Question: What is the one stress management tool you ALWAYS have with you everywhere you go?

Answer: Breathing!

Deep breathing is the simplest way to calm ourselves down.

I work hard to teach my patients to immediately check in with their breathing when they are feeling stressed.

First, sit comfortably in a chair and make sure both feet are on the ground. Imagine that your feet are deeply “rooted” in the ground. Now check in with your breathing… …click here to read more →

Popularity: 3% [?]

Everyone trying to lose weight should have a “Zero Zone” in their refrigerator.

The Zero Zone is a drawer or region in your fridge dedicated to foods and snacks that are very close to zero calories.

You can eat freely of these zero foods whenever you want to snack. Hooray!!!

For instance in my zero zone I like to keep a big jar of pickles, celery, and lime flavored sparkling water. I know I can eat and drink as much of these foods as I want. The Zero Zone eliminates the guess work out of healthy snacking. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 3% [?]

Is this an ancient medieval torture device?

No, it is simply a horse chestnut seed.

Previously used for pelting other children on the playground, for adults the seed of Aesculus hippocastanum is a fabulous cure for hemorrhoids and varicose veins. Hemorrhoids are just varicose veins as well, so if you tend to have a weak veinous system, you might benefit from this herb.

The active constituent aescin has an astringent property that serves to tighten up loose leaky veins. It is also anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-exudative, and decreases capillary permeability. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 4% [?]

Recently a friend reported over dinner that his inflammatory problem (and let’s just say almost all medical problems are caused by inflammation) was not much better.

He said he was diligently taking everything I had recommended, and had only noted minor improvement.

Although natural remedies take time, I was curious how the dietary recommendations were going….you know, the most important part of his prescription? To no surprise, he was struggling to make the necessary changes.

As I climbed in to his car to head to our next destination I noted the eight bags of fast food littering his car floor.

“Well here is the source of McInflammation in your diet right here!” …click here to read more →

Popularity: 14% [?]

An itchy dry, flaky scalp is typically “seborrheic dermatitis” commonly referred to as dandruff in adults and “cradle cap” in babies. Most standard anti-fungal shampoos, topical steroids, and topical treatments such as selenium sulfide and pyrithione zinc typically only provide temporary relief because they are not addressing the root cause of the problem.

The fact that the body is out of balance must be addressed or the shampoo will simply not be enough. Although I do agree these shampoos are helpful for reducing symptoms while the actual cause is treated, they frankly are not the “be all end all”.

First of all seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory condition of the scalp that can manifest in the form of mild dandruff to dense, greasy scaling of the scalp. Mild cases of dandruff will typically resolve with the addition of fish oil, biotin and b-complex, zinc, and selenium, however more severe cases of seborrheic dermatitis will require further investigation. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 12% [?]

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Since many of you are going out for Mexican food today, I thought I would talk about all the great super foods abundant in traditional Mexican fare.

Mexican food can be extremely healthy if prepared properly, try to avoid the greasy dishes in lieu of the lighter ones with veggies.

Fajitas and burritos are much better choices than nachos and tacos, and just as delicious. Especially AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE those nasty things that are deep fried (um… can someone tell me how to spell chimichanga?)

Keep in mind that tonight you may also want to avoid drinking your calories. The average margarita or daiquiri runs around 1000 calories!

If you have two of those that is the amount of calories you need for the whole day! Yikes.

Let’s not drink our calories. I know strawberry daiquiri’s are delicious but before you decide to have one ask yourself whether or not you want to be drinking all that sugar, food coloring and calories. Save making drinks like that at home with REAL fruit. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 15% [?]

Recently I stumbled across an article at The Healthy Living Lounge on how to make a “Wellbeing Tool box”.

I loved the concept so much that I asked the author to write about it for Kitchen Table Medicine.

The following is a very inspiring guest post on self care by Carole Fogarty.

When Did You Become The Least Important Person in Your Life? Have you been feeling out of balance, scattered, stressed, disconnected from the real you or simply pushed around by life? …click here to read more →

Popularity: 16% [?]

Currently we are experiencing a brown rice shortage in the U.S. and warehouses such as Costco and Sam’s Clubs are limiting the purchases of 20 pound bags of brown, white, and basmati rice.

