Q&A with Me
Answering all your questions from gut health to acne & sourdough
*Please open this post on Substack.com domain or app to read the whole thing as it is too long for email!*
Helllloooo friends!! Happy Wednesday. You all submitted some amazing Qs on our groupchat & on Instagram, so answering them here!! If you have not yet — come join the group chat it’s such a fun way to connect with everyone.
Q: ONE basic routine you’d prioritize for gut health
I believe that stress is the number one cause of gut health issues. Yes, stress can come from external sources like food and environment, but the most detrimental is typically the internal stress we apply on ourselves, and the external stresses just amplify what is already inside of us.
So begin with the internal stresses. Find ways to reduce that internal stress and work to balance your nervous system. In its simplest form - this would be incorporating a deep breath-work practice prior to going on your phone in the morning. Or going outside, getting sun in your naked eye, and grounding your feet before anything else. Incorporating outdoor daily walks throughout your day. Journaling. Little practices that work to settle and balance your nervous system. These resources are FREE and they are what make the biggest differences!!
Q: I want to incorporate more supplements & work on healing my gut and hormones, but I am on a budget, where do I start?
Firstly – before you incorporate any supplements it is important to go back to the basics to make sure your foundation is optimized before adding on top of it. I answered something similar in another post & I am going to link it again here because it is so important:
I believe that food + sleep + laughter + nature + sunlight + family + friends + movement = medicine. Before you jump into an elimination diet or large scale supplement protocol, evaluate these points in your life…
EVALUATE
Amount of sunlight you are getting in the morning and throughout the day
Stress levels and points of stress in your daily life (energy givers vs. drainers)
Amount of time in nature, fresh air, grounding
Proper Hydration: Clean water and re-mineralization
Amount of time sedentary vs. movement
Amount of time spent with people who uplift you and bring you energy
Time spent building loving caring relationships with friends and family
Time spent laughing, learning and being creative
Quality of sleep
Screen time
Ingredients/toxins in your daily skincare, cosmetics and household items
Ingredients/toxins in your daily food (mycotoxins, pesticides/herbicides, hormones/antibiotics, glyphosate)
How often you are eating seasonal nutritionally dense foods
Protein consumption (organic/regenerative, pasture raised, grass-fed/finished bioavailable)
Use of antibiotics, NSAIDs, pharmaceutical drugs or over the counter medicines
Mindset (negative: anger, jealousy, envy, fear, victim mentality) (positive: gratitude, abundance, joy, forgiveness, empathy, empowerment, accountability)
Going back to the basics is the most important thing you can do for your health. You can take all the supplements in the world but if you don’t evaluate these most important things in your life first, they will do nothing.
Start with one of these evaluations, and see how you can make a small shift to work in the right direction, when you feel good about that, move to the next one. Take it slow. Health is all about mindset and shifting habits to create sustainable results, don’t feel like you need to overwhelm yourself.
Q: What are the benefits of an olive oil shot?
Olive oil is an incredible superfood – full of beneficial antioxidants, polyphenols and healthy fats. You do not need to take a shot of it to get these amazing benefits. You can drizzle it on your food or add it to your beverages. I do not take a shot every day, but every once in a while I do because it is a great way to get a lot of those good nutrients right when you wake up without consuming a full meal. As a shot on an empty stomach, it also helps to lubricate the gut and get digestion moving. Olive Oil Queen & I chat more about the benefits and what to look for when choosing your olive oil here:
I personally like using Zimms “Heal” EVOO – and I add a bit of lemon to it which helps add to the flavor & benefits. Discount is glowwithella20.
Q: How to clean wooden tools
I usually just do dish soap & water most of the time (no soaking!). Weekly or every couple of weeks I will do a deep clean.
Deep Clean:
Do a normal clean with hot water and dish soap
Cover wooden cutting board or tools in some baking soda
Use half a lemon with some salt on it and scrub the wood, squeezing out some of the lemon juice while you do this
Scrub every bit of the board and let sit for a minute before adding white vinegar and scrubbing again
Finish it off with another round of hot water and dish soap!
Optional to add a food-grade wood oil to keep wood nice and preserved
Q: Favorite ways to get probiotics
I love getting my probiotics through food! My favorite sources are raw milk, raw cream, raw cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough bread, kefir, greek yogurt, coconut yogurt, pickles & pickled foods and quality meats.
