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When I grew up and had any skin issues, like pimples, eczema- I typically put on specifically indicated topical cream or over the counter ointments. They sometimes helped a bit, but often it was time that was required for the issue to resolve or get better. People struggling with chronic skin conditions are referred to dermatologists, who prescribe topical antibiotics, gels, creams and often also prescribes medications and/or antibiotics that need to be taken internally. But little did I know back then that instead of focusing on what to put on top of the skin to hopefully heal the skin condition, we need to focus on the inside of our bodies- what we eat and drink, how we take care of our gut and how we take care of our liver. No, food is not the only area people with skin issues need to focus on, but this is a good starting point, especially if you have not been really thinking whether and how the food you eat, affects your body and your skin. In this article I cover the importance of taking care of your bodily organs to support the health of your skin. Caring for your gut Your body has two external surfaces to defend itself- one is your skin and the other one is the lining of your intestinal tract- your gut. What's inside your intestinal tract, isn't technically inside your body- your gut lining, when in a good condition, is helping to make sure no food particles are getting into your blood-stream. But when your gut lining is in a bad condition, also called 'leaky', it means, the food can get into your bloodstream which causes your own body to fight against the foreign invaders. I covered the term ' leaky gut ' in an earlier post in my blog, explaining what it is and how to treat it. Microbes in your gut protect you from the outside world- they support to remove old cholesterol and oestrogen, synthesise vitamins and antioxidants. Eating greens is crucial for the production of glutathione, your master antioxidant in the body to fight oxidative stress that ages your skin. Have you heard about face mapping? Face mapping has been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries as one of the tools to evaluate what's happening inside human's body- person's skin is a reflection of their inner health. Ancient medicine practisers have mapped the human's face, where different parts/areas are connected to different inner organs. If the body is out of balance, the skin will show it either via dry skin, redness or pimples and the location of these issues on the face represent often the organ that's affected. I think it's good to pay attention to the facial skin and examine it's condition and consider whether the issues you are currently experiencing could be linked to an organ and its condition in your body. Source: Mukti Organics Reducing inflammation inside your body has a positive affect on your skin I have experienced it first hand myself. Since I went off the most common inflammatory food groups one by one couple of years ago (gluten, sugar, lactose (still consume occasional cheese once a week or so), plus gave up using make-up on a daily basis, my skin turned more clear and softer. I use organic moisturising cream on my skin only during the winter months- the rest of the year, I use avocado oil oil or jojoba oil with a drop or two of an essential oil meant to be used on the skin , depending on my mood I am looking for. If you are suffering from any of the skin issues such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, hives etc, I would highly recommend to try the following for 3-4 weeks to see if your skin issues see any improvement (you have nothing to loose I promise, only win). gut out added sugar from your diet gut out dairy products (you can try and introduce raw dairy, kefir, plain yoghurt later on back if you want, but conventional dairy products are often linked to acne) gut out foods containing gluten avoid trans fats and processed foods avoid consuming too much alcohol- best to avoid it for the 3-4 weeks when you try to reduce inflammation in your body to allow your body to heal Focus on consuming wide variety of colourful vegetables, salads, berries, fruits (but not too many), herbs and spices, healthy fats (extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, camelina oil), nuts, seeds, fish (wild salmon, sardines, herring etc), seafood, organic meat (grass-fed beef, chicken, turkey, lamb), mushrooms and legumes, cultured dairy. Add in prebiotic and probiotic rich foods and check out my leaky gut article for additional supplements you can take to support the gut healing. Healthy gut helps to lead to healthy skin. Do not forget to consume enough purified water on a daily basis as dehydration ages the skin faster. You can also drink herbal teas or matcha to add in additional antioxidants to your body. In addition you can read how can you support your skin topically and learn more about skin microbiome from one of my articles earlier this year. Getting adequate night sleep and regular exercise are also key areas to help your skin to heal, so putting more focus on these areas will definitely benefit you. If you are interested in getting a better understanding what causes inflammation in the body or how do you know that your body is in need for a detoxification , read the relevant articles in my blog. I hope the above steps, even if taken one at a time, will lead you to a happier you about your skin and overall good energy. If you need support from a health and nutrition coach, who can guide you with nutrition and lifestyle changes to help and improve the health of your skin from inside out, don't hesitate to reach out to me at info@katrinpeo.com .

I departed ways with majority of the gluten-containing foods (wheat, rye, barley, spelt) in January 2017. No, it was not an experiment that I thought of doing for a short period of time, it was a concrete step in my healing journey after having been diagnosed with Lyme disease in October 2016 and suffering from severe joint pains in my hips and knees and headaches as a consequence. I started to read a lot about what causes inflammation in the body and what can I do to reduce the inflammation levels. And one of the topics that came up amongst many health experts I read books from or podcasts I listened to, that gluten can be a trigger to inflammation amongst other inflammatory foods, such as added sugars , trans fats, processed meats, too many foods with omega-6 fatty acids, refined carbs and conventional dairy products. After going off from the mentioned gluten containing foods, my joint pains resided (it did take around 3 weeks for me to really start to notice that change). I this article, I would like to share information on: what is gluten why is it not good for humans and why you might want to consider going off the gluten containing foods what foods contain gluten what to replace the gluten containing foods with why should you be wary for 'gluten-free' labeled products What is gluten? Gluten is a sticky protein that occurs naturally in wheat, rye, barley and spelt. It's a family of proteins found in the seeds of grass that are soluble in alcohol. Gliadine is the gluten protein in wheat. Over the centuries wheat has been hybridised, crossbred with other grains and species to increase production levels, and sprayed with high amounts of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Due to the hybridisation process nowadays grains have fewer nutrients, more weight‐producing carbohydrates, more gluten and more phytic acid in them. Gluten gives baked goods their doughy elastic structure, but many foods also contain gluten for other purposes like for flavour enhancement and as a thickening agent. For your intestines gluten is like a glue blocking the normal movements of the small intestines. This can manifest in intestinal bloating, diarrhoea and other problems, even in people who are not sensitive to gluten. Your digestive system does not possess the enzymes to completely digest all the bits of this protein, therefore your stomach producing excess acids, slowing down digestion or creating acid reflux. Why gluten is not considered good for us? Many of us are consuming gluten on a daily basis. Just think about it- sandwiches, muffins, croissants, bagels, cereals, granola, hamburgers, hot dogs, wraps, cookies, cakes etc- they all contain gluten. Compared to other proteins in grains, gluten is difficult to digest and its presence in your digestive tract can inflame the intestinal lining, loosening the tight junctions and therefore contributing to a leaky gut syndrome. Gluten can create an underlying inflammatory process that can create collateral tissue damage in your body to all of your organs not just to your gut. Once the gut is leaky, you get systemic flow of gluten and wherever it goes, it can cause damage. Celiac disease You might have heard of celiac disease, which is a severe reaction to gluten and which is not very common amongst humans- around 1% of world population has celiac disease. For people with celiac disease, every time they consume gluten, their immune system triggers an attack to intestines. As it affects the villi in the intestines which are responsible for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream, people with celiac disease experience symptoms like malnutrition. But there are more than 300+ symptoms reported from people with celiac disease, from neurological and psychiatric illnesses, stunted growth, cancer, and even death. People with celiac disease should avoid all gluten containing foods, but also be aware what other products (skincare) they use what contain gluten. People are tested for celiac disease using the below 5 pillars (meeting 4 out of 5): symptoms or signs linked to celiac disease: Positive serological screening tests (you would need to be eating gluten for accurate results) Presence of genetic markers HLA-DQ8 or HLA-DQ2 (but having these genes does not necessarily mean you definitely develop celiac disease) Intestinal damage detected by endoscopy/biopsy (you would need to be eating gluten for seeing the damage gluten causes) Symptom resolution by following implementation of gluten free diet Wheat allergy This is an allergic immune response whenever gluten containing foods are consumed. There are less people in the world diagnosed with it than with celiac disease, but nonetheless it can cause severe symptoms from hives, itching, swelling to difficulty breathing and even anaphylaxis. People with wheat allergy notice the symptoms immediately or soon after consuming gluten containing foods. People with wheat allergy should avoid gluten containing foods in their diet. Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity But even if you are not celiac, you can still be gluten intolerant (also called having non-celiac gluten sensitivity), experiencing similar symptoms as with celiac disease, but body does not produce antibodies for gluten . People who have gluten sensitivity, feel better when they avoid gluten- and different people experience the symptoms at different levels of severity. There is currently no accepted test for non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity can result in changes to the gut microbiome and increase pathogenic microbes. As our overall health is very much linked to our gut , gluten intolerance can affect almost every cell, tissue and system in your body, since the bacteria that populate our gut help control everything from nutrient absorption and hormone production to metabolic function and cognitive processes in the body. Below are some of the most common symptoms linked to non-celiac gluten sensitivity: Digestive issues, including abdominal pain, bloating, cramping, constipation or diarrhoea Muscle and joint pains Skin issues, such as eczema, dermatitis, skin rashes, rosacea Tingling and numbness in the arms and legs Frequent low energy levels and chronic fatigue Difficulty concentrating and trouble with memory Frequent headaches Mood-related issues, such as depression and anxiety Reproductive problems, irregular periods and infertility Nutrient deficiencies, including iron deficiency and anemia Higher risk for neurological and psychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer’s and dementia If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms or have been diagnosed with auto-immune diseases, like Lyme, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis etc., it's advisable to first rule out celiac disease and wheat allergy. Then try and go off from gluten all together not less than 3 weeks to see if the symptoms you are experiencing are getting any better. Of course if you have too much inflammation in the body, it's the best to go on an anti-inflammatory diet all together (where you cut out all inflammatory foods ) to really support your own body's innate ability to heal. Gluten stays in your body for months after your have stopped eating it, even if you just had a bite of gluten containing food. It's also important to know that different grains contain different forms of gluten. In this article by Gluten Free Society , they list different grains including also rice, corn and oat and the type of gluten you can find in them. If you are someone sensitive to gluten or have celiac disease it's advised to avoid grains all together to see how your symptoms will get better. What foods contain gluten? Unfortunately the list is long, as gluten is really added to many manufactured and packaged products. Even if oats, rice and quinoa for example don't contain gluten called gliadin, the fact that they are often packaged in the same factories where wheat is processed, makes them not completely free of gliadin. This does make a gluten-free diet challenging, but I believe, if one wants to go gluten-free, then by eliminating the below foods, you are already doing your body a great favour. Wheat , all varieties (whole wheat, wheat berries, graham, bulgur, farro, farina, durum, kamut, bromated flour, spelt etc), rye, barley, triticale Baked wheat flour products (bread, pasta, pizza, cookies, pastries as well as sourdough bread though healthier than normal white bread) Canola oil and other vegetable oils Deli meats (including bacon)- check ingredients Granola - always read the ingredients label as though granola is supposed to be oat-based, many manufacturers do add wheat in them Spelt bread - thought spelt is considered ancient grain and talked about as a healthier version of a bread, it does contain gluten Couscous - also an ancient grain, that's unfortunately not gluten free Bulgur - same as couscous, it does contain gluten Protein bars - to improve the consistency of a protein bar, manufacturers often add gluten in the bars. So read your labels if you want to avoid gluten. French fries - many frozen french fries are dusted with flour before they are frozen Ketchup and mayonnaise - manufacturers of these products may use gluten products as thickeners, stabilisers or for flavouring. Better to make your own to be sure you avoid the possible gluten within these products. Meatballs - gluten (bread crumbs) are often used to keep the meatballs together Beer and vodka - you know that beer is made from barley, but if you do buy vodka, make sure it's not made from gluten-containing grains, but from potatoes, corn or grapes Sausages and hot dog sausages - some sausages have added gluten in them Roasted nuts - they are typically produced in the same factory facilities with gluten-containing products, so best to consume raw nuts (but good if soaked) . Ice cream - check thee ingredients list when you purchase ice-cream as some ice-cream do contain flour for thickening. Gluten may also be added to other processed and packaged foods like: soy sauce fish sticks flavoured teas tomato sauces bouillon cubes ground spices marinades syrups spice mixes chewing gum Products labelled as gluten-free Even if you look at products in stores labeled 'gluten-free', you still find the below ingredients on product labels. So the fact that the product is labelled gluten-free, doesn't necessarily make it healthy. I follow this rule; if I don't recognise the ingredient on the product label, would not have it in my kitchen cupboard, I don't buy the product. natural flavourings whey protein concentrate rice malt or rice syrup dextrin, malt or maltodextrin modified food starch gelatinised starch hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) hydrolysed plant protein (HPP) monosodium glutamate (MSG) whey sodium caseinate etc What to use instead of wheat, rye, barley and spelt? I do know from my own experience, it does take commitment and knowledge to go off gluten- you just need to be well-informed when you buy groceries and when you go and eat out. But if you know what gluten does do your body, it's much easier to decide to go off it. Since gluten containing grains also contain vitamins and minerals (especially B vitamins, E-vitamins, minerals like iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium), it's important to make sure you get these micronutrients from other food sources . Grains are also high in fibre, so make sure by removing gluten-containing grains, you get adequate amount of fibre in your diet . Below I list of grains and flours that you can consume as alternatives to wheat, rye, barley and spelt. It's not a complete list as there are more options out there, but hopefully it will drift you away from the thought 'what on earth am I supposed to eat instead of these grains and foods made from these grains'? almond flour coconut flour buckwheat flour plantain flour cassava flour bean flours (chickpea) starches (potato, tapioca) buckwheat quinoa amaranth Grains you want to be mindful of, as they do contain gluten, just different ones: brown rice wild rice black rice oats millet teff sorghum I hope the above provides you more insight into gluten. If you are experiencing digestive issues, joint issues, have auto-immune illnesses you might want to consider going off gluten and see how you feel. If you are looking for health and nutrition counselling, don't hesitate to contact me .

