All posts by Sushma Shah

Boosting Your Kid’s And Your Immune System Using Natural Remedies

As the weather gets colder and the holidays draw near, most parents complain how their kids are always coming home with sniffles all the time, and how they seem to catch everything at the drop of a dime. Colds, coughs and influenza. Most parents complain that they themselves seem to catch all the everything their kids bring home too. It would be difficult or nearly impossible to clear out all the microbes we come in contact with, it would be beneficial to improve the immune function se we are better prepared to fight off and ward off harmful microbes that can cause common illness such as colds and coughs. Here are some suggestions to boost your immune function naturally.

1. Practice hand washing. Very important and self explanatory. Through out the day we keep on touching all sorts of things that are laden with different microbes that can cause various illness, hence the simplest and easiest way is to wash your hands properly and often. If you are out and about, keep a hand sanitizer with you at all times.

2 Getting enough sleep.  Our lifestyles these days are so hectic from work, kids and lifestyles that we barely have enough time to look after ourselves, leave alone sleep, which is what gets compromised the most. Most people barely get 6 hours of sleep! Why is sleeping at least 7 or more hours important for your immune system to work properly? Your body needs rest to rejuvenate / replenish and sleep is what does that for us. If we do not get enough sleep on a consistent basis, various hormones in our body get affected, one is particular – is the cortisol hormone – which helps the body adapt to stress. Stress is anything that puts the body out of its normal state of being and a consistent lack of sleep, does suppress our immune function, which leaves us more prone to getting sick often.

3. Eating fruits and vegetables laden with Vitamin C  – Vitamin C helps to boost the immune function and is important for adrenal glands to function properly. Adrenal glands help the body deal with stress. Dark coloured fruits and vegetables are high in Vitamin C, so having a diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables helps to obtain this Vitamin naturally and in the right form and helps to fight off bugs and keep our body functioning properly.

4. Drinking lots of water –  Fluids help to eliminate all the toxins as well as thin out of mucus, especially when you have congestion. Various teas such as ginger, rose hips, camomile and mint are not only good in taste but also have healing properties and are good for your immune function as well.

5. Exercise – Moderate amounts of exercise are good, not only for the heart and relieving stress but also to improve circulation of blood and your white blood cells are fight off microbes in the body. Its important as well to try to reduce our stress levels, as usually stress will suppress your immune function and leave you more prone to getting sick often. If you have been trying all sorts of natural remedies but still seem to get sick often, your adrenal glands may not be functioning optimally. Talk to your naturopath about testing your adrenal glands.

By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

How Does The Seasonal Time Change Affect You And Your Pets?

Each year we go through this time change 1 hour back and forth, but did you ever wonder how the body feels because of the time change? and how to our pets react to the time change?

Our bodies have their internal clocks that are very much in tune with the day light and any change in the amount of day light we get, will definitely affect how the body perceives the day and the night, so as the days get shorter and daylight decreases, the body does go through an adjustment period. How long does adjustment period last? Usually a few weeks!

The body produces a sleeping hormone that called melatonin, which is produced in body at night after the sun goes down and the stress hormone – cortisol production declines at about 11:00 pm and peaks at about 2:00 am in the morning. As the time changes, an hour back and forth, it puts the body in a little bit of a confusion state for some time and it takes it some time to get used to the new times. However, during this process, the body may go through symptoms of feeling tired and unrested, and quite often a feeling of just not feeling that well. Do not worry, as long as you keep to your routines and your scheduled sleeping times of 7 – 8 hours a night, the body will recover sooner than later. If you are chronically sleep deprived, then this transition will make it worse. Please check out the insomnia article for how to improve your sleep patterns naturally using naturopathic medicine.

What about our furry friends? Do they experience this too? I believe they absolutely do. Their schedules are really dependent on what our schedules look like, they are usually up before us and may or may not sleep after we go to bed, but they definitely are affected by what we do and at what time. Being a pet friend, i can attest to that. As the time to do things and leave for work changes, they to go through a short adjustment period, absolutely.