Although the causes of this new rationing are highly debatable, this rationing nonetheless has many people distressed.

Although the warehouses don’t want us to panic over the rationing, I thought I would still discuss grains that are cooked somewhat like rice, and thus are simple side dish alternatives. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 18% [?]

Recently a reader asked the question “what are the best herbs I can use to prevent cancer?”

I decided that was a fabulous question for my colleague and naturopathic expert on Cancer Dr. Jake Psenka!

Since many herbs are foods, and since foods are the best preventative medicines as we can more easily incorporate them in to our daily diet, Dr. Psenka has conveniently put together a great article for us on the best foods and herbs we should use liberally in our diet to prevent cancer:

“The Top Five Botancicals for Preventing Cancer”

It is well known by many doctors that the majority of cancers are preventable. Most cancers occur as a result of unhealthy lifestyle choices. Smoking, poor diet, a lack of exercise, toxin exposure, and high stress are all known to contribute to the development of cancer. Published estimates suggest that around 85% of cancers are caused by these poor lifestyle choices. The good news is that it is possible to drastically cut the risk of developing cancer by becoming familiar with the best ways to promote health. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 20% [?]

The Amish are widely celebrated and respected for making the most beautiful quilts.

What many people don’t know about these coveted quilts though is that Amish women intentionally sew one imperfect patch in to each and every perfect quilt.

The intention is to serve as a reminder that nothing man ever does is perfect, only God is perfect.

Regardless if you are Amish, or believe in God or not, no one can argue that life is perfect. Life is just not perfect, nor are people.

So why am I talking about quilts?

Well recently a few dedicated readers have felt a little bit overwhelmed by all the new health tips they are working to follow. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 27% [?]

Thanks to everyone for all their great questions!

I am actively researching many of your questions previously posed and appreciate the inspiration to keep on writing.

The whole point of this blog is for people to be able to have a reference point for alternative medicine care that is help and not hype.

If you have not seen a response to your question posted after a month please resubmit it, as it may have been overlooked in an e-mail.

Adding your questions to the comments is the easiest way for me to stay organized with this project and you can do so anonymously if you choose.

Some questions are “no brainers” for me and get answered more quickly than others that require a bit more time or research. Also, sorry about the incomplete e-mail that went out about diets. I am still learning how to manipulate this blog software and the new Diets page is completed now for your perusal. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 26% [?]

So many people have been asking me about weight loss lately that I think we will just need to kick start a FULL STEP by STEP Naturopathic Weight Loss Campaign here at the kitchen table!

It is spring and we all need to tone up and get ready for swimsuit season, so I am not just preaching about this stuff, I am PERSONALLY going to be doing it right along with everyone else… step by step.

This blog will force me to be held accountable. Wow scary stuff!

Now before we get started, please ask yourself the following question “Do I want to lose weight and be healthy long term?”

If your answer is no, then don’t bother to read the rest of what I have to say. I don’t want to waste your time. I am here to teach you how to be healthy and to only somewhat manipulate and “cheat the system” with a few of my glamorous tips and tricks. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 44% [?]

Most red spots on the eye that appear suddenly are subconjunctival hemorrhages and typically not of a concern as long as it is contained to the white portion or “sclera” of your eye, and you are not having changes in your vision or eye pain.

If you are unsure of the diagnosis you should see your doctor for a definitive diagnosis.

I would eat more blueberries for the 7-10 day period this takes typically to resolve as the proanthocyanin content helps to build blood vessel integrity and should reduce the odds of you having a permanent tiny red mark on your sclera.

A frozen cup of blueberries daily until resolved would not be a bad idea. The freezing process actually increases the bioavailability of the healing pigments from the berries. Proanthocyanins are also found in blackberries, grapes, red wine and red cabbage. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 26% [?]

Most muscles twitch due to calcium and magnesium deficiency, especially the eye.

Although our eyes might twitch a bit when we are annoyed, a twitchy eye is typically the initial warning sign of calcium deficiency.

Basic Human Physiology 101: Calcium helps our muscles contract and when deficient the muscles begin to spasm in “tetany”. Magnesium helps our muscles relax.

