Teri Gentes - Spring cleaning

INNOCENT PRACTICIES THAT ARE HARMING YOUR HEALTH

1/8/2026

ARE YOU POLUTING YOUR OWN HOME? YOURSELF?

This article excerpt from Consumer Reports is sure to get you looking at what you are using in your homes that are shown to be toxic to your health.

"What’s Lurking in Cleaners?
... cleaning companies utilize a galaxy of chemicals."

GREAT WAYS TO NAVIATE COLD WINTER WEATHER!

12/22/2025

I'd love to say I love winter, yet this is not my reality.
Sure, I aim to make the most of it, yet I'd gladly embrace 11 months of warmer temps. Snow for December and then back to Spring, Summer and a warm Fall.
Given I do live in the varying seasonal weather of Canada, I am grateful for Tips like these from one of Ottawa's great acupuncturists Blaise Ryan.

"12 Tips for Cold Weather Health & Immunity

In Canada, nature continually reminds us that change is inevitable. Northern Asia has similar weather, being in the northern hemisphere. The study of the seasons & cycles in nature was the foundation for the theory of Yin & Yang in Chinese Medicine.

Ancient doctors observed how weather, seasons & the external environment affect our health. They knew thousands of years ago that during the fall & winter, respiratory illnesses increase if you fall out of balance with nature. But if you harmonize with nature you can experience vitality and strong health throughout the cold months.

This is why Traditional Chinese Medicine has many common sense home remedies for staying healthy during different seasons. I want to share the most important ones with you, so that you can benefit from these and hopefully avert falling ill this winter.

Tip #1 Avoid eating an excessive amount of cold and raw foods, including cold drinks, salads & smoothies. The key word here is "excessive." For someone with weak Spleen Qi or too much dampness, they may not be able to tolerate more than one or two fruits a day. While someone with a more robust Spleen & more heat in their system may benefit from more salads & raw fruits.

Tip #2 Eat warm, cooked foods, including soups & stews. A little bit of spice is good, particularly ginger, garlic & cinnamon. If your sinuses or head feels congested from cold, then chilli peppers & spring onions can help open the sinuses & disperse the cold-damp.

SOAR into 2026 - Great - Tips to do this!

12/10/2025

GREAT TIPS from Daily Motivation to set you on a better path!
Integrate some great habits into your daily life to manifest a better everyday experience and consider spending time everyday reading blogs like this as well as signing up for newsletter like Daily Motivation.

"As the world grows busier and more complex, finding balance in life feels more essential than ever.
What do you really want for 2026?
For many, the answer isn’t just more money or career success - it’s something deeper. It’s peace.
A balanced life isn’t about checking off endless to-do lists or striving for perfection. It’s about creating space for quiet, aligning with your authentic self, and embracing the power of simplicity.

In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies to help you cultivate balance and harmony. From quieting the noise around you to living with intention and undoing the chaos of “busyness,” these steps will guide you toward a life that feels more peaceful, joyful, and meaningful.
Let’s take a deep breath and begin your journey to a more balanced and fulfilling year ahead.

Life in Balance: What Do You Really Want?
I’ve asked myself this question a lot over the years.
I usually end up saying “more money” or “a successful career,” but the last few years I’ve been saying “peace”. I just want peace.
Yes, I need to make a living and yes, I want a career I love, but first and foremost, I want peace. Those external things will not give me the peace that I desire.

1. Get Quiet.
Peace means quiet. If we all want peace, why in the world is there so much commotion all the time? There’s not only external noise, but seemingly incessant internal thoughts and noise as well.
If you want peace, learn the art of getting quiet. Sitting quietly with yourself is a great way to just start listening to your own thoughts, and letting them wash over you without agenda. Many people consider this a form of meditation.

Basic meditation is simply you.
Sitting in silence.
Focusing on your breath.

It is there in that secret place that you will not only find what you want, but who you are.
The Art of Relaxing Into Emotions: Your Path to Inner Peace
You may discover the infinite, amazing spirit that you truly are. And, feel a peaceful river of joy and love flowing ever so smoothly through your entire being.
If you want to try meditating, but don’t know where to start, check out our YouTube Guided Meditation playlist or give one of our beginner videos a try.

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE - The answer to heal our dying dirt!

9/19/2025

Industrial farming is compromising our very food supply, harming our health and the health of the planet. There are solutions and this video offers them.

