Greetings from Le Thillot, France, nestled in the Vosges Mountains!

We have just arrived here after a four hour journey by car from Joachim’s home town of Oehringen, Germany. The drive itself has been successful in moving us into a different time and place. Life is about to slow way down for my busy family and that is just what this side trip is all about. We’ve had a fully packed first half of 2016 and now just beyond the halfway point, we are taking this well earned nature break. The two most stressful decisions of the next few days will be what we will prepare for mittagessen (midday meal) and which hiking trail to choose each morning. These decisions will be made that much easier as our AirBnB house sits next to an organic farm selling seasonal veggies and is on the edge of the forest with a myriad of trails just footsteps from the front door. This is exactly what an ideal Hubele family vacation looks like!

So why is nature so important to us? Both Joachim and I fully recognize that we spend the majority of our day in front of computer screens. Fortunately my time also involves contact with a host of amazing clients but Joachim’s screen is filled with data- yikes!!! Given that fact, we crave the restorative effect nature delivers. We do carve out a slice at the start of each day for swimming at Barton Springs and a weekend hike when it’s not 100+ degrees, but that just doesn’t compare to a stretch of time surrounded by fresh mountain air, magnificent trees, birdsong, and picturesque meadows. And even though Sebastian has his nature fix built into his schedule with a full day each week of the school year devoted to Earth Native Wilderness School he always still desires more as well.

The Vosges are home to some beautiful bodies of water. Gérardmer is the most famous along with the smaller, quieter neighboring Longemer. I happen to have a preference for Longemer and have wonderful memories of spending some of the last warm days of fall on its shore with Sebastian when he was only 18 months old. Returning now 13 years later will be a highlight for all of us. We certainly have plans to visit both lakes for a swim at least once during our stay and hope to also discover some new spots.

Recharging ourselves in nature is now backed up by some wonderful science. UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center put together quite a report in 2016 and shared the findings last March in The Huffington Post. How Nature can make you Kinder, Happier, and More Creative sounds exactly like the answer we have all been searching for in the light of our world and domestic situation. Who couldn’t benefit from a large dose of kindness, happiness, and creativity? I love this quote as it confirms exactly what I get out of a day in nature:

“Nature restores mental functioning in the same way that food and water restore bodies. The business of everyday life — dodging traffic, making decisions and judgment calls, interacting with strangers — is depleting, and what man-made environments take away from us, nature gives back.”

I am thrilled that we have my mother-in-law along with us on this journey. At 82 she may even still out-hike all of us! As our only living parent between Joachim and I, she has an incredible place of honor in our family and I am continually in awe of the life lessons she teaches me. Widowed two years ago, after ten years as the caretaker for the love of her life, she is living a whole new chapter, writing her own new script as she goes. When she can find peers to keep up with her, she will easily take a 20 mile bike trip on the weekend or cross country ski for a day. She’s been a vegetarian for 30 years and eats what she grows in her own garden. That’s what 82 can look like by the way!

Since the fun has only just begun, be sure to follow me on Instagram or Facebook to enjoy the beautiful scenery right along with us.

Live Well,
Lauren

I’m so excited to wrap up my Keep it Cool series with this amazing Lemony Lentil and Chickpea Salad. I’ll be making this one to pack along on our car trip to the Vosges Mountains for a week of family hiking. And I’m especially looking forward to gathering fresh radishes and herbs in my mother-in-law’s garden to make this dish even more delicious!

Lentils:
2 cups dried black beluga lentils or French green lentils
2 large garlic cloves, halved lengthwise (or finely chopped green onions or shallots)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Lemon Dressing:
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 medium lemons worth)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:
1 (14 ounce) can cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 big bunch of radishes, sliced thin and roughly chopped
¼ cup packed fresh, leafy herbs, chopped (combination of mint and dill recommended)
Optional garnishes: sliced avocado, handful of fresh leafy greens.

Full Instructions Here

Enjoy!

These past three weeks, we have followed Molly’s incredible journey from her tremendous grief and debilitating Crohn’s symptoms after the passing of her mother to experiencing and overcoming secondary symptoms and to the eventual discovery of a healing path. As Molly’s practitioner I could not be more pleased with her willingness to allow her body this opportunity to heal and everything she did to support the process with diet and lifestyle changes. I may have been able to offer Molly Gemmotherapy protocols, encouragement, and dietary suggestions, but she had the determination to make this work on her own. Molly’s dedication has been remarkable and you can feel her joy in her words below.

