Category: Articles

A Healing Journey to Grail Springs

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | 1 Comment on A Healing Journey to Grail Springs

Grail-SpringsThe road to healing can be a bumpy one. Getting there frequently requires us to make many difficult lifestyle changes. We need to give up our addictions to sugar, coffee or booze. We need to move our bodies, and eat more vegetables. We may need to go through the often painful process of detoxification of the body and mind. And we need to rest and recharge.

All of this can seem impossible to tackle in our day-to-day routine.

I had the fortunate experience of stumbling upon a local treasure that helps people do just that – Grail Springs Spa, in beautiful Bancroft, about three hours north east of Collingwood.

At Grail Springs you are lovingly and gently guided on your road to healing. Set on a beautiful mineral lake in the Kawarthas, this magical place truly recharges the body and soul. Packages include all food, which is vegetarian and organic, and there is no sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol or coffee.

There are yoga classes everyday, along with meditation, inspirational talks, films and forest hikes. Guests stay in beautiful rooms with the comfiest sheets you have ever felt, and enjoy the most healing and detoxifying spa treatments I have experienced.Grail Springs

I was there for three nights and it felt like I was gone for a week. I can home fully nourished, fully detoxified and fully rested.

I already have a relationship with healthy eating and exercise, so I knew how well I would feel after this experience. For others who are not as far down the path, this lovely spa takes care of all the details. You simply show up at the table, show up at the classes and show up at your treatments. You allow them to hold your hand through the first part of the journey – the really bumpy part. Once you get through it and realize how well you feel, it becomes much easier to incorporate the difficult changes into your day-to-day life.

Thanks, Grail Springs!

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Incurable?

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | 1 Comment on Incurable?

After a decade in practice, I’m still perplexed by conventional notions of what’s “curable” and what’s not.

  • Why do we heal from the flu, but only go into remission from cancer?
  • Why does a specific set of test results mean we have type 2 diabetes forever, even if we change our lifestyle and reduce that blood sugar to normal levels?
  • Why is Crohn’s “incurable” even though many people never experience symptoms again once they change their diet?

Remission is a term we use when we expect a disease to return. But is expecting something to return really the most helpful way to approach it?

My experience–and that of thousands of others–is that healing from many chronic diseases is possible. It might be that changing our perspective begins with changing our language.

 

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Something Old, Something New

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Something Old, Something New

Hi All,

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. A couple of quick clinic updates you might find interesting, including a new resource by request!

-Tara

New Face: Lori Prest, RN

Please join us in welcoming Lori Prest, RN to the StoneTree Naturopathic Team.  Lori is our new colon hydrotherapist and brings many years of experience in the world of complementary medicine to our team here in Collingwood.

StoneTree has been offering colon hydrotherapy for the past 3 years.  This safe and effective treatment tool is a powerful method of detoxifying the liver, as the bowel is responsible for getting rid of the body’s fat soluble toxins.

Fall is one of the best times to detoxify to boost both your energy levels and immune function for the coming winter months.  If you are interested in learning more about colon hydrotherapy contact the office at 705-444-5331.

Our Archived Articles, Now Online

We’ve written dozens of articles for various publications over the years, and we get frequent requests for them. You can now find the growing collection here:

https://stonetreeclinic.com/about/articles/

We’ll be adding more over the next week as we get everything compiled online.

Enjoy!

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Ending the War on Salt

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Ending the War on Salt

For years, salt has been an “enemy” in our diet. As naturopaths, we hold a somewhat different view of sodium (see below) and it’s one that’s beginning to gain more and more traction in the media.

Scientific American published a piece last month, “It’s Time to End the War on Salt” that suggests that there’s little evidence that reducing the salt in our diet has much long-term benefit.

From the article:

“This week a meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects in the American Journal of Hypertension found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure. In May European researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the less sodium that study subjects excreted in their urine—an excellent measure of prior consumption—the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease. These findings call into question the common wisdom that excess salt is bad for you, but the evidence linking salt to heart disease has always been tenuous.”

For a naturopathic perspective on just why salt isn’t the big hairy deal that we’ve been making it out to be for years, I’ve included an article that appeared in The Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin last summer. Enjoy! – Tara

***

Making Sense of Sodium
by Tara Gignac, ND

A look at the daily news tells us sodium is implicated in such high profile health concerns as high blood pressure and heart disease. And to be fair, it’s true: sodium is a problem. But the reality is that it’s only half the problem.

Sodium does a lot of good in our body.  It helps our nerves and muscles work properly, and maintains our pH and water balance. Without sufficient sodium, we’d die.

But here in North America we’re not in any danger of dying of a sodium deficiency. We’re putting back a whopping 3200 mg on average – more than triple our cavemen ancestors.

