Health action winter 2014 issuu

Health Acti n T h e

V o i c e

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N at u r a l

W e l l ne s s

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Health Action Winter 2014

Guidance Counselling— Canada’s Food Guide For decades, Canada’s government-promoted Food Guide for Healthy Eating has provided us with advice on how to eat. But, given rising rates of obesity and diabetes, is it meeting modern nutrition and health needs? In short, no.

Alexis Costello takes a look at where Health Canada misses the opportunity to make relevant changes to Canadian’s eating patterns.

Published quarterly by Health Action Network Society

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Powerhouse Herbs and Spices

At this time of year, it’s a hot topic—preventing nasty bugs from snagging you and your loved ones. But what makes this article special? Well, these tips by naturopathic doctor Kali MacIsaac are clinically proven ways to prevent and treat cold and flu this season.

Herbs and spices not only add intrigue and unique taste to a dish, but they also can be a powerful asset in increasing nutritive value in any meal.

Here, holistic nutritionist Eden Elizabeth presents mouth-watering recipes not to be missed for both their flavour and nutritional value.

Natural Cold and Flu Remedies

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A Cancer Breakthrough from Traditional Chinese Medicine

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The sweet wormwood compound artemisinin has undergone promising cancer research at the University of Washington. To further understand this, HANS director of operations Michael Volker went down to Seattle to do an exclusive interview with Dr. Tomikazu Sasaki.

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Emotional Freedom Technique to Overcome Five Blocks to Love Intimate relationships are often a source of stress. Enter emotional freedom technique (EFT), which is an exceptional way to transform stress and set us up for healthy relationships. Author and EFT advisor Heather Donaldson investigates the five blocks to love and asks some essential questions about how to develop and maintain a loving connection.

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Also in this issue Your Holistic Food Guide.............................................................12 Strengthen Immunity in Minutes..........................................18 Take a Deep Breath and Your Heart Will Thank You.......................................................................................... 20 An Eye on Heart Health................................................................ 22 The Optimal Physical Checkup for Seniors.......... 24 The Value of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.................................................................................................. 25 HANS Member News...................................................................... 26 The Most Important Anticancer Factor.................... 30 IV Vitamin C—An Integrative Cancer Therapy........................................................................................ 34 Intravenous Curry!............................................................................... 35 How Chinese Medicine Treats Mental Illness.... 40 Homeopathy for Depression................................................... 42 Staying On or Coming Off Antidepressants........ 44

Sleep and Technology........................................................................ 46 Pain as the Gateway to Our Precious Wholeness....................................................................................................... 48 Treatment of Male Reproductive Conditions....................................................................................................... 50 Recharge Your Adrenal Batteries...................................... 51

Free Yourself of Jealousy and Envy.................................. 54

Reflexology Pioneer Profile: Chris Shirley............. 55 Health & Green Shorts................................................................... 56

Fluoride Free B.C. Update.......................................................... 58 Be the Change—Without Spending Any................. 59 New Report: Will GM Crops Feed the World?...................................................................................................... 60

Director of Operations Michael Volker Executive Director Lorna Hancock Managing Editor Michelle Hancock Assistant Editor/Proofreader Julie Cheng Layout & Design Annette Spreeuw Contributors Alexis Costello, Brian Davies, Sudha M. Devi, Yvonne Dollard Perc, Heather Donaldson, Kim Louise Easterbrook, Brenda Eastwood, Eden Elizabeth, Bill Jeffery, Trish Lim-O’Donnell, Kali MacIsaac, Adam McLeod, Rachel Mark, Bobby Parmar, Spence Pentland, Christina Peressini, Ingrid Pincott, Thai Siew Liang, Chun-Kai Wang, Naomi Wolfman, Christy Zettl Submissions: editorial@hans.org Letters to the editor and requests for article references may be sent to editorial@hans.org.

HANS reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity.

Health Action Network Society 214-5589 Byrne Rd., Burnaby, BC V5J 3J1 T: (604) 435-0512 F: (604) 435-1561 www.hans.org | hans@hans.org publication mail agreement #40050050 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 330-123 Main St., Toronto, ON M5W 1A1 circdept@publisher.com Health Action magazine is a free publication to its membership. The opinions expressed within are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HANS. Those with health concerns should contact their health-care provider.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia

Healthy Marketplace........................................................................... 61 HANS Wellness Directory........................................................ 62

Health Action | www.hans.org

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Helping you find balance.

"Always something new to learn and discover"

February 13, 14, 15, 2015 Vancouver Convention Centre, East Building Exhibit Hall B & C

Exhibits, Seminars, Cooking Demos, Prizes, Plus Lots More Need help finding balance in your life? Look no further than the upcoming Wellness Show. There will be cutting-edge presentations on today’s most pressing health and wellness issues. Some of Canada’s top chefs and cookbook authors will host healthy cooking demonstrations. Fitness gurus will show us the latest trends on getting fit, staying well and more than 250 exhibitors will be displaying products and information related to traditional, complementary, alternative and spiritual health, fitness, nutrition, and recreation.

www.thewellnessshow.com | event information 604-983-2794 Organic Market Section Soponsored by:

Celebrity Cooking Stage Sponsored by:

Cheese Seminars Sponsored by:

Mental Health: Moving Forward with Natural Therapeutics

by Lorna Hancock

W

hen I was newly married and working as a social worker in the Kootenays, the struggles of people with mental illness really impacted me.

Many of my clients found dayto-day living a struggle as they coped with anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, depression and more. Try as I might to detach, I took their situations home with me each night.

It’s true what they say: Mental illness affects everyone.

Skip forward thirty-plus years, and although mental illness and its systemic effects

persist, I’m so grateful that some things have changed and are changing for the better.

We’re seeing a lot more public awareness and dialogue, for starters. An estimated 20 percent of Canadians will experience mental illness in their lifetime, and at one point or another, all of us will be either directly or indirectly affected by a family member, friend or colleague. Clearly, it’s overdue for the stigma to lift.

Another positive development relates to our understanding of the relationship between mental health and natural therapeutics. By “natural therapeutics,” I mean for both prevention and treatment—everything from the impact of stress, diet, exercise and environmental toxins to effective treatments including mind-body therapies, counselling and orthomolecular (nutrient-based) approaches.

In October, Health Action Network partnered with the organization Orthomolecular Health to host the conference mind-alive! Exploring Natural

How Common Is Mental Illness? n Schizophrenia affects one percent of Canadians. n Anxiety disorders affect five percent of the household population, causing mild to severe impairment. n Suicide accounts for 24 percent of all deaths among 15- to 24-year olds and 16 percent among 25- to 44-year-olds. n Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in both men and women from adolescence to middle age. n The mortality rate due to suicide among men is four times the rate among women.

Source: Canadian Mental Health Association

Lorna Hancock and founder of Truehope Anthony Stephan, speaker at mind-alive!

Exploring Natural Medicine for Mental Health

Medicine for Mental Health, and I’d like to thank everyone who participated in relaying this important message, especially our speakers: Brian Davies, ND; Ken Nedd, MD; Jonathan Prousky, ND; Anthony Stephan, founder of Truehope; and medical herbalist Katolen Yardley.

(DVDs are available; you can order by calling us at 604-4350512 or 1-855-787-1891.)

I’d also like to thank the contributors in this winter issue of Health Action, in which we tackle the subject of mental health from several angles.

In consideration of the current colder weather—and the cold and flu bugs surrounding us— we’ve also included some practical information on improving immunity, and herby, spicy recipes that your immune system, and your taste buds, will enjoy.

In each issue of our nonprofit magazine, we strive for a balance of health and environmental topics that stimulate thought and, hopefully, positive action. So if you’re inspired by what you read, please let us know at editorial@hans.org. If you have a suggestion, well, we want to hear that, too. And if you’re interested in attending next year’s mind-alive! conference, sign up for free reminders and our semi-monthly newsletter, the HANS eNews at www. hans.org. The more people who learn about the value of natural therapeutics and patient empowered strategies for mental health, the better.

Let’s connect! facebook.com/HansHealthAction twitter.com/joinHANS Health Action | www.hans.org

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Guidance Counselling—Canada’s Food Guide Mixed messages only promote superficial understanding of good nutrition Vitamin D deficiency

by Alexis Costello

W

hen my daughter was in Grade 3, she returned home from school one day with a booklet outlining Canada’s Food Guide. The booklet walked the students through a series of pictures and had them circle the “balanced meals.”

As a kid with a major dairy allergy and having been raised in a house with very little meat consumption, she had gotten many of the answers wrong.

Since Canada’s Food Guide basically started in the 1940s as a document to keep Canadians from being extremely malnourished (think “dying of scurvy” malnourished) or using up too many of the resources needed for the war efforts, that’s not saying an awful lot.

The health problems of the average Canadian have changed drastically since then and the guide needs to reflect this. It was revised in 2007 and in its current state seems to be more helpful than it used to be; however, an ongoing lack of understanding is manifested in a couple of areas, the most noticeable being the category on fats.

Outdated fat facts The guide mentions the need for two to three tablespoons of unsaturated fat each day, specifically mentioning salad

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Health Action | www.hans.org

dressing, mayonnaise, cooking oils and margarine. While this might be a good way to make people aware of the fact that these are indeed fats just like butter, the idea that people might need, say, three tablespoons of margarine a day for good health, is utterly ridiculous.

It does tell you to choose soft margarines lower in trans fats and saturated fat. This once again vilifies saturated fats in

a thoroughly outdated way, painting them as a cause for high cholesterol and cardiac arrest. In reality grass-fed butter, coconut oil and fats from nuts can be great for you and are a vast improvement over margarine, soybean and canola oils, which are all labelled as healthy, but which simply add more omega-6 and trans fats to a diet already teeming with them.

This same issue is seen in the “Milk and Alternatives” column. Here we are told to choose low-fat yogurt and cheese and skim milk, and that two to three servings a day are needed (three to four servings by teenagers) for us to get the requisite amount of vitamin D. However, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that it can only be properly absorbed in the presence of fats, so the suggestion to choose skim milk and low-fat yogurt seems incongruent.

Furthermore, if we look at external resources we get a different story. The Dairy Council of the U.K. (www.milk.co.uk) says this: “There is very little vitamin D in milk and in fact only trace amounts and in the U.K. milk is not fortified with vitamin D.” The Dairy Council goes on to suggest a few alternate sources for vitamin D such as oily fish, eggs and fortified foods, but the only mention of a food source for vitamin D in our own food guide is milk.

Why is this? While previous versions of food guide-related materials had the Dairy Foundation of Canada’s logo and information right on them, this current one does not, but perhaps the influence is still there.

In the “Milk and Alternatives” column, we see that the suggested alternative is soy milk. While it is nice to see

some recognition of veganfriendly options like soy milk and tofu in the guide, no mention is made of the fact that processed soy products are not especially good for you either.

You get the idea that, if you aren’t going to drink milk, two cups a day of soy milk are required. True, it is usually better to get your vitamins through your food, but since any vitamin D found in soy milk has been added there as part of the fortification process, one might wonder if simply taking a tablet every day might not be a healthier option.

What’s with the wheat?

When we look at the “Grain Products” column, we can see it is utterly dominated by wheat. While the nutrition

The only mention of a food source for vitamin D in our own food guide is milk. Why is this?

advice on the side tells you to choose whole grains like barley, oats, quinoa and wild rice, the pictures that illustrate portion sizes and ideas show bread, flat bread, bagels, cereal and pasta, making only one reference to “cooked rice, bulgur and quinoa.”

The average woman is told she needs six to seven servings and the average man eight servings, slightly less than the recommendation for fruits and veggies, but not a lot less. Now I’m definitely not a Paleo-diet or Atkin’s girl, but there is a

lot of evidence to suggest that the constant spiking of insulin levels from high-glycemic carbs is behind many “epidemics” we are seeing in the health industry today, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In light of this research, is eating eight servings a day of bread a good idea?

The real issue with Canada’s Food Guide, of course, is that it can only deal with the broadest of strokes, the most general of generalities. There isn’t space available to get into the details of good nutrition, of why cer-

tain things may be better for you than others. As a result, no differentiation is made between a serving of wild rice and a serving of white pasta.

While the notes on the side suggest good choices, the pictures in the middle tell a different story, especially as this is often used as a tool to educate children who are much more likely to be influenced by the colourful centre pictures than the words alongside them. Someone looking at the pictures may well think that they need to eat bread and bagels, meat, milk and cheese every day in order to be healthy along with their fruit and vegetables. As more and more children are being diagnosed with food sensitivities to items continued on page

Health Action | www.hans.org

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Canada’s Food Guide continued from page 9 that are depicted in the guide— wheat, dairy, eggs and peanuts, for example—this can become confusing for them.

Calorie count-less A debate occurred recently at the University of Ottawa between Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, and Dr. Hasan Hutchinson, director-

general of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada. The title of the debate was Does Canada’s Food Guide Promote Weight Gain?

While many pros and cons of Canada’s Food Guide were debated, one interesting point is that the guide does not make any allowances for other foods, like wine and beer, coffee, chocolate, candies, condiments, that in reality account for about 25 percent of the calories the average person consumes.

Freedhoff contends that when you take these other foods into account and add in the difference between perceived and actual serving sizes, the average woman thinking that she was following the food guide would probably be consuming about 3,300 calories a day, not the 1,800 the guide

The real issue with Canada’s Food Guide is that it can only deal with the broadest of strokes, the most general of generalities.

is aiming for. That’s a weighty difference.

Is Canada’s Food Guide better than nothing? I believe it is.

Is it the last word in nutrition?

No, it’s not.

To my mind, something that served to educate people more about how the categories of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) actually work in their bodies and pro-

vided advice on the glycemic index would make the whole thing less confusing. More work perhaps, but in a country where the number one vegetable consumed is French fries, surely a little more work is worth it. And soon, before we catch up with our neighbours to the south.

Alexis Costello is a health practitioner and instructor and owner of Happily Holistic Natural Health and Wellness. She is a homeschooling mom of three and the vice president of the Canadian Association of Specialized Kinesiology. www.happilytholistic.ca | office@happilytholistic.ca

Turn the page for Your Holistic Food Guide by nutritionist Christina Peressini.

Health Canada Advisory Groups Hobbled by Commercial Conflicts of Interest

by Bill Jeffery, LLB, National Coordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest

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overnments should base foodrelated public health policy on the best available independent evidence. An estimated 20 percent of deaths in Canada are caused by nutrition-related heart attacks, strokes, cancers and diabetes each year, which translates in to 48,000 deaths and at least a $7 billion economic drain.

But according to “Federal government food policy committees and the financial interests of the food sector,” a report published November 2013 in the leading

medical journal Open Medicine, Health Canada routinely stacks external advisory groups with company and industry association reps whose companies stand to profit mightily from weak regulatory oversight. While the federal government needn’t follow their advice, key players in multibillion dollar industries can act as gatekeepers on advice about laws that should regulate those industries in the public’s interest. Perhaps worse, when industry members publicly sign-off on strong unanimous recommendations—as they did in the case of the Sodium Working Group and the Trans Fact Task Force—then discretely lobby against the implementation of

those recommendations, Canadians and the public health community are sedated into a false sense of consensus.

Input of industry groups and industryfunded scientists and health groups is valuable and they should be consulted.

But they should have non-voting roles in advisory groups or should be required to recuse themselves from discussions and decisions on matters that affect the industries and funders they are paid to protect.

The study is available online at www. openmedicine.ca and via http://cspinet. org/canada/pdf/conflict-of-interest . canadian-food-policy/dpf

Source: Centre for Science in the Public Interest Media R elease, November 26, 2013

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Health Action | www.hans.org

e d i u G d o o F Your Holistic

In 2008, author Michael Pollan gave the advice to “eat food, mostly plants, not too much,” and his words have since resonated across North America.

Above and beyond that simple and sage advice, this abbreviated holistic food guide will help you focus on core concepts to bring you even closer to a natural and harmonious relationship with food.

There is no one size that fits all when approaching food from a holistic perspective. Instead, your goal should be on making decisions that shape your personal philosophy around the sourcing, preparation and consumption of food while staying attuned to your body’s unique nutritional needs.

Christina Peressini is a graphic designer, writer and nutritionist. She is passionate about educating and informing people about natural health in a way that’s meaningful and memorable. foodhead.ca info@foodhead.ca 604 730 1123

ORGANIC

WILD

FREE RANGE

GRASS-FED

JULY SEP AUG OC T

NON-IRRADIATED

Local and Seasonal

Buzz Words

Sourcing foods locally and when in season assures you that foods are picked at the peak of ripeness and did not spend days or weeks in transit to reach you.

Use this simple guide to help you source the healthiest foods from each of the following categories:

Eating with the seasons also puts your body in sync with your surroundings (e.g., root vegetables to warm you up in winter, berries to eat as fresh, light fare in summer).

Meet your makers Support local businesses by shopping at your local farmers market, visiting nearby farms and getting to know your local butcher, baker and beekeeper.

Buy into a CSA Buying shares in a community supported agriculture (CSA) project supports local farming initiatives and supplies you with fresh seasonal produce.

Wildcrafting Learn how to harvest the edible berries, mushrooms, wild greens and flowers in your area.

Variety Eating seasonally ensures you will always be eating a variety of foods.

This variety will provide a range of essential nutrients in the diet.

Vegetables and fruit Choose organic when possible.

Consult the Environmental Working Group’s “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” for guidance (ewg.org).

Ask vendors at the local farmers market if their produce is sprayed.

Becoming a certified organic grower is costly; many farmers choose not to go that route but still grow food without chemicals, which classifies foods informally as organic, but not certified organic.

Herbs, nuts & seeds Look for non-irradiated.

Meat Look for hormone-free, antibioticfree, organic, wild or grass-fed.

Eggs Look for free-range, organic feed and omega-rich.

Fish Choose wild over farmed.

Consult the Ocean Wise website for guidance on the most sustainable choices (oceanwise.ca).

Food Prep

Traditions

Mindful Eating

Wash ingredients Always thoroughly wash ingredients, even organic ones.

Eating Return to food choices that your great-grandparents would have made (i.e., methods of planting, harvesting, preparing, preserving).

Relax If you eat on the run or while stressed or pre-occupied, your digestion can be compromised.

Meats Avoid grilling meats. Charred meats contain chemicals that are believed to contribute to cancer.

Cooking with fat Cook with healthier saturated fats that tolerate higher heat, such as butter, ghee or virgin coconut oil.

Ensure butter is from a grass-fed source.

Cooking methods Steam foods using just enough water or steam-sauté (cooking with a combination of water and oil) to retain the most nutrients possible.

Making soups and stews is ideal since nutrients stay in the cooking water that is then eaten, as opposed to discarded down the drain as is the case when boiling vegetables.

Avoid ingredients that are unfamiliar or unpronounceable or that wouldn’t have appeared on an ingredient list in your great-grandparents’ day.

Prepare traditional dishes. Often, they include ingredients that work in symbiosis with one another to provide profound health benefits (e.g., cooked tomatoes and olive oil—Italian; turmeric and black pepper—Indian).

Growing Plant a backyard vegetable garden or a container herb garden.

Sourcing See “Local and Seasonal” section.

Preserving If foods can’t be sourced fresh, frozen is the next best option in terms of retaining nutritients.

Avoid commercially canned foods as they often lack nutrients due to processing. Also, the bisphenol A (BPA) in the lining of most cans is believed to leach unhealthy hormone-like substances into foods.

Learn how to preserve your own foods (e.g., canning, dehydrating).

Chew Digestion starts in the mouth.

Chew food until liquified before swallowing. Remember, the stomach doesn’t have teeth!

Stop when full Stop eating when you feel full or almost full, not when the plate or serving dishes are empty.

Hunger versus thirst If you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water. Sometimes a feeling of hunger is actually the body looking for hydration.

80:20 rule Eighty percent of the time, choose optimal foods that nourish the body.

Twenty percent of the time, feel free to guiltlessly choose your indulgence foods; ones that nourish the soul.

If you are recovering from an illness, a more optimal ratio may be 90/10.

If you are on vacation, 70/30 may be more realistic goal.

Share your table Enjoy meals with friends, organize pot lucks and plan soup swaps.

Gratitude Acknowledge the many hands involved in getting your food from farm to table.

Cut out and keep nearby as a handy reference

Vegetables Eat a variety of raw and lightly cooked vegetables. Raw and cooked foods can be combined on the same plate and even together in one dish (e.g., stew or soup topped with fresh parsley or spring onion).

Natural Cold and Flu Remedies Prevention and treatment that actually works

by Kali MacIsaac, ND

H

ands down, the best way to prevent cold and flu this season for your family is to eat a plant-based, high antioxidant diet, wash hands frequently, continue regular moderate exercise, get restful, restorative sleep at night and reduce stress levels.

But sometimes, even the most vigilant, cleanest-eating yogis get sick. Here are clinically proven ways to prevent and treat cold and flu this season.

Prevention Some immune-boosting supplements and practices can really help you prevent and recover faster from a cold or a flu, while others are just hype.

Don’t waste your money on those that don’t work.

Vitamin D: It has been suggested that low vitamin-D status in winter months might explain why influenza is prevalent at this time. Studies on vitamin D3 have shown it to be most effective at preventing cold and flu symptoms in those people who are deficient in the fat-soluble vitamin. In one study in Japanese children, 1,200 IU of D3 per day for 15 to 17 weeks during the winter reduced influenza A infections by 64 percent.

Adult dose: 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day (with meals or in a fat-droplet form) Children’s dose: 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day Probiotics: Studies have

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Health Action | www.hans.org

Maintaining a slightly alkaline cellular environment is your best defence against cold and flu infections.

shown that giving probiotics to children prevents the incidence of cold and flu. By supporting the intestinal tract, where some 80 percent of the immune system is located, probiotics may work because they enhance immune function.