I have read about the four pillars of health from various books and articles- sleep, nutrition, stress management and exercise. In order to be healthy, strong and show up at your physical best on a daily basis, our goal should be to find a healthy balance between these four pillars. I know there are other people out there, who are struggling with it like I have had in the past, so I thought of sharing what I have learnt. You might find that you have been putting too much focus on one pillar like exercise and have neglected maybe the other area, like sleep or stress. Remember in order to chair to stand nice, strong and balanced on the floor, it needs 4 legs to achieve it. It's still standing on 3 legs, but might be wobbly. But if you try and sit on a chair with two legs, it will fall over. 1. Sleep The fact is if you don't get adequate amount of sleep, your body will run in a restoration deficit and it will affect the the results you want to see in all other three pillars. Your sleep quality, timing and duration play a big role in hormones that regulate appetite and cortisol (stress) levels. Not getting enough sleep messes with your metabolism, and affecting glucose tolerance- that's why it's harder to loose that belly fat. When you sleep, your body restores itself- and that's what's needed for you to have a clear daily focus and perform at your best. Getting good quality sleep: Improves your memory and focus Reduces your stress levels Reduces and regulates inflammation Allows you to perform better physically Regulates your hormones making sure you feel balanced in your body How to get better and more sleep: Reduce your exposure to blue light before bedtime, by wearing blue blocking glasses. Blue light makes it harder for you to fall asleep (thing of phones, TVs, computers) Don't eat or drink alcohol close to bed time - best to stop eating 3-4 hours before bedtime to make sure you allow your body to focus it's energy on restoration and clean-up, rather than digesting the food. I have noticed it from my own experience (and by also tracking my sleep) that both eating and drinking too close to bed time will have a great impact on the quality of your sleep Don't exercise too close to bed time - this will raise your heart rate and cortisol high and not allowing the body to go into a rest mode. Use blackout curtains or use an eye mask to block the light during your sleep - as getting light on your eyes signal your body that it's time to wake up. Sleep in a cool environment - open the window slightly, turn the heat down more in your bedroom than in the rest of the house. If you are sensitive to sounds, create a sound barrier by using earplugs for example. Take time to wind down before bed - drink a chamomile tea, have a warm bath with Epson salts and lavender essential oil or diffuse some lavender essential oil or roman chamomile essential oil in your room. I am often making an evening hot drink for myself and my husband, that has a blend of water, almonds, Reishi mushroom, curcumin, ginger, a little bit of cocoa with a mix of different spices. Read more how you can improve your quality of sleep here . 2. Nutrition Every bite you take will be used by your body to carry out its metabolic processes at a cellular level. You either heal or feed inflammation in your body with what you put at th end of your fork. If you skip meals or eat too many carbohydrates- they both are one of the causes for fat storage. Aim to get adequate amounts of good quality protein, carbohydrates, fat and fibre in your diet on a daily basis. Protein at every meal - aim for the size of your palm Carbohydrates - they provide immediate and stored fuel for your body. It's important that carbohydrates come from whole foods (natural and unprocessed)- fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole-grains Healthy Fats - aim for a size of your thumb at each meal (and especially if you are eating greens. Thing of healthy fats as- olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, grass-fed butter, avocados, tahini, nuts and seeds. Fibre - aim for a size of your whole fist. Fibre helps to loose fat. The best sources of fibre are vegetables. Best is to eat from the colours of rainbow to make sure you get all the phytonutrients into your body. When you purchase your groceries, aim to have red, green, orange, white and purple colour vegetables in your weekly menu. Read food labels if you buy packaged foods to avoid purchasing foods with chemicals your body does not need, added sugars , added sodium. For example, almond milk should not contain anything else than water and almonds (sometimes food manufacturers add also sea salt in there). But milk should not contain carrageenans and emulsifiers. Here is a full article how can you eat for satiety . 3. Stress Management This is a pillar where I have failed the most in the past, unfortunately. I keep falling back in the same habits of over-thinking, over-doing, over-worrying. And I know that when I do get sick, it's often because I have not listened to my body when it was already asking to slow down. I am also well-aware what elevated levels of stress or chronic levels of stress do to your body- we get sick more often due to a weak immune system, we recover slowly, our brains slow down- and we can't easily get back to the healthy happy self. There are both external and internal stressors. We can't always control the external ones coming towards us, but we can control our response and how we allow the stressors to affect us. How can you strengthen your mental game? Meditation- there are very many different ways to meditate and different people find different techniques, different places, different set-ups, different bodily positions working for them. At the end of the day, it's about 'coming home to yourself'- finding the piece in your heart, in your mind and being happy and relaxed in a moment. Breathing practices - not making it complicated, just for start take a minute or two to be mindful about your breathing. Inhale through your nose for 2 seconds using your stomach and exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds. And you can do this from anywhere- while you are waiting for your bus, while you are driving in a car, while you are walking your dog. Journaling- either in the evening or in the morning (or both). Taking just couple of minutes to write down what you are grateful for, what do you want to achieve during the day, what you have particularly enjoyed from the day- these all help you to get to a different state of mind. Listening to relaxing music - we all have our favourite songs. Music helps to drift the stressful thoughts away to the words of the song, the melody, to the great memories from the past. Drawing, painting or colouring - it's a great way to express your emotions on a piece of paper and helps you to slow down your thoughts. Spend good quality time with your family members or friends doing something fun together, like cooking, going for long walks in the nature. Learn more about what effects stress can have on your body and how you can support your body managing stress . 4. Exercise I have put this deliberately as the last pillar in this list of four pillars. If you are overdoing with exercise and don't put enough focus on three of the above pillars- you might discover that you are struggling to shred off that extra fat, struggle in general with your metabolic function, might get sick too often as you are taxing your cortisol. You can't out-train a bad diet or sleep deprivation. On the other hand exercise is a natural stress reducer. It helps to get your blood flowing through your body, including brain. This in turn helps you to think more clearly, focus better and in general perform better. Exercise also promotes healthy skin if you on top of exercise hydrate well with water and eat nutritious food. As exercise also promotes the movement of lymph fluid through our bodies, it also improves your immune system and raises your energy levels. So there are many benefits of getting a regular exercise. The trick is not to get too much caught up by it and over-training, as exercise is also a stressor on the body. Doing a variety of exercise on a regular basis is key, combining for example strength training with HIIT sessions and yoga or pilates sessions in between to stretch and relax those muscles is a good mix to try. And if your body is telling you that it's tired, it needs rest- listen to it and take a day or two a break. Don't beat yourself up about the days that you did not manage to get your run done, your weights lifted. If you are a regular exerciser, you know how to get back on track. Think about where you fall short and where you know putting a little bit of that extra focus, will improve your health and get you into that state of equilibrium, whatever it means to you and your body. If you need guidance and support from a health coach and nutrition counsellor to bring more balance in your life around nutrition, physical movement, sleep, stress, home environment, don't hesitate to reach out to me at info@katrinpeo.com .

It was a bit more than a year ago, when a friend of mine recommended me to get myself the Oura ring. Since I was recovering from a brain surgery, there were many questions that I had about health I was trying to find answers to. And Oura ring has been one of the great measurement tools to understand where I am with the state of my well-being at any point of time and what can and do or should not to in order to have optimal health and perform at my best. People, who tell me, just listen to your body why do you need to measure what's happening to determine what to do and what not to do- then unfortunately after the brain surgery my mind and body has never been the same. Anyone who has had brain surgery hopefully sees what I mean. What has Oura ring helped me to measure? Oura has the Oura app, that you install on your phone and which communicates with your ring 24/7, provided you have the ring on your finger and charged at all times. It measures health in three categories, readiness, sleep and activity and shows you the below details for your health: heart rate variability resting heart rate respiratory rate body temperature sleep, including your REM, light and deep sleep activity level recovery index What is heart rate variability (HRV)? It's a marker for resilience and it regulates among other things our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and digestion. HRV helps the identify the imbalances. If we are constantly in a fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. If you are in a more relaxed state, the variation between heartbeats is high. The better your HRV, the more resilient you are, the faster you are able to switch gears. A low HRV is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease and increased risk of death. HRV a good way to track how your nervous system is reacting to the environment around you, as well as your feelings, thoughts and emotions. And what I have clearly noticed is that, focusing on better quality sleep , physical activity, managing stress levels, has a positive impact on the HRV. Normal ranges can be anywhere from below 20 to over 200ms, depending on the person, it's age, it's state of health etc. What is resting heart rate? It's simply the number of times your heart beats per minute while you are at rest. A lower heart rate at rest shows better cardiovascular fitness and more efficient heart function. This can really vary between 40-100 depending on the age of the person and the fitness level of the person. What is respiratory rate? It's how many breaths you take a minute. A normal respiration rate at rest is between 12-20 breaths per minute. Body temperature and Oura ring You will learn this over time, as Oura tracks and displays body temperature relative to your baseline body temperature. So, it shows how much lower or higher your body temperature is compared to your average. Sleep and Oura ring Oura ring looks and analyses your sleep based on HRV, body temperature, resting heart rate, movement and also time spend in specific sleep stages, including light, REM and deep sleep. It shows you data on how much time you are spending in your different sleep stages, shows you latency, sleep timing, shows you when you are awake and gives you daily your sleep score. You get an understanding on your sleep quality and start to understand over time how much sleep your body needs in different stages for you to feel well. REM sleep is where your brain and body re-energises. On average REM sleep counts 20-25% from total sleep, which is 1.5h-2h. It does decrease with age though. Deep sleep is restorative and rejuvenating sleep stage and enabling muscle repair and growth. On average people spend 15-20% of their sleep in this phase. Sleep latency indicates how quickly you fall asleep. If you fall asleep too quickly, it shows you are not getting enough sleep. Sleep timing is important contributor to the quality of your sleep. As your bodily processes run in 24h cycles (circadian rhythms), it's important to sleep at night and staying awake during the day. The midpoint of your sleep should ideally fall between midnight and 3am in order for you to get optimal and balanced sleep. Activity and Oura ring As with many other gadgets, Oura tracks your steps, your calories burnt, alerts you when it's time to stretch your legs when you been sedentary for too long period of time. What is a recovery index? This is how long it takes your resting heart rate to stabilise during the night and to reach it's lowest point What have been my learnings about my body with the help of Oura ring? First of all it's important to note that while you can start to see the numbers for yourself and your body as soon as you start to wear the ring and have installed the app on your phone, you only will get to learn more about your body over time since the app needs data about you for some time before it can start to give you more accurate scores. I have learnt that in order for my body to have the rest it needs, I need to go to bed around 10PM. Anything later than 11PM will impact my well-being. I also know that I need ideally 8.30 hours sleep per night to have both the mind and body rested, and my REM sleep and deep sleep higher than an hour per night. I also know what affects my sleep negatively- eating dinner later than 7pm, drinking a glass of wine, exercising later in the evening. I have also started to see the shifts in my heart rate, body temperature, when I am starting to get ill. This has helped me to put more focus on my sleep and rest before the illness hits me really bad. I only need to charge it once a week for an hour or so. Though it's ok to go to shower with it, I choose to take it off. I also take the it off when I am lifting weights not to damage the ring. Here are images from my Oura app, when I have been in a good state. And here are images from my Oura app, when I have had a glass of wine, have been eating too late and down-prioritised sleep- New Year's Eve :). In conclusion I can say that wearing an Oura ring has helped me to understand my body better, be more kind to it when I have pushed it too far and understand what I need to do to get the body functioning at its best. If you are interested in learning more about Oura ring or want to purchase yourself one, visit Oura Ring website . If you have health-related goals that you want to achieve - whether they they are related to nutrition, weight, digestive health, skin health, anxiety - then you might want to consider contacting a nutritionist and health mentor - info@katrinpeo.com . I have been advising and supporting both women and men on their journey to better health since January 2022.

