Flourishing Free Holistic Nutrition & Wellness

03/31/2024

🔪 🥬 This evening’s project: raw sauerkraut. 😋

Sauerkraut is one of the easiest fermented or cultured foods for a beginner to make. 👩🏼‍🍳

I used to think I didn’t like sauerkraut, but it was because the only sauerkraut I’d ever tried was the highly processed pickled version that you find in the center of the grocery store. Those foods are “dead” foods: their live enzymes have been killed by high heat from the pickling process. 💀

Homemade or raw fermented veggies are a whole other thing! 😃 Their flavours are amazing, and their benefits are many.

When you eat raw cultured foods you make your “good” gut microbes happy by feeding them what they need to survive.

Here’s what went into this super simple kraut:

Green cabbage 🥬
Red cabbage
Carrots 🥕
Garlic 🧄
Salt 😊 2% of the total weight of veggies)

Have you ever made sauerkraut or any other fermented foods? Kefir, kombucha, beet kvass, Kim chi…

Do you have a favourite cultured food?

03/13/2024

🌷 LADIES!!! If you're going to be in or around RED DEER on MOTHER'S DAY weekend, check out the Red Deer Women's Show!

I plan to be there with a booth, so be sure to come say HI! 😃

You can get 2 for 1 GUEST PASSES to the show just by signing up below... 👇

For details and to sign up, visit www.reddeerwomensshow.com

Hope to see you there! 💝

Exhibitor Inquiries: For all other inquiries, call Opulence Alliance Events at 403 608-3710 or email [email protected]

03/06/2024

📱 💻 Are you on LinkedIn? I recently joined and would love to connect with you in there! 😃

02/29/2024

Absolutely true!

Protein bars might not immediately come to mind when you think of unhealthy foods, but some aren’t as beneficial as they seem. Many bars sold today contain large amounts of ultra-processed ingredients, artificial sweeteners and added sugars.

02/27/2024

🌿 Exciting News for Anyone Interested in Holistic Nutrition 🌿

Have you heard about the Canadian Holistic Nutrition Conference (CHNC)? ✨ It's the BIGGEST holistic nutrition event in Canada, and it's celebrating its 16th year! 🎉 Join us this spring in Calgary or Toronto (2 dates, 2 locations!) for an incredible experience of learning and connecting with fellow holistic nutrition enthusiasts.

🌱 Theme: Nourish Our Future: Explore the Science & Power of Nutrition.

🤩 Open to the public, this in-person event is a must-attend!

Here are all the details you need to know:

CALGARY, ALBERTA:
Date: Saturday April 13, 2024
Location: Riviera Plaza Calgary Airport
🐦 Early Bird Deadline: March 1, 2024 (SAVE $20!)
🎫 Get Tickets HERE: https://www.csnnalumni.org/chnc-2024/?ap_id=flourishingfree

TORONTO, ONTARIO:
Date: Saturday May 11, 2024
Location: Ontario Science Centre
🐦 Early Bird deadline: March 29, 2024 (SAVE $20!)
🎫 Get Tickets HERE: https://www.csnnalumni.org/chnc-2024/?ap_id=flourishingfree

🎤 Expert Speakers: Dive into fascinating topics with renowned speakers like Dr. Uma Naidoo, MD and Dr. Nigel Plummer, PhD!

🎁 Bonus: Recordings of ALL CHNC speakers for all ticket holders! 🎥

🥦 An Amazing Tradeshow: You won’t want to miss this opportunity to browse a room full of the latest in nutrition-related products and services!

🎟️ Get Tickets, view speakers and exhibitors HERE: https://www.csnnalumni.org/chnc-2024/?ap_id=flourishingfree

Don't miss out on this nourishing opportunity to enhance your holistic journey! 🌟 Let's nourish our minds and bodies together!

p.s. Last year the gift bags contained so many goodies from local donors and sponsors that I’m sure they were worth more than the conference ticket price! It is well worth going! I'll be at the Calgary event and hoping to take a carload of friends! Message me if you have questions after checking out the link above! ~ Kari 😊

02/08/2024

🍔 What did you have for lunch today? How are you feeling? Do your meals drain you or energize you? It’s a fact that MOOD follows FOOD. Here’s a little tidbit...

Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) can cause fatigue 😴 low mood/depression 😞 irritability 😡 food cravings 😋 headaches 🤕 etc.

Chronic (long-term) imbalances in blood sugar can also lead to systemic (whole body) stress and inflammation, 🔥 which decreases immunity 😷 and can lead to serious illnesses like diabetes 🍭 and cardiovascular disease ❤️ among others.

✌🏼There are 2 reasons for low blood sugar:

1) Lack of food fuel (functional hypoglycaemia). Eg. too much time between meals and you’ve burned off all your energy reserves. 😣

2) Sugar spike/crash (reactive hypoglycaemia). 🎢 Eg. you ate a bunch of sugar or refined carbs, your blood sugar spiked 🚀 and then crashed 💥 when insulin shot up to put out the “fire.”🧯🔥 (Btw, this “fire” is what creates the inflammation I mentioned above. 👆🏼)

🤔 THE SOLUTION:

1) Eat more healthy FATS like coconut 🥥 oil, olives 🫒, avocados 🥑, fatty fish 🐠 like salmon, nuts 🌰 and nut butters.

2) Make sure you have sufficient PROTEIN 🍗 🍳 🫘 🧀 with every meal.

3) Include foods that are naturally high in plant fibre like vegetables 🍅 🥦 🥕, fruits 🍎 🥝 and whole grains 🌾 to slow down digestion for a slow release of glucose energy, preventing those sugar spikes.

🚫 NON-foods like chips, doughnuts 🍩 and fried foods 🍟 with trans-fats DO NOT count as healthy fats! These create more inflammation 🔥 in your body, which further wreaks havoc on your blood sugar🎢 AND can lead to much more serious diseases. 💀

02/04/2024

🎧 A couple of months ago I was a guest on a podcast with my business coach. I shared many of my experiences with my own health struggles, how I got into health and wellness, what it was like going back to school in the thick of perimenopause, and all the challenges of starting a business and being fully self-employed. 😅

☺️ I have been so blessed, since this podcast launched, to hear from several other Christian women across North America who have been strengthened and encouraged to continue walking in faithfulness to the Lord as they seek to help others become healthier using nutrition as the foundation. 🍎

✍🏼 Messages like this inspire me to keep on doing what I’m doing, knowing that the Lord can use every act of faithfulness for His purposes. 🥰

✝️ We who seek to honour Christ are a small remnant, to be sure, and the Lord places us wherever He chooses for His purposes and His glory. 🙌🏻

🙏🏻 I pray that He would guide you with His wisdom, help you to be faithful, and would use you greatly in whatever situation you are in - whether single, dating, married, separated, divorced, widowed, at home alone or raising your kids, or somewhere out in the world. 🌍

12/21/2023

🗓️✍🏼 Do you have a BIG goal to lose weight and/or get healthier in 2024? Are you done with DIYing and Dr. Googling your health issues? 👩‍💻 Are you ready to make some permanent, lifelong changes? 💪🏼

If you said YES! to any or all of the above, consider working with me! 🤝 I can help you!

I am a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant and a certified Metabolic Balance coach based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 🍁 Thanks to the wonders of technology I can also work online with people all over the world via teleconference. 🌎💻

🔎 My primary focus is helping women in their 30s to 60s identify and address the underlying causes of their symptoms, and rebalance their metabolism through targeted adjustments in diet and lifestyle habits.

👩🏼‍⚕️ As a practitioner, I have personal experience with and specialize in the long-term effects of chronic stress to the body, mind and emotions, including:
* brain fog & memory loss
* blood sugar dysregulation
* mood imbalances (incl anxiety & depression)
* insomnia & sleep dysregulation
* digestive issues & food sensitivities
* allergies & asthma
* chronic infections/illness
* joint pain & inflammation
* PMS & perimenopause
* weight gain & weight loss...
* and more.

