by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Nov 29, 2022 | Depression, Mental Health, metabolic health, mood, Nature, Outdoors, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sleep, Sunshine
From Thursday to Tuesday (yesterday) I was camping on Canada’s East Coast in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia (near Halifax, Cole Harbour, etc.)
I was nervous about the trip. I’ve never winter camped before (in a tent, no less). I’ve winter surfed, but never without warm water or a wood-burning stove or central heating to come home to. Would I freeze? Starve? Feel wet and cold all weekend long?
No, no and no, but I learned a lot in the process. Particularly about our metabolism and circadian rhythms and how to best adjust to the winter season with its shorter days and cold temperatures for the winter months.
What I learned:
Our body is intelligent and wise.
We are able to cold adapt if we listen to our bodies’ needs. Mine was telling me to move, to stay dry, to expose myself to the sun, to eat enough calories (meat, eggs, trailmix and granola). I slept early and a lot. As long as I ate and conserved my energy, put on more layers once I felt a chill, and moved my body to improve my body’s circulation and metabolism, I felt warm and cozy and energized.
I realized that our bodies are equipped for anything, as long as we listen to their attempts to adapt. A friend who was travelling with us seemed disconnected from his body. Despite being an outdoorsman, I observed that he didn’t eat enough, consumed too much alcohol and chose to nap during the day despite the fact that we only had access to 8 hours of precious sunlight.
He fell in the river and rather than moving to warm his body up, he lay down and napped, which failed to keep him warm. I observed that his mood dropped throughout the trip and he had a hard time adjusting to the lack of warmth and light from the planet. This contrast emphasized the importance of respecting our bodies, nourishing them properly, moving them and caring for them, while adapting to the circumstances of nature and light-dark rhythms.
It made me think of how so many of us need to work inside during the few and precious daylight hours. How we access screens late at night after the sun has long gone down. How we avoid going outside because of the cold, even though outside is where the sun is.
It made me think how our appetite naturally increases in the winter as our bodies burn more energy to keep us warm and stoke out metabolisms and yet many of us rally against this, trying to eat less and go on diets to decrease our waistlines.
Our bodies are wise. What gifts will we derive from listening to them?
Adapt to the waves of light and dark.
The sun rose every morning around 7 am and set around 5pm. This gave us 10 hours of sunlight a day. As a result I rose with the sun (usually my bladder woke me up) and went to bed soon after the sun set.
I spent the day working (clearing an area for a driveway, making paths in the forest), surfing and hiking. We relied on the fire at night for warmth and food. The blankets we huddled under were hot and inviting and so it wasn’t long after the sun set and the fire died when we went to bed. There wasn’t much to do in the dark and the energy it took to keep warm didn’t feel worth it. The cold would cause sleepiness to overtake me.
I downloaded my Oura ring data when I got back and found that some nights I slept for 10 hours or more!
It struck me that we often try to fight this need for more sleep in the winter. We don’t get outside as much, so we don’t expose our eyes to sunlight. We use artificial lighting at night and so override our natural circadian rhythms. We might feel more tired and depressed during the winter months because we aren’t adapting to the light-dark cycles the way our ancestors were forced to–we try to maintain productivity despite the fact that the sun is delivering less light-giving energy.
When I got back from my trip, I went to sleep at 8:30pm, true to form. I woke up feeling fantastic and went for a morning walk to watch the sunrise.
Here are some important considerations for adjusting to winter:
1) Get sunlight as much as possible.
It can be tricky to have to spend 8 hours of the day in an office at work when there are only 8 hours of daylight to go around. If you can, spend time near a window, fit in a morning walk, or walk right after work, or a walk a lunchtime, prioritize this as much as possible.
If natural light is impossible, light lamps might help. They won’t be a full solution, though. Fire places provide infrared light, which can be helpful for healing red light in the evening hours.
Get sun exposure where it’s available. Avoid wearing sunglasses if possible and expose as much of your skin as your feel comfortable.
2) Vitamin D.
Take Cod live oil for the right ratio of vitamin A to D, along with magnesium for D activation. Talk to your ND about getting on the right supplement regime.
3) Go to bed earlier, if possible.
During the darker months, we might end up feeling sleepier than normal. If you can let go of your perfectionism and accept less productivity, priotizing sleep and rest during this Yin time, it may improve mood and energy levels throughout these months.
I definitely feel I need more sleep during this time. Keep in mind most mammals are hibernating. Birds have flown south. Our ancestors likely conserved fuel, lamp oil and heat by going to bed earlier, snuggling under the covers with family members and pets to stay warm. Sleep is part of nature’s demands for us at this this time of year. As the Earth slows down, so should we.
Perhaps lowering the temp in your house can help support this need for sleep, the way that the dropping night temperatures encouraged me to hibernate beneath the covers around 7-8pm. Turning off bright lights will also help with this.
Notice how, when you lower light and temp in the evenings, sleepiness overtakes you.
4) Move your body.
Movement improves circulation and muscle health, stoking metabolism, which supports cold tolerance and adaptation. It might feel too cold to go outside, but once your body gets moving you will notice how fast you warm up and how much tolerable the cold can be.
Movement outside, especially during daylight hours is essential for mental health at this time of year.
5) Honour your cravings.
Starchy vegetables, meat stew, soups, apples, granola, nuts. Notice if you crave different foods at this time. Notice when you’re overeating sugar and refined carbs and if this may be your body compensating for not getting enough whole-food calories.
Our bodies don’t work the same way in the winter that they do in the summer. In the summer you might feel great on salads, smoothies and low carb dinners like barbecued chicken and vegetables.
During the winter you might need more potatoes or rice, root veggies and warming spices. You might eat more meat as a way to get micronutrients. You’ll likely need more protein to preserve and build warmth and muscle. You might turn to canned foods, frozen vegetables, less tropical fruit and more starchy veggies.
Your mitochondria are working harder during these months to keep you warm (if you get outside and get the appropriate amount of cold exposure, which has tons of anti-inflammatory and mood-stimulating benefits). We need to respect them by consuming enough calories, protein, micronutrients (B vitamins, magnesium and other minerals, etc.) and healthy saturated fats from butter, tallow and eggs. We need salt.
It is good for our digestion to eat cooked and warming foods during this time of year. Pumpkin spices. Cinnamon, ginger, warm teas for liquids.
Warm foods and drinks warm up the body and help stoke our metabolic fire that supports cold adaptation. Hunger and a strong digestive system are a gift during these months.
