Cooling Summer Sipper

It's a hot one out there! The Landsdowne farmer's market today is astoundingly abundant with gorgeous local produce (thank you, farmers and earth!!), and among my pickings I've brought home some sweet peas in the pod, more irresistibly red rhubarb stalks of the "German wine" variety for making compote, organic beets, carrots, baby onions, pretty rainbow chard, and lean beef produced from happy healthy cows. One of the growers from Roots & Shoots educated me that radish and turnip belong to the same family, AND that family so happens to be Brassicaceae, one of the most important plant families for human food crops. Familia Brassicaceae provides us with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kholrabi, mustard, canola...and the list goes on. Overall a very healthy, anti-cancer plant family for we humans to munch veggies from, on a daily basis is possible! Here's an agri-science article on the Brassicaceae of Canada.

I was also fascinated to learn that Swiss chard and beets are actually the SAME species, Beta vulgaris, and the plants will interbreed. Yes, beet greens are definitely edible, delicious and healthy...they can be prepared like chard. I also learned that Romaine lettuce comes in RED!

After all that shopping about I needed a cooling break from the noon hour heat. Here's a simple, refreshing electrolyte replacer to sip on while taking a breather.

In a large drinking glass or pitcher combine:

a few slices of fresh cucumber
a few wedges of lemon
a tiny pinch of sea salt
1-2 tsp maple syrup, honey or molasses per serving
ice cubes (optional)
fill to the brim with cool water, and enjoy!

Cucumber, whether of the English or field variety, is one of the most cooling foods available. Lemon gives us some vitamin C and stimulates digestion, while sea salt and maple syrup/honey/molasses provides trace minerals and glucose (i.e. elecrolytes, which we lose when we sweat and get dehydrated). This drink would also be delicious with a few sprigs of fresh mint, which would enhance the cooling effect.

Sip, sip, sip!

Farmer's Markets

The diet is the basis for our health. Much of what we take in as food quite literally becomes our bodies, as substances we digest and absorb are distributed to various tissues of the body to participate in processes of rebuilding, repairing and regenerating our very cells. Much of our food comes from a long way away, undergoes multiple handling steps from field to grocery store shelf, most of which remains completely unknown and abstract to us as consumers. I've been thinking about this a lot more lately and really appreciating the lovely, local, super fresh produce and ethically raised meats available at our local farmer's markets in Ottawa. Most recently I've cycled down to the Shouldice berry farm to pick my own baskets full of intoxicatingly fragrant strawberries (literally surrounded by STRAW...hmmm!)

What do Naturopathic Doctors do?

Naturopathic Doctors integrate treatment approaches from the following areas:

Clinical Nutrition

Clinical Nutrition examines the relationship between diet and health. Naturopathic Doctors are trained to recognize individualized dietary needs and train patients as to how to use food as medicine. Emphasizing the importance of a balanced, minimally processed, whole foods diet, recommendations may additionally include nutritional supplements such as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics and other nutraceuticals.

Botanical Medicine

The use of Botanical/Herbal Medicine for healing dates back to the beginnings of civilization and is the foundation of modern pharmacology.

Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

The philosophy guiding the practice of naturopathic medicine is reflected in these six principles:

• First, to do no harm, by using methods and medicines that minimize the risk of harmful side effects.
• To treat the causes of disease, by identifying and removing the underlying causes of illness, rather than suppressing symptoms.
• To teach the principles of healthy living and preventative medicine, by sharing knowledge with patients and encouraging individual responsibility for health.
• To heal the whole person through individualized treatment, by understanding the unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental and social factors that contribute to illness, and customizing treatment protocols to the patient.
• To emphasize prevention, by partnering with the patient to assess risk factors and recommend appropriate naturopathic interventions to maintain health and prevent illness.
• To support the healing power of the body, by recognizing and removing obstacles to the body's inherent self-healing process.

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting! As a Naturopathic Doctor (ND), I feel deeply privileged to be able to provide gentle, effective, individualized health care and education that I hope will empower others to take the leadership role in their own health and healing.

Naturopathic Doctors are regulated, primary health care providers in Ontario. Experts in integrative medicine, Naturopathic Doctors are trained to diagnose, treat and manage the same kinds of conditions that conventionally-trained family doctors would, while practicing according to the principles of naturopathic medicine; using the gentlest and safest treatments available; and spending more time with patient visits to ensure they are understanding the whole person and addressing the underlying causes of illness.
Having experienced naturopathic health care as a patient since I was 6 years old (that's quite a few years now), I realized at a young age that my life's calling would be to become an ND and help others find true health and healing through naturopathic medicine. I am inspired to be a part of this profession that is truly making a difference in people's lives by providing safe, effective and sustainable health care solutions.
I hope this space will provide you with something of value to your own journey of health.