Nutrition Category
Natural OptionsAn Important Year to Prevent the Flu
The upcoming flu season is causing concern for many people, compounding their worries about contracting coronavirus. Fortunately, the same behaviors that prevent transmission of COVID-19 – avoiding in-person gatherings, physical distancing when in public and wearing face masks – also protect you from the flu. Flu statistics and projections. The Read more…
Integrative MedicineWorking in Harmony with Your Microbiome
The devastating loss of human life from COVID-19 has recently highlighted the immense power of tiny, invisible microbes to shape our human experience. Microbes are microscopic organisms, including a variety of widely diverse species of bacteria and viruses. Bacterial species are highly adaptable to surviving almost any habitat, be it Read more…
Natural OptionsThe Many Benefits of Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a revered herb in India, and it’s a workhorse of traditional Indian medicine known as Ayurveda. Indeed, its name means “smell of horse,” both for its aroma and its ability to make one as strong as a stallion. Ashwagandha can be given to emaciated children to restart growth Read more…
Natural OptionsMad About Medicinal Mushrooms
The medicinal mushroom craze has arrived. Long used in traditional Chinese medicine for their potent health benefits, these superfoods can now be found, not only in health food stores, but also in coffee shops serving up chaga chais, cordyceps lattes, and lion’s mane matcha teas. There is even the “Shroom Read more…
Fresh CuisineMighty Microgreens
In our vastly expanding world of information, it is no secret that what we choose to eat can directly affect our overall health. Chronic diseases continue to be a critical health concern across America. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) conducted a study estimating that 85 Read more…
Natural OptionsDo We Need Electrolyte Drinks?
Electrolyte hydration drinks are big business. The market is valued at $1.5 billion per year and growing due to increased awareness about health and fitness, along with a desire to avoid carbonated beverages. But before you gulp down a Gatorade or Emergen-C, let’s discuss what electrolytes are, whether you need Read more…
Natural OptionsSupporting Our Warrior White Blood Cells
While white blood cells (WBC) account for only one percent of our blood, they have an enormous impact on our entire system and protect the body from illness and disease. Moving within our bloodstream, they work with our immune system as little warriors constantly doing battle to fight infections, bacteria Read more…
Natural OptionsCustomizing Your Carb Count on Keto
The ketogenic, or keto, diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet growing in popularity due to the many health benefits it can offer. The concept is to drastically reduce carbohydrate intake and increase healthy fat intake which puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When this happens, your body Read more…
Fresh CuisineThe Miraculous Mushroom
For a while there, it seemed that kale was at the top of the superfood kingdom…on nearly every menu and making its way into practically everything. Even fast food eatery Chick-fil-A rolled out a superfood kale salad. The ubiquitous McDonald’s also incorporated the healthy green, offering a kale breakfast bowl. Read more…
Fresh CuisineWhy Keto is Taking the World by Storm
Who’s heard of Keto? At this point almost everyone, even if they aren’t completely sure what it is and how it works. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Tim Tebow and Lebron James didn’t start the ketogenic, or keto diet trend, but they’ve certainly added fuel to the already-hot fire. Read more…
Fresh CuisineRaw Vegan in The Valley
What is a raw vegan diet and why the heck would anyone follow it? I’ve been doing so for over 12 years now and can’t imagine eating any other way. A raw vegan diet includes fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds not heated over 115 degrees. There is an elegant simplicity Read more…
Fresh CuisineThese Are a Few of My Favorite Things
If you’ve decided to cut down or eliminate sugar, I salute you. It isn’t easy. It’s in almost everything which you quickly learn when you give it up. And with the holidays here, temptations are sure to grow. Sticking with Mother Nature’s bounty and reading labels is the only way Read more…
Natural Options5 Natural Habits of Healthy People
Modern conveniences developed over the decades have made it hard for us to know what “healthy” means or looks like anymore. Here are a few instinctual habits of healthy people that are more in line with our human design. 1. Eat real food. When we eat food that comes from Read more…
Integrative MedicineDopamine Driven Sugar Addiction
In my practice as a nutrition consultant, I am continually trying to support people in their struggle with foods that sabotage their health goals. In my own life I am constantly battling my own “sugar addiction.” Eating and the desire to eat stimulate different mechanisms in the brain. Dopamine, the Read more…
Fresh CuisineMore Veggies Made Easy
We all want to eat more vegetables, but often the effort gets boring. Eating more of the same old thing – salads, sautéed, steamed or roasted veggies – diminishes your enthusiasm and can derail your efforts. The secret is to keep things interesting and easy. Since starting a pescatarian diet Read more…
Fresh CuisineMeal Plans
Meal plans are the number one request I get from new clients who are fed up with dieting. Meal plans are set recipes for days or weeks, measured out and calculated, telling you exactly what to eat and when. Seems like a slam dunk success, right? The dreamy concept of Read more…
FitnessExercising on a Ketogenic Diet
It seems the hot diet trend these days is the term ketosis. People are losing weight quickly and keeping it off with a great deal of discipline and significant effort. The aim of a ketogenic diet is to keep your body in a metabolic state called ketosis. Our bodies normally Read more…
Natural OptionsNutrition for the Aging Body and Mind
Whether we want to admit it or not, with age comes declining function of every major bodily system we have. The World Health Organization defines the aging population as 60 and older, but symptoms may start to show decades earlier. Common aging concerns should be addressed early when they are Read more…
Live Your WellestFood as Medicine
The old phrase “you are what you eat” is now the center focus of integrative medicine. But sometimes simply eating food is not enough, so we take vitamins to supplement what we may be missing. Another option growing in popularity is nutritional IV therapy which delivers vitamins, minerals, and other Read more…
Medical NewsWhat is Disordered Eating?
In a nutshell, disordered eating is when an individual’s relationship with food causes problems in their life or that of their loved ones. People are often surprised to find out that what they consider to be a lack of self-control or poor discipline is really “disordered eating,” driven by a Read more…