Happy Hallowe’en! (Healthy Hallowe’en?) For many families the question of what to do with this spooky celebration is a loaded – and not just with sugar. There’s the fun, the creativity and the community vibes. There’s also the sugar highs, sugar lows, food reactions & immune system dives that can lead us into a not-so-great state for the fall and winter to come. What’s a healthy family to do? We asked our community of families for their favourite tips on making Hallowe’en a little healthier. Here are some fun suggestions & themes brought to you by our Two Rivers tribe: The Trade Up: kids use candy as tokens to trade up for a cool toy they’ve had their eye on or get … Read More
Immune-Boosting Elderberry Gummies for Kids
We’re always on the lookout for easy ways to help you help your family prevent illness, and move through them faster if you do get sick. Elderberry is one of our favourite family herbs. Keep some dried berries or a commercially available syrup in your natural medicine cabinet at home so you can reach for it when a cold or flu hits the household. Elderberry has a long history of use in Europe for treating coughs, colds and fevers. It’s the perfect herb for flu season. Elderberry tastes nice, so it’s easy to get into kids as a syrup or warm or iced herbal tea, frozen pops or integrated into smoothies. It helps fight viral infections Gelatin is one of … Read More
Menopause: Midlife Crisis With Benefits?
Finding Meaning in Menopause Menopause is a term known by women of all ages, and yet, most would be hard pressed to define it correctly. From a medical point of view, it means going twelve consecutive months without a menstrual period (or any vaginal bleeding). A woman can go three months or more without a period, and then out of the blue, one comes along and she has to start the countdown all over again! Once all bleeding stops, the hard part is usually over. It is the years leading up to menopause that is generally fraught with all the problems! What Is Peri-Menopause? Who knew that the “synchronized unraveling” of the monthly rise and fall of hormones, known as … Read More
5 Ways to Love Your Self…Now!
In this post, Eleni Kapetanios, NLP Practitioner shares her story of shifting from the crushing suffering of self-hate to the contentment of self-love, and how you can do the same, starting with one of her 5 simple strategies shared right here. I used to hate myself. The way I looked. I used to look in the mirror and panic about not looking good enough, or skinny enough. Even at my leanest, I looked in the mirror, disgusted. I couldn’t stand getting dressed, if clothes were tighter than they had been, I beat myself up. I ate super clean – bringing my own dinner to people’s houses, in Tupperware. If I ate “bad” food, say at a restaurant, I would cry on the … Read More
3 Lessons I’ve Learned About Fertility
Looking back on when I first started working with people with infertility as a new naturopathic doctor, there were a few things I didn’t realize would become so relevant to my practice – and my clients’ success. Thank Goodness for Toxicology One: I didn’t realize how grateful I’d be for having (somewhat blindly) chosen Biomedical Toxicology as my major in undergrad. I really didn’t know what it was – only that it was at the U of G, sounded “biology-related”, and had co-op (which my mom encouraged me to go for so that I could put myself through school – it worked!). Thank goodness for toxicology, which taught me that the human body is capable of releasing almost any toxin … Read More
Raw & Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
Confession: I love raw cookie dough! I’m gluten-free and wanted to overcome a cookie craving both my hubby and I were having. While I’m a raw cookie dough nibbler, he likes his fully baked. Recently, he discovered a pre-made, frozen gluten free cookie dough in the “healthy” section at the grocery store which was delicious but way too sweet/sugary…and addictive! And although we thoroughly enjoyed it in the moment, we didn’t feel well afterward. (Shocker). Craving Conqueress I wanted to both enjoy a treat AND conquer our cookie craving with a healthy twist. Here’s what came out of it: Raw, No-Bake, Pretty Healthy Chocolate Chip “Cookie Dough” Bites (a.k.a. The Best Energy Balls I’ve Ever Made). These are super simple, … Read More
Could Your Child Have PANDAS?
PANDAS – “pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders after Strep” – is a category of nervous system conditions that children can develop after an infection, such as strep throat. Parents of children with PANDAS tell me their child’s anxiety, tics or OCD symptoms came on suddenly – “out of the blue”. When we ask a few more questions, they often recall a memorable illness their child had – such as a fever, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea – within a few weeks of the onset of their child’s new, neurological symptoms. PANDAS was first defined in 1998 by Susan Swedo et al. (You’ll find the reference to the published medical journal article here). As an autoimmune condition, PANDAS symptoms may get worse … Read More