Health tips

Posted on by KandisND

Back pain during menopause is one of those symptoms nobody really warns you about. You’re managing hot flashes, navigating sleep disruptions, and then your lower back starts aching in a way that’s just… new. Different. And frustratingly persistent. If this sounds like where you are right now, you’re in good company, and more importantly, there are real, effective answers to how to treat menopause back pain.

Understanding why it happens is the first step. Because once you know what’s driving the pain, treating it becomes a lot more targeted and a lot more effective.

Why Menopause Causes Back Pain

Estrogen plays a far more significant role in musculoskeletal health than most people realize. It supports bone density, helps maintain cartilage, reduces inflammation, and promotes muscle recovery. As estrogen levels decline during menopause, all of these protective effects diminish.

The result is increased inflammation in the joints and soft tissues of the spine, accelerated bone density loss (which can alter spinal alignment), reduced muscle mass and supportive strength, and increased pain sensitivity overall. When you’re trying to figure out how to treat menopause back pain, these underlying mechanisms need to be part of the conversation.

Movement Is Medicine

One of the most evidence-supported strategies for menopausal back pain is intentional movement. Specific types of exercise can reduce inflammation, support bone density, and strengthen the muscles that support your spine. Yoga and stretching, particularly poses that open the hips and lengthen the spine, reduce tension and improve flexibility. Core strengthening work reduces the load on the lower back. Weight-bearing exercise supports bone density and reduces fracture risk. Walking regularly improves circulation and reduces systemic inflammation.

This is not about pushing through pain. It’s about targeted movement that addresses the root causes of menopause back pain treatment.

Nutrition and Supplementation

Anti-inflammatory eating is foundational when addressing how to treat menopause back pain. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, colorful vegetables, and lean protein while minimizing processed foods and sugar can make a measurable difference in pain levels. Magnesium supports muscle relaxation and sleep quality. Vitamin D and K2 work together to support bone health. Collagen peptides and vitamin C support connective tissue integrity.

Hormonal Support

Because declining estrogen is the primary driver of menopausal musculoskeletal changes, addressing the hormonal picture can have a significant impact on back pain. Natural hormone support, including bioidentical hormone therapy when appropriate, can help maintain the protective effects of estrogen on bone and muscle tissue.

A Naturopathic Approach

Knowing how to treat menopause back pain from a naturopathic perspective means looking at the full picture: hormone levels, nutrition, movement habits, inflammation markers, and sleep quality. All of these interact, and addressing them together produces the best results.

If back pain is affecting your quality of life during menopause, Dr. Kandis Lock, ND, offers comprehensive naturopathic care that addresses the hormonal, nutritional, and lifestyle factors driving your symptoms. Book your appointment today.

Posted on by KandisND

Most people associate menopause with the late 40s or early 50s. So when symptoms start showing up in your 40s, or even your late 30s, it can feel alarming, confusing, and easy to dismiss. “It’s probably just stress.” “I’m probably just tired.” Sound familiar?

If you’ve been wondering what signs of menopause at 40 actually look like, and whether what you’re experiencing might be the beginning of perimenopause, this post is for you. Understanding what’s happening hormonally is the first step to getting the right support.

Perimenopause vs Menopause: The Distinction Matters

Menopause itself is defined as 12 consecutive months without a period. What most women in their 40s are experiencing is perimenopause, the transitional phase leading up to menopause, which can begin 8 to 10 years before the final period. Perimenopausal symptoms in your 40s are far more common than most people realize. In fact, signs of menopause at 40 are usually signs of early perimenopause.

Common Signs to Watch For

Irregular periods: One of the earliest signs. Your cycle may become shorter, longer, heavier, lighter, or simply less predictable.

Sleep disruption: Waking up in the middle of the night, difficulty falling asleep, or lighter sleep than usual can all reflect changing estrogen and progesterone levels.

Mood changes: Increased anxiety, irritability, or feelings of depression that seem out of proportion to your circumstances are common and hormonally driven.

