The Experience Miracles Podcast

From Knocking on Death’s Door to Healer of Millions

Jun 25, 2024

Jordan Rubin on Faith, Gut Health, and Drug-Free Living

Episode 26, Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: June 25, 2024 | Duration: ~68 min Guest: Jordan Rubin, Founder of Garden of Life, Beyond Organic & Ancient Nutrition; New York Times Bestselling Author of The Maker’s Diet and The Probiotic Diet

Key Takeaways

  • Jordan Rubin recovered from 19 simultaneous diagnosed illnesses, including severe Crohn’s colitis, diabetes, and multiple infections, dropping from 185 pounds to 104 pounds in a wheelchair, then regaining full health through a biblical diet, soil-based probiotics, and faith-based action without pharmaceutical intervention.
  • Healing doesn’t begin with the right supplement or the right doctor, it begins with hope. Dr. Tony Ebel teaches that before nervous system care or nutrition can take hold, parents must first have their faith refueled and their hope restored.
  • Jordan Rubin’s six children (one biological, five adopted from different genetic backgrounds) have never eaten fast food, never taken an antibiotic, and are fed raw dairy, pasture-raised eggs, organic animal proteins, and collagen/bone broth every single day.
  • Soil-based probiotic strains, specifically Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces boulardii, dramatically outperform standard refrigerated probiotics for restoring gut health and supporting children’s immune systems; Jordan has used these strains daily for nearly 30 years.
  • The health of the human body and the health of the soil are directly connected: regenerative agriculture and drug-free pediatric care are two expressions of the same restoration mission.

How Does Faith Connect to Physical Healing in Children?

Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care addresses the nervous system root causes of chronic childhood conditions, but both Dr. Tony Ebel and Jordan Rubin argue that something even more foundational must come first: faith and hope. Without hope, families cannot sustain the consistency that healing demands. Without faith, parents often abandon natural protocols before the body has time to respond.

Jordan Rubin’s story makes this concrete. He was 19 years old, weighed 104 pounds, and was in a wheelchair with 19 simultaneous diagnoses, including Crohn’s colitis, diabetes, and parasitic, bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. He had exhausted conventional and unconventional treatments alike. What pulled him through was not a new drug or a radical procedure. It was a man in San Diego who infused him with faith: the belief that his body, following a biblical food plan, could be well.

In 40 days, Jordan went from 111 pounds to over 150. By his 21st birthday, he was standing on a beach at 170 pounds, working out exactly as his mentor had promised he would be. That recovery became the foundation for three companies, 30 books, and a mission to share those principles with every family willing to listen.

For parents navigating a child’s chronic health challenge, autism, ADHD, sensory processing issues, or gut dysfunction, the same sequence applies. Hope must come first. Answers and action steps follow.

Jordan Rubin: From 104 Pounds in a Wheelchair to Full Recovery [04:00 – 12:00]

Jordan Rubin: I grew up as a kid of hippie health-nut parents. My dad was a naturopathic student at what is now National University in Oregon, then went to New York Chiropractic and finished at Life University. I was one of the only kids of the students, so I was an adjusting dummy, practiced upon time and time again.

We didn’t see doctors very much. I was born at home, not vaccinated. Except when I was 16, there was a supposed measles epidemic in my school, one person with measles, it turned out. They offered me the MMR vaccine. My dad said, “Jordan, take the suspension from school.” It would have been a three-week suspension if I didn’t get vaccinated. He said, “It’s not wise, but I’m not going to force you.” So I got the vaccine. That was my only vaccine to date.

I don’t know how much that played a role, or whether it was my college diet that slipped quite a bit. But I developed severe Crohn’s colitis. I had diabetes. I had parasitic, bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. I had prostate and kidney infections. Nineteen diagnosed illnesses took me from 185 pounds at six feet tall to 104 pounds in a wheelchair.

“In the midst of my two-year life and death battle, I had enough faith in God, probably a mustard seed or half of that, to ask my mom to take my picture when I was at my worst. I was miserable, I was hopeless, but I still had faith.”, Jordan Rubin

I committed that whatever helped me get well, I would spend the rest of my life sharing with the world.

About a year into that battle, I met a man who told me I could be well if I followed a health plan from the Bible. Something happened: I gained hope. He told me if I’d move to San Diego and live with him, in 90 days I’d be working out on the beach. He infused faith into me.

I went to San Diego in a wheelchair, and in a 40-day period following what I would later write about in The Maker’s Diet, I went from 111 pounds to over 150. My dad came off the airplane to visit me, hugged me, and said, “There’s so much of you to hug.”

