If you already visit a naturopathic physician or Chinese medical provider, you’ve heard of nutraceuticals or phytoceuticals, commonly prescribed to complement your course of treatment and sometimes referred to as dietary or food supplements. These substances are natural but they are still medicines! Here’s my professional guide to supplement shopping. If you’re...

When you indulge in a wonderful cheese or splendid wine, think about what’s making it taste so good: it’s rotting. Of course, in the case of the cheese or wine, the rot has taken place in a specific manner, allowing us to control the flavors. We’ve been fermenting foods since we’ve been cooking to prevent and minimize spoilage and extend the life...

We love interacting with our readers, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, comments or our Ask the Experts column. Part of the effort to interact more closely to you guys is for us to share our own experience. What happens when we take our own advice? I tried it so you can see. Oatmeal has been mentioned several times on the site as a healthy ingredient and energy booster....

Gluten sensitivity affects one third of the American population. These are people who have mild to moderate symptoms from eating the proteins found in wheat and other grains. Celiac Disease, the most extreme form of gluten sensitivity, affects 1% of the population. A recent study showed that people who are gluten sensitive and have been properly diagnosed could save...

Your hormones make deep, meaningful music on a daily basis, each one playing over the other. Together, every 24 hours they cover a number of topics including your metabolism, temperature regulation, growth, cellular repair and regeneration, reproductive organ control, sleep, mood, energy and appetite, to name a few. Your brain and nervous system are the main conductors...

The mind-body connection comes up more often as science explores the dynamics of neuro-synthesis and I’ve noticed a shift–it seems like it’s not just about valuing longevity anymore but valuing quality of everyday life. Even among my own patients, it seems like they’re asking me how to preserve and improve their health rather than how they can live...

Many of my patients have good diets and pride themselves on eating healthy, but are unaware that something they are eating might be causing seemingly unrelated symptoms. We all know about food allergies, right? Like your cousin who is allergic to peanuts, or a friend of a friend that breaks out into a rash if she eats shellfish. But what about the more subtle food sensitivities...

Photo courtesy of food inc. If you haven’t seen Food Inc, you should. The documentary was featured on Oprah this week and on Oprah.com last year. The film is powerful, and guaranteed to change the way you shop and look at food forever. Here’s what one of our followers on Twitter, @ginarau said about the movie: “Food, Inc was brilliant, horrific, inspiring,...

Did you know that creator of Dannon yogurt, Daniel Carasso, died in May of 2009 at the age of 103? Find out why you should play in the fermented milk pantheon and how to make smarter probiotic purchases with Dr. Kassam. Dr. Natasha Kassam is dedicated to facilitating the healing and wellbeing of her patients. Her passion is cardiovasular and pulmonary medicine. She practices...

The longest night is now behind us with the passing of Winter Solstice, and the days will slowly become brighter: Winter has officially arrived! In Chinese medicine this is what we call the Yin (cold, dark, slow) time of year, as opposed to Summer’s Yang (warm, bright, energetic). In this season we should meditate more, sleep in when possible, and take care of our...