What really makes us different from a medical doctor is our philosophy on medicine and on healing. Of course the first point is that we would always use something natural to treat a problem before resorting to using medications. We can write prescriptions for certain things, but usually don’t need to. Secondly, we treat the whole person. There is a reason our first appointment is 90 minutes long. We really need to know a lot about you so that we can treat you not just the part of you that seem to be the problem. And, not too strangely, there is usually a connection between everything you have going on, which brings me to the third point. We always aim to treat the cause of your problems. Of course, if you treat the cause of the problem, all of the symptoms go away.

Please stay safe, and healthy. Here are a few things that may help.

The simple things:

Avoid being outside as much as possible, of course.

Definitely don’t exercise outside.

Use your air conditioner even if you don’t need it to keep the house cool, you can use it to filter the air.

Of course, if you have an actual air filter, you already know to use it :-)

Drink LOTS of water to help flush out those toxins.

Other things you can do to help your lungs:

1. Steams with essential oils.

Boil water, then pour it into a bowl or sink

Cover your head and the bowl with a towel, like you’re inside a little tent

Put a few drops of peppermint and eucalyptus oil into the water.

     (Make sure to keep your eyes closed so you don’t get the oils in your eyes)

Breath in the steam!

2. Nebulized Glutathione

1. You need to get a nebulizer (you can get on on Amazon for about $30)

2. Add 1 milliliter of Glutathione to the nebulizer

3. Attach the mouthpiece and turn it on. The nebulizer will aerosolize the glutathione, so you breath it directly into your lungs.

4. If it makes you cough, that’s normal, just stop for a minute, until you stop

coughing, then re-start the machine

***Give my office a call if you’d like us to order Glutathione for you

If you have gotten over it quickly, awesome!

If not, and you are stuck with the lingering irritation that seems to just cause more irritation, here are a few thoughts:

1. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water! As simple as this sounds, it really can help loosen up that mucus.
2. Get your sleep! I know the coughing is getting in the way, but go to bed a little earlier and give yourself plenty of time to rest.
3. Take a hot bath with Epsom Salts. The heat and steam can loosen up the mucus, and if your temperature goes up a bit, that can help kill the virus. Use 4 cups of salt per bath
4. My favorite treatment for a stubborn cough is to get a nebulizer.

Lots of companies make these. I have really liked this one because it is sooo easy to use, plus it has the mouthpiece that goes over your nose, so you can get the treatment to both your lungs AND your sinuses

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ABOUT IT

5. Add essential oils to your nebulizer. Lots of companies make these, so pick your favorite. Here is one that I have found that works really well, and is incredibly reasonably priced!

 CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

6. And, lastly, I LOVE to use Glutathione in the nebulizer. This is an amazing antioxidant that not only helps break up the mucus, but actually heals the irritation that is causing the coughing.

Give my office a call if you’d like us to order it for you :-)

2 Common Misconceptions and my Opinions:

1. The most common recommendation to start with is rice cereal. This is baffling to me. Rice is inherently constipating for children. Plus, it has little to no nutritional value!
2. Cow’s milk is recommended as a substitute for the mother’s breast milk. Cow’s milk is designed to turn baby calves into 1500 pound cows. Okay, aside from that, our bodies don’t fully develop the enzymes to digest dairy until we are 2 years old. Giving dairy products to a child before they can digest them has the potential to lead to life-long allergies, asthma and eczema. Dairy is also inflammatory and has been proven to be linked to childhood ear infections.

So, I’ve attached my recommendation on how to introduce foods. Of course, please take your Naturopathic Doctor’s advice over mine because they know your child, but this can be a great guideline.

 Click Here for the Food Introduction Guidelines!

CLICK HERE FOR THE NBC NEWS REPORT

As a Naturopathic Doctor, my goal is to always to support the body’s natural and essential functions, or physiology, throughout the course of treatment. This can be accomplished by helping patients to identify and remove “obstacles to cure,” such as, unhealthy eating habits, environmental toxic exposures, use of pharmaceutical drugs, poor lifestyle choices, emotional stresses, and negative belief systems. It is a combination of these things, and your genetics, that can manifest into both acute and chronic health conditions. 

Often times, the use of conventional medications disturbs the normal physiology of the body in the process of attempting to bring about some symptomatic relief. The use of pharmaceuticals can be helpful in acute states, and is lifesaving at times, but overuse of pharmaceuticals can cause negative side effects leading to a whole host of other health issues.  