I came back to Florida not just healthy, by my 21st birthday, I was standing in front of the beach at 170 pounds, working out exactly like this man named Bud Keith had told me I would be. I came back with a passion to see the health of God’s people transformed one life at a time.

The story didn’t end there. In 2008 I was diagnosed with cancer. A thousand-fold increased risk from a surgical procedure my dad opted against when I was born made it 100% terminal in 90 days if I didn’t get chemo and surgery. I didn’t. Through the power of prayer, forgiveness, detoxification, and nutrition, God healed me of metastatic cancer.

Faith as the Foundation of Healing [12:00 – 19:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: What we wanted to bring to the world through this podcast and the PX Docs platform is this: healing begins with hope being held onto. Healing begins foundationally with faith being found, fostered, galvanized, and put into action.

What I love about Jordan’s story is that healing wasn’t just faith alone. It was God saying, “You are rewarded for maintaining faith and leaning into it, here are the actions, the humans, the relationships, the connections, the wisdom.” Faith plus action.

There is a sequence to healing. There are foundational strategies within neurophysiology, within science, that conventional medicine doesn’t know and definitely doesn’t apply. Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care and nervous system health, there is a sequence to that. But in the same breath, there is actually something even more foundational to healing than nervous system care. And that is faith. That is hope.

Our tagline is hope, answers, and drug-free action steps. To us, those aren’t three separate things, they’re one combined thing, and that’s what parents are searching for. As hope dwindles, you find yourself on Google, on YouTube, in podcasts, looking for someone who has answers. But we need to capture your faith first. We need to refuel your hope first. That is where healing begins.

“Healing begins with hope being held onto.”, Dr. Tony Ebel

One mom sat in my office with her recently diagnosed child on the autism spectrum. With one hand she was calming and squeezing her sensory kiddo, and she said: “I’m here with my last hope card.” That conversation didn’t start with vagus nerve science. It started with me telling her I believed 1,000 percent in her ability to lead her child down the road of healing, and that God had led her to our office for that very reason.

Jordan Rubin: I am the son of two Jewish parents, the only family in our entire extended family who are believers in Jesus. I built my faith starting as a teenager, going to a local church and learning what a relationship with Jesus was versus a religion. I didn’t grow up with a parental example of faith, but God made up for it with pastors, youth pastors, and mentors.

I’ve tried to change that legacy with my children. I speak to them about what they say, what they think, what they believe. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Out of the overflow of the mouth, the heart speaks. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. These are not just spiritual principles, they are healing principles.

Mentorship and Community in the Healing Journey [19:00 – 35:00]

Jordan Rubin: I started Garden of Life, which became a $500 million company, out of my parents’ friends’ garage, with my dad’s credit card and a dream. I was always the youngest guy in the room. I wanted a mentor so badly and never found one. So I made a commitment: even though no one would mentor me, I would do that for others.

That’s how I met Josh, a hungry young chiropractor who wanted to change the world. He believed that if you want to learn from somebody, you go sit on their doorstep until they let you in. He called me, asked to visit me in Florida, and didn’t ask before eating all my food. That’s the bachelor Josh. He has more decorum now that he’s married and a father.

A lot of what I’ve done in life, Tony, is try to help others be what I couldn’t. If I made mistakes in business, authorship, relationships, or health, I want to be the mentor to somebody else that I didn’t have, so they don’t have to go through what I went through. People call it paying it forward. I call it: to whom much is given, much is required.

Dr. Tony Ebel: The families that we see heal the fastest and the most completely are the ones most connected to their faith, most connected to a community, and most connected to other parents and kids who have already made it through the storm.

It’s a very strategic part of our practice to build community around new patients. When intensives come in, we don’t just match them with providers and care advocates. We intentionally connect them with two or three other families who have gotten to the other side. Once they know there are other kids who have been exactly where they are and gotten to where they want to go, that bond is indescribable and invaluable.

Parents out there: as you connect to the PX Docs platform, we are not just here to talk about the vagus nerve and probiotics. We are here to connect you to community, to a mentor, to a doctor who can be the foundational healing relationship your family needs.

Raising Healthy Kids Naturally: The Dietary Philosophy [35:00 – 50:00]

Jordan Rubin: I have a biological son who’s 19 and five adopted children: an 11-year-old daughter, two 16-year-olds, a 20-year-old, and a 26-year-old. They came to us at all different ages, from 16 years old to two days old.

I listen to a lot of podcasts, and a lot of health experts say, “I don’t force my kids to eat healthy; they eat fast food occasionally.” Since my kids have been in my home, whether born into it or brought in, they have never eaten fast food. Not McDonald’s, not Burger King, not Wendy’s. My kids have never had a medicine. My 19-year-old plays football. He fractured his radius and ulna when he was 10, displaced fracture requiring anesthesia by gas. That’s the closest thing to a medication any of them has ever had. Not an aspirin, not an antibiotic, not a hospitalization.

