Wellness Reimagined: Lindsey Duncan Of All In Nutritionals On 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry

An Interview With Maria Angelova

I’m always going to go back to children. You must go to the young generation that has malleable minds that learn, absorb, and take the information in, so they can understand that health is not about convenience, and it’s not about chemicals, toxins, fast food, junk food, or fried food. We must teach them that live, healthy, and nutritious foods are going to completely change their body and give them the health that they need and want.

In our world of constant change, and with life moving faster than ever, topics such as mental health, self-care, and prevention have become popular buzzwords. People are looking to live healthier lives, and there is superb care out there that is being offered. At the same time, there are misconceptions about the meaning of self-care and exercise. Many opt for quick solutions — surgery, pills — to dull the problem without adequately addressing the underlying cause. Meanwhile, many parts of the industry are unregulated and oversaturated. People with years of training are competing with people with weekend training. Many providers are overworked, overwhelmed, and underpaid. The general public is not educated about asking the right questions when selecting a wellness provider. In the face of all this, what can be done to correct the status quo? In this interview series, we are seeking to hear from a variety of leaders in the health and wellness industries who agree that the wellness industry is in need of an overhaul and offer suggestions about what can be done moving forward. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lindsey Duncan.

Master Formulator, Herbalist, Doctor of Naturopathy, and certified Nutritionist, Lindsey Duncan, CEO of All-In Nutritionals, is regarded as one of the world’s top formulators and has won multiple national and international awards for his formulations. With nearly 4 decades in the nutrition, natural health, and supplementation fields, Lindsey has accumulated well over 30,000 hours of time guiding, encouraging, and education people on detoxification, nutrition, supplementation and other natural healthcare techniques.

Thank you so much for doing this interview. It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about you and your personal background. Can you please share your personal backstory? What has brought you to this point in your life?

That is an easy answer; pain and suffering. My own journey to wellness is what has brought me to this point in my life. I went through quite a bit of pain when I was a young child. I was very sick and in and out of doctor’s offices monthly. The doctors were never able to determine what was wrong with me.

To make a long story short, I found natural medicine and natural wellness. I found herbs and herbology, cleansing and detoxification, and dove into these things as deep as possible. The solutions I found completely and totally changed my life and there was no looking back. From that point on, when I was around seventeen or eighteen years old, I practiced the things I learned. I have been in one industry my entire life and that’s the Natural Wellness industry.

What is your “why” behind the work that you do? What fuels you?

It’s the amount of pain and suffering I see. I don’t mean to sound so heavy, but the amount of pain and suffering that I see is drastic. For example, the increasing cancer rates, adolescent diseases, autism and nervous system conditions, brain conditions, and depression. The list of increasing illnesses is unfortunately, endless. All of this is like a massive pot of soup, if you will, of pain and suffering, and it’s unnecessary. So much of it is reversible. It’s fixable. We must learn to live closer to nature and closer to the land, and we must learn plant medicine. That’s my why.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?

Well, we’re working on many exciting things. One of them I am excited about is we are working on an alkaline, healthy, mold free and chemical-free organic coffee product. We’ve taken all the unhealthy elements out of this coffee. We have removed all the chemical processing, mold, poisons, toxins, herbicides, fungicides, larvicides, and all the chemicals that are used in standard conventional coffee. We’ve turned this into something healthy, clean, and gentle on the stomach and the entire system. We have also taken the PH (potential hydrogen) of coffee up to over 7.0, which is unheard of. We have turned an acid food into an alkaline food that does not rob the bones, and that does not rob the calcium from the body. As a nutritionist, that’s a big deal. I love coffee, so now I can drink my coffee, that is also alkaline, which is great for my health.

Another thing we are working on, which I am really excited about, is with a company called Research Elements LLC and it is with a very well-respected medical doctor named Doctor Christian Bogner. Dr. Bogner is a specialist in the world of autism and has a personal story about autism. He is a great, caring, loving practitioner and he has a partner, who is also a very deep researcher in the world of autism and his name is Alex Zaharakis. Alex is an extremely intense researcher, and he also works with autistic children. These two men have cracked the code on the nutritional deficiencies, chemical toxicities, heavy metal damage, the nervous system, the brain, and the good, healthy fat that is needed for the average autistic person. They have cracked the code on this issue, and they are providing some solid relief for the neurodivergent community. I am happy to say we are working with them to develop these products for them.