Honour your appetite. Don’t fight your body. Eat salt. Don’t compare how you look right now to how you look in the summer months (or to that tanned, shredded health influencer posting from Costa Rica). You’re not them. You’re a winter bear. You need nutrients.
While winter is a hard time of year with its lack of light and warmth, it can be a beautiful time of year. It can be an opportunity for more stillness, quiet and nourishmment. It can be an opportunity for connection and coziness (what the Danish call Hygge). Warm socks, fires. Skating and hiking in the snow. Snow angels. Beautiful long sunsets and long shadows on the sparkling white snow.
There is a quote I’m reminded of at this time of year:
“If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but still the same amount of snow.”
Remember that the season is not the problem–our ancestors have adapted to the cold over thousands of years. What is different it our societal habits and attitudes–our addiction to productivity and image. If we lean into nature’s rhythms, we might learn to find joy in the snow and get through the winter better in touch with our bodies and a deeper respect for this time of rest and adventure that the Earth provides.
What I learn from surfing is to roll with, harness and absorb the waves of life. Don’t fight them. A year comes in seasons. Breathe into change rather than resisting it. Let your body do its thing to keep you warm, safe, energized and happy.
What helps you get through the winter?
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jan 15, 2022 | Allergies, Anxiety, Autoimmune, Depression, Detoxification, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gut Microbiome, Leaky Gut, Nature, Nutrition, Preventive Medicine, Science
G.K. Chesterton described a scenario like this:
“There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”
In other words, beware of tearing down structures until you fully understand their benefit.
Chesterton’s Fence can also be thought of as the Precautionary Principle. Not following this principle led to scientific practices like frontal lobotomies or removing the entire large intestine because doctors didn’t understand the benefits of these structures or the consequences of removing them.
A narrow range of focus, i.e., this organ is causing a problem, or we don’t know why it’s here, led to drastic action that resulted in unforeseen, disastrous consequences.
I believe that such is the case with our stomach acid.
The stomach is essentially a lined bag filled with acid. Stomach pH is from 1.5 to 3.5, acidic enough to burn a hole in your shoe. However, the mucus layer of the stomach protects it from being destroyed by the acid. The acid in the stomach helps dissolve and digest the food chewed up by the teeth and swallowed.
Stomach pH is needed for breaking down proteins. Stomach acid also plays a role in absorbing minerals such as calcium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper, phosphorus and iron. It activates intrinsic factor, which is needed for B12 absorption in the small intestine.
Stomach acid regulates the rate of gastric emptying, preventing acid reflux.
Fast-forward to a condition called gastric esophageal reflux disease, or GERD. GERD affects about 20% of Western countries, characterized by high esophageal pH and reflux of the stomach acid and stomach contents into the esophagus. While the stomach is designed to handle a shallow pH environment, the esophagus is not. A doorway called the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, keeps stomach contents where they should be–in the stomach.
In GERD, the tone of the LES is weak, resulting in a backflow of stomach contents. This can damage the esophagus, causing heartburn, pain, bad breath, coughing and even problems like ear pain, sore throat, and mucus in the throat. Silent reflux occurs when these symptoms occur without burning.
The symptoms occur from the stomach’s acidic contents irritating the more delicate tissues of the esophagus. So, rather than treat the root problem, i.e., the reflux, drugs like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), H2 blockers, and buffers like Tums are recommended to reduce the stomach’s acidity.
Essentially, with GERD, we are tearing down Chesterton’s Fence to pave a road without taking even a moment to consider why the fence might be there in the first place.
About 12% of people are prescribed PPIs. They are given for GERD, gastritis, and IBS symptoms like bloating and stomach pain. Most of my patients are prescribed them for virtually any stomach complaint. PPIs, it seems, are the hammers wielded by many GPs, and so every digestive concern must look like a nail. Most people are put on them inevitably, without a plan to end the use and address the root cause of symptoms, which in most GERD cases are low LES tone.
PPIs raise stomach pH, disrupting stomach function. This causes issues with mineral absorption and protein digestion. Their use results in B12, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and magnesium deficiencies. Many of these deficiencies, like magnesium deficiency, can’t be tested and therefore might show up sub-clinically in tight muscles, headaches, painful periods, disrupted sleep and anxiety, and constipation. Therefore they fly under the radar of most primary care doctors.
No one connects someone’s heartburn medication with their recent onset of muscle tightness and anxiety.
Many of my patients report difficulties digesting meat and feeling bloated and tired after eating, particularly when consuming a protein-rich meal. They conclude that the meat isn’t good for them. The problem, however, is not meat but that stomach acid that is too diluted to break down the protein in their meal, leading to gas and bloating as the larger protein fragments enter the small intestine.
Many digestive problems result from this malabsorption and deficiency in stomach acid, not too much. Zinc is required for stomach acid production, and one of the best sources of zinc is red meat (zinc is notoriously lacking from plant foods). I have recently been prescribing lots of digestive enzymes and zinc to work my patients’ digestive gears.
Therefore, beware of tearing down a fence without understanding why it’s there. Stomach acid is essential for digesting our food, and regulating blood sugar and building muscle mass through protein digestion.
It is necessary for mineral absorption and B12 digestion. Our stomachs were designed to contain an extremely low pH. They evolved over millennia to do this. Stomach acid is low for a reason. It’s highly unlikely that our bodies made a mistake when it comes to stomach acid.
Therefore, beware of messing with it.
Consider that our bodies know what they’re doing. Consider the importance of finding and treating the actual root cause, not one factor that, if mitigated, can suppress symptoms while causing a host of other problems.
Don’t block your stomach acid.
As Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.”
It is the boundary between us and the outside world, the border where our body carefully navigates what can come in and nourish us and what should stay outside of us: our fence. Beware of tearing it down.
References:
Antunes C, Aleem A, Curtis SA. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. [Updated 2021 Jul 18]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441938/
Daniels B, Pearson SA, Buckley NA, Bruno C, Zoega H. Long-term use of proton-pump inhibitors: whole-of-population patterns in Australia 2013-2016. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. 2020;13:1756284820913743. Published 2020 Mar 19. doi:10.1177/1756284820913743
Heidelbaugh JJ. Proton pump inhibitors and risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency: evidence and clinical implications. Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2013;4(3):125-133. doi:10.1177/2042098613482484
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 8, 2021 | Addiction, Anxiety, Cold and Flu Remedies, Depression, Detoxification, Exercise, Fitness, Happiness, Health, Inflammation, Mental Health, metabolic health, Motivation, Nature, Nature Cure, Stress
In the winter of 2019 I took a surfing lesson in Costa Rica. I fell in love–the sun and salt water on my skin, the beautiful view of the beach, the spray off the back of the waves, the loud crashing of translucent turquoise, and the feeling of power, ease, flow and grace as I stood on a board, using the energy of the earth to fly across water.
