Wise Traditions

Latest Episodes:

531: Obesity And Hopelessness: A Teen's Story Of Processed Food Addiction And Its Consequences With Helene Leeds & Penelope Popken Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

Have you ever felt addicted to ultra-processed foods---like you knew they were bad for you, but you couldn't stop indulging? This happened to our guest today who at age 15 weighed over 300 lbs. And she didn't know who she was anymore.

Today, Penelope Popken is 19 and she's overcome her addictive behavior.

During this revealing interview, mother and daughter discuss what led to Penelope's struggles with weight, the drugs she took, the (mostly unhelpful) therapists' recommendations and more. They go over how most weight loss drugs (including Ozempic) and other quick fixes (like gastric bypass surgeries) have dire consequences. And they cover what it took to turn things around for Penelope. By the way, her healing path included not just returning to real nourishing food but addressing dysfunctional family patterns that contributed to unhealthy behavior.

Since both Helene and Penelope have had to overcome their individual struggles with unhealthy eating and obesity, they have started the Step it UP program to help other women in just their position. After failed attempts at diets, injections, and pills, they are on a mission to help everyone learn how to nourish themselves more deeply and to thrive.

Visit Helene and Penelope's websites: Step it UP and Step It UP Accountability Group

Check out our sponsors: Optimal Carnivore and Alive Waters

530: What Helps Fertility and What Hurts It with Lily Nichols Jun 09, 2025

Show notes

Wouldn't it be helpful to have straightforward nutrition and lifestyle advice for enhancing fertility? And to know what to avoid that may hinder your ability to get pregnant? Lily Nichols offers just what you're looking for on today's podcast. Lily is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and the author of Real Food for Fertility.

Today, she goes over her recommended macro and micronutrient ratios for a healthier body (i.e. home for a baby) and what to do to have higher sperm and egg quality (so you can improve your chances of carrying the baby to term). Lily covers food, of course, but also lifestyle choices that we may not have realized impact our fertility (like our intake of alcohol, caffeine, and also our stress levels).

Visit Lily's website: lilynicholsrdn.com

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (and use code pod10) at westonaprice.org

Check out our sponsors: Arvoti and Earth Runners

529: The Raw Milk Rebellion: Why Young People Are Returning To Real Food For Healing With Will Witt Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

How did a guy into politics and the culture war become a health and wellness advocate? Will Witt is a 2x national bestselling author and international speaker. And today he talks about why young people need to question everything and be willing to rebel to regain their health. Will shares his own story of a serious diagnosis that had him questioning conventional medicine and taking his health into his own hands. He also talks about the transformative and healing power of raw milk.

Visit Will's new website: purebasicscollective.com

Will's account on Instagram

Find raw milk near you at realmilk.com

Check out Meadows Bee Farm and their resources

Visit our sponsor's websites: Paleovalley and New Biology

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation and use the code pod10

520: Natural Beekeeping, The Best Honey, And How To Help Bees With Nathalie B. May 28, 2025

Show notes

Why are bees so important for our food supply and for life on this earth? How is "natural beekeeping" different from regular beekeeping? What are horizontal hives? And what can we do to protect natural bees in our area? And what's the deal with honey? How do we find the best source?

Nathalie B. has answers to all of the above in today's podcast. She goes over why honey is considered a superfood and often referred to as 'liquid sunshine,' sharing its powerful nutritional and healing benefits. And she explains what it is like to be a natural beekeeper and how you could even start an apiary in your own backyard!

Visit Nathalie's website: bee-mindful.com

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (and use the code pod10)

Check out our sponsors: Gray Toad Tallow and One Earth Health

528: A Generation Experimented On Without Their Permission with Alex Clark May 26, 2025

Show notes

Have Millennials and Generation Z been experimented on without their consent? Is their sickness a consequence of malfeasance of those responsible for our food, pharmaceuticals, and health care system? Alex Clark is the host and founder of Culture Apothecary and an outspoken advocate for healthcare reform and food freedom in America today. She is determined to find out who is responsible for the chronic health conditions that affect so many young people today.

Today, Alex explains where her quest began, why she changed her podcast from one focused on politics and pop culture to one centered around health concerns, and more. She reveals her own personal health wake up call and the first thing she changed when she realized that most food was pseudo food. Alex, the woman who once was known for her love of chicken nuggets explains how she did a 180 and has now become a passionate advocate for raw milk, sourdough bread, and traditional health ways.

Find Alex's podcast Culture Apothecary on Apple Podcasts (or your fave podcast platform)

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation

Check out our sponsors: Gray Toad Tallow and One Earth Health

527: Walk, Don't Run And Other Important Health Shifts With Mark Sisson May 19, 2025

Show notes

How is running bad for us? Tennis shoes aren't doing us any favors. Cold plunges may be overrated.

