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I shared my recipe on my Notes in Substack and got some good conversation going. The buns I made are gluten free, always, because I cannot have gluten without problems, and I like the way I feel on low carb and keto.

If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. And if you do make them, post a picture or message me and let me know how they turned out. I would love to see your results.

What I love about this recipe is that I can batch them. I double the recipe and freeze the buns after they have cooled, and mostly my hubby has healthier bread to eat. He is the bread eater of the family.

I will occasionally have some “bread.” I am more of a wrap tortilla girl. I loved the Canadian brand Carbonaught’s Tortillas but they no longer sell the gluten free one in the USA. SO bummed! If there is a will, there is a way. And, I might have found it. I have been experimenting with lupen flour. Have you heard of it?

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Any way, I can say that I turned the buns into larger buns big enough to make sandwiches, another husband staple, and for me, French toast! Oh yes, I did! The recipe that just keeps on giving.

So if the buns did not have you hopping over to get the recipe, maybe French toast with natural raw whipped cream, organic strawberries and maple flavored allulose drizzled over the top will do it? Here you go (no sense in scrolling up).

Of course, if you are not into keto or low carb, swap the allulose for real maple syrup or thinned honey (for soothing the gut) if that works better for you.

These buns got me thinking about keto and low carb.

If you have been following me for a really long time, you will know my weight goes up and down. About 98 percent of the time it has been done on purpose, and the other 2 or 3 percent, (I know, my math is off), has been stress related.

Why would I intentionally do this to myself? For the experience. I like to try certain diets on myself to see what happens. However, I do not jump on the latest diet fad. I usually wait about a year, watch what is happening, read the research and then give something a go.

The other reason? Once I have been in a healthy state for a really long time, I can forget what it feels like to be where many of my clients are when they first come to me. So, in the past, I have intentionally allowed my diet and lifestyle to slide for the memory.

It also reminds me of what someone who has never intentionally eaten for their health before and what they might be going through. I wanted to know firsthand what they would face physically and emotionally, the challenges, the changes and ultimately the results. And the results are always well worth it. But in the beginning it is overwhelm and fear of the unknown.

Before starting one of these experiments, I also get blood work done as a baseline while I am eating crappy food and living a mostly sedentary lifestyle. Then I retest once I have hit my targeted goals. I wanted to know whether these diets could truly turn things around. Would my lab values return to a healthier range? I will not keep you in suspense.

Each of the diets I tested, including keto, low carb, Mediterranean, gluten free of course, Paleo and an anti inflammatory diet, brought my markers back into a healthy range. Keep in mind, I was not eating highly processed foods made to fit the latest diet trend.

I stuck to whole foods for the most part. That does not mean I made every single ingredient from scratch. I was not making my own mayonnaise and ketchup, for instance. I chose a brand that I felt comfortable with. I also bypassed the junk foods such as “keto” cookies, chips and other packaged foods. You get my drift.

I also keep a diary of what I am eating and how I am feeling, including my bowel habits. It is amazing what can change without us tuning into it.

Although now that I am pushing 60, (yikes), (wait, did I just write that out loud?) I cannot afford to do these experiences anymore. However…..

And Now I Am Doing It Again

With everything that has happened in the last year and a half, I am due to start taking care of myself again. The loss of my cat, car accidents, cancer and other health ailments within the family had me putting my own health on the back burner. And with the passing of Dolly Parton (may she rest in peace) I need to get myself in check. She said something that really haunted me. She had put her health on hold while taking care of her husband. It just hit home for me as I have been doing the same thing.

And now that I am nearing “that age,” I cannot afford to keep doing this. Typically, at 5’7”, my weight sits around 145 to 150 pounds. I am currently 180! (Oh my goodness, did I really just confess that?). Let me spell that out, (more for me than for you)…one hundred and eighty pounds of pure stress and eating my frustrations!

Damn! That felt good. Its been said, and now I can move on. I need to get back to center, get off my ass and eat better. Why? well besides the weight let me share with you exactly how I feel today (since I am seem to be confessing everything anyway):

bitchy, achy, anxiety, fogged brain, forgetful, weepy, restless sleep, interrupted sleep, hard to wake up, low energy, unable to focus, introverted, dull, listless, cynical, snarky, did I mention bitchy?

My hips hurt. My skin is rough and dry. Warm flushes, some sweating, I feel like a petri dish due to funky rashes of all different kinds all over my body, My hair is greasy. And I just plain feel like giving up on things and life. I do not mean giving up on life in that sense. Life just feels meh! What’s the point. This is what happens when my diet and eating habits are off. My whole me is off.

Now, if I walked into a doctor’s office describing these symptoms, depression might considered and an antidepressant to help me out. If I am really lucky, the doctor will test my hormones and put me on some synthetic estrogen cream.

Never a conversation about what I am eating, what nutrients I may be missing, how I am sleeping, how much I am moving, what my blood sugar is doing and what has happened metabolically since gaining this weight. Especially at this stage of life or, what I have been through. Apparently medication fixes everything.

Keto beyond Menopause

One of the reasons I like a low carb or ketogenic approach is how well it can fit some women beyond menopause. You see, most come to me for the weight loss (give them what they want). And it is only part of the conversation. But, I am also interested in blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, body fat distribution, cardiovascular health, inflammation, memory, cognition and mood (give them what they need).

Menopause brings changes in estrogen, and estrogen decline is associated with changes in body fat distribution, glucose metabolism and insulin action. And beyond menopause, this becomes a bigger concern, This is where the research on ketogenic diets gets fabulously fascinating.

A prospective open label study directly compared several dietary regimens, including a Very Low Calorie Ketogenic Diet, (VLCKD) (usually 30g), intermittent fasting and a compared it to a free diet (eat what you want). Researchers looked at body weight, triglycerides, cholesterol and blood pressure, among other measurements.

After six months, the ketogenic intervention significantly reduced waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, body fat percentage and several lipid and blood pressure measurements in postmenopausal women with obesity and treated hypertension. That is amazing! And I am sure if they were on medication, it was either discontinued or significantly reduced.

Then researchers looked beyond the bathroom scale. A 2025 follow up involving 43 postmenopausal women with obesity and hypertension found that six months of a ketogenic dietary intervention was associated with reductions in epicardial adipose tissue (the fat surrounding the heart), along with improvements in some cardiac structural measurements. This is the kind of research I find fascinating. We are looking at far more than pounds.

If you feel like you are losing your brain…

A 2020 study from Stony Brook University found that low carb and ketogenic diets in young adults, may help stabilize brain network function, potentially offering another avenue for investigating cognitive aging and brain hypometabolism.

Researchers observed changes associated with brain aging beginning much earlier than most of us probably imagine, with destabilization beginning around the late forties and accelerating later in life. Ketones offer the brain an alternative fuel source. The brain just sucks them right up and gets to work using them immediately, thus less brain fog, better energy and less time looking for those readers.

All kidding aside, it makes perfect sense that the ketogenic diet can help the brain because it has a long history in neurology.

The history is a little tangled but, Dr. Russell Wilder at the Mayo Clinic coined the term “ketogenic diet” in the 1920s while developing the diet as a treatment for epilepsy, particularly in children. His work was off of Dr. Hugh Conklin, an osteopathic physician, who treated people with epilepsy using prolonged fasting in the early 1900s. Prolonged fasting is another way into ketosis.

Any way, Wilder’s purpose was to induce ketosis through a very low carbohydrate, high fat diet instead of starving oneself. His colleagues, including Dr. Mynie Gustav Peterman, later helped refine its clinical use.

So using ketones in connection with brain function is far from a new idea. Today, researchers are investigating ketogenic diets in relation to cognition, neurological conditions and mental health.

A 2026 randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry studied 88 adults with treatment resistant depression, 69 percent of whom were women. Participants were randomized to a ketogenic diet containing less than 30 grams of carbohydrate per day or a control diet emphasizing plant foods and unsaturated fats.

After six weeks, depression scores dropped in both groups. The difference between the groups favored keto and reached borderline statistical significance at six weeks. That difference was no longer statistically significant at 12 weeks, and secondary outcomes did not differ between groups. I would call that promising and worthy of further research.

There is also a fascinating 2026 randomized trial involving people with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. After four months of ketogenic therapy, researchers reported improvements in depressive symptoms and cognitive performance alongside improvements in insulin resistance and HbA1c ( a blood sugar marker).

Higher ketone levels correlated with improvement in depressive symptoms, while weight loss itself did not explain those improvements. Again, fascinating.

For women beyond menopause who complain about fogged thinking, word retrieval, forgetfulness, mood changes and feeling mentally different from the person they were before menopause, and perhaps a little “meh”, I think this is an area of research worth watching and doing!

What About Hormones?

This is another reason I am interested in what happens metabolically after menopause. Hormones do not exist in isolation from blood sugar, insulin, body composition, sleep, stress, movement and nutrition. They are intertwined.

For me, improving metabolic health when working with my clients is what I give them, which gets them to their “want” goal. And this is one reason I like testing. If a client is going to change the way they eat for several months, I want to know what is happening beyond the mirror reflection.

How do the feel? How did the lab numbers change? Then we can make decisions based on their own responses.

My Genetics Are Part of My Personal Experiment Too

I am blood type O, and I have done my genealogy along with nutritional DNA testing. My bloodline traces back through Northern Europe all the way to the hunter and gathers of the Neanderthals. I find it fascinating to look at ancestry, genetics and food history together.

Genetic traits associated with celiac disease are present for me, and my own experience has already told me very clearly that gluten and I do not get along. Which seems to be true for many blood type Os, the hunter and gathers. Gluten was not a part of the picture for hunters and gathers. They ate what was a available. Now they may have eaten some grains (freshly plucked) that were there, but they were not making them into loaves of bread. That came later, and the blood type changed to reflect that next historical leap.

I personally feel best eating in a way that leans heavily toward proteins, nuts, seeds, vegetables berries and quality fats. When I work with clients, I also pay attention to their unique individuality. Genetics, ancestry, tolerances, medical history, preferences, lab work and how someone actually responds to food can all become part of the plan.

There is no reason why everyone needs to eat exactly the same foods simply because they are following something called “keto” or “low carb”. Adding in genetics and blood type can help with the success of the goals.

So What Exactly Is Keto?

Keto is similar to a low carbohydrate approach, with a few key differences.

The core principle of the ketogenic diet is to shift the body’s primary fuel source by significantly reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing dietary fat. When carbohydrates are typically limited to around 20 to 40 grams per day, the body can enter a metabolic state known as ketosis.

Fat is broken down and ketones become an important energy source because there is not enough sugar (known as glucose).

A ketogenic diet generally includes foods such as avocados, olives and olive oil, fatty fish, nuts, seeds, dairy and moderate amounts of protein from foods such as meat and eggs.

Carbohydrates come largely from vegetables that are naturally lower in starch, along with smaller amounts of foods such as berries depending on the person’s carbohydrate tolerance. Sugars, grains and high carbohydrate foods are greatly reduced while someone is trying to maintain nutritional ketosis.

Can You Have Your Low Carb Bread and Eat It Too?

Yes, you can. You just have to choose wisely. It is easy and often cheaper to make your own. This way you know exactly what is on the ingredient list. If you choose to buy a keto loaf of bread, read the ingredients and skip the ones made with wheat. And if the ingredient panel is not easy to understand, put it back. That goes for all the “low carb” and “keto” products.

The idea, is to eat whole foods and keep the unnecessary ingredients that may interfere with the goals to a minimum. If you want a sweet treat, make your own. There are tons of recipes you can try.

And believe me, if there is a will, there is a way. I could not believe that my husband, who had never set foot in the kitchen to bake, was making almond butter chocolate balls and bread! He felt so good eating this way that he decided it was worth learning how to make the foods he wanted. Now this is history in the making!

What About Sweeteners?

My number one choice is allulose. Stevia and monk fruit are OK, you just need to read the label because products marketed as stevia or monk fruit frequently contain other sweeteners and fillers.

Avoid artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose. There continues to be research into their potential effects on glucose regulation, appetite, the microbiome and other aspects of metabolic health and have been labeled by some as neurotoxins.

Sugar alcohols such as erythritol, xylitol, mannitol and sorbitol are the better choice over artificial sweeteners, however, can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea in some, especially in larger amounts. Other emerging sweeteners include tagatose and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, although I have not seen much of them yet.

What to eat on Keto?

Keto and low carb eating is pretty simple:

• Vegetables that grow above the ground

• Berries

• Animal protein

• Dairy if tolerated

• Good quality fats including lard, tallow and olive oil

• Naturally fatty foods such as avocados and fish

For baking, there are nut and seed based ingredients. Almond flour and coconut flour are probably the most common, and newer options such as lupin flour ( I have been experimenting with this flour) are becoming more available.

There really are a ton of foods that can be made to keep you satiated and happy. In fact many of the recipes I have shared here in the past are low carb or keto. When one is higher in carbohydrates, I often offer lower carbohydrate options.

Is it hard to do Keto?

Anything you read in the literature seems to say that a ketogenic diet requires a significant adjustment period and a strong understanding of macronutrient ratios. I disagree with the idea that everybody needs to turn every meal into a math problem. I am not good at math and I do not need problems.

Keep it simple. Use a portion of protein around the size of your fist, plenty of lower carbohydrate vegetables, typically a heaping cup and smidgen or so of good quality fat to keep the meal satisfying will turn off those future cravings.

The only time to truly count is on a package; take the carb calorie per serving and subtract it from the fiber. That give you your net carb. I suck at math and can figure that out without a calculator!

Your individual needs will vary depending on body size, activity, health goals and whether you are actually trying to remain in nutritional ketosis. But honestly, once you get the hang of it, eating this way becomes pretty easy. And, the experts say that learning new things keeps the brain young.

Even going to a restaurant becomes easier. A hamburger served on lettuce with cheese or bacon or avocado becomes a full meal (just bring your own condiments). Well, mustard and mayonnaise are always a go.

Bonus, once comfortably in ketosis and metabolically settled, if your dining guest offers you a french fry, you can have that one fry and still be in ketosis.

Do You Have to Stay in Ketosis Forever?

The goal is not to sty in ketosis forever and it is not healthy to do so. If your goal is to tame symptoms, improve certain lab values, lose excess body fat or work on metabolic health, I like three months as a starting point.

Then reassess, retest the lab values you were following, look at your symptoms, sleep, energy, memory, energy, moods, your poops, body measurements and most of all your clothes, what are they doing?

If everything is heading where you want it to go, you can begin transitioning into a low carb diet and start adding nutrient rich carbohydrate foods back in. And this is where you can look for what I call your carbohydrate sweet spot.

Finding Your Carbohydrate Sweet Spot

After you have reached your goals, take a moment to establish some baseline data. That would be lab values and your diary full of measurements, observations, symptoms and so on.

Before starting a new food, record your measurements such as waist, chest, hips or anything else that feels relevant to you, weigh yourself first thing in the morning, preferably after a good poop! Seriously, a good robust bowel movement can result in a surprisingly ½ to 1 pound of weight loss. Try it.

Then begin raising your net carbohydrate intake slowly, increasing by around five grams at a time. This gives your body time to adjust and gives you cleaner feedback.

Real time glucose feedback can also be incredibly helpful. Using a continuous glucose monitor or even a standard glucose testing device can offer insight into how individual foods affect you.

You want smooth glucose responses rather than large spikes followed by rapid drops. For fasting glucose, I like seeing levels below 100 mg/dL and personally prefer optimal around 70 to 90 mg/dL.

Post meal targets need to be interpreted according to the individual, timing of the measurement, medications and medical history. I am looking at the overall glucose response rather than chasing one perfect number.

Your scale can give you information too, although an overnight increase does not automatically mean you gained body fat or that a particular food caused inflammation. But, if your weight goes up over night (after that good poop) that can be an indication of fluid from inflammation. Carbohydrates store with water, sodium changes water balance, bowel contents change, hormones affect fluid retention and even a restaurant meal can move the scale the next morning.

If a particular food repeatedly leaves you puffy, uncomfortable, craving more food, experiencing glucose swings or rapidly gaining water weight, pull it back out and see what happens. Then try as different food after things settle. This process takes patience, but it gives you information about your own body and how much carbohydrates and the type you can handle.

Pay attention to how you feel. This is where the journal you kept while working toward your goals becomes incredibly useful. It gives you a baseline. When you begin adding higher carbohydrate foods, write down anything new and any symptom that becomes more intense.

One little tip: leave flour and gluten containing foods out during the early reintroduction stage. Start with higher carbohydrate vegetables and fruits. Then move forward from there.

Yep. I would leave the grains until last.

The goal is to eventually discover the amount and types of carbohydrates at which you feel good, maintain the improvements you worked for and can live your life without feeling like you are permanently “on a diet.”

That is your carbohydrate sweet spot. And that is ultimately the place we want to be. Happy, robust outlook on life, balanced labs, balanced feeling and going from “meh” to “wow”.

Right now, at one hundred and eighty pounds, feeling bitchy, achy, foggy, tired, puffy and meh, I already know it is time for me to put myself back into balance. And I started with getting back into my zen with yoga.

This past week has been consistent Cat yoga. What is it about cats and yoga mats? Well, I figured if Zazu has to be a part of the show I will include him fully. He doesn’t look very amused does he?

I am going to be in Washington another month or so, and joined the local parks and rec with yoga 5 days a week. So torturing Zazu will only be on the weekends (hehehee).

Now that I am pushing closer to 60, I have a different goal. I am done deliberately seeing how unhealthy I can get before I turn things around. I can not afford to do that anymore. I already ran that experiment. I have the data. Now I want to see just how good I can feel and keep the momentum going. I have my journal of how I feel right now. And will keep that handy the next time to decide to jump off my game and remind myself on paper instead of “let’s see”. I just had to get back to my mantra when I feel like giving up .. what would happpen if I just kept going?

How about you? Have you tried low carb or the keto diet? How did it go? Did you record everything for a good baseline? What worked? What did not work? Any tips?

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Have a great week,

~Karen

This week on Label to Table, we take a deeper look at what’s hiding behind some of the most familiar smells and flavors in our daily lives. From fragranced personal care products to a seemingly simple gluten free cookie mix, this episode connects the dots between ingredients that are rarely questioned and the long term exposure many people never realize they’re having.

And, if you have stumbled across this post and are thinking, I need to be a part of this community, well, you can. Hit the button below and welcome. I pop a fresh post into your inbox each Monday morning at 4 am Pacific. So, grab your favourite brew and sit awhile or fight traffic while listening in and get back to zen.

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And a super duper special thank you to those of you who joined us live for this edition of Label To Table that I can’t find who was with us. The only one I know for sure is . :) There were so many of you on so thank you!

SHOW NOTES

As always, we start with what Danni found to share with us and then I share, so without further ado….

Fragrance Exposure in Personal Care and Household Products with Danni

opens the episode by unpacking the all encompassing presence of fragrance in everyday life. She explains how fragrance shows up everywhere such as cleaning products, air fresheners, candles, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, shampoos, body washes, makeup, baby wipes, and even diapers. These fragrances are often made from hundreds and thousands of petrochemical derived compounds designed to trigger emotional responses, create scent memories, and encourage buying behavior.

Fragrance is added to make products smell appealing and more commonly used to mask the odor of the chemical formulations themselves. Fragrance exposure is constant, from the moment people step into the shower, put on freshly laundered clothes, to going to sleep, creating a continuous chemical load that many never think about, especially in smaller or enclosed living spaces.

Parabens, Hormone Disruption, and Fat Accumulation

One of the most important points Danni makes is about parabens, a common preservative used in fragranced products. She explains that parabens are not easily biodegradable and can persist in the environment and in the body. Because parabens are fat soluble, they can accumulate in fatty tissues, including breast tissue, and move through the lymphatic system. This becomes a concern around hormone disruption, estrogen mimicry, and the long term effects this may have, particularly for young girls, teens, and women who are exposed daily through deodorants, lotions, and fragranced personal care products.

Did you know that products can claim to be paraben free while still containing fragrance? And, fragrance does not require full ingredient disclosure. This means parabens can still be present as part of a proprietary fragrance blend, even when it is not listed on the label.

Reducing Fragrance Exposure at Home

Danni offers practical guidance for reducing fragrance exposure, including choosing fragrance free or essential oil based products, making simple homemade cleaners, avoiding dryer sheets, and being mindful of scented candles and air fresheners. She shares personal experiences from living in smaller spaces and explains how fragrance buildup can contribute to respiratory issues, migraines, skin problems, and mood changes over time.

For more on this episode hop on over to Danni’s page. Oh be sure to subscribe.

Back To Basics of Nutrition

In today's fast-paced world, we're constantly bombarded with nutrition information. Good and bad. This newsletter aims to cut through the noise, and strip away the complexities to return to the fundamentals of healthy living.

By Danni Macfarland

Vanilla Oleoresin with Karen

After Danni sets the stage with fragrance, I take the conversation into the food world, starting with a personal story. My niece is pregnant, she’s 35, (I am going to be an AUNT!) and she asked me to help monitor her labs and support her nutrition. As part of that process, I was looking for a gluten free, once a week type treat and landed on Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix.

While reading the ingredient list, I stopped at “natural vanilla flavor.” Vanilla appeared twice on the label — once in the chocolate chips listed simply as vanilla, and again as natural vanilla flavor powder made from sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla oleoresin. That peaked my interest into a deeper investigation.

Vanilla Extract vs Vanilla Oleoresin

Vanilla extract is made by macerating vanilla beans in alcohol to release vanillin, while vanilla oleoresin goes further, containing vanillin along with resins, fixed oils, and additional aromatic compounds. Vanilla oleoresin is widely used in foods, beverages, fragrances, pharmaceuticals, and supplements like vanilla flavored protein powders because of its strong, complex flavor profile.

Solvents Used to Extract Vanilla Oleoresin

The real concern is not vanilla oleoresin itself, but how it’s extracted. I walk through the use of solvents like hexane and acetone, explaining that while these are supposed to be evaporated off, tiny residues can remain. Hexane is a petroleum derived neurotoxin that can accumulate in fatty tissues and cross the blood brain barrier. Acetone is a strong industrial solvent that may contribute to respiratory irritation, especially for sensitive individuals.

Organic vanilla oleoresin exists and is produced using cleaner extraction methods allowed under the USDA National Organic Program, including organic ethanol, water, and supercritical CO₂. A bit concerning. I did call Bob’s Red Mill and spoke with a customer service agent. She did not know the answer to my question as to the origin of the vanilla oleoresin. In a follow up email she still did not know as it is a third party ingredient. If left me wondering as to how safe is this product? Should I just assume that Bob’s Red Mill as thoroughly investigated the vanilla oleoresin as I have?

Label to Table Perspective

Bob’s Red Mill still remains a step up from conventional products, and I believe they care about their customers. What this conversation highlights is the need for transparency. When cleaner extraction methods exist, naming them builds trust and allows consumers to make informed choices without anxiety. That is the goal of Label To Table.

If you have a product or ingredient you’d like us to decode on a future episode, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line at (656) 222 0848 (no one answers, promise ) or message me in the show notes. This is Label to Table, where we question the norm, encourage you to trust your wisdom, and make small shifts that create a big impact.

We will see you next week,

~Karen

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🤖P.s. I did use AI to help in formulating this post into something cohesive from the transcript. Which would be really boring to read…don’t ya think? (I did not use AI to write this part—just say’n).

A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote that I had nothing I said I would eventually share what had been occupying so much of my time, besides Zazu, that is. Who is doing much better by the way, but so demanding. Like a full time job!

I had been hired to independently review a protocol for a woman facing the possible removal of her colon. And yet, she felt fine.

Within a couple of weeks, she would undergo a procedure to determine how extensive the dysplasia was in her colon and whether removal might be necessary. She had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) years ago, and now she had diffuse low grade dysplasia.

Before we get to the nitty gritty and surprising findings, I wanted to welcome in some new subscribers, , , @gian ginoble, and (worthy of a follow). Thank you for joining along.

If you are new here, welcome and I hope you too will join me for Monday morning article, Wednesday’s Live Label to Table and Thursday’s recordings of past Label to table. Thank you.

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The Hired Task

Diffuse low grade dysplasia means early precancerous changes have been found in multiple areas of tissue rather than in one isolated spot. The cells are abnormal, but the changes have not progressed to high grade dysplasia. Because these changes can progress over time, her medical team is monitoring her closely.

Reviewing her case was difficult because I did not have her previous colonoscopy reports, blood work, or much of the medical history I would normally want to see. I felt a little blind going in, and I didn’t feel as though I could give it 120% percent. But I could give 100% sticking to the task at hand.

However, I did have quite a bit from what she had shared with me. She had a medical team of six, along with an integrative naturopathic doctor. I had information about her symptoms, the proposed natural care, her medications, and an extensive protocol from another naturopathic clinic.

her symptoms included intermittent itching, occasional mild discomfort in the right upper quadrant of her abdomen, and has experienced two recent episodes of bright red rectal bleeding. Otherwise, her ulcerative colitis symptoms are minimal. Yet she is facing an enormous decision of whether to have her colon removed.

I can tell you from personal experience, after living with a temporary colostomy for 11 months, if I can help someone save their bowel, I will do everything within my scope to help them do that. It is something I would not wish on anyone.

Over the years, I have worked with people who were deathly ill and completely controlled by their symptoms. I have worked with people whose digestive symptoms dictated their entire lives. They knew every bathroom between their house and the grocery store. Food became something to fear. Leaving home required planning. Some would starve themselves before going out simply to reduce the number of toilet trips. Pain, exhaustion, diarrhea, bleeding, and urgency dictated their days.

But that wasn’t this woman. She said in her email, “I feel fine.” She feels good. When I met with her via video after collecting my findings, she looked healthy. She certainly didn’t look like someone contemplating the removal of an organ.

And all I could think was, how did she get here?

More Than Thirty Years of Disease

She was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) a year apart in the 1990s.

PSC is a chronic disease involving inflammation, fibrosis, and narrowing of the bile ducts that carry bile from the liver. Over time, it can lead to cirrhosis, liver decompensation, and an increased risk of bile duct cancer. She currently has stable compensated cirrhosis secondary to PSC and is followed by hepatology.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the colon and rectum. Symptoms can include diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, and urgency and sometimes may lead to dysplasia.

Her symptoms began during childhood, and she was formally diagnosed in the 1990s. For many years, her UC has been clinically well controlled with a drug called mesalamine. And can I tell you, it really is well controlled.

Many with ulcerative colitis eventually require biologic medications when the disease progresses or medications such as mesalamine are no longer enough to control the inflammation.

But there is another layer to her story.

I believe the bile acids were a problem long before diagnoses. In fact, there is a condition called Bile acid diarrhea, also called bile acid malabsorption (BAM). This happens when too many bile acids reach the colon and stimulate secretion and motility, producing watery diarrhea and urgency.

There is also something called primary bile acid diarrhea, where excessive bile acid synthesis can occur even without obvious disease or surgical removal of the terminal ileum. The are conditions we did not know much about 30 years ago. However, bile acids are corrosive and can irritate and damage the intestinal lining. Could it have been that the end result of this was Ulcerative colitis?

Having PSC along with longstanding ulcerative colitis increases the risk of colorectal cancer, which is why she undergoes regular surveillance colonoscopies. Her most recent colonoscopy found something far more concerning: diffuse low grade dysplasia throughout the colon rather than one isolated lesion. There is currently no evidence of high grade dysplasia or invasive colon cancer. Which is wonderful news. And also disturbing.

Several physicians have recommended a colectomy, the surgical removal of her colon, and she is struggling to understand why such a major surgery is being recommended when she feels so well.

She is undergoing a chromoendoscopy a week after I post this. If she shares the results with me, I will give you a follow up.

In case you are unfamiliar with chromoendoscopy, it is a technique used during an endoscopy to make subtle abnormalities easier to see. Special dyes or advanced imaging technology help highlight changes in the digestive tract, including inflammation, abnormal tissue, precancerous changes, and small or flat lesions that might otherwise be difficult to detect.

For her, this procedure could provide some incredibly important information. It will help determine whether the dysplasia really is diffuse, whether there are visible lesions that can be removed, whether there has been progression, and whether surgery to remove her colon at the end of August is necessary or might reasonably be delayed until January of next year with close surveillance.

What was found in the medication?

And this is where I began digging deeper. I started with her medications.

What I have found in my practice is that those taking medications have no idea what the potential side effects are, what nutrients they may have an increased need for, or what nutritional support might be appropriate while taking them.

I found that she was on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics. One is known to increase the risk of C. difficile, and she was taking additional antibiotics as part of her treatment regimen to avoid the complications. She was also taking medication to help with bile acids and an experimental drug.

Since I have already mentioned mesalamine, let’s use that as an example. Mesalamine is used to reduce inflammation in ulcerative colitis and can help decrease diarrhea, urgency, abdominal discomfort, and rectal bleeding.

Yet mesalamine can also cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, gas, and indigestion. More intriguingly, there is something called Mesalamine Induced Acute Intolerance Syndrome, which can resemble an ulcerative colitis flare and may include abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea, fever, headache, and sometimes a rash. This was one of the issues I documented when reviewing her medications.

Think about that for a moment. A medication used to treat a disease can, in some people, produce symptoms that resemble the disease itself. Something to consider.

In fact, as I worked my way through her medication list, I found several potential side effects worth documenting, including bowel irritation, itching, skin reactions, and other more serious adverse effects including lesions and dysplasia.

The Naturopathic Plan

Then I turned my attention to the naturopathic plan. It was quite involved, thorough, and, for someone new to complementary medicine, extremely overwhelming. I was overwhelmed going through it.

The program recommended intermittent fasting, a “keto esque” approach, and an extensive supplement, homeopathic, and herbal regimen.

There was a lot I liked about the program. However, I also kept thinking about the person who actually had to implement it.

For someone completely new to complementary medicine, this was a lot to take on. I felt she would likely need regular guidance, check ins, and help implementing everything being asked of her.

Laboratory testing

Next, I went over the laboratory testing the clinic was proposing. And this is where I found some holes.

PSC affects bile flow and bile acid metabolism, and she was taking medication that alters her bile acid composition. So, I was surprised there wasn’t more investigation into what her bile acids were doing. Bile acids are incredibly important. They help us digest and absorb fats and fat soluble vitamins, and they interact intimately with the intestinal microbiome.

I also wanted to know what was happening inside her gut. Given her history of ulcerative colitis and the fact that she was taking several antibiotics, I wanted stool testing to give us another look at her microbiome. What organisms were thriving? What had been depleted? What did her intestinal environment look like after years of disease and medication? I wanted to know how her pancreas was fairing. After all if she is low fecal elastase-1 this would impact her ability to absorb her fat soluble vitamins and keep her intestinal tract healthy.

I also suggested organic acid testing as another piece of the nutritional, metabolic and microbiome picture. Then I started digging into the research.

Nutritional status, deficiencies and the studies

I found studies examining berberine in relation to PSC and liver function. I found research examining low folate status in ulcerative colitis and the relationship between folate deficiency, longstanding inflammation, dysplasia, and colorectal neoplasia.

And I kept coming back to one question. When someone has had ulcerative colitis for more than thirty years and is now developing dysplasia, when do we start asking about nutritional status? Before dysplasia, after…ever?

That was one of my biggest concerns with both approaches. I didn’t feel enough attention was being given to nutritional status and the deficiencies that can develop when someone has lived with chronic digestive disease for decades.

The bowel needs nutrients to maintain and repair tissue. So I wanted to know: What was her folate status? What about the other B vitamins? What about fat soluble vitamins? What did her microbiome look like? What nutrients might have been depleted by disease, diet, medications, or impaired absorption?

And could improving those deficiencies create a healthier internal environment while her medical team continued evaluating the dysplasia? Those were questions I felt deserved investigation.

I suggested nutritional support that included oral supplementation and consideration of nutritional IVs and intramuscular injections, to help address identified deficiencies.

Liquid Biopsy

Then there was one final test. This recommendation wasn’t mine. It came from the naturopathic clinic, and it immediately caught my attention. Something worth saving this article for. The test is called Liquid Biopsy.

The company is Northstar, and the technology looks for circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, fragments of DNA released by cancer cells that can be detected in the bloodstream. Now imagine why this technology caught my attention in her situation.

Actually, why it would catch my attention for anyone facing a decision this enormous. It is something I think we could all partake in once a year as we sage.

Northstar Select is intended to identify tumor alterations that may help clinicians select treatment. According to the material, response can quantify tumor fraction down to 0.01 percent and may detect changes weeks to months before radiographic imaging. The company’s listed compatible tumor types include stage II through IV colon and rectal cancers

She has dysplasia. She currently has no documented invasive colorectal cancer. And she is facing a chromoendoscopy that may help determine whether she ultimately has her colon removed.

Wouldn’t it be extraordinary if a blood test could give us another window into what is happening before making the final decision? That’s what makes liquid biopsy technology so fascinating to me. It is taking out a layer guessing.

