Articles by Medea Galligan

Read, learn, and feel better.

85 articles from nearly three decades of writing on gut health, real food and living well. Published in newspapers, magazines and right here.

85 articles

Gut & Digestion

Better Health Starts In the Gut

Digestive disorders are on the increase. About 38 million Americans suffer from a variety of digestive problems such as GERD, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, food allergies, diverticulitis,…

7 min read
Gut & Digestion

How Probiotics Reduce Inflammation & Naturally Improve Health

What do diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, IBS, ulcerative colitis, food and environmental allergies all have in common? Besides being chronic conditions that can be life threatening, or at…

6 min read
Gut & Digestion

How Your Gallbladder Keeps You Healthy

Article Summary: Despite what you may have been told, the gallbladder serves a very important digestive function. The gall bladder is a hollow inactive organ supplying bile to the digestive tract…

6 min read
Gut & Digestion

Miso Soup: A Delicious Bowl of Health

Miso has been eaten in Japan and China for many centuries and has been attracting the attention of many of us because of its health and anti-aging benefits. It’s also quite delicious. When you aren’t…

6 min read
Gut & Digestion

Nourishing Bone Broth for Naturally Excellent Health

There are many delicious ways to improve your health, and a great place to start, believe it or not, is with good ole fashioned bone broth. For thousands of years bone broths have provided essential…

2 min read
Gut & Digestion

The Importance of Good Digestion

Most of us ignore our digestive system unless there’s a problem. For whatever reason, we rarely consider the role it plays in our overall health. But if it isn’t functioning the way it should be,…

7 min read
Gut & Digestion

What is Kefir?

Pronounced “keh-FEER,” kefir is a fermented milk drink. Kefir's colorful and romantic history dates back many centuries—likely even longer—to the shepherds of the Caucasus Mountains, who reportedly…

2 min read
Gut & Digestion

Why A Gluten-Free Diet May Be Right For You

Gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and spelt, wreaks havoc in people with celiac disease, triggering an immune reaction that damages the small intestine and prevents…

4 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

Aspirin Is Not Safe For Everyone

For many years now, men have taken low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks, and the logical assumption was that women would likewise reduce heart attack risk by practicing this simple preventive…

2 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

Depression and Cravings

When it comes to food, most of us would agree that what and when we eat can directly affect how we feel. After a heavy meal, we may feel tired and bloated. If we wait too long to eat, we may feel…

7 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

Diet and High Blood Pressure

According to the American Heart Association, eating a heart-healthy diet is important for managing your blood pressure and reducing your risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke and other…

3 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

Fibromyalgia and Diet

Chronic inflammatory diseases are a common day epidemic. Every year the number of individuals with debilitating chronic inflammatory diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis,…

7 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

High Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Ask the average American what he or she believes is the most common risk associated with heart disease and you’ll likely hear, “high cholesterol.” We’ve heard it from doctors, we’ve read about it in…

10 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

How To Naturally Heal Fibromyalgia

Chronic inflammatory diseases are a common day epidemic. Every year the number of individuals with debilitating chronic inflammatory diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis,…

8 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

Support Your Thyroid For Better Health

Most people have heard that their thyroid is important for controlling their metabolism and body weight. But did you know that depression, heart disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, PMS,…

8 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

The Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle: The Natural Way To A Healthy Life

Over many years I have found that preventing or reversing inflammation is all about listening to your body. From that listening you can begin to learn first-hand what increases or reduces your body’s…

7 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

The Diabetes Diet: Create Your Healthy-Eating Plan

Your Diabetes Diet is simply a healthy-eating plan that will help you control your blood sugar. Here’s help getting started by learning what foods to include and what foods to avoid on your path to…

6 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

The Important Benefits of Antioxidants

Most of us have heard that free radicals -- the undesirable byproducts of various metabolic functions -- damage cells. Over time, this damage, called oxidative damage or oxidative stress, is believed…

7 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

This Spring, Survive Your Allergy Symptoms!

If you're a seasonal allergy sufferer, you know that few things can drain the joy out of spring and summertime like the misery of red, itchy eyes, continuous sneezing and post-nasal drip. Airborne…

9 min read
Inflammation & Chronic Conditions

What You CAN DO to REVERSE your Diabetes 2

If someone told you there was a “magic” trick you could do that would almost instantly improve the way your body regulates blood sugar, and also reduce the spikes in blood sugar that occur after a…

7 min read
Weight & Metabolism

10 Guidelines for Lasting Weight Loss Through A Healthy Lifestyle

Here are 10 guidelines for lasting weight loss, the kind of weight loss that becomes effortless and natural over time. While we all know that fad diets don’t work in the long run, many of us wonder…

3 min read
Weight & Metabolism

A Santa Claus Belly Is Not Always Jolly

When it comes to the impact of excess weight, new research is showing that it is not only how much extra you have, but also how and where you store it.