The problem was, however, I would be going home in a week to a landlocked part of the world that spends a lot of its months covered in ice.
It was depressing.
Then I met a girl from Toronto, a psychotherapist who worked at a clinic just down the street from my old one.
“You can surf in Toronto, you know”, she informed me.
Where? I thought, astounded.
“On the lakes!” She exclaimed.
I was flabbergasted–perhaps I could be a surfer after all. The beach bum lifestyle, the rock hard abs, the zinc oxide cheek bones, the chronically wet hair, watching the winds and tides and slipping out for a sun-soaked hour during a work break. Could this be true–could you surf the Great Lakes?
“The thing is,” she continued, “the surf season is from October to March”.
Oh.
Winter surfing.
It was still interested, though.
Back in Toronto, I waited for the next strong February East wind and headed to a surf spot I’d heard about on Lake Ontario. I was met with a crowd of black neoprene-clad surfers, soaked by water, wind and sleet. The elements were harsh. The stoke, however, was infectious.
Ok, I could do this, I thought.
My next stop was the surf shop. I purchased gear and the rest is history.
Not a lot of us are built to slip into near-freezing water during the frigid winter months to catch a few waves. Lake waves are harder to catch, the currents are strong, ice chunks are a thing to watch out for, and… it’s friggin’ cold! But, surfing is surfing. The lakes provide beautiful landscapes, just like the ocean, and the feeling of catching a wave and riding it is the same.
There’s also the benefit of body hardening.
We modern humans are very different from our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Our genes may be the same, but our lifestyles couldn’t be further apart. Down-filled jackets and central heating protect us from the discomfort of the elements. In a sense, our lives are temperature controlled.
However, our incidence of chronic degenerative disease has never been higher.
Body hardening practices involves exposure against natural stimuli, such as intense cold, that results in increased resilience–resistance to disease and improved health.
A 1998 study in QJM: an international journal of medicine looked at antioxidant production in German winter swimmers.
Winter swimming, just like winter surfing, is a thing. As of the 90s, there were 3000 Germans who participated in winter swimming clubs. They were known to experience a 40% reduction in respiratory diseases compared to the rest of the population, debunking the notion that if you exposure yourself to cold you’ll “catch a cold”.
The study looked at 23 male and 13 female who had been members of a Berlin winter swimming club for more than two years. On average they swam for 5 to 10 minutes on a weekly basis in water between 1 and 5 degrees celsius. Their blood levels of glutathione were compared with that of 28 healthy men and 12 healthy women who had never participated in cold-exposure body hardening therapies such as winter swimming.
Glutathione is our body’s main antioxidant. It protects us from free radicals (reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species, ROS and RNS, respectively) that are harmful to our cells. It is produced from three amino acids: glycine, cysteine, and glutamine.
Glutathione reduces oxidative stress produced by these free radicals that occur in cells as a result of their energy production, as well as toxins, pollutants and other stressors. A deficiency of glutathione is associated with an increased risk of cancer, accelerated aging, and other diseases, such as metabolic disease like diabetes and cognitive diseases like Parkinson’s. It decreases as a result of aging, chronic disease, toxin exposure, and chronic stress.
Elevating glutathione status has been shown to improve conditions like insulin resistance, autoimmune diseases, cognitive and mental health conditions, fatty liver and cirrhosis, autism, and respiratory diseases.
It was found that after cold water exposure, blood levels of antioxidants like glutathione decreases, indicating that cold water exposure induces oxidative stress on the body. However, after a period of time, glutathione levels rose higher than that of baseline.
Baseline blood levels of glutathione were higher in cold water swimmers, indicating that their bodies were more efficient at producing glutathione in response to the temporary oxidative stress imposed on them by the cold exposure.
In essence, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.
This is called hormesis: when temporary stress is imposed on our bodies, we respond with adaptive measures, such as increased glutathione production to combat that stress. However, our bodies are smart. They figure that if we’re exposed to some cold stress, there might be more coming. Therefore, it might be a good idea to invest energy into hardening, preparing for more of that same stress in the future and, in essence, becoming more resilient. And so, when exposed to a stressor, we often produce more antioxidant than is needed to simply overcome that stressor, and this results in an overall net benefit to our health and well-being.
Just like lifting weights makes us stronger for the next time we lift weights, we become stronger and more resilient at our baseline as we prepare for the next hit of cold, heat, exercise, or stress.
The 1998 study also revealed that cold water swimmers had more enzymes that combat free radicals such as superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase, meaning that their cells were better prepared to ramp up antioxidant production quickly and neutralize free radicals at a moment’s notice, if needed.
Cold water swimmers also produced four times more norepinephrine after their cold exposure. Norepinephrine is part of our fight or flight response, but is also associated with increased energy, mood, motivation and well-being. Imagine a hit of caffeine–that’s a bit what cold burst can do to you via norepinephrine. Heart race increases, and we’re filled with an excited euphoria.
Norepinephrine is part of the reason why cold therapy has been touted as a remedy for depression. Cold exposure provides a much-needed burst of mobilizing chemicals to kickstart feelings of well-being and motivation for people who are struggling with low mood and arousal.
Cold therapy also increases dopamine by 250%, according to a 2000 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. Dopamine gives us the sense of motivation and meaning in pursuing a goal. It fills us with purpose and drive. So many of us are starved of dopamine and therefore so much of our culture involves trying to increase dopamine: scrolling social media, consuming sugar, playing video games, and so on.
The problem with many of these attempts to boost dopamine is that they come with a cost. We get a hit of pleasure from consuming sugar, for example, followed by a dip in our baseline levels of dopamine. Overall, we’re left feeling empty, foggy, purposeless, and addicted. We experience cravings that need to be filled.
Even supplements like Macuna pruriens and l-tyrosine, designed to boost dopamine levels, result in crashes 30 to 45 minutes after they peak.
Cold exposure, however, gives us a hit of dopamine that remains elevated for hours without a resulting crash. This provides an intense boost to mood, motivation, cognitive function, concentration, focus, purpose and drive. Like norepinephrine this can also contribute to cold therapy’s anti-depressive effect.
It seems that if we engage in something hard and uncomfortable, something that requires effort–like cold exposure–our body rewards us with an increase in mood, motivation and drive through the enhancement of dopamine production in our brains.