Brain fog: Difficulty concentrating, word-finding issues, or feeling mentally “cloudy” are well-documented signs of menopause that are often attributed to stress or overwork instead.

Hot flashes and night sweats: These can start in perimenopause, often before periods become irregular.

Changes in libido: Declining estrogen and testosterone affect sexual desire and comfort.

Joint pain and stiffness: Estrogen has anti-inflammatory properties. As levels decline, joint discomfort often increases.

Weight changes: Particularly increased abdominal weight, even without changes in diet or exercise.

When to Seek Support

If you are recognizing several of these signs of menopause at 40 in your own experience, it is worth getting a full hormonal assessment. Many women are told their results are “normal” based on reference ranges designed for older, postmenopausal women. Naturopathic hormone testing looks at optimal function, not just the absence of disease. Perimenopause and early menopause can easily be assessed by Dr. Kandis Lock, ND. Consider inquiring about menopause signs in more detail with a one-on-one consultation with us.

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If you’re in the middle of burnout, one of the first things you want to know is when it will end. When will you feel like yourself again? When will you be able to get through a day without feeling completely depleted? These are reasonable, urgent questions, and the honest answer is more nuanced than most people want to hear but also more hopeful.

Understanding how long does it take to recover from burnout requires understanding what burnout actually is, because it is not simply being tired or stressed. It is a state of physiological depletion that affects your nervous system, your adrenal glands, your hormones, your immune system, and your emotional and cognitive functioning.

What Burnout Does to Your Body

Burnout is not just a mental health issue. Prolonged psychological stress leads to dysregulation of the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, which controls your stress hormone output. Cortisol, which should follow a healthy daily rhythm, becomes dysregulated. This affects sleep, immunity, digestion, mood, and cognitive function. Recovering from burnout means restoring this physiological balance, not just changing your schedule.

The Recovery Timeline

So, how long does it take to recover from burnout? Research and clinical experience suggest that mild to moderate burnout, when caught early and actively addressed, can show significant improvement within three to six months. More severe or long-standing burnout may take one to two years to fully resolve.

What matters most is not the calendar but what you do with the time. Recovery without support, rest without addressing the underlying patterns, is much slower than recovery with proper clinical and lifestyle intervention.

What Speeds Recovery

Early intervention: The sooner you address burnout, the shorter the recovery. This is not a situation where pushing through helps.

Adrenal support: Targeted supplementation with adaptogens, B vitamins, and magnesium can help restore HPA axis function.

Sleep prioritization: Sleep is when adrenal and neurological recovery happens. Protecting sleep quality is non-negotiable during burnout recovery.

Boundary work: Practical coaching around over-giving, overcommitment, and habitual patterns of self-neglect is often essential for preventing relapse.

Addressing root causes: How long does it take to recover from burnout is partly determined by whether you address the conditions that created it. If the same patterns continue, recovery is much slower.

Recovery Is Not Linear

It is important to know that burnout recovery is not a straight line. There will be better weeks and harder weeks. Progress tends to look like gradually longer stretches of feeling well, with shorter recovery times after difficult periods.

You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone

Burnout recovery is both a physiological and a psychological process, and it goes faster with proper support. Dr. Kandis Lock, ND, works with patients in burnout at every stage, from early signs to deep exhaustion, with personalized plans that address the body and the patterns driving the depletion. Book your appointment at kandislocknd.ca.

Posted on by KandisND

If you’ve ever found yourself Googling “naturopath vs nutritionist” because you’re not sure which one to book with, you’re not alone. These are two distinct professions with overlapping areas of interest, and understanding the difference can save you time, money, and frustration when it comes to finding the right support for your health.

Let’s break it down honestly and clearly.

What Is a Nutritionist?

In Canada, the title “nutritionist” is unregulated in most provinces, meaning that the training, credentials, and scope of practice can vary significantly from person to person. Some nutritionists have rigorous academic training in nutritional science. Others have completed shorter certificate programs. This is not a criticism of the profession, simply a reality of the regulatory landscape.

