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5 health trends to avoid in the new year

December 31, 2025

5 health trends to avoid in the new year

January is a strange time to demand transformation. We remove calories when energy demand is already higher. We intensify exercise when recovery capacity is already lower. We shorten sleep when darkness is already asking for more of it. From a physiological perspective, this stacks stress on top of stress.  The body doesn’t experience this as self-improvement but instead, as a compounded threat. When the body perceives threat, it doesn’t move toward growth or optimisation. It shifts into conservation. Metabolism tightens, hunger grows louder, energy becomes erratic. What we often call a “lack of discipline” is the body doing exactly what it’s designed to do: protect itself. So if these January protocols aren’t actually aligned with health, what are they? Mostly, they’re marketing trends. Timed perfectly for a season of vulnerability, sold as renewal, and built on urgency rather than biology. They ask for more restriction, more output, more control, not because the body needs it, but because the industry thrives on cycles that don’t last. This is the context most health trends are born from. And it’s exactly why so many of them are worth questioning before we let them shape another year. 1. Detoxes and fad diets Detoxes are one of the most convincing January trends because they appear to be an antidote to overindulgence. After a season of celebration, richer foods, disrupted routines, and more social eating, the idea of “clearing things out” feels intuitive. But biologically, detox diets misunderstand both how the body works and what it actually needs at this time of year. The body does not require external cleansing protocols. Detoxification is a constant, energy-dependent process carried out primarily by the liver, supported by the gut, kidneys, thyroid, and nervous system. And crucially, detoxification does not happen through deprivation, it happens through nourishment. The liver needs adequate calories, protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and fat to convert toxins into forms that can be safely excreted. When food intake drops, detoxification slows, not accelerates. Most detoxes and fad diets do the opposite of what they claim. Juice cleanses, liquid fasts, and extreme eliminations dramatically reduce energy intake at a time when the body is already under seasonal stress. Blood sugar becomes unstable, stress hormones rise to compensate, and the liver shifts focus from detoxification to survival. Symptoms like headaches, fatigue, irritability, and digestive upset are often framed as “toxins leaving the body,” when in reality they’re signs of stress chemistry and nutrient insufficiency. There’s also a nervous system component rarely acknowledged. Restrictive detoxes keep the body in a vigilant state, meals are skipped, hunger is suppressed, and normal digestive rhythms are interrupted. This reduces parasympathetic activity, the very state required for effective digestion, liver function, and elimination. You cannot detox in a stressed body. 2. Cutting out carbs There’s something particularly cruel about the timing of this trend. Just as the body is already working harder to generate warmth and energy, carbohydrates are labelled the problem and stripped away. Yet winter is when carbohydrates are most needed, colder temperatures increase the body’s demand for fuel to maintain heat and the nervous system relies more heavily on steady glucose to stay calm and regulated. Physiologically, carbohydrates play a central role in supporting thyroid function. Glucose signals abundance. It allows the liver to convert thyroid hormone into its active form, keeping metabolism responsive rather than conservative. When carbs disappear, this signal weakens. The body interprets the environment as scarce and adapts by slowing output, digestion becomes sluggish, body temperature drops, and energy becomes unpredictable. Historically, carbohydrates were protective foods in colder months. Roots, squashes, fruits, honey, and slow-cooked starches worked alongside animal foods to stabilise blood sugar, support warmth, and buffer stress.  3. Obsessing over a perfect routine Fitness is riddled with myths, and chief among them is the illusion of the perfect routine Exact wake-up times, rigid morning rituals, colour-coded training splits, perfectly timed meals. The promise is that if everything is structured enough, health will finally fall into place. Obsessing over the “perfect” routine quietly shifts health from something lived into something managed. Every deviation becomes a failure. A late morning feels like damage. A missed workout feels like regression. Instead of supporting the nervous system, rigid routines keep it on high alert, constantly monitoring whether you’re doing enough, early enough, consistently enough. In the quest for fitness perfection, it’s easy to spiral into over analysis, chasing an “ideal” workout routine that’s often unsustainable beyond the first week. The result? Paralysis or burnout. Here’s the antidote: simplicity. Health thrives on rhythms, not rigidity. Think of primal movements: walking at dawn, sprinting with the abandon of a child, or lifting something heavy because it makes you feel capable. Movement doesn’t have to be confined to four walls or a mat. The best routine is one you’ll stick with because it aligns with your interests and lifestyle. 4. Counting calories Calories are a crude metric, a reductive way to approach nourishment. Food is not maths, it’s medicine. Calorie counting treats food as mere numbers rather than the rich, complex fuel your body needs. For instance, 200 calories from bone marrow are not remotely comparable to 200 calories from crackers. When calorie counting becomes the primary guide, people often eat to a limit rather than to need. Hunger is negotiated. Satisfaction is postponed. Meals are shaped around numbers instead of nourishment. Over time, this trains the body to expect constraint even when food is present. Instead of focusing on calorie limits, focus on the quality of your food. Nutrient dense staples like grass fed beef, wild caught fish, raw dairy, and organs provide bioavailable vitamins, healthy fats, and essential amino acids provide bioavailable vitamins and essential amino acids that fuel your body far better than a restrictive calorie limit. 5. Ignoring recovery When did we demonise rest so much? When did being cosy become a character flaw? It’s January. It’s dark before dinner. And somehow we’ve decided this is the month to put ourselves through suffering. In reality, being warm, well rested, and feeling safe is exactly what makes bleak January survivable. Of course exercise in the winter is the most wonderful thing. It's likely your body may even be craving that movement...getting outside into crisp winter light, gently moving your joints, shaking off stagnant lymph, reminding your body it’s alive. But that was never meant to come at the cost  Deep, uninterrupted sleep knits torn muscle fibres back together. Collagen rich foods like bone broth repair joints and tissues, making rest as nourishing as exertion. Remember, progress doesn’t happen during the push, it happens in the stillness that follows. And if you’re craving some new habits that support your body instead of fighting it, or you want to ride this wave of change in a way that doesn’t deplete you, we’ve put together a simple guide to help you do exactly that. Eight habits so timeless, so biologically aligned, that health stops feeling so complicated, and finally starts feeling intuitive, for the whole year, not just January.

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Forget January diets. Do this instead.

December 27, 2025

Forget January diets. Do this instead.

January diets promise a fresh start. A reset. A new you. Yet most of them are built on the exact same idea... eat less, push harder, override your body. It works for a few weeks, until hunger catches up, energy drops, cravings spike, and the cycle quietly resets. Restrict. Burn out. Maybe even notice a yo-yo effect. Start again next January. As you can probably tell, we’re very against this cycle. Not because trying new health habits is wrong, but because this pattern keeps you distracted from a much quieter truth. There are ways of eating and living that are so deeply supportive, so biologically familiar, that health stops feeling like something you have to manage. Habits so foundational, so aligned with how the body is designed to be fed, that you no longer need to micromanage calories, willpower, or motivation.You’re not constantly “on” or “off” a plan. You’re simply nourished. And when the body is truly nourished, it doesn’t demand obsession. A year in health, your guide map 1. Live in alignment with your circadian rhythm Circadian health is the foundation of every biological process your body depends on. When it's aligned, every system in your body exists in harmony. Your energy is high, sleep is restorative, and your body performs with maximum functionality. But when it’s out of sync? Cue the chaos... sluggish mornings, hormonal mayhem, and long term health consequences like metabolic dysfunction and even cancer. Our ancestors effortlessly synchronised with the rhythm of day and night, but modern life: jet lag, artificial light, and erratic eating, has thrown our natural cycles into disarray. Luckily, the antidote is deceptively simple: align your day with nature. Here’s how to structure your day for circadian mastery: 2:00–6:00 AM While you sleep, your body temperature lowers, and inflammation drops. This is the time for deep restoration, where healing and repair take place. Prioritise quality sleep during this window by maintaining a cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment.6:00–8:00 AM The day begins with a cortisol spike: your body’s natural alarm clock. Heart rate rises, glucose production kicks in, and adrenaline readies you for action. Step outside for morning sunlight to sync your circadian rhythm, reduce melatonin, and boost alertness. A nutrient dense breakfast with proteins and healthy fats supports this surge in energy. 8:00–11:00 AM Sex hormone levels are at their peak, providing mental clarity and physical vigour. This is an excellent time for focused work or creative tasks. Hydrate well, and incorporate light movement like walking to keep energy steady.2:30 PM Muscle coordination and reaction times hit their stride. This is the sweet spot for physical activity, whether it’s strength training, yoga, or a run. Take advantage of this window to push your fitness goals.5:30 PM Cardiovascular efficiency and recovery are at their highest. Another great window for exercise if you missed the afternoon slot. Blood pressure and body temperature peak, enhancing endurance and performance.7:00–8:00 PM As the sun sets, your body transitions to rest mode. Reduce exposure to artificial light, particularly blue light, to encourage melatonin production. Opt for warm, dim lighting and enjoy a calming dinner rich in proteins and fats but low in carbohydrates to support overnight repair. Prioritise relaxing activities like reading or meditation to ease into sleep. 11:00PM-2:00AM This is when your body enters its most profound state of restoration and repair, with growth hormone reaching its peak levels of secretion. But here's the catch, your body only unlocks this powerful hormonal cascade if you're already in deep sleep during these golden hours. Studies show that the disruptions in this window can diminish growth hormone release, leading to impaired recovery, accelerated ageing and decreased metabolic efficiency. At this time, the glymphatic system, your brain’s detox system, begins to activate, clearing out toxins and cellular waste, reaching its peak activity during the deeper stages of non-REM sleep, clearing out waste products like beta-amyloid, which is associated with cognitive decline and diseases like Alzheimer's. This process is also supported by adequate hydration throughout the day which supports cerebrospinal fluid flow, which is essential for glymphatic efficiency. Studies also suggest side sleeping may enhance glymphatic clearance compared to back sleeping12:00 AM Leptin, the hormone responsible for releasing fat reserves during sleep, becomes active. Your nervous system enters a deep recovery phase, ensuring you’re ready for another day 2. Ground with the earth Grounding is an ancient practice that science is finally catching up with, a reminder that health often lies in the simplest, most primal connections. Beneath our feet, the planet emits a subtle, steady flow of free electrons. When you touch the ground directly, these electrons flow into your body, acting as nature’s most powerful antioxidant.  Emerging evidence suggests it also regulates the autonomic nervous system, shifting you out of a fight-or-flight state and into rest-and-digest mode. This recalibration strengthens everything from your immune response to your sleep cycles. The hours just after sunrise are ideal for grounding. Your cortisol is naturally spiking, preparing your body for the day ahead. A barefoot walk on dew covered grass amplifies the Earth’s conductivity, syncing your circadian rhythm while calming inflammation. Feeling that post-lunch dip? Step outside and ground for 10–15 minutes. This small window of reconnection not only resets your energy but also stabilises blood glucose and reduces oxidative stress, a game changer for metabolic health. 3. Buy your food from your local farmer Buying food from your local farmer gently brings you back into conversation with the land. When you eat what’s growing nearby, you naturally become more creative in the kitchen, meals are shaped by what’s abundant now, not by endless choice, and that simplicity invites intuition. Eating seasonally supports your body’s natural rhythms too. The foods that grow at certain times of year often contain exactly what your body needs in that season, supporting digestion, hormones, metabolism and circadian health in a way imported food never quite can. Choosing local also means supporting farmers who are deeply struggling right now, people who care for soil and usually even know all of their animals by name. When food travels fewer miles, it doesn’t need heavy pesticides or preservation tactics to survive long journeys, and it arrives more alive, more nutrient-dense and more aligned with how humans have always eaten.  Don't know who your local farmer is? We get it, running a farm often leaves no time for social media and so they often have (understandably) terrible or nonexistent online presences, but you can find them using our free Organised app. Photo from our trip to Hill Farm Real Food one of our beloved family farms who you may already know too as, contrary to everything we just said, Matt from Hill Farm, does share regular farm updates on his Instagram (you will love each one). 4. When struggling with ideas of what to cook, think nose-to-tail This practice, rooted in ancestral wisdom unlocks the full spectrum of nutrients your body needs for robust health. By utilising every part of the animal, from the prized muscle cuts to the nutrient-dense organs, you’re not only honouring the life of the animal but also creating meals that are deeply nourishing and remarkably versatile. Take organ meats, for instance. Liver is packed with bioavailable vitamin A, B vitamins (particularly B12), and iron, all essential for cellular energy and oxygen transport. Heart provides CoQ10, a compound vital for mitochondrial function and cardiovascular health. Bone marrow is rich in essential fats and stem cell-supporting compounds, while bone broths are a powerhouse of collagen, glycine, and proline, amino acids critical for joint health, skin elasticity, and gut repair.Practicality meets nourishment here: blending heart into ground meat makes for a nutrient-boosted burger without altering the flavour, while a slow-simmered bone broth can serve as a mineral-rich base for soups or stews. Even the simplest recipes, like crispy fried chicken skins or roasted marrow bones, deliver a nutritional punch far greater than many conventional meal staples. The possibilities are endless, and the rewards, both for your health and your palate, are immense. 5. Take care of your lymphatic health The lymphatic system is the backbone of your immune function. It’s the body’s filtration network, working silently to transport white blood cells, flush toxins, and deliver nutrients to where they’re needed most. Every time you move, stretch, or even breathe deeply, your lymphatic system springs into action, circulating lymph fluid and keeping your immune defences sharp.  Lymph nodes, scattered throughout the body, act as checkpoints where pathogens and harmful particles are trapped and neutralised Unlike your circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump, which means stagnation can set in without conscious effort to keep it flowing, leaving your immune system sluggish and overburdened. Daily movement is key. Walking, stretching, and even deep diaphragmatic breathing create the pressure changes needed to propel lymph fluid through its vessels. Rebounding (bouncing on a mini-trampoline) supercharges this process by combining gravity and motion, helping to flush lymphatic pathways and energise your immune system. Lymphatic drainage massage is another potent tool. Through gentle, rhythmic strokes, it stimulates lymph flow. Add in the ancient practice of dry brushing: using long, upward strokes toward the heart, to not only awaken the lymphatic system but also exfoliate the skin and boost circulation. Hydration is equally critical. Lymph fluid is primarily water, so dehydration thickens it, slowing its movement and hampering your immune system’s efficiency. Supporting this process with sauna sessions or alternating hot and cold showers can further boost lymphatic flow, encouraging the release of toxins through sweat while enhancing immune strength. 6.   Reduce exposure to toxins  We’ll keep this one short because, unfortunately, the ways our bodies are attacked by the modern environment feel endless. From hormone disrupting plastics to synthetic fragrances and pesticide residues, these invisible intruders quietly chip away at our health.  But don’t panic, this isn’t about living in a bubble. Small, intentional changes make a big difference: If you’re interested to dive deeper, our full toxin reduction roadmap here breaks it all down step by step, without the overwhelm, helping you weave a more harmonious environment that brings alignment to your health. 7. Honour your parasympathetic nervous system Dr. Gabor Maté, renowned for his work on trauma and stress, emphasises how unresolved emotional wounds keep the body locked in survival mode, hijacking our immune system, digestion, and hormonal balance.When the sympathetic nervous system dominates, keeping you in a perpetual state of alert, your body can’t differentiate between a missed deadline and a life-or-death threat. This state of hypervigillance burns through resources, leaving your body inflamed, fatigued, and disconnected. Trauma compounds this, embedding itself in the nervous system and perpetuating cycles of stress that undermine every attempt at healing.Breaking free begins with inviting the parasympathetic nervous system to take the reins. Gentle, intentional practices like slow diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness, and even body focused therapies like somatic experiencing (a method endorsed by Maté) can signal safety to your body. Cold plunges and humming exercises stimulate the vagus nerve, the main highway of your parasympathetic system, sending a loud and clear message: it’s okay to rest now.The connection between emotional health and physical health is no longer a mystery, it’s a necessity we can no longer overlook. By tending to your nervous system, you’re not just calming your mind. You’re laying the foundation for real, lasting vitality 8. Find movement that exhilarates you  Exercise isn’t just a physical act, it’s a state of being, a rhythm that aligns the mind, body, and soul. The most transformative movements are not born of obligation, but of devotion, a love for the act itself. As author Haruki Murakami reflected: “Running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself.”For Murakami, running was a personal dialogue. Movement isn’t about punishment or perfection, it’s about showing up each day, meeting yourself where you are, and growing just a little more than yesterday.To find movement you truly love, strip away the expectation of achievement or comparison. Forget rigid schedules and “must-dos.” Instead, ask yourself: what makes you feel alive? For some, it’s the grounding rhythm of a morning walk as the world stirs awake. For others, it’s the meditative flow of yoga, the primal joy of dancing, or the quiet strength found in weightlifting. Maybe it’s running, as it was for Murakami, a solitary act that becomes a refuge. If you’re stuck, try everything. The key is to find what draws you back, day after day, without forcing it. When you fall in love with the act of moving, it stops being a task and starts being a gift, a time to recalibrate, reflect, and renew. Make it simple. Make it sacred.  Actionable rituals: 1. Morning sunlight upon waking 2. Ground with the earth 3. Buy your food from your local farmer 4. Eat nose to tail  5. Take care of your lymphatic health 6. Reduce exposure to toxins 7. Honour your parasympathetic system 8.  Find movement you love, something you can't wait to do every day 

