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There was a recent study on supplements that found contaminants in the some herbal formulas. Things not listed on the labe, but found within the productl. You can click the link to the article below.
There are segments of health care products that do not go through the same rigorous testing as others. And often, these misleading claims on the bottles are left unknown for years. When choosing supplements, more money doesn't necessarily ensure the best product, however, it's likely it does in many cases. When a company invests into 3rd party testing of their products, and searches out ingredients that are sourced ethically, sustainable, and clear of contaminants, that will result in a higher cost. There are also supplement ingredients that are more or less bioavailable to your body's cells. Meaning, some are better absorbed and utilized by your cells than others. If a supplement is not in a highly absorbable form, there is little benefit, and possible disadvantages to consuming that product. Professional products sold by healthcare practitioners, including Naturopathic doctors, go through rigorous 3rd party testing to ensure the quality and efficacy of their products. When it comes to your health, spend the money. You only have one body. Invest well! When you know better, you do better! http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/health/story/1.1959278 Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer
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We are not just physical beings with emotional moments. Our emotions integrate with our body and mind. The stories we tell ourselves are often false. Call those stories out for the lies they are. Eliminating wheat will make you lose weight! Period! I see it time and time again in my practice in Vancouver. But what happens if letting of the weight stops, when there's clearly more to shed? Well, there can be other clinical conditions impeding your ultimate success.
Dr. William Davis - author of Wheat Belly - a National bestseller on the merits of eliminating wheat for shocking permanent health improvements - has an excellent blog that I recommend following. In his lastest post, he discusses the clinical conditions that can contribute to the lack of weight shedding, when removal of wheat is simply not enough. I lost the wheat, but didn’t lose weight written by Dr. Davis As well, here is a great short VIDEO interview Dr. Davis did on Global News while he was in Vancouver speaking at the British Columbia Naturopathic Association Convention. He states the brief reasons why wheat is bad for you, and addresses some FAQs regarding eliminating wheat. http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/10/global-news-interview/ Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer Everyone wants to smell good! Most people have several bottles of perfume. One thing that you may not know is that most perfumes are laden with harsh chemicals. So you're paying a lot of money to smell good with poison. An alternative to that is to build your own perfume, naturally. You can use essential oils of your choice to mix and match and form your own unique fragrance. Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer “The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you."
Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer Quinoa is an amazing food! I once thought it was a grain, but have found out more recently that it is actually a seed. It is more nutritious than a lot of foods out there - especially amongst it's sisterly grains. It is simple and quick to cook.
One fact that many people do not know about quinoa is that it is actually a complete protein. Great for vegetarians, or anyone choosing to eat less animal products. Only 1 cup of quinoa has 9 grams of protein - slightly more than 1 medium sized egg. Try adding quinoa to your diet - it's great in salads, soups, as a side dish, or even as the main dish mixed with veggies and spices. Here is an article explaining some of the known benefits of Quinoa. http://www.naturalnews.com/034110_quinoa_nutrition.html#ixzz1dKnmsZzZ Vancouver Naturopath: Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer The summer days are over and evidence of fall is among us with the changing smell and crispness of the air, and of course the beautiful colourful fallen leaves signifying the new season has arrived. With a new season brings with it changes that can be adopted to better adapt to this colder, wetter season. 1. Warm Foods & Spices In traditional chinese medicine (TCM), cold ‘dampens’ the spleen, which is the organ believed to be involved with digestion. During a colder, damp season, it is important to decrease the ‘cold’ foods and include warming foods. Spices are also a great adjunct to this. Including spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cayenne can improve circulation and aid digestion. 2. Vitamin D During this time, the sunshine mostly hides behind a cloud of grey skies, and levels of Vitamin D can plummet leading to SAD – seasonal affective disorder. It is essential to supplement with a high quality Vitamin D all winter long to keep your mood and health in top shape. 3. Dry Skin Many people find that their skin cyclically changes every winter. Amongst the many benefits of fish oils, essential fatty acids are an excellent way of nourishing your body from the inside out. Quality of all supplements, but especially fish oil, can vary greatly. Make sure you are purchasing from a quality health food store or practictioner, otherwise you may be doing more harm than good. 4. Infrared Saunas During the cold wet months of winter, an excellent way to warm and detoxify your body is sitting in an infrared sauna for approximately 20 minutes. Infrared saunas penetrate your body 4-5cm and helps detoxifies your cells. Always make sure to shower with soap afterwards, as the fat soluble toxins released via sweat will be reabsorbed if not bound by the saponins in soap. 5. Greens Drink ‘Green’ drinks help bind toxins and heavy metals in the body. They basically at as a courier system to deliver unwanted heavy metals & toxins to the right exit of your body. My favourite brand, because of quality and delicious flavour, is ‘Green’s First’. 6. Fiber Winter can be a time of retainment. Keeping digestion flowing is essential. Fiber is a binding agent and also acts as a ‘courier’ for excess hormones and other unwanted materials. If toxins are delivered to the intestines to be removed and have nothing to bind to, they will be reabsorbed. 2 tbsp of freshly ground flax seeds in a glass of water at night is an easy, palatable way of getting the beneficial fiber and lignans that bind to excess estrogen. 7. Herbal Teas Coffee wrecks havoc on the adrenal glands, especially if they are already depleted, which in today’s society, is almost ubiquitous. Another great alternative is herbal teas. Depending on the blend, they can be a warming, energizing, or soothing. Yerba mate and green tea are great energizing alternatives to coffee. 8. Digestive Aids Digestion can become more sluggish during winter and old flare ups can reappear. When this occurs, the nutrients from food and supplements will not be as well absorbed nor utilized by the body. An old remedy of 1 tsp of apple cidar vinegar before each meal can be used to aid with digestion. The smell and taste is not pleasant, however, it’s benefits make it worth it. You can add it to a small amount of water if desired. Fall is a time to focus on foods that were grown during the few previous summer months and are meant to carry us through the winter. Choose these winter foods more often and less of the summer, tropical fruits and vegetables. Fall can be an extremely nourishing time of the year when less time is spent outdoors and more time on indoor activities. We can take this time to reflect on the past, prepare, and make changes for the future. This can be a time of rebuilding where days are shorter, and thus nights longer, perfect for an earlier bed time, to receive all the nourishment from sleep. Relish in this season!