Winter surfing has been an immense gift to my health and well-being. It’s given me purpose, community, exposure to nature, and a wonderful outlet for body hardening. If I go more than a week without a surf session I start to feel a bit of withdrawal. There is nothing more therapeutic than hours spent checking the forecast, and driving to chase waves in order to end up floating in the middle of a beautiful lake, surrounded by nature and friends.
With regular winter surfing I feel invigorated, energized and fit–the mood-lifting effects of the cold exposure is comparable to nothing else.
This winter my message to everyone is: get outside. Exposure yourself to cold. Expose yourself to nature. Use the elements and the changing seasons as tools to enhance your health.
There are incredible mood-elevating, immune system-boosting and anti-aging benefits to becoming more resilient. While it may be uncomfortable, cold adaptation is a sign of your improved vitality and disease resistance.
Nature’s harshness evolved us. Temperature extremes helped to shape our DNA. Our genes contain codes for amazing mental, emotional, and physical resilience. They are waiting to be turned on at a moment’s notice, if only they’re given a reason.
Cold exposure flips the on-switch to your body’s incredible superpowers. Let’s explore the potential of this beautiful vessel in which we all live.
References:
Šrámek, P., Šimečková, M., Janský, L. et al. Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. Eur J Appl Physiol 81, 436–442 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004210050065
W.G. Siems, R. Brenke, O. Sommerburg, T. Grune, Improved antioxidative protection in winter swimmers, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Volume 92, Issue 4, April 1999, Pages 193–198, https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/92.4.193
Image: Dean Weare at www.dweare.com
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 24, 2021 | Anxiety, Beauty, Depression, Health, Medicine, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, mood, Nature, Nature Cure, Outdoors, Philosophy, Psychology, Self-care
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every day and you can choose to be there or not.
“You can put yourself in the way of beauty.”
– Cheryl Strayed, Wild
Yellow and orange hues stimulate melatonin production, aiding sleep.
Melatonin is not just our sleep hormone, it’s an antioxidant and has been studied for its positive mood, hormonal, immune, anti-cancer, and digestive system effects.
Our bodies have adjusted to respond to the light from 3 billion sunsets.
While we can take melatonin in supplement form, use blue light blocking glasses, or use red hued light filters and, while tech can certainly help us live more healthfully, it’s important to remember that the best bio-hack is simply to remember your heritage and put yourself back in nature’s way.
The best tech of all is in the natural rhythms of the planet and encoded in your beautiful DNA.
Optimal health is about re-wilding. Optimal health is about remembering who you are and coming back to your true nature.
You have the code within in you to live your best, healthiest life. I believe healing is about tapping into that code, supporting our nature, and allowing the light of our optimal health template to shine through.
The proximity to water can improve focus, creativity, health and professional success according to marine biologist and surfer Wallace J. Nichols in his book, Blue Mind.
A “blue mind” describes a neurological state of of calm centredness.
Being around water heightens involuntary attention, where external stimuli capture our attention, generating a mind that is open, and expansive, and neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin are released.
He says, “This is flow state, where we lose track of time, nothing else seems to matter, and we truly seem alive and at our best”.
Contrast a blue mind to a red mind, where neurons release stress chemicals like norepinephrine, cortisol in response to stress, anxiety and fear.
From the book Mindfulness and Surfing:
“Surfing is not just about riding a wave, but immersion in nature: the aching silence of a calm sea is punctuated by a cluster of blue lines. The point is to spend a little more time looking and listening than doing.
“Maybe this is not just about being but about what the philosopher Heidegger called “becoming”–a being in time, an unfolding sense of what he further called ‘dwelling’.
“When we dwell, we inhabit.”
Jungian Psychoanalyst, Frances Weller posed the question, “What calls you so fully into the world other than beauty?”
In other words, “Without beauty what is it that attracts us into life?”
Our human affinity for beauty is perhaps the greatest pull of all into aliveness. And yet so many of us feel purposeless, or that life is meaningless. In our world we are suffering from a “Meaning Crisis”, which perhaps partially explains the epidemic of mental health issues that plague us.
We spend so much time bogged down in the business of being alive: bills, chores, work–“dotting Ts and crossing Is” as I like say 😂
This is part of the reason why 1/6th of my 6-week Mental Health Foundations program (Good Mood Foundations) involves getting into nature. For there is nothing more beautiful than the gorgeous imperfection of the natural world.
We are called by it. There are myriad scientific studies on the power of “Forest Bathing” for de-stressing, for mental health, for supporting our mood, hormonal health, immune systems, social relationships, and so on.
And yet so often when we say words like “beauty” we call on images of “perfection”: symmetrical youthful faces, bodies with zero fat on them, etc.
We are focused on the missing parts instead of how the effect of nature’s imperfect beauty has on us–and thus we rob ourselves of the pleasure of being in the presence of beauty.
For what is pleasure but beauty personified? And what is depression other than a lack of deep, embodied soulful pleasure?
I find being in nature brings me closer, not so much to beauty as a concept of commercial idealism, but a sense of pleasure. It pulls me into my body.
I feel my feet on the ground, my breath timing my steps, the birdsong and wind in my ears, and I feel calmed, and centred, called into the experience of being fully alive.
If you’re struggling to find meaning, practice showing up to your sunsets for a few evenings in a row.
Put yourself in the way of beauty.
When the sunsets show up everyday, will you show up too?
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Sep 23, 2021 | Alcohol, Alignment, Anxiety, Autoimmune, Balance, Chronic pain, Community, Depression, Detoxification, Diet, Digestion, Education, Elimination Diet, Emotional Wellness, Emotions, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Inflammation, Medicine, Meditation, Mental Health, metabolic health, Microbiome, Mind Body Medicine, Mindfulness, mood, Nature, Nature Cure, Nutrition, Uncategorized
It’s day one of my period and I’ve been healing a broken foot for 6 weeks. The weather is overcast, thick, humid and rainy.
My body feels thick and heavy. Clothing leaves an imprint on my skin–socks leave deep indentations in my ankles. My face and foot is swollen. My tongue feels heavy. My mind feels dull, achey, and foggy. It’s hard to put coherent words together.
I feel cloudy and sleepy. Small frustrations magnify. It’s hard to maintain perspective.
My muscles ache. My joints throb slightly. They feel stiffer and creakier.