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5 life giving benefits of spending time with loved ones this Christmas

December 23, 2025

5 life giving benefits of spending time with loved ones this Christmas

There's no better season for gathering with family and friends than Christmas, but what many don't realise is that these moments of connection aren't just pleasant, they're deeply restorative to your body, mind, and spirit. We weren't designed to sit isolated in rooms, scrolling a glowing rectangle. We were built for fellowship, for laughter echoing around tables, for conversations that stretch late into the evening. Human beings are fundamentally social creatures and modern science is proving what we've intuitively known all along. When we spend meaningful time with those we love, something remarkable happens: our health improves, our resilience strengthens, and even our memory sharpens. These aren't just nice side effects, they're biological imperatives written into our DNA. So if you're reading this right now, consider it your gentle nudge: after reading this, put down the phone, step away from the screen, and make the most of the people around you. Here's what your body (and mind) will thank you for... 1. Better digestion When your nervous system feels genuinely safe, surrounded by familiar voices and trusted company, it activates your parasympathetic system. This "rest-and-digest" state is governed by the vagus nerve and characterised by increased acetylcholine release throughout your body. Acetylcholine is a multitasking neurotransmitter with profound effects on both brain and body. In your brain, it enhances attention, improves memory encoding and retrieval, and supports learning. It's why you remember conversations with friends more vividly than information you scrolled past online, your brain was actually in an optimal state for forming memories. Simultaneously, acetylcholine is transforming your digestive function. It stimulates saliva production, ensuring proper enzymatic breakdown of food from your very first bite. It triggers stomach acid secretion, essential for protein digestion and nutrient absorption. It promotes bile flow from your gallbladder, necessary for fat digestion. And it enhances gut motility, keeping food moving smoothly through your digestive tract. Many people who struggle with digestive issues, bloating, constipation, poor nutrient absorption, are actually dealing with chronic sympathetic nervous system dominance. They're eating while stressed, distracted, or in fight-or-flight mode. Their bodies simply aren't allocating resources to digestion. Meals shared with loved ones, eaten slowly and with presence, allow your digestive system to function as intended. You produce the right enzymes at the right times. You absorb more nutrients from the same food. You're not just feeding your body, you're actually nourishing it. 2. Sharper thinking & mental clarity Chronic stress floods your system with cortisol, the hormone responsible for your fight-or-flight response. While useful in genuine emergencies, prolonged cortisol elevation wreaks havoc on your cognitive function, impairing memory consolidation, scrambling your focus, and making even simple decisions feel overwhelming. But when you're surrounded by people who make you feel safe and valued, your brain chemistry shifts dramatically. Your cortisol levels drop, and your nervous system stops operating in constant survival mode. This frees up enormous amounts of mental energy that were previously devoted to scanning for threats. The result? That mental fog lifts. Creative solutions appear where you once saw only problems. You can hold complex thoughts in your mind simultaneously. Your working memory improves, allowing you to plan more effectively and think several steps ahead. You're not just feeling better, your brain is literally functioning at a higher level. Research shows that people in supportive social environments perform better on cognitive tests, make more rational decisions under pressure, and access creative problem-solving abilities more readily. When your emotional regulation is stable, your prefrontal cortex, the seat of executive function, can do what it does best. 3. Oxytocin release Being with trusted people triggers the release of oxytocin, often called the "bonding hormone," but its effects extend far beyond creating warm feelings. Oxytocin is a powerful neurochemical that fundamentally alters your physiology. When oxytocin levels rise, they directly counteract cortisol, reducing stress hormones throughout your system. Your amygdala, the brain's threat detection centre, receives signals to stand down. Your entire nervous system shifts from sympathetic (fight-or-flight) to parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) dominance. This isn't just about feeling relaxed, it's about your body being able to perform essential maintenance functions. In fight-or-flight mode, your body diverts resources away from "non-essential" systems like digestion, tissue repair, and immune function. But when oxytocin signals safety, these systems come back online. There's more: oxytocin enhances nitric oxide signalling in your blood vessels, which improves circulation throughout your body. Blood vessels relax and dilate, reducing vascular resistance. This means better oxygen delivery to your brain, improved cardiovascular function, enhanced tissue repair, and even benefits to libido and sexual function. Studies have demonstrated that people with strong social connections have lower blood pressure, better heart rate variability (a marker of nervous system health), and improved endothelial function, all markers of cardiovascular wellbeing. 4. Less inflammation, stronger immunity Loneliness isn't just an emotional state, it's a biological stressor that your body treats as a threat. Chronic social isolation triggers an increase in inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). These pro-inflammatory cytokines were evolutionarily useful when isolation meant vulnerability to predators and injuries, but in modern life, they simply contribute to chronic disease. Sustained inflammation is linked to everything from cardiovascular disease and diabetes to accelerated aging and cognitive decline. Your immune system becomes dysregulated, overreacting to harmless triggers while struggling to mount effective responses against actual pathogens. Genuine social connection reverses this pattern. Time spent with loved ones reduces inflammatory signalling and shifts your immune system from a defensive, hyper-vigilant state to a coordinated, efficient one. Oxytocin and parasympathetic activation increase anti-inflammatory mediators while dampening excessive inflammatory responses. The practical outcome? People with strong social bonds recover faster from infections, have lower rates of chronic illness, and show better vaccine responses. Their immune systems aren't exhausted from constant false alarms, they're calibrated to respond appropriately when genuine threats appear. Research has even shown that socially connected individuals have longer telomeres (protective caps on chromosomes associated with longevity) and lower rates of age-related cognitive decline. 5. The reduction of screen time (don’t sit with others on your phone!) When you choose real presence over digital distraction, you're giving your brain a chance to recalibrate from an artificially stimulating environment that wasn't designed with your wellbeing in mind. Modern apps are engineered to hijack your dopamine system with unpredictable rewards, the same variable reinforcement schedule that makes slot machines addictive. Each scroll might reveal something interesting, so your brain stays locked in a cycle of seeking and scanning. This creates dopamine spikes followed by crashes, leaving you feeling restless, unfocused, and craving more stimulation even as you feel increasingly dissatisfied. Face-to-face interaction provides dopamine too, but it's sustained and wholesome rather than volatile and depleting. Real conversation engages multiple brain regions simultaneously: language processing, emotional recognition, theory of mind, and social reasoning. You're exercising your brain in the way it evolved to function. Short form content affects your ability to focus whereas long conversations improve your ability to concentrate and focus over longer periods. Less screen time also means less blue light exposure, particularly in the evening. Blue light suppresses melatonin production, disrupting your circadian rhythm and making deep, restorative sleep difficult. Poor sleep then compounds into worse mood regulation, impaired memory consolidation, and hormonal imbalances. Beyond the biochemistry, constant scrolling creates visual and cognitive overload. Your attention is fractured across dozens of micro-stimuli, preventing the sustained focus necessary for deep thought, creativity, and genuine relaxation. When you step away, your nervous system can finally down-regulate from this state of perpetual partial attention. The result is improved focus, better memory, more stable mood, enhanced motivation, and a restored sense of being fully present in your own life rather than observing everyone else's highlights. The gift of presence This Christmas, the greatest gift you can give (and receive) isn't wrapped in paper. It's your undivided attention. Your laughter. Your willingness to sit across from someone and truly see them. These moments aren't just making memories, they're literally making you healthier, stronger, and more resilient. They're lowering your inflammation, strengthening your immune system, sharpening your mind, and allowing your body to rest and repair. So close the apps. Silence the notifications. Look up from the feed and into the faces of the people you love. Your body was built for this. Your brain evolved for this. And every system within you functions better when you honour this fundamental human need. There's no better time than now.

