Becoming Natural: Heal From Chronic Illness with Plant Medicine | Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, IBD, Autoimmune Disease, Gut Health, Natural Remedies

39 | The Important Hidden Dangers of Looming Antibacterial Overload

The Important Hidden Dangers of Looming Antibacterial Overload
Are we over-sanitizing ourselves sick? In today’s Becoming Natural episode, I’m sharing the real risks behind our culture’s obsession with “antibacterial everything”—and how it might be doing more harm than good. We’ll unpack the history of triclosan, hormone disruption, antibiotic resistance, and why dirt might just be your best medicine. I’ll walk you through smart swaps, safe solutions, and faith-filled reminders that your body was designed to thrive in the real world—not a sterile lab. 💛
🔍 Real Talk on Germophobia🧬 Microbiome Truths You’ve Never Heard🌿 God’s Design for Your Immune System
RESOURCES
FDA bans triclosan and triclocarban in consumer soaps
The hygiene hypothesis: current perspectives and future therapies
Triclosan Technical Fact Sheet
Antimicrobial resistance
Why dirt may be nature’s original stress-buster
 
COMING SOON
Triclosan Beware
Homemade Cleaning Spray
 
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
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🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 
🏷 Podbean Tags:
antibacterial overload, triclosan dangers, natural antibacterial swaps, immune system support, microbiome health, faith-based wellness, hygiene hypothesis, antibiotic resistance, gut health, hormone disruption
 

38 | 5 Important Reasons Why Most Probiotics Don’t Work

5 Important Reasons Why Most Probiotics Don’t Work
If you’ve been popping probiotic pills and still feeling bloated, foggy, or off—this episode is your “aha” moment. We’re unpacking the probiotic myths that keep women confused and constipated (literally). From CFUs and strains to fermented foods and soil-based organisms, I’ll help you figure out what your gut actually needs. 🦠
🔍 Science Note: Most probiotic strains don’t colonize the gut long term—they pass through and help while they’re there.
We’ll also dive into:
• Common probiotic mistakes
• The role of prebiotics
• How to rotate strains and rewild your microbiome
• Why your body isn’t broken—just overwhelmed
💬 “Your gut is a garden. Don’t just throw in seeds—tend it.”
👉 Listen in, then share it with a friend who’s overwhelmed in the supplement aisle!
 
RESOURCES:
🎙️30 | Astonishing Inflammatory Foods that are Actually Fueling Your Pain
📕Post-Antibiotic Gut Mucosal Microbiome Reconstitution Is Impaired by Probiotics and Improved by Autologous FMT
📕Probiotics: Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Applications
📕Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I‑745: from quality to efficacy
📕Dietary fiber and prebiotics and the gastrointestinal microbiota
📕Microbiota Modulate Behavioral and Physiological Abnormalities Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

37 | Digestive Enzymes: Powerful Natural Solutions for Bloating & Gas You'll Love

Digestive Enzymes: Powerful Natural Solutions for Bloating & Gas You'll LoveEver feel bloated after a healthy meal? I’ve been there. In this episode, we’re talking about one of the most overlooked (and life-changing!) tools for gut health: digestive enzymes. I’ll share what they do, how to tell if your body is running low, and why they can make all the difference when clean eating still leaves you feeling “off.”We’ll break down enzyme types, what to look for in a supplement, and how our ancestors got enzymes naturally from food, bitters, and good ol’ chewing.RESOURCES:
🖥️Digestive Enzyme Supplementation in Gastrointestinal Diseases
 
PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
🪴Enzymedica – Digest Gold | Best for: Overall digestion + post-meal support
Broad-spectrum enzymes: amylase, protease, lipase, cellulase, lactase, more
Very effective for gas, bloating, heavy meals
No fillers, vegan, non-GMO
🪴Pure Encapsulations – Digestive Enzymes Ultra | Best for: Sensitive systems, simple + pure formula
Broad coverage of proteins, carbs, fats
Ultra-clean: no gluten, dairy, or artificial anything
Hypoallergenic, no unnecessary binders
🪴Designs for Health – Digestzymes  | Best for: Supporting low stomach acid + broad enzyme support
Includes HCl + pepsin (great if you’re low in stomach acid)
Also includes full-spectrum enzymes
Excellent for protein-heavy or difficult-to-digest meals
🪴Bioptimizers – MassZymes | Best for: High-protein eaters, athletes, or anyone on a healing protocol
100,000 units of protease = major protein breakdown power
Includes systemic enzymes that support inflammation
Absorption-focused for muscle recovery + gut health
Vegan-friendly, gut-healing edge
🪴Seeking Health – Digestive Enzymes Chewable | Best for: Those who hate swallowing pills
Tastes decent and helps breakdown fats, carbs, proteins
Great for quick use during meals
Good option for kids or low-to-medium digestive need
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