Probiotic bacteria L. acidophilus, B. Animalis and L. rhamnosus GG (known as L. GG) have been shown in clinical trials to reduce the incidence of cold and flu. Take one tablet of an adult/childappropriate multi-strain pro-

biotic daily throughout cold and flu season.

Maintain a slightly alkaline cellular environment: Owing to the production of acidic products (such as ketones, uric acid and lactate) through normal metabolic processes, overall human metabolism is slightly acidic. We know that everyone who gets exposed to a virus or bacteria contracts the disease; in biological medicine it is known that this susceptibility is largely related to acid/ alkaline balance in the cellular

environment. Most people, due to the foods they eat and how they treat their bodies, have excessively “acidic” habits. An acidic constitution tends to more frequent infections, in part due to increased viscosity of mucous and lymphatic flow.

Maintaining a slightly alkaline cellular environment is your best defence against cold and flu infections.

Reduce your susceptibility to infections by eating a diet high in vegetables, and start each morning with a glass of warm water with a squeeze of organic lemon to give your day an alkaline boost from the start.

Treatment A quick search with Dr. Google will come up with a million “natural remedies”

for cold and flu infections, though many are unproven and, frankly, ineffective. The three listed below are clinically effective for boosting the immune system, breaking fevers and getting you to recovery fast.

1. W arm Wet Socks Treatment This natural immune-boosting treatment works to stimulate blood and lymphatic flow, which activates the immune system and decreases congestion. It’s a fun and effective treatment for children, and it works also for adults with

sinusitis or other upper respiratory tract infections.

You’ll need: n 1 pair of thin cotton (sports) socks n 1 pair of thick wool socks (as close to 100% wool as you can get) Instructions: n R ight before bed, warm up your feet in a tub or with a warm water bottle, being careful not to burn your skin n Run the thin cotton socks under cold water until they’re saturated, and wring them out very well. Put the cold cotton socks on warm feet n Put on the wool socks over the wet socks n Cover up with a warm blanket and climb into bed for the night n Don’t take the socks off un-

less you wake up and they’re completely dry; this means you’ve activated circulation enough to warm and dry the socks

2. Elderberry Syrup Black elderberry, Sambucus nigra, has a number of antiviral and immune-boosting properties. Studies have shown that elderberry extract reduces the duration of influenza infections by approximately four days. While you can buy commercial versions of elderberry syrup, you can also make your own! This recipe comes from Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s

Guide by Rosemary Gladstar.

In a large pot, combine: n 1 cup dried black elderberries (can be found at a local herbal dispensary or purchased online) n 4 1/2 cups filtered water n 2 tablespoons fresh ginger n 1 teaspoon clove n 2 cinnamon sticks n Honey, to taste (1/2–1 cup) Preparation: n Add all ingredients except the honey to the pot; bring the water to a boil and then reduce to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half n Strain all of the ingredients and reserve the syrup in a glass jar n Add honey to taste n Refrigerate the syrup n Take as needed to boost the immune system continued on page

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Cold and Flu Remedies continued from page 15 To fight off a cold or flu, take as follows: Adults: 1–2 tablespoons every 3–4 hours Children (age four and above): 1 teaspoon every 3–4 hours

3. Manuka Honey and Ginger Lemon Tea Manuka honey has been shown in clinical trials to have antiviral and antibacterial properties and to ease coughs associated with upper

Some immune-boosting supplements and practices can really help you prevent and recover faster from a cold or a flu, while others are just hype.

Don’t waste your money on those that don’t work.

respiratory tract infections.

In one study, honey beat out dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) and diphenhydramine (an antihistamine) in easing nighttime cough in children and improving their sleep. The ginger in this tea also has amazing antibiotic abilities—it fights Streptococcal infections with comparable efficacy to first-line antibiotics, with zero side-effects, and has been shown to fight the flu as well. The lemon provides alka-

line nutrients to alter the cellular environment. This is the first go-to concoction I make whenever I’m feeling under the weather. Enjoy!

In a small pot on the stove, combine: n 3 cups filtered water n 2-inch piece of fresh ginger root, sliced n 1/3 of a lemon Preparation: n Boil the ginger and lemon together n Bring the mixture to a sim-

mer and cover to let cook for at least 10 minutes n Turn off the burner and ladle some of the “broth” into a mug n Add 1 tablespoon manuka honey, and sip While sick, we all know the importance of rest—a long, hard workout or intense bout of exercise will dampen the immune system. So will excessive sugar intake so steer clear of the sweets! And get well soon.

Kali MacIsaac, ND, is the Acubalance Wellness Centre naturopathic doctor. Dr. MacIsaac has a general practice, but also has a special interest in working with digestive health, fertility, pediatrics and hormonal balancing. Follow Dr. MacIsaac at www.acubalance. ca/blog and https://www.facebook.com/Acubalance

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Strengthen Immunity in Minutes A simple Chinese medicine practice to power up your energy

by Thai Siew Liang

T

raditional Chinese medicine (TCM) follows the belief that sickness is caused by three factors: natural external factors, internal factors and accidental factors. Natural external factors such as wind and cold in the winter and heat, dampness, dryness and fire in the summer are considered the first causes of sickness.

The internal factors that cause ill health are mainly emotional conditions such as anger, sadness, worry, grief, fear or overexcitement.

Traditional Chinese Medicine follows the belief that sickness is caused by three factors: natural external factors, internal factors and accidental factors.

In this article, I would like to emphasize the energy foundation centre, which is one of the most important centres in the body for a healthy life. It is called the lower dantian.

The lower dantian is the key

Ancient wisdom

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for immunity, stamina, vitality and longevity, and is essential to your foundational power. It is located approximately one inch below the navel (or 1.5 cun, in Chinese medicine) and 2.5 cun inside the body, and it is roughly the size of your fist. The more you develop its power, the more you increase your energy, immunity and life force—all extremely important in sickness recovery.

So how do we increase our immunity, stamina, vitality and longevity? One of these practices takes only three to five minutes. If you want to build an even stronger body, do the following exercise for 30 minutes or longer each time.

Sit up straight, either with

feet flat on the floor or in the lotus position, with your eyes closed, or you can stand. It is important to fully relax.

Put both hands on the lower abdomen below the navel, with one palm on top of the other.

Put the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth without touching. This position is called body power.

Next, we use mind power.

Mind power is to do creative visualization of golden light or any colour that comes to you.

Visualize the brilliant light of the universe giving you so much blessing as it enters through all the pores of your skin. The light nourishes all the organs and cells before concentrating in your lower

dantian to form a light ball.

Focus on this light ball and see it as a solid universal light force. Feel it developing your lower dantian. Your lower abdomen may feel full and heavy. This light ball has been part of many profound energy and spiritual practices for thousands of years. You can visualize the light ball shining brilliant light to heal and bless any part of your body that needs healing, or simply use it to boost your immunity, vitality and stamina.

In this exercise, you can spend five to 20 minutes or more giving yourself an energy boost and building your lower dantian. You may feel hot and tingling, energized and more alert after only three to five minutes of practice! Practising the energy boost often will increase your foundational power and your immunity, which is the key to living healthy.

A certified master teacher and healer, Thai Siew Liang is a disciple of Master Zhi Gang Sha, and has been a student of his teachings since 1995. She also travelled to China to learn ZheNeng and body space medicine (herbs) directly from its originator, Grand Master and Dr. Zhi Chen Guom. (604) 336-4833

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Take a Deep Breath and Your Heart Will Thank You Breathing 101: Calm your nervous system, decrease pain and soothe anxieties

by Naomi Wolfman, GNC(C), NCA, BScN

the sinoatrial node (SA node), located in the right atrium. The natural breathing pattern and heart rate go hand in hand.

Our heart rate increases when we breathe in and decreases when we breathe out.

Numerous studies on meditation techniques recognize that breathing out (following breathing in) relaxes and calms anxieties as well as decreases or alleviates pain.

This is when the “rest and digest” mode takes place, as the parasympathetic branch of the involuntary system is activated. As people, we are basically bipedal synergistic connections between the brain, body, breathing and circulatory system. This is a loving team at work: tireless, predictable, accurate and decisive.

B

reathing is the most important function of our existence. Have you ever wondered what trajectory our breathing takes or what highlights are there along the way?

Have you ever wondered how the very air we breathe affects our body?

The O2 journey When we breathe we take in oxygen (O2), which goes to our lungs and increases oxygenation in our blood. Blood flows in one direction, just like a mountain spring, through valves that open one way only. From the lungs and through the pulmonary veins, oxygenated blood goes into the left side of the heart, filling up the left atrium, which contracts and pulses our blood through the mitral valve to the left ventricle.

As the left ventricle fills up, it also contracts and pumps the oxygenated blood through the aortic valve into—you guessed it—the aorta. From here the aorta carries the blood toward our organs and tissues to be nourished. The aortic valve works hard and can fatigue in a lifetime; this is one of the reasons aortic-valve replacements give a new meaning to life.

At its destination, the blood deposits nourishment and takes away waste, bringing it together with the poorly oxygenated

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Numerous studies on meditation techniques recognize that breathing out relaxes and calms anxieties as well as decreases or alleviates pain. blood to the right side of the heart, through the vena cava and into the right atrium. Soon this chamber fills up, contracts and the blood continues its trajectory through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle.

The right ventricle shunts the poorly oxygenated blood through the pulmonary valve to the pulmonary artery. The blood then continues to the lungs to replenish oxygen, while the CO2 leaves our bodies through the out-breath.

What do we do next? Take another breath. And the rhythmic cycle starts once again.

The heart of the matter None of this would be possible without the tireless, constant and reliable pumping of the heart. The heart is governed by electrical impulses that start at

What cues the heart rate?

Cueing the heart rate is one of the numerous functions our brain is responsible for performing nonstop, day and night. The centres that control our heart rate are located in the medulla oblongata, the lower part of the brain stem. One of these centres, namely nucleus ambiguus, increases the effect of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system via the vagus nerve. According to the Institute for Applied Meditation, when we breathe in, the nucleus ambiguus receives inhibitory signals, the vagus

nerve remains unstimulated and our heart rate increases.

Conversely, breathing out activates the nucleus ambiguus, stimulates the vagus nerve and decreases the heart rate.

This teeter-totter action also affects the electrical impulses to the SA node, which fires, setting the rhythm of our pulse.

As the School of Medicine Cardiothoracic Surgery faculty at the University of Southern Califiornia reports, the SA node “is the natural pacemaker of the heart.”

The right and left vagus nerves are the longest nerves in our bodies, spanning from the brain stem to the abdominal cavity and affecting our lungs, esophagus and viscera.

Emotions we experience on a daily basis leave the landmarks encountered by the vagus nerve responsive, active and reactive.

Having optimal brain function gives you the comfort of welcoming life’s ups and downs calmly and collected so you can make a safe, anxiety-free decision or response.

Which leads back to breathing. Whether we suffer with colon symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or constipation or with fear of the unknown or panic attacks, conscious breathing can be employed as a catalyst to help resolve and alleviate these challenges. Breathing consciously is to breathe diaphragmatically.

Conscious breathing In breathing diaphragmatically, also named respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), we take about six breaths per minute.

That is about 10 seconds per breath, divided into in-breath,

out-breath and allocating for the short pauses in between breaths.

By conscious breathing, I mean taking in a full breath and visualizing the bottom, middle and top of your lungs fill with fresh, clean, oxygenated air.

The middle diaphragm rounds and elongates towards the bottom and pushes onto the viscera, gently massaging the internal organs and, therefore, becoming a useful and welcome motion for regularity.

Further, the abdominal cavity pushes onto the pelvic floor, which needs to stay strong enough to receive this downward pressure. Just think when you have to sneeze or cough, sing or laugh. Especially when standing up with nothing to help support the pelvic floor, gravity taking over, that tremendous pressure can add bulge to, press and weaken the pelvic fibres. This is usually a sufficient reason for anyone wanting to increase his or her pelvic-floor strength.

On the out-breath you can visualize the air leaving the top, then the middle and then the bottom of the lungs and the reverse action happens: the diaphragm pushes out the rest of the air from the deepest pockets of your lungs, slowly, as in a sigh of relief. This action creates more room within your pelvic floor. If you are inclined to use the Kegel exercise for strengthening pelvic-floor muscles, you can commence the contraction on the out-breath.

As you can see, there is much more to breathing than meets the eye.

Naomi Wolfman, GNC(C), NCA, BScN, is a registered nurse specializing in continence. www. embrace-cs.ca | (604) 327-7056

HealingRetreats Retreats Healing Retreats Healing on on on Healing Retreats GalianoIsland Island Galiano Island Galiano on Healing Retreats Galiano on Island Release Exhaustion Release Exhaustion

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Raise Your Energy Release Exhaustion Step away from the hustle and bustle and Step away from the hustle and bustle and let yourself fully unwind, Raise Your Energy Renew Your Step away let from the hustle and bustleHealth! and yourself fully unwind, relax and be nurtured this island paradise. letbe yourself fully unwind, relax and nurtured in in this island paradise.

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Step away from the hustle and bustle and Retreat Create Your Own Personalized Retreat Create Your Own Personalized let yourself fully unwind, let yourself fully unwind, Create Your Own Personalized Retreat relax and be inthis this island paradise. relax and benurtured nurtured in island paradise.

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, Vancouver BC Luannah to be or www.hawaiianhealinghub.com call 604-782-9197 a few-Grace years,Park I have experienced a wonderfully rich, joyful, compassionate therapist with purpose and vision.

Her deep sense of caring and authenticity translate to her work, practice and energy.”

www.hawaiianhealinghub.com or call 604-782-9197 -Grace Park , Vancouver BC

Health Action | www.hans.org

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www.hawaiianhealinghub.com or call 604-782-9197

An Eye on Heart

by Yvonne Dollard Perc

M BioSil Advanced Collagen Generator ™

Clinical Trial Results

• Reduces Fine Lines and Wrinkles • Increases Skin Elasticity • Thickens and Strengthens Hair • Strengthens Nails

By now you know. Adding body collagen directly reduces wrinkles, increases skin elasticity, and adds vital moisture to your skin. Indirectly, collagen thickens and strengthens your hair.

You may also know that collagen production slows by 1% per year after the age of 21. Can you gain it back? Yes. But not by eating collagen. You see, collagen is a protein. When you ingest it, your body breaks it down, like any other protein, and uses it as food. When you want the real beauty benefits of collagen, you have to generate it.

BioSil™ generates collagen by activating the collagen producing cells in your body known as fibroblasts. It is clinically proven to increase collagen formation.

In fact, in the clinical trial the women taking BioSil™ reduced wrinkles by 30%, increased skin elasticity by 89% and thickened and strengthened their hair by 13% compared to women not taking BioSil™. So when you want genuine visible results from collagen, generate it, don’t eat it. Experience the beautiful difference for yourself!

Dr. Marita Schauch, BSc ND

debunks myths about collagen “creams,” beauty industry promises and plastic surgery to show you how and why building and generating collagen is an essential component to true health and beauty in her newest book Collagen Myths & Misconceptions.

Available at Health Food Stores and Select Natural Pharmacies For more information go to:

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Health Action | www.hans.org

PNO.CA

any people will be familiar with the echocardiogram, electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac MRI as common diagnostic tests used by medical teams to assess the hard-working heart and its all-too-common vulnerabilities.

More unfamiliar, the discipline I employ—iridology— can also offer insights into health and the underlying conditions leading to heart disease.

The iris displays nerve-based and biochemical patterns that serve as physiological, neurological and biochemical indicators of the strength and genetic predispositions of different organs, tissues and body systems.

The eye may reflect the condition of the heart specifically and show broader connections between cardiovascular function and the health of other body systems.

Certain conditions in the eye may reflect the condition of the heart specifically and show broader connections between cardiovascular function and the health of other body systems. Iridology may allow a clear look at physical health

conditions with a reduction in trial and error or guesswork.

The health of your heart and many other aspects of your physical health are interconnected. This means that biochemistry and physical misalignments may have an effect on your heart, while compromised heart function and circulation may influence everything from your energy level to cellular health to nutrient uptake.

What your eyes reveal Inflammation is increasingly recognized as a factor behind cardiovascular disease and many other chronic diseases.

Inflammation, which is caused by acidity, physical stress, toxicity or imbalances in body chemistry, is reflected in the eye.

Stress lines may show up if a person has a genetic weakness, while the eyes may show lesions, which indicate a higher potential for inherited heart concerns.

If a person’s stomach shows toxicity, the diaphragm indicators look acute and heartburn is a complaint, then his or her blood pressure could be elevated even if there are no potential genetic concerns affecting that body system.

Stress lines or patterns showing an acute condition in the upper thoracic could indicate conditions relating to palpitations and other neurological and electrical interference with the heart. I also look at adrenal stress, thyroid, electrical sensitivity and stomach mis-

Health alignment as possible causes of interference.

Sarah’s heart case One of my clients, whom I’ll call Sarah, came to see me with heart-health challenges. Her eye pictures, though, exhibited only stress-related interference affecting the heart, stomach, thoracic, adrenals and thyroid.

I told Sarah that her heart was absolutely perfect, and that the stress and interference from these other areas were causing her heart to go into atrial fibrillation (which involves an irregular heart rhythm). She had undergone 22 cardioversion treatments and doctors wanted to perform an ablation procedure on her heart to restore normal heart rhythm.

I always recommend a visit

to a medical doctor and blood testing if any kind of heart disease or related condition is present. In this case, further medical testing confirmed that her heart was strong and healthy.

It turned out that her body is very sensitive to electromagnetic fields and now that she avoids direct contact with devices that are affecting her, she is no longer living with atrial fibrillation.

Yvonne Dollard Perc of Island Healthworks is a master herbalist, sclerologist, nutritional consultant, acutherapist and iridologist with over 30 years’ experience. Island Healthworks offers herbal, nutritional and dietary supplements, bodywork, lifestyle counselling and a free online health newsletter via www.islandhealthworks.com | (250) 468-7685

“I recommend Vitamin C and Lysine for Heart Health” W. Gifford-Jones, MD

S

ixteen years ago following my own coronary attack I decided to follow the research of Dr. Linus Pauling, Professor Williams Stehbens and Dr. Sydney Bush and take high doses of vitamin C plus lysine.

Dr. Linus Pauling, two-time Noble Prize winner, was ignored for reporting that large amounts of vitamin C and lysine are needed to prevent coronary attacks. Twenty-five years ago Pauling reported that animals make vitamin C but humans do not and must supplement this important vitamin. Lysine must also be supplemented.

Vitamin C is required to manufacture healthy collagen, the glue that holds coronary cells together, just like mortar is needed for bricks. Lysine, like steel rods in cement, makes collagen stronger. Pauling claimed it takes a mere 10 milligrams of vitamin C to prevent scurvy, but several thousand to prevent heart attack.

Williams Stehbens, Professor of Anatomy at Wellington University in New Zealand, proved Pauling was right.

Stebhens’ research showed that coronary arteries closest to the heart are under the greatest pressure. This causes collagen to fracture resulting in the formation of a blood clot and death.

Dr. Sydney Bush, an English researcher, has now proven that vitamin C can reverse atherosclerosis. Bush took retinal photographs, then started his patients on high doses of vitamin C and lysine. One year later additional pictures showed atherosclerosis had regressed in retinal arteries.

Now you can take the right combination of Vitamin C and Lysine in a powder form I developed called Medi-C Plus™. The dosage for Medi-C Plus is one flat scoop with breakfast and the evening meal, mixed in water or juice.

Ask for at your local Health Food Store and Select Natural Pharmacy.

PNO.CA Health Action | www.hans.org

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The Optimal Physical Checkup for Seniors

by Ingrid Pincott, ND

A

re you getting the complete yearly checkup that you need to obtain optimal health? Are you doing enough to stay out of the hospital? Do you want to reduce the number of medications you are taking?

Hormone balancing for both men and women is important at any age and can be done with nutraceuticals and bioidentical hormones.

Check your blood A yearly checkup for those 55 and older should include blood work such as 25(OH) vitamin D, CRP (C-reactive protein) and ferritin (iron stores). If vitamin D levels are not optimal at 150nmol/l, there is a possible increased risk of many cancers, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, depression and poor energy.

The list goes on! CRP is a measure of inflammation and if your body is inflamed then the source needs to be identified. Lowering CRP lowers the risk of all the diseases of aging including cancer, heart disease and dementia. Ferritin often increases with age; it is also an inflammatory marker and keeping it between 50 and 120 is best.

A comprehensive, cardiovascular blood work-up will give people their risk factors for insulin resistance leading to diabetes and heart disease as well as cardiovascular risk for heart attacks and strokes.

Unlike typical lipid panels, this testing measures actual levels and sizes of HDL and LDL cholesterol lipoproteins.

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Once your risk has been identified, a treatment program is instituted and monitored until the risk is lowered and maintained.

Check nutritional deficiencies As the digestive ability to absorb nutrients declines with age, nutritional deficiencies become common, especially B12, vitamin D and minerals.

Alcohol, too, depletes B vitamins, especially B12. Many neurological symptoms, including dizziness and cognitive decline, as well as fatigue and bursitis of the hips and shoulders, respond well to B12 injections. Often physicians will not give B12 injections unless the blood work shows a deficiency. In my practice, I base B12 injections on symptoms and response and this water-soluble B vitamin is well tolerated at high

doses and long-term therapy.

Most seniors are low in vitamin D and minerals, and when these are restored many symptoms improve: insomnia, energy, joint pain, depression and blood pressure. Magnesium is a must in any mineral supplement and is the most important mineral for the treatment of heart arrthymias.

