Besides air, of course, water is the most important element for human life. Water is critical for just about every single function our bodies perform. Did you know that you can live for 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water?

Sadly, many of us don't drink as much water as we should, which is especially dangerous during the hot days of summer. If you are already in the habit of drinking lots of water, your body will usually remind you when you need to drink more. But if you are used to ignoring your body's signals, you may become dehydrated very quickly when you are sweating more than usual. This is especially common among older people, who may lose their sense of thirst over time, which can be quite dangerous.

Personally, I am somewhat of a water fiend, and usually never go anywhere without a water bottle or tumbler. However, I know a number of people who seem to think drinking water is "boring" - an unfathomable concept for me, but it's surprisingly common. I know people who have actually passed out in hot weather due to dehydration, and it can be a scary thing. 

If you are working out or exercising hard in hot weather - or even just putzing around the the garden when it's hot out - be sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Add a few slices of fruit or vegetables if you want a bit of flavor.

But regardless of the time of year, you can also eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies with high water content. Not only do they contain valuable vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but they will help you stay hydrated while reducing the amount of water you need to drink. (Keep in mind that even if you're eating plenty of these hydrating foods, you should still make sure to drink extra water in hot weather or whenever you are sweating a lot.)

Below are some delicious water-rich foods to eat more of in the summer and year-round to keep you healthy and hydrated (surprisingly, although you may think of fruits as being more "juicy," many veggies actually contain more water, as you will see in the graphic below):

You probably don't think of milkshakes as being a health food, but this Keto treat will prove you wrong! This creamy and delicious shake is packed with healthy fats, protein, and delicious nutty flavor.

As delicious as classic pecan pie may be, it's also chock full of sugar, which more and more experts are declaring positively toxic to your health. The good news is, you can still indulge and be healthy - you just need to make sure you choose healthy, whole food ingredients that taste good!

This quick and easy milkshake has healthy fats from several different kinds of nuts, including delicious pecans, which contain numerous healthy components, including magnesium, B-vitamins, manganese, zinc, copper, Omega-3 fatty acids, oleic acid, vitamin E, phosphorus, and polyphenols. Together, these components show evidence of helping with weight loss, fighting cancer, boosting the immune system, reducing inflammation, and improving nerve and brain function, among others.

Other ingredients include flax seeds - high in Omega-3 fatty acids, nut butter, containing healthy fats and protein, and coconut milk and MCTs, great sources of healthy monounsaturated fats.

Just throw everything in the blender, and voila! A healthy, delicious guilt-free indulgence...  :-)

OMG I got so hungry reading this recipe I just had to post it for you!  :-)  As we discussed last week, contrary to (somehow STILL) popular opinion, eggs are not evil - and eating the whole egg is the healthiest way to eat it. 

Of course, just like with any food, the source of the egg does matter, so make sure you are getting eggs from pasture-raised chickens if at all possible - or even better, your own backyard! :-)  (We are working that this year, ourselves, but in the meantime, fortunately we have a neighbor who usually keeps us supplied with really good eggs for most of the year.)

This recipe makes a great breakfast, or you can enjoy it anytime you're craving something tasty and filling that's super quick to make. With a perfect balance of whole grains, healthy fats, and complete protein, this is not only a delicious but also an extremely satisfying meal!

It has been a while since we discussed eggs, and while the truth about saturated fats seems to be slowly becoming realized in the mainstream in recent years, there are still plenty of myths floating around out there about whether eggs are healthy or not, and whether you should only eat the whites and avoid the yolks.

This theory is still espoused by many fitness and health "gurus," on the grounds that egg whites are "healthier" for you as they are high in protein but low in fat.

However, as we have discussed at length before, dietary fat is not necessarily bad for you in the first place - as long as you're eating the right kinds, and avoiding the wrong ones...

I have addressed this topic here before, but I thought I would share a guest post with you today from one of my favorite nutritional experts. If you are still on the fence about whether you should really eat the yolks, maybe this will help clear up the confusion for you!

I grew up on homemade mayonnaise - or at least, on the rare occasions when we had mayonnaise, it was homemade...

I remember standing beside my mother, watching as she slowly poured oil into the blender with the brilliantly orange eggs I had collected that morning, along with salt, mustard, and vinegar, forming a creamy yellow spread.

Ours never looked anything like the thick, gelatinous, almost bleached-white stuff in the jars that my grandmother and grandfather sometimes brought along when they visited.

Of course, that meant theirs was much more special to us kids!  Consequently, I never realized just how tasty homemade mayo really was until I grew up. Now I am surprised how few people actually make their own - especially since it's so easy.

All you need are 5 simple ingredients and a blender or food processor to make your own homemade mayonnaise from scratch in just 5 minutes!

