For the first 25 years of his life, Jason Shon Bennett was sick with asthma, hay fever, allergies, bad skin and bowel and digestive problems, and needed daily medication. Since then he has conducted extensive research relating to the world’s healthiest diets, the medicinal properties of foods and the practice of fasting, and used his own personal experience to create thelifeplan – a 12-month health mentoring programme – and Regular Intelligent Fasting.
Using what he learned during his research, now at age 46, he has exceptional health and has not been sick, taken medications or had a cold or illness for over 20 years. His system has been used by doctors, pharmacists, naturopaths, ex-All Blacks, business people, and everyone in between.
The health and wellness guru has just released a new book, Eat Less, Live Long, so we caught up with Jason to find out more about what’s in it and gained some insight into how he keeps himself healthy.
Tell us a bit about your book, what’s in it?
It covers my story, how sick I was and what I did to get well. Then I look at the longest-lived people in the world, the healthiest people in the world (they are the same people!), and the centenarians (those who have lived past 100) and why they are clustered together all over the world. Even though they have never communicated, they share many commonalities and we can learn so much from them! After this I discuss the idea of eating less, and how we now eat too much and the worst sorts of foods, and this takes us to the final section of the book which is about Regular Intelligent Fasting.
Who will benefit from reading your book?
Anyone looking to get well, feel better, lose weight, prevent disease and transform their health. It is designed to be a starting point for those who want to get well but do not know where to start. I did it, you can too.
What inspired you to write it?
After I cured myself of asthma, hay fever, allergies, colds, flu, bugs, digestive disorders, skin problems and bowel problems, and then stayed well for over 20 years – without any drugs, people kept asking me how I did it. So the plan was always to write, but as I started lecturing and teaching people, our programme thelifeplan went nuts and it took over for a few years! Once we had staff I could finish the first book and I am thrilled to finally have it done. It is the first book in a series of 10.
Tell us about thelifeplan and Regular Intelligent Fasting
Thelifeplan is basically teaching people everything I know about health and what I did to get well, and applying it to their life. It is a 12 month course costing around $4.00 per day. We have had thousands of people do thelifeplan now.
It is a phenomenal programme and it is the best thing I have been involved with in my life. I feel like my life has been leading up to this point in time – teaching people how to live a long healthy life free of drugs and disease.
Regular Intelligent Fasting basically involves only consuming freshly made vegetable juice on a varied day once per week. There is a little more to it than that but it is covered in the book fully. We have large groups practicing this as part of thelifeplan alongside our own team – we provide weekly online support for our members, and it is great fun fasting as a group.
Regular Intelligent Fasting is different to many other fasting practices in the sense that it is one part of a healthy life balance. You do not eat junk and then do Regular Intelligent Fasting. You do not eat hamburgers on the day you are fasting (or any other time ideally). You see the practice of Regular Intelligent Fasting as being supportive of a healthy lifestyle and diet – not a silver bullet.
What do you do to keep fit?
Walking (sometimes carrying weights), yoga and swimming with the occasional roller skating and tennis!
What’s your philosophy on nutrition and diets?
Eat a healthy, balanced, plant-based wholefood diet, eat less overall, eat fresh, eat local, practice Regular Intelligent Fasting, lower your stress, relax more, get more sleep and have a good rhythm to your life.
What does keeping healthy mean to you?
A better life in every single way. I know what it is like to be sick, really sick and I would never go back there now that I know what exceptional health is. Health is everything.
Why do you think so many people struggle to start and maintain a healthy nutrition/fitness routine?
They do not have the support. This is why thelifeplan works so well. We are there with you – in your face, holding your hand, educating and supporting you and supplying recipes, every day for a year. This beats all the habits, through all four seasons and creates a new you! The reporting, support, help, guidance, advice and inspiration are what works.
What’s your best health tip?
I am gonna steal one here from Michael Pollan – ‘Eat food, not too much, mostly plants’.
Jason Shon Bennett is a self-cured international health researcher and speaker who inspires and educates people all over the world about how to completely transform their health.
He specialises in longevity, fasting, wholefoods, weight loss, nutrition, genetic expression; the transformation of your digestive, bowel and immune system; the return to high energy levels; the rebuilding of your body back to exceptional health; and the conscious prevention of modern lifestyle diseases.
Eat Less, Live Long by Jason Shon Bennett, RRP $34.99
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