Check your meds Identifying food sensitivities can help many with their aches and pains as well as help with weight loss and controlling blood sugars. If you are taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory for pain, you are just cutting the wires to the fire alarm; you are not getting to the cause of the pain.

Natural anti-inflammatories and joint health remedies work well at lowering CRP, reducing the need for yet an-

other medication. Osteopenia and osteoporosis often respond well to naturopathic treatment without the use of prescription medication.

Mental health issues may often be related to nutritional deficiencies, and when corrected and combined with other remedies that balance neurotransmitters in the brain, another prescription for antidepressants may be avoided.

Finally, hormone balancing for both men and women is important at any age and can be done with nutraceuticals and bioidentical hormones.

Specialized testing provides the help that is needed. There is also help for recurrent urinary tract infections and enlarged prostates.

Ingrid Pincott, ND, has been practising naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently practising in Campbell River, B.C. www.DrPincott.com | (250) 2863655. First published June 13, 2014 in the Campbell River Boomers and Beyond.

The Value of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Nutrition experts: debate is far from over by the Linus Pauling Institute

R

esearchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (OSU), the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Tufts University and the Harvard School of Public Health have taken issue with recent claims that “the case is closed” on whether or not a multivitamin/mineral supplement should be taken by people to help obtain needed nutrients.

In correspondence published on June 3, 2014, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers reasoned that this type of dietary supplement helps fill nutritional gaps, improves general health, might help prevent chronic disease, will cause no harm and is easily worth the few cents a day that it costs.

To “call the case closed” is wrong and “misinforms the public and the medical community,” the researchers wrote.

Their statements were a response to an editorial in the same publication last year that argued that such supplements are unnecessary and received widespread publicity.

While most nutrition experts agree that a balanced and nutritious diet is the best way to obtain needed nutrients, the researchers in this commentary point out that many have

a less-than-perfect diet—long on calories and short on nutrients—and the vast majority are not getting enough of several important vitamins and minerals.

“It’s naïve to ignore the fact that most people have micronutrient inadequacies, and wrong to condemn a daily supplement that could cover these nutritional gaps safely and at low cost,” said Balz Frei, professor and director of the Linus Pauling Institute and a biochemist in the OSU College of Science.

“There’s strong evidence that a multivitamin/mineral supplement supports normal functioning of the body and helps improve overall health, and may even help lower chronic disease risk,” Frei said. “It’s irresponsible to ignore decades

of nutrition research and tell people … they have no need for a supplement that could be so helpful and costs as little as $1 a month.

“And if they have a poor diet, people should try to improve that as well,” he said.

Micronutrients maintain normal cell and tissue function, metabolism, growth and development. A supplement that helps a person “cover all the bases” can help protect daily, routine health.

Deficiency diseases such as scurvy or rickets are increasingly rare in the U.S. [and Canada] due to improved diet and fortified foods. However, certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies are still a major issue in the developing world, especially vitamin A, iron, iodine and zinc. According

to the World Health Organization, more than 650,000 children under age five die around the world every year from deficiency in vitamin A. And the potential for vitamins and other micronutrients to help reduce or prevent chronic disease continues to show promise. One of the longest, largest controlled studies ever done, the Physicians’ Health Study II, found a significant eight-percent reduction in cancer incidence in male physicians—people who, through their education, income and lifestyle, probably had diets much closer to optimal than the average [North] American.

“There are many issues that have helped to mislead people when it comes to the study of micronutrients,” Frei said. “For instance, most research is done without first checking if a person is inadequate in a nutrient, and you won’t find much effect from a supplement if it isn’t needed.

The researchers wrote in their conclusion that to “label multivitamin and mineral supplements useless, harmful and a waste of money is wrong.”

The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University is a world leader in the study of micronutrients and their role in promoting optimum health or preventing and treating disease.

Source: Media Release, June 2014. ww.lpi.oregonstate.edu Health Action | www.hans.org

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HANS Member News New Pathways Connect Gathering for Holistic Parents Starting Monday, October 20, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, this free monthly (third Monday of the month) is hosted by Dr. Sabrina Chen-See in her office at #1110 – 750 West Broadway in Vancouver. All participants receive a free copy of Pathways to Family Wellness magazine. www.DrChenSee.com | (604) 566-9088 Now in Print: How to Grow a Beautiful Relationship Heather Donaldson’s new book introduces an extraordinary approach to relationships using emotional freedom technique (EFT) and integrates the “best-of-the-best” advice based on current research. Roots EFT uses a garden analogy by explaining how to clear the weeds that hamper your relationship “garden” and your own inner “garden.” To do proper weeding, you need to go for the roots; this book shows you how. www.natureswaymassage.ca | (604) 815-3436

Grand Opening of Polo Health + Longevity Centre New Westminster’s first integrated medical health centre is having a grand opening in December. The large, state-of-the-art clinic includes a wonderful warm and caring family composed of naturopathic doctors, medical doctors, clinical counsellors and a holistic nutritionist as well as an in-house compounding pharmacy, colon hydrotherapy, medical cosmetic aesthetics and a large IV suite. 711 Columbia Street, New Westminster, B.C. www.polohealth.com | (604) 544-POLO (7656)

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choice if you have immobility issues, for families who would otherwise have difficulty getting everyone to the clinic, or if you have a challenging work schedule or other commitments. www.lighthealing.ca | (778) 229-4532

12-Week Manual to Help Heal Problematic Eating Are you fed up with the choices you make with food? Have you tried different quick fixes to alleviate your compulsive behaviours but always find yourself back in the same place? This easy-to-use 12week manual and accompanying program takes you step-by-step through the process of healing problematic eating issues such as overeating, compulsive eating, bulimia, binge eating, emotional eating and orthorexia. Contact Shelley for program start dates. www.emergingjewel.com | (604) 780-8839 New Mobile Service for Osteopathic Treatment Carolyne Abrams, DO, DPO (UK), is pleased to announce her new mobile healing service, bringing the same high quality of treatment available at her central Lonsdale (404 – 1200 Lonsdale Avenue) clinic in North Vancouver. Offering flexible hours, this mobile service is available on the North Shore as well as by arrangement in other Lower Mainland areas. It’s the perfect

Advanced Certification in Spiritual Response Therapy Luanne Livermore of Hawaiian Healing Hub is a newly certified advanced practitioner of spiritual response technique (SRT).

SRT is a system of healing that enables research of the subconscious mind and soul records, effectively identifying and releasing discordant and limiting ideas, beliefs and judgments that have been gathered by our subconscious and replacing them with loving, supportive ideas and beliefs. This enables greater inner freedom and joyful living. www.malamaponobc.com | (604) 782-9197

Aidan & Ralph snapd at the Port Moody Firefighters Pancake Breakfast

coquitlam

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August 2014 | coquitlam.snapd.com | Free Issue

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The Coquitlam Family Chiropractic team snapd at Coquitlam Celebrates Canada Day

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Thomas & Justin snapd at the Neighbourhood Night

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Gaëtan, Trudy, Rod, Ruth & Kyle snapd at the Mossom Creek Hatchery Sod Turning

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Marianne, Karla, Jen & Jessica snapd at the Golden Spike Days

Dr. Ali Amiri and the Coquitlam Family Chiropractic team were featured in Snapd Coquitlam, August 2014.

mind-alive! Conference Recap Director of operations Michael Volker, mind-alive! presenter Dr. Jonathan Prousky, and event organizer Lorill Hancock

by HANS Staff

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hen we decided to hold a conference exploring the theme of natural medicine for mental health, we had envisioned one that would change people’s lives. And with mindalive!, which took place on October 25 and drew a crowd of 150 attendees, we believe we achieved that goal. While each of our five presenters broached the subject from a different angle, the overall message was united and hopeful: natural medicine can be a powerful tool against mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia.

Brian Davies, ND, shared the “functional medicine” approach that he often takes at the Westcoast Integrative Clinic in North Vancouver, i.e. using common and sometimes specialized medical tests to get a comprehensive look at a person’s inner state of health. Dr. Davies explained how specific test markers can indicate inter-

nal infection, nutritional imbalances, blocked body pathways and numerous other factors that can contribute to symptoms of mental illness. He presented case studies where, by addressing these underlying factors, symptoms improved.

Anthony Stephan spoke from the heart when he described how family tragedy has evolved into a nutritional supplement program that’s now being studied at major universities. In the early years, threats to the company’s Truehope Program included Health Canada “cease and desist” orders and imports of its EMPowerplus micronutrient formula being stopped at the border. The company eventually had to go to court to fight for its constitutional right to sell its products, and won.

Since then, EMPowerplus has gone on to become the subject of 25 studies and research continues to show its effectiveness against mental illness.

Medical herbalist Katolen Yardley began her thoughtful speech by discussing the role of nutrition in good health.

Medical herbalist and mindalive! speaker Katolen Yardley

She delved deeper into the importance of a healthy digestive system and explained how deficiencies in gut health are often linked to mental illness.

Drawing upon her deep herbal knowledge, she explained her approach to treatment, based on individual diagnosis and symptoms, at Alchemy & Elixir Health Group, her Vancouver clinic. Yardley also raised the valuable point about the need for social connectedness, leaving attendees with the concept that “mental illness” is viewed very differently in other cultures.

Author, international presenter and stress relief expert Ken Nedd, MD, started his lecture on how to be happy with some cheery music to get the crowd going. His personal zest was proof that he “walks the talk” while the self-help tips that he gave the audience on how to reduce stress added a practical element to his talk.

Dr. Nedd introduced key elements to living with more joy, including being more grateful and less judgmental; laughing

more; putting a time limit on worry; and unplugging from technology to take time for personal connections.

Jonathan Prousky, ND, author and orthomolecular medicine expert, presented an indepth look at the grim picture of mental illness in Canada today. Dr. Prousky spoke of the relative ineffectiveness of conventional and pharmaceutical treatments, the results of which he witnesses frequently in his Toronto-based clinic.

Fortunately, his case for the use of orthomolecular medicine— the use of nutrients—was equally compelling. He shared both clinical and researchbased data on the treatment of various mental illnesses using specific nutrients. Based on the field of raised hands after his talk, one sensed that the Q & A could have gone all night had time permitted.

A DVD of mind-alive! Exploring Natural Medicine for Mental Health is available for purchase by calling HANS at (604) 435-0512 or tollfree 1 (855) 787-1891.

Health Action | www.hans.org

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HANS Member News HANS and InspireHealth Present Cancer Events on Vancouver Island

by Brian Schaefer, PhD

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n May 24 and 25, Health Action Network Society (HANS) sponsored cancer awareness events in Victoria and Sooke.

Speakers came from the Victoria office of InspireHealth (Corie Kielbiski, Hillary Krupa and Randy Harney) along with an independent researcher from New Zealand, Dave Vousden.

InspireHealth opened its Victoria office in October 2011. Since then they have provided an integrative healthcare service to a large number of people suffering from cancer. Corie and Randy provided what InspireHealth calls their Fireside Chat, which is an overview of the approach that InspireHealth takes with cancer care, including the importance of diet, exercise, stress manage-

About 50 people attended HANS’ first Cancer Prevention and Healing Event in Victoria, B.C.

ment and lifestyle change. They also pointed out the importance of vitamin D in fighting cancer and the value of a good night’s sleep (melatonin).

Hillary and Corie then provided more in-depth discussion of the role of nutrition in achiev-

ing recovery and remaining in remission. Whole-food nutrition, managing blood-sugar levels, the role of diet in overcoming inflammation and the impact of stress management on digestion were all discussed.

Dave Vousden has overcome

bladder, pancreatic and kidney cancer using a nutritional approach centered on salvestrols (plant phytonutrients). He has many years of experience in research and clinical trials involving the role of essential fatty acids in health. After giving a history of nutritional approaches to health, Dave provided case studies of people using salvestrols and nutritional change to overcome cancer.

These events have forged stronger ties between Health Action Network Society and Vancouver Island residents and practitioners and we hope that this momentum will carry through to many more Island events in the future.

Brian Schaefer, PhD, is on the Health Action Network Society board of directors.

Your Feedback on the New Health Action Magazine

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hank you to everyone who let us know what you think about our magazine refresh. While we don’t want to pat ourselves on the back too much, we thought a little pat might be OK. Here are some of your comments.

Thank you so much again for the amazing work that you do. I got your recent post of the beautiful new magazines. They are just great! Congratulations!

– Denise, Sechelt, B.C. What a huge surprise to open the envelope and find a whole new look to Health Action magazine. My mouth dropped open and my eyes flew wide. What an accomplishment. Many interesting articles. My sincere congratulations on to everyone involved. I’m totally impressed and so very proud of everyone and your accomplishments.

– Cathrine, Beaverlodge, Alta.

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Just want to let you know that the new magazine is very welcomed by patients :-) – K athryn, Burnaby, B.C. Just received your new version of Health Action magazine.

Beautiful! Very well done. Very classy and informative. I think this will be a great piece of HANS’ future success.

– Ted, Coquitlam, B.C. I love the new look of the magazine! Good work HANS!

– Deane, Acton, Ont.

Natural Nutrition Event—A Penticton Success

by Lorna Hancock

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e didn’t know what to expect when we said, “Let’s do an event in Penticton, a free event so anyone interested can attend!” But boy, what an inspiring day!

The event was slated to start at 1:00 pm on September 20 at the Shatford Centre on Main Street in Penticton, B.C. Vitamin King, a local health food store, had a beautiful booth with lots of giveaways. Other booths offered samples of ancient grains from True Grains

of Summerland, calendars from Locals Supporting Locals, and a surprise, last-minute donation of the coolest cutting boards from Plexus Doors of Naramata. Ecoideas and Whole Foods had donated gift baskets as door prizes.

By 12:50 pm, we were all set up and ready. The problem was, only a handful of people were there and we were feeling a little defeated. Within 10 minutes, however, a minihuman tsunami hit and more than 70 people arrived.

By the time Dr. Jessie Wiens, holistic nutritionist Lisa Kil-

gour and Dr. Sherry Ure had finished their talks, we were all motivated to make our own fermented foods and to eat more digestible fats. I left inspired to increase the friendly bacteria in my system as these experts had explained that a healthy digestive system is imperative for good immunity and long-term health.

Thank you to everyone who participated, including Kevin Proteau of Locals Supporting Locals, who spoke briefly about our GM apple campaign.

Thank you to our Okanaganbased members who attended.

Hope to see you next time!

Lorna Hancock is the executive director of Health Action Network Society. lorna@hans.org

Health Action | www.hans.org

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The Most Important Anticancer Factor Exercise beats diet in reducing cancer risk

by Rachel Mark, MA (Kin)

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any lifestyle factors contribute to a reduced risk of chronic disease; however, when considering cancer development, regular physical activity is arguably the most important factor.

While current guidelines suggest accumulating at least 150 minutes of moderate-tovigorous aerobic activity per week in bouts of 10 minutes or more, as well as at least two bouts of strength training for reduced risk of developing chronic disease, less than half of the Canadian population is meeting these guidelines.

Studies highlight the importance of exercise for healthy physical functioning, circulatory and lymphatic health, healthy body composition and optimal endocrine functioning.

Cancer has now surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death in Canada—a fact that highlights the importance of engaging in preventive behaviours. Meanwhile, the growing body of evidence

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Regular exercise has been associated with a

21—34% reduced colon cancer risk; an average 25% reduced risk for breast cancer; up to 35% reduced risk for

endometrial

cancer; about 10% reduced risk for prostate cancer; and between

20—50% reduced risk of lung cancer.

linking exercise and cancer risk is increasingly supportive of regular exercise for cancer prevention. Regular exercise has been associated with a 21 to 34 percent reduced colon cancer risk; an average 25 percent reduced risk for breast cancer; up to 35 percent reduced risk for endometrial cancer; about 10 percent reduced risk for prostate cancer; and between 20 and 50 percent reduced risk of lung cancer. The question becomes: how does exercise exert this extremely protective effect on the body?

How exercise protects Physical activity alters physiological pathways that provide a protective mechanism against

disease. This creates immediate changes during and following activity (such as improved mood and sense of well-being, and reduced depression and anxiety), and long term (decreased risk of disease, maintenance of a healthy body weight and improved quality of life).

Although these changes are interrelated, the mechanisms for disease protection can be divided into three categories: effects related to physiology, body composition and the endocrine system.

Physiologically, aerobic exercise improves cardio-respiratory fitness (increases the amount of oxygen that our body can take in, transport to the working muscles and organs, and use for energy production). In addition

to improving body composition through increased muscle mass, weight-bearing or resistance exercise improves bone strength, and counters the natural loss of bone density as we age, decreasing the risk of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Exercising shifts our body into sympathetic nervous system (SNS) control. This increases blood pressure globally and, at the site of the working muscles, dilates vessels to receive increased blood. While exercise temporarily increases blood pressure, it is one of the best ways to reduce resting blood pressure, thereby lowering the risk of hypertension.

The increased blood flow and contraction of muscles when engaging in activity also acts

as a pump for the lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system is closely integrated with the immune system and is composed of vessels that pump fluids towards the heart. Lymphatic vessels require skeletal muscle contraction to pump fluids through the vessels. Because exercise requires contraction of skeletal muscles, it is an excellent way to encourage healthy lymphatic drainage. Exercise has also been shown to reduce symptoms of lymphedema, a common side-effect of cancer treatments.

Reduced adiposity (fat) and improved body composition play a huge protective role in cancer prevention and is linked to decreased risk of colon, endometrial, esophageal, renal, pancreatic, and post-menopausal breast cancer, as well as possible decreases in hepato-cellular carcinomas, and gallbladder, ovarian and thyroid cancers.

Reductions in adipose tissue decrease circulating hormones that can negatively impact cancer risk, decrease inflammation and improve the body’s efficiency in cellular turnover. Physical activity helps to maintain a healthy body composition, with increased lean muscle mass and decreased adipose tissue.

Exercise supports endocrine health Besides the physical benefits that can be seen and felt with exercise, there are also a number of endocrine shifts that occur. Another effect of the SNS during exercise is the release of cortisol, our stress hormone.

Regular exercise actually helps the body to adapt to stress more efficiently, thereby requiring

lower levels of cortisol secretion. This is important because having chronically high circulating levels of cortisol causes suppression of the immune system, leading to greater susceptibility for illness.

Regular exercise lowers the amount of circulating sex hormones—an action that is also protective against certain types of hormonally driven cancers.

The research is most compelling for breast cancer risk reduction, particularly among post-menopausal women. Once the ovaries stop producing estrogen during menopause, adipose tissue acts as a reservoir for both storing and producing the hormone. Physical activity alters body composition, thereby lowering levels of adipose tissue, and ultimately, levels of circulating hormones.

Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas to regulate blood sugar levels. Insulin binds to receptors, opening the gate for glucose uptake by skeletal muscles. Exercise regulates insulin release by the pancreas as well as increase insulin receptor sensitivity, thereby lowering the amount of circulating insulin in the body. Higher levels of circulating insulin have been associated with increased risk and poor prognosis of many cancer types. Higher levels of insulin in the bloodstream also increase insulinlike growth factor-1, which has been shown to increase both cancer cell proliferation and inflammation.

Chronic inflammation develops from a number of causes, including stress, diet and sedentary behaviour. Higher levels of pro-inflammatory factors such as C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor and

interleukin-6 have all been linked to higher incidences of cancer. Regular activity decreases these levels both by reducing inflammation alone, and by decreasing body fat, which in turn decreases the release of inflammatory markers from adipose tissue.

Health through a daily routine of exercise

demonstrate a dose-response relationship between the amount of exercise performed and level of reduced risk, suggesting that the more exercise performed increases the risk reduction.

Keeping all of this in mind, when starting an exercise program, it is best to visit your doctor or a certified exercise specialist for a program that is best for you.

Evidence supporting cancer prevention and exercise is growing, and is becoming increasingly convincing that this is something to add into our daily routine for substantial health benefits. Studies highlight the importance of exercise for healthy physical functioning, circulatory and lymphatic health, healthy body composition and optimal endocrine functioning. Most studies also

Rachel Mark, MA (Kin), is an exercise therapist and yoga instructor at InspireHealth, an integrated cancer care centre with locations in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna, B.C. She holds a master’s degree in kinesiology and is an RYT-500 yoga instructor. She believes that physical activity has the ability to heal the body, mind and spirit and should be incorporated into our daily lives for substantial health benefits. www.inspirehealth.ca

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Health Action | www.hans.org

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A Cancer Breakthrough from the Treasure Chest of Traditional Chinese Medicine Sweet wormwood compound artemisinin and promising cancer research at the University of Washington—an exclusive HANS interview with Tomikazu Sasaki, PhD mia, breast and prostrate in laboratory animals.” Could you please explain this further?

by Michael Volker

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he incredible, medicinal properties of sweet wormwood have been on the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) record for more than 2,000 years, but a breakthrough came in the 1980s when a group of Chinese scientists known unceremoniously as the “artemisinin group” isolated artemisinin, a compound from Qinghao or sweet wormwood. This research was done on the directive of Chairman Mao Tsetung, who was looking for a means of treating malaria and unabashedly had a longstanding distrust of western medicine.

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle began to do further research with artemisinin as an anticancer agent. This was done

by Dr. Tomikazu Sasaki’s colleagues, bioengineering scientists Drs. Narenda Singh and Henry Lai. Their first study was reported in the journal Life Science in 2001. The study was conducted in a laboratory using cultured cancer cells (in vitro) as opposed to a study on animals or humans (in vivo).

Using a radiation-resistant variety of breast cancer cells (that also had a high propensity for accumulating iron), artemisinin proved to have a

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TS:

These compounds contain a group called endoperoxides (hydrogen peroxide). Anyone who knows chemistry knows you are not supposed to mix hydrogen peroxide and metal-iron. That usually leads to an explosion.