2 min read
Weight & Metabolism

Natural Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, there’s no lack of fad diets promising fast results! But such diets limit your nutritional intake, are usually unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run. The key to…

6 min read
Weight & Metabolism

The Way to Achieve Natural, Lasting Weight Loss and Better Health

When it comes to weight loss, there’s no lack of fad diets promising fast results! But such diets limit your nutritional intake, are usually unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run. The key to…

7 min read
Weight & Metabolism

Why Weight Loss Diets Don’t Work

We have all heard for years that “diets don’t work”, yet millions of us every year are willing to try yet another diet. Many seem desperate to believe the claims that “you can lose 30 pounds in 10…

6 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Apple Cider Vinegar’s Many Wonderful Uses

Article Summary: There has been surprisingly little research about using vinegar for therapeutic health purposes, there are numerous dramatic claims about it. These claims and studies suggest raw…

6 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Are Soy Products Really Healthy For You?

If you, like many of us over the last 20 years, have heard that soy was good for your heart, your bones, that it lowers cholesterol and is a good source of protein because you gave up meat, you will…

8 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Are You Cooking Nutrients Out of Your Foods?

These days, most of us know that what we eat (including what your food has eaten!) has a profound impact on our health. The old saying "You Are What You Eat" has never before carried such weight.

9 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Asparagus: the Springtime Wonder Vegetable

Asparagus is one of those veggies that my family and I enjoy cooking and eating during this time of year.

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Broccoli – A Delicious Super-Food!

Broccoli is one of the easiest vegetables to find in supermarkets all across our country. While broccoli has gotten a bad reputation as being one of the most dreaded vegetables on the dinner plate…

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Can A “Paleo” Diet Improve Your Health?

By now most people have heard about a “paleo”, “primal”, or “caveman” diet, but what is it really all about? One of the most thorough looks into "Stone Age" nutrition was done by Dr. Loren Cordain,…

7 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Cauliflower, a great low-carb, high nutrient veggie!

Cauliflower, a cruciferous vegetable, is in the same plant family as broccoli, kale, cabbage and collards. It has a compact head (called a "curd"), with an average size of six inches in diameter,…

8 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Coconut Oil Benefits: When Fat Is Good For You

You’ve no doubt noticed that for about the last 60 years, the majority of health care officials and the media have been telling you saturated fats are bad for your health and lead to a host of…

6 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Cook Once, Eat Many Times: The Key To Better Health

There is nothing better than coming home after a long day to dinner already prepared and all you have to do is heat it up! You know what I am talking about…You had a long day at work, followed by…

6 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Delicious Ways To Increase Your Omega-3 Intake

Filling up on omega-3 fatty acids does a body good. These polyunsaturated fats, which play a crucial role in how your body’s cells function, have been shown to reduce harmful inflammation that could…

2 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Green Veggies to the Rescue

I have a friend who used to call iceberg lettuce a "waste of chewing time" because it provides very little nutritional value. Of course, if there is one single thing that virtually every nutritionist…

3 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Healthy Ways to Stay Hydrated

For those of you that are just ready to have more energy and feel better, I’ve put together a review of the best and worst ways to stay hydrated, improve your metabolism and recover from your…

10 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Hidden Meaning on the Grocery Shelf

When buying orange juice recently, I had to pause and scratch my head for a moment. I just wanted juice, yet I was confronted with an array of choices. Did I want Tropicana Immunity-Defense Orange…

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

How Eggs Can Improve Your Health

Although many new studies support what your grandparents knew, there is still a major misconception and a lot of misinformation promoted by the media that you must avoid foods like eggs and saturated…

10 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

How To Spend Less and Eat Healthier

You don’t have to buy into the myth that unprocessed whole foods are expensive? If you looking for ways to eat more healthfully, but are concerned about the cost, here are easy ideas for helping you…

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Is It "Ethical" to Eat Meat?

The Modern Yogi’s Dilemma of Eating “Right”: How Can We Honor Both Ourselves And Our World?