We eat together and pray Psalm 91 as a family every day. I’ve done that since I was 19. That’s probably our best insurance policy.

“We are the first brothless generation we’re raising today. And it’s not okay, because connective tissue proteins, collagen from bone broth, build your gut, build your immune system, all of your skin, hair, nails, joints, ligaments, tendons, and bones.”, Jordan Rubin

Here’s what my younger four kids had before 11 a.m. on the day of this recording: every one of them had raw dairy from A2 milk, either Guernsey milk, goat milk, or water buffalo milk. My son Joshua had a smoothie before 6 a.m. football practice: raw water buffalo milk, raw duck eggs, tropical fruits (passion fruit, dragon fruit, mango, pineapple), collagen from Ancient Nutrition, and organic maple syrup. My 11-year-old had 16 ounces of raw milk with supplements. My 16-year-olds had a bone broth protein smoothie with raw A2 milk and raw duck egg yolks.

I’ve been consuming raw dairy since I was 19, it was a central part of my healing journey. I’ve made infant formula from raw dairy for adopted children as young as two days old. For my oldest adopted daughter, that formula started with raw sheep milk, goat milk whey, cod liver oil, and more. Six different genetic pools, six different lineages, all responding consistently to the same healing principles.

Dr. Tony Ebel: One of my kids two winters ago fractured four bones in her foot sledding. The orthopedic surgeon stared at her imaging and said, “There is no way she could break these four bones and have the ligament intact.” He wanted to keep running imaging because he couldn’t believe what he saw. That’s what nourishment does, her ligaments and connective tissue were so strong from consistent nutrition that the ligament held when the bones broke.

This stuff matters. We launched our practice with the phrase “building health from within,” and we live it every day: what our kids eat and what they don’t eat stacks up over time. We don’t strive for perfection, but we go hard for consistency.

Top Foods and Probiotics for Children [50:00 – 1:01:00]

Jordan Rubin: I prioritize protein. The word protein literally means “of primary importance” or “that which comes first.” My children eat animal foods daily, particularly red meat (organic, regenerative, grass-fed), white meat, and occasionally fish. Raw dairy is part of their life every day. Eggs, pasture-raised chicken, duck, or turkey. Fun fact: turkey eggs are my favorite. They’re hard to come by.

We love avocado from the plant kingdom. For fruits, we prioritize the more exotic varieties with additional benefits. My athlete kids eat a lot of watermelon, specifically for the citrulline content, which helps with blood flow. We freeze dragon fruit and passion fruit. I grow papaya indoors on our farm, probably the only papaya grown in Tennessee soil in the entire state.

We don’t eat many grains. When we do, it’s heirloom, properly prepared grains, a sourdough whole-grain einkorn bread with a 48-hour fermentation.

Every child in my family gets collagen or bone broth protein from Ancient Nutrition every single day. We did make bone broth in the past. My 16-year-old son ate pureed bone broth for literally three years after formula, he loved it, and still does. These connective tissue proteins build the gut, build the immune system, and support skin, hair, nails, joints, ligaments, tendons, and bones. We have become the first brothless generation, and that’s not okay.

We cook with tallow, grass-fed butter, or ghee. We use coconut oil occasionally. Olive oil is used on foods, not for cooking.

On Probiotics:

I am a lifelong devotee of probiotics. One of the main elements of my healing from inflammatory bowel disease was probiotics, specifically what we call soil-based organisms. Bacillus subtilis is probably the number one probiotic species I recommend. Saccharomyces boulardii, a friendly yeast, is indispensable, particularly for children.

The typical refrigerated probiotics that most people use are not getting it done. Fermented foods are great because they contain both probiotics and postbiotics. But every member of my family, including my eight-pound dog, gets soil-based probiotics every day. When I’m overseas, I take a double dose. When I’m not feeling great, I take a double dose.

You need probiotics that work, not ones that are dead on arrival. Hoping a weak refrigerated probiotic will transform your gut is like trying to put out a forest fire with a squirt gun. Not even a bucket, a squirt gun.

Dr. Tony Ebel: From a pediatric perspective: once you have nervous system care in place and you’re working to get a child out of Sympathetic Dominance, if there’s one thing that accelerates healing and expands it across all systems simultaneously, it’s the gut. The ranking system is central and autonomic nervous system first, then gut. And just like Jordan said, it has to be the right kind of probiotics. The quality and potency determine whether the job actually gets done.

