How to Treat Heartburn Naturally?

Struggling with frequent heartburn and acid reflux? Natural remedies like diet changes, herbal support, probiotics, and stress relief target root causes for lasting relief. A holistic approach with nutrition, herbs, probiotics, and lifestyle changes helps calm reflux and heal your gut. Take charge of your digestive health with a holistic approach today read more here

 

Endometriosis Explained: Causes, Diagnosis, and Its Impact on Fertility

 

Experiencing chronic pelvic pain, heavy periods, or difficulty conceiving? Endometriosis might be the underlying cause. Understand the triggers, how it’s diagnosed, and its real impact on fertility. Learn how an integrative, naturopathic approach can help relieve pain and support hormone balance. Start your journey to healing and reproductive wellness today read more here

Relife for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) with probiotics

 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common GI disorder impacting roughly 1 in 5 Canadians, with our incidence rate being one of the highest in the world (18% vs 11% globally). However, despite its high prevalence, health care costs and impacts on people's quality of life, our understanding of the true ‘root cause’ of IBS is limited. It often occurs in association with gut infections (often referred to as post-infectious IBS), bacterial overgrowths (also known as SIBO), or heightened stress (people exposed to stressful events, especially in childhood, tend to have more symptoms of IBS). Fortunately, outside of impacts on quality of life, the good news is IBS doesn't cause changes in bowel tissue or increase the risks of colorectal cancer read more here

LOW FODMAP DIET FOR IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

 

​Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common  gastrointestinal disorder worldwide, affecting more than 5 million Canadians each year (that's 1 in every 6 people). It includes symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, excessive gas, constipation, and/or diarrhea. However, a proper diet is one of the ways IBS can be managed. A common strategy has always been to incorporate ‘healthy’ food and avoid the ones that worsen the symptoms, however, some are surprised to find out that a food rice in fruits and vegetables can sometimes actually make symptoms worse. This is where we look at something called the low FODMAP diet, which has been clinically proven to help ¾ of IBS sufferers. Let’s learn more.

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In this diet plan, the food items are classified as low, moderate, and high food. People with IBS must avoid high foods and consume low foods to determine a decrease in symptoms.

However, if a person consumes low food excessively for long periods of time, it can also be harmful to gut microflora and increase your risk of nutrient deficiencies, so its always important to talk to your doctor, naturopath or dietician on how long to avoid these foods, when to determine benefit and how to reintroduce. 

How Does A Low FODMAP Diet Work?

A low FODMAPs diet aims to help you learn which foods (if any) you do not tolerate and are the trigger for your IBS. The diet consists of a 3 step processes, as follows:

1 - Elimination

This phase can range from 3 to 8 weeks, depending on the person’s health and condition. In this, the individual is required to eliminate all high FODMAP food from their diet. Remember, the FODMAP list is extensive and can restrict some key nutrients for some individuals, so it’s always best to work with a professional through this phase.

2 – Reintroduction

If after elimination, the symptoms significantly reduce or resolve, it’s safe to conclude that one or more high FODMAP foods are a trigger for IBS symptoms. You then must start incorporating FODMAP foods into your diet in a systematic way to determine the source of the intolerance. Generally a person must eat the FODMAP foods at least once every day to every other day for ~3 servings to identify the trigger foods, increasing the quantity of the food each time. Monitoring symptoms through exposures will help determine which sugar groups are safe and which ones are not.

3 – Maintenance

Now that the trigger food is traced, a person can return to their original diet while limiting the food that produces the IBS symptoms. At this point, most people are able to return to their original diet (minus a few possible avoidances) without symptoms.

Key Foods To Avoid

Vegetables: mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, beetroot, onions, and garlic

Fruits: cherries, mangoes, watermelon, peaches, pears, apples, and apricots.
 
Dairy: lactose containing cow milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, ricotta cheese, ice cream, and custard

Grains And Cereals: rye, wheat, kidney beans, soy products, lentils, and chickpeas.

Sweeteners: Honeys, agave nectar, high fructose corn syrup, cough medicine, sorbitol, and sugar-free gums. 