So to make the transition smoother naturally, try to drink more water to keep you hydrated and try to get enough sleep, at least 7 – 8 hours a night. If you are feeling wiped or tired, try to increase the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and this will help to improve the nutrient status in the body. Try to stay away from stimulants such as caffeine and refined sugars and carbohydrates, which will make you feel better for a short period of time, followed by a crash period. Moderate exercise would be helpful as well to improve your hormone levels and decrease your stress levels.

By: Sushma  Shah, Naturopathic Doctor in Toronto, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Naturopathic Weight Loss Tips

Everyone who has been trying to loose weight will try all sorts of different things that will help loose weight and hopefully fast, without much effort. But in truth it is important to loose weight gradually and hopefully keep it off.  Many restrictive diets will cause quick weight loss but in order to loose weight and keep it off, you need to first establish a lifestyle and diet that is feasible for a long time to come without skimping on healthy nutritious foods. Of course quantity is important and eating too much or too little will effect your metabolism as well. Here is a compilation of simple naturopathic weight loss tips from me to you:

1.  Establish regular meal times.  Try not to skip any meals because skipping meals leads to overeating later in the day.  If you don’t have time for a full meal, try to eat a healthy snack or meal replacement bar instead. When you skip a meal, your blood sugar drops and your stress hormone cortisol increase as result to increase the amount of blood sugar in the body, which in turn will also effect your lipid levels in the blood.  Its important to establish regular meal times and eat often.

2.  Make small substitutions in your diet to cut calories. Calories add up quickly especially when you are trying to be mindful about eating healthy. Whenever possible go for foods that are alternate to high calorie foods such as water, diet soda, or unsweetened iced tea instead of high-calorie drinks.  Choose low-calorie and low-fat versions of salad dressing, cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise.  Go easy on fried foods – bake, broil, poach, or grill your food instead. Instead of sugar, try stevia instead which is a plant sweetener with minimal calories and best of all its guilt free!!!

3.  Read food labels when you are purchasing food items.  Did you know that most of us are not aware of how much a portion size amounts to?  Take a bowl of cereal for example. Most of us who are trying to be vigilant with the amount of empty calories we consume in a day would not think that a bowl of healthy cereal is too much right? Wrong. If you read the labels of the foods you purchase, you will be shocked to realize that what we consider a portion size is very different from what the manufacturer thinks mount to a serving size. Hence pay very close attention to the portion size, the number of calories in each portion, and the amount of saturated fat in each portion.  This can help you make the healthiest food choices.

4.  Measure your servings to control the amount.  Usually when you are you hungry, you will fill up your plate to the nines and chomp as quickly as you can, without realizing you will have probably consumed way more calories than required for a sitting. What does your body do with the extra calories?  It usually uses some for energy, but the rest its stores away. So rather than eating with your eyes, pre-portion your servings so you are not overeating and skip the seconds. So when you feel like snacking on something such as chips or ice- cream, only take a handful or 1/2 a cup of chips and a scoop of ice cream instead of grabbing the whole bag or tub.

5.  Identify “guilty pleasures” such as ice cream, cookies, or potato chips.  Continue to enjoy them by trying the low-calorie versions or eating less of the regular versions. Guilty pleasures usually come in to play when you are feeling down and upset, right?  We tend to go for all those yummy tasty treats that makes us feel so much better for a few minutes but only take a few hours of intense activity to burn off. So whenever you are feeling down and emotionally upset or charged, instead of grabbing that bag of cookies, pick up your sneakers and a water bottle and go for a jog instead and burn out that frustration instead. If you really feel like munching on something – try carrot sticks or celery sticks instead of carbohydrate rich foods. Try to pre plan what you are going to be eating as opposed to eating on the go and then just grabbing something on the way – such as fast food. This will save you time and money and unwanted calories!

