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Hey! April King’s “Keeping It Green” podcast drops its Season 2 premiere with a guide to thriving this summer. She shares five key tips for a holistic glow-up: shop at local farmers’ markets for nutrient-dense produce, take weekly outdoor adventures to boost immunity and mood, refresh your kitchen with eco-friendly tools and organization, host bi-monthly picnics to reconnect with nature, and try a gradual dietary cleanse (like easing into raw or juice diets) to reset your body. It’s all about connecting with the earth, optimizing health mentally, physically, and spiritually, and embracing green living without needing to be strictly vegan—just ready to live vibrantly! 🌿✨ Welcome to Keeping It Green with April King, the number one green culture podcast where green cuisine meets real wellness, superfoods meet freestyles, and every episode is repping green culture for a green world. I'm your host, April King, mama, artist, flexitarian food alchemist, and your ultimate green lifestyle guide. This isn't just a podcast, it's a movement. We're talking truth, taste, and transformation. This is green innovation. And yes, we've got an original soundtrack curated just for you. Are you ready to live your best green life? Let's go. I play the green game 'cause I'm a green girl. Keep track of green trends 'cause it's a green world. Keep making green friends so that my green grows. My green never ends. I'm in the green zone. I love good food. Take pleasure in life. I'm in a good mood 'cause I eat what's right. Green cuisine in my kitchen, green life is my vision. To be a green generation is my mission. We could all buy stock in green commodities. This is green culture doing green properly. I like my yerba mate from Yerba Madre. Check Amazon for my acai. Get my chi straight with my yogi tea. Vitamin C, acerola cherry, raw vegan bling. This is April King. Yeah, we keep it green. Hey. Raw vegan bling, baby. Yeah. Ooh, I can't wait for you to listen to this summer. It's the season two premiere. Well, what's up, Earth Mother lovers? That's right, Earth Mother lovers. It is the season two premiere of Keeping It Green with April King. And today we're gonna glow up and green up 'cause it's a green thing. You know what I mean? Ah, how was your solstice? How are you glowing this summer? You know, we're gonna just start where your glow up starts deep in your soul and radiates throughout your kombucha, your creativity, and your crown chakra. How's that sound? It's a green thing. It's a vibrational thing. And you don't have to identify as an Earth Mother lover, though I hope you do, or even a flexitarian to be here. You don't have to be vegan, vegetarian, anything free. You just gotta be ready to connect with the earth, with your body, with your truth, and say, you know what? I'm ready to glow different this summer. I'm ready. Are you ready to glow? Say it with me. I'm ready to glow. This episode is about creating your green summer plan built for divine badasses of all genders, shapes, backgrounds, and healing journeys. Let's get you set up to thrive mentally, physically, spiritually, energetically with a custom summer lifestyle guide rooted in rhythm, ritual, and radiant AF nourishment. Okay? Here's a little checklist. Number one, a weekly farmer's market run. Support your local farmers, eat what's in season, and fall back in love with food that has a story. Smell the peaches, taste the samples, talk to your farmers. Buy that funky heirloom tomato, figure it out later. Stock your pantry with our farmers' fresh love. And you know, local seasonal produce is higher in antioxidants and phytonutrients because it's picked closer to peak ripeness and it travels less. So that means more glow up, more vitamins, more flavor, less environmental impact. Number two, take a weekly outdoor adventure. Nature is medicine. Sun is healing. Forest bathing is not a trend, it's therapy for your nervous system. You could have a beach morning, you could go on a hike, barefoot walk, stargazing. Check out a national park that's close to you. Go to a botanical garden. You could check out some different parks in your neighborhood. I mean, there's so many things you could do locally, or you could make a little day trip out of it, a little weekend trip. But make sure you're doing a weekly outdoor adventure. Being outdoors reduces cortisol, boosts your NK cells, that's your natural killer immune cells. It increases your serotonin and dopamine. You literally shift your brain chemistry just by breathing deep in a green space. I mean, that's glow up. Number three, how about a seasonal kitchen refresh? Clear the energy in your whole kitchen. Toss expired items, go through your pantry, organize your fridge like a rainbow. Press a DIY salad bar. Upgrade your tools. Maybe grab some new glass jars with bamboo lids, some citrus presses, some reusable containers, water infusers. What's the green lifestyle gadget that you've been wanting to have? Or go big. You know, I'm redoing my kitchen at the moment. I'm doing my seasonal cleanse. And I just decided to get something I've wanted