3 Ways To Improve The Health Of Your Gut

In this article, Dr. Maria Cavallazzi, ND at the Mindful Healing Integrative Naturopathy Clinic talks about the importance of gut health, and what you can do to improve yours.

More and more research is coming out showing a powerful connection between your gut and, well, a lot.

Some of the strangest, most unlikely health conditions, including anxiety, depression, skin conditions, asthma, and a whole lot of autoimmune conditions, can be directly linked back to poor gut health.

There are others, too, for which it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re linked to your gut, which includes IBS, acid reflux, constipation, colitis, and diarrhea.

This means the allopathic method of disease identification, where a health problem is identified by the area it affects, is starting to become outdated.

Asthma, for example, was considered a lung problem because it affects the lungs, and acne is a skin problem because it affects the skin.

This isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s also incomplete.

Sometimes, health issues have to do with the place where they’re located in the body – like lung cancer in a lifetime smoker, for example – but your entire body is connected.

Treating a problem located in your lungs as a lung issue means you may miss the issues in other parts of your body which may be contributing to the problem.

But Why Is The Gut So Important?

Your gut is filled with trillions of microscopic organisms of an incredibly diverse nature.

According to a 2014 paper published in Cell Host & Microbe, there are over 1000 different species of microorganisms in your gut.

In the broadest sense of the word, these are “germs”, but they’re not like the germs you want to get rid of when you wash your hands.

Instead, these bacteria help you digest food, control your immune system, and regulate the health of your brain.

Each of these functions is important enough that you would have a difficult time living without them. So you can see how important the health of your gut is.

Why Do People Have Unhealthy Guts?

Here in the west, modern medicine has given us amazing things. But it has also caused some problems.

Antibiotics, for example, have been a lifesaver.

But when you take an antibiotic to fight off a disease, you’re essentially dropping a carpet bomb on your entire system.

Yes, it may take care of the harmful bacteria in your body, but it will take out a lot of your friendly bacteria as well.

And since we already talked about how important those bacteria are, we can see the damage an unhealthy gut can cause.

Below, you’ll find three tips on how to improve the health of your gut.

1. Eat A Fibre-Rich Diet

Fibre is an important part of keeping your gut healthy.

Interestingly, your body actually can’t digest it.

But the bacteria in your gut can, so by providing them with the nutrients they need, they can continue to work for you.

As a general rule, eating a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and beans will provide you with enough dietary fibre. But some of the most fibre-rich foods include:
• Lentils
• Chick peas
• Broccoli
• Raspberries
• Artichokes
• Apples
• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Whole grains

2. Eat Fermented Foods

Fermented foods are foods that have gone through a process called lacto-fermentation.

During this process, bacteria feed on the sugars and starches in the food, and in the process create lactic acid.

This helps preserve it, which is why sauerkraut lasts a whole lot longer than regular cabbage.

But it also fills the food with a variety of beneficial stuff, including B-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and some healthy bacteria, including lactobacillus.

Some of the most common fermented foods include:
• Yogurt
• Sauerkraut
• Kombucha
• Tempeh
• Kimchi
• Kefir

3. Limit Your Consumption Of Alcohol And Sugar

Now, alcohol is also a fermented food.

The process of creating beer, for example, relies on many of the same processes as creating sauerkraut.

After all, it’s essentially fermented barley.

However, alcohol can also lead to a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome where the boundary between your gut and the rest of your body becomes permeable.

This means all sorts of things which are good for you when they’re found within your gut can escape.

We’ll talk more about Leaky Gut Syndrome in another article.

For now, limiting your consumption of alcohol and sugar can help you avoid Leaky Gut Syndrome, and improve the health of your gut.

Contact The Mindful Healing Clinic

Are you experiencing one of the conditions listed above?

Do you believe you may be suffering from poor gut health?

If so, contact Dr. Maria at the Mindful Healing Clinic to book your FREE health and wellness session.

You’ll get a chance to sit down with Dr. Maria and get all your questions answered.