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How to beat seasonal depression

December 20, 2025

How to beat seasonal depression

Does winter feel like something to endure or worse, to escape from entirely? For many, the darker months bring a heavy weight of seasonal depression, low mood, and a desperate longing for spring. But what if we've got it all wrong? Our ancestors didn't view winter as an enemy to flee. They understood it as a necessary, even sacred season, a time for turning inward, for crafting, for storytelling, for rest. Winter was when they honed their skills, deepened their knowledge, and allowed their bodies and minds to restore after the demanding activity of the warmer months. The problem isn't winter itself. The problem is that modern life expects us to maintain the same relentless pace year-round, under artificial lights, disconnected from natural rhythms, and never truly slowing down. We're fighting against the season rather than moving with it. Seasonal depression isn't just about a lack of sunlight. It's frequently a signal that your body and mind are craving what winter is meant to provide: rest, warmth, nourishment, meaningful connection, and a gentler pace. In this article, we'll explore how to not just survive winter, but to genuinely thrive through it by working with the season rather than against it. Inflammation and mental health Before diving into specific strategies, it's essential to understand something crucial: there's a profound connection between inflammation and depression. Chronic inflammation directly affects brain chemistry, neurotransmitter production, and mood regulation. High inflammation triggers inflammatory cytokines that interfere with serotonin and dopamine pathways, literally making it harder for your brain to produce the neurochemicals responsible for wellbeing, motivation, and contentment.  In winter, when we move less, spend more time near nnEMF’s and spend more time indoors often under blue light, inflammation often increases precisely when our mood is already vulnerable. Signs include persistent fatigue, brain fog, joint achiness, skin issues, digestive problems, and mood disturbances. Start by eliminating the primary culprits... seed oils, processed foods, alcohol, and non-organic produce. Focus instead on whole foods such as wild-caught fatty fish rich in vitamin D, pasture raised red meat, organic vegetables, healing herbs like turmeric and ginger, and plenty of saturated fats. When inflammation drops, many people report that their seasonal mood struggles significantly improve, sometimes dramatically so. You're giving your brain the physiological environment it needs to maintain balanced mood throughout the darker months. Gut health (your second brain) If your gut isn't functioning optimally, your mood simply cannot be optimal either. Winter often brings additional gut challenges. Less sunlight, more time indoors, less movement. All of these compromise the delicate balance of your gut microbiome, leading to increased inflammation, reduced neurotransmitter production, poor nutrient absorption, and a weakened stress response. Support your gut by focusing on sealing, consume bone broth regularly, the gelatine and collagen support intestinal lining integrity. Add natural antimicrobials like fresh ginger and garlic to combat potential overgrowths. When your gut is thriving, your mood follows. It's not coincidental that improving gut health often resolves mood issues that medications couldn't touch, you're addressing the root cause rather than merely suppressing symptoms. Getting outside  Getting outdoors regularly is one of the most powerful interventions for winter mood struggles. Even on overcast winter days, natural outdoor light significantly helps your mood and body. Make it a non-negotiable daily practice to spend as much time as possible outside in daylight, preferably in the morning light to start your day right. This could be a walk through your neighbourhood, time in a local park, or simply sitting outside with your morning tea. The light exposure helps regulate your circadian rhythm. Here's what many people don't realise: despite the lack of vitamin D production this time of year, UVA light is present year-round, even in the depths of winter, and it continues to play a crucial role in health. Unlike UVB rays, which become weak or virtually absent in winter at higher latitudes, UVA penetrates through clouds and even glass, reaching your skin consistently throughout the year. Winter UVA exposure helps release nitric oxide from your skin, which improves blood flow and supports cardiovascular health. It also provides essential seasonal and circadian light signals that help regulate mood and maintain healthy hormonal rhythms. Additionally, UVA has immune-modulating effects that may help keep immune responses balanced during the colder months when infections are more common. It's important to understand that UVA does not produce vitamin D, that requires UVB, so winter sunlight can't replace your vitamin D needs entirely. However, in short: even in winter, getting outside genuinely matters. UVA supports circulation, immune balance, and seasonal regulation, even when vitamin D production has dropped to minimal levels. Hiking and walking provide multiple mood-boosting benefits simultaneously: movement, natural light, fresh air, and changing scenery. Even a gentle 20-minute walk in nature significantly reduces cortisol levels and improves mood. If you can find wooded areas, the phytoncides released by trees have additional stress-reducing properties. The seaside offers particularly powerful medicine for seasonal depression. The expansive horizon, rhythmic waves, and negative ions generated by moving water all have measurable effects on mood and nervous system regulation. The salt air itself has anti-inflammatory properties. If you live near the coast, make regular seaside walks a priority, if not getting near rivers and waterfalls as the next best thing. Earthing or grounding, direct skin contact with the earth, helps regulate inflammation and cortisol rhythms. Even in winter, get your bare feet or hands on the earth occasionally. Walk barefoot on grass during milder days, touch tree bark during walks, or sit directly on the ground when possible. Sunrise viewing One of the most underrated interventions for seasonal depression is watching the sunrise, or at minimum, getting outside within the first hour after sunrise. Morning light exposure sends powerful signals to your brain's master clock, helping regulate circadian rhythms that govern sleep, hormone production, and mood regulation. The early morning light contains specific wavelengths that trigger cortisol production (which should peak in the morning for alertness) and suppress melatonin (which should be low during the day). This natural rhythm supports energy, motivation, and a stable mood throughout the day. Try to view the sunrise or get outside within 30-60 minutes of waking, even for just 5-10 minutes. No sunglasses, your eyes need to receive the light directly. This single practice can dramatically improve sleep quality, daytime energy, and overall mood regulation within just a few days of consistent practice. Fire gazing and fire pits There's something primal and deeply soothing about watching flames dance. Our ancestors gathered around fires every evening, it was central to survival, community, and comfort. Modern research shows that watching fire has measurable effects on relaxation, blood pressure reduction, and mental state. The flickering light of fire operates at a frequency that naturally induces a meditative, relaxed state. Unlike harsh blue light from screens, the warm, red-orange spectrum of firelight signals safety and rest to your nervous system. The sounds of crackling wood and the warmth on your skin add additional layers of sensory comfort. Additionally the natural infrared light produced by firelight has immense benefits from the body from eyes to even thyroid health, helping the mitochondria in your cells do their work! If you have access to a fireplace, fire pit, or chiminea, make evening fires a regular winter ritual. Invite friends or family to gather around, or simply sit alone with your thoughts and a warm drink. The combination of warmth, light, fresh air, and the meditative quality of watching flames provides a powerful antidote to winter darkness and isolation. For those without real fire, even candles provide some benefit, the warm light is far preferable to bright overhead LEDs in the evening. Fire connects us to something ancient and fundamental, offering comfort in knowing you're engaging in the same practice humans have used for hundreds of thousands of years. Connection as medicine When seasonal depression hits, the natural instinct is often to withdraw and hibernate alone. While some solitude is healthy in winter, complete isolation actively worsens mood and mental health. Regular connection is essential medicine,not optional. Research consistently shows that social connection reduces chronic stress hormones, which directly improves mood, cognitive function, and resilience. Loneliness and social isolation are strongly associated with increased inflammation, the same inflammation contributing to depression. People with strong social bonds show measurably lower levels of inflammatory markers and report significantly better mental health outcomes. But quality matters more than quantity. Meaningful conversation over a shared meal, laughter with close friends, or genuine phone calls provide far more benefit than superficial interactions. Winter provides perfect opportunities for deeper connection: invite friends for fire pit gatherings, organise regular dinners, start a book club, or commit to weekly walks with a friend. The act of gathering around shared food carries additional psychological weight. Our ancestors always socialised around meals, it was when stories were told and bonds strengthened. Try to prioritise regular communal meals during winter, even if simple. The combination of nourishing food, warm environment, and genuine connection is powerfully mood-supporting. Embracing winter's true purpose Here's perhaps the most important shift: winter isn't meant to be endured or escaped. It's meant to be embraced as a necessary season of rest, restoration, and turning inward. Fighting against this natural rhythm, trying to maintain summer's pace, is a primary reason why seasonal depression feels so overwhelming. In nature, winter is a time of dormancy. Trees conserve energy, animals hibernate, seeds rest in the earth. This isn't weakness, it's essential preparation for spring's growth. For humans too, winter is traditionally a time for slowing down. Before electric lighting, people naturally reduced their pace, went to bed earlier, and conserved energy. They moved with the season rather than fighting it. Give yourself permission to do less. Go to bed earlier without guilt. Reduce your social calendar to only commitments that genuinely nourish you. Say no to unnecessary obligations. This is also the perfect time to work on crafts, skills, and creative projects that require patience and sustained attention. Our ancestors used winter for making tools, crafting clothing, developing skills, and creating art. These activities provide purpose and accomplishment while respecting winter's inward-turning energy. Consider taking up: woodworking, knitting or sewing, writing, drawing, music, cooking, or learning a new skill. The process matters more than the product, it's about meaningful work that allows for flow states and visible progress. Winter is also ideal for planning and dreaming about the year ahead without pressure to execute immediately. Movement and detox pathways While embracing a slower pace, movement remains essential for mental health, but it doesn't need to be intense. Gentler, more intuitive movement often serves winter depression better than aggressive exercise regimens. A daily 30-minute walk provides more mental health benefits than occasionally pushing through exhausting workouts. Find movement you enjoy... gentle hiking, restorative yoga, dancing, swimming, tai chi, or simply walking. Pay attention to your body's signals. Winter is excellent for developing a more intuitive relationship with movement. Hit the sauna or hot bath for much needed detoxification during winter, make sure to move to stimulate the lymphatic system, stagnation will lead to a build up of toxins and therefore impacting mental health. Seasonal depression isn't a personal failure. The epidemic of winter depression points to something deeper... we've lost our relationship with the natural rhythms of the year. When you address the root causes, chronic inflammation, gut dysfunction, natural light deprivation, social isolation, and the relentless pressure to maintain summer's pace, you often find that winter becomes something entirely different. Not something to dread or survive, but a genuinely valuable season with its own gifts and wisdom. Winter teaches patience, rest, introspection, and the value of turning inward. It teaches us that darkness isn't something to fear but a necessary counterpoint to light, that stillness isn't laziness but preparation, and that slowing down isn't weakness but wisdom. This winter, approach it differently. Get outside daily for light and fresh air. Tend to your gut health and reduce inflammation. Gather regularly with people you care about. Watch fires and sunrises. Work on crafts that engage your hands and mind. Give yourself permission to rest more, do less, and turn inward without guilt. You might just find that winter stops being something to endure and becomes something to genuinely appreciate, a necessary season of restoration that makes spring's renewal possible. The darkness isn't the enemy. The fighting against it is.

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21 things to try before taking a flu tablet

