Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/chronic-illness-plant-medicine/

Welcome to a special re-air of Episode One of *Becoming Natural*! 🎙️ In this foundational episode, I share the honest, unfiltered journey that started it all—from chronic illness and emotional overwhelm to embracing clean living as a lifestyle of healing and faith 🌿❤️. With three boys, two pups, and one determined mama, I open up about how God met me in hospital beds and quiet moments, guiding me toward natural remedies, toxin-free living, and truth-backed healing.

This replay is a reminder that even when you feel like shouting "No way!"—God might just whisper, "Watch me." 💫 Let’s walk this path together, reclaiming health one natural step at a time.

🔑 Topics covered:

* Chronic illness and autoimmune recovery

* Natural healing and faith-based transformation

* Simple food swaps and detox strategies

* Encouragement for moms juggling it all

🎧 Tap play to begin again—because healing isn’t linear, and neither is your story.

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/witch-hazel-skin-benefits/

In this episode, Penny walks us through the gentle power and rich history of witch hazel for skin:

1. 🌿 Roots in creation: Why Native American wisdom and colonial pharmacy both called on this shrub
2. 🔬 Botanical brilliance: How tannins, flavonoids, and adaptable extracts soothe, protect, and tone
3. 🧴 Which type for what: Choosing between alcohol‑based, glycerin‑based, or potent pure extracts
4. 📝 DIY healing: Easy recipes—toners, wipes, sun‑burn compresses, and bug‑bite relief
5. 🙏 Real guidance: Safety considerations, FAQs, and a faith-filled reflection grounded in Psalm 104:14

Grab your tea and stick around for practical healing and soul-filling grace.

🛒 Dickinson's Witch Hazel-Alcohol Free

🛒Dickinson's Witch Hazel-Alcohol Free with Rose Water

🛒Organic Witch Hazel Extract

1. Avula, B. et al. (2019). Quantitative Determination of Tannins in Witch Hazel Bark and Leaf – Planta Medica
2. Wölfle, U. et al. (2014). Plant Extracts with Anti-inflammatory Activity: Witch Hazel as an Example – Planta Medica
3. Yamakoshi, J. et al. (2003). Oral Intake of Proanthocyanidin-Rich Extract Reduces Oxidative Stress in Humans – Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology
4. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Witch Hazel for Hemorrhoids and Skin Irritation
5. Mount Sinai Herbal Medicine Database. Witch Hazel Overview
6. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Company (est. 1866). Company History

📣 Don’t forget to follow this podcast and share it with someone who needs healing and hope today!

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/vinegar-health-benefits/

Ever laughed at your husband for putting vinegar in everything—only to realize he might’ve been onto something? 🙋‍♀️ In this episode, Penny takes us on a raw and real journey from “no way” to “never without it” when it comes to vinegar. This isn’t just about clean windows or fluffy towels. It’s about reclaiming simple, natural, God-designed remedies that have stood the test of time. 🧺🍎✨

We explore the surprising history, health benefits, and practical, faith-rooted uses of vinegar—from ancient Babylon and Roman soldiers, all the way to your bathroom cabinet. Whether you’re navigating chronic illness, simplifying your cleaning closet, or looking for natural immune support, this episode reminds us: sometimes healing doesn’t come in a bottle... unless it’s one filled with vinegar. 😉

1. Supports digestion, blood sugar balance, and heart health
2. Disinfects your home naturally without harsh chemicals
3. Acts as a beauty booster for hair, skin, and breath
4. Replaces pricey products with one simple ingredient
5. Rooted in both Scripture and science for whole-body wellness

💭 Something to Think About:

“It amazes me how something as simple and humble as vinegar carries such profound wisdom from ancient history into our modern homes.”

👉 CTA:

Craving more natural wellness wisdom and everyday miracles? Stick around till the end for simple ways to detox your home and heart—one vinegar soak at a time.

