The Importance of Vitamin D

What is vitamin D? Originally credited with helping the body with calcium and bone metabolism, more recent studies show that vitamin D has many other influences on keeping the body healthy. It is thought of as a prohormone more than just a vitamin because it is only after D3 is metabolized in the liver and then into other forms in the kidneys that the active forms are produced. To date, some thirty-seven forms of Vitamin D3 have been isolated and chemically characterized. Continue reading

Thyroid 101: The Ins & Outs of Thyroid Function

Recent studies suggest that 1 in 10 Canadians suffer from some kind of thyroid disease, of which 50% are undiagnosed! One in eight women will develop a thyroid disorder in her lifetime, with the number of affected people continuing to rise each year. Until this gland goes awry, very little attention is given to its small, butterfly shaped presence at the base of the neck – yet the hormones it secretes are essential to all growth and metabolism. Continue reading

The Many Benefits of Far Infrared Sauna Therapy

What is sauna therapy?
Sauna therapy has been a part of healing practices for centuries as part of many different traditions – the Greeks and Romans historically used bathhouses to both cleanse and detoxify, and many indigenous peoples use sweat lodges as a means of both spiritual and physical purification. Continue reading

Kick Start the School Year with Probiotics

I remember being excited as a kid, every September meant new clothes, school supplies, teachers and classes…a fresh start to a new year. The more I learn about health and wellness, the more I realize that one of the most important factors to success in school starts with the our humble microbe populations that live in our digestive tracts.

It is said we are 10% human, and 90% microbe…a healthy gut houses over 100 trillion friendly bacteria, which is a ratio of 10:1 to the number of cells in your body. Why are these critters so important? The reality is that without these friendly bugs, your digestion, brain health and immune function would simply not function. At any given time, you have around 160 bacterial species (types) in your gut out of over 1000 species of bacteria. The digestive tract is one of the most complex eco systems to understand and study. The individualized bacteria composition found in each body play a vital role in keeping us healthy. Having the right strains, in the right amount and in the right part of the digestive tract are critical to our overall sense of well-being, and should therefore, be a part of our daily health practice. Continue reading

5 Important Reasons You Need Magnesium

Magnesium

As many of you already know, when it comes to supplementation, I adhere to the philosophy that less is more. However, one mineral that is often overlooked and usually deficient in most people is magnesium…used in over 300 reactions in the body, you can see why it is so important. Here is how it is used by the body, in a nutshell… Continue reading

The Benefits of Salivary Hormone Testing

Healthy Weight Loss, Hormone Health, Stress, Thyroid Health

Good health has a lot to do with maintaining balance: the right balance of work and play, the right balance of nutrients in the diet, and the right balance of hormones. What people don’t often realize is how complex the effects of hormones are in the body. Hormone imbalance may be a result of illness, or may produce symptoms and biochemical changes that eventally lead to illness. Getting your hormone levels checked regularly can be instrumental in determining these issues before it leads to the development of disease. Continue reading