Category Archives: Healthy Me

Natural Treatments For Coughs, Runny Nose And Congestion

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Here is a list of naturopathic / natural treatments that are sure to help the family recover faster from any colds and flu:

1. Quick congestion reliever – ½ tsp of honey (Manuka honey if available), with ?1/4 lemon and turmeric + ginger powder- dissolve in mouth slowly.

2. Steamy Bath – Fill the bathtub with warm water and add a couple of drops of the essential oils. Then sit in the bathtub for 15 minutes. Great for opening up those clogged and congested nostrils, and its quite relaxing!

3. Onion, garlic and honey syrup – One of my favorites.  A great alternative to store bought cough syrups and it’s safe for everyone to use! – take 1 large onion and three garlic cloves; chop them and cover them with honey. Warm them in a covered pot for about 40 minutes at low heat. Then store it in a glass bottle in the refrigerator. Take about ½ to 1 tsp. every 15 – 30 minutes until the cough is better.

4. Avoid mucus forming foods – No dairy products, bananas or melons until the cough has resolved.

5. Drink plenty of fluids – To keep the body hydrated drink lots of water, chicken broths, and vegetable broths.

6. Steam cleaning – Give your child steam with essential oils – either in a bathtub or using boiling water. Sit with them for 10 or 15 minutes. For older children, use a facial steamer or pot of hot water (carefully!). The steam will help loosen the nose and chest congestion, and help your child cough it up or blow it out. Do this steam-cleaning every morning and before bed, as well as during the day if possible.

7. Sleep upright – If possible, allow your child to sleep in a slightly upright position. This allows for easier breathing during sleep.

8. Nose hose – For older children, it is crucial to have them blow their nose several times during a steam cleaning, as well as frequently throughout the day. Getting out all the junk will help prevent this from turning into a bacterial infection. An alternative to steaming is to use nasal homeopathic decongestant spray to loosen up the nasal congestion before blowing it out. For infants too young to blow their nose, you can suction them out using a blue rubber bulb syringe.

9. Hot steam vaporizer – Use a hot steam vaporizer in the bedroom at night (not a cool mist humidifier). This warm, humid environment can help keep noses and chests clear at night. Be sure to air the room out well during the day because mold can start to grow in the room due to the warmth and humidity.

10. Eucalyptus and lavender oil – Add only one drop of each of these to a facial steamer, pot of hot water or some vaporizers. They can help clear up the congestion faster and work great as antibacterial and antiviral.

11. Vapor rubs on the chest – Occasionally, these can cause wheezing because the vapors may be too strong for some children, but overall they will work well. It is safe to try, but do observe your child to make sure it doesn’t cause wheezing.

12. Drink twice as much liquid – This will help to thin secretions and prevent dehydration.

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

Natural Treatments For Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

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Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) occurs when material from the stomach or small intestine repeatedly enters the oesophagus. Some individuals have GERD for many years. Complications, such as serious damage to the oesophagus, respiratory diseases, and ear, nose, and throat conditions can occur, but are more likely with older people. In clinic, i have seen various patients – young and old, suffering from GERD / ACID REFLUX, and the only symptom they exhibit is a feeling of choking with whatever dry food they eat, and are quite often misdiagnosed as this is not a common symptom for GERD.

Signs and Symptoms:

  • Heartburn—a burning sensation in the chest, throat, neck, or back—is the primary symptom of GERD.
  • Regurgitation? difficulty or pain with swallowing
  • A full sensation in the neck
  • Belching
  • Chest pain (similar to angina)
  • Laryngitis
  • Chronic cough
  • Wheezing
  • Hoarseness
  • Sore throat
  • Bad breath

What Causes It?

GERD has many possible causes: spicy foods, tomato-based foods, citrus fruits, fatty foods, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and certain medication, overeating, burping intentionally, wearing tight-fitting clothes, bending over frequently, lying down soon after eating, smoking and physical condition (particularly being overweight).? The effectiveness of the valve at the bottom of your oesophagus in preventing material from your stomach from entering the oesophagus. Certain medical conditions.

