How Good is the Evidence?

One of Dr. Tara’s family members was recently the recipient of a double lung and liver transplant. The miracle of him breathing with someone else’s lungs only five days after receiving them could not have happened without research, drugs and technology. Truly amazing.

One of the things we’re complimented on here at StoneTree is that we’re not anti-conventional medicine, and tend to be very analytical in our approach to assessment and diagnosis. Medical research has made enormous leaps, and we would never want to go back to a time when antibiotics were not available to deal with serious infections, or to a time when the medicine responsible for saving you from a heart attack did not exist.

There is the other side to the research coin though, when it comes to the drug management of chronic diseases, particularly those that are attributed to poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and chronic stress. These research studies, or at least how they are reported, may not what they seem.

Dr. Ben Goldacre MD, delivers a TEDtalk on the topic that is absolutely worth a listen:

How Can You Use This as a Patient?

1.  Be a skeptic and ask lots of questions. You are the expert on your own body.  If something doesn’t make sense to you keep asking questions until it does. You’re entitled to answers that you understand, and that make sense.

2.  Get to the root cause of your chronic disease. Eat real food, exercise, drink clean water, sleep and deal with your stress. The vast majority of chronic diseases, like Type II Diabetes, are lifestyle based. If you can change your lifestyle, you can avoid the use of the drugs in the first place. Then the evidence no longer matters.

What Are You Addicted To?

12861374_sTis the season for spring-cleaning, and it is not uncommon for the StoneTree naturopaths to start recommending a good spring detox.

Some of our patients tackle a change-of-season cleanse with great enthusiasm, but for many of us the thought of giving up booze, coffee, sugar, or gluten–just to name a few–seems a little more daunting.

We hear a lot of:

  • “But I only have one glass of wine a night”
  • “I’m just too busy to go gluten-free”
  • “I can’t wake up without a cup of coffee and it’s ONLY one, maybe two”
  • “But I heard chocolate is actually good for you”.

The great Wikipedia defines addiction as “the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences”, and these things would seem to fit the definition in many cases. Despite the fact that intake of these daily substances is causing weight gain, trouble sleeping, digestive complaints, or mood imbalances, we tend to stick with them.

Doctor, Heal Thyself: What Are The StoneTree Docs Addicted To?

As doctors, it’s so easy to see where our patients are getting in their own way. But what about us? During one recent case conference we focused the magnifying glass back on ourselves. Were any of us engaging in any repetitive behaviors despite adverse consequences? I think you can guess what the answer was. 🙂

Dr. Tara, a life-long coffee lover, has been having sleep issues. This is a brand new thing for the girl who could sleep in the middle of a raging house party. After months of telling her patients with insomnia to eliminate caffeine, it was time to face the facts. Could it be that her beloved morning coffee was actually the cause? Could it be that “one, maybe two cups in the morning” had gradually been creeping up and the odd post-lunch caffeine hit was becoming far too common?

One sure way to find out: Ditch the caffeine for 30 days and see what happens to the sleep.

Her strategy:

  1. Commit to it and tell everyone she is doing it. Her family knows (and they are scared), her friends know, her patients know, the hamster knows. For Tara this helps her stayed committed because she wants to keep her word.
  2. Find a substitute. The morning ritual of sharing a hot cup of coffee with her best guy is not something she was willing to give up. So she found a coffee substitute–Dandy Blend (available at Pure vegan restaurant).
  3. Monitor her original symptoms. Giving up something you are biochemically dependent on can lead to symptoms of withdrawal–in this case headaches, brain fog, and morning fatigue. Don’t forget to focus on the reason you are doing it in the first place–better sleep and decreased anxiety.
  4. Ask for support. The StoneTree team is a great support for getting the job done. The challenge was taken up by others on the team and we are all helping each other through it. It also helps that her hubby has stopped the coffee at home too….no early morning temptation…

Good luck with your spring cleaning!

What’s Wrong With Gluten?

12871809_sGoing gluten-free is very sexy at the moment. We’re getting rid of our “Wheat Belly“, cleaning up our “Grain Brain”, and—as any naturopathic doctor worth their salt already knows—patient after patient reports that ditching wheat is making them feel better.

But what is actually wrong with gluten? Most of us grew up eating cereal and pasta. Haven’t we been eating bread through the ages without worries?

The truth is the grains we eat now are not the same ones our ancestors ate. Things have changed. Here are a few of the reasons why those pesky little gluten proteins are causing big problems.

Gluten Content is Up
Gluten is a protein in grains that can be very irritating to the immune system in our guts–more of it around means you are more likely to react. Modern hybrid grains have more gluten. A lot more. Fifty years ago, wheat contained 1 % gluten–now it’s over 50%.

“Pre-Digestion” is Down
The yeast used in traditional breads would start the process of breaking down gluten before it was eaten. Modern bread-baking techniques, however, use commercial yeasts that make for quick rising and bread that looks and tastes the same every time. Those commercial yeasts don’t do a very good job of starting the breakdown of gluten.

