Naturally Treating Allergies Part 1
By Meghan MacKinnon, ND
Naturopathic Doctor | Aurora, Markham
What Is A Neti Pot?
Neti pots and saline nasal irrigation systems have been used for centuries to help with nasal congestion and sinusitis associated with allergies or other complaints.  Using a neti pot helps to clean out the sinuses by increasing the movement of the tiny hairs that we have throughout our nasal passages to help move things along.  For people who suffer from chronic sinusitis, daily use of the neti pot can greatly reduce symptoms.

How Do You Use a Neti Pot?
1.      Mix about 16 oz of lukewarm water with 1 tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of baking soda.  Always use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to prevent making things worse.  Alternatively, your neti pot or irrigation device may come with a pre-packaged saline solution or your naturopathic doctor may also recommend that you add other substances such as probiotics to the water.

2.      Fill the neti pot with the solution and tilt your head over the sink at a 45-90 degree angle.  Place the sprout into your top nostil and pour the solution into that nostril.

3.      The fluid will flow through your nasal cavity and out the other nostril. It may also run into your throat. If this occurs, just spit it out. Blow your nose to get rid of any remaining liquid, then refill the Neti pot and repeat the process on the other side. It’s important to rinse the irrigation device after each use and leave open to air dry.

Are There Any Dangers in Using A Neti Pot?
Speak with your naturopathic doctor prior to using a neti pot if you suffer from chronic nosebleeds or have a deviated septum.  It is very important that you clean your neti pot according to the manufactures instructions and always use distilled water to prevent infection caused by contaminated water. 

Sources: Nazario, Brunilda- WebMD Medical Reference, Help for Sinus Pain and Pressurehttp://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-11/neti-pots

I found this poem when I was cleaning out some of my grandmother's things after she passed and it had to go on the fridge.  Feel free to share and pass it onto others and I would love to know who wrote it if you have any more information on it!  

Promise Yourself
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.  To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.  To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.  To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.  To think only the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.  To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others are you are about your own.  To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.  To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.  To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.  To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.  

An imbalance in hormones can keep us from losing weight, shift body fat to accumulate around the waist-line and cause problems with moods, energy and of course, menstrual irregularities.  Estrogen and progesterone fluctuate with a woman’s menstrual cycle- estrogen higher in the first half of the cycle and progesterone in the second.  An imbalance between these two hormones can lead most commonly to estrogen dominance, estrogen deficiency (as seen in menopause),or progesterone deficiency.  The tricky this is that these hormones are intimately connected and sometimes a progesterone deficiency can cause what looks like an estrogen excess, which is why it’s important to evaluate all of the symptoms you are experiencing to identify your overall hormone pattern.   Lab tests can be used to further identify which hormones may need extra support, so that you can come up with the best hormone action plan to get you feeling like yourself again.  Although blood work can be valuable for some conditions, sometimes extra information is required.  Other options for testing include looking at your estrogen metabolism ratio to identify the balance of “bad vs. good” estrogen in your body or by measuring saliva hormone levels over one month (11 samples) or over one day to get a clear picture of what is happening on a functional level. 

Other Hormones
 Other hormones that may be involved in weight gain and hormone balance are cortisol, (a stress hormone), DHEA (precursor to testosterone) , low thyroid hormone and high insulin which is associated with poor blood sugar control.  Often when there is an imbalance in one hormone it can lead to other imbalances, so part of the detective work is figuring out which hormones are at the root of your concerns.

Restoring Hormone Balance
 The first step to restoring your hormone balance is to identify your hormone pattern and to get a clear picture on where to initiate treatment.  Here are some simple things you can do to restore hormone balance.

Xenoestrogens:  These are estrogen or estrogen-like compounds which we get from our environment.  These can be found in personal care products in the form of phthalates, in plastics as  Bisphenyl A (BPA) or as PCBs which are also found in things like pesticides and used in many other industries.  Reducing our exposure to these substances and never heating plastic can help with hormone balance and weight gain.

Lignans: These have been shown to promote a shift from the “bad” estrogen to the more beneficial estrogen and to increase estrogen binding which decreases free floating hormones.  A good source of lignans can be obtained by having 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds/ day.

Improve Digestive Health:  If digestion isn’t optimal it can cause poor excretion of estrogens which can lead to a ‘hormone back-up’ causing a relative excess.  Having a high fibre diet and ensuring that you have the proper balance of healthy bacteria in your digestive tract are essential to digestion as it relates to hormone health.

Brassica Vegetables:  Veggies from the brassica family like broccoli, bok choy, kale, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts are all high in indole-3 carbinol which affects hormone metabolism by promoting detoxification through the liver.  These all are also a great source of fibre.

Stress Management:  When we are under stress, our body makes cortisol instead of making our sex hormones and can affect thyroid hormone production.  This can shift the overall hormone balance so that we are low in many hormones and is often at the root of many hormonal concerns.  Check out the video below by a naturopathic doctor who explains this phenomenon in more detail.   

For more information on the Saliva Hormone Testing and Estrogen Metabolism Ratio testing visit Rocky Mountain Analytical or call one of my clinics to set up a free 15 minute consultation.

Krill Oil - The Fish Oil of the Future
            By Meghan MacKinnon, ND
               Naturopathic Doctor in Aurora and Markham


Fish oil is a staple in most naturopathic doctors’ supplement collections.  The research supporting fish oil is vast with application in heart disease, high cholesterol, anxiety and depression, weight loss and in women’s health concerns such as menstrual cramps.  The credit for this miracle supplement is largely given to the omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA which help to balance inflammation. 

