Category: - Holistic Living: Your Pathway to a Balanced Life

Gut Health & Immune System Connection: How Gut Health Boosts Immunity

9/29/2024

Gut health & the immune system

Welcome back to our series on gut health! This week, we're exploring the intricate connections between gut health and the immune system.

While most of us never think of the two as being related, in fact, in recent decades, research has found that indeed, a majority of our immune system functions rely on our gut health! As we head into the annual cold and flu season, this is something to keep in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this connection means that improving your gut health may be key to staying healthy year-round.

It's important to remember that maintaining good health isn't as simple as popping a few pills here and there; it's an ongoing lifestyle that yields benefits over time. So don't expect to start taking probiotics today and avoid getting next month's cold virus. Making a daily commitment to support your gut health is the first step. Continuing these healthy habits over the months and years to come is what will truly make a difference to your gut and to your overall health and immunity.

With that in mind, let's dive into the details and find out how and why gut health impacts your immune system, and what you can do to improve both.

The Surprising Connection Between Gut Health & Mental Health

9/8/2024

Gut health and mental health connection

We're back this week with the next installment in our gut health series, and this week, we're exploring what I find to be one of the most interesting aspects of gut health: the gut-brain connection, and how gut health impacts our mental health.

While discoveries were made over a century ago regarding how diet affects mood and mental health disorders, it hasn't been until the past decade or so that modern medicine has actually devoted much attention to this topic. These days, a quick Google search will yield hundreds of articles on the gut-brain connection, but I've summarized some of the most important research on this topic below for you to save you some time! :-)

Check it out to learn more about the fascinating topic of how your gut health affects your mental health, and some simple steps you can take right now to start improving both!

[Podcast] Holistic Strategies for Dealing with Our Mental Health Crisis

8/18/2024

Holistic mental health

Obviously, we talk a lot about health on this blog, but our mental health is inextricably linked to our physical health. In fact, it's impossible to address one without looking at the other.

In this week's post, I'm sharing a eye-opening episode of The Doctor's Farmacy, where Functional Medicine doctor, Mark Hyman, sits down with Dr. Jaquel Patterson, a naturopathic physician and expert in integrative psychiatry, to discuss the hidden root causes of brain inflammation that can lead to poor mental health. Many of these causes start in the gut or other bodily systems, and over time, they can begin to impact our brain health in negative ways.

This is just one more reason why we need to be addressing our health as a holistic system, rather than just managing symptoms on a piecemeal basis! Tune in to this fascinating episode below to learn how your health impacts your brain, and how to manage our mental and physical health in a more holistic way in order to achieve better overall long-term health.

13 Common Signs of an Unhealthy Gut & How to Fix It

8/10/2024

Signs of an unhealthy gut

This week, I've got the next episode in our Gut Health series for you. Last time, we discussed the gut microbiome and how it impacts your health. Today, we're going to look at some of the most common signs of an unhealthy gut, and share some tips and strategies for restoring the balance to your gut bacteria.

As modern medicine is finally recognizing, the health of your gut microbiome is inextricably tied to your overall health, impacting everything from heart health to obesity, to mental health and addiction. This makes your gut arguably one of the most important factors to consider when addressing just about any health concern.

Unfortunately, far too many people suffer from imbalances in the gut, leading to all sorts of common maladies and health disruptions. However, since modern medicine is relatively new to the area of gut health, the signs of an unhealthy gut are often overlooked during routine visits to the doctor.

Here are some of the things you should watch for, in order to take charge of your own health and be aware of what's going on inside this important area of your body.

[Free Webinar] The Benefits of Cold Plunging

8/4/2024

Cold plunge health benefits

Every few years, it seems like there's a new health craze making waves on social media, and lately, the new "hotness" seems to be the cold plunge. I've recently heard it mentioned on the mainstream TV news, as well as by coworkers and of course, on social media.

Sometimes called ice bathing or ice dipping, as with many of these "new" fads, cold plunging has actually been around for a really long time. Some cultures have been practicing it for centuries - sometimes for religious or hygienic reasons, but in many cases, for health purposes.

While some of the purported benefits sound a little far-fetched, it was interesting enough to catch my attention, and I thought for this month's free resource, I would share this upcoming webinar that discusses the potential benefits (backed by new research) of cold plunging.

If you've heard about cold plunging recently as well and have been curious to learn more about what it is, how it works, and how it could benefit your health, go ahead and register here to attend this free online session, or click to learn more below.

Understanding the Gut Microbiome: What You Need to Know

7/28/2024

Understanding the gut microbiome

Summer is in full swing here on the homestead, and we've been endlessly busy with watering, weeding, mowing, mulching, and all the other tasks inherent to the growing season. Harvesting is also starting in earnest this week, with summer squash, beans, and even tomatoes starting to come on strong. Never a dull moment this time of year!