a really long time. I'm getting a dehydrator. I'm so excited. I will be sharing with you what I'm dehydrating. It gets here tomorrow and I just can't wait to make some wonderful homemade chips and snacks for my family, for my baby, for myself. And yeah, I can't wait to enjoy all this Berkeley farmer's market produce up in my dehydrator. Mmm. And studies show that we're more likely to eat healthy when healthy food is visible and prepped. You could call it fridge feng shui or whatever you feel, but set yourself up to succeed by aligning your environment with your green intentions. And number four, what about a bi-monthly summer picnic series for yourself? You could do it solo, you could do it with friends, with family. You know, pack some fruit, some tea, maybe some homemade ginger stevia lemonade. Make a green wrap or some salad, a nice little summer sandwich, whatever your vibe is. Grab a blanket, a speaker. You can roll solo. You get to have sky ceiling just wrapped around you, eating delicious organic magic with sunbeams bouncing off your skin and butterflies flying around you. What's your favorite picnic spot? Get out there. Give yourself a break from being inside and enjoy the magic of summer. And number five, this is advanced, but I encourage you to check this out. I personally love to do some kind of cleanse in the summer. You know, the weather's nice, you're getting all this energy from the sunshine. You can pick some type of cleanse. I've done a lot of my most powerful and deepest cleanses in my life in the summer. And there's so many that you can do. Choose what works for you. It could be maybe you're just gonna start juicing daily. You're gonna have a daily green juice. That's its own type of cleanse. Maybe you're gonna check out, you know, intermittent fasting or a three-day juice reset. Or one of my favorite ways to do a cleanse, you pick like something like 30 days and you can start out, here's the way the flow goes. You go from omnivore to macrobiotic to organic to pescatarian to vegetarian to vegan to gluten sugar-free vegan to raw, all the way down to juice. And then move your way back up. So wherever you're at, you start from there. Maybe you're vegetarian but you're not eating organic. So then you would start with organic vegetarian, move to vegan, gluten sugar-free vegan, raw, juice, and then back up. And what's nice about a cleanse like this is that you ease your way into it through eliminating different things in your diet. And then as you add them back in, I mean, first of all, you've given your body the chance to reset and to acclimate to absorbing nutrients in a different way. You've maybe done a few days of juicing and allowed your system to reset. And I've done this with anywhere from three days of juicing all the way to like 14 days and back up slowly. So what works for you? What are you wanting to try? What are you curious to experience for your body temple, for your well-being? This is a really nice way to see what works for your body and what doesn't because as you start to add things back in, you'll really be able to feel what it is that works for you or what. And you know, when you do a cleanse, you can reset your gut microbiome, you can detox your liver, it can help balance blood sugar, and it helps retrain your taste buds to crave fresh whole food. I call it a palate reset. And this is a great time to remind you all that I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. I am just sharing with you things that have worked for me, that I love and enjoy. Maybe it's something that will work for you. Please check with your health team, with your doctor, your nutritionist, whoever you go to before you make any major changes or add supplements or do different things with your diet. But know that your health is in your hands and you have the right to research, to check with your health team, and to see what works for you to live your absolute best green life. So, that's the summer checklist. Hit me up, let me know, what are you doing? Is there anything that you want to know about that you want me to add into the podcast flow this summer? Like, I'm excited about it, so let me know. And we're gonna have some major, major green glow ups happening. I'm excited about it, I can't wait. Happy summer. Yeah, happy summer indeed. I got it all. I got it all down on my checklist. I'm gonna do it all. I'm putting it all on my green summer list. I'm gonna do the picnic, the farmer's market, the green adventure every week. Yes, yes I want that. And I think I'm gonna go for the 30 day. Yeah, I'm gonna go for the 30 day. I'm gonna boil it down to juice and that's it. That's what I'm gonna do. But I was thinking about incorporating something I've been hearing about, which is being alkaline. But April, I have to ask, what the fuck is alkaline? Like, what is that? That's such a good question. What the fuck is alkaline? Okay, let's break it down. It's about your body's pH balance, acidic versus alkaline. Your blood wants a slightly alkaline pH, unknown as 7.35 to 7.45. And here's the thing, junk food, stress, soda, it's all acidic. Alkalinity, think