Refresh Your Soul

       Does meditation Improve your health? People have been meditating for centuries as a form of spiritual and religious practice. One of the most significant contributors to our health issues is stress. Meditation and mindfulness have been known to be helpful with stress anxiety but does that have a relationship with our long-term health? In our current society, we have many different forms of coping mechanisms. Some of these may not be the best for our health and may even be considered harmful.        A recent meta-analysis in rodents shows that depression and stress are among the five leading causes of disease (Antoniuk et al., 2018). This article is fascinating because of where we currently are in the world today. We all have stress to some degree; however, after covid, the social-political divide, and inflation, this is a new level of stress for all to manage. While connecting with clients, I hear and feel it.      Self-love can feel uncomfortable and challenging to practice da

  Let's talk about protein and the role it plays in our health. Often clients ask, "how much protein do I need. Can I get enough from plants, or do I have to eat meat?"  Let's start from the beginning. Protein is a required macronutrient we need to live and function. However, to fully understand protein, we need to know how it works in our bodies. When we eat, protein is broken down into amino acids in the body. Our body requires 22 amino acids to function. Some our body makes on its own, and some we have to get from food. If the protein is the necklace, the pearls are amino acids that make up the necklace.   Our body is 75% tissue. Our tissues and organs are made of protein; heart, lungs, brain, muscles, etc. Protein is made in our cells through a two-step process; the DNA and mRNA transcription. These amino acids produce proteins that do different tasks in our body.  Let's talk about how much protein a human requires. There are varied ideas about this in the lit

Food Sensitivities & Intolerances  

5 Tips to Improve Digestion  

Red Light Therapy  

Let's Chat about Poop!

  If you have struggled with IBS in any form, I am sure you have heard of the FODMAP diet. The Low FODMAP Diet was first developed by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  They have been innovating and making improvements in the lives of people with IBS. For those who have never heard of a low FODMAP diet. It was created just for people reporting GI issues. FODMAP is the fermentable parts of our food that our gut microbes can turn into gas.   The acronyms for FODMAP are fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.  Carbohydrates, when eaten, they break down into sugar molecules. The bacteria in our gut eat these fibrous foods, which are by-products. It is caused and fermented in the gut.  A low fodmap is a less fermented food.   The diet is an elimination diet to isolate the foods causing the sensitivity and work on building and strengthening the microbiome and reintroducing one or more foods.   This is done over a 2-4 week period.   Ideal

   November is here! What are you thankful for? I am grateful for all of you who support Refresh Your Soul. It's been a year since the big move to our New Home, and we made it through COVID. I dreamt of a business like I have today and never thought it was possible. Thank you for supporting me along the journey. I hope you are healthy, doing well, and spending this year with those you love. Take it all in, take a moment and reflect on the past year; what a gift. Blessing to you all this Thanksgiving!  It's the season of Gratitude. Practicing an attitude of Gratitude allows us to walk through life a little lighter and with a new perspective. Let's face it, the last two years have been difficult at times and tested our resolve. This is where we grow and try our character. What have you learned about yourself? I am grateful for the challenges and the awareness I have been given throughout the past two years.  This month we are featuring B complex. B vitamins are essential; not

  Gas and bloating can be highly uncomfortable and next to constipation; it is one of the most common complaints.    Several reasons could cause gas and bloat: Examples include constipation, enzyme deficiency, food intolerance, food allergy, food sensitivity, imbalance in the microbiome, and poor diet.  Identifying why or what causes bloating can be frustrating.    What can you do? Start with Colon Hydrotherapy, cleanse your colon, and flush your colon of any impacted stool. Do you feel better after colon hydrotherapy if you are experiencing constipation and impacted stool? If you do, Constipation may cause your gas and bloat.  Work on constipation and work toward building a healthy Microbiome.    This next section is for you if you have gas, bloating, and regular bowel movements. Keep a food log, identify food within 30 to 3 hours after eating, and pay attention to your body. There are several resources to follow up on what may be giving you the bloating and swelling. Li

  Refresh Your Soul supplement of the month is our very own Mushroom Combo. We believe in the Magic of mushrooms. Medicinal mushrooms are mushrooms that are used as medicine. They have been used to treat the infection for hundreds of years, mainly in Asia. Today, medicinal mushrooms are also used to treat lung diseases and cancer. For more than 30 years, medicinal mushrooms have been approved as an addition to standard cancer treatments in Japan and China. In these countries, mushrooms have been used safely for a long time, either alone or combined with radiation or chemotherapy. In Asia, there are more than 100 types of mushrooms used to treat cancer. Some of the more common ones are Ganoderma Lucidum (reishi), Trametes Versicolor or Coriolus Versicolor (turkey tail), Lentinus edodes (shiitake), and Grifola frondosa (maitake).   Mushrooms are being studied to find out how they affect the immune system and if they stop or slow the growth of tumors or kill tumor cells. Certain che

  The microbiota is a critical player in our metabolism and our immunity. Today we are still learning about these trillion species that are hosting us. I am not sure if we will ever fully understand them. We know that the deeper we go into the colon, the more diverse and dense the bacteria. Getting a diverse diet and lots of fiber and prebiotics feed these but also improve our brain-to-gut axis via the vagus nerve has a bi-directional feedback loop that originates in the gut. This bio-feedback loop constantly communicates via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and has several functions; in fact, that's another book. The biofeedback loop corresponds to the Central nervous system continuously. One of the roles is helping to uptake hormones produced by the enteroendocrine cells (EEC). Many hormones, such as serotonin, and tryptophan, originate in the gut. The microbiome aids in taking these hormones. To the vagus nerve, The HPA axis is a biofeedback look via showing the neg

  The Power of Food. I am a firm believer that food comes first, and food will heal. It healed me. That being said, I believe in shades of gray, and there is a place for everything, so if you take medication and require it, that is another conversation.     The truth is often time we never accurately give food an honest chance. When I work with clients who stay consistent, disciplined, and committed, their lives transform—their health changes. Eating whole foods and having an active lifestyle will transform your life.      Every client is unique and requires a tailored program, depending on their current health, knowledge, and willingness. Ultimately, I find my job is educating, coaching, and guiding my clients to build healthy relationships with themselves and with food.    The more I study food, the more I learn. I am continually amazed by its healing properties. I will close out with this; It saddens me; for example, we are not taught more about nutrition in school. If w

The soil and the human gut contain approximately the same amount of microorganisms. However, the human gut microbiome diversity is decreasing by 10% of Soil in biodiversity and has continued to reduce dramatically with the modern lifestyle. Through evolution, there is an ongoing environmental microbiome linkage between the soil microbiome and the human intestinal microbiome. From hunter-gatherers to current society, the human gut has lost diversity. People today have little contact with soil and feces; hygienic measures, antibiotics, and a low-fiber diet of processed food have led to a loss of beneficial microbes. The increasing use of agrochemicals, low plant biodiversity, and rigorous soil management practices have negatively affected biodiversity. These developments concur with increased lifestyle diseases related to the human intestinal microbiome.