“It was drilled into me that it was bad for me to eat plants – by doctors!” says Michelle Cen of the eating disorder treatment she underwent for severe anorexia at age 17. “I learned what it was like not to have rights. And it essentially taught me what not to eat.”
One of the Big Five Personality traits is openness to new experiences, and Michelle possibly broke that test! A Stanford University graduate, she's done everything from learning to grow organic food on a farm in Hawaii to now living and making art in New Zealand. She describes how she's still overcoming the consequences of receiving the “best” medical care growing up in Northern California with parents who believed wholeheartedly in the traditional healthcare system – including overly aggressive prescriptions for nearsightedness that left her with debilitating eye pain and treatment for anorexia that tried to “pump her up” like a farmed animal and advised her to throw thoughts of health and nutrition out the window. Michelle shares how she discovered whole-food plant-based eating and how a seven-day fast at True North Health Center changed her life – and why she is now determined to devote her life to helping other people go vegan, get healthy, and avoid the same pitfalls she experienced.
Resources mentioned:
Michelle Cen's website: https://www.michellecen.com
Michelle Cen's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@michelle_cen
Beat Your Genes podcast: https://beatyourgenes.org/
How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger: https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/dp/1250066115
Gentle World: https://gentleworld.org/
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