From there, Dr. Maria will listen to your concerns and help you understand a treatment plan to address these issues and get you feeling healthy again.

Contact The Mindful Healing Clinic to book your FREE health and wellness session today.

Until next time,

Dr. Maria Cavallazzi, N.D

Mindful Healing Integrative Naturopathy
251 Queen St S Unit 4,
Mississauga, ON L5M 1L7
- https://goo.gl/maps/KYspifT7J232

Dr. Maria Cavallazzi is a medical doctor from Colombia where she practiced as a family physician for 8 years until she moved to Canada 16 years ago.

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To get additional ideas on health, wellness, and alternative medicine, please visit us here: naturopathic doctor

3 Reasons Why Added Sugar Is Bad For You

There are lots of things in our food we should be avoiding.

That’s no secret to any health-conscious person.

As a naturopath, most of my patients already know this.

And there’s some harmful stuff out there.

But arguably the worst of these is added sugar.

There are so many reasons why this stuff is terrible for you.

But first of all, what is added sugar in the first place?

What is Added Sugar?

In the broadest sense, you can lump sugar into two separate categories:

Naturally occurring sugar

Naturally occurring sugars are things like fructose, which you'll find in fruit, and lactose, which you'll find in dairy. They show up naturally in these foods, and this article is not about them.

Added sugars

Added sugars, on the other hand, are things like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup. They’re made artificially, and they’re added to sweeten things that wouldn’t otherwise be sweet.

But why is added sugar so terrible?

1: It Has Zero Nutritional Value

Added sugar is loaded with calories. So are a lot of other foods; a pancake breakfast, for example, can have more than 1000 calories in it.

But here’s the thing – added sugar has absolutely no essential nutrients in it.

This is why we call it empty calories.

If a significant number of the calories you take in come from added sugar, that can mean a big part of your diet is providing you with no nutritional value.

This creates the strange situation we face these days in the western world where people are simultaneously overweight and undernourished.

So essentially, added sugar is an entirely unnecessary part of your diet.

In fact, you could live a full, healthy, fulfilling life without having eaten a single bit of added sugar.

2: Sugar Is Highly Addictive

When you eat sugar, your brain releases dopamine in its reward centre.

And the way this works is similar to what happens when you use addictive drugs.

A 2008 study published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews tested rats to see if they could develop a dependence on sugar.

By intermittently giving the rats access to sugar, they could get them hooked on the stuff.

They craved it in the same way rats who are addicted to drugs crave their next fix.

So if you have a personality that’s susceptible to addiction, you may be at a higher risk of developing a sugar dependency.

But the worst thing about sugar addiction is the culture surrounding sugar. If you offered someone a drink, for example, and they politely declined because they were a recovering alcoholic, would you push them to take the drink?

Of course not.

But if someone is offered a slice of cake and they say they’re cutting back on sugar, the reaction is generally something like “come on, one slice won’t hurt!” or “it’s bad luck not to have birthday cake!”

On top of this, sugar-added products are everywhere. If you want to stop drinking, don’t go to bars and you’ll be able to more easily resist temptation. If you want to stop eating added sugar though, you’ll need some strong willpower.

3: Added Sugar Is Hard On Your Liver

When you eat added sugar, your body breaks it down into two simpler sugars – fructose and glucose. Glucose is the more common sugar – it’s found in every single living organism on the planet, which means it’s in every single thing you eat.

We need the stuff.

Fructose, on the other hand, isn’t necessary for survival. When you eat fructose, it goes to your liver to be metabolized.

Now, this is one of your liver’s jobs, so a moderate amount of fructose (like from eating fruit) is perfectly fine.

Your body will turn it into glycogen, and store it in your liver until your body needs to use it to keep your blood sugar levels at a healthy level.

But your liver can only store so much glycogen.

And if your liver is already full, it will turn that excess fructose into fat.

So the more added sugar you eat, the more fat accumulates in your liver, which can cause some serious problems.