If you are surrounded by health-conscious people and are yourself honed in to health, you must have heard of the term intermittent fasting or cyclic fasting. But if not, I will help to to get a good overview fo what is intermittent fasting and why we should practice it on a regular basis. What is intermittent fasting? Intermittent fasting shortly is going without food for a period of time. It's not that eating is bad, especially if you are eating healthy whole-food, but in today's world we tend to overdo with eating and not give our body the rest it needs in between the meals. Digesting food is an energy-consuming activity for the body. Intermittent fasting has been used for centuries during the time of famine or when food was scarce and as we know it's one of the central parts in different religions. Many of us also tend to be reliant on glycose stores for energy rather than utilising our fat storage for energy. Intermittent fasting is helping to switch that around, where we are not dependent on glycose and can utilise fat instead to keep our energy levels high. What are the health benefits of intermittent fasting? Improves your immune system and increases energy Intermittent fasting helps to lower your white blood cell count, recycle the immune cells not needed and triggers your immune system to start producing new white blood cells. Decreases insulin resistance It increases metabolism and also increases the production of beneficial enzymes, which help your body to adapt to stress better and fight chronic illnesses like diabetes. Heals the leaky gut As you give your digestive tract a rest, it allows your body to heal the gut lining and improve gut disorders like IBS, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease. Click here to learn more about leaky gut and how to heal it. Encourages weight loss Hormone imbalances are often the cause of people not being able to lose weight. When your body is running on sugar-fuel, your body might have leptin (satiety hormone) resistance, which means your brain has stopped recognising leptin's signals to use your body's fat storage for energy. Promotes autophagy (cell self-eating) This is normal bodily process of cellular renewal, when our own cells are eating away old cells and studies have shown that fasting helps to improve this process. Helps killing off cravings and reduce emotional eating When practicing intermittent fasting, your hunger hormone in your body, ghrelin is decreased and at the same time your brain's dopamine levels are increased. By moving your metabolism from a sugar-burner to a fat-burner, you reduce the need for cravings and especially cravings for unhealthy starchy and sugary foods. Improves autoimmune conditions Intermittent fasting helps to reduce the severity of a a flare of those with autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis. Reduces inflammation in the brain and improves memory It enhances your brain cognitive function, slows down brain ageing and help with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's. Improves heart health Intermittent fasting helps to lower blood pressure and triglycerides, while raising beneficial HDL cholesterol. Improves lung health Helps to reduce asthma symptoms and oxidative stress. How to go about with intermittent fasting? There are different ways to go about intermittent fasting, but it's all about eating in a restricted time-window and of course focusing on healthy whole-foods, while eating. People who have not practiced intermittent fasting at all and have not been health-conscious eaters, it's better to start slowly. Meaning, start off with eating your meals within 12h and then giving yourself 12h rest from food- it could be eating your meals between 7am and 7pm and not eating between 7pm and 7am. If you feel comfortable with a 12h eating window, you can take it a step further and try eating within 10h window and then giving your body a rest for 14h before you eat again, so it would look like this for example: eating your meals between 8am and 6pm and then not eating between 6pm and 8am. And you can take it from there even another step further, where you eat within an 8h window and give your body then 16h of rest. It's all about finding the right eating window that works for your body, there is no one rule that works for all. You could also eat your meals between 12am and 6pm, if you are not a 'breakfast person' and not really hungry in the mornings. You could also do 16h fasts during the weekdays and 14h fasts during the weekend. Find your own sweet-spot. But it's important to mention here that women need to be more careful when intermittent fasting, read further to find out why. What to eat when you are practicing intermittent fasting? Beginner: Eating between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. If you haven't practiced intermittent fasting in the past, then it's best to start with 12h fasts or 14h fasts as this allows you to have your breakfast, lunch and dinner within normal hours while still getting the benefits of fasting. You can Breakfast around 8 a.m. Best is to start off your morning with a smoothie, that has good fat, protein, fibre, greens and small handful of berries in it. You can find some more information and inspiration how to put together and well-nourishing smoothie here . Lunch around 12 p.m. Have a healthy salad for example with a choice of greens (spinach, rocket, roman lettuce) , avocado, a choice of protein (wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, egg), sprinkle with some seeds like sesame or pumpkin seeds and add your salad dressing (just olive oil, a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tahini dressing etc). Dinner around 5.30 p.m. Depending on what you had as a protein for lunch, you can have a different protein for dinner (fish, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, duck etc). Serve next to it some oven-roasted vegetables like sweet potatoes, beetroot, leek, cauliflower (the choice is wide). In between the meals make sure you consume enough water to avoid dehydration, drink tea such as green tea or matcha or any other herbal tea. Intermediate: Eating between 12 p.m and 6 p.m. This takes your fasting from 14h to 18h and usually means you skip breakfast and have your first meal at 12 p.m. You can sip herbal teas or green teas in the morning as they naturally help to reduce the hunger hormone ghrelin. You can either have your smoothie at 12 p.m. or have your usual lunch meal. If you do get hungry between your first meal and last meal, have something like a handful of soaked nuts or seeds (learn why you need to soak them from here). For dinner have a healthy protein together with either a salad or cooked vegetables. Is intermittent fasting for everyone? Women are more sensitive to intermittent fasting than men as they have more hormone called kisspeptin, which creates greater sensitivity to fasting. If women take intermittent fasting too far, it can mess up their menstrual cycle, throw off their hormones and have a negative effect on fertility. So women might want to try to do intermittent fasting just couple of days a week (let's say Mondays and Wednesdays) and while they have their period, try longer eating windows, like 12h eating and 12h fasting. It's not about stubbornly going in and pushing it though all days, no matter what. Intuition is key here. Also on fasting days, rather than going all in with hard-cardio exercise focus on yoga, pilates or any light-cardio exercise. If you have blood-sugar problems and/or are diabetic, it's important to talk to your healthcare provider, who helps to monitor your health, while you slowly go into intermittent fasting and increase your length of fasting as your blood glycose stabilises. If you have eating-disorders (like bulimia and anorexia), also talk to your healthcare provider. You will also benefit more going into regular intermittent-fasting slower. Though studies have shown, if done right with proper nutrition, people are able to heal from their eating disorders with intermittent fasting. If you are someone with anxiety, struggling with sleep and your circadian rhythm is not in balance (not able to fall asleep easily, stay asleep and wake up energised, then you are probably the one also who should step slowly into intermittent fasting. If you have thyroid problems, then it's also best to talk to your healthcare provider before starting to practice intermittent fasting. As you have hopefully learnt from above, intermittent fasting is definitely something to try and practice to reap the benefits from it for your health, but it's important to do it intuitively, listen to your own body and also work with your healthcare provider if you have current health issues to make sure you ease into the fasting the right way. If you have health challenges that you are struggling, whether it's around weight, digestion, nutrition, don't hesitate to reach out to me for nutrition and health coaching at info@katrinpeo.com .

We have over thirty-seven billion chemical reactions happening in our bodies every second of the day. What we put into our bodies have a direct and immediate impact to our health. There is a reason why it's said: "Your health starts at the end of your fork." Every single reaction in our body needs essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals for it to work. Both inflammation and obesity are something that are very often caused by our modern diet- too much starch, sugar, trans fats, ultra-processed foods, artificial sweeteners etc. And even though there are of course other things that influence the inflammation in the body (think allergens, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, stress), food plays a primary role in whether our health thrives or suffers. I recently read a quote from Steve Jobs, from when he was at the end of his life in 2011. One sentence in the quote applies to very much what I want to focus on in this blog: “Eat your food as your medicine . Otherwise you have to eat medicine as your food .” Functional medicine believes that most of the modern diseases are linked to inflammation , such as obesity, cancer, heart disease, allergies, autoimmune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis etc), depression, dementia etc. Inflammation is caused very often in your gut. As ancient Greek physician Hippocrates said 2500 years ago: "All disease beings in the gut", and today's science is seeing it more and more. Many of us see food just as energy or calories, but it's more than that- it's information and instructions for your body. Food influences every aspect of your biology. Food is protein, fats, carbohydrates, fibre, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, probiotics , prebiotics , phytochemicals and so on. How is your body built? Your body has a set of biological systems integrated with one another- they are all influenced by your lifestyle, your environment and the food you eat. Food is the biggest influencer- it can either heal or harm the below systems. Gut and gut microbiome Your gut is very much influenced by what you eat. If the diet is unhealthy, you can get many illnesses as a result. Even depression is linked to your gut, if you eat the wrong foods. What you eat determines what bacteria grows in your gut- whether good or harmful. Gut damaging foods you should be avoiding that can create a leaky gut : gluten, refined foods, conventional dairy, trans fats. Gut healing diet: your gut bacteria love fibre , the most essential ones are called prebiotics, which are found in foods like artichokes, asparagus, plantain, seaweed, vegetables etc. Your gut also needs probiotic foods, like sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, miso, nato. Your gut needs minerals and vitamins, like zinc, which is important for enzyme function and found in pumpkin seeds, oysters, meat, legumes, nuts, eggs. You also need omega-3 from fish, which you can find in wild-caught salmon, sardines, herring. Vitamin A is important for your gut lining, which you get from beef liver, cod liver oil, salmon, goat's cheese. Collagen is also important for the gut, that you get for example from bone broth . Polyphenols are very important for the gut and its flora- these are found in colourful vegetables, fruits and berries (pomegranate, green tea ( matcha , cranberries, blackberries, blueberries). Immune system and inflammatory system If you have a chronic illness, you are inflamed. If you are overweight, you are inflamed. Foods that can cause chronic inflammation in the body are ultra-processed foods , refined foods, too much starch, sugar, conventional dairy. This all spikes your body's insulin levels. Fat cells deposited around your waist produce molecules of inflammation, called cytokines. How can you boost your immune system? Gut down on sugar and starch, gluten and conventional dairy. There are many foods that are anti-inflammatory : ginger, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, turmeric, rosemary, medicinal mushrooms (shiitake, chaga, reishi, cordyceps). Also vitamins and minerals are important for healthy immune system: Vitamin C (parsley, cranberries, sea buckthorn, strawberries), zinc, selenium (Brazil nuts, sardines), Vitamin D (from sun, but also from mushrooms, oily fish, liver, eggs) Energy system (how do you make energy in your cells and in your mitochondria) If you eat processed food, too much food, too few phytochemical rich foods, it causes oxidation in your body, which means your body rusts and ages. Oxidation drives inflammation in the body. How do you get energy from food and improve therefore energy in your mitochondria- by consuming foods rich in B-vitamins, zinc, selenium, magnesium, Co-Q10, carnitine, NAC, Omega-3 fats, vitamin E, vitamin K, sulphur etc. Eat foods that are full of these nutrients: pomegranates, grass-fed beef, blueberries, broccoli, almonds, avocado, MCT oil (this is the cleanest burning fuel for your mitochondria) and more. Intermittent fasting is also a tool to use to optimise mitochondrial function and reduce the cell-ageing. Detoxification system Our body has its own detox system (skin, kidneys, liver, digestion system, lungs). One of the best things you can do for improving the detoxing pathways is to drink adequate amounts of water and eat a lot of fibre . In order to support your liver function, eat foods like broccoli, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower. You also need amino-acids from clean protein for your liver. Drink green tea and consume regularly curcumin (in turmeric), cilantro, ginger, dandelion greens, burdock root, watercress, artichokes, which all help to make sure your liver is cleansing your body from toxins. Circulatory system Circulatory system is your body's transport system. Poor circulatory system causes cardiovascular disease and inflammation is the biggest cause here. If you include a lot of antioxidant, phytochemical and arginin rich foods - you are supporting your cardiovascular health as well as reduce inflammation. Foods that are all great for your circulatory system are pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, seaweed, olive oil, turkey etc. Communication systems between your cells Your hormones are sending messages all around the body. Insulin resistance is one of the biggest hormonal issues in the modern world. By getting rid of too much starch and sugar, you are helping your body cells to become more responsive to insulin and also make sure your hunger hormone like ghrelin and satiety hormone like leptin are functioning as they should. Too much insulin also has a negative effect on your female and male hormones like oestrogen and testosterone, where imbalance results in facial hair in women, 'men-boobs' in men. Increase intake of certain types of fibre like flaxseeds (that helps to get rid of extra oestrogen). Cortisol is another hormone that influences negatively insulin and your other hormones, if it's chronically too high. It's important to consume whole foods, low glycemic foods, foods rich in fibre and enjoy a plant rich diet. Your thyroid is also influenced by food (gutting down on gluten containing foods has a positive effect). Your thyroid also likes zinc, iodine, selenium containing foods. Structural system- cell membranes, muscular and skeleton system We are made of 55% water, 23% fat, 16% protein, 6% minerals, small amounts of vitamins and less than 1% carbohydrates. In modern world many people have their diets consisting of high amounts of starch and sugar. But instead we should focus on proteins, fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Every cell in our body contains fats, our brain is made of 60% fats- so consuming healthy fats is very important for thee body. You want to eat eggs, nuts, seeds, avocados, high-quality protein (grass-fed beef) etc. I hope the above gave you a good overview, why we need to focus on consuming healthy whole foods, and why food can either be poison for your body or a miracle drug. If the above is too overwhelming and you are unsure where to start to improve your diet, reach out to me for nutrition counselling and health coaching at info@katrinpeo.com.