Vancouver Naturopath: Vancouver Naturopathic Doctor Krista Moyer “We are what we eat” is a common known phrase, but Naturopathic Doctors take that statement one step further by stating “We are what we absorb”. There is a large difference between those two statements. One major reason for this is the predominance of food allergies, and the more recent acknowledgment of food sensitivities. The immune system reacts differently to an allergy vs a sensitivity, and thus vary in the repercussions. If a food is not tolerated by the body, the established barriers of ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ are hampered and nutrient absorption can be compromised. This occurrence mainly happens in the digestive tract. The list is anything but limited in terms of the reactions the body can have when a food is deemed ‘foreign’ to the body. These allergies or sensitivities may not necessarily be present at, or before birth, but can develop in childhood, and even well into adulthood. At any age, they are not a welcomed occurrence, however, in knowing and accepting the impacts that any which food can have on the body, changes can be made that can drastically improve a person’s life. There are several foods that have made the top list of allergenic foods. Within that list, there can be allergies present and/or sensitivities to one, or many. The list is as follows: 1. Dairy 2. Eggs 3. Wheat (gluten) 4. Soy 5. Shellfish 6. Peanuts Aside from the commonly known immediate reactions to food, such as hives, rash, or anaphylaxis (airway constriction), there is an even larger list of greatly varied symptoms that can occur, minutes, hours, or even days after the consumption of a food. For some, a large amount of that food needs to be consumed for a reaction to occur, for others, only a minuscule amount, possibly hidden in a food, can be enough to set off a whirlwind of symptoms. Possible symptoms include: Heartburn, indigestion, stomach cramps, gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, excess respiratory mucous, blurry vision, allergic shiners (bags under the eyes), achy joints, chronic pain, itchy throat, itchy skin, candida eruptions, fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, difficulty sleeping, menstrual cramps, irregular periods, slow wound healing, depression, weak muscle strength, headaches & migraines, frequent colds & flu, ear infections, sinusitis, eczema, psoriasis, acne, asthma, arthritis, and aggravation or progression of autoimmune diseases. Some of these symptoms can last for days after the food is consumed, and if the food continues to be consumed, further serious health concerns can develop, such as the sequelae of autoimmune diseases. The food that are ancestors consumed is far different then what is available to us in the grocery stores today. Food is no longer just food, but what comes with it, is a multitude of hundreds of foreign pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, as well as the ever emerging presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which scientists have yet to learn the full, long term repercussions of in our food system as a whole, or in our bodies. Food has also genetically changed and mutated over the course of hundreds of years. Most land has grown the same crop year after year without the rotation of crops, which is intended to allow the soil to be replenished and give different nutrients to the foods it inhabits and births. The food industry has changed the way we eat. It is thus imperative that we adapt and change the way we eat in order to ensure that our bodies receive the necessary nourishment from food. For many, that involves the removal of some, or many foods from the diet. Symptoms of food allergies and sensitivities are a red flag from the body to listen to what it needs and what it can not tolerate. Sometimes it can be hard to decipher what food(s) are at the core of the problem. That is where an elimination diet and/or allergy/sensitivity testing is necessary. It may be that the removal of the food for six or more months (along with other dietary, supplement, and lifestyle alterations) will allow the body to heal, and once that healing has occurred, that food may be allowed to be reintroduced with few or no repercussions. Any symptom produced by the body is meant to be heard and thus addressed. Naturopathic Doctors help clarify the issue of what to eat to ensure proper nutrient absorption. It is worth the time and effort to discover what foods your body is not well tolerating, and to make the appropriate changes. Naturopathic Doctors can help you to modify these changes in your diet as well as other lifestyle changes to best suit your body’s need for balanced health.
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