Happy warm-season-is-finally-here everyone. As I look out my open window, I have a sense of time passing by at warp speed. The air in TN feels more like Summer than Spring and the flowers are in full bloom—which makes me happy. May is a favorite of mine, not only because it's my birthday month (shameless plug), but it's also the time I truly start feeling myself again after shedding the winter blah and heading to the beach. This month we are also celebrating Women's Health Week, remembering the fallen on Memorial Day, and in TN, thanking our farmer's for the bounty of Spring produce.
As we reflect on the sacrifice of the brave women and men who gave their lives in service to our country, we express deep gratitude—not only for their courage but for the freedom their service has preserved.
This month, I'm taking time to bring attention to what it means to “eat local".
Eating local and supporting farms near you is one of the most powerful ways we can nourish our health, our community, and our environment. When you buy locally grown food, you’re getting produce that’s fresher, more nutrient-dense, and harvested at its peak—often just hours before it reaches your plate. That means better flavor and better health benefits. Farmer's market shopping also encourages you to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables and often inspires creativity in the kitchen and more home-cooked meals.
Beyond the plate, your support helps small farms thrive, preserves farmland, and keeps money circulating within your community. It also reduces the environmental impact of long-distance food transportation, lowering carbon emissions and supporting more sustainable practices. By choosing local, you're not just making a healthy choice for yourself—you're investing in a resilient, vibrant food system that benefits everyone.
Here's my haul this week (and corresponding output) from Nubby Farms in Pegram, TN, raising organic, pastured chicken, and Green Door Gourmet, an organic farm in Nashville turning out some of the most amazing produce around. I'm extremely grateful to have access to this kind of organic, pastured meat and produce so close to home. What farms/farmer's markets are close to you? Can you get to know a farmer by name and deepen your exposure to fresh, seasonal produce directly from a local farm? I bet you can!
Here at Ageless, it's always Women's Health Week. And, in the spirit of celebrating the actual week in May where attention is placed on women's health, I'm passing along a gem of a recommendation for a podcast listen. This one blew…me…away. Rachel Rubin is a board-certified urologist and one of the nation’s foremost experts in sexual health. In this episode, she shares her deep expertise on the often-overlooked topic of women’s sexual health. Rachel explains the complex hormonal shifts of perimenopause, and the wide-reaching health risks associated with menopause, including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and recurrent urinary tract infections. She also breaks down the controversy surrounding hormone replacement therapy (HRT/MRT), and provides guidance on the safe and personalized use of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in women. Rachel offers insights that have the potential to transform quality of life for countless women. I've personally experienced the unnecessary fearmongering Dr. Rubin speaks of related to my own informed hormone therapy choices and found this information very reassuring. Listen, learn, share!