If you suffer with several of the above symptoms, contact me! You can check out my profile at the link below to see if we might be a good fit to work together. Please share this post and/or the link with anyone else you know who comes to mind. 🤗

Don't let another year or month go by without taking the next best step toward a healthier and happier you! ☺️

I look forward to connecting with you soon!

Kari 🌿

Metabolic Balance Conseillère en nutrition conseiller Kari Hochachka est proche de Edmonton

12/09/2023

🤨 Do you have unexplained weight gain? Brain fog? Headaches? Fatigue? Hot flashes? Joint pain? High blood pressure? High blood sugar? Insulin resistance? Insomnia? Allergies? Skin issues?

Have you tried “all the things” and can’t seem to get rid of your muffin top? 😩

Would you like a proven system that works with your own body, doesn’t require any pills or powders, and gets long-term results without having to work out? 👀

You can begin your journey to metabolic balance just like this client 👇🏼👇🏼 and get quick, consistent results following a personalized meal plan based on *your own* body chemistry. 🩸

I followed my own metabolic balance plan and released almost 20 lbs of fat that had been creeping up and hanging on over the course of 2-3 years, and that I’d been unable to shed despite being fairly active and having a pretty clean diet. 🍎

You, too, can enter this holiday season and the new year feeling empowered, and be on the right track *before* January hits! 😃

Beat the January rush! 🏃🏼‍♀️ 🏃🏿 🏃‍♂️

Let’s talk! ☎️ No pressure-y sales tactics or hidden agendas. Just leave a comment or DM me for more info! I can help and would love to be your guide on this journey! 🗺

09/21/2023

2023 has been so bizzy! It's been a somewhat chaotic whirlwind around here, with plenty of learning and growing and excitement and challenges. And there are more exciting changes coming SOON!

Thanks to VanRamPhotography.com for some great pics from our website branding photo shoot last week! My new profile pic is one of my favourites from that shoot. Hopefully by the end of the year (or sooner) I'll have my website up and running!

I realize this page has been mostly crickets since I opened it, and that's because most of my time is spent OFF of social media, or in a few business-related groups. I don't plan to be particularly active on here, because I'm busy enough behind the scenes: in my home office. FYI... you really don't need a website or an active social media presence to run a business and make a decent income! I am living proof.

I've been busy working with clients in my holistic wellness biz, and I'm currently finishing a certification that will allow me to more effectively target one of my clients' primary concerns: weight management in mid-life. I will post more info once that is available. :)

Has mid-section and/or mid-life weight gain has been an issue for you? If so, what has been your biggest challenge in that area? Let me know in the comments below.

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall colours. Have a blessed day, friends!

07/25/2023

🥖 Feeling a little bit giggly as I witness the evidence of life in this rye sourdough starter. 🥹😄

I am embarking on a new adventure in which rye sourdough will be an integral part of my diet in coming days.

Here’s hoping I can form an edible loaf… 😆

04/18/2023

☀️ 👣 It’s been a long time since I was able to walk in the field with bare feet … and a long time since I bothered to post … and a long time since I painted my toenails! 😂 💅

The ground is so warm now, and the green grass is pushing up! 😃 Feels amazing under my feet!

Last summer I began intentionally going for walks with bare feet on grass, and I missed it so much all winter! 🥰

You may have heard the term “grounding”? Some people take this term to the extreme, falsely applying woo-woo energy to things of nature. However, what grounding simply means is that being physically connected to the earth has positive benefits for us from a holistic (physical, mental & emotional) perspective.

🌲 Walking in nature has been scientifically shown to calm the nervous system. 😌 Bare foot walking on earth has similar calming and mood-boosting benefits. And, of course, vitamin D conversion from the sun through your skin supports your immune system and mental health. ☀️

Anything that helps down-regulate or calm the nervous system, especially in this frenetically paced world, has multiple benefits for the body and mind.

