People generally say one of two things to me when they hear I am a nutritionist "oh, my eating is terrible" or "My eating is pretty health." Both of those may be true but we are missing one element that can make both people the one eating well and the other one not-so-much that can make all the difference: stress! Without going into too much detail, I am working on writing a post on stress and how it affects our body on a physical level (I think we all know how it affects us on an emotional level) but until then, know that it very much affects how we digest or rather how we don't digest our food is we are in a stressed state, which means that good (or bad) food we are eating is not being turned into the good vitamins and minerals that we need from it. And that's just to start. I
Read moreHerb of the Week #8 :: Oats
Oats are packed with nutrients, they are high in silica, calcium, chromium, magnesium, zinc, manganese and vitamin B. They are great for cardio support and due to its high silica content, it is great for connective tissue, skin and nerves. Oats provide overall health and vitality and can provide energy. For those that are stressed, overworked, suffer from depression, anxiety, low sex drive or irritability, oats can provide relief sue to its soothing actions on the nervous system. Additionally, it’s great to support calm in children.
From Herbalist David Hoffman in his book Medical Herbalism, he says “Oats is one of the best remedies for ‘feeding’ the nervous system, especially when the patient is under stress.”
Read moreToday's Tunes
I wrote 5 pages on my health journey, going WAY back to high school (yeah, it's been a minute). I intended to share it with you today. Unfortunately, I am still working on it. It's just not quite there yet. I will post it next week. Promise. In the meantime, I had to share something that inspired me today. I feel like any day is a great day to share inspiration.
I listen to KCRW a lot.
Like...A. Lot.
Fun Fact: I love them so much when I was living in Santa Monica for 10 years I volunteered answering phones at the bi-annual fundraising drives. Now that I live in Denver, I still get my daily fix, but I definitely miss the community there.
Read moreHerb of the Week #7 :: Nettles
Hi Everyone! Happy February! Can you believe January's already over? How'd all those New Year's Resolutions/goals go this first month of 2017? I hope they all went amazingly and you are off to the best year ever! But, just in case you aren't, cause it happens to a lot of us, just a reminder I put up blog post and a free PDF worksheet last week on getting out of those patterns that aren't serving us anymore and accomplishing out goals. This past month something I have been working on is a better, healthier daily routine. Being a nutritionist can be a lonely job, even though I have a private office surrounded by wonderful women, and work a few days a week in an Apothecary, I do a lot of working from home.and it can be lonely, to say the least. I found myself working in front of the television watching reruns of Seinfeld. Plus I was waking up and immediately checking email and social media while I drank my coffee. I am still working on the right daily routine and giving myself time to experiment with different things along the way. One thing I actually always do is brew a quart of tea for the day and drink that after my one (ok maybe sometimes 2 cups of coffee). And This weeks’ herb is a must-have in my and really anyone’s daily routine: Nettles
Read moreDefining Goals & Getting Unstuck
I started a tradition about 7-8 years ago where at the end of every year I go through my goals from the previous year that have been sitting in a jar in my kitchen. I don’t use the term “resolutions” because it feels too rigid of a term and often when we don’t accomplish them we tend to term them “failures”. Instead, I like to use the term “goals”. These we can have and they can shift and take new shape as we grow. As I review my goals from that year, I divide them into one of three categories: completed/accomplished, incomplete/unfulfilled but still important to me, and finally, not achieved but no longer important to me. Then for the new year, I’ll revise any of the goals I still want to keep from last year, throw out the ones that no longer serve me, and write new ones. These go back in to the jar for the new year. Every now and then I’ll look back at them to check in, see where I am and remind myself of ones I may have forgotten (I also just started keeping this list on my phone as well, in case I want to look at them when I am not home). For me this is such a positive and fun activity around the new year, as well as, a great guide and reminder of what’s important throughout the year.
Read moreHerb of the Week #6 :: Burdock Root
Happy much belated New Year's everyone! I hope your 2017 is off to a fantastic start. For me, as I am sure for a lot of you as well, the holidays are fun and filled with great tasting food and drinks. So I figured it would be great to start the herb of the week series back up with a cleansing and rejuvenating plant. This week we are looking at an herb that is great for healthy digestion and detoxification: Burdock Root
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