Usually I make sauerkraut in autumn, but since I had two cabbages in the fridge- white and red, I decided to make a batch. It's a great addition to grilled meat during spring and summer as it helps to also break down protein more easily in the body. Why to eat sauerkraut? Before we humans had fridges, we ate a lot of fermented foods, as fermentation preserves vegetables, fruits and dairy products, but it also promotes the growth of natural bacteria. Consuming fermented foods will help your gut to inhabit more of good microbes that fight off bad bacteria and toxins. Sauerkraut, which is a fermented cabbage, is one of the easiest fermented foods to make, and contains hundred times more lactobacilli than raw cabbage. Eating just a single spoonful or two before your meal increases saliva production, decreases your stomach PH and activates specific enzymes so you digest your food better. People with heartburn, this is a good tip to try instead of acid blockers . If you want to learn more about different types of probiotics you can find in foods, then read my blog where I dive deeper into the topic . How to make sauerkraut? It's a very easy process. To make one patch of basic sauerkraut, all you need is medium sized cabbage (green or red) and 1 tablespoon of sea salt or Himalayan salt. Chop the cabbage into thin strips (you can also use the food processor). In a mixing bowl, mix together with your hands chopped cabbage and salt. Let it stand for 20-30 minutes. Then massage the cabbage in a bowl with the salt with your hands, working trough the cabbage for 10 minutes or so, until you get the brine out from the cabbage. You can also use a pounding tool to help with getting the liquid out of the cabbage. Then put the cabbage into a cleaned jar. Pack in the jar nicely and make sure you have the brine covering the cabbage as this creates the environment for the fermentation to be able to start. Also leave around 5cm from the top of the jar. Seal with a lid. I have special jars with air-lock systems for fermentation but you don't really need those specific ones to ferment your vegetables. Put the jar in a dark cool dry place. The fermentation process takes from 2-4 weeks during when the friendly bacteria eat the sugars in the cabbage, multiply and release high amounts of lactic acid, which created an environment inhospitable for harmful bacteria and also acts as a natural preservative for your sauerkraut. After the fermentation process you can keep your sauerkraut in the fridge for several months (remember to consume it on a daily basis). If you don't have the jars with air-lock system, it's important to check your sauerkraut on a regular basis, to make sure that the cabbage is submerged the brine and also to open the lid to release excess gas. This makes sure that your sauerkraut does not generate harmful bacteria or mould. Ingredients in the sauerkraut and their benefits You can make a simple sauerkraut by following the above instructions or you can also add any of the below or couple of them to your cabbage. I hereby highlight the benefits of different ingredients Cabbage - cabbage is high in vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, B-vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium, manganese, folate, potassium. As cabbage is high is fibre, it's known to help to detoxify stomach and colon. It has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, helps to clean your blood and keep your immune system strong. Cabbage is also great for your bones. Breastfeeding women can benefit from cabbage, when they struggle with breast pain or inflammation (simply put cold cabbage leaf on the breast to relieve the pain). Red cabbage is even more nutritious than green cabbage due to it's deep colour- it has 85 percent of the daily vitamin C, compared to green cabbage which has 47 percent. Red cabbage has more C vitamin than oranges. Red cabbage also contains 10 times more A vitamin, while green cabbage contains twice as much vitamin K then red cabbage. Red cabbage as also twice as much as iron in it than green cabbage. Caraway seeds (also known as cumin) - they are high in disease-fighting antioxidants, help keeping blood-sugar stable and promote good digestion. A tablespoon of caraway seeds added to your sauerkraut when making it (toasted on the pan to release the flavour) contains protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese, phosphorus. Juniper berries - help to detoxify the body, promote good digestion, skin and heart health and are also known to help with sleep. Juniper berries contain antioxidants and are natural antiseptic with antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. You don't need to add more than 10 berries to a patch of sauerkraut to give the nice juniper flavour to it. Juniper berries are not recommended for pregnant women and for people who have issues with kidneys. Sea salt and Himalayan salt - both sea salt and Himalayan salt are rich in trace minerals. Himalayan salt has around 84 trace minerals while sea salt has around 60. Consuming sea salt and Himalayan salt sparingly on a regular basis helps to balance fluids and prevent dehydration. Sea salt helps to build immunity, eliminates mucus buildup, alkalises body and also improves brain function. Himalayan salt promotes bone health and sinus health, supports with respiratory health and absorbs food particles in the intestinal tract. Sea salt and Himalayan salt both help to prevent muscle cramps, help to regulate blood pressure, increase energy, help regulate sleep and promote electrolyte balance in the body. I hope the above makes you want to incorporate sauerkraut more in your diet and hopefully encourage you to make it yourself rather than going and buying it from the store.

Hair is considered as your crown, especially if you are a woman. A good looking and healthy hair gives you that boost of extra good feel. In my below article I will cover the life cycle of the hair growth, foods to eat to support healthy hair growth and other natural solutions to consider incorporating into your weekly self-care routine. What are the main reasons for hair loss? Most common hair loss is from excess androgens (super testosterone) in the body. It causes the thinning of the hair on scalp. Other reasons include PCOS (poly-cystic ovary syndrome), thyroid disorders (hypothyroidism), decreasing oestrogens in menopause, stress (acute and chronic), chemotherapy, poor nutrition (low protein diet) etc. As you can see there are quite a lot of reasons for hair loss, but there is also a lot you can do yourself to reduce hair-loss and improve hair-growth. What does hair growth cycle look like? There are four distinct phases in the hair growth cycle: Anagen (upward, repetitive) phase- this is when hair is sprouting up in your scalp. Growth phase lasts from 3 to 5 years. Your hair grows around 1cm a month, up to 15cm a year. Catagen (end of anagen phase, down)- this is shorter phase- around 10 days. Hair growth slows down and hair follicles shrink during this phase. Telogen phase (resting phase, means also completion of growth phase, end). It lasts around 3 months- no active growth but hair does not fall out either. Exogen phase- in this phase hair is exiting the hair follicle and falls out. It takes around 2-5 months for hair in this phase. It's completely normal when you loos 50 to 100 hair in this phase. Each hair follicle is independent from each other, so we only shed certain number of hairs a day (80-100 a day on a healthy head of hair). How to have luscious gorgeous hair? There are several things you can do to improve the quality of your hair. Below I am covering the basic things. Nutrition Protein It's important to get appropriate amounts of protein in your diet as your hair is primarily made up of protein called keratin. In this article you can learn about the best protein containing foods. Biotin- known for fortifying and thickening hair and nails and improving the quality of your skin. You can find biotin in foods like almonds, egg yolks, nuts an seeds, liver, sweet potatoes, legumes, mushrooms etc. Vitamin D - Vitamin D helps with regulating the hair growth cycles as well as supports the overall immunity. Foods that are high in vitamin D- oily SMASH fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring); meat; liver; egg yolks etc. Iron - Iron - those who are vegan often suffer from iron deficiency, which also affects hair health. Also, women with heavy menstrual bleeding – this can cause more hair loss. Iron helps bring oxygen to the hair follicles. Heme iron, which we get from animal food such as meat, liver, oysters, is better absorbed by our body than iron from plant sources. It is important to consume foods rich in vitamin C together with foods rich in iron, as the latter helps iron to be better absorbed. Plant (non-heme) sources of iron include spirulina, lentils, white beans, spinach, chickpeas, broad beans, black beans, asparagus, kale, etc. Vitamin A - helps to produce sebum, a natural oil that moisturises hair growth. You can get it from carrots, sweet potatoes, liver, leafy green vegetables. Vitamin C - helps to protect hair follicles from damage. Eat different citrus fruits (lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange), strawberries, sea buckthorn, kiwi, bell peppers. Omega-3 fatty acids - these are anti-inflammatory and counter-act the sympathetic stress response. They help with your overall stress-load. You can find Omega-3 fatty acids in chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts and in the SMASH fish. You can also supplement with a high quality Omega-3 fish oil. Zinc - is important for the repair and growth of the hair tissue. Great sources of zinc are beef, oysters, pumpkin seeds, lentils. Manage your stress In order to take care of your stress levels you don't need to swing to the other side of continuum- to do drastic changes in your day-to-day life. Think how can you reduce your stress even 5% a day- whether it's through meditation, hydration, walking outside, increase your levels of joy, taking a break from your computer, going to bed 20 minutes earlier etc. Taking small steps makes a world of difference over time. Think how can you improve your joy and happiness on a day to day basis. Essential oils There are different essential oils you can use on your hair. Below I am mentioning jus three of them. Rosemary - it's known to help with hair growth and itchy scalp. You can put it neat on the scalp or mixed with olive oil or coconut oil. After washing your hair in the shower- massage 8-10 drops of rosemary essential oil onto your scalp. Many people also claim that rosemary can prevent baldness, slows down greying, and can be used to treat dandruff and dry scalp. Peppermint - it will help to maintain the oil balance in your scalp to ward of dandruff and it helps to stimulate hair growth same way as rosemary does. Geranium - this is very great for soft and shiny hair You can also mix the three above essential oils together and put on the scalp. Hair masks It's also good to give some additional love and care towards your hair, by doing some home-made masks. Recipe 1 for softening and hydration Half of avocado, 1 full egg, a table spoon of olive oil. Mix or blend all together. Don't put the mask on scalp, but rather from mid-half to the ends of hair. Keep it for few hours and rinse it off with shampoo. Recipe 2 for adding additional shine 1 raw egg, 1 ripe banana, 1 heap tablespoon of honey. Mix all together and put from roots to tip of you hair. Keep for 30-60 minutes and rinse off. Hopefully you received some good tips how to start to better care for your hair, naturally.

Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies, especially amongst women. Iron is a trace mineral found in every living cell in your body. Iron's most important role amongst others is to transport oxygen throughout the blood in your body, but also to support overall cellular health. Iron also plays a role in enzyme functions, helping you body to digest food and absorb nutrients from it. What is iron deficiency? Iron deficiency is most commonly linked to anemia, where there is a lack of red blood cells produced. Iron's role is also to help to metabolise proteins and produce hemoglobin (a type of protein found in red blood cells), that carries oxygen from your lungs throughout your body into your cells. If you are not able to produce enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells, then you body also struggles to transport oxygen to your brain, muscles, tissues, cells- leaving you feeing weak and exhausted. Low iron levels are linked to poor diet, blood loss and also to inability to absorb enough iron from your food. Where is iron located in your body? Majority of the 3-4 grams of iron in your body is present in the form of hemoglobin. The rest of the iron is stored in your liver, spleen and bone marrow and in a muscle tissue (myoglobin). What are the symptoms of iron deficiency? Anemia Shortness of breath Dizziness Low energy Headaches Pale skin Trouble getting good restful sleep Trouble with concentration, memory, learning Irregular or fast heartbeats Sores on your mouth or tongue Weird cravings to eat things that are not food- clay, ice, dirt A tingling feeling in your feet Weaker immune system etc Below people are at greater risk developing iron deficiency: People with poor diets People who donate blood on a frequent basis People with cancer Women who experience high menstrual bleeding Pregnant or breastfeeding women People with heart failure or kidney failure People with low stomach acid People with celiac disease, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis Vegetarians, who don't substitute red meat with another iron rich food People who exercise extensively as you sometimes can damage red blood cells How can you test for iron deficiency? It's good to do a test to understand the condition of your blood (CBC- complete blood count), which checks the levels of 10 different components of every major cell in your blood: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. To check specifically the level of iron in your body, you should do: Ferritin test that measures transferrin, a protein that moves iron throughout your body. Approximately one-quarter of the total iron in the body is stored as ferritin. Most ferritin is found your liver, but it can also be present in bone marrow, spleen and muscles Serum iron test that measures the amount of iron in your blood Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) which measures how well iron attaches to transferring and to other proteins in the blood. How to increase iron levels in your body? If your iron levels are low, it's also very important to get higher amounts of vitamin C in your diet as it helps to increase iron absorption. Women (between 19-50, when menstruating) need typically 18mg a day, while men need 8mg a day. Toddles need more iron than children because iron supports the process of growth and cognitive development. If you are a vegetarian, then you need to consume 1.8 times more iron-rich vegetarian food as meat's heme iron is more bioavailable for the body than heme iron from plant foods. When you want to get enough absorbable iron form food, you need to consider the below: When you eat different foods together, they can interact with each other and can either help your body's ability to absorb iron or they can make it harder to absorb iron. As already said, animal foods contain heme iron, which is ore absorbable than iron found in plant foods. If you are a vegetarian, you might want to consider taking iron supplement. Foods like meat and fish (containing heme-iron) enhance the body's ability to absorb non-heme iron from plant foods (like spinach and beans). Also foods containing vitamin- C enhance non-heme iron absorption (eating leafy greens or citrus fruits with beans). What should you eat to increase the iron in your body? Majority of the people who eat a whole-food diet that contains a variety of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, don't need to be concerned about. Hereby you can find the foods highest in iron: Spirulina Chicken liver Beef liver Pork liver Grass-fed beef Lentils White beans Dark chocolate Spinach Chickpeas Kidney beans Duck Sardines Black beans Lamb Oysters Octopus Mussels Scallops Raisins Asparagus Pistachios Kale Pumpkin Seeds Organic free-range chicken Tomatoes Quinoa Foods that increase iron absorption: Citrus fruits Apricots Beetroot Beet greens Collard greens Red grapes Oranges Peaches Prunes Red peppers Spinach Sweet potatoes Turnip greens Yellow squash Foods that inhibit iron absorption Certain substances found naturally in some foods and drinks can actually decrease your body's ability to absorb either heme and non-heme iron or both (foods that contain polyphenols, phytates, oxalates, calcium). It's important to understand that you should not completely avoid them from your diet as many of them contain iron (unless you are intolerant to specific foods in this list), but rather consume moderately. Also soaking, sprouting certain foods (nuts, seeds, legumes) helps to reduce the compounds affecting the absorption of iron. Variety is key here. Calcium containing foods (milk, yoghurt, cheese, almonds, canned salmon, sardines, figs, broccoli) Oxalates (kale, spinach, chocolate, tea, nuts, beets, wheat bran, rhubarb, strawberries, parsley, basil) Polyphenols (coffee, cocoa, peppermint, apples, walnuts, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries) Phytates (walnuts, sesame seeds, almonds, peas, lentils, whole grains, cereals) Phosvitin (eggs) Supplements Ideally you should try to get your iron through food. If you have too much iron in your blood, this is also not good either. This can happen either because of your genetics or over-doing with iron supplements. If you supplement with too much iron you can develop nausea, vomiting, constipation, stomach cramps. Also don't take calcium and iron supplements together as they might interfere with absorption. In some cases, taking a supplement may be necessary. But it's best to talk to your health-care provider who can recommend the most suitable iron supplement for you. If you want to improve your nutrition, are struggling with low iron levels and want to understand what nutritional changes you need to make to help body to get more iron, then don't hesitate to reach out to me for nutritional counselling at info@katrinpeo.com .