📖 John 19:29 – Vinegar at the cross (Bible Gateway)

Scriptural reference where Jesus is offered wine vinegar at the crucifixion

🧼 1600+ Uses for Vinegar – Fun Cheap or Free

Massive roundup of ways to use vinegar for health, home, and more

🏡 Everyday Uses for Vinegar – New Life on a Homestead

Practical vinegar tips from a trusted homesteading resource

📚 Journal of Environmental Health (2010)

Vinegar’s antibacterial power against E. coli and Salmonella

📚 Journal of Functional Foods (2018)

ACV and blood sugar regulation

📚 Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry (2009)

ACV’s effects on body fat and weight

📚 Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine (2020)

ACV’s support for gut health and beneficial bacteria

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Vinegar Health Benefits: Ancient Remedy for Your Health & Home

Did you know vinegar health benefits go far beyond salad dressings? 🥗 In this episode, I share how plain vinegar and apple cider vinegar (ACV) have been used for centuries for healing, cleaning, and everyday wellness. You’ll learn its fascinating history, science-backed uses, and practical ways to replace harsh chemicals in your home. 💡 From Hippocrates to your laundry room, vinegar is a simple, God-given tool for health and home.

👉 Listen in as we uncover:

Resources:

📗Antibacterial action of vinegar against food-borne pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli O157:H7

📗Can You Use Vinegar as a Disinfectant?

📗Effect and mechanisms of action of vinegar on glucose metabolism, lipid profile, and body weight

📗The improvement effect of apple cider vinegar as a functional food on anthropometric indices, blood glucose and lipid profile in diabetic patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial

📗Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects

📗Beneficial effect of vinegar consumption associated with regulating gut microbiome and metabolome

WHERE TO FIND ME:

🌿 Website & Podcast Hub

📌 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.

vinegar health benefits, apple cider vinegar uses, natural cleaning with vinegar, faith-based wellness, natural remedies, home detox tips, ACV for health, chemical-free cleaning

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/candida-gut-connection/

If you've been wrestling with bloating, brain fog, weird cravings, or gut pain that no one seems to explain, this episode might blow your socks off 🧦. This is the most popular episode thus far and a great replay if you are having guy issues. Don't forget there is a PART 2:

04 (Part 2): Symptoms of Candida Yeast Overgrowth are WHOLE Body & a Step by Step Diet Plan to Relieve Candida, SEEBO, & Leaky Gut

In this episode, Is Candida Yeast Causing Your Gut Symptoms? Natural Healing Insights Inside, I walk you through how a candida yeast overgrowth was quietly wreaking havoc on my body—and how a simple 30-day detox helped restore my energy, clear my brain fog, and even change how I saw God’s hand in my healing.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

1. What triggers candida yeast overgrowth (spoiler: antibiotics and stress are biggies)
2. Why your gut symptoms may be misdiagnosed
3. How the "die-off" process works—and why it's worth the struggle
4. A faith-forward look at how our bodies are designed to heal

👉 Ready to start your own healing journey? Don’t miss this deep dive into gut healing and God's grace.

NOTES:

🎙️04 (Part 2): Symptoms of Candida Yeast Overgrowth are WHOLE Body & a Step by Step Diet Plan to Relieve Candida, SEEBO, & Leaky Gut

FREE YEAST QUIZ

📚 "Good Energy" by Casey Means Hardcover/Audible/Kindle Book

📚 The Ultimate Candida Diet Program

🛒To purchase Botanical Wellness products with $10 off your first order:

📈 FREE Candida Yeast Quiz

SOURCES:

🖥️ https://www.mitchellmedicalgroup.com/services/candida/about-candida/

🖥️https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/crohns-disease-antibiotics

🖥️https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20700115/

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

If you've been wrestling with bloating, brain fog, weird cravings, or gut pain that no one seems to explain, this episode might blow your socks off 🧦. This is the most popular episode thus far and a great replay if you are having guy issues.  Don't forget there is a PART 2:

04 (Part 2): Symptoms of Candida Yeast Overgrowth are WHOLE Body & a Step by Step Diet Plan to Relieve Candida, SEEBO, & Leaky Gut

In this episode, Is Candida Yeast Causing Your Gut Symptoms? Natural Healing Insights Inside, I walk you through how a candida yeast overgrowth was quietly wreaking havoc on my body—and how a simple 30-day detox helped restore my energy, clear my brain fog, and even change how I saw God’s hand in my healing.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

👉 Ready to start your own healing journey? Don’t miss this deep dive into gut healing and God's grace.