ease, energy, detox. So, some alkaline foods are leafy greens, cucumber, lemon, moringa, sprouts, avocado, watermelon, herbal tea. Some acid-forming foods are soda, meat, or processed foods. So, you know, an acidic internal environment has been linked to inflammation, joint pain, fatigue, digestive issues, and chronic illness. And alkaline-rich foods support cellular oxygenation and detoxification, which give you more energy, better skin, mental clarity. So, let's talk about it a little deeper. Why is everyone talking about what alkaline is? You know, it's a fundamental principle of how your body maintains balance, detoxifies, and stays in its highest functioning state. So, your body has a pH scale ranging from zero, which would be super acidic, to 14, super alkaline. And different parts of your body naturally sit at different points on that scale. Like, your stomach is more acidic, around 1.5 to 3.5, because it needs to get, it needs to be able to digest food. Your skin and urine may vary based on what you eat, drink, and do. So, the magic is in how your body regulates these zones. But here's the key. When your overall diet and lifestyle is too acidic, your body has to work overtime to neutralize that acid, pulling from minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium from your bones, muscles, and tissues to bring things back into balance. And long-term excess acidity will mean inflammation, fatigue, weakened immunity, chronic illness. So, alkaline living, it's not just about changing your blood pH, it's also about supporting your body's natural buffering systems so they don't burn out. And, you know, there's acid-forming versus alkaline-forming foods. It's not all black and white. Not all acidic foods are bad, and not all alkaline foods are magic. But what matters the most is the residue they leave in your body after digestion, known as their metabolic ash. And some acidic foods, like lemon or apple cider vinegar, actually leave an alkaline ash, meaning they're alkalizing despite being acidic in taste. So, let's just do another quick review here. Acid-forming, like refined sugar, white flour, processed carbs, soda, sugary drinks, excess animal products, especially red meat and dairy, excess coffee, alcohol, and even chronic stress. This is one of the ways that your thoughts affect your body chemistry. Alkaline-forming foods, leafy greens like kale, spinach, arugula, cucumbers, avocados, broccoli, lemon water, moringa, sea moss, sprouts, coconut water, chia, flax, hemp seeds, herbal teas like nettle, dandelion, ginger. I could go on and on and on. But, you know, why it matters is when your body is acidic, you might feel low energy, fatigue, brain fog, muscle stiffness, it might be what makes you have sugar cravings or unstable blood sugar. It can cause digestive issues like bloating, acid reflux, constipation, acne, skin flare-ups, and honestly, increased risk of chronic diseases like arthritis, kidney issues, and even cancer. There are studies that suggest that tumors thrive in acidic environments. So, alkalinity supports cell regeneration, mental clarity, better sleep, clear, glowing skin, immune system strength, emotional balance, a body that's able to activate its own healing power more easily. So, how do you alkalize daily without going crazy? You know, you don't have to be militant with this. You can just look at how to raise your frequency and let your food be one of your tools for vibrational sovereignty. And here are some ways you could start. You could start the day with lemon water. Warm or cold, your choice. Though a lot of people say warm lemon water is a wonderful way to start the day. I sometimes love to start the day with warm lemon water with a bit of stevia or honey, and I might even add some ginger. But you'd be amazed how you feel when you just start your day with lemon water. Another way, eat a big ass salad once a day. Fill it up with greens, avocado, cucumber, and sprouts. Bam, you're alkalizing. Try some herbal tea instead of soda or sweet drinks. Maybe have, if you really need that soda, have some sparkling water that's flavored, infuse it with some cucumbers and lemon, and see if that does the trick. You can add green powder or chlorophyll drops to your water. Chlorophyll is badass. We're gonna have to talk about chlorophyll some more one of these days. You can breathe deeply to ground your nervous system, to reduce stress, thus reducing acidity. Just your own breath is always gonna be one of your greatest tools. You can use cast iron or ceramic cookware instead of aluminum. Yeah, just, I say just toss that aluminum out. Don't have aluminum in your kitchen, you don't need it. Leaching, you don't need those vibes. Invest in yourself, invest in your cookware, invest in your kitchen, invest in your health, invest in your longevity, invest in your food and health sovereignty. Okay, so let's just go over a little glossary here, 'cause I know I just threw a lot of information at y'all. Alkaline, we can define that as just anti-inflammatory, healing, oxygen-rich. Acidic, that is inflammatory, mucus-forming, stagnant. pH balance, that's