The holiday season is quickly approaching. For many, that means food oriented family time. After chaning my diet, I realized just how food oriented people’s lives are. Often times, this can make visiting family for the holidays somewhat difficult. It can be challenging to eat as well as I want to when I’m surronded by people who don’t understand my lifestyle, and who value different things in food than I do.

That being said, you can still have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that’s sure to impress your family, without using refined foods.

This year for dinner, I’ll be making the following:

• Turkey 
• Dressing 
• Sweet potato casserole
• Mashed potatoes  
• Green beans 
• Brussel sprouts 
• Cranberry sauce 
• Sourdough bread 
• Brown butter plum pie
• Cranberry crumble pie 
• Apple Sage Gouda pie 

Full disclosure, we don’t eat like this all the time. The recipes included in this article are much better than your traditional Thanksgiving foods, but are not recommended if you haven’t healed your gut! Having a healthy gut full of good bacteria allows you to eat more foods without as many problems. Don’t forget to eat your salads, folks! 

Turkey

Turkey is one of the dirtiest animals we eat. Read this article to learn more about how to shop for meat in a way that benefits both your health and the environment! I highly encourage you to buy a pasture-raised organic turkey from a small local farm if you have the means. 

For the turkey, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• A whole thawed Turkey, between 12-15 pounds
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Paprika 
• Turmeric 
• Coriander 
• 2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary 
• 2 tablespoons of chopped sage 
• 2 tablespoons of chopped thyme 
• 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley 
• 2 tablespoons of chopped oregano 
• ¼ cup butter 
• 1 quart of chicken stock 
• 4 stalks of celery 
• 4 large carrots 
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves  

Feel free to adjust the quantity of ingredients depending on the size of your turkey. 

Make sure your turkey is completely thawed. Remove the innards and set aside for gravy (if you plan on making gravy). At this point, you can do a salt brine the day before, but it’s optional. 

Chop up carrots celery and potatoes, and put them in your roasting pan before you put the turkey in the pan. I recommend cooking the turkey breast down, to keep the turkey moist. 

Melt your butter in a pan, add your herbs, seasoning, garlic, and onion, 1/2 chicken stock, and sautee. 

Take the liquid from the mixture and inject it into the turkey, and pour the rest over the top. Stuff the herbs and garlic inside the turkey. Pour more chicken broth over the top, about 2 cups. 

Rub the turkey with salt, pepper, and corn starch (corn starch is optional). Put the turkey in the oven at 325 degrees. 

Before the last hour of baking, pull the turkey out and flip it over, At this point, you can rub the turkey down again with a little bit of salt, pepper, and corn starch. Take the juice from the bottom of the roasting pan and inject turkey. Pull the liquid out from the bottom with a turkey baster and set aside for gravy. Your turkey is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 165. Allow it to rest before carving.

Dressing 

• 2 loaves sourdough bread 
• 3 links Italian sausage 
• 2 onions 
• 5-7 cloves of garlic 
• 4 large carrots 
• 4 stalks of celery 
• 3 teaspoons chopped oregano 
• 3 teaspoons chopped thyme 
• 3 teaspoons chopped sage 
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt 
• pepper 
• paprika
• turmeric 

Prior to making the dressing, you’ll want to bake two loaves of sourdough bread or buy two loaves of sourdough bread. (For health reasons, we highly recommend making your own.) Start by cutting your sourdough bread into cubes. Lay them flat on a tray and toast them. 

While your bread is toasting, you’ll want to add Italian sausage to a pan on the stove. Chop up your onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Add your vegetables to your pan when your sausage is about ⅔ cooked. I recommend doing this in a deep cast iron pan. Once you add your vegetables, season with salt, pepper, turmeric, and paprika to taste and add fresh herbs. Add chicken stock and let it cook down with the lid off. Once the liquid has cooked out, add your toasted bread and mix to combine. Add a little more chicken stock depending on the consistency you’re looking for in your dressing. At this point in time, you can bake the dressing in the oven, or make it a day ahead of time, put it in the fridge, and then bake it shortly before the turkey is ready. You can transfer your dressing to a casserole dish or bake your dressing in a cast-iron dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

• 5-6 large sweet potatoes 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons of salt 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon allspice 
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger 
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese (optional)
• ½ cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, or a mixture of both

Bake sweet potatoes in the oven at 350 degrees until tender. 