It's soon two years, since Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organisation of pneumonia cases in Wuhan city, in China. Total Covid-19 cases around the world as of Nov. 10, 2021: 251,885,543, with deaths 5,084,686. 40.4% of people are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and 51.7% have received at least 1 dose of the vaccine. Many people who have had Covid-19, whether mild or severe, have experienced various new or ongoing symptoms still for months. These include: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath fatigue cough brain-fog (difficulties with concentration and thinking) stomach pain chest pain headache pins-and-needles feeling muscle pain joint pain fever dizziness pounding heart etc As per studies, there is also an increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, new neuro- or psychiatric diagnosis, and adrenal insufficiency. I have followed couple of functional medicine doctors to understand whether there is anything people can do themselves to support their body with diet, supplements- to strengthen it so it can fight the virus better if one contracts it, how to support your body when you have Covid-19 and how to support your body healing from long-haul Covid-19. I hereby share the insights, I have learnt. Eat more vegetables, fruits and fibre rich foods It has been seen, that Covid-19 has a negative impact on our gut microbiome. One of the great ways to feed the good bacteria in the gut, is to add more vegetables, fruits and legumes to your diet, which not only add more, anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins to your body, but also more fibre to your gut. Some of the vegetables and fruits that are especially important to consume as they contain prebiotics, include artichokes, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, plantain, avocados. I have written a post about prebiotics as well . Also fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut , kimchi are beneficial to consume on a regular basis as they help your good bacteria to grow in the gut. Eat more foods with polyphenols Polyphenols are organic compounds (anti-oxidants) found in plant foods- they include flavonoids, lignans, phenolic acids, and stilbenes. Polyphenols can improve digestion issues and is said to help treating diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases etc. By increasing polyphenol rich foods in your diet, you are supporting your body's ability to fight the virus as well as recovering from the virus. Here is a list of top polyphenol rich foods and drinks: Cloves Dried peppermint Star anise Cocoa powder and dark chocolate Berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries) Black currants Plums Sweet cherries Apples Pomegranate Beans (black beans, white beans) Nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans) Vegetables (artichokes, chicory, red onions, spinach) Soy (tempeh, soy flour) Green tea and black tea Red wine (in moderation) Vitamin D Though it's possible to get Vitamin D from food (oily fish (salmon, sardine, mackerel, herring), liver, egg yolks etc), many people are deficient off this vitamin. It's recommended to supplement with vitamin D during the autumn and winter months, when there is less sun. It's best to test your vitamin D levels with a blood test in the lab to understand where your levels are- you should have more than 80 ng/ml. Curcumin Curcumin is also a polyphenol, a compound found in turmeric, with anti-inflammatory properties. When you cook with turmeric, it's important to add fat and black pepper as then you increase the absorption of curcumin in your body. You can also take curcumin supplements, it's suggested to take 1,000mg a day. Quercetin It's a flavonoid, naturally found in onions, red wine, berries, green tea. Quercetin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that might help reduce swelling, blood clotting and is recommended in the early stages and prevention of Covid-19. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) It's an anti-oxidant that our bodies produce naturally to energise our cells. As we age, the levels of CoQ10 decrease in our bodies. Also, people who have heart disease, brain disorders, diabetes or who are using cholesterol lowering drugs, their levels of CoQ10 are reported to be lower. Also a migraine is mitochondrial disorder. Covid-19 virus is said to deplete the energy in your cells. And though it's possible to get CoQ10 from foods, one struggling with Covid-19 or with long-haul Covid-19, would benefit from supplementing. 400mg a day is a dose that has been recommended by functional medicine doctors. But of course it helps to mindfully eat more CoQ10 containing foods: Organ meats (liver, heart, kidney) Chicken, beef, pork Fatty fish (sardines, herring, salmon, mackerel) Vegetables (broccoli, spinach, cauliflower) Fruit (strawberries, oranges) Nuts and seeds (sesame seeds, pistachios) Lentils, soybeans etc. B3 (niacin) Niacin is needed for more than 400 biochemical reactions in your body- mainly related to obtaining energy from the food you eat. It plays a role in cell signalling and making and repairing DNA, in addition to acting as an antioxidant. As it's water-soluble, your body does not store it and excretes the excess what's not needed. Though deficiency is rare, I would still want to highlight some foods containing niacin so you can make sure you consume them on a regular basis: Chicken Turkey Beef Pork Liver Brown rice Nuts and seeds Legumes (beans, lentils) Bananas etc. NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) It's an amino-acid that increases glutathione (master anti-oxidant in the body) levels. Glutathione supports your respiratory health and detoxification in the liver and kidney. Cysteine is naturally found in protein rich foods, such as chicken, turkey, as well as in onions, walnuts, oats, legumes etc. EPA and DHA These long chain omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties on the body- promoting healthy mood, improving attention and behaviour, great for the heart, circulation and for immunity. Both EPA and DHA support many organs and body systems including the liver (by preventing triglyceride buildup), eyes (essential for retinal function), the joints (promoting joint comfort), and muscles (protecting against mobility loss as we age) . They are abundant in fish, shellfish, algae and help with cardiovascular function, immune function, cognitive function. As per data you need a fairly high dose for example for cognitive enhancement, roughly 2400 milligrams of per day taken with a meal. I hope by adding more of the above into your diet and daily regime, you are able to combat the virus better if it were to hit you and hopefully your recovery will be quicker and better as a result.

Intermittent fasting and fasting are topics that are talked a lot in the health space. Both definitely have their benefits for health, but it's important to understand whether they are right for you. I covered this year intermittent fasting in my blog- what is it, the benefits and how to go about it. But in this blog I would like to focus more on women and cover the following: How should women start doing intermittent fasting What are benefits of intermittent fasting and fasting How should women move into longer fasts How should you prepare for a fast How to intermittent fast and fast around your monthly cycle The importance of liquids during fasting Who should NOT fast Intermittent fasting for women Women bodies are more sensitive due to hormonal changes throughout the month. We should not go about intermittent fasting and fasting blindfolded and hard-knuckle through them, same as we should not go hardcore keto for long periods of time. Our bodies need different types of nutrition depending where we are in our cycle. If you have never done any intermittent fasting or fasting, it's better to start with intermittent fasting first. Intermittent fasting is about eating your meals during specific time window of the day and then not eating the rest of the time. It's good to start practicing intermittent fasting by eating your meals during 12h window during the day and then fasting the rest of the time. So let's say you eat your 2 or 3 meals between 7am and 7pm and then stop eating at 7pm and eat only the next stay at 7am. You can choose your own time-frame (from 6am to 6pm, from 7am to 7pm, from 8am to 8pm), but 12h is a good starting point to take a break from food. Drinking water and herbal tea without sugar or honey is ok during the fasting time- they don't take you out of fast. Ideally you should not push your last meal after 7pm. It's good to give your digestion a rest 3+ hours before bed time, as your digestion system is slowing down after 6pm. What are the health benefits of fasting? It's a great tool to loose weight and to heal your body- brain health, gut health, hormones Promotes the secretion of human growth hormone, which is known to help to increase muscle strength, improving workouts Human growth hormone is also slowing down the ageing process Normalises insulin sensitivity (insulin is a fat storage hormone) Lowers LDL cholesterol Normalises your hunger hormone ghrelin etc We have two ways we burn energy in our bodies- when we eat our foods and when we are in our fasted state and then use the food and glucose we have stored for energy. When you go on a keto diet and consume very few carbohydrates- you are making yourself a good sugar burner. But fasting is a really good way to turn yourself into fat burner. Fat burner is where your body decides that there is no food coming in- your glucose is going down- so your body goes for glucose in your fat and starts to burn that. If your body is able to burn both the sugar and the fat, then this is where you loose weight. If someone is loosing weight, they are already starting to see the benefits to health- improved energy, better brain health, better glucose and insulin markers, better hormonal health. We want to be metabolically switching- from a sugar burner to a fat burner and vice versa. People on keto diet, if they are not fasting, they are working in a low-carb state. There is a good chance these people are not metabolically switching. You are not accessing that fat burner system, if you only go low-carb diet. If we compress our eating window and elongate our fasting window, we are going to be able to make a deeper change in our metabolic state. How to go about fasting? When we start packing on more weight, we go and start demonise our bodies- creating negative energy around ourselves. Look at yourself, appreciate where your body is at the moment and decide how can you start to practice intermittent fasting for your body. It's important to be intuitive about it- listen to your body. Also if you have health concerns, it's good to work with a health-practitioner before starting to do longer fasts. Intermittent fasting If you go 13 to 15 hours without food during the night, your body will make a switch to fat burner, which means glucose will go down, body will switch over to fat burning mode and start to make ketones, by burning your fat. Your energy levels will improve, inflammation markers come down, you start to make more human growth hormone. Below I cover what happens in the body during longer fasts. 17-hour fast This is where autophagy starts to kick in. Autophagy is your body's way of cleaning out damaged, old cells so that it can generate new healthier cells. Your glucose in the cells, liver and muscles begin to decrease rapidly, which causes your body to burn stored fat to keep up with the needed energy. 24-hour fast Your body enters into a state called ketosis, where you are burning your stored fat cells for energy. As the fat cells are broken down for energy, ketone bodies are created and released into your bloodstream. Also ketone bodies become a fuel for your brain, when glucose is scarce, which can lead to a better mental performance, mental clarity. Your brain also starts to increase the production of brain-derived nootropic factor, which supports the growth of brain neurones, improving the long-term memory, learning, coordination. Your body's gut microbiome gets reset. You get stem cells that help with fighting SIBO and candida. This is where you start repairing your gut. 36-hour to 72-hour fasts You are deep in fat burning state. Your dopamine pathways start to kick in, more dopamine receptor sites gets produced. You improve your anti-aging markers and also at 72h fasts your immune system reboots itself. Preparing for fasting Before you start practicing fasting, it is important to review and change your current diet: Eat a variety of foods (vegetables, fruits, berries, legumes, mushrooms, whole grains, dairy products, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, meat, fish, eggs) Remove from your menu as much as possible refined and ultra-processed foods, sweetened drinks to reduce the amount of added sugar, artificial flavours and preservatives Women and fasting We have a hierarchy system for our hormones. At the bottom of the hierarchy are your sex hormones (oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone). What will greatly influence these hormones is the hormone above it- insulin. Women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) are often insulin resistant. If your insulin is out of balance or you are insulin resistant, you are throwing the sex hormones off- you are not getting enough progesterone, which is a big issue for your emotional health. Above insulin is cortisol. If cortisol is high in your body, then it's more difficult for the body to manage insulin and also to produce progesterone. At the top of the hierarchy is a feel-good-hormone oxytocin, that we get from hugs, petting our pets, from great conversations with friends and loved ones. If you manage to keep these hormones in balance in this order, then your body should be humming. We need to look at the needs of the sex hormones. If you are a menstruating woman- then your oestrogen wants you to be insulin sensitive, so you need to keep insulin down. A normal cycle of a woman is anywhere from 21-35 days and consists of 4 phases: Menstrual phase (your monthly period, from day 1 to 5): Your body is shedding the lining of your uterus called the endometrium, which leads to bleeding (oestrogen and progesterone are very low) Follicular phase (from day 1 to 13): Right after your period and where both oestrogen and progesterone begin to rise Ovulatory phase (day 14): Oestrogen hormone peaks and at the end of this (short) phase, one of your ovaries releases an egg, and progesterone and testosterone hormones rise Luteal phase (from day 15 to 28): A mature egg is released and if not fertilised by sperm, hormone levels decrease and the cycle starts again. Progesterone is elevated as well as increased levels on oestrogen. How to intermittent fast and fast during your cycle? In 1-10 day of your cycle- you do great both with fasting and you do great with ketogenic diet. With fasting and ketogenic diet you improve oestrogen sensitivity as well as insulin sensitivity. In day 11-15 where you normally have your ovulation, you have oestrogen at its highest, you have testosterone at its highest, and a little bit of progesterone. Do intermittent fasting (13-15h fast is good)- lean in more on foods, diversity off vegetables, leafy greens, good quality proteins , and healthy fats, no alcohol. Liver is your organ that needs to break the hormones down, so keep it working well especially during this phase. After ovulation you can do couple of days longer fasts and do keto a little more. In day 19 your body wants to make progesterone (a week before your period). Do not fast as then your cortisol (stress hormone) level goes up and therefore your progesterone goes down. Try 11 to 12 hours intermittent fasting. Lean in more on foods that raise glucose and supports progesterone (squashes, potatoes, citrus fruits, tropical fruits, beans, seeds like sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, grass-fed beef etc.) Women in menopause Women over 40 when they start entering into peri-menopause, their oestrogen declines and they will become more insulin resistant. For women in menopause it's important to start off with intermittent fasting- and slowly ease into longer fasting. It's also good to do one or two days a week, where you don't do longer fasts (again 11-12h intermittent fasting). Make sure you consume enough liquids while fasting It's very important to note, that while you are fasting, you should consume enough liquids- 2-3 litres a day. Remember, we are 60% water as humans. So consume liquids like water, tea (not sweetened), bone broth, coffee (black and be mindful on the quantity). Avoid any sugary drinks. It's also good to add electrolytes to your water to increase the potassium, magnesium and phosphorus levels in your body. Feeling of hunger is normal when fasting. But if you are feeling weak, shaky, dizzy during fasting, then it's time to break the fast and eat a nourished meal. Most important is to listen to your body. Who should not do extended fasts? Children Underweight people Anyone with eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia etc) If you have any chronic health issues- always consult with your healthcare provider before starting to do longer fasts If you want to improve your diet, have health goals you want to reach and feel you need support, don't hesitate to reach out to me for nutrition counselling and health coaching at info@katrinpeo.com .