Natural Treatment Options

  • Avoiding food, drinks, and medications that can cause GERD
  • Modifying your lifestyle as needed – decreasing the amount of stress you
  • May have plays a significant role in improving GERD symptoms
  • Raising the head of your bed about six inches
  • Taking antacids and other medication to relieve symptoms as needed
  • In rare instances, your healthcare provider may recommend surgery.
  • Changes in your diet can help decrease the irritation of GERD. Herbs may be very effective at healing esophagitis.

Nutrition

(PLEASE TALK TO YOUR NATUROPATH BEFORE TRYING ANY NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS)

Papaya juice may help if you have heartburn.? Avoiding sweets, oils, fats, and especially caffeine can be very beneficial. Simple diets – with whole foods and vegetables (cooked) that are easily digested would significant help with the symptoms of GERD.

Anyone, including infants, children, and pregnant women, can have GERD.

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

Facial Rejuvenation Using Acupuncture

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If you are looking for a safe, effective, natural way to look and feel younger, try Facial Rejuvenation / Cosmetic Acupuncture.

Acupuncture provides a safe and alternative approach to reduce the signs of aging, along with improving health and energy status. In our clinic, women and men who have had facial acupuncture experienced a better state of being – more relaxed, refreshed and feeling and looking rejuvenated after the first session!!!

A facial rejuvenation using cosmetic acupuncture can improve muscle tone of the neck and the face, while addressing underlying imbalances that may have contributed to the process of aging. Acupuncture also helps to “lift” sagging jowls and chins, by strengthening and stimulating the circulation of “QI” or energy within the energy pathways on the face.

Facial acupuncture is great for anyone who may want to:

– Minimize the look of deep wrinkles,

– Minimize or eliminate fine lines around eyes and lips,

– Reduce sagging jowls and improve the look of doubled over chins

– Reduce redness or the inflammation on face with rosacea

– Improve the look of the skin by fading deep cystic acne and pimple scars

– Fade age spots, sun spots, liver spots

– Lift sagging skin, puffy or droopy eyelids and lift the eyes

– Improve collagen production

– Reduce frown / expression lines

– Even-out facial colour and tone

– Have a more youthful appearance

But it doesn’t end there; cosmetic acupuncture is also great for body enhancement like breast enlargement and reduction.  It also provides a safe and effective way to help reduce weight and decrease the amount of cellulite deposition in the body, sounds to good to be true, it is.

So the next time you are think about surgery or injections for the face, give cosmetic acupuncture a try, you wont be disappointed!

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

Controlling Allergies At Home

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The most effective treatment for allergies is to reduce your exposure, especially at home. There are several ways to do this = clean up your environment. If you have skin allergies or any allergy symptoms, you can get relief by removing allergens from your environment. By cleaning up your environment, you can reduce dust, dust mites, chemical and environmental pollutants in your environment that cause symptoms.

Controlling allergies in the bedroom

• Encase pillows, comforters, mattresses, and box springs in zippered, allergen impermeable, dust proof casings. Avoid purchasing foam rubber pillows and mattresses as they are more likely to harbor molds.

• Wash blankets, sheets, pillowcases, and mattress pads every other week in hot water (130 degrees F+). Hot water kills dust mites. Cold or warm water does not. Throughout the House (Especially the Bedroom)

• If you have wall-to-wall carpeting in your bedroom, remove it if possible. In addition to being the single most chemically-treated household item, carpeting acts a host for a multitude of allergic agents. If this is not possible to remove wall-to-wall carpeting from your bedroom, periodically apply a solution of tannic acid to inactivate allergy-causing dust products that routinely emanate from carpeting.

• If you have a forced air heating system in your home, cover the air vents in your bedroom with air filters to clean the air at the point of entry. If you have a central air heating and/or cooling system, install an electrostatic filter to clean air before it is distributed throughout your house.

• Avoid using heavy curtains and / or Venetian blinds to cover bedroom windows. If possible, purchase window shades. Shades are less likely to accumulate irritants than curtains or blinds. If you use curtains in your bedroom, launder them frequently. If you use blinds, clean them often.

