Blog Posts - Holistic Living: Your Pathway to a Balanced Life

[Free eBook] Unlocking Cellular Healing and Regeneration through Fasting

12/3/2023

Welcome to December! It's hard to believe that 2024 is just around the corner...

2023 has been an amazing year as I discussed last week, and we're ready to finish strong! :-) To kick off the final month of the year, I've got your December freebie ready for you below. It's on a topic that has become very trendy over the past few years, although the technique has been used by humans for centuries for various purposes - both physical and spiritual.

I'm talking, of course, about fasting. While fasting has been used for religious reasons by monks, mystics, and more, in recent years, we have begun to understand that there is a health component to fasting as well. In fact, some laboratory studies have shown greatly increased longevity from restricting eating for certain periods of time. And while it may sound unpleasant, fasting can be easier than you think, and can actually boost your energy and mood and make you feel great!

You're probably not thinking a lot about fasting during this season of eating - after all, the holidays are the time to indulge a little - but this will be a great resource to help you start off the New Year with a cleansing fast, so go ahead and download your copy now, as it's only available for a limited time.

Giving Thanks for the Bounty Of 2023

11/26/2023

Gratitude list

Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

We had a quiet but enjoyable holiday, with plenty of sunshine which made it relatively pleasant to work outdoors as long as I was bundled up against the chill. My efforts were somewhat limited by a bout of hip pain, but I managed to finish the rest of the garden cleanup and fall harvest (radishes, turnips, carrots, and the remaining tender greens), do some mulching, and start working on cleaning up the yard.

We made entirely too much food for two people - as usual - but it was all delicious and featured a good amount of our own homegrown food, including deviled eggs, collard greens and kale, mashed potatoes, and butternut squash (which I did not grow intentionally this year, but we had a volunteer by the chicken run that produced 3 good-sized and delicious squashes). I also made homemade cranberry sauce, giblet gravy, and homemade raw-milk vanilla ice cream, which we enjoyed with apple pie and sparkling rose. It was very enjoyable and not too stressful, as I prepped ahead of time and made the ice cream and cranberry sauce the night before.

Anyway, Thanksgiving means it's time for this year's gratitude list, and while I found great inspiration in re-reading last year's list about the homestead, this year's list is a bit more eclectic. Here are just a few of the many things I am grateful for as we wrap up 2023...

Best-Ever Naturally Fermented Salsa Recipe

11/12/2023

Naturally fermented salsa recipe

If you've been reading this blog for long, you probably know that I love fermented foods! They're generally fun and easy to make, delicious, and really good for you. :-)

I typically try to post recipes towards the end of the month, but since the Gut Reset Summit is coming up later this month, and I just shared a recipe book of gut-healthy recipes last week, I thought I would follow it up this week with one of my all-time favorite ferments! (In fact, I thought I had already shared this one on the blog last summer when I discovered it, but after searching the archives, I realized I had not.)

Though it's a bit past tomato season now, I didn't want to wait another year to share this delicious creation with you! Be sure to bookmark this one for next tomato season. :-)

[Free Cookbook] 33 Gut-Friendly Recipes for Better Gut Health

11/5/2023

Gut-healthy recipes

It seems we can't go more than a day or two lately without hearing another news story about the importance of a healthy gut or maintaining our microbiome. The more we learn about this unexplored terrain, the more it seems we still have to learn!

I first became fascinated with gut health when I started learning about making my own fermented foods at home, and I've been experimenting and discovering new delicious flavors ever since. Fermentation is fun, safe, and tastier than you'd ever imagine! :-) Be sure to check the blog archives for some of my favorite fermented recipes - as well as the occasional epic fail...

For this month's freebie, I've got a really special one for you. This recipe book is packed with delicious, nutritious, and gut-healthy recipes to try for yourself. Learn more below, or just head over and download your free copy here!

Can Eating Together Make You Healthier?

10/22/2023

Social eating together for health

Today we're exploring an interesting question: Can eating with friends and loved ones actually improve your health?

It's a question we Americans don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about.

In many European countries, mealtimes are considered social times, sometimes lasting hours, and involving plenty of stimulating conversation along with the food. I remember this as one of my favorite things about visiting Europe!

Growing up in a half-Italian family with several siblings, mealtimes were often noisy, boisterous affairs - especially when friends or extended family were involved. My husband still sometimes gets overwhelmed at Christmas dinner at my parents' house with all the generations gathered together talking over each other! :-)

However, in much of modern America, the trend over the past century seems to have been towards more and more solo eating habits. In this interesting podcast episode of The Doctor's Farmacy, they examine the question of whether this trend is negatively impacting our health as a nation...

The Benefits of Alternative Therapies in Holistic Health: From Acupuncture to Yoga

10/15/2023

Alternative therapies in holistic health

We're back this week after a quick break! This is the busiest time of year on the homestead, and this year is no exception. Between harvesting, preserving food, cleaning up the garden, and getting everything ready for winter, I've been hard pressed to keep up with the blogs, but this week, I've got the next episode for you in our Holistic Health series.