Pull your sweet potatoes out of the oven and allow them to cool slightly before peeling them and mashing them in a bowl. After you mash your sweet potatoes, add butter, vanilla extract, and spices. I recommend salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ground cloves, and ground ginger. You can also add a generous spoonful of cream cheese. If you’re trying to be as healthy as possible, I would skip this step, but it’s a great trick for impressing normal people with your cooking. Mix to combine and then spread your sweet potatoes into a casserole dish. You can top with (or mix in) crushed pecans and/or walnuts. At this point, you can either bake the sweet potato casserole in the oven or put it in the fridge if you want to make it ahead of time and bake it the next day. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

Mashed potatoes  

• 8-12 white potatoes (of your choice) 
• 5-6 cloves of garlic 
• ¼ cup butter 
• salt 
• pepper 
• paprika 
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese (optional)

Fill a pot with 8-12 white potatoes, depending on how many people you’re cooking for. Cover with water and boil until the potatoes are tender and bursting out of the skin.

I don’t like to peel my potatoes. It takes 10 times longer to make the mashed potatoes, and I’ve never minded potato skins in my potatoes, but if you prefer them peeled, then feel free to do that.

After your potatoes are cooked, add salt, pepper, paprika, fresh garlic, and butter. This is another case where a generous spoonful of cream cheese will impress your guests, but again, it’s optional. Mix together and mash your potatoes to the consistency you want them to be. Generally, I don’t mind lumps in my potatoes, and I mash by hand. If you cook your potatoes long enough, mashing them by hand shouldn’t be too hard. 

Green Beans 

• 1 pound green beans 
• 3-4 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup sliced almonds 
• 2 pieces of bacon, chopped 
• salt 
• pepper
• paprika 

Cook your bacon in a pan. After the bacon is cooked, chop it up and add it back into the pan with avocado oil. Snap the ends of the green beans off and add them to your pan. Add fresh garlic, mushrooms, sliced almonds, and bacon. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Sautee until tender.

Brussels Sprouts 

• I pound Brussels sprouts 
• 5 cloves garlic 
• 2 pieces bacon, chopped 
• 1-2 tablespoons of avocado oil 
• ¼ cup feta cheese 
• salt 
• pepper

For extra crispy brussels sprouts, I recommend thinly slicing your brussels sprouts, but you can also halve or quarter them. Cut your brussels sprouts up, add salt and pepper, avocado oil, and bacon. Toss to mix well, and bake until extra crispy (20-30 minutes ar 400 works for me). Shortly before the brussels sprouts are done, pull them out of the oven and add feta cheese crumbles. You can also cook them in a cast-iron pan on the stove or cook them on the stove and finish in the oven. Just baking them is a more hands-free option if you have multiple things to cook at once. 

Cranberry Sauce 

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries 
• Juice from half a lime
• One Satsuma (A tangerine or clementine will do, but satsumas are best) 
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 
• Granulated monk fruit to taste
• Salt 

Cranberry sauce is best if you make it the day before. Take fresh cranberries, a satsuma, some fresh lime juice, a little bit of cinnamon, and monk fruit to taste. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor and refrigerate until dinner time. 

Sourdough Bread 

This is my favorite sourdough bread recipe. Read this article to learn more about why sourdough is so much better for you than regular bread. Take your loaf of bread and slice it until to the point where you can fan the bread out, but not so far that you have cut it all the way through. Melt butter in a pan on the stove. Add fresh chopped herbs and fresh garlic. Pour over the bread and put it in the oven to toast. 

Desserts

Obviously, Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without pies for dessert, and with my recipes, I promise no one will know they’re sugar-free. I have a couple of secrets to the perfect pie, the first one being the pie crust. I’ve tried gluten-free alternatives and they work okay, but I haven’t been able to achieve that perfect sought-after flakey buttery pie crust using gluten-free flour. The solution? Sourdough pie crust. Instead of using ice-cold water, I use ice cold-active sourdough starter with high-quality organic flour (Bob’s mill all-purpose organic flour if you’re buying from the grocery store). Sourdough breaks down gluten differently than regular yeast bread. Many people with gluten intolerances are able to eat homemade sourdough with little to no problems. Again, this is not a good idea if you haven’t healed the gut. 

