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I specialize in gut health (IBS, IBD, dysbiosis), stress management and sports nutrition but am open and able to address all nutritional inquiries! Set up a 20 minute free exploratory session to discuss your goals.  

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Phase 3 - salves with local, wild-crafted herb oils. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’ve been infusing extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil with herbs since the summer. Most of these herbs are found growing wild all over Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. They are everywhere! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ From top left clockwise: - evergreen (pine, fir and spruce needles)🌲 - calendula (I grew these flower) 🌼 - yarrow - comfrey 🍃 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Every day we walk past what is basically nature’s medicine cabinet. Once you start to look, you see it’s everywhere. And then you just can’t stop. 😬 More to come.. . . . . #healthyobsessions #herbnerd #forageyvr #salves #winterwellness #holistichealth
Tea R&D day! I’m taking small batch to the next level here (teeny tiny batch?) spending lots of time blending, researching, and tasting to get these teas just right. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These will be included in the Winter Wellness kits (available soon) and I’ll be relying on those folks for feedback so I can tinker and hopefully make them slightly larger batches next year (with real labels and everything). Stay tuned. To date I’ve got: - Tummy Tea - Lady Business Tea ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - After Eight Digestif Tea - Evergreen Immuni-tea All organic, picked or foraged locally by yours truly. Excited to share these soon! . . . . #labouroflove #herbnerd #forage #eatlocal #herbaltea #homeremedies #yvreats
I just put this on my face. Why you ask? Well cause I’m 45 and still get zits. 🤷🏽‍♀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Shout out to @cirqueduferments for likely the weirdest ferment recipe I’ve done to date. There’s still time though. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So, with a hand blender, blend: - an extra scoby from your kombucha ferment (probiotic) - bentonite clay (absorbs toxins, healing, improves skin tone) - raw honey 🍯 (anti-fungal/bacterial) - dash of turmeric (anti-inflammatory). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Slather it on your face and don’t expect to talk to anyone for 15 minutes. Maybe go watch It’s Alive with Brad Leone (you’re welcome). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If I break out in hives I’ll be sure to delete this post so maybe wait a day or so. 😬 Update: left it in for 20minutes and skin feels amazing! As per the comment below... start with 15 min. . . . . #thisis45 #fermentyourfaceoff #thingstodowithyourscoby #sundayvibes #skinhealth #probiotics #selfcaresunday
What’s my favourite kind of food? Generally anything I can buy off the side of the street and/or that is kinda contraband. 😬 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mostly because the people harvesting and making that kind of food are usually pretty passionate and just trying to get by without all the hullaballoo. I get it. And I thank you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s BC hazelnut time folks. PM for location 🌰 . . . . #contrabandfood #streetfood #eatlocal #yvreats #eatrealfood #hazelnutlove
Frittata in the dark. 🍳 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Bacon 🥓 from @lauricafarm, veg 🥬 and eggs 🥚 from @gloriousorganics, turmeric, salt and pepper. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Preheat oven at 350F. Whisk 6 eggs and chop all your veg and bacon (mise en place people). Cook bacon first on stove top in cast iron pan. Drain fat leaving a bit in pan and set bacon aside. Cook onion and veg (squash for me). Add greens and sauté lightly. Add bacon bits. Add 6 beaten eggs. Cook on stove top for a few minutes then pop in the oven for 5 minutes (I’m basically guessing here I never use timers). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Breakfast for a few days done in 20 minutes. 👩🏽‍🍳 . . . . #itssodarkout #farmerhours #eatlocal #yvreats #fritatta #easybreakfastideas #jerf #paleobreakfast #autoimmunedisease
Beauty day for a quick winter forage! Fir, pine, spruce and a few yarrow stragglers. Threw in a little moss for good luck. Some fun stuff going on at the Mel lab. 🌿 🤓 🌲 . . . . #herbnerd #forage #salves #plantmagic #wintervibes❄️
Early Christmas gift to me. 😍 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you @annieaxtell for your exquisite calendar. People what are you waiting for?? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔 . . . . #supportlocal #supportsmallbusiness #vancouverartist #moonphases #lunarcalendar #witchyvibes
Oxymels! Made three small batches today focused on winter support ❄️. Oxymels are simply an infusion of herbs in raw honey 🍯 and vinegar. They are soothing and nurturing and a bit easier to get down for some than tinctures. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These beauties will be part of winter wellness kits I’m putting together designed to support you, your immune system and general well-being through the winter months. We all know all that family time can, uh, run you down a bit 😳 and perhaps lead to a bit more imbibing than usual 🥃. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Boxes will include a mix of supportive tinctures, fire cider, oxymels, syrups, salves and teas all organic (with almost all local ingredients) and all produced by yours truly. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you’re interested and in the Vancouver or Fraser Valley area drop me a line for pricing and to reserve yours now! Quantities will be very limited! A great gift for that “crunchy” wellness person in your life! 🌿🍋 . . . . #reluctanthippie #laboroflove #herbnerd #oxymel #winterwellness #yvreats #plantmagic
Ah probiotics...should you or shouldn't you? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Every day there is new evidence that confounds previous studies. This will continue my friends. Because what we know about the human microbiome at this point is diddly squat. 😱 So let's all take a deep breath and keep it simple. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Most people: 1️⃣ Do not need to take probiotic supplements 2️⃣ Will benefit from eating probiotic foods (ideally homemade) like lacto-fermented sauerkraut and pickles, as well as kefir, yogurt, miso, kvass and kombucha. These foods can improve digestion, help regulate blood sugar, support healthy weight and even reduce inflammation, depression, blood cholesterol and blood pressure. 3️⃣ Will benefit from eating PREbiotic foods to provide food source for healthy microbiome. This includes oats, berries 🍓, garlic, onions, dandelion greens, asparagus, sunchokes, leeks, apples 🍏 and seaweed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Kefir is one of my favourite (and easiest) probiotic foods to make at home. It can improve digestion, suppress cancer tumors, improve wound healing time, and alleviate allergies and asthma. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Oh also, recent studies have found 1 tablespoon of homemade dairy kefir to have 150 billion CFUs and 10-20 different strains of bacteria and beneficial yeast. Compare that to your store-bought probiotic pills that are usually around 3-30 billion. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ BE AMAZED PEOPLE!!! 🤩 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When in doubt, keep it simple, stick to whole foods and learn how to ferment at home. Alternately, hire me and give me all your money instead of wasting it on probiotic pills or Activia (oh the horror). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . #bossynutritionist #wholefoodsftw #getfermenting #probioticfoods #prebiotics #guthealth #ibd #yvreats #microbiomehealth

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