Feeling congested?! I dare you to try this!

‘Warming socks’ (aka cold wet socks which your body WARMS up) are a simple yet incredibly effective way to treat head congestion. Sounds crazy? Heck yeah. But this simple trick works, and it’s free!

Here’s the mechanism on why it works: The body sees the cold socks as a “threat” and sends blood to stimulate the vital functions. Red and white blood cells increase, keeping the immune system functioning strongly. The cold temperature draws blood downward from the head to the feet to warm them, relieving head congestion.

Try this if you feel congested or you feel like you’re just about to get a cold. It will stimulate the immune response, overcome exhaustion and relieve stress headaches, insomnia, stuffy sinuses, head or chest congestion.

The treatment:
1) Warm feet first with a quick hot rinse or footbath (5-10 minutes). Not entirely necessary but will enhance the treatment.
2) Wet cotton socks thoroughly in very cold water and completely wring out excess water.
3) Put on cotton socks. Cover completely with dry wool socks.
4) Wrap yourself in a warm blanket and hop into bed.

Better yet, check out this amazing instructional video a colleague of mind made on warming socks.

Keep this in mind with your next cold and let me know how it goes. You won’t be disappointed in the amazing power of water!

Yours in health,
Sarah Oulahen, ND.

Reasons to invite this family of vetegables to your dinner table.

I was so excited when I watched this Miracle Food commercial a while back because it’s SO TRUE. Broccoli is an incredible food that should be included in everyone’s diet. Let’s also not forget it’s brothers and sisters who are all in the brassica family of vegetables and have similar amazing traits: bok choy, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and turnips.

These plants are one of the most beneficial foods you can eat. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals, high in dietary fiber, low in calories, tasty, and contain potent anti-cancer compounds. These compounds are the phytonutrients sulfuraphane and the indoles. Sulfuraphane can increase the body’s ability to detoxify carcinogenic substances, while the indoles have many actions including hormone regulation and decreasing risks of breast and uterine cancers. The compounds in these foods have complementary and overlapping actions, including antioxidant effects, modulation of detoxification enzymes, stimulation of the immune system, reduction of inflammation, modulation of steroid metabolism, and antibacterial and antiviral effects.

The bottom line is they:
– Protect and also fight various types of cancer (including breast, ovarian, prostate, colon, & bladder cancers, leukemia, & melanoma)
– Help increase detoxification in your liver
– Decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke, when eaten regularly.
– Increase your bone density (due to their high calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin K content)
– Boost your immune system
– Contain a good amount of B vitamins and folate, which help combat stress!

Normally, raw food is the most nutritious for you. This may not be the case with the brassica family, as they can cause gas and bloating when eaten raw. The phytochemical compounds found in the brassicas are heat stable and even made more bioavailable with cooking. Try steaming them first and put them with your favourite dish. Add a little olive oil or sesame seeds (after cooking) for some added flavour.

Next time you’re in the grocery store, head to the vegetable section and load up on your leafy greens. You’ll feel great and your body will thank you for it! Get to know the entire family of brassicas. I’m good buds with baby bok choy.

For more information check out the links on The Miracle Food page.

Yours in health,
Sarah Oulahen, HBHSc, ND.

The dangers of artificial sweetner

We’ve all heard of aspartame, it’s the worlds most notable artificial sweetner sold under the brand names of Equal and NutraSweet. Aspartame was actually an accidental discovery by James Schlatter in 1965. He was trying to produce an anti-ulcer drug and found aspartame instead. The company he worked for, G.D. Searle & Company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial use.

I say ‘convince’ because its unnerving that aspartame is still available despite its contribution to 75% of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Aspartame also continues to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things. If you see what’s in aspartame this might make these claims seem more reasonable. Aspartame is made up of the following three chemicals:

1) Aspartic acid – an excitatory amino acid that can be neurotoxic (a few of the many chronic illnesses linked with neurotoxins include: Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy & Hearing loss).
2) Phenylalanine – an amino acid which can build up in the brain and cause decreased serotonin, leading to emotional disorders.
3) METHANOL (aka wood alcohol/poison). This is broken down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body, a deadly neurotoxin. The following is from the Material Safety Data Sheet on Methanol – Hazards Identification:
Ingestion: Swallowing even small amounts of methanol could potentially cause blindness or death. Effects of sub lethal doses may be nausea, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting and visual disturbances ranging from blurred vision to light sensitivity.
Effects of Long-Term (Chronic) Exposure: Repeated exposure by inhalation or absorption may cause systemic poisoning, brain disorders, impaired vision and blindness. Inhalation may worsen conditions such as emphysema or bronchitis. Repeated skin contact may cause dermal irritation, dryness and cracking.

