Chances are if you ate anything today then you are amongst the lucky ones.

Those of us that can still afford food don’t have much of a right to complain about the rising costs of gas and food. Trust me, back in college I knew what it was like to collect a pile of change so I could buy six Top Ramen for a dollar, and then put the remaining $1.87 in my car and hope it was enough to get me home.

The rising costs of food and gas have so many of us stressed right now, but instead of focusing on the negative, let’s take a moment to focus on the positive. If you can actually afford food AND gas then you are officially one of the wealthiest people in the WORLD! That is right. Most people in the world don’t even own cars. If you are reading this off a computer that you own, then you are at the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest population. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 4% [?]

“Stomach Acid or NO Stomach Acid? That is the Question. An alternative approach to Heartburn”

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

A serious pet peeve of mine is how we all traditionally deal with indigestion and heart burn with the use of calcium carbonate antacids, proton pump inhibitors, and H2 blockers (histamine receptor blockers).

I understand that at times we need to suppress our stomach acid just to provide some short term relief, or to prevent it from burning our stomach lining and potentially causing permanent scarring to our stomach and esophagus. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 4% [?]

Let’s face it, nobody likes to deal with criticism. Especially unsolicited criticism when we are not even asking for “feedback”.

For those of us that are extremely sensitive, trying to shake negative criticism can take days, months, or sometimes even it can cling to us and linger in the back of our minds indefinitely.

One of my favorite tips for dealing with criticism I learned from my Family Medicine instructor, Robert Anderson, MD. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 7% [?]

Bell’s Palsy is a very frustrating typically benign medical problem that causes one side of the face to temporarily droop.

Most patients with Bell’s Palsy are terrified they are having a stroke, however they are instead experiencing a temporary paralysis or weakness of the muscles of the face resulting from inflammation of the seventh cranial nerve, commonly referred to as the facial nerve.

Associated risk factors for Bell’s Palsy are exposure to cold, diabetes, pregnancy, upper respiratory infections, and being over the age of 30. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 6% [?]

I am very passionate about helping people with depression using naturopathic medicine.

Throughout my lifelong battle with severe depression, natural medicines and alternative therapies are really the only thing to help me make significant progress.

As a naturopathic physician, I have been blessed to focus on treating depression using natural means, and rely heavily on my own life experiences when working with refractory cases of depression.

I am frank about my depression because I see it as a disease just like any other disease, and I don’t see any reason to be ashamed of it.

Nor do I want my readers to be ashamed of it.

This is not a private office appointment that is all about you, it is a self help blog. Frankly, if I had diabetes I would greatly appreciate reading the diabetic coping tips from a doctor with diabetes. I write weekly about depression on this site because it is a topic near and dear to my heart. I simply hope I can shed some light on depression for silent sufferers, and inspire them to get help. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 10% [?]

Seventy years ago the only doctors in America were men.

My 97 year old grandma was a RN back in the day, and I am always fascinated by her stories of how different and barbaric medicine was not too long ago.

When I asked what made her choose to be a nurse she simply responded, “Women were only allowed to go to school to be nurses or teachers. So I just chose to be a nurse.”

I would be a nurse right now too, that is if a bunch of women hadn’t stood up for what they thought was right and fought for equal opportunity. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 10% [?]

The other day I was talking to a friend on the phone that was suicidally depressed.

After a long conversation I asked… “Can you go out and go for a nice long healthy walk tomorrow? The fresh air and exercise will do you good.”

She responded, “Doc, I am too depressed to walk right now, can you just walk for me?”

This got us laughing about how maybe we should start a “3 Day Depression Walk”, you know like what we do in honor of those that have survived breast cancer?

“I would walk for you, if I actually thought it would do some good”, I replied.

Believe it or not, if you struggle with suicidal depression, you are a survivor. …click here to read more →

Popularity: 12% [?]

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: 13% [?]

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: 14% [?]

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: 13% [?]

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: 27% [?]

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: 22% [?]

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: 25% [?]

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: 25% [?]

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: 27% [?]

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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: 35% [?]