December 17, 2025

21 things to try before taking a flu tablet

You’re probably experiencing it already. A friend cancelled dinner the other day because they’re “coming down with something.” A colleague started coughing across the office. The group chat is filling with messages about fevers, body aches, and that unmistakable sense of being wiped out overnight. Or maybe you’re one of the unlucky ones, waking up heavy-limbed, head throbbing, throat sore, wondering how it happened so fast. Unmistakably, something is going around. But before you rush to the pharmacy, here are some things to try first. 1. Hit the sauna This is a favourite of founder Niall. Whenever he’s been around people who are ill, or feels that familiar “something’s coming” sensation, an evening sauna session is his first move. Used early, sauna works by mimicking a mild fever. Raising core body temperature makes it harder for viruses to replicate, while simultaneously increasing circulation and immune cell activity. White blood cells become more mobile, lymphatic flow improves, and the immune system gets a head start before symptoms fully land. This definitely isn’t something to force during full-blown illness or an active fever. But used preventatively, or at the very first signs, sauna often shortens or stops an illness before it has the chance to take hold. 2. Take a few drops of oregano oil Oregano oil is one of those old-world remedies with scientific backing.It’s rich in carvacrol and thymol, compounds with strong antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal activity. In plain terms: it creates an internal environment that’s much harder for pathogens to thrive in. When taken early, oregano oil doesn’t “nuke” symptoms the way flu tablets do. Instead, it supports the immune system in doing what it’s already trying to do: contain and clear the invader. It helps reduce viral load, modulates inflammation, and can shorten the duration of illness if used at the first sign of that scratchy-throat, heavy-head feeling. If you’re someone who always says “I never get sick, until I suddenly do,” oregano oil is often the difference between a brief wobble and a full week written off. 3. Check you’re not under fuelled One of the fastest ways to weaken immune response is undereating. When calorie intake drops, the body prioritises survival systems over immune output. Thyroid conversion slows, cortisol rises, and white blood cell production becomes less efficient. Many people feel flu-like not because the virus is overwhelming, but because the body doesn’t have enough energy to mount a proper response. 4. Stay cosy at all times The rhinovirus, the most common cause of colds, replicates best at cooler temperatures, around 33–35°C. Drop your core body temperature even slightly, and you create a friendlier environment for it to multiply.  A warm core temperature, on the other hand, suppresses viral replication and supports the production of interferons, the immune system’s frontline messengers that interfere with viruses before they gain momentum. People with resilient metabolisms who maintain warmth easily often “get away” with exposure without ever falling ill. So think cosily… warm baths, wool socks, layered clothing, and yes, a hat (the scalp loses heat quickly). Preventing even mild hypothermia can be the difference between exposure and infection. 5. Lymphatic massage Did you know you can actively assist your immune system, and quite literally help move illness out of the body, through massage? The lymphatic system is your body’s internal clean-up network. It collects viral particles, inflammatory waste, dead immune cells, and toxins from tissues and transports them to lymph nodes for processing and removal. But it has no pump of its own. If it isn’t stimulated, that waste sits and lingers, intensifying symptoms and slowing recovery. Lymphatic massage gently but deliberately moves this fluid. With light, rhythmic strokes, you physically encourage lymph to drain out of congested areas and toward the nodes where pathogens are neutralised. This is why tenderness in the neck, jaw, armpits, or chest often softens quickly after lymphatic work, stagnation is clearing. 6. Kaya’s Polish grandad’s flu syrup Now I had to add in this personal favourite, because it’s the one thing my family has always returned to whenever anyone gets sick. I’m not even sure where my grandad originally got it from, but trust me, it works (and you can feel it working). 2 onions 5 cloves of garlic 2 teaspoons of honey 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger Juice of 1 lemon 20 drops of propolis (optional) Everything goes into a sealed jar and sits at room temperature for 2–3 days. You strain it and drink only the syrup that forms. He did also add a shot of vodka to his, to “help it travel faster.” I won’t recommend that part, but the rest has more than earned its place as a family staple. 7. Don’t suppress a fever immediately  Before you immediately reach for a cold and flu tablet, it’s worth understanding why a fever shows up in the first place. A fever isn’t the illness, it’s the response. When your immune system detects a virus, it deliberately raises your core body temperature to create an environment that’s harder for pathogens to survive.  A fever also signals the release of cytokines and interferons, immune messengers that coordinate the attack and limit viral spread.  Suppressing a fever too early can interfere with this process. Cold and flu medications may reduce discomfort, but they also remove one of the immune system’s key advantages, which can sometimes prolong how long the illness lingers. This doesn’t mean you should ignore high or dangerous fevers, or push through severe symptoms. But mild to moderate fevers early on are often doing exactly what they’re meant to do. Sometimes the most supportive move is to rest, hydrate, and let the body finish the job it’s already started. 8. Drink a glass of slightly warmed milk Lysine is an essential amino acid with antiviral properties. Many common viruses rely on another amino acid, arginine, to replicate. Lysine competes with arginine for absorption and uptake, essentially making it harder for viruses to multiply. When lysine intake is higher, viral replication becomes less efficient.  Of all foods, milk happens to have one of the highest lysine-to-arginine ratios, meaning it naturally shifts the internal environment away from what viruses prefer and toward conditions that support immune defence. 9. Bone broth Bone broth is one of the simplest ways to support the immune system when you’re fighting something, or trying not to. Slow-simmered bones release glycine, proline, glutamine, and minerals that are deeply supportive during illness. That gelatine from the bones coats and soothes the gut lining, supports connective tissue repair, and provides glycine in particularly high amounts,  all crucial when the body is inflamed and under immune stress. 10. Have an early bedtime  A large proportion of immune activity, including antibody production and immune cell coordination, happens during deep sleep between 10pm and 2am. This window matters. Melatonin peaks during these hours, and beyond regulating sleep, it acts as a powerful immune modulator and antioxidant. Even if total sleep time stays the same, sleeping before 10pm gives your immune system access to its most productive hours. 11. Echinacea  Echinacea is one of the most researched herbal immune supports. Echinacea stimulates immune activity by increasing the production and responsiveness of white blood cells, particularly macrophages, the cells responsible for engulfing and clearing pathogens.  12. Increase electrolyte intake When your immune system is activated, your demand for minerals rises sharply. Fever, inflammation, and stress hormones all increase sodium loss through sweat, urine, and respiration.  Salt plays a direct role in maintaining blood volume, moving lymph, and allowing nutrients and immune cells to circulate properly. Adding electrolytes doesn’t need to be complicated. A pinch of good-quality salt in water, mineral-rich broths, or salted foods can quickly stabilise the system. 13. And while you’re there, gargle salt water Many respiratory viruses first take hold in the throat, and saline creates an environment that’s far less friendly for them to linger and replicate. A warm glass of water with a good pinch of salt, gargled for 20–30 seconds a few times a day, is often enough. 14. Support aches with magnesium Those deep, heavy body aches that make you want to melt into the sofa are usually a mix of inflammation and nervous system tension. Magnesium helps muscles unclench, calms stress hormones, and supports cellular energy when everything feels heavy and sore. An Epsom salt bath is one of the gentlest ways to deliver it. The warmth and steam often double up as gentle steam inhalation, helping to open airways, thin mucus, and clear up the blocked nose trenches.  15. Add 2 tbsp of baking soda to your bath And while you’re in that bath… add baking soda. When baking soda dissolves in warm water, it releases carbon dioxide, creating those soft, fizzing bubbles that gently cling to the skin. CO₂ improves circulation by encouraging blood vessels to dilate, helping oxygen and nutrients reach tissues more easily while metabolic waste is cleared more efficiently. 16.  Eat liver (just a little) Liver is loaded with vitamin A, zinc, copper, and B vitamins, nutrients that directly support immune cell differentiation and mucosal integrity. Vitamin A, in particular, plays a key role in respiratory immune defence. You don’t need much. A small portion once or twice during illness can meaningfully replenish what the immune system is burning through at speed. 17. Reduce decision making  Cognitive load is physiological stress. Even low-level mental effort burns through glucose and quietly raises cortisol, the very hormone that suppresses immune function when it stays elevated. When your body is fighting something, mental efficiency matters as much as physical rest. Cancel plans. Say no without explanation. Eat the same meal twice. Remove as many micro-decisions as possible. 18. Change your bedsheets I know, changing your bedsheets when you’re already ill sounds like the most hellish punishment imaginable. It’s the last thing anyone wants to do when all you want is to crawl back under the covers. But it’s surprisingly worth it. When you’re sick, your bed holds onto heat, moisture, sweat, and microbial debris. Changing your bedsheets refreshes that environment, reducing lingering pathogens and making sleep more comfortable and restorative. 19. Sip thyme tea Thyme contains compounds like thymol and carvacrol that have antimicrobial and antiviral properties, particularly for the respiratory tract. Traditionally, it’s been used for sore throats, chest tightness, and stubborn coughs because it helps relax the airways, thin mucus, and make life harder for whatever’s irritating your throat. 20. Manually drain your sinuses  Whenever you feel particularly attacked by a blocked nose, this is one of the simplest things you can do, and it takes less than two minutes. Start at the top of the nose where it meets the eyebrows. Using firm but comfortable pressure, sweep your fingers downward along both sides of the nose, then out across the cheeks, and finally down the sides of the neck. Always move downward. It sounds almost too simple, but try it and you’ll see what I mean. It’s one of those rare tricks where the relief is immediate enough to make you go, oh… that actually worked. 21. Let yourself be ill If you’re in the depths of a cold, you’ve tried everything on this list, and you’re still telling yourself you can push through, optimise a bit harder, and be “back on it” for work by Monday, this is the part to read twice. When symptoms are suppressed with medication and rest is withheld, the immune response never fully completes. Instead, illness retreats, then returns,  showing up as lingering colds, half-well weeks, or that on-and-off sickness that seems to stretch through the entire winter. Letting yourself be ill doesn’t mean suffering unnecessarily, but it is important to give your immune system the space to finish the job properly. Rest deeply. Cancel what you can. Eat simply. Sleep more than feels necessary. Sometimes the fastest way back to functioning is to stop trying to override the process and let the body do exactly what it’s designed to do. Remember,  it’s always working to support you, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

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If your hair is thinning, read this (Our hair growth blueprint)

December 12, 2025

If your hair is thinning, read this (Our hair growth blueprint)

You notice it in tiny, unsettling ways at first. A few more strands circling the shower drain. Your ponytail feeling a little thinner between your fingers. A hairline slowly creeping back. Or maybe your hair just refuses, stubbornly, to grow past a certain point without snapping.  And yet, when you finally mention it to someone, you’re told it’s simply “part of ageing… postpartum… hormones…”, the usual script. So you start blaming it on a bit of recent stress, telling yourself it’s temporary, and try to push away the quiet suspicion that maybe, just maybe, your body is trying to tell you something. While it feels personal, like your body is betraying you in the most visible way, you’re probably right. Hair is one of the most reactive tissues in the body and it tells the truth long before blood tests, symptoms, or even your mood give the game away. We've previously covered '6 reasons your hair might be thinning', but here are the core culprits worth understanding: Leaky gut syndrome We all know diet matters. But what matters more is what you absorb, not what you eat. Your gut lining is a delicate, one-cell-thin barrier. When it becomes irritated, inflamed, or leaky, and modern life throws plenty of opportunities for that, your ability to absorb minerals, amino acids, fats, and vitamins drops dramatically. You can swallow all the iron, zinc, protein, and B vitamins you want, but if the gut wall isn’t intact, very little makes it through. And since hair depends on those nutrients to even exist, the follicle interprets low absorption as scarcity. Scarcity tells the body: “Now is not the time to grow hair, now is the time to survive.” Your hair is one of the first things sacrificed when your digestion is under pressure. This is exactly why people experience explosive improvements in hair thickness when they bring in gut-healing foods like collagen, bone broth and gelatine. These foods don’t just add nutrients, they rebuild the gut environment so those nutrients actually get in. They tighten the intestinal junctions, reduce inflammation, stabilise the immune response, and restore the digestive fire (stomach acid, enzymes, bile flow) that hair absolutely depends on. Gut repair always shows up in the hair. It's very likely a hormonal thing Now let’s talk about the hormonal storm behind most shedding. Insulin & blood sugar If your blood sugar spikes and crashes all day, your insulin spikes right along with it. Chronically high insulin is an inflammatory signal, and follicles never fare well in inflammation. Insulin resistance is strongly linked to both female and male pattern thinning because it destabilises androgens, increases inflammation, worsens PCOS symptoms, and disrupts nutrient delivery to the scalp. When cortisol steals your hair Stress makes hair fall out, everyone knows this. But most people don’t understand why. Cortisol doesn’t just “stress out” your follicles. It disrupts every upstream system that hair depends on. Chronically elevated cortisol tells your body it’s under threat, so the body diverts nutrients away from “non-essential tissues” like hair. It also weakens the gut lining, disturbs stomach acid, destabilises sex hormones, and exhausts the thyroid, all guaranteed paths to shedding. This is why people can lose handfuls of hair after a breakup, job pressure, exams, moving house, sleep deprivation, or prolonged burnout.  Relaxation isn’t a luxury. For your hair, it’s medicine. Undernourishment Hair is built out of amino acids. That’s the foundation. Without them, you can forget thickness, shine, and regrowth entirely. Then come the cofactors: heme iron for oxygen, zinc for cell turnover, vitamin A for follicle signalling, B vitamins for energy production, selenium for antioxidant protection, copper for pigmentation and enzyme function, and minerals to keep everything firing. This is exactly where the beauty industry loves to step in and sell shortcuts... keratin pills, “hair vitamins”, synthetic multis. Unfortunately, keratin supplements are one of the biggest scams going. Keratin is a structural protein. Your digestive system breaks it into simple amino acids the same way it would break down a steak or a scoop of collagen. You’re not absorbing keratin, you’re absorbing basic building blocks. There is nothing magical or hair-specific about it. The marketing sells the illusion, not the biology. And synthetic multivitamins? They try to cheat the system by megadosing isolated nutrients. But isolated nutrients often absorb poorly because the body doesn’t recognise them as food. The cofactors are missing, the enzymes aren’t activated, the mineral ratios are off, and the absorption pathways don’t match what your body expects. It’s like delivering bricks to a construction site with no cement, no workers, and no blueprint. Whole foods are the opposite. When you introduce these nutrients in their natural form, organ meats, egg yolks, bone broth, collagen, colostrum, high-quality meat and dairy, you’re not just giving your body the raw materials. You’re giving it the entire building kit... the scaffolding, the instructions, the tools, the transporters, and the energy required to put it all together. Hair thrives when nutrients arrive packaged exactly as nature designed, with their cofactors, peptides, fats, and minerals intact. Toxin haircare Shampoos can absolutely contribute to shedding, not because washing is bad, but because many shampoos are loaded with irritants that inflame the scalp, disrupt the microbiome, dry the hair shaft, and choke the follicle environment. The biggest offenders: SLS / SLES Super harsh detergents that strip the scalp’s protective barrier, increase inflammation, and cause dryness and breakage. Usually marketed as "deep clean" Fragrance / Parfum This is a legally protected umbrella term for hundreds of chemicals, including many known endocrine disruptors or allergens. Chronic irritation = chronic shedding. Silicones (dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane) Coat the hair so it feels smooth but build up on the scalp, clog pores, and suffocate follicles over time. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, imidazolidinyl urea) Linked to scalp inflammation and widely criticised in consumer lawsuits for contributing to thinning. Isopropyl alcohol & harsh solvents Dry the scalp, damage the hair cuticle, and create brittleness. Artificial dyes Another common irritant  Okay, let’s zoom out for a second. Chances are you don’t want another doom-laden explanation of everything silently sabotaging you. You’re just looking for a way forward, and some actionable steps you can actually take away. Lo and behold.... The hair growth blueprint Step 1: Understand the root cause (pardon the pun) Before we cover the hair practices that are helpful for almost everyone, there’s one step that matters more than all the rest, and it’s a deeply personal one. We need to start by thinking about what might be behind your hair loss. Could it be recent pregnancy or hormonal changes? A high-stress job? Maybe a crash diet? Or are your thyroid or iron levels playing a role? Understanding what’s contributing can help guide you toward the right solution. Address any medical issues with a professional (e.g., get thyroid or nutrient testing if needed). 2. Release the fascia Try this...place your fingertips on the top of your head and gently push the scalp forward, then back, then side to side. Did it glide? Or did it feel like you were trying to shift a fixed piece of carpet? For many people, the scalp barely budges. It’s surprisingly common, the result of years of unconscious jaw clenching, forehead scrunching, stress stacking, and the general modern habit of carrying tension like a second skin. The fascia, which is the connective tissue wrapping your head in a soft architectural web, responds to all of this by tightening. slowly, silently, consistently. Fascia contracts → blood vessels compress → microcirculation drops → follicles get less oxygen, nutrients, and growth signals. Hair follicles are extremely metabolically active. They need constant blood flow to stay in the anagen (growth) phase. When circulation is restricted, follicles miniaturise, the same process seen in androgenetic hair loss. This is why many people with thinning hair also describe: A tight or “stuck” scalp Soreness around temples or crown Tension headaches Neck and jaw stiffness It’s all connected by the same fascial network. The key areas that matter most... Suboccipitals (base of skull) These tiny muscles sit under the skull and are packed with nerve endings and proprioceptors. When they’re chronically tight, usually from tech posture, they compress blood vessels like the occipital artery and restrict venous drainage. Less arterial flow in means slower drainage out, creating stagnation around the follicles. Releasing this area increases perfusion to the entire scalp. SCM & neck fascia The SCMs run from the sternum to the mastoid process behind the ears. They all sit beside major vascular highways: -The carotid arteries (which feed the scalp and face)- The jugular veins (which drain them- Lymphatic channels that regulate inflammation When the SCMs become shortened or ropey, they compress these pathways, resulting in sluggish blood flow to the scalp, inefficient removal of inflammatory waste, and lower oxygenation to the follicles. Loosening SCM tension literally improves nutrient delivery upstream. Jaw & temporalis Clenching or grinding activates the masseter and temporalis muscles. These muscles attach into the fascial system of the temples and scalp. Chronic tension here creates fascial drag across the galea, pulling it tight, reducing its mobility, and compressing the microvasculature beneath it. People with TMJ often report crown thinning for this exact reason. When you massage these areas, you mechanically rehydrate fascia, break up adhesions, and restoring glide between tissue layers that have been stuck together for years. Consistency matters more than intensity. A few minutes a day, done gently and regularly, is far more powerful than the occasional brutal massage that leaves you sore. Think slow circles at the temples, knuckle pressure along the jaw hinge, fingertip kneading at the base of the skull, and long, dragging motions across the scalp to restore mobility. When in doubt, there are plenty of tutorials online. And once you’ve softened things manually, you can take advantage of gravity. Lying upside down, or simply with your legs up a wall or over the edge of the bed, is an underrated, almost absurdly simple way to increase blood flow to the scalp. Even 5–10 minutes in the evening can significantly boost perfusion, bathing follicles in oxygen and nutrients without effort. Many people like to pair this with scalp massage or slow nasal breathing before bed, creating a powerful signal of safety and circulation right before the body enters its overnight repair window. 3. Feed the follicles Center your diet around hair-loving nutrients: Eat high-quality protein daily (pastured eggs, grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish). Include organs like liver once or twice a week for iron and vitamins, and bone broth or collagen for gut and hair support. Get plenty of iron, zinc and B vitamins from red meat and shellfish Don’t skimp on healthy fats, enjoy oily fish, grass fed butter, tallow, bone marrow,  coconut oil, and avocados. They help absorb fat-soluble vitamins and provide essential fatty acids for scalp health. 4. Craft your natural hair routine Start with rosemary oilBegin with a rosemary oil scalp massage a few times a week. Rosemary has been shown to increase microcirculation around the follicle, boost mitochondrial activity (your hair’s literal energy production), and support the anagen, or growth, phase of hair. Rethink shampoo Most conventional shampoos are detergent-based. They don’t just clean hair, they strip the scalp’s lipid barrier, disrupt its microbiome, and alter pH, often leaving you with flaking, tightness, breakage, or hair that feels dry one day and greasy the next. Instead, experiment with some of these: Raw goat milk Clay washes Aleppo soap Soapnut Raw eggs (a favourite of our founder NIall) These cleanse without annihilating your scalp’s natural oils, help maintain an acidic pH (crucial for cuticle smoothness and shine), and allow your scalp to relearn how to regulate itself rather than overcorrect.Did you know your hair loves tea? No, seriously, it’s not just for your morning cup. Herbal rinses like nettle, rosemary, or horsetail deliver minerals directly to the scalp and hair shaft.  Over time, herbal rinses can noticeably reduce shedding, increase shine, and improve overall hair texture. Apple cider vinegar (ACV) ACV rinses play a different but equally important role. Hair and scalp naturally prefer a slightly acidic environment, and when modern shampoos or hard water push things too alkaline, the cuticle lifts and hair becomes rough, dull, and prone to breakage. ACV gently brings things back into balance. Used once every week or two, it also discourages yeast and bacterial overgrowth, making it especially helpful for dandruff, itchiness, or that tight, squeaky-clean feeling left behind by shampoos. Be patient with the transition.  If your scalp has relied on detergents for years, it may temporarily overproduce oil as sebaceous glands recalibrate (cue greasy hair) Once the microbiome and acid mantle stabilise, oil production usually evens out, and hair starts behaving very differently. And finally... Natural shampoo can be a battlefield. You buy the artisanal, herbal, eco-friendly bottle and somehow your hair ends up feeling like hay, or sticky, or coated in wax like you rinsed it in medieval glue. If the fully natural route doesn’t love your hair texture (or your tap water’s questionable personality), it’s okay. Just choose the least-offending shampoo you can find (no SLS, no synthetic fragrance, no silicones) and let the rest of your routine (oils, mineral rinses, fascia release, nutrition) do the heavy lifting. No need to suffer in the name of purity. 5. Sunlight on the scalp Ever notice how your hair seems to grow faster in summer? You’re not imagining it. Sunlight anchors your circadian rhythm, which in turn regulates hormones, thyroid function, and cellular repair. When your body knows what time it is, it knows when it’s safe to grow. Cortisol drops, metabolic signals improve, and follicles are more likely to stay in the anagen (growth) phase instead of slipping into shedding. There’s also a direct, local effect. Hair follicles are packed with mitochondria, tiny energy factories that respond to light. Red and near-infrared wavelengths from the sun penetrate the scalp, increase ATP (cellular energy) production, improve blood flow, and reduce inflammation around the follicle. More energy means better circulation means better growth conditions. Summer quietly stacks all of these advantages at once. And while we’re in the depths of winter, don’t panic. This is where red light therapy earns its place. Red light panels or scalp devices emit the same growth-supportive wavelengths found in sunlight, without needing long, bright days. Used consistently, they can help wake dormant follicles, improve density and thickness, and support regrowth when natural light is limited.  Putting it all together Daily Cup of bone broth/ portion of collagenous meat Massage to release jaw & neck tension Mineral-rich diet (eggs, meat, seafood, fruit, raw dairy) Sunlight/red light on the scalp Prayer/journaling/yoga/ favourite nature activity (nervous system release practice) Hair wash days Massage rosemary oil into scalp Natural shampoo & hair mask Nettle rinse Weekly Beef organs 2-3x a week Portion of oysters Keep scalp clean, wash whenever feels necessary rather than 'hair training' Regularly audit and remove any unnecessary chemicals that sneak into your hair routine Regularly check iron, vitamin D, B12 if shedding is heavy.