What happens is cancer cells acquire more iron than normal cells; they are rich in iron, and when you deliver artemisinin that has endoperoxide in it, it is like you are delivering a bomb into a cell. That’s where you find iron that activates the endoperoxide and kills the [cancer cells].

75 percent cancer kill rate after just eight hours and almost a 100 percent kill rate in just 24 hours. Their findings made a great case for furthering research and, to date, approximately 1,000 research papers have been published around the world on artemisinin and its anticancer properties.

A “time bomb” for cancer cells To get a better understanding of this research and when

artemisinin may be available for treatment on human cancer patients, I went to Seattle to interview Dr. Tomikazu Sasaki (Tomi).

MV:

Tomi, you are quoted as stating in a blog posted by Seattle Organic Restaurants that the “artemisinin-based compound is like a special agent planting a bomb inside a cell. This compound is selective and effective for elimination different cancers including leuke-

MV:

How did we discover this? What’s the history of the research?

TS:

Artemisia annua (Qinghao) has been used in China for a few thousand years and for the treatment of joint pain, fever and headaches. It was a local remedy and part of traditional Chinese medicine. These symptoms are associated with malaria, and in the 1980s, Chinese scientists discovered artemisinin was the active ingredient in this part of Chinese medicine and showed artemisinin has very important

activity against the malaria parasite.

The malaria parasite requires a lot of iron. The malaria parasite lives inside the red blood cell in the hemoglobin. Hemoglobin has iron, and the reaction of iron and artemisinin occurs inside the [parasite’s] body.

The parasite becomes sensitive to artemisinin.

The interesting part is, all organisms on earth evolve from an iron-rich environment ... so biological systems require iron as a cofactor to survive. Cancer cells also need iron to survive and more iron than normal cells because they have uncontrolled cell division and growth. So they also become selective and sensitive to artemisinin.

Late in the 1990s, there were a few papers that showed up showing the efficacy of artemisinin against cancer cells.

One of the papers was published by my colleagues at the University of Washington. We were able to show that adding artemisinin to a cancer medium greatly enhanced the effective activity of artemisinin.

That is where we discovered the connection ... and then we went on to target the iron-uptake mechanism.

MV:

Now research is being done all over the world in the area of artemisinin and cancer. How prevalent is the research now?

TS:

[Last year], the database had a few hundred [research] papers. It could now be close to a thousand papers. The field is exploding.

Many people are now interested in the anti-cancer activity of this special compound.

I am aware of case studies.

Dr. Sasaki in the University of Washington Botanic Gardens

They all show a significant effect of the anticancer activity of artemisinin.

MV: TS:

Are these case studies in humans?

Yes, there are recent human trials with breast cancer patients in Germany using artesunate, a water-soluble derivative of artemisinin [an injectable semisynthetic derivative] ... There is a doctor at Bastyr University who prescribed artesunate for a few cancer patients. She was impressed and she contacted me last year about initiating human trials. We hope to get together and plan human trials.

MV:

Has any of your research or your department’s research with Artemisia annua or artemisinin been funded by the American Cancer Society or any other cancer society?

TS:

Some of our work was funded by the Susan G. Komen organization.

MV:

Have you requested funding from American Cancer Society or Canadian Cancer Society?

TS:

No, we have not.

The American Cancer Society cautions, “These extracts [ACTs—artemisinin-based combination therapies] also show some promise in laboratory studies as cancer treatment drugs. Further studies are required to find out whether the anticancer results apply to people. It is important to remember that extracted compounds are not the same as the whole herb, and study results are not likely

to show the same effects.”

The Canadian Cancer Society’s website has no information on artemisinin.

Ironically, the research being done by Dr. Sasaki is being funded by Washington state’s Life Science Discovery Fund, a fund created by the monies from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement initiated in 2008 and brought about by settlements from lawsuits with the tobacco industry.

Michael Volker is the director of operations of Health Action Network Society. For an audio transcript of the full interview with Dr. Sasaki, please contact info@hans.org

Artemisinin Discoverer and Malaria TCM herb Qinghao’s active compound, artemisinin, saves millions of lives every year

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he 2011 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honours a scientist who discovered artemisinin and its utility for treating malaria. Tu Youyou (China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing) developed a therapy that has saved millions of lives across the globe, especially in the developing world. An artemisinin-based drug combination is now the standard regimen for malaria, and the World Health Organization lists artemisinin and related agents in its catalogue of “essential medicines.” Each year, several hundred million people contract malaria. Without treatment, many more of them would die than do now.

Tu led a team that transformed an ancient Chinese healing method into the most powerful anti-malarial medicine currently available. http://www. laskerfoundation .org /awards /

Health Action | www.hans.org

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IV Vitamin C—An Integrative Cancer Therapy

by Adam McLeod, ND

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igh-dose intravenous vitamin C has gained a lot of attention in the media lately as an anticancer therapy. There is no doubt that, when used appropriately, this can be an effective integrative cancer therapy. As the evidence mounts, mainstream medicine is slowly beginning to embrace high-dose IV vitamin C. Oncologists will frequently tell their patients to fear antioxidants because they will neutralize the effects of the chemotherapy. The rationale is that chemotherapy works by adding oxidative stress to cancer cells and antioxidants will neutralize this effect. On an intuitive level this makes sense, but the majority of the scientific evidence indicates that, when used appropriately, antioxidants protect healthy cells without interfering with the effects of chemotherapy.

It is important to point out that vitamin C is not an antioxidant when given at high doses intravenously.

When taken orally at low doses, vitamin C is an effective antioxidant and it has many positive benefits. At high doses, vitamin C switches roles and acts as a potent oxidative molecule, which is the complete opposite of its antioxidant role at lower doses. Studies show that, at high doses, vitamin C is very toxic to cancer cells.

In this cellular context it is a

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At these high doses, vitamin C is toxic to cancer cells while protecting healthy cells from the effects of chemotherapy.

IV vitamin C can vastly improve quality of life by increasing appetite, raising platelet counts, easing fatigue and reducing pain.

potent oxidative molecule that works synergistically with most conventional therapies.

Patients who undergo this therapy tend to experience less significant side-effects from the chemotherapy. IV vitamin C can vastly improve quality of life by increasing appetite, raising platelet counts, easing fatigue and reducing pain.

When patients are supported by the appropriate nutrients and supplements, the sideeffects from chemotherapy

are less intense. Studies consistently show that at these high doses, vitamin C is toxic to cancer cells while protecting healthy cells from the effects of chemotherapy.

The evidence indicates that IV vitamin C is effective when used in conjunction with chemotherapy rather than as a stand-alone therapy.

When is IV vitamin C not safe?

There are several different situations where high-dose IV vitamin C is not safe. Although it is safe to use with most chemotherapies, it is not safe to use with Velcade (Bortezomib). A number of studies show a negative interaction between this particular drug and vitamin C. When injecting vitamin C there is a significant amount of sodium that is in the infusion and this can add a significant burden to the kidneys.

This stress to the kidneys is only a concern in patients that have significantly compromised kidney function. There is also a rare genetic condition known as G6PD and in these patients it is not safe to give them high doses of vitamin C. You need an experienced health-care professional to assess your health history and ensure that you do not have any contraindications to this therapy.

I regularly run IV vitamin C on my patients and it is a very effective cancer therapy when used appropriately. On a regular basis, I see patients improve significantly when they use this therapy as part of a comprehensive integrative cancer therapy.

Adam McLeod, ND, is a naturopathic doctor, First Nations healer, motivational speaker and international bestselling author.

Dr. McLeod currently practises in Vancouver, B.C., where he focuses on integrative oncology. www.yaletownnaturopathic.com | (604) 235-8068

Intravenous Curry!

And other forms of curcumin to fight cancer

by Brian Davies, ND

very unique with the ability to provide this powerful treatment intravenously. Over this time I have provided this treatment cautiously to very chronic patients with some amazing results.

M

ost people are aware of the powerful benefits of turmeric (curcumin) when it comes to fighting inflammation, but what people may not be aware of are the specific details about curcumin’s benefits for people battling chronic diseases like cancer and liver disease.

Like many powerful cancer drugs, curcumin has been found to regulate the production of blood vessels that cancers need to maintain their high sugar and amino-acid diets. Curcumin has been shown to inhibit tyrosine kinase receptors, which are involved in many signalling pathways in the body, including blood-vessel production.

Many studies confirm turmeric and curcumin’s other anticancer properties. Turmeric has been found to decrease DNA damage, inhibit the formation of tumours and increase the cancer-fighting chemical geranylgeranoic acid in the blood. A study found curcumin together with piperine (from black pepper) prevented breast cancer stem cells from multiplying. Researchers have also found that curcumin causes cancer-cell death, and improves the health of non-cancerous cells and their resistance to cancer and infection.

Cooking with turmeric In general turmeric is very easy to cook with as it has very little flavour. It is easy to add to veggies, or just mix

it with coconut milk and drink it straight. One of the downsides of taking curcumin as a supplement or cooking with turmeric as a spice is that the active compounds are poorly absorbed through the intestinal lining. There are a few tricks, however, to enhance the absorption of curcumin, in cooking, that I can share.

Turmeric should be heated in order to activate the different components in the spice.

Heating the spice is preferably done in a dry pan with a little bit of very fine, freshly ground pepper. Once the aromatic oils become really fragrant, it is best to add a carrier oil to the mixture. Any oil can do the trick but medium-chain triglycerides, such as coconut oil or butter, are the best. The concoction of oil, turmeric and pepper can now be added to food or consumed as a drink with table cream or coconut milk.

Specialized forms

chronic health concerns for many years, both in cooking and in specialized highly absorbable supplemental forms.

In the last few years, my experience with curcumin has been

Brian Davies, ND, graduated from the University of Victoria in 2000 with a bachelor of science and completed his post-graduate studies at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2006.

With special interests in mental health, endocrine, immune and gastrointestinal conditions, Dr. Davies practises family medicine in North Vancouver, B.C. www.westcoastintegrativehealth. com | (778) 340-1114

Experience Homeopathy as a distinct and unique system of medicine.

For acute or chronic conditions visit our website to find a qualified practitioner near you.

www.bcsh.ca

I have been recommending curcumin to my clients with Health Action | www.hans.org

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Powerhouse Herbs and Spices Add flavour and health benefits to meals

by Eden Elizabeth, RHN, RYT

O

ne of the most inexpensive and easiest ways to create satisfying meals without adding in excess salt, sugar and fat is by adding more flavour. Herbs and spices not only add intrigue and unique taste to a dish but they also can be a powerful asset in increasing nutritive value in any meal.

One of the main tenants that I teach my culinary students is the importance of making calories count by choosing nutrient-dense ingredients.

Often we rely on salt or sugar to brighten, deepen and increase flavour. By choosing to add fresh herbs, spices and zest you can make each bite of your meal satisfying while boosting your immune system, and decreasing inflammation and your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Herbs contain many different phytonutrients valuable for our health and their large amount of volatile oils makes them uniquely powerful both in flavour and in healing. Many of these oils have been proven to contain anti-

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bacterial, antioxidant, anti-tumour and anti-inflammatory properties.

The secret to creating meals with herbs and spices is to become familiar with their flavours and combinations. Here are three of my favourite herb and spice blends that you can use for both their potent healing abilities and their delicious flavour. Eating healthy food should never feel like a sacrifice—it should be adventurous and satiating. Check out some of my favourite recipes using these delicious blends.

Italian blend Parsley – A chemoprotective food, meaning that it helps to neutralize carcinogens, it also plays a supportive role in nourishing the liver.

Basil – Highly antibacterial and a great source of the cardiovascular powerhouse nutrients magnesium and beta carotene.

Oregano – A great herb for cold and flu season as it’s both antiviral and a powerful antioxidant. You can tell this herb packs a punch by its strong flavour.

Herbs and spices not only add intrigue and unique taste to a dish but they also can be a powerful asset in increasing nutritive value in any meal.

Savoury blend

Sweet citrus blend

its unique spicy flavour. Most commonly used for the relief of gastrointestinal upset, it’s also proven to be anticancer and anti-inflammatory.

True cinnamon – A diabetic’s friend. Cinnamon helps to slow the emptying of the stomach after a meal, therefore stabilizing blood sugar.

Make sure you are purchasing true cinnamon, not cassia, for health benefits.

Vanilla bean – Not only does it add sweetness without sugar, but it also has shown to help reduce cholesterol levels.

Lemon zest – Many of the anticancer and antioxidant molecules found in lemons are actually present in larger amounts in their skin.

Ginger – Fresh is best but you can also use it in powdered form. It’s one of the most researched and utilized spices used both medicinally and for

Eden Elizabeth, RHN, RYT, is a registered holistic nutritionist, culinary artist and cancer thriver.

She co-founded Feed Life, a Vancouver plant-based lifestyle company educating people on how to increase energy and heal their bodies through food. Courses are offered online and in person. www.feedlife.ca | (604) 790-9358

Sage – A potent anti-inflammatory and proven to help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and improve brain function.

Thyme – Packed full of iron and potassium, this herb is also potent for antifungal and antibacterial action in the body.

Rosemary – Both antiinflammatory and antitumour, this herb also has potent volatile oils that can protect and nourish the brain.

Nutrient-Dense Herb Pizza Gluten free, vegan

Colin Medhurst

Everyone loves pizza. This pizza is full of flavour and so simple to make.

I like to double the crust ingredients and save half in the freezer for those days when I’m in need of a quick meal.

Ingredients for crust: 1 cup chickpea flour 1/2 cup buckwheat flour (or sorghum flour for a milder flavour) 1 tbsp ground chia seed or ground flax seed 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp fresh each of parsley, basil, oregano 1 tbsp lemon zest 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 tbsp sesame seeds 1 cup warm water (may need a bit more) 2 tbsp coconut oil

Ingredients for toppings: 1/2 cup tomato paste or pesto 1 bulb roasted garlic; remove garlic from skin

and mash until a spreadable consistency 2/3 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced 1 cup red peppers, chopped 2/3 cup asparagus or broccoli, chopped 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned 1/2 cup basil, chiffonade 1/4 cup pitted olives, sliced

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. Stir in 1 cup of warm water. You may need to add a bit more; the consistency should be a bit runny.

Place coconut oil into a 12-inch pan (like a stoneware pan) and into hot oven. Let the oil warm up for 1–2 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour your pizza batter into hot oiled pan. Place back into hot oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

Take out and put on toppings that you want baked. First layer the pesto or tomato paste and roasted garlic. Add 1/2 tsp of salt to the cabbage and massage until cabbage starts to wilt. Place the remaining ingredients and spread the cabbage on top. Bake for 10–15 minutes.

Health Action | www.hans.org

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Sweet Citrus Millet Muffins Gluten free, vegan

Colin Medhurst

These muffins go well with fresh berries for something sweet or coconut dill “sour cream� for a more savoury option.

They taste best warm so heat them up again the next day in the toaster oven for five minutes before serving.

Dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend 2/3 cup raw millet 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet ingredients: 1 cup coconut yogurt 3 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp water 1/4 cup apple sauce or grapeseed oil 1/2 cup maple syrup 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp lemon zest 1 tbsp orange zest 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated and minced

Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line 12 cups of a muffin tin with paper liners or use coconut oil to grease the tin.

Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined and there are no flour pockets. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on a rack.

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Colin Medhurst

Maple-Glazed Sage Brussels Sprouts

Even the Brussels sprouts skeptics will be won over with this savoury-sweet recipe. It tastes best with white wine as the liquid but you can also use vegetable broth.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts 1 cup white wine or vegetable broth (low sodium; the sodium will affect the flavour) 5 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced, or 1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp 1/2 tsp 2 tbsp 2 tsp

dried thyme dried rosemary maple syrup fresh garlic, minced

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (or 350 degrees F for convection).

Chop bottoms of Brussels sprouts and peel off tough outer layer. Arrange in a ceramic/glass/clay dish.

In a small saucepan, simmer wine/broth with sage, thyme, rosemary, maple syrup and garlic for 3 minutes or until it reduces down to 2/3 cup. Pour over Brussels sprouts and put lid on.

Bake in oven for 30–40 minutes. Check at 20 minutes. Sprouts should be tender but not mushy.

Health Action | www.hans.org

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How Chinese Medicine Treats Mental Illness A whole-body approach to regaining quality of life without a lifetime of drugs

by Chun-Kai Wang, DTCM, R.Ac

Chinese medicine, patients can usually regain their quality of life, without the need to take drugs for the rest of one’s life.

Here I give two examples.

N

owadays, mental conditions are believed to be mostly an incurable disease. It is unfortunate that patients who are diagnosed with mental conditions frequently end up taking various pills for the rest of their lives.

It is also staggering how many people are left disabled by this class of conditions, with the number only growing. While research has shown that mental conditions are related often to dopamine or various pharmacological imbalances in the brain, not much conventional help is actually available other than either drugs or therapy with a doctor, who often later gives drugs anyway.

From the viewpoint of Chinese medicine, most of the mental conditions encountered these days are not really “mental” conditions in the debilitating sense of the word or the stigma it carries. Chinese medicine views the problem from a more pragmatic point of view. When it comes to mental conditions, there are generally two types.

Problem of the heart The first type is what we call problems of the heart, in other words, an emotional problem caused by an external factor such as worry, stress, grief,

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Crossing the bridge with TCM

finances or family. This is not pathology in itself, but unfortunately is frequently believed to be so. A person who is unhappy and depressed about his life because he only manages to get by cannot be said to have a psychological or mental condition. Yet when such situations persist, it could later develop into pathology, which leads us to the other type.

Problem of the whole body This second type is a mental or psychological condition as a result of physical pathology, which could arise or become exacerbated as a result of the aforementioned natural stresses. As far as modern medicine goes, this physical pathology may be a pharmacological disturbance of the brain often related to some neuro-

From my clinical experience, common drug therapies for mental issues such as depression and anxiety do not work very well. logical agent of the brain. To Chinese medicine, however, the pathology is viewed as a problem of the entire body, involving the organs, qi/energy circulation, accumulation of toxic waste materials, and any other long-standing conditions perhaps completely unrelated to the brain (to modern medicine at least).

Therefore, the brain issue is, in most instances, but only the stem, not the trunk. By dealing with the origin through

An elderly female nearing her 70s, whom we’ll call Mae, sometimes needs to drive across a bridge to see her relatives on the other side of town. Her difficulty is described to be a fear out of nowhere that appears when she is driving across the bridge, and it is not related to the number of cars that happen to be driving beside her at that moment. When this sort of panic or anxiety attack comes about, her abdomen becomes rigid and the whole body turns stiff.

Mae asked if she needed counselling, but I told her to avoid jumping to conclusions so fast. Take Chinese medicine first, I suggested. I gave her a week’s worth of medicine and asked her when she’ll be crossing the bridge again.

It turns she would be crossing the bridge around the time she finishes the herbs. A week later I followed up and was told the panic did not arise. Treatment was continued for another period of time and, to this day, after many months already without treatment, I have not heard the problem come back through my regular followups.

Panic and system issues Another elderly female, Pat, also has panic attacks but a host of other problems. Before coming to me, she had already gone to multiple practitioners who all gave up on her. Her condition involves panic attacks that come out of nowhere without any obvious triggers and at random times throughout the day. These attacks are quite severe and I would say they feel something along the lines of extreme fear, insecurity and the feeling of utterly hitting rock bottom. There were also other systemic issues, among them sinus congestion and body pain.

To Chinese medicine, Pat’s panic episodes are a result of poor circulation based on the overall picture of her case. But at the same time, her surrounding environment isn’t making

Through Chinese medicine, patients can usually regain their quality of life, without the need to take drugs for the rest of one’s life.

things better. After a series of treatments with Chinese medicine, acupuncture and suggestions for looking at life more positively, her condition has seen massive improvement.

The panic attacks now occur very rarely with her overall health being significantly better altogether.

Be proactive It is unfortunate there aren’t more of the above types of patients who actively seek alternative therapies, since

psychological conditions are generally believed to be untreatable. Mainstream doctors tend to think this way and they tell this to patients. Subsequently, patients feel even worse when such a prognosis and label are slapped onto them.

Their life may be permanently affected, while other effective avenues remain unknown to them. The label is almost like a permanent sticker that one cannot peel off. Imagine that.

From my clinical experience, common drug therapies for mental issues such as depres-

sion and anxiety do not work very well. What I’ve observed is that the longer patients are subject to these drugs, the more dull they become, while the plethora of other systemic issues affecting them remain unaddressed. But with the current medical system, it’s likely we will continue seeing such unfortunate scenarios as the norm. Robin William’s recent case is just one of many other examples health authorities may or may not have paid attention to.

Chun-Kai Wang, DTCM, R.Ac, is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and registered acupuncturist who uses Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture to treat complex systemic conditions. He also teaches Chinese medicine at PCU College of Holistic Medicine. www.drwang.ca | (604) 836-3968

Health Action | www.hans.org

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Homeopathy for Depression

by Christy Zettl, BHSc (Hons), Hom, RSHom

I

n Canada, approximately eight percent of adults will experience a major depression in their life and almost half of those who feel they have suffered from depression or anxiety have not sought help.

For the past 30 years, a common medical treatment option for many Canadians has been the use of antidepressant medications, including SSRIs. Over time, research has shown they come with a host of sideeffects for some people and have limited effectiveness in the treatment of mild to moderate depression.

Fifteen years ago, researchers discovered a connection between depression and low levels of our main inhibitory neurotransmitter, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is the body’s main relaxing neurotransmitter. When it’s low or absent, people can feel anxious, depressed and excessively stressed and have sleep disturbances.