This is truly the case in the use of PPIs or proton pump inhibitors – Nexium, Prilosec, Aciphex, Protonix, and Prevacid. This group of drugs is used to treat acid reflux or “heart burn,” and stomach ulcers. The drugs work by blocking the enzymes in the wall of the stomach that produce acid. This, indeed, can provide symptomatic relief of painful acid reflux and stomach ulcers, but how does this affect the body in the long run?  

Stomach acid plays an essential role in our immune system killing harmful bacteria and parasites that can be ingested with our food, it activates the production and secretion of several other digestive juices necessary to break down foods for proper assimilation in the small intestine. Stomach acid is also required for absorption and utilization of vitamins and minerals especially vitamin B12.  

Lack of stomach can lead to a wide range of nutritional deficiencies and symptoms associated with improper digestion and absorption of foods. To make matters worse, recent research now confirms other seriously negative health effects linked to the use of PPIs, such as, kidney disease, bone loss, and dementia! If you are already taking a PPI please talk with your doctor about how you can safely taper of this medication. It is essential that the proper dietary and lifestyle changes are made to help restore optimal digestion and get you back on the path to better health. If you or someone you know is interested in a natural approach to help heal your gut and support healthy digestion call and schedule a free 15 minute Q & A with me to see how Naturopathic Medicine can help you.

Today was what we are calling “Chelsea’s Retirement Day.”

I’ve been so so blessed to have worked with Chelsea for the last 6 years, and boy have we been through a lot together. As we spent the afternoon chatting like old friends, I was reminded of how well she knows me, and how much I adore her.

That said, it is time for her to move on in her life. What will she do next? While I can’t say exactly, I sure hope it has to do with cooking!! Between the new possibilities in her life and her continued care-taking of her grandmother, there is no doubt she will be busier than ever. Looking ahead and remembering back…this is the “wonderful” part of the day.

The “horrible” part is that we are saying goodbye. We will always be friends, but I won’t see her smiling face when she walks into the office anymore.

So, for now we smile. We say, “Cheers” (probably with a glass of wine). And we wish Chelsea a
HAPPY RETIREMENT ;-)

Moringa oleifera, the most widely cultivated species, is native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India and cultivated throughout the tropics. This amazing tree has been used worldwide to help address malnutrition. It is one of the most nutrient dense plants in the world absolutely loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats, fiber and protein-including all 9 essential amino acids.

Every part of the tree can be used: leaves, root, flowers, seeds and seed pods. Mostly just the leaves, seeds and seed pods are regularly consumed as foods. Research and traditional use has shown it to be beneficial in lowering blood sugar levels, reducing inflammation, maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, protecting the body against damage form heavy metal exposure, supporting detox pathways, increases stamina, boosting energy levels and overall vitality. Medical research shows Moringa leaves can be used to help treat roughly over 300 health problems.

Moringa can be found in capsules, liquid extracts, oil, powders, and dried leaf. This is what gives it its “super-food” status! It can be taken as a supplement and consumed as a food. Dry leaves can be used in just about any way that fresh can be used. Add it to smoothies, salads, soups, or your favorite chicken, fish, or shrimp dishes at the end of the cooking to maintain full nutrient content. You can also drink it as a tea…but don’t throw away the leaves, you can put then into your next meal or throw them into a smoothie to retrieve all the nutrients these little leaves have to offer.

Gram for gram Moringa contains 7 times the vitamin C in oranges, 4 times the calcium in milk and twice the protein, 4 times the vitamin A in carrots, 3 times the iron found in spinach, and 3 times the potassium in bananas. Boasting 92 nutrients, 46 antioxidants, 36 anti-Inflammatory compounds, and 18 amino acids, 9 of them essential amino acids… I am definitely planning on adding this amazing super-food into my daily life!

I feel like I’ve been thinking about this, and planning for it, and dreaming about it for months, and now it’s finally here!

I can only hope you are half as excited as I am!

2015 has been an epic year to match all others. It was full of adventures, romance, excitement and newness that was counter-balanced with great loss, struggles and gut-wrenching challenges. With the Solstice a few days behind us and January 1st coming up quickly, I’m ready to start 2016 with an opportunity to replenish and reset.

Yup! I’m talking about this Cleanse that I’ve alluded to over the past few months.