Sugar, Not Fat, Makes You Fat

In the past, doctors, nutritionists, and health gurus of all stripes suggested low-fat diets as the way to fight obesity and maintain a healthy weight.

It makes sense, right? You don’t want fat, so don’t eat fat.

Sadly, this isn’t the case. It’s sugar, not fat, that creates fat in our bodies.

Study after study has confirmed the causal link between sugar consumption and obesity. It’s also linked with diabetes and heart disease.

For example, if you drink one or two sugary drinks per day, you have a 26% greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes (source). You also have a 20% higher risk of having a heart attack, or dying from one (source).

In children, it’s even worse. For each can of soda a child consumes in a day, the odds of obesity increase by 60% (source).

These are just a few horrifying examples of what sugar can do to our bodies.

Contact Mindful Healing Clinic

If you’re hooked on sugar, there is help available.

Contact us at the Mindful Healing Clinic to book your FREE health and wellness session.

You’ll get a chance to explain your concerns and ask any questions, and from there we’ll help you understand what comes next.

Contact the Mindful Healing Clinic to book your FREE health and wellness session today.

Until next time,

Dr. Maria Cavallazzi, N.D

Mindful Healing Integrative Naturopathy
251 Queen St S Unit 4,
Mississauga, ON L5M 1L7
- https://goo.gl/maps/KYspifT7J232

Dr. Maria Cavallazzi is a medical doctor from Colombia where she practiced as a family physician for 8 years until she moved to Canada 16 years ago.

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To learn additional info on health, wellness, and alternative medicine, please visit us here: naturopathic doctor in Streetsville

What Causes High Blood Pressure and How To Reduce It

If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you may be surprised to find it’s one of the more common disorders facing people today.

As a naturopathic doctor in Mississauga, I’ve seen a number of patients over the years with this concern.

According to a Statistics Canada study from 2014, nearly 18% of Canadians age 12 and over have high blood pressure, and this trend seems to be on the rise.

So odds are becoming increasingly likely that you or a family member may struggle with high blood pressure.

But what causes it, and what can be done about it?

What Is High Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the way we measure how forcefully your blood pushes through the blood vessels in your body.

When a doctor checks your blood pressure, they will use two different numbers – your systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure.

Systolic is the pressure inside your arteries while they’re pumping blood, while your diastolic number measures the blood pressure of your arteries while your heart is resting between beats.

If you have healthy arteries, the blood will flow easily, at or near the ideal rate of between 90 and 120 systolic, and between 60 and 80 diastolic.

This makes things easier on your heart – it doesn’t have to work as hard.

But if your arteries become clogged or stiff, your blood pressure rises.

This pushes your heart harder than it has to, which can cause problems.

What Causes High Blood Pressure?

The truth is, we’re still in the process of understanding what causes high blood pressure.

But there are many different factors which commonly contribute to it.

Generally, the way we treat high blood pressure is by using medication.

And while this medication can work, it often comes with a host of side effects, including dizziness, disrupted sleeping patterns, and erectile difficulties.

Fortunately, though, most people can reduce their blood pressure by making some lifestyle changes, avoiding these side effects.

Read on for a few tips on how to reduce your high blood pressure.

1: Stop Smoking And Cut Back On Drinking

It’s a well-known fact that your blood pressure increases while smoking a cigarette – this is specifically associated with nicotine, as opposed to one of the dozens of other harmful chemicals in a cigarette.

Interestingly, according to a study from P. Omvik of the University of Bergen School of Medicine in Norway, smokers tend to have a slightly lower average blood pressure than the rest of the population, but if your blood pressure is high in the first place, it may increase as you smoke a cigarette, putting undue strain on your heart.

Meanwhile, regularly consuming alcohol has a very specific causal relationship with an increase in blood pressure as well.

Cutting each of these out of your life, or at least reducing them significantly, can help.

2: Get Some Exercise

It may seem counter-intuitive.

Going for a bike ride, rowing, jogging, or doing some other form of cardiovascular exercise increases your heart rate at the time, which seems like it would increase your blood pressure.