Optimistic mindset

I believe this client has one thing going for her that is playing a pivotal part in her health. She has an extraordinarily optimistic mindset. But right now, I can hear fear working its way into that optimism. How could it not?

She is hearing words such as dysplasia, cancer risk, colectomy, and surgery while simultaneously waking up every morning thinking, “But I feel good.” I think we sometimes underestimate what happens psychologically when someone who feels well is suddenly confronted with an enormous medical intervention.

She isn’t recklessly trying to avoid surgery. In fact, in the material she prepared for her physicians, she states very clearly that her goal is not to avoid surgery if it is ultimately the safest recommendation.

She wants to explore every medically reasonable option. She wants to optimize her health, understand her medication and supplement interactions, gather as much useful information as possible, and then make an informed decision. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

The most frustrating part of this investigation was the delivery.

When we met for the final findings and analysis, I had to be careful with my words, stay within the scope of my practice, and hope she could read between the lines.

Modern medicine is incredibly specialized, which means a person can have one specialist looking at the liver, another looking at the colon, another reviewing medications, and another evaluating the possibility of surgery. Each professional is looking at their “part” of the body. But never connecting the parts to the whole including as a person.

But I kept looking at the whole person. Because that is how the human body works. Physiology and chemistry are interconnected. Her liver and colon communicate through bile acids and her microbiome. Her gut and brain are in constant communication through the gut brain axis. Her cells require nutrients and resources to function, repair, communicate, and do the jobs they are designed to do. There is a quantum entanglement. Everything is connected.

I wish more medical professionals could say, “There is nothing else I can offer you within the scope of my training,” instead of, “There is nothing else that can be done,” or “There are no other options.”

There is an enormous difference between those statements. There may not be anything else that can be offered within the scope of one particular practice. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there is nothing else worth exploring.

There are nutritionists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, homeppathy, herbalists, and other complementary practitioners. And do not forget mind body practitioners, including hypnotherapists and somatic practitioners, spiritualists and others. The brain and body are constantly communicating, and our psychological state can influence physiological processes throughout the body.

I suggested that she bring additional practitioners into the conversation, including a functionally trained gastroenterologist. I gave her the link to the Institute for Functional Medicine because I truly believed finding a physician trained to look at her case through a broader lens was in her best interest.

The final consultation

When we met via video, she was surprised to learn that some of her medications could potentially be contributing to some of the symptoms she was experiencing. She was surprised by what we discussed about her microbiome, nutritional deficiencies, and the possibility that those factors could be contributing to her overall picture.

She was intrigued by the nutritional recommendations. But the best part? She had hope. She felt more confident because she realized there was more to investigate, more questions she could ask, and more she could do to support herself while she and her medical team worked toward this enormous decision.

After more than twenty years working in alternative health, I have helped many keep their bowels, including my own. Regardless of what the medical profession may think, there is a place for complementary medicine and nutrition.

We have been taught to think about our bodies in parts. If something is wrong with the liver, we see the liver specialist. If something is wrong with the bowel, we see the gastroenterologist. If something is wrong with our hormones, we see an endocrinologist or gynecologist.

Holistic medicine asks us to widen the lens. How are those systems interacting? How is one influencing another? Where are the imbalances? What resources does the body have available? Where might it need additional support? What are we feeding our body? What is in our environment? what is our lifestyle like?

And you might be thinking, well, what does any of this have to do with menopause and beyond?Everything.

Because menopause doesn’t happen to one isolated part of you either. Your hormones don’t exist independently from your gut, liver, brain, bones, muscles, metabolism, nutrition, sleep, stress, or emotional health. They are part of the same interconnected human being.

So if you are going through menopause, what could a holistic practitioner uncover that might help you experience fewer symptoms? And if you are beyond menopause, what could you learn about your own physiology that could help you remain strong, vibrant, and healthy as you continue to sage with sass and grace?

If you are going through a health challenge, what ever that health challenge may be, you owe it to yourself to have the full perspective, don’t you think? Especially before making the final decision?

Is there a place for allopathic medicine? Absolutely. I am grateful we have it. It is just not the only type of care available to us.

How about you? Have you been told there is nothing that can be done? Did you investigate further? Were there things in your life you changed and had a better outcome? Have you investigated other modalities? Are you on the fence? Share with me.

Leave a comment

Have a great week,

~Karen

Single use aluminum water bottles…have you seen them on the shelves? We are being told they are “safe” answer to plastic. We were told the same thing once before, with non-stick pans..remeber Teflon from the 80’s? Now think about wrecked hormones, immune systems, and long term health problems. Now single use aluminum bottles are lined, sealed, coated, and marketed as clean. Before you take another sip, you might want to know what you’re actually drinking from. And Danni and I spill it all. Read, watch or listen in

If you have stumbled across this post and are thinking, I need to be a part of this community, well, you can. Hit the button below and welcome. I pop a fresh post into your inbox each Monday morning at 4 am Pacific. So, grab your favourite brew and sit awhile or fight traffic while listening in and get back to zen.

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And a super duper special thank you to those of you who joined us live for this edition of Label To Table , and others.

SHOW NOTES

Before we even get to single use aluminum water bottles, we need to talk about PFAS. Danni grounded this conversation by reminding us that PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are lab created chemicals designed to resist heat, water, and oil. They were originally developed during the mid twentieth century and later popularized through non stick cookware like Teflon. From there, they spread into carpets, food packaging, firefighting foams, clothing, personal care products, building materials, and eventually our water systems. they also are found in some aluminum water bottles and possibly those single use aluminum water bottles, which we will talk about next.

What stood out most in Danni’s discussion was not just where PFAS are found, but how long they went unregulated (up to 2002) and how deeply they affect the body. For decades, these chemicals were used without meaningful oversight. We now know there are thousands of PFAS compounds, many of which have been linked to hormone disruption, liver damage, immune system changes, and increased cancer risk

PFAs are affecting us women

For us saging women, these chemicals interfere with hormonal signaling, something that becomes more noticeable during perimenopause and menopause, when the body is already recalibrating estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol. Symptoms that women are often told are “just part of this stage of life,” like brain fog, fatigue, mood shifts, and difficulty concentrating, can be intensified by long term, low level chemical exposure. PFAS do not break down easily. They accumulate, persist, and continue to signal disruption long after exposure, which is why they are called forever chemicals. they do not disappear, they linger.

She also highlighted the emotional weight of this reality, especially for families and communities exposed through occupations like firefighting and through contaminated water systems. The takeaway is becoming more aware of these chemicals. These chemicals are not rare, they are woven into modern life, and understanding where they show up is the first step toward making better choices.

For more on this episode hop on over to Danni’s page. Oh, and be sure to subscribe.

What’s the deal with single use aluminum water bottles? Should we use them?

And this is exactly why the conversation about single use aluminum water bottles cannot be separated from the larger PFAS discussion. Once you understand how forever chemicals entered everyday products under the promise of innovation and convenience, it becomes much easier to question the next “better alternative” being rolled out at scale. And that is happening now.

As plastic bottles disappear from airports and grocers store shelves, single use aluminum water bottles are being positioned as the cleaner, safer solution. But aluminum does not exist on its own. It requires linings, coatings, lids, and manufacturing processes that deserve the same level of scrutiny. So let’s let’s a closer look at what single use aluminum water bottles really are, and whether this shift truly protects women’s health or simply repackages risk.

Single use aluminum water bottles: are we swapping one problem for another?

So today I am talking about single use aluminum water bottles. Have you seen them? They are starting to make their way into the grocery aisles, and it feels like a domino effect that started in California.

Single use aluminum water bottles were on the horizon after California did something heroic. Let’s rewind way back to 2018. San Francisco International Airport (airport code SFO) took a hard look at the mountain of plastic water bottles moving through its terminals. they found nearly 4 million slow-to-biodegrade plastic water bottles were sold in that on airport in 2018 and devised a plan.

In August 2019, SFO prohibited the sale of water in plastic bottles as part of its zero waste concessions policy, becoming one othe world’s first major airports to push this direction. Then in April of 2021, SFO expanded the policy to prohibit the sale of beverages packaged in plastic bottles, meaning sodas, teas, and juices too, and required alternatives like recyclable single use aluminum water bottles, recyclable glass, or certified compostable packaging only allowed in the airport.

And then came Los Anglese Airport (LAX) in 2021. The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) approved phasing out single use plastic water bottles:

“two-year phase-out period allowed airport businesses to use up inventories of plastic water bottles and modify purchasing contracts before switching to compliant products.”

Now fast forward to me flying into Oakland, needing water, and suddenly realizing everywhere I turned, the only option was a single use aluminum water bottle. Usually I buy two larger bottles of water (glass if I can find it, but mostly plastic-not by choice) when I first arrive at the airport. But with little bag room and knowing I had a two hour layover in the Oakland airport (OAK), I thought I could walk the airport and then grab water. I did exactly that. And then I panicked when I could not find anything but single use aluminum water bottles. Eventually I found one little kiosk selling Evian in glass bottles and I bought the last two. I was seriously relived that I did not have to purchase those single use aluminum water bottles.

What is wrong with aluminum single use water bottles?

The reason I refused to purchase the aluminum single use water bottle is simple. It is aluminum, and aluminum is not a metal I want accumulating in my body. There is long running discussion in the scientific world about aluminum exposure and neurological concerns, dementia and Alzheimers and it has also become a very politicized topic in the public conversation about aluminum and vaccines. Either way, I am not interested in making aluminum exposure in single use aluminum water bottle easier, cheaper, and more convenient.

So my brain went straight to the next logical question with denial and hope. I am hoping these aluminum water bottle brand companies are not adding water into straight aluminum, because aluminum from the bottle could leach into the water. So, I am thinking there has to be a lining, right? And then I think, but what is the lining made of for these single use aluminum water bottles? And, I know that reusable aluminum water bottles are a thing, and now I am thinking are these water companies using the same lining in those? Now, I am sure you are asking is aluminum water bottle bad for you?

I am thinking and I am sure you are thinking it too, are aluminum water bottles safe? Especially the single use aluminum water bottles because I do not think the water companies are going to add as much protection agains talumnum like they would with a reusable aluminum water bottle. I also do not have the answer to that question, but thought I would share this thought as that is where my mind went.

Aluminum water

I grabbed a single use aluminum water bottle from Natural Grocers here in Eugene Oregon. And, to be honest, I grabbed the cheapest one because I had no intention of drinking it. I just grabbed it for a show-and-tell during our live video. Like in the Oakland airport Natural Grocers is carrying a lot of single use aluminum water bottle brands.

When I held the single use aluminum water bottle I could not feel the aluminum rather a smooth plastic feel. I read the bottle with it’s reassuring message

Then I notice that there was a phone number on there so I could call and get the quality of the water— fabulous. So, I called.

I called 4 times because each time I called I kept getting a weird recorded message. On the 4th call I decided to just go through with the call. The recorded message turned into an internet, Tv, and mobile sales pitch. I knew instantly this was not Rocky Mountain spring water, and it was not a customer support line for bottled water. It was a wrong number situation that somehow made its way onto a an aluminum water bottle label, and that alone made my caution lights blink brighter.

So I searched around (oh, who are we kidding, I used ChatGPT) and finally found the right website and phone number. I called and could not get through to anyone on a live call. The messages directed me back to the website to leave an email message. Second set of caution lights now blinking brighter than Rudolph’s nose in a snow storm

Are aluminum water bottle disposable? Or better for the environment?

I emailed the company asking about the lining inside the single use aluminum water bottles. They emailed back pretty quickly,

“Thank you for contacting us. We have received your message and will get back to you shortly. Thank you for your patience!”

While we were on our live, they did email back.

Hmmm, they sort of skirted around the whole lining, but good to know the single use aluminum water bottles are BPA, BPF, BPS, and PFAs free. Danni talked about PFAs in the lining of aluminum recepticles. But it stills seems to me there is more emphasis on the aluminum single use water bottle being disposable and better for the environment that the lining. I also will err (sort of) towards California taking this part seriously, I think. Wait, I do not remember seeing anything about Prop 65 on the label. Perhaps I need to keep trusting my gut after all.

This is where the consumer confusion begins. An aluminum water bottle disposable product can look like the “better choice” because it is not plastic, and because aluminum is marketed as infinitely recyclable.

But here is the thing, most single use aluminum water bottles are not bare aluminum on the inside. They are lined on the inside with a thin polymer coating to prevent metallic taste and to stop aluminum ions from migrating into the liquid.

Depending on the company, they may be using older linings that are often epoxy resins, and many older epoxy liners are linked with BPA based chemistry. That is why you see so many brands emphasizing BPA free now. SO, if it is says BPA free on the bottle, it surely is, but it could be a differnt type of Bisphenol like those mentioned above?

The newer BPA free replacement linings often use polyester or acrylic type coatings instead of epoxy. You may also see acrylic or oleoresin type coatings mentioned in packaging conversations.

What is the lining in single use aluminum water bottles?

If the liner is polyester based, in the these single use aluminum water bottles, here is the basic chemistry in plain English. And, please keep in mind that I am talking about all single use aluminum water bottles in general.

The polyester resin can be built from building blocks like terephthalic acid or isophthalic acid for stability, and ethylene glycol or neopentyl glycol or cyclohexanedimethanol to support flexibility and structure. Those react together to create a polyester. It is food grade in the packaging world, but the chemistry family overlaps with what many people recognize as PET plastics, (think of those single use plastic water bottles) just engineered as a thin internal coating rather than a full plastic bottle. And we already known these plasticizers have been associated with endocrine disorders including microplastics.

And then there can be other formulation ingredients, sometimes in very small amounts, such as acrylic copolymers to improve adhesion to aluminum, cross-linkers to harden the cured coating, and stabilizers to prevent degradation during processing.

There can also be trace residues from manufacturing, which is why companies rely on food contact compliance testing and do not usually disclose full formulas, because it is proprietary. And if something is proprietary regardless if it is a single use aluminum water bottle, small aluminum water bottle or a reusable aluminum water bottle it will never be disclosed on a label or if you call them.

Are aluminum water bottles and single use aluminum water bottles safe?

So, are single aluminum water bottles safe, and are reusable aluminum water bottles safe for everyday use? Here is my stance.

I am not ready to declare an emergency based on what I have seen so far, because a properly cured liner used for cool water is generally considered low migration in standard conditions. But I am also not ready to treat this like a wellness upgrade. Danni pointed out that we have no idea the temperatures those bottles indured during shipping. How many times have you seen outside the door in full sun plastic water bottles sitting there slowly leaching plasticers into the water? I am sure once aluminum water bottles replace plastic we will see the same scenario. So, looking at the single use aluminum water bottles, I am thinking twice before using them.

Because the safety of a single use aluminum water bottle is completely dependent on the integrity of that liner and the integrity of the cap and seal. And aluminum is a softer metal than people realize. It scratches. It dents. It wears. If that lining fails, now what? Are you getting aluminum exposure? Are you getting polymer exposure? Are you getting both?

I singled out single use aluminum water bottles because they are softer than a hard reusable aluminum water bottle, however, over time, could degredation happen to them as well?

For context, the US EPA has a secondary standard for aluminum in drinking water of 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L, and secondary standards are guidance levels tied to taste, color, and other aesthetic issues rather than health based limits.

Separately, the Joint FAO and WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives established a provisional tolerable weekly intake for aluminum of 2 mg per kilogram of body weight per week across dietary sources. Those numbers do not mean “no concern,” they just give a frame for how regulators think about exposure.

And aluminum exposure has been associated with neurotoxicity concerns and other system effects in occupational and environmental contexts, especially at higher exposures, including what is summarized in this review and in this discussion of inhalation related risks and industry exposure patterns. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry also notes that people have ongoing low level exposure through food, water, and air. So what does the cumulative effects present in the body?

Aluminum water bottles and women

For women, especially women in midlife who are already navigating brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, and changes in focus, could there a be a link to low dose aluminum exposure? The kind of thing that can hide inside “normal life symptoms” ? That does not prove the bottle is causing it. It means I do not want to casually add another exposure source when I can choose glass or stainless steel.

Single use aluminum water bottles bottles vrs single use plastic water bottles

Whether it is a single use aluminum water bottle or a reuseable aluminum water bottle with a with straw, I would not use either. Here is the key, plastic has its own chemical story. Aluminum has its own chemical story. And when single use aluminum bottles are combined with a plastic type (or polymar) liner that is one heck of a horror story. I think that is going to spell trouble down the road. Think about that for a moment. So the choice is not always aluminum versus plastic. Sometimes it is plastic bottle versus aluminum bottle with a plastic liner. Where do we win here?

If you are choosing between an aluminum water bottle disposable product and a plastic water bottle, you are often choosing between two different packaging chemistries, not one clean option and one dirty option.

Aluminum water bottle brands

And this is where aluminum water bottle brand transparency becomes everything. If a brand will not clearly tell you what the liner is, what the cap seal material is, and whether they can provide food contact compliance documentation, then you are being asked to buy the story rather than the facts.

When you contact a company, here is a suggestion on what to ask for:

• Can you tell me the exact liner material used inside your aluminum bottles.

• Is it polyester, acrylic, or epoxy based, and do you provide an FDA food contact compliance statement?

• Do you have food contact packaging compliance documentation?

• An FDA food contact statement, EU framework regulation documentation, or the liner resin specification sheet?

If they can answer that cleanly, that is a good sign.

Aluminum water bottle benefits and the environment

Yes, there are aluminum water bottle benefits from an environmental angle. Aluminum is widely recyclable in many places, and it is lighter than glass for shipping and lugging around an airport. But I also want you to consider the manufacturing and recycling footprint, and the fact that people living near industrial facilities can face higher inhalation exposures to particulates and fumes in some contexts.

We are getting too much of this heavy metal in modern life already. And now companies want to bring in more of it, as a convenience product, with a liner that most consumers do not even realize exists.

Are aluminum water bottles reusable?

I would not reuse a single use aluminum water bottle. Reusable aluminum water bottles is a different conversation than single aluminum water bottles. In fact, if I was stuck in an airport and that was my only option, I would look for a reusable stainless steel water bottle first. If there were none then I would look for a reusable aluminum water bottle and then fill it up with water at a water fountain. And I would have to be pretty desperate to do that. Don’t get me started on what happens at those water stations.

A reusable aluminum bottle is typically thicker, often designed for long term handling, and many are anodized or coated differently, and they also have interior coatings depending on the brand and use. I am not saying they are healthier.

Single use aluminum water bottles are optimized for shelf presence and distribution, not necessarily for repeated use. That is why I do not recommend reusing single use aluminum water bottles over and over. Use it once, and recycle it if your local system accepts it. And oddly, in Oakland, I did not see a dedicated recycling receptacle for a single use aluminum water bottle. If you are going to sell me on recycling, make it easy to recycle.

Aluminum water bottle vs stainless steel

If you are asking me for a practical everyday choice, I am going to choose a stainless steel water bottle over a reusable aluminum water bottle any day. And, I would prefer glass over both. Stainless does not require an internal polymer liner in the same way aluminum does and glass doe not either.

Final thoughts, are single use aluminum water bottles bad for you?

My answer is that single use aluminum water bottles are not something I would choose as my daily hydration tool. Not because I think one bottle is guaranteed to harm you, but because we are stacking exposures in modern life, and the liner and cap questions are still too opaque for most consumers. Until transparency becomes standard, I err on the side of caution.

If you do buy a single use aluminum water bottle, choose the bottle that looks the least handled, no dents, no deep scratches, no scuffed cap area. I would also avoid bottles that look like they have been sitting in heat or direct light for long periods. In fact, grab the one at the very back lurking in the dark. And check the expiration date.

What about aluminum water bottles with straw?

One last quick note. An aluminum water bottle with straw is usually a reusable product category, not a single use shelf bottle. If you are using a straw lid, the straw and gasket materials become part of the exposure conversation, so you want a brand that discloses those materials too.

If you really want to know what is inside the liner of your single use aluminum water bottle, contact the company and ask for the liner material and the food contact documentation. If they respond with real materials and compliance language, great. If they respond with marketing fog, that tells you what you need to know. Don’t be duped, question the norm ladies.

That is why Danni and I do this work. We read the fine print so you do not have to guess. We translate the science so you can choose with clarity rather than fear. Small shifts create real change when they are grounded in understanding.

Let’s decode your products

If you have a product or an ingredient you’d like us to decode on a future episode, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line at (656) 222 0848 (no one answers, promise) or message me in the show notes. This is Label to Table, where we question the norm, encourage you to trust your wisdom, and make small shifts that create a big impact.

We will see you next week,

~Karen

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Thank you to those who sent me messages of love, support, and encouragement about Zazu. It was much appreciated. I spent the week getting him back on the natural compounds; the vomiting has stopped, and he seems to be doing better. I just started the compounded transdermal medication yesterday. Fingers crossed. So, that gave me the time to get a post out to you all.

You have probably seen hyaluronic acid splashed across skin care labels, promoted in serums, moisturizers, supplements, and cosmetic treatments promising plumper, more hydrated skin. And once you have gone through menopause, hyaluronic acid seems to pop up everywhere. Well, not hyaluronic acid itself, but the promise of plumper skin perks our ears!

Did you know we make our own hyaluronic acid?

It is naturally present throughout your body, particularly in your skin, joints, cartilage, connective tissues, and the fluid surrounding your cells. And unlike the little bottle sitting on the bathroom counter, hyaluronic acid (HA) can also be found naturally in some of the foods we eat.

This is where the story gets interesting because researchers have begun looking at what happens when hyaluronic acid reaches the gut. Now, if you are new here, welcome. To know me is to know everything is going to come back to the gut. So, if you are fascinated so far and have not joined us, now is a great time to subscribe and welcome in.

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Also, this is perfect opportunity to say welcome to some new Subscribers, thank you for joining , , and

For those of you who do know me, you know I would get there eventually. And some of the early research h

as me fascinated and I wanted to share it with you. But first, what exactly is HA?

First, What Exactly Is Hyaluronic Acid?

Despite the word acid in its name, hyaluronic acid isn’t an acid in the way you might imagine something acidic or corrosive like a can of Coke cleaning rust off chrome or baking soda and lemon cleaning those bathtub rings.

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan, a large carbohydrate molecule that has an extraordinary ability to attract and hold water. In fact, its structure allows it to bind large amounts of water relative to its own weight, helping tissues stay hydrated, lubricated, and resilient.

Your body produces it naturally, with particularly high concentrations in the skin, eyes, joints, and connective tissues. Think of it as part moisture magnet and part cushioning system, helping tissues glide against one another while maintaining the plumpness and hydration we tend to associate with youthful skin.

That helps explain why HA has become such a darling of the beauty industry. But I think we have made the conversation about HA far too cosmetic. Or perhaps the beauty industry has simply done such a good job selling us on what HA can do on the outside that we have barely heard about what it may be doing on the inside.

Especially for women during and beyond menopause, that is a conversation worth expanding.

As estrogen levels decline, our natural production and distribution of hyaluronic acid can change along with the tissues that depend on it. We tend to notice the visible effects first: skin that feels drier, thinner, or less supple. Yet HA is also present in our joints, cartilage, connective tissues, eyes, and other areas where hydration, lubrication, and tissue structure are essential.

Before we run off and buy another supplement, however, I want to look at food. Because HA has been around long before anyone figured out how to put it into a capsule or a face cream.

Where Do We Find Hyaluronic Acid Naturally?

Do you remember how our grandparents and great grandparents ate? They knew the secret. And, when you look at photos of them in their 50s and 60s, and sometimes even their 70s, their wrinkles are not what we are experiencing today.

They did not waste food the way we do today. Bones went into a pot of water to make broth, along with tougher cuts of meat, gristle, cartilage, and connective tissue that could simmer for hours. They ate chicken with the skin on rather than stripping it down to a boneless, skinless breast. I cannot tell you how difficult it can be to find chicken breast with the skin still attached.

Somewhere along the way, we became fat phobic for all the wrong reasons and began removing parts of the animal that had traditionally been eaten for generations. And in doing so, we also removed natural sources of collagen, hyaluronic acid, and other components found in skin, cartilage, and connective tissue. Then, rather ironically, we started buying some of those same compounds back in powders, capsules, and expensive little bottles.

You see, many of those animal tissues naturally contain hyaluronic acid. HA is particularly abundant in skin, cartilage, joints, and connective tissues. This makes foods such as bone broth made with cartilage and joints, slow cooked cuts rich in connective tissue, and poultry skin interesting dietary sources.

And this brings us to protein.

Your Protein Is More Than Protein

When we talk about eating protein during and beyond menopause, the conversation usually revolves around a measurement. How many grams of protein did you eat today? Did you hit your protein goal? Are you getting enough leucine? Do you need another protein shake?

Protein is absolutely valuable. During digestion, protein is broken down primarily into amino acids and small peptides that your body can absorb and use to build the proteins and other nitrogen containing compounds it needs. Those amino acids are continually recycled and rearranged to maintain and repair tissues, preserve muscle, produce enzymes and signaling molecules, support immune function, and carry out an enormous number of other biological jobs.

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that quality protein needed to come from a supplement, protein shake, or some highly processed plant based concoction.

How about if we just turned back to naturally raised animal protein? When you eat different parts of the animal, particularly skin and connective tissue, or use bones, joints, and cartilage to make broth, you are consuming a much broader matrix of nutrients and structural compounds, you are consuming a much broader matrix of nutrients and structural compounds. This is among the most natural dietary sources of collagen and hyaluronic acid.

These are two (among many) reasons I prefer naturally raised animal proteins and encourage variety rather than relying exclusively on boneless, skinless chicken breast and highly processed protein products.

I discovered this firsthand when I moved to the United States. I could find chicken legs with the skin on and sometimes chicken thighs, with the occasional super bonus of getting the bone too. But try finding a chicken breast with the bone and skin still attached. Not a hope in, well...you know where. But try finding a chicken breast with the bone and skin still attached. Not a hope in, well...you know where.

Eventually, I started searching farmers’ markets because I wanted access to more traditionally raised animals and different cuts. It made me wonder whether, in our pursuit of leaner, cleaner, easier protein, we have removed some of the very tissues humans traditionally consumed.

We kept the protein. We just threw away many of the best parts. And with them, we have reduced our dietary exposure to compounds such as collagen and hyaluronic acid.

Then HA Reaches Your Gut

This is the part I find especially intriguing. For years, hyaluronic acid has primarily been discussed in relation to skin and joints. But researchers are now exploring what happens when orally consumed HA encounters the gastrointestinal tract and its microbial residents. In fact, early animal and laboratory research suggests HA may interact with the gut microbiome.

A mouse model study looked at what happened when mice were orally given hyaluronic acid every day for two weeks. Researchers found changes in the gut microbiota, including an approximately 42 fold increase in Akkermansia. Further testing confirmed a significant increase in Akkermansia muciniphila. And that piqued my curiosity.

Commensal Akkermansia bacteria live within the mucus layer of the intestinal tract and have become an important area of microbiome research because of their associations with intestinal barrier function and metabolic health. The study also revealed increased levels of acetic acid, butyric acid, and especially propionic acid in the stool of hyaluronan treated mice. And now our HA story has wandered from our face, through our dinner plate, and straight into our intestinal ecosystem.

What Do Short Chain Fatty Acids Have to Do With It?

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are compounds produced largely when gut bacteria ferment complex carbohydrates and fibers.

Let’s focus on butyrate. Butyrate is an important fuel source for cells lining the colon and is involved in maintaining the intestinal environment and barrier. The preliminary research suggests that HA may be metabolized by certain gut microbes and could influence microbial activity and short chain fatty acid production. That does not mean eating chicken skin will automatically increase your Akkermansia or flood your colon with butyrate right away. I wish nutrition worked that fast. However, over time, our dietary choices may help shape the microbial environment of the gut.

So, let’s get back to bone broth.

Long, slow cooking of bones, cartilage, skin, tendons, and connective tissue releases gelatin and other compounds into the cooking liquid. As it breaks down, it creates that wonderful jiggle when refrigerated. That jiggle tells you wonderful things are present. Including collagen and hyaluronic acid.

The HA content of foods and broths can vary considerably depending on the animal, tissues used, processing, cooking conditions, and preparation method. Therefore, we do not currently have a reliable HA number to give per cup of homemade bone broth.

Our ancestors would then turn that broth into soups and stews full of supportive nutrients that also contribute to healthy, plump skin. Sometimes the simplest things are the most helpful.

Do You Need a Hyaluronic Acid Supplement?

Do we need hyaluronic acid supplements or creams? Maybe. Maybe not. Oral hyaluronic acid supplements are available, and human research has explored their potential effects on areas such as skin hydration and joint comfort.

But supplements shouldn’t automatically become the go to choice. First, let’s look at the bigger picture. What kinds of protein are you eating? Are you eating a variety of whole foods?

Do you eat fish with skin? Do you eat poultry skin? Do you eat slow cooked cuts of beef containing connective tissue? Do you make broth from bones, joints, cartilage, and skin?

And perhaps most importantly, how well are you digesting the protein you are already consuming?

Because swallowing a capsule containing a highly concentrated compound doesn’t guarantee that it is the missing piece in your diet. And no amount of cream, lotion, or gel smoothed into wrinkly skin is going to replace the HA found throughout the body. Those products may help hydrate the surface of the skin, but that is a very different conversation from nourishing ourselves from the inside which. Not to mention the effect will also last longer.

Perhaps We Need to Look Beyond the Skinless Chicken Breast

For decades, fad diet messaging taught us to strip away animal skin, trim away connective tissue, choose the leanest possible cuts, and prize the boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Then we became fascinated with collagen. Now we’re buying collagen and collagen peptides by the tub, swallowing hyaluronic acid in capsules, and slathering it across our faces and necks as though we have discovered the elixir of youth.

Perhaps it is time to get back to basics and shift some of that spending toward better quality food. We can choose pasture raised chicken or grass fed and finished beef and eat more of the parts we have learned to discard, bringing naturally occurring nutrients and compounds back to our plates. Depending on what you buy and how you use it, you may even save money compared with an ever growing collection of expensive powders, capsules, and skin care products making vague promises.

When we eat a greater variety of whole, minimally processed foods, we also expose ourselves to compounds that may never appear on the Nutrition Facts panel. Hyaluronic acid is one of them.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this famous skin care ingredient isn’t what it can do sitting on the surface of your skin. The developing research into dietary HA and the gut suggests there may be a much bigger story. Like so much of our health, it really does begin from the inside out.

See you next week,

~Karen

This week, tackling tallow in Twinkies® and a subscriber wanted to know about protein powders.

We had such a wonderful turn out for this live and I am grateful for those who could join us live… , , (now I can see your whole name), , and thank you for joining us. And, a big thank you for all the conversation and truth bombs!

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But First, Protein Powders

Before we get to the whole thing with Twinkies® and Tallow, Danni started off our Label to Table segment with Proton powders. And this is all thanks to Cindy who wanted us to decode protein powders.

Did you know protein powder was not originally created for bodybuilders or gym enthusiasts? I had no idea either. One of the earliest commercial protein powders, called Plasmon, was developed to help nourish underfed hospital patients.

Danni explained how protein powders have since evolved into highly processed products that often contain far more than protein—including artificial flavours, sweeteners, gums, fillers and other additives. While they can be convenient, she cautions against treating them as a replacement for real, whole-food sources of protein.

If you do use a protein powder, Danni recommends looking for a simple, third-party-tested whey protein isolate with as few added ingredients as possible—and keeping it as an occasional backup rather than an everyday substitute for food.

For a deeper dive into protein powders as well as Danni’s recommendations and what to look for before buying one, head over to her publication, Back to Basics of Nutrition Substack. She has two articles on the subject

Tallow in Twinkies®?

I was reading the Twinkies® ingredient list when I saw something I did not expect. Tallow. Beef tallow in Twinkies®?I thought? I had to read it again. Really? Why?

There it was among the sugar, enriched flour, high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, cottonseed oil and the rest of the Hostess snack cake ingredients. Questioning how they were able to mold this into something edible.

Then, farther down the list, I found hydrogenated tallow. Now I had more questions. If anything it immediately changed my thoughts on the tallow and I had a sneaky suspicion it wss not the tallow I have been using in my cooking.

But the bigger question, why would one little cream filled cake need both tallow and hydrogenated tallow? What exactly is the Twinkies® hortening composition, and why is animal fat hiding inside a packaged sweet? Especially a Twinkies®! Have you seen what is in there?

And then I realized, I need to understand that there might be different types of tallow including hydrogenated tallow and that it is being used not only packaged goods, but other places too.

Hydrogenated Tallow and Trans Fats in Processed Snacks

If you have never heard of tallow before, here is a quick 101. Tallow is rendered animal fat, most commonly beef fat and sometimes mutton commercially speaking here. In other words, in the commercial use of it. There are tons of other animal fats consumed around the world and for centuries. Something I have included in my upcoming book, Go With Your Gut Beyond Menopause. I also wrote a little bit of the chapter here on fats in general.