So I’d encourage you to get out in the sunshine and expose your bare feet to some grass! 🌳 Pretty soon my lily white feet are going to be sporting sandal 🩴 tan lines. 🤩

p.s. I am actively working with clients in my holistic nutrition practice, and I do have room for another one or two at the moment, so please reach out if you’re interested. I’m not on Facebook much, and don’t plan to be, so if you’d like to connect or find out more, please send a DM through Messenger. Have a blessed day friends! 🤗

11/30/2022

First time asparagus! 😃 After 9 days the asparagus spears are still crunchy and so tasty! 😋

Although food can extend its shelf life for many months, and sometimes years, the high heat cooking process destroys many of the vital nutrients that your body needs. Win:lose. 😄🙁

On the other hand, fermenting veggies preserves the nutrients of the veggies *and adds* live beneficial organisms ( ) to the jar that support your gut health and immunity. Win:win! 😄😄

Fermented veggies are so delicious that they don’t last long on the shelf anyway! These will be gone in a few weeks, I’m sure. 😋

A short while ago I fermented a couple of jars of roasted red peppers. One of them is already gone. 😅 I took half of the other jar and puréed it to make a delicious, tangy roasted red pepper sauce that *livens* up my breakfast eggs. 🍳  (Did you catch that?!)

Have you tried fermenting *on purpose*? (Countertop science experiments don’t count! 😂 🧫🦠🤓) What have you tried, and how has it turned out?

🌟 For more healthful tips like this, please join my email list! I promise I won’t spam you or overload your inbox! Send me a message at [email protected] and tell me what you want to learn about! 🤗 If emailing is “too hard,” just send me message here. I look forward to hearing from you!

11/29/2022

🍊🌿 Do you take vitamins, herbs or other nutritional supplements? Would you like to get the best value for your dollar *and* support a local small business? 😃

I offer quality nutritional supplements from many retail & professional supplement lines. I likely have what you need or can provide an equivalent.

📧 Please email me at [email protected] for a detailed list or to place an order. I look forward to serving you in this way. 🤗

Kari @ Flourishing Free Holistic Nutrition & Wellness

p.s. I am also a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant & can help you move from sick & tired to healthy & vibrant! If you’re ready for change, request a discovery call to explore whether we would be a good match to work together. 🤗

01/02/2022

🍎 A Happy Healthy New Year to you all! 🫐
🍊 May 2022 be bursting with flavour & new joy! 🍑

08/07/2021

🌿 CANCER & NUTRITION
———————————————-
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a cancer specialist, and do not provide medical advice. I am a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant in the Province of Alberta, and provide nutrition and lifestyle advice and recommendations. Please consult qualified medical professionals for any medical diagnosis and treatment.
————————————————

📺 I was searching YouTube for some info on natural approaches and supports for lymphoma patients, and found a video from a lymphoma support group with recommendations made by a nurse. 👩🏽‍⚕️

I can appreciate the nurse’s perspective, and she does give some good advice (ie, rinse mouth with salt water rather than alcohol based mouthwash; eat small meals more frequently; drink smoothies or supplement drinks, etc).

However, as a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant I cannot support most of her nutritional recommendations for anyone, let alone a cancer patient whose body is full of inflammation and needs to heal.

Here’s some of what she said:

❌ Add [sugary] ice cream to smoothies (to increase caloric intake)

❌ Don’t limit sugar intake (because the body needs sugar for energy)

❌ Only avoid alcohol consumption on the day before, the day of and the day following treatment (because it might make you woozy 🥴)

❌ Make sure you get the proper “cocktail” of medication to control your symptoms (ie nausea, etc)

Here’s why I have a problem with these recommendations:

👎🏼 Both alcohol and refined sugars are inflammatory to the body. Inflammation is a natural healing response; adding more inflammation to an already inflamed system compounds the problem.

