The Golden Path-Functional and Integrative Health Coaching

11/11/2025

If you have gut problems, fiber is not your friend!
I have found when people with IBS, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and other gut issues take a break from fiber, they allow a much needed break in their digestive tract.
When we use meat stock to heal and seal the gut along with gelatinous meats and specific well cooked veggies, we can reduce bowel inflammation and begin to slowly introduce fiber back into the diet. ☀️

03/11/2025

Deep Hydration — The Foundation of Healing

Most people think hydration is just about drinking enough water…
But true deep hydration happens inside your cells — where minerals, amino acids, and electrolytes work together to create energy, reduce inflammation, and support detoxification.

After years of rebuilding my health without a colon, I learned that water alone isn’t enough.
I use a simple, functional hydration stack to support every cell:

✨ Amino acids – to rebuild and repair tissue
✨ Multi-minerals – to replenish what fasting and stress deplete
✨ Celtic salt – for trace minerals and cellular conductivity
✨ Hydrogen (H₂) and electrolytes – to reduce oxidative stress and energize the mitochondria

When your cells are hydrated, your body can heal, think clearly, and thrive.

Hydration is not just about water — it’s about bioavailability.
💛 Nourish the cells, and the body follows.

02/11/2025

02/11/2025

26/10/2025

🔥 Why Your Body Needs Stomach Acid (HCL) — And What Happens When It’s Low

Hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the stomach is essential for healthy digestion. It’s often misunderstood — people think stomach acid is bad because of reflux, but in functional medicine we often see the opposite: not enough stomach acid.

✅ What HCL Does for You
1. Breaks Down Protein
• HCL activates pepsin, the enzyme needed to digest protein properly.
• Without it, proteins stay too large and become irritating to the gut.
2. Prevents Bacteria Overgrowth
• The stomach is supposed to be a sterile, acidic barrier.
• Low acid allows microbes to overgrow, causing bloating, gas, burping, and dysbiosis.
3. Triggers Nutrient Absorption
• Signals the pancreas and gallbladder to release digestive juices.
• Helps absorb key nutrients like B12, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium.
4. Protects Against Food Sensitivities
• Proper digestion prevents food antigens from entering the bloodstream.

⚠️ When HCL is Low → Leaky Gut Risk

Low stomach acid leads to a cascade of digestive stress:

❌ Poor protein digestion
→ Large, partially digested proteins enter the small intestine
→ Immune system sees them as foreign
→ Inflammation + food sensitivities increase

❌ Microbial overgrowth
→ Gas + pressure pushes stomach contents upward
→ Reflux even when acid is low

❌ Chronic inflammation
→ Damages the tight junctions of the gut lining
→ Intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”)

💥 The Cycle: Low HCL → Reflux → Antacids → Lower HCL → More Damage

Many people are treated for reflux with acid blockers —
but that actually reduces HCL even more, worsening digestion and nutrient status.

🔑 Symptoms of Low Stomach Acid
• Bloating after meals
• Burping/acid reflux after eating
• Fatigue after high-protein meals
• Nutrient deficiencies (iron, B12)
• Hair loss, brittle nails
• Overgrowth (SIBO, candida)

✅ Supporting Healthy Stomach Acid
• Slow, mindful eating and chewing well
• Bitter foods before meals
• Apple cider vinegar or lemon water pre-meal (if tolerated)
• Functional testing + digestive support such as Betaine HCL (assessed with a practitioner)

🌟 Bottom Line

Stomach acid is not the enemy — it is your first line of defense and a cornerstone of complete digestion. When it’s too low, the entire digestive system becomes compromised, contributing to inflammation and leaky gut.

01/09/2025

27/08/2025

Packed with fiber, healthy fats, probiotics, and antioxidant-rich berries, this No-Bake Yogurt Tart is the perfect summer dessert! 🍓

Ingredients
15 medjool dates, with the pits
¾ cup walnuts
¾ cup unsalted roasted almonds
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
½ teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons honey
1 ½ cups mixed berries, sliced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries

Instructions
Add the dates to a bowl and cover with very hot water. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain, pat dry, and cut in half, removing the pit. Grease a pie plate with butter or oil and set aside.
Add the soaked dates, nuts, and salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse together until the mixture is finely chopped. The mixture should hold together when pressed between your fingers.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pie plate. Lightly spray your hands or the bottom of a flat dry measuring cup with nonstick spray and gently press the crust out to cover the base and the sides of the pie plate.
In a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, vanilla bean paste, orange zest, and honey. Spoon the mixture into the pie plate and smooth into an even layer.
Arrange the fruit in your desired pattern. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

10/08/2025

If coffee were ‘healthy’ for us then why do you get caffeine withdrawals when you come off it? Coffee is a plant medicine and should be treated with reverence, rather than a daily necessary habit to function. Coffee sure has benefits but it is a very strong stimulant and subsequently triggers an adrenaline response in the body, over time eventually leading to adrenal fatigue and burnout, and the acceleratation of the aging process, if abused too much. Caffeine does rob the body of some minerals like magnesium and is also slightly dehydrating. There are beneficial antioxidants in the coffee plant but the trouble is, is that most of the coffee we are drinking is heavily sprayed with chemicals, and also laden with toxic mold (mycotoxins). That’s why it’s best to get organic and freshly ground whenever possible to mitigate any of that.

If a substance is truly healthy we should never have withdrawal symptoms when consumption is stopped.

Coffee can be an incredible medicine, and there are much worse things to consume that’s for sure, but personally I think it’s good to excerise restraint with it if you are addicted to it (drinking it everyday).

Coming off caffeine can be brutal. And why is that? Your liver and kidneys are having to clear out the adrenaline residue. If you are noticing bags and dark circle under eyes than quitting coffee will help ease that.

I’m not bashing coffee, after all it’s one of Gods gifts to humanity but just go easy with it and perhaps from time to time cycle off it to give your body a break. I know we all like our creature comforts, but your bank account will probably thank you too if you are guzzling one or two americanos per day.

15/07/2025

✨ July is for Self-Love – and That Includes Your Health ✨

This month, let’s flip the script.
Instead of only thinking about others, take a moment to think about you.
Your energy. Your digestion. Your sleep. Your skin. Your heart.

💛 The truth is: Your symptoms aren’t random. They’re messages.
Messages from your body asking you to listen, slow down, and dig deeper.

As a Functional Health Coach, I help you understand why you’re tired, inflamed, gaining weight, or not healing — instead of just giving it a label.

Together, we:
✔ Read your blood work with a functional lens
✔ Rebuild your foundation through food, targeted supplements & lifestyle
✔ Reconnect you with your own body’s wisdom

💫 My journey back to health began when I started listening to what no one else was seeing.

Ready to start yours?

👉 Book a free clarity call via the link in bio
Let’s walk your Golden Path — back to vibrant, whole health.