What is Rendered Tallow?

Rendering involves heating the fatty tissue so the usable fat separates from the water, protein and connective tissue. Sounds gross I know, however, people have used tallow for centuries. It has been used to make soap, candles, skin care products, lubricants and a wonderful oil to cook with. What I did not know is that it is also used in commercial baking, processed foods and specialized chemical derivatives.

With seed oils receiving a bad wrap (and with good measure), tallow has returned to the spotlight. A current Market Trends As of 2026, the food and beverage sector accounts for over 43% of the global tallow market.

Here is a fun fact, McDonald’s once cooked its French fries in a mixture reported to contain approximately 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil. The company changed its American frying oil in 1990. And there are some rumors, they may be adding in tallow once more. That still will not bring me in to eat their food.

Tallow in processed food has plenty of history behind it. The more interesting question is what happens to that tallow before it reaches the ingredient label?

So, we started with rendering. This is where we would then have a wonderful product for our kitchen. But for the food processing, industry, it gets a little … darker.

Edible refining

After the beef fat is rendered, a commercial manufacturer may refine it further. This is often called edible refining. The idea behind refining produces a cleaner, more uniform and neutral ingredient for large scale food manufacturing.

Rendering Is Only the Beginning

After raw beef fat is rendered, a commercial manufacturer may refine it further. This is often called edible refining. Refining produces a cleaner, more uniform and neutral ingredient for large scale food manufacturing.

Once rendered, the liquid tallow may still contain tiny remnants of tissue, protein or other material. Industrial filtration and separation remove those remnants. The liquid fat is spun in high speed centrifuges and passed through fine filters. Depending on the desired final product, it can also undergo bleaching and deodorizing.

During the bleaching stage, the tallow is mixed with adsorbent clay. The clay binds pigments, oxidation products and other impurities. It is then removed through filtration, leaving a paler and more uniform fat.

Next comes deodorization. Steam, heat and vacuum are used to remove volatile compounds responsible for stronger smells and flavours. The finished fat has a more neutral taste and is less likely to alter the flavour of the food.

By this point, the manufacturer has taken an animal fat and made it pale, neutral and uniform. It may have started as a recognizable traditional fat. It has now travelled through several industrial steps designed to meet the needs of processed food production. And the processing may continue.

Fractionating Tallow Into Different Fats

Tallow naturally contains fatty acids with different melting points. Through a process called fractionation, manufacturers can separate the fat into two sets a harder form and a softer one. The tallow is cooled under controlled conditions. The harder fats crystallize first while the softer portion remains liquid. Manufacturers can then separate the fractions and use each one for a particular purpose.

One fraction might provide a hard, waxy coating for confectionery products. Another could contribute softness, flakiness or a particular melting sensation in a baked product. fractionation and fat processing.

In the case of a Twinkies®, different fats could help create tenderness, creaminess, filling stability and the soft fatty sensation food scientists call mouthfeel. Which now I understand why tallow appeared twice: tallow and hydrogenated tallow. Their fractionated properties allow them to perform different outcomes.

Enzymes Can Modify Tallow Too

Manufacturers may also use enzymes called lipases to break apart or rearrange components of fats. Some industrial lipases come from microorganisms such as Pseudomonas fluorescens or Candida rugosa. These enzymes can be used to produce monoglycerides and other specialized fat ingredients with fewer unwanted reaction products than some traditional chemical methods used. It is considered less processed.

Monoglycerides are commonly used as emulsifiers. They help fat and water remain mixed, support a consistent texture and reduce separation. Depending on the product and process, consumers may encounter terms such as “enzyme modified” or “enzymatically processed.” These descriptions do not reveal every detail about the organisms, enzymes or manufacturing aids used during production.

Now let’s return to the ingredient that caught my attention on the Twinkies® label, hydrogenated tallow. Because that is the next step.

What Is Hydrogenated Tallow?

Hydrogenation changes the chemical structure of a fat. The simplified industrial recipe requires three main things:

Hydrogen gas, tallow and a metal catalyst, usually nickel however, platinum or palladium can also serve as catalysts. Nickel is commonly chosen because it is effective and less expensive.

The fat is placed inside processing equipment under controlled heat and pressure. Hydrogen gas is introduced while finely divided ground nickel powder provides a surface where the hydrogen and unsaturated fat molecules can interact.

Hydrogen gas and fat do not readily bond on their own. The catalyst brings them together and allows hydrogen to attach to the carbon bonds within the fatty acids.

Industrial hydrogen gas can be used in many sectors, including fuel processing and fuel cell technologies. Its use elsewhere does not determine the safety of the hydrogenated fat. The food question concerns what hydrogenation does to the fatty acids and what remains after processing.ScienceDirect article

After the reaction, the nickel catalyst is filtered from the fat. Food manufacturing specifications control allowable residues, although the average shopper receives little information about the catalyst, filtration or testing used for a particular ingredient.

The finished tallow is harder, more saturated, more resistant to oxidation and less likely to soften or separate during storage. It has received one hell of an industrial makeover.

Hydrogenated Tallow and Trans Fats in Processed Snacks

Partial and full hydrogenation are two different processes. The difference comes down to how far the reaction is allowed to proceed.You can read a general explanation of hydrogenation here.

Partial Hydrogenation

During partial hydrogenation, the process stops before all the available double bonds have been saturated with hydrogen.

Some fatty acids may remain unsaturated. Others may change from their natural cis configuration into the trans configuration associated with industrial trans fats.

A cis fat contains a bend in its molecular shape. During partial hydrogenation, some of those molecules can straighten into a trans configuration. This allows them to pack together more tightly and makes the fat firmer.

Partially hydrogenated fat was useful to manufacturers because it created an inexpensive, shelf stable, semi solid shortening. It helped produce the texture once associated with margarine, packaged icing, commercial baked goods and snack foods. It also created a serious health problem.

We now know that industrial trans fats raise LDL cholesterol, can lower HDL cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. This is the same central concern that made partially hydrogenated vegetable oils so infamous. ScienceDirect and Science Insights.

Partially hydrogenated fats and oils are no longer generally recognized as safe for use in human food in the United States. The final compliance period for most food products ended in 2021. The process itself can still be performed for nonfood or industrial purposes. Using partially hydrogenated tallow as an ingredient in American human food would requires specific legal authorization. Just thought I would throw in this tidbit in case you were wondering.

Full Hydrogenation

During full hydrogenation, the manufacturer continues adding hydrogen until virtually all the available double bonds have been saturated. The fatty acids become straighter and pack together tightly. The final fat becomes extremely hard and waxy. Think candle wax instead of the spoonable tallow in your kitchen.

Full hydrogenation creates very little industrial trans fat because the process leaves few unsaturated double bonds available to remain in the trans configuration. The resulting ingredient is highly saturated, highly modified and physically difficult to use on its own. Its hardness is precisely what makes it useful to manufacturers.

But what about making it pliable? How does it contribute to that flaky, grease gel in pastries? Manufacturers may blend it with softer fats, including those vegetable oils we are trying to avoid to create a usable texture. They can also use a process called interesterification.

What is Interesterification?

Interesterification rearranges where the fatty acids sit on the glycerol backbone of a fat molecule. It changes the fat’s melting behaviour and texture without relying on partial hydrogenation to produce a semi solid consistency. An interesterified fat could contain fully hydrogenated fat blended with a liquid or softer oil. Depending on the formulation, that softer oil may come from soybean, cottonseed or another vegetable oil.

This process allows manufacturers to build a fat with a specific level of firmness, spreadability and melt. That does not mean every product containing fully hydrogenated tallow also contains interesterified fat. The term “interesterified fat” should only be used when that additional process has actually occurred. For more information about hydrogenated and interesterified fats, see this resource from the Centre for Food Safety.

The Trans Fat Label Loophole

A Nutrition Facts panel can declare zero grams of trans fat when one serving contains less than 0.5 gram. That means “0 g trans fat” does not always mean the product contains absolutely none. Several servings eaten together could add up to more than the rounded number suggests. This labelling rule does not legalize the addition of prohibited partially hydrogenated oils. It concerns the amount that must be declared on the Nutrition Facts panel.

Keep in mind, small amounts may come from naturally occurring ruminant trans fats, other ingredients or trace quantities created during processing. The Cleveland Clinic explains why reading the ingredient list remains useful even when the Nutrition Facts panel shows zero.

Where is Manufacturd Tallow and Hydrogenated Tallow?

Hydrogenated and interesterified fats have been used in products that require a controlled texture and a long period of stability. You may find them in peanut butter, where added fat can reduce oil separation. Think margarine and shortening; commercial cookies, crackers, pastries and pie crusts; coffee creamers; frostings and glazes; and shelf stable fillings and coatings. Like what you find in the middle of a Twinkies®.

The exact source may be animal fat, vegetable oil or a blend. Ingredient labels need to be read carefully.

While you are now focused on the label, names related to tallow may include:

• Fully hydrogenated tallow

• Hydrogenated tallow

• Hydrogenated tallow fatty acid

• Tallow derived stearic acid

• Modified beef tallow

These terms can describe different ingredients and different levels of processing.

“Hydrogenated tallow fatty acid” may appear in industrial, cosmetic or packaging contexts and should not automatically be treated as the same ingredient found in food.

Why Not Use Butter or Regular Tallow?

Butter and rendered tallow already provide flavour, richness and cooking performance. They also come with natural variation. Their melting properties can shift according to the animal’s diet, the fat source, seasonal conditions and processing method. That variation is manageable in a home kitchen. It can become inconvenient in a factory producing thousands of identical cakes every hour.

On the other hand, as sad as it is, food manufacturers want fat that is consistent with every batch. They need fillings that remain stable during shipping, coatings that set at a chosen temperature and cakes that keep the same texture after months on a shelf. Modified fats offer several commercial advantages.

Tallow derivatives and fully hydrogenated fats may cost less than butter. They may also allow a manufacturer to use a smaller amount of very hard fat to control the texture of a larger mixture.

Hydrogenated fats resist oxidation and rancidity longer than many softer natural fats and oils. This helps protect flavour during extended storage.

A manufacturer can engineer a fat to soften, melt or remain firm at a chosen temperature. This helps every cookie, cracker, filling or snack cake feel nearly identical.

A predictable fat can move through pumps, mixers, depositors and filling equipment more consistently. It can also tolerate transportation and temperature changes more effectively. This helps explain why a Twinkies® might contain both forms.

Regular tallow may contribute richness, tenderness and mouthfeel. Hydrogenated tallow may provide structure, firmness and a controlled melt. The soybean and cottonseed oils on the label bring their own physical properties to the formulation. The result is a customized fat system built for the product, the machinery, the delivery truck and the shelf.

So, after all of this, I thought, why would any one want to eat this? And we have only discussed 2 ingredients. But there was another question that came to mind as I researched this for our Label to Table episode. I looked over the package and I did not see anything about using tallow.

Are Twinkies® Vegetarian or Halal?

You know, if I did eat these types of food, I would not think to check the label. Once you know there is beef tallow in Twinkies®, a few more questions arise.

Are Twinkies® vegetarian or vegan?

Are Twinkies® halal?

Are Twinkies® Kosher?

The answers are far less obvious than the golden little cake suggests. Twinkies® are unsuitable for vegetarians because the current Twinkies® ingredient list includes tallow and hydrogenated tallow. Tallow is animal fat. Anyone searching for hidden animal ingredients in sweets has found a very good example.

The halal status of Twinkies® requires closer examination. The current United States ingredient list includes tallow, hydrogenated tallow, glycerine, mono and diglycerides, and enzymes. These ingredients raise several questions for someone following halal dietary requirements.

Glycerine can be made from plant oils, animal fats or synthetic sources. Mono and diglycerides can also come from plant or animal fat. The ingredient list does not identify the original source. Enzymes may come from microbial, plant or animal sources. Once again, the ingredient label does not disclose the source.

Then we have the tallow itself. Beef may be permissible under Islamic dietary law when the animal and its method of slaughter meet halal requirements. The words “tallow” and “hydrogenated tallow” do not confirm that the fat came from cattle slaughtered according to those requirements. As of July 2026, I could not find a halal certification statement or halal symbol on the official Hostess Twinkies product page.

Packaging, certifications and formulations can change. Anyone requiring certainty should check the current package for a recognized halal certification mark or contact Hostess directly.

For that reason, I would not declare standard United States Twinkies® halal based solely on the ingredient list. Their halal status remains unverified unless Hostess confirms the sources of the animal derived ingredients and the slaughter practices involved.

The same questions may arise for people following kosher dietary requirements or anyone who avoids beef for personal, ethical or religious reasons.

A person may look at a sweet, cream filled snack cake and never imagine that it contains animal fat. That is why the entire ingredient list deserves a look, especially for vegans, vegetarians, people avoiding beef and those following halal or kosher dietary requirements.

From Tallow to Twinkies®: What Did We Learn?

Tallow itself is not the villain of this story. Traditionally rendered beef tallow is a recognizable cooking fat that people have used for generations. And something I prefer to use for cooking with.

Manufactured and hydrogenated tallow is a different creature. It has been refined and chemically altered to satisfy the needs of the manufacturer: longer shelf life, controlled melting, dependable texture and a product that survives the machinery, the delivery truck and months on a store shelf.

Fully hydrogenated tallow may avoid most of the industrial trans fat associated with partial hydrogenation, but that does not make it nutritionally equal to traditionally rendered tallow. It is still an exceptionally hard, highly saturated and industrially modified fat created for performance in processed food.

Then there is the part many shoppers would never suspect. A sweet, cream-filled snack cake contains beef fat, making it unsuitable for vegetarians and raising important questions for anyone following halal, kosher or other religious dietary requirements.

The front of the package sells us a soft, golden childhood memory. The ingredient list tells us what it took to manufacture it. And hopefully that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

So, the next time an unexpected word catches your eye, do not stop at What is it?

Ask Why is it there? What has been done to it? And who benefits most from putting it in the food…the person eating it or the company making it?

Your Turn…

Did you know Twinkies® contained beef tallow, or did that surprise you as much as it surprised me?

Does knowing how hydrogenated tallow is made change how you view it?

What other childhood food would you like us to put under the Label to Table microscope for decoding?

Leave a comment

Thank you for reading and watching. Please share with your Twinkies® obsessed friends and family

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Until next week,

Karen

I really do not have anything prepared for you this week. Really! I did not work on my book either.

It has been a crazy busy week. We left the fires and smoke of Washington for Idaho and the air quality is just as bad as here in Coeur d’Alene as it was in Othello. My lungs hurt and my eyes are gritty.

It has also been an extremely trying week with my cat Zazu. I caved and put him on the prescribed thyroid medication. Five days later he had licked all the hair off of his tail, was agitated, jumpy, grumpy and wired all at the same. The symptoms he was displaying are actual symptoms of feline hyperthyroidism. The very symptoms that the drug is supposed to improve. He was actually worse on the medication than what I was doing naturally.

I thought he was going downhill, it turned out he was dehydrated and I mistook his symptoms as his thyroid getting worse. I have been giving him IV fluids every 4 days, and now we are every other day. So, the symptoms were not his thyroid and I did not want to stop the medication and did not know what to do.

And then, he started vomiting the day we left Washington. Five days in he was still vomiting. A whole lotta crying knowing I could not bring myself to deal with another conventional veterinarian. I found a holistic vet in Post Falls Idaho and spent the week working with her.

We are going to try a transdermal thyroid medication that is supposed to not have the side effect the tablet has. And she was willing to have an herbal tincture made up from the research I have done on feline hyperthyroidism so long as she has the final say. I am not a vet and want her say.

I was concerned about the alcohol content that usually is used with herbal tinctures and the vet had the most brilliant idea. She simply said, for my furry clients I use MCT oil. Brilliant!

Now here is the crazy part. Getting medications for pets is just as bad as it is for humans. I have been trying for 4 days to get the transdermal medication from the compounding pharmacy. They are overwhelmed and I am in a queue. And the herbalist is 2 weeks out. So that means it will be another month before I get anything because of shipping.

So, I have gone back to what I was doing before. Homeopathics and the individual herbal tinctures, supplements and lactulose for a good poop. And I will keep up the IV fluids and keep him happy. I have it down to an art. The homeopathic, I crush the pellets add to his food. I purcahsed 500mg sized empty capsules. One gets filled wiht the powders and the other the liquids. Down the hatch, a treat and life is good.

So, it may sound lame, but that is my copout and excuse for this week. Do you still want to subscribe if you are new here? You can, I will appreciate you and have a better post next week. If not no, worries thanks for stopping by.

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Well, that and I took on a client project that I thought would take a couple of days and has turned into a week working on it in between daily walks, massages and tummy rubs (not me, Zazu) staying up most of the night with a howling kitty cat and cleaning up vomit, washing clothes, walls, floors and whatever else Zazu feels needs a coating of upchuck. Oh the things we do for love!

On a happier note, just because I must end on a positive. I scored such a beautiful place. Here in Coeur d’Alene the RV parks are around $100 a night! Yes, two 00’s!! I hopped on HipCamp (the Airbnb of the camping world) and scored a private spot overlooking the Spokane river nestled in between and above million dollar homes for $65. night. Total no-brainer, right?

Last night we had moose visit us. MOOSE! I wish I could share a picture, but 2 things happened, one I slept through it. And two, my husband who did not wake me up did not know how to use his phone. I included the photo, I have a feeling you will know which one it is🤣🤣.

I am sorry, forgive me, signed one under-slept, under fed, worried mum who is trying to keep her shit and cat together. I will have something for you all next week. I think.

~Karen

Before we get into the why there is rice flour in supplements and a shocking monk fruit surprise I wanted to say thanks to some people.

We had such a wonderful turn out for this live and I am grateful for those who could join us live… , , , , , , and a special big thank you to for the conversation and all those hearts.

Also, super happy and thankful for some more new subscribers:

, and . Thank your joining the adventure. If you are new here, I hope you too will subscribe. I would love to have you here. Monday is a post, Wednesday’s is our Live Label to Table and Thursday a recording of a past Label to Table. SO hit that button and welcome in!

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Before we get into whether rice flour in supplements are bad for you, you need to hear this about monk fruit. And, April, I think you are going to want to tune in for sure!

Danni’s Deep Dive: Is Monk Fruit Really Monk Fruit?

Danni took us beyond the claim that monk fruit is a natural, zero-calorie sweetener. I I have not actually seen what munk fruit looks like and I am guess ing you do not either. The fruit itself is a small melon traditionally grown in southern China and used medicinally as a tea. What we are getting on the grocer’s shelves is a highly processed extract that may be combined with erythritol, allulose or dextrose to give it enough volume to pour and measure. So buyer beware!

I thought I would share the biggest aha moment with you all here and it is down right disgusting! Danni discovered that manufacturers are exploring molecular farming and fermentation methods to produce monk fruit’s sweet compounds without relying on the actual fruit. Suddenly, “monk fruit sweetener” may not be quite as straightforward as the name suggests. And for me, it should be labeled MUnKmOnSter Sweetener.

Danni will be digging deeper into how monk fruit sweeteners are produced, what may be hiding in the package and what to look for before buying. Head over to her Back to Basics Nutrition Substack for the full deep dive.

Why Is Rice Flour in Supplements?

During our recent Label to Table discussion about soy lecithin and color-added salmon, Cindy Panetti Cry asked:

“This was terrific. I would like to ask about silicon dioxide and rice flour. I see them as ingredients in different supposedly healthy things, like supplements.”

We will save silicon dioxide for another conversation because it deserves its own deep dive. This week, we are sticking with rice flour in supplements.

Hav you looked to see what is in your supplements?

When you turn over a bottle of vitamins, herbs or probiotics, you may find rice flour listed under “Other Ingredients.” You may also find it in protein powders, greens powders, gluten-free foods and other products promoted as healthy.

But why is rice flour there? Does it provide any nutritional benefit? Is it safe? And if a supplement requires a large scoop of rice flour—or a capsule filled with it—how much of the product you purchased is actually the ingredient advertised on the front? Let’s decode it.

What Is Rice Flour?

Rice flour is produced by grinding rice into a fine powder. It may be made from white rice or brown rice, although a supplement label may simply say “rice flour” without identifying the type.

Rice became a popular alternative to wheat flour and other wheat-derived starches as consumers began associating wheat with digestive problems and actively seeking gluten-free products.

Using rice flour allowed manufacturers to perform many of the same manufacturing functions without adding gluten. It also gave the ingredient list a cleaner, more natural appearance.

After all, “rice flour” sounds like food. “Anti-caking agent,” “manufacturing excipient” or “synthetic carrier” does not have quite the same healthy ring to it.

In many products, however, rice flour is not there because it improves your health. It is a manufacturing ingredient used as a filler, binder, carrier or flow agent.

What Does “Rice Powder” Mean on a Supplement Label?

One of the problems with the term “rice powder” is that it can be frustratingly vague. Several different rice-derived ingredients can appear on a label:

These terms are not interchangeable. If a manufacturer lists only “rice powder,” we still do not know whether it means flour, starch, bran or rice-hull material. I feel that is a fair question to ask the company.

Why Is Rice Flour Used in Healthy Foods?

In conventional and functional foods, rice flour and other rice-derived starches may:

• Thicken shakes, soups and sauces.

• Improve the texture of gluten-free foods.

• Prevent powdered seasonings from clumping.

• Carry natural flavours, enzymes and sweeteners.

• Add structure to protein bars and snack foods.

• Add inexpensive bulk to protein powders and greens powders.

• Replace wheat-derived ingredients so the product can be labelled gluten-free.

• Give the ingredient list a more familiar, natural appearance.

Rice flour can be useful in gluten-free baking, but its presence does not automatically make a product a whole food, high in fibre or nutritionally superior.

A snack made with rice flour, rice starch, brown rice syrup and rice protein can still be a highly processed, starch-heavy food even when every ingredient sounds wholesome.

Why Is Rice Flour in Supplements?

The answer to why rice flour is in supplements is so simple and yet leaves you shaking your head. Are you ready for this? Rice flour is in supplement simply to fill unused space in a capsule! That is it!

Suppose a capsule holds approximately 500 milligrams, but its active ingredients occupy only 350 milligrams. The manufacturer may add rice flour (or a combination of other ingredients) to fill the remaining space. This does not increase the amount of the active ingredient. It simply fills the capsule. Why do this?

Rice Flour Can Improve Dose Consistency

Some supplements contain a very small amount of an active ingredient. Trying to distribute a few milligrams evenly across thousands of capsules can be difficult.

A carrier such s the case with rice flour, can dilute and distribute that ingredient throughout a larger mixture, helping ensure that one capsule does not receive considerably more than another. This is known as content uniformity. In that situation, a carrier may serve a legitimate manufacturing purpose.

Powdered ingredients do not always cooperate. They can:

• Clump together.

• Stick to manufacturing equipment.

• Absorb moisture.

• Separate from one another.

• Flow inconsistently into capsules.

Rice powder may improve the way the mixture moves through manufacturing equipment and help capsules fill more consistently. Rice flour or rice starch can act as a binder, helping the ingredients remain compressed in tablet form instead of crumbling apart.

Rice Flour Creates a Cleaner-Looking Label

Rice flour may replace ingredients such as silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate or maltodextrin and wheat. This can be useful for manufacturing, but it can also be a marketing decision. Rice flour sounds natural and familiar, and also makes the product look gluten free, even when it is performing the same industrial function as another excipient.

Why Don’t Manufacturers Use a Smaller Capsule?

This was my immediate question. If the active ingredients do not fill the capsule, why not use a smaller capsule instead of bulking it up with rice flour? Several factors influence that decision.

Supplement companies usually work with a limited number of standard capsule sizes. Using the same capsule size across several products can simplify:

• Equipment setup

• Inventory

• Purchasing

• Bottling

• Production scheduling

• Packaging and label design

Changing to a smaller capsule may require different machinery components or a separate production run. Filling the company’s usual capsule with rice flour may be easier and less expensive. That benefits manufacturing efficiency, although it does not necessarily benefit the person taking the supplement. And that is usually the story with most products.

Another reason is marketing psychology. A large, completely filled capsule can appear more potent and substantial than a tiny capsule. Two capsules could contain the same amount of the active ingredient, yet many people will instinctively assume the larger one gives them more. A large bottle containing large capsules can also make an expensive supplement feel more valuable. And we all know that in the USA more is better ( so we think). Here are some other reasons:

Capsule Ingredients Have Different Densities

Milligrams measure weight, not physical volume. A fluffy herbal powder may occupy considerable space while weighing relatively little. A dense mineral can weigh much more while taking up less space. Consequently, the amount shown on the Supplement Facts panel does not always tell us how full the capsule will be.

A Filler May Prevent Ingredient Separation

When ingredients have different particle sizes or densities, they can separate during manufacturing. A carefully chosen carrier may help keep the formula evenly distributed. That is a legitimate use but it does not necessarily justify filling a dramatically oversized capsule.

A Larger Capsule May Help Justify the Price

A tiny capsule may not look like a $50 supplement, even when it contains the complete therapeutic dose. A larger capsule feels like more product. Sometimes the extra volume is doing more for the perceived value of the supplement than for the consumer taking it.

So there are a lot of reasons why manufacturers use rice flour in supplements, but is it for our health benefit? It has me questioning is rice flour even good for you?

Is Rice Flour Good for You?

In the small quantity ordinarily present in a capsule, rice flour is generally neither meaningfully nutritious nor automatically harmful. It is primarily starch. The amount in one capsule is unlikely to provide a meaningful quantity of fibre, vitamins, minerals or other beneficial compounds. Rice flour is better described as a functional manufacturing ingredient than a health ingredient.

Does Rice Flour in Supplements Contain Arsenic?

This is where the discussion becomes more important. Rice absorbs arsenic from soil and water more readily than many other crops. How much it contains depends on:

• Where the rice was grown.

• The rice variety.

• The arsenic present in the soil and irrigation water.

• Whether the bran remains.

• How the rice was processed.

• How much rice a person consumes.

• How frequently that exposure occurs.

There are organic and inorganic forms of arsenic. Inorganic arsenic is the form of greatest health concern. Brown rice commonly contains more inorganic arsenic than white rice because arsenic accumulates in the outer layers of the grain. Those layers remain on brown rice but are removed during the processing of white rice.

Organic certification does not guarantee that rice is free from arsenic. “Organic” describes agricultural practices. It does not mean the soil and irrigation water are naturally free from metals.

The FDA has established an action level of 100 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal. However, the FDA has not established a comparable action level specifically for rice flour used as a filler in adult dietary supplements. You can read more from the FDA about arsenic in food and its guidance for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals.

Does that mean the tiny amount in one capsule is dangerous? Probably not for most people. But that one capsule may not be the only source. And we should look at the accumulative effect. Consider someone regularly consuming:

• Rice protein powder

• Rice milk

• Gluten-free bread and crackers made from rice

• Brown rice syrup

• Rice cereal

• Rice-based snack foods

• Greens powders containing rice-derived carriers

• Several supplements containing rice flour

How much are we really getting in a day?

Is Rice Flour Replacing the Herb in Herbal Supplements?

This is where the rice-flour story took an interesting turn. The Famous 2013 Herbal Supplement Study—and Why We Should No Longer Use It, a widely circulated 2013 study titled DNA Barcoding Detects Contamination and Substitution in North American Herbal Products reported testing 44 herbal products from 12 companies.

The researchers claimed that many products contained plant species not declared on their labels and reported fillers such as rice, soybean and wheat. In some cases, they claimed that the labelled herb could not be authenticated. The study attracted enormous media attention and helped fuel the belief that many herbal supplements were filled with rice instead of the herbs promised on the bottle.

However, in July 2024, BMC Medicine retracted the paper after an investigation by the University of Guelph found evidence of data fabrication. The journal stated that it no longer had confidence in the reported data. That means its statistics should no longer be cited as proof of how frequently herbal supplements contain fillers or substitutions. You can read the retracted study and the journal’s retraction notice here.

This is an important correction. It does not prove that herbal substitution and contamination never occur. It means that this particular paper cannot be used as reliable evidence.

A legitimate 2024 peer-reviewed study examined 54 herbal supplements sold on the US market. The products contained Ayurvedic herbs such as:

• Ashwagandha

• Turmeric

• Ginger

• Tulsi

• Cinnamon

• Amla

• Tribulus

• Guduchi

• Vacha

Researchers used four DNA-barcode regions to look for plant species in the products.

They reported that:

• At least one plant species was identified in 64.8% of the products.

• The expected labelled species was detected in only 38.9%.

• Undeclared plant species were detected in 19 of the 54 products.

• The undeclared DNA included rice, pepper and other Ayurvedic herbs.

• Fungal DNA was found in 12 products.

This provides legitimate evidence that undeclared rice DNA can be found in some commercial herbal supplements. However, it does not tell us how much rice was present or prove that rice replaced the herb.

The researchers acknowledged that undeclared species could result from intentional substitution or contamination during harvesting and processing. You can read the 2024 herbal-supplement study here.

Another Study Found Major Herbal Supplement Label Discrepancies

A 2019 study used DNA metabarcoding to examine 79 Ayurvedic herbal products sold in Europe.

Among the products that produced usable results:

• Only two of 12 single-ingredient products contained solely the species listed on the label.

• Eight of 27 multi-ingredient products contained none of the species listed.

• The remaining multi-ingredient products contained some labelled species along with additional undeclared species.

• The researchers calculated an overall ingredient fidelity of 24%.

Those figures sound alarming, but the study also illustrates the limitations of DNA testing. Forty-four percent of the products did not produce usable DNA results. Products labelled as containing extracts yielded no detectable plant DNA.

The researchers specifically warned that manufacturing processes—including alcohol extraction, boiling, drying and heat—can degrade DNA beyond detection. You can read the full DNA-metabarcoding study here.

Does No Herbal DNA Mean There Is No Herb?

DNA barcoding can help identify plant species, but it cannot answer every question about a supplement.

It works particularly well with raw or minimally processed plant powders. It may be less successful with:

• Alcohol extracts

• Hot-water extracts

• Standardized herbal extracts

• Fermented products

• Highly purified compounds

• Extensively heated ingredients

An authentic herbal extract may retain its characteristic chemical compounds even when very little intact DNA remains.

At the same time, rice flour added after extraction may still contain easily detectable DNA. A laboratory might therefore detect rice DNA but fail to detect the DNA of the processed herbal extract. That finding deserves investigation, but it does not automatically prove that the capsule contains rice instead of the herb.

DNA barcoding is generally qualitative. It can tell researchers that DNA from a plant was detected, but it usually cannot tell us how much of that plant is present by weight. Detecting numerous rice DNA sequences does not prove that the capsule is “mostly rice.”

The strongest evaluation combines DNA identification with chemical testing that measures the herb’s characteristic compounds, along with testing for contaminants and adulterants.

How Can You Choose a Better Supplement?

Yes you can. Ge tin the habit of reading the Supplement Facts and Other Ingredients

Under FDA rules, ingredients that are not declared in the Supplement Facts panel must generally be declared in the other-ingredients statement. You can read the FDA Dietary Supplement Ingredient Labeling Guide here.

If rice flour appears under “Other Ingredients,” it is being used as an inactive or manufacturing ingredient rather than presented as the primary dietary ingredient.

If rice flour, rice starch or brown rice powder appears as a main ingredient in a protein powder, greens powder or functional food, it may represent a more significant proportion of the product.

Ask for a 3rd Party Certificate of Analysis

A Certificate of Analysis (COA) provides laboratory results for a product or ingredient. The third party COA that corresponds to the lot number on your bottle. A generic, undated document is far less useful.

Ideally, the COA should show:

• Identity testing

• Potency or active-ingredient levels

• Lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury testing

• Microbial testing

• Pesticide testing when relevant

• The laboratory that performed the analysis

• The lot or batch number

• The testing date

• The specifications and actual results

“Pass” is less informative than the actual result. If arsenic was tested, for example, I want to see the amount detected and the laboratory’s reporting limit—not merely a checkmark.

For rice-containing products, ask whether the laboratory measured inorganic arsenic specifically. A total-arsenic result does not distinguish between the different forms.

Look for NSF or USP Verified Supplements

Certifications such as NSF and USP Verified can add another layer of confidence, although no certification makes every product perfect.

NSF certification can include testing to verify label claims, assess contaminants and evaluate manufacturing practices. You can search the official NSF Certified Dietary Supplements database. When you see a certification logo, verify it on the certifier’s website. Do not assume a logo printed on a label is current or applies to every product made by that company.

Also remember that “manufactured in a GMP-compliant facility” is not the same as the individual finished product being independently tested and certified.

Use Independent Supplement Testing Resources

There are a couple sites you can check out to make sure your supplements are up to par. Labdoor purchases and tests selected supplements for label accuracy and purity. Its chemical testing is performed by FDA-registered analytical laboratories.

ConsumerLab independently selects, purchases and tests supplements and health products. Detailed reports generally require a membership. If a selected product initially fails, ConsumerLab says it sends a blinded sample to a second independent laboratory for confirmation.

