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.