Another example is a shower head that removes all the chlorine, fluoride, chemicals, toxins, and poisons from the water. The human body absorbs approximately 6 to 8 glasses of water in a nice, warm shower. The pores open and the body absorbs the water. It’s frightening what we are absorbing and what we are breathing in the shower when we take a chlorinated and fluoride filled shower. We are working hard to negate this and have completed an amazing shower head. This shower head has 15 stages of filtration and the ability to purify so, you can now take a shower with clean water. Water that is high in alkalinity, high in minerals, and high in ORP (oxygen radical potential). This is a healthy shower you want to absorb. This water does not dry you out and damage the cells in your tissues, hair, skin, and everything else. These are just three examples of the innovative products we are developing that we are passionate about.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Yes, I have made many mistakes over the years, and some are funny now as I look back. I would say a mistake that really stands out, is one from around 1988 or 89. I was just beginning in the world of natural formulations, so I would put together plant compounds that had impressive results for people. I was working on an eye formula that you put in your eyes topically, and I was using the obvious thing. There’s a herb called eyebright, and eyebright is the number one herb on the planet for your eyes. You can drink it, but you can also apply it topically. I was also doing research on linseed oil, which they use in horses’ eyes. In addition, I did quite a bit of self-research on organic apple cider vinegar, diluted of course. I put all three together, put them in an eye dropper, and washed my eyes out with them. The first time I did this, I couldn’t see for about 3 or 4 hours because the linseed oil was so thick it made everything extremely blurry, and it took about four hours or five to wear off. I realized that is not going to be marketable! The regular consumer is not going to want to put something in their eyes, have it burn, and then not be able to see for four or five hours so that was mistake that became one of my lessons. It is funny now, but at the time, probably not so much.

Another one is I used to go on these extremely long journeys in the jungle. I have traveled the world and have been around the world three or four times. When traveling, I would go into the jungles, and I would look for plants for my formulas. I would stay in the jungles sometimes for an exceptionally long time and I would eventually run out of food. So, I had to eat what was available. This makes you quickly learn the right plants to eat and the plants not to eat. One night I stopped and thought, “I’m going to have papaya for dinner.”

So, I gathered about five large papayas and cut them open. I knew when you eat papaya you want to eat the seeds because the seeds are anti-parasitic. I cut the papayas open, and I started spooning out the papaya and the seeds, and I ate as much as I could, until I was full. Well, it had a cleansing effect on me. So, for the next day. I was cleansing and detoxifying my bowels and my digestive system to a degree that is too much to go into here! Needless to say, I got a good cleansing from those papaya seeds!

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. From where you stand, why are you passionate about the topic of Reimagining The Health and Wellness industries? Can you explain what you mean with a story or an example?

For me reimagining the health and the wellness industry is an obvious place that we would end up right now in society. The reason we are there is because what we currently have is not working. A lot of what we have from modern technology is great. For example, imaging and certain things that allow us to get more information are highly beneficial, but a lot of it is not working. If you look at cancer rates, and the rise of cancer, in 2020, it was over 10 million people worldwide. These are people who died of cancer. There are some cancers increasing at epidemic proportions, and there are cancers that many of us, when we were younger, never even heard of. For example, bile duct cancer has increased 142%. Another example is gallbladder cancer and appendix cancer, which increased at 252%. Even trachea and esophageal cancer are increasing at epidemic proportions.

To me, that is a lot of pain and suffering, fear, and carnage. Reimagining wellness means we better do something, and that is why this question is so important and relevant. We have no choice. We must reimagine wellness today.

When I talk about Reimagining the Wellness industry, I am talking about reimagining it from the perspective of the providers as well as from the perspective of the recipients and patients. Can you share a few reasons why the status quo is not working for both providers and patients?

Yes, cost would be one example. If you get sick today, you can easily become broke or you’re fighting with an insurance company. That’s incredibly tough for most people. Not only are you now spending your energy in battling the fight of your life, but you’re also spending your time and energy figuring out how you’re going to pay for it. The cost of some of these medications and the cost of these procedures when we get sick is unbelievable. It’s literally difficult to comprehend. And so, you’ve got the cost of getting sick and you’ve got the lack of knowledge, like where do I turn? What do I do? What am I going to do? How am I going to learn about cancer of the liver or cancer of the pancreas? What do I do and what is my treatment? What are my options and how much natural do I do versus how much traditional do I do? Suddenly people are trying to become experts overnight while they’re dealing with these very scary life circumstances. It’s difficult, and it’s a an extremely tall order.

Why do you think there is a good opportunity now to improve and reform the health and wellness industry?

Well, because there’s a lot that’s not working. We’ve reached a crescendo, and we need to do things differently. When I was a child, I really didn’t know anyone who had cancer. I wasn’t really affected by cancer. I certainly didn’t know what a lot of these cancers were. So, to me it was this big scary thing, but it was far removed from me. Today, I don’t know anyone who has not been affected by cancer. I don’t know anyone where cancer hasn’t ravaged their family, their friends or their loved ones in some way, shape or form.