• If possible, purchase hardwood furniture instead of upholstered furniture. Soft furnishings are more likely to collect and harbor dust and other allergens than hardwood furnishings. If you purchase upholstered furniture, buy only furniture covered in leather or cloth and constructed with an additional allergen barrier.

• Install a high quality HEPA / charcoal air cleaner to remove airborne allergen particles, molds, animal dander and pollutants. The filter of the air cleaner should be sized to the room dimensions and the air cleaner should process four to six air exchanges per hour. Air cleaners should not be placed directly on carpeting as their exhaust may blow dust and other contaminants harbored in the carpeting into the air.

• Control heat and humidity with an air-conditioner. Use a dehumidifier to reduce moisture. Heat and humidity stimulate dust mite and mold growth. While dust mites reproduce rapidly in environments of 75% – 80% humidity, they cannot live in environments of less than 50% humidity.

A humidity level of 40% or less will eliminate dust mites. Use a gauge to monitor humidity levels in your home. Avoid over humidification of the air in the winter. If using a humidifier, change the water and clean the humidifier frequently to prevent mold growth.

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

Natural Treatments For Treating Eczema In The Winter

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As the winter rolls around slowly, most eczema sufferers may experience skin flare ups due to the fluctuating temperatures outdoors and indoors. Skin usually loses moisture, feels much drier and ends up getting itchy making eczema much worse in the winter.

Here are some naturopathic treatments that may help in keeping the skin supple and eczema free for the winter and all year long.

– Keep your water intake steady. With the summer temperatures dropping steadily, most people tend not to drink as much water. Keep a bottle next to your desk and make sure you drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If drinking plain water is difficult, to some herbal teas instead – camomile (or chamomile), birch, dandelion, stinging nettle would be god choices.

– Try to avoid foods that are high in saturated fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils – such as fried foods, animal fats and heat processed vegetable oils. Try to use cold pressed oils such as olive oil, which have the structure of the oils intact and are beneficial for your skin, hormones and overall health.

– Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which have a diuretic effect on the body, causing the body and skin to lose fluids and essential minerals.

– Eat a balanced diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds and nuts. Eat good quality proteins from vegetable sources. However, make sure that you are not sensitive to any of the above – get tested for sensitivities, as food sensitivities can cause serious eczema flare-ups.

– Have lots of yellow and orange vegetables which are high in beta-carotene – a precursor of Vitamin A, which strengthens and protects skin tissue.

– Do not drink soft drinks and try to reduce your consumption of sugar and junk foods.

– Eat foods that are high in sulfur – such garlic, onions, eggs and asparagus. These foods keep the skin smooth and youthful.

– DO NOT SMOKE AND AVOID SECOND HAND SMOKE. Smoking constricts the tiny capillaries that nourish the skin, and in so doing deprives the skin of oxygen and nutrients.

– Use a humidifier to humidify your environment, especially in the winter.

– Try to bathe with mild to warm water, and avoid using very hot water. Also try to exfoliate your skin using a loofah sponge at least twice a week. Moisturize after showering with products that contain Vitamin E, which attract water to the skin to hold in moisture.

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

Treating Insomnia / Restless Sleep Related To Stress

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Quite often we have people at our naturopathic clinic who come in to be treated for insomnia or restless sleep.

What causes sudden insomnia and restless sleep?

Stress is a huge factor for most people. Especially for those individuals who tend to take work stress home, have a hard time managing stress, and tend to internalize it. In doing so, when they try to get to sleep, all the thoughts that weren’t dealt with during the day, come up at night and disturb the individual sleep – where they might have a very active and restless mind and cant stop thinking when they should have been sleeping.

A simple solution to this would be to try and journal all your thoughts before bedtime in your library or study area or any area away from the bedroom.

You could also try some form of deep breathing or mediation before bedtime to help you calm your mind and body down. Physical exercise during the day is also great for stress relief. Acupuncture and relaxation is what we found to be the most effective, along with certain supplements for sleeping ailments that are stress related.

A deficiency in certain key nutrients may also cause restlessness during sleeping hours, talk to your naturopath about perhaps checking your nutrient status, especially if you are using stimulants such as coffee to get you through the day.  You might also want to get your cortisol levels checked (a key hormone that allows the body to adapt to stress), especially if you are getting a second wind at night or are rather alert when you wake up in the middle of the night. Usually saliva hormone testing is the best way to check the cortisol levels. Talk to our Toronto naturopath to see if this would be applicable in your case.

