Chelsea Green Blog
Health & Wellness
Homesteading Skills: The Gateway to True Freedom
We wanted to touch on some of the important homesteading skills you may need to use on any given day. Some are learned while others are passed down from homesteader to homesteader, all are important. In this excerpt from The Nourishing Homestead, author Ben Hewitt talks about why these skills are important to pass down…
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Mitochondrial Theory: Setting the Mitochondrial Thermostat
In his new book, naturopathic doctor Lee Know takes a deep dive into how our mitochondrial work and the implications this system has on a number of age-related conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. The following excerpt is from Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine by Lee Know, ND. It has been adapted for the…
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It’s National Book Lovers Day! Hip Hip, Hooray!
f you’re anything like us, this might be one of your favorite days of the year. To help you celebrate as only book lovers can (with a stack of tomes in your favorite reading nook), we’ve rounded up a few Chelsea Green faves – from bestsellers to staff favorites to brand new, just hit the…
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Recipe: Summer Herb Flower Vinegar
Olivia’s mom, Lola, is famous for her potato salad that seems so simple, but has a certain je ne sais quoi—the secret ingredient: chive-flower-infused vinegar. She recalls, “As a child I was enchanted by the apothecary bottles lined up on our kitchen shelves, stuffed with purple pompoms—I just knew there was magic happening inside.” By…
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Sustainable Medicine: Power to the Patients
In her book Sustainable Medicine, Dr. Sarah Myhill aims to empower people to heal themselves by addressing the underlying causes of their illness. She presents a logical progression from identifying symptoms to understanding the underlying mechanisms, to relevant interventions and tests and tools to tackle the root causes, and she empowers her patients to take…
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What is Autoimmunity?
Autoimmunity, the body’s immune system fighting off its own healthy cells and tissue, is concerning to the say the least. Add to that the 80 plus autoimmune diseases that can occur as a result and we’ve reached high alert. So what’s causing these diseases and is there anything we can do to prevent them? The…
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The Pervasive Presence of Unregulated Chemicals in America
How are chemicals regulated for use on our food? How do they affect our bodies? These are just two of the crucial questions proposed by Michelle Perro and Vincanne Adams. Unfortunately, it seems the US government does not consider these questions as critically as they should. Read on to learn more about the genetically modified…
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Taking Action: A Parent’s Guide to Health in the 21st Century
As chronic disorders among American children reach staggering levels, parents are starting to take action. They are on the front lines of changing the food landscape and have created a movement to ensure the health of future generations. As more people become involved, veteran pediatrician Dr. Michelle Perro and medical anthropologist Dr. Vincanne Adams deliver…
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Recipe: Salmon Cakes with Lemon Pesto
This salmon cake recipe makes for a simple and flavorful dinner. Delicious, golden-brown patties made with salmon are a tasty alternative to crab cakes. Need a side dish? Check out our recipes for Summer Vegetable Tian and Ginger Carrots. The following excerpt is from The Heal Your Gut Cookbook by Hilary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett. It has been adapted for the…
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Our Favorite Summer Reads
Wondering what to read this summer? Don’t worry, we have you covered! Grab your towel and claim the best pool chair or relax at your homestead with one of these perfect summer reads. Whether its nature reads, to healing your gut, everything wild, or inspirational books you’ll have your nose in a book all summer long…
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Toxic Food, Sick Kids, and the Limits of Medicine: The Perfect Storm
Why is it that approximately 40% of children now have a food allergy? Is the industrial & toxic food system to blame or modern medical practices? Perhaps a combination of both… Michelle Perro, MD and Vincanne Adams, PhD would certainly say so. The following excerpt is from Michelle Perro and Vincanne Adams’ book, What’s Making Our Children…
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Extracting Cannabis into Oil or Butter
Keep reading for a tried and true process for making cannabis oils and butters. These can be put in almost any food or drink, though you will want to carefully test your creation out to determine proper dosage. The following is an excerpt from The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements…
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The Art of Herbal Formulas: Asking the Right Questions
The presentations of illnesses can vary greatly across patients, requiring specific alterations to formulas. As Hippocrates said, “It is more important to know what kind of person has a disease than to know what kind of disease a person has.” Learning how to ask questions that will elicit relevant information is as much an art form…
