Did you know the average person eats, drinks, and even breathes in tiny pieces of plastic every single day? These are called microplastics (smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics (so tiny they can cross into our bloodstream). 💡 Scientists have found them in: - Human blood 🩸 - Placenta and breast milk 🤰 - Lungs, liver, and even the heart 💔 The problem? These plastics don’t just sit quietly — they can: - Disrupt hormones (leading to fatigue, weight gain, and fertility struggles) - Cause inflammation in the gut and other organs - Carry toxic chemicals and heavy metals into your body 👉 Imagine your body working hard every day to process food, detox waste, and balance hormones — and then constantly being bombarded with plastic particles. ⚡ Did you already know we’re walking around with plastic inside us? What’s the craziest place you’ve heard microplastics have been found? I will post part 2 next Friday!

Here’s the deal. If you’re going to amp up your metabolism, you have to be in the right mindset. It’s sometimes scary to focus on maintenance, but I promise your metabolism and your results will thank you for it! 💯 Since Tuesdays are all about food around here, let’s talk about the following question: 👉Will certain foods increase my metabolism? The simple answer is this: If there were, you’d know about it by now. The truth is that your metabolism is shaped by several factors. Your age, what you eat, your gender, how active you are, and even health issues all play a role. Food is just one part of the mix when it comes to your metabolic health. But there’s good news regarding how your nutrition affects your metabolism. If there ever were a magic food, it would be protein + fiber. I mentioned yesterday that your metabolism has many roles, with one being its role to break down food into energy. Well, digesting protein burns more energy than carbs or fats. That’s called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). This means you can slightly boost your metabolism by eating more protein since it requires more energy to digest than anything else. 👌 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/8-high-protein-foods-to-reach-for-dietitian-approved/ Tuesday Tip: Digesting food uses about 10-15% of your daily energy (from your metabolism). The other 85-90% is used to keep your organs functioning, etc. If you want to expend the most amount of energy during digestion, make sure to pack in the protein + fiber , friends! TAKING ACTION: ✅ Are you consistently meeting your nutrition goal? How has your protein + fiber intake changed since being in this platform? ⬇️

Antibiotics are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. Yet, nearly 50% of antibiotics prescribed on an out-patient basis are unnecessary. To make matters more tricky, antibiotics and gut health are not the best of friends. In fact, there is a negative correlation between antibiotics and gut health. Your gut is its own ecosystem. It’s home to 100 trillion microorganisms, including at least 400 different species of bacteria. These microbes in your gut play crucial roles in digestion, immunity, metabolism, and mood. Sixty to eighty percent of your immune system is located in your gut and ninety percent of your neurotransmitters — the chemical messengers that help regulate mood — are produced there. Unfortunately, a course of antibiotics can disturb your gut’s equilibrium, which is why it’s so important to take probiotics after antibiotic use. Antibiotics work by blocking bacterial processes. They either kill the bacteria or stop them from multiplying. Unfortunately, antibiotics cannot tell the difference between the “bad” bacteria causing an infection and the “good” bacteria that belong in your gut. It’s the beginning of a bad relationship between antibiotics and gut health. Antibiotics are like a blanket smothering both good and bacteria. They disrupt your gut’s delicate ecosystem, creating a state of imbalance. As the number of good bacteria in your gut decreases, you become susceptible to overgrowths of other organisms, including a yeast (or fungus) called Candida. While a small amount of yeast is normal and necessary, Candida is opportunistic. If given the chance, it will grow and multiply quickly — especially when it’s fed sugar or alcohol. When yeast starts to multiply, it can damage the lining of your intestinal walls. This leads to increased intestinal permeability and what’s known as leaky gut. When foreign substances enter your bloodstream via a leaky gut, your immune system flags them as invaders and begins to attack. Over time, this overwhelms your immune system, liver, and lymphatic system, causing inflammation. When your immune system remains on constant high alert dealing with invaders and chronic inflammation, it can become overwhelmed, leading to autoimmune disease.

We’re wrapping up this week’s conversation about protein and essential amino acids. You can read a little about each of the nine essential amino acids in the article below. ⬇️ 9 Essential Amino Acids and Complete Protein Foods | livestrong Essential amino acids play different roles, as you learned in the article above. Three, in particular, are getting a lot of attention lately in the health & wellness space: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These three are called branched-chain amino acids and play a crucial role in protein synthesis and muscle growth. 💪 If you’re looking for a quality BCAA supplement, the good news is that we have one available! ⬇️ https://a.co/d/7T8Z4Ex 📌 Remember, a whole-food diet is the best way to make sure you’re getting all of your essential amino acids, but a supplement can certainly help—especially if you have specific goals! TAKING ACTION: ✅ Do you take an amino acid supplement or BCAAs? Do you feel they’ve helped with your muscle-building journey?

Here are the facts: ⬇️ Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Your body needs twenty amino acids. Your body produces 11 of the 20. These are called nonessential amino acids. As for the other nine? They make up the essential amino acids, and that’s where your diet comes into play. 💯 Some foods, like nuts, rice, and legumes (and many processed forms of protein), are low in at least one essential amino acid, making them incomplete proteins. On the other hand, foods like meat, fish, and eggs, quinoa, tofu and edamame have sufficient amounts of essential amino acids, making them complete proteins. Don’t get me wrong—every gram of protein counts. However, complete protein sources are best for optimal protein synthesis (repairing and growing muscle). Now, this is for muscle growth, no optimal health. Your goal should be to eat a variety of whole foods to ensure you are consuming enough complete protein in your diet. The good news is that if you’re consuming mostly whole-food nutrition consistently, you shouldn’t have any worries! On Saturday, we’ll talk more about the nine essential amino acids and how they benefit your overall health. 👌 Complete vs. Incomplete Proteins and Examples TAKING ACTION: ✅ Read the article to learn more about complete and incomplete proteins. Again, if you’re meeting your nutrient goals consistently with at least 80% whole-food nutrition, you are likely giving your body what it needs. However, if you’re eating processed foods, you may not be.