When I moved from Los Angeles to Denver in early 2015, I went from apartment living my entire adult life to what I like to call a "grown-up" house. It’s not anything huge, just perfect for two people and two dogs, including a yard for gardening and of course lots of room for dog-play. Of course when we moved in it was during a freak blizzard that left more than 2 feet of snow on the ground. So, it wasn’t until a few months later that I realized what had already been planted in our yard. Coming from the desert and beaches of southern California coupled with apartment living, my knowledge of plants was limited to succulents, herbs for the kitchen and a few potted indoor house plants.
Read moreHerb of the Week #11 :: Eleuthero
I'm not sure about you, but I have started looking ahead at this year, making travel and work plans, and boy, it's filling up FAST! It's not even March yet! Whew! Additionally, I am studying to take a board exam in nutrition, that is totally optional, but being the type A personality that I am, if it's out there and I can... I must and I will. So... I am definitely feeling the pressure lately. On top of that I recently started upping my workout game a little. Before I get into that, I feel I have to share a brief history of why I took a break from working out, cause I am one of those weirdos that LOVES to workout and sweat. Back in the day, I used to be a high preforming, award-winning athlete through college, from high school volleyball where I made all-conference and represent Southern California in Amsterdam for an international conference to varsity crew at Georgetown and winning the big-east as a freshman.
Read moreHerb of the Week #10 :: Calendula
f you're anything like me, you see the word "anti-inflammatory" everywhere. It's become quite trendy. Everything is anti-inflammatory this and anti-inflammatory that. And I have found lately that trendy in nutrition isn't quite the same as say trendy in something like fashion (and I don't mean that in a negative way). Simply, meaning that in health and wellness trends happen for a reason that is bigger than just a trend. See, in nutrition school, I learned quickly that most health issues can be traced back to inflammation. Of course, this is a longer blog post in itself. But for now, this week herb is one of THE anti-inflammatory plants: Calendula
Read moreHerb of the Week #9 :: Kava Kava
People generally say one of two things to me when they hear I am a nutritionist "oh, my eating is terrible" or "My eating is pretty health." Both of those may be true but we are missing one element that can make both people the one eating well and the other one not-so-much that can make all the difference: stress! Without going into too much detail, I am working on writing a post on stress and how it affects our body on a physical level (I think we all know how it affects us on an emotional level) but until then, know that it very much affects how we digest or rather how we don't digest our food is we are in a stressed state, which means that good (or bad) food we are eating is not being turned into the good vitamins and minerals that we need from it. And that's just to start. I
Read moreHerb of the Week #8 :: Oats
Oats are packed with nutrients, they are high in silica, calcium, chromium, magnesium, zinc, manganese and vitamin B. They are great for cardio support and due to its high silica content, it is great for connective tissue, skin and nerves. Oats provide overall health and vitality and can provide energy. For those that are stressed, overworked, suffer from depression, anxiety, low sex drive or irritability, oats can provide relief sue to its soothing actions on the nervous system. Additionally, it’s great to support calm in children.
From Herbalist David Hoffman in his book Medical Herbalism, he says “Oats is one of the best remedies for ‘feeding’ the nervous system, especially when the patient is under stress.”
Read moreHerb of the Week #6 :: Burdock Root
Happy much belated New Year's everyone! I hope your 2017 is off to a fantastic start. For me, as I am sure for a lot of you as well, the holidays are fun and filled with great tasting food and drinks. So I figured it would be great to start the herb of the week series back up with a cleansing and rejuvenating plant. This week we are looking at an herb that is great for healthy digestion and detoxification: Burdock Root
Read more