Category: Articles

As November draws to a close, men worldwide are shaving their Movember moustaches. But what’s next? What happens after the moustache is gone?

Social norms can discourage men from acknowledging their struggles or asking for help, and this year Movember Canada broadened its focus to include mental health and suicide prevention. Nearly 1 in 10 men experience depression or anxiety, but less than half seek treatment. That’s a year-round challenge, but people shave the moustache this week.

Can a hormonal imbalance cause anxiety issues? It actually can! Many people don’t know that mental health challenges often stem from deeper physical issues such as hormone imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, and conditions like metabolic syndrome. Addressing these underlying factors can significantly improve mental well-being in any month of the year.

So, what happens after the moustache? The real work begins. Movember is a catalyst for change, but the movement’s goals don’t end when the moustaches do. The best way to honor Movember isn’t to grow facial hair—it’s to embrace the conversations that can save lives all year. 

Have you ever thought that a physical issue might be sabotaging your mental health?

Treatments like hormone replacement therapy in Canada can save your life.

Want to talk about your health? That’s what we’re here for. 

No one wants to think about prevention in the summertime.  

Who wants to worry about heart disease at the cottage? Or cut back on drinks on a long weekend? Who wants to contemplate diabetes on the dock or the extra handful of chips?

I’ll tell you who: my 53-year-old body. She’s not having any of that anymore! She will complain LOUDLY if the sugar is sneaking in around the edges or if the extra glass of wine with friends messes up her sleep. She’s cranky if the old shoulder issue creeps back in when I “forget” to do the exercises that were keeping it at bay.  

The older I get, the more I make peace with the fact that what is required for good health as I age is simply the stuff we call “prevention.” And prevention isn’t seasonal. I can’t just commit to it when it’s easy or “when summer is over.” It’s a year-round job. 

The good news is that prevention can be remarkably fun. Good whole food is delicious–especially in summer. Moving your body outside is joyful. Spending time with others is restorative. Rather than something to put off until another season, prevention can also be the best way to enjoy the season.

A call out to all our teachers! August is a great time to re-engage with prevention. Consider a well woman exam, check your hormones with a saliva hormone testing appointment, and/or apply for a hair mineral tissue analysis. Your benefits roll over at the end of August–invest some of your downtime in your immune system and stress hormones so you’re in the best shape possible for the start of the school year! Book online here.

There’s an old joke that goes something like this:

 A woman hears of a wise doctor who holds the secret to eternal life. She travels to a distant land and arranges a private audience. 

“Doctor,” she says, “I have heard you hold the secret to life without aging. Please–I must know it.”

The doctor nods sagely. 

He pulls out his notepad and scribbles a prescription. The woman receives it, breathless. 

It reads:

• Avoid all processed foods, sugar, meat, alcohol, fat, and salt.
• Wake up a full hour earlier to meditate, study, do yoga, and journal each day before work.
• Avoid all late nights – be asleep by 10PM.
• Stay inside. Avoid the sun whenever possible. 
• Take no risks. Never deviate from the prescription.

 The woman stares at the list. It looks hard. But eternal life!

“Just to be clear,” she says, “If I do all this, I’ll live forever?”

“Oh no,” the guru says. “Not at all. But it will sure feel like it.”

The doctor’s prescription is something akin to going to war with aging. You wake up every day, and you fight it. 

But the opposite of the prescription is just as troublesome: You do whatever you want. You treat your body like an amusement park, and you ride it hard until the lights go out. 

The first approach might lead you to a long but unsatisfying life.

The second might lead to a satisfying but much shorter one.

What to do?

I propose that you accept that there is no guru, and no prescription for eternal life. We all age. That’s no joke.

But when you accept that, you can see that this is a journey. One in which your body and life are always changing. And one in which they come to an end.

Then, instead of seeking something you can’t have, you can ask a better question:

What does your body need for this journey to have meaning?

The answer is the same as ever:

• Good food that is whole and nutritious, prepared ourselves and shared with others.
• Clean water that hydrates and allows all our systems to work smoothly and effortlessly.  
• Movement that makes us strong enough to hold our grandbabies, flexible enough to sit on the floor with our kids, and mobile enough to take in the beautiful vistas on the path. 
• Sleep that rejuvenates and heals us for the next day on our journey. 

And lastly….a little professional help when you stray from the path. There’s no secret to eternal life, but there are a lot of ways in which good health care can help when you need it. 🙂 

Today is Earth Day, when we rally around environmental protection and climate action. This year’s theme is a call to reduce plastics for the sake of human and planetary health.

The Earth is shockingly resilient. Like your body, it has an innate ability to heal. Both can tolerate a remarkable amount of abuse, toxins, and disease.

