Happy Wednesday my friend,

Today we’re talking about heart health, blind salamanders, and how industrial agriculture lobbying convinced an entire culture what a ‘smart breakfast’ was.

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🐿️ CREATURE FEATURE 🐿️

Olm (Cave Salamander)

The olm is a pale, blind cave salamander that lives its whole life underwater in the cave streams of the Balkans. Locals sometimes call it the “human fish” because of its pinkish skin, and feathery external gills. What’s crazy is it’s built for total darkness, relying more on smell, touch, and subtle water cues than vision. For all the coolest facts about the olm, CLICK HERE.

What makes the olm truly strange is how slow its life runs. It can go years with very little food, and research suggests it can live for decades, with estimates that some may reach around a century. That extreme longevity probably comes from a low metabolism in cold, stable cave water. If you want the long-life story explained in plain language, read National Geographic’s piece on the olm living to 100.

❤️‍🩹 Women’s Hearts Are Different

We’re finally understanding that women’s hearts don’t work the same way as men’s, and that knowledge is saving lives.

Research shows that women have unique heart anatomy and risk profiles. They may also experience different symptoms when something’s wrong.

Instead of sudden chest pain, heart disease might present as unusual fatigue, nausea, jaw pain, or dizziness… Signs that are often misdiagnosed as stress or dismissed altogether.

And when that happens, too many women miss the chance to get help in time.

But there is hope! Research shows that up to 90% of heart disease can be prevented and reversed with simple shifts in your daily routine.

Dr. Mimi Guarneri, one of the world’s leading holistic cardiologists, teamed up with Food Revolution Network’s Ocean Robbins for a free event sharing heart health strategies that work for everyone.

>> Learn more about the Healthy Heart Masterclass.

Just like women’s hearts, Dr. Mimi’s approach is different. She doesn’t just look at the numbers. She treats the whole person, including the emotional stress, grief, and lifestyle factors that conventional care often misses.

You’ll learn what symptoms to take seriously, which foods genuinely protect your heart, and how Dr. Mimi dropped her own cholesterol from 320 to 99 without a single medication.

Whether you’ve been dismissed by a doctor, have a family history of heart disease, or just want to protect yourself and your loved ones, this masterclass is for you.

>> Save your spot in the Healthy Heart Masterclass now.

🍎 NUTRITION 101 🍎

ELLAGITANNINS: Polyphenols found in pomegranates, walnuts, and berries that convert in the gut to urolithins. These metabolites support mitochondrial function and may slow age-related decline. Read about their biological properties HERE.

🌏 DEEP DIVE 🌏

Rethinking “Breakfast Foods”

I grew up thinking breakfast meant cereal, pancakes, toast, or maybe French toast on a special morning. Many in my generation will relate. We were taught this was “normal,” almost universal. But when you step back and really look at it, the idea of “breakfast foods” is largely a cultural and industrial invention, shaped by grain surpluses, lobbying, and convenience, not human biology.

It’s worth asking a simple question. Who decided that muffins, croissants, and sugar-coated cereal were the ideal way to start the day?

How Grains Took Over the Morning

Much of what we think of as breakfast emerged alongside industrial agriculture. As grain production exploded in the 20th century, there was a strong incentive to create daily rituals that consumed those commodities. Breakfast cereal is one of the clearest examples. It was cheap to produce, shelf-stable, and to this day is still heavily marketed as “healthy”.

This thinking was reinforced by the original U.S. Food Pyramid, which many of us grew up seeing in classrooms and doctor’s offices. That pyramid recommended up to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta per day. Even saying that out loud now sounds absurd. Yet this guidance was promoted for years, despite growing evidence that such a diet contributed to blood sugar instability and chronic disease.

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