Wednesday 20 May 2015

Trying to Lose Weight? A Naturopathic Approach is your Solution

Weight loss is a hot topic these days, with new diet strategies appearing on bookshelves and the Internet on a daily basis. Did you know there are alternatives to fad diets? My naturopathic approach to weight management provides a more sustainable and practical solution to your weight loss goals.

The benefits of living at your healthy weight are astronomical. From a health perspective, blood pressure, body composition (relative make-up of fat vs. lean muscle), cholesterol and insulin sensitivity are all positively influenced by achieving an ideal body weight. Furthermore, appropriate weight reduction potently reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes (Robins et al, 2011). Healthy weight contributes to the management of other chronic conditions including osteoarthritis, back pain, pulmonary conditions like asthma and women's health issues like fertility and safe pregnancy as well (Mastellos et al, 2014).

Naturopath weight loss
Weightis something that can be effectively managed with naturopathic care. In fact, naturopath weight loss is the solution to achieving your best health. Whether you're working to manage a chronic condition, wanting to prevent adverse health events or interested in looking and feeling your best, naturopath weight loss is the approach that targets sustainable, effective and practical weight management.

Naturopath weight loss is multi-faceted and works beyond energy balance by also looking at the overall health picture of each unique individual. In my practice, there are 4 main principles of sustainable weight management: health history, lifestyle management (diet and exercise), counselling, and developing a practical plan for the individual.

First, through a detailed health history I investigate potential contributing factors to weight gain. For example, chronic conditions like hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome and diabetes should be ruled out. In other words, knowing if weight gain is a primary or secondary issue (or combination of both) is integral to forming an effective treatment plan. It is also imperative to know the quality of other factors like stress levels, sleep, and work schedule. Stress, for instance, impacts the hormone cortisol, which contributes to fat metabolism and distribution. These factors are not meant to be an excuse for poor diet and exercise choices, but a tool to developing the most effective plan.

Secondly, and most importantly, lifestyle counselling is the educational portion that teaches how to eat in a healthful way, and how to facilitate weight loss with daily choices. Beginning with diet, my general approach is whole-food eating. This means avoiding processed foods, and specifically, processed sugars. Furthermore, healthy weight management is best achieved with a high protein diet, at a ratio of 3:1 (protein : carbohydrate) (Meckling et al, 2006). High protein diets have been shown to yield superior results to low fat and high carbohydrate approaches (Meckling et al, 2006). Exercise is also a key part of the weight loss equation. 30-45 min at moderate intensity performed 4-5x/week will increase energy expenditure and move the body into a negative energy balance (which is conducive to weight loss) (Poirier et al, 2001). For overall health benefits (including osteoporosis prevention in women), this should be a combination of resistance and cardiovascular training.
Naturopath weight loss


Thirdly, a counselling component is important in the naturopath weight loss journey. After the appropriate information is passed along, the most challenging aspect to weight management is learning to break contributing habits while forming new healthy habits (Mastellos et al, 2014). What does food mean to you? Are there huge stressors in your life? Do you have a supportive social network? How does your environment contribute to your lifestyle choices? Exploring these questions is the key to empowering change.

Lastly, in my practice I focus on creating a plan that works for you. Do you like to cook? Do you eat breakfast on the go? Do you usually buy your lunch, or eat out for dinner? The goal is to implement eating and exercise habits that will work with your lifestyle. Setting attainable and reasonable goals are crucial to success (Mastellos et al, 2014).

In Toronto Naturopath weight loss moves above and beyond most diet plans out there. My goal is to influence healthy change that will last and become a long-term reality. The marriage of evidence-based medicine with the art of naturopathic practice,facilitates the journey towards becoming your best, healthiest and happiest self.
Author is an expert article writer who has written several article related to health. Currently he is writing content on Naturopath weight loss .




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Wednesday 6 May 2015

How to Successfully Manage Chronic Back Pain


Are you living with back pain on a daily basis? You’re not the only one. Back pain is one of the leading causes of chronic pain and one of the top two reasons for medical doctor visits.

Causes of back pain:
Chronic back pain treatmen

In the majority of people suffering from chronic back pain, the cause is benign in nature. This is what is called ‘mechanical back pain’, meaning the problem comes from overuse of the bones, discs, ligaments and musculature of the back. Over time, these structures can wear down, become misaligned and compress on surrounding nerves to cause that dull, achy feeling so many are familiar with. Poor posture, and lack of strengthening really contributes to this problem as well.

In some cases, back pain can be dangerous and is indicative of a more serious underlying condition. Here are some red flag symptoms you should promptly follow up with a medical professional:

•    Loss of bladder or bowel control
•    Numbness in the groin area
•    Back pain with high fever, extreme soreness and redness
•    Back pain due to acute trauma (eg. fall on the ice)
•    Back pain that is constant and unremitting, even while lying down, changing positions, stretching or after taking an NSAID

Doc. Mike Evans explains the etiology of back pain in this great video:


Chronic Back Pain Treatment:
Chronic back pain treatmen

After learning that most back pain is mechanical and not an emergency, patients generally ask “what can I do for the pain, then”. Don’t feel discouraged! There are many chronic back pain treatments that can help to relieve your pain, and reduce recurrence rates.