✅ Instead, support your body’s natural healing response. If there is a more natural, effective alternative to an extra medication, I would advise that.

✅ Add good fats and high nutrient foods to *clean* protein drinks or smoothies, ie, avocado, almond milk, fresh or frozen fruit, etc.

(( SIDE NOTE: “Meal replacement” drinks like Ensure are NOT nutritious or healthy; they are basically cornstarch and sugar with milk or soy protein and added vitamins. If the ingredients actually contained vitamins and nutrients, they wouldn’t need to be added.💡 These drinks are basically intended to help patients gain or maintain weight, not necessarily to improve health. You might as well dump some sugar and cornstarch in a glass of milk and take a multivitamin. Rant over. ))

✅ To feed the body’s natural sugar/carb needs, eat foods in their natural form (organic to avoid inflammatory and cancer inducing toxins): fresh or frozen fruit, whole grains (brown rice, buckwheat, oats - whole or ground/flour), etc.

✅ Avoid alcohol, which is toxic to the liver. The liver must be high functioning to metabolize and excrete all those medications, chemo drugs & supplements.

✅ Wherever possible, use natural treatments to avoid adding another medication. To reduce nausea: consume ginger (fresh, grated, powdered, chews, tablets); avoid heavy or fatty meals; reduce or eliminate dairy; diffuse grapefruit essential oil.

✅ To support the immune system load the body with antioxidant foods (ie a rainbow of fresh fruits & veggies) and nutrients (vitamins A, C, D, E, selenium, zinc, etc)

Conventional cancer treatments tend to kill 💀 healthy cells along with the cancer cells. It’s in your power to choose how to support your body during this time. Feed it what will support its natural ability to heal. Avoid what contributes to further illness.

Hoping this is helpful to at least one person who is undergoing cancer treatment or who has a loved one with cancer. 🌿❤️

Kari

p.s. This is not a researched response; just some quick tips off the top of my head in response to this one video I watched. There are people who know a lot more than I do and can offer a lot more than I can with my limited knowledge and experience.

05/19/2021

IF you want to "live long and prosper," and avoid obesity, sickness and painful diseases, EAT REAL FOOD! 🍇🥑🌶

Don't assume that what you're eating is real food! Over 65% (that's a low estimate) of the average North American diet is processed garbage. 🌭🍕🍭🍦🍰😜 We feed our dogs and cats better food than we eat ourselves!

Here are a few obvious signs of fake food that is slowly killing us and decreasing our childrens' life expectancy:
- you can pick it up at the drive through
- it's highly processed (i.e. in a box on a shelf in the middle of the grocery store, or in plastic shrink wrap)
- it's artificially flavored
- it's artificially colored
- it's enriched or fortified (harmful synthetic vitamins have been added to replace the nutrients that were stripped from the whole food; eg. most flour is enriched)
- it's Genetically Modified (GMO); some of the most common are corn, soy, canola, rice, and sugar beets
- its commercially grown or raised (most large commercial farms are businesses whose primary focus is $$$, not health)

My advice? Avoid all GMOs! Cook and eat at home. Shift your focus from counting calories, carbs, fats and protein and begin reading ingredients! Eat foods in their whole, natural form. Fruits and veggies are your best bet, but some of them should be eaten organic (check out the Dirty Dozen for a yearly list of the most pesticide laden produce).

Lastly, if you're taking supplements to combat the lack of nutrition in our food, make sure those are in natural form as well. Synthetic supplements can cause more harm than good.

If you Like this 👆🏼and find it helpful, please give it a 👍🏼, leave a comment 👇🏼 and Share it with someone who would appreciate it. 🌿🤗

04/23/2021

👍🏼👍🏼 This is an excellent summary of numerous timely and relevant health topics, from the science behind masks 😷 to what influences immunity 💪🏼 and how to best protect yourself and your loved ones. 💞 “Do the right thing” may take on a new meaning for many.

