When we’re trying to heal from chronic illness, self-care takes time – everything from preparing homemade meals, to taking time out to manage our stress, to prioritizing sleep at night. If we say yes to these things, we will need to say no to other things. The opposite is also true: if we don’t set boundaries, we won’t have the time we need to take care of ourselves. But today’s podcast isn’t just about time. Boundaries are also about respect and relationships. How do we want to be treated? What types of people do we want to surround ourselves with? And how do we have difficult conversations with those we love? My guest is holistic psychologist, Dr. Nicole LePera. Together, we share our best tips for building our boundary muscles.

Life on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol – a Story In Memes

Three of my favorite things about the internet: (1) The ability to connect with a global community. (2) Access to information we would never have otherwise. (3) Inspiration for laughter. It’s this last one I’m celebrating today. I offer you 20 images to make you laugh and say, “OMG! That’s me!”

Episode 116: The Gut-Brain Connection with Dr. Lili Wagner

Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach when you were nervous? Or lost your appetite when deeply grieving? We’ve all felt emotions in our gut – there’s even the common saying “gut feeling.” In fact, the more relaxed and content we feel when we eat, the better we digest our food. But did you know the gut-brain connection also goes the other way? That the food we eat can impact how our brain functions? Inflammation in the gut can result in brain fog, mood swings, and even mental health disorders. In this podcast, we talk about the science behind this connection, and how we can harness it for our health – both mental and physical. My guest is Dr. Lili Wagner, a psychologist who specializes in this intersection between diet, lifestyle, digestion, and mental health.

The Complete Guide to Fats on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

I don’t know about you, but I fell for the low-fat food craze, believing that dietary fat was harmful and the more I avoided it, the healthier I would be. I didn’t learn otherwise until I switched to the paleo diet in 2012 and learned that dietary fat is actually beneficial. It was mind-bending to realize! In this blog post, I share (1) Why our bodies need dietary fats, (2) Which fats are allowed on the AIP, (3) The smoke point and shelf life of each one, (4) Why saturated fat is so controversial, and (5) Which fats are especially beneficial.

Episode 115: Easy AIP with Mickey Trescott

This episode is all about making the paleo autoimmune protocol easier to follow. We share our best tips for easy breakfasts, easy lunches, easy dinners, easy snacks, easy sleep, and easy stress management. My guest, Mickey Trescott, is one of the women behind the Autoimmune Wellness blog and podcast, the author of three AIP cookbooks, and a pioneer in the paleo AIP community.

12 Tips for Eating Paleo AIP on a Budget

Are you afraid you can’t do the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, because it’s too expensive? Or do you simply want to find ways to make your food dollars go farther? Either way, I’ve got you covered with these 12 tips

Episode 113: Healing Stories 6

If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you know that I often start my shows with personal stories, where my guests share their health journeys from rock bottom to reclaiming a vital life. But at least once a year, I dedicate an episode to back-to-back healing stories, and I make an effort to speak to people with different autoimmune diagnoses each time. In this episode, we talk about Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Adult Onset Stills Disease, but also Autoimmunity in general. And if you want to hear the prior Healing Stories podcasts, check out episodes 1, 14, 30, 43, 61, and 87. Let’s inspire each other!

Episode 111: Best Of – Paleo Cooking and Baking Tips from the Masters

This is one of the most popular podcast episodes for a reason! When you first switch to a paleo diet, you lose a lot of your standard recipes, are introduced to a bunch of new ingredients, and it’s not uncommon to feel lost in your own kitchen. Thankfully, we have expert paleo tour guides! Mel Joulwan is the author of the bestselling Well Fed Cookbook Series, Rachael Bryant is the author of the AIP cookbook Nourish, and Laura Vein from the blog Sweet Treats is a former pastry chef turned AIP baker. They share their best tips with us.

50 Paleo AIP Christmas Cookies & Holiday Treats

Being on a healing diet doesn’t mean you need to miss out on the joy of holiday baking. For many families, it’s an annual tradition that builds memories across generations. Today, I offer you 50 AIP-friendly recipes to ring in the holiday season, including Gingerbread, Frosted Sugar Cookies, Linzer Cookies, “Chocolate” Snowflake Cookies, Hanukkah Gelt, Turkish Delight Gummies, and more!

#NotPaleo Moments on the Paleo Diet

If you’re on Instagram, you’re familiar with hashtags, and if you follow paleo accounts, you’ll occasionally see a photo show up with a #NotPaleo tag. What does it mean? Have they left the paleo diet behind? Usually not. Instead, it’s often a conscious choice to eat “off-diet”, and there are many reasons someone might choose to do that. The same goes for the #NotAIP hashtag. In this blog post, I talk about the 80/20 rule, AIP reintroductions, the vacation effect, holiday temptations, flare vs. remission, and the difference between self-sabotage and worth-it-moments.