14 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Making the Most of Your Harvest with Cleansing Foods for Fall

As fall harvest season begins, many gardeners find themselves with bushels of tomatoes, baskets of cucumbers and armfuls of lettuce. So when your garden is overflowing with produce, how do you make…

3 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Nutrition 101

With all the information and misinformation in the media about what to eat and what not to eat, it is easy to forget that true nutritional information is not just based on current opinions and slick…

10 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Spring Clean Your Body with Fresh, Delicious Greens!

Spring is an ideal season to clean up our act. A cleansing diet to eliminate toxins from our body is as much a rite of spring as sweeping debris from our home.

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Stevia – A Safe Alternative To Artificial Sweeteners

In an effort to reduce calories and eat “healthier”, many of us are now using artificial sweeteners like Equal or Splenda. They are in diet sodas and drinks, yogurts, baked goods, ice cream, and…

5 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Strawberries: Delicious and Oh So Good For You!

Strawberries have grown wild for millennia in temperate regions throughout the world. While cultivation of strawberries doesn't date back this far, it still dates back hundreds and hundreds of years.…

8 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Swap Out Refined Ingredients for Healthier Meals

Eating healthier starts with cooking healthier dishes, and in order to make healthier dishes you must use healthier ingredients. Healthy ingredients are “real foods” in and of themselves, such as…

2 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Amazing Health Benefits of Ancient Quinoa

Despite what most people think, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is actually not a grain; it is the seed of a plant that is related to the spinach family. When cooked, quinoa is light, fluffy, slightly…

3 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Amazing Health Benefits of Juicing

The idea of making fresh vegetable juices came from Norman Wardhaugh Walker (January 4, 1886 – June 6, 1985). He was a British businessman and pioneer in the field of vegetable juicing and…

10 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Benefits of Organic Raw Chocolate

Good news for all of you that love chocolate, and those of you that are chocoholics (myself included!). Chocolate is a healthy super-food that is bursting with antioxidants.

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Many Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef

While you have probably heard a lot about healthy foods, beef does not normally top the list. While the beef cattle industry wants you to believe that beef is the meat you should eat, that it’s…

10 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Nutritional Benefits of Sprouts

Few of us realize that a very simple and inexpensive solution to dramatically improving our overall health is easily within our reach, and that that solution is sprouts! Sprouts give us protein,…

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Top 5 Worst “Health Foods”

It is no surprise to many of us that when it comes to nutrition, we are being continually misled by the mainstream media. We have been told that eggs cause heart disease, then that they are good for…

8 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

The Wonderful Benefits of Nutritious, Delicious Pumpkin Seeds

Ahhh- the magical season of Autumn has finally arrived, and along with cooler weather we get to enjoy the bounty of the colorful fall harvest.

4 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Top 10 Reasons to Buy Organic Now

In our quest to eat healthier and include more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets, one of the first dilemmas we face in the grocery store is whether or not to buy “organic”.

5 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

What Oils Are The Safest To Cook With?

If you are like most people, you are thoroughly confused about what oils and fats are good for you, and which are not. And with good reason!

5 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

White Rice vs Brown Rice

Let’s say you are planning to make a healthy stir-fry or red beans and rice for dinner. Given the latest health information, you may want to reconsider the type of rice to cook with your meal if you…

7 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Why Natural Fats Are Crucial For Your Health

Article Summary: ALL foods are made of only 3 different kinds of macro (big) nutrients: Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates. The human body needs all three in healthy forms. Good Fats do NOT include…

8 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Why Sea Salt?

One of the biggest challenges of eating healthy in a modern world has to do with reducing the amount of salt and sodium in our diets. According to the American Heart Association, consuming too much…

7 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Why Should We Eat Organic Foods?

In our quest to eat healthier and include more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets, one of the first dilemmas we face in the grocery store is whether or not to buy "organic". While we know…

12 min read
Real Food & the Kitchen

Your Cookware Can Undermine Or Support Your Health

Well , its not just our opinion that waterless cookware is the best! Read what another health coach has written:

3 min read
Family & Life Stages

A Healthy Lifestyle Supports A Healthy Love Life

Unfortunately, modern life isn’t very friendly to the human libido. Contemporary challenges to a healthy sex drive are many: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid dysfunction, adrenal…

7 min read
Family & Life Stages

Can Plant Based Diets Cause Infertility?

With all the propaganda about plant based diets, I believe most people are unaware of how nutrient deficient a strict vegan diet can be, without substantial thought and planning.