These sites do not test every supplement or every production lot, but they can provide useful additional information.

Purchase Supplements Through a Trusted Dispensary

I also use Fullscript in my practice. Fullscript vets the brands in its catalogue and has an enhanced testing program for select products in popular or higher-risk categories. Products displaying its enhanced-testing badge have been pulled from warehouse shelves and independently tested for potency and purity. This is on top of their already 3rd party tested certifications.

Be Careful When Purchasing Supplements on Amazon

When buying supplements on Amazon, look carefully at the listing. Choose a product that says:

• Ships from Amazon

• Sold by the manufacturer or the brand’s authorized storefront

“Ships from Amazon” tells you who handles the fulfilment. It does not necessarily tell you who supplied the product. The more important line is “Sold by.” Confirm that the seller is the actual manufacturer or a seller the company lists as authorized. If you are uncertain, contact the supplement company through its official website and ask whether that Amazon seller is authorized.

Also examine:

• The safety seal

• Lot number

• Expiration date

• Label quality and spelling

• Capsule colour and appearance

• Odour and texture

• Whether the product looks different from previous bottles

An unusually low price is not always a bargain.

Questions to Ask a Supplement Manufacturer

If you see rice flour in a supplement, ask:

• What type of rice-derived ingredient is being used?

• How many milligrams of rice flour are present per capsule or serving?

• What manufacturing function does it perform?

• Why was this capsule size chosen instead of a smaller capsule requiring less filler?

• Is the rice flour tested for inorganic arsenic?

• Is the finished product tested for identity, potency, heavy metals, pesticides and microbial contamination?

• Can you provide a recent Certificate of Analysis corresponding to my product’s lot number?

A transparent manufacturer should be able to explain what the ingredient does and how the finished product is tested.

Is Rice Flour in Supplements Safe?

For most, the small amount of rice flour used in an occasional capsule is unlikely to create a significant problem.

In my opinion, rice flour may also be preferable to certain alternative fillers, depending on the person, the amount used and how well the finished product has been tested. But that does not make it nutritionally beneficial or always necessary.

If you can find a well-formulated product without unnecessary fillers, choose it. The fewer unnecessary ingredients, the less there is to decode.

Rice flour at the end of a short “Other Ingredients” list may serve a reasonable manufacturing purpose. Large quantities of rice powder in a greens powder, protein powder or expensive herbal formula deserve closer scrutiny.

Remember, the front of the bottle tells you what the company wants you to notice. The back tells you what you are actually buying. And that is why we always take it from Label to Table.

Thank you for your question.

Have a Product of Ingredient you are Wondering About?

If you have a product or ingredient for us to decode? Leave a voicemail or text (656) 222-0848 or message me in the show notes. We would love to hear from you.

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Have a wonderful week, and we will see you next week.

~Karen

I am feeling a little more confident once again about my upcoming book Go With Your Gut Byond Menopause. Chapter 23 on fats was a bear. Now I am on to Antioxidants and I thought I would share with you some of it here.

This coming Wednesday Dani is taking some time off while she travels back to Canada. So, there is no live Label to Table this week.

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Thursday’s Label to Table will be on Rice Powder and Tallow in your Twinkies. It was such a great episode especially what Danni revealed about protein powders. Be sure to tune it.

Could Plant Compounds help with symptoms of aging?

I met virtually with a woman who was a couple of years beyond menopause. She was looking for a little more energy and wanted help because, as she put it, everything ached.

I nearly fell off my chair when she reached the end of her list of symptoms and described waking from her night sweats tangled in the sheets, feeling as though she had spent the night wrestling an alligator. She was from Florida, so perhaps the description was fitting, but I had certainly never heard anyone describe night sweats quite that way before. How exhausting that must have been.

On a more serious note, she no longer liked looking in the mirror. She felt as though her face and body had aged ten years in two. I am 55, she proclaimed. I think my grandmother has more energy and mobility at 85 than I do.

Her knees hurt when she climbed the stairs. Her hands felt stiff in the morning, and getting up from the sofa required far more effort than it used to. She was tired, foggy, and frustrated. She assumed it was simply her age, although she had never expected it to happen so quickly.

Before our first session, I ask my clients to complete a personal health history and keep a three-day food diary. These give me a fairly good picture of what someone’s diet is made up of and where something may be missing.

When we looked more closely at what she was eating, nothing appeared terrible. She was not living on fast food, although it occasionally made an appearance. She was not polishing off a bag of cookies every night. Her meals were simple, but they were missing several key elements: plants, colour, fibre, and variety.

Her three-day food diary revealed that breakfast was usually toast or cereal at home, or a bagel with ham and cheese from the local coffee shop. Lunch was a turkey and cheese sandwich one day and leftover chicken from the previous night’s dinner the next. Dinner was meat, potatoes, and carrots, followed by much the same thing the following evening.

She confessed that she had eaten this way for years. Her plate was mostly beige. Berries, beans, seeds, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, herbs, and spices rarely made an appearance.

We did not overhaul everything at once. We began by adding more colourful vegetables and other plant foods to her meals.

For breakfast, we upgraded her cereal to long-cooking steel-cut oats with ground flaxseed and berries. On other mornings, she swapped her toast for a tortilla filled with eggs and vegetables left over from the night before. It was still something she could prepare quickly.

A few times a week, we began adding broccoli, cabbage, kale, or Brussels sprouts to her evening meal. Gradually, she started choosing more purple, blue, red, orange, and deep green foods.

It was not easy at first. Over time, however, she noticed that she was less stiff when she got out of bed. Her digestion became more regular, her energy improved, and the aching no longer dominated every conversation she had with her friends.

Did one particular food accomplish all of this? Probably not. Many factors may have contributed. What she experienced followed an accumulation of small changes and the phytonutrients, fibre, healthy fats, antioxidants, and other plant compounds those foods provided.

There is truth in the old idea of food as medicine, although no single food is a cure. What we eat each day can either supply the body with more of what it needs or leave important gaps on the plate.

So, let’s talk about the power of plant compounds and what they may do for us.

Four Powerful Plant Compounds for Life Beyond Menopause

Phytoestrogens, cruciferous vegetables, polyphenols, and carotenoids: the foods that bring them to your plate

Menopause is a time of significant hormonal shifts that can affect everything from energy and mood to cognitive function and overall well-being. While these changes are a natural part of the next part our life, they can also be challenging.

You have probably heard of some of the specific plant compounds that can support us as we age, but do you know what they actually do? Today, we are looking at phytoestrogens, cruciferous vegetables, polyphenols, and carotenoids.

These foods provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant compounds that support hormone metabolism, gut health, energy, cognition, and healthy aging. Some may also help ease certain menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, brain fog, or fatigue.

Now before you decide to write this off as junk, listen up. Food affects how you feel, shifts moods, and can contribute to aches and pains and inflammation.

Let me share with you. We had friends stay with us in our other coach for about month. They do not eat the way my husband and I do. So, we ended up going to a lot of restaurants. And I am still regretting it!

And I must also say that I had a choice. I could have eaten better, but I chose not to for so many reasons but mostly just as a copout. So in month I put on 25 pounds. I am miserable, my clothes do not fit which has affected my confidence. Now you might be saying how could that affect your confidence? I just do not feel comfortable in my skin when it is busting out of my clothes. It is just how I am.

The other part of my stupid choices is how I feel. I am grumpy, miserable and feeling angry most of the time. Well, I also cry a lot. Now, this is not me. I am tired, have slept terribly over the last month which has not helped much. And I feel like much like my client at night feeling like I am wrestling like an alligator.

I feel like the whole world is against me and everything that is being said or done online in the groups that I am in I am taking so seriously. Why am I sharing this? Because food can affect how you think and feel.

As for physical attributes, my knees hurt, hot flashes are so intense that the anxiety that builds with them has me wanting to scream. I keep getting headaches, I wake up sluggish, fogged brain and my eyesight is fuzzy and slight nausea and headachy. Thank goodness I don’t drink alcohol of caffeine, I think I would be in real trouble.

The worse part is “coming down”. Coming off of junk food is like a street junk coming off of street drugs. But, I want to to because I do not like where I am headed. I am not getting any younger as they say.

So, as you read this week’s article take notice of what you are eating and your mind, thoughts. behavior and physical symptoms are. And include the ones that have been chalked up to “a part of menopause”. Really pay attention to how you feel before you eat and then after you have eaten up to a couple of hours. You might just notice a correlation with what you are eating and symptoms or an uptick in severity. That is the power of food.

Then we can try food that are full of anti-inflammatory compounds and see how they affect us and our symptoms. Imagine eating foods that can bring down the number and intensity of hot flashes or other symptoms, would it be worth a try? So, lets go over some plant compounds that can rock your world shall we?

What Are Phytoestrogens, and How Can They Help?

Phytoestrogens are plant compounds with a structure similar to estrogen. They can interact naturally with estrogen receptors in the body, although their effects are much weaker than the estrogen our bodies produce. You will sometimes hear phytoestrogens described as hormone balancers because they may behave differently depending on the tissue, the type of receptor, and a woman’s existing hormone environment. The reality is more nuanced than simply adding estrogen when levels are low or blocking it when levels are high.

With that said, research suggests soy foods or soy isoflavones may modestly reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes for some women. Common foods rich in phytoestrogens include organic tofu, tempeh, miso, ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, lentils, and chickpeas. These are whole-food sources that also offer protein, fiber, healthy fats, and nutrients that benefit the gut and the rest of the body.

Whole soy foods and concentrated isoflavone supplements should not be treated as the same thing. If you have a history of a hormone-sensitive condition or take medication that could be affected, discuss concentrated supplements or the use of flaxseeds or soy with your healthcare practitioner.

The Role of Cruciferous Vegetables in Hormone Metabolism

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, arugula, watercress, radishes, turnips, and Brussels sprouts play an interesting role in hormone metabolism.

They contain compounds called glucosinolates. When the vegetables are chopped, chewed, or otherwise broken down, glucosinolates form bioactive compounds such as indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane. These compounds are being studied for the ways they may influence enzymes involved in estrogen metabolism and the body’s cellular defenses.

You may have heard that cruciferous vegetables help the liver clear out excess estrogen. That is the simple explanation, but there is a little more going on behind the scenes.

Cruciferous vegetables contain natural compounds that support the pathways the liver uses to process estrogen. They are also rich in vitamin heart healthy vitamins C, K, folate, and fiber.

Once the liver has processed estrogen, some of it is sent into the bile and carried to the intestines so it can leave the body through a good bowel movement. This is where fiber and regular bowel movements become especially important. Fiber helps keep everything moving while feeding the beneficial bacteria living in the gut.

If our poop sits in the intestines for too long, certain gut bacteria can produce an enzyme known as beta-glucuronidase, that reactivates some of the estrogen waiting to be eliminated. Instead of leaving the body, that estrogen is reabsorbed and sent back into circulation. This is an important point here, if we end up with higher levels of circulating estrogen, it may leads to an imbalance in hormones, and estrogenic type cancers.

Fascinating how the liver may do its job, but we still need the bowels to take out the trash and keep that cross talk healthy and optimal. This is one more reason I keep bringing us back to the gut. The liver processes hormones, the gut microbes interact with them, and the bowels carry what is no longer needed out of the body. All three have a role to play.

Polyphenols: Think Like a Bruise

Polyphenols are plant compounds found in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, teas, herbs, and spices. Many act as antioxidants and influence pathways connected to oxidative stress, inflammation, blood-vessel function, and the gut microbiome.

Oxidative stress tends to increase as estrogen declines. Polyphenol-rich foods may support cardiovascular and cognitive health during this stage of life, while also feeding the gut bacteria that help transform many of these compounds into forms the body can use.

The easiest way to remember polyphenol-rich foods is to think like a bruise.

When shopping, look for black, purple, blue, and red foods: black grapes, blackberries, blueberries, purple eggplant, plums, purple potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, beets, red raspberries, dark red cherries, pomegranates, red-skinned apples, and cranberries.

We often hear about the polyphenols in red wine and pomegranate juice in conversations about heart health. You do not need alcohol or a large glass of juice to get them. Whole berries, colorful vegetables, green tea, extra-virgin olive oil, cocoa, turmeric, cinnamon, and many other herbs and spices bring polyphenols to the table along with additional nutrients.

Peanuts are also included on many polyphenol lists. I do not personally rely on peanuts as a source because they are vulnerable to mold and aflatoxin contamination. For those who eat them, purchase good-quality products from reputable brands and store them in the refrigerator.

Carotenoids: Color for Your Brain, Eyes, Skin, and Energy

What if some of the support for your brain, eyes, skin, and energy could be sitting on your plate?

Carotenoids are the vibrant pigments found in red, orange, yellow, and even some dark green foods. They have antioxidant activity and help protect cells from oxidative stress. Some can be converted into vitamin A, while others accumulate in particular tissues and serve their own functions.

As we move through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond, hormonal shifts can affect skin hydration, body composition, cognition, and energy. Carotenoid-rich foods cannot halt aging or replace estrogen, but they can be part of a dietary pattern that supports the systems most affected by these changes.

Did you know that there are more than 600 naturally occurring carotenoids inveigles? The ones you will hear about most often include beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin.

Beta-Carotene: Vitamin A Precursor and Skin Support

Beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A, which is essential for immune function, vision, cell growth, and healthy skin. The body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A according to need, although conversion varies considerably from person to person.

Foods rich in beta-carotene include carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash, and dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale.

Lycopene: Heart and Cellular Protection

Lycopene is a red carotenoid studied for its role in cardiovascular health , cellular protection and prostate health in men. You will find it in cooked tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, and guava.

Lycopene becomes more bioavailable when tomatoes are cooked and eaten with fat, making tomato sauce drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil an incredibly healthy option.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Eyes and Brain

In case you were not sure what Lutein and zeaxanthin are, they are often called the eye carotenoids because they accumulate in the retina and help filter blue light. They are also found in brain tissue and are being studied for their relationship to cognitive health as we sage.

You will find them in kale, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli, peas, corn, orange peppers, and egg yolks.

Astaxanthin: The Marine Carotenoid

Astaxanthin is a red carotenoid produced by microalgae. It is responsible for the natural pink or reddish color in wild salmon, trout, krill, and shrimp. this antioxidant has gained attention for possible effects on oxidative stress, exercise recovery, skin health, and cognitive function. The research is promising on food sources remaining a lovely way to bring it to the plate.

Why Carotenoids Deserve Attention Beyond Menopause

During our younger years, estrogen plays protective roles in the brain, skin, bones, blood vessels, and metabolism. As estrogen declines, the body’s antioxidant and metabolic needs deserve more attention. Carotenoid-rich foods help provide that antioxidant protection while supplying fiber and many other nutrients. They can support skin health and normal immune and visual function, and they contribute to a dietary pattern associated with better long-term cardiovascular and cognitive health.

There is also something beautifully simple about this group: the colors tell you where to find it. Just look for orange, yellow, red, and deep green veggies and fruit.

Did you notice something about these antioxidant compounds? They are found in the same veggies or fruits. Now that makes for a wonderful hunt at the farmers market or grocery store. So many to choose from.

The real power comes from variety. By regularly eating phytoestrogen-rich foods, cruciferous vegetables, polyphenols, and carotenoids, you support several facets of health at the same time.

Imagine a vibrant salad of kale, broccoli, red cabbage, chickpeas, and roasted orange peppers, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Add a handful of fresh berries when you are feeling peckish. In one very simple day, you have brought all four groups to the table.

Bringing these foods into your routine does not require complicated recipes or drastic changes. Toss extra vegetables into your stir-fry. Sprinkle ground flaxseed and berries over breakfast. Add spinach to your eggs. Roast sweet potatoes beside your evening meal. Pair a soothing cup of green tea with a square of dark chocolate, if chocolate agrees with you. Small additions can expand the variety on your plate one delicious bite at a time.

Going with your gut beyond menopause does not have to feel overwhelming. These plant compounds can support hormone metabolism, gut health, cellular protection, energy, and cognitive health as part of an overall nourishing diet. Some may also help certain women experience fewer or less intense symptoms as well.

Forget chasing one miracle compound stuffed into a capsule. Fill your plate with many colors, rotate your choices, and let the foods work together to keep you healthy.

When you look at your usual meals, which color is missing most often? And which food are you thinking you could add this week?

Leave a comment

Hav a great week,

~Karen

Acetaminophen, commonly recognized as Tylenol, sits in nearly every medicine cabinet. We know acetaminophen works for aches, pains, and headaches, but do you know what is actually in it? This week, I am decoding acetaminophen’s “other” ingredients and walking you through what to look for, including a cleaner option I personally keep on hand. Yes, once in a blue moon when I need to I will take acetaminophen but a way cleaner brand.

Then we shift to nitrates and nitrites. You have likely seen packaged meats or bacon labeled as nitrate free or nitrite free. But are they truly free of nitrates and nitrites? How do we know? Those label claims often create more confusion than clarity, so is decoding the language, explaining what those terms really mean, and helping put your mind at ease when reading ingredient labels.

Welcome

But first, lets welcome in some new subscribers and thank you for joining us:

and a couple of followers: @Maria @Sedge Beswick

And, if you have stumbled across this post and are thinking, I need to be a part of this community, well, you can. Hit the button below and welcome. I pop a fresh post into your inbox each Monday morning at 4 am Pacific. So, grab your favourite brew and sit awhile or fight traffic while listening in and get back to zen.

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And a super duper special thank you to those of you who joined us live for this edition of Label To Table , , , @humble Leo, Thank you!

SHOW NOTES

Nitrites vs Nitrates and What Those Labels Really Mean with Danni

Danni began by explaining why nitrates and nitrites are so often misunderstood. We see the words used interchangeably, yet they are not the same thing. Nitrates can be naturally occurring or synthetically made, and nitrites are typically what nitrates convert into during processing or digestion. Where people get tripped up is with food labels that claim no nitrates or nitrites added, especially on processed meats like bacon or deli slices.

Many of these products still rely on celery based nitrates or nitrites, which allows manufacturers to make those claims while continuing to use curing agents. From the body’s perspective, naturally occurring and synthetic nitrates are processed the same way. The distinction is not as simple as good versus bad. It comes down to source, frequency of intake, and overall dietary context.

That same lack of context often appears when people see nitrites in urine on lab work and immediately feel alarmed. Recent food choices, hydration, and dietary patterns all influence those results. Seeing nitrites or nitriets flagged does not automatically signal a problem, which is why understanding ingredient language and labeling reduces fear and restores confidence when making food decisions.

For more on this episode hop on over to Danni’s page. Oh, and be sure to subscribe.

Back To Basics of Nutrition

In today's fast-paced world, we're constantly bombarded with nutrition information. Good and bad. This newsletter aims to cut through the noise, and strip away the complexities to return to the fundamentals of healthy living.

By Danni Macfarland

Acetaminophen’s Inactive Ingredients With Karen

There was a time when I was in constant pain and lived off of Tylenol. Over time, I could not tolerate Tylenol at all. I would get an awful numbing taste in my mouth, feel strangely high, and then experience a noticeable “coming down” and then a crash when the dose wore off after a couple of hours. That reaction stayed with me for years.

For most of us we think acetaminophen is Tylenol. While that is true, acetaminophen is also the active ingredient in many pharmacy brands, store brands, and even prescription products. Once a manufacturer meets FDA requirements, anyone can produce acetaminophen, which is why you see store brand acetaminophen sitting right next to Tylenol on the shelf. Where I chose to focus this week was on Tylenol’s inactive ingredients, often listed as “other ingredients,” because that is the part of the label that tends to get overlooked. These ingredients vary slightly by formulation, yet they can play a significant role in how the body tolerates acetaminophen.

In standard acetaminophen caplets, including Tylenol and many generic brands, inactive ingredients commonly include pregelatinized starch, powdered cellulose, corn starch, magnesium stearate, sodium starch glycolate, and coatings made from hypromellose and polyethylene glycol. Carnauba wax is often added to give tablets their shine. These ingredients help with shape, stability, absorption rate, and masking taste, but they are not inert for everyone.

Tylenol does not certify its products as gluten free. Modified starch may come from modified corn, wheat, or potato, and while wheat derived modified starch is generally processed to remove gluten, trace exposure remains a concern for people with celiac disease. Corn starch used in these formulations is usually derived from conventional corn, which raises concerns around pesticide exposure, GMOs which some studies have been associated with gastrointestinal sensitivity in some individuals. This is one reason acetaminophen products like Tylenol do not specifically claim gluten free status. Other ingredients include:

• Powdered cellulose is a filler that is not digested. In people with slow gut motility, including those on GLP 1 medications, it can contribute to bloating, constipation, or a heavy feeling.

• Pregelatinized starch can similarly slow digestion.

• Carnauba wax, while plant derived, can be poorly tolerated in people with sensitive digestion, sluggish bile flow, or slow motility, especially when acetaminophen is taken multiple times a day.

Acetaminophen Side Effects and Sensitivities Beyond the Label

Some formulations include FD and C Red No. 40 aluminum lake, which binds the dye to aluminum salts. Red 40 has been associated with migraine triggers, behavioral changes, and pseudo allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Polyethylene glycol, or PEG, has been shown to increase intestinal permeability in some people and may trigger hypersensitivity reactions, particularly in those with mast cell activation or chemical sensitivities.

Propylene glycol is metabolized by the liver and has been linked to headaches, flushing, and neurological symptoms in sensitive individuals, infants, or those with compromised liver function. So, think about some of those menopause symptoms, could they be exacerbated by the use of acetaminophen?

Titanium dioxide is used as a whitening agent and provides no therapeutic benefit. Nanoparticle forms have been associated with inflammation and DNA damage in animal studies. While banned as a food additive in the EU, it is still permitted in medications in the United States. When I think of DNA damage, I think about cancer. Could DNA damage cause mutated cells?

How about this, according to ’s January 29, 2026 article FAFO NEWSCAST HEALTH BULLETIN: Beloved brands, rodent waste, and how “low-risk” contamination keeps getting normalized, thousands of everyday household items have been recalled after an FDA inspection found they may have been exposed to rodent and bird waste while stored in a U.S. warehouse. And, Tylenol was on the list. Patricia writes:

Rodent contamination + medication is not something to shrug off:

• Pain relievers (acetaminophen, ibuprofen)

• Allergy meds

• Stomach remedies (Pepto-type products)

If you take it when you’re already vulnerable, it needs not to have Mickey Mouse poop in it. Period.

Are there Tylenol alternatives that are natural in nature?

About three to four years ago, I came across a company called Genexa. It is still acetaminophen and carries the same warnings as Tylenol and generic brands, but the difference is in the inactive ingredients. Genexa was developed by two fathers, one of whom is a naturopathic doctor who was disturbed by what he found in children’s medications. While most of their products are designed for kids, they do offer Genexa Acetaminophen for adults.

Their description is very clear. It is made with the same active ingredient as Tylenol extras strength caplets which is acetaminophen, but without artificial inactive ingredients.

In other medications. they have on their website they rely on simpler ingredients such as organic tapioca syrup, organic blueberry flavor, glycerin, citric acid, and plant based cellulose derivatives. Their liquid formulations are dye free by design, labeled gluten free, and made without common allergens like wheat, dairy, soy, or peanuts. What stands out most is that this commitment is front facing rather than buried in fine print.

I have seen Genexa available at genexa.com, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Amazon, and some drug stores. So, it is pretty easy to access. I also came across ’s article Natural Medicine Cabinet and article A Lazy Mom’s Guide to Homeopathy recommending Genexa brands. Their products are catching on.

Acetaminophen Dosage and Liver Considerations

Whether you choose Tylenol, a generic brand, or Genexa, the warning is the same. Chronic liver injury is a known risk with long term use, and while acetaminophen itself is not classified as a carcinogen, chronic liver damage carries long term cancer risk. Alcohol significantly increases that risk because it shifts liver metabolism toward producing more toxic byproducts. In other words, avoid alcohol while taking acetaminophen.

Are there natural Tylenol alternatives?

Willow bark is a good alternative to acetaminophen. But, if you have to take acetaminophen there is emerging research showing protective strategies against liver stress with some natural remedies.

Ginger has been shown to protect against acetaminophen induced acute liver injury by enhancing liver antioxidant status. Alpha lipoic acid has demonstrated protective effects against acetaminophen induced liver and kidney damage. Moringa oleifera has been shown to prevent acetaminophen induced liver injury through restoration of glutathione levels. These are not substitutes for caution, but they add important context to how the body responds.

Acetaminophen 500 mg tablets, liquid formulations, nitrates in food, and nitrites in urine are all part of everyday life. When we look beyond the front label and understand what we are actually consuming, we move from passive habits to informed choices. And, the more informed we become the healthier we can become.

That is why Danni and I do this work. We read the fine print so you do not have to guess. We translate the science so you can choose with clarity rather than fear. Small shifts create real change when they are grounded in understanding.

Let’s decode your products or ingredients

If you have a product or an ingredient you’d like us to decode on a future episode, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line at (656) 222 0848 (no one answers, promise) or message me in the show notes. This is Label to Table, where we question the norm, encourage you to trust your wisdom, and make small shifts that create a big impact.

We will see you next week,

~Karen

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Can I share a secret here? It took me two whole weeks on one chapter. In that two weeks there may have been a few frustrated walkabouts, a grocery shopping trip or two, exploring a couple of towns, a couple of rants, swearing, and more than one moment of wondering why I ever thought writing a book would be a good idea.

But I started this project and although it has taken way (and I mean way, way, wayyyyy…) longer than I ever imagined, I am here for the long haul. I can’t quit now.

But first, welcome in. If you are new here b sure to subscribe. I would love to have you on board.

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And a big welcome to some new subscribers, so glad to have you join us , and thank you.

Right, back to the book with a little more Karen.

From an editors perspective the chapter is way too long. I’ve been reading article after article about publishing and according to the experts, chapters should be reasonably uniform in length. This on is not in the least.

I honestly tried whittling this one down. Somehow, during my editing process I added more to the chapter. An editor would need a vacation after seeing the length of this chapter. Quite frankly, I do not care if I broke all the book chapters faux-pas!

The chapter is on fats. A delicate subject really. My goal is for a woman who is struggling with hot flashes, brain fog, anxiety, aching joints, stubborn weight gain, or feeling like she’s aging overnight to walk away understanding that healthy fats can actually help her.

Do You remember the fat-free Craze?

Chances are if you are over 50 you grew up like me with misleading information on fat. The groundswell was that fat was making us fat and leading to high cholesterol and heart attacks. Well, there is some truth to that. It just depends on what fat we are talking about.

To do this day some still avoid fat. My daughter 31 years old, was avoiding fat and realized on her own she needed to add the fats back in. Whoever she was listening to for nutritional advice no longer had a hold over her. Thank goodness!

We do not need as much fat as we think we do, but we need more than what we are being told we need. And fats are complicated. And that is where I was getting stuck. In the structure. Fats do not fall into one category. They are in several categories. So, when I first wrote the chapter I just wrote until I could not longer write.

Then I came back to it with my editor cap on. Coming back to it I was confused. And, I have found if I am confused others will be too. Which is why I have been told for decades I am good at teaching. I look it at this way, if I can not understand it, how could others?

I have to break concepts down into the simplest of terms in order for me to understand it. Hence the frustration. I got my anatomy and physiology textbooks out again. Did a lot of reading until I could understand it completely, and then the chapter started to flow. The pieces fell together and the confusion was gone. I finished editing the chapter this past Sunday. Whew! I can face my book accountability partner this with pride instead of another excuse.

Do you remember the grocery store shelves lined with fat-free yogurt, fat-free cookies, fat-free salad dressing, and even fat-free cheese? Seriously, think about that, fat free cheese? I do not even know what was in that. And, I probably don’t want to know.

Remember Snackwells cookies?  They were marketed as healthy and fat-free. The problem was the “SnackWell’s Effect” marketing. Eat as much as you want because they are healthy and fat free, Consumers often ate far more than a single serving, leading to high sugar and calorie intake. This actually was a term coined by researchers! Meanwhile all those leg warmers and spandex couldn’t save us!

Can you imagine, Researchers came up with the SnackWell’s Effect? That was their demise. The cookies were discontinued, the brand was sold to Back to Nature Foods in 2017, reformulated to include fat in 2019, and was finally retired in 2022. Because we are smarter than that now.

Remember Butter? Perhaps not. It was punished big time hiding all of that saturated fat in its rich butyrate and vitamin K2 square. Margarine became the “healthy” choice. When I was studying nutrition we had a entire class on margarine. It is literally one molecule from plastic. We were eating plastic! We nicknamed margarine, liquid plastic.

Looking back, we’ve learned a great deal. Nutrition science has continued to evolve, and today we know the story is far more nuanced than simply “fat is bad.”

Fat is Complicated

In fact, fat is one of the most important nutrients in your diet. Your brain depends on it. Your brain loves fat.

Nearly 60 percent of its dry weight is made up of fat. Your nerve cells are wrapped in a protective fatty coating called myelin (myelin sheath) that allows electrical messages to travel quickly and efficiently throughout your nervous system. Think thoughts, moods, behavours.

Healthy fats also help build every cell membrane in your body, support hormone production, carry vitamins A, D, E, and K, nourish your skin, and help keep you satisfied after a meal instead of rummaging through the pantry an hour later. Fat keeps your weight in check.

When your nervous system is properly nourished, it functions better. You can think more clearly, less anxiousness, your hormones have the building blocks they need, your skin and hair often look and feel healthier, and yes, consuming healthy fats may even decrease a wrinkle or two.

What Fat Did Your Grandparents use?

A piece of wild salmon is not the same as a bag of potato chips fried in repeatedly heated industrial oil.

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil isn’t the same as a bottle of highly refined vegetable oil that’s been sitting under fluorescent lights for months. We need to refine our intuition to quality, processing and storage. That’s it. And then what to cook or drizzle with.

What I find interesting is the evolution of back to basics. Taking a look at what our grandparents used. Because that is where the real fat is at. Butter, ghee, tallow, duck fat is what was used. And, typically these fats were rendered at home. Not made today in fancy glass jars. Coconut and palm oil may have been used more in the tropics and still better than seed oils, and margarine today. Our grandparents cooked with what nature provided. That is the key. When we add in chemists and machines, we lose the value of nature and what it provides.

Having some freshly home roasted seeds and nuts is good for us. They are not only loaded with good fats, they also have nutrients our body can use. Raw is just as good. Although cashews and almonds are not really raw. Even though they may say raw on the label. Just have to make sure they have been steamed pasteurized and not chemically.

Wild caught fish has fats out body needs. EPA and DHA our brain and hormones love.

Olive Oil is Dope

Olive oil is making a comeback, it’s dope once again. (Remember that word 😂) We just have to purchase right.

A really good extra virgin olive oil isn’t just fat. It’s packed with naturally occurring plant compounds that researchers continue to study for their benefits in heart and brain health, and healthy aging.

Avocado, I am still not convinced we should be cooking with it. It did not appear until the 2000’s. Just in time for the Paleo craze. It just does not have the track record that centuries of using olive oil has.

My friend and cohost of Label to Table, did a fantastic deep dive into avocado oil and how it’s processed. Her article Before you Buy Avocado Oil. Read This, made me question it even more.

SMOKE POINT

And one final thing. Let’s talk smoke point. It’s important.

Every cooking fat has a smoke point, the approximate temperature at which it begins to produce visible smoke and break down. Smoke is more than an unpleasant kitchen smell. It is your pan telling take mercy on the fat. It has had enough.

As fats overheat, they oxidize and form compounds such as lipid peroxides, aldehydes, and acrolein. Some remain in the oil and food, while others become part of the cooking fumes you breathe. These compounds can contribute to oxidative stress and inflammation.

Acrolein is the chemical that makes your eyes water and irritates your nose, throat, and lungs when oil gets too hot. How many of these compounds are produced depends on the type of fat, the cooking temperature, how long it is heated, and whether the oil has been reused.

A smoke point is not the same as a recommended cooking temperature. Ideally, your pan should stay well below it. A high smoke point also does not mean an oil is fresh, nutritious, minimally processed, or resistant to oxidation. Freshness, refining, fatty acid composition, naturally occurring antioxidants, cooking time, and repeated heating all affect how stable a fat remains.

If your oil starts smoking, remove the pan from the heat, ventilate the kitchen, discard the damaged oil, wash the pan with soap and water, and start again.

Deep frying generally produces more harmful breakdown products than pan frying or stir frying, especially when oil is reused. Never cook with oil that has become dark, thick, foamy, sticky, rancid, or smoky and never. use the same oil more than once.

A Quick Tip on Buying and Storing Fats

When purchasing extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil, look for a dark glass bottle to help protect it from light. Check the harvest or best-before date, and choose the freshest bottle available.