Well, now there’s a new kid on the block- krill oil.  Krill oil is derived from krill which are small plankton-like sea creatures that supply the greatest proportion of the world’s food chain.  Krill live in the cold waters of the Antarctic ocean and have a higher amount of DHA and EPA to help them cope in this harsh climate.  In addition to the high EPA and DHA content, krill oil contains astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant.  This combination has shown that krill oil may be more beneficial than fish oil in a variety of conditions including premenstrual syndrome (PMS), dyslipidemia and inflammatory markers in arthritis.  If this isn’t  enough, krill oil is a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly choice making it the fish oil of the future.
References: Krill Oil Monograph, Alt. Med Review, 10 (1), 2010

Believe it or not- all of the nutrition guidelines out there may not be based solely on good science.  Harvard School of Public Health has taken the guess work out of the equation and based their Healthy Eating Plate on the best available nutritional science and was not subjected to political and commercial pressures from the food industry.  Don't forget that this is a standard healthy eating approach and your specific health concerns may require a more detailed analysis of your your health concerns and the specific foods that benefit you.  Visit the Healthy Eating Plate website to learn more.  

Are Food Sensitivities Preventing You From Losing Weight?
Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of hype in the media about food sensitivity testing, so I thought I would share some information on how learning what foods you are sensitive to can benefit your health.   First let’s refresh what we know about allergies.  We are most familiar with allergy testing in which your doctor does a ‘scratch test’ on the skin to see how your body responds.  This tests your IgE response, a rapid response that occurs within minutes of consuming a food, such as a life threatening allergy to peanuts.  These tests are  great for those types of reactions , but they often don’t give us the full picture.   Food sensitivities are reactions that your body has to foods that may take hours to days to develop which can be evaluated by measuring a marker in the blood called IgG.   Food sensitivities also involve an immune reaction but because the reaction is delayed, you may not know that you have an issue with these foods, until doing this test. 

Who Benefits From Testing for IgG Food Sensitivities?
Conditions which strongly benefit from food sensitivity testing are, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and irritable bowel disease (IBD), weight gain or difficulties losing weight; asthma and eczema; neurological disorders such as ADD/ADHD and Autism; mood disorders; auto-immune conditions such as SLE and Multiple Sclerosis; rheumatoid arthritis; migraines and any other condition that is connected to immune dysregulation.  This lab test is also great for anyone who is interested in their health and wants to make informed choices about which foods they eat because undiagnosed food allergies may contribute to changes in your body which can eventually lead to illness.

Check out this video of Dr. Oz discussing food sensitivities.http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/are-food-allergies-making-you-fat-pt-1http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/are-food-allergies-making-you-fat-pt-2 
I help my patients learn their food sensitivities by offering an in-office finger prick blood test to discover their food sensitivities to 96 different foods. Check out the laboratory that preforms these tests for more information. Rocky Mountain Analytical

What You Can Do To Keep Your Brain Sharp
Meghan MacKinnon, BSc,ND
Naturopathic Doctor in Aurora, ON and Markham, ON
______________________________________________
In the spirit of Alzheimer’s awareness month, I thought I would share some naturopathic thoughts on dementia and Alzheimer’s.  It is often forgotten that the brain is no different than our heart and can respond to things such as nutritional changes, stress reduction and exercise, which is where naturopathic medicine steps in.  An integrative and holistic approach can help to reverse many of the symptoms of AD and slow its progression.

Exercise- Those who engage in physical activity have a significantly lower rate of occurrence of AD because of increased blood flow to the brain.

Cognitive Exercises- Get out the Sudoku, crossword puzzles or my favourite- Scrabble!  Doing activities that challenge the brain can increase the growth of nerves in your brain helping to prevent degeneration.

Low Fat Diets- Keeping your fat consumption low is beneficial in treatment of AD while having high amounts of the healthy omega -3 fats.  This is often best obtained from a good quality fish oil supplement free of heavy metals and contamination commonly found in fish.

Antioxidants- Antioxidants such as B-vitamins, vitamin C and high amounts of fruits and vegetables are key to a successful integrative AD program.  People with AD have inflammation in their brain caused by a “pro-oxidant” environment and having high amounts of anti-oxidants will help to preserve brain cells.

What about Ginkgo biloba?
Many people ask me they should take Ginkgo  to prevent dementia.  Ginkgo has been shown to increase circulation to the brain and it acts as an antioxidant making it great to treat and prevent dementia at the right dose.  People who are on anti-coagulants should not take Ginkgo unless under the direction of their medical or naturopathic doctor.

Alzheimer’s Warning Signs
Recent memory loss that affects job skill
Difficulty performing familiar tasks
Problems with language
Disorientation to time and space
Poor or decreased judgement
Problems with abstract thinking

This year I postponed the thought of New Year’s resolutions, until now.  So often we have grandeur ambitions and we simply “resolve” that we are going to change them, without thinking them through.  I consider myself to be fairly optimistic, but I have to wonder how often people actually manage to keep these resolutions?  I have shared below some simple and easy to implement strategies to kick start your year.

1.       Eat Breakfast:  If you have a goal of weight loss this year, this is step one.  I suggest having a good quality protein source within one hour of waking up to kick start your metabolism for the day to improve energy, stabilize blood sugar and help you to lose weight.

2.       Movement Therapy:  If you are making the resolution to exercise more, try reframing this into thinking about it as movement therapy.  Find something you enjoy doing like walking, yoga or dance.  If you enjoy doing it, you are much more likely to stick with your routine.

3.       Start a Gratitude Journal:  This is a perfect way to start the new year, by reflecting on things in life that you are grateful for or things that make you smile at the end of every day.

4.       Try New Foods:  The New Year is a great time to switch up your eating routine.  Try one new whole food each week.  Such as quinoa, kale, beets, bok choy etc…  

5.       Take More Me Time:  Read more, take a bath or learn to meditate.  Whatever it may be find a way to take some time for yourself.