The Art and Practice of Narrative Medicine
A classmate recently lent me a book that introduced me to the intriguing field of "narrative medicine." The book is called Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness, written by Rita Charon, MD, an internist practicing in New York City. Narrative medicine...
A Conversation with My Liver
This piece of writing was meant for The Body Parts Anthology, a compilation of naturopathic student writings, bringing the "art" into the art and practice of naturopathic medicine. It would be a way to creatively reflect on our experiences of learning about and living...
The Naturopathic Snack List
Health food needs to be grab-able. I believe that, if people are going to make lifelong changes to their diet and health, eating should be made as simple as possible. I think that many of us start the day off right and, because we forget to plan our snacks, we reach...
How to Make Your Favourite Baked Goods Allergen Free
Everyone loves baked things. They help fuel social gatherings, solo study sessions, go well with tea and coffee. What's not to love? The problem, however, is that most are laden with sugar, wheat flour, usually processed and virtually all contain milk and eggs, which...
How to Kill a Cold
After feeling the rush of adrenaline from the completion of our 3rd Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE), I woke the next day with that sharp tingling in my throat, indicating that I was about to get a cold. It seems my body loves to get sick at inconvenient...
7 Truths for Lasting Weight Loss
This article was first published in My Yoga Online. With the growing rates of obesity in our society, combined with the tendency for most people who successfully lose weight to gain it back only a short while later, it’s obvious that something is flawed in our...
Pitahaya: The Dragon Fruit
While traveling in South America, people sometimes ask me what I do for a living. Unlike some of the reactions I sometimes get in North America, when I tell people from South America that I'm a naturopathic medical student, I usually get warm, excited responses. The...
Coconut Cream Date Squares
Have you ever been invited to a dinner party and charged with the task of bringing dessert to one of those groups of people who always seem to be onto the next dietary fad? If not, you probably don't have any naturopathic friends. If you have been in this...
DIY Vanilla Spice Sugar Scrub
In search of something to tame unruly eye-brows I went back to Shopper's Drugmart one day. I perused the "natural" cosmetic counter, peering at the ingredients list of face washes, moisturizers and acne creams. What constitutes "natural" ingredients? I wondered....
There’s No Place Like Home
I am currently suffering from Guatemala withdrawal. The last few weeks have gone by in a flurry of exams and assignments. I find myself flipping through the pictures my classmates and I took while we were there, trying to relive the beautiful, eye-opening moments we...
Paleo “Timbits” Recipe
Being on a diet makes it hard to snack, especially when on the road. Any true Canadian will tell you that no road trip is complete without a stop at Tim Horton's, our favourite roadside coffee hub. And, of course, no Tim Horton's coffee is truly satisfying without a...
Rosemary and Olive Grain-Free Flatbread
This recipe is based on the one provided to me by my colleague Amy, who is currently putting together a cookbook. It's a fabulous idea for a good-for-you flatbread made of 3 simple ingredients. When my cousin came to visit from Calgary, she brought homemade focaccia...
Guatemala with Naturopathic Medicine for Global Health
By the time the trucks pulled up to the clinic in Santa Catarina, a Mayan village outside of Panajachel on Lago Atitlán, the line of people waiting stretched all the way down the block. Aged anywhere from 4 months to 93 years, some of the patients had traveled miles...
It’s My Birthday!
So, although I'm still in Guatemala, thanks to scheduling posts, I can still celebrate my birthday on this blog. It's been 27 years since I've inherited this body of mine and I know for me, like the rest of us, the lessons began on day 1. I'm grateful for all the...
Off to Guatemala!
My scrubs, stethoscope and 50 pounds of supplements to donate to the Guatemalan clinic are packed and I'm ready to go! Today I'm off for my medical brigade to Guatemala with Naturopathic Medicine for Global Health (NMGH) where a group of students from the Canadian...
Coconut Chia Pudding
I first heard about chia pudding, where else, but among my colleagues, fellow students of naturopathic medicine and self-professed health nuts. Chia seeds are chock full of fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. When placed in water and left for a while their fibre begins to...
Chicken Curry with Cauliflower “Rice”
My family and I have been doing Natasha Turner's Hormone Diet for the past few weeks. The diet mainly consists of eliminating all sources of starch (grains and root vegetables, mostly), sugar, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods, and eating a whole foods diet. While...
DIY Natural Nutritive Lotion
Of all the cosmetics to make, lotions are one of the hardest. The reason is basic grade 6 science: oil and water don't mix. This lotion recipe, however, contains no water, just fats. It goes on smoothly, leaves no greasy after-feel and keeps skin soft for days. The...
Burning Hearts: a naturopathic approach to GERD
One of my favourite anti-health commercials on TV are the heartburn ones. My brother and I share a laugh while a woman is slapped by spicy spaghetti to prevent her from eating it and experiencing heartburn. The tagline asks, "Are your favourite foods fighting you?...
Blueberry Coconut “Buttermilk” Pancakes (Gluten and Dairy-Free)
Pancakes for breakfast can only mean a few things: a lazy Sunday morning, the first morning of a long break (like Christmas) or vacation! All great things, it's no wonder I love pancakes. There really is nothing like lazily flipping over a page of the thick weekend...