I still reach toward the back of the shelf, usually grabbing the last bottle. It hasn’t had the grocery store lights beating down on it for as long, and the newest inventory is often stocked at the back. That said, always check the harvest or best-before date because grocery store rotation isn’t foolproof.

Once you get it home, keep olive oil in a cool, dark cupboard away from the stove, oven, or sunny window. Heat, light, and oxygen slowly damage delicate oils. If you use olive oil slowly pour a small amount into a dark glass bottle for everyday use and refrigerate the rest. It may thicken or become cloudy in the refrigerator, but that is normal and a sign of a good product. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before pouring.

When buying tallow, lard or animal fat, even ghee, look for a short ingredient list. Ideally, the jar should contain only rendered (name of animal) fat, without added seed oils, preservatives, artificial flavors, or fillers or possibly deaodorizers. I prefer tallow made from grass-fed or pasture-raised. Read the label and make sure you are buying quality fat.

Tallow, lard, and ghee can often be stored in a cool cupboard, check the label to make sure that is the case. efrigeration will help them stay fresh longer but it can also make it difficult to use. Always use a clean, dry utensil, never get food particles mixed in, that will cause bacteria and mold and of course shorten the fat’s shelf life.

And trust your senses. If an oil or rendered fat smells stale, sour, waxy, bitter, or smells strangely “paint-like”, it has probably gone rancid. Healthy fat should never smell as though it belongs in the garage. When it doubt, throw it out.

What about you?

Do you remember the fat-free craze?

What was your favorite fat-free product back then?

Has your thinking about fat changed over the years?

Looking at your kitchen today, what fat do you reach for most for cooking,
spreading or drizzling?

Leave a comment

Thanks for reading. I do hope you can join us for our Live Weekly Label to Table. Hit the button in your email alert on Wednesdays and join us.

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Have a fabulous week,

Karen

Welcome Sagers, so happy to have you here.

Today we are talking about what the Gold Bond ingredient label reveals, which ingredients deserve a closer look, and how to support aging skin from the inside out

Crepey skin is one of those changes that we are not happy to welcome. One day, the skin on your arms, legs, neck, or chest looks firm. Then, you look in the mirror and your skin appears thinner, looser, finely wrinkled, and a little more papery, like, overnight. What gives?

Naturally, we start looking for something that promises to reverse time and put the plumpness back in our crepey skin. And that is exactly what Dean was searching for. Dean reached out to us on some answers to a product she was not sure about.

But first, I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the guests who were live with us: , , , , , there were some others, but I didn’t capture the rest of you, but thank you to all for joining us live.

And lastly let’s welcome some new subscribers this week:

, , , and

Thank you joining. If you are new here, welcome, I hope you too will subscribe. For Monday’s article and Wednesday’s live Label to Table with and I, a previously recorded Label to Table on Thursday. Right then, on with the show.

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Dean sent us a picture of a product called GOLDBOND Age Renew Crepe Corrector Body & Face Lotion. with the message. Is this safe?

Hi Karen I hope you are doing well! Thanks for always being up-to date, information and interesting on your posts! 

Thank you Dean for your question. We were elated to have our first ever subscriber question!

Looking over the GoldBond Bottle, it makes some impressive claims such as:

Seven moisturizers plus three vitamins.

Omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and botanicals.

Visible improvement in crepey skin in just two days.

The promise of smoother-looking crepey skin in only two days certainly had me ready to sign up. But we know better than to stop at the promises splashed across the front of the bottle. We turn it around, read the ingredient list, and decode what the product is actually doing to the skin.

The Question is…

Can a topical lotion truly correct the deeper changes responsible for crepey skin?

Or does it temporarily make the surface look smoother while leaving the underlying structure unchanged? Let’s turn the bottle around and read the fine print.

What Is Actually in Gold Bond Crepe Corrector? The complete ingredient list:

Water, hydroxyethyl urea, glycerin, dimethicone, petrolatum, Selaginella lepidophylla extract, jojoba esters, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, stearyl alcohol, behentrimonium methosulfate, glyceryl stearate, steareth-21, cetyl alcohol, butylene glycol, stearamidopropyl PG-dimonium chloride phosphate, propylene glycol, cetearyl alcohol, polysorbate 60, Citrullus lanatus watermelon fruit extract, Pyrus malus apple fruit extract, Lens esculenta lentil fruit extract, sodium lactate, sodium PCA, distearyldimonium chloride, methyl gluceth-20, ethylhexylglycerin, methylparaben, tocopheryl acetate, bisabolol, ginger root extract, panthenol, hydrolyzed jojoba esters, EDTA, ubiquinone, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, jojoba oil/macadamia seed oil esters, squalene, phytosteryl macadamiate, phytosterols, tocopherol, potassium hydroxide, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, whey protein, and citric acid.

What does this ingredient list say to you?

That is quite the ingredient list. I wonder, what do you see looking at this list?

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The bottle calls attention to omega fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and botanicals. However, many of those headline ingredients appear in the middle or toward the bottom of the list. Ingredients are generally listed from greatest to least concentration until the formula reaches ingredients present at 1 percent or less. Below that point, they may appear in any order. Therefore, the label cannot tell us precisely how much of each ingredient is present, but it does reveal the broad architecture of the formula.

Like others, this formula is built primarily around a familiar cosmetic strategy: pull water toward the outer skin layer, soften the surface, and place an occlusive film over it to slow evaporation.

While the marketing highlights omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and botanicals, the formula relies primarily on humectants, silicone, petrolatum, and fatty alcohols to produce its visible results, let’s look at that now.

The Water-Silicone-Petrolatum System for Crepey Skin

The first five ingredients tell us most of what we need to know:

• Water

• Hydroxyethyl urea

• Glycerin

• Dimethicone

• Petrolatum

This is a water-based moisturizer that uses humectants to draw water into the outer layer of the skin and occlusive ingredients, which form a protective barrier on the surface to help slow water loss. You may recognize the marketing term “locks in moisture.”

Humectants for Crepey Skin

The formula contains several humectants:

• Hydroxyethyl urea

• Glycerin

• Sodium PCA

• Sodium lactate

• Propylene glycol

• Butylene glycol

• Methyl gluceth-20

Humectants bind water within the outer layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum. This causes those outer cells to become better hydrated and slightly fuller, making fine surface lines look less noticeable.

You may have heard that humectants pull moisture from the air when humidity is high but pull water out of the body when the air is dry. There is a sliver of truth tucked inside that explanation, but it is overly simplistic.

Humectants can attract water from their immediate environment, including water moving upward from deeper epidermal layers. Whether that ultimately leaves skin feeling hydrated or dry depends on the entire formulation, the surrounding humidity, the condition of the skin barrier, and whether the humectant is paired with adequate occlusive ingredients.

This particular lotion does include strong occlusives, so it would be inaccurate to say its humectants are simply draining water from the body.

The moisture seal

The main occlusive and emollient ingredients include:

• Petrolatum

• Dimethicone

• Stearyl alcohol

• Cetyl alcohol

• Cetearyl alcohol

• Glyceryl stearate

• Jojoba esters

• Squalene

• Macadamia-derived esters and phytosterols

Petrolatum is one of the most effective ingredients available for reducing transepidermal water loss. Dimethicone forms a flexible surface film, while fatty alcohols and esters soften the skin and help fill the microscopic gaps between dry outer cells.

Incidentally, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, and cetearyl alcohol are fatty alcohols. They are not the harsh, evaporating alcohols people usually associate with drying toners. Together, these ingredients create a smoother, more supple surface. But what does this all mean?

Does Occlusive and Emollient Ingredients Actually Correct Crepey Skin?

So, the question is can these ingredients correct crepey skin? It depends on what we mean by “correct.”

The lotion can hydrate the outer skin layer. It can reduce roughness, improve softness, and temporarily make fine wrinkling less visible. Those are legitimate cosmetic benefits.

What it cannot do within two days is reconstruct substantially lost collagen, replace elastin, restore diminished subcutaneous tissue, or reverse the hormonal and structural changes taking place in aging skin.

The American Academy of Dermatology explains that lotions and creams generally produce subtle firming results at best. A retinoid may encourage some collagen production over time, but ordinary moisturizing ingredients mainly affect hydration and appearance at the surface.

A more accurate interpretation of the claim would be:

“It does not correct the deeper cause of crepey skin. It temporarily plumps the surface so the crepiness is less visible.”

(transcript of Label To Table episode.)

That distinction also came through repeatedly during the podcast discussion: the product creates slip, softness, and surface fullness, but the visible effect wears away as the product is washed off or the moisture evaporates or is absorbed into the skin. This does not mean the lotion is doing nothing. It means moisturizing and structural repair are not the same thing.

Why Does Crepey Skin “Need” This Lotion Every Day?

There is no convincing evidence that this lotion deliberately damages the skin to make someone use more of it. What happens is less sinister and much more ordinary.

Dimethicone, petrolatum, conditioning agents, and fatty alcohols create a soft, smooth film. When the film wears off or washes away, the skin returns to its baseline condition what ever that is the for the individual.

After becoming accustomed to that silky surface, untreated skin may suddenly feel much rougher by comparison. It may seem as though the skin has become dependent on the lotion, when in reality the lotion was maintaining a temporary cosmetic effect.

Think of lip balm on dry lips. The balm does not necessarily cause the original dryness. However, once we become accustomed to the coated sensation, bare lips can feel surprisingly parched.

Daily use is required because the product is maintaining hydration, not permanently changing the skin’s architecture. Dermatologists commonly recommend regular moisturizer use for dry skin precisely because the effect is maintained through repeated application.

Are There Ingredients Likely to Dry or Irritate Crepey Skin?

Most of this formula is designed to moisturize, soften, preserve, or stabilize the product. However, individual skin reactions are always possible especially when you start decoding the ingredients. Let’s look at those now.

Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol is a solvent, humectant, and penetration-enhancing ingredient. Most people tolerate it, but it can cause irritation or allergic contact dermatitis in susceptible individuals. If the skin begins burning, itching, reddening, flaking, or feeling progressively tighter after repeated use, propylene glycol would be one possible suspect.

This versatile compound appears in products ranging from injectable medications to ice cream to aircraft deicing fluid, making it one of the most widely used industrial chemicals.

While generally recognized as safe, prolonged exposure or high concentrations of Propylene glycol can cause dryness and eczema, particularly in individuals with sensitive skin or pre-existing conditions like atopic dermatitis.

Although dermal absorption is typically minimal, systemic effects such as central nervous system (CNS) depression, lactic acidosis, and hyperosmolality may occur if large amounts are absorbed through damaged skin or applied over large surface areas for extended periods

Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide is a highly corrosive alkali that causes liquefaction necrosis upon skin contact, allowing it to penetrate deep into tissues faster than acids. The resulting side effects include severe skin burns, deep penetrating ulcers, redness, swelling, and blistering. In a product potassium hydroxide is used to adjust pH. In tiny amounts it is considered not harmful, but if a formula is slightly alkaline it can disrupt the skin barrier over time. The safety of the finished product depends on its final concentration and pH.

Conditioning compounds

Behentrimonium methosulfate, distearyldimonium chloride, and stearamidopropyl PG-dimonium chloride phosphate are conditioning agents that improve softness, spreadability, and surface feel.

Behentrimonium Methosulfate (BTMS)

Despite the word “sulfate” in its name, this is not the same type of sulfate found in harsh detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). BTMS is a quaternary ammonium compound, often called a quat. It is usually derived from rapeseed (canola) oil and then chemically modified in a laboratory.

Its purpose is to:

• reduce static

• make skin feel silky

• improve spreadability

• leave a conditioned feel after the water evaporates

From my perspective, the concern isn’t that it’s acutely toxic. It’s that this is another highly processed synthetic ingredient added primarily to improve how the product feels rather than to nourish the skin.

Distearyldimonium Chloride

This is another quaternary ammonium compound known as quat.

Quats are used because they:

• cling to skin

• reduce friction

• create a smooth conditioned feel

• help ingredients stay deposited on the surface

Some quaternary ammonium compounds have been studied for skin irritation, respiratory effects (particularly in occupational settings), and environmental persistence. The evidence varies considerably from one quat to another, but the broader family has raised enough questions that some people choose to minimize their exposure, especially when there are alternatives. This ingredient is not rebuilding skin. It is improving the feel of the product.

Stearamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate

The name alone tells you this isn’t something occurring naturally in the skin. It is another synthetic conditioning polymer designed to:

• improve slip

• reduce drag

• leave a soft coating

• improve consumer perception

In other words, it’s engineered to make the lotion feel luxurious. Again, that isn’t the same thing as improving skin health.

What About Dimethicone?

Dimethicone is a silicone-based ingredient that coats the surface of the skin. It gives skin that silky, smooth feel and helps reduce water loss by forming a barrier over the outer layer. That barrier can make crepey skin look smoother, but it is creating a cosmetic effect, not reversing the biological changes that caused the skin to become crepey in the first place.

Whether or not dimethicone is absorbed through the skin is almost beside the point for me. My question is: do I really want a synthetic silicone film sitting on my skin every day simply to create the appearance of smoother skin? Personally, I don’t. I’d rather support the health of my skin than rely on a coating to disguise the problem.

Another concern often raised about dimethicone is that it forms a film over the skin. By design, it creates a barrier that helps reduce water loss, but some people question whether that same barrier can also trap sweat, sebum, dead skin cells, bacteria, or other debris against the skin. The research has not clearly shown that dimethicone itself traps “toxins,” but if there is a change in the skin after applying a product with dimethicone it is something to consider as the underlying cause.

Methylparaben: The Most Debated Ingredient in the Bottle

This lotion contains water, aloe, fruit extracts, whey protein, and other materials that could support microbial growth. Without an effective preservation system, the bottle could become a tiny bathroom petri dish.

And, think about every time it is opened, handled, or stored in a warm, humid room, it is exposed to potential microbial contamination. Methylparaben is meant to solve this problem. Its role is to helps prevent the growth of mold, yeast, and bacteria.

The FDA explains that parabens are used in cosmetics for precisely this reason. The preservation system in this bottle appears to include:

• Methylparaben

• Ethylhexylglycerin

• EDTA

Ethylhexylglycerin can help boost antimicrobial performance, while EDTA binds metal ions that might otherwise destabilize the formula or support microbial processes.

Why methylparaben is concerning

Parabens have demonstrated estrogenic activity in laboratory and animal research. They can interact with estrogen receptors, which is why they are frequently discussed as possible endocrine disruptors.

However, all parabens are not equally estrogenic. Methylparaben is generally considered one of the weaker members of the family, while longer-chain parabens such as propylparaben and butylparaben have attracted greater concern.

Conflicting stories on the saftey of Parabens

The European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety reviewed methylparaben specifically, including concerns regarding potential endocrine activity. It concluded that methylparaben is safe as a cosmetic preservative at concentrations up to 0.4 percent. The FDA currently states that it does not have information showing that parabens as used in cosmetics have an effect on human health, while continuing to review available research.

Some research says parabens are completely harmless, while other studies conclude the lotion is poisoning your hormones. It’s so confusing.

Methylparaben has weak estrogenic activity under experimental conditions. Regulatory assessments consider it safe within established cosmetic limits. Consumers who prefer to reduce cumulative exposure to endocrine-active chemicals may still choose to avoid it, particularly in products applied over large areas every day.

That is a personal risk-tolerance decision. If I have to think about the risks outweighing the benefits. There is no, way, it is worth it to me.

Does the Plastic Bottle Add Xenoestrogens?

Then there is the plastic bottle itself. Gold Bond doesn’t come in glass. It comes packaged in plastic, and maybe you have not thought about questioning what happens when lotions sit in plastic for months or even years before we buy them. I have.

Plastic can contain chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenols, and other additives, depending on the type of plastic and how it was manufactured. Heat, sunlight, florescent lights, storage conditions, and the formulation itself can all influence whether chemicals migrate from the packaging into the product.

Can I tell you this particular bottle is leaching endocrine-disrupting chemicals into the lotion? No, because I don’t have migration testing on this specific packaging. But I also can’t tell you it isn’t. That’s the problem. Consumers are expected to trust packaging they know very little about.

Personally, if I’m trying to reduce my overall chemical exposure, I would rather choose products packaged in glass whenever practical. We know our exposure doesn’t come from one lotion. It comes from the cumulative effect of cosmetics, food packaging, receipts, cleaning products, fragrances, and countless other everyday sources. For me, reducing exposure wherever I reasonably can simply makes sense.

What the Front Label Doesn’t Tell You

On the front of the label, which is probably as far as one goes to assess a product ( me too, sometimes) Gold Bond draws attention to omega fatty acids, antioxidants, botanicals, and vitamins. It sounds like a good product.

The formula does contain several ingredients that fit those categories:

• Tocopherol and tocopheryl acetate, forms of vitamin E

• Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, a vitamin C derivative

• Panthenol, a vitamin B5 derivative

• Ubiquinone, also known as CoQ10

• Jojoba and macadamia-derived esters

• Squalene

• Phytosterols

• Aloe

• Watermelon, apple, lentil, ginger, and resurrection-plant extracts

These ingredients may provide antioxidant, emollient, soothing, or formulation benefits. However, they are in small amounts. The presence of these ingredients does not transform the product into a natural product teaming with nutrients or a treatment that rebuilds the dermis. The majority of its immediately noticeable effect still comes from the basic moisturizing system: water binding, barrier coating, and surface smoothing.

That is why the phrase from our live discussion still fits:

“The glamorous ingredients are in the passenger seat. The humectants, silicone, petrolatum, and fatty alcohols are doing most of the driving.”

Why Crepey Skin Develops in the First Place

Crepey skin is rarely caused by one missing moisturizer. So, you do not have a deficiency of a moisturizer. It is influenced by several overlapping changes such as

Reduced collagen production

Changes in elastin and connective tissue

Lower estrogen after menopause

Reduced water-binding capacity

Loss of natural skin lipids

Ultraviolet damage

Smoking

Alcohol

Repeated weight gain and loss

Low protein intake

Poor nutrient status

Chronic inflammation

Glycation from persistently elevated blood sugar

Normal loss of subcutaneous tissue with age

Menopause is particularly relevant to crepey skin. Estrogen receptors are present in skin, and declining estrogen affects collagen, glycosaminoglycans, skin thickness, and water content.

That is why a woman can eat well, hydrate properly, and still notice substantial skin changes after menopause. Nutrition does play a huge role , but it cannot entirely cancel biology, genetics, or decades of ultraviolet exposure.

The goal is not to promise wrinkle-proof skin through blueberries and bone broth.The goal is to give the body the raw materials it needs while reducing the processes that accelerates collagen breakdown.

Supporting Skin from the Inside Out

How can we help our skin? Begin with adequate protein

Collagen is made from amino acids, particularly glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. The body also needs sufficient total dietary protein to maintain skin, muscle, connective tissue, enzymes, immune proteins, and repair processes. This is where many women may be starting with an empty toolbox.

A woman can sprinkle collagen powder into coffee, but if her overall food intake is low in protein, or if she is not digesting and absorbing protein effectively, the larger foundation still needs attention. Protein-rich foods include:

• Eggs

• Fish and shellfish

• Poultry

• Beef, lamb, and pork

• Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, when tolerated

• Legumes

• Tofu (organic only) and tempeh

• Gelatin-rich cuts and slow-cooked meats

Low stomach acid, pancreatic insufficiency, poor chewing, certain medications, intestinal inflammation, or previous gastrointestinal surgery may affect protein digestion and absorption. Persistent digestive symptoms play a role in how your body is processing and absorbing nutrients and amino acids. A deeper understanding of diet and nutritional status deserve evaluation rather than simply adding another scoop of collagen powder.

Collagen supplements remain a mixed evidence area. Some studies report improvements in hydration and elasticity, while a recent systematic review found that benefits were much less convincing in trials without industry funding.

Collagen powder may be useful for some people, but it is not a substitute for adequate protein, vitamin C, minerals, hydration, and metabolic health.

Do not forget vitamin C

And if those collagen products are not helping. Take a look at vitamin C. Vitamin C is required for the enzymes that hydroxylate proline and lysine during collagen formation. Without sufficient vitamin C, the body cannot properly build and stabilize collagen.

Food sources include of vitamin C include:

• Bell peppers

• Kiwi

• Citrus fruit

• Strawberries

• Broccoli

• Brussels sprouts

• Cabbage

• Parsley

• Guava

Vitamin C is water soluble and not stored in large amounts, so regular intake is important.

Copper

Copper helps cross-link collagen and is required for lysyl oxidase, an enzyme involved in cross-linking collagen and elastin. Sources include:

• Oysters and other shellfish

• Liver and organ meats

• Cashews

• Sesame seeds

• Sunflower seeds

• Mushrooms

• Dark chocolate or cacao

So we need vitamin C and copper in the making of collagen. However, do not supplement with copper. Copper and zinc fight for uptake. So, taking high-dose of copper can create a zinc imbalance. Better to test to find out than guess. Food first is usually the saner starting point.

Hydrate with minerals, not water alone

Skin water content is influenced by far more than how many glasses of water we drink.

Sodium, potassium, and magnesium help regulate fluid movement, nerve signaling, muscle function, and cellular balance. Drinking large quantities of plain water while eating very little food or salt does not necessarily produce well-hydrated tissues.

Useful food sources include:

• Leafy greens

• Avocado

• Potatoes and squash

• Meat and broth

• Fruit

• Dairy, when tolerated

• Celtic Sea Salt used appropriately with meals

People with heart failure, kidney disease, hypertension, or medications that alter sodium or potassium should not increase electrolytes casually. Check with your physician before implementing.

Skin also contains natural moisturizing factors and glycosaminoglycans that help hold water. These systems depend on adequate protein, micronutrients, normal barrier lipids, and overall health. A cream may temporarily imitate some of their effects, but the body must build the tissue itself.

Eat omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids help form cell membranes and participate in inflammatory regulation. It also helps in hydrating the skin and keeps that nice natural soft feel.

The most direct food sources of EPA and DHA include:

• Sardines

• Salmon

• Mackerel

• Herring

• Anchovies

• Trout

• Shellfish

Plant foods such as flax, chia, and walnuts provide alpha-linolenic acid, but conversion to EPA and DHA is limited and varies considerably from person to person.

Some may notice that chronically dry skin, cracked heels, or brittle texture improves when their intake of fatty fish or a quality fish-oil supplement.

Choose fish-oil supplements carefully because rancid oil is not a skin-health strategy. Look for appropriate testing, freshness information, and transparent sourcing. And avoid fish oil with seed oils.

Bring in polyphenols

Polyphenols are plant compounds that influence inflammatory and antioxidant pathways. Think black purple, blue, and red as the higher content of polyphenols. Sources include:

• Berries

• Pomegranate

• Green tea

• Herbs and spices

• Purple cabbage

• Olives and extra-virgin olive oil

• Apples

• Onions

• Cacao

They do not act like edible wrinkle filler. Their value lies in supporting the biological environment in which collagen is maintained or degraded.

Stabilize blood sugar

Persistently elevated blood glucose encourages the formation of advanced glycation end products, or AGEs.

During glycation, sugars bind to proteins, including collagen. Collagen fibers become stiffer, less flexible, and harder for the body to remodel. Glycation is one of the processes associated with accelerated skin aging and reduced elasticity.

Build meals that reduce repeated glucose surges:

• Include protein with meals

• Add fibrous vegetables

• Choose minimally processed carbohydrates

• Avoid making refined starch and sugar the foundation of the diet

• Move after meals

• Build and maintain muscle through resistance exercise

• Address sleep deprivation and chronic stress

Muscle is a major site of glucose disposal. weight bearing exercise is one of the most practical long-term tools available for metabolic health.

Support the gut

The gut and skin communicate through immune, metabolic, and microbial pathways. Gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids from fermentable fibres. These compounds influence intestinal integrity, immune regulation, and inflammatory signaling, all of which can indirectly affect the skin.

• Supportive foods may include:

• Vegetables for feeding bacteria

• Legumes

• Berries

• Ground flax or chia

• Fermented vegetables

• Yogurt or kefir

• Resistant starch

• Diverse herbs and spices

But gut advice must be individualized. A person with active inflammatory bowel disease, SIBO, severe bloating, histamine intolerance, or a recent gastrointestinal surgery may not thrive on a sudden avalanche of raw fibre and fermented foods. Start slow and build up.

What About a Natural crepe Skin Lotion?

Not everyone wants to apply a product containing methylparaben, petrolatum, silicone, and several conditioning agents every day. Or, at least I don’t. A simpler product can reduce ingredient exposure while still protecting the skin barrier.

Properly prepared tallow balm

Tallow-based moisturizers have become popular because beef tallow contains fatty acids that can create an emollient, occlusive barrier. A properly made product generally uses purified, rendered tallow, often from suet, blended with another oil to improve texture. Look for:

• Transparent sourcing

• Clean rendering practices

• Minimal ingredients

• No unnecessary fragrance

• Hygienic packaging

• Clear storage instructions

A producer who understands cosmetic formulation rather than someone spooning kitchen grease into a jar

“Tallow” does not automatically mean safe, clean, or nonirritating. Animal fats can oxidize or become contaminated when processed or stored poorly. Patch-test first on your arm before putting on the face incase of rash.

Natural Oils for Crepey Skin

Here are some wonderful oils that can step in as natural moisturizers. I personally rotate through these.

Jojoba oil

Jojoba is technically a liquid wax rather than a triglyceride oil. It is relatively stable and often tolerated well. Use a small amount on slightly damp skin rather than pouring it on dry skin and expecting it to manufacture water.

Rosehip Seed Oil

Rosehip seed oil contains fatty acids and carotenoid compounds. It is lighter than tallow or petrolatum and may suit someone who dislikes heavier products.

Rosehip seed oil can oxidize, so choose a fresh product in protective packaging and store it according to the manufacturer’s directions. Rosehip oil is a carrier oil, not an essential oil.

Squalane

Squalane is the hydrogenated, more stable form of squalene. It is lightweight and generally well tolerated. Choose a product with one clearly identified ingredient and no added fragrance when simplicity is the goal.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil can reduce water loss and works well for some areas of the body. However, it can feel heavy, aggravate acne, or cause irritation in some.

Sweet almond oil

Sweet almond oil is a heavier emollient that may be useful on dry arms, legs, feet, and hands. And super nice in the winter is it creates warmth. Anyone with a relevant nut allergy should discuss topical use with a qualified clinician rather than assuming skin exposure is harmless.

A Word About Essential Oils

Essential oils are often promoted as a cleaner alternative to synthetic skincare, but “natural” does not mean nonreactive.

Lavender, citrus, peppermint, cinnamon, clove, tea tree, and other essential oils can irritate skin or cause allergic contact dermatitis. Some citrus oils can also increase photosensitivity.

Essential oils should not be applied undiluted, and they are not required for an effective moisturizer.

For reactive or aging skin, fragrance-free is often the friendliest choice whether the fragrance was made in a laboratory or squeezed from a flower.

The Sun and Crepey Skin

Sunlight is important for circadian biology and vitamin D production, but ultraviolet radiation is also one of the major drivers of collagen degradation, elastin damage, uneven pigmentation, and premature wrinkling.

It would be inaccurate to say that sun exposure builds skin collagen. Excess ultraviolet exposure does the opposite. That does not mean living underground. It means balancing outdoor light exposure with sensible protection:

• Avoid repeated burning

• Use shade and clothing during intense sun

• Consider a broad-spectrum natural sunscreen when exposure is prolonged

• Remember that cumulative ultraviolet exposure can wrinkle skin.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher to help prevent sun-related wrinkles, age spots, and skin cancer.

So, Is Gold Bond Crepe Corrector Safe?

Gold Bond is selling the appearance of healthier skin, not actually rebuilding it. The formula temporarily hydrates the outermost layer of the skin and coats it with ingredients that reduce water loss and improve smoothness. Those effects can make crepey skin look better, but they do not address why the skin became crepey in the first place.

The formula works primarily by:

• Attracting and binding water in the outer skin layer

• Reducing evaporation

• Softening dry surface cells

• Coating the skin with ingredients that improve slip and smoothness

The larger issue is the promise.

The product can temporarily improve the appearance of crepey skin. It does not correct the nutritional, hormonal, metabolic, structural, or ultraviolet-related factors that created it. It is just a hopeful promise.

Skin creams work mainly from the outside by binding water, reducing moisture loss, and smoothing the surface. Nutrition works from the inside by providing the amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and metabolic environment the body uses to maintain skin tissue.

A simple natural moisturizer may still be useful, especially when skin is dry, itchy, fragile, or uncomfortable. But we should know what we are buying.

Gold Bond Crepe Corrector is a moisturizer with clever positioning. Its strongest ingredients are not the watermelon, lentil extract, antioxidants, or omega marketing sprinkled across the front of the bottle.

They are glycerin, hydroxyethyl urea, dimethicone, petrolatum, and fatty alcohols.

They hydrate. They coat. They smooth. Then they wear off.

For longer-term support, begin where the skin begins: adequate protein, vitamin C, mineral balance, omega-3 fats, hydration, blood-sugar regulation, gut integrity, resistance exercise, sleep, and protection from excessive ultraviolet damage. And look for a natural alternative to the chemical-laden one.

When it comes to crepey skin, there is no magic ingredient hiding in a bottle. Gold Bond can temporarily make the skin feel softer and look smoother by increasing hydration and reducing water loss, but it cannot replace collagen, restore elastin, or reverse the changes that naturally occur with aging.

If your goal is healthier skin, I believe the best place to start is from the inside out. Eat enough quality protein, include healthy fats, stay well hydrated, keep blood sugar balanced, support your gut microbiome, get adequate sleep, spend time outdoors, and protect your skin from excessive sun exposure. Then, if you choose to use a moisturizer, look for one with ingredients that align with your own values and comfort level.

Our goal isn’t to tell you what you should buy. It’s to help you understand what you’re buying so you can make an informed decision for yourself. Once you know how to read an ingredient label, the marketing loses much of its power.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Dean for suggesting this topic. Your question sparked a fascinating Label to Table conversation and a deeper look into what many of us are putting on our skin every single day. If there’s an ingredient or product you’ve been wondering about, let me know. It just might become our next Label to Table deep dive.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video. And thank you for reading. If you have a product or ingredient for us to decode? Drop me a line or message or leave a Voice Mail at (656) 222-0848

See you next Wednesday for our next Live Label to Table.

Have a great week,

~Karen

I have never been particularly fond of the term healthcare. Maybe it’s because, over the years, it has become so closely associated with medical systems, insurance companies, rushed appointments, and standardized protocols that leave very little room for individuality. To me, it feels clinical, transactional… a business. And from my experience, it certainly doesn’t feel empowering.

But first I would like to welcome in some new subscribers

, , , and welcome.

Thank you so much. If you’re new here, welcome! I hope you’ll subscribe. I send out a new article on Mondays, a reminder for our Live Label to Table on Wednesdays, and a previously recorded Label to Table episode on Thursdays. Lots of honest, helpful information!

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I prefer words like wellness or longevity, although both have been commercialized by the beauty and pharmaceutical industry, supplement brands, and anyone else with something to sell.

We tried “Self Care” but again hijacked by the beauty and pharmaceutical industry, supplement brands, and anyone else with something to sell. Personally, I prefer two simple words that cannot be hijacked. At least, I don’t think they can….

“I care.”

It doesn’t get much more intimate than that. It is first person. It creates a sense of responsibility and empowerment. It reminds me that although practitioners may advise me, insurance companies may restrict me, and medical systems may frustrate me, I still have an active role in what happens to my body.

When I think about “I care,” I don’t think about waiting until something is terribly wrong. I think about paying attention to how I feel today so I have a better chance of feeling good tomorrow, next week, and even ten, twenty, or thirty years from now.

Don’t get me wrong. Conventional medicine has an incredibly important place. If I break my leg, have a heart attack, or end up in an emergency room, I want the best medical team available. Medical professionals save lives every single day, and I am deeply grateful for acute care.

But somewhere along the way, many of us were conditioned to believe that if we don’t feel well, someone else will figure it out for us. And with our crumbling health care system, I’m no longer convinced that is always true.

That became painfully obvious after my mum underwent quadruple bypass surgery. It had been almost twenty years since I had experienced the Canadian healthcare system firsthand. While some things felt familiar, one thing had definitely changed.

The system had become much more specialized, very much like what we see in the United States. The hospital where Mum had her surgery occupied an entire city block dedicated solely to cardiovascular disease and nothing else. Now what does that tell you? It tells me there is big business in Cardiovascular disease.

At first, I remember thinking, Wow, this is impressive. Then another thought crossed my mind. There are enough people with heart disease to require an entire hospital devoted to it? There are that many people with Cardio vascular disease?

My Mum’s Surgery

The surgery itself was remarkable. The one-on-one nursing care immediately afterward was everything you would hope for. The skill of the surgical team was exceptional, and I will always be grateful for what the nurses did for my mum.

Then she was transferred to the general recovery floor, and it was an entirely different experience. At seventy-eight years young, Mum is still one of the strongest women I know. She is vibrant, outspoken, sassy, and has enough personality to fill any room she walks into.

