We decide every year that we are going to grow zucchini in our garden. Having access to your own fresh zucchini is amazing. This year it felt like we were drowning in zucchini though! We were picking multiple 4 plus pound zucchini's every day for a few weeks during harvest time! I knew it was time to make a bunch of batches of chocolate zucchini bread.By the end of the season, I was pushing and pulling a wheelbarrow stuffed to the gills with multi pound zucchini and spaghetti squash to my garage with a smile on my face and sweat dripping down my back. Now that is what I call a true fall harvest. Throw in a little rain, colorful leaves, and some crisp air and I was ready to go and carve a pumpkin!I am going to be completely honest, zucchini is not my favorite vegetable. *GASP* How dare I say something like that!? Well, it is true, but you know what is really great?? I have a creative mind and can find sneaky ways for people like me to consume vegetables that I may not necessarily love on their own.
When thinking of dairy products, most of the time we picture cows grazing in the fields and a farmer milking the cow. The dark side to most dairy products is that many people have hidden sensitivities to cow's milk that is causing inflammation in their body.So if you don't want to give up dairy, but want to avoid reactions to cow's milk, what are you supposed to do? Interestingly enough, not all dairy products come from cows. In fact, a great substitute for cow milk is to use goat milk.
Have you ever spent some time with a coach or trainer who put you through grueling workouts? For many of us, the answer is yes. While getting a good sweat in can feel great, if you have specific goals you want to reach, then you might need a more structured approach.The fitness world is an interesting world because everyone has their own philosophies and their own needs. When you take a group exercise class, your goals are probably different than the person next to you.One thing is for sure, you end up coming out of any training session sweaty and exhausted.If your overall goal is to get into better shape, then this approach can work very well for you. But if you want to try and compete in some fitness events, such as Crossfit, then you will need a more structured approach.
Alpine Wedding- Enjoying a New Way to Experience Your Special DayLet's be honest here for a second and talk about the normal wedding experience.The moment you get engaged to your significant other, your brain starts to put puzzle pieces together on how you want your wedding to go.In your mind, the wedding day will be
When you imagine someone who is hypermobile, what comes to mind? Do you think of a contortionist whose hypermobile joints can bend in ways unimaginable? Or what about the people who can pull their finger back all the way to their wrist?While both of those examples are of people with hypermobile tendencies, it does not mean that they are immune to joint pain and health issues. In fact, many people with increased flexibility tend to run into a lot of health issues, including digestive disorders.
Many people are starting to suffer from a condition known as chronic fatigue. Chronic fatigue is defined as fatigue that doesn't go away with rest.Fatigue is a very broad topic that can have many different causes. Naturally we feel some levels of fatigue from the stress of daily life, but in many cases this should be remedied with adequate rest. Therefore chronic states of exhaustion is caused by something more underlying, such as an undiagnosed illness.
Do you have any mint lovers in your life? I absolutely love mint and I can never get enough of it. It is to the point I have started to grow it in my garden, just so that I can have some fresh and accessible whenever I need it! I clearly knew I needed to share my dairy free mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe so that you too could enjoy some healthy mint in your life!Finding a great dairy free ice cream that does not taste overwhelmingly like pureed coconut with a lacking flavor profile of anything else can be a treasure hunt if you allow it to be! We ended up saying "No thanks!" to that headache this summer and decided to make our own ice cream!I crave mint the most during the summer time. Mint is known for its "cooling and soothing" health properties and benefits. This herb has so many more benefits than most people are aware of traditionally. Making a healthy sweet treat, like this dairy free mint chocolate chip ice cream, can do just the trick of cooling and soothing symptoms in your life!
The gut microbiome is one of the most powerful regions of the human body. A lot of research is coming out about the importance of the bacteria in the body, and Kiran Krishnan is one of the researchers leading the way for all of us.The microbiome is made of around 1500 different strains of bacteria that all work together to keep the body healthy. Of the 1500 strains, we only understand around 10% of their total functionality.With more research coming out every single day, soon we will be able to understand how each strain of bacteria impacts the body.
You may have noticed that we have quite a few episodes that are focused on children and ways to improve their health. In fact, it saddens me that there are so many children out there who are suffering from conditions with little understanding of why it is happening. This is why we keeping bringing up the topic about ways to make children healthy again.I focus on children a lot because they aren't in the best position to know what's best for themselves. They go off of what they have been taught, so it is important as adults that we stay up to date with why each generation is getting sicker.A common theme that you may have heard between episodes is that the food we are eating is not the best for children, or even adults. Processed foods are stripped of nutrients, sanitized in ways we don't want to know about, and are designed to make us snack more often.
