Community Program

Sugar is now an ingredient in most processed foods, often hidden under many different names. Sugar is addictive, disrupts your blood sugar hormonal response and microbiome, stimulates your appetite and leads to inflammation. As a result, eating a diet high in refined sugar sets you up for a range of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, liver disease, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, cancer, reproductive problems and more. In this first session, we dive into how sugar impacts your health and provide strategies for how to free yourself from it.

Whole foods do not have ingredients. Whole foods ARE ingredients. We stress the importance of eating an abundance of 1- ingredient foods, especially those that come from plant sources: vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, fruit and whole grains. We do not advocate for one diet over another, but rather recommend sources of nutrient-rich foods that are good to incorporate as components in a complex, diverse and healthy diet.

Your microbiome is essential because it helps your gut act as a barrier between your body and the food coming from the outside world. An imbalanced microbiome causes leaky gut to develop, which allows bacteria, toxins and pieces of food to leak straight into the bloodstream. This triggers inflammation, resulting in symptoms like joint pain, skin rashes, moodiness, anxiety, depressions, brain fog and hormonal issues. An imbalanced microbiome is also more likely to cause your immune system to overreact to various foods like gluten and dairy, which can worsen inflammation.

When your bacterial community is out of balance, you have too many bacteria making pro-inflammatory substances rather than anti-inflammatory ones. That's when problems start. Inflammation that has it's roots in the gut contributes to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and dementia.

Most of the brain chemical serotonin, which promotes emotional well-being, self-confidence and good sleep, is made in the gut by your gut bacteria. For this reason, the gut is often referred to as "the second brain". Emerging research is shedding light on how gut health influences  mood, focus and the way we think. Poor diet and gut health is linked to depression and anxiety. A healthy gut microbiome can preserve and even restore positive mental health. 

Instead of exercising to burn calories, we recommend focusing on how movement makes you feel. Choose something you enjoy (whether it's dancing, walking, running, or gardening) rather than forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy.

Similarly, starting a meditation practice doesn't necessarily mean sitting cross-legged on the floor. Walking meditation is a form of mindful movement that may come more naturally if you have trouble sitting for long periods, whereas focused meditation entails concentrating exclusively on what it is that you are doing. Whatever meditation you choose, you will find that committing to a regular meditation practice gives rise to an abundance of health benefits- there is scientific proof linking meditations to improved sleep, reduced anxiety, lower blood pressure and decreased pain among others.