your chic self

Love
Liquid Hope:
A Daughter’s
by R obin G entr y M cG ee

I
am the only girl in a family of three boys and have always
been what one would call a “daddy’s girl.” I cannot ever
remember a time in my life when I did not think my dad
hung the moon. He was an amazing musician. He turned
down a record and touring contract when we four kids were
still small because he did not want to uproot our family. In
later years, he moved toward his other passion and became a
full-time minister.

In 2005, he had all but retired, and he and my mother were liv-
ing in Michigan. I remember that year distinctly. On February 22,
two days before my birthday, I received a phone call from my
brother. He said that my father had slipped on ice and fallen.

As a result, my father had suffered a very severe traumatic brain
injury (or a TBI) and was being rushed into emergency surgery.
The doctors said there would be little chance of his surviving
the surgery, and he had even less of a chance of being in any-
thing more than a vegetative state if he were to pull through.
Upon receiving the news, my husband and I rushed from our
home in Ohio to Michigan, where we spent the next six weeks
waiting for my father to regain consciousness. At some point
throughout this ordeal, I began to realize that what his medi-
cal doctors were offering gave us little hope. His prognosis was
grim. I began to research TBI and dug out every piece of infor-
mation I could find on alternative treatments and options. It
was only after we conducted much research and used tools
that we did not find through normal medical care that my dad
finally came out of the coma. Our excitement was short lived,
however, as he had suffered many secondary complications
while in the hospital.

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 your chic self

One day while sitting at my dad’s bedside, out of sheer bore-

dom, I picked up a can of formula the nurses had been dili-
gently pouring down dad’s feeding tube four times a day for
the last 18 months. When I read the label, I realized there was
nothing in the formula that would heal him. It was balanced,
and it met all the RDA requirements. However, as the only thing
my father was getting in the way of “nutrition,” the formula was
probably barely sustaining him.

I knew I had to help my father. I had spent the past 20 years

working in the health food industry, and because of this, I had
always been drawn to the more holistic side of medicine. I
decided to research the healing properties of food. I searched
the Internet, libraries, and health food stores for information on
alternative healing for TBI.

summer 2010    11
 your chic self
During my research, I came across
a book titled Healing with Whole
Foods by Paul Pitchford. I was a
bit overwhelmed by the size of
the book but encouraged by the
fact that it contained information
about brain damage. I purchased
it, and once I began reading, I could not put it down. The infor-
mation was amazing; the way Mr. Pitchford used food for heal-
ing resonated deeply with me. I felt as though I had come home.
I immersed myself in Healing with Whole Foods and started to
develop a meal replacement formula for my father’s feeding
tube. It would include not only the foods Mr. Pitchford recom-
mended for brain damage but also those that would address
my father’s many secondary conditions.
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This was the beginning of my love affair with food as medicine. I
was quite familiar with whole foods, but my mission helped me
truly realize their power. There were foods that would clear mucus
from my father’s lungs, foods to help with his failing renal system,
and foods to guard against his constant urinary tract infections.
One day, during a visit to my acupuncturist, I told her about
the fascinating book I had found and how it had inspired me
to put together a meal replacement formula for my father.
She revealed that she, too, had the book, and had wanted to
study with Pitchford for years. She told me that he taught at an
institute in northern California. I immediately reached out to
Mr. Pitchford and set up an appointment with him.
The consultation would change the course of my career and ulti-
mately my life. Not only did Mr. Pitchford guide me in selecting

“
Weekly I receive phone calls or emails
from people who have heard my father’s story and
want “Liquid Hope” for their loved ones.
healing foods to use in the new formula, but he
also became one of my greatest teachers.
The most difficult part of creating the formula—
which we called “Liquid Hope”—was finding a
medical doctor who would support me. I was
fortunate enough to find Dr. Deepak Sarwal, a
western-trained internist who was open to alter-
native methods of healing. Dr. Sarwal let me try
the formula, beginning by replacing the old formula once a
day. Gradually we replaced each of the old-formula feedings
with “Liquid Hope.”
The difference in my father was unbelievable. At the begin-
ning of this process, my dad was barely conscious as he was
wheeled into the doctor’s exam room on a gurney. Six weeks
later, he returned to the same doctor, this time sitting up in
a wheelchair, his big brown eyes and his smile both shining
brightly. After that visit, I received a phone call from the doctor.
“It is a miracle what you have done for your father,” he said. “No,”
I replied, “It is simply nutrition.”
As my father continued to receive “Liquid Hope,” I realized that
there were a lot of other people suffering needlessly who
could benefit from the formula. I am in the process of bringing
it to the market as an organic whole foods meal replacement.
your chic self
”
Weekly I receive phone calls or emails from peo-
ple who have heard my father’s story and want
“Liquid Hope” for their loved ones.
My father ultimately succumbed to his death as a
result of internal bleeding. I am so grateful that I
was able to be with him during his last days and
that I could use my skills and training to add to
his quality of life in a very real way. Sometimes
our greatest gifts in life arise out of our greatest pain. Through
this experience, my father validated my belief that food can be
used to heal, and for that validation—and for all the other gifts
he gave me—I am truly grateful.  cm
Robin Gentry McGee is a whole foods chef
and holistic health coach. She has just com-
pleted her first book (not yet published) A Turn
for the Worst about her journey with her father
through the care of his traumatic brain injury. For more informa-
tion about Robin preparing meal replacements for your loved one,
contact Robin at functionalformularies@gmail.com. Robin and
NYC-based registered dietician Lynn Goldstein will work together
to create a meal replacement program that will enhance the life of
anyone on meal replacement therapies. For general information
about Robin and her services, go to www.jstgreatfoods.com.
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