Generally speaking, nutritionists focus on food, dietary assessment, meal planning, and education around eating habits. They work within the scope of nutrition and lifestyle, and most are not trained to diagnose conditions, order lab tests, or prescribe treatment protocols.

What Is a Naturopath?

In the naturopath vs nutritionist comparison, this is where things diverge significantly. A naturopathic doctor (ND) completes a four-year accredited graduate program in naturopathic medicine, following a pre-medical undergraduate degree. Training includes over 4,200 clinical hours and covers clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, physical medicine, pharmacology, and conventional medical diagnostics.

NDs in Ontario are regulated healthcare professionals with the authority to diagnose conditions, order and interpret lab tests, prescribe some medications, and deliver a wide range of therapeutic treatments. Nutrition is one tool in a much broader clinical toolkit.

Where They Overlap

When it comes to a naturopath vs. a nutritionist, both practitioners share a core interest in how food affects health. Both use nutritional assessment as part of their work. Both take a proactive, preventive approach to wellness. If your primary concern is diet optimization and you don’t have complex health conditions, either could serve you well depending on their specific training and expertise.

When to Choose a Naturopath

A naturopath is the right choice when your health concerns go beyond diet alone. Hormonal imbalances, persistent fatigue, digestive disorders, mood issues, unexplained symptoms, or any situation requiring lab testing and a broader diagnostic lens all benefit from naturopathic care. A naturopath can order hormone panels, investigate adrenal function, prescribe therapeutic supplements, and create a multi-modal treatment plan that addresses the whole picture.

When to Choose a Nutritionist

If your main focus is learning how to eat better, understanding food labels, building meal plans, or getting support around general healthy eating habits, a registered dietitian or well-trained nutritionist may be exactly what you need. For specific therapeutic nutrition in the context of complex health concerns, the naturopath vs nutritionist question usually tilts toward naturopathic care.

The Bottom Line

Both professions have value. The key is matching the right provider to your actual needs. If you’re dealing with symptoms that feel complex, connected, or hard to explain, naturopathic care with a practitioner like Dr. Kandis Lock, ND, offers the diagnostic depth and therapeutic breadth to get to the bottom of things. Book a free 15-minute meet and greet at kandislocknd.ca to see if it’s the right fit.

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Hormonal testing is one of those things that seems straightforward until you actually start looking into it. Then you discover that timing matters enormously, that different hormones peak at different times of day and different points in your cycle, and that the standard “is it in range” interpretation often misses the subtler imbalances that are actually driving your symptoms.

If you’ve been wondering When is the best time to test for hormone imbalance, this guide is here to give you the practical information you need to get results that actually tell you something useful.

Why Timing Matters in Hormone Testing

Hormones are not static. They fluctuate throughout the day, throughout the menstrual cycle, and across life stages. Testing at the wrong time can give you a normal result when imbalances are actually present. This is one of the reasons so many people get told their labs are “fine” when they continue to feel anything but.

For Women with a Regular Cycle

When is the best time to test for hormone imbalance if you’re cycling regularly? Most hormone panels are best done on specific days of your cycle. Estrogen and FSH are often measured in the early follicular phase (Days 2-5 of your cycle). Progesterone, on the other hand, is best tested in the mid-luteal phase, typically around Day 19-22 of a 28-day cycle, as this is when it should be at its peak. Testing progesterone at the wrong time of the cycle gives you a misleadingly low number that doesn’t reflect your actual luteal function.

For Women in Perimenopause or Menopause

Cycle-based timing becomes less reliable during perimenopause because cycles are irregular. In this case, when is the best time to test for hormone imbalance depends more on symptoms and the specific hormones being assessed. Comprehensive panels that include estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, FSH, and thyroid markers give the fullest picture.

Cortisol and Adrenal Hormones

Cortisol follows a diurnal pattern, highest in the morning and lowest at night. Testing cortisol in isolation without capturing its daily rhythm can miss adrenal dysfunction entirely. A four-point salivary cortisol test taken at morning, noon, afternoon, and evening captures the full pattern and is far more informative than a single blood draw.