ALL IN A DAY - and it begins IN YOUR HEAD

6/20/2025

Whole-self wellness. It really begins within your mind!
When eating great food to support feeling great is a priority, you are investing in your most important commodity. Your health.

Long ago, I learned to love great looking and amazing tasting food that is just as great for me as its looks and tastes. It's an added gift I give myself in conjunction with consistent, daily, healthy. lifestyle practices.

It was love of being vibrantly healthy and fit that drew me into the health promotion, disease prevention, vocation I carved out for myself.
My shift to ever improving dietary practices soon expanded to include all aspects of health and wellness. Life experience and formal study, taught me the importance of mindset and meaning in this approach. I learned well-being is an orchestration of whole body, mind, and spirit health.

The way I see it:

NEGATE LIES ABOUT THE SUN - WE TRULY NEED IT FOR HEALTH

3/5/2025

10 Benefits of Sunshine
You likely already know, sunshine lifts our spirit and our energy levels,
is essential for vitamin D production in our bodies (this hormone is essential to our health), and it is so beneficial to our mental health.

Below, I share an edit from Daily Motivation on the benefits of sunshine including how it helps to improve sleep quality by helping with hormonal health.
A challenge so many contend with.
Read on for ten benefits that matter so much with your health...

BIG PHARM, BIG AG, BIG DISEASE! The stats are astounding!

2/27/2025

The sorry story:
"AT A GLANCE

Chronic disease rates in America have increased dramatically, from 7.5% of the population in the 1930s to 60% today, representing a 700% surge, while obesity now affects 40% of Americans
Four companies (Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, and Corteva) dominate the agricultural market, with Bayer controlling 18.2% of global agrochemicals and, together with Corteva, over half of U.S. retail seed sales for major crops
The concentration ratio (CR4) in U.S. agriculture has reached extreme levels — 85% in beef packing, 70% in pork packing, and 95% control of corn intellectual property by just four companies
In 2024, pharmaceutical companies spent $294 million on lobbying, while agribusinesses spent $32.7 million, with Bayer alone spending $6.46 million in the U.S.
Modern industrial agriculture mimics pharmaceutical business models by creating dependency cycles. Farmers must repeatedly purchase synthetic inputs while patients require ongoing medication rather than cure-focused treatments"

COFFEE - What you never knew about this black elixir!

2/8/2025

COFFEE! Full disclosure, I am a fan.
And yes, I'm very particular about my favorite way to enjoy it. Think Strong!
The coffee you choose and the time you enjoy it, impact the impact coffee has upon your body, including your brain. Organic coffee is a must for me and you will better understand why when you dive into the research from Dr. David Jockers.
His information and his infographics will help you get the most out of you coffee.
Read on...

HEALTH MATTERS - FACING A HARD REALITY (A must see)!

10/8/2024

Our blind trust and faith has resulted in invasive issues and injuries.
It's time to look up, listen up, to the truth tellers that aren't influenced by industry lobbyists and focused on the company/business shareholders.
Hard as it may be to believe, we must face the truth and make better decisions.

Watch this documentary on a long trusted medical professional -
I am not your savior.

Please don't shoot the messenger due to this share. It's a reality I've had to face too. Teri G

EMPOWERING YOU TO OVERCOME ACID RE-FLUX!

9/13/2024

Stomach Acid Is Vital for Your Health
Analysis by a Midwestern Doctor

In the U.S., 66% of adults are estimated to have at least one prescription, and the average person has nine filled annually. As an awake physician, one of the most depressing aspects of my work is seeing patients, especially the elderly, weighed down by numerous prescriptions that frequently do more harm than good.
Many commonly prescribed medications are given to patients despite the risks often outweighing the benefits.

Acid-suppressing drugs are among the worst offenders, with their overuse fueled by a lack of understanding about the crucial role of stomach acid throughout the body or that acid reflux is due to too little stomach acid (as the stomach acid of digestion gives the stomach’s opening a signal to seal and not let any more food in).

Deficient stomach acid causes many chronic health problems (e.g., macular degeneration, a myriad of autoimmune disorders such as asthma, and less overt forms of reflux that cause many common diseases of the ears, nose, and throat such as allergies,coughs, and sinusitis).

Acid blocking medications cause a variety of severe side effects, including a 19% increased risk of death and a comparable increase in cardiac events, kidney or liver disease, numerous infections, and bone damage.

Thankfully, many safe natural treatments can effectively address acid reflux and many of the complications of a chronic stomach acid deficiency. For example, as I showed here, statins provide a negligible benefit (e.g., at best, taking them for five years extends one’s lifespan by 3 to 4 days) but create significant side
effects such as severe muscle pain and cognitive impairment for 20% of users.