Episode 108: Trauma & Autoimmune Disease with Dr. Maureen Pierce

There’s a strong link between trauma and autoimmunity. People who are diagnosed with a stress-related disorder like PTSD are 30-40% more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune disease. Childhood trauma has an even bigger impact. And the shock of an autoimmune diagnosis combined with life-changing symptoms can qualify as a trauma itself. When it comes to maximizing our health, being aware of this connection is important. Thankfully, there are trauma therapies that can help rebuild our health resilience. My guest is Dr. Maureen Pierce, a health psychologist who specializes in working with people with chronic pain and chronic illness. Not surprisingly, she’s a trauma specialist as well.

The 5 Most Popular Posts + 5 Favorites of Mine

I’ve been blogging for many years now and written over 700 posts! How’s that for a statistic? I’m really proud of the treasure trove of information I’ve created, but I also know it can be overwhelming if you’re a new reader. I thought it might be helpful (and fun) to share the posts that are the most popular, alongside 5 of my favorites I don’t want you to miss.

Episode 105: Perimenopause & Menopause with Dr. Lara Briden

There is a complex connection between hormone balance and autoimmune health. The more balanced our hormones, the more balanced our immune system (and vice versa). Over the years, I’ve dedicated many podcasts to this topic, and in this episode we’ll be focusing on the menopausal transition. While smooth for some, this time of life can be rocky for others, leading to sleep issues, mood swings, hot flashes, and autoimmune flares. I’m 49 years old and currently in this transition myself. My guest, Dr. Lara Briden, is a naturopathic doctor who is passionate about women’s health. We’ll be talking about diet, lifestyle, supplements, and bio-identical hormones – all strategies that can restore balance in this important time of life.

Phoenix Helix Podcast: Ten Lessons I've Learned

Episode 100: Ten Lessons I’ve Learned About Life with Autoimmune Disease

For my 100th podcast episode, instead of interviewing someone else, I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve learned on my autoimmune journey so far. I developed rheumatoid arthritis in 2012, started blogging in 2013, and started podcasting in 2014. While I never would have chosen autoimmune disease, it has transformed my life in positive ways, alongside the really painful ones. I’ve come a long way from where I started, and I’m not done learning yet! I hope these insights will help those of you facing a new autoimmune diagnosis, and resonate with those of you who have been walking this path for years. Tell me where you agree and disagree, and what lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Episode 96: Liver Health with Dr. Alex Golden and Megan Blacksmith

Every day, our liver works hard on our behalf, and when it’s struggling, it can impact our health bodywide. Detoxing is all the rage, but the truth is, sometimes detox protocols can make you feel worse instead of better. Why is that? How can we support our liver naturally, without overwhelming it? And why is it essential to everything from hormone balance to autoimmune health? In this podcast, we’ll be answering these questions and more. My guests are Dr. Alex Golden and functional nutritionist Megan Blacksmith. They’re the women behind the website Zesty Ginger, and liver health is one of their specialties.

woman walking on a beach with footsteps in the sand behind her

10 Baby Steps Toward Autoimmune Health

When you first start thinking of making diet and lifestyle changes to improve your health, it can be pretty overwhelming. There are so many things that can drive inflammation, there are almost countless interventions to try. This blog post is for anyone who needs tiny steps to get started. There’s no shame in that! Baby steps are cumulative and can lead to huge improvements over time. It’s all about taking that first step. You don’t have to do this whole list at once, either. Choose one action step today.

Episode 93: Are You Eating Enough to Heal? with Laura Schoenfeld, RD

A big part of a healing diet is learning about personal food intolerances and how they can drive autoimmune symptoms. It’s empowering knowledge to have. However, sometimes the list of foods we remove grows and grows, and we make the mistake of thinking that food is the only trigger for autoimmune flares. It’s also common to not replace those calories with enough healthy foods that we can eat. This means we end up in a nutrition deficit. In this podcast, registered dietitian Laura Schoenfeld teaches us how to avoid this trap, how to troubleshoot ongoing symptoms, and how to leave food fear behind.

Episode 87: Healing Stories 5

If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you know that I often start my shows with personal stories, where my guests share their health journeys from rock bottom to reclaiming a vital life. But at a least once a year, I dedicate an episode to back-to-back healing stories, and I make an effort to speak to people with different autoimmune diagnoses each time. Today, we’ll be talking about Ulcerative Colitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lichen Sclerosis, and ALS. And If you want to hear the prior Healing Stories podcasts, check out episodes 1, 14, 30 and 61. Let’s inspire each other!

