I’ve been reviewing a lot of blood panel reports from client’s who would explain their lifestyle status as HIGH STRESS.

I get it! As a working mom, we love the challenge of trying to “do it all” but sometimes ignore the chronic cascade stress curve you're riding on. When you operate at 100 mph, 24/7 without proper care in diet, rest, exercise, stress management, and supplements the body will start to breakdown from cortisol dominance.

I’m finding a common denominated among stressed-out mamas, correlations to low stomach acid.

Stomach acid is a key component in the digestive process. When the stomach cannot produce enough acid, key minerals and proteins can’t be absorbed into this body. This leads to vitamin and mineral deficiency. So you may be eating all the right foods but without proper digestion and absorption you may be feeling blah and suffering with chronic symptoms due to nutrient deficiency.

Stomach acid is also responsible for killing...

Do you feel like you’re doing all the right things by eating a “balanced” diet and you still feel blah?

This was and is still me! Unfortunately, I was not blessed with “I can eat & drink whatever I want and feel like a million bucks.” It doesn’t matter how many food sensitivity tests I take, dairy still shows up as a high reactive food (as many others, WTH). My digestive system and skin also give me friendly clues that these high reactive foods are NG. 

You also may be sensitive to foods otherwise considered healthy. Remember, every gut has a unique blueprint so does every lifestyle! A stressed out gut is more likely to have more food sensitivities than a gut living in a stress free environment. 

Before diving deep into my gut health education I had no idea there was a difference between food allergy vs. food sensitivity vs. food intolerance. I was also clueless on how one becomes sensitive / intolerant to food but not allergic.

...

I tend to snack a lot. Mainly because it takes the edge off of my stress level. I mean, don’t you find yourself digging for food when the mind needs to escape from reality? 

Snacks seem to have a bad wrap. They either fall into the category of PC (processed crap) or bland as hell (aka rice cake or bitter broccoli florets). Neither of these categories fit my mission of gut reviving and exciting enough to curb my craving. 

While decompressing after a corporate day of triple booked meetings, I saw a video on making chocolate covered stuffed dates and my mouth started watering. 

Dates can easily squash a sugar craving and are extremely easy to stuff, honestly the combinations seem endless. So I went our pantry to craft up a few of my own combinations. 

Base Ingredients for these Chocolate Covered Date Bombs:

• Dates
• Nut Butter
• DF Chocolate
• Coconut Oil
• Pink Salt

Combo 1: Coconut D’Bomb

• Dates
• Coconut Butter
• Macadamia Nuts
• DF Chocolate

Combo 2: Almond...

How do you know when it’s time to focus on gut health?

Plain and simple: a SYMPTOM

A chronic symptom or symptoms is a key indicator it’s time to focus on improving your gut health. For example, low melatonin levels are a window into poor gut health as the gut contains at least 400 times more melatonin than the pineal gland. (1) If you’re having trouble staying asleep or if you feel tired after sleeping several hours this could be an indication your melatonin levels are imbalanced and a good sign you need to focus on gut health. 

3 Quick Tips to Improve Your Gut Health TODAY:

1) Listen to your gut.

Sometimes our mind gives us bad advice (like staying with that old boyfriend for too long, ha!) The gut and brain are connected through the vagus nerve and they communicate when there is distress. Tune in to your body's discomfort signals. Your gut will tell you when it’s unhappy.  Awareness is your ally!

2) Record what you eat in a journal...

Do you find yourself eating at your computer a few times a week? Ok, maybe everyday.

I get it, the working parent duties cause you to eat while multitasking. Even if that means taking a bite, rushing to do an action item, taking another bite, etc. Which only leaves you with a cold stale meal or no meal at all.

Here’s the deal, that stomach pain or bloating may be coming from the simple task of NOT chewing your food. 

Digestion begins in the mouth. As you chew your food, digestive enzymes found in saliva start to break down your food preparing it for absorption. Chewing your food thoroughly helps to achieve maximum absorption of all your vitamins and minerals. (1)

HOW TO CHEW PROPERLY

Chew each mouthful of food at least 30 times, until the food becomes liquid. (WHAT!)

• Chewing breaks down food and makes it easier on the stomach and small intestine
• Saliva assists in the digestion of carbohydrates
• Saliva also makes food more alkaline, reducing bloating and gas

But how is...

