Glyphosate based formulas, such as Round-up, are the most widely used herbicides in the world, and are what we frequently use for lawn maintenance. However, they pose a danger to both human health and the environment. I am hoping that, if you are someone who utilizes a glyphosate based herbicide on your lawn, that perhaps this blog post may sway how you feel about the cost/benefit of continuing to use it.

Spring brings with it the promise of re-birth and renewal. As the natural world reawakens and blossoms into life around you, it’s a great time to do some internal self-care, brush off your own cobwebs, push out accumulated junk from the winter and get yourself ready for the energy of summer. If you found yourself losing touch with healthy habits over the winter, I’ve put together a list of 5 simple practices for you to incorporate into your daily routine, for one week, to help to give your body and mind the post-winter tune up it needs.

This winter, I escaped the chilly winter days of Ohio for 5 weeks by taking my practice, completely virtually, with me to Mexico. While traveling, I love to learn about the health benefits and medical implications of local flora, fauna and foods. I wanted to share just a few of them with you here.

In this fourth and final installment of Microbiome 101, we will look at a few foundational, practical steps you can take to foster a healthy microbiome.

A healthy gut is absolutely foundational for supporting the overall health of your body and mind. And you cannot have a healthy gut without a healthy microbiome. In thinking about how to approach part 3 of the Microbiome 101 series: how the human microbiome impacts health, I had to really rein myself in, as there are so many ways in which the microbiome impacts health and is implicated in various health conditions. I am going to keep this as short and sweet as I can. What follows is a very brief overview of some of the ways in which the microbiome is connected to, and impacts, human health and a peek into some of the health conditions associated with a disrupted/unhealthy microbiome.

Your microbiome is in a dynamic state of flux and flow. Your birth and first few years of life lay the foundations for your microbiome. But it doesn’t end there. Throughout your life there are innumerable factors that impact your microbiome, including your dietary choices, exposure to pets, taking antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals, your stress levels and your exposure to pesticides. The good news is that, even if you have had life events/exposures that have negatively impacted your microbiome, there are daily habits that can positively impact your microbiome going forward (in part 4 of the Microbiome 101 series we will discuss how you can support a healthy microbiome).

The first installment of a 4-part Microbiome 101 series. To start our exploration of the microbiome, we first delve into some of the myriad ways in which the microbes living within us play an integral in our health (and even our happiness!), so you can get an idea of just how important these little cohabitants are for humans.