Beat the heat with a cooling "mocktail"

It's a scortcher in Toronto this Summer! For those of us without AC, this past week seemed downright oppressive. Reaching for a frosty cold beer or cool tequila cocktail might have seemed like just the right thing - but be forewarned - alcohol will actually just make your body feel warmer.
Instead, why not try this?

Cardamom Rose "Mocktail":

Ingredients:
1.5 oz of cucumber infused water (just slice up about a half a cucumber and put in a 1L jug of water for about 30 minutes before you want to make this cocktail - you can drink the rest on its own or make multiple mocktails with the leftovers)
.75 oz of Rose syrup (make at home with rose water and simple syrup)
.25 oz of Fresh lemon juice
.75 oz of Fresh grapefruit juice
2 dashes of bitters
1 Cardamom Pod

Lightly muddle the cardamom pod at the bottom of a shaker, then add the remaining ingredients, then ice.
Shake for about 20 seconds.
Strain over fresh ice and add a splash of tonic water.

Cardamom is a great carminative (helps with digestion and flatulance) has antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory effects and cucumber has a very cooling effect on the body.

Happy Summer!

In good health,

Dr. Stacey Welton, ND

In-Patient Naturopathic Care

Carp Ridge Ecowellness Centre (CREWC) is located on 90 acres of Canadian shield wilderness and overlooks Ottawa Valley famland. It was established in 1997 and since November of 2008, it includes the Carp Ridge Healing House.
Here people can undertake in-depth rejuvenation detoxification programs, treatments for illness including cancer, come for natural childbirth or palliative care. Healing, living, birthing, dying...

They can be referred to the Healing House (HH) by their ND or decide to come on their own. They are screened for suitability and then an individualized program including diet, relaxation/meditation, gentle movement and creative activities is suggested. Services from the clinic, only a few minutes walk away, can be added if desired and appropriate, either as primary or complimentary care.

Their plan is to apply to the Ministry of Health for eventual inclusion under OHIP as a holistic, community based alternative to hospitals as well as to insurance companies for coverage.

How INTERESTING!!

For further information on staying at the Carp Ridge Healing House visit their website: www.ecowellness.com or email them at clinic@ecowellness.com

In good health,

Dr. Stacey Welton, ND

Hair Element Analysis

Have you been eating a lot of sushi lately? Been using anti-perspirants forever? Have old mercury fillings? Work in an environment where you are exposed to chemicals?...

Hair element analysis may be just up your alley!

Measuring elements in blood, urine and saliva have been used clinically for decades.
Doctors use these tests as diagnostic tools - to check your thyroid or to make sure your immune system looks healthy. Hair element analysis, however, is the most effective tool to look for exposure to toxic elements and on the other hand, it is also useful in determining the levels of elements essential to the proper functioning of the body.

These 'toxic elements' or 'heavy metals' are things such as: mercury, lead, and aluminum, and are well known to cause health problems.
They concentrate in soft tissue rather than in blood and urine which is why those substances aren't the best methods of assessing their levels; hair is uniquely suited for this! Just think - your hair grows over a period of time during which heavy metals are deposited in the hair shaft in varying degrees depending on your exposure to them.

If you know you have been exposed to significant levels of toxins - in fish, in beauty products, in the environment, on the job - then this is the test for you!

The procedure is easy and painless - just think of it as a haircut! A small discrete section of the hair is sampled from the back of the neck and sent off to the lab for testing.
Not only does the test assess toxic elements, but it also assesses essential element distribution. For example the ratios between some of the body's essential elements can point to specific disease processes or tendencies.

The best news about all this is that there are many Naturopathic interventions to help rid the body of toxic elements, or support the lack of essential ones.

So go ahead, ask your ND about it!