Yet there she was in a dimly lit room with no natural light, separated from another patient by a thin curtain and surrounded by the sounds of illness, fear, and exhaustion, while one nurse tried to care for far too many patients. It made me wonder just how much does the environment itself affect healing?

We know that natural light, human connection, compassionate care, and our surroundings can influence how we experience recovery. Healing involves more than medications, procedures, and monitoring. It also involves feeling safe, supported, heard, and cared for as a human being.

Watching Mum recover became a wake-up call for me. Selfishly, I began thinking about myself. What do I want my sixties, seventies, and eighties to look like? Because what I am doing today is helping to shape the answer to that question.

When Mum was discharged, she returned to her family physician. The contrast could not have been greater. The dirty, bare-walled waiting room was crowded. The office staff looked tired, and the physician appeared just as exhausted as everyone else. The appointment focused on checking Mum’s incision, reviewing her medications, adding a bunch of life-long “preventative” medications and moving on to the next patient.

Mum never questioned them. Why would she? She came from a generation that trusted doctors completely, and I respected that. But I was worried about the long term effects. I have worked enough clients to know what those long term effects are.

I knew that certain medications, including statins, can affect nutrient levels over time, particularly CoQ10. With her permission (who are we kidding, after several heated discussions) I suggested she discuss adding CoQ10, B vitamins, and fish oil to support her recovery. I don’t think she was trusting me, I think she felt so shitty she was willing to try anything.

About a month after she began taking her supplements, Mum noticed a difference in her energy. That experience reminded me of something I hear almost every week from clients:

• Brain fog

• Fatigue

• Poor sleep

• Weight gain

• Low energy

• Constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea

Here is what I am seeing

If feeling lousy is simply part of getting older, why do I know women in their seventies who are hiking mountains, traveling the world, volunteering, laughing, and living incredibly vibrant lives?

Aging changes us. There is no question about that. But I don’t believe feeling exhausted every day should automatically be accepted without asking why.

When I work with clients, I always ask to see their recent lab work. I am not diagnosing disease. That is not my role. I am looking for dietary and lifestyle patterns.

Sometimes I can connect symptoms with nutrition, digestion, inflammation, or lifestyle. Sometimes I simply don’t have enough information. That is when I ask clients to speak with their physician about whether a few normal routine tests might be appropriate based on their symptoms. Remeber that part—their symptoms, what they are feeling every day.

The responses they sometimes bring back are astonishing (actual quotes):

“I don’t take orders from patients.”

“Those tests aren’t based in science.”

“You’re just getting older.”

“That’s a waste of time.”

Think about that for a moment. How can anyone know that investigating a concern is a waste of time before it has been investigated? What do you mean no science? All labs are based on science. Getting older? Of course you are, but should you feel like shit because you are? Waste of time? How do you know if it is a waste of time? And since when has your health and well being been a waste of time?

What if you got the tests you wanted and everything comes back normal, wonderful. You now have information that may help rule something out. Or can take to someone else for a second opinion.

But what if something shows up early? Wouldn’t you want to know that too? What if it was a simple nutritinal deficiency like low iron, vitamin D? Supplement and feel better.

It might not be your doctors fault

Now, before I go on a full-blown Karen rant, let me be fair. I honestly believe many physicians want to help. They are working within a system that may give them only fifteen minutes with each patient. Insurance companies influence which tests are considered medically necessary, which treatments are covered, and how much time can realistically be spent with each person.

I don’t envy physicians. They are trying to practise medicine inside a system that often seems to have been designed by cold-hearted accountants (no offense if you are a warm blooded accountant).

That doesn’t make it any less frustrating for patients. Sometimes it makes it even more frustrating because you finally find a doctor who listens, only to discover that their hands are tied by your insurance company. I learned that lesson personally.

MY CIN-3 Diagnoses

Years ago, after moving to the United States, a routine Pap smear found severe cervical dysplasia, CIN 3 with concern for carcinoma. I underwent a colposcopy. It was quick, straightforward, and virtually painless. I had several more after that.

A few years later, I needed another one. It was performed by the same doctor, but it was a completely different experience. The pain was unlike anything I had experienced during the previous procedures. I had heavy bleeding and cramping for weeks afterward. I was terrified.

So, what had changed? My health insurance.

My previous insurance had covered different equipment and newer techniques. My new insurance covered only a basic method that involved using forceps to remove the tissue samples. Think yank, twist and pull.

Can you imagine finding that out after the procedure?

That experience completely changed how I viewed health insurance in the United States. Most of us think insurance simply pays the bill. We rarely consider how it may also influence the care we receive and the way that care is delivered. Not only that you do not know this until the time of the procedure. How absurd is that?

Please don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t an article about being anti-doctor or anti-medicine. Quite the opposite. Medicine saved my mum’s life.

This is about recognizing that medical care and caring for ourselves are not the same thing. We need to practice “I care”.

A doctor can perform surgery, prescribe medication, interpret a test, and offer medical guidance. But no practitioner, regardless of how knowledgeable or compassionate, lives in your body every day. That is where “I care” comes in.

“I care” means becoming an active participant in your own health instead of a passive passenger waiting for someone else to solve every problem.

Sometimes that means finding a practitioner who listens, takes your concerns seriously, and helps you feel empowered. Sometimes it means building an “I care” team instead of expecting one person to have every answer.

Over the years, I have worked alongside physicians, chiropractors, nutrition professionals, therapists, massage therapists, psychologists, and acupuncturists. I have also worked in integrated centres and hospital where practitioners from different disciplines worked together instead of operating in separate silos.

They looked at the whole person. They considered symptoms as messages worth exploring, and they were willing to listen and make the patient feel empowered in their questions and decisions. It was a discussion, not a looking down upon.

That is what an “I care” team can look like

Sometimes the missing piece is improving digestion, addressing a nutrient deficiency, or getting to the bottom of poor sleep. Sometimes it involves exploring what is really bothering you or what may be holding you back. Sometimes it means asking where unresolved stress or past trauma is still showing up in your body. And sometimes the missing piece is simply having someone willing to listen long enough to ask a few more questions.

After working with thousands of clients over the years, one thing has become abundantly clear to me:

We need to stop confusing dismissal with reassurance.

Being told that everything is fine without having your concerns properly explored is not always reassuring. Being told that something is “just aging” does not answer the question of why you feel the way you do.

“I Care” should leave room for curiosity

I Care should allow you to ask questions without being treated as difficult. It should help you understand your options. It should acknowledge that lab results, medical knowledge, nutrition, lifestyle, emotional well-being, and your lived experience can all contribute important pieces to the picture.

Your doctor brings medical knowledge. Your nutritionist, therapist, chiropractor, acupuncturist, and other practitioners bring their own areas of expertise.

But you bring something none of them can provide, the daily experience of living in your body. You know when something feels different. You know when an answer doesn’t make sense. You know when a concern has been brushed aside instead of explored.

Trusting yourself does not mean rejecting professional guidance. It means participating in it. “I care”.

So, here is my challenge to you

Before your next appointment, write down the three things you most want your practitioner to understand. Ask what could be contributing to your symptoms. Ask what has been ruled out, what has not been investigated, and what your options are. If you don’t understand the answer, ask again.

And if you continually leave appointments feeling dismissed, belittled, or unheard, give yourself permission to look for another member of your “I care” team. You have essentially hired that person, you can fire them too.

You are not asking for someone to have every answer. You are asking for someone willing to listen, remain curious, and help you search for them. And if they do not have the answer, then how about admitting that and perhaps a referral to someone who can.

When was the last time you left an appointment feeling truly heard—and what made that experience different?

Listen to your body. Ask questions. Stay curious and do not take no for an answer. If you do find someone else who will be a part of caring for you.

Remember, small shifts, big impact. You deserve to feel strong, vibrant, and capable, because you are. Stay well, and until next time, question the norm and trust your wisdom.

Thanks for reading,

~Karen

But before we get into it Our Label to Table this week also included an update on a previous Label to Table episode where talked about azodicarbonamide (ADA), a chemical substance approved for use as a whitening agent in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner in bread baking here in the USA. It is an industrial chemical and bleaching agent also used as a foaming agent in yoga mats and shoe soles. Sounds yummy, right?

We touched on lids but we were not entirely sure if this European banned substance was actually used. Indeed it is being used. Danni is into preserving and canning and this concerned her. Well, me too, I use those lids. You should be concerned too. Azodicarbonamide is lurking under just about every lid found sitting on the grocers’ shelves.

Danni did find two companies that are not using Azodicarbonamide or other icky toxic ingredients. These are e Orchard Road Canning and WEK Jars using silicone lids. Oh, and I shared that I use non bleached parchment paper rounds, and perhaps that might be a solution to the azodicarbonamide dilemma. The two products I use are If You Care and Zenology.

( I added Amazon affiliate shortened links— just being transparent).

For the full information including more about natural alternatives, check out her publication Back To Basics of Nutrition for more information. Oh, and be sure to follow her.

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Cyclospora outbreak 2026
What Is the Diarrhea Parasite Going Around?

If you’ve been searching for answers about the current Cyclospora outbreak, wondering about the symptoms and severity of cyclosporiasis, or trying to understand what Cyclospora cayetanensis (C. cayetanensis) actually is, you’re in the right place. We’ll also explore conventional medical treatment, along with natural ways to support the body during a cyclosporiasis infection and practical steps you can take to help reduce your risk of future C. cayetanensis infection.

What Is Cyclospora?

Cyclospora, the actual name is Cyclospora cayetanensis (C. cayetanensis), is a single-celled intestinal parasite that infects humans. Unlike bacteria or viruses, parasites have unique life cycles and behave differently once they enter the body. It’s also important to understand that not all parasites act the same way. Different types can vary widely in how they spread, the symptoms they cause, and how they respond to treatment.

The center of attention in this current outbreak is the microscopic protozoan parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis (C. cayetanensis). When a person becomes infected with Cyclospora, the illness is called cyclosporiasis. That’s why you may see news outlets referring to this event as a cyclosporiasis outbreak, while others simply call it a Cyclospora outbreak. Both terms describe the same event. The difference is that Cyclospora is the parasite, while cyclosporiasis is the illness it causes.

One of the reasons cyclosporiasis can be so difficult to identify is because symptoms do not begin immediately. In fact, many feel perfectly healthy for several days, and sometimes up to a week or longer, after eating contaminated food before becoming ill.

That delay has to do with the unique life cycle of the parasite and the steps required before it can establish an infection in the body.

Unlike other foodborne pathogens, Cyclospora cannot multiply in food. Instead, food becomes contaminated before it reaches your kitchen. Fresh produce is responsible for most outbreaks because these foods are often eaten raw without a cooking step that would reduce contamination. But don’t blame the produce. Raw fruits, veggies and lettuce are merely the vehicle.

Foods Commonly Associated with Cyclospora

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), foods repeatedly associated with Cyclospora cayetanensis include:

• Fresh cilantro

• Fresh basil

• Bagged salads

• Romaine lettuce

• Snow peas

• Sugar snap peas

• Raspberries

• Blackberries

Why Does Cyclospora Keep Appearing Every Summer?

My husband and I were spending the weekend with friends, and of course I was serving up fresh produce finds from our trip to the farmers market. I was excited to have lettuce that had been picked that morning, along with fresh peaches. We managed to get the last of the blueberries and also scored some goat cheese and raw honey.

My friend came into the coach to check on my progress. I had just finished adding the freshly washed, crisp red leaf lettuce to a large white china bowl I had previously chilled in the freezer.

As I tossed the salad together, she questioned how well I had cleaned the produce. Then she mentioned she had seen a news report about a parasitic outbreak.

“Oh, you mean Cyclospora?” I quipped as I drizzled my homemade dressing over the lettuce. 

“Yes, that’s it, I believe,” she replied with growing certainty.

Using two large forks, I gently tossed the leaves, making sure each one was evenly coated with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning.

“Yes, that’s the one all over the news,” I said. “It seems to happen just about every summer.”

I glanced over at the small pan on the cooktop, where the honey had just begun to bubble over low heat. My friend picked up the dinner plates, cutlery, and napkins. She paused for a moment, deep in thought, then asked, “Why does Cyclospora seem to show up every summer?”

I could have given her the entire download from my brain right then and there. I am after all a microbe geek. Instead, I didn’t have to answer because her husband arrived carrying fresh peaches straight off the barbecue (saved by the bell as the say). My friend didn’t press the issue. Perhaps she didn’t want parasites to become the dinner conversation. Truthfully, neither did I. Especially since it could be lurking in my wonderful salad.

I added the blueberries and thinly sliced red onion, crumbled the goat cheese over the top, and nestled the warm grilled peaches on top. They were still warm enough to slightly soften the goat cheese, releasing its rich aroma. Finally, I drizzled the warm honey over everything. Perfect.

We headed outside to join our husband’s at the picnic table to enjoy a wonderful meal together. Yet even as we shared stories and laughed around the table, the connection between Cyclospora and summertime lingered in the back of my mind. Enough so that I thought it would be perfect segment for our weekly Live Label to Table.

So, why does Cyclospora
seem to show up in the summer?

There are several reasons. Many of the fresh fruits and vegetables we enjoy during the warmer months are grown and harvested here in the USA or are imported from tropical or subtropical regions where Cyclospora cayetanensis is more common. Even though the parasite is found more frequently in these regions, outbreaks still occur here in the United States and Canada because contaminated produce is widely distributed through national and international food supply chains.

Because fresh produce often travels thousands of miles before reaching grocery stores, contamination that occurs during growing, harvesting, or washing may not be discovered until people across multiple states or provinces begin getting sick.

The parasite also favors warm, moist environments. Fresh herbs, berries like raspberries and blackberries, leafy greens and packaged salad mixes provide ideal opportunities because they are delicate, difficult to wash thoroughly, with lots of nooks and crannies and usually eaten raw.

Another challenge is timing. Unlike bacteria that can make someone sick within hours, Cyclospora symptoms often take about one week to develop. By the time someone becomes ill, the salad has long been eaten, and it can be difficult to remember exactly what foods were consumed.

Seriously, think fast…. what did you eat yesterday? See what I mean? Now imagine trying to remember everything you ate over the last week and half and where. That delay makes outbreak investigations incredibly challenging.

The Current Cyclospora Outbreak of 2026

Health officials continue investigating multiple cases of cyclosporiasis across several states.

Investigators interview patients, trace grocery purchases, restaurant meals, and food distribution chains in an effort to identify a common source. During these investigations, agencies such as the CDC and FDA work together to determine whether the illnesses are connected.

One important point to remember is that not every reported case immediately becomes an outbreak. An outbreak is declared when public health officials determine that more illnesses than expected are linked to a common source, such as a particular food or food distributor. That process takes time and requires careful investigation.

Early reports may include only a handful of illnesses. Weeks later, additional laboratory-confirmed cases may be added as testing is completed, patients are interviewed, and investigators connect the dots between seemingly unrelated illnesses.

If you’re looking for the latest cyclosporiasis outbreak map or updates on affected states, check the official CDC Cyclospora page and the FDA outbreak investigations page. Both pages are updated as new information becomes available.

How Does Someone Become
Infected with Cyclospora?

Cyclospora has a fascinating, albeit unpleasant, life cycle. Unlike many pathogens, a person who is actively sick does not immediately pass along infectious parasites. While parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium can be transmitted directly from person to person, Cyclospora cayetanensis (C. cayetanensis) behaves differently.

The immature oocysts (often referred to as eggs) are shed in the stool of an infected person. However, if someone were to ingest these freshly shed oocysts, very little would happen because they are not yet infectious.

Instead, the oocysts require time and the right environmental conditions to mature. They must spend several days to weeks in a warm, moist environment, often on contaminated soil, water, or fresh produce. During this time, they undergo a maturation process known as sporulation.

Only after sporulation can Cyclospora cayetanensis infect another person. This is why direct person-to-person spread is considered uncommon. However, poor hand hygiene after using the restroom can contaminate food, water, or surfaces with immature oocysts. Given enough time and the proper environmental conditions, those oocysts can sporulate and become infectious, creating an indirect route of transmission.

So, think about who is growing, picking, and packaging your produce. Contamination typically occurs when:

Human waste contaminates irrigation water

⬇️

Produce is washed with contaminated water

⬇️

Food handlers work in unsanitary conditions

⬇️

Consume raw vegetable or fruit

Fresh produce becomes contaminated long before it reaches consumers. It can then take a week or more before that produce graces your kitchen table, giving the immature oocysts ample time to sporulate and become infectious, all without anyone being the wiser.

What Are the Symptoms of Cyclospora?

The symptoms of cyclosporiasis can vary from mild to severe. Some people may not experience any symptoms at all, while others have only a few days of digestive upset. For many, however, the illness can linger for weeks or even months.

The most common cyclosporiasis symptoms include:

• Frequent watery diarrhea

• Loss of appetite

• Weight loss

• Stomach cramping

• Bloating

• Increased gas

• Nausea

Othere symptoms may also include

• Fatigue

• Low-grade fever

• Body aches

• Flu-like symptoms

Two characteristic feature of Cyclospora infection is watery diarrhea that is typically explosive in nature. The other is that symptoms often improve, only to return days later. Some have reported feeling better for several days before another wave of diarrhea and fatigue suddenly begins.

Without treatment, symptoms may continue for weeks or even months. This relapsing pattern is one reason healthcare providers sometimes mistake Cyclospora for irritable bowel syndrome, viral gastroenteritis, or other digestive conditions including Inflammatory Bowel disease, Pancreatitis, Celiac Dsieae or possible “flare up” of Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, or Celiac Disease.

Who Is Most at Risk of Cyclosporiasis?

Although anyone can become infected with cyclospora, some individuals are more likely to experience severe illness including higher-risk groups and include:

• Older adults

• Young children

• Individuals receiving chemotherapy

• Organ transplant recipients

• People taking immune-suppressing medications

• Individuals living with HIV/AIDS

• Anyone with weakened immune function

For these individuals, prolonged diarrhea can lead to dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and unintended weight loss.

And a cautionary note: persistent diarrhea should never be ignored. If you have severe diarrhea longer than 3 days, please seek medical attention. Especially in the summer when temperatures are high.

How Is cyclosporiasis Diagnosed?

One of the biggest challenges with Cyclospora is diagnosis. Routine stool cultures do not detect this parasite because it is not included on a standard stool culture panel. Unless your healthcare provider specifically suspects Cyclospora, the infection may be missed entirely.

Diagnosis usually requires specialized stool testing designed specifically to detect parasites. In some cases, multiple stool samples collected on different days are needed because the parasite may not be shed consistently in every sample.

Some healthcare providers may request only a microscopic examination of the stool. While this can detect the characteristic oocysts, it may miss the parasite altogether, particularly when only a small number of oocysts are present or they are shed intermittently. Depending on the laboratory, testing may include microscopic examination of wet smears, special staining techniques, fluorescence microscopy, molecular (PCR) testing, or, less commonly, serological testing.

For the best chance of detecting Cyclospora cayetanensis, many experts recommend combining a microscopic stool examination with a Cyclospora PCR test. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) looks for the parasite’s DNA rather than relying solely on visually identifying oocysts under the microscope. Because PCR can detect very small amounts of genetic material, it is generally more sensitive and can identify infections that might otherwise be missed, especially when the parasite is present in low numbers or is being shed intermittently.

If your healthcare provider suspects Cyclospora, don’t hesitate to ask whether a Cyclospora PCR test can be included with your stool testing.

This is one reason it’s important to tell your healthcare provider if you’ve recently eaten fresh produce (in the past week or two), traveled internationally, or are aware of an ongoing Cyclospora outbreak in your area. The more information they have, the more likely they are to order the appropriate testing.

Remember, not everyone develops severe symptoms. Some people experience only mild digestive upset, while others have no symptoms at all or assume their symptoms are related to another illness or even a medication side effect. When in doubt, ask to be tested.

Get a Follow up Cyclospora Test

If you are diagnosed with cyclosporiasis and complete the prescribed treatment, don’t simply assume the infection is gone because your symptoms have improved. Ask your healthcare provider if they plan to order a follow-up Cyclospora test, preferably a Cyclospora PCR test, to help confirm the parasite has been eliminated.

I cannot tell you how many clients I have worked with over the years who were diagnosed with bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections, prescribed medication, and never received a follow-up test. Instead, they were told, “If you feel better, you’re probably fine.” For me, personally, I don’t think that’s good enough.

Symptoms alone cannot tell you whether an infection has completely cleared. Some people continue to experience symptoms, while others feel perfectly normal. The only way to know whether Cyclospora has been eliminated is through appropriate follow-up testing.

I checked with my partnered laboratory through Evexia. According to Cherise at Evexia, LabCorp offers Cyclospora testing by microscopic stool examination. If your healthcare provider is not willing to order follow-up testing, this may be one of the quicker options.

The GI Effects® Fundamentals Profile from Genova Diagnostics includes testing for Cyclospora cayetanensis, and one of my preferred comprehensive stool analyses, the GI-MAP® from Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory, detects Cyclospora cayetanensis using highly sensitive quantitative PCR (qPCR) technology.

I am mentioning these tests specifically as follow-up options, not as the first test to diagnose an acute infection. Because these comprehensive stool analyses typically require 7 to 10 business days for results, you may want to consider ordering your kit through a qualified practitioner while you are still undergoing treatment if you already know your healthcare provider will not be ordering repeat testing. That way, you’ll have everything ready once it’s time to collect your follow-up sample.

At the time of writing, I have contacted Evexia about Genova Diagnostics and Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory and LabCrop regarding their recommended post-treatment washout period before collecting a follow-up stool sample. I will update this article once I receive their recommendations. Until then, follow the collection instructions provided by the laboratory or your healthcare provider.

One of the biggest advantages of both the GI Effects® and GI-MAP® is that they provide much more than a simple positive or negative result for Cyclospora. They also evaluate digestive function, inflammation, beneficial bacteria, opportunistic organisms, digestive markers, and the overall health of your gut microbiome. This information can help guide your recovery and identify areas where your digestive system may need additional support after the infection has cleared. My advice is simple: treat the infection. Confirm it’s gone. Don’t rely on symptoms alone.

And please keep in mind, I am not a Doctor. I am merely sharing with you as if you were sitting across my kitchen table, coffee in hand. It would be what I would be talking about with a family member. Please follow your Doctor’s advice. Not mine.

What happens if you get Clyclospora?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

Most people who have a healthy immune systems will recover from cyclosporiasis without treatment. Symptoms may seem to go away and then return one or more times (relapse). Depending on your immune systems ability to stave off the infection. If necessary, you may need to turn to medications.

Conventional Cyclosporiasis Treatment

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the standard medical treatment for cyclosporiasis is the prescription antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), commonly known by the brand names Bactrim® and Septra®. The CDC continues to recommend TMP-SMX as the treatment of choice for most patients.

According to Drugs.com, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim is a combination antibiotic used to treat a variety of bacterial infections, including ear infections, urinary tract infections, bronchitis, traveler’s diarrhea, shigellosis, and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.

Like all medications, TMP-SMX may cause side effects. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and skin rash. More serious side effects require immediate medical attention. Contact your healthcare provider right away if you experience:

• Severe stomach pain or diarrhea that is watery or bloody, even if it occurs months after your last dose.

• Any skin rash, no matter how mild.

• Yellowing of the skin or eyes.

• Seizures.

• New or unusual joint pain.

• Increased or decreased urination.

• Swelling, bruising, or irritation around an IV site.

• Increased thirst, dry mouth, or a fruity odor on the breath.

• A new or worsening cough, fever, or difficulty breathing.

• Signs of high potassium, such as nausea, weakness, tingling, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, or loss of movement.

• Signs of low sodium, including headache, confusion, memory problems, weakness, or feeling unsteady.

• Signs of low blood cell counts, such as fever, chills, mouth sores, skin sores, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, pale skin, cold hands and feet, light-headedness, or shortness of breath.

Seek emergency medical care immediately if you develop signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as hives, swelling of the face or throat, chest pain, or difficulty breathing, or if you develop a severe skin reaction with fever, sore throat, burning eyes, painful blistering, or peeling skin.

TMP-SMX for cyclospora and Sulfa Allergy

Individuals with a sulfa allergy or sulfonamide intolerance should discuss alternative treatment options with their healthcare provider. Although TMP-SMX remains the preferred treatment for Cyclospora cayetanensis, alternative medications may be considered in certain situations.

According to a 2020 review published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology:

“TMP-SMX is not suitable for patients having sulfonamide intolerance. In such case ciprofloxacin, although less effective than TMP-SMX, is a good option. Another drug of choice is nitazoxanide that can be used in the cases of sulfonamide intolerance and ciprofloxacin resistance.”

While these medications have been used in certain circumstances, the evidence supporting them is not as strong as it is for TMP-SMX. Anyone with a sulfa allergy should work closely with their healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate treatment based on their individual medical history.

What about Ivermectin and Cyclospora infection?

Because ivermectin is an antiparasitic medication, many people naturally wonder whether it can be used to treat Cyclospora cayetanensis. The short answer is there is currently no good evidence that ivermectin is effective against Cyclospora infection.

This is an important distinction because the word “parasite” covers a wide variety of organisms. Not all parasites respond to the same medications.

For example, ivermectin is highly effective against certain worms (helminths), including Strongyloides, Onchocerca, and scabies mites. However, Cyclospora cayetanensis is not a worm. It is a coccidian protozoan parasite, and it responds differently to medications.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) as the treatment of choice for cyclosporiasis. At this time, ivermectin is not listed as a recommended treatment, and there are no high-quality human studies demonstrating that it effectively treats Cyclospora infection.

In fact, the CDC notes that even several other antimicrobial and antiparasitic medications have been found to be ineffective or have insufficient evidence for treating Cyclospora.

That does not mean ivermectin is an ineffective medication. It remains an important and well-established treatment for several parasitic diseases. It simply means that, based on the evidence currently available, Cyclospora cayetanensis is not one of them. Until well-designed clinical studies demonstrate otherwise, there is no scientific basis for recommending ivermectin as a treatment for cyclosporiasis.

Cyclosporiasis and Dehydration

One of the most common cyclosporiasis symptoms is severe diarrhea, which can be watery and, at times, explosive. Ironically, diarrhea is also listed as a possible side effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), the antibiotic most commonly prescribed to treat Cyclospora cayetanensis.

Regardless of the cause, severe diarrhea is one of the quickest ways to become dehydrated. During a diarrheal illness, the intestines are unable to absorb water and electrolytes efficiently. At the same time, inflammation within the intestinal lining causes additional fluid to be secreted into the bowel, resulting in significant fluid and electrolyte losses.

Older adults, young children, and individuals with chronic health conditions are particularly vulnerable to dehydration. Replacing both fluids and electrolytes is an important part of recovery and, in some cases, may require medical attention.

Nutritional IV therapy for Diarrhea

One option that my family has used, and one that I have recommended to clients in appropriate situations, is nutritional IV therapy administered by qualified healthcare professionals.

Depending on your state, this may be available at an infusion center or through licensed mobile IV nurses who come to your home, hotel, or workplace. In addition to intravenous fluids for hydration, some providers can administer vitamins, minerals, and certain physician-prescribed medications when medically appropriate.

A couple of years ago, my daughter became seriously ill while away from home producing a video for a police department. The illness came on quickly, and what concerned me most was that she began experiencing changes in her vision, a potential sign of significant dehydration.

I immediately arranged for a licensed mobile IV nurse to come to her hotel room. After receiving two rounds of intravenous fluids, appropriate nutritional support, and the medical care she needed, she recovered and was back in the producer’s chair three days later. While the IV did not cure the illness itself, restoring her hydration and boosting her immune system helped support her recovery and likely prevented the situation from becoming much worse.

As a holistic nutrition practitioner, my role is to help support hydration, nutrition, digestive recovery, and healthy lifestyle habits. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and the treatment of dehydration should always be made in partnership with your licensed healthcare provider. If you experience persistent vomiting, severe diarrhea, dizziness, confusion, an inability to keep fluids down, or signs of significant dehydration, seek medical attention promptly.

Holistic and Natural remedies for Cyclospora Infection

When it comes to bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections, I know the ins and outs of herbs, homeopathy, gemmotherapy, and phytogens. It is something I have been studying and using with clients for more than 20 years.

Before writing this section, I wanted to make sure my recommendations were supported by the available literature. So, I started searching using terms like “natural remedies for Cyclospora infection,” “natural remedies cyclosporiasis,” “Cyclospora cayetanensis natural remedies” and similar phrases. The results?

Exclusively conventional medical information. Page after page focused on diagnosis, antibiotics, and outbreak investigations. There was no discussion of complementary therapies that may help support the body during recovery from cyclosporiasis. If they were there before, they were buried somewhere.

Then I changed my search strategy. Remember, Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan parasite. Instead of searching specifically for Cyclospora, I searched for “natural remedies for protozoa,” “protozoa natural remedies,” “homeopathy for protozoa,” and similar terms. BINGO! That completely changed the search results.

Rather than focusing on one specific organism, the literature broadened to include research and traditional use of herbs, homeopathy, and other complementary approaches that have been studied for protozoan parasites as a group.

That doesn’t mean every herb or natural therapy has been specifically studied against Cyclospora cayetanensis. In many cases, it hasn’t. However, there is a much larger body of research and traditional clinical experience involving protozoan infections in general. The information that follows is drawn from that broader body of evidence and should be viewed as supportive care, not a replacement for appropriate medical treatment. And discuss with your doctor.

Homeopathy for protozoan infections

Homeopathy for protozoan infections utilizes nosodes (highly diluted preparations of the pathogen itself) and specific constitutional remedies with the goal of supporting the body’s response to infection and modulating immune function. It can be used acutely and then long term to help the immune system recognize the parasite and then learn how to protect itself from future infections.

Two remedies often discussed are China (Cinchona officinalis), which is traditionally used for protozoan-induced symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping, and loose stools containing undigested food, and Arsenicum album, which is commonly selected for watery, offensive stools accompanied by nausea and weakness.

Some experimental studies suggest these remedies may influence immune activity by increasing pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), while reducing parasitic load and helping protect intestinal tissues, including the myenteric neurons of the colon. However, more high-quality human studies are needed to confirm these effects.

Herbs for protozoan infections

Several herbs have demonstrated antiprotozoal activity in laboratory and animal studies, including Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), Berberis vulgaris (barberry), and Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (African cryptolepis).

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) should not be confused with Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood). Although they belong to the same plant genus, they are different species with different chemical constituents and traditional uses.

Among herbal practitioners, wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is often considered one of the most potent traditional antiparasitic herbs and is frequently combined with black walnut and clove as part of comprehensive herbal parasite protocols.

Pomegranate extracts have also shown activity against structural proteins found in certain protozoan parasites, while garlic and thyme (rich in the compound thymol) have demonstrated broad-spectrum activity against a variety of protozoan species.

Probiotics and Gut Support for protozoan infections

Saccharomyces boulardii may help support intestinal health during and after gastrointestinal infections. Rather than boosting the pH of the intestinal tract, it helps support the intestinal barrier, promotes a healthy balance of gut microbes, and may reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

A high-quality, multi-strain probiotic that supports butyrate-producing bacteria may also be beneficial during recovery. One example is DFH Complete Commensal Probiotic™, which contains organisms such as:

• Akkermansia muciniphila

• Bifidobacterium adolescentis

• Bifidobacterium longum

• Faecalibacterium prausnitzii

• Roseburia intestinalis

These bacteria are associated with maintaining the intestinal lining and supporting the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that serves as the primary fuel source for colon cells and plays an important role in gut barrier integrity.

Additional butyrate support may also be considered, such as MCT/Butyrate Liquid with SunButyrate™, depending on individual needs.

Although Saccharomyces boulardii is not a treatment for Cyclospora cayetanensis, it may help support during and recovery after infection by improving the intestinal environment. It helps reinforce the gut barrier, competes with harmful organisms, modulates immune activity, reduces inflammation, and supports the restoration of a healthy microbiome, which may be disrupted by prolonged diarrhea or antibiotic therapy. By supporting beneficial bacteria and the production of short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, Saccharomyces boulardii helps create an intestinal environment that favors healing of the gut lining rather than continued inflammation.

Gemmo and Phytogens for protozoan infections

I love to combine herbs, homeopathic, probiotics and gemmotherapies and phytogen for acute infections. The following gemmptherapies may be of use. Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is often considered a primary gemmo for acute and chronic infections. It supports the immune response and helps reduce inflammation of mucous membranes, including the gastrointestinal tract.

One botanical I would seriously consider is Walnut (Juglans regia) gemmotherapy. Among gemmotherapy practitioners, it has one of the strongest traditional reputations for intestinal dysbiosis, yeast, and parasitic imbalance, making it a particularly good fit in a discussion about supporting recovery from a protozoan infection.