The second trick is tapioca starch. I’m pretty sure that most people aren’t new to tapioca starch, but I only came across it relatively recently. Tapioca starch works just like corn starch but it has a slightly sweeter flavor. I add tapioca starch to all my pies.

The third trick is granulated monk fruit. This is what we use instead of granulated sugar, and we use way less than the recipe calls for. If you use high-quality, sweet fruit, you really won’t need much (unless you’re working with something sour like cranberries. Then you might need a larger amount). You can find granulated monk fruit at a health food store if your grocery store doesn’t have it. You may also be able to find it in bulk at Costco.

Full disclaimer, these pies are from the Sister Pie Cookbook. Sister pie is a local bakery not too far from my house that is known for its pies and baked goods. These recipes are tweaked to fit our diet. 

Pie Crust 

Add 2.5 cups of your flour and a pinch of salt (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill organic all-purpose flour) to a bowl, and then add 1 cup of ice-cold butter. Begin to break up the butter and combine the flour and butter with your fingers into smaller pieces, until you have a mixture resembling Kraft parmesan cheese. (This is a tip from my Sister Pie Cookbook. After lots of experimentation, I can confirm that this is the way to achieve the best pie crust.)

Add half a cup of active sourdough starter and mix until combined. Use your hands to bring the mixture together into a dough. Divide the dough into 2 discs. You’ll want to refrigerate this dough for at least two hours or up to two days. If you’re not planning on making pie within 2 days, you can freeze the pie dough. This makes enough pie dough for 1 double-crust pie or 2 single-crust pies. 

These pie recipes call for brown sugar. To make a brown sugar substitute, I mix a teaspoon of molasses into granulated monk fruit. You can skip this step if you don’t want to use molasses, as it is technically a refined sugar. 

Brown Butter Plum Pie

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup gluten-free flour of your choice (I like chickpea. I don’t recommend coconut flour.) 
• up to ½ cup granulated “brown sugar” monk fruit 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 pounds of plums (Stanley, Santa Rosa, Early Golden, or plutos plums)
• juice from ½ a lemon
• ¼ tapioca starch
• ⅓ cup of granulated monk fruit (more or less depending on how sweet you want your pie) 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese 

I know it isn’t plum season, but we live in a world where you can probably find plums at the grocery store that will do just fine. That being said, the thing that makes this pie so spectacular is the brown butter. I’d never actually used browned butter before making this pie, and have since decided that I never want to use any other sort of butter. 

Before you make the pie, roll out the pie dough into a circle with a diameter of 12-13 inches and fit it into the pie pan. Chill your pie crust in the freezer until you’re ready to bake the pie. 

Start the pie by making 1 cup of brown butter. You can do this a couple of days ahead of time. To make the crumble streusel topping combine 1 cup of gluten-free flour (I generally use chickpea), salt, and up to ½ cup of “brown sugar” monk fruit, and cinnamon. I generally adjust this and use slightly more flour and less sweetener, but it’s a personal preference. Cut the brown butter into cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Break up the butter with your fingers and combine with the flour mixture until you achieve the consistency of wet sand. 

Make the pie filling. Slice the plums and throw them into a bowl. Add lemon juice, granulated monk fruit, tapioca starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to combine. 

Assemble the pie. Spread cream cheese over the pie crust, pour in your pie filling, and top with your crumble. Leave a hole in the top for ventilation. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees, for about an hour, until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling over. Allow it to cool before serving. 

Cranberry Crumble Pie 

• one pie crust
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup gluten-free flour of your choice (I like chickpea, I don’t recommend coconut flour) 
• up to ½ cup granulated “brown sugar” monk fruit 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• compote 
• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• ¼ cup “brown sugar” monk fruit (more or less for personal preferences) 
• 1 teaspoon orange zest 
• juice from half an orange (freshly squeezed) 
• 8 ounces fresh cranberries 
• ½ Bosc or D’Anjou pear, grated 
• ¼ cup tapioca starch 
• up to ¾ cup of granulated monk fruit
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon allspice 
• 1 ½ teaspoon of salt 
• 2 tablespoons of cream cheese at room temperature 

Make the cranberry compote first. Combine cranberries, orange zest and juice, and brown sugar in a pan. While I like my cranberry pie on the tart side, not everyone does, so I always taste test along the way to make sure it’s sweet enough. Cook over medium-low heat until the cranberries begin to burst and then set it aside to cool. 

