Though we went to high school together, I didn’t discover Kimberly Snyder’s impact on my life until years later when I came across her book The Beauty Detox Solution. Little did I know, that was just the beginning for her, and the start of a very long and fulfilling journey for me, too. 

Kimberly’s initial research, as I encountered it, was based in nutritional science—particularly the science that shows how we digest and process food differently from animals. She talks a lot about food pairing, and the importance of the order in which we eat food. For example, according to Kimberly and contrary to popular belief, it’s better to eat light in the morning and heavy at night, because our best digestion occurs when we are asleep. Digestion can take up about 80% of our body’s available energy, so when we rest at night we have more available energy to digest our food because that energy is not being used to do other things.

Snyder’s nutrition principles in her first book address just the surface of her beliefs about food. She goes on to explore how food is capable of not only transforming our bodies, but our souls. When we put in only what we need, there is less of a desire to put in what we don’t. This informs a lot of my thinking around simplicity. I grew up with health-conscious parents and battled childhood allergies. I love the idea of food as medicine and Kimberly’s evolution from nutritionist to spiritual guide mirrors a combining of things that is critical to life and critical to creating less excess—when we address the whole picture, instead of the parts, we are sure to find solutions that better us in several ways rather than creating “shortcuts” that cause more problems in the long-run. When we think of food as medicine we avoid so much unnecessary harm to our bodies and waste in the form of carbon, money, plastic, research and mental stress. I have read, and highly recommend, every single one of her books.

Snyder’s Key Beliefs: Food and spirit are connected; healing is holistic; simplify to amplify.

Snyder’s Influential Works:

The Beauty Detox Solution (2011)

• Core Idea: True beauty and health start from the inside out. Kimberly emphasizes the importance of plant-based whole foods, food combining, and gut health to promote radiant skin, improved digestion, and lasting energy.
  
• Connection: Rejects processed foods and focuses on natural, nutrient-dense eating to heal the body holistically.
  

2. The Beauty Detox Foods (2013)

• Core Idea: This book dives deeper into specific superfoods that support beauty and wellness, providing recipes and guidance on harnessing nature’s healing power through food. For me it importantly encourages returning to real, whole foods as daily medicine, and as a result avoiding chemical-laden, industrialized diets that cause more problems and greater dependance on manufactured medicine later on.
  

3. The Beauty Detox Power (2015)

• Core Idea: Explores the link between emotional health and digestion, teaching how to break free from emotional eating and food obsessions by balancing the mind-body connection. For my purposes, its key point addresses how layered problems (emotional & physical) interact and must be healed together at their root—not masked by temporary fixes.
  

4. Radical Beauty (2016, co-authored with Deepak Chopra)

• Core Idea: Beauty is not just physical—it’s about spiritual and emotional radiance. The book presents six pillars of holistic beauty, combining ancient wisdom with modern science.For me, this provides a deeper critique of Western shortcuts, focusing instead on inner transformation for outer wellness.
  

5. Recipes for Your Perfectly Imperfect Life (2019)

• Core Idea: Healing involves both nourishing food and self-compassion. Kimberly shares personal stories and plant-based recipes to support emotional and physical health, recognizes that health is not just about diet but about mindset, emphasizing joy, acceptance, and simplicity over perfectionism, by leaning into the idea that food is not separate from the eco-system in which we live, but an important part of the whole of how we live–and should not be treated as such.
  

6. You Are More Than You Think You Are (2022)

• Core Idea: A spiritual guide to tapping into your true power and purpose. Snyder teaches meditation, energy management, and breaking free from societal conditioning. For me, this whole book really aligns with Simple Life Big Dream’s mission of living simply and authentically and breaking away from materialism and quick fixes.
  

Kimberly Snyder’s work consistently critiques the layers of modern life and convenience that disconnect us from real wellness—whether through processed food, eating good food in a way that doesn’t reap it’s greatest benefit, societal beauty standards, and emotional baggage. Her approach invites a return to natural simplicity, leaning into my ideas about dismantling health “shortcuts” in favor of root-level healing. Her practices also respect and give back to the eco-system in which we live which is crucial if we want to continue to reap the benefits of this incredible planet.