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

Caring For Your Sensitive Skin Naturally

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Sensitive skin especially needs a gentle touch. Try to avoid using any harsh products with strong chemicals, use the purest natural products you can find on the market, cleanse your skin with lukewarm water as using hot water may dry out the skin quicker, and apply toners or moisturizers as protection that are made from gentle floral essences and minerals.

Here is a simple recipe to make a creamy scrub for dry and delicate skin:

  • 1/2 cup of rolled oats (powdered)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. of almonds
  • 1 drop of rose essential oil
  • 1 tbsp. of heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp. of honey

Finely grind up the almonds and the oats in separate batches in a coffee grinder / blender. Mix the batches together and store in a covered container until you are ready to use them.

Add one drop of rose essential oil to scent the blend, if you like. To use it, combine one tablespoon of scrub mixture with one tablespoon of heavy cream and honey. Dampen your face with warm water, and massage the cream gently on to your skin with your fingertips.

Rinse well with warm water. Try to do this at least once a week. This will leave your skin feeling fresh and soft.

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

Caring For Your Tired Eyes Naturally

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Walk into any drug store and you will notice shelves filled with expensive products that claim to refresh tired looking and puffy eyes. Eyes show age more quickly than the rest of the face because the skin beneath them is thin and lacks oil glands. Treat this skin very gently and use a light moisturizer daily to keep this skin soft and supple. Take short breaks during the day to relax your eyes.

Here is a simple eye exercise to soothe tired eyes and help relax the rest of the body.

Practice it often. Sit in a comfortable place with your feet flat to the ground. Rub your palms vigorously until they feel warm.  Close your eyes and cup your hands over your eyes. Adjust your palms to cover your eyes completely. Breathe in deeply to the count of five, and allow your mind to let go of all your stress and visualize a place that brings a warm and happy feeling. Do this for at least a minute, allowing the velvety darkness to soothe and refresh your eyes.

And the best part is it’s free!

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

Natural Treatments For Diarrhea

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Acute diarrhea is the body’s attempt to rid itself of toxins, irritants, parasitic infections in the intestinal tract. Acute diarrhea usually self limiting, and may come with other symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, but it can be serious in young children especially because it can quickly cause dangerous dehydration.

In order to prevent this from happening, increase the fluid intake. Drink at least eight to ten glasses of fluids daily. I found that diluting pure apple juice with the fiber still in it was great to resolve diarrhea in kids. This would also help in replacing the lost potassium and is easily absorbed.

Traveler’s diarrhea usually results in increased frequency and amount of stool. The stools tend to become very loose, and one can have four to five loose or watery bowel movements each day. Other commonly associated symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, bloating, fever, urgency, and fatigue. Most cases resolve in 1-2 days without treatment. 90% of cases resolve within 1 week. One can avoid getting traveler’s diarrhea by drinking bottled water when away from home, eating properly cooked foods, washing you hands before eating, and only eating raw foods that can be peeled.

Usually when traveling, I found the following quite helpful. Taking yogurt / kefir before and on the trip, along with herbal teas to minimize indigestion. Bananas are great to bind loose stools, so are apples.  Herbal teas such as peppermint tea works great for abdominal cramping. Talk to your naturopath before heading away to see if they can suggest certain natural or naturopathic supplements or homeopathic supplements that would help with prevention and treating diarrhea.

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

Eating Well For Stress Protection

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Stressful times call for healthful measures with regards to our diet to make sure that our adrenal glands work well and help our body adapt to stress well.

The adrenals are an integral part of the endocrine system of hormones, and optimal function is crucial for the functioning of thyroid and reproductive hormones.

Avoid foods that tax your adrenal glands, particularly sugar, alcohol and caffeine, the very things we crave when under stress.

Try to eat foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and essential fatty acids such as leafy greens, bright colored fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Keeping the body hydrated is extremely important as winter rolls around.

Try to get at least 8 glasses of water minimally.

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