Amidst the indulgent feast that typically takes center stage during the holiday season, our Healthy Holiday Broccoli Salad emerges as a refreshing and nourishing delight. This vibrant dish stands out as a light and flavorful option, offering a perfect balance to the rich and heavy fare. Elevating its appeal is a simple yet delightful dressing, featuring the creamy and tangy notes of Dijon mustard or tahini. But that’s not all – the true magic lies in the freedom to personalize! Embark on a culinary adventure by incorporating your favorite nuts, dried fruits, and vegetables, transforming this s ..read more

Do you love your gut? Could it use a little more love? Send it a Valentine in the form of L-Glutamine! A truly unique amino acid, L-Glutamine is a multitasking wonder, fueling metabolism, regulating cell repair and maintaining the gut’s barrier functions. In fact, L-Glutamine is needed for nearly every single one of your 50,000 proteins and the chemical reactions responsible for digestion and damage repair. And it’s particularly critical in the context of leaky gut. What’s leaky gut, anyway? Essentially, it’s the result of inflammation on your intestinal lining. The culprit for that is a lo ..read more

The immune system: It’s one of your body’s critical lines of defense. So it’s logical that if it’s down-and-out due to stress, toxic exposure or diet, your body isn’t armed to fight infections. Have you ever asked yourself why that one person in your office, classroom or friend group gets sick all the time while others don’t? All signs point to immune compromise.  Inflammation and the immune system are at the core of so many conditions we see today. Click To Tweet How does it all work? Inflammation and the immune system are at the core of so many conditions we see today. We know that suga ..read more

When it comes to detox, we often think of extreme measures—juice cleanses, starvation—but total deprivation is unnecessary (and unlikely to have long-term benefits). At its essence, detox is simply ridding our bodies of all the junk that can build up—heavy metals, candida, parasites and other forms of toxicity. These toxins are everywhere in our environment—in our beauty products, our foods, even in our deodorant. Heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, in particular, are problematic. They’re absorbed through air pollution, contaminated foods and our water supply, and can wreak ..read more

Years ago when I started down the nutrition path, I truly believed that eating healthfully was one-and-only direct path to health and wellness. I learned over the years that health is not only about eating whole foods, but a fuller picture that also incorporates mindfulness, exercise and reducing regular environmental exposure. And that includes our beauty products.  After years of traveling the country I finally found a functional medicine doctor to help me find answers to my debilitating pain, and those included Systemic Mastocytosis—an incurable disease that can lead to organ failure, ca ..read more

Dear Melissa: I overindulged after the holidays. How do I reset? First, let me assure you that you are not alone—especially this holiday season. From passed appetizers to holiday cookies, temptation abounds. The best part of working with my Golden Goddess plate is that there are no off-limits foods. No guilt, no shame, just honoring your body, recognizing you craved some sugar and working back toward balance. And maybe asking yourself, why the craving? Have I been eating balanced meals, did I get enough sleep, am I stressed out? Then your story will start making sense.  Next, let’s look at ..read more

Everyone loves cookies! Break out your favorite cookie cutters and try out this cookie recipe and ice or decorate the cookies however you’d like. Note that this dough is fairly delicate to work with, so be patient with it while forming the cookies. Ingredients: 5 Tbsp. Salted Butter, softened 6 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar (you can also use cane sugar if you’d prefer them to be lighter in color) 2 Tbsp. Honey 1.75 cups + 1 Tbsp. Almond Flour 1/4 cup Coconut Flour 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda 1 medium Egg Pinch of Salt Tapioca Starch for dusting Icing of choice (or use example below ..read more

The holidays, in all their frenzied, festivity-filled glory, can sometimes feel like a test to our sanity. The key to coming out the other side unscathed? Relying on a few good cheats—say, a quick crowd-pleasing meal or a go-to gift you can buy in bulk. I asked some time-strapped women in my circle to share how they find peace in the eye of the celebratory storm. Theresa Dever : Attorney My go-to gift these days are the most comfortable and cute pjs in the world by hello mello. My gift to myself? I typically schedule a mani/pedi before Thanksgiving and Christmas. And since we typically host ..read more

The stakes are high, the pressure is on, but at Nourishing Lab we are all about simplifying holiday meal prep so it’s small on stress and big on crowd-pleasing foods that pack a healthy punch. My number-one tip? No matter how the dinner turns out, try to be at peace with it. Overcooked the green beans? Charred the tenderloin? No one will remember—it’s the funny stories and engaging conversation that stay with us. Start Simply. photo courtesy of Brown Paper Nutrition You do not have to bake and create everything from scratch. Sometimes the simplest starters are actually the most crowd plea ..read more

Imagine: You’re running around getting teachers’ gifts, you haven’t bought a thing for the relatives arriving in a few days, the kids are out of school in two days and your errands list is never-ending. Not to mention the poor dog, who hasn’t had a shred of your attention. Sound familiar? These moments are inevitable this season, but we don’t need to get swept away by them.  My suggestion? Stop, breathe and reassess. Now is the most important time to be at peace with your body—and that starts with the mind. Make space for yourself so you can share all your love and light with others. Here a ..read more