Are you OBSESSED with kombucha as much as I am? Meaning you have a budget for it - or not, ha! 

I'm so obsessed with the fizz, I took a course in fermentation and received a certification as a Fermentationist! Now I can experiment with making my own brews and fermented foods. There's only one problem I see developing very quickly, the SCOBY's (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, aka The Mother) are growing at such a rapid pace that I have a SCOBY farm in my pantry!

My favorite take away from the fermentation course was that fermenting food is EASY! I'll admit I was scared to make my own batch of kombucha or ferment my own jar of sauerkraut. I don't have it in my plan of life to poison myself from "aging" food. Little did I know there's nothing really scary about the art of fermenting food. Actually, you will learn a ton of valuable information when you get that intimate with food. Food is sexy my friend, not to mention it helps to support a happy gut. 

My new kombucha...

10 Fastest Ways to Lose Weight

Why does weight loss feel like a last-minute meeting scheduled on a Friday afternoon? Both promote cranky people, and both take time away from drinking wine.

Losing weight can seem like a daunting task. There’s fear in giving up foods you love and fear in doing something different. Instead of approaching weight loss as a go-no-go situation, try following these simple tips to jumpstart your weight loss by increasing your metabolism first.  

1. Balance your gut health: Having poor gut health usually means sugar cravings because the bad bacteria LOVE sugar! Gut dysbiosis creates an inflammatory system and slows down the metabolism. Add a probiotic like MegaSporeBiotic it will help balance your gut bacteria, produce antioxidants, and rev the metabolism to help burn calories at a faster rate. Use TAKE20 at checkout.
2. Eat fermented foods: Eating fermented foods makes essential nutrients more easily available for the body to use, allowing you to...

Have you ever caught yourself diving into a bag of cookies or chips (or both) for no apparent reason?  Or maybe you went postal on your kids even though they just looked at you funny???

You can officially blame the crazy on your HORMONES!

Hormones affect every tissue and organ in the body. They impact everything from gut function, muscle growth and recovery, bone health, brain function, and play a significant role in managing weight. If hormones are unbalanced the body may have a difficult time living up to the lofty weight-loss goals you have in place. 

Leptin and ghrelin are two hormones most involved in weight loss and appetite control. Ghrelin is responsible for signaling hunger and leptin is responsible for the feeling of satiety. Keeping these hormones in harmony is important for weight-loss efforts. 

So what’s the secret to managing and balancing your weight loss hormones without costly treatments or medication? BIOHACK

How to Biohack Your Hormones

Here...

The holiday spirit came early this year as we’re all desperate to find holiday cheer in 2020. Winter + Covid brings days filled with Netflix & Chill, sweatpants, and warmth found in the most indulgent of foods. Grocery aisles fill up with holiday favorites and social media ads entice you to buy one get one free peppermint bark & snowflake cheetos (who comes up with this stuff?)

Caution goes out the window and we deal with the holiday bloat and raging headaches because it’s “normal” and everyone is doing it! 

You know what everyone one else is doing… complaining about the notorious burden come New Year’s day: the Holiday “15.”

That’s right, the weight gain and feeling BLAH.  

Here’s the thing, I’m not talking about deprivation during the holidays. Instead, I want to give you approachable ideas to help you enjoy the sweetness in life without counting calories and  inevitable gut...

I recently celebrated my birthday and my gut just got another year older, ha! I have to admit in my 44 years of existence I've been pretty rough on my gut. 

• In my early days I lived on antibiotics -> killing my healthy gut bacteria
• In my late teens, 20’s and 30’s I lived on alcohol -> affecting my gut brain axis & bile function
• In my 30’s I had two c-sections -> pumped my body with more antibiotics, introduced my body to trauma, and started dealing with chronic stress from being a working mom ->-> breaking down my gut barrier wall and exposing myself to leaky gut

In my late 30’s I was at my lowest health point suffering with extreme fatigue, leaky gut, achy joints, and massive bloating. This was the pivoting moment in my wellness. I saw a functional medicine doctor, started taking gut health & nutrition courses and focused on diet, rest, “the right” exercise, stress management, and supplements. 

As I continue to...