“I have learned so much in just under a year about my body, it’s healing abilities, and my internal strength and drive. I could have been crushed to literal death by the devastation of my mom’s passing and this debilitating disease. But, I AM WINNING!

This summer has been full of opportunities to develop my new lifestyle and to enjoy having my health back. When I think of food choices, I always remember that simpler is better. A simple smoothie or green salad is now my go to meal. I make a great quinoa salad and I can wrap ANYTHING in a gluten free wrap. I love a little bit of salmon on the grill and my favorite dessert is cashew ice cream.

Like I said in that first post, the key to diet changes is to find alternatives. I have successfully found alternatives for everything that my family loved, from butter and milk to eating out at our favorite restaurants. Food is not the only change I have embraced though. I know that good sleep and less stress is vital. I have used Gemmotherapy, acupuncture, and massage to relieve anxiety and stress. A well rested body can heal itself so I make it a priority to get plenty of sleep.

When I asked my children what they notice about me that is different their list makes my heart smile:

“You have more energy.”
“You smile a lot more.”
“We go on long hikes now.”
“You always look for gluten and dairy that could be hiding in our food.”
“You use the bathroom a lot less.”

And they are all right! I now enjoy a life that I am in control of. I do everything with my children now. I hiked with my family in Yellowstone National Park this summer. We were miles from any bathroom and I wasn’t even thinking about it until my six year sweetly asked if we should be looking for a bathroom for mommy. I never would have attempted a long hike in the past. What a change!

These good times with my family doing what we love is motivation enough to keep fighting for my body to heal. I am not perfect and there have been times when I haven’t been as diligent as I should have been in making healthy choices, but I take the setback in stride and get back to work. This journey has been an amazing accomplishment. I recognize that it is a journey and the end result is a completely healed body. As I near the end of my first year, I can hardly believe how far I’ve come!”

So what’s next for Molly? A lot more of the same to be honest. A plant based diet rich in whole nutrient dense foods, moderate exercise, restorative sleep each night, and continuation of her protocols. Recently we changed her Homeopathic remedy to one that will offer more emotional support and I look forward to the advantage this gives Molly as she considers some changes for her future. We also continue increasing the strength of her Gemmotherapy protocol to further resolve old inflammation and promote healing of her digestive organ tissues. We both look to the day when she will not need even the one prescription medication. I do believe this is possible but the timing must be right. Next month Molly will return for further testing of her inflammatory levels and we will know more about the progress she has made. I’ll be sure to post an update!

Gemmotherapy played a huge role in the healing of Molly’s symptoms. You can learn more about this emerging botanical therapy from Europe here on my website. Interested practitioners can find information on training in Gemmotherapy protocols here.

Next week begins a new series as I depart for my annual summer trip to Europe. Don’s miss this one as I post from our hiking in the Vosges Mountains, my time with my Homeopathic mentor Dr. Heiner Frei in Laupen Switzerland, and much more!

I am such a fan of Thai flavors that this Thai Cashew Chopped Salad recipe easily caught my attention. Like the other salads in this series (Asian Broccoli Salad & Southwestern Chopped Salad), this one is packed with flavor and freshness. And, while there is already a bounty of veggies included, you can certainly take it up a notch by adding chopped raw broccoli or grated local zucchini.

Salad Ingredients:
4 cups Romaine, chopped
½ head red cabbage, chopped
½ cup carrots, sliced
½ cup edamame, shelled
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
½ cup cashews, roasted

Ginger Peanut Dressing Ingredients:
⅓ cup peanut butter (or almond butter)
2 tablespoons honey
3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoon sesame oil
Water to thin

Full Instructions Here

Enjoy!

This month I’ve had the pleasure of sharing my blog with Molly LaChere who tells her inspiring story of addressing symptoms of Crohn’s. While Molly had lived with the often debilitating effects for 13 years, it was the passing of her mother that led her to make serious lifestyle changes.  In the first post of the series Molly explained the commitment she made to reclaim her health. Last week Molly described the setbacks she faced getting started.