There are also some high quality probiotics to take for some xxtra love on your gut. Just Thrive*, Organic Olivia*, & Seed are a few good ones.
*discount “glowwithella”
Q: Sourdough Recipe?
Q: WHY Ice cube on the face in the AM?
In the morning, instead of washing my face I use an ice cube and rub it on my skin then pat it dry before doing morning skincare. This is something a holistic facialist recommended I do for my skin! It helps to keep my skin barrier and oils in tact in the morning, I have sensitive skin so less is more for my skin!
It is also an easy way to de-puff and anti-inflame and help with redness and irritation.
Q: How do deal with stubborn weight in tummy area?
FIRST AND FOREMOST - don’t forget that that little pooch in your lower tummy area is completely normal as a woman. We have a protective layer there to hold our most precious life giving organs!!! It’s only natural, and truly special. I’ve learned to be incredibly grateful for it.
Stubborn weight can be there for a lot of different reasons - the main being stress. A few tips on supporting your nervous system and lowering stress:
Prioritize good quality sleep
Reduce screen time — spend more time outdoors
Walking is essential
Deep breath-work
Humming
Reducing caffeine intake
High quality hydration + minerals
I’ve also noticed that stubborn fat, especially in women, can be because of insulin resistance or blood sugar imbalance. There are a few ways to address this, but some of my favorite are:
Taking bitters pre-meals. I love love love OO’s Glucose Bitters + Digestive Juice (my discount code is “glowwithella”)
Going for a post-meal walk
Eating a protein-forward breakfast
Prioritizing quality protein + fat + seasonal produce alongside carbs in meals
Not drinking coffee on an empty stomach & pairing it with blood-sugar balancing add ins: coconut cream or cream, collagen, mineral salt, ceylon cinnamon, ghee, olive oil etc…
These issues can also be caused by an imbalance in the body — which I talk about in the next Q how to approach!
Q: How to get to the root cause of skin issues like eczema & hormonal acne?
Your skin is a window to what is going on inside of your body. It is signaling that there is an imbalance elsewhere - typically manifesting from the gut or liver when it comes to eczema and acne.
Evaluate those basics of health first that I listed above…
To find out as quick as possible where this imbalance is coming from, it is helpful to do a full GI maps test / get functional bloodwork done.
I recently did a podcast episode with Ranim (linked below) - a holistic health practitioner who is highly knowledgeable in this area and she is currently taking 1:1s so you can reach out to her — or connect with your network to find someone near you.
How to find a holistic/functional/natural practitioner:
The Institute for Functional Medicine: ifm.org
Word of Mouth (how I found mine)
Find local health food store and ask them! (Find stores through INFRA)
Programs like Dr.Will Cole, Malla, Parsley Health, Wild Health
Look up doctors who administer the DUTCH test and go based off that
Recommendations through Eastern Medicine (acupuncture)
Nature & Science Medicine
Here are some location specific recs from you guys! (I do not know these dr.’s personally)
Meaghan Kirshchling (Minneapolis Minnesota)
LIVV natural (San Diego)
Root cause medical Clinic (CA & Florida)
Dr. David Karaba (Newport Beach, CA)
Dr. Julie Liang (San Diego Pivotal Wellness)
Dr. Brooke Leverone
Q: Eating habits/time for healing gut & constipation & hormone balancing?
Firstly, intuitive eating is key. Your body knows best - so tune in and listen to those queues. Secondly, what has worked best for me when it comes to eating + digestion is practicing circadian eating.
Circadian eating in it’s simplest form is eating with the sun (of course this does not work as well in winter months so I base it more on Summer-like times). I eat a good quality protein breakfast when I wake up in the morning to kick start my body, eat a meal throughout the day, and have my last meal about 3 hours before bed. This gives me time to fully digest my food before rest to ensure restorative sleep. I go more into details here:
HOW you eat is just as important as WHAT you eat. If you are eating while distracted, rushed or stressed, if you are eating without chewing your food, if you are drinking a bunch of liquid while eating, if you are eating right after or before a workout, if you are mindlessly eating. All of these things will impact how your food is digested.
It is so important to eat in a rest and digest state, take deep breaths before eating, eat your meal non distracted and present, chew your food thoroughly and slowly, take herbal bitters pre meals, wait to drink lots of liquid until after you are finished eating, and even eating under the sun and in nature can support how your food is absorbed and digested. More on this here:
Q: Can you ground without putting bare feet on ground?
