Our Story
Thank you for visiting our website! Please let us introduce ourselves.
I'm a board-certified ophthalmologist who has always been fascinated with seeing the beneficial effects of positive diet and lifestyle choices on chronic diseases. This interest has grown deeper as it has become more personal. In 2011, after many years of chronic pain and weakness, I discovered that I had “leaky gut" and multiple food sensitivities.
My partner, Mercy Ballard, suffered for many years with severe anemia, pain and fatigue, before learning about how food sensitivities and gut permeability contributed to her symptoms. She recovered her health with plant-based dietary changes. Inspired by her recovery, she set out to help others facing similar health conditions. In 2013, she and her husband moved to Central California where they began the Years Restored Lifestyle and Learning Center.
In January 2016, I visited Years Restored. There, I was able to close some of the gaps in my understanding of my condition. The road to recovery takes time and effort, but the good news is that I no longer struggle with the pain or have the debilitating weakness that I had for much of my 20's and 30's!
One of the hallmarks of our mission is to adopt a whole-foods plant-based lifestyle that avoids high risk GMO and glyphosate-containing foods. We use pseudo-grains instead of grains while healing the gut. We also have seen that soaking and sprouting high-lectin foods ( Such as seeds, nuts, grains and legumes ) can make a huge difference in digestive health.
Mercy and I have decided to tackle some of the obstacles that we faced on our journey. The first is to make it easier to obtain better quality gluten-free convenience foods that will promote greater healing. These foods will have mostly organic, presoaked/sprouted ingredients, and will be free of foods that are most commonly associated with sensitivities, including soy, corn, gluten, and oats.
We’re starting with tortillas, because we think that they are so versatile. However, we hope to expand to other convenience foods, as well as herbal tinctures and drinks that are based on the formulas used at the Years Restored program.
Ultimately, our goal is to share the message of hope and healing. We believe that you were designed for good health and we want to help get you there!
Joyce Choe, Co-Founder
