I was doing exactly what I’d been told to do, and I did it for quite some time. “Don’t be afraid of fat.” “Fat is your friend now.” I was even told that you could tell if people were getting enough healthy fats because their face would have a nice ‘glow’.

It was supposed to help me feel better but yet I still wasn’t feeling like myself. I was feeling sluggish. A little foggy. My skin would itch but then it would go away. And very slowly, I found that my weight was also starting to creep up.

It turns out that consuming more fats and oils than you need matters a lot. It’s not just about what kind of oils and fats but how much is equally if not even sometimes more important.

As it turns out, your body doesn’t actually need very much fat to function. But the amount most of us are consuming tends to be far more than what’s actually required.

Here’s what nobody tells you: your liver is already busy. It has hundreds of jobs to do every day, filtering out toxins, conjugating hormones, breaking down protein into usable amino acids, hanging on to toxins it can’t yet process and so much more. When we overburden it with too much fat, it bogs down. It doesn’t have the energy left over to keep up with everything else on its list. And eventually your liver is going to start sending you messages that it needs help. Like weight gain, belly fat, skin rashes, gallbladder issues, hormone issues.

Too much fat can also crowd out the water in your bloodstream, potentially leaving you dehydrated. And when there’s too much fat circulating, it gets in the way of glucose actually reaching your cells, so the sugar you consumed for energy struggles to make it to where it needs to go. The sugar stays in your bloodstream much longer than it should. And you end up feeling tired because the glucose you are supposed to be using for energy is being blocked.

I’m not saying to cut out fat completely. We need some. Essential fatty acids exist for a reason. This isn’t about replacing one hard rule with another. But it might be worth paying attention to how much fat is showing up in your day. The oil in the pan, the veggie dips and sauces, the handful of nuts, the avocado, the oil laden dressing. None of it looks like much on its own. But when you add up the total consumed in a day or in a week, it’s often a lot more than we think.

Maybe it’s time to rethink the amount of fat we’re consuming so we can give our livers a break and at the same time help that glucose make it to where it’s needed.

It’s good to keep the awareness you already have about quality and avoiding seed oils as much as possible. Maybe try cutting back on the quantity for a while (even cutting it by half) and see what happens.

Talk soon,
Debbie

Almost all of us have times when a symptom develops that starts to concern us. Like having issues with getting a good night’s sleep for instance.

I went through a stretch of this myself a few years ago. Falling asleep was never the issue. Staying asleep was. I would regularly wake up sometime between 2 - 4 am and it would take quite some time for me to fall back to sleep. However, when I mentioned it to others, even my doctor, the typical answer would be “That’s just what happens when you get older.” Like it was just a normal part of aging and I should just learn to accept it.

Something didn’t sit right with me though. Maybe it helped that I wasn’t yet willing to accept any part of the ‘getting older’ category. So the research and the trial and error began.

I learned the importance of magnesium and started taking it at suppertime or early evening. And it helped for a while. Then I learned I had to be careful of the time and what I was eating for supper as too much of the wrong food too close to bedtime would result in my digestion wanting to work while I needed to sleep.

Eventually I was able to really tune in to how my body responds and what it needs, so now when I have sleep issues come up, I start checking off the list to see what my body might be telling me until I can get back to sleeping soundly again.

What I couldn’t accept was that sleep issues were just the result of normal aging. And I was right. Sleep issues are one symptom we experience where our bodies are trying to tell us something is missing or something is off. And rather than just accepting it as a part of getting older, I got to learn for myself that I didn’t have to settle for poor sleep just because I had had a few more birthdays.

Insomnia isn’t the only thing women (and men) get handed this line about. Joint stiffness, brain fog, memory issues, high blood pressure, etc. It all gets filed under the same heading: getting older. And once something has that label, you’re supposed to just accept it. Why would you question it? You’ve already been told there’s nothing to find.

I’m coming to grips with the fact that I’m getting older, and that my body is going to make some shifts. That part is real.

But getting older and giving up the right to ask questions are two different things. “Normal for your age” gets used far too often as a stand-in for “I don’t know.” And once you accept that label, you stop looking for what’s actually going on.

So now, when something shifts or a symptom appears, I don’t ask myself “is this just age?” I ask what changed right before it started. Maybe a new habit, a new stress, new food, missing nutrients or something that I stopped doing. Tuning into my body and questioning what it might need has gotten me so many more answers and solutions than blindly accepting “that’s just what happens as we age.”

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Talk soon,
Debbie

The rest of my family also enjoy my special coffee, just not as often as me.

We know that coffee is controversial. We worry about pesticides and other chemicals ending up in our coffee. The effects of too much coffee on our adrenal glands. Those concerns are real.

But I, like most people, still want to enjoy a good cup of coffee. Good coffee reminds me of what my Oma used to make. And the delicious and aromatic cup made by a café owner during a trip to Italy with my daughter.