But your heart is a muscle just like any other in your body.

And just like those bicep curls will strengthen your biceps, doing cardio will strengthen your heart.

This allows it to pump blood through your body more efficiently, put less strain on your blood vessels, and keeping the whole system healthier.

Pushing your body with exercise, then allowing it to rest and recover, helps keep your body’s various systems in check.

This includes your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems – the former which keeps you alert and aware, and the latter which is in charge of relaxation.

Keeping these two in harmony also helps keep your blood pressure in line too, so there’s an added benefit.

3: Eat Your Vegetables! (With Nitrates)

If you’ve ever followed diet trends, you’ll notice things come in and out of vogue.

Once upon a time fat was the enemy and now it’s on our team (at least some fats).

Eggs are sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Artificial sweeteners were once or friend and now the more health-conscious among us avoid them like the plague.

But there’s one thing that never goes out of style, and that’s your vegetables.

These provide all sorts of health benefits, and you should be including as many different vegetables as you can in your diet regardless of your blood pressure.

But if you do happen to have high blood pressure, they can help you tremendously.

And the way it works has something to do with nitrates.

Not to be confused with nitrites, the nasty stuff you’ll find in processed meats, nitrates are a naturally occurring substance found in just about all vegetables and fruits.

When you consume it, your body will convert it into nitric oxide.

As the nitric oxide flows through your veins, it will help relax, or dilate them, which makes the entire process of blood flow much easier on your body.

This results in a lower blood pressure.

While most vegetables have nitrates in them, here are some of the top nitrate-rich veggies out there.
• Arugula
• Celery
• Lettuce (particularly iceberg, butter leaf, or oak leaf)
• Beets and beet greens
• Spinach
• Cress
• Carrots
• Bok choy
• Rhubarb
• Swiss chard
• Turnips

Contact Mindful Healing Clinic

Please note that none of the above advice should be a substitute for speaking with a qualified healthcare practitioner.

If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, or you believe you have it, contact Dr. Maria at the Mindful Healing Clinic.

You’ll get to book a FREE health and wellness session, where you’ll get a chance to sit down with Dr. Maria and explain your health concerns.

From there, Dr. Maria will answer your questions and help you understand how to address your health concerns and live healthier.

Contact the Mindful Healing Clinic and take your first step toward living a happier, healthier life today.

To find more ways on health, wellness, and alternative medicine, please visit us here: naturopathy

4 Causes Of Sugar Cravings And How To Deal With Them

Cravings.

We all get them.

And we all have our weaknesses when it comes to food – even naturopathic doctors!

Whatever your weakness is, though, most of it leads back to sugar. Refined and artificial sugars, specifically, like the white sugar we put in coffee, or high fructose corn syrup.

Our bodies crave this stuff, whether we know it’s bad for us or not.

Now, there are many reasons why refined sugar is bad for you, but that’s a subject for another article.

This article is about cravings and how you can overcome them.

How To Solve A Problem

We’ve all dealt with problems in our lives.

Big or small, it doesn’t matter.

The thought process is similar.

The first step toward solving a problem is to understand the problem in the first place.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” – Albert Einstein

Sometimes this step is easy.

If you have a broken window, for example, you already understand the problem.

And the solution is pretty obvious.

But when it comes to health, things are a little trickier. You may have cravings, for example, but if you don’t know where those cravings are coming from you won’t know how to control them.

So that’s our first step – figuring out where your cravings come from.

Where Do Cravings Come From?

It would be nice if cravings all came from one place.

Then I could tell you exactly what to do, and that would be the end of it.

This article could be a single paragraph long.

But things aren’t that simple.

Because each of us is unique, each of us has our own cravings and our own causes for those.
In fact, there are four main causes of cravings.

Your cravings may be caused by one of the four you find below, or a combination of two or more.

Read on to find out where your cravings are coming from and what you can do about it.

Bacterial Cravings

We’ve come to think of bacteria as a bad thing.