While there is little research specifically evaluating gemmotherapy or phytogens for Cyclospora cayetanensis, some practitioners use gemmotherapy to support the body’s terrain during and post recovery rather than to directly eliminate the parasite. Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is traditionally used to support immune function during infections, Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) helps modulate inflammation and the stress response, Walnut (Juglans regia) is often selected to help restore intestinal microbial balance, and Fig (Ficus carica) may soothe digestive irritation and support the gut-brain connection. These remedies are generally used alongside appropriate medical care and nutritional support rather than as stand-alone treatments.

Always consult with your health care provider before implementing anything mentioned here.

Part 2: Foods to Avoid, Prevention Strategies, and Practical Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyclospora Infection

Now that we’ve covered what Cyclospora is, how it spreads, and how it’s treated, let’s talk about what you can actually do in your day-to-day life to reduce your risk and support your recovery. The first thing is don’t panic. Your body is amazing and it is already days ahead of you fighting off the infection. But there are things you can do to help support this action.

During a confirmed cyclospora outbreak, health officials often identify specific foods linked to illness. Until a source is confirmed, it’s wise to be extra cautious with foods that have historically been associated with Cyclospora. If you hear about a recall or advisory, follow it closely. Avoid consuming the product, even if it looks fresh and smells fine. When in doubt, throw it out! It’s okay to skip certain raw produce temporarily and choose cooked alternatives instead.

Why Washing Produce Isn’t Always Enough

We have been led to believe that thoroughly washing fruits, vegetables, and herbs will remove all contaminants. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case with cyclospora outbreak.

The parasite can cling to the surface of produce, especially leafy greens, fresh herbs, and berries with lots of tiny crevices where it can be difficult to remove. Standard rinsing under running water may reduce dirt and some microbes, but it does not reliably remove Cyclospora. Even produce labeled as “pre-washed” or “triple-washed” is not guaranteed to be free of contamination. This is why prevention efforts focus heavily on safe growing, harvesting, and handling practices long before food ever reaches your kitchen. Here’s a simplified look at how contamination can occur:

Human waste (aka poop)
↓

The parasite is shed in human stool as immature oocysts, which require approximately one to two weeks in the environment before they become infectious.

↓

Contaminated wastewater or poor sanitation

Human waste can contaminate irrigation water or water used during food production.

↓

Irrigation

Contaminated water is used to irrigate fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

↓

Farm

Workers harvest produce, and contaminated water or poor hygiene practices can introduce the parasite.

↓

Harvesting and packing

Produce may be washed, sorted, and packaged. If contaminated water is used or proper sanitation isn’t followed, contamination can continue.

↓

Distribution

↓

Grocery store or farmers market

↓

Your kitchen

↓

Your salad, fruit, vegetables, or fresh herbs.

Does Washing with Vinegar Help?

Washing produce with soap, vinegar, chlorine, or commercial produce washes can remove Cyclospora. Unfortunately, none of these methods have been shown to reliably eliminate the parasite completely.

A 2021 study from Norway evaluated whether a solution of three parts water to one part vinegar could remove three different parasites, including Cyclospora, from raspberries and blueberries. The vinegar solution removed more parasites than rinsing the berries under running water alone, but the improvement was relatively modest. Interestingly, using a salad spinner also helped remove parasites, although neither method completely eliminated them.

In other words, washing your produce is still worthwhile because it helps reduce dirt, debris, and some microorganisms. However, washing alone should not be relied upon to completely remove Cyclospora if the produce is contaminated. If you’d like to read the study for yourself, here’s the link: https://cdn.blueberriesconsulting.com/2021/02/foods-10-00481.pdf

Practical Cyclospora Prevention Strategies

There are several practical prevention strategies that may help reduce your risk of Cyclospora infection. However, many of them can only go so far if we don’t yet know exactly what food is responsible for the current outbreak.

The typical advice from public health authorities includes:

• Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing or eating food.

• Rinse produce under running water, even if it’s labeled “pre-washed.”

• Use a clean produce brush for firm fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers and melons.

• Avoid cross-contamination by keeping fresh produce separate from raw meat, poultry, and seafood.

• Refrigerate perishable foods promptly.

• Stay informed about recalls and outbreak updates.

The CDC maintains information on current cyclosporiasis outbreaks, including affected states, foods under investigation, and updates as they become available.

If you live in an area affected by an outbreak, consider avoiding any raw produce that has been identified as a potential source until public health officials declare the outbreak over.

Health officials often recommend avoiding recalled produce and exercising additional caution with prewashed bagged salads and salad mixes during active outbreaks. Personally, I would also skip self-serve salad bars and grocery store premade salads until the outbreak has been resolved.

If your diet relies heavily on fresh vegetables, consider purchasing whole produce instead of pre-cut or pre-packaged versions. Buy a whole head of lettuce and discard the outer leaves before washing the remainder. In general, the less handling produce has undergone before reaching your kitchen, the fewer opportunities there have been for contamination.

Dr. Steven Goldberg, a primary and urgent care physician and Chief Medical Officer at HealthTrackRx, told USA Today that blanching and cooking are effective ways to destroy Cyclospora and many other foodborne parasites.

Freezing is a little more complicated. Cyclospora can survive freezing under some conditions. Research suggests that killing the parasite requires freezing at temperatures between 24.8°F (-4°C) and -4°F (-20°C) for 24 to 48 hours, depending on the temperature reached. Many household freezers and commercial freezing practices may not consistently achieve these conditions throughout the food, so freezing alone should not be relied upon to eliminate the parasite.

The New York State Department of Health recommends cutting away damaged or bruised areas of fruits and vegetables before eating them and refrigerating cut, peeled, or cooked produce within two hours.

Personally, I would take a more cautious approach. If produce is damaged or bruised, I would simply throw it away rather than trimming it. Once produce has been cut, any contaminants on the surface can potentially be transferred deeper into the fruit or vegetable by the knife. For me, it simply isn’t worth the risk. If you have had explosive diarrhea before, then you know, you don’t want that again.

A good example of why freezing isn’t always the answer occurred during a Cyclospora outbreak linked to a wedding cake in 2000. Imported raspberries from Guatemala were frozen for several days, thawed and incorporated into the cake, then the completed cake was frozen again before serving. Despite all that freezing, people still became ill because the temperatures were apparently not low enough to inactivate the parasite.

Finally, one of my favorite places to shop is the local farmers market. Get to know your farmer. Ask how they grow their produce, what they use to condition their soil, where their irrigation water comes from, and who harvests their crops. Don’t be afraid to ask whether they perform any testing for bacterial contamination or what food safety practices they follow. Most reputable farmers are proud to answer those questions, and you’ll learn a great deal about where your food comes from.

Final Thoughts

If there is one thing I hope you take away from this article, it is that knowledge truly is power.

Cyclospora is not a new parasite. It has been causing outbreaks for decades. What changes from year to year is the food involved, where the contamination occurred, and how quickly public health officials can identify the source.

The good news is that we know a great deal about Cyclospora cayetanensis. We know how it spreads, what the symptoms look like, how it is diagnosed, and that prompt treatment is usually very effective. We also know that staying hydrated, supporting the gut during recovery, and confirming the infection has cleared are important parts of getting well.

As consumers, we also have a role to play. Get to know where your food comes from. Support local farmers whenever possible. Ask questions about growing practices, irrigation water, and food safety. Stay informed about recalls and outbreaks. If you become ill after eating fresh produce, don’t dismiss your symptoms. Seek medical attention, ask about appropriate testing, and advocate for yourself if something doesn’t feel right.

Remember, not every stomach bug is “just a stomach bug.”

As we’ve learned, Cyclospora cayetanensis can take days to weeks before symptoms appear, making it easy to overlook what you ate or where your food came from. Knowing that timeline may help you or your healthcare provider connect the dots more quickly.

Finally, while modern medicine plays a vital role in treating cyclosporiasis, recovery doesn’t end when the antibiotic prescription is finished. Rebuilding hydration, restoring digestive health, supporting your microbiome, and confirming the infection has been eliminated are all important steps toward complete recovery.

At Label to Table, our goal has never been to create fear. Our goal is to help you understand it. When we know better, we ask better questions and we choose better. . We become better advocates for ourselves and for the people we love.

Please share this with others so they can make informed choices and advocate on behalf of themselves or a loved on.

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Until next time...

Question the norm, trust your wisdom and sage with sass and grace.

Let me know, have you had the symptoms of cyclosporiasis symptoms?

Have a great week,

~Karen

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I am having a bit of freak that it is the middle July. It feels like summer is going by so fast. What about you? Is it zoom’n or snails pace?

I am super happy to share with you some new subscribers this week,

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Thank you for joining me. If you are new here, I would love to invite you to subscribe and be be a part of the community. Mondays are reserved for my articles, Wednesdays is our Live Label to Table with cohost Danny Mcfarland and Thursday the recording hits your inbox. If that sounds like a button-slap— go for it….

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This week was a cleaning of the mind, soul and coach! After months of hotels and breakdowns the coach had to be cleaned. It took a week but it is finally done. We have friends staying in our coach next to us (we have two in the family) while their house is being renovated so it’s been fun to have some friends hanging around.

My Saturday farmers market finds made for a wonderful dinner of grilled peach and blueberry salad with BBQ chicken and steak. I share my favourite salad dressing recipe in the note above. I could not help but think about the nutrients and antioxidants from good food. The nutrients in our food feeds our brain, cells and even our soul. It also helps keep our skin and hair healthy. On that note, the only chapter I got done this week was skin and hair and yes, the gut connection.

The Secrets of Aging Skin and Thinning Hair

Remember the days when your skin was effortlessly smooth and soft, and your hair had that natural bounce and shine? Those were truly the golden years when your glow was just…there. But now, menopause and beyond, it can feel like your once-radiant skin and lustrous hair have been replaced with limp, lack and dull. There are a couple of reasons for this. Let’s discuss those now.

Once again, there is an estrogen connection to our skin and our hair. Estrogen plays a vital role in maintaining skin elasticity and moisture by promoting collagen production and supporting the skin’s natural hydration. As estrogen levels drop, your skin may start to feel drier, less firm, and more prone to wrinkles. You might even notice that those fine lines around your eyes and mouth are no longer so fine.

I remember as a child looking at my grandmother and noticing she had tons of wrinkles. She had these deep lines running from her cheeks, framing her mouth, and it always looked like she was lost in some deep, sad thought. But as soon as you called her name, she’d light up, and that somber look would disappear in an instant.

Fast forward to today, and I find myself driving along, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the rearview mirror, and there she is. My grandmother, staring back at me. What the heck? Now I’m trying desperately to walk around with a permanent smile plastered on my face, hoping to avoid those same lines. Who knew that keeping a grin on my face would become my new anti-aging strategy? I wonder if I can patent that?

I have to say, I’ve been extremely lucky with my hair. In my late 50s, I’m just starting to get grey hairs, and I credit that to keeping my gut in check and my minerals up. But I’ve finally given up pulling the grey out and decided to accept the inevitable. It also seems that the only shine to my locks now comes from those perfectly resilient grey hairs. I like to think of them as earned silver wisdom, a little sparkle to show I’ve lived and learned.

The Estrogen Connection to Skin & Hair

Estrogen helps keep hair in its growth phase longer, which is why many women notice fuller, thicker hair during their younger years. But as estrogen declines, hair can become thinner, drier, and more prone to breakage. And just to add insult to injury, some women experience increased facial hair, because what’s a little chin fuzz between friends, right?

I remember the day I turned 40 like it was yesterday. I stood in front of the mirror, ready to embrace this new decade with pride. And, then, I noticed, it. A long, rogue hair sprouting from my cheek, just to the left of my lips. A whole inch long! How the heck did that happen overnight? It was like a surprise party I definitely did not ask for.

More than ten years later, that pesky little hair is still popping up. It’s like a reminder that my body is changing, whether I like it or not. I called my mum to tell her about my newfound nuisance. Her response? “Yeah, wait until you hit your mid sixties. I’ve got four hairs I pluck!” Not encouraging!

Now that I’m in my late 50s, I sometimes wonder if that single rogue hair is just the scout, sent ahead to check things out before the rest of its crew arrives. Will my 60s bring a full-blown chin hair brigade and a little mustache under my nose? I am seeing a thickness taking shape! But for now, in my late 50s, it’s just me and this one stubborn hair, locked in an ongoing battle of wills. If it’s going to stick around, the least it could do is offer some advice on how many grey hairs I need to pluck each day to keep my natural color.

While hormones absolutely play a role, there is another piece of the puzzle that needs to be understood. Your skin and hair are often reflecting what’s happening inside your gut and throughout the rest of your body.

Your Skin and Hair Are Talking. Are You Listening?

Estrogen helps keep skin firm, hydrated, and elastic by supporting collagen production. As estrogen naturally declines after menopause, collagen production slows. The result? Skin becomes thinner, wrinkles become more noticeable and hair loses some of its shine and thickness. Have you noticed? Everything suddenly feels... drier.

Believe it or not, these changes are a natural part of aging. However, many women notice them becoming more pronounced after menopause as estrogen declines. While we can’t stop time, we can support our bodies in ways that help us age more gracefully. What isn’t normal is assuming expensive creams are the answer to our skin or special shampoo and conditioners for our hair.

You Can’t Moisturize a Nutrient Deficiency

Every year the beauty industry convinces us the newest miracle cream is going to erase twenty years. I am sorry to tell you, healthy skin doesn’t come from a jar. Your body has to manufacture collagen.

To do that, it needs raw materials. Those raw materials come from our food. Without enough vitamin C, zinc, copper, amino acids, healthy fats, and adequate protein, your body simply can’t build collagen efficiently. It’s a little like trying to build a house without lumber. The best contractor in the world can’t help if the supplies are not there.

Your Hair Doesn’t Need a Complicated Routine

Hair thinning isn’t always “just menopause.” Sometimes it’s your body looking for materials, like the contractor looking to build a house.

Low levels of iron, vitamin D, zinc, B vitamins, essential fatty acids, and adequate protein can all affect healthy hair growth at any age. We can also look to our gut. If we are eating really good food and still not getting that smooth skin and lush hair let’s look at the gut.

If you aren’t breaking down and absorbing nutrients properly, your hair and skin are often among the first places to show it. If you don’t produce enough stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile from the gallbladder, your body may struggle to break down and absorb the nutrients needed to nourish your skin, hair, and nails.

If gut bacteria is in a state of dysbiosis, the bacteria can talk with your liver (called the gut-liver axis) and cause problems with breaking down used up estrogens and allow it to be eliminated. This can lead to what is known as estrogen dominance that will impact hormonal balance in general. Hormones, gut health, and nutrient status are all interconnected. When one suffers, the others often follow.

Have you ever looked in the mirror one day and your skin and hair look good? Then a couple of days later you see a completely different picture? What changed? One question worth asking is, What have I been eating?

5 Simple Ways to Support Your Skin and hair Naturally

Instead of chasing the newest anti-aging cream, or luxury hair product, start with the basics. Eat enough quality protein. Your body needs amino acids to build collagen. Think eggs, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, or other quality protein sources such as nuts and seeds.

Eat the rainbow. Brightly colored vegetables provide carotenoids that help protect your skin and hair from oxidative stress while also supporting eye health. Thos polyphenols found in fruits and veggies also feed your gut bacteria that keeps you breaking down food and absorbing those nutrients.

Add a healthy fat like olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, or avocado so your body can actually absorb them. Fatty fish is also wonderful along with nuts. And think about cooking with tallow.

Stay hydrated. Your dry skin and flat hair is asking for water and minerals. Hydration depends on both. Drink half your body weight in ounces each day.

Feed your gut

If your digestive system isn’t working well, it doesn’t matter how expensive your supplements are or how good quality your food is. Poor digestion means poor absorption. As we sage, our digestive system declines. Look at digestive enzymes, apple cider vinegar or bitters before a meal. Or, bump it up and get a stool test done to find out where your gut might be struggling. I use the GI MAP in my practice and it is such a wonderful tool to see how your digestion and microbes are doing.

Healthy skin and hair often begins with a healthy gut so that all those nutrients from quality food can be absorbed and utilized.

Sounds to good to be true right?
Sometimes the simplest shifts gives us the biggest outcome.

Don’t Forget the Outside

Don’t get me wrong, we still needs something for our skin and hair. What about using simple ingredients?

Some of my favorite skincare products aren’t products at all but moisturize better than any store bought product. Oh and no “other” questionable ingredients”

• Rosewater

• Witch hazel

• Coconut oil

• Almond oil

• Sesame oil

• Jojoba oil

• Beef Tallow

These have been used for generations, long before skincare became a billion-dollar industry.

Feed Your Hair First

Ayurvedic principles use oils to massage into the scalp before using a natural shampoo. This allows to lock in moisture and the natural shampoo ingredients keep from stripping the natural oils in the hair.

Our hair of course needs a good sudsy massage. Hair is made primarily of protein (keratin), so your body needs the building blocks to make healthy hair.

Focus on things like quality protein at every meal like beef, chicken, eggs, poultry, nuts. Omega-3 fats from salmon, sardines and other fish keep that sheen and strong locks. Eggs contain biotin, choline and protein that translates into thicker hair. Look at Zinc from oysters, beef and pumpkin seeds. How about citrus fruits for vitamin C. Copper and sulfur helps maintain natural pigment and Vitamin D Silica-rich foods like cucumbers, oats, and peppers all work to keep those locks beautiful.

One thing I recommend often is scalp massage. It costs nothing, increases blood flow to the hair follicles, helps distribute your scalp’s natural oils, and feels wonderful. Who doesn’t love a good scalp massage?

Just five minutes a day can make a surprising difference over time. Here are a few nourishing oils you can massage into your scalp before shampooing. Some practitioners believe these should be massaged into dry hair. Then shower and go.

Rosemary oil

Probably the most researched natural oil for thinning hair. Studies have found rosemary essential oil can perform similarly to 2% minoxidil over six months for androgenic hair loss, but with less scalp itching.

3 to 5 drops rosemary essential oil

Mix into 1 tablespoon jojoba, almond, or coconut oil

Massage into scalp 5 to 10 minutes before washing.

Castor oil

Very thick and rich in ricinoleic acid. While scientific evidence for hair growth is limited, many people like it because it conditions the scalp and may reduce breakage. Mix with lighter oils because it’s extremely thick. Massage in then add masage in natural shampoo and suds that castor oil out.

Coconut oil

One of my favorites. Unlike many oils, coconut oil penetrates the hair shaft and helps reduce protein loss before and after washing. Wonderful for dry, damaged, or color-treated hair. Coconut oil is also wonderful for the entire body.

Sesame oil

A staple in Ayurvedic medicine. Excellent for dry scalp and brittle hair. Be sure to use raw sesame seed oil that is hexane free. It is a wonderful deep conditioning. Also wonderful massaged into the entire body.

Jojoba oil

Interestingly, jojoba isn’t actually an oil. It’s a wax ester that closely resembles our scalp’s natural sebum. So, naturally it is wonderful for dry scalp, itching and flaking scalp. It is also wonderful massaged into skin.

Simple weekly treatment

Looking for a simple weekly treatment? Try this once a week.

Mix together:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

• 1 tablespoon jojoba or almond oil

• 4 drops rosemary essential oil

Massage into your scalp for five minutes.

Work the remainder through your hair.

Leave on for 30 minutes (or overnight if you don’t mind sleeping in a towel).

Wash with a gentle natural shampoo.

Your skin and hair aren’t separate from the rest of your body.

Your skin and hair aren’t simply cosmetic concerns to be covered up with another cream, serum, shampoo, or conditioner. They’re often little messengers, trying to get your attention to what’s happening beneath the surface.

Could hormones be involved? Absolutely. But so could your digestion, hydration, nutrient status, healthy fats, protein intake, and the trillions of bacteria living inside your gut.

Instead of asking, “What should I put on my skin?”

Maybe the better question is, “What does my body need so my skin and hair can thrive naturally?”

Sometimes the biggest beauty secret isn’t found at the cosmetics counter. It’s found at the end of your fork, your gut and occasionally found in your kitchen.

Have a great week,

Karen

This week on a previously live Label to Table, Danni McFarland and I dug into two ingredients that catch even seasoned label readers off guard. One hides in plain sight across processed foods and supplements. The other shows up where most people never think to check ingredients at all. Both conversations point back to the same theme: how marketing language and regulatory loopholes shape what ends up in our bodies. We have to look past the pretty pictures and greenwashing.

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And a super duper special thank you to those of you who joined us live for this edition of Label To Table that I can’t find who was with us. The only one I know for sure is Thank you!

SHOW NOTES

Soy Lecithin in Processed Foods and Supplements with Danni

opened the conversation by unpacking soy lecithin, an ingredient many people recognize but rarely understand. Soy lecithin appears everywhere because it functions as an emulsifier, improving texture and mouthfeel in products like salad dressings, sauces, baked goods, ice cream, protein powders, and even certain teas. Its widespread use makes it easy to overlook, especially since it often sounds harmless or even beneficial.

Lecithin refers to phospholipids, fat like molecules that come from oil. In the case of soy lecithin, it is a byproduct of soybean oil processing. During the degumming phase of oil extraction, phospholipids are separated from crude soybean oil, sometimes using hexane. Water is added to hot oil, the phospholipids absorb the water, and the mixture is centrifuged to separate the components. In some cases, acetone is used to speed up drying before the lecithin is processed into powders or granules for food use.

What stood out most is that soy lecithin is essentially a waste product that found a profitable second life. Because soybeans are heavily genetically modified and sprayed with pesticides, soy lecithin carries those concerns with it. Danni emphasized that soy is also a phytoestrogen, which can influence hormone balance in sensitive individuals, whether that influence is perceived as positive or negative.

Another issue Danni raised is labeling. Products may now state that they contain bioengineered ingredients, but they rarely specify which ingredient that is. In many cases, soy lecithin is the likely source, leaving consumers to guess. While a small amount on occasion may not cause immediate harm, repeated exposure through a standard processed diet can add up quickly.

Danni also addressed sunflower lecithin as an alternative. While it is generally processed more cleanly and sunflowers are typically non GMO, sunflower lecithin is still a byproduct of oil processing. Herbicides and pesticides can still be involved, and any spraying during crop termination can concentrate residues in the seeds. It may be a better option, but it is not a free pass. Her core message was awareness. Knowing why lecithin is there, how much you are consuming, and how often it shows up across foods and supplements allows you to make more informed choices.

For more on soy lecithin hop on over to Danni’s page to subscribe.

Farmed Salmon with Color Added and Seafood Labeling with Karen

I shared a personal experience that caught me completely off guard. I purchased a package of Norwegian Atlantic salmon that appeared clean, sustainable, and high quality based on its branding, color palette, and certification language. I cooked it, enjoyed the rich fatty taste, and even shared some with my cats. Then I noticed something I had never seen before. My pan and sponge turned pink during cleanup.

That moment sent me back to the packaging. Buried beneath the species name Salmo salar was a phrase and this was not good. How could I have missed the color added? I felt duped, and honestly, upset, especially because I had fed it to my cats. Most people never think to check ingredient labels on single ingredient foods like meat or fish. I usually do, and somehow this still slipped through.

How Does Farmed Salmon get its colour

Wild salmon get their natural reddish to pink hue from eating krill, plankton, and crustaceans rich in astaxanthin. This pigment binds with muscle tissue through constant movement as salmon swim against strong currents. Farmed salmon, crowded into pens with limited movement, would naturally be pale or gray. Because consumers expect pink fish, color is added either through feed or after harvest.

In this case, the label did not disclose what type of coloring was used or how it was applied. It simply said color added. I want to know because astaxanthin can be naturally derived from microalgae or synthetically produced from petroleum sources. The synthetic version is cheaper and more common in conventional aquaculture. Based on the price point and retailer brand, I strongly suspect the synthetic form was used, though the label does not require that distinction.

The sustainability language raised more questions. This salmon was farmed in Norway, processed in Germany, and shipped to the United States. While there is traceability and some level of third party oversight, it is difficult to reconcile that supply chain with the consumer understanding of sustainability. Farmed Atlantic salmon also comes with known concerns around antibiotics, disease management, environmental waste, and impacts on wild salmon populations.

One important point is that listing the species name helps prevent seafood fraud, which is a real issue. That transparency is a positive step. Still, without clarity around coloring agents and feed composition, consumers are left with incomplete information.

What this experience reinforced for me is how powerful marketing cues are. Blue and white packaging, sustainability seals, and phrases like responsibly farmed or Norwegian salmon shape assumptions. Even professionals can be misled. The responsibility ultimately falls on us to slow down and read every line, even in places we least expect it.

How Ingredient Awareness Shapes Health Choices

Both conversations circled back to the same reality. Ultra processed ingredients often replace real food while creating textures and flavors that keep us buying more. Over time, these choices influence hormone balance, gut health, inflammation, and overall vitality. Cleaning up the diet alone can lead to noticeable improvements before supplements ever enter the picture.

Food companies are not incentivized to make this easy. Labels change, formulations shift, and ingredients are added without fanfare. That is exactly why Label to Table exists. To pause, decode, and translate what those labels are actually telling us. and I translate the science so you can choose with clarity rather than fear. Small shifts create real change when they are grounded in understanding.

If you have a product or ingredient you’d like us to decode on a future episode, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line at (656) 222 0848 (no one answers, promise ) or message me in the show notes. This is Label to Table, where we question the norm, encourage you to trust your wisdom, and make small shifts that create a big impact.

We will see you next week,

~Karen

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Thank you for subscribing and I am honoured. If you are new here, welcome. Are you ready to subscribe? I would love to share my weekly posting and recordings with you too.

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Thank you to everyone who tuned in during our live Label to Table 07/01/2026 episode: , , , , , , (love the name), , , , , (cool name), , and . There were others and thank you too.

A little confession

I actually wrote this last Monday. Tuesday night, found me in a wee bit of a panic, when I realised I didn’t have anything ready for our Wednesday Live Label to Table. I didn’t have time to dive into the research the way I normally do, then I thought, why not use what I already have?

So this week you’re getting a combined Monday book update post and Label to Table episode on induction cooktops.

I truly believe this information needs to be both read and heard. What follows is not from the transcript. I also cover additional information in the video that isn’t included here, so I encourage you to enjoy both. It’s well worth your time.

Oh, and not to mention, cohost she covers the product Nature’s Made Magnesium. Have you heard of this brand? Wait until you hear what she uncovers in the ingredient lists. And if that is not tempting enough, wait until Danni shows us what is inside the capsule..totally gross!

Now, that is worth hitting play. Hop over to Danni’s publication Back to Basics of Nutrition for the full story on Nature Made Magnesium.

Chapter 22

I am excited. I’m editing Chapter 22 of my upcoming book Go With Your Gut Beyond Menopause. By the time I’m finished, it probably won’t even be Chapter 22 . I still have 19 chapters to edit, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ve written too much. I find myself doubting myself sometimes. Thoughts like who’s going to read this? and, maybe I should just abandon it have crept in. Then I stop and ask myself... am I really ready to give in? Or has the commitment simply turned out to be bigger than I expected?

I’ve invested two years into this book. A book I honestly thought I’d finish in six months, tops. Sometimes I feel like the story of the boy who cried wolf. And then I read another study and think... no, people need to know this. I just can’t quit now.

The good news? The beta readers have been incredible. Their feedback has made the book so much stronger. The bad news? Every time I think a chapter is finished, another study needs exploring.

Induction stove top pros and cons

Chapter 22 is about protein. Sounds boring, I know. But it is more than just the right type of protein and animal vs. plant protein. I also talk about hyaluronic acid, collagen, and how to prepare protein. And that includes heat sources such as microwaves and induction stove tops.

There has been a lot of back-and-forth research on whether microwaves affect the nutritional value of food. One of the studies shows microwave heating can alter protein structure, digestibility, hydrophobicity, amino acids, allergenicity, and how proteins interact with water and oil. It also depends on the food type, power, time, temperature, and moisture.

I have not used a microwave in over 30 years. Well, in my homes, I stored my oven mitts in there. In our coach, we were storing our supplements in there until we had it taken out last year and replaced with a cupboard. Now that felt good!

What are your thought about induction stove tops?

I remember one of my subscribers asked me what I thought about induction stove tops, and I told them I thought they were great! We had just gotten into our coach back in 2020, and it came with an induction stove top. I didn’t really look into it, just did a quick search “Induction stove top pros and cons” and nothing had come up. So I thought, OK, it must be good. I looked for studies on induction stove tops and again, nothing. So, I told my subscriber what I was feeling. I was pretty happy with my inducitn cook top (I am still regretting that). I was also elated it worked with my cast iron and stainless steel pots. I was worried it only worked with non-stick cookware, and those are non-negotiable. I am not using them.

Then, a couple of years later I was searching for something entirely different and stumbled across a couple of studies out of Germany about induction cooktops. I downloaded the studies, stuck them in a folder on my laptop, and didn’t look at them. At the time, I did not want to know. I was relying on “ignorance is bliss”.

But what I noticed was the amount of cancer that was happening among the RV’rs. Induction cooktops are the number one cooking device in RVs, coaches, camper vans and even the boating industry. That reminded me of those studies sitting in the folder on my laptop, and it had me curious. I finally decided it was time to read them.

Induction cooktops and EMFs

It turns out induction cooktops also known as hobs, use electromagnetic energy, which is just a little different than microwaves. A microwave uses electromagnetic waves to heat the food itself. An induction cooktop uses a magnetic field to turn the pan into the heat source. Unlike a regular coil or gas burner, the cooktop itself doesn’t generate the heat. Once compatible magnetic cookware is placed on the surface, the magnetic field causes the pan to heat up, and the pan cooks the food. The question then becomes not only, “What happens to the food?” but also, “What is the cook standing in?”

The 2020 World Foundation for Natural Science (WFNS) paper argues that induction cooking may affect the “internal order” of food and includes drop-image comparisons of cooking water from gas, electric, and induction methods. The problem was, these seemed to be the only studies out there. And, quite frankly, when it comes to studies, if they are out of anywhere other than North America, I pay attention. Why? What I have learned from having a live show on Wednesdays with my co-host is that most of the tinkering with food and food-related products that are considered “OK” in North America have been banned in European countries. How sad is that?

The 2020 WFNS paper found the following:

“The strong magnetic fields generated during cooking are harmful to the health of the cook and destroy the internal order. Our own experiments and investigations clearly show that the induction cooker damages, if not destroys, the internal order of the cooked food. As a result, the information inherent in the cooked food is lost, as if the music stored on a compact disc was deleted.”

In the same paper they researchers did an experiment using organic carrots and tested for the nutrients after cooking on gas, electric and induction. Of the three cooking methods only the induction destroyed the nutrients in the carrots.

The same paper also reported that most induction hobs exceed the maximum limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). For example, when a person is standing close to the induction hob. The standards in most countries are set for short-term exposure instead of long-term exposure, making them less reliable when taking into account prolonged use and distance from the appliance. The paper states:

“This approach is scandalous and is strongly criticized by many scientists.”

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health provide the following advice on how to handle induction hobs:

• Pans should cover the entire hob and must not be defective (no crooked bottoms) so that no large stray fields can occur

• Mainly the rear hobs should be used and the front ones only with low power.

• Metal cooking spoons should not be used, so that no leakage currents flow through the body.

• People with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator should discuss the use of an induction hob with their doctor in advance.

• Finally, pregnant women should not stand too close to the stove, as the magnetic fields can damage the fetus.

The paper concludes:

“It makes little sense to use a cooking device that destroys the food and damages the body, as is the case with the induction hob.”

Interestingly, as I was looking for more research while writing my book, I finally came across a ton of research. Finally! But it was the usual back and forth; it’s good, it’s not good. It all depended on who was sponsoring the research..

Here is what I have found that is more recent. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies extremely low-frequency magnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), although this classification reflects limited evidence rather than proof of harm.

A study published in Bioelectromagnetics evaluated domestic and professional induction cooktops and found that while most units complied with international standards at the specified testing distance, many exceeded the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) reference levels when a person stood much closer to the cooktop. The researchers also noted that exposure for young children and the fetus could approach or exceed recommended limits under certain worst-case conditions.

One thing I found interesting is that many safety evaluations assume the user is standing about 30 cm (12 inches) away from the front edge of the cooktop. Personally, I don’t know many, myself included, who cook that far away. Most of us naturally lean on over over the stove while stirring a pot, also reaching for the back burner, or checking what’s for dinner.

A newer 2025 Bioelectromagnetics paper really backs up the 2020 WFNS paper and why I had to revisit this section in my book. It found that induction hob exposure varies widely depending on power, coil size, cookware, and how close the person stands to it.

It also concluded that current international testing standards may substantially underestimate real-world EMF exposure because measurements are taken much farther away than people typically stand while cooking.

Even more interesting, the researchers found more than a 20-fold difference in EMF exposure between different induction cooktop designs, suggesting manufacturers can reduce exposure through improved design.

Do Induction Cooktops affect Pacemakers?