For nearly half of her life Molly’s body made up for a poorly established elimination system and overburdened kidneys by dumping acid waste through her bowel. The urge for a bowel movement often appeared hourly and a combination of mucous, blood, and or loose stools were eliminated. This was a compensation that her body established in order to keep the raging state of inflammation under control. The challenge I would face as a practitioner was to fortify her kidneys using Gemmotherapy extracts and gradually shift her body out of this “dumping” state. As you found out last week this process triggered another response in her body- her limbs began to take on the inflammation that was not being dumped and her skin became an emergency exit to filter toxins as well. No doubt this was a miserable time for Molly and many would lose hope. I encouraged Molly to seek out additional support from her physician, whom she had worked with in the past. In her advanced state of Crohn’s, we were hoping it would be possible to find a balance suppressing some symptoms through medication just long enough for Gemmotherapy to strengthen her kidneys. Her Gemmotherapy protocol at first was only Silver Birch Sap, but we later used Blueberry for both kidney and bowel support, Black Currant to resolve inflammation and support her adrenal glands, and Silver Lime as a tonic for the nervous system and it’s mild general detoxification effect. In addition, I included an adrenal supplement and a monthly constitutional dose of Homeopathy.

Here is more of Molly’s story.

“January and February were marked by continued swelling, but was I able to stay the course. I continued to try every day to make positive changes. I was taking my Gemmotherapy extracts regularly and was even learning to adjust them on my own. I was quite excited about that! Even though I could feel my body trying to heal itself and I was making small improvements every day, I still needed some support from medical doctors. Crohn’s disease must be monitored closely as the inflammatory state is known to lead to cancers and other complications. Having lost a parent to cancer just months before understandably made this threat even more worrisome.

I finally was able to have an appointment with the Gastroenterologist on March 3rd. I was ready to fight because I knew they would want to start me on HUMARA, a drug that suppresses the immune system and is known to cause an aggressive form of Lymphoma. The doctors were certainly concerned, so they did the only thing they are trained to do, offer tests and medications. I am grateful for their tests, but I wanted to pass on their medication. The day following my appointment, I brought in a stool sample so that they could test for inflammation markers. The results could take a while so in the mean time I had a colonoscopy and started on a short course of Prednisone. The colonoscopy showed inflammation, but no cancer. What a relief! With that worry gone, and the Prednisone kicking in to suppress my immune system enough to relieve the inflammation a little more, I knew that I was turning a corner in my healing.  

I continued to feel better each day and after a few weeks I began to taper off the Prednisone. During this time we were able to increase the doses of Gemmotherapy without the fear we had previously of aggravating symptoms. By early April I had bowel movements only 3-5 times daily and all were formed with no pain! I was even sleeping through night. By the time I came off of the Prednisone my kidneys and bowels were functioning much better all on their own.

In May I returned to the gastroenterologist for the best appointment ever. First, we went over the results of the stool sample taken back in March. In a normal healthy person, the markers would be below 50, for people with Crohn’s disease, the goal is below 100. For comparison, my numbers have been over 1,000 in the past! The doctor couldn’t believe that my number was only 146! Remember, this was taken before I started on any medication! Diet change and Gemmotherapy was the only thing I was using to control my disease at the time of the test.

With this news, I knew that my drastic diet change made me feel better and now I had the proof that it was healing me too! We came to an understanding that day in the office that if I continued to make healthy diet changes, the doctor would be completely supportive of not using HUMARA. He even admitted to me that the medication often doesn’t work well unless patients are willing to make changes in their diets and it often leads to patients loosing parts of their colon or small intestines. I did however begin Asocol HD a mild medication that helps with inflammation in the colon. I have tried it in the past and it was never enough. This time it was a different story. It was just enough support. I have another appointment in August and I am so excited to see those results!”

Molly’s story is such a remarkable example of believing in your body and it’s ability to heal and, at the same time, taking the steps of intervention needed when a disease has progressed. She is fortunate to have an open minded physician that supported her commitment and could see a middle path. Had Molly and I began our work together when her symptoms of urgent loose stools began years ago, she would not have needed medication but in these advanced stages of autoimmune, with the knowledge we have today, the approach we found was a good compromise. Join us next week when Molly shares more of the specific lifestyle changes she has found successful.

Interested in learning more about Gemmotherapy? Pre-order my book, Gemmotherapy for Everyone: An Introduction to Acute Care. Find more here on Gemmotherapy protocols for yourself or family. If you are a practitioner, you may be interested in my online trainings available now.

Cool, crisp, and flavorful! That’s what I look for in summer recipes, and this Southwestern Chopped Salad has it all. Feel free to improvise on the basic ingredient list and add extra veggies. They can only enhance the mix!

The cilantro lime dressing is a keeper for sure, and it can be repurposed for wraps or raw veggie dip. Come along with me this month for my Keep it Cool series and try four fabulous main dish salads you can remake all summer!