10 min read
Family & Life Stages

Childhood Obesity

According to the CDC, obesity now affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States – triple the rate from just one generation ago. Healthy People 2010 identified overweight and…

3 min read
Family & Life Stages

Feeding Our Children Well

Each year as the school year begins, national attention shifts towards the topic of school lunches in particular, and childhood nutrition in general. The quality of food served in our nation's…

8 min read
Family & Life Stages

Nourishing Foods for Expectant Moms

Not surprisingly, the most important thing a woman can do when she finds out she is pregnant is eat nutrient dense foods. Despite the fact that food cravings are real, and that most women will gain…

13 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

10 Healthy Tips That Really Can Change Your Life

Here are 10 of the Best Tips for becoming a healthier, and dare we say a happier, person. Every website out there seems to have a list and we all see some version of it on Yahoo. However, if you…

3 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

12 Natural Remedies to Stay Healthy This Winter

Like it or not, it’s that time of year again- cold and flu season. We all know it, because most everyone during the fall or winter season has succumbed to the viral malady that can last 1-2 weeks and…

8 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

20 Ways to Find, Sustain and Share Happiness

20 Ways to Find, Sustain and Share Happiness by Carol Tuttle Carol Tuttle is a Master Energy Therapist and the author of the best-selling book, Remembering Wholeness: A Personal Handbook for Thriving…

2 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Garden Your Way To A Healthier Lifestyle

Why not start a garden as a way of improving your health? There are so many reasons that gardening is good for us, including, of course, the harvest of our own organically grown vegetables at a…

5 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Gratitude is Good for Your Health

Every Thanksgiving we take time to be thankful for all that we have in our lives; our families and friends, our neighbors, and our careers that allow us the means by which we can provide for our…

4 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

How Toxic Cleaners Can Affect Your Health

Just in time for your annual “spring cleaning”, here is the latest information on the cleaners that line our store shelves and that we use on a daily basis. While we all like our cleaning products to…

7 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Natural Ways To Boost Your Immune System This Fall

There are many things you can do to boost your immune system and bypass the yearly colds that usually seem to begin this time of year. From delicious warming and naturally immune-boosting soups, to…

3 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System

As the weather turns colder and we head into fall, we hear more and more about the “cold and flu season”, and signs for flu shots pop up all over town, suggesting that you won’t make it through the…

9 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

No More Jet Lag

Depending on where you go, jet lag, especially for those going east

4 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Proper Posture

Stand Straight - Proper posture goes a long way. As kids, we all remember being told to "stand up straight." People value good posture for aesthetic reasons -- it certainly looks better -- but it has…

4 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Reduce Gum Disease with Grapefruit?

Eating two grapefruits a day can reduce gum bleeding for those who suffer from gum disease.

2 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Six Principles for a Healthier New Year

As another year begins, we all look for ways to “start anew”, ways to improve our health and reach our personal goals. Here are some tools to help you shift your focus from "external validation"…

2 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

So What Is Your Health (and Life) Really Worth?

As a Holistic Health Coach, I constantly meet people who want to lose weight, have more energy, and overcome a variety of health challenges. These are highly intelligent, motivated people, many of…

2 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Staying Healthy Throughout the Holiday Season

Although many of us find it challenging to stay healthy during the year, the Holiday season brings with it its own set of special circumstances. Holiday parties, baking traditional Christmas goodies,…

3 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Sunlight, Vitamin D3 and Your Health

Vitamin D3 is both a vitamin and a hormone. It acts as a vitamin when it binds with calcium for proper absorption, humans cannot digest calcium without adequate amounts of Vitamin D3. Sufficient…

8 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep

It may seem obvious that sleep is beneficial. Even without fully grasping what sleep does for us, we know that going without sleep for too long makes us feel terrible, and that getting a good night's…

9 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

This Year, Make and Keep Your New Year’s Resolution!

Once a year, on New Year’s Eve, we, as a society, look back at our successes and failures of the previous year. It is the only time of year that we publicly give ourselves permission to assess our…

5 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Your Guide to a Guilt-Free Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here, and shortly thereafter we have the Yuletide season. It's a time of year when family, friends, festivities, and most of all food takes center stage in our lives.

5 min read
Lifestyle & Wellbeing

Your Health: The Greatest Gift of All

Another Holiday Season is here, often the shopping flurry increased as we tried to find that “perfect gift” for our spouse, children, relatives and friends. Sometimes our Holiday can become about…

5 min read
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