Blood sugar (glucose) is your main source of energy. It influences how hungry or energetic you feel. Blood sugar is created when you break down any carbohydrate you eat- from a healthy carb like quinoa to a chocolate-chip cookie. The importance with blood-sugar is to keep it balanced: not too high and also not too low. Many of us walk around with high glycose spikes happening in our bodies without knowing it. With blood sugar imbalance we experience short term or long term the below: tiredness hunger though we just ate an hour or two ago energy dump in the afternoon cravings anxiety depression heart palpitations mood swings sleep issues weight gain acne on the face hormonal imbalances (like PCOS) fertility issues worsening menopause symptoms heart disease type II diabetes fatty liver dementia cancer risk increase faster ageing Optimising our glycose levels allow us to lower the symptoms we are experiencing. If you eat with every meal adequate amount of protein, fat, fibre together with carbs- you naturally help to keep the blood sugar more stable and have consistent energy throughout your day. How is blood sugar regulated in your body? Your pancreas creates hormone called insulin, that gets released into the blood stream to regulate blood sugar when you eat. The normal range for blood sugar (empty stomach) is 4 - 5,5 mmol/l. Insulin transfers the blood sugar into blood stream and into your cells for immediate energy or storage for later use. If you eat too much sugar or other refined carb-rich foods that get way faster converted into blood sugar, then your pancreas goes into overdrive to produce all the necessary insulin for the glycose to be stored in the cells. Such an insulin surge tells your body that there is plenty of energy available and that it should stop burning fat and rather start storing it. Yes, insulin is a fat storage hormone. Low and high blood sugar Low blood sugar occurs when the insulin surge causes too much of blood sugar to be transported out of your blood. It can leave you feeling hungry, tired, shaky and anxious. As a consequence, you crave more sugar and carbohydrates, hoping that these will get you to a better place. But in reality, they start the cycle all over again. And your body ends up storing more fat. Contrary, high blood sugar occurs when your insulin is unable to transport enough blood sugar out of your blood. Blood sugar and weight Loss To help with long term healthy weight loss or healthy weight maintenance, you need to keep your blood sugar in balance in between the meals and where there is no excess insulin produced by the body. How can you balance your blood sugar? If you avoid or keep simple carbohydrates and sugar consumption to a minimum, you can naturally help to balance your blood sugar. Definitely, do not starve yourself as this causes your body to produce stress hormones that prevent weight loss. The resulting low blood sugar from starvation causes your body to go into muscle burning, slowing down your metabolism. Eating balanced meals during the day is what you should be focusing on. Simple carbohydrates include different types of sugar, such as sucrose (table sugar), fructose (fruit sugar (also in honey)), lactose (dairy sugar), glycose. You can read my blog post on sugar and why it's best to lower its consumption it here . All of the simple carbohydrates get metabolised fast and therefore most likely cause an insulin surge in the body. Think how you feel next time when you eat for example an egg with avocado for breakfast or when you drink a glass of orange juice and have a white bread with jam on it. The fructose in the juice and the sucrose in the jam will have you probably craving and eating throughout the day. The easiest and best way to stabilise your blood sugar is to eat protein, fat, fibre and greens with each of your meal. Fat - if you consume fat alone, it has no influence at all on circulating blood sugar. If you eat it with your meal, it slows down the absorption of your meal therefore helping to avoid spikes in blood sugar. I am talking here about the healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, ghee, coconut oil). Protein - it helps to keep blood sugar levels steady. Again, if you consume protein by itself, it has no impact on blood sugar. But you should be mindful and not consume too much protein as it may converted into glucose. A good size of protein per meal is the size of your palm. I have written a blog post on the highest protein containing foods . as well as the importance of consuming sufficient amount of protein at every meal at different ages in your life . Fibre - same as fat, fibre helps to slow down the absorption of nutrients, including glucose. All vegetables and fruits contain fibre and are best consumed in a whole state, rather than juiced. When you would want to juice your vegetables and fruits is when you are unwell and need a fast dose of vitamins and minerals into your body. But at other times, consume whole vegetables and fruits, make smoothies mixing the two and adding some protein and fat into it to slow down the absorption of carbs. You can read more about the fibre, why we need it and from which foods we can get it here . Greens - when you add greens like spinach, kale, broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts, you add minerals and vitamins to your meals. For example magnesium in green vegetables increases your insulin sensitivity. Other tips helping you to keep your blood sugar in balance Different foods affect our blood sugar different ways. For some people eating a banana takes their blood sugar up high, for the others it does not create such a spike. Our bodies are different and how food affects us, is influenced by many factors- what our diet looks like during the longer period of time, what is the state of our health, how much we exercise, how much we sleep, what are our stress levels etc. Continuous glycose monitor One good way to measure how food affects your blood sugar, is to use continuous glycose monitor. You attach a sensor at the back of your arm and you will be able to track via app how the food, drinks you consume affect your blood sugar. This allows you to make smarter choices around your food. You can check out for example Levels and Veri . Eat your food on the plate in the right order Eat your salad, vegetables, protein, fats before your starches and sugar on your plate. This is especially good if you have a starchy meal, like pasta. If you are having a starch on its own without any fibre and fat, it gets to your blood stream very quickly and spikes the blood sugar. Eat a savoury breakfast not a sweet one Savoury breakfast does not have such an impact on blood sugar levels than a sweet breakfast (cereals, bagels, muffins). This allows you not to get hungry after couple of hours. Examples of savoury breakfast: Lentils or quinoa or buckwheat with soft boiled egg and avocado Oats with seeds and almond butter Smoothie that contain not more than half a cup of fruit or berries and contains good fat and protein Warm chia pudding with hemp hearts and ghee Rice cake with avocado, salmon and sesame seeds Sourdough bread with scrambled eggs, kale, cherry tomatoes, kimchi Sourdough bread with hummus, sauerkraut, hemp seeds and sprouts Chia seed pudding with raspberries, nut better and hemp seeds Ground chia seeds blended with cocoa and avocado Move after the eating After eating your energy goes from your head and limbs into digestion system. That's why many can feel tired after a meal. Your muscles are your ally here, where they help to soak up the circulating glycose from your blood stream. A 10 minute walk after a meal is a great choice or taking your dog outside for a walk. Eat fat or protein with your carbohydrates Don't eat sweet or starchy food without adding some protein, fat or fibre on it. You could put greek yoghurt on your cookie if you want to eat it. Eat your sourdough bread with some goats cheese spread and avocado on it. If you have some rice, have some eggs, chicken, fish with it. The less your blood sugar spikes after breakfast and lunch, the better you feel throughout the day. If you are looking to understand more about better eating habits for your body, lifestyle, don't hesitate to contact me for nutrition counselling and health coaching at info@katrinpeo.com. Learn more about my services under Services .

Nature has so beautifully created foods so that we would understand based on their appearance to what body part, organ specific food is good and healing for. The below is definitely not a complete list, but you will get the idea. You might want to bring next to reading this article an anatomy book, or simply use Google. You'll be amazed to see how organs, body structures resemble different foods. Photos: Unsplash, Pixapay, Wikipedia Eyes and Carrots - carrots are a source of lutein, beta-carotene, anti-oxidants. Beta-carotene converts into vitamin A, helping you in the dark. Next time you chop a carrot, just look at the pattern inside and compare it to your eye. Another food similar to eye and also contains lutein and antioxidant, is a blueberry (similar to our iris). Bones and Celery - celeries have silicon, which help with bone strength. Celery is also a good source of vitamin K, which helps together with calcium to build stronger bones. It also contains potassium, which neutralise acids that pull calcium out from the bones. Brains and Walnuts - walnuts improve your memory, cognitive memory speed and mental flexibility. They are high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for good brain health. Head and Coconuts - coconut oil contains MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides), which improve brain function and protect neurons by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Coconut oil is also good to put on your scalp and helps with dryness as well as with split hair-ends. Stomach and Ginger - ginger contains a compound called gingerol, which has the ability to prevent nausea and vomiting. Ginger also helps with digestive issues. Uterus and Avocado - avocado helps to support your productive health. They contain folic acid, important to be used when trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy for the baby as it helps to reduce the baby's risk of getting neural tube defects. Kidneys and Reishi - Reishi mushroom supports both adrenal and kidney health. It promotes energy and stamina, reduces inflammation, reduces production of urinary protein. Heart Chambers and Tomato - eating tomatoes reduces your blood pressure, also protects the heart from damage during the heart attack, reduces the risk of stroke and improves survival rates in people who have a heart failure. Lycopene in tomatoes help to lower the levels of LDL cholesterol. Also vitamins B, E and flavonoids help to boost your heart health. Human Body and Ginseng Roots - ginseng supports our whole body health. It increases energy, reduces blood pressure, helps to combat stress, improves our cognition, promotes relaxation. Lung Alveoli and Grapes - grapes contain anthocyanins, a flavonoid that is important for lung health as we age. Blood and Beetroot - consuming beetroot can help with blood flow, anemia, blood pressure. Beetroot is rich in iron, important for hemoglobin. It also contains nitrate, which transform into nitric oxide involved in dilating blood vessels and improving body's ability to deliver oxygen-rich blood to tissues. Ovaries and Olives - olives protect reproductive health as they contain healthy fats important for manufacturing the reproductive hormones crucial for conception. Testicles and Figs - figs help to enhance fertility and can improve both the sperm count as well as motility. Pancreas and Sweet potatoes - sweet potatoes are great for supporting both pancreas and spleen health. They contain slow-releasing carbohydrates and also promote healthy blood sugar, which allow pancreas to do its job. It's even said that sweet potatoes can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. Cells and Onions - onions contain vitamin C, sulfur, potassium. Sulfur helps to protect cells from cancer. Vitamin C is a great antioxidant shielding cells from damage. Potassium is required for normal cell function. Organ meats of animals support the same organs in people. Chicken and beef livers have high levels of B vitamins (including B12), promoting liver health. Animal hearts contain both iron and CoQ10, which support human cardiovascular health. Bone broth from animal bones, hooves improves our bones, ligaments, tendons, bone marrow, skin, gut lining. As you see nature provides us many clues, how we can support our body function and healing with foods. We just need to pay attention, be curious and include a variety of whole foods in our diet for our overall health.

This meal has been one of those our family comfort foods for several years now- packed with great nutrition, easy to make and one of those meals that your friends want to definitely try to repeat it at home. Ok, you need to love to eat fish though. If I can remember the first time we had it was at my sister's house in Sweden. I loved the combination of roasted beets, salmon with goat's cheese topping, the bitterness of rocket and the subtle sweet taste of honey combined with crunchy pumpkin seeds. Since I am one of those who struggle following recipes, but rather approach meals with creativity, I won't be able to give you exact measurements. But you can't mess this one up, I promise you. Oven-baked salmon with roasted beets on a bed of rocket Ingredients (4 persons) Salmon filee (the amount depends on how much people will be eating, but estimate 5cm wide salmon piece per person. It can be a filee with skin on one side as well, as you can easily discard it after baking and lifting the pieces on plates 4 beetroots (peeled and relatively thinly sliced) 1 pack of rocket (rucola) 1 box of goats cheese spread 3 tbs of sour cream 2 crushed garlic gloves A big handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted on the pan Salt and pepper Olive oil On a low temperature melted honey, 2tbs should be enough Directions Preheat the oven to 185°C (365°F) and line a pan with parchment paper or put a silicone oven mat on there. Add the peeled and sliced beetroots to the pan. Add one crushed garlic clove, olive oil and a little bit of salt to beetroots. Mix well. Then lay them on the pan, so they don't cover each other. Put the beetroots in the oven to bake for 15 minutes Cut 5cm thick pieces from the salmon filee Make in a bowl a mixture of goats cheese, sour cream, one crushed garlic glove and a little bit of salt to taste. Turn the beetroots in the oven the other way after 15 minutes and add to the same pan in the middle pieces of salmon. Top the salmons with the goats cheese, sour cream mixture. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Don't overcook the fish, it should feel moist and flaky. While the fish is in the oven, toast the pumpkin seeds in the pan (no fat required) Wash the rocket and if you have a salad spinner, use it to get the excess water out of the rocket. If you don't have runny honey, melt thick honey in a very low temperature, so you are able to pour it with a spoon. Make sure you don't use too high heat or boil the honey since then you remove all the great enzymes, prebiotics and antioxidants from honey. Take the beetroot and fish out from the oven. Take 4 big plates and plate the food. First put rocket on the plate, then lift the pieces of salmon on top of the rocket. Remember to remove the skin from salmon, while lifting the fish gently with a spade from the baking pan. Then sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top of salmon. Pour with a spoon honey over salmon and rocket. If you have any sprouts left, sprinkle those for garnish. And serve. Don't forget to light some candles to the table to enhance the mood. Enjoy! Great if you can try the recipe and share your own experience with this dish here.

