Naturopathic View Of The Human Life

Food allergies are those that are quite often immune mediated – meaning that they could be life threatening quite often if they are anaphylactic. Food intolerance/ sensitivities usually produce a milder reaction such as fatigue, or loose stools, flatulence, skin rashes, congestion among other symptoms. Mild allergies may produce similar reactions too.

With food allergies, the body’s immune system  produces a class of antibodies called the IgE immunoglobulins, where as with food sensitivities or intolerance, the immune system produces a class of antibodies called IgG immunoglobulins, both of which are accurately tested using blood. Severe food allergies such as those that can cause anaphylactic reactions and can be tested using scratch tests, however, these tests quite often produce false positive results due to other factors that the individual might be undergoing such as stress, prescriptions they might be using, among others, and this can be quite traumatic for a person who shows positive to everything under the sun!

Both of these reactions are immune mediated so in order to treat them or get relief, most people use antihistamines and other allergy relief medication. However to get true relief, you must look at what caused the immune system to cause a hypersensitive reaction/ or dysfunction in the first place and treating the root cause will quite often treat the mild allergies and intolerances, but not severe anaphylactic allergies.

Arthritis is a condition which affects joints and bones, depending on the type other areas may be affected and quite often deformed by it. The - itis stands for inflammation in the area. There are various types of arthritis. The most common forms are osteoarthritis and  rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is one that affects your joints, can cause deformities of the joints and is significantly affected by the type of diet an individual has.

The vegetables in the night shade family particularly has  a significant effect on the swelling and tenderness of the joints. The night shade family vegetables include tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers and eggplants. If you do suffer from arthritic type symptoms, and do have family members who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis,  you may experience some relief by avoiding the night shade family vegetables from your diet for a while. Another factor that may affect the amount  of inflammation is how acidic your diet is. The more processed and meaty your diet is, the more acidic the body becomes, which can also impact how much inflammation your body produces.

A diet that is high in green leafy vegetables, good quality fruits and grains will quite often help reduce the inflammation in the body. In practice, I have quite often found food intolerances and mild allergies can also cause quite a bit of inflammation in the body due to histamine release in the blood stream. If you suffer from any type of arthritis, take a look at the following factors:

- Diet – how is your diet – a weekly diet diary of what you ate  and how your joints felt will help you narrow down possible triggers in food.

- Stress – how stressful is your life and what relaxation techniques are your using to help deal with day to day life and other stressors. REMEMBER – stress is not only work and family related, stress is anything that puts your body out of its normal state of being – this could include mental, emotional, psychological, physiological, environmental and dietary factors.

If you are having difficulty identifying what might be making your symptoms worse, talk to your naturopathic physician or your doctor about possibly looking into other causes that might be affecting you.

Being a pet owner myself, i felt this was an important reminder for me and for all of you out there who are pet owners and care for them dearly. As the summer months are approaching and most people will head out to cottages or getaways in the city for a few days. Here is one thing that you definately want to be careful with especially if you are taking you pets with you.

1. Make sure the Air conditioning in the car is functioning well, and your pets are safe and out of the heat of the car. Having experienced this personally last summer, i can surely say i would not take pets in the car unless the AC is working well. Unlike us, pets are unable to maintain their homeostatic temperature as well as we do in the hot weather, which make them an easy target for dehydration and heat strokes. So please, if you see your pet hyperventilating with their tongue out, make sure to take them into a cooler and safe environment RIGHT AWAY!!!

2. If you are a smoker who tends to smoke outside the house, make sure you are not exposing your pet’s lungs to the second hand smoke. We usually think we are doing a god thing by not smoking in the house, however if you are smoking outdoors , while on your break or if you are taking your pet for a walk, please refrain from smoking if you have your pet around you.

3. Make sure you thoroughly wash your pets water  and food dishes with mild soap and warm water before adding any cold water in. As the temperatures in the house get warmer, bacteria tend to divide and create more colonies because of the ideal warmth conditions on dishes etc with left over food ( wet food for pets) and water dishes.