Yes! There are such thing as grounding or earthing shoes that allow the benefits of the Earth’s electrons to come through the soles. For a higher budget, there are also such thing as Earthing or Grounding Mats that you can lay on in your home.
Also — eating grounding, rooty seasonal nourishing foods that are grown regeneratively are wonderful. + even cuddling with your dog!
Of course, bare feet on the Earth is the most natural, efficient and easy way to ground. But spending time in nature even if your feet aren’t bare is equally as important!
Q: Routine with red light therapy?
I try to do red light therapy daily — primarily in the mornings. I will turn on the red light while I brush my teeth, dry brush, do my skincare. If I am ever feeling extra stressed I will turn it on while I lay on my acupressure mat or do a lymphatic massage. Or if a certain part of me is in more pain than usual (cramps, soreness, bloating) I will use it directly on the affected area!
The red light therapy device I use is from Boncharge (discount is ELLA15).
Q: How to deal with hangovers / pre-drinking prep?
Hangovers happen for a multiplicity of reasons - the main being it is draining your body of key nutrients and interrupting healthy sleep, which in turn interrupts healthy bodily functions. I think that the main part of a hangover (for me at least) comes from the lack of sleep. Here are a few tips that help me when drinking:
Eating a full nourishing meal before drinking
Taking an olive oil shot pre-drinking
Drinking a lot of water with minerals before drinking (if you can — during drinking) and then before bed! LMNT is an easy way to get a lot of that. Literally pre shake it up and set is aside your bed to have there to chug before sleeping
I sometimes have issues with histamine (and alcohol is high histamine) so taking something to help that is great — I prefer this one
Magnesium before bed!!! I like to spray it on my feet pre-sleeping. This spray is my favorite (discount is glowwithella)
In the AM: Glutathione to help support liver health + I love Cymbiotika’s Liver Health supplement as well (discount is glowwithella)
Matcha matcha matcha!!! Fulll of incredible polyphenols and antioxidants that are vital for replenishing nutrients and repairing cells post-hangover. So load up on those matcha lattes! Important that it is organic/ceremonial grade/tested for toxins etc… my favorite is Pique & Cymbiotika
Hydration + mineral replenish: water with mineral salt, lemon and lime, bone broth, raw milk, fruit juices, coconut water, shilajit
GET OUTSIDE AND GROUND AND SUNLIGHT!!!! I know all you wanna do when you are hungover is couch rot but seriously getting some sunlight and grounding your body immediately heals. Go jump in the ocean, go sweat in a sauna, go put your feet in the grass :)
Q: Tips for avoiding alcohol?
Find fun activities that you enjoy without alcohol! Ask your friends to join you for a hike, a beach day, a pilates class. Get together and picnic or paint. Go for a walk. Make dinner and together and find new fun mocktail recipes!
For me — I have realized that just having a beverage in my hand to sip on helps so much if I am around people who are drinking. It also is a great excuse for me to connect with my friends outside of drinking in a more meaningful way. I have made stronger friendships by doing activities that are good for the both of us instead of just going out! Ask your friends, reach out, and they will be happy to join you! Also finding someone to not drink with you is soso helpful. Buddy system always helps.
Q: Oura Ring – Worth the money?
For me, absolutely yes. Disclaimer: I got the Oura ring as a gift from my mom for Christmas, but if I had not gotten it as a gift I definitely would’ve saved to buy it for myself.
I recently went off hormonal birth control, and the reason I originally got the oura ring is because it has an integration with Natural Cycles, a natural non-hormonal birth control method. With the oura ring, this method of birth control tracking is far more accurate. I didn’t trust myself to take my own temperature as soon as I woke up every morning, and the Oura ring just does that for me. Since I am now using this as my main form of birth control this was worth the investment for me!
In addition I’ve absolutely loved the other stats it has to offer. Sleep, Resilience and Activity are the main ones. Sleep has been great because I have been able to notice patterns on what negatively and positively affects my sleep health, and also figure out timing wise what sleep time is best for my personal chronotype. I love the activity portion because it reminds me to move my body. & resilience is great because it helps me track my stress levels and what is positively and negatively affecting that. Overall, it has helped me to be more in tune with my body which has been great!!
I will get to the rest of the Q’s in the next Q&A — thank you for submitting all your questions, and comment if you have any more :)
Hopefully this was helpful, Love you guys! XO - Ella
This was so amazing to read, thank you for sharing this information!!