So, what does that say to us? In my opinion, it says, “Something’s knocking at the door, and we better answer this door. We better answer this calling, because if we don’t, it’s only going to get worse.”

The statistics I gave are overwhelming epidemic-style statistics. Those statistics speak to exactly what you’re asking me, which is, why now? Well, why not now? How much pain and suffering must we experience before we say, “Whoa, wait a minute. This is not getting better. This is getting worse.”

This is why we need to do something and take a different kind of action. For example, look at tradition, look at plant medicine, and look at nature. Let’s consider not so much aggressive intervention. Most importantly, let’s look at knowledge and prevention. Then we’re going to get somewhere.

Can you please share your “5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry”?

VIDEO LINK — https://youtu.be/7mUBO0PdkYY

1. I’m always going to go back to children. You must go to the young generation that has malleable minds that learn, absorb, and take the information in, so they can understand that health is not about convenience, and it’s not about chemicals, toxins, fast food, junk food, or fried food. We must teach them that live, healthy, and nutritious foods are going to completely change their body and give them the health that they need and want.
2. It is going to sound a little strange, but all advancements we have in the modern world and in technology, whether it is the industrial age or the technological age, are all incredibly beneficial, but they also have a downside to them. For example, the creation of the car is incredible. It has so many benefits. I could not list them all here, but the downside is people stopped walking. Another example is buildings are built so tightly now to conserve energy, but the chemicals that are used are now trapped inside. There’s something called “sick building syndrome” and this has been around for quite a while. We came up with modern building materials, but is that healthy? Those chemicals have been proven to cause cancer. Another example is the extension of shelf life. They can make a Twinkie last 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years! What’s being used? Does it have carcinogens in it? Absolutely. There’s no question about it. All of these advancements have a downside. We as a society, if we’re going to understand health and wellness, have to get our heads around this and learn to counter this.
3. Learn plant medicine. People in society think because information and knowledge are 100 years old, 1000, or 1500 years old, that it is really of no value. We assume it is old, or that it is outdated. Nothing could be further from the truth. These people, these healers, and these cultures around the world, were incredibly knowledgeable about how to heal the human body, structure, frame and keep people well, and they did it without operations, and without emergency rooms. They did it well. This information and this knowledge have been buried. It has been pushed down, and it should not be because there’s tremendous value in this information and we could use it today. The people who do use this today have incredible health. We must get closer and learn more about these plants, the wisdom and ancient medicine, and merge it with today’s modern technological medicine.
4. We must be able to focus more on prevention, wellness, and mindset. These are the keys to getting the body well. Without mindset, you lose determination. Without mindset, you lose focus. You lose that ability to stay on track without the day-to-day structure and the day-to-day system. It is almost impossible to be well without prevention. We are going to get sick, unless we understand that wellness is a journey we must get on this journey. We must learn everything we can. We must incorporate healthy live foods and cannot wait until we are sick to learn about our body. We cannot wait until our house is on fire before we call the fire person to come to help us put it out. We do not wait until we are sick to learn about our liver, pancreas, lungs, or heart. Suddenly, people at 50 years old are scrambling to learn about their ovaries, breast, or lymphatic system because they get some serious disease. And then they are on a crash course, and it is just impossible. We must understand the art and science of preventative health and wellness.
5. We must make wellness more affordable and more available. Wellness, health products, organic foods, and quality supplementation should not be just available for rich people. It should be available for everybody. A $120.00 supplement that costs $3 to make and the rest of it is being utilized as profits and marketing, that is not helping the entire community. To me, reimagining health and wellness is making healthy, clean, live, vibrant, organic foods available to everybody. It is also making healthy, clean, organic excipient and binder free nutritional supplements available to everybody, and right now that’s not the case.

From the recipient and patient side of the industry, can you please share a few ways that patients and recipients should reimagine what the wellness and healthcare industry should provide?

I reimagine it with children learning every single day how to eat, how to take care of their body, learning where their organs are, and how they function. I reimagine teachers, schoolchildren, and parents all working together. I reimagine young malleable minds that can learn this information, just like they learn a second language. That’s how I reimagine it. In addition, the medical world and the alternative world would work better together. I think that we’re making progress, but it’s still not enough. The medical world still says, “No, don’t take those herbs!” and much of the natural world says, “No, don’t take those medications!” The two need to come together better because they both provide benefit and they both have their own base of knowledge that is valuable and that is useful for the patient.

What do you think are the biggest roadblocks to reforming the industry? What can be done to address those hurdles?

