Tag Archives: nutrition

Naturopathic Medicine – Is It The Right Choice For You?

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In order to answer that question, it is important to first understand what Naturopathic Medicine is and what the benefits of using naturopathic therapies are for your health.

Naturopathic Medicine is Alternative / Holistic Medicine. The main goal with Naturopathic Medicine is to address the root cause of the your health issues and symptoms, as opposed to just treating or bandaging the symptoms superficially.

Once the root cause is identified through a comprehensive intake and physical examination along with a physiological assessment, if need be, using scientifically accurate testing methods for general health, nutrient, hormonal, gut health status. Treatment is suggested based on the cause of the disease or imbalance. The naturopathic approach uses the true healing nature of natural therapies such as nutrition, diet, acupuncture, supplements, vitamins, herbs, and other healing therapies to treat the underlying root cause, which in turn, resolves the superficial symptoms, and also helps improve and optimize your health and wellbeing.

Here is an example of how Naturopathic Medicine differs from Traditional Medicine. For a skin condition like eczema – as opposed to just treating eczema superficially with a variety of creams to suppress the immune reaction, naturopathic treatment would be based on addressing the underlying root cause of the eczema – Allergies and a dysfunctional immune system. Once these are addressed with natural therapies, the eczema quite often clears outs very effectively and without the use of medicated creams which can quite often cause side effects with long term use without addressing the root cause of the symptoms.

What Are The Benefits Of Naturopathic Medicine?

The benefits to using Naturopathic Medicine are plain and simple:

  • Address and Treat the Root Cause of the symptoms
  • Improve your health and well-being naturally
  • Self awareness and education of how one’s body works and how imbalances can effect the body.
  • Prevent Illness and Disease by fostering a healthy lifestyle and reducing risk of chronic and degenerative diseases such as diabetes and heart disease
  • Individualized health care. Treatments are highly individualized and based on improving and and optimizing the person’s wellbeing – physically, mentally and emotionally, as opposed to a one treatment fits all approach.

So is Naturopathic Medicine the right choice for you? If you are looking to improve your over health and wellness, take charge of your wellbeing and want to prevent disease long term – then Naturopathic Medicine is the perfect choice for you.

 

Elemental Nutrition Based On Traditional Chinese Medicine

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Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, organ health is affected by various foods, colours and flavours and of course seasons. Below is a list of organs along with their function based on Chinese Medicine, as well, flavours and foods that affect the specific organ.  All the flavours are not necessarily eaten in equal proportion. The flavour focus may vary from season to season, as the elemental dominance changes, and according to our individual balance. In North America, sweet and greasy foods are readily available, and these are consumed more plentifully than sour, salty, bitter, or spicy ones.

Over indulgence of one flavor of food over the other will effect organ function- for example, overindulgence of sweet foods will effect the function of spleen energetically, and this is in turn will effect the digestion and distribution of foods in general, causing symptoms such as fatigue or sluggishness or digestive disturbances/indigestion  after eating. Making a meal that provides examples of foods associated with each color, hence affecting various organs.

These colors may act like the flavours in stimulating certain organs and functions. Thus, the red foods, such as meats, cayenne, and tomatoes, may stimulate blood and circulation; green foods, such as many green leafy vegetables such as kale, dandelion, collards, spinach, may help purify us and support metabolism or strengthen the liver. This view actually seems to have a physiological basis in many instances. Click here for more information on changing foods according to the seasons

 Elemental Nutrition

Element Wood Fire Earth Metal Water
Organs Liver

Gall Bladder

 Heart

Small Intestine

 Spleen

Stomach

 Lungs

Large Intestines

 Kidneys

Bladder
Color Green

 

 Red Yellow

 

 White

 

 Blue/black
Functions Purification

Metabolism

 Circulation

Vitalization

 Digestion

Distribution

 Elimination

Mental Circulation

 

 Storage

Emotional Circulation
Flavor Sour Bitter Sweet Spicy/ pungent Salty
Foods Lemons

Other citrus

Sauerkraut

Pickles

Vinegars

Buttermilk

Yogurt

Preserved foods

 Lettuce

Spinach

Chard

Other greens

Celery

Asparagus

Eggplant

Some nuts

Herbs

 Grains

Potatoes

Carrots

Beets

Squash

Peas

Corn

Yams

Sweet potatoes

Most fruits

Sugar cane

Honey

Maple syrup

Milk

 Onions

Garlic

Radish

Mustard

Cayenne

Chili pepper

Horseradish

Chives

 

 Seaweed

Ocean fish

Celery

Olives

Salted foods

Miso

Capers

Soy sauce

Brine foods

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

Why Is Our Weight Loss Program So Different

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The majority of the weight loss programs are based on generic weight loss pills, crazy crash diets and exercise, however, what if you have tried all that and still not lost the weight… this is where we can help you as we provide holistic healing that combines the mental, emotional and physical aspect of you as an individual.

Why is our Toronto Weight Loss Program so different? Firstly you would have to come in for an initial assessment which includes a blood and urine test, and our naturopath may also recommend additional tests such as thyroid tests, adrenal function tests for stress, hormone tests, and food intolerance tests, among others depending on your specific reasons for being unable to loose weight or maintain the weight loss.

We will then provide a full physical exam as well. Our naturopath’s holistic treatments will be based on your comprehensive intake, tests and various forms, and our treatment plans are not a life long commitment, after the initial assessment and physical, we will provide your treatment plan based on natural therapies – such as nutrition, diet and lifestyle changes and specific natural supplements that address your situation.

Unlike weight loss clinics which tend to provide generic pills and diets for everyone, our naturopathic treatment is based on your symptoms and your health, once you have achieved your ideal weight, you will be able to maintain it without the need to pills etc. as you will be working with a healthy lifestyle change that is individualized to you.

I do not encourage starving crash diets, as they only make things worse, especially if your weight gain come after a stressful situation so the last thing you need to do is stress your body again with crazy diets.

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