Thyroid Testing

TSH is most stable when tested in the morning before eating. A comprehensive thyroid panel goes beyond TSH to include free T3, free T4, and thyroid antibodies to capture the full picture of thyroid function.

Getting the Most from Your Results

Knowing when is the best time to test for hormone imbalance is only part of the equation. The other half is working with a practitioner who interprets results through an optimal health lens, not just a disease-detection one. Naturopathic or Nutritionist hormone assessment looks at patterns and relationships between hormones, not just isolated values.

If you’re ready to get a clear picture of your hormonal health, Dr. Kandis Lock, ND, provides comprehensive hormone testing and personalized treatment planning. Book your appointment today at kandislocknd.ca.

Posted on by KandisND

You know that feeling when nerves hit before a big presentation, and your stomach drops? Or when you’re going through a rough patch and suddenly you can’t seem to digest anything without discomfort? That’s not a coincidence, and it’s not all in your head. Beilieve it or not, but your gut and brain communicate costantly, and when stress enters the picture, your digestive system is often the first place to feel it.

If you’ve been asking yourself whether can stress cause digestive issues, the short answer is yes, and the connection goes much deeper than most people realize. Understanding how stress affects your gut is the first step to doing something meaningful about it.

The Gut-Brain Connection

Have you heard of the enteric nervous system. It is your gut’s own nervous system, sometimes called the “second brain.” It contains roughly 500 million neurons and communicates via the vagus nerve directly with your brain. When your brain perceives stress, it triggers a cascade of hormonal responses that directly affect gut motility, acid production, and the microbiome.

This is why the question of whether can stress cause digestive issues has such a clear answer in clinical practice. The mechanism is real, measurable, and well-documented.

What Happens to Your Digestion Under Stress

When your body enters “fight or flight” mode, blood flow is redirected away from the digestive tract and toward the muscles and heart. Digestive enzymes decrease. Gut motility changes. The balance of bacteria in your microbiome shifts. Over time, chronic stress can lead to:

Increased intestinal permeability (sometimes called “leaky gut”), bloating, gas and cramping, changes in bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea), worsening of existing conditions like IBS or IBD, nausea and appetite disruption, and acid reflux or heartburn.

The Stress-Digestion Cycle

One of the more frustrating aspects of this issue is how cyclical it becomes. Digestive discomfort is itself a source of stress, which then makes the digestive symptoms worse. Many people live in this loop for years without identifying stress as a core driver.

This is exactly why stress can cause digestive issues, which is one of the most common questions that comes up in Naturopathic consultations. The symptoms are real, but the root cause is often being missed by practitioners who aren’t looking at the full picture.

What You Can Do About It

Addressing the gut-stress connection requires working on both sides of the equation. From a naturopathic standpoint, that means:

  • Supporting the nervous system: Adaptogenic herbs, magnesium, and targeted B vitamins can help regulate the stress response and reduce its impact on the gut.
  • Rebuilding the microbiome: Probiotic and prebiotic support, along with anti-inflammatory dietary changes, help restore the gut environment after chronic stress has disrupted it.
  • Healing the gut lining: Nutrients like L-glutamine, zinc, and collagen can support intestinal barrier integrity that stress has compromised.
  • Addressing the stress itself: Lifestyle adjustments, breathwork, movement, burnout recovery and sometimes coaching to shift habitual patterns of overextension and over-giving.

When to Seek Help

If you’re regularly experiencing digestive discomfort that seems tied to stressful periods, that is a signal worth paying attention to. Many people live with these symptoms for years, assuming it’s “just how their body works.” It isn’t. Chronic stress-driven digestive dysfunction is treatable.

Start Here

If you’re dealing with ongoing digestive issues and stress is a significant part of your life, a naturopathic assessment can help you connect the dots and build a plan that addresses both. Can stress cause digestive issues? Yes. Can it be addressed? Absolutely.

Book an appointment with Dr. Kandis Lock, ND, today and get to the root of what your gut is telling you.