Ingredients

• Large head of romaine
• 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large orange bell pepper (I like to chop mini sweet peppers for a variety of color)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups corn (fresh roasted, blanched or thawed from the freezer)
• 5 green onions

Dressing

• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 avocado (or 1/2 cup plain vegan yogurt or ½ cup of soaked cashews)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime), more to taste
• 1-2 garlic cloves (or green onions or shallots)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (I use Braggs apple cider vinegar)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Season with honey and cumin to taste

Directions

1. Make the dressing: puree all ingredients in a food processor/blender until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
2. Finely chop romaine, bell pepper, tomatoes, and green onions.
3. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
4. Toss with desired amount of dressing.

Enjoy!

Adapted from the Garden Grazer

The best summer recipes in my opinion make use of the abundance of this season’s produce, require a minimal list of ingredients, and don’t involve the oven!  Follow this month’s series to Keep it Cool in your kitchen and add four fantastic main dish salads to your repertoire.

I personally think broccoli is at its best when its raw or just lightly blanched. This Asian Broccoli Salad recipe captures that perfectly. With just enough crunch and Asian seasoning, it will surely become a favorite. This dish also keeps well so be sure to make enough to pack along for a lunch or two in the days ahead. The peanuts in this recipe can easily be replaced with less inflammatory cashews or almonds and not a bit of flavor is lost.

Broccoli Salad Ingredients:
1 large head broccoli, cut into small florets
1 cup shelled cooked edamame
1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions
1/2 cup peanuts, almonds, or cashews
1 batch peanut sauce (recipe below)
Sesame seeds, for garnish

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I prefer coconut aminos or tamari)
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1-2 tablespoons hot water, as needed to thin the sauce

Full Instructions Here

“July 11, 2015, a day that changed my world. My mother passed away after a five year battle with cancer. I was tired, alone, and sick. I had just had my fifth child in May, so tired was a feeling I knew well. Having dealt with Crohn’s Disease for 13 years, sick was normal. The loneliness, though, was devastating. I spent the rest of July and all of August trying to get through each day without breaking down. I cried about everything, I spent hours in the bathroom, and I desperately tried to have my kids believe that all was well. What a joke!

By September I crashed. I was mad! My world had fallen apart and my body was failing me. Crohn’s Disease had defined me for 13 years and I had let it. I always believed that my body could heal itself, but I knew it would take time and commitment, two things I didn’t have with five kids and a dying mother. Then something changed in me. I made a commitment to get better for good. No more half way, no more cheating. From now on I must be 100 percent honest with myself and my needs. It was this daunting task that I set out to conquer.” 

Molly and I met to discuss her health in late August. As with all of my clients, I spelled out what would be needed to turn her symptoms around and get her body to begin healing itself.

Her symptoms at the time included 14-18 trips to the toilet round the clock to pass either loose stool, mucus, or at times blood. She was weak and weighed 127lbs. She could not leave the house for more than an hour and only if she was sure she could get to a toilet immediately. This alone made her case challenging, but on top of it all she was a nursing mom with a four month old and four other children under the age of eleven and worked part-time as a teacher at a local private school.

On her side was the fact that her family all wanted her to be well and would support whatever changes she needed to make. In addition, she had a Naturopathic doctor and Gastro MD who she had seen for many years and who also were both open to alternatives that would support Molly’s healing.

The protocol I would offer Molly wasn’t meant as a suggestion. It was really an “either/ or” moment. Either Molly committed to following the protocol or I would not be able to help her. If, as she had claimed, Molly really wanted to engage her body’s own ability to heal, she would have to get serious about her diet. Molly was in an incredibly inflammatory state and she could not afford to add to it with what she put in her mouth- Not even a bite.

Step One of Molly’s protocol was to eliminate all foods with gluten and dairy. Because Molly had already greatly reduced dairy she was halfway there. The challenge came with the need to eliminate both gluten and dairy entirely. To do this she would have to change the way she cooked for her whole family. In hindsight that was clearly a good choice as it quickly solved the chronic symptoms three of her children faced. Back in late August, however, Molly, who barely slept two hours straight and had debilitating symptoms round the clock, was naturally overwhelmed.

Step Two of Molly’s protocol was to take Silver Birch Sap Gemmotherapy extract 3x daily, beginning with a very small dose.

Molly’s task ahead was daunting and while I could offer her encouragement and suggestions, she was the one who would have to find the strength to make the changes in order to fulfill her commitment to herself.

Come along and join us in the weeks ahead as Molly and I share in the writing of this series and bring to life her path these past nine months. Whatever challenge(s) you face with your health, you will no doubt find Molly’s story inspiring. Her dedication to restoring her health and befriend her body’s process is an incredible journey.