your internal homeo- Stasis for energy, beauty, and your green glow. Mineralized. That's what you get to be when you're alkaline. Mineralized. High in calcium, magnesium, potassium, silica, etc. It's what your cells crave. Chlorophyll, that's green plant blood. It oxygenates, oxygenates, oxygenates, it oxygenates your cells. It can detox heavy metals. It's a real MVP. So, to wrap it all up, you know, you don't need to be perfect. You don't need to only eat raw kale while you hug cucumbers every day. You just need to create an environment inside your body where your cells can thrive. That's what alkaline living is all about. You're not just eating healthy, you're becoming more conductive to your own light. So drink that lemon water, eat that watermelon, and say it with me, say it with me. Bitch, I'm alkaline. Bitch, I'm alkaline. Oh, by the way, whenever I say bitch, I mean beautiful, incandescent, transcendental, creative, hologram. So you're like, beautiful, incandescent, transcendental, creative hologram, I'm alkaline. Bitch, I'm alkaline. Okay. So now you know that's what the fuck alkaline is. Okay, you bitch, I'm alkaline. I'm alkaline, bitch. But instead, today, you know what? I'm ready. Let's dream green. Ooh, yeah. Let's step into dream green mode. Take a deep breath. Let yourself relax. Drop your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Feel your whole body just relax. If you can, close your eyes. But not if you're driving. If you're driving, keep your eyes open on the road. Just relax, take another deep breath. All right. Now you're relaxing into your ultimate dream green session. You have been gifted a five-star Michelin green chef. And this chef and their team have transformed your kitchen into a green altar of nourishment. It's Sunday morning, the windows are open. The breeze smells like sunlight and fresh herbs in your kitchen. And everything feels alive. You look on the counter and see they've made you jars of fresh cashew milk, creamy, delicious, and date sweetened. There are fresh prepped strawberry smoothies in reusable glass bottles. Your fridge is beautiful. It's a veritable rainbow of organic gourmet goodness. There's a lemon mint fruit salad with watermelon, mango, berries, and peach. There is a wonderful selection of salad fixings, all your favorite vegetables. There's avocado and fresh sprouts and sliced cucumbers. There's heirloom tomatoes and carrots. There is roasted tempeh bacon crumbles. There are celery stalks and zucchini noodles. There's everything that you love in a salad. It's already all there for you to grab and make whatever you want. There's some quinoa and roasted sweet potato cubes. And it's all just so beautiful lined up in your fridge. There's also green juices. There's a pitcher of sun-brewed peach iced tea with slices of lemon and mint floating in it. You have magic sprouting in mason jars. There's chia pudding, goji trail mix, coconut date protein bites. There's whatever green delights you love. Do you love some, do you love some wild-caught blackened salmon? It's there waiting for you. Do you like handmade organic pasta or fresh bread, gluten-free sourdough, whatever your favorite is? Do you see it all there for you? Your beautiful fridge. And wherever you go in your kitchen, incredible life-giving, energy-giving, alkalizing food is there waiting for you. It's your green dream because you dared to dream green. Enjoy it. You make a plate of your favorites. Step outside, looking over the saltwater pool, the little mini waterfall that's cascading over the rocks. There's a sweet hammock between two trees, swinging in the breeze. Sunshine beaming down on you. Nature painting a beautiful, beautiful landscape picture for you. Butterflies flying around, dragonflies, birds. The plants are happy, the trees are happy. You're at peace. Maybe you're solo, maybe you're there with your loved ones. Maybe you're taking some time to connect with your ancestors, offer a plate of food for them. This is your green dream because you dared to dream green. How does it feel? How do you feel in your body? Everything just feels wonderful as you eat it. As it settles into your body, you feel the nutrients giving life, bringing joy, bringing peace, bringing inspiration, rejuvenation. Ah, that's the good green life. Yes, yes it is. I love it. I love how everything just feels so vibrant and colorful and gold-lit and organized. It's everything. I want to share. Can I share this recipe that you gave me, April? The Summer Lovers Fruit Salad. I think everyone would just feel so magical eating it. Okay, here's April's Summer Lovers Fruit Salad. One cup of organic strawberries, sliced. One cup organic blackberries. One cup watermelon, cubed. One ripe mango, cubed. One to two peaches, sliced. And a teaspoon of fresh. Lemon juice and also some mint, a tablespoon of fresh mint chopped. You can add a little more lemon juice if you like, even half a lemon. Optional, a teaspoon of raw honey or agave drizzle. You just keep washing fruit, other fruit. Put it in a large bowl, add the lemon juice and mint, toss gently. Let it chill in the fridge for like 