Meet the Juice Guru Who Wants to Save the World
Meet Amanda Chantal Bacon, founder and chef of the cult Moon Juice outlets in Los Angeles, California. She opened the first in Venice three and a half years ago, and recently added a Silver Lake shop and a stand at the Ace Hotel in Downtown L.A. Among the offerings: “Gracious Greens” juice packed with romaine, spinach, mint, cucumber, and lemon; almond “Moon Milk;” and “Brain Dust,” a powder that “lights up your brain and increases mental flow by feeding neurotransmitters and brain tissue.”
Her interest in healthy eating started at a young age, when she had severe respiratory problems. “I went down the rabbit hole of Western medicine of the 80s, taking pink bubblegum-flavored antibiotics that were not working at all,” Bacon told us. She consulted an Ayurvedic doctor—what did she have to lose?—who called for her to eliminate white sugar, wheat, and dairy from her diet. She felt better immediately.
"It’s so common to hear that now—a lot of people avoid sugar, wheat, and dairy, even if only for part of the time—but in the 80s, this was really radical. We didn’t have attractive bottles of almond milk in every store and quinoa pasta. So the whole episode really forced me to create it," she said of Moon Juice. And because this self-proclaimed foodie has worked with the likes of chefs Alice Waters and Suzanne Goin, the juices and healthy snacks she offers have a gourmet slant.
Watch the video to learn more about Bacon, including the foods she loves, the ones you will never find in her fridge, and how she hopes to “save the entire human race.” And stay tuned, because for the next couple of days, we’re chatting with Bacon about the nutritive qualities of (very yummy) food.
More ways to eat healthy:
Start your morning right with a kale and quinoa breakfast bowl