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Showing posts from March 14, 2017

Your Top Pregnancy Questions Answered!

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I have been slowly cataloging all the pregnancy questions I received while pregnant…what prenatal vitamins I took… whether I’m vaccinating my baby… what foods I avoided… how did I prevent stretch marks…did I do a birth plan? I answer all these questions (and more!) This list will be updated regularly so if you have more questions, please ask in the comments below and I’ll update this list and let you know!  My sweet Harley at one week old  Photography by Little Nest Portraits What preparation did you go through before getting pregnant? I have been on a journey for over 10 years to get my health back on track, which helped to prepare my body for pregnancy. Over the years, acupuncture has helped tremendously to balance my hormones and heal my body. I also stopped taking birth control pills years ago, because they were preventing my body from doing what it is naturally supposed to do. I’ve restored my gut bacteria back to normal with a whole foods diet, supplementing with effect

The Importance Of Gut Bacteria In Pregnancy (and how we destroy it with modern practices!)

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This is a guest post written by Dr. Amy Shah, a member of my Advisory Council .  Dr. Shah is a practicing physician, specializing in Allergy & Immunology and Internal Medicine. Dr. Shah is also a mom, and as we were recently discussing my pregnancy she brought up a topic that I believe will be very helpful to all of the other mamas-to-be out there! How can you nurture the bacteria in your gut to protect the future health of your child? {Photo credit: Brad Olson photography} Nurturing bacteria in pregnancy and childbirth may be the key to unlocking the mystery behind the modern American crisis of diabetes, autoimmunity, asthma, allergies, obesity and more! Here is how we in medicine think this happens… There are 2 basic arms of the immune system: Th1 and Th2. These are white blood cells known as T-helpers that recognize and combat pathogens. Th1 fights bacteria, and viruses; Th2 takes on parasites, allergies and, we think, does not have much of a role these days. During pr

Are Infrared Saunas Beneficial?

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Last month, I installed an infrared sauna in my house. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been following a new bedtime ritual: a half hour in the sauna, a cold plunge in the pool, bed. The reasoning is that after warming up my tissues in the sauna, I drop them back down to prepare for sleep. So far, it’s working. I wasn’t exactly starting from a deficit—my sleep has been consistently good ever since I changed how I consume alcohol —but I’m really happy with the new setup. Why infrared? A traditional sauna heats the air around you. An infrared sauna uses infrared light to penetrate your skin and warm you directly without affecting the ambient temperature. This makes them great for home use. Okay, but do they actually work? What good is heating your skin with infrared light? I’ve covered the benefits of traditional saunas before—they’re great and many of them apply to infrared saunas—but today I’ll discuss the unique advantages of infrared saunas. Heart Health Perhaps the most robust

Chicken and Peaches- Local Production meets Local Consumption!

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We’ve got chickens in the brooder, tomato starts indoors and buds on our peach trees. Barring a severe cold streak between now and June, there will be a copious amounts of these ingredients available here in East Tennessee fresh and ready for our tummies. If you have the slightest green thumb or backyard chicken bone in your body, it is about to be the most spectacular time of year. Not to mention all the fantastic fun that comes from watching the children interact with our animals and the daily tasks that come with their care and preparing the garden. Baby chicks on their first morning at the farm. Nothing beats fresh and seasonal fruit. Peaches, strawberries and blueberries are coming soon. We have a variety of tomatoes awaiting the last frost before we take them outdoors. Our chickens are the Cornish Cross industry bird, raised on pasture and non-GMO feed. These birds are ready to eat in 8 weeks (kind of nutso). It’s a little insane watching them outgrow our laying hens (now ne

It’s Not Just You: Stress and Fat Are Linked

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In times of stress, many of us turn for consolation to sugary, fatty, high-calorie foods. Macaroni and cheese? Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with extra butter? A massive hunk of buttercream-frosted cake? They don’t call them “comfort foods” for nothing. “I often see unmanaged stress lead to overeating and binging with my clients,” says Kara Lydon, RD, LDN, RYT, author of  Nourish Your Namaste e-book   and   blogger at  The Foodie Dietitian . “When we push away our basic needs for self-care — relaxation, spirituality, fun, sleep — we wind up feeling overexerted, depleted and stressed and turn to food as a way to fulfill an unmet need. Overeating because of stress often leads to more stress and anxiety and it becomes a vicious cycle.” Given that, the results of a recent British study that found a link between long-term stress and obesity may not come as much of a surprise. The study, conducted by researchers at University College London and published in the journal Obesity , looked

Family Extravaganza

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I’m so excited to share the photos from our weekend full of family fun! On Friday night my parents stopped in Cville on their way up to Maryland. I hosted a dinner with Thomas’s family so they could (finally!) meet. They’ve already been friends online, so it was like they had already known each other. I love his family, so I was glad for my parents to finally get to spend some time with them. The night went wonderfully! My mom brought these cute frogs for Mazen and Thomas’s nephew as party favors. I put out cheese and crostini with fig spread for appetizers. Thomas grilled BBQ chicken, which was delicious. And my mom made her famous mac and cheese  that was the hit of the night! I also procured some of that amazing kale caesar salad from Whole Foods for the group since we all love it! Yum yum!! For dessert we had a buffet of ice creams with sprinkles: On Saturday morning we were up bright and early so we could caravan to Crofton, Maryland for even more family fun. My

Episode 359 – Dr. Ken Brown – SIBO

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Today’s guest is Dr. Ken Brown. He is a practicing Gastroenterologist, clinical researcher, SIBO expert, and creator of SIBO treatment Atrantil. Listen in as we talk all about SIBO, how to treat it, gut issues, and more! Download Episode Here (MP3) Guest: Dr. Ken Brown Atrantil: https://atrantil.com/ Website: http://ift.tt/2niwaeb     30 Day Guide to the Paleo Diet Want some extra help? Have you been trying Paleo for a while but have questions or aren’t sure what the right exercise program is for you? Or maybe you just want a 30-day meal plan and shopping list to make things easier? We’ve created a getting started guide to help you through your first 30 days. Buy the book   Don’t forget, Wired to Eat is available for pre-order now! Amazon , Barnes & Noble , IndieBound , iBooks from The Paleo Diet http://ift.tt/2mUY6E9