15 minutes and serve it in this big giant. Summer lovers. Ah, thanks for sharing the summer lovers fruit salad. That is one of my favorites. I'm so glad you love it. Okay, it's time for our superfood superstar. Our summer edition. First superstar of the season is fresh sprouts. Yes. Let's talk about sprouts, the real MVPs of plant nutrition. Sprouts are baby plants, just a few days into life, and that stage is when they hold the most concentrated energy, enzymes, and nutrients they'll ever have. Some of my favorite sprouts are alfalfa, they're mild, crunchy, great on sandwiches. Broccoli, rich in sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting compound. Mung bean sprouts are thick, juicy, amazing in stir fries or wraps. Radish sprouts, a spicy little punch of blood cleansing power. And clover sprouts, high in antioxidants and iron. I love getting fresh sprouts that are still rooted, like they're living, living sprouts from the farmer's market here in Berkeley. If you have access to those kind of sprouts or if you grow your own, it's amazing. You can also get them at the grocery store and they still have a lot of nutrients, but it's like, wow, getting fresh sprouts. If you get to try it, let me know because I love it. I absolutely love it. I even, I will put sprouts on, um, as a garnish on top of an omelet, sandwich, a salad. Um, could put it at the very end of a stir fry. You can even blend them into green smoothies. You know, you can grow them at home. And actually, while I'm talking about this, I think this is gonna be another one of my green summer checklist goals. I think I want to grow some of my own sprouts. I would feel like such a badass, such a green badass. Um, let's give you some of the science. Sprouts have up to 100 times more enzymes than mature vegetables. They have live chlorophyll for oxygenating blood. They have digestive enzymes and fiber. They have immune-boosting glucosinolates. And they are fresh, raw, and full of life force. You can add them really to anything. It, like, I go through a couple phases of the year where I'm just like addicted to sprouts and I, I don't know how I go in and out of it, but I, I want more sprouts in my life and I hope you do too. Sprouts, our superfood superstar. Yeah, hearing you talk about them, I totally want to taste those live, fresh, green sprouts. I am gonna totally check out my farmer's market and see what sprout options they have. And also maybe the local health food store because I want to taste them. I don't know if I'm ready to grow them, but I want to taste them. I'm gonna add it to my list. It's gonna be green summer, green summer checklist. Yes, sprouts in the house. Sprouts in the house, yes indeed. Well, Earth Mother Lovers, that wraps it up for our first episode of season two of Keeping it Green with April King. Thanks for rocking with us. We're gonna have surprises for you this summer. We're, we're taking it up a level. You know, we gotta, we gotta stay leveling up. There's gonna be guests, there's gonna be great recipes and just all kinds of green goodness and green magic. And I hope to interact with y'all more on Insta, on TikTok. If you have questions, if you have a product that you love that you want me to shout out or check out, let me know. We're all about green culture for a green world. Green culture for a green world. Yeah. So shout out, shout out to all the Earth Mother Lovers. Thank you everyone for rocking with us. Now we're here in season two, continuing to do what we do. We love you, Earth Mother Lovers. Shout out to all the farmer's markets, all the farmers, all the business owners, all the artisanal culinary artists out there making delicious, organic, non-GMO magic. All the farm-to-table access that is given to us in the world, I'm shouting out to you. All the restaurants that choose farm-fresh produce, all of the grocery stores and co-ops that work with local farms to bring access to nutrient-packed deliciousness to the masses. Yes. I wanna shout out my favorite summer produce. Shout out to summer peaches. Freaking love you. Shout out to summer berries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. You're the bomb. Shout out to summer tomatoes. Ooh, golden tomatoes, little golden cherry tomatoes, y'all are my favorite. Can eat you up like candy. Yes, yes, yes. Shout out to bamboo and glassware for your kitchen. Staying sustainable. Shout out to the summer sky, summer butterflies, summer rainbows, summer showers. Shout out to all the magic of the summer. It is going to be a beautiful, green summer. And I just wanna let y'all know, we keep it militantly positive over here. We are aware of everything that's happening in the world right now, and we say, do what you gotta do, show up where you gotta show up, stay militantly positive, and take care of yourself. Invest in yourself, invest in the earth any way that you can. Stay an Earth Mother Lover, 'cause that's how we all get through this. That's how we build a brighter, greener future. So whatever you can do, remember to do it with kindness, love, and peace. And keep it green, baby. Okay, we'll see y'all next week.