This feeling is transient. The first few days of the menstrual cycle are characterized by an increase in prostaglandins that stimulate menstrual flow and so many women experience an aggravation of inflammatory symptoms like depression, arthritis, or autoimmune conditions around this time. You might get. a cold sore outbreak, or a migraine headache around this time of month. The phenomenon can be exaggerated with heavy, humid weather, and chronic inflammation–such as the prolonged healing process of mending a broken bone.
Inflammation.
It’s our body’s beautiful healing response, bringing water, nutrients, and immune cells to an area of injury or attack. The area involved swells, heats up, becomes red, and might radiate pain. And then, within a matter of days, weeks, or months, the pathogen is neutralized, the wound heals and the inflammatory process turns off, like a switch.
However, inflammation can be low-grade and chronic. Many chronic health conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, PMS or PMDD, depression, anxiety, migraines, even bowel and digestive issues, have an inflammatory component.
In the quest to manage chronic inflammation, people often explore various avenues, including dietary supplements. One such natural option gaining attention is OrganicCBDNugs. Derived from the hemp plant, CBD, or cannabidiol, is believed to possess anti-inflammatory properties, potentially offering relief to those struggling with conditions like arthritis, anxiety, or migraines.
This organic supplement, with its purported ability to interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system, might provide a holistic approach to tackling inflammation-related issues. As we navigate the complexities of our bodies and the ebb and flow of inflammation, exploring natural remedies like Organic CBD could be a step toward finding equilibrium and promoting overall well-being.
As I telly my patients. Inflammation is “everything that makes you feel bad”. Therefore anti-inflammatory practices make you feel good.
Many of us don’t realize how good we can feel because low-grade inflammation is our norm.
We just know that things could be better: we could feel more energy, more lightness of being and body, more uplifted, optimistic mood, clearer thinking and cognitive functioning, better focus, less stiffness and less swelling.
Obesity and weight gain are likely inflammatory processes. Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are inflammatory in nature. It’s hard to distinguish between chronic swelling and water retention due to underlying low-grade chronic inflammation and actual fat gain, and the two can be closely intertwined.
It’s unfortunate then, that weight loss is often prescribed as a treatment plan for things like hormonal imbalances, or other conditions caused by metabolic imbalance. Not only has the individual probably already made several attempts to lose weight, the unwanted weight gain is most likely a symptom, rather than a cause, of their chronic health complaint. (Learn how to get to the root of this with my course You Weigh Less on the Moon).
Both the main complaint (the migraines, the PMS, the endometriosis, the depression, the arthritis, etc.) and the weight gain, are likely due to an inflammatory process occurring in the body.
To simply try to cut calories, or eat less, or exercise more (which can be helpful for inflammation or aggravate it, depending on the level of stress someone is under), can only exacerbate the process by creating more stress and inflammation and do nothing to relieve the root cause of the issues at hand.
Even anti-inflammatory over the counter medications like Advil, prescription ones like naproxen, or natural supplements like turmeric (curcumin) have limiting effects. They work wonderfully if the inflammation is self-limiting: a day or two of terrible period cramps, or a migraine headache. However, they do little to resolve chronic low-grade inflammation. If anything they only succeed at temporarily suppressing it only to have it come back with a vengeance.
The issue then, is to uncover the root of the inflammation, and if the specific root can’t be found (like the piece of glass in your foot causing foot pain), then applying a general anti-inflammatory lifestyle is key.
The first place to start is with the gut and nutrition.
Nutrition is at once a complex, confusing, contradictory science and a very simple endeavour. Nutrition was the simplest thing for hundreds of thousands of years: we simply ate what tasted good. We ate meat, fish and all the parts of animals. We ate ripe fruit and vegetables and other plant matter that could be broken down with minimal processing.
That’s it.
We didn’t eat red dye #3, and artificial sweeteners, and heavily modified grains sprayed with glyphosate, and heavily processed flours, and seed oils that require several steps of solvent extraction. We didn’t eat modified corn products, or high fructose corn syrup, or carbonated drinks that are artificially coloured and taste like chemicals.
We knew our food—we knew it intimately because it was grown, raised, or hunted by us or someone we knew—and we knew where it came from.
Now we have no clue. And this onslaught of random food stuffs can wreck havoc on our systems over time. Our bodies are resilient and you probably know someone who apparently thrives on a diet full of random edible food-like products, who’s never touched a vegetable and eats waffles for lunch.
However, our capacity to heal and live without optimal nutrition, regular meals that nourish us and heal us rather than impose another adversity to overcome, can diminish when we start adding in environmental chemicals and toxins, mental and emotional stress, a lack of sleep, and invasion of blue light at all hours of the day, bodies that are prevented from experiencing their full range of motion, and so on.
And so to reduce inflammation, we have to start living more naturally. We need to reduce the inflammation in our environments. We need to put ourselves against a natural backdrop–go for a soothing walk in nature at least once a week.
We need to eat natural foods. Eat meats, natural sustainably raised and regeneratively farmed animal products, fruits and vegetables. Cook your own grains and legumes (i.e.: process your food yourself). Avoid random ingredients (take a look at your oat and almond milk–what’s in the ingredients list? Can you pronounce all the ingredients in those foods? Can you guess what plant or animal each of those ingredients came from? Have you ever seen a carageenan tree?).
Moving to a more natural diet can be hard. Sometimes results are felt immediately. Sometimes our partners notice a change in us before we notice in ourselves (“Hon, every time you have gluten and sugar, don’t you notice you’re snappier the next day, or are more likely to have a meltdown?”).
It often takes making a plan–grocery shopping, making a list of foods you’re going to eat and maybe foods you’re not going to eat, coming up with some recipes, developing a few systems for rushed nights and take-out and snacks–and patience.
Often we don’t feel better right away–it takes inflammation a while to resolve and it takes the gut time to heal. I notice that a lot of my patients are addicted to certain chemicals or ingredients in processed foods and, particularly if they’re suffering from the pain of gut inflammation, it can tempting to go back to the chemicals before that helped numb the pain and delivered the dopamine hit of pleasure that comes from dealing with an addiction. It might help to remember your why. Stick it on the fridge beside your smoothie recipe.
We need to sleep, and experience darkness. If you can’t get your bedroom 100%-can’t see you hand in front of your face-dark, then use an eye mask when sleeping. Give your body enough time for sleep. Less than 7 hours isn’t enough.
We need to move in all sorts of ways. Dance. Walk. Swim. Move in 3D. Do yoga to experience the full range of motion of your joints. Practice a sport that requires your body and mind, that challenges your skills and coordination. Learn balance both in your body and in your mind.