Mark Sisson is a pioneer in the ancestral health movement, known for his blog Mark's Daily Apple and the Primal Health Coach Institute. He is also the author of "Born to Walk". Today, Mark highlights how good walking is for health and longevity.

He also does some myth busting when it comes to current health trends. A former triathlete, Mark has shifted and now recommends walking instead of running, minimalist shoes (or going barefoot) over tennis shoes and NOT cold plunging every day (even though this has grown in popularity). He also reviews how to make the most of walking. And he goes over common injuries like plantar fasciitis and why orthotics are never the answer. His recommended health shifts just may inspire your own.

Visit Mark's website: peluva.com

Join Nourishing our Children

Check out Optimal Carnivore and HydroHealth

526: The Damaging (& Insidious) Effects of Glyphosate and What Bayer is Doing to Avoid Liability with Kelly Ryerson May 12, 2025

Show notes

Glyphosate is a toxic carcinogenic chemical found in RoundUp, a weedkiller that is routinely sprayed on our lawns and crops. But the bad news doesn't stop there! It is making its way into the food we eat, the air, and the water. Worse still, the maker of glyphosate, Bayer, is working on passing liability shield legislation so that they cannot be sued for the way the poison in their products is affecting the nation!

Today, Kelly Ryerson, known as the Glyphosate Girl, explains why she is working so hard to inform the public about the dangers of glyphosate and the company that wants to protect itself from the fallout of the harm it is causing.

Kelly goes over the legislation that is being considered in various states across the country. She also explains why glyphosate is so damaging, how it personally affected her own life, and how a General Mills whistleblower helped her to connect the dots about it all.

Update: The liability legislation being considered in North Dakota, at the time of the interview, has since been passed in that state.

Visit Kelly's websites: americanregeneration.org and glyphosatefacts.com

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (and use the code pod10)

Check out our sponsors: Arvoti and Lumiram

525: How To Find The Best Olive Oil And Why It's Good For Your Gut, Brain, And Heart With Bianti Danaj May 05, 2025

Show notes

In Albania, olive oil is called "ilac", medicine. It's included as a daily ritual for generations--a source of nourishment, healing, and tradition. For many of us, in other regions of the world, we have less familiarity with olive oil.

And then we see labels on olive oil bottles that say "cold-pressed", "extra virgin", and "organic". What do these terms mean? And how can we find the best quality olive oil wherever we are? Bianti Danaj, an Albanian-American entrepreneur and founder of Donika Olive Oil, today brings clarity amidst the confusion.

He goes over the meaning of the wording on labels. He describes the nuances that affect the quality of olive oil, including its exposure to heat, light and oxygen. He also goes over what the polyphenols in olive oil do for our explaining brain and gut health, our overall wellbeing and longevity. In sum, he makes a strong case for including olive oil as a part of our health journey, wherever in the world we may live.

Visit Bianti's website: donikaoliveoil.com

Download the Wise Traditions podcast app on your iOS or Android device.

Check out our sponsors Paleovalley and New Biology Clinic

524: Beyond Blood: How To Address The Trauma Messages Your Body Is Sending You With Adam and Josh Bigelsen Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

"If we don't understand how nature works, we're just guessing at trying to fix things." Adam and Josh Bigelsen provide insight today in how to listen to the body's messages, in order to address them. If you have trauma (and, naturally, most of us do), it doesn't mean just doing emotional work for healing. The physical has to be addressed as well.

Today the Bigelsen brothers, from the Bigelsen Academy, offer insights on what the body is telling us, along with uncovering the emotional ties behind cancer, rashes and hives, asthma and mononucleosis, for example.

This is a power-packed episode building on Wise Traditions podcast episode 523, which was the beginning of this conversation. You may want to go back and listen to that one for context and then follow it up with this one!

Visit the Bigelsens' website: BigelsenAcademy.com

Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (and use the code pod10)

Check out our sponsors: Gray Toad Tallow and One Earth Health

523: Holographic Blood: The Surprising Way Your Blood Communicates The State Of Your Health With Adam And Josh Bigelsen Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

What if your body was trying to tell you something about your state of health...through your blood? And not just through blood tests or "live blood analysis" but via a holographic image?! Adam and Josh Bigelsen are carrying on the important work of their father, Harvey Bigelsen, the author of "Holographic Blood" and "Doctors are More Harmful than Germs".

Today they help us wrap our head around the message(s) that our bodies want to communicate to us. They explain the patterns that the blood uses to tell us about our health. They also go over the progression of disease and how important it is to read the body's messages... and how you can you do so with or without a dark field microscopy instrument.

Visit the Bigelsens' website: Bigelsenacademy.com

Check out our sponsors: Optimal Carnivore and Earth Runners

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