As you've probably heard by now, the Keto (or Ketosis) Diet is all the rage right now. While I'm not normally a fan of extreme fad diets, I do admit that they can be useful on a short-term basis, or to help manage certain diseases or conditions. For example, the Keto Diet has been found to be very helpful for many people with diabetes. It can also help to jump-start a weight loss plan and release stubborn fat stores if you have hit a plateau.

While I wouldn't suggest trying to eat keto forever, doing it for 30 days or a couple of months can be helpful in some cases for some people. However, as with most diets, getting started and learning to stick to the new eating habits is the hardest part. Most people in America have sugar addictions, which can make it very difficult for them to stick with the Keto Diet, which includes very low levels of carbs and sugars. However, it is possible to satisfy your sweet tooth on the Keto Diet, so if you love desserts and you want to eat keto, you'll love this month's "freebie"!

Check it out below to find out how you can get your hands on this awesome Keto recipe book filled with 80 delicious Keto dessert recipes for free!

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us, which means...it's time for Thanksgiving recipes!  :-) If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that last Thanksgiving I attempted a naturally fermented whole cranberry sauce - one of my few fermentation fails...

Okay, so just to clarify, they weren't horrible, just not as tasty as I had hoped. They were very sour, but palatable when served with a drizzle of maple syrup on top, as the recipe suggested. If I recall correctly, they also took at least 2 weeks to ferment, so they were definitely not ready by Thanksgiving.

However, I'm not giving up on fermented cranberry sauce just yet! This year, I'm trying a different recipe - this one has a few more ingredients and sounds quite delicious. Plus, I now have kombucha brewing constantly, so I will use some of that as the culture, since my hard cider was just started this weekend so it's not strong enough yet to provide a good culture.

We'll see how it goes - I think a yearly fermentation experiment would be a fitting addition to our Thanksgiving tradition! :-)

You are probably already aware that the hottest topic in medicine these days is the gut microbiome. Seriously - it seems like there's a new article about the importance of gut health coming out every 17 seconds these days!

However, if you've somehow missed this news and aren't sure what I'm referring to, your "microbiome" refers to the collection of trillions of microbes living within your intestinal tract. Influencing the microbiome in a positive way appears to be a key factor in promoting heath - and not just physical health, but mental as well.  

A healthy microbiome is part best friend, part power converter, part engine, and part pharmacy.

If you want to optimize your health, heal chronic disease, or know which foods are right for you… understanding your microbiome is absolutely your first step!

Of course, we all know we should be eating lots of healthy foods such as spinach, beets, broccoli and other colorful vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries. But unless you have the right microbes present that can fully metabolize these foods, you won’t get the full benefits…

And, in some cases, these foods could actually harm you!

Obviously, knowing what works for your gut is key to optimizing your gut health. Read more below to find out why your gut health is so important, and what you can do about it!

I finally found a name for myself... According to Michael Pollan, I am a "fermento" - a name that I will embrace proudly from now on! :-)  As you may know by now, fermented foods are the best way to include lots of healthy probiotics in your diet to feed your good gut bacteria. Plus, they're very easy (and safe) to make at home, and they taste amazing!

Despite all of the various fermented foods I have made over the past few years (kombucha being my most recent foray), one thing I had never tried fermenting for some reason is green beans. I've made many jars of very tasty vinegar "pickled" (technically marinated) green beans, but for some reason it never occurred to me to try fermenting them - until I ran across the recipe below on one of my favorite blogs.

Not only is this a very simple recipe, but it is absolutely delicious! I only wish I had discovered it sooner, as our summer of 10,000 green beans is finally coming to an end, so I only managed to make one small jar of these delightful pickles... :-(    I will definitely be making lots more of these next year!

In some circles, yogurt is thought of as a "health food," and in truth, it really is one of the only fermented foods that is still regularly included in the American diet. As we have discussed numerous times before, fermented foods contain beneficial probiotics that, as more and more scientific studies are revealing, may be the key to many different aspects of health - not only physical, but mental as well.

However, others rail against yogurt, calling it a glorified "junk food," packed with sugar, artificial ingredients, and, of course, dairy - an oft-vilified food type by many in the new "plant-based" diet movement.

So what is the real truth about yogurt? Is it a healthy food that you should include in your diet, or a junk food that you should avoid?

Today's guest article by one of my favorite natural health writers and nutritionists will explore some of the problems you should be aware of when eating  yogurt, as well as how to choose the right type of yogurt for good health. He will also discuss the differences between yogurt and kefir - another dairy-based fermented food that has gained a cult following in the U.S. in recent years, although it has been consumed for centuries in other parts of the world.

Read on to find out more...