We need to manage our emotional life. Feeling our emotions, paying attention to the body sensations that arise in our bodies—what does hunger feel like? What does the need for a bowel movement feel like? How does thirst arise in your body? Can you recognize those feelings? What about your emotions? What sensations does anger produce? Can you feel anxiety building? What do you do with these emotions once they arise? Are you afraid of them? Do you try to push them back down? Do you let them arise and “meet them at the door laughing” as Rumi says in his poem The Guest House?
Journalling, meditation, mindfulness, hypnosis, breath-work, art, therapy, etc. can all be helpful tools for understanding the emotional life and understanding the role chronic stress (and how it arises, builds, and falls in the body) and toxic thoughts play in perpetuating inflammation.
Detox. No, I don’t mean go on some weird cleanse or drinks teas that keep you on the toilet all day. What I mean is: remove the gunk and clutter from your physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional plumbing. This might look like taking a tech break. Or going off into the woods for a weekend. Eating animals and plants for a couple of months, cutting out alcohol, or coffee or processed foods for a time.
It might involve cleaning your house with vinegar and detergents that are mostly natural ingredients, dumping the fragrances from your cosmetics and cleaning products, storing food in steel and glass, rather than plastic. It might mean a beach clean-up. Or a purging of your closet–sometimes cleaning up the chaos in our living environments is the needed thing for reducing inflammation. It’s likely why Marie Kondo-ing and the Minimalist Movement gained so much popularity–our stuff can add extra gunk to our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives.
Detoxing isn’t just a trendy buzzword; it’s about fostering clarity and wellness in every aspect of our lives, including our living spaces. A clean, organized home can significantly contribute to a healthier mindset and emotional balance. That’s where Clean 4 You comes in, offering a fresh perspective on home cleaning that goes beyond mere tidiness.
They understand that clutter and grime can weigh heavily on our mental and emotional states, which is why they provide services tailored to create an environment that supports your detox journey. By enlisting the help of professionals, you can focus on nurturing yourself while they take care of transforming your space into a sanctuary.
If you’re seeking assistance specifically designed for individuals with unique needs, the NDIS Cleaner Perth service from Clean 4 You is here to help. This dedicated team is trained to cater to the requirements of those on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, ensuring that every client receives the support they need for a clean and safe living environment.
With a commitment to using eco-friendly products and methods, Clean 4 You allows you to detox your home in a way that aligns with your values, providing peace of mind as you embrace a healthier lifestyle. With their expertise, you can achieve a pristine space that not only looks good but feels good, allowing you to focus on your personal wellness journey.
Finally, connect with your community. Loneliness is inflammatory. And this past year and a half have been very difficult, particularly for those of you who live alone, who are in transition, who aren’t in the place you’d like to be, or with the person or people you’d like to be–your soul family.
It takes work to find a soul family. I think the first steps are to connect and attune to oneself, to truly understand who you are and move toward that and in that way people can slowly trickle in.
We often need to take care of ourselves first, thereby establishing the boundaries and self-awareness needed to call in the people who will respect and inspire us the most. It’s about self-worth. How do you treat yourself as someone worthy of love and belonging?
Perhaps it first comes with removing the sources of inflammation from our lives, so we can address the deeper layers of our feelings and body sensations and relieve the foggy heaviness and depression and toxic thoughts that might keep us feeling stuck.
Once we clear up our minds and bodies, and cool the fires of inflammation, we start to see better—the fog lifts. We start to think more clearly. We know who we are. Our cravings subside. We can begin to process our shame, anger and sadness.
We start to crave nourishing things: the walk in nature, the quiet afternoon writing poetry, the phone call with a friend, the stewed apples with cinnamon (real sweetness). We free up our dopamine receptors for wholesome endeavours. We start to move in the direction of our own authenticity. I think this process naturally attracts people to us. And naturally attracts us to the people who have the capacity to love and accept us the way we deserve.
Once we start to build community, especially an anti-inflammatory community—you know, a non-toxic, nourishing, wholesome group of people who make your soul sing, the path becomes easier.
You see, when you are surrounded by people who live life the way you do–with a respect for nature, of which our bodies are apart–who prioritize sleep, natural nutrition, mental health, movement, emotional expression, and self-exploration, it becomes more natural to do these things. It no longer becomes a program or a plan, or a process you’re in. It becomes a way of life–why would anyone do it any other way?
The best way to overcome the toxicity of a sick society is to create a parallel one.
When you’re surrounded by people who share your values. You no longer need to spend as much energy fighting cravings, going against the grain, or succumbing to self-sabotage, feeling isolated if your stray from the herb and eat vegetables and go to sleep early.
You are part of a culture now. A culture in which caring for yourself and living according to your nature is, well… normal and natural.
There’s nothing to push against or detox from. You can simply rest in healing, because healing is the most natural thing there is.
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Sep 12, 2021 | Asian Medicine, Depression, Detoxification, Diet, Digestion, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Gut Microbiome, Happiness, Health, Medicine, Meditation, Mental Health, metabolic health, Mindfulness, mood, Nature, Nature Cure, Nutrition
Whenever I sit with a new patient for an initial intake, I ask about cravings.
From my many conversations about food, appetite and cravings, the most common responses are cravings for salt, or sugar, with many people falling on one end of the preference than the other: “I’m a salt craver” or “I’ve got a sweet tooth”.
However, cravings are so much more than that.
I believe that they are a beautifully intricate process, in which our body is trying to speak to us about what it needs.
Our bodies have developed taste receptors to detect quality nutrients from the environment. While these days sugar is abundant wherever you turn, during our hunter-gatherer times, it was a relatively scarce and highly sought after taste–the taste of ripe fruit, rich with nutrients, the taste of quality calories from carbohydrates, which may have been scarce in times of food shortage or famine.
Salt or “savoury” or umami cravings, often represent a need for more protein. Unfortunately, many of my patients who crave salt (and often calories) find themselves the bottom of a bag of chips, rather than grilling up a chicken breast.
Our modern environment doesn’t necessarily set us up to adequately translate and respond properly to certain cravings. Salted chips were probably not a thing in a natural environment and the only way to satisfy a salt and savoury craving would have been through hunting, consuming meat, or eggs and poultry.
When I was travelling in Colombia I was obsessed with broccoli–it was like I couldn’t get enough of it.
