Radio Naturopath
Radio Naturopath Episode 463: Chia Seeds for Health, Help for Fall Allergies
This week, I talked about fall allergies, since lots of people have them right now! Mold and mildew from damp homes and plants dying back. Dust mites are prevalent especially now that we're moving indoors, but we'll get a break when there's a hard freeze. Pets can be problematic too! And there's still some ragweed outdoors. Here's some tips to help with the season! We also talked about chia seeds, and included a recipe on how to make chia pudding. Turns out they're amazing little powerhouses!
Radio Naturopath Episode 460: Lisinopril finally! More Weight Loss Basics
This week, I talk about my jump to the Dark Side. Well, not really. Hey, did you know that the term "going to the Dark Side" was popularized by Star Wars? I'm going to try another BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION, and hopefully this time I can take it and stay on it! We're going to try low dose lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor. The more I talked with various cycling friends, the more of them I discovered were taking it, feeling fine, and enjoying riding their bikes as much as they liked! So my PCP prescribed it, and first dose will go down the hatch tonight. I'll report on how I'm feeling, hoping for no dizziness!
We continued the series on weight loss, some basic good advice on lifestyle choices that can help. Drinking water, reducing carbs, reducing stress, eating produce and fiber, all good! All of those things are basic habits that are great for healing from anything. Ron also read off some calorie, fat and sugar content of some very large coffee-based drinks available at a popular regional establishment. A large version of one of them had 1100 calories! Pair that with a glazed jelly stick, and that's all your calories for the day! We particularly talked about Neuropeptide Y, which gets stimulated when you eat fat and starch or sugar together. It turns off your satiety signals, so you wind up eating most of the pizza, or the entire pint of ice cream! So avoiding large portions of fat and sugar together is a good idea.
Radio Naturopath Episode 459: Hypertension, Hibiscus, L-theanine, CBD; Weight Loss and Stress Reduction
This week I talked about how I tried hibiscus tea and it pretty much knocked me out, so if I do hibiscus it has to be in very small amounts! Everyone is different and responds differently to herbs and supplements. I DO feel good taking l-theanine, a calming amino acid from the tea plant, which calms without grogginess! And I also took the gastrodia/uncaria Chinese herbal complex in pill form, and I did better with that than the big cup of tea.
There's so much to talk about with weight management and loss. This week, I managed to discuss these neat Please Don't Weigh Me cards that you can get, and discussed the merits and detriments of being weighed at the doctor's office. Bottom line: if it makes the patient feel comfortable, no need to weigh them! Also, if you're at the doctor's office, you do not have to consent to ANY physical exam that you don't want to do. At my office my patients always have a choice! We also discussed the most important aspect of fat loss, which is stress reduction. Lowering cortisol is good for ANY condition, but directly helps to lower cortisol so that it's not putting more sugar into your blood for you to store. And there's lots of ways to reduce stress!
Radio Naturopath Episode 457: Chinese Herbs and Hypertension, Weight Loss Surgery and GLP-1s
This week, I talked about going back to conservatively healing my meniscus, and talked about a Chinese formula that my acupuncturist gave me for hypertension, Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin. I have to drink it as tea, and it's pretty good! It helps with blood pressure, migraines, headaches, tremors, and more! If you like at the Chinese indications, it helps to move liver blood out of places it shouldn't be. When I was in ND school, my teacher told me that it was my right as a Jersey girl to have a sluggish liver. Oy! So this may help. Then I got into it about bariatric surgery and how those weight loss drugs work, like Ozempic, Wegovy, Victoza, and Trulicity, and benefits and risks. It may be the only way to weight loss for some! A lot of pratitioners of all kinds are encouraging people to use them as part of their weight loss strategy.
Radio Naturopath Episode 449: Supplements and Herbs for Hypertension; Energy Drinks
This week we got a little more into herbs and supplements for high blood pressure. Lots of people struggle with it, even while on meds. There are so many causes and you can help it from a number of different directions, and these can help. So can basic lifestyle changes like more rest and sleep, eating lots of produce, and limiting sugar, caffeine, and processed foods. We also talked about Energy Drinks: yay or nay?
Radio Naturopath Episode 448: Supplements for Hypertension, Healing Lyme Summit 2024
This week, I talked about the no-charge Healing Lyme Summit that is being presented by Myriah Hinchey, N.D., and Richard Horowitz, M.D., a virtual summit that can be viewed from June 4-10, 2024. There's lots of talks about protocols and treatments to help with healing from Lyme. There's also opportunities to connect with other folks who are dealing with Lyme in various ways: patients, caregivers, family, and practitioners. Lots of great information! It's available at https://drtalks.com/lyme-summit-2024/
I also moved along with supplements to help with hypertension, and will talk more next week!
Radio Naturopath Episode 443: Lifestyle Changes to Lower Blood Pressure
This week, I started talking about the very important topic of hypertension, high blood pressure. Our focus this week was on basic lifestyle things to do to lower blood pressure. Some of it is SHOCKING! Stuff like: eat more vegetables and fruit, eat more clean protein, drink more water, get more exercise, stop smoking, do stress reducing activities like deep breathing, leisure walks in nature, yoga, and meditation, and get good quality and quantity of sleep. WHO WOULDA THUNKIT??? It's so important that we'll pick up on this next week, and include actual supplements that help with blood pressure.
Radio Naturopath Episode 442: Muscle Repair, Hypertension, Respiratory Allergies
This week, we found that Ron is plugging along and had a not-so-good day because yesterday he dared to work in the yard. His poor muscles just don't want to be disturbed! We are hoping that this will just take time and he'll be back to his favorite activities soon. As for me, my tremors have been quiet, and I'm hoping that's in part due to the low dose lithium orotate, and that the herbs are working to clear any remnants of tick borne illness! However, I have to face that I have hereditary hypertension. All the supplements and stress-reducing activities are just not working to get my blood pressure into a safe zone. So, I'm going to try a low dose of an angiotensin receptor blocker. My mom and sister are both on blood pressure meds and they work well for them. My mom is also on an ARB but my sister is on a pair of diurectics. I am taking an ARB because they are safer for athletes, in that they don't dehydrate you nor reduce your cardiac output. More about hypertension next week!
It's SPRING, and that means beautiful flowers, trees, and POLLEN! So we did a nice review of what to do for your respiratory allergies. Neti pots, supplements, nasal sprays, foods, we've got it all!
Radio Naturopath Episode 440: Hypertension, Shilajit, Rhodiola, Low Dose Lithium
This week, we talked about Shilajit, this interesting, antioxidant-rich substance that comes from the HImalayas. It has a lot of fulvic acid in it which is detoxifying and free-radical quenching. And it's energizing and helps with hormone balance! We also talked about rhodiola, plant extraordinaire that is energizing, an immune tonic, and helps with altitude sickness. And LITHIUM, the nervous system's best friend! It can be helpful with simply improving anxiety to helping with dementia to preventing murder, suicide, and rape in towns where it's high in the water. I wonder if the US, Israel, Gaza, and the world need to microdose lithium?
Radio Naturopath Episode 416: POTS Advice, Vitamin C, Bedrotting and Stress, Cryptolepis for Immunity
I then discussed the health benefits of getting plenty of Vitamin C from food and supplements. Reduced gout, improved collagen, lower blood pressure, better immunity. All terrfic things! And, there is a Gen Z TikTok trend called BED ROTTING. I'm a fan! There are naysayers who say it will prevent people from accomplishing more, but I think the point is that people are already trying to accomplish too much. Hanging out in bed is great for your sanity! Then I got started on a newer-known herb for Lyme and immunity, cryptolepis. More on Lyme herbs next week!