More people are seeking out natural alternatives for their health and homeopathy may have a part to play as a safe, nontoxic and effective option for treating mild to moderate depression.

In March 2014, a study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that a homeopathic medicine called Gelsemium sempervirens caused a statistically significant decrease of the prokineticin receptor 2. Its neuropeptide,

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prokineticin 2 (PK2), has a marked inhibitory effect on GABA activity.

The authors contend that it is possible Gelsemium enhances the activity of GABA by removing the suppressive effects of PK2. Full GABA function would allow a person to feel calmer, sleep better, settle and relax.

Interestingly, Gelsemium sempervirens has been used in homeopathic practice since the 1860s for anxiety and depression patterns and I have recommended it to patients who have stage fright for its calming effect.

Classical homeopathic treatment takes a whole view on health, which can include creating a timeline with the patient. Sometimes it is very clear that from a period

of time onwards there is a marked change in their emotional health. If there is a clear etiology, it becomes a very important factor in determining what remedy to prescribe for the depression.

Many homeopathic remedies like Gelsemium have been used in clinical practice for more than 150 years and have indications for use based on a range of causations.

Depressions following a severe loss emotionally or financially, such as a death in the family or losing a job, can strongly indicate different remedies.

Sometimes the cause is more physical, such as in menopause.

I have seen many women who relate the start of anxiety, depression and sleeplessness to when their cycles started fluctuating.

Through individual treatment and with minimal dosing, the process can be supported, with many people only coming in for a consultation two to six times per year and taking two to 12 doses per year to manage all their health complaints— hormonal, emotional and otherwise.

Health isn’t merely the absence of disease but being able to bounce back, too, and I’ve certainly seen homeopathy’s ability to strengthen this.

Christy Zettl, BHSc (Hons), Hom, RSHom, is a London-trained homeopath with practices in Vancouver and Kelowna. Join her free monthly newsletter and stay up to date on all things homeopathic. zettlhomeopathy.ca | (604) 355-WELL (9355)

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Staying On or Coming Off Antidepressants When is the right time and how to do it safely and effectively?

by Bobby Parmar, ND

C

oming off antidepressants is not easy. It’s often a time when we have to ask questions to make sure we’re prepared. Many people want to know how to safely and effectively stop taking their medications; others want to know the risks of having a relapse of depression. Women who are preparing for pregnancy are especially concerned with these questions. At these times, a few things need to be considered.

Are you really ready to come off? Depression is serious.

Getting a proper assessment is crucial to knowing if you are ready. Doctors consider when someone has had depressive episodes in the previous year despite being medicated as a time to not come off. It’s best to try different strategies in addition to—or other medicines instead of—the antidepressant,

People living in areas typified by shorter days and darker, rainier climates often report more difficulty with stopping meds.

but not to abandon treatment altogether.

How long have you been on the antidepressant?

The longer someone is on meds, the longer it should take to wean off them because of the length of time that biochemical changes have had their effect.

How quickly does the drug come out of your system?

Some drugs, such as Paxil and Effexor, are very quickly cleared from the system. These drugs need to be weaned over longer

periods of time to ensure less symptoms of discontinuation.

Sometimes, it’s better to switch from a short-acting drug to a longer-acting drug like Prozac so the side-effects of coming off it are easier to bear.

What time of year are you planning to stop the medication?

This is important because people living in areas typified by shorter days and darker, rainier climates often report more difficulty with stopping meds. Seasonal depression can result in depressive episodes even if you felt good before

discontinuing the drugs. A general rule is prepare to stop meds during spring or summer to avoid the “winter bluesclouding” goals of coming off antidepressants.

Sometimes people take antidepressants to get though shortterm difficult circumstances too. Even in these times, it’s important to beware of the medication effects when discontinuing them. Regardless of what your initial state is like, medications exert their biochemical effects.

In pregnancy, antidepressants carry greater risk of harm than benefit. Harms include cardiac defects, hypertension, higher rates of miscarriage and more irritable and agitated babies after being born. These are excellent reasons to stop antidepressants three to six months prior to active efforts to conceive.

Other medicines and treatments are effective at helping wean off prescription antidepressants. These include acupuncture, exercise, chiropractic, counselling and herbal medicines. Strategies need to be tailored to ensure the best options for you.

Bobby Parmar, ND, practises in an integrative wellness clinic called evolve Nurturing Vitality in Kitsilano, Vancouver, B.C. Dr. Parmar’s practice focus includes fertility, pregnancy, women’s health and thyroid disorders. www.evolve vitality.com | (604) 255-7777

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www.easterncurrents.ca/protectival Ask your integrative healthcare practitioner about how Protectival can help you get back to being YOU. This product may not be right for you. Always read and follow the label.

Health Action | www.hans.org

45

Sleep and Technology Like oil and water—they don’t mix!

by Kim Louise Easterbrook

a camp fire with an amber fire light. Travel back in time and our ancestors the cavemen also fell asleep to fire light. Humans evolved in the glow of the fire.

Gadgets that emit blue lights are computer screens, smartphones, iPads, television, tablets and most light bulbs.

Our eyes are sensitive to this colour because it is the same light as our outdoor daylight.

H

umans and other life forms over the past 200,000 years have evolved organs that understood and took advantage of environmental signals. As a result, we have developed a biological clock to match the earth’s cycles of light and darkness.

In our historic past, people experienced greater light exposure only during the day. Till the sun rose and set—a natural light environment.

For the past century our world has been lengthening its days and shortening its nights using artificial light in an effort to become a 24-hour per day, always productive society. We are experiencing much less darkness than our ancestors.

Modern technology Light pollution generated by modern technologies is taking a heavy biological toll on humans and other life forms on earth.

According to a U.S. National Sleep Foundation poll, 95 percent of Americans use electronic devices within one hour of going to sleep. The poll report continues to state that 89 percent of adults and 75 percent of the majority of children have at least one electronic device. In Canada, a national survey conducted

by MediaSmarts found that, of the 5,400 students polled, 39 percent sleep with their cellphones—in case they get a text or call during the night.

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Enemy to your sleep

Smartphones, iPads, computers and tablets have become part of our interior bedroom décor. Not to mention our TV, electric alarm clocks and deck phones that have kept house with us in our bedroom for many years.

Melatonin regulator Artificial light disrupts our biological clock and melatonin production, with unfortunate effects on health.

Indoor and outdoor lighting has a major effect on our sleep patterns because light synchronizes our master clock, a group of cells in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN).

What these nuclei do is synchronize to the light-dark cycle of your environment when light enters your eye, according to the National Sleep Foundation. “This signaling of

light and dark helps us to be alert in the morning and fall asleep at the appropriate time at night. The power of light as an alerting agent is easily conceptualized when we think of the sun, but may be more difficult to appreciate when considering the light emitted from a tablet or smartphone.”

Light wavelength Dr. Joseph Mercola, called the Ultimate Wellness Changer

by Huffington Post, reports, “Melatonin is a regulator of your sleep cycle. It acts as a marker of your circadian phase or biological timing.” Dr. Mercola also states that it is the wavelength that is important.

Amber, red and yellow wavelengths will not suppress melatonin, while blue, green and white wavelengths will.

Think of the old western days.

The cowboys fell asleep around

In an abstract study of 532 students ages 18 to 39, the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that students who use their computer for playing, surfing or reading, or those who use their smartphones for the same purposes, as well as texting, are more likely to report symptoms of insomnia.

The National Sleep Foundation also reported children who use electronic media at night go to bed later, get fewer hours of sleep per week and report more daytime sleepiness.

Adolescents with a television in their bedroom go to bed later, have more difficulty falling asleep and have a shorter sleep time.

Sending texts or emails after initially going to bed increases daytime sleepiness among teens (even if it’s done only once a week).

Use of electronic media before bed is an enemy to your sleep for multiple reasons. In addition to the problems with exposure to blue light waves,

it can be difficult, for instance, to slow your mind down after surfing the web. This leads to racing thoughts when you should be in slumber.

Plus, when you’re connected to the internet, your phone or computer are communicating with nearby cell towers, which means they’re also emitting low levels of radiation.

Now you know why your melatonin production is interrupted when you stay up late working on your computer or texting. As a result you keep awake. Even getting up and going the bathroom and turning the light on for half a second will interrupt your melatonin production.

Technology solutions Sit down with your family and share this article. Get creative and tell them a story about cave men and cowboys and how they fell asleep to the light wavelength of amber fires.

Children who use electronic media at night go to bed later, get fewer hours of sleep per week and report more daytime sleepiness.

Go to the store and purchase a gauss meter to check the electricity in your bedrooms.

Also pick up low-voltage amber or yellow light bulbs for everyone’s bedroom. Bring your children along to the store to make them feel that they are contributing to everyone having a good night’s sleep. Another alternative is salt lamps, which you can purchase at your local health food store.

Next purchase yourself and your family a pair of yellow tinted glasses to protect from the blue light wave from your technology. This way everyone will train their eyes that it is nighttime, not daytime.

Throw away your electric clock as it gives off very high

electrical magnetic fields. If you insist on keeping it, at least place it across the room where it is not by your head. Then place a cloth over it so the light is not shining through. You will have to have faith the buzzer will go off in the morning!

Or you can purchase an oldfashion wind-up clock, or a zen clock that you can find at your local health food store.

Get out of the habit of using your smartphone or cellphone to wake you up. Remember you are connected to the cell tower down the street. You have invisible Wi-Fi everywhere in your house, so you are bringing in radio-frequency radiation into your bedroom. Turn off the Wi-Fi at night.

Start a techno curfew with the family. Create a “techno bin.” One hour before bed turn off all cellphones, iPads, smartphones and put them inside the bin to be collected in the morning. We are addicted to our technology, so take it slow.

Start the curfew a couple times a week and increase gradually.

Test what it feels like without all the bright wave light and electricity in your room. How did you sleep?

Of course, I am going to leave the worst for last.

Become feng-shui savvy and get TVs, computers and, for that matter, the office out of your bedroom!

Kim Louise Easterbrook is a longevity research writer, interior wellness educator, business feng shui consultant and numerologist.

She helps entrepreneurs align their life purpose with their business image and marketing to the health of their office space environment and home. www.kimlouise easterbrook.com

Need a Boost? Try a Myers’ Cocktail

F

eeling fatigued or worn out? Experiencing uncomfortable symptoms such as migraines, muscle or menstrual cramps? Suffering from asthma, allergies or recurrent respiratory infections? A Myers’ cocktail is an intravenous vitamin-and-mineral therapy that can help to treat all of these conditions and many more. It can enhance athletic performance, boost immunity, and address a whole range of symptoms and conditions from fibromyalgia to inflammatory bowel disease.

A Myers’ cocktail is a concentrated mixture of calcium, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin C that is administered

directly to your bloodstream through an IV. This allows the nutrients to bypass digestion so that higher blood concentration can be obtained and the body can be replenished in a more complete way.

Patients often report feeling better within minutes of receiving this therapy.

For chronic health concerns, a number of Myers’ treatments are usually given over the course of a few weeks or months.

As symptoms improve, the treatment frequency is decreased until it becomes unnecessary. Many patients will choose to receive periodic treatments to boost their overall well-being. These effects can last for weeks to months.

John Myers, MD, a physician from Baltimore, Maryland, pioneered the use of intravenous vitamins and minerals as part of the overall treatment of various medical problems. After Dr. Myers died in 1984, Alan Gaby, MD, continues his work. Now, hundreds of doctors use this IV to effectively treat a wide array of conditions. Because the nutrient cocktail is administered intravenously, the body is able to assimilate higher serum concentrations than with oral administration.

Alison Vandekerkhove, ND, A New Leaf Naturopathic Clinic, Langley, B.C. www. anewleafnaturopathic.com | (604) 5148555

Health Action | www.hans.org

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Pain as the Gateway to Our Precious Wholeness Embracing pain through spiritual and energy healing

by Sudha M. Devi, MA, MPhil

P

ain is real but we have the ability to heal and free ourselves from chronic pain. My intention here is to honour and validate the pain.

What gives me authority to speak about chronic pain? I am my own testimony. I am one of the roughly six million adults in Canada who live with chronic pain. I walk this walk with the pain of fibromayalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome— extreme deviations of vata and pitta from the Ayurvedic perspective of balanced health. I feel blessed to receive training to “know thyself,” to walk this path of self-healing and supporting the healing of others.

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I invite you to hold this inquiry gently in your heart.

Holding pain as a precious jewel “Can one remain with that pain? Can I look at that pain, hold it, hold it as a precious jewel, not escape, not suppress, not rationalize it, not seek the cause of it, but hold it as a vessel holds water?”—Jiddu Krishna Murthy Pain opens the gateways to other realities: who we already are in our wholeness. Is recovery possible? If so, to what extent? What is realistic and what is a fantasy? How can we self-soothe pain with ongoing nurturing and self-compassion?

How can we reconnect to

other realities and universes to understand that we are more than this physical body? How can we access these realms in simple yet profound ways?

We may not be like the famous Indian saints and philosopher Jiddu Krishna Murthy, whose relationship to pain was totally different than ours. Yet, when we surrender to the uncertainty and to the difficulty of pain, we can find certainty. Pain is the doorway to receiving our preciousness—our jewel—of who we already are.

Our intention is to honour the need for pain medication, as and when needed, and also to offer an alternative gateway for people who are interested in proactively managing their health by exploring new

approaches to health and wellness.

Through the gateway of feeling your weakness lies your strength.

Through the gateway of feeling your pain lies your pleasure and joy.

Through the gateway of feeling your fear lies your security and safety.

Through the gateway of feeling your loneliness lies your capacity to have fulfillment, love, and companionship.

Through the gateway of feeling your hopelessness lies true and justified hope.

Through the gateway of accepting the lacks of your childhood lies your fulfillment now.

—Pathwork Guide

Pain relief through Ayurveda marma therapy According to Ayurveda, pain is caused by blockage to the flow of prana, the subtle life force also known as breath, cosmic life energy or chi.

This blockage results in stagnation and a deviation from our original homeostasis, and causes imbalance.

As Ayurvedic Vaidya Vasant Lad shares his lifetime study, wisdom and knowledge of Ayurveda: “Pain is a language of the doshas that speaks through the mouth of the marma points. Marma therapy can alleviate pain by stimulating the flow of prana and pacifying the related doshas.”

Marma therapy supports you to receive the preciousness of who you are in this moment.

“A marma is a vital energy point accessed on the skin’s surface, serving as a bridge between body, mind and spirit. When you learn to touch a marma point, you can change your body’s biochemistry and unfold radical, alchemical changes in your makeup,” explains Dr. Vasant Lad.

Jin Shin Jyutsu, self-help for pain management According to the ancient written record Kojiki, which remains in the archives of the Imperial Palace of Japan, Jin Shin Jyutsu was widely known thousands of years ago. This ancient art of living harmonizes the life energy in the body, helping to reduce stress and tension, eliminate chronic pain, increase selfawareness and promote the natural healing abilities of the body. It can be applied by a practitioner or done as a selfhelp technique, empowering yourself to participate in your own healing.

For specific physical issues such as back pain, a torn ligament or nausea following chemotherapy, you would spend an entire hour on the healing table receiving a Jin Shin Jyutsu treatment.

When you receive Jin Shin Jyutsu from me I will send you home with simple applications you can apply yourself to complement the work we have done together. The concept of self-help is one of the wonderful aspects of Jin Shin Jyutsu. Self-help can assist with specific physical conditions, to balance emotions and generally support your journey

of self-healing in any way you need.

Sudha M. Devi, MA, MPhil, is a natural health and healing sciences practitioner with over two decades of experience. She offers in-person and long-distance inte-

grated healing support, including Ayurvedic marma therapy and Jin Shin Jyutsu, as well as group Jin Shin Jyutsu self-healing seminars through her practice, Shiva Shakti Healing Consultancy located in Richmond, B.C. www.vancouverhealing.com | (604) 307-4283

Polarity therapy, energy balance

D

r. Randolph Stone, who developed polarity therapy, used to say that “spending 10 minutes a day working on your fingers, toes and feet is the best health insurance in the world.”

Hold the thumb for physical pain.

Hold the little finger for emotional pain.

Know thyself and your meridian times and how to harmonize the body, mind, soul according to your birthdays and time of the days.

4–6 am – Lung – Aries (I AM) – Hold Ring Finger 6–8 am – Large Intestine – Taurus (I HAVE) – Hold Ring Finger 8–10 am – Stomach – Gemini (I THINK) – Hold Thumb 10 am–12 noon – Spleen – Cancer (I FEEL) – Hold Thumb 12 noon–2 pm – Heart – Leo (I BEAM) – Hold Little Finger 2–4 pm – Small Intestine – Virgo (I ANALYZE) – Hold Little Finger 4–6 pm – Bladder – Libra (I BALANCE) – Hold Index Finger 6–8 pm – Kidney – Scorpio (I CREATE) – Hold Index Finger 8–10 pm – D iaphragm – Sagittarius (I PERCEIVE) – Hold Centre Palm 10–12 midnight – Umbilicus – Capricorn (I USE) – Hold Centre Palm 12 midnight–2 am – Gallbladder – Aquarius (I KNOW) – Hold Middle Finger 2–4 am – Liver – Pisces (I BELIEVE) – Hold Middle Finger

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Health Action | www.hans.org

49

Treatment of Male Reproductive Conditions Thoughts from an infertility specialist

by Spence Pentland, Dr.TCM, FABORM

or coaching, as working through the emotional component is so important, especially for men (despite our reluctance!).

F

or years, I have treated men suffering with conditions such as male factor infertility (poor sperm parameters), premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, low libido (testosterone) and prostate conditions. I have come to some overarching conclusions about the treatment and prognosis of these conditions, and not surprisingly, they are quite similar to one another.

Address underlying patterns

Support your partner First, it is of absolute importance that the partner be 110 percent supportive of the man and his challenges. If this piece is not present, I see only very minimal improvement.

If a partner gets upset, angry, frustrated, sad or withdrawn, the condition most likely will snowball into something increasingly difficult to treat.

These conditions most often are present with a certain degree of psychosomatic etiology (mental emotional causes of physical symptoms), but a non-supportive partner will most certainly worsen the issue. In these cases, I see men become half the man they used to be. The guilt of not being able to provide their loved one with very basic needs eats away at their core.

When men have the support of their partners, the scenario

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is much brighter, the prognosis much better. At this point, I can focus treatment half on the actual organic issue and half on the mental-emotional component.

This 50/50 treatment principle creates the space necessary for holistic healing and incremental improvement of the condition in question.

TCM and acupuncture Under this supportive environment, treatment with traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture can improve conditions, most often to a point where quality of life is

re-established and long-term healing can be expected.

A minimum of 12 acupuncture treatments is required to understand how to properly treat any of the above-mentioned conditions and also to display improvement. Three months of Chinese herbal medicine is most often administered alongside the acupuncture treatments.

The combination of the two drastically affects the overall efficacy of treatment protocols.

I may also recommend supplements (vitamins) and lifestyle and dietary changes.

Often, I’ll encourage other treatment, such as counselling

Male reproductive conditions, or any for that matter, often reflect deeper underlying patterns that should be addressed. The sooner the whole health of the man is considered, the greater the chances of feeling better overall and averting more serious health conditions down the road.

Recent correlations between poor semen parameters and testicular or prostate cancer is quite conclusive. The semen, being an accurate biomarker for other diseases, gives us a benchmark for determining male health and prognosis for other conditions. If this is not motivation for looking after oneself, then I throw my hands in the air and bow down to the power of stubborn!

Spence Pentland, Dr.TCM, FABORM, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and a fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine, has been treating fertility issues exclusively since 2004.

Dr. Pentland’s Vancouver clinic, Yinstill Reproductive Wellness, aids couples in realizing their dreams of healthy families. www. yinstill.com | (604) 873-9355

Recharge Your Adrenal Batteries

by Brenda Eastwood, RNCP

D

ay-to-day life is filled with chemical, physical, nutritional and emotional stress. These repeated and accumulated stresses take a toll on your health and can lead to something called adrenal fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue (AF) is comprised of a whole host of symptoms including difficulty losing weight, the need for caffeine to get you going in the morning, fatigue, low libido, hot flashes/night sweats, inability to cope well with stress, inability to tolerate much exercise or you feel worse after exercising, poor concentration and memory, headaches and migraines, difficulty falling or staying asleep, depression, anxiety, PMS, cravings for salt or sugar, shakiness or irritability when hungry, asthma, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain, frequent colds and flu, hay fever and other allergies.

Does this sound like you? The more symptoms you have the more likely you are suffering with moderate to severe AF.

Positive nutritional action Taking some very simple steps to help eliminate AF will make a dramatic difference in the way you feel.

People with AF often crave salt because it is a good stimulant for your adrenal glands. If you crave salt and don’t suffer with high blood pressure you can use pink Himalayan salt.

As your adrenal glands get

stronger, your cravings for salt will get weaker.

Caffeine and sugar are your adrenal glands’ two worst nutritional enemies. Gradually wean your caffeine consumption down to no more than eight ounces per day, and create four to five sugar-free days per week. I am referring to processed and added sugars, not the ones that occur naturally in your whole fruits and grains, legumes and vegetables.

Eat healthy, small portions of food and eat regularly (don’t skip meals). Make sure each meal and snack contains quality fat, protein and carbohydrates (not from processed foods).

Supplements to recharge There are many adrenal supplements to choose from,

but it is best to start with the adrenal recovery basics.

Vitamin C is at the top of the list. The more stress you have been under, the more vitamin C you have used up in your body. Common recommendations are 1,000 to 2,000 mg of buffered vitamin C, known as calcium ascorbate, twice a day.

A high-potency B complex could be taken one to two times per day as B vitamins are critical for adrenal gland function.