36 | Amazing Healing Beyond the Pill Bottle: My Journey to Natural Recovery

36 | Amazing Healing Beyond the Pill Bottle: My Journey to Natural Recovery
I spent years popping pills like clockwork — thinking it was the only way to survive. But it wasn’t healing… it was barely coping.
In this episode, I open up about what it looked like to live stuck in the cycle of prescriptions — and what finally helped me break free. It wasn’t overnight. It wasn’t easy. And it wasn’t without grief.
But it led me to something more whole, more holy.
🌿 In this episode, you’ll hear:
What it felt like to rely on medications for survival
The turning point that woke me up
How I gently shifted toward natural recovery
God designed your body to heal. You don’t have to stay stuck.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in the medical loop, overmedicated, or exhausted from trying all the things with no relief — you’re not alone.
💛 Share this episode with a friend who’s wondering if there’s a better way.
 
🔗 RESOURCES:
🎙️05 | Hidden Power of Nature: Growing Interest Around Essential Oils is Encouraging
🎙️30 | Astonishing Inflammatory Foods Fueling Your Pain
🎙️31 | Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Foods You Want that Heal your Body Naturally
📔NIH Nutrient Decline
📔Mayo Clinic Metabolic Syndrome
📔Our Prescription Drugs Kill Us in Large Numbers
📔Prevalence and Variability in Medications Contributing to Polypharmacy in Long-Term Care Facilities
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 
natural recovery, healing without prescriptions, holistic health, chronic illness, chronic pain support, faith-based healing, ancestral healing, detox journey, pill-free life, healing naturally, functional wellness, spirit-led healing, body mind spirit healing, overcoming dependency, slow medicine

35 | How I Found Strength Through Faith When I Wasn't Strong At All

35 | How I Found Strength Through Faith When I Wasn't Strong At All
Have you ever felt completely drained and helpless, wondering where you’d find the strength to keep going? I have. In this episode, I open up about one of the scariest moments of my life — when I was in the hospital fighting a severe infection that left me weaker than ever. I share how, in the midst of that pain and fear, I experienced a surprising "God wink." It came in the form of a small heart-shaped sign that reminded me I wasn’t alone and that God was with me in my suffering.
Join me for this heartfelt conversation about finding hope when you feel hopeless. It’s a story of faith growing even in a hospital bed, and of discovering strength through faith when I had none of my own left. If you’re in a tough season or know someone who is, this episode will encourage you to see that even in our weakest moments, God’s love is at work. Come be uplifted and reminded that you are never alone on your healing journey.
Resources Mentioned:
🎙️10 | How Inspiring Christian Music Helped Me Heal from Chronic Disease
🎙️25 | How Beating Sepsis Changed my Life with a Remarkable Healing from Crohn's
 
🙏🏻Scripture:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10
 
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:7-10
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
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🎧 Listen on Apple
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🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

34 | Valuable Sunscreen Safety You Need to Know to Protect & Support Your Health

🎙️ Episode 34 | Valuable Sunscreen Safety to Protect & Support Your Health for Life
Ever wondered if sunscreen is really protecting you—or if it could be causing harm instead? In this episode, I unpack the shocking truth about sunscreen safety, from ancient sun rituals to modern SPF science. You’ll hear my personal journey from tanning with iodine (yep!) to questioning the long list of chemical ingredients we spray on our bodies.
✨ Here’s what we dive into:
How the sun actually heals your body (mood, sleep, inflammation, and more!)
Why early morning light through your eyes resets your circadian rhythm 🌞
The real deal with sunscreen ingredients like oxybenzone and octinoxate
A breakdown of reef-safe vs. hormone-disrupting sunscreens
What mineral sunscreens are and why they’re safer for your family
Surprising foods and supplements that protect (or sensitize!) your skin
How God’s creation—from soil to sunlight—was designed to heal us 🌿
💡 Plus, I share practical tips for moms, a sunburn healing protocol, and a few faith-based reflections that’ll inspire your day.
👉 Be sure to grab the free EWG Sunscreen Guide Printable at BecomingNatural.com
💌 Follow Becoming Natural Community Facebook Group for more toxin-free tips that actually work.
Resources Mentioned:
📔History of Sunscreen
📔The trouble with ingredients in sunscreens
📔Dietary tomato paste protects against ultraviolet light-induced erythema in humans
📔Phototoxicity in human lens epithelial cells promoted by St. John's Wort
📔Higher Orange Consumption Linked To Increased Risk of Melanoma, New Study Suggests
🎙️33 | The Shocking Link Seen Between Sleep Loss and Your Health
🙏🏻Scripture:
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12
Then the Lord God formed a man[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  Genesis 2:7
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,the name of the Lord is to be praised.  Psalm 113:3
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. Malachi 4:2
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