The same thing happened on a month-long trip to Brazil in 2019. Broccoli is rich in vitamin C, sulphur, and certain amino acids. It’s also a decent source of calcium. I’m not sure what nutrient I may have been lacking on my travels, but it’s possible that those cravings meant something for my body. And so I honoured them–I sought out broccoli like it was a magic elixir of health and ate as much of it as I could.
After developing significant iron deficiency after spending a few years as a vegetarian, I became suddenly attracted by the smell of roasting chicken from a local Korean restaurant I was passing by while walking the streets of Toronto.
The wafting smell of roasting poultry was majestic and impossible to ignore. It didn’t smell like sin, or temptation–my body betraying my moral sensibilities or whatever else we often accuse our cravings of—it smelt… like health.
There was no doubt in my mind as the delicious fumes touched my nostrils that I needed to honour my body and start eating meat again. I did and my health and nutrient status has never been better.
Patients will report craving carbs and chocolate the week before their period. The eb and flow of estrogen can affect serotonin levels. A large dose of carbs allows tryptophan, the amino acid that forms the backbone of serotonin, to freely enter the brain. This explains the effect “comfort foods” like starchy warm bread and pasta have on us, creating that warm, after-Thanksgiving dinner glow.
Chocolate is rich in magnesium, a nutrient in which many of us are deficient, that is in higher demand throughout the luteal phase of our cycle, or our premenstrual week.
Cravings are not just nagging, annoying vices, thrust in the path to greater health and iron discipline. They’re complex, intuitive and beautiful. They may be important landmarks on the path to true health and wellness.
Disciplines like Intuitive Eating and Mindful Eating have based themselves on the idea that our bodies hold intuitive wisdom and our tastes, cravings and appetites may be essential for guiding us on a road to health. Through removing restriction and paying more attention to the experience of food, we may be better guided to choose what foods are right for us.
The book The Dorito Effect outlines how our taste cues have been hijacked by Big Food. Like having a sham translator, processed foods stand between essential nutrients and the signals our bodies use to guide us to them. A craving for sweet that might have led you to ripe fruit, now leads you to a bag of nutrient-devoid candy that actually robs you of magnesium, and other nutrients in order to process the chemicals. A craving for salt and umami, or hunger for calories leads you to polish off a bag of chips, which are protein-devoid and laden with inflammatory fats, and only trigger more cravings, and shame.
It’s no wonder that we don’t trust our cravings– we live in a world that exploits them at every turn.
Clara Davis in 1939 was curious about the instintual nature of human cravings and devised a study that was published in the Canadian Medical Assoication Journal (CMAJ). The study was called Self-Selection of Diets by Young Children.
Clara gathered together 15 orphaned infants between 6 to 11 months of age who were weaning from breast-feeding and ready to receive solid food for the first time. These infants, before the study had never tried solid food or supplements. They were studied ongoing for a period of 6 years, with the main study process was conducted over a period of months.
The babies were sat at a table with a selection of simple, whole foods–33 to be exact. The foods contained no added sugars or salt. They were minimally cooked. Not all 33 were presented to each baby at each meal, however the babies were offered an opportunity to try everything.
The foods they were offered were water, sweet milk, sour (lactic) milk, sea salt, apples, bananas, orange juice, pineapple, peaches, tomatoes, beets, carrots, peas, turnips, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, potato, lettuce, oatmeal, wheat, corn meal, barley, Ry-krisp (a kind of cereal), beef, lamb, bone marrow, bone jelly, chicken, sweetbreads, brains, liver, kidneys, eggs, and fish (haddock).
The nurses who were involved in running the study were instructed to sit in front of the infants with a spoon and wait for them to point at foods that they wanted. The nurses were not to comment on the choices or foods in any way, but wordlessly comply with the infants’ wishes and offer them a spoonful of the chosen foodstuff.
Throughout the study Davis noted that all the infants had hearty appetites and enjoyed eating.
At first, the babies showed no instinct for food choices, selecting things at random, and exploring the various foods presented to them. All of them tried everything at least once (two babies never tried lettuce and one never explored spinach). The most variety of food choices occurred during the first two weeks of the study when they were presumably in their experimentation phase.
Their tastes also changed from time to time, perhaps reflecting some hidden, internal mechanism, growth spurt or nutritional need. Sometimes a child would have orange juice and liver for breakfast (liver is a source of iron, and vitamin C from the orange juice aids in its absorption), and dinner could be something like eggs, bananas, and milk.
Many infants began the study in a state of malnourishment. Four were underweight and five suffered from Rickets a condition caused by extremely low vitamin D. One of the babies with severe Rickets was offered cod liver oil in addition to the other food options. Cod liver oil is a rich source of vitamin D.
The infant selected cod liver oil often for a while, after which his vitamin D, phosphorus and calcium blood levels all returned to normal range, and x-rays showed that his Ricket’s healed.
It is often thought by parents that children, if left to their own devices will eat themselves nutrient-deficient. While that may be true in todays’ landscape of processed frankenfoods, the infants in Davis’ study consumed a diet that was balanced and high in variety. They got 17% of their calories from protein, 35% from fat and 48% from carbohydrates and intake depended on their activity levels.
During the 6 years in which the infants’ eating habits were under observation, they rarely suffered from health issues. They had no digestive issues, like constipation. If they came down with a cold it would last no more than 3 days before they were fully recovered.
In the 6 years, they became ill with a fever only once, an outbreak that affected all of the infants in the orphanage. The researchers noticed their appetites change in response to the illness.
During the initial stages of the fever, they had lower appetites. And, once the fevers began to resolve, their appetites came back with a vengeance. They ate voraciously, and it was interesting that most of them showed an increased preference for raw carrots, beef and beets–which may indicate a need for vitamin A, iron and protein, which are needed for immune system function and recovery.
The habits of the infants to crave and select medicinal foods during times of fever and nutrient deficiency is such compelling evidence of Clara Davis’ craving wisdom hypothesis—were their bodies telling them what they needed to heal?
The self-selected, whole foods diets seems to have a positive impact on the mood and behaviours of the babies, all of whom were living full-time at the orphanage.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Brennemann wrote an article on them entitled “Psychologic Aspects of Nutrition” in the Journal of Pediatrics on their mood, behaviour and affect, “I saw them on a number of occasions and they were the finest group of specimens from the physical and behaviour standpoint that I have even seen in children of that age.”
In our world we often try to mentalize our food choices: going vegan or low-fat, counting calories, or reducing carbs. We time our eating windows, fast, or try to exert discipline and will over our bodies’ inherent desires.
