Wellness Mama®
Simple Answers for Healthier Families
Simple solutions to help you improve your family’s health through a combination of a real food diet, and optimizing factors like sleep, reducing stress and avoiding toxins.
Creatine is a popular supplement for strength training and high-intensity exercise. It’s not surprising because this compound is known to improve energy and endurance. Creatine can also enhance the physical effects of bodybuilding – and not only appearance. Supplementing can improve both muscle strength and muscle growth. Yet, creatine benefits go beyond the gym. After …
In college, I loved taking protein powder as a way to add in nutrients and calories without having to take the time to eat a full meal (spoken like a true type-A). I also loved making an iced latte with protein powder for breakfast. However, is protein powder healthy? Obviously, it had to be a …
After a long hiatus, pasta is back for many of us! Why? Because pasta isn’t synonymous with wheat anymore. You can get chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, rice pasta, and more. There’s another (ancient) option you may have seen recently on store shelves… einkorn flour. While shopping in the “healthier pasta” section, you may have come …
Before starting my natural health journey, I never really understood how much our choices affected us. These diet and lifestyle choices have far-reaching effects. Over the years I’ve seen firsthand how nutrition, toxins, and trauma impact health. Things I once attributed to genetics, I now realize have many causes. Believe it or not, nutritional and …
As we become more focused on sustainability and being financially savvy, we have to stop and think. How much does caring for our monthly cycle add to the landfill? Most pads and tampons aren’t exactly recyclable or biodegradable. Besides that, stocking up on period products each month adds up over time. What other options do …
Before I started eating real foods, ferments like sauerkraut and kombucha weren’t even on my radar. These fermented foods tasted and smelled too strong to me, and I had no interest in eating them. I preferred my bland carbohydrates, thank you very much! Fast forward a few years, and I noticed I started to enjoy …
If I had to name one of the most commonly recommended health tips from hundreds of podcast guests, it would be to adopt a meditation practice. In fact, on-air or off-air, I’d estimate that at least half of all guests have mentioned this as being one of the most impactful parts of their life. And …
In my Home Remedies For Pink Eye article, I briefly mentioned a little-known super fruit called black chokeberry or aronia berry. While you may have noticed it on an ingredients list of a superfood blend, most people don’t know much about it. That’s unfortunate because it’s a powerful berry with many uses and health benefits. …
Mom life has plenty of ups and downs. There are joys and blessings, but also stress (both emotionally and physically). Besides everyday life, we also have the ups and downs of our monthly cycle. Seed cycling is one thing some women use to try and help with these hormonal cycles. Our hormones are a complex …
Like most things in the nutrition world, fats are back in style. At least certain kinds, and in certain amounts. Some healthcare providers still recommend a low-fat diet, but is it really healthy? Here’s the scoop on fats, what they are, which ones are good (or bad), and what to do about them. Low Fat …
We all know what it feels like to get a terrible night’s sleep. We wake up feeling foggy and disoriented. We’re easily frustrated, overwhelmed, or forgetful. Many turn to melatonin to help them get some sleep, but is melatonin safe? Sure, we’ve all heard of it and likely have taken it at some point, but …
Have you heard of the 75 Hard workout challenge? It’s one of the many recent challenges presented by influencers in the health and wellness space. Is it just a passing fad? Probably. But right now, it’s trending on TikTok and showing up all over social media. It has billions of views and is a controversial …
Oil pulling is an age-old regimen rooted in ancient Ayurvedic medicine. It’s now a home remedy that uses natural substances to clean and detoxify the mouth and teeth. But is there any evidence behind this practice and how do you do it? Oil pulling, along with other elements of dental hygiene and regular dental visits, …
Ever since I started writing about health, the great debate over whether or not to eat meat and from which sources has continued. Have you ever wondered if grass-fed beef is healthier than grain-fed? Is it worth the extra cost and effort to seek it out? Is there a real difference? In a nutshell, yes! …
Have you been told your iron is low? More and more people today are being diagnosed with anemia, often (but not always) caused by low iron levels. Although iron pills or supplements can help boost iron levels, they won’t fix the root cause. Instead of just treating the symptoms, here’s how to increase iron naturally. What …
Those with Crohn’s disease know just how much of a pain it can be. From abdominal pain to rectal bleeding, and other symptoms Crohn’s can be really painful and frustrating. The good news is traditional, nourishing diets, like paleo, can offer sweet relief from annoying (and sometimes outright discouraging) symptoms. What Is Crohn’s Disease? Crohn’s …
While I’ve primarily dedicated this website to the everyday experience of being a mama, not everyone wants a large family. Some women feel their family is complete and it’s not in their plan to become pregnant again (or at all). Here are the non-hormonal birth control options I’ve used in my own family planning. Birth control …
We often hear about the importance of the gut microbiome, and rightfully so. It’s central to a healthy digestive system, nervous system, immune system… basically every body system. But did you know it thrives on a particular type of food? Introducing the concept of a gut superfood… resistant starch. What is The Role of The …
There’s been a lot of anti-butter propaganda in the past. For the longest time, people even thought margarine and vegetable oils were healthier options (not so much). So is butter bad for you or not? Without going all Paula Dean on you, there are a lot of reasons to enjoy butter and eat it often. …
You may have heard about neem for garden pests, but there’s a whole lot more to this wonder plant. Neem benefits people too and has been used for thousands of years in traditional cultures for a wide variety of ailments. Here we’ll explore the science behind this plant and how we can use it to …
Over 37 million Americans have diabetes and another 96 million are prediabetic. According to the medical community, we’ve reached epidemic proportions. Thankfully there are steps we can take to help reverse diabetes for a stronger, healthier body. Conquering diabetes is more than just trying to avoid insulin injections though. This disease causes a lot of …
They say sitting is the new smoking, but there’s a new trend that’s just as concerning: vaping. This smoking alternative is catching on fast. And some say it’s a healthier option. But is vaping safe or healthy? While the answer is pretty simple (no), this article will cover some of the risks and side effects. …
Sunbathing and tanning often get a bad rap due to their associations with skin cancer. But mounting evidence shows healthy sun exposure isn’t only safe but necessary. Here’s how to safely get the health benefits of sunbathing. Staying in the sun until we’re toasty and red can increase skin cancer risk. But an anti-inflammatory diet …
Regenerative agriculture is the newest buzzphrase for growing healthy food. We went from conversations around “organic agriculture” to “sustainable agriculture” to “regenerative agriculture.” The idea behind “sustainable” growing is that farming sustains itself—and we can preserve the quality of our soils for years to come. Because of modern farming practices (like planting the same crops …