To make the crumble streusel topping, combine 1 cup of gluten-free flour (I generally use chickpea), salt, and up to ½ cup of granulated monk fruit*. Cut the butter into cubes, and add it to the flour mixture. Break up the butter with your fingers and combine it with the flour mixture until you achieve the consistency of wet sand. 

Make the filling. Combine cranberries, pears, cooled compote, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, monk fruit, and tapioca starch in a bowl. 

Assemble the pie. Spread cream cheese over the bottom of the pie crust, pour in your pie filling, and top with your crumble. Leave a hole in the top for ventilation. Set it in the freezer to rest for 15 minutes then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour – until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling over. Allow it to cool before serving. 

Apple Sage Gouda pie 

• 2 discs of pie dough
• 2 pounds of golden apples
• juice from ½ a lemon
• ¼ cup “brown sugar” monk fruit (more or less depending on how sweet you like it) 
• 2 tablespoons of fresh sage 
• ¼ cup tapioca starch 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg 
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional) 
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of butter cubed and chilled 

For the apple Gouda pie, I make regular pie crust and add about ⅓ cup of Gouda cheese to the pie dough before I add the sourdough starter.

Cut up the apples and toss with lemon juice in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine monk fruit, sage, tapioca starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside a spoonful to sprinkle over the bottom of the pie crust. Add the rest of the mixture to the apples, and toss to combine. 

Assemble the pie. Sprinkle your monk fruit mixture over the bottom of the pie crust, add your apples, and dot the apple mixture with butter cubes. I like to top this pie with a lattice strip top or the same crumble used in the brown butter plum pie. This article goes into how to do different lattice strips on a pie. Personally, I prefer the thick lattice. It requires the least amount of weaving.

Top with your lattice strips or crumble. Let your pie rest in the freezer for 15 minutes, before baking.

Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes until the pie crust is golden brown (if you topped the pie with dough instead of crumble) and then reduce the temperature to 325. Bake for about an hour, until the juices are bubbling in the center. Allow it to cool before serving. 

Conclusion 

This dinner isn’t gluten-free, or keto. It doesn’t follow any of the specific diet trends that are currently popular. Instead, it focuses on making dinner with the freshest, healthiest ingredients while being as unprocessed as possible. 

This will likely be the healthiest Thanksgiving dinner your guests have ever eaten, but I still wouldn’t recommend this dinner for anyone who hasn’t healed their gut. In preparation for Thanksgiving dinner, I always make sure I’m eating a salad a day and drinking lots of cranberry lemonade.

Sourdough baking is a method of baking that has been around for centuries. We’ve been baking bread, in some form, for thousands of years (at least). The first record we have of the sourdough baking method dates back to around 1500 B.C. in Egypt.

With the use of modern store-bought yeast, sourdough is not as common as it used to be, but it has made quite the comeback in recent years. People have discovered the benefits of sourdough as they discover the problems with regular bread.

I use sourdough starter in much of my baking; I’ve used it to make pie crusts, bread doughs, hamburger buns, and pizza doughs. 

What is Sourdough?

The key ingredient in sourdough bread, what it gives it its texture and sour taste, is the sourdough starter. Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water (usually 50/50) that has been fed enough to develop its own collection of yeast, bacteria, and lactic acid. Sourdough starter has its own microbiome made up of bacteria and wild yeast collected from its environment. No two sourdough starters are exactly the same. Each one develops its own unique microbiome that gives it a unique smell and taste. 

Sourdough is also unique from other yeasts in the way it develops the gluten in bread. The wild yeast and bacteria in the sourdough starter begin to digest the gluten in the bread during the fermentation process. The longer the dough ferments and the more it rises, the more gluten is broken down. Many people who have previously had problems with gluten have found that, after fixing the gut, they can occasionally enjoy sourdough bread.

Storebought sourdough bread is not the same as homemade sourdough. When you buy sourdough from the store, you have no idea how long the bread fermented or if it’s even real sourdough. If you do want to buy your bread, I recommend looking at a small local bakery or a farmers market where you can ask questions about the baking process.

I’ve linked my favorite sourdough recipes below and given a brief description of our favorite way to use them.

Artisan Sourdough Bread 

This is the classic sourdough loaf of bread.