Posted on by KandisND

Daily Habits to Help Manage Stress: Part 1

If you are a human being living on this planet, you are probably no stranger to stress and the many ways it can affect your life. Though you might be surprised to learn that some of the medical, emotional, or behavioural issues you have are actually related to the amount of stress in your life.

Anything from your mood and irritability to the amount you sleep and even whether or not you can lose weight can come down to your stress levels. While you might not be able to completely remove all stress triggers from your life, it comes down to how you manage stress that you can’t predict or prevent.

“You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing everything with logic. If words control you that means everyone can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.” – Bruce Lee

Sometimes, life makes it difficult to “allow things to pass.” You may feel like every day is a list of things that you can’t seem to get through, or it’s possible you think that life is an endless battle against your anxieties. There are numerous studies right now about why the rates of anxiety and stress are so high. It’s been said that millennials are the most anxious generation, and Time reported that more than 90 percent of Generation Z is stressed out. 

However, it goes beyond just these generations. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reported that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults.

Basically, when it comes to stress, you’re not alone. There are many ways to handle the stressful ins and outs of everyday life. These tactics have been supported by various studies and therapists who have shown that people with stress simply need to communicate to themselves what they are feeling. Oftentimes, you can use logic to see how your own stress is really just hidden fears and anxiety ganging up on you.

In this report, you will learn about some of the daily habits that can help you manage stress, from journaling and exercise, to learning about meditation.

Part One: What to Do to Manage Stress

The first thing to do if you are dealing with stress is to learn about what you can do to help manage your stress. In part 2, you will learn more about what to avoid in order to reduce the risk of stress.

Here are some excellent daily habits to start doing now that can help with your stress levels:

Journal

Do you ever write to yourself? You may think that’s something that young folks do, but everyone has their own unique ideas, thoughts, feelings, and questions. What if you could write down the things that you hope for or the things that you wish for? What if the stress you feel is just stuck in your head?

Journaling is a good way to get to know yourself better. You can start in small doses of 1 to 15 minutes, just free form writing about what’s on your mind. Perhaps you want to describe a moment in your life that was perfectly happy or maybe there is something really troubling you that you want to get out.

Your journal is a completely private place where you can detail whatever is happening right now. For those dealing with intense stress, it may help to write out your fears and concerns in chronological order. You may start to see a pattern or even develop an idea of how to handle those stresses just by writing them down.

Once you start journaling, you can go back and read what you wrote. How could things be different? What if you woke up tomorrow and those stresses were completely forgotten? What would you do instead? You should always try to argue against those stresses, so you can build confidence in taking action and developing goals. You can write these down too, and eventually, those stresses won’t seem as critical as they were before.

Meditate

Have you ever seen a guided meditation on YouTube? There are thousands of videos that are dedicated to helping you breathe better, focus your mind, and relax. However, you can practice basic meditation on your own to manage your stress every day. Sometimes, the best time for meditation is right when you wake up, especially if you feel the urge to keep sleeping to avoid the day.

How to Begin a Basic Meditation

The first thing you should do is get into a comfortable position. You may want to sit in your favourite chair or just try sitting on the ground with your legs crossed. You should be able to completely relax in this position while not falling asleep. This often involves keeping your back and shoulders straight so you maintain an active posture.

Once in a comfortable position, close your eyes slowly. You don’t want to tighten your face. The goal is to relax every part of your body. Sometimes people stretch or shake out all of their limbs before they settle down to meditate.

The next step is to clear your mind. Stress tries to distract you with bad thoughts and concerns all the time. This is one of the most difficult parts of meditation, but with practice, you can shut off those thoughts.

Tip: Having trouble clearing your mind? You can try this simple mind trick: Close your eyes and picture that you are sitting in a room with four white walls. This place doesn’t recognize current time or events. It’s just the place inside your mind where you are completely free to be just yourself, at peace, and at rest. You don’t need to think about anything in this place, because it won’t affect the white room. It’s a place completely devoid of stress and belongs outside of your traditional existence.

It’s likely that several thoughts will try to push through your meditation. Each time, you can simply acknowledge and “shush” them back into the ether. The goal of meditation is to get to a point where you don’t think about any stress for a long period of time. Some people can go for a minute and others can meditate for hours.