We’re Eating “Food” Instead of Food
Most of the foods containing gluten that we eat are highly processed. White flour itself is bleached with chemicals. Commercial cookies and crackers are filled with preservatives and pesticide residues. Plastics from the bags they are stored in leech into the product. These chemicals are immune-disruptors, and make our immune systems more reactive then they should be.

Add these factors to a host of other new modern lifestyle conditions, and you’ve got a recipe for a massive range of conditions that gluten causes or complicates.

How serious is it? How do you make change when you’re in love with toast and pasta? How can you be gluten-free without being fun-free? You can join the amazing Dr. Shelby next Tuesday night here at the clinic in Collingwood to find out. Space is limited, and the event is free and open to the public. Call 705-444-5331 to reserve a spot, or email us!

Are Expired Medications Still Effective?

13936134_sI had a great question from a patient this month who was traveling south and wanted to know if the antibiotic she had which expired in 2011 was still good. Many of us have a medicine cabinet full of the medications that have gone past their expiry date. What to do with them. Are they safe? Are they effective? Should we pitch them and buy new replacements?

The US military had the same question but with much bigger stakes. The military stockpiles vast amounts of drugs for obvious reasons, and the expiry dates on the bottles forced them to face the option of throwing out an expensive pile of meds every few years. To figure out the best course, they commissioned a study to determine the safety and efficacy of expired drugs.

According to the study results, up to 90% of the 100 different medications they looked at were stable, safe and effective for up to 15 years after the expiry date. Drugs that didn’t have the shelf life? Nitroglycerin, insulin and liquid antibiotics.

What about our naturopathic products like supplements and herbal medicines? There has been no study like the one above, but it makes sense that much of the same would apply. Storing them properly in a cool, dark and dry place should help them keep their potency for many months past the date on the bottle. However, heat, light and moisture can absolutely affect the quality of vitamins–especially anti-oxidants–rendering them inactive.

And as for that bottle of antibiotics? It’s probably okay, but remember that your storage probably doesn’t meet military spec. If it’s an medication you’re counting on, you might need to replace it.

Why I Don’t Get Sick in Winter

icytara The other day Dan asked me, “When was the last time you got a cold where you couldn’t breathe at night?”

The question got me thinking. When was the last time?

I really couldn’t think of when it was. And not only has it been years since I had a winter cold that left me really congested, I’ve never missed a day of work in 12 years as a naturopathic doctor.

Why is that? I’m exposed to literally dozens of people a week who are coming into the clinic with colds and flus. If anyone is going to get sick often, it should be me. But I rarely do. Once in a while, but not for long.

There could be some luck there, but after more than a decade I think most of it is by design. Wellness is no accident. If you give your body good food, clean water, fresh air, sunshine, exercise and sleep it will usually give you back good health.

In the winter time I eat lots of veggies, and make sure the protein is there and in good quantity.  I exercise outside almost everyday and I sleep like a hibernating bear. If I eat well and exercise every day, I feel almost bulletproof.

When I do start to feel like I’m fighting something, I slow down even more, eat even healthier, drink lots of fluids and I enthusiastically use my tools – Echinacea, goldenseal, vitamin C both by mouth and by IV, to name but a few.

Viruses are everywhere. You can’t avoid them. We’re all exposed constantly. But it’s not about the viruses–it’s about what your body does when exposed to them.

Is your immune system strong because you move your circulation daily, hydrate yourself and fill your body with good food?

Or, is your immune system struggling with a diet filled with sugar and inflammatory foods, and a fluid intake of pop and caramel macchiato? Was Thanksgiving weekend the last time you took a breath of fresh air ?

Winter isn’t a recipe for sickness. We’ve been led to believe that getting sick is part of winter, but I think it’s not that simple. You might not get to avoid every cold, but you definitely get to choose how vulnerable you are. Get mildly sick once in a while for a day, or get knocked down for days at a time? That choice is up to you.

Collingwood and the Georgian Bay area give us such great opportunities to be well. So go eat some soup and get outside!

28 Days of Gratitude

11769520_sLast year I set a New Years resolution about happiness. I committed to myself that I was going to focus on daily happiness for 365 days.  When I started on January 1st, I really had no idea how I was going to do that. How the year evolved turned out to be quite interesting.

On January 1st I started a journal and committed to writing in it every night. I started the exercise with rating my happiness in several aspects of my life–things like family, work, health, and money, to name a few. I gave each category a score out of 10 and for every category that wasn’t a 10/10 I would write down actions that could be taken to make it a 10/10.

This carried on for a month or two and then my journal entries started to change all by themselves–focusing less on changing the things I was unhappy about and more celebrating all the things that I was happy about. By the end of the 3rd quarter the entries were just about being grateful in general for everything in my life. What was interesting that even on my most crabby, cold and PMS-y days, when I would go to bed and write down at least three things I was grateful for that day, I would get a complete state change, going to bed happier and more contented.

The more I was focused on being grateful, the happier I got, the more connected I felt to others, and the more fun I had.  2013 turned out to be a BLAST!!!

