Little Known Facts About Food Cravings (and why they matter)
We’ve all been there. Standing in front of the fridge, shoving the baby carrots aside, and reaching for the cheesecake instead. You’ve heard if you’re really hungry you’ll eat those carrots—or an apple—but the pull that cheesecake has on you . . .? It’s hard to resist that craving. So hard. If food cravings are affecting your life, you’re not alone. Before we dive into everything you need to know about food cravings, the big questions are: Can...
How Do I Keep My Blood Sugar Stable?
Oh, the words "blood sugar." Does it conjure up visions of restrictive eating, diabetes medications, or insulin injections? Blood sugar is the measure of the amount of sugar in your blood. You need the right balance of sugar in your blood to fuel your brain and muscles. The thing is, it can fluctuate. A lot. This fluctuation is the natural balance between things that increase it; and things that decrease it. When you eat food with sugars or...
Schizandra: Nature’s Hormone Food
When it comes to hormone health, picking key foods that have multiple benefits for balancing hormones is helpful. Schizandra berry is just such a food and may be a true anti-aging food as well. In China it is known as a “five-flavor fruit,” because it contains the flavours sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent which, in TCM, all represent various health properties. This may also explain its funky taste. Research has confirmed that compounds...
Hormones: What are they & What do they do?
Hormones are chemical messengers and without them, proper functioning in our body does not occur. They control everything from reproduction, digestion, metabolism, emotions and even hunger and satiety. When our hormones function properly, we feel great and when they do not, we can have health issues that make us miserable. While quite common, the following are ways that hormone imbalances may show up that have become normalized: PMSFatiguePoor...
Getting Immune Ready for Back to School
Well it’s that time of year again. The time we switch out our tank tops for cozier knits, look forward to settling back into Fall routines, and of course the time when we gear up to get the kids back to school. It is also the time of year when some parents begin to dread the back to school/daycare influx of colds and other bugs that seem inevitable this time of year. What makes this school year a little different than most, is that social...
Reduce Inflammation With These Key Foods
Inflammation. It’s not just for health headlines. It’s a fact. Scientists are measuring levels of inflammation in our bodies and finding that it can be pretty bad for our health; this is especially true when it's chronic (i.e. lasts a long time). Inflammation has been linked to obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes, just to name a few. But, instead of writing all about what it is, how it's measured, and where it comes from; why...
Sleep 101 – how to get a good night’s sleep
“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” — Irish proverb But what happens if you are one of the estimated 1 in 4 adults or your child is one of the estimated 1 in 3 children who have difficulty falling and/or staying asleep? There can be little that is more frustrating than trying to fall asleep and not being able to, or falling asleep and then waking in the middle of the night just staring at the clock for what...
Heart Health Month
Heart disease is the 2nd leading cause of death in North America, only behind cancer. When people talk about heart disease, there are terms that are used interchangeably, so let’s lay them out to be clear on the differences. Heart disease is often a catch-all phrase for a variety of conditions that affect the structure and function of the heart and is often used to refer to coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease (CHD) occurs when...
Good Food for a Good Cause
The Stittsville Food Bank continues to support those in need in our community, and unfortunately that need is ever increasing. So I've updated my Good Food for a Good Cause recipe collection with a few new recipes that's yours when you make any sized donation to the Stittsville Food Bank. The Food Bank supports individuals and families in need in the community of Stittsville and surround rural areas by providing food, personal hygiene...
6 Tips to Keep Your Immune System Strong
For almost 6 months now, we've all been doing our best managing the ever changing information regarding COVID-19. Many have been following our local Public Health agency's recommendations to physically distance, use disinfectant hand sanitizer, and to wear masks. However, there has been one glaring piece of critically important information that I feel has been missing. Our immune health. While so much of what's happening can feel out of our...