So I decided that if there are certain foods or drinks (like coffee) I’m going to consume that are questionable for my health, I’m going to try and see if I can make it a little better for me. See if I can add something that tips the balance in a healthy way at least a little. That way I enjoy my coffee and don’t worry near as much about any ill effects from it.

Why is my morning coffee special? Because I add a rounded teaspoon of mushroom powder. Reishi and Lion’s Mane mushroom powders, specifically.

Most people have heard of mushrooms as food. Medicinal mushrooms are a different conversation. No these are not psychedelics either.

Reishi mushrooms have been studied for their effects on immune function, stress response, and inflammation. Reishi mushroom powder helps buffer the acidity of the coffee, which makes it a little easier on the body. It’s been referred to as the ‘Medicine of Kings’.

About a third of my blend is Lion’s Mane. The name alone sounds majestic. This one has been studied for its supportive effects on brain health and cognitive function. Specifically the growth of new neurons (brain cells). It has also been shown to protect the myelin sheath (the covering surrounding the nerve fibres). This matters, especially as we get older.

Anything small that I can add into my routine like this just makes me feel like I’m in charge of my health.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to be something.

Do you have a special ingredient you add to your food or drinks as part of your own self-care?

Talk soon,
Debbie

One note: if you’re on medication or managing a health condition, it’s worth checking with your health practitioner before adding medicinal mushrooms to your routine. Nothing in this article is intended as medical advice.

Unless you’re someone who is working out or doing something very physical for long periods of time, you don’t need high amounts of protein for rebuilding and repairing tissue.

You’re already getting plenty of amino acids (the building blocks of protein) from the rest of the healthy foods you eat.

What I actually want to talk about is something that got completely buried in all of that noise.

Fruit and protein digest at completely different speeds.

This is one of the first things you learn in nutrition school. Different foods digest at different rates and need different conditions in the body to break down properly.

Fruit digests fast. Your body handles it easily. That’s part of why a fruit-based smoothie gives you a real lift in the morning. Your body gets to use that glucose quickly.

Protein takes significantly longer. Your stomach needs to become more acidic. Enzymes work harder. The process is slower.

When you blend both together, your body can’t handle them the same. The fruit sits in your stomach longer than it should. The glucose your brain and muscles were counting on gets held up in your bloodstream raising your blood sugar. And you end up feeling heavier and more sluggish than you expected, often without understanding why, because everything in that smoothie looked perfectly healthy.

This is Holistic Nutrition 101. Somewhere along the way it got completely buried under the protein conversation.

Most women don’t have a protein problem. They have a digestion problem.

I see this regularly. Women doing a lot of the right things and still lacking the energy they desire. Many have already bought into the idea that they need more protein, so they’ve added powder to their smoothies, their oatmeal, their coffee, and they still don’t feel well. But what’s important to note is that too much protein can be hard for most of us to digest. (And don’t get me started on how this starts to overburden their livers in turn affecting their hormone balance.)

Protein deficiency is for the most part a myth. Most people eating a variety of foods get plenty of protein through whole foods without ever thinking about it. The protein powder industry has a clear financial interest in making you believe otherwise, and mainstream wellness has unfortunately just repeated that message.

When digestion is already compromised, adding more protein makes things worse. Many protein powders also contain sweeteners, binders, and additives your body has to sort through on top of the protein itself. Protein powder is a highly processed ‘food’. I thought we were supposed to be eating fresh, unprocessed foods?

What I actually do.

My smoothies are fruit-based. No protein powder. I add leafy greens, sometimes a strip of dulse for minerals, occasionally some spirulina. I keep it simple.

If I want protein later, I’ll have it at least an hour or 2 after my smoothie if I’m even hungry by then.

I’ve been doing this for years now and feel noticeably better doing it this way.

Consider trying this.

Skip the protein powder (Greek yogurt, nuts and nut butters as well) for two or three weeks. Keep your smoothie fruit and greens based. If you still want protein in the morning, have it separately, at least an hour or two later.

Pay attention to any changes in how you feel. Does your digestion feel easier? How is your energy?

We’ve been thoroughly trained to believe more protein equals better health. Taking it out can feel like you’re doing something wrong. You’re not. You’re just paying attention to what your body wants you to know.

Until next time,
Debbie

It started almost 20 years ago. I was following all the wellness advice I heard about and read about. I was eating my “healthy fats” and I had replaced my table salt with Himalayan or sea salt. I was making the ‘better choices’ that the latest marketing hype told me to do.

But along the way, something also started to change with my body.

I was feeling so tired. My eyes were frequently bloodshot. I even fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with a friend. That’s when the idea of a sluggish thyroid came up, and I went down the rabbit hole of learning more about the trace mineral called iodine.

When You’re Running Low

I learned that too little iodine doesn’t always have obvious symptoms. A lot of the time, it’s very subtle.

