When her grandmother complained of fatigue during chemotherapy, Rebecca Elitzur did more than listen.
The Davie teenager, 17, sought a solution.
She suggested a no-sugar challenge for two weeks, and it not only helped her grandmother, but also led her to a new passion: nutrition. That’s how Elevate Health was born.
The nonprofit Elevate Health offers free learning programs and challenges that aim to make nutrition easy and help others with their health journey. Elitzur, who is the founder and executive director, works closely with Elevate Health’s Board of Directors, which includes nutritionist Meryl Brandwein and Dr. Zori Rabinovitz, a periodontist and implantologist.
The hard work has earned recognition. Elevate Health was honored last year by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and during Harvard University’s Global Vision Health Conference, where Elitzur was a finalist.
Her passion projects don’t stop there. Elevate Health has also led Elitzur to write a children’s book titled, “A Girl’s Guide to Nutrition, Self-Love, and Wellbeing” (Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, $8.99) and to release a health-focused podcast. All this while still a senior at David Posnack Jewish Day School in Davie.
We spoke with Elitzur to learn more about her nonprofit and her ambitions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Rebecca Elitzur also wrote a children’s book that aims to teach elementary-aged girls about nutrition and feeling confident. (Rebecca Elitzur/Courtesy)
Q: What inspired you to learn about health and wellness?
A: It started for my grandmother. She was dealing with chemotherapy for breast cancer, and she was exhausted all the time. I saw that fatigue, and she said she thought that part of her issue was processed sugar, because she was constantly having sugar cravings and she would have a crash each time she’d eat something.
I was having conversations with her about nutrition, and we thought that maybe if we quit processed sugar together, it would be a nice way for us to bond but also help each other out. We started sending each other messages checking in on each other and motivating each other. We just did it for two weeks, and I could already see how she felt more energized, and I could see how it was having an effect on both of us.
Q: What prompted you to start a nonprofit?
A: I wanted to share this two-week, no-sugar challenge with others. I automated a challenge so people could enter their email and it would send in a progress check and motivate them. I created a personalized video for every day of the challenge with tips and motivation. So many in my community started doing it. So I started sharing it across Reddit, Facebook and Twitter.
It started as a two-week, no-processed-sugar challenge but I wanted to expand it further. I wanted to educate about nutrition more broadly. I started writing health articles about the harms of processed sugar. I registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and started [partnering] with different companies to gain fundraising. I have sponsorships from a variety of companies and that’s really helped me grow further. I also created a health podcast on YouTube called “ElevateHealthChallenge,” where I interview health professionals to give participants a broader understanding of different dietary and lifestyle choices they could pick up.
Q: Tell me more about Elevate Health. What is its mission?
A: To reach as many people as I can who didn’t know that there was so much information on nutrition out there. I take complex health ideas from research and make it easy to understand so people feel empowered to start on a health journey.
Q: Your nonprofit has been awarded and recognized by important people and organizations. How does it feel to be honored for your work?
A: It feels very rewarding because I definitely have spent hours and hours of my time on this. And not only is it inspiring to see how it’s helping so many people, but that I’m receiving so much recognition for the help that it’s creating, it feels great.
One of them was at the Harvard Global Health and Leadership Conference. I pitched Elevate Health when it was still growing and I worked with a mentor at Harvard University who helped me with the pitch and they loved Elevate Health and all it stood for. I think people also like seeing a teenager involved with nutrition. More adults tend to want to go into this field.
Q: You also wrote a children’s book?
A: It’s a princess-themed story for elementary-school girls where I’m able to teach young girls about feeling confident, but also the power of fruits and veggies while they are growing. I’m trying to help young girls believe that their worth isn’t tied to a number on a scale or how they look. It’s about feeling empowered and inspired through nutrition.
The book was inspired when I was a counselor and working with [young] girls. I heard them talking about dieting and losing weight, and I felt there was a better way for them to approach nutrition than focusing solely on weight and talking about nutrition in a healthier way.
Q: As a high school student, how do you balance school and nonprofit work?
A: There’s a lot of scheduling in my calendar. I’m constantly trying to allocate my time in the most efficient way. I try to wake up earlier so I can work on Elevate Health and, in the afternoons, I spend time on college applications and taekwondo. I am trying to be a black belt.
Q: How do you feel your Judaism has impacted your passion for helping others?
A: I feel like it’s impacted me in so many different ways. Growing up going to a Jewish school, I was taught values of Kavod and respect for others. That’s a large part of it — I want people to not only have respect for others but have respect for themselves. I want them to love themselves and feel confident in themselves. And I’ve been able to help them do that with Elevate Health.
[I work with] with young Jewish girls at Maccabi Tzair Jewish youth group at the David Posnack JCC in Davie. I teach them about holidays and Jewish traditions — every week we have a different Jewish theme — and I felt we weren’t talking about nutrition enough. Also in Judaism, there’s a lot of challah and sufganiyot and fun things, but it’s just as important to talk about nutrition. I love learning about the lessons of the Torah, and I feel like it shaped who I am as a person and my desire to help others.
Q: What are your future plans regarding Elevate Health and your career aspirations?
A: I want to study public health and go deeper into this field. I’ve already been involved through internships with local functional medicine nutritionists in South Florida and broader health tech companies. This past summer, I lived in Boston and worked with LymeAlert, which is a company helping with Lyme disease.
I’m looking to grow Elevate Health even further. I’ve been working with Yonathan Gal, 16, a junior at my school to create an app. We were just awarded honorable mention by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the Congressional App Challenge for the Elevate Health app. We are in the process of publishing the app on the App Store. I am looking forward to carrying Elevate with me wherever I go.
To learn more about the nonprofit, visit elevate-health.org.