I get all of my sourdough recipes from Baking Sense, but generally, I don’t follow an exact recipe. I prefer to experiment. I follow this recipe’s measurements, but usually, I mix up the type of flour I’m using. I like the majority of the flour I use to be all-purpose flour, and then I add a little bit of rye flour, bread flour, or einkorn flour (or a mix of all three). Adding a variety of different flours can add nuttiness to your bread that would be lacking if you just used all-purpose flour.

The most important thing, in my experience, is making sure that your sourdough starter is very active, (the recipe I linked goes over this) before baking. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a loaf that doesn’t properly rise. 

We like to make sandwiches with sourdough bread. Generally, we’ll use whatever we’ve got on hand, but whatever we do, we always throw on lots of different vegetables. I’m a fan of caramelized onions with bacon, greens, tomatoes, mustard, and a fried egg. Homemade pesto is also great on sandwiches or plain on toast. This bread is so good, it doesn’t need much else, though.

Hamburger Buns 

I have not eaten storebought hamburger buns since I made my own for the first time. I can’t imagine going back (not to mention regular storebought buns are terrible for you.) I use this recipe from Baking Sense for my hamburger buns. I just skip the sugar and use goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk.

We don’t eat burgers often, but when we do, we eat organic grass-fed ground beef from a local farm and our sourdough buns. Personally, I like to add caramelized mushrooms and onions on top, with tomatoes, greens, cheese, homemade mustard, and an egg. Eggs are a staple. I’ll put eggs on pretty much anything. 

Sourdough Pizza Dough

I use this pizza dough recipe. I don’t even remember what regular pizza tastes like, but I’m almost positive that it’s terrible compared to our pizza. When we do pizza night, we like to do one pizza with pesto sauce and one with tomato sauce. We’ll top the pizzas with cheese, tomatoes, Italian sausage, fresh basil, purple onions, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and olives. To each their own when it comes to pizza, but we recommend more vegetables, more variety, and less meat and cheese. 

Sourdough Pie Crust 

Sourdough pie crust is, in my experience, the best pie crust ever. The crust is flakey and buttery, but because it uses sourdough starter instead of water, you end up with a much more flavorful pie crust. I’ve also found that throughout my experimentation with different flours, including gluten-free flours, all-purpose flour still makes the best pie crust. 

Add 2.5 cups of your flour and a pinch of salt (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill organic all-purpose flour) to a bowl, and then add 1 cup of ice-cold butter. Begin to break up the butter and combine the flour and butter with your fingers into smaller pieces, until you have a mixture resembling kraft parmesan cheese (This is a tip from my Sister Pie cookbook. After lots of experimentation, I can confirm that this is the way to achieve the best pie crust.) Then add half a cup of active sourdough starter and mix until combined. Use your hands to bring the mixture together into a dough. You’ll want to refrigerate this dough for at least two hours or up to two days. If you’re not planning on making pie anytime soon, you can freeze the pie dough.

Conclusion

I generally only eat sourdough once or twice a month. It’s a nice treat, but I wouldn’t recommend it every day. If you’re still sick, you should avoid gluten completely until the gut is healed, and then eat it only in moderation.

Learning how to make sourdough bread can be a great way to incorporate more “normal” foods into your diet, while still knowing exactly what’s going into your body. 

I’ve really enjoyed the process of learning how to make sourdough bread and I love sharing it with other people! It’s not only a treat for me, but for others as well. When I cook sourdough for people who don’t eat as healthy as I do, they’re always impressed!

A new study, reported in JAMA Psychiatry, found Psilocybin to be four times more effective at treating depression, compared to antidepressants. Psilocybin is the psychedelic substance in magic mushrooms. This research comes after research suggesting that psilocybin could ease depression and anxiety in cancer patients.

The study involved 27 people. Patients received two doses of psilocybin on two different days, in addition to 11 hours of psychotherapy. Patients were administered the drug in what Alan Davis, lead author on the study, describes as a homey but safe environment. After being administered the drug, patients were blindfolded and given headphones, and told experience whatever was happening within the trip. Half of the patients were put on a waitlist to serve as a comparison group for the other half of the group, who began treatment immediately.

The group who began treatment immediately saw a significant reduction in depression and responded much quicker compared to antidepressants.

“The effect happened within one day after the first session and sustained at that reduced level through the second psilocybin session all the way up to the one-month follow-up,”

Rigorous Study Backs A Psychedelic Treatment For Major Depression

America’s health care system is highly flawed. So much so that many refer to it as a “sick” care system. Covid-19 has only amplified the problems in our American health care system, and the problem with American health. Having chronic health conditions makes one much more susceptible to Covid-19. Reports from the CDC show that 94% of Covid deaths occurred in patients who had an average of 2.6 additional conditions.