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What Christmas tasted like 100 years ago

December 10, 2025

What Christmas tasted like 100 years ago

Christmas is a time for indulgence, and you absolutely should enjoy yourself. But here's something worth thinking about: you can savour every single festive treat exactly the way our ancestors did a century ago, when Christmas tables groaned under the weight of real food, made with real ingredients, and people somehow managed to feast without feeling utterly wretched afterwards. The secret? They used saturated fats instead of industrial seed oils, kept ingredient lists refreshingly short, and had never heard of a synthetic preservative or artificial flavouring. Every mince pie, every crispy roast potato, every rich gravy was made from scratch with ingredients you could actually pronounce. The beauty of ancestral eating is that it doesn't mean sacrificing flavour or indulgence. If anything, you'll discover that the old ways taste infinitely better. Here are six simple swaps that will transform your Christmas table into something our great-grandparents would recognise and approve of. 1. Bone broth gravy instead of gravy granules Those little pots of gravy granules might be convenient, but they're packed with maltodextrin, flavour enhancers, and seed oils. Real gravy, the kind that simmered on stoves for generations, is made from bones, time, and very little else. The flavour difference is staggering. Rich, deep, and satisfying in a way that makes you realise what you've been missing. Plus, you're getting all the collagen and minerals from those bones, turning your gravy into something genuinely nourishing rather than just brown liquid. You can also use meat stock, left over from slow cooking a roosting joint of meat.  The recipe  Start by roasting your bones in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes until they're deeply browned. This caramelisation is where the flavour lives. Transfer them to a large pot with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer or use a slow cooker. Let it bubble away for at least 4 hours, preferably 8-12 if you have the time. The longer it goes, the richer it gets. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and let it cool completely. Once chilled, skim off the fat that's solidified on top and save it for roasting vegetables. Now for the gravy itself: heat your broth in a pan until it's steaming. Mix in a tablespoon of organic spelt flour. Pour this into your hot broth and start whisking. This is where patience comes in. Keep whisking steadily for a good 5-10 minutes. Your arm will get tired. The gravy will seem thin. Then, almost magically, it will start to thicken and turn glossy. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper. That's it. Real gravy, the way Christmas dinners tasted before convenience took over. 2. Roast potatoes in animal fat instead of vegetable oil There's a reason your grandmother's roast potatoes were legendary. It wasn't a secret technique or a special potato variety. It was the fat. Tallow, goose fat, or beef dripping creates a crisp, golden exterior that seed oils simply cannot replicate. The flavour is deeper, richer, more satisfying. Our ancestors would have looked at you strangely if you'd suggested roasting potatoes in extracted seed oils. They used what they had: the rendered fat from the Sunday roast, precious and flavourful. The recipe Peel your potatoes and cut them into generous chunks. Drop them into a pot of boiling salted water and boil for exactly 5 minutes. You want them par-boiled, not falling apart. Drain them thoroughly in a colander, then return them to the empty pot. Here's the crucial step: put the lid on and give the pot a good shake. You want to rough up those edges, creating a fluffy surface. These rough bits will turn into the crispiest, most delicious parts. While you're doing this, put your roasting tin in a screaming hot oven (around 220°C) with a generous amount of beef dripping, tallow, or goose fat. When the fat is properly hot and almost smoking, carefully add your roughed-up potatoes. They should sizzle immediately. Turn them once to coat in the fat, then roast for 45-60 minutes (lower the temp for cooking to 200°C) , turning once halfway through, until they're deeply golden and crispy. The result? Potatoes that shatter when you bite into them, with fluffy, steaming centres. Exactly as they should be. 3. Homemade yorkshire puddings instead of ready made Shop-bought Yorkshire pudding batter is full of raising agents, emulsifiers, and stabilisers that exist purely to make the product shelf-stable and foolproof. Real Yorkshire pudding batter contains four ingredients: eggs, flour, milk, and salt. That's it. The secret to perfect Yorkshires isn't in the ingredients but in the technique. Cold batter, smoking hot fat, and a reliable oven. The recipe The night before, whisk together 140g plain flour into a bowl and beat in 4 eggs until smooth with a good pinch of salt. Gradually add 200ml of whole milk and mix until it is completely lump-free. Then put in the fridge overnight which is crucial, it allows the flour to fully hydrate and creates lighter, airier puddings. The next day, preheat your oven to its highest setting, usually around 200°C. Add a teaspoon of beef dripping or tallow to each section of a Yorkshire pudding tin and place it in the oven until the fat is smoking hot. This is non-negotiable. If the fat isn't properly hot, your puddings won't rise. Remove the tin, and quickly pour the cold batter into each hole, filling them about halfway. Return to the oven immediately and shut the door firmly. Do not, under any circumstances, open that door for at least 20 minutes. Just don't. The dramatic temperature drop will collapse your puddings. After 20-25 minutes (check through your oven window) you should have golden, puffed, crispy Yorkshire puddings that tower above the tin. Serve immediately, because these wait for no one. 4. Dark chocolate dipped fruit and nuts instead of wrapped sweets Those shiny foil-wrapped chocolates that appear at Christmas might seem harmless, but check the ingredients. Glucose syrup, vegetable oils, emulsifiers, flavourings, even shellac! dominate the list. Real chocolate is remarkably simple: cocoa, cocoa butter, and a sweetener. Make your own chocolate-dipped treats and you'll never go back. They look impressive, taste incredible, and contain nothing but real ingredients. The recipe Choose a high-quality dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids and a short ingredient list. Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and a bit of sugar is all you need. Avoid anything listing vegetable fats or soy lecithin if you can. Melt your chocolate gently in a bowl set over barely simmering water. Don't let the water touch the bowl, and don't let any steam or water droplets get into the chocolate or it will seize into a grainy mess. While the chocolate melts, prepare your dipping ingredients. Organic dried apricots, dates, figs, whole Macadamia (low PUFA), walnuts, or cashews all work beautifully. Once melted and smooth, remove the chocolate from the heat. Dip each piece of fruit or nut halfway into the chocolate, let the excess drip off, then place on a tray lined with baking paper. Work quickly, as chocolate starts to set quite fast. Once everything is dipped, you can sprinkle with a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt, some crushed freeze-dried raspberries, or leave them plain. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. They'll keep for a week, though they rarely last that long. 5. Real cranberry sauce instead of shop bought  The cranberry sauce that comes in jars is essentially cranberry-flavoured sugar syrup, often thickened with modified starch and preserved with additives and seed oils. Real cranberry sauce takes about 15 minutes to make and tastes sharply bright, fruity, and actually balances the richness of your roast rather than just adding more sweetness. The recipe Pour a bag of fresh cranberries (about 340g) into a saucepan. Add the zest and juice of one orange, a stick of cinnamon, and 3-4 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. If you're feeling festive, add a small splash of brandy or port. Bring everything to a simmer over medium heat. The cranberries will start popping within a few minutes, releasing their sharp, tart juice. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens to your liking, usually about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust. Cranberries are naturally very tart, so you might want a bit more sweetness. Remove the cinnamon stick and let it cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools. Serve at room temperature. The flavour is incomparable to anything from a jar: bright, complex, and actually tasting of fruit. It cuts through rich meats and fatty gravies like nothing else. 6. Homemade mince pies instead of shop bought This is where the difference between ancestral and modern eating becomes most obvious. Shop-bought mince pies are an ingredient list nightmare:  seed oils, palm oil, preservatives, emulsifiers, and glucose-fructose syrup. The mince pies our ancestors ate at Christmas contained butter, flour, dried fruit( free of seed oils) , spices, and not much else. Making them yourself sounds daunting, but once you've done it, you'll realise how simple it actually is. And the taste? There's simply no comparison. The filling Traditional mincemeat contains suet, but for a simpler version that still tastes authentically spiced and rich, combine currants (these are the key herring since raisins are preserved in seed oil and currants are not!), dried sour cherries, brown sugar and a finely diced fresh apple. Add mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice), a splash of apple juice to moisten everything, and a generous glug of brandy if you like. Put in a saucepan on low heat to let this all combine for a rich filling. The fresh apple adds moisture and brightness that shop-bought jars lack entirely. The pastry Make a simple shortcrust pastry with organic spelt flour (to avoid fortification), cold butter, sugar and 1 egg to bring it together. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the whisked egg until it forms a dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry and cut circles to line your muffin tin. Spoon in the mincemeat, then top with smaller pastry circles or cut out festive shapes like stars. Brush with beaten egg if you want them glossy, or leave them plain for a more rustic look. Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes until golden and crisp. Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin. Serve them plain or with a dollop of thick cream. These mince pies taste like Christmas used to, spiced, buttery, rich and made with ingredients you can actually identify. These mince pies were made by Hannah from our team, beloved by customers for her kindness but now her baking too ;) The point of it all None of these swaps are about deprivation or virtue signalling about clean eating. They're about reclaiming flavour, quality, and the kind of food that actually nourishes rather than just filling you up and leaving you feeling sluggish. Our ancestors ate richly at Christmas. They enjoyed butter, cream, meat, and all the festive treats. But they didn't eat inflammatory seed oils, laboratory-created emulsifiers, or ingredients designed to maximise shelf life at the expense of your health. This Christmas, cook like they did. Use real fat, real ingredients, and a bit more time. Your body will thank you, your taste buds will thank you, and you might just start a new tradition that your own grandchildren will remember fondly in another hundred years. Happy Christmas, and happy cooking.