I hope this opens some eyes and makes you avoid aspartame in the future. I thought I’d share this knowledge because I read an article saying the makers of aspartame are rebranding it under the name “AminoSweet” due to the growing awareness about the dangers of artificial sweetners.

If you need a sweetner, try honey or Stevia (a natural, zero-calorie sweetner). I personally would use unrefined sugar over aspartame (in modest amounts, of course 😉 ). If you drink diet pop/soda, hopefully this encourages you choose healthier options such as water or green tea instead.

Yours in health,
Sarah

7 Simple Steps for a Healthy Heart

The health benefits of QUINOA

Here’s why, nutritionally, quinoa is so wicked:
1) It has a balanced set of essential amino acids which make it a complete protein. It is a GREAT source of protein and especially perfect for vegetarians/vegans.
2) It is a whole ‘grain’ that is naturally gluten free – easily digestable.
3) It is very high in magnesium, a mineral with a ton of health benefits. Magnesium is great for migraines, atherosclerosis/heart disease, asthma, and relaxes your digestive system.
4) It is a great source of manganese and copper, two minerals that serve as cofactors for the superoxide dismutase enzyme. Superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant which protects your cells from free radicals.
5) It is also a fine source of iron

In terms of cooking, it takes about 1/4 the time it takes to cook rice – a mere 12 minutes!! All you need to do is rinse your quinoa, add a ratio of 1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to medium heat for 12 minutes.

Then have fun with it!! I like to have it with every meal. It’s great as a dish on it’s own with red onions, cilantro, nuts (walnuts or pecans), some olive oil and lemon. If I don’t finish that in a night I add it to my salad the next day!! It’s great in salads and adds a nutty, creamy taste.

Give it a try…spread the love of quinoa 😉

What’s the deal with fish oil?

So, for my first real post on my blog I’ve decided to touch upon a topic that I get asked frequently, with a very an easy answer.

The question is: Should I take fish oil?
The answer: In most cases – YES!

Here’s a quick list of reasons why:
1) Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are naturally anti-inflammatory in nature and are part the lining of every cell in your body. Bottom line is that they make every cell in your body just a little healthier.
2) What does the research say fish oil is good for…here is a small list of conditions:
– Heart health: high blood pressure, high triglycerides and cholesterol, atherosclerosis, prevention of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease
– Brain health: depression, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia, ADHD
– Joint health: Rheumatoid arthritis
– Skin health: eczema and psoriasis
– Painful menstruation
– Asthma
– Infant eye/brain development
– Ulcerative colitis
– Obesity
– Osteoporosis
– The list goes on and on…
3) Fatty acids are all about balance. You have omega-3’s (primarily from fish and nuts), omega-6’s (in our common cooking oils such as sunflower and corn oils), and omega-9 (olive oil, avocados, olives, almonds). The typical North American diet has a VERY LARGE amount of omega-6 in it – which is your bad fatty acid because it is PRO-inflammatory. You want to try to avoid omega-6 (since you already get so much in your diet). This is why, when purchasing an omega supplement you should stay away from the ‘omega 3-6-9’ and stick to omega-3.

Are those enough reasons?

So, after deciding that you should take fish oil, the next step is finding a good quality supplement. DOSE is always a super important thing to note, and a main reason why having a Naturopathic Doctor on your side is so vital. In terms of fish oil you’re looking at two main ingredients: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). You want your daily maintenance dose to be at least 900mg when you add together the EPA and DHA. This dose will change relating to your specific health concern.

It must be said to watch out if you’re allergic to fish. Also, if you are on blood thinning medication there is a small possibility of the fish oil to increase its effect, so be aware of this. Other than that, fish oil has been proven to be immensely safe.

There is so much to say on this topic but I’ll leave it to that for now!