But both can only handle so much. And both are being slowly ravaged by a disease called more.

Culturally, we are obsessed with more. We want more house, more car, more money—so much so that we’ll trade our time, relationships, and even our world for it. 

That desire for more doesn’t just show up in our planet—it shows up in our bodies. 

In my two decades of practice, I’ve seen it over and over again. Like the Earth, our bodies are on fire, and the cause is the same—more. More processed food, more work, more stress, more screens. 

The symptoms of that inflammation are everywhere:

• Body pain, arthralgia, myalgia
• Chronic fatigue and insomnia
• Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders
• Gastrointestinal complications like constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Frequent infections, allergies, and skin complaints 

Ironically, the approach for many people is…you guessed it, more. MORE exercise, MORE diet change, MORE meditation, MORE supplements.

These things are, of course, good for us—in the right amount. The dose makes the poison, as they say.

The solution for your body is not so different from the solution for the planet. It is to find enough. 

• Enough sleep means you’re well-rested, filled with energy. Too much means body pain, headaches, and depression. 
• Enough kale provides a nutrient-dense, cancer-protecting food, high in fibre. Too much can suppress your thyroid or overload you with oxalates. 
• Enough water hydrates you, keeps you alert, and allows your body to run efficiently. Too much causes over-hydration and mineral imbalances.
• Enough exercise gives you increased strength, flexibility, and mobility. Too much leads to repetitive strain, injury, and lower performance. 
• Enough fun creates connection and happiness. Too much can lead to boredom, hedonism, or addiction.

More is not always better. 

If you do one thing this Earth Day, make it this: connect with the idea of enough. 

Both your body and the planet will thank you.

We want everything to be fast.

Same-day delivery. Instant pain relief. Three-minute workouts. Fast food, quick solutions, immediate gratification.

The problem with fast, however, is that it can make things worse. 

The three-minute workout gives you license to eat the fast food. The same-day delivery encourages you to one-click shop. The shopping drives up your credit card bill, so you spend more time at your desk and need instant pain relief for your sore neck or back.

It’s what I call “bad fast”—things that take little effort, and may seem harmless, but are destructive in the long run.

Some fast things, however, are “good fast.” They also happen quickly, but they’re great for your health and happiness in the long run. Things like:

• The immediate satisfaction that washes over you when you finish moving your body
• The delicious taste of the first bite of a meal prepared with your family
• The chemical boost of sharing a belly laugh with friends

Here’s the secret: most “good fast” things come from something slow. The long walk outside. The meal you took the time to cook from scratch. An evening spent connecting with friends. Slow has a way of leading us to something good. 

I know you’re busy. I know it’s hard to make time for things that matter, and, more than anything, it can be hard to go slow.

But slow is what gets you the good. And over time, it helps reduce your need for the bad. 

• Losing weight and keeping it off takes sustained habit change over time. It’s slow. But eventually, you realize you don’t want the bad food as much as you used to. 
• Eliminating your back pain takes consistent, slow effort to rebuild your strength and flexibility, and change your work habits. But it takes away the need for pain relief.
• Creating great relationships takes time—daily investments like family dinners, no-screen meals, and social events. But the connection reduces your need for retail therapy. 

The valuable stuff takes time. It takes patience and commitment. The good kind of fast comes slow. Don’t let the marketers convince you otherwise.

Here’s the situation. 

We are an aging population–and we are not aging well. Chronic disease is on the rise–and it’s intensive and expensive to treat. There are not enough people going into healthcare to fill the growing need.

You’ve heard the stories of people waiting in the ER for hours and patients lying in hallways. Loved ones waiting weeks for tests and imaging. It’s a perfect storm of rising need, rising costs, and fewer resources. 

It’s not for lack of caring. Our many colleagues in conventional medicine care deeply. They simply don’t have the resources to fight the perfect storm. As a result, healthcare is quickly becoming something you don’t want to need. 

But there is good news! Your need for healthcare as you age is something that you have more control over than you realize. Many chronic diseases are preventable or reversible. Better still, the best treatment tools for some of these diseases are within your control. 

You don’t need a referral to go for a walk.

You don’t have to wait in line to cook a healthy dinner at home.

You don’t have to pay out of pocket for time with a friend.

You don’t want to need health care–but you don’t have to wait to take charge.

The steps are simple. They are in your control. And you don’t need a referral.

• Get blood work done and monitor those results. We can help–no referral required.
• Quit smoking.
• Move your body every day–for real.
• Cook real food at home.
• Get enough sleep.
• Manage stress.
• Engage with people every day.
• Pursue purpose and be of use.

Study after study shows that these things prevent or reduce chronic disease. All of them decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancer. More importantly, all of them increase life quality, health, and happiness! 

You don’t need a referral to feel better!