Lack of knowledge and disconnect at the school level. For example, “Can someone tell me what the purpose of your hypothalamus is?” This question is one very few can answer. Another example is, “Can anyone tell me the function of the human gut microbiome?” It is typically crickets. Nobody can tell me that, yet it is the human gut microbiome that is determining why so many people are sick today.

Did you know that of the 14 cancers on the rise, eight of them are in the human digestive tract? Did you know that of the eight of them that have to do with the human digestive tract, all eight trace back to the gut microbiome? Now experts are saying that the gut microbiome may be one of the causes of the increased cancer rates in our industrialized nations. So, there is a massive disconnect here. I often say it and I do not want to be too harsh, but we are living in the dark age when it comes to personal wellness. We will look back on this time and we’ll say, “Wow, that was the dark ages. Man, how did they even live like that? Were they really eating that?” That is what’s going to happen.

I’m very passionate about the topic of proactive versus reactive self-care and healthcare. What do you think can be done to shift the industries towards a proactive healthcare approach? How can we shift the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike?

A couple of ways. Go back to the schools and begin merging the natural and alternative worlds with the medical world in a better and healthier way. This is much like what Christian Bogner has done with his work with the autism community but. We must learn to be more proactive with our own health. You must learn to know what a symptom means. This is important.

I use the analogy all the time of do not wait until your house is on fire to call the fire man or the fire woman. Don’t wait until it is burning down to call someone. Don’t let it catch on fire in the first place. Another perfect analogy is you are driving down the highway and going through the desert. Your car light engine light comes on and its flashing red. The western mentality, in today’s world, is like, “That light is really bothering me while I’m trying to drive. Honey, can I have a hammer?” We take the hammer and smash the light out. Now, the light is not bothering me. I don’t have to worry about that. I’m going to keep driving through this nice hot desert. But what happens? The engine eventually blows up!

When we get a headache. That is a symptom telling us something is off in our body. We must learn to love our symptoms. A headache is not a deficiency of Tylenol. Depression is not a deficiency of Prozac. We must learn that these symptoms that we have in our body, they are messengers, and they are beneficial, and they are good. They give us information. They say, “Hey, I’m knocking at your door. Something is wrong. You might want to look at that liver.” The headache is continuing to happen, and it tells us go in and fix the problem at a deeper core level. That is proactive health.

When I get a symptom now, I love it. “Oh, I got a pimple. I know my blood is dirty. Oh, I’ve got a headache. I know my liver is toxic when I get a symptom.” I know it is telling me something else. And I have learned to love it and fix it properly. And you can fix it like that if you have the knowledge.

Thank you for all that great insight! Let’s start wrapping up. Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

I have three. I like them all equally. The first one that I have would be, “We can’t put clean water in a dirty bottle.” You might wonder what that means? Well, have you ever found an old bottle? Like an antique bottle, and it had some dirt in the bottom of it? You want that dirt out because you want to put this on a shelf because it is antique. You put water in the bottle. What happens? All that clear, crystal, clean water turns dark brown or black and it becomes mud water. You must pour it out and keep putting new water in. What does that mean?

This means that in our body, when we have all these toxins and all these poisons in our body, we cannot wake up one day at 45 years old and just decide to be healthy. It does not work that way. You must realize that you have some undoing to do.” Then, you can go in and start cleaning out that liver. You can start cleaning out that colin, pancreas, gallbladder, bloodstream, and lymphatic system that has no heart to pump it. Get the body clean, then start putting in all that amazing, good, healthy food and supplements and exercise and whatever you want to do. You cannot put clean water in a dirty bottle. Clean the bottle out, then put the good water in.

The second one would be, “Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health.” Just talk to a billionaire with cancer.

And the last one would be, “If we don’t take care of our bodies, where are we going to live?”

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

So, whoever is in charge of the school system. I don’t know who it is, but whoever can make that final decision and determine, what are those children going to learn, because therein lies the healing of the next generation. Teach them wellness, true wellness. Teach them natural remedies. Teach them how to eat. Teach them to stay away from the Frankenfood. Those children will get well, and we deal with this every single day at All-In. We just spend so much energy coaching and training and teaching and trying to get people to learn. We do this all day, every day.

I appreciate your time and valuable contribution. One last question, how can people reach or follow you?

We do this all day long, every day so they can reach me at allinnutritionals.com. On social media, you can just type in All-In Nutritionals. Unfortunately, my personal Facebook page has been maxed out for about 10 years now. They only allow you to have 5000 friends, so I can’t accept anybody else. So just go to All-In Nutritionals because I’m not posting that much on my personal page any longer.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.