A healthy gut benefits the entire body. It improves brain health, the immune system, digestion, mood, energy, and helps prevent disease. Developing a healthy gut means developing a healthy gut microbiome. This is achieved through diet and lifestyle changes and can be done naturally. A plastic model of the internal organs of the human body, showing the gut and intestines. Dietary changes involve increasing specific foods while eliminating or decreasing others. I will focus on

Since the holiday school break will soon end and schedules are busy, now is the time to ensure your child gets a healthy start to their morning. This post will give you many breakfast ideas, for home, on the go, and post-morning sports so your student is ready for the day. An array of breakfast options pictured with eggs, fruit, cereal, and yogurt. Brain boosting breakfast ideas. A balanced breakfast incorporates protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. It can also

Nutrition plays a role in maintaining your and your child’s health during the winter. There are ways you can use food to offer protection, in addition to frequent handwashing, covering your mouth with coughing and sneezing, and/or mask-wearing. Eating healthy during the colder months can be challenging for numerous reasons - The holidays offer too many appealing high-sugar, high-fat, and high-calorie treats Some of your favorite fresh produce may be more limited during these

What is Fiber? Fiber is a carbohydrate found only in plant-based foods - fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Fiber does not come from animal products. When eaten, it stays in the intestines, since it cannot be digested by the body, but this is where it does its work! Fiber-rich foods including fruit, beans and legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and whole wheat products, with the word fiber written on a chalkboard. What Does Fiber Do? Fiber serves mu

Why is Stable Blood Sugar Important? Eating for stable blood sugar  is one of the most powerful steps you can take to improve your overall health. You may be familiar with how certain foods affect your blood sugar. Blood sugar or glucose gives us energy and causes insulin levels to rise or lower. Insulin is the hormone that stabilizes blood sugar to maintain glucose levels within a specific range. High blood sugar increases insulin levels lowering blood sugar, while low bloo

The link between processed food and brain health  is becoming impossible to ignore. Research is making it very clear that ultra processed foods consumed frequently can lead to a significant decrease in mental function over time. Understanding the connection between processed food and brain health  is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your mind and your family's cognitive wellbeing for life. Ultra-processed foods are those that contain large amounts of fa

Most drugs used to treat mental health disorders act on the chemicals in the brain to alter these and return the brain to a healthy state: some increase these chemicals, and some decrease them. For example, serotonin is one of the most commonly targeted. Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, boost serotonin levels to treat depression. Did you know that you can also boost serotonin levels with specific foods? This article will delve into what is known regarding nutr

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I devote every article this month to a different mental health topic and links to nutrition. I will be recycling articles I published two years ago with any updates. I will preface this by saying that not all mental health diagnoses can be treated or prevented with nutrition. However, research shows that nutrition plays a vital role. My main focus looks at nutrition as a preventative factor, especially in children and adolescents. I

Understanding the difference between omega 3 versus omega 6 fatty acids  is essential for making smarter dietary choices. You hear a lot these days about PUFAs, polyunsaturated fatty acids, specifically omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. These two PUFAs are essential fatty acids, meaning our bodies do not make these and we have to get them through our diet. How do we do this? What are the differences? Is one better than the other? All of these questions are answered when you tr

Many parents are asking about probiotics and prebiotics for kids  and whether their children truly need them. What are probiotics and prebiotics? Are they different? Do we need to take them as supplements or can we get them through diet? Are they beneficial for children? Should they be taken all the time or only sometimes? All of these important questions about probiotics and prebiotics for kids  are answered in today's blog. Let's start with definitions. Probiotics : a food

A healthy gut benefits the entire body. It improves brain health, the immune system, digestion, mood, energy, and helps prevent disease. Developing a healthy gut means developing a healthy gut microbiome. This is achieved through diet and lifestyle changes and can be done naturally. A plastic model of the internal organs of the human body, showing the gut and intestines. Dietary changes involve increasing specific foods while eliminating or decreasing others. I will focus on

You may have heard of the gut-brain connection or the gut-brain axis. Books have been written about this topic. This article will explain this interaction, how it works, what it controls, and why it is important. Picture of a brain inside a drawing of the head and neck. What It Is. The gut-brain connection is the communication between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal system. These systems talk to each other. There are physical connections with ongoing signa

You may have heard the term leaky gut syndrome. Do you know what this means? To clarify, it is not an actual diagnosis. It is a hypothetical condition in which the gut becomes more permeable than it should and “leaks”. This leakage allows more than the usual nutrients and water to cross through the intestinal lining. Plastic model of the intestine showing the inside and outside. The lining of the intestines contains mucous and is designed to allow water and nutrients to pass

The gut gateway to health  is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing areas of medical research today. Gut health and the microbiome have been a hot research topic for the past two decades with studies showing that the gut and its bacteria contribute to almost every organ system and many disease processes including autoimmune disease and mental health. The microorganisms living in our gut, the microbiota, can benefit our health or contribute to disease later. Understandi

What is fiber? Photo of a number of high-fiber foods including fruit, veggies, nuts, legumes, and grains, with the word FIBER written on a chalkboard. Understanding the fiber factor  is essential for building a truly healthy diet. High fiber foods including fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and grains are among the most powerful tools you have for improving your health. The word FIBER says it all and knowing the fiber factor  of what, why, and how to include more fiber in y

Are you familiar with the gut microbiota? Research shows that there are more microorganisms living in our gut than there are cells in our...

Depiction of the brain as half drawing and half foods that are good for the brain, such as seafood, berries, nuts, and vegetables. Did...

Picture of food as medicine with a variety of healthy foods ejecting from a medicine capsule. Make 2024 the Year of Healthy Eating! Eating healthy does not have to be difficult or expensive. Making simple substitutions goes a long way in improving the quality of what you eat. Swapping foods with healthy nutrients over ones that are less healthy is a great start. I am passing on tips from my book - “Feed Your Child’s Future Health, Prevent Disease before It Starts” and from so

Cold and flu season is upon us, and keeping healthy goes beyond good handwashing, avoiding crowds, and covering your cough. Nutrition plays a vital role. Keeping your gut healthy contributes to a healthy immune system, as outlined in “What’s the Gut Got to do with Immunity” blog 10/4/23; https://www.feedfuturehealth.com/post/what-s-the-gut-got-to-do-with-immunity In addition to a healthy diet, getting plenty of sleep and exercise are all beneficial. Immune-boosting foods do

I was a guest recently for a podcast, Small Changes, Big Shifts, with Dr. Michelle Robin (9/25/23). You can find it on Spotify, Apple and...