All vitamins need minerals to work properly. Excellent sources of trace minerals are ionic minerals, algae, alfalfa, bee pollen and aloe vera juice.

Pantothenic acid (B5) is needed in extremely high dosages (500 to 3,000 mg daily) by the adrenal glands.

Pantothenic acid must be taken with the entire B complex, vitamin C and trace minerals to be effective. Of all the minerals, magnesium citrate (400 to 600 mg daily) is needed the most for AF recovery.

Brenda Eastwood, RNCP, is an author and a women’s health and hormone specialist on a mission.

Over the last 33 years, she has changed the lives of thousands of women through 17 years in private practice, hundreds of seminars and workshops, regular radio and television interviews, CD series, newsletters, teleclasses and an online coaching program.

Her new book is Get off the PMS and Perimenopausal Roller Coaster: Learn 9 Natural Fast Track Solutions to Balanced Hormones. www.

HormoneRollerCoaster.com Health Action | www.hans.org

51

Emotional Freedom Technique to Overcome Five Blocks to Love

by Heather Donaldson

W

hich single factor affects our health the most? The answer: stress. The elements or different forms of stress all relate to what commonly ails us and is intricately tied to the top two killers, heart disease and cancer. The critical role of stress reduction in creating health and well-being while preventing disease is well documented.

Intimate relationships are often a source of stress. When love goes sour, perpetual neglect, arguments and breakups can result, leading to despair and frustration. Loneliness can be stressful, too, and often leads to depression. When you ask someone to explain why they feel they are under a lot of stress, whether in a relationship or not, you will find that relationship issues are often a huge contributor.

No matter how much you have struggled in the past, removing your accumulated blocks to love can bring you the fulfilling relationships you deserve, with accompanying health and happiness. Before you discard this assertion as the stuff of tabloids, pop psychology and pseudoscience, recognize that it is backed by plenty of evidence from solid research.

A plethora of research documents that social support— especially relationships with someone to share personal and private matters with—laughter

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and even sexual relations all have known benefits to health as buffers of stress. Ideally, all of these healthy factors occur within healthy partnerships.

However, this effect works in reverse when the partners have emotional baggage and are not skilled at resolving it.

Enter emotional freedom technique (EFT), an exceptional way to clear what disturbs us most, transforming our stress and setting us up for healthy relationships.

EFT is an effective combination of giving voice to disturbing issues in order to access related emotions and then calming the mind-body system using simple rebalancing tech-

niques. EFT creates remarkable results even with the most severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The American Psychological Association, in a review of 17 randomizedcontrolled trials, found EFT to “consistently demonstrate strong effect sizes and other statistical results that far exceed chance after relatively few treatment sessions.”

If it is your clear intention to have the caring partner you’ve always dreamed of, addressing your five blocks to love with EFT will assure that you become the person you need to be to manifest that kind of love. You then begin to organize your whole life around

that intention and to show up in relationship to yourself, others and life in ways that reflect the deeper truth of your own value and worthiness to love and be loved. If you are in a relationship, and even if you are not, your overall stress levels will improve after this change process and you will have a tool to use on your own to navigate stressful situations.

What are the five blocks to love?

Block 1: The mask You put on a mask by trying to get love, molding yourself to what you think your beloved would want. Potential partners

will sense that you are not presenting the authentic you.

If you started a relationship presenting a different persona, the discovery of the deception has likely hurt your relationship and your beloved may be disappointed by the real you.

The time to reveal the real you is before, not after, making a commitment.

In this scary process of revealing your true self, EFT guides you to access the nurturing love you already have in your heart and to direct it towards your authentic self.

This connection with love will make you a more powerful attractant for love.

Block 2: Thinking it’s all about them You should focus your relationship not towards others but towards yourself, as a powerful creator of the love you desire. If you aren’t aware of what you are attracting, then you may attract what you really don’t want, at least according to your deepest desires. I gave up being the victim in relationships that didn’t work, blaming the partners for being too insensitive, too controlling, too afraid of commitment, too insecure and asking, “Why is this happening to me over and over again?” I moved to consciousness by asking, “In what ways am I sabotaging or not making my dream possible? How am I showing up in ways which are supporting and recreating and perpetuating this belief I have about myself?” (See Block 5.)

And all through this shifting, you wake up to the possibility of that desired future. The focus is now on how “I” will

EFT guides you to access the nurturing love you already have in your heart and to direct it towards your authentic self.

be in a relationship rather than how “they” will be.

Block 3: The unclean slate When you start a relationship with an unclean slate, you are still thinking about someone else, still getting emotionally charged (sad, angry, frustrated) when you think about an ex or your past experiences with relationships.

You’ve also likely made foregone conclusions about your relationships based on insecurities (Block 5) and observations of your parents or your own past relationships and are holding on to these

subconsciously, allowing them to direct your present and future relationships.

These are beliefs such as: “I’m too old, too broken, too busy, too emotional.”

“They are not interested in me.”

“Men will always leave me.”

The reason these emotions and beliefs are blocks to love is that we naturally manifest what we put our energy and focus towards. Popularized concepts to explain this natural tendency are the “law of attraction” and the “power of now.”

Your intention for love needs to be certain and unobstructed, your absolute

Relationship Checkup Questions you may not be asking: What do you fear most about relationships as you move forward?

In what ways have you been contributing to or perpetuating past difficulties in relationships?

When was the last time you had an open and detailed discussion with your partner about how to improve your sex life?

The last time you were listening to your partner, did you then voice your appreciation and admiration for the insights that were shared with you? This is a valuable best practice.

Do you have a clear vision of what you want ideally to attract in a relationship? In this ideal vision: How are you interacting with your partner and how do you want to feel when you are with your partner?

frame of reference in every choice that you make and every action that you take.

If you can’t get to a place of possibility, and be completely congruent with those deeper desires, you can’t attract love.

The bottom line is that with our thoughts and emotions directed elsewhere, away from being peaceful, loving beings, we are not going to attract healthy love relationships.

EFT dissolves these blocks at their origin—the shock, anger, fear, disappointment— stripping those limiting beliefs of their potency and returning you to a place of personal power and self-worth. In the process you experience spiritual growth and recognize your own self as the creator of love.

Block 4: An empty relationship bank account This is created when actions that cause fear, discouragement and anger outweigh those that create love within a relationship. The Gottman Institute in Seattle has done invaluable work with hundreds of couples and is able to predict with exceptional accuracy whether a relationship will endure. Lack of respect and actions such as withdrawing or fighting back with contemptuous words and gestures are examples of what harms relationships.

Tools and formulas for making positive deposits to the relationship bank account include Compassionate Communication and Heather’s 5 Sparkling Hours, which are described in the book continued on page

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53

Free Yourself of Jealousy and Envy

by Trish Lim-O’Donnell, CCP

I

n our life of personality struggles, constant strife and extending toward perfection, competition with another is one sure way of pushing us to attain the next horizon. Competition invariably conditions you to think that you are better or less than somebody else and, as such, jealousy and envy becomes the daily diet of everyday life.

Jealousy, a human emotion, is the experience of loss—the loss of love, importance, significance, territory you once had before. Envy, the accompanying sister emotion, is the experience of coveting something you have yet to possess, whether it be someone else’s financial position or place of recognition, their physical attributes, their qualities, their intelligence, their place in the world.

When you give in to jealousy or envy regularly, you are carving out an existence that is filled with untold tension, a constant managing mode, misinterpretation of others’ motives and intentions. Your brain dialogue will be filled with imagined scenarios that just drain your fine life force that’s reserved for constructive acts on earth. Unless you stop this downward spiral, you will be unable to experience true joy and liberty in yourself.

If you are one of those high achievers who actually know what a good life comprises of, then you will have the capacity to practice the following:

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“In everything I felt there was a not easily comprehensible but very subtle joy … the joy of liberation from oneself and the joy of feeling the incredible richness of life.” ­– Ouspensky

1. When you meet your sacred other or whoever you are jealous or envious of, pay attention to what they have done to get them to where they are. You may have to ask questions if you have no idea how they got what they got!

2. Ascertain if what they have is truly for you in terms of the work they have done.

Are you willing to do that to get there?

3. If not, you have pure liberty and pleasure, generosity of heart and spirit, to rejoice

for them that what they have right now gives them so much happiness and fulfillment.

You have the capacity to be happy for them—it is within your power to give that.

4. Practice getting this down: until you live in a man’s or a woman’s life, there is so much you don’t know and you won’t have the energy to find out—so leave it alone.

Being open and ready to cease your jealousy or envy gives immeasurable space to the earth and to yourself. Meaning there is more heart, intelligence,

wisdom, energy, commitment and spirit to enlarge our world’s consciousness to play the part you are meant to play.

You will inevitably experience this richness of life, the joy and peace and liberation as you disentangle yourself from our collective ego-personality.

Trish Lim-O’Donnell, CCP, is a relationship coach and spiritual guide, ISMT Teacher and E.Q. Music recording artist with 28 years of personal and professional life coaching experience. www. trishlimodonnell.com

Reflexology Pioneer Profile: Chris Shirley

by Lorna Hancock

the Natural Therapies Certification Board and became an approved tutor for teaching vertical reflexology therapy.

In 1995, through the B.C. Institute of Technology, Chris conducted valuable research to evaluate reflexology’s effect on the conductivity of the peripheral nervous system. To help the public understand reflexology quickly, Chris publishing his own foot, hand and ear reflexology charts as well as an instructional video on recreational reflexology.

M

y first memory of charming Chris Shirley is the two of us standing on the sidewalk outside the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons office in Vancouver. I was holding a handmade sign for the first time in my life. Chris was a head and shoulders taller than me and able to create a beautiful shade so I wouldn’t have to squint while talking to him.

This was 1979. Both Chris and I were hopping mad that a physician had lost his right to practice medicine just because he favoured natural medicine in his practice. Mad enough to drag our families out to hold signs with us.

Chris and I were of a similar mind: Something had to be done about protecting the growth of interest in alternative medicine, and we were raring to do it. His interests were herbs and reflexology and he knew how helpful these were, and what he found preposterous was the possibility of being fined or jailed for helping people.

So young. So full of youthful determination.

Training to teaching With determination, and having been trained and inspired by the late Laura Kennedy, Chris turned from what could have been a solid start in counselling psychology to a then little-known healing profession called reflexology.

His further training involved reflexotherapy, vertical reflexology therapy, ayurvedic reflexology, Vitaflex, advanced reflexology and craniosacral reflexology. He was certified as a master reflexologist by

Advances for the modality Chris was pivotal in what is now a fully recognized and honoured reflexology profession in B.C. What many may see as a small step, but was actually a big one, was getting reflexology listed in the Yellow Pages. It took the Reflexology Association of B.C., Chris’ dedication, a lawyer, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, and eight years to convince Yellow Pages to list reflexology as a heading. Chris also became a model for how other reflexologists could operate by

opening B.C.’s first reflexology office in 1980.

Over the years, Chris should have worn a collar around his neck for how gracious and positive he was in the face of different issues that have faced reflexology and the natural health movement in general.

He steadfastly repeats that what the world needs is a college of natural medicine where all modalities can learn to work together for the best benefit of the patient.

I’m always grateful to have met Chris so many years ago, and am proud to call him a good friend to me and the many who do not even know him, considering how generously he gave his time and creativity for their wellbeing.

Lorna Hancock is the long-time executive director of Health Action Network Society. Chris Shirley is the director of the Pacific Institute for Reflexology in Vancouver, B.C., at 535 West 10th Avenue. He is also a longstanding and valued HANS professional member. www.pacific reflexology.com | (604) 8758818 | 1 (800) 688-9748

g ther apy that of fer s gentle healing th n i x a l rough ing, re touc m s r c a o e r l r d e s n p a a o n , c d s t d o a n h. g s a i l a h y n g , d t s , or g a e e f e Reflexolo ns par ts of the body. a s in t h r e e r h a t o x e l d f Re an

Did you know?

Health Action | www.hans.org

55

Health & Green Shorts n Small farms continue to be for the Organic Center. “This residues are found much more A Global Glimpse of the major food producers in important research should frequently in conventional Farming the world help greatly to dispel consumer foods, and revealed significantly Small farmers produce most of the world’s food—and with less n Small farms are overall more confusion about the benefits of lower levels of a toxic heavy metal in organic crops. The productive than big farms organic.” than a quarter of the world’s “The nutritional differences report was published in the farmland, according to a note- n Most small farmers are women between conventional and July 15 issue of the prestigious worthy new report published organic crops have always been British Journal of Nutrition. in May 2014 by the group —Organic Trade Big Nutritional Benefits a much-debated topic,” said GRAIN. GRAIN is a small, A ssociation Media with Organic Shade. “This significant study international, nonprofit orgaR elease , July 11, 2014 A major new study from reevaluates the issue from a nization that works to support small farmers and social move- the United Kingdom finds more inclusive, statistically ments in their struggles for conclusive evidence that or- accurate standpoint and strong- Climate Change in Canada … And the Insurance community-controlled and bio- ganic crops, and the food ly shows that organic fruits $$ Says? made from them, are nutritionally and vegetables have definite diversity-based food systems.

Climate change in Canada superior to their conventional health benefits to conventionAmong their findings: How do we make sense of all this?

Wha t is outside of market systems,counterparts. we are also was the subject of a June 2014 This corrects ally grown products.” n The vast majority of farms take by Natural Resources constantly being fed the message that the true and what is not? What action do wereport many of the shortcomings Analyzing 343 studies in what in the world today are small to deal with these imbalances? To help answer "more efficient" industrial food system is of earlier studies and should was the largest research effort of Canada that didn’t get much and getting smaller to needed to feed the world. At the same time, some of these questions, GRAIN decided put to rest any doubts about its kind, an international team fanfare—but perhaps should n Small farms are currently take a closer look at the facts.5 We tried tohave. find we are told that 80% of the world's hungry the benefits of organic, said of experts led by Newcastle squeezed onto less than a of people live in rural areas, many of them out how much land is really in the hands Canada in a Changing Clithe lead scientist of the University found that organic quarteroroflandless the world’s farmsmall farmers, and how much food mate theytakes a hard look at the farmers farmworkers.

Organic Center in responding and 6 crop-based foods land produce oncrops that land. to the landmark study. are up to 60 percent higher in facts that show that our health, n We are fast losing farms “This is a groundbreaking a number of key antioxidants environment and the economy and farmers in many places, study,” said Dr. Jessica Shade, than conventionally grown are—and will continue to be— while1. bigGlobal farms are getting Table distribution of agricultural land. bigger the director of science programs crops, showed that pesticide affected by climate change,

Africa Asia -Pacific China India Europe Latin America & Caribbean North America TOTAL

Agricultural land (thousands of ha)

No. of farms (thousands)

No. of small farms (thousands)

Small farms as % of all farms

Agricultural land in the hands of small farmers (thousands of ha)

1,242,624 1,990,228 521,775 179,759

94,591 447,614 200,555 138,348

84,757 420,348 200,160 127,605

182,766 689,737 370,000 71,152

474,552

42,013

37,182

89.6% 93.9% 99.8% 92.2% 88.5%

894,314

22,333

17,894

478,436

2,410

5,080,154

608,962

% of agricultural land in the hands of small farmers

Avg. size of small farms (ha)

82,337

14.7% 34.7% 70.9% 39.6% 17.4%

2.2 1.6 1.8 0.6 2.2

80.1%

172,686

19.3%

9.7

1,850

76.8%

125,102

26.1%

67.6

562,031

92.3%

1,252,628

24.7%

2.2

Notes: All figures on agricultural land obtained from FAOSTAT ( http://faostat3.fao.org/faostat -gateway/go/to/home/E ).

Figures on number size of farms obtained from national authorities wherever possible. The full dataset isavailable here: Health Action | and www.hans.org http://www.grain.org/e/4929

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Global distribution of agricultural land.

Source: Hungry for Land, May 28, 2014, report by GRAIN. www.grain.org

and that more must be done to reduce our emissions and play our part.

Among the 292-page report’s many findings is that some types of extreme weather events will likely increase and intensify as temperatures continue to warm. Economically, storms, floods and heat waves have had a significant impact. In 2011, the most recent year of finalized data available, the Canadian insurance industry paid a record $1.7 billion for property damage due to weather events.

Examples of insured losses from extreme weather events in Canada.

Source: Canada in a Changing Climate, Figure 5, page 16, www.nrcan.gc.ca

Emotonal Freedom continued from page

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How to Create a Beautiful Relationship. These practices will be explored in more depth during in a getaway weekend for relationships in the woods near Whistler, B.C., just before Valentine’s 2015. Both the book and the event are accessible at the RootsEFT website.

Block 5: Faulty core beliefs EFT is critical in getting beyond faulty core beliefs, to bypass the ego and the critical brain—that false program or path that we took on early in life and that doesn’t serve us well—thereby allowing us to surrender to knowing our true

selves and the greatest good.

In developing the RootsEFT program, I became skilled at asking the questions you may not be asking yourself because you likely aren’t aware of those deeper beliefs, an awareness that you need in order to clear them. Then you are completely free to vision and manifest your desired love relationship.

Often a few sessions can address these root origins of difficulties in life—core beliefs about yourself like: “I am not worthy of love.”

“I am not loveable.”

“I don’t deserve love.”

“I’m damaged goods.”

Since these underlying beliefs have no doubt been hanging around and wreaking havoc in your personal and work life, it is no wonder that it would take some time and

attention to change them.

But compared with the alternatives, incorporating EFT will fast-track your transformations of these faulty programs and create new mind-body connections.

Recent developments in neuroscience and epigenetics offer encouraging support for this, explaining how physiological and structural changes occur in the brain and throughout the body.

For example, studies have shown that EFT reduces the production of the stress hormone cortisol and increases production of serotonin and other neurochemicals, to a greater degree than standard counselling, meditation or other alternatives.

In the end, your future is not determined by your past;

you created your past and you can create whatever future you want. Using EFT, you are able to be the person you need to be in order to manifest the love relationship you desire.

Heather Donaldson is the owner of Nature’s Way Holistic Health, which offers revitalizing services including massage, shiatsu and emotional freedom technique (EFT). She connects with clients both in-person and through her books, online videos, group programs, live seminars, and private Skype or telephone sessions. Her RootsEFT program helps individuals through profound and lasting transformation, especially with regards to intimate relationships.

Explore it yourself at getaway weekend/retreat near Whistler, January 30 / February 1, 2015. www.RootsEFT.com Health Action | www.hans.org

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Fluoride Free B.C. Update

by Jane Shaak

I

t has been almost 39 years since any new community voted to have fluoride added to their municipal water in the province of British Columbia.

How will the last five communities resolve their fluoride status with the trend continuing for the B.C. to be fluoride-free?

With 97 percent of the province fluoride-free, it is just a matter of time. There is no fluoride injected into community water in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver and Gulf Islands or the Okanagan.

As of printing of this Health Action, three of the five communities in British Columbia were going to referendum regarding fluoride on November 15, 2014: Cranbrook, Prince George and Sparwood. The other two, Terrace and Fort St. John, are not going to referendum at this time, so will have to wait at least another four years for the next civic election cycle. These five communities are called resource communities and people are busy there, working hard for their daily income.

The referendum questions for the three communities are as follows: In Cranbrook, the question will ask: “Are you in favour of Council adopting City of Cranbrook Cease Fluoridation Bylaw No. 3799, 2014, which authorizes stopping the addition of fluoride to the municipal water supply effective January 1, 2015?”

In Prince George’s refer-

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endum, the question will be: “Are you in favour of the City of Prince George fluoridating its water supply?” And anyone who wants to break the fluoride cycle will vote no.

There are now four web pages for fluoridation information in Prince George: 1. Fluoride Free Prince George: www.fluoridefree prince george.com 2. PG Citizens Unite Against Fluoridation:

www.facebook.com/ pages/PG-CitizensUnite-Against-ForcedFluoridation/ 3. Vote No Fluoride for Prince George, B.C., Canada: nofluoride.ca 4. Generating Urban Sentiment (GUS): gus.jokat.ca Sparwood’s question will ask: “Are you in favour of Council adopting Bylaw 1145, ‘Cease Fluoridation Bylaw 1145, 2014,’ which authorizes

removal of fluoride from the municipal water supply effective January 1, 2015?”

Fluoride involves many complex issues, such as economic benefit, water fluoridation processes, dental products, dental fluorosis, health effects, tooth decay, sources of fluoride, infant exposure, environmental justice, pollution, animal exposure and politics.

The Town of Williams Lake hired a communications firm to keep the community informed about fluoridation. To fluoridate or not is an important issue with consequences. At the end of their campaign during the last election, Williams Lake’s population voted to remove fluoride from their water. Soon we will learn the progress of three communities that are on the threshold of being fluoride-free.

Health Action Network So-ciety director Len Greenall, who has since passed away, was passionate about helping to remove fluoride from public water systems. We are getting closer to Len’s and HANS’ goal of having the province of B.C. be fluoride-free. We are hopeful for the communities holding their referendum and encourage their voters to stand strong on this important issue. Whatever the outcome, B.C. Fluoride Free is just a matter of time.

Jane Shaak is chair of the Health Action Network Society’s Fluoride Free B.C. committee, which is dedicated to bringing awareness to the risks of water fluoridation.

Be the Change—Without Spending Any

by Alexis Costello

M

any of us have had the experience of a lifechanging year. Maybe it came along with getting married, having a baby, travelling abroad or losing someone you love. Would you believe that you could change your life completely simply by not spending money? This is what Calgary roommates Geoffrey Szuszkiewicz and Julie Phillips did from the summer of 2013 to this past August as they embarked on an experiment they called Buy Nothing Year.

