I hope your year is off to a wonderful start, and that you’re fully embracing the winter months by slowing down, getting plenty of rest, and enjoying some cold thermogenesis!
As we move into the new year, I’m beyond excited to announce an upcoming Grounded Goddess Retreat held April 25-27 in northeast Ohio. A divine feminine wellness weekend! Get ready to explore your Goddess energy and become the healthiest version of yourself! 🌿✨
This Month’s Resources
What is Cold Thermogenesis?
TCold thermogenesis is the process by which your body burns fat to generate heat in response to exposure to cold temperatures. Essentially, it’s your body’s natural way of adapting to cold environments by increasing metabolism to maintain warmth.
Here’s how it works:
- When your body is exposed to cold (e.g., cold showers, ice baths, or cold weather), it activates brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is a special type of fat that burns calories to produce heat.
- This process helps the body maintain its core temperature, and over time, it’s thought to have potential benefits like increased fat burning, improved circulation, reduced inflammation, and enhanced recovery.
Cold exposure is a powerful tool for improving metabolic health, mitochondrial efficiency, circadian rhythms, mental clarity, and overall resilience. Learn more in this 30 minute podcast about The Benefits of Cold Exposure for Blood Sugar, Insulin Resistance, Mood, Metabolism & more!
Cold exposure during winter can be particularly important for certain “haplotypes” (genetic variants), as the body’s ability to adapt to environmental stressors like cold can be influenced by genetic factors. Dr. Jack Kruse often emphasizes the role of genetic and environmental interactions in optimizing health, and cold exposure can be seen as a way to enhance or support the body’s natural rhythms, especially for people with specific genetic predispositions. It serves as a hormetic stressor that triggers adaptive responses in the body, ultimately promoting better health and longevity. This is why cold exposure can be especially beneficial during winter months for those whose genetics are predisposed to respond well to cold.
According to Princeton research PhD, Dr. Alexis Cowan, “Your haplotype tells you something about the environment that is ideal for you to reside in. Coupled mitochondria folks really require high quality sunlight year round to thrive. I believe this is a primary reason why black and brown communities in the US face more health disparities. It goes beyond socioeconomic factors. Virtually all of the US is at a suboptimal latitude for optimal coupled mitochondria function. In contrast, uncoupled mitochondria can do well in either high quality sun year round OR sun for part of the year and cold for another part of the year. Cold is non-negotiable in the absence of quality sunlight. Natures rules, not mine. Nordic cultured embrace ice plunging and the use of sauna and geothermal pools. Culturally, they figured out how to increase their infrared and UV light yield when sunlight is absent (cold stimulates mitochondria to make IR+UV light, sauna and geothermal pools=IR light).”
Learn more about skin color variation here in a 1 minute video.
Oxtail Soup Benefits
A perfect winter meal! According to the principles outlined by Dr. Ray Peat, oxtail soup is a highly nutritious, metabolic-boosting food that provides a wide range of benefits, including:
- Supporting joint and skin health through collagen and gelatin
- Providing essential minerals for bone, nervous system, and muscle health
- Promoting gut health and digestion
- Enhancing brain function and calming the nervous system
- Supporting thyroid and hormonal balance
- Offering anti-inflammatory and liver detoxification support
“The degenerative and inflammatory diseases can often be corrected by the use of gelatine-rich foods.” — Ray Peat
Gelatin consumption:
- reduces inflammation
- certain amino acids in gelatin have a range of cell protective actions
- provides support for metabolic rate
- supports thyroid function (since gelatin lacks the amino acids that suppress thyroid function, it contributes to a more active thyroid = crucial for maintaining a high metabolic rate since a well-functioning thyroid gland is essential for proper oxidative metabolism, as it regulates the body’s metabolic processes)
- spares protein during times of stress preserving lean mass and supporting metabolism
- corrects degenerative and inflammatory disease
Oxtail Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
• 500-700 grams of oxtail
• 1.5-2 liters of water and/or bone broth (we like about 3/4 water and 1/4 beef bone broth)
• Choice of organic vegetables (carrot, potato, onion, celery, leek)
• Good quality salt, such as Vera Salt (the cleanest salt we have found! Use the code AY108 at checkout for 10% off).
• Herbs of choice
Optional:
• Grass-fed and finished stew meat or roast (this will bulk up the meat)
• Bone Marrow (we like this not only for enhancing the flavor but it also contributes to that desirable, gelatinous quality)
• Beef Shank
• Organic kale
• Bay leaf
• 1-2 cloves of organic garlic
• One lamb neck
(of this list, we add stew meat or a chuck roast, bone marrow and/or shank, bay leaves, and garlic)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Roast the oxtail (and lamb neck, bone marrow, beef shank if using) for 45 minutes
3. Peel, chop your vegetables
4. Sauté the leeks
5. Once the oxtail (and lamb neck, bone marrow, beef shank) are roasted, transfer them to a large pot
6. Pour in the water and add the herbs. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
7. After an hour, add the prepared vegetables. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for another hour
8. Add the kale and boil for 20 minutes to extract calcium and magnesium
9. Remove and discard the kale
10. Do not cook for more than 3 hours
11. Serve and enjoy!
Additional Winter Foods
Not a fan of oxtail soup? I promise it’s not as unusual as it sounds! But if it’s not your thing, I’ve got plenty of other high-quality winter food options to help you thrive this season.
- Wild-caught seafood, specifically those high in DHA such as mackerel, salmon, sardines, anchovies, tuna, and cod liver (or cod liver oil) **
- Grass-fed beef and organs (or desiccated liver capsules)
- Grass-fed beef bone broth
- Pasture raised eggs
- Butter *
- Tallow
- Milk (ideally raw) *
- Fermented foods
