Health Articles - Disease Prevention & Alternative Medicine

Although most people have experienced feeling unwell during times of elevated stress, few are aware of the underlying connection between these experiences

Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive process of the small intestine.

As sunny weather has recently arrived in the lower mainland after another long grey winter, it is an appropriate time to discuss the relationship between sun exposure and vitamin D.

Research has shown that women are much greater consumers of natural healthcare than men.

There are many reasons why I’m seeing more progesterone deficiencies in my naturopathic medical practice than every before. Here are just a few:

Weight gain or loss is generally an issue both during and after times of elevated stress. 

 Disease prevention and integrated cancer care makes sense from both a personal and societal perspective.

Asthma cannot be cured, but it can be managed. With proper treatment, people with asthma can lead normal, active lives.

The fall and the winter months are the time of year we become most susceptible to catching colds and flu’s.

Such an unfavourable external climate often has negative effects on our internal climate, putting stress on our immune system.

Perhaps the most promising area of this research is on the role of intestinal permeability in celiac disease.

When eating out, the standard way to determine if a dish is delightful is to taste it. Not so when you have celiac disease.

Of all the conditions out there, chronic pain can be the most challenging to treat.

While many people explore yoga for better health, a calmer mind and a stronger body, is it possible to extend the principles of yoga to the dinner table? 

Of the three million plus Canadians living with diabetes, 90% of them have type 2 diabetes, which is largely lifestyle related.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Qi, or vital energy, flows like a river along pathways or meridians throughout the body.

The nutrients that circulate through your body have a profound effect on the function of your reproductive organs.

From a Chinese medicine perspective foods and herbs are prescribed based on their ability to enhance specific energy systems in the body.

The barrier between our digestive tract and the rest of our body is vital.

The skin is the largest organ of elimination in the body. It offers protection from injury, provides a barrier from our external environment, and provides defense from pathogens and bacteria.

Food represents so many things to us—nourishment, comfort, friend, enemy, guilt, pleasure, emptiness, fullness, desire, sensuality.

SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is a major—and often overlooked—underlying cause of chronic digestive symptoms, including those labelled as (IBS) irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a diagnosis being given with increasing frequency to patients who experience chronic digestive symptoms.

Every seven minutes, a Canadian dies of a heart attack or stroke. Magnesium deficiency is a major contributing factor in cardiovascular disease.

Late winter/early spring is a difficult time of year for the many sufferers of seasonal allergies.

Quitting smoking is not a walk in the park, but there are ways to make the process easier. 

Herbal medicine offers invaluable aid for chronic digestive disorders as well as common symptoms of overeating including heart burn, indigestion, cramping and bloating.

In traditional Chinese medicine, water is the natural element associated with the human organ of kidney.

Central to Traditional Chinese Medicine is the idea that foods are either warming or cooling.

The amount of scientific research confirming the magnitude of Vitamin D deficiency in North America and its resulting health consequences continues to grow very rapidly.

Since we produce the vitamin only through our skin’s direct exposure to sunlight, taking a vitamin D supplement through the winter is necessary for many people to maintain optimal levels.

Prostate cancer strikes approximately 1 in 7 men in Canada.

In the past decade, awareness of celiac disease and related disorders has increased.

“Individual taste carries our unique signature. Taste buds are the vehicle. However uniquely we experience them, we all share what we identify as the vibrant tastes of sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter—a rich thread that reveals our commonality.” –Suzanne Kyra, Welcome Home to Yourself

One important way to support mental health is to structure your diet that fuels your body physically and mentally. In the same way that mood drives our food choices; our food choices can have a major effect on our mood and wellbeing. Here are 3 nutrients to best support your mental health:

Summer is a time of growth and activity, it is also a season of barbecues, beach picnics and weekend camping trips, which are often accompanied by overindulgence in processed foods.