How to Create A "Well-Nourished" Home

When you walk into your home how do you feel? 

Does your home lift you up? Bring you joy? Make you happy?

Is it a place where you feel peaceful, healthy, and energized?

In the last few years, so many of us have been spending a lot more time in our homes. We’ve come to understand in a deeper way that the health of our home matters. What we eat, how we sleep, what we think, how we live, and how we move are affected by what's in our homes. That's why it's so important to create an environment that supports our best physical and emotional well-being with elements that uplift, refresh, and recharge you. Elements that create a healthy, happy home. 

As a functional medicine nutritionist, wellness educator and best-selling author, I care about how you feel. When I support my clients in losing weight and reclaiming their health, I also guide them in creating healthy, happy, well-nourished homes. 

Together, let’s create your own Well-Nourished Home (WNH) with simple tips and proven ways that have the capacity to elevate your space and bring more harmony, health and peace into your life. My deepest intention is to support you in cultivating a serene, toxin-free environment that will ignite your greatest wellness in mind and body.

3 Easy Steps to Create a Well-Nourished Home

1. Evaluate: Look at your home with "fresh eyes." 

Together, let’s take the first step in creating a healthy, happy, well-nourished home. Let’s start by walking through your front door with "fresh eyes." 

What do you see? How do you feel? Are there rooms and areas in your home that are weighing you down? Are there piles of clutter (too many magazines, stacks of paper, and half-finished projects in the living room) or potentially hazardous products. Candles made from paraffin wax--a petroleum waste product that is chemically bleached--creates benzene and toluene (known carcinogens) when burned. Air-fresheners filled with formaldehyde, petrochemicals, and phthalates (known endocrine disruptors), and cleaning supplies made from ammonia, glycol ethers and sodium hydroxide (known lung irritants) that are omitting unhealthy volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) into the air you are breathing and ingesting?

Think of your home as your second skin - protecting you and your family from the outside environment. We want to keep the nourishing energy flowing in and the harmful elements out. We want to create a sanctuary that supports our optimal well-being and reduce the overall “toxic burden” on our bodies.

We are now standing in your kitchen. For many of us the kitchen is the heart of our home and we want to keep that heart beating joyfully. Open the cabinets, drawers, and refrigerator. Does the food look healthy and fresh? Are there lots of processed items? Sugary treats? Old, outdated packages, spices or canned goods? Use your phone or get a notebook and write what you see. Release any judgment or shame. Congratulate yourself on taking these first few steps to a healthier home.

2. “Elevate” Your Food.

Now that you have a greater sense of your home environment, let's focus on refreshing your kitchen. We’ll start by setting some time aside to do a pantry purge and release any foods that are no longer serving you or your family. (See WNH TIP below.)  Once released, it's time to upgrade and elevate your food selections by using the "food as medicine" concept as our guidepost. 

Together, let’s fill your fridge and pantry with clean-ingredient items (chemical and additive free) and seasonal farm-fresh fruits and vegetables (lemons, limes, berries, broccoli sprouts, leafy greens), healing spices and herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro and rosemary), nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, pumpkin, hemp and sesame); and medicinal teas like chamomile, mint, and rooibos that have been researched to help boost immunity, ease digestion, and relax the nervous system.

WNH TIP: This step asks you to read labels and get really honest with yourself. Knowledge is power and begins with knowing. To begin to know what we are putting in our bodies. Many companies have a labeling system that is confusing to the consumer. Be aware that some added ingredients may be affecting your health. Carrageenan, maltodextrin, natural flavors, MSG, and sucralose are a few of the more common ingredients that can cause headaches, gut and digestive problems, and contribute to on-going cravings. 

Also, be aware of added sugars. There are over fifty names for sugar. Some of the more common names food companies use are fructose, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, rice syrup solids, and barley malt. Be mindful of packaged food. If refined sugar is one of the first three ingredients, my recommendation is to put that food down and make a healthier selection. All these hidden sugars add up and can make a difference in our glucose and insulin levels, and overall health, and emotional well-being. Remember, we get to decide what we put into our bodies - and every ingredient matters. 

3. "Energize" Your Environment.

Everything is energy. Together, let’s “pare down” and declutter those outdated piles of magazines, papers, and half-finished projects; and make space. Because space is where magic happens. Releasing the old will allow more space for the new -- new thoughts, new relationships, new love, new dreams, new career opportunities, and new adventures.  

Each item we bring into our home environment has its own energy. We want to fill our homes with elements that uplift, inspire, and recharge us. Items that tantalize our sense of sight, sound, touch, and smell. Simple treats like fresh flowers, a candle made with pure essential oils, a cozy pillow sewn with natural fibers, a few well-placed healing crystals, and a variety of vibrant healthy indoor plants that nourish and oxygenate the air while also bringing in a sense of nature and pure Zen.

Some of my favorite houseplants - Peace Lily, English Ivy, Golden Pathos, Snake Plant, and Orchids. Many of these have been studied by NASA for their ability to cleanse the air and filter out harmful ingredients such as formaldehyde, benzene and ammonia.

Some of my favorite crystals - amethyst (positivity and calm), citrine (success and abundance), and rose quartz (compassion and love.).  

Remember, we all deserve a life of peace, joy, and good health.

Taking time to clear our space, upgrade our food and energize our environment are incredible ways to create a well-nourished home that supports our best life while also improving our cellular health, happiness, and longevity.

Learn more about how to schedule your own Well-Nourished Home consult HERE

Marlyn Diaz is a functional medicine nutritionist, speaker, wellness educator and author.