He also provides extensive research 🔬 for his conclusions, all of which is available to cross check on his website. 👩🏼‍💻

Very well done 👍🏼 and I strongly encourage you all to watch and listen and take action! 🤗

p.s. This video was released in July of 2020, but I found the information accurate and relevant for today. Truth doesn’t change. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Check it out and share some highlights 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 of what you learned and how it will improve your health. 💖

03/19/2021

👁 Ladies, if you’re using a lash growth mascara, you need to know that you could be contributing to your hormonal imbalances, which can further lead to imbalance in other systems. 😜

These mascaras tend to use testosterone❗️to boost lash growth. Think of it: men have bigger muscles, more hair growth, etc. because testosterone boosts growth. 💪🏼 🧔🏻

If your female hormones are already out of whack, adding testosterone every day probably isn’t helpful. 😕 And if you’re trying to conceive, this is especially important to know! 👶🏼

🤔 So what’s the solution??? How can you grow luscious lashes naturally?

1) Drink plenty of clean water 💦 to help flush excess hormones and toxins (& avoid tap water with hormone-altering chemicals).

2) Eat nutrient dense food, preferably organic (to reduce intake of harmful chemicals) and locally grown (to increase freshness & nutrient content). 🍎🥑🫐🥭

3) Reduce stress, because excess stress hormones contribute to imbalances in female hormones. 😌

There’s much more to hormonal imbalances, but that’s for another day.

Please let me know 👇🏼 if this was helpful, and what you’d like to know more about!

And if you want to stay informed, be sure to Like, Follow and turn your Notifications ON... because I don’t pay to boost posts and FB doesn’t like that, so they are less likely to show you my content in your feed. Feel free to Share also! Thanks friends! 😘

~ Kari 🦋

02/15/2021

Here’s a yummy recipe for you from my kitchen. These No Bake Energy Bites are da bomb! 💣 💥 Great snack for kids and adults - without the guilt! 😋

02/15/2021

🍊 ‘Tis the season for blood oranges! 😃 If you’ve never had one, I highly recommend trying them during their short availability in the stores! Blood oranges have a mild, rather distinctive, almost flowery aftertaste (in my opinion). And the high antioxidants (found in all darkly coloured fruits) are great for boosting immunity. At this time of year we could all use more of that!

02/08/2021

🍔 What did you have for lunch today? How are you feeling? Do your meals drain you or energize you? It’s a fact that MOOD follows FOOD. Here’s a little tidbit...

Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) can cause fatigue 😴 low mood/depression 😞 irritability 😡 food cravings 😋 headaches 🤕 etc.

Chronic (long-term) imbalances in blood sugar can also lead to systemic (whole body) stress and inflammation, 🔥 which decreases immunity 😷 and can lead to serious illnesses like diabetes 🍭 and cardiovascular disease ❤️ among others.

✌🏼There are 2 reasons for low blood sugar:

1) Lack of food fuel (functional hypoglycaemia). Eg. too much time between meals and you’ve burned off all your energy reserves. 😣

2) Sugar spike/crash (reactive hypoglycaemia). 🎢 Eg. you ate a bunch of sugar or refined carbs, your blood sugar spiked 🚀 and then crashed 💥 when insulin shot up to put out the “fire.”🧯🔥 (Btw, this “fire” is what creates the inflammation I mentioned above. 👆🏼)

🤔 THE SOLUTION: Eat more healthy FATS! 😃 Coconut 🥥 oil, avocados 🥑, fatty fish 🐠 like salmon, nuts and nut butters, etc. can help balance your blood sugar. (But peanuts 🥜 can actually contribute to inflammation!)

High fibre foods like vegetables 🍅 🥦 🥕, fruits 🍎 🥝 and whole grains 🌾 also slow down digestion for a slow release of glucose energy, preventing those sugar spikes.