Meditation takes practice, but the longer you meditate, the easier it will be to clear your mind. If you want to set a timer or listen to music, you can use a YouTube meditation video or several meditation apps dedicated to helping you relieve stress.

Exercise 

Exercise is one of the ways that the Anxiety and Depression Association of America recommends handling stress. For one, it helps you improve your physical condition, and you can also fight obesity, heart issues, diabetes, back problems, and other diseases. Humans need exercise, but there are a lot of conveniences in today’s world that make it seem unnecessary. In fact, why would exercise affect your mental state?

Well, studies have shown that exercise improves focus and increases dopamine levels. You get a little rush from completing an exercise, and it makes your body feel good to work muscle groups and use up your stored energy. If you are constantly feeling tired because of stress, then it’s almost imperative that you start an exercise routine. Your mind is probably tricking you into a lazy state because of fatigue.

Just 20 minutes of exercise per day can help you alleviate stress. There are even a few exercise routines developed specifically for reducing anxiety and getting through fatigue. Here are a few we like best:

  • Try the 5 x 30 approach: Walk, jog, dance, or bike three to five times a week for 30 minutes.
  • Burn calories indoors with this routine: 40 jumping jacks, 30 squats, 20 crunches, 10 push-ups. Track your progress.
  • Try a 30-minute “fun” exercise routine on YouTube like this one. Sometimes my family just puts on music and has a kitchen dance party. The music is uplifting and it’s fun to be silly with dancing!
  • Commit to your exercise goals by setting small daily dedications, such as “I will walk for 20 minutes today” or “I will do 40 jumping jacks before dinner.”
  • Create habit chains for exercise, such as this one: “Wake up. Go for a walk or do 10 minutes of yoga. Shower. Eat breakfast. Drink green tea. Get dressed for the day, even if you aren’t going anywhere. ” Starting a healthy routine can be a great way to get yourself out of a mental rut and into a better head space.

Forming healthy exercise habits takes time, but most of all, you have to want to feel better. Part of managing your stress with exercise is hanging on to those feelings of relief and happiness after the workout that make it all worth it. By focusing your mind when you work out, you’ll start to forget why you were stressed in the first place.

Entertain

Sometimes you just need a break. Whether it’s going for a walk or putting your headphones on to listen to your favourite band, you just need to pull yourself out of the funk. Everyone is different, so not every hobby is going to sync up with your personality.

Try one, or any, of these:

  • Take a page from American Splendor and create your own comic about your life. Make light of the issues you’re facing by drawing out characters and scenarios with people in your life. You can keep them all private in your journal if you like!
  • Start up a new book. You probably have a list of books that you’ve been meaning to read.
  • Pick a trail and hike it. There’s nothing more calming than being in the wilderness sometimes. You’re surrounded by nature, enjoying fresh air, and focusing on your path, instead of your worries.
  • Try a new age colouring book and get creative.
  • Start cooking for yourself. Whether you want to try a subscription box or love to bake, you’ll get an incredible reward for your efforts: delicious food that you made! Seriously, there’s a sense of pride in creating dishes from scratch!
  • Adopt a pet. If you are feeling alone in this world, there are plenty of dogs out there who would love to be your friend. If that’s too high maintenance, try adopting a cat. Animals provide comfort, warmth, and companionship, and studies have shown it can alleviate stress and PTSD.
  • Play video games. Perhaps you want to master a game and go out on conquests. There’s no place better to do so than in the digital world of gaming. One study found that both men and women who played games were able to better manage their stress and were less depressed.
  • Start painting every day. Seriously, why not? Even if you think you’re not an artist, you can let the brush and paint tell your story. The goal is that you focus on a separate canvas than yourself, painting out your feelings and thoughts, or maybe you could paint a portrait of your

Unplug

The American Psychological Association recently released a report that shows constantly checking electronic devices is a significant reason for stress in Americans. That makes sense considering that emails, texts, social media, and other notifications are all messages to our brains about something. Could it be that you’re waiting on bad news?

