News and ideas worth your attention.

8 Ways Prebiotics Make Your Gut Health Soar

Probiotic foods help ‘seed’ the gut, adding beneficial bacteria, which helps keep ‘bad bacteria’ in check, aids digestion and keeps nutrient absorption humming. But, probiotics are only part of the story. There’s another ‘biotic’ in the gut-supportive mix, namely the less talked about prebiotics. These are plant fibers that feed the beneficial bacteria (like, for example, the lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) in the gut – and they are essential to your gut health.

5 Ways to Get Your Fitness Routine Back on Track

Illness is just one reason you might fall off the fitness wagon. Injury; surgery; postpartum recovery; a major life event, such as a divorce or death; a consuming work project; or simply losing interest in an exercise routine can all disrupt your trajectory. And while the world may be chanting, “No excuses!” the reality is that life is full of ups and downs and pauses and resets.

Health Coach Tip - Healthy Travel

Who doesn’t want to arrive fresh faced and full of energy at their destination? Whether you’re flying for business or pleasure, the actual journey can take its toll on your body, both inside and out. Here are some tips to travel, and arrive, looking and feeling your best.

Understanding SIBO — 7 Things to Know If You’re Struggling With Gut Troubles

There are any number of belly-based ills that can make life very uncomfortable. Ailments like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, IBS or all of the above can, in addition to making you feel lousy, interfere with your body’s ability to get nutrients to where they’re needed, negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being and set you up for serious health problems down the road. One possible underlying cause of all this unhappiness? SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Trouble is, medical professionals often overlook it or misdiagnose it.

Best Foods to Reduce Skin Inflammation

Inflammation can be a hidden factor in your overall health, as you cannot see or feel the effects until they are present enough to cause lasting issues. It is a slow process that can cause damage to a wide range of elements such as tissues, collagen and joints. Unfortunately, by the time you discover chronic inflammation it is usually too late.

Health Coach Tip - Boost Your Mood

Feeling down? Whatever the reason you are in need of a pick-me-up, there are foods and activities you can do to give your mood an instant lift, no pills needed.

The Gut Sleep Connection: 15 Ways a Healthy Belly Helps Sleep

An out-of-rhythm lifestyle can throw off the gut and your sleep. And an out-of-rhythm gut can throw your entire life off-kilter – and screw up your sleep to boot. Conversely, good gut health can facilitate good sleep. So, the better you tend to your gut, the easier it will be to fall asleep and stay asleep.

6 Breathing Techniques

Ancient wisdom and recent research show that how we breathe can enhance our athletic performance and overall well-being. Try these six breathing exercises.

Health Coach Tip - Indoor Plants for Better Health

Indoor plants do more than just look pretty. Certain plants can actually help improve the air quality and bring a bright, uplifting energy to your indoor space. Get to the nearest nursery and get your green on!

11 Tips on How to Enjoy Sunshine Responsibly

Beyond just simply being drawn to the sun – its light, its warmth, the everything-will-be-OK vibe it brings – we actually need sunshine. Much like plants which harness the sun's rays through photosynthesis, our bodies use sunlight to help the skin produce the vitamin D it needs to build bones, tame inflammation, boost the immune system and protect against cancer.

What Your Thyroid Test Results Really Mean

Health Coach Tip - It's Time to Quit Sugar

You may have thought about quitting sugar before but that 3pm craving for chocolate makes it difficult! Quitting sugar may not be easy, but it’s oh so good for you, and it truly gets easier the more you do it. Here is some inspiration (and scary facts!) to help you kick the habit.

Better Rhythms for Better Sleep

The biological laws that govern sleep are more potent than social obligations and work responsibilities, as well as the pharmaceuticals created to override them (we’re looking at you, Ambien). They were written back when our ancestors were living in caves and huts, waking with the sun, eating the plants provided by nature, and resting as darkness fell. Even if our lifestyles are quite different today, our DNA hasn’t changed all that much.

A Book Before Bed: Better Sleep, Better You

The impetus for writing an entire book about getting better sleep is simple: sleep is fundamental to health and happiness. Rather than one-off sleep hacks or quick, easy fixes, getting better sleep requires deeper, more integrated approaches.

Health Coach Tip - Grow an Herb Garden

Growing season is quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time to start a small garden. Aren’t sure what to plant? Herbs have great nutritional and medicinal benefits and have been utilized for centuries!

Protect Your Heart, Brain and Life with Sulforaphane

If I had to pick a ‘best of’ group for your body, tying for first place with leafy greens would be cruciferous vegetables, those slightly sulfuric-scented veggies from the brassica family. They’re versatile, tasty, fairly easy to grow and most importantly, they’re nutritional superstars, rich in a very powerful sulphur-based nutrient compound, known as sulforaphane or SFN, whose benefits can push your health in a very positive direction and could even help save your life.

How to Stop Insomnia

Explore the various root causes of insomnia and get expert-sourced treatments for overcoming it.

Health Coach Tip - Why We Love Magnesium

Magnesium is so important for our wellbeing, playing a role in over 300 important enzymatic functions in the body. Yet most of us aren’t getting enough in our daily diets - due to depleted soil that our food is grown in and the prescription and over-the-counter drugs we are taking.

13 Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Digestion Now

Digestion is one of those routine bodily processes you probably don’t pay much attention to. That is, until ills like bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation rear their ugly head. While some people just try to ride it out, frequent gastrointestinal distress isn’t ‘normal.’ Rather, it’s your body’s way of telling you that your digestion needs some TLC.

What Are the Best Foods to Fight Depression? The Antidepressant Food Scale

Depression levels are at an all-time high. Unlike heart disease and cancer, mental illness strikes at earlier ages. In fact, among people aged 15 – 44, depressive disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide. And in 2020, depression will be the top cause of disability in the US for the first time.

Health Coach Tip - Avoid Canola Oil

Canola oil is an extremely common oil used in processed foods, bottled salad dressings and sauces, restaurant meals and prepared foods. Many use it in their own kitchen. You’ve probably heard that it’s heart healthy and on the other hand, some say to avoid it completely.

6 Common Drugs Your Body Needs to Try Cut Ties With

Contrary to what you might think, I’m not against medications, but I am against their overuse – and we are a nation of over-users. Lots of people think pills are harmless: they may do some good, and well, the doc said to take an Advil and call him in the morning, so why not? I’ll tell you why not. Drugs, be they prescription or over-the-counter, unbalance the system by design.

Stretch Yourself Strong

Popular wisdom says stretching doesn’t build muscle, burn fat, or shave time off a 5K. As a result, many of us shortchange or skip the practice altogether in our workouts. But according to many fitness experts, popular wisdom is wrong —and we’re missing out on its benefits. Stretching has been shown to help prevent injury, heal old hurts, improve range of motion, reduce muscle tightness and imbalance, and improve athletic performance. In fact, it’s so important to overall fitness that it’s not something to approach haphazardly.

Health Coach Tip - Cleansing Foods for Every Day

Springtime isn’t just for spring cleaning your house, it’s a great time to think about supporting the natural detoxifying processes in your body. Cleansing and detoxifying usually focus on cutting out potentially irritable foods, but there are plenty of tasty foods that you can eat all the time to support your natural detox system