Acupuncture
Acupuncture and Electroacupuncture will help to relieve pain, dissolve active trigger points and reduce inflammation. It works by triggering the release of natural pain-relieving chemicals (called opiates) and by signaling inhibitory pain messages from the brain.
Massage
Massage is an important tool to reduce active trigger points and relieve muscle tension and pain. Furthermore, correcting soft tissue tightness will help to prevent any pulling or compression of muscle on underlying bone or nerve structures.
Cupping
Static and moving cupping is like a massage on steroids. The benefits are similar to massage, but the intensity is increased. This means the benefits of muscle release are achieved in a much shorter time frame.
Hydrotherapy
The use of castor oil with alternating hot and cold packs on a nightly basis will help to circulate blood flow around the painful area, relieving inflammation and pain. Alternate hot and cold packs at 5 min hot: 10 min cold X 3 cycles.
Stretching & Posture
If you work at a desk all day, you’re best chronic back pain treatment is maintaining proper posture and taking frequent breaks for stretching throughout the day. Here is a link to some awesome stretches: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/multimedia/back-pain/sls-20076265?s=1

Exercise
If you experience chronic back pain, do not fear exercise or think you need to avoid it. Regular exercise will help maintain mobility and strengthen important postural muscles. So get off the couch, and start yoga, weight training and cardiovascular exercise.
Anti-inflammatory Supplements
Natural chronic back pain treatment should include an anti-inflammatory regime to compliment manual therapies.
Examples of helpful products include:
·         Curcumin
·         Boswellia
·         Fish oil
·         Ginger root
·         Glucosamine
Natural supplements are a good adjunct to therapy since they have a lower risk profile and are not associated with cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and renal complications as with long term NSAID use.

Friday 1 May 2015

Acupuncture Analgesia: How a Needle Alleviates Pain

Acupuncture is the gentle insertion of thin needles into specifically targeted areas of the body. Its origin extends 2500 years as an integral tenant of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Today, however, its theory and practice have evolved beyond classical application towards effective pain management.

Under the TCM umbrella, needle locations are selected based on meridians, each corresponding to a specific organ system. Every point has a theoretical indication and effect. Current theories and supportive research step away from organ pairings and energetic meridians, especially when it comes to the art of pain management. Under this scope, acupuncture points are selected and targeted according to anatomical locations, affected nerve roots and trigger point palpation. In other words, acupuncture is used to target the physical root and origin of pain. For example, in the treatment of Sciatica, acupuncture would target the low back as a means of stimulating the L4-S3 nerve roots from which the Sciatic nerve is formed.

Techniques of needle insertion have evolved as well. Effective approaches include rapid needling and electro acupuncture (Chou et al, 2014). With rapid needling, the practitioner continually manipulates the needle by moving it in and out of the targeted area at a relatively quick pace (Chou et al, 2014). Electro acupuncture involves the addition of a light electrical impulse at the needle insertion. This technique elicits a pain inhibition response by stimulating vibration sensory nerve fibers (Zing et al, 2014).  

So how does it work? To answer this question, we must first briefly discuss pain and what causes the feeling of pain. When a painful stimulus is encountered, it activates nociceptors (aka pain receptors), which send information along the spinal cord to the brain, where the feeling of pain is identified and perceived (Zeng et al, 2014). Additionally, pain is caused by chemicals of the immune system that initiate the process of inflammation and more specifically, swelling. Believe it or not, pain is meant to be a protective mechanism. When chronically experienced, however, it can be a danger and extremely impactful on quality of life.

The theory of acupuncture is an extremely complex and multi faceted topic. At a basic level, acupuncture works via two main systems; chemical reactions involving naturally produced opiates and sensory nerve pathways signaling pain inhibition.

Natural, endogenous opiates are chemicals produced in the body that have a potent analgesic effect (reduce pain perception). They include hormones and neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin and epinephrine (Baeumler et al, 2014). Acupuncture insertion stimulates the release of these chemicals in the central nervous system, which results in a decreased perception of pain. Similarly, endogenous opiates have anti-inflammatory effects, thereby reducing both chronic and acute swelling (Zing et al, 2014). This chemical-mediated process has a relatively longer onset and longer lasting effects. Electro acupuncture, on the other hand, elicits immediate pain relief by acting on sensory nerve pathways (Zing et al, 2014). Vibration information stimulates nociceptors, which initiate an inhibitory pathway from the brain to the affected area. Essentially, pain from sensitized nociceptors (in pain) differs from the stimulus of normal nociceptors (no pain) by acupuncture. This difference in brain processing is what triggers an inhibitory nerve pathway (Zing et al, 2014).

Acupuncture is an effective tool to manage chronic and acute pain. Specifically, it is indicated for any of the following conditions:


•Myofascial Pain Syndrome (chronic muscle pain from trigger points)
•Chronic neck and back pain
•Fibromyalgia
•Osteoarthritis
•Joint Pain
•Tension headaches
•Sciatica
•Plantar Fasciitis
•Post-operative pain
•Diabetes related peripheral-neuropathy

Other pain treatments include pharmaceutical opioid management (e.g. Percocet, Naproxen, Ibuprofen, etc.), inject able uploads (e.g. morphine) and corrective surgery. As a minimally invasive technique, acupuncture should be considered as first-line treatment prior to implementing higher risk procedures. Furthermore, if extensive therapy is indicated (e.g. surgery), acupuncture should be used to compliment recovery. Additional benefits include decreased cost, avoidance of opiate-induced side effects and avoidance of analgesic tolerance (when the same dose of a medication is no longer effective) (Zing et al, 2014).

Practitioners qualified to practice Acupuncture Toronto include Naturopathic Doctors, TCM certified practitioners and some Chiropractors and Physiotherapists. However, Naturopathic Doctors uniquely receive 4 years of intense training in the practice itself. Furthermore, they have the anatomy and clinical background to couple traditional acupuncture with more advanced and current theories.

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