6. Controlling calories when dining out.  This is a common question for many patients who feel that once they are put on a mindful diet, they cannot eat out and enjoy the social aspects of eating out and enjoying food. So here are a few tips: If you are eating at a fast food restaurant, order kid size meals or “downsize” food and drinks instead of “super-sizing” them.  Check the nutrition portion of the food and make sure its a healthy option, healthy options are both tasty and nutritious, and of course guilt free. If you are eating with a friend or two, share the appetizers and meals, so you can enjoy more variety as well. If you order a salad, ask for the dressing on the side as opposed to on the salad, and pick low fat dressings. Try to make simple substitutions to your meals, and without realizing it, you will be down a dress size in no time and have lost some weight without even trying.

7. Avoid places and situations that trigger eating. If certain routes and neighborhoods trigger certain behaviors that are not healthy for you, then you are best avoiding them,  for example, if walking past the donut shop causes donut cravings, try changing your route.  Replace the candy on your desk with fruit or avoid walking near the office candy bowl.  Avoid eating while watching television, reading, or driving.  Quite often a lot of things we do are done even without thinking and this is the case when it comes to putting food in the mouth / snacking  when you are busy concentrating on other things, and before you know it, you have consumed more than you should have, so try to concentrate on one thing at a time, without mindless eating.

By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Boost Your Immunity With The Right Vitamin C Supplement

As fall rolls around and the weather gets colder, people generally stock up on all kinds of Vitamin C supplements from chewable to powders to pills hoping to stave off nasty colds and coughs lurking everywhere in the environment around us. Walking into a health food store to pick up some vitamins can be rather frustrating these days as you go through aisles filled with various supplements from so many different companies, each trying to compete against one another claiming to be the better than the last one. This seems to be a common theme with simple Vitamin C supplements – that are now available in 50 or more different forms, so what is the best one to purchase without breaking the bank with so many choices?

Here are a few simple things to remember when purchasing any type of Vitamin C.

Vitamin C, when found in fruits and vegetables, is bound to bioflavonoids. This type of Vitamin C is complete and has great benefits on the body such as improving immune function, improving the integrity of capillaries and structural tissues in the body such as skin and is great at sequestering free radicals form the body as an antioxidant. Whole food Vitamin C supplements work the best on the body. Vitamin C that is usually purchased from health food stores come in various forms such as plain ascorbic acid – separated from the bioflavonoids, which can sometimes be too acidic for the body, and so now we also have it esterified with Calcium – usually called Ester C.  This is a buffered form of C and less acidic for the body. The best form of Vitamin C is the one that contains bioflavonoids such as hesperidin and quercitin, making it a complete Vitamin C; the way nature intended it to be. Quite often, rosehips are added which are great source of Vitamin C, and are great for boosting the immune system and have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well.

The more isolated forms of pharmaceutical ascorbic acid are okay but in order to get the complete effect of Vitamin C, the whole food supplements fare better.

Pills versus powders?  Powders or liquids are easier to digest and  better absorbed into the blood streams, followed by capsules and caplets.

By Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Be Allergy-Free This Fall Naturally

As the season changes, giving way to beautiful fall colors and crisp balmy nights, the external environment around us changes. The air becomes saturated with tiny allergen particles released from ragweed, triggering allergic symptoms in thousands of allergy sufferers such as runny nose, sneezing and itchy eyes among other symptoms amongst seasonal allergy sufferers.

Majority of the allergy sufferers turn to anti- histamines to feel better and get some reprieve of allergy symptoms for a few hours until the effects of the medicines wear off. In order to rid yourself of allergies, it is important to realize why the symptoms occur in the first place. An allergic reaction is caused by a dysfunctional immune system over reacting to the proteins of various food or environmental particles. Stress, diet, lifestyle and the amount of sleep will influence how your immune system functions. Here are a few tips to improve your immune function naturally:

1. Try to get a minimum of 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep daily. Sleep is crucial to allow the body to replenish and rejuvenate itself. A continuous lack of sleep will eventually lead to immune suppression and dysfunction, leaving you prone to getting sick more often. As well, allergies are caused by an immune system dysfunction, and a lack of sleep will definitely indirectly affect how badly your body reacts to allergens.