One of my subscribers brought to may attention about pacemakers and induction cooktops. I completely forgot to add this to article. In the 2020 study from NaturalScience.org, they did indeed comment on induction stovetops and pace makers:

People with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator should discuss the use of an induction hob with their doctor in advance.

This is a big deal, and I appologise for not adding. In a 2006 study, Do induction cooktops interfere with cardiac pacemakers? The researchers wanted to answer a simple question: Can the magnetic fields and leakage currents from induction cooktops interfere with implanted cardiac pacemakers?

The researchers deliberately designed the study around worst-case conditions, not average kitchen use. They examined:

• 11 European induction cooktops

• 244 pacemakers

• A laboratory model representing the highest-risk patient:

• left-sided pacemaker implantation

• older unipolar pacemaker system

• standing extremely close to the cooktop

• different pan sizes and positions.

When the pan sat centered over the induction coil, interference remained below the level expected to affect the pacemaker. “If the pot is positioned concentrically with the induction coil... the induced voltage always remained below the critical value of 100 mV.”

One of the more important findings in the study, which I mention later, is when large pots were positioned off-center, the induced voltages became much higher. The findings: “with eccentrically positioned large pots, voltages of up to 800 mV could be induced.” However, “The induced voltage could always be reduced to ≤60 mV by maintaining a distance of 35 cm” (about 13 inches).

Although this study investigated the potential for interference with cardiac pacemakers, it is relevant because it examined both magnetic field induction and electrical leakage currents. Unlike studies that focus only on electromagnetic fields, these researchers also measured voltage traveling from the metal cookware, through the body, and into a simulated pacemaker sensing system. They found:

“Approximately 2% of the voltage between pot and ground appears across the pacemaker’s sensing input.”

The researchers concluded:

Patients are at risk if the implant is unipolar and left-sided, if they stand as close as possible to the induction cooktop, and if the pot is not concentric with the induction coil. Unipolar pacing systems can sense interference generated by leakage currents if the patient touches the pot for a long period of time. The most likely response to interference is switching to an asynchronous interference mode. Patients with unipolar pacemakers are at risk only if they are not pacemaker-dependent.

Effect of Induction Cooktop on Pacemakers

What I am taking away from this study is a couple of things. First, the researchers tested induction cooktops manufactured for the European market. Europe has long maintained rigorous electromagnetic compatibility standards for electrical appliances. Even under those conditions, the researchers identified circumstances in which measurable magnetic-field induction and electrical leakage currents could interfere with certain pacemakers.

Second, the study intentionally evaluated a worst-case scenario rather than ordinary cooking conditions. Factors such as pan placement, distance from the cooktop, and the type and location of the pacemaker all influenced the amount of interference measured.

It is also important to remember that this study was published in 2006. Both induction cooktops and pacemaker technology have changed since then, and modern bipolar pacemakers are generally less susceptible to interference than the older unipolar systems emphasized in this study. However, some individuals still have older pacemakers, so these findings remain relevant for a portion of the population. That does not erase the study’s findings, but it does place them in context.

More broadly, electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a well-recognized consideration for people with implanted cardiac devices. Depending on the type of pacemaker and the manufacturer’s recommendations, patients may be advised to avoid close or prolonged exposure to certain sources of strong electromagnetic fields, such as cell phones held directly over the implant, large electric motors or generators, industrial welding equipment, security screening systems, and some other electrical devices. For this reason, anyone with a pacemaker should follow the guidance provided by their cardiologist and the pacemaker manufacturer regarding potential sources of electromagnetic interference.

Finally, the study leaves me with additional questions. If measurable magnetic-field induction and leakage currents were observed using European-manufactured induction cooktops operating under stricter regulatory standards, how do products from manufacturers with varying levels of design, testing, and oversight compare? That is a question that deserves independent testing rather than assumptions.

What are your thoughts on Induction Cooktops?

I shared more here than what is in my book. And, I hope you will rethink or take some precautionary measures. If you can, swap it out for gas or a coil based cooktop, you know, the kind you grew up with? How about an EMF-protected apron? I was seriously thinking about that one too. But that is like a bandaid. But at least it can provide some protection. I decided to just replace it for now.

I used a shortened affiliate Amazon Link, but seriously, I don’t rely on links from Amazon to make money.

I went on a research rabbit hole looking for a quality coil burner after having a couple of crappy ones from Amazon quit after a month of use. The one I talk about in the video is the Cadco CSR-3T 14” Electric Portable Countertop.

My Brain Fart Moment

And let me share with you my “I am human” brain fart. When I came across the WFNS recommendation to avoid unnecessary contact with metal utensils while cooking with induction, I replaced all of my stainless steel utensils with wooden ones. About a month later (yeah, a whole month later), while stirring food in my stainless steel pot heating up on my induction stove top, I suddenly had a “holy shit” thought... wait a minute... I’m stirring food in an entirely metal pot. What difference does it make whether I’m holding a stainless steel spoon or a wooden if I’m stirring it inside a stainless steel pot?

I stopped using our induction cooktop altogether. I purchased a high-quality, good old-fashioned coil burner and now use the unplugged induction cooktop as extra counter space for my cutting board. Eventually, we will have the kitchen renovated to remove it. But for now, it is unplugged and will not be used again.

The pros and cons of Induction stove top

Research in this area is still evolving, and there isn’t universal agreement about the health significance of these findings. And with what I have shared with you today, I don’t see any pros to using an induction cooktop…do you? I believe the cons out weight the pros. And if you have a pacemaker, be sure to discuss with your doctor.

My goal isn’t to tell you what kind of cooktop belongs in your kitchen. I simply believe it’s important to understand how these appliances work, what researchers have found so far, and where questions still remain. From there, you can weigh the information and decide what makes the most sense for your home, your family, and your comfort level.

For me, I am no longer using my induction cooktop. The writing is on the wall. And I am finally interpreting the language.

Have a great week,

Karen.

Ps. share this with others especially if they are using an induction cook top or induction stove top.

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If you have a product or ingredient you would like decoded please leave me a message here in the show notes, or hit reply to this to email or leave a message or voice mail at (656) 222-0848.

P.s. I used an Amazon shortened affiliate link, however, I think the most I ever made was 8₵ (my friend bought something). SO, I am just disclosing it was an affiliate link.

What happens when zero sugar promises collide with real world biology? This week on Label to Table, we are decoding two grocery store darlings that affect blood sugar, gut health, hormones, and long term risk. From sugar free Oreos marketed as mindful indulgence to a yogurt label that suddenly reveals its dark little secret, this episode is a masterclass in trusting your body over branding.

And, if you have stumbled across this post and are thinking, I need to be a part of this community, well, you can. Hit the button below and welcome. I pop a fresh post into your inbox each Monday morning at 4 am Pacific. And a previously recorded Label to Table on Thursdays, same time. So, grab your favourite brew and sit awhile or fight traffic while listening in and get back to zen.

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And a super duper special thank you to those of you who joined us live for this edition of Label To Table. I was not able to capture everyone who was on live with us except for , , and . Thank you to you all that did join us live.

SHOW NOTES

Zero Sugar Oreos and the Promise of Mindful Indulgence

This week on Label to Table, my cohost and I dove into a headline that sounds like a win for health conscious shoppers at first glance. Oreo announced the launch of Zero Sugar Oreos in the United States, positioning them as a permanent addition designed for what the company calls mindful indulgence. As soon as Danni shared the news, it raised immediate red flags for both of us, not because of the cookie itself, but because of what replaces the sugar.

What’s Really in Zero Sugar Oreos

Danni walked us through the ingredient list driving these new products, focusing on sucralose, also known as Splenda. Sucralose is marketed as a zero calorie sweetener derived from sugar, invented in the 1970s and approved decades ago, with the claim that it passes through the body unchanged and does not affect blood sugar. The chemical reality, as Danni explained, tells a different story. Sucralose is created by replacing parts of the sugar molecule with chlorine, making it something the body does not recognize as food. While it is promoted as safe and stable, especially for baking, that stability is part of the problem.

How Sucralose Disrupts Appetite and Digestion

Drawing from her training and experience, Danni shared how sucralose use has long been associated with digestive disruption, liver stress, and unintended metabolic consequences. Although it does not raise blood sugar the way sugar does, it interferes with appetite signaling and satiety hormones, which can drive increased hunger and overeating. She also pointed out that the bulk of products sold as Splenda are not pure sucralose, but largely maltodextrin, a carbohydrate that can cause digestive distress and has a high glycemic impact.

For more on this episode hop on over to Danni’s page. Oh be sure to subscribe.

Back To Basics of Nutrition

In today's fast-paced world, we're constantly bombarded with nutrition information. Good and bad. This newsletter aims to cut through the noise, and strip away the complexities to return to the fundamentals of healthy living.

By Danni Macfarland

When Diet Marketing Backfires

What struck me most during Danni’s segment was how familiar this pattern feels. We have seen this before with low fat foods and diet products that promised control but delivered confusion to the body. Zero sugar marketing creates the illusion of safety while keeping people locked into the same eating habits, often with greater consequences later.

That conversation set the stage perfectly for what I covered next, because ingredient labels do not just hide sweeteners. They also hide decisions made much earlier in the food chain.

RBST Milk and Dairy Labels Changed With Karen

After Danni’s breakdown of artificial sweeteners, I shifted the conversation to a question sent in by our community about dairy labeling, specifically RBST. A listener noticed that her favorite plain Greek yogurt had quietly changed its packaging. What used to be a loud declaration about milk from cows not treated with RBST had been reduced to a small disclaimer tucked off to the side. The product itself had not changed, but the way the information was presented certainly had.

What RBST Is and How It’s Used in Dairy

RBST stands for recombinant bovine somatotropin, a synthetic version of a hormone cows naturally produce to regulate milk production. This engineered hormone was approved in the United States in the early 1990s and used to increase milk output by injecting cows every two weeks during their lactation cycle. While regulatory agencies have repeatedly stated that milk from RBST treated cows is safe for human consumption, the story becomes more complicated when you look at the ripple effects.

Animal Health, Antibiotics, and Dairy Quality

From the animal side, RBST use has been linked to higher rates of mastitis, increased antibiotic use, mobility problems, and reproductive issues in cows. That alone raises ethical and quality concerns. From the human side, the issue centers on insulin like growth factor one, or IGF one. Milk from RBST treated cows has been shown to contain higher levels of this growth factor, which is naturally present in dairy but elevated with hormone use.

IGF One, Digestion, and Hormone Signaling

The official stance has long been that IGF one is broken down during digestion and rendered inactive. However, research discussed during the show suggests that this breakdown is not as complete as once assumed and that IGF one can be absorbed through the intestinal wall. Elevated circulating IGF one levels have been associated with increased risks for certain cancers, including breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer, particularly when digestive integrity is compromised.

Why Digestive Health Changes the Equation

What makes this especially concerning is how common digestive dysfunction has become. When digestion is impaired, absorption patterns change, and compounds assumed to be harmless can behave very differently in the body. Hormones are signals, and when we repeatedly expose hormone sensitive tissues to growth signals, there are consequences worth paying attention to.

Why RBST Is Still Legal in the United States

RBST has been banned in many countries, including Canada, the European Union, Australia, and Japan, yet it remains legal in the United States. Organic dairy standards prohibit its use, which is why choosing organic milk avoids this particular issue. As for labeling, companies are allowed to state that their milk comes from cows not treated with RBST only if they include an FDA mandated disclaimer claiming no significant difference between treated and untreated milk. Over time, many brands have minimized this language, not because the issue disappeared, but because label space is valuable and consumer attention shifts.

What Ingredient Labels Don’t Tell You

What this entire discussion reinforces is that ingredient decoding is not just about what is added to food. It is also about how that food was produced, what signals it carries into the body, and how marketing language can distract from meaningful distinctions.

Why We Should Read Labels

Whether we are talking about zero sugar cookies or dairy hormones, the common thread is this. The body is constantly interpreting signals from what we eat. When those signals are confusing, synthetic, or mismatched with what the body expects, systems compensate in ways that often show up as digestive distress, weight changes, or hormonal imbalance. Marketing evolves faster than physiology, and glossy claims do not equal nourishment.

That is why Danni and I do this work. We read the fine print so you do not have to guess. We translate the science so you can choose with clarity rather than fear. Small shifts create real change when they are grounded in understanding.

If you have a product or ingredient you’d like us to decode on a future episode, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line at (656) 222 0848 (no one answers, promise ) or message me in the show notes.

This is Label to Table, where we question the norm, encourage you to trust your wisdom, and make small shifts that create a big impact.

We will see you next week,

~Karen

We have landed in Othello, Washington and we are staying put for the rest of the summer. So we think. That could change in a heartbeat. There are a few neighboring towns I would love to explore, but for now it feels good to be grounded. On our journey back I did not get to follow along with Mount Shasta and quite frankly, I didn’t need to. I have conquered my fear of mountains (sort of). This side of the mountain was like an affirmation reminding me “you’ve got this.”

Our friends are staying in the coach next to us, so it has been fun catching up, sharing meals, and spending time together. It was also nice to spend Sunday getting our Jeep nice and dusty on the back roads of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. This whole area is a geological wonderment.

I’ll open this up too. If you are in Moses Lake, Othello, or the surrounding area, I would love to meet for tea and a chitchat. I genuinely want to meet the people who have taken the time to subscribe and follow along.

You can hit reply to this email or leave a comment.

And if you are in another state, tell me where you are. Who knows? If I’m rolling through town, I hope we get to meet. I will buy your coffee.

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On that note, I want to welcome some new subscribers.

, and

Thank you so much for being here. And if you are new and have not subscribed yet, why not do so now? I would love for you to come along for the journey.

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If you have a question you would like answered, or an ingredient or product you would like my cohost Danni McFarland and me to decode on an upcoming Label to Table show, hit reply, leave a comment, or send me a direct message here.

Speaking of Label to Table, I will be releasing recordings of our Lives on Thursdays. I have a whole bunch queued up, and this will be a great way for those who could not make it live to catch up on what we have been decoding each week.

This week, I worked on my book and only got one chapter edited. Hey, I am one chapter closer to the finish line. At least that is what I am telling myself.

The chapter is on fermented foods, and it was fun to wander through the history of different fermented foods and traditions.

My chapter also covers different types of milk and raw versus pasteurized dairy. Besides cow, sheep, and goat milk, did you know people around the world drink yak, water buffalo, donkey, camel, and horse milk? I knew about most of these, except donkey and horse. That threw me for a loop, finding it fascinating at the same time.

Because refrigeration is more of a modern convenience, cultures had to figure out how to preserve milk. Sure they drank milk as soon as it was milked from the animal, but how to preserve it? Milk became cheese, yogurt, kefir, and all kinds of fermented drinks.

India is known for lassi, a yogurt-based drink that can be sweetened with fruit, flavored with spices, or served savory. Sweden has filmjölk, a mild, pourable cultured milk often enjoyed with cereal or berries. Finland has viili, a traditional cultured milk with a thick, silky, slightly stretchy texture. Iceland is famous for skyr, which technically falls somewhere between yogurt and fresh cheese. Naturally high in protein, skyr has been a staple of the Icelandic diet for centuries.

But while writing this chapter, I kept thinking about something else. I was drawn into the ways of making traditional yogurt, cheese, ferented vegetables and drinks. What they all have in common is this tremendous collection of beneficial compounds and bacteria when properly prepared.

And that got me thinking about anxiety, especially during menopause and beyond. in fact, one of the questions I hear over and over from women is,

“Why am I suddenly so anxious? I’ve never been like this before.”

We have been led to believe it is just part of menopause. Hormones certainly play a role. But I think we are missing another piece of the puzzle.

Your gut and your brain are talking to each other all day long. The problem is, if your gut is inflamed or your microbial neighborhood has been depleted, the messages get scrambled. Not to mention if your liver has to deal with rogue bacteria, that can cause all sorts of symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, waking up in the early morning hours.

And that made me wonder while writing this chapter, what did our grandmothers and their grandmothers do with their food? They canned and fermented food. In fact, they preserved just about everything. Long before refrigerators, freezers, grocery stores, or yogurt lined up in the dairy aisle, nearly every culture on earth was fermenting food to preserve it.

Cabbage became sauerkraut, milk became yogurt or kefir, soybeans became miso, tempeh, and natto. Vegetables disappeared into crocks with nothing more than salt and time.

This was a survival mechanism. But it was also a microbiome survival mechanism. Of course, our ancestors were not thinking about the microbiome. They were simply preserving food. Yet generation after generation continued the practice. Why? Because it worked.

Over the last decade or so, billions of dollars have been spent creating probiotic supplements, designer yogurts, gut health powders, and commercial products where we pasteurize natural foods, remove the living microbes, and then add selected cultures back in.

Why are we trying to recreate something our ancestors stumbled upon thousands of years ago with a crock, fresh vegetables, salt, and goatskin pouch and patience?

Fermented vegetables do not need a probiotic culture. Start with organic cabbage, add salt, give it the right environment, and guess what? The bacteria naturally present on the cabbage begin the fermentation process. You end up with sauerkraut.

Our ancestors simply called it food preservation. Today, we have to look on grocery store shelves for “wild fermentation.”

Now, science is finally beginning to understand what our ancestors could not explain. Fermented foods feed an entire ecosystem living inside us. Your gut is not just where digestion happens. It is home to trillions of microbes that influence your immune system, communicate with your brain, help regulate inflammation, and produce compounds that support the health of your intestinal lining.

They even influence many of the chemical messages traveling between your gut and your brain. Now think about what happens during menopause. Hormone changes, anxiety, sleep gets wonky. stress often increases. energy dips and words disappear. We start calling it “menopause brain” or “estrogen brain.” After an identifying label, sometimes we medicate it.

But what if we also looked at diet and lifestyle?

Many women have spent decades eating ultra-processed foods, taking repeated rounds of antibiotics, living with chronic stress, and sometimes following restrictive diets. Over time, the diversity of the microbiome can shrink and shift because it has not been fed what it needs. It becomes imbalanced.

The standard North American diet has been shown to affect cognition, energy, hormones, sleep, and mood. Not to mention waist size.

And then suddenly we feel anxious? There was nothing sudden about it. It was brewing for years. The body just reaches a tipping point. I think this is a piece of the puzzle that deserves far more attention.

Now, do not get me wrong here. Eating sauerkraut or a bowl of yogurt will not magically erase anxiety. But every meal is an opportunity to support the tiny microbial community working around the clock on your behalf.

What happens in your gut communicates with your brain. We know those with inflammatory bowel disease have a stronger association with anxiety and depression. Why? Because the gut microbiome, immune system, inflammation, and nervous system are all involved in that conversation.

During menopause, if the gut is compromised, it can exacerbate symptoms. But we can help decrease the intensity of those symptoms by making changes to our diet and lifestyle that feed and seed our gut so it can have better overall communication with our body.

Fermented foods, naturally made yogurt, raw cheese along with fiber, colorful vegetables, quality protein, and real whole foods, help create an environment where beneficial microbes can thrive. And when our little microbial ladies are robust in numbers, they can support better digestion, better sleep, steadier energy, and a calmer internal environment.

A Few Ways to Get Started

Spend some time Googling around on the different types of fermented foods, drinks and dairy methods. Then, start with one fermented food.

The key is to go slow. If fermented foods have been absent from your diet, begin with as little as ¼ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon a day and gradually increase over time. This will avoid gastric distress.

Become a label detective. Whether you’re buying dairy or a feremented veggies like sauerkraut or Kimchi, read the ingredient list. Look for “wild” fermentation.

Look for products with live active cultures and avoid added gums, thickeners, emulsifiers, artificial flavors, and sugars.

Experiment if dairy doesn’t agree with you. Before assuming all dairy is the problem, consider trying A2 dairy or yogurt made from goat or sheep milk. Some people tolerate these much better than conventional cow’s milk.

Consider making your own. Traditional fermentation requires surprisingly little quality ingredients, salt (for vegetables), time, and patience. Humans successfully fermented foods for thousands of years without probiotic packets.

Aim for diversity. Once your gut has shifted, rotate your choices. Different fermented foods introduce different beneficial microbes, helping support a more diverse microbiome.

Look, one meal won’t transform your gut, just as one poor meal won’t destroy it. The microbes living inside you respond to what you do consistently over time.

Maybe our grandmothers and their grandmothers did not know words like microbiome, gut-brain axis, or short-chain fatty acids. They simply passed down traditions that nourished families for generations. It obviously worked because, here you are.

Sometimes I think we have become so busy trying to engineer better health that we have forgotten to ask a very simple question, what were humans doing for thousands of years before we allowed our food to become so processed and removed from its original form? I think the answer has been sitting in a crock on the kitchen counter all along.

Have a great week,

Karen

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We have some goodies today. We have a quiz and an upcoming workshop by who added in some great tips to this post. (See below if you are curious and need to see it now). Also, I did not intend this to be so long, so if you are reading this in your email click here so you can see the whole article.

But, before we get into the symptoms of menopause and how they may be misleading, I wanted to thank some new faces for subscribing. I honestly thought that if I stopped podcasting for a while I’d lose subscribers, but that hasn’t happened. I am delighted, to welcome:

, , , . Welcome, glad to have you here.

If you are new here, welcome in and I do hope you too will subscribe.

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When we were leaving Chowchilla bound for Sacramento, (where I am writing this from) Zazu was not at all happy riding on the couch in the salon (fancy word for living room). When his sister Jagster was still with us, they would curl up together and travel days were usually uneventful. This time was different. He just would not stop meowing.

Then it hit me. Since Jagster passed, Zazu has slept in a box right next to me. I wondered if maybe he simply did not want to be alone while I was driving. So I moved his box into the cockpit (fancy word for the front) and placed him between our seats. Problem solved!

It also occurred to me that there was a lesson in that moment. Sometimes the answers are right there, uncomplicated. We just need to pay attention and understand what the message is. Whether it is a pet, a friend, spouse, child or even our own body, the clues are often right in front of us. We just have to tune in and listen. and that had me thinking about this week’s post and the symptoms of menopause. In fact, I put a little quiz together for you.

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Take the Quiz and the Challenge

I have a quick little quiz for you today. Really simple. Answer Yes or No to each question. For each yes, give yourself 1 point. The last two if answering “yes” add 2 points. See your results below.

Your Results

0–5 Points Hydration Hero 💧

You appear to be fairly well hydrated. While some symptoms may have other causes, dehydration is less likely to be a major contributor. Keep up the good work and continue paying attention to both hydration and water quality.

6–10 Points Running Low 🚰

Mild dehydration may be contributing to some of your menopause symptoms. Fatigue, headaches, brain fog, and afternoon energy crashes are common signs that your body may be asking for more water. Consider increasing your water intake for the next seven days and see what changes.

11–16 Points The Raisin Zone 🍇

Your body may be sending several signals that hydration needs attention. Before assuming every symptom is related to hormones, aging, stress, dry skin, mood changes, hot flashes, or even constipation, consider increasing your water intake and monitoring changes over the next week. You may be surprised by how much better you feel when your cells are no longer operating in raisin mode.

17–24 Points Official Desert Cactus Status 🌵

Your score suggests dehydration could be playing a significant role in how you’re feeling, especially if you tend to run on the hot side, experience hot flashes, headaches, low grade aches in your neck or head, low energy, and urine that ranges from dark amber to brownish in color. At this point, you may be feeling downright blah, more irritable or short-tempered than usual, and simply not at your best.

So, how did you score?

• Hydration Hero 💧

• Running Low 🚰

• The Raisin Zone 🍇

• Official Desert Cactus Status 🌵

  Leave a comment

Leave your score in the comments. I’m genuinely curious. And believe me, no judgment. I have days where I go from The Raisin Zone 🍇 to Official Desert Cactus Status🌵 complete with a bowel spasm, because apparently I could not bring my water bottle to my lips. Makes no sense, I know, I should no better! Just proves I am human.

I am not disputing that menopause is real, and I am most certainly not disputing the symptoms that can come with it or what you are experiencing. What I am questioning is how many of those symptoms, or the intensity of those symptoms, are automatically just a part of menopause.

What if some of the symptoms you’ve been led to believe are menopause are actually being amplified by something as simple as not drinking enough water?

Some of the symptoms women often attribute to menopause, including fatigue, brain fog, forgetfulness, poor focus, low energy, constipation, headaches, dry skin, and even hot flashes, can sometimes be aggravated by something much simpler. And that is dehydration.

Water carries nutrients to our cells and helps transport cellular waste out. It regulates temperature, which becomes especially helpful during and beyond menopause. It keeps brain tissue hydrated so messages can travel efficiently throughout the body. Because it helps deliver nutrients to our cells, it also supports healthy energy production. In fact, if you completed the hydration quiz earlier, you may remember that even mild dehydration can affect energy, concentration, mood, digestion, and temperature regulation long before you feel thirsty.

As I was editing my book, Go With Your Gut Beyond Menopause, I was working on shortening the water section based on feedback from my beta readers. After spending time in 100-degree weather in Chowchilla, California, this past week, the timing felt almost like universal alignment. As I worked through the chapter, I realized I was experiencing many of the very symptoms I had just been writing about. So, I thought, I need to share this.

In my book, I share two stories. The first is about a client who had reached out to me about her mum. Her mum was struggling with low energy and constant brain fog. I asked about her typical daily meals so I could get a sense of possible nutrient deficiencies, what she drank throughout the day to determine if caffeine was a problem, how often she had bowel movements, how much water she was consuming, and whether she was taking any medications. She was not taking any medications.

It turned out her mum had two 16-ounce cups of coffee with sugar and cream in the morning, followed by 16-ounce cups of black tea throughout the day. Her diet was typical refined foods, lacking fresh vegetables and fruits. I noticed something was missing right away. I asked if she drank any water, she admitted she didn’t.

Talking more to her mum she shared she had one bowel movement every couple of days, was taking drops for dry eyes, and energy drops in the afternoon.

I suggested swapping out some of the tea for water throughout the day and making a few food upgrades. Knowing she was 88 years young, I figured giving up her coffee was probably off the table, although maybe getting it down to one cup a day could be a start. But the water was the most important thing to do.

After a polite “thanks for your time,” I didn’t hear from them again. The family seemed unconvinced that water alone could make such a difference. I did not have the magic potion or the magic pill to “cure” her.

Now, while that may seem like a lost cause, there is another side to the story. A week later, I was giving an introductory presentation at a corporate lunch and learn. In the very first session, I emphasized the importance of water, proper sleep, and upgrading food choices. At the end, I left participants with three tasks they could choose from, adding an extra hour of sleep, incorporating breakfast, or increasing their water intake.

The water option could be as simple as swapping other drinks for water or going all in by drinking half their body weight in ounces of water daily.

When I returned a week later to see how they fared, the ones who chose the water challenge were amazed by the difference. Many reported that the brain fog was gone. They had more energy. They could focus better. Some even noticed an improvement in their skin. All from drinking more water.

It made me wonder how much the low energy and the chronic symptoms of that 88-year-young lady might have improved if her family had just tried water for one week. Perhaps it could have been the most inexpensive potion ever tried.

I’m curious. How much water did you drink yesterday? How much water do you typically drink in a day? Are you thinking about upping your water?

I would like to share the same challenge with you that I shared in my corporate lunch and learn lecture series. All it takes is 7 days and a willingness to drink more water. That is it. Are you in?

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💧Water Challenge Are you in?💦

For the next 7 days, drink half your body weight in ounces of water.

Let’s take the example of a 150-pound sager.

150 lbs ➗ 2 = 75 ounces per day.

That is approximately:

9 (and a bit) eight-ounce glasses of water a day

or

3 (and a bit) 24-ounce water bottles a day.

Now take your own weight in pounds:

__________ ➗ 2 = __________ ounces of water per day you will need for this challenge.

And if you committed to drinking half your body weight in ounces for the next seven days, what do you think might change?

• Your energy?

• Your focus?

• Your digestion?

• Your hot flashes?

• Your mood?

• Perhaps nothing? (why not challenge yourself and see if nothing does).

• Or perhaps more than you expect.

There is more in the chapter in my book about how to combat caffeine, how to keep your water intake up, and the types of water to drink. And as much as I wanted to add the caffeine piece here, I wanted to keep this to a challenge, not a class lesson.

Even if you consume more than 4 to 6 ounces of caffeine per day, taking on this water challenge may pleasantly surprise you. You may just find some of your symptoms may lessen. But I will add this one piece.

Did you know that drinking water may also support healthier cholesterol levels?

In the book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj explains how chronic dehydration may contribute to many health issues, including high cholesterol. According to Batmanghelidj,

“when the body is dehydrated, it produces more cholesterol to prevent water loss from cell membranes.”

The liver creates more cholesterol to plug up the leaking cells’ holes. Whoa!

Karen I do not like the taste of water!

I hear this a lot. And it is honestly a whole other article from the type of water, filters to the unconscious emotions connected to water. I will save that for another day.

As I was putting together this hydration challenge, I found myself thinking about ways to make water more appealing for those of us who simply don’t enjoy drinking it.

We can add cucumbers, mint, berries or other fruit to the water, but I am sure there are also natural ways to hydrate that may make the drinking process even easier while nourishing our cells.

That’s when I reached out to better known as Raw Milk Mama.

Raw Milk Mama

True stories about American agriculture and our food system with an emphasis on how we can create food security for our households and communities.

By Liz Reitzig

I first met Liz through my cohost, , during one of our weekly Wednesdays live Label to Table discussions. We were talking about the differences between regenerative and organic farming, and I was immediately impressed by her depth of knowledge.

Liz is the author of the publication Raw Milk Mama and the book of the same name. She is also a food and farming policy analyst, entrepreneur, permaculture gardener, educator, and passionate advocate for real food. If there is one thing Liz understands, it’s the connection between what we consume and how it impacts our health.

Since hydration was top of mind while working on this post, I asked Liz for some practical tips on how to stay properly hydrated and, perhaps more importantly, how to make water taste better for those of us who struggle with plain water. And, here is something interesting, did you know that if you are drinking nutrient rich water, you will actually enjoy drinking water?

Staying Hydrated: Tips from Raw Milk Mama

One of the first things Liz pointed out that I so agree with is that she doesn’t actually recommend drinking plain water to stay hydrated. According to Liz, proper hydration is about much more than H₂O. It involves maintaining a healthy balance of electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium, along with trace minerals and healthy fats. Liz says,

“We need sodium, magnesium, and potassium to help move water into the cells where it is needed,” she explained. “Without adequate electrolytes, simply drinking more water may not provide the hydration you’re looking for.”

Liz also encourages looking beyond water itself and asking a few questions which just so happen to be in the water quiz you just took:

• Is your skin dry?

• Are your lips chapped?

• Are you constantly thirsty?

• Do you struggle with constipation?

While dehydration may play a role, she notes that other factors can contribute to dryness, including inadequate healthy fats, excessive caffeine or alcohol consumption, and diets high in sugar. Liz believes that high sugar intake, in particular, may deplete magnesium, an important mineral involved in electrolyte balance.

If dryness is an ongoing issue, Liz recommends considering moistening herbs such as marshmallow root and others. If all of this sounds complicated, Liz assures us it doesn’t have to be.

Her favorite ways to support hydration include:

• Adding ½ to 1 teaspoon of (Celtic) sea salt (not iodized table salt) to a pint of water and sipping it throughout the day.

• Squeezing half a fresh lemon or lime into water and adding a pinch of Celtic sea salt.

• Adding fresh lemon balm leaves (Melissa officinalis) to water for a refreshing herbal infusion.

• Drinking mineral rich herbal infusions throughout the day.

Here are three of her favorite summer hydration blends:

Vitamin C Blast

• 1 part hibiscus flowers

• 1 part dried orange peel

• 1 part elderberries

• ½ part fennel seed

Pour boiling water over the herbs and steep for at least 20 minutes. Reuse the herbs until the tea becomes weak. This blend provides vitamin C, antioxidants, and a refreshing summer flavor.

Remineralizing Tea

• 2 parts stinging nettle leaf

• 1 part horsetail herb

• ½ part rosehips

Nettle is known for its rich nutrient content, while horsetail provides minerals, particularly silica. The vitamin C in rose hips helps support mineral absorption.

Marshmallow Root Tea

• 1 tablespoon marshmallow root

• 1 pint boiling water

Steep for 1 to 2 hours. Dilute to your preferred strength and sip throughout the day.

And of course, Liz couldn’t resist adding one final thought: “there’s always good ol’ raw milk which is deeply nourishing and hydrating—remember, this is the only thing that babies get and they are plump and moist.”

I love Liz’s ideas. Be sure to check with your physician before consuming herbs.

As I work through the water chapter of my upcoming book, I keep coming back to one realization, we often search for answers in complicated places when the body may be asking for something surprisingly simple.

Our symptoms are one way the body communicates with us. Sometimes it’s asking for some support. Perhaps, today, your body is asking for a little more water. The question is, are we listening?

Thanks for reading. What are your thoughts?

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Have a great week,

Karen