Building a Balanced Lunchbox
Love it or hate it, it’s that time of year again - back to school and for many of us, it also means back to packing school lunches. Long gone are the days of throwing a PB&J sandwich, a Joe Louis and an apple in a bag can calling it a day. And don’t get me started on the bazillion containers to wash. Every. Single. Night. and the grungy lunch bag - gross, but I digress. Our house doesn’t really get a break from packing lunches over the...
Our go-to for colds
Who wouldn't want to put cold wet sock on their feet when they're sick and ready to go to bed... hear me out... this has been a game changer in our house. We've been using the Warming Sock Treatment since our 8 year old daughter was a toddler. Now, at the first signs of a cold, she asks to do "wet socks" before bed. Once she's ready for bed, she'll sit on the bathroom counter with a book and soak her feet in a sink full of really warm (not hot)...
Thriving through the holiday season
The holidays can be a wonderful time, but it can also be a very stressful time with get together's, parties, food, alcohol, presents, and travelling. It can also be complicated and tangled with grief, sadness, anger, and loss. For some, it is a task of merely getting through and surviving. For those who struggle through the holidays, I see You. I believe there is value in shifting the discussions about surviving the holidays to one of...
Entering the wellness journey with grace
Moving towards health and wellness is definitely a holistic process; one that calls on patience, self-love, forgiveness, and grace. About 10 years ago, I was hitting the gym 5 days a week and I felt pretty good about my health. Fast forward to desk job, a little one, 6 years worth of 2 hour/day commutes, a lifestyle that wasn’t super active, lots of wine, and a diet that wasn’t always consistent with the most nourishing foods....
Transitioning the family back into routine Part 2: Balance
As our lives are becoming more and more busy, I truly believe it is imperative that we regularly stop and examine what exactly it is that is making our lives busy. As we transition into back-to-school routine, now it the perfect time to do this reflective work. What's making us busy? Are we filling our time with activities that bring meaning and joy to our lives, are we filling our time with things we are told we, or our kids "should" be doing,...
Transitioning the family back into routine Part 1: Sleep
As summer comes to a close, many of us are preparing our selves and our families to launch back into early mornings, lunch making, homework, and extra curricular activities. Over the next couple of weeks, I will share my thoughts on how you can support this transition before the chaos sets in and everyone defaults to autopilot. This will be an exercise to create a family calendar that includes the things that are a priority for you and your...
Back to School: How to Build & Maintain a Healthy Immune System
Back to school time can be an adventure, filled with excitement, nerves, and of course…germs. Within the first couple of weeks of the school year, my social media is blown up with stories and frustrations of kids coming home with this bug or that bug; from the common cold to the stomach bug. Having a child catch every thing that is going around and/or having these bugs run through every person in your house doesn’t have to be a given for this...
Top Tips for Health & Wellness
Today we celebrate World Health Day. Here are my top tips for moving towards health & wellness. Sleep Inadequate sleep affects every system in our body and can increase our risk of adverse health outcomes. Sleep allows our brains to consolidate our memories and process information from our day. Our brain also uses approximately 20% of the calories that we burn every day; resulting in a lot metabolic by-products. Sleep is necessary for our...
A dog, a vet, and finding your passion
We are the loving family to two Boxers, Bruno and Ella; litter mates who will turn ten on the 19th of this month. They are everything and more that they say about Boxers. They are full of energy, ridiculously silly and they think that they are really only the size of a Chihuahua and that they can both easily sit in the same chair with you, which results in them sitting on you. Approximately 3 years ago, Ella began suffering from episodes of...
The Beginning of a Journey
How did I get here; from Social Services to Holistic Nutrition? Well, where do I begin…There have been many little and not so little things and people over the past few years that led me to where I am today. I just didn’t know it at the time. Here’s just one of those moments, albeit not so little. Although the exact dates may not be so clear, the change started to rumble louder about five and half years ago. You see, when my daughter was almost...
Mandy Faulkner
BA, R.H.N
A Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Advocate, Mother, and Partner who is helping others on their journey to wellness.
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