There are complex factors behind the U.S.’s high premature death rate. But it is a mistake to believe that the country’s abominable health outcomes are highly dependent on, say, preserving or repealing the Affordable Care Act. That’s because the U.S. health care system is really a “sick” care system that treats people after their health has declined.

Make America healthy again by paying more attention to nutrition

America has the highest per capita death rate of Covid-19 among other wealthy countries. America is, in many ways, the unhealthiest of any wealthy country in the world, while simultaneously spending more money on health care than any other country. More than 42% of adults in America are obese, in addition to nearly 20% of American children. America has the 12th highest obesity rate in the world.

It’s estimated that half of the deaths in the U.S from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes are associated with diet. In reality, nearly all deaths like these can be prevented with healthy a diet, and I would imagine that at this rate, mainstream science with figure this out soon. Research has shown that excess weight avoidance is the most important factor for preventing cancer, among those who don’t smoke. With information like this becoming mainstream, it feels as though it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows how important gut health is in preventing disease.

Less than 1% of lecture time in medical schools is devoted to nutrition. A survey of 12,000 doctors showed that only 15% of doctors feel “totally prepared” to give nutritional guidance to patients when needed.

Even in the time of a pandemic, we can’t get health officials to prioritize the importance of a healthy diet over social distancing. It’s just another indicator that America’s health care system is highly flawed. The average American doesn’t even consume one serving of fruit per day, but twice as many servings of sugary beverages. American health officials should prioritize proper health education, and making sure that all Americans have access to healthy affordable produce.

Running on a regular basis has numerous health benefits. Studies show that running for just 5-10 minutes a day can benefit the heart, help prevent neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, result in a lower chance of cancer, and of course, build excellent lung capacity, and function as a great leg and core workout. Additionally, a runner’s high is very real. The endorphins and other chemicals you release in the brain while running are not dissimilar to those released from getting high on cannabis. Not to mention, when a runner’s high wears off, you’re left with the benefits, as opposed to the crash some feel after smoking too much weed. Running can help with depression and other mental health issues as well.

All that being said, running can be a pain, literally. Running is difficult. It’s hard on your joints if you’re not healthy enough. It can leave you feeling beyond sore and tired, and if you’re wanting to run every day, you might be feeling like you don’t have enough time to recover in between runs. I’ve put together a list of some of the most common problems new runners face, and the best way to fix them, based on my experiences. 

I’ve found that pain from running is caused by four major things and can generally be fixed with one thing. Pain while running is often caused by poor form, poor shoes, poor diet, and obesity. If you were to fix your diet, all of your problems while running would get better and would eventually go away, but you might need a few other things to fix the problem completely in a timely fashion.

Hip Flexor Pain

Hip flexors are muscles that bring your legs up towards your torso while bending your torso towards the hip. In other words, they flex the hips (hence the name). You can feel the hip flexors through the sides of your thighs up to the hips.

When I moved away from a slow jog and started trying to run as fast as I could, my hip flexors became extremely sore. If you notice your hip flexors are sore, the best thing you can do is stretch them. In my experience, if I notice the soreness in the hip flexors one day and then stretch, they’re worse the next day.

Low lunges and the pigeon pose are my two favorite stretches that I do almost every day to combat sore hip flexors. They’re also great for opening up the hips in general. Check out this article for some other good stretches for the hip flexors. I’ve also found that any post-runners yoga routine is great for stretching the hips. This is my favorite yoga routine for after a run. 

Knee Pain

Knee pain and overall joint pain (more on that later) is often caused by inflammation and can be fixed by diet. But that can take a while. So, in the meantime, you can correct your running form a couple of different ways to alleviate knee pain. You should be running on your toes, not running on your heels. The impact of running on your heels often causes knee problems.

I also recommend running in Vibrams. Regular running shoes are not as good for your feet as they’re made out to be. You can read more about that in this article. Regular running shoes make it difficult to run on your toes, and they weaken your foot muscles. Vibrams are made to mimic the natural way we walk when we’re barefoot, and they build up your muscles in your feet. 

Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain comes from poor kidney function and/or excess weight. I still experience lower back pain while running if I’m not taking practically perfect care of myself. Diet is key, and it will fix most problems. But to target the lower back, I drink a gallon of cranberry lemonade a day to keep my kidneys working properly.

I still have about 40 pounds of extra weight to lose. This is the other factor in lower back pain! Having extra weight puts stress on the kidneys and can also result in lower back pain, so, as much as it sucks to hear, losing weight will help with your lower back pain.

In the meantime, when you’re on your feet, tighten your abs to relieve pressure on your lower back. I use this trick when I’m running, when I’m on my feet for prolonged periods of time, and whenever my lower back is bothering me. I also do ab exercises every day to strengthen my abs and relieve lower back pain. I find that yoga helps, too, but if I’m doing yoga solely to relieve lower back pain, then I’ve been slacking on the actual methods to prevent lower back pain. Ideally, I do these things on a regular basis to prevent lower back pain, not make lower back pain better (although it works for that too).

Foot Pain 

People are often wearing the wrong kind of shoes for running. Tennis shoes are not good for your feet. The extra cushy arch support flattens your arches and can contribute to all sorts of problems. You’re better off in the long run with Vibrams or other toe shoes.

I will warn you, toe shoes can take a bit of time to get used to when you first start running. As your feet muscles begin to get stronger, your feet will probably be sore while you adjust. If you’re running on gravel paths, look out for rocks! The soles of your toe shoes are thinner than regular tennis shoes.

You might find that if you’re running every day with Vibrams, they wear out faster than tennis shoes. Make sure you are wearing the proper size shoe when you’re running. If your shoes are too small, you won’t have room to compensate for swelling. If your shoes are too large and your feet have too much room to move around, that is also a problem. When you buy running shoes, you want them to be slightly too big to compensate for swelling. 

Overall Joint Pain 

Joint pain and excessive soreness from running are often caused by inflammation and the body’s inability to recover quickly. This can be fixed by diet. I wouldn’t be able to run every day the way I do, at my current weight, if I didn’t eat as well as I do! Check out this article to learn more about how to achieve homeostasis through diet. You are what you eat! Pay attention to what you put into your body so your body is able to perform at the level you want. Check out this article to learn more about joint pain, the causes, and how to fix it.

Side-aches 

You’d be hard-pressed to find a runner who hasn’t suffered from side stitches at one point in time. Remember to breathe deeply throughout your run (I know it’s hard, but it will get easier as your lung capacity gets better). Don’t run on a full stomach. I prefer to run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  

Conclusion

Running on a regular basis and recovering enough to enjoy it every day, is certainly a challenge. That being said, it can be done, and running is one of the best forms of cardio. Running boosts my mood, gives me energy, and creates a routine in my daily life. I’ve found it to be my favorite way to start the day. In fact, it’s a guarantee that my day is going to be better if I start it with a run.

Developing daily running habits isn’t easy, but taking care of yourself so you have the physical ability to develop daily running habits, is a good place to start. 

Running Without Knee Pain

Today’s concept of showering is relatively new. Only within the last 100 years have we become a society that showers on a near-daily basis. Around the world, some countries shower more than others, with Brazil reporting an average of 12 showers a week. On the lower end, in Europe, the average is between 3-5 showers a week. America is pretty average with around 6-7 showers a week. As it turns out, the average of seven showers a week is way more than is actually necessary, according to experts.

Prior to our daily showers, civilizations in ancient Rome used to set up bathhouses. Romans were notoriously clean. Rather than use soap, they would use essential oils to get rid of dirt, which then had to be scraped off with a tool known as a strigil. Romans had fairly advanced indoor plumbing systems for the time, not unlike the indoor plumbing systems we use today. This article goes into the history of showering before and after the rise of Christianity if you want to read more about that.

Showering has become a habit, and to many, a ritual. So, what are the effects of our showering rituals? When we shower, we essentially strip our body of the natural oils and bacteria that make up our body’s microbiome and then cover up the damage done with synthetic oils and fragrances. The natural oils and bacteria on our body can be beneficial to us, and when given the time to properly replenish, they create a beneficial ecosystem that functions without the use of soap and other products designed to cover up body odor. 

