Think again.
It’s been said that a coke (or diet coke) is so caustic that it can clean the corrosion of your car battery. You want that in your gut?
Tag: Healthy Eating
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞
From a happy shopping club member:
“It’s always kind of satisfying when you get actual proof that your supplements are doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Here’s the backstory…
Last year, I stopped taking most of my usual supplements—part of some health testing I was doing. I didn’t want anything messing with the results (long story…).
So when my annual bloodwork rolled around in March 2025, I really shouldn’t have been surprised… but I kind of was. My cholesterol and triglycerides were way up. Not ideal. I’d hoped the parathyroidectomy last fall would help normalize things, but no such luck. To top it off, my liver enzymes had climbed too. That one caught me off guard.
At that point, I didn’t hesitate. I got back on my trusted supplements—the ones I know work for my body—and gave it eight weeks before retesting.
The results? Cholesterol, triglycerides and liver numbers dropped beautifully. In fact, they’re even better than they were before I stopped everything in 2024.
I won’t be stopping again.”
Heavy Metals and Heart Disease
Heavy metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic have been shown to increase blood pressure and raise the risk of heart disease. These metals can accumulate in your system over time, interfering with metabolic processes that support cardiovascular health.
How heavy metals affect your heart
- Damages blood vessels
- Increases oxidative stress leading to arterial plaque buildup
- Increases blood pressure
How to reduce exposure
- Filter drinking water using a system certified to remove heavy metals.
- Limit consumption of high-mercury fish like king mackerel and swordfish.
- Avoid lead-containing cookware and glassware.
Heavy metals can impact more areas than just the heart.
Pasta: Did you know…
When pasta is cooked and then cooled for 24 hours, its starch structure changes. Some of the digestible starch becomes resistant starch, which the body processes more slowly. This not only helps reduce blood sugar spikes but also feeds good gut bacteria, working as a natural prebiotic.
Reheating the cooled pasta actually amplifies the effect. Studies suggest this simple trick—cook, cool, and reheat—can cut the glycemic impact of pasta by up to 50%. It’s a small shift in meal prep with big benefits for blood sugar control and gut health.
Another Berberine story
This time the story comes from one of my happy shoppers and this is what she had to say about Berberine.…
“So a couple of months ago i went to the ER because I felt off and just felt like i was going to pass out. Well, my glucose level was over 450! That was scary! I have been nervous about taking chemical meds for diabetes—I just don’t know. I saw the Wellness Store has this great product called Berberine, and I decided to try it out. I have been taking only one a day—you can take two a day; once in the morning and once in the evening. I found this pill to be a life saver! There are a lot of benefits taking Berberine and one of them is to help with glucose levels. Without the Berberine and eating right, my blood sugars hovered around 135-170. With the Berberine, my glucose levels have been around 87-110—that’s a huge difference! PLUS, I am also down 15 pounds! I will have to find my bloodwork and compare it to the new bloodwork that I will be having done next month. This is a great product!”
There’s A New Sweetener In Town
In our household, our #1 focus is balancing blood sugars. Your blood sugars impact cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers, kidney disease, eye disease, neuropathy, hearing impairment, skin infections, etc.
I’m always looking for ways to have healthy sweet treats that still taste amazing, so I’m super excited to discover some baking mixes that don’t spike the blood sugar. (Imagine pancakes with 11gr of protein and only 2gr of sugar. Brownies with zero sugar. Muffins with 5gr of protein and 2 gr of sugar.) How?
They are sweetened with ALLULOSE. You may not have heard of Allulose like you heard about stevia or monk fruit, so here are the details:
- It tastes like sugar but without the calories. It’s a rare sugar that occurs naturally in small amounts in foods like figs, raisins, and maple syrup.
- It doesn’t spike your blood sugar or insulin.
- It is DIABETIC FRIENDLY. This is HUGE for anyone (like me) managing insulin resistance, PCOS or just trying to stabilize energy and hunger.
- It is absorbed by the body but NOT metabolized, so it passes through without impacting glucose levels!
- It doesn’t feed bad gut bacteria. Unlike some other sweeteners, like Maltitol, it doesn’t ferment in the gut, which means less bloating, gas and sugar cravings.
- It supports gut health by protecting the gut lining and reduces inflammation—unlike some sugar substitutes that can wreak havoc on your digestion.