2. Increase the amount of good fats – essential fatty acids in your diet with nuts, seeds, oils and fish (as long as you are not allergic to them). They help to decrease the inflammatory response and also decrease the histamine release in your blood stream, which usually causes the itchy hives and the rashes in the allergic reactions, among other symptoms.

3. Decrease your intake of foods that cause inflammation in your bodytest your blood for food allergens, and once testing is done, eliminate problem foods from your diet. This will help not only improve your health, but also tone down the severity and frequency of the allergic reactions.

4. Keep your body hydrated! Drink lots of water to thin the secretions and ease phlegm expectoration.

5. Avoid mucus – producing foods such as dairy, bananas and oranges, which can thicken mucus and increase congestion.

6. Reduce your stress levels and improve your adrenal function, with a combination of B vitamins. These help not only with stress but also improve immune function as well as adrenal function and mood.

7. Vitamin C has anti – inflammatory properties. Increase your intake of Vitamin C during acute flare up to up to 1000mg four to five times a day for a few days. Its is important to make sure you take the right type of vitamin C. Please talk to our naturopath at our Toronto naturopathic clinic before ingesting of any supplements.

8. Allergies are often related to the digestion and assimilation of nutrients from foods in the digestive system. Hence, optimizing digestive function as well as alkalinizing your diet will enhance the assimilation and utilization of nutrients, which in turn will help your immune function.  You can test your digestive capabilities with stool testing that we offer at our naturopathic clinic.

9. Avoiding foods that are known allergens such as wheat, eggs, milk, chocolates, nuts, seafood and citrus foods may improve respiratory allergy symptoms significantly. Try eliminating them for about two weeks and watch for an improvement.

By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Living Life With Integrity Naturally

Everyone in their own character and abilities tries to do right by what comes to them or by what they have learnt or what they see around them, but yet quite often people seem to do things that would harm or hurt others, and not really benefit them either, so how does one go about living their life with integrity?

Life is but a journey, that takes one from one point to another, with lots of stops in between to experience, enjoy, learn, repent, what ever our purpose maybe. So in order to live life with integrity, once must decide what is important in their life in terms of respect from others, whether they wish to be treated the same way as they would others, and remember what ever goes around comes around.

  • Here is a simple example – if you are jealous about someone for what they have achieved and continue to achieve, you can either degrade your self and your morals, and write or talk bad about them or wish them ill,  hoping this will affect their success or try to bring them down with your untrue thoughts and actions, or you can learn something positive from these individuals who struggle hard to keep their honesty and keep their head above the water, and manage to get somewhere is life – this is called living with integrity in a small way.

Everything you send out into the universe will come back to you… in the way you sent it out, so the best way to really live your life with integrity is by being true to yourself and understanding that everything has a consequence, positive or negative and that what ever you have done, will eventually catch up to you naturally.

As a naturopathic doctor, I am glad I have been given this opportunity to lead my life in the least harmful day, helping people on their journey to recovering health and helping them heal one day at a time… the only ulterior motive here for me is that I want to see them experience optimum health – mind, body and spirit. The greatest success for me is when clients come back feeling 90 – 100 % better with the changes they made in their life, without harming them in any way shape or form. Well, that is my 2 cents worth on living with integrity.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor at the Natures Intentions Naturopathic Clinic in Toronto.

Treating Eczema With Natural Remedies

Eczema is a skin condition that affects the young, the old and everyone in between. The classic presentation symptoms range from dry scaly patches or wet blistering clumps that can be intensely itchy and painful, and often bleed when scratched.  The traditional way of treating eczema has been the application of corticosteroid creams of different percentages on the affected areas or the use of thick moisturizers and at best being tested for skin allergies but with no available treatments for those allergies except for antihistamines.

The physical appearance and related symptoms are frustrating and debilitating for the most sane of us, and exhausting especially for parents who newborns have been diagnosed with eczema, especially since they did not already have enough to deal with on their plates to add to their sleepless nights. Psychologically it can do a number on most of us. So what are some of the alternative natural remedies that we as naturopathic doctors use for our clients?