Fatigue can be a big clue but fatigue can have many other root causes too. Low iodine can be connected to things like cystic acne or those strange ganglion cysts that seem to appear out of nowhere. And without enough iodine, the body literally can’t produce thyroid hormone properly. (You do need other cofactors to make thyroid hormone but iodine is definitely important.)

Research has also linked iodine deficiency to changes in breast tissue and a higher risk of breast cancer. It’s also important during pregnancy and fetal development.

Iodine matters, even if hardly anyone seems to be talking about it anymore.

The Problem Is…

The more I started learning about iodine, the more I realized how easy it is for women to unknowingly end up low in it.

We no longer get enough iodine because it’s another one of those minerals that are deficient in our soil. And the fluoride in some tap water and the bromine in bread compete for absorption of iodine in the body.

TOO LITTLE can eventually lead to symptoms.

But TOO MUCH iodine can also cause unwanted reactions. I’m not trying to scare you here because iodine is important but trust me you want to respect iodine. Too much iodine can not only leave you on the couch for a day (it happened to me personally), but it can also negatively affect your thyroid and I’ve seen it leave someone with a detox skin rash that took months to go away.

Your body does best with steady, small balanced amounts of iodine, not mega-doses.

Iodized table salt provides a very small amount of iodine. It was originally added to deal with a rise in goiter issues. And some people prefer not to consume salt.

Sea salt and Himalayan salt offer more minerals than refined and processed table salt, but sea salt and Himalayan salt contain very little if any iodine.

So What Do We Do?

Adding in more foods that naturally contain iodine can be a gentler and safer approach to getting sufficient iodine. Here are some foods that can provide a source of naturally occurring iodine:

Sea vegetables (dulse strips or flakes, nori, kelp, wakame)
Crunchy seaweed snacks may contain some iodine (check with the manufacturer)
Seaweed wraps may contain some iodine (again check with the manufacturer)
Spirulina powder (start with tiny amounts)
Cranberries
Potatoes
Navy beans
Sprouts
Onions
Dandelion
Parsley
Lettuces/Leafy Greens

My favourite ways to incorporate iodine:

- adding a sprinkle of spirulina powder to my green smoothies.

- adding a small strip of dulse seaweed to my smoothies (not just green smoothies)

- adding 2-3 dulse strips to my slow cooked or pressure-cooked homemade soups and stews

As a Sidenote

One thing I will mention is the old “paint iodine on your skin” test that many people have heard about. It can be somewhat helpful but if you really want to assess your own iodine status, there is another way.

There is an assessment test referred to as an iodine loading test, which can often be done from home over a 24-hour period and then mailed to a lab for analysis. It’s something you may wish to explore with the guidance of a knowledgeable natural health practitioner if you suspect iodine deficiency or want a clearer picture of your levels. I took this test myself 20 years ago.

Obviously, if you have a thyroid concern, or are taking any medications that might interact, please use your own good judgment or obtain the advice of a health practitioner before making any changes. And again, if you have a thyroid issue, there is usually more going on than an iodine deficiency.

A headache. Digestive issues. Anxiety. Brain fog. Tight muscles. Exhaustion.

And of course, when symptoms show up, we want relief. We should want relief. If your body is struggling, it only makes sense to support it physically.

But it’s also worth considering whether there might be something deeper, more emotional or spiritual going on. Sometimes simply becoming aware of it can help us understand what our bodies may be trying to tell us.

Symptoms don’t usually come out of nowhere. They often show up subtly at first. They might come and go. They might flare during stressful seasons. Then over time, after years of overextending, suppressing emotions, ignoring exhaustion, or continually pushing through, they can become much harder to ignore.

This is the piece that often gets missed in both conventional medicine and even many wellness spaces.

We become so focused on “What supplement should I take?” or “What food should I eliminate?” that we forget to ask whether there’s a message underneath that same symptom.

For example, maybe the tightness in your shoulders is due to muscle weakness or tight neck muscles. But if you look deeper, could it also be a sign of the added weight or responsibilities you’ve been carrying for a while now?

Maybe digestive symptoms really are connected to food sensitivities or needing to eat more fresh, unprocessed food. But is there also an underlying anxiety affecting your digestion?

Maybe that exhaustion is strongly connected to hormones, nutrient deficiencies, or sleep disruption. But are you also living a life that no longer brings you joy, fulfillment, or a sense of connection to yourself?

If we want to feel well and whole again, I think we need to start connecting all the dots. Supporting ourselves physically while also paying attention to the emotional and spiritual pieces that may be asking for our attention.

Our bodies process far more than food. They process stress, relationships, grief, fear, pressure, burnout, emotional pain, and the pace of modern life. Sometimes the body starts speaking when we’ve stopped listening.

Sometimes the answer is purely physical. Sometimes it isn’t. Most of the time, I think it’s a combination of things.