Be caring pet owners. Pets love the outdoors, especially if they are outdoor animals or spend some time out doors generally. They tend to verbalize the desire to go out  by either barking or meowing till they are heard, and for most people this can be very annoying. So the next time you get angry and do something rash trying to quiet the animal, just remember, this is the only way they can communicate with you about their needs, so please and act with a rational mind and go outdoors with your pet, it might do you some good to get some fresh air too!

Till next time, be safe and keep your pets safe too!

Ah the patio furniture is out, the plants are starting to bloom and the smell of fresh cut grass  and the birds are chirping. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? While it sounds idealistic, one of the things you must consider is the amount of sunlight you  are getting and how much sun exposure you are getting. While its great to be outdoors in great weather, it important to have the right type of protection with your clothes and your sunscreen.

Here are some tips to stay safe in the summer while you are enjoying the outdoors:

1. Make sure  you put on sunscreen. I generally prefer the natural ones with SPF over 50 especially for the face, as the sun’s rays are quite harsh on the delicate skin of the face and the body. Reapply ever 1/2 hour if you are doing intense  physical activities outdoors.

2. Make sure you keep yourself hydrated, drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces for the day. Add a pinch of salt and some sugar, with lemon to balance your electrolytes as well.

3. Wear light colored cotton clothing – which is airy and does not absorb a lot of the heat. If you are in an area with lots of bugs, make sure you have good quality bug spray on you. There are wonderful natural products on the market that work wonderfully well to protect you from the bugs.

4. If you are feeling particularly hot, try to cool down by splashing lots of water on your head. You will notice a wonderful cooling sensation as the water evaporates.

5. Having luke warm drinks will actually keep you cooler as it draws blood circulation away from the skin!

Please try and follow the tips above for a safe and fun summer ! Enjoy !

Quite often you see people who have gone through terrible ordeals, and following that depending on how they have dealt with the issue, they tend to come up with new health issues or symptoms that they did not experience few months prior to going through a period of grief. Dealing with grief is one of the hardest things to do emotionally because we are quite often clueless of what to expect and how to go about accepting the process. Here are a few simple suggestions that may be helpful

1. Try to focus on the positive. I know this is really hard to do for someone who has dealing with grief, but it is possible.

2. Stay calm and productive – It helps to focus on other things – Time does heal most wounds and this is particularly true for dealing with grief.

3. Join a grief counseling group. Sharing your ordeal with others who have been through a similar experience will help lighten what you feel and will also help you get through things.

4. Talk to those who care for you, support you and love you. Do not shut them out. They are all part of your support group, and are a shoulder for you to cry on so go on and give them that opportunity. If the tables were turned, you would be there for them too.

5. A small vacation might help with the pain and grief initially. Plan some time for you if you need but make sure your friends and family are a phone call away if need be.  Also prayer is something that can have a tremendous impact on what you are feeling and will help with coping/ dealing with grief.

Having seen my share of skeptics in practice, and having read various blogs about so called ” New Age” practitioners and healers, I thought i would write my two cents worth on what sets apart naturopaths from other ” healers”.

NATUROPATHIC DOCTORS are trained not only in premed sciences, but also healing therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture, clinical nutrition, herbal or botanical medicine, among others. They also spend time studying pharmacology, about as much time as medical doctors spend in studying nutrition and herbal medicine. Naturopaths usually have an undergrad degree of some sort from a recognized university – be it science, art or computers, business and then usually go on to study another 4 years to practice Naturopathic Medicine.

Lot of other “healers” may or not have rigorous specialized training that naturopathic doctors go through or for that matter, most other healing modalities such as nutrition counseling do not require an undergraduate degree .

Naturopathic training does include extensive pathology and laboratory diagnosis to correctly and accurately diagnose the root of the problem using scientifically accurate and sensitive methods, which are quite often superior to what regular medical labs provide. Hence quite often preventing or catching health issues before they even start to manifest in the body as symptoms.