The human microbiome takes around three weeks to replenish itself after its stripped. There is definitely an adjustment period within these three weeks. Your hair may get oily, you make be more acne-prone, and of course, you’ll probably smell funny for a little while! All of this can be made better by a healthy diet. The old saying “you are what you eat” reigns true more often than not, and showering (or rather, not showering) is no exception. If you live off of Big Macs and diet coke, you’ll look, smell, and feel disgusting if you don’t shower often (and even if you do, because Big Macs are gross). If you live off of salads and other whole foods and fresh produce, you’ll be able to tell a difference in your body. Good food creates a good gut microbiome and our gut microbiome carries bacteria all through our body. 

After your body has time to adjust to your new no-shower regime, you’ll notice a few things. Your skin will likely look better than it ever has, and if you’re doing things right, your skin should be fine without any other products. It shouldn’t be too oily or too dry. Your hair won’t look greasy. If you stop using product and heat on it, along with no longer washing it, you should find yourself with the healthiest hair you’ve ever had. The texture of it may take a little getting used to. It’s not Pantene-like silky smooth and shiny in its natural state. It’s generally a little more coarse. Lastly, there’s the smell. People are often worried about smelling bad more than anything else, but when your body has the chance to balance out with healthy bacteria, this isn’t a concern. People all have an individual natural body odor based on their body’s bacteria and based on what they eat. If you eat very well, work out, and sweat a lot, you’ll likely smell strong, but very good.

If you’re very in tune with your body, you’ll notice changes in how you smell based on what you eat, and even the situations you’re in. You’ll find that in situations of stress or anxiety you might smell worse, and in situations where you’re comfortable with who you’re with, you’ll smell better, based on the pheromones you release. If you eat junk food, even what one might consider “healthy” junk food, you’ll smell worse the next morning. In that situation though, I find a hard workout and a good salad is enough to correct my microbiome. Depending on your job, you may notice a layer of dirt build-up pretty quickly. For that, I recommend wiping down with a warm rag. I often get dirt built up on my forearms, ankles, and sometimes around my neck. I do shower if I’m doing a particularly dirty job. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was working on my car and planted my head directly into a puddle of power steering fluid. Some situations just warrant shampoo. That being said, when I do shower, I use all-natural soaps that don’t strip my body of its natural oils the same way regular shampoos and soaps do. 

Showering and bathing on such a regular basis can be quite a strain on the environment. A typical showerhead has a water flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute. Data shows that showering is nearly 20% of total water usage in American homes, and the average American family uses 40 gallons of water on showers per day in the U.S. Using hot water to shower also uses an incredible amount of energy along with the water used. 

I don’t recommend that everyone give up showering. The reality is, most people aren’t healthy enough to give up showering without becoming gross. Most people aren’t willing to change their lifestyle in order to be able to give up showering. I do, however, encourage everyone to spread their showers out a little more and see what happens! At the very least, you’ll be doing the environment some good! 

The Soap and Shampoo Conspiracy

On September 16th, scuba divers found more than 3,000 pounds of trash at Rushikonda beach in India. Divers were on their first underwater clean-up since quarantine began when they found 3,300 pounds of N-95 masks, gloves, and other bio-medical waste floating in the seabed. The trash was removed over three rounds of ocean clean up ending on September 27th.

According to the World Health Organization, the world needs 89 million medical masks a month. Disposable masks take hundreds of years to break down and are now being used more than ever.

 Before COVID-19, a government hospital bed would generate around half a kg of biomedical waste per day which has now gone up to 3-5 kg (per day).

Discarded single-use plastic masks and gloves are choking ocean beds

The pandemic has done extensive damage to the environment in recent months. Disposable masks frequently get wrapped up in wildlife. The amount of PPE that we dispose of is adding to an ever-growing pile of plastic in our oceans and landfills. The world has made a quick shift away from reusable products back to disposable products, for the sake of human health. That being said, the health of the planet and its animals cannot be forgotten, as it is likely what got us into this pandemic in the first place.

If you have to wear a mask, please use a reusable one. If you ever find yourself with a disposable one, when it comes time to throw it away, cut the strings off the mask to prevent it from getting wrapped up in the legs and fins of wildlife. More people are ordering things online than ever before. Keep in mind how much waste your package from amazon is generating. In an attempt to return to normal, many people have begun eating out again or ordering take-out from restaurants. Remember that you, the environment, and your wallet, are better off with a meal cooked at home. Be conscious of what you consume, and how, in a time where staying safe from COVID-19 has become more of a priority than taking care of the environment.