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John Lee Hooker, Jr.’s TOP TEN

by John Lee Hooker, Jr.

Touring as we blues musicians do is something else, and we generally have a good time, maybe too good a time.

The great blues artists from Jimmy Reed to my father John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon all made legendary music to the end of their lives—despite the fact that their bodies endured decades of hard living. I know my daddy’s life on the road was a love-hate affair. He hated leaving us behind, but he didn’t want to work in the car factories of Detroit. He was a blues man.

Most blues men enjoy fame at a relatively late stage in life, and certainly royalties were cheated from them for so many of those early years and on. It took decades for the money they put in their bank accounts to catch up with their fame. I have learned from this that I (being a member of the blues fraternity) also need to take care of myself to keep on playing the blues.

DOWN-HOME NUTRITION

We always had good food on the table from the time we lived in Detroit where my daddy first gained fame for ‘Boogie Chillen,’ a huge hit on all the radio stations.

I learned a lot about nutrition from the foods my father used to eat, like black eyed peas as a carbohydrate, and plenty of beta carotene-rich carrots in his homemade beef stew (for the protein). I learned good eating has a lot to do with staying close with how Mother Nature intended things to be grown. My daddy grew up in Mississippi on collard greens, yams, dandelion and mustard greens, oxtail, onions, garlic, butter, and a whole host of wild herbs and game, and while there’s no doubt he sent out for the Colonel more than a few times when he was on tour and maybe he had more than one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer on occasion, he learned real quickly that his health meant more to him than anything, so he left this earth 40 years clean and sober. (But truth be told, he loved down-home cooking especially chicken and dumplings with celery.)

I also know that traveling in the blues world can be something else, and that hard living is part of the road. My father would well have benefited from some of the supplements we have nowadays.

My wife has taught me a lot about good eating too. These days, we enjoy lots of fish, vegetables, fruit and plenty of whole grain breads and brown rice. I feel like I am doing all the right things for both me and my band as we tour the world to spread the message of the blues to a new audience.

I have a lot of favorite foods and supplements too. I’ll tell you about some of the ones I take with me when I tour, and that I make part of my daily routine for staying healthy.

came to know Barlean’s Highest Lignan Flax Oil and Forti-Flax from my wife who picked up some after reading about it in Healthy Living magazine. She said, “Here, honey, sprinkle this on your oatmeal,” and she just started me on it, making sure she mixes my salad dressings and cottage cheese with their great-tasting oil. I know that the milled flaxseed is good for my digestion and that flax’s amazing omega-3 fatty acids are great for heart health and memory. We all should nourish our bodies with good fats. (By the way, collard greens are another great source of omega-3s.)
Kyolic® Aged Garlic Extract is really important. I especially want to take care of my overall health, and garlic addresses so many important health issues. (Incidentally, I just had my colonoscopy… and the doctor says I have a very healthy colon and told me, “to keep on doing what you are doing.”) I definitely take my AGE.
Another really good protector: turmeric. Turmeric’s orange-colored curcumin is a powerful chemical for keeping my joints moving freely. So I bring my Curamin! It’s the best-absorbed form of curcumin, I hear.
My wife loves organic cosmetics and personal care products and there are a few special ingredients and lines she really wants everyone to know about too. One is called rose hip seed oil from Aubrey Organics (Rosa Mosqueta®)
The other is topical hyaluronic acid serums called Episilk. I see how beautiful her skin is, and I realize healthy living pays off.
Oceans 3 formula from Garden of Life contains ocean-sourced omega- 3 fatty acids with astaxanthin and fuxoxanthin, two very powerful antioxidants that will help me to maintain cell health. Plus, fucoxanthin (from brown seaweed) helps people to burn body fat and helps me in the gym, too.
When I am stocking up the fridge with organic veggies and fruits, I love the Mini- Mate. Producing pulsed-activated oxygen, the MiniMate food protector not only destroys harmful germs that can cause foodborne sickness but also helps to keep organic foods fresh longer.
For pain at night, my wife and I love our Mobu Herbals A.M. and P.M. Balms (especially as I dance and move and jump on stage every night and sometimes arrive walking slow and in pain). I love their Kava Calm formula too, for relaxing while I fly.
Coral White® is my toothpaste; not only is it all natural, but coral minerals are taken up so easily by my teeth to make them stronger structurally, too.
And my immune booster of choice is Sovereign Silver® hydrosol, which I spray in my throat; we make sure everyone in the band does too, to keep us healthy for carrying that message of the blues.