“The health of our bodies, our brain, our mind is directly related to the health of our soil.”, Jordan Rubin

Regenerative Agriculture and the Mission to Heal the Planet [1:01:00 – 1:08:00]

Jordan Rubin: My personal mission statement is to heal the planet, feed the world, and eradicate disease. Bigger than any one person, or maybe a million people, can accomplish on their own.

I have started a major project taking degraded soil and creating the world’s healthiest ecosystem and food supply, because I believe life’s greatest challenges can be solved in a garden. We were born as mankind in a garden. We will return to that garden, and I believe it is up to us to be stewards of this planet and watch as the land and the people are healed simultaneously.

There’s a verse in Romans that says creation is groaning for the people of God to help aid in the regeneration. We can’t destroy this planet and hope we’re all going to heaven to find a new place, the Bible says the new heaven and new earth are coming down from heaven to earth. Part of that renewal is our responsibility.

The health of our bodies, our brain, our mind is directly related to the health of our soil. We’re taking our small sliver of Missouri and Tennessee and bringing back the principles God created in the garden. And we can do that with our bodies, we can begin to get better every day instead of worse.

I’m not asking every parent watching, whose child needs help, to go buy farmland. You need a miracle in your family first. But ultimately that miracle won’t happen unless we all play a role, as producers or consumers of what I would call biblically friendly, regenerative, and organic local products.

I believe regeneration in body, mind, and planet is possible. And it is going to take an army of Josephs to help provide that salvation, physically and spiritually, to this generation.

Dr. Tony Ebel: Moms and dads, when you do heal, when your child makes it through to the other side of the storm, follow the crazy spark. The seemingly crazy download that God gives you: “Maybe I should leave this corporate job and go study this. Maybe I should build a movement. Maybe I should lead other families down this path.” That’s what the future generation of kids needs.

The takeover of healthcare is not going to happen because Jordan and I roll into a hospital and the medical system raises its hand and says, “You guys were right the whole time.” No. You’ll change it. You own the market. You make the decisions. When you act individually, you’ll save your child’s life. When we all act collectively, that’s what this podcast and the PX Docs platform are here to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Crohn’s disease be healed naturally?

Jordan Rubin overcame severe Crohn’s colitis, along with 18 other simultaneous diagnoses, without pharmaceutical intervention. At his worst, he weighed 104 pounds and was in a wheelchair. Through a biblical diet, soil-based probiotics (particularly Bacillus subtilis), prayer, and detoxification, he regained full health in roughly 40 days of committed dietary change, then sustained it for decades. He cautions that healing requires faith, consistency, and the right guidance, not just any natural protocol.

What does Jordan Rubin feed his kids every day?

Jordan’s six children eat raw dairy (A2 Guernsey, goat, or water buffalo milk), pasture-raised eggs (chicken, duck, or turkey), organic grass-fed red meat, and collagen or bone broth protein daily. They have never eaten fast food, never taken an antibiotic, and avoid omega-6 oils, grain-fed beef, and unbleached flour. Meals are supplemented with tropical fruits, avocado, and properly fermented grains when grains are eaten at all.

What type of probiotics are best for children?

According to Jordan Rubin, who has used probiotics for nearly 30 years, soil-based organism (SBO) probiotics dramatically outperform standard refrigerated strains for children’s gut health. The most important species are Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces boulardii (a friendly yeast). Standard refrigerated probiotics are often dead on arrival and insufficient for meaningfully restoring the gut. Fermented foods also add value through their probiotic and postbiotic content.

How does faith play a role in physical healing?

Both Dr. Tony Ebel and Jordan Rubin argue that faith and hope are more foundational to healing than even the best physical interventions. Jordan’s recovery from near-fatal illness was triggered not by a new drug but by a mentor who infused him with faith. Dr. Tony consistently sees that the families whose children heal fastest are most connected to their faith, most embedded in a supportive community, and most encouraged by mentors and other families who have already made it through.

What is regenerative agriculture and why does it matter for children’s health?

Regenerative agriculture restores degraded soil by rebuilding its biological complexity, increasing plant species diversity, rebuilding microbiomes, and eliminating chemical inputs. Jordan Rubin, who has developed regenerative organic farms in Tennessee and Missouri, argues that soil health and human health are inseparable: the nutrient density of food, the integrity of the gut, and the function of the autonomic nervous system all trace back to the health of the land the food came from.

How do I find a pediatric chiropractor who uses a natural, neurological approach?

The PX Docs directory connects families to pediatric chiropractors trained in Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, the approach Dr. Tony Ebel teaches and practices. These providers use INSiGHT Scans to assess nervous system function and focus on addressing Sympathetic Dominance and Subluxation as root causes of chronic childhood conditions. Find a provider at PX Docs Directory.

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