If the fatty acid course inspired you to add more Omega 3’s from fish to your diet, then these tips can help you on your way! But first a summary. Meet the members of the omega 3 family: EPA & DHA Or Eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA)… Who names these things right? But the complicated names come from old greek numbers telling what the molecules look like. Eicosa & Penta in EPA stands for 20 and 5. 20 meaning the number of carbon atoms in the molecule. The second number, 5 tells you how many double-bounds between the carbon atoms there...

The best source of probiotics is still fermented foods like for example yoghurts or fermented foods. But what if your microbiome needs some targeted love? This 2018 meta-analysis (just click here!) sorted out the evidence for some strains that can help restore the microbiome in certain diseases. They categorized them into strong, moderate & weak evidence. I left out the weak evidence, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try or it doesn’t work for you! We may know way more about the microbiome than we used to, but it still is a mysterious place! Here is a summary...

Being low on iron is no joke! A deficiency can make you tired, pale and more importantly, it can make you doubt yourself because… … a deficiency can feel like a mental problem! I know a few of you here are dealing with low levels of iron. But if you feel like ‘hey, that could be me!’, check the signs & symptoms of iron deficiency(click here).  To give you some extra support I would like to share with you a few tips I found in a 2020 review in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. But a few reminders first: How much iron do we actually need? Men...

Today’s tip is an addition to last week’s Q&A (if you missed the Q&A, you can watch the recording here!). In this Q&A @biancachalfoun  asked Bernadette for tips on how to deal with acne. Do you want to choose the best remedies that work together? The secret is in understanding how acne works first. Here is a simplified explanation and some tips on how to choose remedies that work in synergy. What causes acne? The perfect storm for acne has 4 steps. Here they are described in a simplified way: Step 1: Acne always starts with oil...

Candida can be a real pain in the… ehm gut. Here is a short summary on what Candida is, why it is so hard to get rid of and a little protocol advised by Kurt Woeller from Great Plains Laboratories on how to eradicate a Candida Albicans Overgrowth. But first… What is Candida Albicans? Candida is a fungus that lives in our gut. It can live in different forms. It can live as a Unicellular Yeast, but it can change its form and grows its hypha (its root or tentacle structure – see picture above) and become invasive. It can start digging itself into the mucosal lining...

In part 1, I gave you an idea about how Candida works. In this part, I will focus more on how to make smart and targeted food & supplement choices to help you deal with a Candida overgrowth.  If you didn’t read the previous part, I do recommend you do this first! How do antifungals against Candida work? Antifungal medications, supplements or foods can intervene in several mechanisms, for example Mechanism 1:Some antifungals make it hard to transform Canida Albicans from the ‘innocent’ one-cell yeast form to the invasive Hyphae form. Mechanism...

How do you recognize an imbalance in your female sex hormones? And what do people mean by ‘estrogen dominance‘? This ‘tip’ explains it all! If in the future we refer to estrogen dominance (and we will!) this is what we’re talking about! Common Signs & Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance This list below is not a complete list, but it’s a list of common signs & symptoms. If you experience just one… just ONE symptom of this list below, you might have an imbalance in your female hormones: Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) Heavy...

Last week I wrote about estrogen dominance and the basics of how the female cycle works. If you missed this, just click here. Today I want to focus on progesterone. As I discussed there, in the luteal phase of cycling women, progesterone usually rises high. But what does progesterone do again? It helps to prepare a good environment for the implementation by a fertilized egg. It has a calming effect on women. Regulates Blood pressure. Supports bone health. Supports cognition If for some reason progesterone doesn’t rise high enough, symptoms of estrogen dominance...

Can you influence the breakdown of estrogen? Yes,you can! In this follow-up tip on estrogen dominance, I will discuss how your liver breaks down estrogen. Just remember: not all estrogen dominance is caused by high estrogen! These tips will only help you when dealing with high levels of estrogen and detoxification is a problem. How do you know if these are a problem? You will have to test. The DUTCH test can provide you insight into the levels of your estrogen and how you break them down. The test is easy to do: you just pee on a piece of paper for science! Let’s first...

So much talk about estrogen lately! We discussed: Ovulation basics (Part 1 – click here) How to recognize estrogen dominance symptoms (Also Part 1 – click here)  What causes low progesterone (Part 2 – click here) and How to help the liver break down estrogen! (Part 3 – click here) … but we weren’t quite done with the last topic! You see, the liver breaks down estrogen in 2 phases. In part 3 we talked about the first phase. In this part, I will give you tips on how to help with the second phase! If you missed the first part,...