The question of what determines true happiness has been asked by many philosophers and psychologists throughout time. Some people are firmly in one camp or the other and some believe that it is a balance between the two that is most important. Susan Peirce Thompson (professor of psychology) recently lectured on some research done by […]
Read more »We typically think of willpower as the inner strength that we use to resist temptation. We use it to choose the apple instead of the cookie. Or the salad instead of the french fries. Willpower is used as the foundation for many diet programs and without it we falter and fail. We tell ourselves that […]
Read more »Dietary changes and food elimination diets are treatments that I recommend routinely with patients. Having experienced the benefit of this therapy in my own life, I know the importance of making dietary changes. Patients remind me, however, that it is not always easy to change something that we do everyday, three or more times per […]
Read more »In my last post (read here) I discussed how burning fat is a biochemical state that is controlled by hormones and has very little to do with eating less and exercising more. Flipping your biochemical switch from fat storage to fat burning is all about controlling insulin and cortisol levels. I offered these three simple […]
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Castor Oil Packs One of my favorite and most often prescribed naturopathic treatments is use of castor oil. The term “castor oil” often elicits a distasteful response as people recall various stories, commercials, or even the infamous Tom and Jerry episode where castor oil was used as a punishment for bad behavior. I do not […]
Read more »It is a common saying among naturopathic doctors that the gut is the “second brain.”
This is because the enteric nervous system of the gut can function independent of the central nervous system (the brain). At the same time, these two systems are connected.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter associated with our level of happiness, low levels showing a correlation with clinical depression. Interestingly, the majority of serotonin in the body comes from our gut.
Read more »Overweight and taking daily steroids for a rare condition that causes him to chronically break out in severe hives and rashes, Joe Cross hopes to give his health a major jump-start and perhaps inspire some people to join him along the way.
The movie features Joe chatting up people he meets. Their reactions to his endeavor are priceless. They mirror all of the possible reasons one could have for not making healthy dietary changes.
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Vitamin D has become a popular topic in the last few years, with more studies and articles about it appearing in the media every week. The available information consistently shows us there are even more benefits from Vitamin D than previously known.
We use the term “vitamin” in reference to Vitamin D, which in reality acts more like a hormone than a vitamin in the body. It is essential in the regulation of calcium metabolism, helping our bones to become and stay strong. Since Americans have one of the globe’s highest rates of osteoporosis, it is in our best interest to prevent the disease by taking adequate amounts of Vitamin D.
Read more »Most of us think about bacteria, viruses and fungi when we have an acute illness like a cough, the flu or a nasty-looking rash. But what most people don’t realize is that microbes can also cause long-term issues like fatigue, joint pain and even mental illnesses. About 50 years ago, Dr. Thomas Brown, a rheumatologist, […]
Read more »Have you ever watched a toddler bang on a door or window, asking to go outside, or cry when carried indoors? Toddler instinct is alive and knows that being among the trees, grass, rocks, and water nourishes people in ways that nothing else will. It is a built-in wisdom that could help us adults improve […]
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