- It tastes legit! There is NO WEIRD AFTERTASTE. It just tastes like real sugar because it basically is real sugar.
- Sweetness without the carb count and great for baking.
For those of you who count your macros, follow KETO or trying to reset your hormones, this Allulose doesn’t count towards net carbs.
What could be better?
Special News about Riverbend Ranch
All USA Wellness Box shoppers need to check this out:
Riverbend Ranch Beef sticks and Beef Jerky are now available in our wellness boxes!
Priced less per stick than CHOMPS at Costco. The best part, consumers preferred Riverbend Ranch Beef Sticks two to one over CHOMPS!
VISCERAL FAT: The Silent Threat!
When people chase weight loss, they obsess over the scale.
But what really matters isn’t just weight loss, it’s fat loss…….specifically visceral fat loss.
Visceral fat isn’t the fat you can pinch.
It’s the fat wrapped around your organs — your liver, kidneys, intestines, quietly pumping out inflammatory signals that wreck your metabolism, your hormones, and your heart health.
Why is it dangerous?
• It’s a major source of inflammatory estrogen — the kind that does not show up on a standard blood panel but still fuels stubborn fat storage, hormone-driven cancers, and disease.
• It triggers insulin resistance, setting the stage for diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune issues.
• It’s metabolically active — but in all the wrong ways — keeping your body trapped in low-grade inflammation.
And here’s what no one tells you:
Popular weight loss drugs like semaglutides (Ozempic, Wegovy) aren’t targeting visceral fat.
It’s often the last place your body loses fat, if it loses it at all.
It’s been said that losing weight without losing visceral fat is like redecorating a house that’s on fire.
Not all weight loss is good weight loss.
If you’re not losing visceral fat, you’re not fixing the real problem.
InBody scans measure visceral fat by sending a harmless electrical current through your body, which encounters resistance based on the distribution of body fat, muscle mass and water content. It’s more than a number on a scale.
Real health isn’t smaller pants — it’s less inflammation. Less disease risk. More life.
Hot flashes, brain fog, mood swings, stubborn weight,
Hot flashes, brain fog, mood swings, stubborn weight, midsection bloating and inflammation, restless nights—oh, the joys of perimenopause and menopause.
Seriously, who decided this was the game plan?
Luckily, there are some absolute game-changers that have been helping so many friends, family, and teammates feel like themselves again.
Berberine – Helps keep blood sugar in check and supports metabolism, making that midsection weight a little less stubborn.
Peak Performance – Kicks sluggish energy to the curb, because crashing by 2 PM is not the vibe.
FocusAP – Clears the brain fog and sharpens focus, so you don’t walk into a room and forget why you’re there.
Luminex – Helps take the edge off mood swings, because life doesn’t come with a warning label for “brace yourself, I woke up cranky.”
EstraVal – Eases hot flashes, night sweats, and the hormonal rollercoaster—because nobody has time to feel like a human furnace.
Vitamin D3 – Supports bone health and immune function, because strong bones and a happy immune system matter more than ever.
Florify – Keeps gut health on point, which plays a bigger role in hormone balance than most people realize.
MelaOut – Helps quiet the nervous system and promote relaxation, so actually sleeping is a thing again.
Hearing how much these have TRULY helped the women in my world has been wild—this phase of life doesn’t have to be a struggle!
Ingredient Spotlight: Allulose
Allulose. Is a rare sugar that’s found naturally in small amounts in foods like figs, raisins, and maple syrup but here’s why WE are using it.
It tastes like sugar, acts like sugar in recipes, but doesn’t spike your blood sugar the way traditional sugar does. Unlike typical sugars, allulose is absorbed by the body but not metabolized for energy. That means it passes through the body with minimal impact on blood glucose or insulin levels. In fact, several studies have shown that allulose can even help reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes, making it a powerful tool for anyone watching their glucose whether for weight management, metabolic health, or conditions like prediabetes or diabetes.
My favorite perk? Allulose helps reduce the net carbs of a product! Whoop whoop! Since your body doesn’t use it like regular sugar, you can subtract it from the total carb count — just like fiber or sugar alcohols — when calculating net carbs.
This is also R3 approved!
The pancake, muffin and brownies mixes were formulated using allulose as well —plus they are gluten free and packed with fiber and protein.
Another win on my weight journey!
Hayseeds Creative 