People quite often seek out naturopathic medicine when they have been failed by the medical system or are not getting the answers they are looking for, in regards to their health,  or as a last resort. Naturopathic medicine is a way of life and healing – something that needs to be put in place as a way of thinking when it comes to healing. People need to understand that naturopathic medicine is a way of healing that allows your body to heal naturally, naturopaths may enhance healing using various natural therapies, to bring the body back to balance.

Its is very disappointing to read skeptic or quack blogs – trashing naturopathic doctors or healers, when people do not understand a simple concept – we are not “miracle healers” making ridiculous claims, we are here to help you with your healing and health by providing healthy alternatives, quite often working hand in hand with medical doctors to bring back you back to balance, and treating your health, unlike others. We, as naturopaths, actually take time out to listen to your health issues and try our best to help you heal using the healing power of nature.  So I really think before people say or write ridiculous things about naturopaths, maybe they  visit one and see how their health might actually benefit,may be this will open their eyes and mind, and  stop writing rubbish and influencing people away from the one thing that might actually help them.

Weight loss is a tricky subject for most who have tried to yo-yo diet and follow starvation diets, with crazy work outs lasting hours on end.

Here are somethings to think about when choosing a weight loss program that will benefit you holistically rather than just dropping the pounds. What caused the weight gain in the first place? what is the first factor that comes to mind – was it overeating? was it a stressful event or turn of events that caused the weight gain, which also was compounded by other stress symptoms such as loss of sleep and fatigue? what was the stressor? stressors could include anything that puts the body out of its normal state of being such as environment, diet change/ modification, medications and emotional stress of varying degrees.

If in fact it was emotional stress related, here a few simple things that you can do that will significantly help improve your success at loosing the additional weight.

1. Identify the emotional stress factor that caused this spiral with the weight and write it down.
2. Rather than being stuck in past, come up with realistic strategies that are going to help motivate you to change your attitude towards certain things. Cognitive behavioral therapy would be great for this.
3. Put your action plan to use. This might include a healthier diet change which will nourish your body with the nutrients that the body has a high demand for in times of stress. An exercise schedule might help, however, if there is a lack of motivation to start exercising because you have no energy, try to identify what you is causing the fatigue ( which could very well be hormone related if there was a prolonged period of stress), and talk to your Naturopathic Doctor about what tests need to be done to identify the root cause of the fatigue and weight gain.

Once this is established, and you start having more energy, you can get on an exercise plan, which will help with energy and stress management. Quite  often however, its not so simple. The human mind is much more complex and we often need to change our mental behaviors in order to achieve some physical successes such as weight loss and break unhelpful and disruptive patterns that caused the problem in the first place and may cause a repetition in the future.

At the clinic we have lots of patients that coming in to improve their overall reproductive health and as well improve chances to conceive. I applaud them because i really appreciate that they care enough about the energy or “Qi” that the baby will receive if and when its conceived, but also that the parents care enough about taking care of their health as well, so that they have an abundance of energy and health resources when the baby is born.

But here are somethings that i urge most of the parents – to – be to think about especially if they are having difficulty getting pregnant and no cause for infertility is found. When clients have difficulty getting pregnant, they usually think about the physical causes but what about that emotional aspect that will in fact have a huge bearing on whether or not you will conceive.

Naturopathic medicine embodies the health of your mind, body and spirit, hence naturopaths look at all these aspects before treating you for infertility.

Here some questions to ponder about if you are having problems conceiving and there are no evident physical problems preventing pregnancy.

1. What does it mean for you to have a child?
   

   A lot of people tend to follow their peers in what they do in life – especially when it comes to the big decisions of what is expected of one’s self. Are you one who follows what your peers did ? e.g. build a home, get married, have children.. if you answered YES, please really think long and hard about what you want as in your life, and are children part of that … if there is a natural longing to be a parent.

2. What is having a child going to change in your life at this point?
3. Are you feeling emotionally ready for that step in your life?

If you have answered of these questions with uncertainty or being unsure, ask yourself the following question:

How can my body be ready when mentally i am not prepared to have a child?

