Helichrysum essential oil comes from a natural medicinal plant that's used to make a beneficial essential oil that boasts many different full-body benefits due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal and antibacterial properties. (1) Helichrysum essential oil, typically from the Helichrysum italicum plant, has been established in various experimental studies to have strong abilities to lower inflammation due to…
Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are one of the oldest consumed crops in the world. In fact, they have been a part of certain traditional diets for over 7,500 years, and it's not hard to see why when you take into account the benefits of chickpeas nutrition. Today, chickpeas remain one of the most popular legumes…
Most people have the occasional gut symptoms after eating a heavy meal or during periods of high stress. This is normal, as the human body has ways of telling you that you need to take a break and take better care of yourself. What’s not normal, however, is when your digestive symptoms get so bad…
While knowledge about the benefits associated with probiotics has exploded over the past decade, many people are still unsure about how prebiotics and postbiotics work. Probiotics are the "good" (or "friendly") bacteria that colonize the digestive system and support many functions of the immune system. Prebiotics essentially feed probiotics, helping them survive and reproduce through the…
A cornbread recipe that doesn’t use corn. Seems a little odd, right? Cornbread is a staple side dish for Thanksgiving, or it goes swimmingly with chili and hot cider. But many of my patients I encountered over the years as a functional medicine doctor could not tolerate or digest corn. That was the inspiration for…
It’s not uncommon today for people to carry around small bottles of hand sanitizer wherever they go, wash their hands deliberately throughout the day, and scrub produce squeaky clean. Although many of us have been led to believe that all germs are potentially dangerous — and that the cleaner our diets, bodies and environments stay,…
Leaky gut is tied to a range of health conditions, from food sensitivities and irritable bowel syndrome to autoimmune diseases and inflammatory skin conditions like acne. It's why I recommend transitioning to a healing foods diet and transforming your health from the inside out. This Gut-Healing Smoothie is one of my favorite recipes to soothe the gut…
Anemia, also known as anaemia, occurs when your blood has a lower than normal number of red blood cells or if your red blood cells don't have enough hemoglobin. Because a side effect of anemia is low circulation of oxygen, anemia symptoms usually include muscle weakness, ongoing fatigue or lethargy, brain fog, and sometimes mood…
There's no doubt that diet plays a central role in regulating inflammation. In fact, a 2017 survey found that nearly one-quarter of those with rheumatoid arthritis reported that their diets impacted symptom severity. Even for those without an autoimmune disorder, limiting a few of the top foods that cause inflammation can be incredibly beneficial to…
Hormones — such as estrogen, testosterone, adrenaline and insulin — are extremely important chemical messengers that affect many aspects of your overall health. That's why a hormonal imbalance can be problematic, so you want to make sure you know how to balance hormones. Conventional treatments for hormonal imbalances typically include synthetic hormone replacement therapies, birth…