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Name, the Blame, and the Shame
Why is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalitis (CFS/ME) the worst treated condition in Western medicine? Because of the Name, the Blame and the Shame. The above excerpt is from Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalitis by Dr. Sarah Myhill. It has been adapted for the web. Chronic Fatigue: when the name masquerades as…
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21st-Century Medical Practices: This Emperor has no clothes
High blood pressure, headaches, depression…. why?! Some doctors might say, “Because you’re not taking enough drugs.” But Dr. Sarah Myhill disputes this approach, saying, “Masking the symptoms does not explain them.” In her book, Sustainable Medicine, Dr. Myhill lifts the veil on modern Western medical practices, arguing that more “detective work” must be done to really understand…
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The Ill-Founded War on Cholesterol: The “Good” and “Bad” Cholesterol Fallacy
A fear of cholesterol has been ingrained in many people, starting as soon as they are old enough to read the side of a Cheerios box. As the popular understanding of cholesterol has been shaped, we have made a clear distinction between “good” and “bad” cholesterol. However, this could all be fallacy, cholesterol provides valuable functions…
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Master Your Diabetes: Understanding Carbohydrates
The evidence is clear: We are in the midst of a worldwide diabetes epidemic. In the United States alone, one in three Americans is either diabetic (29 million patients) or prediabetic (87 million patients), costing an annual $242 billion in medical treatments. An integrative approach based on the “eight essentials” of treatment and prevention will…
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The Ketogenic Diet for Cancer: Five Reasons to Consider It
The concept of food as medicine is nothing new. What’s different now is that cancer research has given us a deeper appreciation of the changes that drive cancer at the cellular level. Evidence supporting the benefits of ketogenic diet therapies continues to mount, there is little to guide those who wish to adopt this diet…
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Winter Reads: Books to Curl Up with this Season
William Wordsworth was right when he said, “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.” Nevertheless, the cold, dark days of winter can still get the best of even Nature’s most tenderhearted admirer. What’s one to do? We here at Chelsea Green have concocted the perfect cabin fever remedy with our suggested winter reading…
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3 Steps to Start Your Plants Off Right
How you handle your seeds and your practices around seeding is your first chance to get your plants off to a good start and help them achieve their full potential. Ben and Penny Hewitt, authors of The Nourishing Homestead, have developed a three-step process which starts with inoculating the seeds, then sowing them in high-quality…
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Winter in the Forest Beer: Creating Unique Drinks from Nature’s Ingredients
The art of brewing can explore far beyond the usual ingredients into a vast and luminous galaxy of wild and cultivated fruits, berries, grains, and herbs, which once provided a variety of fermented drinks as broad as the world. Now fermentation fans and home brewers can rediscover these “primitive” drinks and their unique flavors in, the…
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Fermentation Favorites
There is no denying it: the days are short and unless you planned for winter growing your garden is all about the root vegetables. Don’t let the winter get you down. There are plenty of garden goodies perfect for the changing weather. A major part of Chelsea Green’s mission is to inspire you with ideas and practical…
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Medlar Cream Cake: so simple yet so good
If you’re looking for a simple cake to serve guests, try this medlar cream cake. What’s a medlar? The fruit of the medlar tree, Mespilus germanica, tastes like lightly spiced apple butter scooped soft right out of the russeted skin. The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in California has a small but significant collection of…
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Your Baby’s Microbiome: The 10 Steps that Establish It
Research is emerging almost daily on the role of the microbiome in human health. But how do we acquire this mysterious community of microbes and more importantly how do we make sure the good bacteria outnumber the bad? According to a new book by Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford, Your Baby’s Microbiome, it all starts…
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We are Farmily: Everyday Life on Sole Food Street Farm
Food is the medium. The message is nourishment in its most elemental and spiritual form. That’s how author Michael Ableman sees the role of Sole Food Street Farm and the food it sells to markets, restaurants, and individuals. In the following excerpt from his new book, Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the…
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