Transforming My Life Through Food at Hu Kitchen

Jordan Brown: I always considered myself healthy. I ate lots of whole grains, no junk food, and I exercised regularly. Then I spent a particularly rough week in Vegas at a real estate conference. I felt awful, and just happened to pick up The Ultra Mind Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman. It is essentially about healing through food and I was fascinated. I decided to make one change from that book, which was cutting out gluten.  Within 3 days, a persistent skin condition that I had—and could never get rid of—vanished.  At 28, I finally understood the power of food.

I became obsessed with really understanding what I was putting in my body. I started reading more and more and tried everything, going vegan, becoming vegetarian, cutting carbs. I came across a book called Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson about eliminating grains, legumes and most dairy. Nothing had ever quite curbed the systemic inflammation of my body and now I felt so much better than I ever had.

The problem, of course, was eating out. At restaurants, the ingredients and quality just weren’t what I wanted. I wasn’t satisfied with the oils they were cooking in or quality of the food. To eat the healthiest food I had to cook at home, so my sister and I became obsessed with the ingredients and details that really matter when you eat out. We wanted to create a restaurant where there isn’t any crap, where we cooked in the right oils, used the best sweeteners and emusifiers, with 100% grassfed beef, wild fish, and organic poultry. The concept behind Hu Kitchen became everything that we would want to eat without any of the junk. We vowed not to use cane sugar, highly processed salt, chemical anti-caking agents, or poor quality meat and dairy.

At Hu Kitchen, we created a place where food is made in a way that makes people feel better after they eat. The example I always give is that I used to love bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, but an hour later I would feel awful. So we do a sausage, egg, and kale with a vegetable based bread and 100% grass fed beef. It fills you up without spiking your blood sugar; it’s hearty and healthy.

Hu Kitchen is a place you can eat every meal, snack, and juice. We have a strong culinary team. One of our chefs lost 60 pounds in three months from eating this way. It’s truly life-changing.

The whole concept of thriving versus surviving is one that really speaks to me, and I have found through all of this that one of the best ways to thrive is through food. Everything in my life has changed dramatically by changing how I ate. I can’t believe how good I feel. And to be able to help provide that change for other people is something I could not be more proud of.

—JORDAN BROWN AS TOLD TO SARA BLISS