​​This week I’m going to share my favorite kitchen tools to make food prep and healthy eating a helluva lot easier. Some of these items will be on sale for Prime Day (Instant Pot – pretty much always), the others you may want to toss into your cart and just commit 100% to a healthy kitchen makeover in July.

Instant Pot Duo – $55.99 instead of $129.99!!

Instant Pot – Not since my first Vitamix in 1997 has a kitchen item been so revolutionary to my quality of life. The IP (as fans call them) replaces a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, and more. It’s great for dorm rooms, RVs and tiny spaces as it can serve as a 1 pot meal for an endless array of meals. Best food hack with the IP? My bone broth can be done in 45 minutes instead of 4 hours, or I can go low and slow and have a low simmer for 2 days; regardless, I can set the IP and leave the house with zero worries. We also use ours for fall apart roasts and ribs in half the time, delicious soups, and effortless rice and chicken dishes in Italian, Cajun, Mexican flavors.

Today is *the day* of the year to get an Instant Pot if you haven’t already – prices won’t be like this again until Black Friday. Given how much they’ve evolved over the past five years this is a much better deal than the one I bought! Check ’em out.

Intimidated by your purchase? Instant Pot Cookbooks can help – the Ultimate Cookbook is a basic cookbook to get started; however if you have food restrictions you may prefer this Paleo or Vegan IP cookbook instead!

This Vitamix is a TOTAL GAMECHANGER.

Speaking of Vitamix – They are on Prime Special as well! The current version of the one we use daily (or more) is over $200 off, which makes me weep a little on the inside, having paid full price for mine.  The Vitamix 5200 is great for families, and the more compact Explorian version is best if you have tall cabinets or a tiny kitchen. I’ve made corn flour from popcorn kernals in 30 seconds, make my own salad dressings, bulk-grind fresh spices, and liquify whatever the hellz I want with this thing for the last 20 years. It’s an insanely useful tool, but we use it on the daily for humble smoothies and emulsifying dressings and aioli.

Aqua Fizz by SodaStream – This is absolutely my latest love!!! This SodaStream has replaced the hundreds of pounds of glass Pelligrino bottles the hubster had to haul to the recycling bin, so now he needs another way to get his weight workouts in. Totally pure and totally customizable sparkling water with glass storage bottles to boot! My soda stream allows me to make my own sparkling water, without plastic bottles or mysterious ‘natural’ flavors (I’m looking at you, La Croix). Now everyone in the family is more hydrated (kids LOVE to make and drink their own fizzy water)! NOTE – it appears only the BPA-free plastic bottle versions of SodaStream are discounted for Prime Day, and I do not recommend you get anything other than the wavy glass bottles shown above that come with the AquaFizz.

StayFresh Bags – I talk about these all the time, but they truly make a difference in keeping produce fresh in my kitchen. A head of lettuce will last over a week; if farm fresh – sometimes over 2! Wash and reuse these bags; they last me about 2 years.

Cast Iron Skillets ​​ – historically I’ve struggled to keep iron levels adequate, especially when I was running marathons. Cooking in cast iron is an easy way to increase iron intake while addressing root causes of inadequacies. A single pan or set of 5 is available for prime day at ridiculous deals!

To reduce plastic waste in our home, we began using stainless steel straws like these for smoothies and reusable cotton bags to collect produce at the store. I love how these bags include the tare weight on the tag! Additionally, they can be used for delicates in the wash; just be sure to hang dry them after they go through the wash cycle.

There are reported over a million deals offered today and tomorrow for Prime Day, so I know I’m missing several! If you do not have a Prime Membership or have let it lapse grab one here!

Note that the above links are affiliate links. Amazon will share 4% of their profits with me as a thank you, and this does not impact your price at all; you still get amazing savings and I get a little thank you for sharing a recommendation I would have anyway. Thank you for your support!

Because the thyroid orchestrates the entire metabolism, when it slows down EVERYTHING slows down. 80% of thyroiditis is autoimmune in nature and rooted in gut health. The thyroid is finally getting some attention in the medical community, but typical care still only looks at the tip of the iceberg.

Imagine a scenario where a tired woman in her 30’s is suffering from mild depression and weight loss resistance. She’s finally in a place where her career is stable and she’s on track to meet her career ambitions but is finding the fatigue and weight to be making it all much harder. She is given an SSRI and sent on her way, only to discover five years later her thyroid has been struggling and the subsequent constipation led to developing SIBO and chronic yeast infections, which then continue to aggravate the gut, increasing permeability and equally increasing the risk of food intolerances and autoimmunity. She also now has elevated cholesterol, a common side effect from thyroid malfunction due to its impact on the liver’s ability to clear cholesterol. This happens all the time.

Her doctor will put her on a statin (which will not prevent a heart attack but increase her risk of diabetes), send her to a gastroenterologist for her gut (who may or may not recognize SIBO as an issue) and give her anti-fungals every few months for the chronic yeast, but alleviation of symptoms is always temporary and she will continue to feel older, sicker, and more lethargic as time goes on.

Many MDs are pushed beyond their capacity to deliver comprehensive care, so we all must advocate for our health like our lives depend upon it.
Function Nutrition can step in here and address the problem by assessing nutritional deficiencies, working with this woman to relieve symptoms of SIBO while boosting her nutrient density to get her energy up, support her thyroid and help with that weight loss. With this person I would absolutely look at root cause of thyroid dysfunction and refer her to get testing to rule out an autoimmune component, which is commonly overlooked in the traditional medical model because treatment won’t differ (thyroid meds).
HOWEVER, if she has Hashimoto’s and her immune system is attacking her body, she’s at increased risk of developing MS, lupus, or other autoimmune diseases down the road. THAT can be prevented.

The intestinal wall is the first place where the body determines if our food is safe or not, and it will mount an immune response to the larger particles that pass through when the gut is “leaky”. This is the current working theory on how most autoimmunity develops and time and time again when gut health is reestablished severity of disease is reduced or even put into remission.
In addressing her thyroid and gut health, her cholesterol levels will likely normalize, her energy and depression will lift, and the autoimmune attack on her thyroid will be reduced through calming the immune system, thus significantly reducing her risk of acquiring additional autoimmunity after pregnancy or menopause (times of life when women are most at risk).

By digging and inquiring to antecedents, triggers, and perpetuators of disease, functional medicine can address the real root cause of disease and accelerated aging, rather than chasing symptom management as a form of care. Nutrition and lifestyle is the foundation of functional medicine, because functional medicine recognizes no amount of healing can occur if the body is not properly oxygenated, rested and nourished. As a health coach, functional nutritionist and certified personal trainer, I can address this foundation so that lasting health can be achieved and maintained. By partnering with medical practitioners, we can work together as a powerful team to help you regain your health and meet the demands of life feeling younger and more energetic than you have in years.

Interested in building a stronger foundation? Schedule a discovery call to learn more or sign up for a initial consultation to take action today for a healthier tomorrow!