Excellent sources of calcium are dairy and leafy greens. Magnesium is found in green vegetables and whole grains. A cal/mag supplement can be taken of about 500mg cal/250mg mag if you are worried you are not reaching the 800mg of necessary calcium each day. Do not take more than 500 mg of calcium at a time as the body can not utilize more than that and it may cause digestive upset such as constipation. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 28% [?]

Yesterday while watching my hero, Martha Stewart, a guest in her audience asked the HORRIFYING question “Martha, what do I do to kill the dandelions growing in my garden?”

Martha and I simultaneously stopped everything we were doing and stared blankly at this woman for a few moments, not really understanding WHY someone would want to kill dandelions OR pump poison in their yard.

My multi-tasking came to a screaching halt as I anticipated Martha’s answer, fingers held hovering above the keyboard.

“Perhaps you should make some dandelion wine, or a nice green salad with the tender leaves instead of poisoning your yard with herbicides…” I proudly watched my mentor respond. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 33% [?]

I think the most common question I seem to get is “What can I do naturally for arthritis” followed by “What is better glucosamine, chondroitin, or MSM?”

Those are great questions and first before I begin would like to just start a brief tirade about the use of NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) otherwise known as the common pain relievers that we use to treat temporary pain such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen.

Now the KEY to the sentence I just typed is the word “temporary”.

NSAIDS and heaven forbid cortisone injections (please only do this as a last resort as cortisone completely shuts down your joints ability to repair as does stress) are simply a quick fix for pain and not a great long term solution as they actually INHIBIT the synthesis of cartilage.

Yikes! …click here to read more →

Popularity: 33% [?]

For those of you unaware of what scleroderma is, first let’s review that scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that results in progressive fibrosis of the system as collagen connective tissue fibers overgrow and become deposited inappropriately in the blood vessels.

Symptoms typically begin with Raynauds (lack of blood flow to fingers, pallor, pain and paresthesaias) accompanied by edema of the fingers, and tightening of the skin. Scleroderma can also be associated with a CREST variant which is an acronym for Calcinosis, Raynauds phenomena, Esophageal dysfunction, Sclerodactyly and Telangectasia. Primarily we are concerned with end organ failure as these collagen fibers become deposited in the kidneys, heart, bowel and lungs.

First I will discuss diet and lifestyle factors important for this disease, followed by a highly researched herbal medicine known to modulate the aberrant connective tissue production. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 33% [?]

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

In honor of this important day I am going to talk about ways to improve your diet for your own health as well as the health of the environment.

First of all just keeping yourself healthy is the best thing you can do for the earth. When people are sick the use of drugs, herbs and other alternative medicines increases the amount of waste factories have to produce.

Although plants and natural substances are a better environmental choice they still take their toll on the environment.

Just because herbs are natural doesn’t mean that using them is always the best choice for the earth. Many popular herbs are actually in danger of becoming extinct and we need to use them sparingly and only when they are absolutely needed.

Now most of you are already savvy on the use of recycled and reused goods, so here are my top tips for improving your diet to support your health as well as sustainable living: …click here to read more →

Popularity: 42% [?]

Thanks to the latest news, pretty much everyone knows that drinking out of plastic water bottles is bad because of the BPA and potential for other contaminants.

So what are the alternatives to plastic water bottles?

Until someone invents an environmentally friendly “force field” to contain our beverages we will need to stick with glass and stainless steel.

As a biochemist and long time “jar drinker” this just further supports my theory that we all need to get as much plastic out of our kitchens as possible.

Plastic is the latest EVIL VILLAIN of Dr. Nicole for upsetting the hormonal balance of all of her patients!

Especially cooking with plastic. Please only cook in glass, cast iron, or stainless steel.

Do not use teflon or any other “new” man-made products. The “new” thing today will inevitably be the banned thing tomorrow. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 44% [?]

Recently I read an article discussing the importance of branding your website or business with the appropriate villains.

Which got me wondering who Dr. Nicole’s arch nemesis might be?

Who do you think the top enemies of the kitchen table are? Alcohol? Caffeine?

Oh no! Those are just the small time crooks of the kitchen table. When enjoyed in moderation caffeine and alcohol are welcome at the kitchen table as a normal part of human socializing. So let’s talk about the REAL bad guys that should never be invited to join you at family dinner time. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 47% [?]