Looking for a healthy and delicious treat? These gluten-free and sugar-free pumpkin and blueberry muffins are perfect for satisfying your cravings without compromising your dietary goals. Packed with the natural sweetness of blueberries and the comforting flavors of pumpkin, these muffins are an ideal choice for breakfast, a quick snack, or even dessert. Whether you're following a gluten-free lifestyle or just exploring healthier baking options, this recipe is both easy and nutritious. Gluten-free and sugar-free pumpkin and blueberry muffins Makes 12 Ingredients 1 3/4 cups of gluten-free oat flour 1 tsp if baking powder 1/2 tsp of baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt 1/2 tsp of cinnamon 1/3 cups of coconut oil 1.5 tbsp of raw honey 2 room temperature eggs 1 cup of plain Greek yoghurt 2 tsp of vanilla extract or vanilla powder 1 cup of blueberries and and 1 cup of pureed butternut squash 1/2 tsp of ground cardamon Almond flakes and hulled hemp seeds (hemp hearts) Instructions Preheat the oven to 215C (400F). For pumpkin muffins, you need to have baked the butternut squash pieces in the oven for 25min at 190C (375F). In one bigger bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon). In another smaller pot mix together melted coconut oil and honey (I melt on a very low heat on the stove). Then beat in eggs, add Greek yoghurt and finally vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Before you add blueberries into the batter, divide the batter into half- putting half in one bowl and the other half of the batter in another bowl. In a separate bowl mix 1tsp of almond flour and blueberries. Very gently fold the blueberries into one half of the the batter. Into other half of the batter, mix in the butternut squash puree and cardamon. Grease the muffin tray with butter and put the paper muffin liners into the tray. Then scoop both blueberry batter and butternut squash batter into the liners. Sprinkle the top of the muffins with almond flakes and hemp hearts (I put almond flakes on blueberry muffins and hemp hearts on pumpkin muffins). Put muffin tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown. Cool them down slightly before eating. You can freeze these muffins as well, but likely if you have a family, they won't last more than half a day. So this was a journey from a butternut squash soup to pumpkin and blueberry muffins- dinner, breakfast and lunch covered. You can also upgrade those muffins, by adding chopped nuts, raisins, cocoa nibs into the batter as well before baking. Enjoy! You can find more healthy muffin recipes in my blog .

This soup is a perfect meal for autumn and winter season, when you are looking for something light, healthy nutritious and easy to make. A velvety pumpkin soup Makes 6 portions Ingredients 1 butternut pumpkin 2 medium sized carrots 4 garlic gloves 1 onion Bone broth Goat's cheese spread Pumpkin seeds Broccoli sprouts (optional) Miso paste (optional) Salt Olive oil Pepper Cayenne pepper Instructions Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). I have found it easier to not to peel the pumpkin, but put it in the oven with peel on, as the peeling of raw pumpkin is really not easy. So what I do, is first properly wash the butternut pumpkin, then cut it into 1.5cm slices. Then I cut each slice into four pieces. Put the butternut pumpkin pieces on the oven pan. Peel the carrots and cut similar sizes or slightly smaller as you cut the butternut pieces. Put the carrot pieces on the same pan as the butternut pumpkin pieces. Take 4 garlic cloves, keep the peel on and put them on the same oven pan. Take the onion, remove the peel and cut into 4 quarters. Add the onions to the pan. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and olive oil on the vegetables and mix. Spread the vegetables evenly on the pan and put in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile toast the pumpkin seeds in the pan. As you can see from the photo, I enjoy pumpkin seeds a lot, so adding them a tablespoon or two per serving. Take the vegetables out from the oven, cool slightly down. Then take the peel off from pumpkin pieces and put them in the blender. Add also the carrots to blender. Remove the skin from the garlic and add the garlic pieces along with the onions to the blender. Pour in 1cup of bone broth (you can use beef or chicken broth). Add in 2 tablespoons of creamed goat's cheese. If you have miso paste, add 1 tablespoon of miso paste. Miso paste is fermented soy beans, which is a good probiotic, but always add it at the very end, do not boil the food after you have added miso as otherwise it will destroy the probiotics. Blend the ingredients. If the soup is not warm enough, you can warm it slightly on the stove. Serve it in the bowls, top with pumpkin seeds. If you have sprouts, then sprinkle those to the top. Add some pepper. I like to sprinkle in addition a little bit of cayenne pepper to give that extra zing to the soup. Enjoy!

The prevalence of added sugar in modern diets has raised many concerns about its impact on overall health. In this article I cover the reasons why you may benefit from reducing your intake of added sugars, shedding light on the potential health risks associated with excessive consumption. I also give you a list of all the sweeteners (sugars and artificial sweeteners), what are good to reduce or avoid and what to use instead if you want to sweeten your food. Is added sugar bad for your health? If you are not being mindful about the foods you eat- consume many packaged foods and eat foods like cakes, cookies, candies, ice-cream or drink soft drinks like Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta etc, you definitely increase your risk for various illnesses. A diet high in sugar can promote oxidative stress, which leads to cell damage. As we know glycose is paramount for the functioning of our cells, especially for the brain as it consumes around 20% of your daily energy intake. But it's important to note here, that our brain needs an average of 130g from glycose a day, while many people consuming modern western diet exceed that several times without knowing it. According to Estonian dietary recommendations, a preschool child should eat up to 2 portions a day, a teenager and an adult up to 4 portions from the food group of sweet and salty snacks. One serving is in very simple terms 100 ml of a sweet drink or 10 g of a sweet or salty snack (e.g. 2 teaspoons of sugar, half a glass of lemonade, 1 piece of candy, 2 small pieces of chocolate, a bite of cake). According to Estonian dietary recommendations, one should drink a maximum of one glass of juice per week. Below are just a few health issues, a high-sugar diet can cause over time: Diabetes Heart disease Leaky gut ( sugar changes the gut microbiota in a way that increases intestinal permeability, plus added sugar feeds yeast (leads to candida) and bad bacteria) Certain types of cancer like breast cancer, small intestine cancer, colon cancer Fatty liver Brain related illnesses Skin issues and allergies Hair loss Insomnia Dizziness Tooth decay Premature skin aging ADHD Hypertension Alzheimer's Sweeteners- the worst, not too bad and fine to consume, but sparingly When you want to limit your intake of added sugar or avoid it, you need to be smart when shopping your groceries. Always read the labels on packaged foods! I have taught my kids to follow these basic rules when checking food labels at stores: if sugar is listed as number one or two in the ingredients list, you know the product is mainly made of sugar one teaspoon of sugar is 4g. So if they want to buy morning cereal, where on the box it states 60g of sugar per 100g (and it's a 300g package), there is 45 teaspoons of sugar in the package. If they do this calculation, they likely put the box back on the shelf. if they can't recognise (or pronounce) the name of the ingredient in the list of ingredients, it's not worth putting the product in your shopping basket. if they want to know if the product contains any added sugar, one way to find out is look for hidden sugars in the ingredients list ending in "ose" (fructose, maltose, dextrose etc) Foods that commonly contain sugars include: Salad dressings Sauces (barbecue, hickory) Plant milks (coconut, soy, almond) Cereals and granola bars Mustard and ketchup Yoghurt Protein powders Deli meats (ham) Cured meats (bacon, prosciutto) Liver pate Store bought ceviche Canned soups Common forms of sugar Sugar comes in different forms: granulated sugar, syrups, sugar alcohols, -oses, -ides, natural sugars, artificial sweeteners. Sugar Brown sugar Raw sugar Cane sugar Castor sugar Confectioner's sugar White granulated sugar Icing sugar Invert sugar Beet sugar Cane syrup Carob syrup Date syrup Corn syrup Corn syrup solids High-fructose corn syrup Malt syrup Maltodextrin Maple syrup Rice syrup Refiner's syrup Buttered syrup Nectars (for example, peach or pear nectar) Corn syrup solids Fructose Glycose Glycose solids Maltose Sorbitol Sorghum syrup Sucrose Ribose Saccharose Galactose Lactose Dextrose Dextrane Anhydrous dextrose Confectioner’s powdered sugar Blackstrap molasses Molasses Disaccharide Monosaccharide Polysaccharide Agave nectar Coconut sugar Coconut nectar Fruit juice Date sugar Golden sugar Granulated sugar Evaporated cane juice Honey Rice malt Treacle Stevia What are the worst sweeteners you should try and stay away from? Artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame, saccharin. They change the bacterial makeup in your microbiome, which can lead to weight gain, diabetes, metabolic disorders, autoimmune problems High-fructose corn syrup- which is derived from the stalks of corn and then converted to syrup through a chemical process. It does not need to be digested and therefore goes straight into your blood, raising blood-sugar and contributing to hormonal issues like leptin resistance (leptin is your 'feeling full and satisfied' hormone). This again could cause weight-gain and weight-loss resistance. White refined sugar What sweeteners to be very mindful about when consuming? Agave nectar- though it's considered healthy alternative to sugar, it's very high in fructose. Fructose goes straight to your liver, which is turned there into fat. Too much fructose can cause fatty liver. Brown-rice syrup- it's made of brown-rice and enzymes. Using a lot of brown-rise increases your exposure to arsenic (which is a poison). Enzymes used in rice-syrup are very often from barley (which contains gluten, if you have a sensitivity to gluten or are celiac). Turbinado or raw cane sugar What sweeteners to use if you do choose to sweeten your food (use them very sparingly though)? Monk fruit or luo han guo - fermented from the pulp of monk fruit. Make sure you get pure monk fruit without any added ingredients. Same as with sugar alcohols, it can cause upset stomach, so consume sparingly. Stevia - as long as you use the raw organic stevia in it's green form, you will get the best health benefits from it. Not everyone like the taste of stevia though. Sugar alcohols (xylitol, erythritol, mannitol, sorbitol) - these don't have an effect on blood-sugar, but they can have a laxative effect, so not everyone can consume them. As your body does not completely digest them, these sugar-alcohols can end up fermenting in your gut and causing gas and bloating Maple syrup - always look for 100% pure and organic maple syrup and the darker the syrup the better as it contains higher amounts of antioxidants. Honey - it's 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Honey has great benefits as long as you buy it raw, unpasteurised, unfiltered and where possible, local. It contains antioxidants and bee pollen, which help to boost your immunity. Molasses - which is made by boiling raw sugar down many times. Blackstrap molasses is the most nutrient-dense form of molasses with least amount of sugar and contains more iron than any other natural sweetener. Fruit juice - as long as it's freshly pressed and without any added sugar, it's ok to use it and also drink it- but occasionally and in moderation. Fruit juice does contain vitamins and antioxidants, but it's still fructose. When possible, rather eat the whole fruit to get the benefits of fibre present in the fruit. Dates - dates are very high in fructose, so do consume them sparingly (1-2 dates is more than enough). Dates are good for constipation. Coconut sugar/coconut nectar - derived from the blossoms of the coconut tree. Though processed, they do contain some nutrients and inulin fibre which slows down the absorption of glucose in your body. What are the best food to sweeten your food as they are naturally sweet? Coconut milk Coconut flesh Coconut oil Sweet potato Pumpkin Summer squash Cinnamon Whole fruit Berries Here is just an example of sugars in some foods and drinks sold in Estonia. I understand that giving up sugar can be a real challenge for many. As scientists say, s ugar alters brain circuitry in similar ways to cocaine, which is well known to alter the dopamine and opioid systems in the brain. But a change starts with a choice. Even if you start to be more mindful about how much sugar you consume, or what sweeteners are in your foods and opt for healthier versions of sweeteners, you do a favour to your body! If you need help and guidance, how to determine hidden sugars in foods, how to reduce added sugar intake in your day to day diet, how to eat more healthy in general, don't hesitate to reach out to me for nutrition counseling, by e-mailing me at info@katrinpeo.com .

This is a salad I started to make two summers ago and it has become one of our family favourites. It compliments very nicely grilled meat. Grilled pear, fig and goats cheese salad For 8 persons Ingredients 1 bag or box of rucola salad 1 pot of Basil leaves 6 figs 2 medium sized pears 2 red onions 1 box of goat's cheese you can crumble A handful or two of pecan nuts 1 tsp of butter Salad dressing 4 tbsp of olive oil 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp of maple syrup 1/2 tsp of salt 1/2 tsp of pepper Instructions Pre-heat the oven to 185C degrees. Peel and cut the pears length wise. Put the pears on the oven pan. Melt the butter on the stove and pour over the pears. Bake pears in the oven for 20min or so. Toast pecan nuts in the pan on a medium heat. Cut the red onion into thin slides and put in a water with a little bit of sea salt to soak for 15 minutes. This removes the strong flavour of the onion. Wash rucola salad and basil leaves, use salad dryer if you have it. Take a big serving plate and put the rucola leaves and basil leaves on the plate. Cut up the figs into sectors and put on top of the salad. When pears are ready, remove them from the oven, cool down and add to the salad. Drain the onions and put on top of the figs and pears. Then crumble the goats cheese on the salad. Sprinkle the pecan nuts on top of the salad To make the dressing, mix together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Pour the salad dressing over the salad. If you have any sprouts or microgreens, sprinkle them at the very top of the salad. Enjoy!