“It felt like a fast or an addiction program where you’re slowly changing your behaviours and patterns from something you’re addicted to or that’s habitual for you,” Julie was quoted in Forbes magazine earlier this year.

Not being part of the mass consumer culture helped both to develop more mindfulness, to slow down and pay more attention to where they actually are. “It shows where you put your focus,” she told Forbes. “I used to constantly want things—more, better, nicer and cheaper. I haven’t done that in a year, so my life is richer. It’s a spiritual outcome, which I didn’t expect at all.”

Between the two of them, they saved over $55,000 in the year. Biking and walking everywhere and not going out to eat improved overall health as well.

The message that emerges is that you don’t have to be trapped in a rat race or a culture of keeping up with the Joneses

Even if your income is limited, there are ways of changing your relationship with money and with the consumer culture.

if you don’t want to be. Even if your income is limited, there are ways of changing your relationship with money and with the consumer culture.

In reading the Buy Nothing Year blog (www.buy nothingyear.com), it is clear that both Geoffrey and Julie had always had lofty goals but maybe some difficulty

with follow-through. The immediate media attention their experiment garnered helped them to get through the initial, most difficult part of the change as it kept them accountable. At only a month into the experiment, however, they both reported a shift in how they look at time, relationships, life goals and priorities. Like a new year’s resolution in overdrive!

For most people, a shift like this might be too extreme or difficult to consider, but could you try it on a smaller scale? This might start with participating in a Buy Nothing Day activity in your area, or something as simple as really looking at where you spend your money in the average month and trying to eliminate a couple of frivolous expenses ($5 coffees anyone?). There is

also the option to swap/trade services or products with others, meaning that you can still get what you’re looking for, but take money out of the equation.

The Times magazine article, “What Comes First, Wealth or Health?,” points out that money issues cause stress, which is the root of many health problems, but also that your health depends on feeling good about, and in control of, your finances, something that very few people are doing.

Maybe 2015 is your year to take your health and money into your own hands and change for the better.

Alexis Costello is a specialized kinesiologist, speaker, instructor and writer from Kelowna, B.C. alexis@happilyholistic.ca | www. happilyholistic.ca Health Action | www.hans.org

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New Report: Will GM Crops Feed by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network

food, or because of poor food distribution systems and a lack of reliable water and farming infrastructure. GM crops do not help solve these causes of hunger.

S

upporters of genetically engineered (also called genetically modified or GM) crops claim that we need this technology to feed a growing global population. However, the promise to “feed the world” with GM crops overlooks the real causes of hunger, and disregards the many harmful impacts of using GM technology.

The real problem The claim that we need GM crops to feed the world ignores the real, root problem: Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality.

GM crops on the market today are not designed to address hunger

The truth is that we already produce enough food to feed 10 billion people, which is the number our population is predicted to reach by 2050. A third of food produced around

the world is wasted every year.

People are generally hungry not because of insufficient food production, but because they do not have money to buy food, access to land to grow

In 2013, 57 percent of the world’s GM crops were engineered to be herbicide tolerant, 16 percent were engineered to be insect resistant (Bt), and 27 percent were “stacked” with both these traits.

This means that 84 percent of all GM crops are tolerant to some groups of herbicides. Other traits, such as virus resistance

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the World? and drought tolerance, account for less than one percent of global GM crop acres.

Four GM crops account for almost 100 percent of worldwide GM crop acreage: soy, corn, cotton and canola.

All four have been developed for large-scale industrial farming and are used as cash crops for export, to produce fuel, or for processed food and animal feed. There are very few GM fruits and vegetables on the market, or GM grains that are used for direct human consumption.

Just three countries—U.S., Brazil and Argentina— account for over 77 percent of the world’s GM crops.

Ten countries account for

A third of food produced around the world is wasted every year.

98 percent of the total GM acreage.

GM crops have not increased yields Crop yields have not increased because of GM traits. In the U.S., for instance, yields of herbicide-tolerant soy and corn did not increase

in the years after GM was introduced. In India, GM cotton failed in many parts of the country, causing terrible hardship for farmers. Overall, conventionally bred (non-GM) varieties are more effective, less costly to develop and cheaper for farmers.

GM crops have not increased farmer incomes Farmer incomes have not increased as a result of GM crops. This is because GM traits have not significantly improved yields and because the cost of patented GM seed is much higher.

In Canada, the cost of GM

seed is higher than that of non-GM seed, and seed costs have risen from 2.5 percent of farmer costs in 1981 to 4.5 percent in 2013.

In India, a packet of GM cotton seeds can cost three to eight times as much as nonGM cotton seed.

In South Africa, where GM corn was introduced in 1998, seed costs for GM corn increased by 30 to 35 percent from 2008 to 2011.

Excerpted from the executive summary of Will GM Crops Feed the World?, a report released in October 2014 by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.

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HANS Wellness Directory Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine ACU‑BRIDGE Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Clinic (604) 432‑7209 | 5238 Irmin St, Burnaby BC BC Naturopathic Association | (604) 736‑6646 2238 Pine St, Vancouver BC | bcna.ca BodaHealth (604) 733‑2632 | bodahealth.ca 302 ‑ 1245 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Lorne Brown, BSc, CA, Dr TCM, RAC | (604) 678‑8600 #250 ‑ 828 West 8th Ave, Vancouver BC | acubalance.ca Dr. Erikson‑Chinese Medical Dermatology | (778) 886‑1180 15767 Roper Ave, White Rock BC | drerikson.com Dr. Ara Elmajian & Associates | (604) 876‑9228 701 ‑ 805 West Broadway, Vancouver BC | draraelmajian.ca Evoke Integrative Medicine Ltd. www. evokemedicine. com | 604‑685‑1181 evolve Nurturing Vitality | (604) 255‑7777 102 ‑ 2025 West Broadway, Vancouver BC NeuroKinetics™ Traumatology & Concussion Clinic Vancouver BC | (604) 736‑3963 | neurokinetics.com Pacific Rim College Complementary & Integrative Medicine | www.pacificrimcollege.ca | (250) 483-2119 Shelley L Page, Dr TCM | (604) 541‑9336 690 ‑ 15355 24th Ave, Surrey BC PCU College of Holistic Medicine www.pcucollege.ca | (604) 433‑1299 Cary Rendek, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca TCM Association of BC | (604) 602‑7550 4347 W 10th Ave, Vancouver BC | tcmabc.org Dr. Chun‑Kai Wang, DTCM Internal Medicine & Pain Clinic | 15532‑ 92A Ave, Surrey BC | www.drwang.ca Jen Wasmund, RTCMP | (604) 738‑5569 409 ‑ 2150 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Yackel, Avery, BASc, R.TCM.P. | (604) 671‑4682 202 ‑ 2383 King George Hwy, Surrey BC Yackel, Avery, BASc, R.TCM.P. | (604) 671‑4682 108 ‑ 2078 West 4th Ave, Vancouver BC Yinstill Reproductive Wellness office@yinstill. com | 604‑873‑9355 (Well) Lyla Yip, MSc, RAc, DTCM | (604) 872‑6833 203 ‑ 2256 Brunswick St, Vancouver BC Weidong Yu, DTCM, FAc.,BM, MPh | (604) 737‑7876 916 West King Edward Ave, Vancouver BC

Animal & Pet Holistic Health Care Richard Calland, DVM | (604) 565‑7217 7280 Adera St, Vancouver BC Fraser Valley Animal Care | (604) 852‑4480 217 ‑ 2825 Clearbrook Rd, Abbotsford BC

Aromatherapy Ferlow Botanicals, Manufacturers/Distributors Vancouver BC | ferlowbotanicals.com | (604) 322‑4080

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Health Action | www.hans.org

Saje Natural Wellness #101‑19052 26th Ave, Surrey BC www.saje.ca | (604) 536‑7191 Young Living Essential Oils | (604) 874‑7318 Carolyn Zerr & Micheal Au http:/ / carolynzerr. younglivingworld. com

Assessments NeuroKinetics™ Traumatology & Concussion Clinic Vancouver BC | (604) 736‑3963 | neurokinetics.com

Associations For these FREE listings, visit | www.hans.org

Ayurvedic Medicine Padmashri Naturals Inc. | www.sewanti.com 60022 ‑ 6417 Fraser St, Vancouver | (604) 628‑2003 Ferlow Botanicals, Manufacturers/Distributors ferlowbotanicals.com | Vancouver BC | (604) 322‑4080

Children’s Health National Vaccine Information Centre | (703) 938‑DPT3 204 Mill St, Suite B1, Vienna Virginia Autism Canada | (519) 695‑5858 PO Box 366, Bothwell ON Autism Research Institute 4182 Adams Ave, San Diego CA Sabrina Chen‑See | www.DrChenSee.com 1110 ‑ 750 W. Broadway, Vancouver BC | (604) 566‑9088 Canteris A. Hartley, DCH, HMC | (604) 886‑3844 www.coasthomeopathy.com | 201 ‑ 1001 Gibsons Way, Gibsons BC Integrated Health Clinic, Sarah Sjovold, ND Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 | www.drsjovold.com VRAN ‑ Vaccination Risk Awareness Network Inc. (250) 355‑2525 | PO Box 169, Winlaw BC

Chiropractors

Jaisri M Lambert | www.ayurveda‑seminars.com Ayurveda Seminars and Consulting | (604) 290‑8201

Gregg Anderson, DC | (604) 531‑6446 305 ‑ 1656 Martin Dr, Surrey BC

Sudha Madhuri Ayurvedic Medicine | sudha@vancouver healing.com | www.vancouverhealing.com

Christine Bird, DC | (604) 885‑7124 Box 358, Sechelt BC

Biofeedback Embrace Continence Solutions Ltd. | www.embrace‑cs.ca 6729 Tisdall St, Vancouver | (604) 327‑7056

Business Opportunities Pacific Institute of Reflexology | (604) 875‑8818 535 West 10th Ave, Vancouver BC

Cancer Information, Treatments & Support

Dr Janice Blanke | (819) 687‑9021 90 CH Morgan, Montcalm QC Sabrina Chen‑See | www.DrChenSee.com 1110 ‑ 750 W. Broadway, Vancouver BC | (604) 566‑9088 Coquitlam Family Chiropractic www.coquitlamfamilychiropractic.com | (604) 941-0003 Dr Barbara James Chiropractic | (250) 868‑2951 1333 St. Paul St, Kelowna BC Dr Barbara James Chiropractic | (250) 868‑2951 1333 St. Paul St, Kelowna BC

Acquired Intelligence Inc. (Salvestrols) Victoria BC | salvestrol.ca | (250) 483‑3640

Dr Kevan Shong Chiropractic | (604) 540‑1551 Suite E ‑ 7487 Edmonds St, Burnaby BC

Callanish Society | (604) 732‑0633 2277 W 10th Ave, Vancouver BC

evolve Nurturing Vitality | (604) 255‑7777 102 ‑ 2025 West Broadway, Vancouver BC

Brian Davies, BSC, ND | (778) 340‑1114 102 ‑ 88 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver BC

Helen Fadden, DC | (604) 852‑4480 217 ‑ 2825 Clearbrook Rd, Abbotsford BC

InspireHealth | (604) 734‑7125 200 ‑ 1330 West 8th Ave, Vancouver BC

Dr. Mahin Darabi ‑ Fraser Chiropractic | (604) 321‑6704 #315 North Tower, 650 West 41st Ave, Vancouver BC

Dr Nelie C. Johnson, MD | (604) 467‑1794 www.awarenessheals.ca LEMMO Integrated Cancer Care | (604) 428‑1991 327 Renfrew St, Vancouver BC Ovarian Cancer Canada | www.ovariancanada.org 205 - 145 Front Street East, Toronto ON Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND, Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 Port Moody Health | (604) 949‑0077 202 ‑ 101 Klahanie Dr, Port Moody BC Wellness Trading Post | www.wellnesstradingpost.com Julieta Criollo, DNM, CHT, Surrey BC

Drs Rainer & Randall Zindler ‑ Fraser Chiropractic (604) 321‑6704 | #315, North Tower, 650 West 41st Ave, Vancouver BC John W C Loh, MSc, DC | (604) 941‑0644 201 ‑ 3377 Coast Meridian Rd, Port Coquitlam BC Kitsilano Chiropractic | (604) 731‑6773 3446 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Alvin G Klassen, DC, FCCRS(c), CPT | (604) 271‑6442 10020 No 3 Rd, Richmond BC Jay Lepp, DC | (604) 939‑7556 2325 St. John’s Street, Port Moody BC Dorothea McCallum ‑ Ventura Chiropractic 101 ‑ 32920 Ventura Ave, Abbotsford BC | (604) 859‑6781 My Chiropractor at Clayton Heights | (604) 575‑9892 120 ‑ 16555 Fraser Hwy, Surrey BC

Nucca Spine Clinic ‑ Dr. Michael J. Foran Vancouver BC | (604) 266‑1461 | www.neckdr.com Robert T Ohori, DC | (604) 946‑0144 5017 ‑ 48th Ave, Delta BC Edith Veillette, DC | (819) 669‑9676 435 Boul. La Verendrye E., Gatineau PQ Brent Willox, DC | (604) 253‑6930 1279 Nanaimo St, Vancouver BC | www.vanwellness.com Woodgrove Pines Chiropratic | (250) 390‑2003 or (250) 390‑2993 | 102 ‑ 6135 Metral Dr, Nanaimo BC

Cleansing & Detoxification Cedar Springs Renewal Center | (360) 826‑3599 Sedro Woolley WA | cedarsprings.org Radiant Health Saunas | (604) 221‑1799 Vancouver BC | radianthealthsaunas.com Lisa Keith | (604) 738‑3858 212 ‑ 3195 Granville St, Vancouver BC

Colon Hydrotherapy ABC of Colon Care / Prime Vitality (604) 929‑7019 | North Vancouver BC | primevitality.ca Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 Lisa Keith | (604) 738‑3858 212 ‑ 3195 Granville St, Vancouver BC The Happy Colon | (604) 525‑8400 360 ‑ 522 7th St, New Westminster BC Village Health Clinic | (604) 575‑7275 105 ‑ 15153 No 10 Hwy, Surrey BC

Counsellors (Registered) Clearmind International | clientservices@clearmind. com clearmind. com | (604) 513‑9001 Brigitte R. Clark M.Ed, C.C.C.,S.E.P. | Vancouver, BC (604) 928‑5913 | www.freefallinsurrender.com Kira Lynne, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca Vital Synergy Mind Fitness Inc. | (604) 770‑3038 www.vitalsynergy.ca

Craniosacral Therapy Lumen Natura | (778) 783‑0408 www.lumennatura.com | renee@lumennatura.com Brenda Pulvermacher, BSc | (604) 986‑9355 200 ‑ 1401 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver BC

Dentists Arshbir S. Kler, DDS/ A. Ross Gorrell, DDS 201 ‑ 5405 12th Ave, Delta BC | (604) 943‑2291 Dr. Ara Elmajian & Associates | (604) 876‑9228 701 ‑ 805 West Broadway, Vancouver BC | draraelmajian.ca Evangelo Papoutsis, DDS | (604) 886‑4543 315 ‑ 287 Gower Point Rd, Gibsons BC Van Cosmetic/Implant Dentistry | (604) 434‑0248 359 ‑ 4800 Kingsway, Burnaby BC

Electromagnetic Fields & Earth Radiation Jim Waugh, EMF SafeHome | (604) 788‑0743 Greater Vancouver, BC | EMFSafeHome.com Earthing Canada | 1‑877‑819‑1968 www.earthingcanada.ca Farren Lander, HealthyHomes Environmental Surrey, BC | (604) 538‑0809 **Vlasty Senovsky, Geopathic Consultant | (604) 990‑0524 Lower Mainland | www.geopathic‑consulting.com Dr. Ross Andersen | ozonedoc@gmail.com Unplugged Health Solutions | (778) 214-3444

Energy Medicine Holly Berezowski, Happily Holistic Natural Health & Wellness | www.happilyyholistic.ca office@happilyholistic.ca | (250) 491‑7559 CHI Wellness | (604) 767‑3834 | Vancouver BC CHI MACHINE | www.chidvd.com/chiwellness

Dominion Herbal College | (604) 433‑1926 Burnaby BC | dominionherbalcollege.com www.happilyholistic.ca 7655 Falconridge Cres, Kelowna BC Institute of Holistic Nutrition | (604) 558‑4000 300 ‑ 604 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Langara College | 100 W 49th Ave., Vancouver BC http:/ / w ww. langara. bc. ca/ continuing‑studies/ programs‑and‑courses/ index. html Love Peace Harmony Vancouver (604) 733‑0853 | www.lovepeaceharmonyvancouver.com PCU College of Holistic Medicine www.pcucollege.ca | (604) 433‑1299 John Theobald GNM Education www.learninggnm.com | john@learninggnm.com Vancouver Island College of Natural Wellness Nanaimo, BC | 1-800-255‑2816 | www.vicnw.com

Health & Life Coaches

Maria Djordjevic, BSc. CIEHP | (604) 727‑4186 Vancouver BC | sanare.ca

Brenda Eastwood | 1-800‑884‑9220 Saanichton BC | brendaeastwood.com

Earthing Canada | 1‑877‑819‑1968 www.earthingcanada.ca

Health Plus | (604) 437‑6286 3512 East 24th Ave, Vancouver BC

**Heal Your Own Body Medical Intuition, Elise Yohm (604) 317‑6676 | Burnaby BC | www.healyourownbody.com

Trish Lim‑O’Donnell, CCP | (604) 544‑2902 Vancouver BC | www.trishlimodonnell.com

Diane Louie, EFT Practitioner | (604) 888‑2950 21231 ‑ 93rd Ave, Langley BC

Kira Lynne, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca

Michael D’Alton’s School of Bio‑Energy Healing (604) 688‑5177 | www.daltonsbio.com | Vancouver BC Ann Perrick | (604) 250‑4916 EMF Balancing Technique, North Vancouver BC

Shelley Ugyan | Emerging Jewel www.emergingjewel.com | shelley@emergingjewel.com

Health Food Stores

Arden Sauer, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca

**Alive Health Centres | www.alivehealthcentre.ca With 14 locations in BC, mostly in the Vancouver area

Phillip W Warren | (604) 946‑4919 4459 ‑ 52A St, Delta BC | rebprotocol.net

Ave Maria Specialties | (250) 563‑6388 1638 - 20th Ave, Prince George BC

Environmental Products & Services

Consumers Nutrition Centre | (604) 270‑0007 1318 ‑ 6551 No. 3 Rd, Richmond BC

**Nature Cleaning Services | (604) 255‑3735 2316 Nacht Ave, Port Coquitlam BC

Dawson Creek Health Food Centre | (250) 782‑4656 901C ‑ 103rd Ave, Dawson Creek BC

Food Preparation & Healthy Cuisine

Edible Island Whole Foods Market | (250) 334‑3116 477 ‑ 6th St, Courtenay BC

Earthsave Canada | (604) 731‑5885 Vancouver BC | www.earthsave.ca

**Gaia Garden Herbals | (604) 734‑HERB (4372) 2672 West Broadway, Vancouver BC | gaiagarden.com

FarmFolk / CityFolk Society | (604) 730‑0450 Vancouver, BC | ffcf.bc.ca

**Kelly’s Specialty Shop Ltd. | (604) 485‑5550 4706 Marine Ave, Powell River BC

Raw Food Society of BC | (778) 737‑8852 8051 Poplar St, Van BC | www.rawbc.org

Lifestyle Markets | 180 ‑ 2950 Douglas St, Victoria BC (250) 384‑3388

Hawaiian Healing Hawaiian Healing Hub luannah@hawaiianhealinghub. com

Health & Education Centres

**Marks Pharmacy | (604) 731‑8535 3750 Oak St, Vancouver BC **Mother Natures | (250) 365‑7750 Castlegar, BC | www.mothernaturescastlegar.com Nurture Health & Wellness | (403) 208‑0812 63 Crowfoot Terrace NW, Calgary AB

Canadian Bowenwork School | (519) 574‑0515 www.canadianbowenworkschool.com

The Peanut Mill Natural Foods Market | (905) 685‑8848 191 Welland Ave, St. Catharines ON

Canadian School of Natural Nutrition | (604) 730‑5611 100 ‑ 2245 West Broadway, Vancouver BC

Valley Health | (780) 624‑1332 10019 ‑ 100 St, Peace River AB

Health Action | www.hans.org

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HANS Wellness Directory Health Products & Equipment 40 Sunmeadows Crt SE | gordon@criobru.ca www.criobru.ca | (403) 256‑2912 AIM Canada | (604) 263‑8497 | theaimcompanies.com 390 ‑ 2025 West 42nd Ave, Vancouver BC Amazing Health | (604) 856‑9472 6581 Sunshine Dr, Delta BC Alison Douglas | alisondouglas52@gmail.com www.myaimstore.com/alisonswellness.com Earthing Canada | 1‑877‑819‑1968 www.earthingcanada.ca Eastern Currents Distributing Ltd. | (604) 263‑5042 9109 Shaughnessy St, Vancouver BC | easterncurrents.ca Heather Gabriel | (604) 536‑5585 Independent Zango Distributor, Surrey, BC Wendy Hampton | Bio‑mats.ca (250) 756‑5973 | MsWalkabout1@gmail.com Health Plus | (604) 437‑6286 3512 East 24th Ave, Vancouver BC **Healthy Business Consulting Ltd. Ron & Maggie Gale | South Surrey BC (778) 294‑0611 | healthybusiness.ca Infinite Possibilities Consulting | (250) 598‑8574 USANA Distributors | possibilities_intl.usana.com Juice Plus (Alberta) & Tower Garden juiceplusworks.com | beyondorganic.towergarden.ca Juice Plus | www.mariannesjuiceplus.com (604) 603‑4272 | mhpearson@telus.net Kwikfit4u | laura@kwikfit4u.com | (250) 769‑5552 Laura Pelletier, Whole Body Vibration Specialist Organo Gold | www. mchudyk. organogold. com (778) 855‑2486 Preferred Nutrition | (519) 853‑1118 153 Perth St, Acton ON | pno.ca Radiant Health Saunas | (604) 221‑1799 Vancouver BC | radianthealthsaunas.com