Only, this year I’m doing it completely differently!. In the past, I’ve offered a variety of options for people just like you to jump start their new year. They have included numerous combinations of food plans, supplements, B-12 Shots, and one-on-one time with me. Well, I’ve been talking to those who have done them in the past, as well as to those who wanted to, but just didn’t sign up. I’ve gotten amazing feedback from the people who did complete a cleanse. They felt great! And, there was one main thing that kept others from joining in. It was too expensive to have enough access to the doctors and feel like they were truly getting the support they needed.

So, here is the plan:

21 Days of a Physical and Mental Reset

Daily challenges, inspirations, and guidance

Special access to the private FB group where you will have a direct link to share your experience, and ask others, and the doctors, your questions.

(Did you catch that? YES! There are going to be other doctors involved too! That way you will get support from more than just me, but I’ll tell you more about that later;-) )

I don’t want to give away all of my secrets, but throughout this time, I may share recipes, exercises, tips for making it easier, ways to challenge yourself, what I am doing, and much more. I want you to be as inspired as I am! I want to hear from you and keep in touch with how it’s going.

I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m a little nervous. It’s quite a commitment to add to my already busy schedule, but I know if I don’t, I’ll regret it. I want this to be available to you! And, even if my family and I are the only ones in the group, I’m still going to do it. I hope you’ll join me.

Okay, now for the biggest kicker! I sat down and started to add up what it would cost for you to do something like this, in the way I used to do it. Before I even got to Day 15, the cost was over $800. That is beyond ridiculous! Even if I cut that in half, it is still crazy!!! I had another thought of doing it completely for free, but bear with me for a second here. I know, for myself, and for many of you, if we don’t invest at least something, we aren’t as committed, and we don’t do as well. My one goal is that I want you to SUCCEED!!!

So, I made a decision. Fifty Bucks. That’s it. $50. It’s enough to make sure you are committed to simply showing up!

One last thing. This thing is starting NEXT WEEK!!! January 6th!!! So, you have about 10 days to decide to start this year off focusing on YOU. YOU DESERVE IT!!!

What did I get out of this?

An intensification of a dichotomy that lives in me. On one side, I am a perfectionist. I like things to be organized, complete, and wrapped up in a perfect little bow. For me, there is safety in completion, and in a job done well. On my other side, I long for a spontaneous adventure, a reaching for something I’m not sure I can reach.

I have done more challenging things in my life than this. I have done things that push my physical, mental and emotional limits beyond what I thought humanly possible. You’ve heard about my Grand Canyon Hike, right? 23 hours, 43 miles, 11,000 feet of elevation gain (and loss). You haven’t heard that story? Oh! That’s because I barely told anyone. I push myself in my private world. Perhaps I don’t publicize it so no one will know if I fail (unfortunately, then no one gets to celebrate with me when I succeed). This challenge was totally different! It was completely public! I had the possibility to fail in front of all of you every single time I hit “publish”, but I did it anyway.

And, shockingly, I’m still here to tell the tale. Not only that, but I am INSPIRED!!! I am inspired to continue my quest of keeping my “safety” zone, while pushing my limits, reaching for the stars and exploring how I can use this lesson to do MORE to help everyone out there who wants to listen.

THANK YOU for coming on this journey with me, whether you knew you were on it or not!

Food for thought tonight: What is ONE THING you can push yourself to do? Write it down! Put it out to the virtual universe, or send it to me in a message, so we can all help support you!

I know you CAN!

My point is not to judge or criticize any of us for not being in some sort of physical condition that we used to be. My point is that it made me wonder. When did she stop being a dancer?

We all “used to be” so many things. As kids, we used to be dreamers, dancers, musicians and inventors , but what about the things we “were” as adults? Does an educator stop being a teacher the minute she leaves the classroom to do her research? Does a doctor cease to be a healer the minute she leaves her practice? Does a football player stop being an athlete when he doesn’t play in the NFL any more?

Who told us that we are no longer something?  Father Time? No one? So, if we were not truly banned from being it,
why can we not still?

I have realized and decided that I am not willing to give things up simply because time decided that I “used to be” them.

It’s a day to make a declaration. I am STILL:

a musician (like my amazing nephew who is now playing my old clarinet!!)

a dancer

a girl who loves to play

a teacher

and a truster of my intuition.

What are you STILL, that a false story told you you could no longer be?