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What the f are antinutrients?

December 05, 2025

What the f are antinutrients?

There’s a moment in every nutrition journey where someone casually drops the word “antinutrients”, and you’re expected to nod like you know exactly what that means. Most people don’t. Most of us have done the classic wellness pipeline…start by treating plant foods as universally wholesome (leafy greens for glowing skin, grains for fibre, nuts and seeds as the elite snacks of the health-conscious and ‘almond mums’) and then, somewhere along the way, dip a cautious toe into the world of carnivore or animal-based, where those same foods are suddenly treated like digestive villains. Two extremes. Same confusion. It’s no wonder no one knows what antinutrients actually are. What actually are antinutrients? Plants are living organisms with one primal objective: stay alive long enough to reproduce. They can’t sprint away from predators. They can’t grow teeth. So they do the next best thing, protect themselves using chemistry. Plants didn’t create these to ruin your smoothie bowl. They evolved them to stop animals (including us) from overeating their seeds, leaves and roots. And once you understand the logic, the whole picture becomes less mysterious, and much more interesting. Here are the major plant defence strategies, decoded: 1. Lectins (the “don’t eat my seeds” molecules) Lectins are proteins that bind to carbohydrate receptors along the gut lining. Their job? Make the seed harder to digest, so the plant has a chance to pass through the digestive tract intact and grow elsewhere. When humans consume high-lectin foods without proper preparation, those sticky proteins can irritate the gut lining and interfere with nutrient uptake. Common sources: beans, lentils, grains, peanuts, nightshades In sensitive people: bloating, joint stiffness, headaches, brain fog It’s no accident traditional cultures soaked, sprouted, fermented and slow-cooked their beans. 2. Phytates (the mineral thieves) Phytates (phytic acid) bind to positively charged minerals like iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium. Once bound, the minerals are locked away, unavailable for absorption. This is why diets heavy in unprepared grains and nuts can create deficiencies even when intake looks adequate. Common sources: grains, nuts, seeds, legumes Possible effects: low iron, brittle nails, fatigue, slower thyroid function If you’ve ever eaten a saintly bowl of oats at 8am and felt inexplicably drained by midday, phytates are a good suspect. 3. Oxalates (the crystal formers) Oxalates are sharp, reactive compounds that latch onto calcium and form tiny crystals. In small amounts the body manages them well, but in excess, especially with gut dysbiosis or low mineral intake, they can irritate tissues. Common sources: spinach, almonds, cacao, beetroot, sweet potato Possible symptoms: bloating, kidney stones, vulva pain, joint pain, calcium depletion This is why “green juice all day” works for approximately three people, and only on the internet. 4. Tannins (bitter bodyguards) Tannins are polyphenols that give plants their astringent, mouth-drying bite. Their biological role is to discourage overeating by making the plant taste defensive. They also bind to proteins and iron, reducing absorption. Common sources: tea, coffee, wine, legumes, nuts Possible effects: low iron, digestive heaviness, nausea on a 5. Enzyme inhibitors (digestion blockers) Enzyme inhibitors are compounds that interfere with the enzymes your body uses to break down food: Protease inhibitors slow protein digestion Amylase inhibitors reduce carb break down, increasing internal fermentation Lipase inhibitors affect fat digestion When these enzymes are blocked, digestion becomes less efficient. Food sits longer in the gut, which can lead to bloating, gas, unpredictable hunger and a sense of being full yet under-fuelled. Common sources: soybeans, legumes, raw nuts, raw seeds, whole grains Possible effects: bloating, gas, loose stools, cravings shortly after eating, difficulty tolerating beans or certain nuts on an empty stomach So, can you still eat plants? Yes, of course. The goal isn’t to avoid plants. It’s to understand them, so you can prepare and combine them in ways your body actually benefits from. Every traditional culture that relied on plant foods developed techniques to neutralise or reduce antinutrients long before the term existed. They didn’t have PubMed, they had observation. And they learned that plants often need a little processing to become truly nourishing. Here’s how they did it: 1. Soaking  Soaking kick-starts the germination process, activating enzymes inside the seed that naturally reduce phytates, lectins and enzyme inhibitors. It’s why traditional beans rarely cause the same digestive issues modern ones do. Soak beans, lentils, nuts and seeds for 6–24 hours Add an acidic medium (lemon, vinegar) or a pinch of salt to accelerate the breakdown Discard the soaking water, always This single step transforms most legumes. 2. Sprouting (nature’s nutrient unlock) Sprouting takes soaking one step further. As the seed begins to grow, antinutrient levels drop significantly, and mineral availability increases. Sprouted grains, lentils and mung beans are far easier on digestion and have a higher micronutrient profile. Sprouting sounds intimidating, but it’s as simple as draining soaked seeds and rinsing them twice a day. 3. Fermenting (the most powerful) Fermentation uses microbes to do what our ancestors understood instinctively: break down the difficult bits so you can access the nutrients. Think: Sourdough bread (reduced phytates, improved mineral absorption) Fermented oats or porridges in many traditional diets Fermented buckwheat pancakes Kvass Beyond reducing antinutrients, fermentation also improves flavour, increases B-vitamins and (as you probably know and love) supports the gut microbiome. 4. Long, slow cooking Particularly for lectins and enzyme inhibitors, heat is a powerful deactivator. This is why pressure cookers, stews and broths make legumes tolerable for people who can’t digest them otherwise. 5. Pairing plants with animal foods Traditional diets rarely ate plant foods in isolation. Beans were eaten with broth. Grains with butter or ghee. Vegetables with eggs or cheese. Seeds with dairy or meat. The reason? Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K2) and minerals in animal foods counteract antinutrient losses and dramatically improve absorption. Context matters more than the plant itself. Who tends to be most sensitive? Some people feel the effects of antinutrients more than others. You might react more strongly if you have: Low stomach acid IBS or IBD A history of antibiotics (microbiome disruption) Thyroid issues Mineral deficiencies (iron, magnesium, zinc) A vegan or plant-heavy diet without traditional preparation methods Chronic stress, which reduces digestive enzyme output You've spent a long time believing “more plant = more health” and have as a result overconsumed high-oxalate or high-phytate foods If you recognise yourself anywhere in this list, it doesn’t mean “cut out plants completely", at least not permanently. It simply means you’re the type of person who can noticeably benefit from minimising certain plant foods, or preparing them properly (soaking, sprouting, fermenting, pressure-cooking, etc.). Your body’s not overreacting. It’s just asking for a little support.

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7 health hacks every 9-5 worker needs

December 03, 2025

7 health hacks every 9-5 worker needs

Staying healthy can sometimes feel like a full-time job. When you're juggling commutes, deadlines, and the demands of a 9-5, wellness often takes a backseat. But here's the thing... it doesn't have to be complicated. The key is maximising the time you actually have. So here are seven practical hacks to keep you thriving at work without burning yourself out in the process. 1. Slow cooking After a long day at work, the siren call of fast food or those dubious ready meals packed with seed oils is hard to resist. Enter your secret weapon... the slow cooker. This simple investment transforms your approach to weeknight dinners. Before you leave for work, throw in a quality joint of meat like lamb neck, lamb osso bucco, beef short rib, or shin. Add diced vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and onions, toss in some rosemary and water, and let it work its magic while you're out. When you walk through the door, dinner is ready to serve. No stress, no processed junk, just wholesome food that practically cooks itself. Stews work even better if you want to make things even simpler. 2. Hydration with electrolytes Intense work doesn't just demand calories, it depletes essential minerals like magnesium, salt, and potassium. Your brain relies on these electrolytes to function at its best and ward off those focus-induced headaches. When your mind is properly fuelled, the quality of your work improves dramatically. Prioritise magnesium-rich foods and consider supplementation. Trace minerals are non-negotiable for sustained mental clarity. But here's where most people get hydration wrong. True hydration isn't about chugging endless glasses of water. It's about hydrating your cells effectively. Drinking plain water in excess actually depletes your minerals and electrolytes, leaving you worse off. Instead, turn to organic fruit juices, whole fruits, raw milk and bone broth, all of which provide hydration in forms your body can absorb more efficiently. When you do drink plain water (filtered or spring is ideal), always add a pinch of sea salt to preserve your mineral balance. 3. Block blue light Blue light is wreaking havoc on more than just your circadian rhythm. It's causing fatigue, eye strain, and poor sleep quality, even hours after you've logged off. Invest in daytime blue light blockers and activate screen filters with a simple click. These small adjustments significantly reduce eye strain and ensure a day spent staring at screens doesn't sabotage your sleep later. Natural light is your ally here. Get outside as much as possible throughout the day, and position yourself near a window or glass doorway to let natural light reach your eyes. This partly counteracts the artificial blue light exposure and keeps your internal clock regulated. 4. Frequent movement Starting your day with movement and fresh air sets the tone for everything that follows. But don't stop there. The more you move throughout your day, the better you'll feel. Make it a rule to never sit for a full hour without standing. This keeps your lymphatic system flowing, prevents stagnation, and helps your body flush out toxins that accumulate when you're sedentary. The result? More energy and better focus throughout the day. If you can squeeze in a workout during your lunch break, you'll feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the second half of your day with renewed vigour. 5. Carry a mini metabolism kit Intermittent fasting might be trendy, but it's not doing your metabolism or your focus any favours. If you've ever experimented with low-carb eating, you know the brain fog that comes with it all too well. At Organised, we're all about metabolism maxxing. Keep easily accessible snacks on hand: dried or fresh fruit, raw honey, gelatine cubes (for example our Matcha Latte Gummies) , or a milky coffee with a dash of maple syrup. These deliver quick, usable carbohydrates that keep your metabolism humming and your brain sharp. Prep them at the start of the week so you're not scrambling daily. 6. Fix your posture and work environment Poor posture doesn't just cause back pain, it inhibits lymph flow and creates more stagnation in your body. Hunching over with your head craned forward puts unnecessary weight on your spine and kills your concentration. It also leaves you feeling drained by the end of the day. Sit upright but relaxed, never tense. Position your screen at eye level so you're not constantly looking down. Clear your workspace, add a desk plant or mini air purifier, and sit near a window that you can crack open slightly. Fresh air beats air conditioning every time, and these small environmental tweaks compound into major improvements in how you feel. 7. Clean lunch Under-fuelling or eating the wrong foods is an epidemic in work environments. Too many people skip lunch because they're swamped, or default to whatever processed snacks the office has stocked. Neither option serves you. Make it a priority to bring a clean, whole food lunch. If your workplace has a fridge, even better. Just guard your raw milk from opportunistic colleagues! The easiest approach is to cook a bit extra at dinner the night before. Nutrient-dense options like organ meats (heart or liver) are powerhouses. Smoothies or hearty salads with quality meat are excellent choices that don't require extensive daily prep. The truth is, staying healthy while working full-time doesn't require hours of elaborate routines or complicated protocols. These seven hacks are designed to work with your schedule, not against it. Start with one or two that resonate most, build them into solid habits, then layer on the rest. Remember, you can't perform at your best when you're running on empty. Prioritise yourself, and watch how everything else, including your work, elevates as a result.