The best way to deal with this is to just unplug. Spend time turning off your phone every night before bed and reading a book instead. There’s nothing that can’t wait, and while it may seem like everything is an emergency, this is one of the biggest reasons that you could be suffering from anxiety.

Parents are having a tough time managing their children’s addiction to technology, and it’s causing a lot of mental stress. Whether it’s checking messages constantly or playing games that keep you wired all night, long-term smartphone use can lead to extremely negative effects, like anxiety, ADD, and ADHD.

If you find yourself constantly checking your phone or email for messages, then you are actually causing more stress to your mind. Instead of focusing on your phone and notifications, take a time out and plan a day where you don’t do anything with your phone.

Think it can’t be done? The best way to find out is to challenge yourself. Once you start believing in the things you can do, the better you’ll feel overall.

 

Posted on by KandisND

To understand probiotics it’s best to zoom out and talk about the microbiota that inhabit us. The microbiota is the diverse organisms that inhabit a particular area. In relation to us humans that means bacteria, viruses, archaea and other organisms that live both in and on us.

https://unlockinglifescode.org/explore/genomic-medicine/microbiome

Photo from: https://unlockinglifescode.org/explore/genomic-medicine/microbiome

Depending on whether you are talking about skin, the stomach or your small or large intestine there is a different microbiota that live there; AND what resides there contributes to either health or disease.

Here are a few examples:

  1. The presence of streptococcus species in your esophagus is associated with less disease in the area.
  2. The presence of a bacteria called Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is commonly found in the fecal microbiomes of healthy adults and deficiency of F. prausnitzii appears to be relatively specific for ileal Crohns disease.
  3. A healthy vaginal canal is associated with high presence of Lactobacillus species.

All 3 of the above examples give a sense of the diverse microbiota that are found in various parts of the body (and there are plenty more!).

How do probiotics fit in here? And what are they?

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that confer many health benefits ranging from helping with diarrhea and constipation to making certain drugs work better in the body.

There are different categories of probiotics to choose from:

  1. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species
  2. Yeast strains like S. Boulardii
  3. Spore forming strains or Soil Based organisms like Bacillus spp.
  4. Other diverse strains like Strep, E. coli, Faecalibacterium, etc.

The above probiotics help with various health conditions as mentioned above, so you can get pretty specific with the strains you want to use to help achieve certain therapeutic targets. It’s best to chat with your health care professional about which ones will work best for you.

Do probiotics that you supplement with actually stay in your system?

The short answer is not forever, you need to be continually taking probiotics to have them stick around, but that doesn’t undermine the many health benefits they have (as above). There are some studies that show if you take both a probiotic and prebiotic or fermented product then the odds are in your favour of the probiotics lasting longer in the body and conferring more benefit.

Prebiotics? What are those?

Prebiotics are foods or starches that feed the microbiota in the gut. You can get prebiotics in supplement form such as potato starch or inulin, etc. You can also easily eat your probiotics by including root veggies, asparagus, plantain, flax or chia seeds, and many more high fiber foods or complex starches.

For the best of both worlds, I would recommend both probiotics and prebiotics- on the advice of your health care practitioner of course! Your tummy, immune system and body will thank you!

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For anyone who has been diagnosed or looking for prevention, the foray into understanding cancer and understanding what your oncologist AND the infamous Dr. Google is telling you can be a daunting endeavour.

There is a lot of new research, better understanding, and greater help for those diagnosed. And yet, it’s still a scary place to land. Most of my patients feel better when they can be active participants in the process of healing. Getting a better understanding of the process of cancer and some simple, food-based things you can do, is a great place to start.

Cancer is a complex disease with many theories and I am sure one could spend a lifetime going down the rabbit hole. I like the concept of the hallmarks of cancer. What does this mean?

Hallmarks of Cancer is not a new concept, but it is a good place to start when thinking about the process of cancer in the body. The hallmarks are areas in cellular physiology that can lead to cancer cell growth.