But there’s more to the story. It’s not just sodium, but the ratio of sodium to another mineral, potassium, that’s important for our health. Potassium is sodium’s soulmate  – the two complement each other in the body, and while our high sodium intake does throw off the ratio, we’re also consuming about a quarter of the potassium that our ancient ancestors did. That makes the imbalance even worse.

It also means, though, that we can tackle the sodium problem from both ends: by reducing our sodium intake and increasing our potassium intake. The simple formula? Decrease your processed foods (high sodium) and increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, which tend to be higher in potassium, to a minimum of 10 servings a day.

Tara Gignac, ND practices at StoneTree Clinic in Collingwood, ON. You can learn more about your sodium levels by booking a complimentary visit with a naturopathic doctor at 444-5331, or www.StoneTreeClinic.com

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A Different Perspective on Weight Gain

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on A Different Perspective on Weight Gain

I read about an interesting study recently.

In the 1970’s, researchers removed the ovaries of healthy, normal weighted rats who had unlimited access to food. After the surgery the rats became ravenous, ate far more food then was necessary and became obese.

At first glance, this seems logical – eat more then you need, you get fat. Not that interesting.

It’s the follow-up study, though, that really makes for an interesting story.  The researchers again removed the ovaries of healthy, normal weighted rats, but this time put them on a calorie restricted diet. According to conventional wisdom, this should have solved the weight gain problem. It didn’t. In fact, the rats still became obese.  The difference was they also became completely sedentary. They only moved to eat.

It seems as if the rat’s new physiology (resulting from having the ovaries taken away) changed the amount of fat the body “wanted” to store – it changed the fat regulation. To reach the new fat “set point”, the rats compensated by eating more, or if that wasn’t an option, moving less.

The physiology, in other words, created the behaviour, the behaviours did not create the physiology. They ate more or moved less because they were storing fat…not the other way around.

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Is Your Calcium Supplement Increasing Heart Attack Risk?

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Is Your Calcium Supplement Increasing Heart Attack Risk?

New research in the British Medical Journal, reported up to a 24% increased risk of heart attack in post-menopausal women taking calcium supplements.  As most of my 50+ female patients are being told to take between 1200-1800mg of calcium a day by their MD’s, I know this research will result in a lot of questions.

The medical community is questioning the validity of the study, which is to be expected. It’s a long-accepted truth in conventional medicine that women need calcium in very high doses to build bone, and paradigm shifts happen very slowly in medicine.

Understanding Calcium

As a naturopathic doctor, this tentative finding isn’t as surprising. When you have an understanding of how the body works at a biochemical level, the possible calcium-heart attack connection may make some sense.

Calcium has many important functions in the body, but it doesn’t work alone. It actually works in concert with, or in balance with, other nutrients.  When you put calcium in the body in much higher amounts than normal, the other nutrients may not be present in high enough amounts to either support or balance what the calcium is doing.

Calcium is a contractor of muscles. All muscles, including, of course, the heart. Magnesium, calcium’s more chilled-out brother, is the relaxer of muscles.  These two nutrients work in concert to effectively contract and then subsequently relax our muscles.  With this relationship in mind, it might not be a stretch to consider that if you supplement calcium by itself at very high doses, there may not be enough magnesium around to balance it out and help our muscles to relax.

Want to read more about the study? http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-calcium-heart-20110420,0,4042620.story

Questions about your current calcium supplements? Just contact the office at 705-444-5331 or [email protected].

-Tara

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5 Natural Products That Can Interfere With Conventional Cancer Care

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on 5 Natural Products That Can Interfere With Conventional Cancer Care

April is Cancer awareness month. Here’s our most recent article from the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin – please pass on to any friends or family that might find it helpful! – Tara

It’s easy to assume that natural solutions are also risk-free ones. But as the complexity of a health complaint increases, so do the stakes in self-prescribing. That’s certainly the case with cancer care.

There are supplements and nutrients that can affect cancer treatment, either by inadvertently promoting cancer growth, or by interfering with conventional care.

  1. St John’s Wort and some other herbs like Echinacea, Licorice, Ginseng and Gingko have been shown to interfere with the metabolism of chemotherapeutic drugs. This can be extremely dangerous because many chemotherapeutics have a narrow safe range of use. By taking these herbs you may inadvertently make those drugs ineffective or, worse still, toxic.
  2. Iron favors cancerous cell growth by forming free radicals and suppressing the immune system. Iron-rich sites in the body are often sites of primary cancer growth. There is evidence that the host cells and cancer cells fight over iron – the reason for this is largely unknown. Be cautious and choose multivitamins that are free of, or very low in, iron.
  3. Copper is essential for cancer cells to grow their own blood vessels to ensure they have a continuous supply of nutrients. Anti-copper drugs and diets have been shown to diminish the ability of tumors to make these blood vessels. Choose multivitamins that are low in or free from copper.
  4. Quercetin should not be taken with chemotherapeutics in the taxane family such as Taxol.  It prevents the cancer cell from taxol-induced death, making the drugs less effective.
  5. Curcumin is indicated in many types of cancers, but can interfere with certain chemotherapeutics especially Adriamycin, and Cytoxan.  It inhibits the activation of an enzyme essential to the drugs effectiveness.