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Why you're always on edge (and how to finally switch off)

November 27, 2025

Why you're always on edge (and how to finally switch off)

You're sitting comfortably but for some reason you don't feel calm. You feel on edge, almost like inflammation is running high and your body is missing something. You know you need to switch off, but even after a night's sleep, you still feel like you need more rest. This is because your nervous system is heightened and desperately needs some real rest. Deep rest, true switching off, and nervous system relaxation can only happen when the body has enough of what it needs and isn't being constantly bombarded from the outside. In this article, we'll dive into how to get your body and brain to switch on deep rest mode, which will unlock true recovery and that elusive sense of calm you've been chasing. The mineral deficiency keeping you wired but tired Before we talk about EMFs or any of the other modern stressors, we need to talk about minerals. Because without them, nothing in your body works the way it should, especially your nervous system. Your nervous system runs on nutrients. Every signal, every moment of calm, every production of GABA requires specific raw materials. Magnesium, vitamin C, cholesterol, B vitamins, vitamin D, potassium, these aren't optional extras. They're the foundational building blocks your body uses to create the neurochemistry of relaxation. Magnesium alone is involved in over 300 enzymatic processes in your body, many of them directly related to nervous system regulation. When you're deficient, which most people are, your muscles stay tense, your mind races, and that on edge feeling becomes your baseline. It's not anxiety in the psychological sense. It's your body literally unable to produce the calming neurotransmitters it needs because it doesn't have the raw materials. Not eating enough nourishing, nutrient-dense calories is incredibly common. You might be eating plenty, but if it's not the right things, your nervous system is starving at the cellular level. Prioritising nutrient-dense whole foods like organ meats, eggs, wild-caught fish, grass-fed dairy, bone broth, fruit and vegetables gives your body what it actually needs.  When people cut calories too low or simply don’t eat enough the body is in a heightened state, think back to hunter-gatherer days, if food was scarce we needed to be on edge, ready to take advantage of the next opportunity. Then only when a large kill was made and everyone ate enough, could they enter a deep state of rest. The same goes for when you eat too little, your body stays tense and alert, instead you need to signal abundance to your body and allow that state of deep rest to happen. Magnesium baths and homemade magnesium spray bottles (Mag chloride flakes and water) can make a dramatic difference. Eating adequate calories, getting enough potassium, calcium and salt in your diet, not fearing dietary cholesterol from eggs and quality meats, all support the deep nervous system calm you're seeking. The screen flicker you can't see (but your body feels) OLED screens flicker hundreds or even thousands of times per second. Your conscious mind doesn't register this, but your nervous system absolutely does. It's like living under a strobe light that's pulsing just below your threshold of awareness. Over time, this constant imperceptible flicker keeps your nervous system in a state of subtle but persistent activation. Then there's blue light itself. Blue wavelengths signal to your brain that it's time to wake up, that you need to be alert and active. But now we're bathing ourselves in blue light from screens well into the night, suppressing melatonin production and keeping our bodies in artificial alertness long after sunset. Your circadian rhythm becomes completely dysregulated. Switching back to flicker free incandescent light bulbs in bedrooms and living spaces, using quality blue light blocking glasses after sunset, and stopping all device use at least one hour before bed can restore natural sleep-wake cycles. Consider using candles or salt lamps for evening lighting.  Your ancestors spent hundreds of thousands of years seeing only firelight after sunset. Your nervous system is still calibrated for that rhythm. If you want to go a step further you can make the move away from OLED screens and back to LCD screens which do not flicker.  The invisible electromagnetic storm WiFi routers pulse signals through your home 24/7. Your cell phone communicates with towers constantly. Bluetooth devices create a web of wireless connections. Wearable tech transmits data continuously. All of this represents non-natural electromagnetic fields. nnEMFs, that your body wasn't designed to handle. Your body runs on electrical signals. Your heart beats, your neuron’s fire, your cells communicate all through subtle electromagnetic impulses. When you immerse yourself in strong artificial EMFs, you introduce noise into these delicate biological systems. Many people notice they feel inexplicably on edge in certain environments or sleep poorly around technology.  This isn't imaginary. Distancing your WiFi router from living spaces and turning it off at night can make a remarkable difference. Removing technology from your bedroom, switching from Bluetooth to wired headphones, keeping phones on airplane mode when carrying them, and ditching wearable tech while sleeping all reduce the electromagnetic burden on your nervous system. Creating one low-EMF sanctuary room gives your body a space to truly rest. Mouthbreathing Chronic stress from work, night shifts, financial pressure, or constantly leaving things last minute keeps your body stuck in fight-or-flight mode. But here's something most people don't realise: mouth breathing is itself a stressful state. When you breathe through your mouth, you activate your sympathetic nervous system and signal danger to your body. You might be creating stress just by how you breathe. Nasal breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, your rest and digest mode. It filters air, adds nitric oxide (which dilates blood vessels), and signals to your body that everything is okay. Practicing nasal breathing at all times, especially during sleep, can dramatically reduce baseline nervous system activation. Using mouth tape at night is a simple practice that many people find transformative.  Addressing root causes of stress by building margin into your schedule, learning to say no, and creating consistent bedtime routines all signal to your body that it's safe to rest. The movement paradox This may seem counterintuitive to reducing the bodies stress, but you need to move. Your body is designed for regular movement, sweating, and physical exertion. Without it, your lymphatic system becomes sluggish, toxins accumulate, and paradoxically, you feel more tired and on edge. Movement completes the stress cycle. When you experience stress, your body prepares for physical action. If that action never comes because you're sitting at a desk all day, the stress hormones and tension have nowhere to go. Your lymphatic system, which clears waste from tissues, doesn't have a pump, it relies on movement and muscle contractions to function. Daily movement that makes you sweat, using a sauna regularly, and stretching throughout the day gives your body the physical outlet it's biologically expecting. If you're depleted, start gentle and build gradually. You're looking for healthy exertion followed by recovery, not over exhaustion. Your body needs to be worked like and engine in a car if it never exceeds a certain RPM it’ll develop a build up of soot, in your case toxins and stagnation of lymph. Toxic mould Mould exposure is far more common than most people realise. Mycotoxins, toxic compounds produced by mould, can devastate your nervous system, creating that persistent on edge feeling that won't go away no matter what you do. Mould hides in walls, under carpets, in HVAC systems, anywhere moisture accumulates. Mycotoxins also contaminate many foods, particularly coffee, grains, nuts, and dried fruits. These toxins directly inflame your nervous system and gut. They trigger mast cells to release histamine, which keeps you in an alert state. They disrupt mitochondrial function, leaving you simultaneously exhausted and wired. Your body recognises mycotoxins as threats and stays in a defensive, activated state. Inspecting your home for water damage or musty smells, addressing moisture sources immediately with dehumidifiers and ventilation, choosing mycotoxin-tested coffee brands, and using HEPA air purifiers can dramatically reduce this toxic burden.  Gut inflammation Your gut and brain are in constant communication through the gut-brain axis. When your gut is inflamed, whether from pathogens, leaky gut, or a disrupted microbiome, it sends danger signals to your brain. Your brain interprets gut inflammation as a systemic threat and keeps your nervous system activated in response.  Think of it as an alarm system that never turns off because the threat never fully resolves. Gut pathogens release toxins that directly affect brain chemistry. Leaky gut allows undigested food particles into your bloodstream, triggering inflammation throughout your body. A disrupted microbiome fails to produce the neurotransmitter precursors your brain needs. Eliminating inflammatory foods like seed oils, artificial colouring, preservatives and processed foods while including gut-healing foods like bone broth, organs, colostrum, and collagen can rebuild gut integrity. Addressing specific pathogens through proper testing, eating slowly, supporting stomach acid production, and giving your gut regular breaks from certain foods such as grains and coffee, all allow the gut-brain axis to calm down. The missing connection to Earth Humans evolved in constant contact with the Earth, but modern life has completely insulated us. Rubber shoes, elevated buildings, indoor living, we've engineered direct contact with the ground out of daily existence. And it matters more than you think. Grounding allows you to discharge electromagnetic stress and receive healing electrons from the Earth. Your body builds up positive charge from EMF exposure. The Earth has abundant negative charge. When you connect, there's an electron transfer that neutralises inflammation and calms your nervous system. Walking barefoot on grass, sand, or soil for at least 20 minutes daily is non-negotiable for optimal nervous system health. Spending time in nature regularly, listening to natural sounds, gardening with bare hands, watching sunrises and sunsets, and leaving devices behind during nature time all reconnect you to the rhythms your biology expects. Studies show that even 20 minutes in nature significantly lowers cortisol and activates your parasympathetic nervous system. The dopamine trap Constant stimulation from social media and rapid-fire dopamine hits from notifications and endless scrolling are literally frying your nervous system. Your brain isn't designed for this level of novelty and reward unpredictability. When your dopamine system is dysregulated from chronic overstimulation, nothing feels satisfying anymore.  Everything feels urgent. You can't settle into rest because your baseline state has shifted. Social media platforms are specifically engineered to be addictive. Variable reward schedules, infinite scroll, algorithmic feeds, these exploit your brain's reward circuitry. The result is a nervous system that's constantly activated, constantly seeking, never at rest. Setting specific limited times for checking rather than constant browsing, turning off all non-essential notifications, and practicing dopamine fasting allows your baseline to reset. Replacing scrolling with activities that genuinely nourish you, reading physical books, walking without devices, face-to-face conversation, cooking, creating, rebuilds your capacity for sustained attention and genuine rest. Creating a morning routine without screens for the first hour sets a calmer tone for the entire day. Remember that boredom is healthy and necessary for nervous system regulation. Feeling constantly on edge isn't a character flaw or something you need to learn to live with. It's your body responding logically to the conditions you're giving it. Your body isn't broken. It's trying to function in an environment it wasn't designed for, with inputs it doesn't recognise as safe. Once you identify what's driving the activation, whether it's mineral deficiencies, EMF exposure, gut inflammation, or dopamine dysregulation, the solution is often more straightforward than you think. Replenish minerals. Clean up your electromagnetic environment. Heal your gut. Reconnect with nature. Reset your dopamine baseline. Change the conditions, and your nervous system will respond. That deep, restorative calm you're seeking isn't something you need to chase or force. It's your natural state. Remove the obstacles, provide what your body needs, and it will return on its own.

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Steal these 5 winter remedies from Russian grandmothers