It seems like every single day we have more advancements in the research done on the human microbiome. Word has spread about the gut microbiome, and the genitalia microbiome. But new development is coming out in areas of the body we least expect it.Such as the Ocular Microbiome, better known as the bacteria of the eye.Researchers have discovered an ecosystem of the microbiome within the eye. In these early stages of research, the eye is showing to have a much smaller population of bacteria than other areas of the body, such as the gut. This does not mean that the ocular microbiome isn't important. In fact, it could tell us more about how to protect the eye and how to prevent eye disease.
Over the past few summers, a new pattern has risen over on the West Coast: an increase in wildfires. Naturally, there will always be the threat of wildfire when the landscape becomes dry, but lately there have been more fires, which leads to more exposure to wildfire smoke.When the air becomes so thick with smoke, the obvious question is how does wildfire smoke effect your health. As we become more exposed to smoke in the air, we should learn the best ways to protect your health from the wildfire smoke.
As we start to age, there are different nutritional and movement needs that we need to add into our daily lives. When it comes to the older population, it is extremely important to focus on a couple specifics:Protein
Water and hydration
Mineral depletion
Coordination
Balance
For the elderly, these start to become extremely necessary to feel great and safe each and every day.
Over the past couple of decades, we have seen a big increase in neurotransmitter dysfunction ranging from anxiety and depression, to Alzheimer's and even Schizophrenia. The 4 main neurotransmitters that we pay attention to are:Serotonin
GABA
Catecholamines
Endorphins
There has been a lot of information coming out about the power of the Ketogenic Diet for optimal brain function, but that relates mostly to the brain cells using ketones as the primary fuel source compared to glucose. What we don't hear about often enough is the types of amino acids needed to produce neurotransmitters.
It has been estimated that over 45 million Americans participate in diets each year, and less than 5% continue to maintain the diet after a couple of months. This means there is a big disconnect between diets, and how to make it a lifestyle change. Katie Garces says that what we are missing in most diets is teaching about intuitive eating.As we well know, we have lost most of our connection with the food that we eat because food has become very convenient, and we don't have to work hard to get it. Because of the convenience, we start to lose our ability to understand what our body needs in terms of nutrients and foods.
If you are 40 or older, then it is expected that you will gain weight and become increasingly more tired.This is a common thought for women who are getting older. Weight gain, insomnia, and decreased energy is just a byproduct of aging, and there is nothing you can do about it...Or so we thought. These issues are actually a sign of dysregulation in the endocrine system, and it shows that your body is struggling to regulate hormones effectively. There actually is hope in getting back your energy, and to regulate hormones properly!
If you have ever go in for your yearly checkup with your doctor, there is no doubt that at some point you have gone through some diagnostic tools, such as blood tests, to see your nutrient and hormone levels. Many times this is a Comprehensive Wellness Panel, and will tell you information such as your red and white blood counts, lipid profile, and some minerals.
When you start to have some health symptoms, your doctor may order some other tests for further information. The idea to dig deeper is great, but many times these tests aren't looking in the right areas, or the doctors aren't using them to figure out the root causes.For instance, if you show signs of a thyroid issue, the doctor will typically run a TSH test, and if you are lucky, they may even check for T4 and T3. However, these are only a small part of the puzzle as there are other hormones associated with the thyroid, and this still isn't incorporating the results into the big picture of the body!
Have you ever been so stressed out that you end up eating an entire bag of chips or something else crunchy? What about being so sad that you down a whole thing of ice cream? If so, you aren't alone, and our emotional eating has a lot to do with different types of textures.Different types of textures are associated with different emotions we are experiencing because of how our body perceives these textures. For instance, a creamy texture can be really soothing, which is why we turn to the ice cream when we are sad. Once we understand how these textures integrate with our emotional eating, we can then take this information and understand what it is our body is trying to tell us!
If you have ever been backpacking for a couple of days, one thing you may have noticed is how much weight and room food can take up in your pack. This variable is dependent upon the length of your trip (or how comfortable you want to be on your trip). For those who are keto backpacking, they notice a huge difference in their pack weight and how they feel.Food is the literal energy you have in order to complete your trip. If you are lacking the energy to get to your destination, or you are just exhausted after every single trip you do, then you might want to take a look at your food.
When was the last time you thought about how your mineral levels are doing? Likely your answer is 'never', or at the most you say that you get calcium from your milk. So if we don't think about minerals, why would heavy metal toxicity become something we are interested in?As Wendy Myers said in our podcast, the minerals are the spark plugs for the body. When minerals are out of balance, then a lot of dysfunction can start to occur. Heavy metals are known to place themselves where normal minerals are supposed to be in the body, however instead of improving our function, it creates heavy metal toxicity.
As a Schedule 1 substance, CBD and hemp has been debated for a long time about whether this is a dangerous plant for humans to use. However, with the rise in states legalizing marijuana, and people being open to try new options, we have seen a lot of benefits to using CBD Oil.In fact, some of the most common reports of CBD Oil usage is for seizures, anxiety, and even chronic pain. And you know what we don't ever hear about? The psychoactive properties of CBD Oil......because there are none.