33 | The Shocking Link Seen Between Sleep Loss and Your Health

The Shocking Link Seen Between Sleep Loss and Your Health
Are you skipping sleep to get more done... only to feel more drained? 😩 In this episode of Becoming Natural, we’re diving deep into what really happens when we don’t get enough rest. Chronic sleep loss is more than just a nuisance—it’s a hidden trigger for heart disease ❤️, weight gain 🍭, mood disorders 😟, inflammation 🔥, and even autoimmune flares. I’ll break down the science (in mom-friendly language!) to explain why your sleep isn't a luxury—it’s your body’s most powerful healing tool. Plus, how missing deep sleep messes with your brain’s “nightly cleaning system.” Let this be your loving nudge to take sleep seriously. 💤
🎧 Tune in now to learn how to start reclaiming your health—starting tonight.
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

32 | Incredible Castor Oil Health Benefits You’ll Want that are Proven and Affordable

Incredible Castor Oil Health Benefits 
Today we’re talking all about one of the most underrated healing tools out there: castor oil!
We’ll cover what castor oil does inside your body, how it can support detox, lymphatic drainage, gut health, and more. Plus, I’ll give you the inside scoop on how to choose a high-quality castor oil that’s truly safe and effective.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make a castor oil pack at home — this episode is packed with simple tips you can use right away! 
 
Resources Mentioned in Podcast
🎉Podcast to Profit Bootcamp
🎉Podcast Pro University
🎉Podcast to Profit
 
🎙️02 | Struggling with Anxiety? How EMDR Changed My Life
🩹Castor Oil Pack Wrap, 12 Pcs
🫘The Goodbye Company Organic Castor Oil
📚The Oil That Heals:
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

31 | Powerful Anti-inflammatory Foods You Want That Heal Your Body Naturally

Powerful Anti-inflammatory Foods You Want That Heal Your Body Naturally
In this episode of Becoming Natural, we break down exactly what anti-inflammatory foods are—and how they work on multiple levels to help your body heal. From calming an overactive immune system to supporting your gut and even influencing your genes, these foods are more than fuel—they’re medicine. We also break down terms like antioxidants, free radicals, oxidative stress, and polyphenols using simple, visual analogies. If you’re ready to learn what to eat, why it works, and how to start making changes without the overwhelm, this one’s for you!
Key Takeaways:
Simple definitions of antioxidants, free radicals, and oxidative stress
10 anti-inflammatory food groups
Real-life tips for transitioning your pantry
Scripture and science working hand in hand
Resources Mentioned in Podcast
🎙️ Episode 5 The Healing Power of Nature: Growing Interest around Essential Oils is Encouraging
🎙️ Episode 22 The Best Foods To Consider When Eating for Crohn's Disease
🎙️ Episode 28 Know the Role of Chronic Inflammation to Make Smarter Choices and Empower Your life
🎙️Episode 29 How to Have More Natural and Effective Pain Management Success with Crohn's Disease
🎙️ Episode 30 Astonishing Inflammatory Foods That are Actually Fueling Your Pain
📔Food Journal & Lifestyle Tracker
📚 Good Energy by Casey Means
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.
 

30 | Astonishing Inflammatory Foods That Are Actually Fueling Your Pain

Astonishing Inflammatory Foods That Are Actually Fueling Your Pain
🔥 Are your favorite foods secretly causing inflammation? In Episode 30 of Becoming Natural, host Penny Sampler uncovers surprising culprits behind chronic inflammation and gut discomfort.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Common foods that may trigger inflammation
The science behind food-induced inflammation
Practical tips to identify and eliminate inflammatory foods 
🌿 Whether you're managing an autoimmune condition or seeking better health, this episode offers valuable insights to guide your dietary choices.
👉 Subscribe for weekly wellness tips and visit becomingnatural.com for resources and show notes.
Resources Mentioned in Podcast
🎙️Episode 22 The Best Foods To Consider When Eating for Crohn's Disease
📔Food Journal & Lifestyle Tracker
 
WHERE TO FIND ME:
🌿 Website & Podcast Hub
📩 Email Sign-Up
🎧 Listen on Apple
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📚 Amazon Author Page
🗣️ Listen Notes Interview
📌 Note: I’m just a girl with a wild story and a passion for sharing what has helped me feel my best during difficult times. I share personal experience, documented research, and a whole lot of heart. Always talk to a professional when making changes to your health routine.