The naturopathic way of treating eczema is not to hand out immunosuppressant creams or ointments, but to assist the body in its healing this vicious symptom. Eczema is usually caused by allergens that could be ingested or topical or in the environment of the individual and usually exacerbated by the climate and stress. Its the body hypersensitive reaction that causes the itching and the red rashes at times, and eliminating the offending cause is usually how naturopathic medicine works to treat eczema.

In order to provide relief from the symptoms, and get rid of the eczema, one must first treat the root of the problem. Allergens are the most common culprits but its not necessarily allergens that cause anaphylactic reactions. Generally I find that mild food allergies cause eczema in over 70 % of the clients. Stress may bring on a flare up of eczema as well, hence stress management techniques are key to tone down an over active immune system. A change in the climate may bring on a bout of eczema as well.

A change in use of body products such as body wash or shampoos, deodorants or make up , type of clothing such as use of wool or acrylic or introduction of new food items could bring on eczema if the body is allergic to any of the products of food items that have been introduced.

A lack of moisture due to inadequate water intake or lack of essential fatty acids could also effect eczema symptoms.

For more information on eczema and how to treat it naturally, please check this eczema article.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic in Toronto.

Naturopathic Suggestions For Smoking Cessation

Old habits die hard, and its especially difficult to cut out habits that are so addictive.

Here are a few suggestions that will help you tremendously when you are trying to cut down or quit smoking for good:

1. Change your lifestyle and cut out everything that makes you want to smoke

First and foremost, it is very important to cut down on other addictive substances, such as coffee and alcoholl, all of which can increase the desire to smoke. Most smokers associate coffee with smoking or alcohol with smoking, so chances are if you cut out other food or drink items that go hand and hand with smoking, you will decrease the number of cigarettes you smoke in a day. As well, cut out hanging around other smokers or encourage them to stop smoking with you if the former is not possible. Ask friends and family for support while you transition into a non-smoker and let them know that you may need them while you go through this process. Making your desire to quit smoking public will help.

2. Have an active lifestyle full of alternate activities

Let’s face it, when you have been smoking for a while, you will need to find an alternate hobby to occupy your hands and your time with when you decide to quit smoking. So you will need to stay busy to prevent boredom and to keep your mind off smoking. My recommendation is to find a sport or activity that you enjoy, so you can feel good about your health. Try to exercise regularly to help with the withdrawal symptoms, increase motivation and help release the tension you build up when you quit smoking. Exercise also helps with improving circulation and helps with the elimination of toxins that you would have collected as a smoker. Find temporary oral substitutes to deal with psychological ties attached to smoking.

3. Treating your body well

Once you decide to quit smoking or cut down the amount of cigarettes you smoke daily, the body will immediately go into repair mode trying to heal your system especially your lungs. So some of the things you can do to assist the body in its detoxification process is optimize your health are: getting plenty of rest and drinking enough fluids – stay hydrated. You may also do contrast hydrotherapy showers which are great for improving blood circulation in the body as well, improve toxin elimination from the body. Oral fixation substitutes could include munchies such as vegetable sticks (cucumbers, carrots, celery, zucchini), apples or pears, seeds and nuts, sunflower seeds (unsalted) in shells, popcorn sugarless hard candies or gum; or chewing or sucking on ice cubes, or licorice sticks. For your mind, do not forget to treat yourself for being successful at your goal of quitting smoking. With all the cigarette money you will save, you can purchase a new outfit or a new trip. Some of the other things you can do for your mind are:

  • Learning relaxation and breathing techniques and do them at least for 10 minutes a day
  • Practicing visualizations
  • Keeping a positive attitude toward health and life
  • Get positive health treatments, such as massage, teeth cleaning to remove cigarette stains, a yoga class or try some acupuncture for relaxation.

There are great programs available to help you with smoking cessation. If you need help with quitting smoking, check out our smoking cessation program, that offers acupuncture and hypnotherapy for help with dealing with the withdrawal symptoms and cravings as well, detoxification of the body.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic, in Toronto.

