LYNN — A Lynn man rich with employment does it all for the health benefits of the people in his community.
Brian McAskill is a therapist, football coach, personal trainer, garden coordinator, and business owner. The 26-year-old did a 43-day fast that he says helped cleanse his body of his Type II diabetes, and he’s helped eight other people do the same.
“People have gotten away from nature and natural things, especially in North America,” said McAskill. “That’s why when people come here from some other countries they will tell you to rub a leaf on yourself when you have a headache. Here we’d rather run to the store and buy pills.”
When McAskill was getting ready to graduate from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, he found out he had diabetes. He said the few months before his graduation were tough, given the diagnosis. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in human services and psychology.
He moved on to Boston University for graduate school, where he earned a master’s degree in counseling. During his lunch breaks, he met a woman who helped him focus more on what he was eating. She was a neurologist taking classes at the university, and she introduced him to the benefits of sea moss and bladderwrack, a type of seaweed.
Soon after meeting her, McAskill did the fast, which he says not only cured his diabetes, but helped him lose 32 pounds and get rid of his high cholesterol. He drank water and only ate sea moss and bladderwrack, either by cooking them or throwing them into smoothies.
The nutrition connoisseur said the body has 102 minerals and when people get hungry, they crave the food they are used to eating, instead of just replenishing the minerals. He said sea moss has 92 and bladderwrack has seven which, combined, makes for 99 minerals out of the necessary 102.
McAskill, who attended Connery Elementary School, Breed Middle School, and Lynn Tech, said he keeps the focus on nature for his businesses. Calisthenics, which provides nutritional consultations, has racked up a list of clients since it opened a few years ago.
Herbal Healing, his second business which will open later this year, sells natural products that he makes from the lavender, eggplants, and purple peppers that he grows in his gardens. McAskill said he plans to sell sea moss capsules and herbal soaps as well as herbal detoxes and cleanses for specific organs, such as the liver and the colon.
Not only is the Lynn native knowledgeable in nutrition, he’s taught himself a thing or two about sound frequencies and how they benefit his garden growing. In his plots at Cook Street Park and the Warren Street Garden, where he is the coordinator, McAskill grows his own purple peppers, and he uses music to do it.
“A year ago I started looking at the metabolic structure of the pepper,” he said. “I was doing my own research and I heard a lot about megahertz frequencies. Water has a frequency of 432 megahertz and each organ in the body has a certain frequency. Music today is recorded at 440 frequency, which isn’t natural, because it should be 432, since our bodies are mostly water.”
McAskill knew he couldn’t make his own frequency, so he downloaded a cellphone app that converts song frequencies to 432 mH. When he gardens, he places his phone on the wood of the plot next to the growing peppers. McAskill said it helps the water absorb better, which makes the peppers grow faster.
Aside from giving back to the community with his nutrition-focused businesses and community gardens, McAskill is in his seventh year of helping coach the junior varsity football team at Lynn Tech. He’s also a mental health counselor and therapist at Children’s Friend & Family Services in Lynn and a fitness trainer at the Lynn YMCA.
“The kids at the garden ask me if I know magic because of how I grow things,” said McAskill. “I say I do, but I explain how it all works and this is an easier way for them to learn about quantum physics and thermodynamics at a young age. I can’t wait to see how their science grades turn out.”