Articles by Kristen Michaelis CNC

Kristen Michaelis CNC is a published author and teacher. She's created a general nutrition curriculum used by classrooms around the US and written Beautiful Babies -- a book on nutrition for fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding that premiered at #1 on Amazon in its category, beating out What to Expect When You're Expecting.

We Have A Winner — And a 10% Off Coupon

If you are not the lucky winner, I’ve got a consoling bit of news. Cultures For Health is offering 10% off all purchases for a limited time with the coupon code below. That’s good for anything in the store — whether it’s starter cultures for kefir, kombucha, sourdough, buttermilk, or yogurt OR any of the equipment you’ll need to start sprouting and culturing.

All Fish In US Streams Have Mercury Contamination

Ah mercury. Considered toxic in even the smallest of increments, mercury in our fish hardly qualifies as news. We’ve been warned about that for years now.

But what you may not know is that a recent federal study of mercury contamination found the poison in every single fish tested in nearly 300 streams across the U.S.! This is not good news. It’s the largest study of it’s kind ever undertaken. More than a thousand fish were tested in 291 streams from 1998 to 2005. And the results — and their implications — are staggering.

Fight Back Fridays August 21st

Welcome to another Fight Back Friday, everyone! Today we’re bringing together a collection of recipes, tips, anecdotes, and testimonies from members of the Real Food Revolution.

Who are they? Why, they’re the Food Renegades. You know who you are — lovers of SOLE (Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical) food, traditional food, primal food, REAL food, the list goes on. I believe that by joining together, our influence can grow, and we can change the way America (and the industrialized world) eats!

So, let’s have some fun.

Coconut Water Is Nature’s Gatorade

Coconuts have been so maligned in dietary circles that those of us who’ve jumped on the coconut bandwagon and started singing it’s praises are often maligned ourselves.

Coconuts are mostly saturated fat, so surely we must be absolutely crazy to promote it as a healthy food.

But — wonder of wonders — coconut is making a comeback! And it’s not just in circles like ours where we challenge politically correct nutrition in favor of traditional food wisdom. You’ll never believe what I just saw. ABC News NOW ran a story on coconuts in which they interviewed a registered dietitian, and the dietitian only had positive things to say.

Win 3 Free Starter Cultures

Cultures For Health, one of my sponsors, is hosting a fantastic giveaway this week! One of you lucky people will win your choice of three free starter cultures from the Cultures For Health store. Want to make sourdough? Kombucha? Yogurt? Kefir? Buttermilk?

Julie, the talented and sweet mastermind behind Cultures For Health, provides starter cultures for just about every kind of traditional food out there. And, she offers a HUGE variety, too. In addition to starters, Cultures For Health also provides all the supplies you could ever need to begin: dehydrators, sprouting trays, glass jars, books, you name it.

So, are you interested in winning your three starters?

Lessons On Real Food From 100 Years Ago

I’m looking at a book. It’s the kind of book you’d pick up in an antique store, take home, and treasure — not just because of it’s yellowed pages and delicate binding, but because of it’s utterly fascinating content. It’s called Graded Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene, and it’s a textbook used in the Texas schools in 1908.

I’ve been thumbing through the book for weeks, marveling at just how much common sense knowledge we’ve lost when it comes to food and health. Before people began putting their trust in the government, diet dictocrats, and food manufacturers to tell them what to eat, they actually experienced an acute connection with their food that enabled them to make wise judgments about what is and is not healthful based merely on accumulated personal observations.

Fight Back Fridays August 14th

Happy Fight Back Friday, everyone! Today we’re bringing together another collection of recipes, tips, anecdotes, and testimonies from members of the Real Food Revolution.

So, let’s have some fun.

Real Food News Roundup

Since I hadn’t posted a round up of real food news recently, I’ve got quite a few links saved up. I spent a while this morning weeding through them all, trying to find the five most interesting ones (at least to me).

I hope you find them as informative enjoyable to read as I did!

4 Winners And A Great Coupon

Four lucky people won a case of Zukay’s new line of salad dressings — one from each of the participating blogs!

You remember these dressings, don’t you? They’re probiotic, sugar-free, and oh-so-tasty. Translation: they’re chock full of living enzymes, beneficial bacteria, and vitamins and minerals without having any of the nasty stuff common to most store bought salad dressings (like soybean oil, canola oil, sugar, or high fructose corn syrup).

You Gotta Love Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin has a way with words. In a recent interview posted at TreeHugger.com, Salatin shares his critique of the modern food system, his opinion of organic certification (it may surprise you!), his opinion on Big Organic being in giant food stores like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, why he thinks eating locally and in season is important, why he participated in Food, Inc., and more.

To be honest, it’s the most in-depth Salatin interview I’ve ever read. And I believe you guys will eat it up. Eat. It. Up.