Did you know that you can be 100 pounds overweight and your body can still be starving for nutrition? So much of the foods that are easy and available are empty, nutritionless, and hard for our bodies to process. Even if a lot of your diet is fruits and vegetables, you still might not be getting enough nutrition because they may be grown in poor soil or genetically modified.
Read MoreMy family and I just made a cross-country move from the east coast to Arizona. Needless to say, it is hot this summer! My typical game plan for staying cool during the summer entailed staying in, keeping myself hydrated, eating ice, and fanning myself profusely. This summer I wanted to use natural remedies consistently to beat the heat. We will cover a few simple ideas in this article that you can use for years to come.
Read MoreThe journey into motherhood is a huge adjustment for many of us. You enter this new world without a manual to guide you through the steps, but the beauty of motherhood is that you find your way. Your motherhood journey is not always pretty and it doesn’t look like your neighbor's experience, but it shouldn’t because every mother, including you, is unique.
Read MoreOne evening I was sitting next to a woman doctor at a charity dinner. I was excited and eager to ask her about her views and thoughts on social injustices in maternal health. Her story was not what I wanted to hear, but what I knew I would.
Maybe this conversation got too deep for a first meeting, but these stories need to be told and heard. She began to share with me, “I did my residency on the labor and delivery floor of a small Florida hospital where there was a large Haitian population. The Haitian women have a cultural song that is sung to the woman in labor, it’s a song of ceremony and community.” I knew what she spoke of, I have heard this hymn. She then explained, “The staff made fun of it, they had their own version they would sing in the staff room, but their version was not beautiful or kind, they were mocking and cruel.”
Read MoreCharting Your Cycle can be helpful in both preventing pregnancy and getting pregnant. There are many different types of birth control and multiple herbs, oils and substances which have been used to help prevent unwanted pregnancies all throughout time. However, if you want to postpone getting pregnant naturally, the best way to accomplish this is to understand how your body works and learn to recognize the signs, so that at any given time, you will know where you are in your cycle and what your body is doing. With this knowledge, you can either avoid your fertile time or you can use it to become pregnant when you are ready to have another child.
Read MoreThere is no more perfect food for a human infant than its mother’s milk. A cow makes the perfect food for a growing calf. A goat makes the perfect food for a growing kid and a horse makes the perfect food for a growing colt. Each baby has different needs and growth expectancies – each mother makes the perfect formula to help meet those needs. So, how does human milk differ from other animals?
Read MoreDuring the years that our childrens’ minds and bodies are developing – it is crucial to teach them healthy habits of living like nutrition and exercise. A child’s brain is not fully mature until about the age of 25 years, so from the moment of conception until the age of twenty-five the brain is growing, developing and maturing. Their physical body is also going through the same transformation. Without the building blocks it needs and/or a healthy, safe environment to grow in – none of these developments will be able to reach and achieve their full potential.
Read MoreHow would you rate your sleep on a scale of 1 - 10? Do you wake up energized and ready to start the day or groggy and needing a cup of coffee? Do you sleep through the entire night or wake up multiple times? Do you have an easy time falling asleep once your head hits the pillow or do you toss and turn with racing thoughts?
Read MoreGrowing up, I continually found myself having a negative view of myself and I was stuck in a web of negative self talk. As an adult I have finally been able to be released from some of that through finding methods that encouraged me to view myself in a positive light and it led to confidence within. As humans that are in a community, we are prone to experience self doubt and we may even deal with body image issues. Whether you are a teen, pregnant, a new mom, or single, these are things that can cross our minds and take control of our actions.
Read MoreWhen you become pregnant, your body goes through a lot of amazing changes. Every system in your body is affected – respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, musculoskeletal, urinary, gastrointestinal – orchestrated by the release of hormones, your entire body adapts and changes to support and care for your baby. In order for your body to proceed forward through a healthy pregnancy – it needs proper nutrition. This will include carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats, etc.