Episode 86: Best Of – Autoimmune Q&A with Dr. Datis Kharrazian

This is one of the most popular podcast episodes – for good reason! Dr. Kharrazian is one of the leading functional medicine practitioners in the field of autoimmune disease. In this information-packed episode, we cover a huge range of topics: (1) The 3 Stages of Autoimmunity, (2) The Role of Blood Sugar in Autoimmune Disease, (3) The Power of Stress and Our Emotional Demons, (4) How to Support our Regulatory Immune Cells and Suppress our Inflammatory Ones, (5) The Connection Between Leaky Gut and a Leaky Blood-Brain Barrier, (6) Harnessing the Power of the Vagus Nerve, (7) Chemical Intolerance and the Dangers of Chelation, (8) How to Heal Food Sensitivities, and (9) His Top Recommended Tests and Supplements.

Episode 82: Healing Mistakes to Avoid with Chris Kresser

Mistakes: We’re human, and we all make them; it’s one of the ways we learn. But sometimes – if we’re lucky – we can learn from each other’s mistakes without having to make them ourselves. That’s our goal with this podcast. My guest, Chris Kresser, is one of the most respected voices in the paleo community. A functional medicine practitioner, world-class educator, and bestselling author, Chris highlights common autoimmune healing mistakes made by both patients and practitioners.

15 Hidden Sources of Gluten

When we switch to a paleo diet and start cooking our food at home, we have much more control over food exposures, including gluten. But it’s a tricky molecule that can trigger symptoms in very small doses, and it’s present in some surprising places. Today’s article is meant to educate and empower, not to scare anyone. First, I’ll tell you why avoiding gluten is wise for anyone with autoimmune disease. Then, we’ll cover the places gluten sometimes sneaks into our lives.

What Is Paleo Skincare?

We are so careful what we put on our babies’ skin. We intuitively know they are precious and pure, and we don’t want to risk exposing them to any harm. Why does that care disappear as we get older? The truth is that our skin is porous at every age, and what we put on our skin absorbs into our bloodstream. We need to read the labels of our skincare products, the same way we read the labels on food. In this blog post, I talk about the current lack of regulation in the cosmetics industry and share where we can find truthful information on what our personal care products contain. I also share the top 10 ingredients to avoid, and the 3 paleo skincare companies I love.

Episode 80: Self-Compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff

With autoimmune disease, we’ve been told that our body is literally attacking itself. It’s common to feel betrayed by our bodies, furious with our bodies, and at war with ourselves. That’s not a healing state. However, making the shift to self-love doesn’t always come easily, especially when we’re suffering. The good news is that self-compassion can be learned, and it supports our health in multiple ways, not just mentally and emotionally but also physically. This podcast goes into all the details, including beginner steps and a guided self-compassion meditation. My guest is Dr. Kristin Neff. She has been teaching self-compassion and leading the research in this field for the past 15 years.

Episode 79: Nutrient Density with Dr. Sarah Ballantyne

What does it mean to be a nutrient seeker? Sometimes when we’re on a healing diet, we focus so much on the foods we avoid, that we forget to pay attention to the foods we’re choosing to eat. While it is essential to avoid inflammatory foods, we also need to provide our bodies with the deep nutrition they need to heal. A steady diet of chicken breasts, broccoli, and paleo AIP desserts isn’t going to get us there. So, which foods give us the biggest bang for our nutritional buck? What do our meals and menu look like when we are truly eating for health? That’s what this podcast is all about.

Superfood Sardine Salad for People Who Hate Sardines (Paleo, AIP, Wahls)

I grew up on Cape Cod, but I didn’t grow up liking seafood. In fact, I avoided it until I went paleo and learned about the benefits of omega-3 anti-inflammatory fatty acids. It turns out it is possible to change your taste preferences, but it requires repeated exposure. I started slowly, eating milder fish in flavorful sauces. At first, I simply tolerated seafood, but eventually I grew to love it….all except for sardines. The fishiest of the fish, they remained my seafood “Mount Everest”. That’s why I’m so excited to announce that I developed a recipe for sardines that I don’t just tolerate but truly enjoy. It’s my gift to all the sardine haters out there, including me!

Medication Update: Remission?

Starting medication was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. 1 year later, this was the result.

Episode 72: Paleo Dentist Q&A with Dr. Mark Burhenne

This is one of my most popular podcasts! Dr. Burhenne has a unique dental practice. He provides standard dental care, but he also teaches his patients about the oral microbiome and the importance of quality sleep, since both are essential to dental health. In this information-packed Q&A, we cover the oral microbiome, whether it’s possible to reverse cavities, the flouride debate, dental decisions, how dentists can treat sleep apnea, and more!