[Video] Story of the real bears who drink sugar.

Fabulous video on the real lives of the polar bears who drink coke.

Echinacea 101

Photo credit: ©Cyndi Gilbert 2005

What is echinacea? Echinacea is one of the most well-known and misunderstood herbs in North America.  When one word can mean a plethora of different things being misunderstood becomes inevitable.  Let’s explore. Echinacea can vary by: 1. Species Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea pallida 2.  Different part of plant used Root , Whole plant, Flowering [...]

Escaping Virginity: Scandalous World of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For years I’ve known the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.  It’s been a staple in my diet and I often laugh that it is perhaps more of a beverage at the rate I go through it.  About a year ago I had a mind-blowing experience.  I was visiting Halifax and happened to come [...]

90:10 Rule For Stress

Managing stress is a life skill.  Sadly it isn’t a skill that is taught very effectively in our society despite it being one of the most important life skills to have.  Stress will always be there in one shape or form.  How we respond to that stress is up to us.  I feel very fortunately [...]

A No Brainer: 1 Thing You Need To Know About Your Brain and Aging

A study by UCLA published in the journal neurology demonstrated using brain MRI’s that individuals with more Omega-3 fish oil prevented the aging process in the brain. Individuals with more EPA/DHA had greater brain volumes and better cognitive functions such as problem solving, abstract thinking, multitasking , visual memory and executive function. These cognitive functions [...]

How To Take Charge Of Your Allergies Permanently

Does this beautiful image make you sneeze?

What Are Allergies? Antibodies have an important role in our body.  When we are ill our antibodies recognize foreign invaders so that our body can neutralize them and respond appropriately.  This is critically important bodily process but extremely inconvenient when this same process occurs to inert environmental proteins, the type of proteins our immune system [...]

Am I losing my mind or am I low in B12?

brain wheels

Guest post by Dr Theresa Jahn, ND a Naturopathic Doctor in Halifax. I recently came across a New York Times article entitled “It Could be Old Age, or it Could be Low B12“. The article recounts a story of an 87 year old woman who was becoming increasingly confused and had lapses in her memory [...]

Gluten revealed. Deciphering the confusion.

naturopath vancouver digestion

Co-authored with Dr Kate Whimster, ND Gluten awareness has greatly increased in the last decade.  This has come with great progress for individuals who must live gluten-free.  The number of individuals going gluten free has increased.  Not all of them who have chosen to go gluten-free are celiac, so what’s the rational?  There are more [...]

Food sensitivity, food allergy or food intolerance? Is it making you sick?

food allergy

Food sensitivity, food allergy and food intolerance are often use interchangeably.  Should they be?  I’d like to suggest that they are very distinct and deserve to be address as such.  In addition, once you realize the simplicity of their differences you’ll have a significantly better understanding of the processes that are affecting you.  In order [...]

What you need to know when choosing your sunscreen

Sun

What we know for sure about sunscreen It is really good at preventing the dreaded sunburn when applied adequately. Decreases the appearance of sun spots also known as solar keratosis. What we think we know Appears to diminish the occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma, which is a slow growing and treatable skin cancer. Doe not [...]