerobics is great. You're mimicking walking, right? And you're doing things that are mimicking walking. So that's all great. So you find the way you can do it and you do it, and then when you get better at one, you bring it into the next. But yes, start with the least amount of pain possible. Water is a brilliant choice.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

I do feel like movement is a way better word than exercise. Yeah. I think when we say exercise, everyone's like, no, I don't want to do it. You don't have to lift weights every day, but it's good for you as you age because we lose muscle mass, correct?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Correct. So we want to challenge those muscles. The body is a use it or lose it machine, and that's why that statement is so strong and stayed around so long. When you don't use something, the muscle takes energy to maintain. Stored energy, which is fat, it is energy. So it doesn't take energy to maintain. So your body's gonna dump any muscle that you don't challenge to keep, especially as you get old. It says, You ain't using me. Why am I keeping this around? It's a waste of my effort, and I'll start dumping it faster. But now, if you use it, the body says, I need that for it, thinks you need it for survival by channel using it. It doesn't know that you're going to a room and lifting weights. It thinks, wow, it mustn't need muscle to find food to stay alive. It doesn't know this. If it knew that you went to a room, move weights and put them back, it'd think you're crazy. Why are you wasting energy moving things and not getting nothing done?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

This is hilarious. No one has ever said this this way before. And it makes all the sense in the world.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Yeah. So we're tricking the body to say, I want this fitness to maintain so I can play with my grandkids.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

I can go and walk with my friends, I can get on the floor, I can do the things I want to do. Yes, this is fantastic. You're listening to Next Steps for Seniors Conversations on Aging. We'll be back in just a moment. Welcome back to Next Steps for Seniors Conversations on Aging. Our topic today, you are what you eat. And we are blessed to have the general manager of Nectar. Nectar is my new favorite place, by the way. I get the asaib banana berry bowl. Is that what I get? The asai bowl. And with extra peanut butter in it. And you're not even supposed to have peanut butter, but I love peanut butter and it's protein, so I make them put that in there. But I've gotten to know Jack over the years, and now I've got my whole office converted to nectar.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yes, so I just think they do a great job. Healthy, nutritious items, juice bar, smoothies, all the things. You know, what else I really like? Those little shots that you have for like cleansing your liver. What are the different ones you have?

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Well in the shot. So we got ones for your gut, one for your immune system, one for your liver. So we have them all in case you're a little low on your nutrition and you're feeling something off, we're on your side.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

I'm just saying, okay. So if you've got a nectar near you, he is from the Rochester location, right here at Tinkin and Rochester Road. Yep. Yeah, Rochester Road. Okay, so we talked about four things in our first segment, which I think were all fantastic. Let's give our listeners an example of each one. All right. So number one was mindset. Mindset.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

So when it comes to mindset, you just got to look in the mirror one day and just say, you know what? If I'm really gonna truly value myself, I have to have like a little mantra. You're gonna pick your individual mantra. Could be as simple as I am what I'm eating, I'm gonna choose great things today. Right? So you can find a mantra that is your guiding force to make the best choice in the moments when you're gonna be challenged. Because we're all gonna be challenged, that other food's gonna be in our face. So you got to figure out what mantra honors me so that I am gonna make more good choices and give myself the best building material possible. And once again, you deserve the best building material possible.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

And that's mindset. We need to tell ourselves we deserve the best. Right. And we do. And we do it's not that's not a lie, it's for real.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

People don't understand are the only one that will ever exist. Why waste it on junk?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

You got one body, one set of eyes, ears, mouth, one body. So let's take care of it. Okay, number two, sleep. What's one thing we can do for sleep?