NON-foods like chips, doughnuts 🍩 and fried foods 🍟 with trans-fats DO NOT count as healthy fats! These create more inflammation 🔥 in your body, which further wreaks havoc on your blood sugar🎢 AND can lead to much more serious diseases. 💀

02/06/2021

🥑 Most of us want to eat healthy meals 🥘 but are either time-challenged or just don’t know what to make. True?

I know when I’m hungry (hangry) 😠 I don’t want to spend the time to chop vegetables and cook. I want supper NOW! 😂

📆 Last year I snagged an Instant Pot on sale after Christmas 🎄 at a pretty sweet price, 😃 hoping it would save me time cooking.

I’ve used it quite a few times, mostly for steaming veggies like beets (no more stovetop mess!), making chicken soup 🍲 or nutritious bone 🍖 broth. But I haven’t used it as often as I’d like. 😒

So this week I ventured out to pick up a real paper copy 😯 of ’s IP cookbook! 📖 (Yes, I am one of those who prefer a real cookbook to reading a recipe on a phone 📱 screen.)

I love Detoxinista’s recipes! 😋 She makes them simple, quick, easy and nutritious! 🙌🏻 And she always has modifications for food allergies or preferences.

Last night I made Soy-Ginger Salmon 🍣 with Broccoli 🥦 and a pot of brown rice in less than an hour from start to finish. ⏰ And it was delicious! 😋

Do you have a favourite healthy Instant Pot recipe? Please share 👇🏼 so the rest of us can enjoy it too! 🤗

02/03/2021

☕️ Did you know that COFFEE IS A “DRUG,” not a “beverage”?!? 😮

Of course you did - that’s why you drink it, right?! 💥

I know there are many of you out there who are totally addicted. Just be honest about what it is and what it’s doing to you. 🙃

Caffeine can increase anxiety and insomnia, and increase PMS symptoms. The acids in coffee can also damage your gut lining and deplete calcium, which is vital to more than just bones and teeth.

When you’re ready to get off the “coffee crack” rollercoaster ☕️ 🎢 check out . It’s an instant coffee alternative made with dandelion root, beet root and barley. Caffeine free and safe for kids even, but they claim it can help you nix your coffee addiction without the withdrawal. Just sayin.

I’ve developed a taste for coffee over the past few years (and no, I’m not addicted), but my body doesn’t do well with caffeine or stimilants of any kind. 😬 So I’ve been drinking DandyBlend most mornings, and I occasionally have a cuppa java. Many coffee ☕️ connoisseurs like DandyBlend too!

Which healthy coffee alternatives do you like?

01/28/2021

☝🏼MENTAL HEALTH TIP:
People who suffer from DEPRESSION 😔, ANXIETY 😩 and other mood disorders are commonly low or deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids 🐠, Vitamin D ☀️, and B vitamins (ie, B6, B9 & B12). Other vitamin and mineral deficiencies are common too.

Most of us would benefit from supplementing these nutrients, or focusing on including them in our daily diet. However, for people who struggle with mood disorders, it is vital that they determine and address nutrient deficiencies.

The brain 🧠 needs essential fatty acids (EFAs) to transmit signals to and from the body. ⚡️

Healthy fats are also needed to absorb and utilize “fat-soluble” vitamins (like A 🥕 D ☀️ E 🌾 & K 🥬), and to utilize the multitude of hormones needed for every system in the body to function properly.

Two of these vital hormones related to mood disorders are dopamine and serotonin, two of our “feel-good” hormones. 😃

On a related note, mental illness is very often, if not always, linked to digestive problems. The reason is that digestive imbalances or inability to assimilate nutrients leads to nutritional deficiencies, which contribute in a major way to numerous forms of mental illness.

And to make matters worse, many people with addictions and/or mental health issues are allergic to gluten 🍞 and/or dairy 🥛 - and likely not diagnosed.

The bottom line here is that what you EAT - or don’t eat, can have a major effect on how you FEEL. 🤗