I took on another challenge last week to try to make for the first time fermented nut cheese. I love fermented foods, they are filled with probiotics and taste good as well. The recipe I used for fermented nut cheese, I took from one vibrant inspiring nutritionist Meghan Telpner and the macadamia nut and cashew nut bread recipe I took from another inspiring nutritionist I have followed now for years, Kelly LeVeque . I turned this combo into a yummy healthy breakfast, muffins into burgers with fermented cheese and avocado slices in between the muffins served with a green smoothie (celery, spinach, parsley, ginger, lemon, one pear, cayenne pepper, filtered water). Gluten-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, ketogenic meal to start the day right with no elevated blood sugar . Macadamia and cashew nut muffins Makes 12 portions ( original Kelly LeVeque recipe ) Ingredients 1/2 cup of whole raw macadamia nuts 1/2 cup of whole raw cashew nuts 5 eggs 1 tsp of baking soda 1/2 tsp of sea salt or Himalayan salt 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup of coconut oil or 1/2 cup of coconut butter (I chose to decrease the quantity as macadamia nuts are very high fat nuts) Instructions Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). In a food processor, blend the nuts till they turn into a chunky butter (I blended around 3 minutes, but it depends on the power of a blender you have). While the food processor is running, add one egg at a time through the chute. Let the egg be fully incorporated before you add another one. Add the baking soda and then stop the processor. Mix in the salt, coconut oil and the run the processor again for 5-10 seconds so all the ingredients are properly mixed. Finally add lemon juice and pulse to mix it in. Take a muffin tray, grease the wholes in the tray and add in the holes the the muffin papers. With the tablespoon put the mixture into the muffin papers. Bake in the oven 25 minutes until the muffins are lightly brown. Use a toothpick to check the readiness if needed. Take the muffins out from the oven and cool down. These muffins will store in the refrigerator for couple of days. Full on healthy fat, healthy protein and fibre. Fermented nut cheese I felt that this is one of these recipes, which you can be creative with, depending on what nuts you like and also what flavours you prefer in the cheese. Makes approximately 1 cup ( original Meghan Telpner recipe ) Ingredients For fermenting 1 cup of nuts, soaked (macadamia, cashew, almond) 1 acidopholous probiotic capsule + 3 tbsp of water (I had probiotics containing lactobacillus bacteria, so I used that) or 3tbsp of pickle brine, kombucha For flavouring 1/2 tsp of Himalayan or sea salt herbs/flavours of your choice (fresh basil and balsamic vinegar; cinnamon and organic dried cherries; cranberries; turmeric and nutritional yeast, lemon and dill, thyme and pistachio etc) Instructions Soak the nuts in water for 6-8 hours (add in the water half a tsp of sea salt, which help to make the nuts more bio-available). Rinse the nuts after soaking. In the food processor, combine nuts with probiotic (mix the powder from the capsule and discard the capsule) and water or brine. Blend until smooth. Put the mixture in the cheesecloth or nut milk bag and set on your counter for 36h or dehydrate on low for 24 hours. Once fermented, put in the bowl and mix in the preferred flavours (see above in the ingredients). I added basil and organic balsamic vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning. But bare in mind that the flavour will become stronger as the cheese ages. Put te mixture to a sheet of parchment and roll into a log shape. Put it in a seals airtight container and store in your fridge to age for 4-6 days. Once ready, transfer to a new fresh sheet of parchment and enjoy within 4-5 days. Enjoy!

A topic that has come up with women I have done health histories with, is thyroid health- hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. And since it's something that affects many people, especially women, it's worth to look deeper into thyroid and understand what can you do to better manage your symptoms. In this post I will go through the following: About thyroid Metabolism, production and conversion of thyroid hormone Hypothyroidism Hyperthyroidism Hashimoto's thyroiditis Graves' disease Thyroid testing Other practices for thyroid health Foods to consume for healthy thyroid Foods to avoid to better support your thyroid Essential oils for thyroid health About thyroid Thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland located in your throat, just behind the Adam's apple. The normal size of thyroid is two thumbs held together in the shape of a V. There can be enlargements- when thyroid gland is ineffective making thyroid hormones, when it's inflamed and if there are tumours. Thyroid is your body's thermostat, regulating continuously temperature, your hunger levels, energy expenditure. Your thyroid is connected to the way every organ in your body functions- it releases and controls thyroid hormones that control your body's metabolism (a process where food you take into your body is transformed into energy). There are thyroid hormone receptor sites on every single cell in your body. If there is an imbalance in thyroid hormone production or metabolism, it's going to affect your whole body. Thyroid conditions go often unnoticed and un-diagnosed as many people experiencing symptoms of unhealthy thyroid don't actually know they have an issue with thyroid. Thyroid affects: metabolism heart rate blood pressure menstruation body temperature energy levels sleep memory digestion blood sugar How does metabolism, production and conversion of thyroid hormone work? Too often there is too much focus going on the endocrine system itself having an issue. We need to understand that everything in the body is so interconnected. The actual metabolism of thyroid hormone, the production and the conversion of it happens throughout our body. The process starts up in our brain, where our hypothalamus and our pituitary gland are in communication from our brain down to our thyroid. TSH is our thyroid stimulating hormone and it is our brain telling our thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone. Our brain is sensing what's going on with the rest of our body. Using a lot of different nutrients and cofactors our thyroid is then producing thyroid hormone- T3 and T4. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone- it gets used up by the body right away. When our thyroid is releasing thyroid hormone, it's only releasing around 7% active form of T3. 93% of the thyroid hormone coming out of our thyroid is T4. T4 starts to travel around our body - where it gets converted into T3 in different parts of the body- like in your liver and in your gut. You can see that different parts of your body are involved in thyroid metabolism, so if any of these organs are sluggish- if our gut is not working optimally, if our liver is not working well- that maybe part of the issue if you are receiving too little or too much thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism- an under active thyroid Hypothyroidism is by far the most common type of thyroid problem. 90% of hypothyroid cases are undiagnosed. 1 in 8 women develop hypothyroidism in their lifetime and it's also more common amongst women than in men. With hypothyroidism, your body literally slows down and you can experience the below symptoms: Fatigue Depression Moodiness and anxiety Feeling cold Weight gain Constipation Bloating Muscle weakness or aches and pains Trouble concentrating and forgetfulness Dry skin and hair Toes and fingers feel cold Women are also much more likely than men to develop auto-immune conditions of thyroid. With hypothyroid your body is not producing enough of the thyroid hormones (T3, T4 or both). The most common reason for hypothyroidism is a condition called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. It's when your body mistakenly attacks your thyroid, therefore affecting its function. Hashimoto's thyroiditis happens due to an autoimmune response (where your body is attacking your own tissue)- therefore interfering with normal production of hormones. What often causes Hashimoto's disease are high amount of stress, low immune function, nutrient deficiencies, toxicity as well as iodine deficiency. Hyperthyroidism- an overactive thyroid Hyperthyroidism is less common than hypothyroidism. It's when body produces too much of thyroid hormones. The most common cause for hyperthyroidism is Graves' disease, but taking too much T4 thyroid hormone in tablet form or lumps on the thyroid can also cause hyperthyroidism. Signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism: Rapid and irregular heartbeat Weight loss though you are eating the same amount Sweating Increased appetite Anxiety, irritability, nervousness Increased sensitivity to heat Tremor in your hands More frequent bowel movements Brittle hair Difficulties with sleeping Fatigue An enlarged thyroid gland (swelling at the base of your neck) Comprehensive testing of thyroid There are different tests and scans used for understanding if your thyroid is functioning as it should. Doctors use visual testing of thyroid- to see if it's enlarged or if it's palpating. Also doctors get you to do blood tests. You can also order thyroid panel test from a lab (like Synlab in Estonia). Doctors can also perform ultrasound and a radioactive iodine uptake scan. Functional medicine doesn't only look at thyroid, but also adrenal health, infections, pathogens and toxins in the body. When checking thyroid health, it's important to run a full thyroid panel: TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone)- your pituitary gland in the head produces TSH, which stimulates the production of T3 and T4 Total T3 and T4 (T4 levels in your body trigger the pituitary gland either to produce more or stop producing TSH. T3 is converted from T4 by the liver and other tissues. Free T3 and free T4 (free T4 indicates how well your thyroid is functioning). Having appropriate balance between the free T3 and free T4 shows the function of thyroid as well as how good is the communication between the thyroid and pituitary gland Reverse T3 (this inactive form of T3 is produced when your body conserves energy while converting T4 to T3). If you have low levels, it could develop into hypothyroidism. If you have too much, then it can keep your cells in the body to receive the necessary amount of T3 T3 uptake- how well your body is processing T3 and putting it into various systems TPO and TGAb antibodies- if you have one or both of these present, it could indicate that you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (both of these antibodies are created, when your body sees the thyroid and its hormones as invaders and starts to attack them. TBG (Thyroid Binding Globulin)- this protein is responsible for circulating thyroid hormone through different body's systems. It shows how well your body is able to transform T4 to T3 and put it to use. A low level of T3 and a high level of TSH could indicate that you have an under-active thyroid (hypothyroid). High levels of T3 and very low levels of TSH can mean your thyroid is overactive (hyperthyroid). Foods to consume for healthy thyroid Wild-caught fish to get good omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, trout, herring, sardines) Seaweeds, for their good iodine content (dulse, nori, kelp) Selenium rich foods (seaweed, seafood, eggs, fish, Brazil nuts, liver, lima peans, turkey, chicken, yoghurt, spinach, bananas, raw cheese) Zinc rich foods (shellfish, red meat, poultry, legumes, seeds (pumpkin, hemp, flax), nuts, cheese, eggs, quinoa, rice, oats, potatoes, green beans) B-vitamin rich foods (beef, liver, dark green vegetables, cheese, fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, oysters, eggs etc) Probiotic rich foods Healthy fats Bone broth Sprouted seeds , like flax, chia and hemp seeds Fibre rich foods , like seeds, berries, vegetables, beans Tyrosine rich foods (dark poultry, wild-caught fish) Foods to be mindful of as they might not support thyroid health Gluten containing foods (gluten containing grains contain a protein called gliadin that your body can mistake for a thyroid molecule). If your gut is leaky and gliadin gets into your bloodstream, your body sees it as an intruder and starts to produce antibodies to it. And when the antibodies are formed, they can attack your thyroid gland. Gluten can disrupt also the communication between your gut, your brain and thyroid. Focus more on gluten-free grains like quinoa, millet, buckwheat. Dairy (conventional dairy, where animals are raised in the factory and often fed antibiotics). If your body is inflamed and you are struggling with different aches and experiencing unhealthy thyroid symptoms, it could be good to try to be without dairy to see how your body feels. You can also try and consume only fermented dairy, such as kefir, Greek yoghurt. You can consume nut milks ( almond , coconut, cashew ) instead of cow's or goat's milk. Make sure you read the labels of these nut milk products in the store that there are no unwanted ingredients such as emulsifiers, thickeners, added sugars. Remember, that leafy greens, sesame seeds and vegetables, sardines are also a good sources for calcium. Processed sugar and sweeteners - for good thyroid health it's important to keep good blood sugar levels (spikes and dips stress your body, raise your cortisol levels and cortisol slows down thyroid). Processed oils- vegetable oils- canola, safflower, sunflower, which are unstable and can cause inflammation in the body and margarine. Coffee - it is a 'drug in a mug' and could be a stress-enhancer (depending if you are a slow or fast metaboliser of caffeine), especially if your daily life is already stressful. When you are stressed, your body releases cortisol, your thyroid function is lowered by pituitary gland because it is in survival mode. Other things to do to support thyroid health Get adequate amount of quality sleep (7-9 hours per night) Practice meditation and do breathing exercises Incorporate regular exercise and movement into your day Consider also using adaptogens , like ashwagandha Review your personal care and cleaning products to make sure you are not putting unnecessary toxins on your body or inhale them in your home Drink adequate amounts of water Incorporate self-care in your daily life Essential oils for thyroid support It's also good to use essential oils to support your thyroid. You can create a below mix in a roller bottle: 5 drops of peppermint 5 drops of lavender 5 drops of myrrh 5 drops of lemongrass 5 drops of frankincense 5 drops of clove Fill the bottle with a carrier oil of your choice (fractionated coconut, jojoba) Mix it together and roll directly on your thyroid A detox bath: Fill your bathtub with water Add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar Add 1/2 cup of baking soda Add 1/2 cup of sea salt Add 1/2 cup of Epsom salt or magnesium flakes Add a 5 drops of frankincense, grapefruit essential oils and 2 drops of rosemary essential oil Soak in the bath for 20 minutes I hope the above gives you a good overview how you can better take care of your thyroid. If you need support and guidance how to reduce inflammation in your body that affects also thyroid health, don't hesitate to contact me at info@katrinpeo.com for nutrition counseling and health coaching.