November 26, 2025

Steal these 5 winter remedies from Russian grandmothers

In Russia, wellness has always lived closer to the home than the hospital. Ask any babushka why, and she may lower her voice before she explains. For generations, many Russians have held a quiet suspicion that the medical system is not designed to cure you quickly.  Not necessarily to harm you, but to keep you orbiting around it… dependent, confused, never quite well. This belief didn’t appear from nowhere, it has roots in Soviet-era shortages, overworked doctors, rushed appointments, and a culture where institutions were rarely transparent.  So Russian grandmothers learned long ago… if you want to stay healthy, you take care of it yourself first. This is why their cupboards often look like pharmacies of the earth, rooted in a belief that the body can often be brought back into balance through simple, steady, ancestral means, long before a prescription is needed. Here are 5 things we can learn from them… 1.  Keep the feet, head & womb warm Ask a Russian grandmother what causes half of all illness, and she won’t hesitate:“Cold feet, cold head, cold womb.” This belief is so old it’s practically genetic. Babushkas repeat it to daughters, granddaughters, even strangers at bus stops. And while it sounds like folklore, it’s rooted in a surprisingly accurate understanding of circulation and stress physiology. Feet In Russia, no one walks barefoot on cold floors. Ever. Cold feet constrict blood vessels and trigger a sympathetic stress response. Babushkas believed it “pulls warmth away from the organs,” lowering immunity. Modern physiology agrees: Cold feet → vasoconstriction → reduced immune cell traffic → higher susceptibility to infection. Wool socks were considered medicine. Head You’ll never see a Russian grandmother outside in winter without a scarf or hat. The head, to them, is the “chimney of the body”, the place where heat escapes fastest. "Cold head, weak thoughts,” they say. “Cold head, tired nerves.” And then there’s the cardinal rule: "Never, ever, go outside with wet hair" Babushkas react to wet hair in winter like it’s a life-threatening emergency. Here’s why: From a physiological standpoint, wet hair accelerates evaporative heat loss through the scalp. In a cold climate, this can lower core temperature, impair immune cell function, increase viral vulnerability & spike stress hormones. Even in summer, they insist on at least partially drying the hair before stepping into the wind. Womb This is the most sacred of the three. Babushkas believed that a warm womb meant regular cycles, easier fertility, smoother postpartum recovery & emotional steadiness. A cold womb meant stagnation, resulting in painful periods, low libido, hormonal swings and sluggish digestion. Modern biology echoes this folk wisdom: Pelvic warmth increases blood flow → better hormone delivery Heat relaxes uterine muscles → less menstrual pain Core warmth supports thyroid function → key for female metabolism This is why babushkas wrap wool shawls around their waist, drink hot herbal teas after cold exposure, and forbid anyone, absolutely anyone, from sitting on cold ground. Interestingly, echoes of this thinking appear in Traditional Chinese Medicine as well. In TCM, cold invasion to the head, feet, or lower abdomen is believed to disrupt qi, weaken reproductive and digestive fire, and scatter the body’s internal warmth, almost identical to Slavic intuition passed down through the centuries. 2. Pine resin for winter cough ( живица) Zhivitsa, pine resin gently softened into warm raw honey, is one of the oldest remedies in the northern regions. Babushkas collect the resin themselves, thick amber tears found on the bark of pines, hardened by sun and wind. When melted into honey over the lowest flame, it becomes a  fragrant, golden salve. Modern research reveals why this old medicine endures… Pine resin is rich in pinene, a bronchodilator that eases airflow and relaxes the chest. Its terpenes and natural acids have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, while northern honey offers minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants that support the immune and respiratory systems. Together, they create a compound that both loosens congestion and calms irritation in the airways.  Applied topically to the chest, the warmth of the honey and the volatile oils of the resin increase circulation and ease muscular tightness.  If authentic resin is unavailable, pine needles or young pine buds can be simmered into tea or infused into honey, carrying a gentler version of the same forest strength. Even inhaling steam from pine branches offers a trace of what zhivitsa provides. 3. Banya (баня) If you need to find a remedy for surviving winter climates, why not ask those who are most experienced? In the West, a sauna or steam room is usually tucked inside a luxury gym or spa,  something you “treat yourself” to, an optional indulgence in the category of wellness.  But in Russia, banya has long been a weekly, sometimes daily, ritual for survival, a way to fortify the body against the cold, not pamper it. Step inside and you’ll feel why. Heat rises from stones that have been warming for hours. The air is dense, fragrant, with birch branches soak in a wooden bucket by the door, releasing a sharp, green aroma that feels like stepping into a forest after rain.  And then comes the ritual that makes banya unlike any other heat practice in the world: venik pareniye, the whipping of the body with heated bundles of leaves. The venik, usually birch or oak, is warmed in hot water until the leaves grow soft and glossy. Then the body is rhythmically “swept,” pressed, and lightly struck against the body.  Elders believed it “wakes the blood,” moving stagnation out of the limbs and pulling heat into the deeper organs. The leaves release essential oils, such as betulin from birch or tannins and antioxidants from oak, which open the lungs, clear the sinuses, and soothe inflamed skin. Modern physiology mirrors this perfectly: Rhythmic venik strokes stimulate lymphatic flow Increased peripheral circulation supports cardiovascular resilience Essential oils from birch act as bronchodilators Oak tannins have antimicrobial and astringent effects 4. Baking soda & chamomile gargle for a sore throat  While we reach for lozenges, sprays, and medicated mouthwashes at the first scratch of a throat, Russia has long relied on a gentler, earthbound remedy. A warm gargle made from chamomile tea and a pinch of baking soda is one of the oldest household medicines in Slavic tradition. The preparation is simple: a strong infusion of dried chamomile flowers, cooled just enough to sip, into which a small amount of soda is dissolved until the water turns faintly silky.  For centuries, this gargle was used at the earliest sign of a cold, after long days spent in crowded markets or dusty train stations, or whenever the voice felt strained from winter air. Elders believed it “washed away the day,” removing whatever microbes or heaviness had settled in the throat before they could travel deeper into the body. Children were taught to gargle after returning home from school, women used it after singing, fasting, or periods of emotional stress, when the chest felt tight and the breath shallow. Modern physiology now echoes this intuition… Chamomile contains apigenin, a flavonoid that calms inflammation in the mucous membranes while gently relaxing the vagus nerve, grounding the entire nervous system. Baking soda creates a lightly alkaline environment that helps loosen mucus, neutralise acidity, and support the throat’s natural antimicrobial defences. Warmth increases local circulation, delivering immune cells to the area precisely when they are needed most. 5. Beet Kvass (свекольный квас) We’ve all heard it by now, the immune system lives in the gut. But long before gut health became a wellness trend, Russian grandmothers were quietly fortifying it with one of the oldest tonics in Slavic tradition... beet kvass. Fermented from raw beets, rye crust, and pure water, kvass is a drink with roots deeper than its ruby colour. In villages, beet kvass was poured for those recovering from winter exhaustion, sluggish digestion, or low spirits. Babushkas believed it “cleansed the blood,” flushing heaviness from the liver and warming circulation after long months of cold. Women drank it after menstruation or childbirth, the tonic’s deep red hue seen as replenishing what the body had released. Modern physiology now speaks the same language in different terms: Fermentation creates lactobacilli, strengthening the gut microbiome and supporting immune function Betaine in beets aids liver detoxification and methylation Natural nitrates enhance nitric oxide production → improved blood flow and lower blood pressure Polyphenols protect cells from oxidative stress and support hormonal balance The gentle acidity stimulates digestive enzymes and bile flow If authentic kvass isn’t available, you can approximate its benefits by lightly fermenting grated beets with sea salt at home, or adding raw beet to other ferments like sauerkraut.  We’ve been exploring the quiet wisdom tucked inside different cultures and if you're curious, you can read our past article: 6 wellness secrets from Japanese grandmothers. What’s most fascinating is how often the same principles echo across continents. These cultures never compared notes, never shared trends, never followed wellness gurus...and yet, their instincts align almost perfectly.  But we also love to learn from each other (with the depths of winter approaching we need all of the tips we can get)... What winter remedies or grandparent tips were passed down in your family ↓

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Why you always wake up at 2-3am (& what to do about it)

November 21, 2025

Why you always wake up at 2-3am (& what to do about it)

You fall asleep fine. But then, like clockwork, your eyes snap open at 2 AM. Or 3 AM. Your mind starts racing. Your heart might be pounding slightly. And no matter how tired you are, falling back asleep feels impossible. If this happens rarely, it's nothing to worry about. But if it's happening night after night, always around the same window of time, that's not random. That's your body sending you a message. Waking consistently between 2 and 3 AM isn't normal. It’s a sign of something deeper, a mineral problem, inflammation, blood sugar, stress, the list can go on. Understanding what's happening during those early morning hours can help you finally sleep through the night again. Lets dive into potential causes and what you can do about them!! The mineral deficiency stealing your sleep Before we talk about blood sugar or stress hormones, we need to talk about minerals, because without them, nothing in your body works the way it should, especially sleep. Magnesium is the master mineral for sleep. It regulates your nervous system, activates GABA receptors (your brain's main calming neurotransmitter), and helps maintain the electrical balance in every cell. When you're magnesium deficient, which most people are, your nervous system stays in a state of subtle tension. You might fall asleep, but you can't stay in deep, restorative sleep. Around 2 or 3 AM, when your sleep naturally lightens between cycles, that underlying nervous system activation pulls you fully awake. But it's not just magnesium.  Your entire electrolyte balance, including sodium, potassium, calcium, affects how well you sleep. These minerals control nerve signalling, muscle relaxation, and cellular communication. If your electrolytes are depleted or imbalanced, your body can't regulate the electrical impulses that keep you calmly asleep. Waking to urinate is a common sign of electrolyte deficiency.  Calcium, in particular, works closely with magnesium to calm nerve transmission. B vitamins are required to produce GABA, the neurotransmitter that keep you asleep. When any of these are low, your brain literally can't produce enough calming signals to sustain deep sleep through the night. This is why so many people notice better sleep when they start prioritising mineral-rich foods such as bone broth, grass-fed dairy, organ meats, and real sea salt. It's not about just taking a supplement and hoping for the best. It's about giving your brain and nervous system the raw materials they need to produce the neurochemistry of sleep. If you're waking at 2 or 3 AM and you need the toilet, or you can't seem to get back to sleep, mineral deficiency should be the first place you look. The blood sugar crash that jolts you awake Once minerals are addressed, the next most common reason people wake up in the middle of the night is a blood sugar crash. Here's what happens... you go to bed hours after dinner as you’ve heard eating too close to bed is bad for sleep. Your body is running on the glucose from that meal but your glucose levels can start dropping fast around 2 or 3 AM. Your body registers this drop as an emergency. Blood sugar too low? That's a survival threat. So your adrenal glands release cortisol and adrenaline to raise your blood sugar back up. That hormonal surge is what wakes you, heart racing, mind alert, body tense. You're not anxious for no reason. You're experiencing a physiological stress response triggered by low blood sugar. The fix? A balanced evening meal with adequate protein, healthy fats, and some quality carbohydrates (for inspo, we just uploaded a Beef Stroganoff recipe) as well as a snack 1 hour before bed, ideally something with carbs/sugars. This can prevent the crash. You're not trying to spike your blood sugar before bed, you're trying to stabilise it so your body can maintain steady levels through the night without an emergency cortisol release. Every night, you’re asking your body to get through hours with no calories coming in from food or drink. In order to do this you need to be stocked up, and leaving hours after your last meal is a sure way to experience a blood sugar crash. On the flip side you don’t want too much or a big meal very close to bed. It’s about finding the balance and having that snack around an hour before you go to sleep. When your liver runs out of fuel Even if you ate well at dinner, there's another layer to this: liver glycogen storage. Your liver stores glucose as glycogen, essentially a backup fuel tank that releases steady glucose into your bloodstream overnight while you sleep. This is how your body maintains stable blood sugar for hours without food. But if you're chronically under-eating, following a very low-carb diet, or your liver function is sluggish, those glycogen stores run out early. By 2 or 3 AM, your liver has nothing left to give. Blood sugar drops. Cortisol spikes. You wake up. This is especially common in people who restrict carbs heavily, skip meals, or are dealing with liver congestion from years of poor diet, alcohol use, or toxin exposure. Your liver isn't just a detox organ, it's your nighttime blood sugar regulator. When it can't do its job, your sleep suffers. Adding gentle carbohydrates before bed, a spoonful of raw honey, a piece of fruit, or some orange juice, can replenish liver glycogen and help you stay asleep. We're not saying to load up on sugar, but it's important to give your liver the resources it needs to keep you stable through the night. The histamine surge keeping you alert If you're histamine-sensitive, whether from gut dysbiosis, mould exposure, eating high-histamine foods, mutations or having low levels of the DAO enzyme that breaks histamine down, your histamine levels can rise overnight. This keeps your brain and body in an alert state, making it difficult to stay asleep. Addressing histamine intolerance or high histamine levels  means supporting gut health, reducing inflammatory foods, avoiding high-histamine foods temporarily, and ensuring adequate intake of nutrients like vitamin C, magnesium, copper, and B6 that support DAO enzyme function. When histamine comes back into balance, sleep often improves dramatically. The oxygen problem you didn't know you have Sometimes the issue isn't metabolic, it's mechanical. If you're mouth breathing, snoring, or dealing with undiagnosed sleep apnea, your oxygen levels drop periodically throughout the night. Every time your oxygen dips too low, your brain registers a threat and partially wakes you to restore normal breathing. You might not fully wake up each time, but the disruption is enough to pull you out of deep sleep. By 2 or 3 AM, after several of these micro-disruptions, you wake fully. You might notice a dry mouth, morning headaches, or feeling unrested despite being in bed for eight hours. Addressing this often means working on nasal breathing only, using mouth tape, a simple practice that can really boost the quality of your sleep and treating underlying sinus inflammation. Your brain needs consistent oxygen to stay in deep sleep. Without it, you'll keep waking. The environmental stressors you're not noticing Even subtle environmental factors can be enough to disrupt sleep, especially during the lighter sleep phases around 2 to 3 AM. Blue light from street lamps, electronics, or alarm clocks. EMF exposure from phones, wifi routers, or devices near your bed. All can register as micro-stressors to your nervous system. Blackout curtains, turning off wifi at night, using candles or salt lamps over LED’s, wearing blue light blockers after sunset, keeping phones and technology out of the bedroom, and maintaining a cool room temperature (window open) can all make a surprising difference. Your nervous system is constantly scanning for threats, even while you sleep. Remove the signals, and sleep becomes easier to sustain. The pattern is the clue Waking up once in a while at 2 or 3 AM is normal. But waking up consistently at the same time, night after night, is your body trying to tell you something. It's not insomnia in the traditional sense. It's a metabolic, hormonal, or environmental disruption that's happening on a predictable schedule. Your body is following its natural rhythms and somewhere in the process, something is going wrong. The good news? Once you identify what's driving the wake-up, the solution is often straightforward. And if you're unsure, here is a checklist to try: Prioritise magnesium-rich and mineral-dense foods: bone broth, grass-fed dairy, organ meats, sea salt, potassium-rich fruits Balance your evening meal,  include protein, healthy fats & quality carbohydrates; avoid long fasting windows before bed Have a bedtime snack (1 hour before sleep),choose something simple with carbs/sugars to stabilise blood sugar (fruit, raw honey, orange juice) Look into histamine triggers Practice nasal breathing only: try mouth tape; address nasal congestion or airway issues Audit your sleep environment: Eliminate blue light at night, remove EMFs near the bed, use blackout curtains, keep the room cool and dark Your body isn't broken. It's responding logically to the conditions you're giving it. Change the conditions, and sleep becomes effortless again, all the way through the night.

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