A Naturopathic Perspective On Body Cleansing And Detoxification

Body detoxification and or cleansing are important part of maintaining health, slowing the aging process and preventing diseases, by allowing the body to rid itself of a build up of toxins. Our bodies are exposed to various toxins regularly – in our foods, in the air we breathe, in our environments among other areas, while the body has a tremendous capacity to put up with junk, it does eventually break down and that is when the body starts to suffer from various symptoms of feeling sluggish, lack of energy, digestive issues such as bloating and constipation among other symptoms.

The body has four major organs for detoxification – these include skin – the largest detoxification organ, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is very important to pick the right type of detox program for efficient cleansing, as well, it is important that the detoxification organs are functioning well before doing any cleanses. The toxins will produce many metabolites when broken down, that need to be eliminated from the body and if the organs of detoxification are not working efficiently, this may cause an unwanted accumulation of toxin metabolites, which can be quite harmful for the body.

When doing a cleanse or a detoxification program, your schedule should ideally be free of commitments and excessive physical activity, allowing the body adequate time and resources of detoxify more efficiently. Health food stores carry all kinds of cleanses hence its quite confusing when it comes to picking the right kind of cleanse. The cleanses/ detox should be specific for your symptoms and your body, not the other way around. There are many options – candida cleanses, liver and gall bladder cleanses or flushes, colon cleanses, kidney cleanses, so which one should you pick? Talk to your naturopathic physician before starting any cleanse/ detoxification program, as they have in depth knowledge about different cleanses and what would be most suitable for your body without harming it. Think you need to do a detox? Please fill out the following detox questionnaire to see if you do need to do a cleanse or a body detox.

In terms of cleanses, it could be a fast or a specific program that you follow for a few days. It could also be in the form of an enema or colonic irrigation. Most fasts will allow you to eat while cleansing, but of course most cleanses come with restrictions in terms of what types of foods you can eat – most cleanses will allow fruits or vegetable intake, along with other easily digestible foods that would help with the detoxification process of the body as opposed to clogging it up more.

For more information on cleansing and detoxification, please click here.

IF YOU ARE TAKING PRESCRITION MEDICATION, PLEASE TALK TO YOUR NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY CLEANSES.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Is ADD Or ADHD Affected By Diet?

ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders) are two disorders that are significantly affected by diet. Having treatment lots of cases with ADD and ADHD, I would safely say that these disorders are a product of our eating habits and what is added into our diets knowingly or unknowingly.  Majority of the times, I have found that kids who are ingesting large amounts of refined or processed foods are more likely to have either ADD or ADHD. Why? Majority of the refined and processed foods have various types of colors and additives / preservatives added to them which make them tastier and more colorful but do little in terms of nutrient availability to the consumer’s body.

Most refined and processed foods that are high in sugar such as cookies, cakes, candies, pastries, etc. tend to excite the neurons, and cause an increase in the firing of the electrical impulses sent by these neurons, causing a sudden rush in body, which will usually translate in hyperactivity in the child’s behavior, and quite often aggression in the behavior. However, it would be unfair to put entire blame on refined and processed foods. Quite often, the child may be undiagnosed mild food allergies, that can be determined by blood testing for allergies. These allergies can quite often cause irrational behaviors as well, and symptoms of both hyperactivity and attention deficiency.

A diet low/ lacking in essential fatty acids will also effect the concentration and attention of the child. Essential fatty acids are crucial for the brain development, hence very important to supplement if they are lacking. Testing is available to see if there is a lack of essential fatty acids in the body. Various minerals, vitamins and nutrients that are found abundantly in fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables are very important for the body’s various processes and actions, especially minerals like calcium and magnesium and certain B vitamins, a lack of which can cause symptoms such as tics and hyperactivity, along with restless behaviors.

It is important to talk to your naturopathic doctor to get a proper diagnosis of what may be lacking in your child’s diet before supplementing with any supplements or vitamins.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.