Detox at Home Using Food
My grandmother told me that she grew up eating vegetables from the family’s garden. Everything was organic, although they didn’t need to label it that way. There was no difference between conventional and organic. Vegetables came from the garden and there were no pesticides used. It was as simple as that. Today it’s different. As…
Comprehensive Blood Testing
What is functional medicine testing and what does it include? When it comes to lab testing, naturopathic and functional medicine doctors have many options. Lab work can be very helpful when working with patients who are searching for answers for their health concerns. Sometimes patients have been told that all testing is normal, but they…
Comprehensive GI Testing
Why is a healthy digestive system important? This is such an important topic, in my opinion, when it comes to optimizing health. The good news is that more healthcare practitioners are starting to talk about it. The digestive system is vital to our wellbeing because this is how we get nutrients into our body so…
What is cortisol?
Cortisol is one of our stress hormones. When we experience stress, the body’s natural response is to signal a number of events throughout the body. These events are activated by hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. With any form of stress, the sympathetic nervous system (aka the “fight or flight” response) is activated from the hypothalamus…
Your Thyroid And Why It Matters
Here’s a typical situation: A woman will tell me that she feels tired, has difficulty losing weight no matter how hard she tries and her digestion feels “off”. She has been to her doctor, but she’s told that everything is normal. She’s told that maybe she should go on a diet or get more sleep.…
What is TSH?
When a person has thyroid problems, it may be due to a lack of thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH. This hormone is not produced by the thyroid, but is actually produced by the pituitary gland. TSH passes information to the thyroid and helps it produce the hormones necessary for the body. When health care professionals…
Signs That You May Have Low Thyroid
Low thyroid is associated with uncomfortable, distressing and even debilitating or life-threatening complications. Yet it’s estimated that half of those who have the condition don’t know it, and neither do their healthcare providers. Left untreated, low thyroid can result in conditions such as a goiter, heart problems, infertility and more. You may be aware that…
The Secrets to Bouncing Back from Adversity
When tough times bring you down, your ability to cope in a positive way is known as resilience. An essential skill for healthy development in childhood, resilience is critical to well-being throughout our lifetime. The overriding question is this: As adults, can we increase our capacity for resilience in order to lead more fulfilling lives?…
Keep Your Immune System in Peak Condition
The Great Defender: that’s our immune system, uniquely designed to keep us healthy and defend against illness and infection. Made up of organs, including the skin, lungs, and gut, as well as specialized cells, the immune system’s job is to remain on alert for disease-causing invaders and to protect our body against them. Our immune…
Sleep: Essential for Mind-Body Health
Adults and children alike are spending more time awake late at night to study, work, or have fun. All those late nights may be slowly killing us. More than 20 years of research shows us that sleep is vitally important to physical and mental health. Most of what we know about sleep and health comes…