SPEAKER_02 13:26

So maybe a couple things here. We all know that a dark, cold room, we all get more sleep. We all know the minimize light at night, we get better sleep. So, but the number one thing here first is we have to value tomorrow that we'll get to sleep on time. Everyone gets up at a certain time, but they don't set a to bed time. So you set your phone to when you want, no matter what, if you're watching something or whatever, I am gonna shut this off and go to bed. So you set a to-bed alarm.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

I actually have that. I really do. I'm not kidding. Just so everyone knows, if you have an iPhone, you can actually set a bedtime reminder. And it goes off and I'm like, oh, bedtime.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Bedtime, honor myself time. This is what I'm gonna love that I did this tomorrow. Right now, my brain wants to keep watching this or do this. But if I want to wake up the best of me tomorrow, I gotta do this.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Well, honestly, I gotta tell you, once you have a schedule, you really do get tired at that time. Your body is on a schedule now, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:25

And it works, and it works as long as you don't give it junk food right before you go to sleep. Yes, or watch TV. How about that? Right, because it checks your hormones, get changed, chemistry gets changed, and then it's hard to fall asleep because your cortisol is at a different level because of something that you watched. Of course, your body's gonna react to what you're watching, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't watch it, right? Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

There we go. That's why Jack's here today. We're all being challenged. Okay, what else on sleep? Anything else? Bedtime, same time. Try to keep it consistent.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

And just honor yourself. No tomorrow is very important because it's your only chance at having that day. Don't waste it being doggy.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

And it's not hard having a dark room. You can even get room darkeners or even the little shades from Walmart to pull down. I mean, it's just you can do it inexpensively.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

I like too is having whatever air system you have in your house, a fan on on all night. So you're getting fresh air into your room all night. You're not getting stagnant air.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Okay. I hope my husband is listening right now because he's like, do we have to have the fan on everything? But it's not the noise. I'm not talking about the noise. We don't need noise.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

We need fresh air all night. Stagnant air is not good.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yep. Okay. So number three, yes. I'm with you already. I'm following, I'm tracking with you.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

All right. So number three, nutrition. So if we're gonna go by nutrition, let's go with where most Americans fail. We're all really good at protein. Protein is so in our face now. So we're gonna check that box that we're all getting enough protein. Where we fail the most is fiber. So fiber is what takes care of our gut, and we all know there's too much aerodyl bowel, there's too much Crohn's, colitis, leaky gut, too many gut problems. And this comes partly because we're not getting enough fiber to keep those microbes healthy. So fiber probiotics like fermented food, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, all these things, these fermented foods help with the good bacteria, but you need the fiber to feed them. So we lack fiber in America. We need to get our plants and our diet to get our fiber, and this is what's gonna help your gut. Because if you ain't got a happy gut, good luck being a happy human being. Good luck.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Give us some examples.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Give us a few samples of so if you were to come in and say, you know what, I wanted to get half my fiber today, I want to put in a smoothie, I would be putting flaxseeds, chia seeds in there. I would give you the fruit that has all those fibers, kale and spinach. So we can make a smoothie that's gonna hide all these things, give you your favorite fruit flavor from real fruit, and now we've gotten 15, 20 grams of fiber and the protein, and the antioxidants, and the polyphenols, and the carotenoids, and the flavonoids. We're just packed with nutrients that you're not gonna get in a bag of chips. You're just not gonna get it in a bag. Really?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Shoot. And I was really hoping I was. No, we know this, but yet we still tell, you know, it's mindset. We have to go back to you've got to tell yourself it is so much better doing exactly what you just said, Jack. In a smoothie, who can't drink a smoothie? How hard is that?

SPEAKER_02 17:28

It's the easiest way to get it in if you don't have the habit to eat a salad with chickpeas and lentils and all the different greens. If you don't have the time, let's put it in a smoothie. Let's hide it in a smoothie and then let's put something that makes it get down. It's easy to drink and get down. Now you drank your salad.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