So often my patients need to be coached through food eliminations, or given meal plans and templates. The art of listening to the body: properly identifying hunger, thirst, fatigue, inflammation, and even emotions like boredom, anxiety, sadness, anger, and hurt, can be a long process.
And yet, I wonder if we clear our palates and offer them a variety of whole, unprocessed, fresh foods, if our bodies will settle into their own grooves–perhaps our health will optimize, our bodies will be able to more readily communicate what they need, our taste receptors and cravings will adjust, and our cravings and appetite will serve the purpose they were meant to–to tell us what we need more of and what need less of or not at all.
I wonder if we listen, what our bodies will tell us.
I wonder if we let them, if our bodies will exhibit the pure instinctual wisdom of nature and the quest for harmony and homeostasis that lies at the heart of our natural world.
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 10, 2020 | Anxiety, Depression, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Self-care
Chronic low-grade anxiety.
That feeling that you can’t settle. You can’t eat. You can’t relax. Your muscles are tense.
Not all is right with the world. Many people who live with chronic low-grade anxiety don’t even realize it’s there.
I see this all the time in my patients who experience panic attacks (when a couple of straws “break the camel’s back” so to speak, the “backs” being a nervous system that is already tightly wound up), or dissociation, even depression, or chronic exhaustion.
Chronic low-grade anxiety can occur if something happens to us that our nervous systems don’t yet understand. I was babysitting a dog for a few days and she and my dog got into a fight. It was nasty and it rattled my nervous system.
I found myself feeling wound up… needing to be soothed, to be settled, for someone to tell me that it wasn’t going to happen again. My response is to go into “information” mode, to poll people, to get an authority’s perspective.
But, of course, it’s impossible to have certainty in this world. And so, my nervous system was asking for something: either that the situation wouldn’t happen again, or that I would know how to handle it and make things alright if it did.
Those with a history of childhood trauma may live in a state of hypervigilence and chronic anxiety–for you it might be your default state, like oxygen, anxiety is always there, at the very baseline of your experience.
The experience of low-grade anxiety is terrible. You’re always vigilant. You’re obsessing, you can’t relax. Your startle reflex is completely uptight.
You have nightmares, you don’t feel hungry. And yet you suddenly feel light-headed and starving.
Everything feels like too much.
Symptoms of chronic low-grade anxiety:
- brain fog
- overwhelm
- disrupted sleep
- feeling jittery or shaky
- nausea
- lack of hunger
- extreme hunger
- tense, sore muscles
- digestive issues, IBS, bloating, diarrhea
- generalized sense of dread
- shortness of breath, or difficulty getting a full breath
- sweating
- fatigue
- and so on
How do you heal it? Well, it’s tough because ultimately the nervous system wants you to REASSURE it that the world is a SAFE PLACE.
And… it’s not.
Shit happens.
It’s a bumper sticker for a reason.
Shit happens and when it does we need resources.
These resources come in the form of physical nutrition: literally salt, glucose and water. They come from stable hormones (related to blood sugar, a properly functioning circadian rhythm), managed inflammation.
They come from restorative practices: exercise and rest, time where you feel into your body. And they come from understanding the situation: storying it.
In the case of the dogfight, it helped me to learn about dogs, to know how to keep them calm and happy, to understand their particular language and establish myself as the dog leader (also lots and lots of exercise and a bit of CBD oil).
Once they were calm I was calm too.
In the case of childhood trauma it might involve working with the story through the support of a trusted therapeutic relationship, and maybe after working on building resources and engaging in stabilizing practices that help you feel embodied.
Therapies to treat chronic low-grade anxiety:
- nutritional practices focused on obtaining essential nutrients like fat and protein and stabilizing blood sugar
- support circadian rhythms, sleep and cortisol responses in the body
- support neurotransmitters and cell membranes
- trauma-informed therapy, or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- movement
- meditation and self-compassion
- breathwork
- emotional regulation, self-soothing and other embodiment practices
- time in nature
- plenty of rest
- regular routines and self-care-informed habits
- plant medicines that can help access deeper seated trauma or regulate the nervous system, hormonal systems and brain chemistry.
- And so on.
Our nervous systems are beautiful things. They’re trying to tell us something.
A nervous system on edge is telling us that all is not harmonious with the world: perhaps our internal world, or our external one.
Can we listen to it?
Learn more about supporting your mood and mental health with nutrition.
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 25, 2014 | Cleaning, Detoxification, Health, Nature, Self-care
Spring is about cleaning. The April rains wash away the dirt and grime from the winter, people emerge in fresh, light clothing, we tackle the stacks of papers on our desks, sweep out dust and clutter, open the windows to allow fresh air to ventilate our lives and donate old, knobbing winter sweaters to charity. Spring is also the season of the Liver and Gallbladder in Chinese Medicine. This means that our body’s ability to clean revs itself up at this time of year as well. Some wonderful plants also push their way through the ground. Pick some from your garden and start throwing them into everything you eat. Spring is in the air!
(more…)
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Aug 28, 2013 | Acupuncture, Health, Homeopathy, Meditation, Nature, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Nutrition, Philosophy, Preventive Medicine
First things first: sunshine, fresh air and clean water.
Contrary to common belief naturopathic doctors are not just doctors who prescribe natural remedies to patients. (This means you can not avoid visiting a naturopathic doctor by going to a local health-food store and prescribing yourself a bunch of vitamins and supplements!) After all, as previously “naturopathic” therapies invade scientific literature, more up-to-date medical doctors are prescribing things like fish oil and probiotics to their patients. However, this doesn’t make them naturopathic doctors any more than prescribing rights make us medical doctors! Naturopathic doctors differ from the traditional medical model not so much in what we prescribe or our principles (do no harm, treat the whole person, prevent disease, doctor as teacher, support the body, treat the cause), which medical doctors arguably share with us, but in something called the Therapeutic Order.
(more…)
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jul 18, 2013 | Botanical Medicine, Clinical Science, Health, Nature, Nature Cure, Research
When I was very small, the tree at my parent’s house became sick and was cut down. I don’t exactly remember the great pine tree, but I remember it’s large, rotting stump, which was left as evidence of its towering existence on the lawn of our front yard. As a replacement, the city planted another tree in its place: a ginkgo tree.
What was once a disappointingly small, skinny sapling now towers over the two-story house, its trunk the diameter of my outstretched arms, an alarming reminder of the passage of time. I have always been fond of our ginkgo tree, with its delicate, fan-shaped leaves and its aire of exoticism, but I am developing an entirely new relationship with the plant as I begin to discover its array of clinical uses as well.
(more…)