NOTES: 

🎙️04 (Part 2): Symptoms of Candida Yeast Overgrowth are WHOLE Body & a Step by Step Diet Plan to Relieve Candida, SEEBO, & Leaky Gut

FREE YEAST QUIZ

📚 "Good Energy" by Casey Means Hardcover/Audible/Kindle Book

📚 The Ultimate Candida Diet Program

🛒To purchase FREE Candida Yeast Quiz

SOURCES:

🖥️ https://www.mitchellmedicalgroup.com/services/candida/about-candida/

🖥️https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/crohns-disease-antibiotics

🖥️https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20700115/

WHERE TO FIND ME:

🌿 Website & Podcast Hub

📌 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.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/morning-sunlight-benefits/

In this episode of Becoming Natural, we explore one of the most ancient and accessible healing tools available: sunlight. Once revered by civilizations across the globe, the sun has become something we fear and block. But is that fear costing us vitality, balance, and even faith? We trace the historical, biological, and spiritual relationship we’ve had with sunlight—from heliotherapy to vitamin D production—and how reestablishing a healthy relationship with light can transform your sleep, hormones, mood, and immunity.

Whether you're struggling with fatigue, anxious moods, or hormone imbalance—or simply want to reconnect with creation—this episode offers wisdom, science, and simple morning practices to help you rise and shine. 🌞

💭 Something to Think About:

"Sunlight isn’t something to fear or worship. It’s something to receive—wisely, rhythmically, and reverently."

📚 Resources Mentioned:

📘 Vitamin D Deficiency – New England Journal of Medicine (2007)

Foundational overview of vitamin D’s role in overall health and deficiency risks

📘 Vitamin D Metabolism in the Skin – Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology (2011)

Explains how UVB light triggers vitamin D synthesis via the skin

💡 Blue Light Has a Dark Side – Harvard Health (2020)

Details the impact of artificial light on circadian rhythm and sleep

🧠 Circadian Light & Mental Health – The Lancet Psychiatry (2018)

Greater daytime light exposure lowers risk of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder

🛡️ Vitamin D & Immunity – Journal of Investigative Medicine (2011)

Demonstrates vitamin D’s ability to regulate immune response and reduce infection risk

💓 UVA & Blood Pressure – Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2014)

Shows UVA exposure reduces blood pressure independently of vitamin D levels

🧼 UV Disinfection & Pathogen Control – Scientific Reports (2019)

UV light’s germicidal properties for sanitizing air, water, and surfaces

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/antibacterial-overload-risks/

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

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/why-probiotics-dont-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

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/digestive-enzymes-benefits/

Ever 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

1. Broad-spectrum enzymes: amylase, protease, lipase, cellulase, lactase, more
2. Very effective for gas, bloating, heavy meals
3. No fillers, vegan, non-GMO

🪴Pure Encapsulations – Digestive Enzymes Ultra | Best for: Sensitive systems, simple + pure formula

1. Broad coverage of proteins, carbs, fats
2. Ultra-clean: no gluten, dairy, or artificial anything
3. Hypoallergenic, no unnecessary binders

🪴Designs for Health – Digestzymes | Best for: Supporting low stomach acid + broad enzyme support

🪴Bioptimizers – MassZymes | Best for: High-protein eaters, athletes, or anyone on a

🪴Seeking Health – Digestive Enzymes Chewable

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

📩 Join the Email List

🛒 My Trusted Resources Contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the show.

📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.