Dr. Ben Page Playing in the Dirt
Dr. Ben Page grew up playing in dirt. Literally. His parents gardened constantly — he learned to water, plant, compost before he could read. Then the family moved to the desert, and that connection faded for years. Fast forward to chiropractic college: Ben's mentally sick, buried under debt and 40+ hour weeks, spiraling. He plants tomatoes on a windowsill in Davenport, Iowa. Ten minutes a day watering those plants becomes the only time he feels at peace. That small act — touching soil, growing something — pulled him back from the edge. Now he's built a life around it: composting hundreds of pounds of organic waste per year, raising chickens, butchering meat with his own hands, teaching patients that health is simple — eat what your ancestors ate, touch the earth barefoot, let your body do what it already knows how to do. This conversation covers grounding as anti-inflammatory medicine, the mental health collapse of lockdowns, why meat and fat matter more than most nutrition science admits, how fermentation neutralizes plant toxins, and why everyone should butcher a chicken at least once. Ben's closing principle: nature heals in eight distinct ways, and the garden is your edge of access to all of them.
- Functional freeze disguised as high-functioning Ben hit rock bottom during chiropractic college — not physically broken, but mentally sick. Debt load, 40–63 hour weeks, anxiety spiraling. Ten minutes watering tomato plants on a Davenport, Iowa windowsill became the only moments he felt at peace. Not collapse — still showing up, still producing — while something underneath went numb.
- Grounding as anti-inflammatory medicine Earth carries a natural negative charge. Free radicals — molecules hunting electrons — cause inflammation by ripping them from healthy tissue. Stand barefoot: 1,300 receptors per square inch of foot pull electrons straight into the body. Rubber soles cut the circuit. Our ancestors slept on dirt, walked barefoot, stayed grounded. We live in buildings so far above earth some haven't touched soil in years.
- Composting = black gold Ben's system: two big plastic containers, holes drilled. Wet waste (food scraps), dry material (leaves, grass clippings, charcoal ash). Flip it every time you add. No formulas required. When full, pile it on wood outside with dry layers between. Let nature run the show. Hundreds of pounds of compost per year. All goes back to the garden. Soil builds, plants flourish.
- Meat-based nutrition and ancestral eating Fat as fuel, meat as nutrition. Indigenous groups grew grain not for themselves but to attract animals — the grain's name in some languages literally meant *animal food*. The animal's name meant *human food*. Ben evolved from garden-to-table to meat-centered after years studying health. Organs = nutrient-dense. No supplements needed if you're eating what was raised on fertile soil.
- Butchering breeds respect Ben raised pastured chickens for a year. Every butcher day — 30 to 50 birds — his respect for the animal spiked. Saved feet for broth, composted intestines, used everything else. Same with hunting: shoot, butcher in the wild, feel the full weight of what you're taking. Most people should butcher a chicken once. The respect for what that animal provides goes through the roof.
- Chemical warfare in plants, fermentation as solution Plants can't run or bite — they defend with chemical compounds. Potatoes in Bolivia/Peru were fermented six months to a year before eating. Bacteria ate the carbs and toxins so humans could digest safely. It's not *what* can I eat, it's *how do I prepare it* so I can eat it. Meat requires minimal prep. Vegetables demand fermentation or cooking to neutralize defense mechanisms.
- Healing happens inside out, not outside in The true job of a doctor: entertain the patient while the patient heals themselves. Healing is inside-out. Trillions of cells, bacteria, viruses — an ecosystem that adapts or maintains. Provide nutrient-dense food, decrease toxicity, the body does the rest. Covering symptoms with pills blocks natural healing pathways. Asymptomatic ≠ healthy.
- Nature as present-moment anchor Ten to fifteen minutes with tomato plants in Davenport kept Ben in the present. No past regrets, no future anxiety — just watering, just being. That peace carried inside. He felt better with his wife, his son. The garden became the zone. Nature simplifies everything: nutrition, stress, immunity, community, gratitude, grounding. Eight ways Ben's garden made him whole again.
Quotes
Related conversations
Three doors into the work
7-Day Self-Esteem Reset
A seven day immersive mini course experience. Less than 10 minutes each day. Finish it and it’s yours for life.
Take the ResetFriends of the Truth
The best community on the internet — in our opinion. Funnier than your group chat. Deeper than your therapist.
Join FOTTRATH Academy
The 6-month live container — deprogramming, nervous system, entrepreneurship, held weekly. 5 spots, by application. Doors close Aug 31.
Enter the Portal
What landed for you?