Inflammation is the biological fire underlying most chronic disease. In this episode, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo returns with NEPT graduates Steph Jackson and Jennifer Whitmire to uncover how food fuels or fights inflammation.

From autoimmune flares and brain fog to hidden cardiovascular risks, the trio explores how everyday foods, even so-called “healthy” ones, can lead to inflammation, and what to do about it. This episode will shift how you look at food, labs, and healing.

What’s Inside This Episode?

• How inflammation silently hides in autoimmune conditions, heart disease, and brain fog
• The tests most practitioners miss when screening for inflammation
• Why food “sensitivities” go far beyond IgA or IgG testing
• The hidden downside of health foods
• Why ginger may be as powerful as turmeric and how both interact with the microbiome
• How oxytocin, hydration, and color diversity can be more anti-inflammatory than supplements

Resources and Links:

• Download our FREE Functional Food Guide
• Join the Next-Level Health Practitioner Facebook group here for free resources and community support
• Reserve your spot for ReInvent 2025 here for a deep dive into the impact of the microbiome on brain health including lab testing and genetics
• Visit INEMethod.com for advanced health practitioner training and tools to elevate your clinical skills and grow your practice by getting life-changing results
• Check out other podcast episodes here

Guest Resources and Links

Steph Jackson

• Join the Friendly Flora Collective – Microbiome Membership

Jennifer Whitmire

• Join the Culinary Healing Circle

Guest Bio

Steph Jackson

If you are ready to go deep with your digestive health and you need more than slippery elm, you will enjoy working with Nutritional Endocrinology coach, Steph Jackson. Steph loves customizing balancing programs for the micro biome, working with fermented foods, and looking at how the body systems work together. After finding and clearing the root cause of her severe physical pain and exhaustion, Steph has gone on to help others to do the same. She is also the proud founder of Crave Conscious, a non-dairy yogurt company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Jennifer Whitmire 

On a mission to save body parts, Jennifer Whitmire is a culinary coach, health educator, and master herbalist specializing in autoimmune and thyroid health. Since 2017, she’s taught women how to heal with food by restoring energy, balancing hormones, and repairing the gut through science-backed, whole food plant-based cooking and kitchen-based strategies.