Herbal infusions are highly concentrated herbal tea - made with more herbs and steeped longer than your typical cup of tea. They occupy the space between food and medicine. Unlike traditional teas, which steep for just a few minutes, herbal infusions require a longer steeping time, allowing for a more profound extraction of nutrients from the herbs.

Menopause is a transformative time in a person’s life, marked by various shifts (physical, mental, emotional, and often spiritual). Hot flashes are perhaps the most notorious among the many physical symptoms that can accompany this transition. Surprisingly, these sudden heat surges can start years before menopause officially begins. While estrogen deficiency is often blamed for hot flashes, there's more to the story. In this post, we'll explore four often-overlooked triggers for (peri)menopausal hot flashes and discuss how to manage them effectively.

A lot of information out there emphasizes the WHAT part of how we eat to improve our digestive health. But did you know that there are other factors related to HOW we eat that can significantly impact your digestive health?

Even in hot weather, it is best to be mindful and moderate the amount of cold food we eat. I share why in this new video blog.

In this vlog - complete with drawings by moi :) - I share some practices to support our lungs and health in general as we deal with increasing amounts of air pollution from various sources.

This is a question I have heard often in my practice.

I understand this desire to have the clarity to know once and for all what one should and should not eat, but unfortunately, it is not generally this easy.

In recent weeks there has been a lot in the news about the weight loss drug Ozempic (semaglutide). And recently, natural alternatives to the costly pharmaceuticals. Is Berberine, Nature’s Ozempic? I discuss this as well as the harms that surround cycles of hype around herbal supplements, in my latest (audio) blog.

Take a listen and let me know what you think.

While many people look forward to the start of summer, for some of us, the summer can be a time when we do not feel our best. Do you or someone you know experience increased anxiety, low mood, or sleep disturbances in the summer months? There are several potential reasons. I will review some of them and how you might assess and address them to support your mood and sleep this summer.

In functional medicine, we spend a lot of time talking about inflammation - as a common factor in many disease processes. Chronic inflammation tends to generalize, to move beyond the bounds of a cell, a tissue, an organ, or an individual body to travel amongst families, groups of people, and communities.

How might we expand the work done by the Functional Medicine Model, applying its system and analysis not just to the complex stories of the antecedents, triggers, and mediators of individual disease but to the story of societal dis-ease and dysregulation? To tell a motivating story that activates and inspires action...

Even considering the sustainability of herbal medicines is a relatively new perspective for many. But sustainable how? Sustainability has many facets - cultural, ecological, and economic.

The functional medicine model is still wildly incomplete. Some passing acknowledgment is given to the need to address non-physical aspects of health and healing - the psychological, emotional, and spiritual. As it is elaborated and practiced, though, functional medicine is still primarily medicine of the physical body. It is still based mainly on the same underlying (materialist) paradigm that assumes that disease happens and is cured as a matter of inputs or subtractions - what one is doing or not doing and exposed to or not exposed to in the environment.

Darkness is a biological imperative for the balanced coordination of many of our hormonal and metabolic functions. Bright light exposure, especially at night, can wreak havoc. Here are some things you can do to ensure an adequate exposure to darkness.

Acupuncture can support and address many of the symptoms in people experiencing the impacts of chronic stress or trauma.

Sankofa Healing Arts offers a variety of tools that can support individuals and communities in their path to improved health and well-being.

The allure of supplements is clear. This pill or powder claims to be able to improve your energy, smooth the functioning of your digestion, resolve those aching joint pains. Why would you not choose to take it?

Many of us are continually perplexed by the streams of information and conflicting dietary recommendations. We are looking for something or someone to cut through all of this and just give us a simple answer.