Other things to consider:

Your diet which would be effecting your hormones can definitely effect your fertility especially if you are eating hormone laden non organic meats
and dairy products, and drinking tap water.

Your environment – is there any overload of heavy metals in your surroundings?Do you have a power plant close to your home or do you have a home with old lead paint and pipes?

Your stress level – A lot of people think that there is no connection between fertility and stress, but there is a very strong connection. Whenever you are under lots of stress – and stress does not just relate to mental stress, it would be anything that puts your body out of its normal state of being, for example, a sudden drastic change in diet or a new medication, environmental stress, or an infection of viral, bacterial or fungal origin, this will effect your stress hormone, cortisol, which in turn will effect your reproductive hormones and your thyroid hormones, and it turn affect fertility.

In the search of pain relief, we  too often try all sorts of pain relief, going from doctor to doctor. Very often, however, simple lifestyle changes can prove to more effective in helping to overcome pain and improve health.

Here are a few stretches that you can try when you need some pain relief.

FOR YOUR BACK:

Sit on a mat or on a firm mattress with your legs extended straight out. Slowly lean forward and reach your fingers toward your toes. Use a fluid motion.

FOR YOUR SHOULDERS AND ARMS:

Reach one of your hands over the head and as far down your back as you can. You can use the opposite hand to push the elbow toward your back. Repeat with the opposite hand.

FOR YOUR NECK:

Sit in a comfortable position. Relax your shoulders. Slowly bend your neck forward until your chin touches your neck. Without moving your shoulders, rotate your head and slowly touch your right shoulder with your chin. Bring your neck back to normal, and repeat rotation toward your left shoulder.

FOR YOUR LEGS:

Lie flat on your back with your legs fully extended. Bend one knee and grasp the leg just above the knee with both hands and slowly bring the knee close to your chest. Repeat with the other leg, and then do both the knees together.

CALF MUSCLES:

Stand facing a wall with your feet about four inches apart and 10 – 12 inches away from the wall. Keep your back straight, lean forward and press your shoulders against the wall until your feel a pull or stretching of the calf muscles. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat three times.

FINALLY THE WHOLE BODY:

Lie flat on your back with your legs extended. Raise your arms above your head ad reach as far as you can while pointing your toes and stretching your legs. Hold for a count of five and repeat three times.

START BY REPEATING EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TWICE, AND GRADUALLY WORK UP TO 10 REPETITIONS PER SESSION

Still feeling pain, why not enjoy the benefits  of acupuncture and massage at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic combined.

There have been various debates about buying organic versus
non-organic foods and whether it’s really worth it. Quite often we find that people tend to go for the non – organic foods simply because its cheaper and more readily available. Here are some facts that might sway you more towards purchasing organic product the next time you are in the supermarket.

Over 3000 high-risk toxins are routinely present in the North – American food supply, and are by law, excluded from organic food. These include, and are limited to:

HEAVY METALS: Although there is no control over what is already present in the soils, various heavy metals mercury, lead and cadmium such as enter the food supply through industrial pollution of soil and groundwater.

PESTICIDES: The largest group of toxins that ARE PROHIBITED IN
ORGANIC PRODUCTS are synthetic pesticides.

Legal bans have tried to reduce the amounts and types of pesticides that go in the surface run off from lawns. Various pesticides have been classified as potential carcinogens
(cancer-causing agents). 
The other major problem with pesticides is that they do not stay where they are applied, and are quite often found in drinking water.

SOLVENTS: Solvents are virtually present in all commercially processed foods in the form of additives. Various solvents, e.g. benzene and toluene are linked to many cancers. Benzene had also been associated with rheumatoid arthritis – an autoimmune condition involving pain and degeneration of in the joints.

OTHER SUBSTANCES that you avoiding when purchasing organic include HORMONES – that are used to fatten animals to produce more milk, eggs and meat.

So is cheaper quantity of food that much more attractive than less quality or should it be the other way around? I will let you be the judge.