Consult a doctor trained in supplement and nutrient interactions before taking any natural health product while undergoing conventional cancer treatment.

You can book a 15-min complimentary visit with a Collingwood naturopath to learn more about alternative cancer care by calling 705-444-5331.

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Disease Clusters & Environmental Toxins

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Disease Clusters & Environmental Toxins

US Today reported this week on a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council in the US which identified possible “disease clusters” in various US states.

Disease clusters are disease incidences that are higher then national averages and cannot be due to chance along. Among the conditions mentioned were MS, cancer, ALS and various birth defects.

The purpose of the report is to look more closely at the link between environmental toxins and these increased disease incidence. You can find the US Today article here.

The evidence for the impact of everyday chemicals on our health continues to climb, as does public interest. If you‘d like learn more, keep your calendar open on Friday, May 13th, 7-9PM. We’ll be welcoming environmental medicine expert (and great speaker!) Dr. Walter Crinnion, author of Clean, Green and Lean to the Gayety Theatre in Collingwood.

Dr. Crinnion will speak on the connection between chemical exposure and cancer and chronic diseases. All proceeds go to support the environment network! Click here for more info and tickets.

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Safely Navigating Cancer Care Alternatives

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Safely Navigating Cancer Care Alternatives

April is Cancer awareness month, and we have a couple of cancer-related events coming up – a free public talk on safe alternative cancer care, as well as a live event with environmental medicine expert Dr. Walter Crinnion at the Gayety Theatre in Collingwood.

I thought I’d share one of our recent newspaper articles on safely navigating the confusing waters of cancer care.
– Tara

*****

Speaking Up About Your Alternative Cancer Care
By Lia Sonnenburg, ND & Tara Gignac, ND

Nearly one half of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment are also using some type of complementary or alternative treatment as well.

It’s not a surprising statistic. A cancer diagnosis can be a frightening experience, and the journey through care can be no less harrowing. An option that provides help, hope and a sense of control can be a welcome option.

What you might find more surprising, though, is that the majority of those patients—some 75%—don’t tell their oncologist about their other care.

Why Patients Don’t Tell

Many patients report that their oncologist’s default response to alternatives is, “No.” It’s discouraging for patients, but it’s not unreasonable. Oncologists aren’t trained in how alternative treatments work or how they might interact or interfere with conventional care. The safe answer is to manage that risk by confining care to what they know best.

But patients want to default to yes. People want to do everything they can to heal and survive. So they take the supplement from the friend of a friend, and they don’t tell their oncologist because they don’t want to be told no.

Who To Tell

Many alternative cancer therapies are supported by great research, both inside and outside of conventional settings. Others are not. And some can be harmful to conventional treatment protocols. Knowing the difference takes more than a Google search. Going it alone is not a safe option.

Consider sharing both with your oncologist, and with a health care professional familiar with alternatives to make sure you get the best care possible.

If you or someone you know is confused by their care, or overwhelmed by their choices, you can attend our free session on March 30th at the clinic, or call 705-444-5331 to book a complimentary 15-minute appointment with a Collingwood naturopath. We’ll be happy to answer all your questions.

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Collingwood Spring Running Clinic

Posted on | by Tara Gignac, ND | Leave a Comment on Collingwood Spring Running Clinic

2011 is the year I start running again.  I took 2010 off and focused on building strength and flexibility with regular yoga, which worked beautifully. March 20 will mark the first day of spring, and the day I hit the trails.

For anyone interested in an organized running group, check out Maximum Physiotherapy’s Spring Running Clinic in Collingwood. Sue and Brock offer a great program.  It starts March 22, 2011.  To learn more, visit http://www.maximumphysiotherapy.com/News-And-Events/Spring-2011-Running-Clinic/a~2481–c~344601/article.html

If you don’t fancy running but like to read, check out Born to Run by Chris MacDougall. Yes, it may seem strange to read a book about running if you don’t run, but if you’re not even a little intrigued to put on running shoes after reading it, I’ll treat you to an organic energy bar at the clinic… 🙂

-Tara

Isn’t it time someone cared about your health like you do?

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