This tragic situation is best demonstrated by a 2007 study...

IT'S AN INTERNAL PRESSURE WASHER CLEANING OUT TOXINS.

8/13/2024

YOU MUST ATTEND TO THIS VASCULAR SYSTEM IF YOU WANT TO OPTIMIZE YOUR HEALTH!

Dr David Jockers educates us on the power of the lymphatic system.
Are you familiar with the lymphatic system? If not, let’s get you acquainted.

Your lymphatic system consists of lymph nodes, a network of travel vessels, bone marrow, thymus, tonsils, and your spleen.

If you want to feel great, burn fat, have a healthy immune system and have great looking body…you need to support your lymphatic system.

Your lymphatic system serves 3 main functions:

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GREAT HEALTH!

7/31/2024

Are you feeling as great as you really want to?
Wondering how some people seem to manage life without breaking a sweat?
They must be doing something special right!

“These Six ‘Oh So Simple’ tips are imperative.
You’ll feel better immediately by applying even just one of them.”
POTENT TIPS TO GET THE HEALTH RESULTS YOU WANT

ITS NOT RIGHT NOR IS IT REAL!

6/11/2024

I speak real talk and I support REAL. I have for a very long time.
REAL TALK - REAL FOOD - REAL HEALTH - REAL PUSH BACK

What am I referring to? There are so many things to address yet we we can only begin with one. Today, it's this article I saw posted in CHILDREN'S HEALTH DEFENCE
I share an excerpt with the link to the full article below.

"Knowledge enables better decisions". T.Gentes
____________
‘Techno Foods’ Won’t Feed the World — But They’ll Make Tech Entrepreneurs Richer

Foods invented in laboratories and produced in factories won’t improve the quantity or quality of our food supply, so who benefits? The business entrepreneurs who see food as a commodity to be patented and profited from.

When greenhouse gases from livestock farming were shown to be contributing to climate change, a Silicon Valley company, Impossible Foods, claimed it could reduce the carbon footprint of meat production by making it in laboratories.

They created the Impossible Burger, which was fake meat made from an assortment of highly processed ingredients, including soy leghemoglobin derived from GM yeast and 46 additional yeast proteins — some of which were unidentified and untested for safety.

by GMWatch June 6, 2024

SNACK ATTACK! CRUSH the CRAVING with THESE FABULOUS OPTIONS!

6/4/2024

12 SOLUTIONS when you are hit hard with a snack attack, and standard choices get a little, or a lot, 'too' indulgent.

Over-indulging comes with a price most of us don't want to pay. Sure all is well during the indulgence and then a dreaded remorse sets in. Sound familiar?
This is why I arm my clients with great ideas so they can set themselves up to indulge without fearing the extreme bulge.

No FOMO as well. The choices below are delicious and you can choose between sweet and savory, creamy or crunchy, spicy and or salty. I aim to cover all the bases and even include bitter option. It's a bit of a fave for me to combine all the above.

Read on to see what I mean...

VEGAN ESSENTIALS

4/3/2024

EATING A PLANT BASED DIET IN TODAY'S WORLD

Years ago I wrote the article below on eating a vegan diet. Now, more appropriately eating this way is coined, a 'whole-food, plant-based diet'. It means just that;
Eating 'whole' foods from the plant world.

I'll clarify upfront - this way of eating has been going on a long, long time, and it has nothing to do with the current climate agenda and push to eat bugs, nor GMO faux meats. I am all for eating real-food, made from real ingredients in a real kitchen, prepared by a chef/cook and not in a factory by scientists manipulating products deemed as ingredients and concocting fake food or food created from insects. This is not what I advocate in any way. With sustainable, regenerative farming practices and working with nature, we take super care of our environment.

Now, if you wish, please continue to read on for the article from 2018 (with updated information and statistics) emphasizing the need to consume a balanced, whole-food diet and just what this means. If you are leaning into eating plant-based, this is info you need to know.

Teri Gentes - Whole Self Lifestyle Wellness
International Speaker|Self-care Coach|Author|Chef|Trainer|Ambassador
Certified Wellness and Nutritional Consultant, Personal Trainer,
Yoga and Group Fitness Instructor
Cooking Workshops and Private Coaching
Specialized Catering Services Available
Recipes property of Teri Gentes - Permission required to reprint

Disclaimer © COPYRIGHT 2026 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.