The 28 Days of Gratitude Challenge

This winter has been a hard one to be happy in. The February “blues” are going to be in full swing this year so we’ve decided to embark on a 28-day challenge that might just help. Here’s what the team at StoneTree is going to do.

Starting Feb 1, we’ll write down each day at least three things we are grateful for on that day. It can be in the morning, before bed, with lunch–it doesn’t matter, as long as it happens everyday. That’s it!

We’d love you to join us! We challenge you be grateful, in writing, every day. Don’t forget to rate your happiness from 1-10 in all of these areas the day you start:

1.   Self
2.   Work
3.   Relationship/Marriage
4.   Family/Kids
5.   Finances
6.   Health
7.   Friends/Community/Social
8.   Overall

Put you scores away for 28 days where you won’t see them, and then rank yourself again at the end of the challenge. Let us know how you did and if they changed.

Happy February everyone!!

The 80/20 Rule for Holidays

Many of our patients have done an amazing job at changing their habits over the year. They’ve given up gluten, given up sugar, passed over the cheese, and have been hitting the gym. They are taking their vitamins and coming for regular maintenance treatments.

After years of suffering with IBS, chronic fatigue, joint pain and many, many other conditions, their symptoms are going away, or have completely gone, and they are finally feeling better. They can sleep, they have energy, their mood is balanced, and elimination is working–HURRAY!

Then Christmas happens.

Sugar, chocolate, shortbread, cheese. Hours spent eating with no time for exercise. Sleep? Who needs sleep? An extra glass of wine, another cup of coffee, and just keep going. It is a season that puts fear into the newly balanced body–and it should.

Our new habits are so easily run of the rails by the age-old traditions of the holiday season. Traditions that are focused on Christmas baking, potato latkes and booze instead of healthy eating and exercise.

Our advice? Don’t sweat it! Think 80/20.

In reality, much of indulgences over the holiday season aren’t every day, every meal. They don’t take up every hour of every day. If you really look at it, it probably works out to about 80/20, meaning 80% normal life and 20% Christmas crazy.

Enjoy your holiday traditions and fully be conscious in them. The rest of the time, say no to the sugar, make a green smoothie and squeeze in 30 minutes outside in the fresh air. It really will make the holiday season less scary.

New Statin Drug Guidelines

12354003_sLast week the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released new guidelines with respect to the use of statin drugs (cholesterol lowering drugs) for the management of heart and stroke risk.

The new drug, according to this New York Times article, divides people needing treatment into two broad risk categories.

If you are at high risk–you have diabetes, have already had a heart attack, or have LDL cholesterol levels of 190 or more–you simply  take the drug. The amount by which it lowers your cholesterol is irrelevant. You just need to keep taking it.

If you aren’t in the first risk group, you are to determine your 10-year risk. The risk assessor takes into account your gender, age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and smoking. If you score greater than 7.5%, you will be recommended to take the drug regardless of your cholesterol levels.

A Better Guideline

Statin research has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years. The argument in favour of statins is that they reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

In fact, there’s far better evidence to support that the following will decrease your risk of heart and stroke: Quit smoking, lose weight, exercise daily, get on an anti-inflammatory diet (by avoiding your food intolerances), manage your stress and support your adrenal glands.

The side effect of the drug? Muscle pain and liver damage (to name a few). The side effect of actually changing your risk factors? Better energy, better sleep, normal weight, better mood and self-confidence, balanced hormones and healthier body.

Taking a drug to manage risk might feel easier, but it sure isn’t better. Ask for help and make the changes to your life. You can do it!

28-Day Challenge Update

18349551_sWe’re mid-way into the second week of our 28-Day Challenge. Here are a few ups and downs over the past ten days or so.

On the sugar front: 

  • Kendra and Tara were both at parties, both drinking, and both putting sugar into our mouths. Oops! Man, does a glass or two of vino cloud the mind and shake the resolve.

On the exercise front:

  • With the time change, evening time walks are forcing our better-halves to get involved. A side benefit to the challenge: it’s getting our loved one more active (not sure our loved ones think it’s a benefit).

On the water front: 

  • Getting enough fluids is most challenging for Tara. As the most committed coffee drinker, she often starts her day off in the hole with respect to water intake. A 12oz glass right out of bed and drinking her breakfast, in the form of a green smoothie really helps.

What We’re Having For Lunch

10231931_sThe latest from the StoneTree lunchroom. Given our 28-Day Challenge, you know these options are at least sugar-free! Enjoy…:) – Tara

Shelby (Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)

  • Tofu curry over top fresh arugula (You can find the recipe, and many others, on Shelby’s website)

Kendra (Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)

  • Vegetarian Curry: Patak’s Tikka Marsala with mixed beans, broccoli, red pepper, peas and onions

Tara  (Vegetarian)

  • Falafel Salad:  Casbah falafel mix cooked in canola oil.  Served over mixed greens with cucumber, tomato, feta and roasted seeds.