Herbal Infusions vs. Supplements: What’s the Gut-Health Difference?
When clients ask me about herbal tea vs supplements, I start with the label on the back of the box, because “Supplement Facts” means a product is regulated and sold…
Posts by author
Andrea Olson
22 posts
Andrea Olson is a Registered Dietitian with a deep interest in ancestral food wisdom, traditional foodways, organic agriculture, and the relationship between food quality and gut health. Her work explores organic and regenerative farming, soil and plant biodiversity, pesticides and glyphosate, the modern fiber gap, and traditional foods missing from contemporary diets. Andrea is also passionate about traditional fermentation and cultured foods. She writes about herbal teas, functional and mineral waters, coconut and aloe vera water, and other traditional food and beverage practices, bringing a nutrition-focused perspective to their place in a healthy diet and a thriving gut microbiome.
How to Make Shrubs and Drinking Vinegars at Home: A Beginner’s Guide
Most first-time brewers make the mistake of treating all vinegars the same. Organic apple cider vinegar produces a noticeably softer flavor than non-organic versions of the exact same brand. I…
Cedar Tea, Sassafras & Traditional Native Beverages: A Cultural History
The FDA banned safrole from commercial food in the 1960s after rat studies used impossible doses, yet human livers process the compound through a different pathway than rodent livers and…
The History of Tonic Water and Switchels: From Ship’s Ration to Gut Tonic
Switchel is a naturally sweetened, vinegar-based tonic that earned the nickname “haymaker’s punch” for a reason: it actually replaces electrolytes lost during heavy labor. I don’t recommend taking straight shots…
Traditional Tonics, Switchels & Herbal Drinks: A Field Guide to Ancestral Beverages
Switchel, sometimes called Haymaker’s Punch, was a Caribbean drink that became a standard American harvest beverage by the late 1600s. Farm workers drank it through entire summers of fieldwork, long…
Fermented Dairy Beyond Yogurt: Kefir, Viili, and Skyr Explained
Heating milk to 180°F denatures whey proteins for a thicker curd, but heating your starter above 110°F kills the live active cultures. I don’t recommend using more than 2 tablespoons…
Miso and Koji: The Fermented Foundations of Umami and Gut Health
The most common mistake I see first-time miso makers attempt is low-salt fermentation under 7% total salt – it tastes aggressively yeasty and spoils fast. I don’t go below 7%…
Biodiversity on the Plate: Why Eating a Wider Variety of Plants Means a Healthier Gut
The single strongest predictor of a diverse gut microbiome is not total fiber grams or an organic label. It is the number of distinct plant species you eat weekly, and…
What the ‘Organic’ Label Actually Means for Your Gut Health
What does organic mean gut health? It starts with understanding that the USDA Organic seal guarantees 95 percent certified organic content, not a zero-pesticide promise. I still wash every piece…
Regenerative Agriculture 101: How It Differs From Organic — and Why Your Gut Cares
The distinction between regenerative agriculture vs organic determines whether your food was grown by actively feeding the soil microbiome or by simply avoiding synthetic chemicals. Organic certification is a prohibition…