There you go. And there you have it. Okay, number four.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Number four is movement. What I love is I don't know if you've heard of the book Atomic Habits. So this is a great book that teaches people to double duty everything. So if you're doing a task that you do every day, like when you brush your teeth, you could brush your teeth in a squatted position, like you bend down halfway down and challenge your legs where you're squatting or when you're shaving. So what you're doing is things you do every day, do them in a way that keeps your body fit. So if you find things, or if I miss marching, I'm gonna do this when I brush my teeth. When I vacuum, I'm gonna do some lunges. Every time I vacuum, I'm doing 10 lunges. Lunges. So you just sneak things in there. Now you've got your exercise in.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

But it's a habit. But it's a habit. You've got to create a habit. And everybody brushes their teeth. That's a habit. We've all been taught since we were two years old. You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth. So if you can do one more thing while you're brushing your teeth, you got it. You're a winner winner, right? We've already accomplished that goal.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

When you're drinking your water, you lift one leg up for balance. So you say, I need balance, I need flexibility, I need strength, I need agility, and I need endurance. So we need all these things that have high quality, fit functional body. So if we need this, want this fit functional body, how can I challenge my balance round? When I put my shoes on today, I put my socks and shoes on the floor in front of me. Standing up, I bend down, grab my sock on one foot, put it on.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

He's putting it on right now, just everybody knows.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

So now I'm challenging my balance every morning. I gotta put my shoes on.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Yes, it's gotta happen.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

And if I fall off some days, I wonder why today I didn't have the balance, but yesterday I did. What's different?

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So I'm gonna give some of our seniors just a couple examples. So watching TV. You're sitting on the couch, everybody watches TV. Most people during a commercial, you do sit-to-stands. If you're in your 80s, you're sitting there watching TV as soon as the commercial starts. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. Do as many as you can then until the show starts.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

This is beautiful. See, this is exactly it. You showed them exactly a double. That's an example. That is not an example. Whoever's listening should jump on that right away. It should be part of your life today. And started today. And when you do it something for they say around 21 days, then it becomes like you'll a habit and you'll crave it or feel guilty if you miss it.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Your whole family's gonna be like, What's dad doing?

SPEAKER_02 20:08

He's honoring his life.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

I heard this radio show. Okay, so if you're younger, all right, let's go down. Now I'm looking at like my husband's age, right? How about push-ups? Push-ups. How about push-ups and sit-ups during the commercial? Like, why are we just sitting there staring at the TV, having them sell us something we don't even need anyway? Exactly. Let's do something movement-wise with our body. And if you're a female, I like to stretch, you know, I just do some stretches because at the end of the day, we need to keep our body flexible also. You know, you get tight, you know, do some head circles, whatever. These are opportunities that a habit. Everybody has a habit of watching TV. So let's do something constructive during it. What other we got one minute in the show left? Anyone who's just tuning in that's like, ooh, I need this. What would be a good takeaway for them?

SPEAKER_02 20:57

Once again, I can't say it enough. Honor you and honor your life by picking the best habits that support the best possible you for tomorrow. You're already here today. So part of today has to be invested in tomorrow. You're investing in your money and you're investing in your home, but you're not investing in your body. This seems off course to me. So I need you to invest in the best you tomorrow by spending some time to make a better you tomorrow. Movement, sleep, nutrition, and mindset that favor you. Stay out of chronic stress. Please stay out of chronic stress. This is thought process yourself, Doc. Stress ruins everything. Ruins your sleep, ruins your movement, ruins your nutrition. Everything is worse under chronic stress. So when you have a good understanding of life, you're gonna definitely be in a better state.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

I want everyone to know, now you know why I go to Nectar on Rochester Road. I'm just saying, in Tinkin, Nectar, Jack, he motivates you, he gets you excited about your health and nutrition, and he has answers. So please try out Nectar. It's fantastic. Jack does a fantastic job. We are blessed to have you in our community right here in Rochester, Michigan, Oakland County. God bless you. Have a blessed day. Thanks so, so much. Thank you for tuning in to Next Steps for Seniors. Our podcast drops twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays at 7 a.m. Find us on your favorite podcast platform and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. To learn more about Next Steps for Seniors, visit us at Next Steps Number Four Seniors.com.