We use antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer to wash our hands, antibacterial cleaners to clean our houses, and when we get sick, medical doctors prescribe antibiotics to kill the germs.

The truth is some bacteria are bad. But most of it is good. In fact, you wouldn’t be able to live without it.

According to a recent research paper published in PLoS, the ratio of bacteria to human cells in your body is about 50-50.

That means your body is made up of as many bacterial cells as human cells.

So when it comes to calling the shots in our bodies, these bacteria have a lot of sway.

The same study above will tell you that most of these bacteria live in your digestive tract, mostly your colon.

By using your body’s vagus nerve, these bacteria can communicate with your brain and tell it what they want.

And what these bacteria love more than anything is sugar.

This is especially the case when you have a build-up of candida or other yeast in your body, which feeds off this stuff.

What’s the solution? Food with antifungal properties can make a big difference – like the lauric acid found in coconut oil.

Probiotics are also your friend here – they help promote the growth of healthy bacteria in your body.

Of course, it’s best to speak with a healthcare practitioner, like a naturopathic doctor, to find out what’s really happening and plan accordingly.

Emotional Cravings

It’s always easier to avoid eating something when we’ve never eaten it before, and that’s because we have no emotional connection to it.

That’s why it’s easier for someone who was raised vegetarian to stick to a vegetarian diet than someone who transitioned to a vegetarian lifestyle in their mid thirties.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with having an emotional connection to food. In fact, it’s impossible not to.

We’re emotional beings, and we have feelings.

We eat with the people we care about, and that creates emotional bonds around food.

We see this in most community-oriented animals in nature.

Eating together strengthens social bonds.

But there’s an important question to ask when it comes to your emotional relationship with food.

Are you eating something because you want to increase your positive emotions, or because you want to decrease your negative ones?

Nutritional Cravings

In the modern world, we’re faced with a bizarre dilemma.

The prevalence of sugary, artificial food is all around us, making us fat.

At the same time, these foods are devoid of the essential nutrients your body needs to thrive.

So, paradoxically, many people today are both overweight and malnourished.

Your body recognizes this, and wants to do something about it, which sometimes draws us to the very foods we should be avoiding.

For example, most women love chocolate.

That’s a pretty safe thing to say.

But most women are also deficient in magnesium. And guess where you can find magnesium?

That’s right, chocolate.

Yes, you’ll get the magnesium you need.

But you’ll also get all sorts of drawbacks, especially if the chocolate you’re eating has added sugar.

Speaking to a naturopathic doctor who specializes in clinical nutrition can help you find out if you’re deficient in any particular vitamin or mineral, and how you can make that up with your diet or through supplementing.

Physical Cravings

Food is fun! It lights up all sorts of pleasure sensors in your brain.

But many of us don’t have enough pleasure in our lives these days.

Adults especially seem to have forgotten how to have fun.

We live our lives in stuffy offices or job sites, focused on working hard all the time.

And there’s nothing wrong with working hard, but we need to mix some pleasure into that as well.

For many people, though, the only socially acceptable pleasures for adults to indulge in are alcohol, sex, and, you guessed it, food.

So if you’re using overly sugary foods to fill a void in your life, you may want to think about where else you can find joy and excitement elsewhere in a healthier manner.

Contact Dr. Maria At Mindful Healing

When it comes to food, the question to ask is a simple one: is this food serving me, or is it covering up some sort of need in my life?

If you’re truly enjoying your food, you likely have a healthier relationship with it.

But if you’re using it to cover up something, there may be deeper issues.

To find out how you can improve your relationship with food and start living a healthier life, contact us at Mindful Healing.

You’ll get a FREE health and wellness session, where Dr. Maria will listen to your concerns, answer your questions, and help you put together a treatment plan to help you enjoy a healthier, happier life.

Contact Mindful Healing Clinic to book your FREE health and wellness session today.

To see more tips on health, wellness, and alternative medicine, please visit us here: find a naturopath