Many lists suggest slightly modified food restrictions, and the list you see above is very simplified. The most valuable resource I generally recommend for patients embarking on a FODMAP diet is the smartphone app made from Monash University called ‘Monash University FODMAP diet’. The guidelines out of Monash University tend to be the most detailed and well researched.

The Bottom Line

The low FODMAP diet plan is proven and has helped many people with Irritable bowel syndrome. However, make sure to contact a professional dietitian, or Naturopath Doctor who is versed on the FODMAP restrictions before following any diet plan. Many people stick with the low FODMAP diet for a long time because it eliminates IBS and improves overall well-being, however you must way out the benefits against the risk in every case.

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Know The Important Aspects Related To Autoimmunity

Do you know the number of cases facing autoimmunity medical conditions is increasing? Autoimmunity is not a new terminology in medical science. Over the years, several patients suffered it. The causes and its cure both should be understood. As it is related to the body’s immune system, you should visit a Toronto naturopathic doctor. The naturopathic doctor in Toronto explains that problems arise when the immune system attacks without differentiating healthy and invading cells. You need to get it checked and cured by an expert as it affects any body part. Common symptoms are fatigue, inflammation, pain, etc.

Also, the risk of secondary autoimmunity is high in patients with a previous diagnosis so be aware of the disorder and its cure.

Let’s check what this disorder is all about:

• The role of the body’s immune system is to keep away the foreign invaders that attack the body.
• The problem arises when the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy cells.
• Wrong immune response disturbs the entire function and the process largely gets affected
• You might see minor to major symptoms in any one of the body parts due to the improper functioning of the immune system also known as autoimmunity.
• A good Toronto naturopathic doctor will carefully examine the condition and help in establishing a balance again.
• Several factors add up for this particular health condition so you need to ask the expert to diagnose the factors for the disease development.

Some of the common factors attributed to this health condition include:

• Excess stressful life
• Family history
• Increase in infection
• Toxin exposure, etc.

The majority of the cases are developed due to the above factors. Patients with such health conditions might have a family history due to which they face this complication. In all cases, it is important to instantly modify the factors by identifying them and getting the right treatment by the Toronto naturopath doctor.

Know More About Modifiable Risk Factors:

You should know the modifiable risk factors related to autoimmunity. The majority of the risk factors trigger autoimmunity when you consume certain food products or come in contact with harmful toxins. You can ask Toronto naturopathic doctor to give some glimpse of the effect of such food items. The professional can easily recognize if the risk is due to increased organic solvents exposure, changes in intestinal junction due to the industrial food additives, excessive intake of salt, sugar, emulsifiers, tobacco, alcohol, medicines, etc. These might cause an imbalance resulting in autoimmunity.

It is simple to tackle the initial issues resulting in the development of autoimmunity. Plan out certain changes in your diet and environmental habits to see things would turn out in a good way. You will have to see Toronto naturopathic doctor if symptoms continue after the suggested changes in food practices.

Therefore, you might have now understood what is autoimmunity? Why does it increase? How can you control it? For further clarification, contact the best Toronto naturopathic doctor and reduce the risks with complete awareness.

For more information about the naturopathic doctor, do follow us on Google Maps, yalwa.ca and bbb.org .

AMAZING BENEFITS YOU MAY NOT ‘BEE’ AWARE OF

Honey bees, or apis mellifera, have been helping humans since the dawn of time. They’ve not only provided us with a long standing source of honey and wax, but have played an integral part in helping our agricultural growth and in sustaining our ecosystem. Honey has been a cornerstone to most pantry shelves as a natural food sweetener or agent to soothe a sore throat. But as it turns out, our little buzzing friends and the delicious liquid they provide us is even more helpful to our health than we once thought. Modern research has discovered many bee byproducts have proven benefits on everything from our gut microbiome to our immune system, and maybe even our fertility.

Honey
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Honey has been used for millennia as a sweet treat and natural sweetener. But the consumption of honey has benefits beyond its tasty profile. Because of its potent antimicrobial properties, certain types of honey, like manuka, have been used to treat wounds, prevent and heal gastric ulcers, and minimize digestive disruptions caused by inflammatory bowel disorders.