Read MoreWhat could you do with more energy? As moms, most of us never feel like we have enough energy to do everything we want to do! Our bodies have greater nutritional needs because we're pregnant, or breastfeeding, or getting up multiple times a night with the baby.
Read MoreI really struggled with writing this. It all seems really easy, just tell someone that they should do something. “Hey woman, be empowered” but life rarely works that way. Years of paternalism (a system where the person who has the authority makes the decisions for another person because the authority figure knows what is best) has given women the false idea that the provider (doctor or midwife) knows entirely what is best for her body. How is it that a woman’s body knows exactly how to grow a whole person, but all the details and the birth should be given to the provider to “handle”? Now, I am not saying that providers are not needed. Certainly nature has flaws and providers can guide the woman and help prevent complications, but the key here is guide.
Read MoreSpring is just around the corner! As the trees and flowers begin to emerge, we can’t get over how beautiful and alive everything looks. While our eyes light up at the sight, we also know how frustrating this time can be as plants start to release pollen and dust into the air. Luckily, there are many natural ways we can use to support our respiratory system and breathe deeply!
Read MoreVaccines. One of the most controversial topics for the past two decades! Should I or shouldn’t I get my child vaccinated? This is not an article stating whether or not to vaccinate your child(ren). But rather a mom’s view; a mom simply stating her opinion on why I refuse to give my children any more vaccinations.
Read MoreRecently I wrote an article while my toddler was not exactly in the best of moods. He was fussy, not due to sadness, but due to (fairly successfully) fighting nap time. Which brings me to the title of this article, three ways to be a successful wahm (work at home mom). If you are reading this and wonder if it will apply to you, please know that this article is applicable whether you work for a company outside of your home, whether you work for yourself, or whether you spend all of your time taking care of home. Taking care of home and family is something that is definitely a 24 hour job that doesn’t typically pay as much as it should—though each night we see our children safely tucked in at bedtime makes it all worth it!
Read MoreNaturopaths, herbalists, and other holistic healers have always understood the importance of cleansing and nourishing the body – especially the colon. However, in the last ten to fifteen years, science has been coming to appreciate and understand how important this is. We now understand that 90% of the serotonin made in the body is made in the gut. The gut supports seventy percent of the immune system. Fifty percent of dopamine is made in the gut. This is where the nutrients from the food we eat are sifted out and taken into the body.
Read MoreOur immune system is in need of strengthening to protect ourselves from harmful viruses and bacteria. This can all be accomplished by looking at your current state of health, adding immune-building foods or herbs, or increasing our intake of dietary supplements.
Let’s look at your health first! Are you the individual that is always sick? Is your diet in need of improvement? Is your digestion in working order? Are you depleted in any nutrients? Are you on any pharmaceutical medication that suppresses your immune system? These are just some of the areas that you want to improve on.
Read MoreWe're all adapting to a new normal right now, and for many of us, this means we're creating a brand-new routine. Not just for our families, but for ourselves. Our daily habits play a big role in that.
It's essential we take the time we need to be kind to ourselves, as we navigate the uncertainty around us. But what we can also start doing is making sure we prioritize healthy habits in our day-to-day - ones that ensure we feel better in the long-run.
Read MoreYour skin is one of your body’s most important zones of elimination. The natural cleansing properties of the skin are constantly flushing bodily wastes, but when your skin is working overtime, you are more likely to experience blemishes, blackheads, and non-cystic acne. The 3 main herbs in Facial Clear Capsules, Dong Quai Root, Burdock Root, and Yellow Dock Root, all help with the removal of waste from the blood before it comes out on the skin.*
Read MoreOur skin is the largest organ and absorbs what we put on it. We can have the cleanest diet in the world, but still be affected internally by the harsh chemicals in our beauty products. There are numerous studies that show the link between certain chemicals and cancers. If you have the option to avoid that risk, why wouldn’t you make the switch? You don’t have to transition every single product at once, but start with one and go from there. Maybe it’s switching to an aluminum free deodorant or shampoo without parabens; everything counts! The first thing to do is familiarize yourself with some of the chemicals you should be avoiding.
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