I often hear people using the words vaccination and immunization as if they were interchangeable. Plucking one of them out of a sentence and plopping the other in its place. But is it that simple? Are they the same thing? Don’t worry, I’m not about to dive into the debate of childhood vaccinations. I avoid […]
Because of the amazing healing capacity of herbs, I’ve been able to regain my health after a serious battle with lupus and other autoimmune diseases. Knowing what I’ve been through, friends and family often come to me with their questions. What herb should my aunt take for her lupus? What herb can I take for […]
Now that the equinox has passed, fall is officially in full swing. And with that, so is football season. I’ve never been much of a sport spectator, and I don’t really understood the intense passion that people have for football. There, I said it. Sorry, guys. But! I do get the camaraderie of sitting around […]
“You need to add more salt into your diet.” Those are words we rarely hear. Yet much to my surprise that’s just what our clinical nutritionist recently told me. I was discussing some odd symptoms I’d been experiencing, and after asking me a series of questions, she explained that my sodium and potassium levels were […]
Have you ever adopted an animal from a shelter or rescue group? Ever found a stray on the street to bring to your forever home? Well I have. When I was seven years old and out shopping with my mom, we ran into a pen of puppies that a local shelter was putting up for […]
Looking at the vast number of articles, podcasts, and blog posts out there about gluten, it seems that our flight from this substance is becoming more and more of the “in” thing. I wonder if this trend is just a temporary craze or if there’s something more to be understood here. Unfortunately, not enough of […]
I first came across the spiralizer—that nifty contraption that quickly creates long strands of julienned vegetables and fruit—at a trade show years ago, well before the thing became a regular item in households. At that time, to be honest, it seemed like just another bulky item to add to my list of one-use devices that […]
With all of the discussion out there about how more and more of us are dealing with anxiety and depression, it’s hard not to wonder what other treatments we can turn to besides traditional pharmaceuticals and talk therapy. A question that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while now is: What role does […]
Originally published in Nutrition News and Views, Vol. 20, No. 2, March-April 2016, “Whole Versus Parts” will be featured in the third edition of Judith DeCava’s The Real Truth About Vitamins and Antioxidants, available from Selene River Press in 2019. Many supplement makers, food fortifiers, and scientists would like us to believe that our bodies […]
Matthew Walker’s important new book Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams offers readers an in-depth discussion of why we spend a third of our lives in bed. In lively and personable language, he explains all of the latest research about sleep and dreams. Scientists at several top universities have discovered that […]
I never thought I’d welcome fall as much as I do this year. See, I’m that girl that holds on to every last bit of daylight, sunshine, and heat from the summer, refusing to admit the seasons are changing as I freeze my butt off in flip-flops on a November morning. Yet here I am, […]
Every time our family relocates and we start seeing new health care practitioners, something intriguing happens: one of them always has an important new concept to share with us. Not necessarily new to their field of expertise, but new—as in, none of our other practitioners focused on this particular “thing” before. California is no different. […]
If there’s one thing I see a great deal of in my chiropractic clinic in Anchorage, Alaska, its chronic pain. Whether it’s joint pain, the pain of arthritis or fibromyalgia, or low back pain, what they all have in common is inflammation. What Is Inflammation? Many people think of inflammation as a bad thing, but in truth it’s a natural response from the immune system that helps protect […]
No other event has done more to bring the teachings of the greatest nutritionist of the twentieth century, Dr. Royal Lee, to a modern audience than Mark Anderson’s Back to School for Doctors. Every year this annual seminar manages to transform Dr. Lee’s body of work into a relevant, living tradition of holistic nutrition that […]
I can just see every psychiatrist, psychologist, and even many holistic practitioners wondering if I’ve gone off the deep end by introducing the idea that maybe, just maybe, the excessive and sometimes irrational anxiety and fear experienced by millions of people in our society could be caused by a set of really bad habits. Yes, […]
Over the summer, I spent some time up in Canada visiting my family, an annual tradition of relaxing beach days, big, boisterous family affairs, and long hikes through the forests and along the coastlines. This year, we also had the fortune to visit just in time for my stepfather’s sixty-first birthday—an occasion that, obviously, needs a cake of some sort, and that I, of course, volunteered/was ordained to oversee. My […]
Day after day, many of us eat our meals without even considering whether or not our food choices are the perfect ones for us. These choices are supposed to give our bodies the fuel they need to do their very important jobs—from standing up to moving around to fighting off harmful bacteria and germs. Doesn’t […]
If you’re interested in health and wellness, there’s a good chance that you’ve been hearing more and more about the benefits of meal planning. Not only does meal planning help you reach your health and wellness goals, but it can also reduce how much you spend on food. That’s because one of the primary goals […]
We have arrived at back to school! Kids are starting both classes and sports, so this is a vital time to take a look at the children of your patients. Did you know that every year teenage athletes drop dead from sudden cardiac arrest? According to the Cleveland Clinic, sudden cardiac death kills one in 100,000 to one in 300,000 athletes under the age of 35, more often males. Sudden cardiac arrest is due to an “electrical” problem in the heart. […]
Here we are, halfway through September, and I just realized I’ve gone the entire summer without a single post on tackling the bane of many a gardener’s season: the pervasive, prodigious, ever-so-fertile zucchini. Whether you’re a home gardener yourself or you have friends that grow, chances are at this time of the year you’re pretty […]