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PCOS: MAYBE SHE’S BORN WITH IT

PCOS is a medical condition that affects hormone levels in women, impacting 5%–20% of women of reproductive age worldwide and characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology. Women with PCO end up producing a higher amount of male hormones, like testosterone, and often experiencing resistance to the metabolic hormone, insulin. 

These imbalances can lead to issues with acne, and missed menstrual periods (impacting fertility), amongst other symptoms. The 2003 Rotterdam criteria are currently the internationally accepted criteria by which PCOS is diagnosed.  

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COULD BIRTH CONTROL BE THE ROOT TO YOUR CHRONIC GUT ISSUES?

The use of hormonal birth control one of the most common and effective ways to prevent pregnancy, as well as manage unwanted symptoms of reproductive health.

Hormonal birth control, whether a pill, an implant, or a patch, all functions in a fairly similar way. They introduce synthetic hormones into the body to prevent ovulation and increase cervical mucus – a tandem effect that helps prevent pregnancy. 

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3 FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CALORIES AND WEIGHT LOSS

Calories in versus calories out was the de facto weight loss equation for decades. To lose weight, you simply reduce the number of calories consumed while increasing the number of calories used. Yet, that the simple equation that we have adhered to as part of a healthy lifestyle may have been hindering our weight loss efforts. As our understanding of health and nutrition improved, so did what we know about the simple calorie – and this knowledge is changing the plate of the modern diet.

1. Not all calories are created equal. 
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One reason why strictly counting calories can be an ineffective way to lose weight is that not all calories are good calories. While the energy content of calories is essentially the same in that they are a unit of energy, calories derived from whole foods are more effectively processed by the body than those found in processed foods. In other words, where a particular calorie comes from will have varying effects on hunger, hormones, and weight.

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It is not just processed foods that can determine the value of a calorie. Calories obtained through healthy fats, proteins, and whole foods, like fruits and vegetables, can positively impact metabolism, curb hunger, and help optimize hormones. However, the same quantity of calories obtained from processed foods or sugar is metabolized more quickly and less effectively, resulting in increased hunger and hormone imbalance.

 2. Food labels do not tell the whole story.

The second reason that we do not see significant weight loss results from calorie counting comes down to the science of determining caloric content. For instance, in the United States, the Federal Food and Drug Administration allows manufacturers a fair amount of latitude in labeling precision – up to a 20% margin of error. What this means for consumers is that the food we eat may have more calories than is indicated on the label.

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HYPERANDROGENISM: HIGH TESTOSTERONE AND DHEA IN PCOS

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the leading medical conditions now impacting women of reproductive age, and can also have substantial impacts on a woman’s physical and emotional well-being. We’ve already covered symptoms and diagnostic testing of PCOS here, but let's dive deeper into one key hormonal disruption that seems to be particularly troublesome for my patient population – hyperandrogenism.

​Hyperandrogenism is common in PCOS, often seen as elevated testosterone and DHEA levels on blood work. And while these two hormones are often seen as synonymous when evaluating total androgenic burden, there is a significant difference between the two.

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IMPORTANT FINDINGS ON THE GUT-BRAIN CONNECTION

​For decades, the gut and brain were looked at as two separate entities. What we now know is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Modern research is discovering that mood hormones play a direct role in the mechanisms of digestion (challenging the thought, are they truly just ‘mood’ hormones), and even more interestingly, the microbiome. 

 

If you’ve ever had a ‘gut-wrenching’ experience or felt ‘butterflies’ when stressed, you’re likely no stranger to the influences stress can have on the way our digestive tract feels.

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SUPPLEMENTING DIGESTIVE ENZYMES: WHEN ARE THEY TRULY HELPFUL?

The gnawing, unrelenting discomfort and bloating of indigestion. Most have felt it, whether brought on by spicy food, greasy meals, alcohol or just simply overeating. Or maybe its pain after eating. Food comes in, and the stomach begins to cramp, leaving you doubled over in pain.  The occasional occurrence will usually resolve on its own, but if it’s becoming chronic, you’re likely frequenting the pharmacy shelf with little relief. So you head to the natural food aisle or health food store.

Digestive enzymes promise to fix everything from bloating to flatulence to heartburn relief. However, understanding how digestive enzymes work helps narrow down when to use them, and when to avoid wasting your dollars. Read more here…