 

 

https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9

This fancy chart shows ways in which a cancerous cell tries to thrive in the body. From creating a new blood supply to itself to pushing cellular replication, and avoiding cell death by turning off “cell suicide” signals within itself.

How does knowing this help in the process of healing or prevention? There are many food-based therapies that contribute to halting the hallmarks of cancer. Think of food as your medicine. It’s something you can do and diet is something you have the power to control.

And how much does your lifestyle play a role? Is it worth it? Short answer, YES! Only 5-10% of cancers are due to hereditary mutations. 90-95% of cancers are driven by environmental factors mostly determined by lifestyle (2)

Diet is a major factor affecting cancer cell growth: The following foods have been shown to slow growth of cancer and affect the various hallmarks of cancer.

    • Flavonoids present in foods such as parsley, celery, and chamomile tea
    • Antioxidants found in berries help suppress tumour cells
    • Turmeric (great spice to cook with!)
    • Omega 3 found in good quality fish like salmon
    • Prebiotics (foods that feed the good bacteria in the gut): this is your fiber rich foods and complex carbohydrates such as sweet potato, cassava, flax seeds, chia, etc.
    • Isothiocyanates (sulphoraphane) from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage help activate the body’s ability to suppress tumour cells.

This is a small list, there are more of course, and this is a good place to start. You can certainly add berries to your breakfast smoothie or oatmeal bowl. You can create delicious curries and add a tsp of turmeric for extra flavour. Incorporate healthy fatty fish into your diet. Ensure fiber via flax or chia to feed your good gut bacteria. And don’t forget your broccoli!

Small changes can have big impact.
If you want to know more feel free to book in with me via: https://somersethealth.janeapp.com/

References
1. https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9
2. Impact of diet and nutrition on Cancer Hallmarks
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6301051/

Posted on by KandisND

All of us have moment of fatigue. Parents, athletes, students. We are all pushing ourselves too hard at times. But what happens when the fatigue isn’t momentary, and lasts past the point of logical?

There are many reasons we can feel chronically fatigued. Chronic sleep deprivation (I get it, I am a mom, I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night for one reason or another), late night study sessions, or working long hours at a job; can lead to major fatigue. Chronic stress is a big factor, pumping out our stress hormones for long periods of time will deplete us eventually. Chronic infection, most definitely will create fatigue- when the body has to fight off an infection, it is using it’s resources towards that, not towards your “get up and go”. All of these factors can deplete to body’s resources and slow the repair process which can lead to a more chronic state of fatigue.

What’s happening in the body at a cellular level when we feel an intractable, unrelenting fatigue? One theory is mitochondrial damage.  Mitochondria is the key organelle responsible for cellular energy production. A dysfunction in it can result in the excess fatigue and other symptoms that are common complaints in almost every chronic disease. At the very basic level, our mitochondria are responsible for the production production of adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP). This is our body’s energy source. If our mitochondria can’t produce ATP, our energy levels drop.

Oh crap, how do I fix it?! First of all figuring out the root of how it started is helpful, but if it’s murky, starting with general lifestyle factors is important. Sleep hygiene (good bedtime routine for example), reducing stress (via meditation, exercise, talking to a friend or therapist, etc.), and of course, supporting the body with nutrients via diet and supplementation.

What to mitochondria require to function well? Vitamins, Minerals and Amino acids! Having a varied diet with plenty of colour and adequate protein will meet basic needs for the body to start to rebuild. However, when the mitochondria are in disrepair, adding in supplements are key. There are a few favourites that I use that are helpful. CoQ10, Glutathione, and Carnitine. This trifecta is helpful in providing the body and the mitochondria with some of the nutrients required to do it’s job. There is certainly more to it than just supplementation, but it’s a great place to start. I find it almost certainly increases energy in most patients.

Talking to your Naturopathic doctor to figure out specific requirements is helpful. There is a list of about 20 nutrients that one could use (but taking ALL of them is likely not necessary) so having a guide through the process is essential. What every one person needs will be different, so make sure you work with a practitioner that can help you figure out your own unique requirements.