Joan Bender Health Coach, Food & Mood Coaching LLC

11/19/2025

Fascinating!

A fascinating new study shows that women who wore rose essential oil on their clothes for just 30 days experienced a significant increase in gray matter volume across the whole brain, as revealed by MRI scans. This suggests that simple, natural aromatherapy may have measurable effects on brain structure and cognitive health.

Gray matter is crucial for memory, learning, and emotional regulation, and its increase could indicate enhanced neural connectivity and brain function. Researchers believe that the pleasant aroma of rose oil may stimulate brain activity and neuroplasticity, potentially supporting mental well-being and cognitive resilience.

Incorporating rose essential oil into daily life is easy, just adding a few drops to clothing, scarves, or fabrics could provide a subtle yet powerful brain-boosting effect. While more research is needed to fully understand the long-term impact, this study highlights the potential of natural scents to influence brain health in meaningful ways.

This discovery opens a new chapter in exploring how aromatherapy and lifestyle practices can support neurological function and mental wellness.

11/18/2025

Take advantage of these great deals and the gift of wellness this holiday season. More in comments.

06/04/2025

It seems like every time we turn around, there is something else to avoid. The FDA says "meat glue" is GRAS (generally recognized as safe). The science tells us otherwise. A recent peer-reviewed study shows that microbial transglutaminase induces leaky gut, celiac disease and related inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis as well as neurodegenerative disease.

How to avoid mTG? Prioritize Whole Foods...
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: These are naturally free from added transglutaminase.
Unprocessed Meats: Choose meat from sources you trust and that openly share their processes.

Avoid Processed Products: Be wary of processed foods like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, meatloaf, sausages, and other meat products labeled as "formed" or "reformed".
Imitation Seafood: These products may also contain transglutaminase

Do your best. Be well. ❤

Read the study: https://wap.hapres.com/htmls/MO_995_Detail.html

Read more: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/meat-glue-processed-foods-fda-generally-recognized-as-safe/

02/06/2024

February 6th 2014 is the official birthday day of my business, Food & Mood Coaching LLC! It’s hard to believe that ten years have come and gone already. When I started my business, doing health coaching and Reiki, I was also going to school to learn biodynamic craniosacral therapy, and taking a course on writing and self publishing. I would say the biggest challenge has been explaining what I do, and that the body has amazing abilities to heal, even as we age, so I thought I’d share a little about what I do.

I provide people with information and tools to eat healthier, lower stress, prioritize self-care, prevent/ heal burnout, declutter their lives, feel better about themselves, and create changes that they want for themselves.

I provide individual Reiki and craniosacral sessions for people who want to de-stress, calm their nervous system, feel more balanced, recover from sports or strenuous workouts, struggle with their health, or experience painful conditions.

I help people to understand their energy body, and how to nurture it.

I help people see their successes and feel good about themselves.

I lead a dream group where we explore the hidden meanings of our dreams.

I help people to connect with the healing power of spending time in nature.

I provide healthy living workshops for other businesses and groups on a variety of topics and specialize them to their needs.

I attend wellness fairs and expos where I share healthy living info and give mini sessions.

I’m a teaching assistant for Turtleback Craniosacral Education.

Ten years is a huge milestone, and it feels like this is going to be a year of transition. I’m not quite sure yet what that means, but it does feel exciting!

03/23/2023

The Gluten Free & Allergen Friendly Spring Expo will be live in New Jersey. Sounds like a fun weekend getaway. Check it out!

Our Gluten-Free & Allergen Friendly Spring Expo tickets are now AVAILABLE! Grab yours at https://www.eventspass.com/event/Nourishedfestivalticketsnj23

We are very excited to see you there!

02/11/2023

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? Many find it meditative and that it offers clarity.

Visitors enjoy walking the labyrinth at Landis! Instagram.com/landisarboretum

02/11/2023

This looks like a fun class!

Dumplings class! Now up on the site for purchase, March 25th 11-1 🥟 learn to make the dough, two versions of fillings, and fill and roll gluten free dumplings.

01/23/2023

I can’t believe that it is the 10 year anniversary of the start of my health coach journey of enrolling at IIN. At the time, I knew I was being called to do something different, but I had no idea what my next step would be. A phone call later and a leap of faith, and I decided to end 2012 by leaving my employer of 19 years, and started January 2013 on a new journey attending IIN’s Health Coaching program. It might sound scary, but it wasn’t. It felt totally and completely right, and I’ve never regretted it, not even through times of doubt and struggle.

IIN taught me about bio individuality and that healthy eating is different for everyone. They taught me how to understand how all foods are not created equally and how to decipher which foods are better than others. They taught me about the energetics of foods and the importance of connecting with food spiritually.

I love that I can combine what I learned at IIN with my counseling background. Food plays a huge part in our mental health, and is often overlooked or neglected. I also love that I can integrate my health coaching knowledge with the energy work that I do, creating a mind, body, Spirit approach to helping others.

It is also through IIN that I learned about self publishing and was guided to author and self publish my two books. I often feel like I don’t accomplish enough, especially the past 2 years through the pandemic which felt very distracting and all over the place. But, as l reflect over the past 10 years, I think I did pretty good. I completed the one year certification health coaching program, created my own website, started my business, authored 2 books, completed a 3 year certified biodynamic craniosacral therapy program, and a certified brain coach program. I led numerous workshops. Plus, I’ve helped thousands of people along their journey to living a happier, healthier life. I wonder what the next 10 years will bring?

12/11/2022

I love diffusing eucalyptus. It smells wonderful and has so many benefits.

🌿4 Unusual Health Benefits of Eucalyptus🌿 Link is in my bio!



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10/09/2022

Can you guess what I made for dinner?
I made tomato soup with the tomatoes from my garden. I can remember when I couldn’t eat tomatoes. I would break out in hives, really bad. Tomatoes weren’t the only food that made me break out. It was actually just about everything. My immune system was burned out, and I was reacting to almost everything. The hives were everywhere and some of them were more like welts. They would itch in my sleep, and I would wake up with bruises and scabs from scratching in my sleep.
But here I am, healed, and enjoying a food that I thought I would never be able to eat again. Hang in there. You can heal. You can enjoy food again.

09/08/2022

This is a great article on the benefits of Reiki from Greenmedinfo

This gentle, nontoxic technique may restore calm and balance to your body, helping to reduce stress and anxiety using a hands-off biofield energy healing approach