So far, we've covered the mind-body-spirit connection, exercise, nutrition, and sustainability. This week, we're addressing some of the common alternative therapies that you may come across in holistic health circles. While each of these modalities has its own benefits and limitations, all of them have been used by humans for hundreds - if not thousands - of years before the advent of modern medicine, and each has its own place in the holistic health approach.

Learn more below, and be sure to check out the other posts in this series for more on the holistic health approach!

[Free eBook] Healing the Root Cause of Chronic Pain

10/1/2023

Healing Chronic Pain book

This month's freebie is one that has personal meaning for me. As a sufferer of chronic back pain for over 10 years, I understand how debilitating and demoralizing it can be. Sometimes it can feel like your body is defective. Like you will never be able to lead a normal life. Or that relief is hopeless.

However, there are resources and tools that can help. I've had great success with daily stretches and exercises that strengthen and stretch my back, and a truly marvelous non-traditional chiropractor who not only provides relief, but also has helped my body to heal and regain its original function.

The important thing is to find what works for you. In many cases, this is exercise. For some people, it could be related to nutrition. Don't give up - there is hope!

This month's freebie provides several proven approaches to dealing with and healing chronic pain from the inside. Learn more and grab your copy below.

Easy Fermented Mustard Recipe

9/24/2023

You may already know that I love trying new fermented foods - they are so much fun to make, and it's always interesting to see how every batch turns out a bit differently!

Fermented foods are a powerhouse of nutrition and provide great support to your microbiome, so if you haven't tried making your own yet, I highly encourage you to jump in and give it a try! Most fermented foods are extremely simple - some with just 2 ingredients like this easy sauerkraut recipe, and others with more ingredients like my absolute favorite fermented salsa (which is actually even easier to make than the sauerkraut if you use a food processor).

Either way, fermented foods are generally easy and very safe to make at home, and you'll be amazed at how fermentation can transform the plainest vegetables into a bounty of savory flavors!

This week, I'm sharing a unique one with you. This zesty condiment is something you'll never want to be without, and it's super easy to make at home!

The Role of Nutrition in Holistic Health: A Guide to Eating for Optimal Wellness

9/17/2023

Holistic nutrition

Today, we're continuing our Holistic Health series by taking a closer look at eating holistically. In the world of holistic health, where the mind, body, and spirit work in harmony, the significance of nutrition cannot be overstated. True holistic nutrition is not merely about counting calories or tracking macros; it is about nourishing the entire self - from the physical vessel to the innermost spirit!

While most of us might not think about it, eating is (or can be) a spiritual act.

If we stop mindlessly stuffing our faces and truly consider the act of eating, we begin to realize that consuming food connects us to the world around us in ways that few other human behaviors do. We are literally taking parts of the outside world into our bodies when we eat.

And it's not just the physical food that we take in. We are also connected to the earth where the food was grown, the water, sunlight, air, and other factors that went into growing or producing the food, and all the people who had a hand in producing the food and bringing it to our table. To take it further, eating could even be seen as an act of worship to our creator who created the correct conditions for the food to grow and thrive and produce fruit for us to consume.

Once we begin to look at it this way, it becomes much simpler to eat well. Is the food that you eat honoring the environment, the soil, the air? Is the way it was produced supportive to the land that was used to grow it and the people who grew it, or is it harming the ecosystem and poisoning the land and those who touched it along the way?

These are all things to consider as we explore the profound connection between nutrition and holistic well-being.

[Podcast] Food Is Medicine: Prescribing Food for Chronic Disease

9/10/2023

Food as medicine

This week, I wanted to share a very interesting discussion on the role of food in health.

Of course, we all know we need to "eat healthy" in order to be healthy - but what does that even mean?

There are literally millions of blogs, articles, papers, journals, and books about healthy eating available to us, yet as a country, we continue to struggle with diet-related disease and other health problems year-after-year, without much sign of improvement.

Here are just a few startling statistics:

Did you know that the US spent $4.3 trillion on healthcare in 2021, and we are on pace to top $7 trillion by the end of this decade?
Only approximately 12% of Americans are considered “metabolically healthy.”
That means the other 88% of us aren’t even meeting basic medical guidelines for things like blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and other markers of metabolic health!

So what's the problem?

As we've discussed so many times before, it all comes back to what we eat.

There's no simple answer (well, there is, but most people don't realize it), but all of the conflicting nutrition information out there isn't helping matters. Most people who try to eat healthy simply end up more confused than ever, and often give up before seeing results.

However, there are some promising developments in the medical sciences that may actually help to move things in the right direction. In this fascinating podcast episode, you'll learn more about why food should actually be considered "medicine," and how some efforts are being made to bring this philosophy into practice in the modern medical system.

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