Anyway, as we move into the late summer months, I thought it would be fun to do a little series on gut health. This is an area that is endlessly interesting to me. It's such a new frontier when it comes to health, and we have so much more to learn, but it seems this aspect of health is more intimately connected to our health as a whole than any other. This makes it a perfect topic to address in relation to holistic and healthy living, so let's dive in!

We'll start off this month with an introduction to the gut microbiome. Check it out below to learn what you need to know about this fascinating area of health - and how it impacts your overall health and well being.

[Podcast] Uncovering the Hidden Dangers of Environmental Toxins

7/21/2024

Dangers of environmental toxins podcast

Welcome back! In today's post, I'm sharing an eye-opening podcast episode on common environmental toxins that may be impacting your health without your knowledge.

The truth is, in today's modern world we are surrounded by chemicals the human body was never exposed to for the first few million years of our existence. While our bodies do come equipped with amazing filtering and detoxification capabilities, the sheer number of toxic substances we come into contact with on a daily basis is cause for concern.

In fact, many modern maladies that we suffer from in the Western world may actually have some connection to various toxins. Certain chemicals have been linked to weight gain, diabetes, allergies and food sensitivities, mental illnesses, skin conditions, and, of course, cancer, among others.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Mark Hyman interviews Dr. Joseph Pizzorno—a pioneer in functional and environmental medicine—to uncover the hidden dangers of common environmental toxins and what we can do to protect ourselves.

Tune in to learn about practical detoxification pathways, foods that support detox, and effective methods to eliminate fat-soluble toxins. Plus, discover how reducing your exposure to heavy metals and synthetic chemicals can dramatically improve your health.

What Is Functional Medicine?

6/23/2024

Functional medicine

Welcome back! We enjoyed a lovely long weekend visiting our friend in Tennessee last weekend, including lots of lake time, boating, and swimming, which made the hot weather more bearable. We returned home to an Ohio heatwave, accompanied by a bumper crop of peas and raspberries and basil. It's shaping up to be a bountiful garden year - as long as I can keep everything watered!

Anyway, I realized the other day that although I frequently share information here from a Functional Medicine perspective, I've actually never discussed what it actually is - at least not in depth. Today, we'll dive into the benefits, treatments, and methods of the Functional Medicine approach. Check it out below to learn how this healing modality can complement your health journey.

[Podcast] How to Fix Your Busted Metabolism: A Deep Dive into Functional Medicine and Metabolic Health

6/9/2024

Metabolic health podcast

One of the reasons I became so interested in Functional Medicine is that it is, as Dr. Mark Hyman says, "the medicine of asking why". Rather than simply evaluating a symptom and throwing some pills at it, Functional Medicine takes a curious approach and seeks to find out WHY you're having the symptom, so that it can be addressed at the root level.

This is one thing that I've found so frustrating in my own health journey, as I've started taking steps to begin addressing my chronic acid reflux. The conventional doctors I have met with so far seem to want nothing to do with the problem other than try to prescribe me prescription-strength antacids. (Which is obviously just a band-aid approach.)

Anyway, I'll stay off my soapbox for now, but I'll give you an update on my own health story - and the issues I've had with conventional medicine - later this summer. For now, I'll just say that I'm no longer content to just take the drugs, and soon, I plan to talk to someone who will actually start helping me look for the "why."

If you're dealing with your own chronic health problems that just won’t go away, it might be time to look beyond conventional medicine and dive into the world of Functional Medicine. In the latest episode of The Doctor's Farmacy podcast, Dr. Mark Hyman sits down with Dr. Casey Means to unravel the complexities of metabolic health and how it interconnects with our broader societal issues. This episode emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the status quo to reimagine health in a more holistic and effective way. Check it out below!

How to Live to 100: 7 Healthy Habits of Centenarians

5/19/2024

Healthy habits of centenarians

I'm back today with a topic that has been on my mind lately as I draw ever closer to 50...

I'm talking about the subject of longevity.

When we're in our 20's, we feel like we'll live forever - even though we know it's not true! In our 30's, we may start to pay more attention to our health, but our "golden years" still seem so far away.

Once we hit 40, we begin to realize that we're already halfway through our lives (at least for most of us), and by 50, the reality of old age becomes more apparent - and more present - in our lives.

Wounds and injuries take longer to heal, we don't see or hear as well as we used to, and when we look in the mirror, sometimes we are startled to see that we no longer look like that innocent 20-something anymore... (Or is that just me??)

While growing older is inevitable, there are plenty of things that we can do to prolong a youthful state of health - both mentally and physically. This week, I'm sharing 7 tips for staying younger for longer. These healthy habits can be observed in all cultures where longevity is more prevalent than it is in most of the Western world.

The highest percentages of centenarians are found in a few specific pockets throughout the world, and researchers have been studying these so-called "Blue Zones" for the past few decades to find out their "secrets" to a long life. As you will see below, it turns out, they aren't all that "secret" after all...

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