Health Retreats & Spas Cedar Springs Renewal Center | (360) 826‑3599 Sedro Woolley WA | cedarsprings.org

Healthy Homes & Interiors The Wholistic Mystic | (778) 823‑6960 www. kimlouiseeasterbrook. com Farren Lander, HealthyHomes Environmental Surrey, BC | (604) 538‑0809

Herbalists (Registered) Dominion Herbal College | (604) 433‑1926 Burnaby BC | dominionherbalcollege.com Island Healthworks Natural Health Clinic (250) 468‑7685 | 1830 Douglas Crescent, Nanoose Bay BC Pacific Rim College Complementary & Integrative Medicine | www.pacificrimcollege.ca | (250) 483-2119 PCU College of Holistic Medicine www.pcucollege.ca | (604) 433‑1299

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Health Action | www.hans.org

Wellness Trading Post | www.wellnesstradingpost.com Julieta Criollo, DNM, CHT | Surrey, BC

Herbs & Herbal Products Eastern Currents Distributing Ltd. | (604) 263‑5042 9109 Shaughnessy St, Vancouver BC | easterncurrents. ca Ferlow Botanicals Manufacturers/Distributors Vancouver BC | ferlowbotanicals.com | (604) 322‑4080 Heather Gabriel | (604) 536‑5585 Independent Zango Distributor, Surrey BC **Gaia Garden Herbals | (604) 734‑HERB (4372) 2672 West Broadway, Vancouver BC | gaiagarden.com Vitex Nutrition Ltd. | VitexNutrition.com 494 Midvale St, Coquitlam BC | (778) 355‑8027

Holistic Massage Heather Donaldson, Nature’s Way Holistic Health (604) 815‑3436 | www.natureswaymassage.ca

Homeopaths Access Natural Healing – Elena Cecchetto (604) 568‑4663 | accessnaturalhealingcom Homepathic Practitioner & Cease Therapist BC Society of Homeopaths | www.bcsh.ca Referrals to classical homeopaths Canteris A. Hartley, DCH, HMC www.coasthomeopathy.com 201 ‑ 1001 Gibsons Way, Gibsons BC | (604) 886‑3844 Marie Lamey, Trinity Homeopathy Clinic Vancouver, BC | (604) 837‑7396 Diane Louie, DCH, RSCHom, Classical Homeopath 21231 ‑ 93rd Ave, Langley BC | (604) 888‑2950 Sonya McLeod, BA, DCH | (604) 677‑7742 351 E 39th Ave, Vancouver BC Neil Tessler, ND, DHANP | (604) 542‑9759 203 ‑ 2828 152nd St, Surrey BC West Coast Homeopathic Society | (604) 803‑9242 101 ‑ 1001 West Broadway Unit 120, Vancouver BC Zettl Homeopathy zettlhomeopathy. ca | (604) 355 Well (9355) Zettl Homeopathy 1298 Sutherland Ave, Kelowna | zettlhomeopathy. ca

Hyperbaric & Oxygen Therapy Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND | Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325

Hypnotherapy Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis (BC Division) (604) 688‑1714 | 2036 West 15th Ave, Vancouver BC Heather Gabriel | (604) 536‑5585 Suite 176, 106 ‑ 1656 Martin Dr, Surrey BC Vital Synergy Mind Fitness Inc | (604) 770‑3038 www.vitalsynergy.ca Kemila Zsange, RCCH | kz@kemilahypnosis.com www.kemilahypnosis.com | (604) 687‑4325

Inspiration **Banana Moon | (250) 390‑4010 102 ‑ 6135 Metral Dr, Nanaimo BC

Iridology **Irimeta Health Services | (604) 731‑8535 Vancouver, BC | www.irimeta.com Island Healthworks Natural Health Clinic (250) 468‑7685 | 1830 Douglas Crescent, Nanoose Bay BC

Kinesiology Jake Atchison, Happily Holistic Natural Health & Wellness | www.happilyyholistic.ca office@happilyholistic.ca | (250) 491‑7559 CHI Wellness | (604) 767‑3834 Vancouver BC CHI MACHINE | www.chidvd.com/chiwellness Alexis Costello, Happily Holisitic Natural Health & Wellness | www.happilyyholistic.ca office@happilyholistic.ca | (250) 491‑7559

Massage Therapists (Registered) Evoke Integrative Medicine Ltd. www. evokemedicine. com | (604) 685‑1181 Kent Smith, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca Yinstill Reproductive Wellness office@yinstill. com | (604) 873‑9355 (Well)

Massage Therapy Behrs’ Massage Therapy Clinic | (604) 485‑2155 4763 Joyce Ave, Powell River BC Mavis Brown RMT | (250) 774‑6769 | Top Floor, Sikanni Plaza / 5004 52nd Ave W, Fort Nelson BC Elfi M. Dillon‑Shaw, RMT | (250) 247‑9504 730 Captain Ahab’s TRC, Gabriola Island BC Electra Health Floor | (604) 685‑4325 Electra Health Floor ‑ 970 Burrard St, Vancouver BC Doug Fairweather, RMT | (250) 542‑3553 11601 Palfrey Drive West, Coldstream BC Pauline Johnson, RMT | (250) 920‑2093 1999 Cochrane St, Victoria BC Joyce L deVooght, RMT | (250) 372‑1365 92 ‑ 665 McBeth Place, Kamloops BC Sandra MacDonald, RMT | (902) 421‑7549 440 ‑ 5991 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax NS Massage Therapy Association of BC | (604) 873‑4467 #180 (Airport Square) 1200 W 73rd Ave, Vancouver BC John Russell & Colleen Schmitt, RMT | (604) 436‑5500 308 ‑ 4900 Kingsway, Burnaby BC | www.burnabyrehab.com Murray P Schwabe, RMT | (604) 532‑3050 203 ‑ 5755 Glover Rd, Langley BC Leslie Smith, RMT | (250) 492‑5599 1458 Government St, Penticton BC

Mattresses Essentia – Natural Mattresses | (604) 738‑0321 2144 West 4th Ave, Vancouver BC | myessentia.com

Medical Doctors Connect Health Centre | (604) 733‑4400 | 205 ‑ 2786 West 16th Ave, Vancouver BC | www.connecthealthcare.ca International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine (416) 733‑2117 | 16 Florence Ave, Toronto ON Zoltan Rona, MD | (416) 920‑9241 8188 Yonge St, Suite 101, Thornhill ON

Mental & Emotional Wellness Heather Donaldson, Nature’s Way Holistic Health 604‑815‑3436 | www.natureswaymassage.ca **Heal Your Own Body Medical Intuition, Elise Yohm (604) 317‑6676 | Burnaby BC | www.healyourownbody.com

evolve Nurturing Vitality | (604) 255‑7777 102 ‑ 2025 West Broadway, Vancouver BC

Gudrun Tonskamper, ND, RAc | (604) 536‑1400 200 ‑ 1676 Martin Drive, Surrey BC

Paula Fainstat, DC, ND | (604) 222‑2433 305 ‑ 2083 Alma St, Vancouver BC

Village Health Clinic | (604) 575‑7275 105 ‑ 15153 No 10 Hwy, Surrey BC

Dorothy Fairley, ND | (604) 738‑2205 2490 Blenheim St, Vancouver BC

Jennie Weisenburger, ND | (604) 876‑1150 603 ‑ 805 West Broadway, Vancouver BC

Juliet Ghodsian, ND | (604) 697‑0397 487 Davie St, Vancouver BC

**Jese Wiens, BSc,ND | (250) 494‑3321 or (778) 476‑6016 Practising in Summerland and Penticton, BC

Brenda Gill, ND | (250) 362‑5035 Suite 1 - 1995 Columbia Ave, Box 1841, Rossland BC Tom Glew, ND | (604) 263‑6338 330 ‑ 2025 West 42nd Ave, Vancouver BC

MN Health Consulting | (778) 231‑9878 mnhealthconsulting@hotmail.com

Hawthorne Naturopathic Centre | (250) 598‑3314 1726 Richmond Ave, Victoria BC

Vital Synergy Mind Fitness Inc. | (604) 770‑3038 www.vitalsynergy.ca

Holistic Healing Arts Centre | (519) 751‑3488 213 King George Rd, Unit 209, Brantford ON InspireHealth | (604) 734‑7125 200 ‑ 1330 West 8th Ave, Vancouver BC

Dr Nelie C. Johnson, MD | (604) 467‑1794 www.awarenessheals.ca

Shyrose Karim, ND | (604) 451‑7786 or (604) 922‑7372 J2 ‑ 925 Main St, West Vancouver BC

NeurVana Recovery and Wellness Inc | www.neurvana.ca (250) 826‑4532 | 1‑888‑657‑9355

Westcoast Naturopathic Clinic | (604) 681‑5585 1190 Thurlow St, Vancouver BC

Gillian Padgett | www.gillianpadgett.com | (250) 542‑7602

LEMMO Integrated Cancer Care | (604) 428‑1991 327 Renfrew St, Vancouver BC

Truehope Nutritional Support Ltd. | (888) 878‑3467 PO Box 888, Raymond AB

Naturopathic Physicians 3335 West 4th Ave, Vancouver BC | (604) 732‑6222 cathy@cornerstonehealthcentre.ca | naturopathic physician A New Leaf Naturopathic Clinic | (604) 514‑8555 103 ‑ 4061 200th St, Langley BC BC Naturopathic Association | (604) 736‑6646 2238 Pine St, Vancouver BC | bcna.ca Bellevue Natural Health Clinic | (604) 913‑2262 1467 Bellevue Ave, West Vancouver BC Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine | 300 ‑ 435 Columbia St, New Westminster BC | (604) 777‑9981 Anita Bratt, ND | www.drbratt.com 1‑1890 Ambrosi Rd, Kelowna BC Timothy W Brown, ND | (604) 538‑3017 200 ‑ 12761 16th Ave, Surrey BC Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (416) 496‑8633 | 1255 Sheppard Ave East, Toronto ON Phoebe Chow, ND | (604) 327‑0021 2298 Newport Ave, Vancouver BC Scarlett Cooper, BSc, ND | (604) 222‑2433 305 ‑ 2083 Alma St, Vancouver BC | drscarlettcooper.com Brian Davies, BSC, ND | (778) 340‑1114 102 ‑ 88 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver BC Mandana Edalati, ND | (604) 987‑4660 213 ‑ 1940 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver BC Dr. Ara Elmajian & Associates | (604) 876‑9228 701 ‑ 805 West Broadway, Vancouver BC | draraelmajian.ca Evoke Integrative Medicine Ltd. www. evokemedicine. com | (604) 685‑1181

Neurofeedback

Paul Levendusky, ND, RAc | (604) 536‑8600 202 ‑ 15210 North Bluff Rd, White Rock BC Bruce Lofting, ND | (403) 270‑3372 3701 17th Avenue SW, Calgary AB Jonn Matsen, ND | (604) 986‑7774 156 West 3rd St, North Vancouver BC Heathir Naesgaard, ND | (604) 980‑4181 1 ‑ 3731 Delbrook Ave, North Vancouver BC Dr. Karen Parmar, ND | Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND | Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 Ingrid Pincott, ND | (250) 286‑3655 300 ‑ 1170 Shoppers Row, Campbell River BC Dr Allana Polo, ND | (778) 397‑3979 New Westminster, BC | www.drallanapolo.com Port Moody Health | (604) 949‑0077 202 ‑ 101 Klahanie Drive, Port Moody BC Danny Jui, ND Ray Clinic | (604) 461‑7900 3 ‑ 201 Morrissey Rd, Port Moody BC Denise Rochon, ND, FCAH, CCH | (604) 885‑3150 8442 Redrooffs Rd, Halfmoon Bay BC William Russell, ND | (604) 535‑4003 305 ‑ 1656 Martin Dr, Surrey BC Brewster Scott, ND | (250) 382‑2639 855 Cormorant St, Victoria BC Selkirk Naturopathic Clinic | (604) 463‑4911 230 ‑ 22529 Lougheed Hwy, Maple Ridge BC Dr. Pieter C Taams, MD, ND | (604) 856‑5687 Abbotsford, BC | www.naturopathic‑retreat.com Neil Tessler, ND, DHANP | (604) 542‑9759 203 ‑ 2828 152nd St, Surrey BC

Nonprofit Organizations For these FREE listings, visit | www.hans.org

Nurses (Registered) Embrace Continence Solutions Ltd. | www.embrace‑cs.ca 6729 Tisdall St, Vancouver | (604) 327‑7056

Nutritional Consultants (Certified) Foodhead | (604) 730‑1123 | www.foodhead.ca info@foodhead.ca | nutritional consulting Canadian School of Natural Nutrition | (604) 730‑5611 100 ‑ 2245 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Der Meulen Nutrition www. dermeulennutrition. ca | (604) 618‑1526 Brenda Eastwood | 1-800‑884‑9220 Saanichton BC | brendaeastwood.com **Irimeta Health Services | (604) 731‑8535 Vancouver, BC | www.irimeta.com Institute of Holistic Nutrition | (604) 558‑4000 300 ‑ 604 West Broadway, Vancouver BC Rebecca Llewellyn, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca

Nutritional Counselling Pacific Rim College Complementary & Integrative Medicine | www.pacificrimcollege.ca | (250) 483-2119

Organic Products FarmFolk/ CityFolk Society | (604) 730‑0450 Vancouver, BC | ffcf.bc.ca Genki Foods Calgary, AB | 1‑866‑338‑6583 Experience the power of whole foods! | genkifoods.com **Green Earth Organics | (604) 708‑2345 Organic delivery service in Vancouver BC Health Plus | (604) 437‑6286 3512 East 24th Ave, Vancouver BC NingXia Red™ Super Juice | (604) 874‑7318 Vancouver BC | ningxia‑red‑juice.com | (778) 222‑7318 cell **West Pointe Organic Produce | (604) 736‑2839 2183 West 4th Ave, Vancouver BC

Health Action | www.hans.org

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HANS Wellness Directory Orthomolecular Medicine International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine (416) 733‑2117 | 16 Florence Avenue, Toronto ON ISF International Schizophrenia Foundation (416) 733‑2117 | 16 Florence Avenue, Toronto ON

Osteopathic Practitioners **Carolyne Abrams, DO DPO (UK) | (604) 987‑1418 404 ‑ 1200 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver carolyne@lighthealing.ca Raphael Limsico | (604) 876‑4948 | House calls available Melanie Swithin‑Jones | (604) 628‑8801 North Vancouver BC | harmonyosteopathy.ca **West Coast Clinic of Osteopathy | (604) 960‑1171 210 ‑ 145 West 15th St, North Vancouver BC

Personal Development Clearmind International | clientservices@clearmind. com clearmind. com | (604) 513‑9001 The Haven | 1‑800‑222‑9211 240 Davis Rd, Gabriola Island BC

Physical Therapist (Registered) Shayna Hornstein, Registered Physical Therapist www.shaynahornstein.net | (604) 731‑4076

Professional & Business Friends of HANS Caligiuri Financial Group Inc. | (604) 685‑6525 | 1200 ‑ 1111 West Georgia St, Vancouver BC | caligiurigroup.com Jane Shaak | 888-484‑7253 Royal LePage | 484 Main St, Penticton BC

Publications (Health & Environmental) Alive Publishing Group Inc. | (604) 295‑9333 100 ‑ 12751 Vulcan Way, Richmond BC Common Ground Publishing Corp | (604) 733‑2215 204 ‑ 4381 Fraser St, Vancouver BC The Herbal Collective Magazine | (250) 754‑7103 Distributed on Vancouver Island, BC The Natural Health Show | www.thenaturalhealthshow.ca Saturday mornings at 11am on am650 Vancouver

Reflexologists Brigitte Beaudoin, Happily Holistic Natural Health & Wellness | (250) 491‑7559 www.happilyyholistic.ca | office@happilyholistic.ca Pacific Institute of Reflexology | (604) 875‑8818 535 West 10th Ave, Vancouver BC Reflexology Association of BC | (604) 435‑8325 720 Sixth St. PO Box 248, New Westminster BC

Rehabilitation Blue Lotus Revitalized Health | (778) 899‑1179 Vancouver, BC | www.bluelotusrevitalizedhealth.ca

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Health Action | www.hans.org

NeuroKinetics™ Traumatology & Concussion Clinic Vancouver BC | (604) 736‑3963 | neurokinetics.com

Watermatters | (604) 733‑7888 Vancouver BC | www.yourwatermatters.com

NeurVana Recovery and Wellness Inc. | www.neurvana.ca (250) 826‑4532 | 1‑888‑657‑9355

World Living Water Systems Ltd. | (604) 990‑5462 North Vancouver BC | www.alivewater.com

Reiki

Weight Management

Inner Focus Holistic Healing | (604) 985‑7302 North Vancouver BC | innerfocus.ca

**Irimeta Health Services | (604) 731‑8535 Vancouver BC | www.irimeta.com

Christa Lynn | (604) 837‑5125 Vancouver BC | www.christalynn.ca

Sonya McLeod, BA, DCH | (604) 677‑7742 351 E 39th Ave, Vancouver BC

Myorei Healing | (778) 239‑4555 Vancouver BC | myorei.ca

Radiant Health Saunas | (604) 221‑1799 Vancouver BC | radianthealthsaunas.com

Reproductive Health Yinstill Reproductive Wellness office@yinstill. com | (604) 873‑9355 (Well)

Saunas Radiant Health Saunas | (604) 221‑1799 Vancouver BC | radianthealthsaunas.com

Shiatsu Heather Donaldson, Nature’s Way Holistic Health (604) 815‑3436 | www.natureswaymassage.ca

Skin & Hair Care

Wellness Centres www.happilyholistic.ca 7655 Falconridge Crescent, Kelowna BC NeurVana Recovery and Wellness Inc. | (250) 826‑4532 1‑888‑657‑9355 | www.neurvana.ca Yinstill Reproductive Wellness office@yinstill. com | (604) 873‑9355 (Well)

Women’s Health 3335 W 4th Ave, Vancouver | (604) 732‑6222 cathy@cornerstonehealthcentre.ca | naturopathic physician Brenda Eastwood | 1-800‑884‑9220 Saanichton BC | brendaeastwood.com

Dr. Erikson ‑ Chinese Medical Dermatology 15767 Roper Ave, White Rock BC (778) 886‑1180 | drerikson.com

Canteris A. Hartley, DCH, HMC | (604) 886‑3844 201 ‑ 1001 Gibsons Way, Gibsons BC www.coasthomeopathy.com

Ferlow Botanicals Manufacturers/Distributors ferlowbotanicals.com Vancouver BC | (604) 322‑4080

Integrated Health Clinic, Sarah Sjovold, ND Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325 | www.drsjovold.com

New Visage Advanced Skincare & Anti Aging Ltd. 417 ‑ 1770 W 7th Ave, Vancouver BC | (604) 893‑8872

Dr. Karen Parmar, ND Integrated Health Clinic 202 ‑ 23242 Mavis Ave, Fort Langley BC | (604) 888‑8325

Sound Healing Harmony of the Spheres | (604) 340‑4955 Vancouver BC | www.harmonyofthespheres.net Info@thesoulofsound.com | (604) 340‑4955 www.thesoulofsound.com | sound healing

Stress Relief Contact: Kathy ‑ other contacts: Marilyn McNeill, Lulu Chavez‑Grajales | (604) 340‑4955 info@thesoulofsound.com | www.thesoulofsound.com

Support Groups

Vancouver Women’s Health Collective | (604) 736‑5262 225 ‑ 119 West Pender St, Vancouver BC Yinstill Reproductive Wellness office@yinstill. com | (604) 873‑9355 (Well)

Yoga Marie Chang, Burnaby, BC | (604) 809‑8378 www.insighttowellness.com Salt Spring Island Centre of Yoga | (250) 537‑2326 Salt Spring Island BC | www.saltspringcentre.com Arden Sauer, Root Wellness | www.rootwellness.ca Sandra Tonn | (604) 483‑3509 Powell River BC | sandra_tonn@telus.net

For these FREE listings, visit | www.hans.org

The BodyTalk System Christa Lynn | (604) 837‑5125 Vancouver BC | www. thebodytalkclinic. com

Water & Air Systems Best Water For You | Keremeos, BC Toll Free 1‑855‑499‑8892 | www.bestwater.ca

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Our Strength iS in numberS The Health Action Network Society (HANS) is a non-profit society incorporated under the British Columbia Company Act on July 25, 1984 and the publisher of this magazine.

The Society believes in the human body’s own healing power, a power derived from man’s dynamic integration with the natural order. This natural healing power (or vis medicatrix naturae, as Hippocrates described it) is mediated through the body’s immune response system in ways which modern science is only beginning to understand. These innate curative mechanisms, if not interrupted by physical or psychological stressors, are

capable of maintaining a high level of personal and social well-being. As Paracelsus has said, “Nature cures; the doctor nurses.”

As the society’s name implies, it has been created to “network” – to put people (individuals, public and private organizations) in touch with one another in the constant effort to maintain and enhance health. But it also seeks to stimulate this journey towards individual and collective well-being by encouraging and supporting research into factors related to “health” and the self-care and preventative health care strategies conducive to high-level wellness.

Please join us by calling toll-free 1-855-787-1891 or online at www.hans.org