Category: Success stories

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!

All doctors love when their patients get better, and as naturopathic doctors, we often get the joy of seeing people with long-standing symptoms heal.

A 55-year old man recently came into the clinic with symptoms of severe phlegm in his throat every time he ate.  His stomach was always uncomfortable, he was sensitive to his environment, and he couldn’t swallow properly. Years of appointments, tests and discomfort had finally led him to our office.

A simple lab test helped us diagnose a severe food intolerance to dairy, eggs and gluten. After five weeks of maintaining a diet free of those foods, all his symptoms resolved.

These were symptoms he had lived with for years. They were also symptoms that, according to conventional medicine, had nothing to do with food. But as we’re all discovering, food is medicine, and sometimes our chronic, longstanding health complaints are as simple as changing what we put in our mouths.

There’s really a simple 3 step process at work when it comes to a suspected food intolerance:

1. Get a food intolerance test. The cost is reasonable, and while you can easily experiment on your own with adding and removing foods from your diet, the test narrows the field so you’re not randomly eliminating foods for months and months.
2. Do an elimination diet. Remove any suspected foods for 4 weeks. Dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar, eggs, yeast are the most common culprits.
3. Reintroduce the foods slowly. If you’ve eliminated multiple groups, you’ll need to reintroduce them one at a time. Watch your symptoms closely.

Once the body balances, some people are able to eventually tolerate foods they once couldn’t. Others may have to avoid them permanently. The end result in both cases is the same, though: a much happier stomach! 🙂