Integrative Medicine Podcast

Welcome back! After a summer hiatus we’re ready to get back to the podcast and share evidence-based health information and mindset discussion to help you advocate better for yourself in your health journey.    Today’s episode is a welcome-back discussion about how we often let our past decisions and failures prevent us from trying something new. We’re going to break down why we feel badly about past choices and how to reframe the experiences you’ve had with your health (even if they didn’t work).    Everyone is in the “middle” of their health journey, which means that you’ve all done things before today and many of those things didn’t work. Or they worked a little. Or they worked and now no longer work. But not pursuing any future goals or any future solutions because you’re not in perfect health right now despite trying things in the past is not the right way to look at your future.    If you’ve ever hesitated to try something new because you’ve been hurt or disappointed by your

If you’ve watched TV in the last few months, you’ll notice a theme in the news on health: MENOPAUSE.    Menopause is finally having it’s moment in the media. From Oprah to The National, my guest Dr. Heather Hirsch and I discuss our media appearances in the last few months, what this means for menopause and how to start getting the care you deserve.    Heather has exploded on the menopause scene with her book, Unlock Your Menopause Type which is sold wherever you buy books.  We discuss her work as a Menopause Expert, how you can gain confidence in using HRT to treat your symptoms and why we’re finally seeing the attention towards menopause that you all deserve.    We discuss the various menopause types, including early menopause from hysterectomy, cancer treatment or premature ovarian insufficiency, to menopause “at 50” and how your treatment may need to shift depending on who you are and what your story is. Even if you don’t experience any menopause symptoms at all (and yes,

In today's episode, we’re taking a very practical approach to talking about nutrition and how to slightly change some of your routine nutrition patterns to help you meet your nutrition goals, especially if you are working on your blood sugar or weight loss.    We use the “money” and “budgeting” metaphor to discuss why we’d even consider taking a lower calorie food option occasionally or how to think about your nutrition patterns to be sure that they are helping move you forward with your health goals.    It’s a practical and pragmatic conversation about food including   Why cutting out fruits and vegetables makes no sense Whether you should eat low fat or high fat dairy Why choosing lean protein can really add up.  How to pick a treat that meets your nutrition goals  Why it’s easy to get carried away with certain food groups    If you struggle listening to discussions about food and calories, this episode might not be for you. We take a very realistic a

With a wider conversation happening online about menopause, we’re seeing people come forward more than ever discussing the mental health strain that this phase of life can cause. I’m joined in this episode by one of my friends and close colleagues (we work in the same office!) Dr. Laurie Alpert ND, who is a NAMS certified menopause practitioner and your new mental health advocate.    Laurie and I share our experience in working with people in menopause and help you feel seen and understood in this deep conversation about our moods. We cover a lot of ground (from anxiety to depression to “meno-rage”) and give you the fire under your butt that you need to pay attention to your own mental health.    It’s common for us to blame the circumstances (teen and adult children, ageing parents, big careers) as the cause of mood changes for women over 45 and yet, menopause is a significant contributor to new depression (meaning you’ve never had an episode before) or a return of old depression (even if

With an increase in hormonal symptoms appearing over 40, many people are offered treatment options such as the pill, the IUD and HRT. Each of these treatment options have wonderful effects and some side effects and may or may not fit the bill for supporting people as they transition towards menopause.    In this episode, I sit down with Miranda Tawfik, a pharmacist with a focus on women’s health and hormone therapy. We discuss the pros and cons of each medication option and help settle some of your worries that you’ve been prescribed the wrong thing, or that they are “missing the boat” on a treatment option that they haven’t been offered yet.    We give you timelines to consider these treatments for, what to expect and when to consider switching to something else. We cover the lab work you can (and cannot) do when you’re on these treatments and the long term health benefits and consequences of each choice.    Whether you’ve been on the pill for decades, or haven’t used a hormone

PMS is more than a minor inconvenience. It can leave you feeling like a different person half the month, put strain on your relationships and can really derail achieving your other health goals.  In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Keara Taylor, a Naturopathic Doctor in Toronto and one of our expert clinicians at The Confident Clinician. Keara’s focus in her practice and her research is on the emotional regulation of people through their PMS experience, and how to equip menstruators with the tools they need to feel more calm and confident throughout the month.  In this episode we cover: How to short circuit your PMS in the moment.  How to create a PMS toolkit of resources to help you improve your symptoms on your own.  How to teach your partner about PMS and why this is an important step.  Why “giving in” to your PMS is sometimes the right thing to do.  You can find Keara at www.drkearataylor.com or on Instagram @drkearataylor.nd  She works with people with PMS

I love watching someone so good at their craft. Whether it’s an artist, or a great lawyer, watching someone in their element always leaves me feeling in awe of their dedication, experience and tenacity to get great at something.    Nobody feels that way about their doctor.    In today’s episode, I want to address the trend of “doing your own research” for your medical care. The general distrust in medicine and the lack of appreciation about what goes into making a medical decision (combined with the internet) has left people feeling like they are actually more capable than their doctor at reading research. It’s left people feeling like there are un-read articles that only they can find (and their doctor won’t) and even that their doctor wants to choose something for them that is not the best answer (on purpose).    Reading research, synthesizing difficult concepts, communicating those concepts and helping people make value based and pragmatic decisions about their health care is

If you’ve spent 10 minutes on social media, you’ve probably heard the term insulin resistance. If you’ve spent 11 minutes on social media someone has probably scared you into feeling like your blood sugar is a problem, and you need a special solution to manage it.  In today’s episode, we talk about what the term insulin resistant means, and why everyone needs a basic understanding of blood sugar regulation to achieve better health. With diabetes being one of the most important (and most common) health consequences of aging, understanding your personal risks and how to manage them is a massive step in the right direction toward diabetes prevention.  And, in true Women’s Health Unplugged fashion, Jordan outlines the myths about blood sugar, why you don’t need a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) even if your favourite Instagram account wears one and what practical considerations look like to reduce your future risk of diabetes.  In this episode, we cover:  What the definition of insulin resi

In today’s solo episode, we talk about how to tell if it’s time to throw your plan in the garbage and try something new.    It’s common when working with patients that people “quit” when things aren’t getting better as fast as they want to, or there’s a mismatch between what people value (natural treatments) and what people want (instantaneous results!).    We also talk through questions you need to ask such as:  Do you understand your baseline?  Are you even tracking the right things? Do you even know when you should expect results? Do you have enough information and resiliency to navigate speedbumps in your plan.    Healing isn’t a linear journey, and so if we expect hand-over-fist improvement every day, we’re setting ourselves up for failure.    But also, sometimes you need to quit what you’re doing and start something different. We’ll break it down and I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to tell if your plan isn’t working for you.   

I’ve been following the research on burnout, PTSD and resiliency for a few years because I find adaptive changes in the brain and nervous system so fascinating. Getting real results with patients often involves us recognizing the impact of their mindset, nervous system regulation and level of burnout/resilience as we construct a plan.    We can easily see how a patient would find it hard to do a particular part of their plan if they couldn’t afford it, if the resources were too far from their house or if they were downright allergic to the suggestion. But when we think about resiliency, we often have preconceived ideas about what that means, and how “resilient” we are or aren’t.    Dr. Jenny Liu is a Postdoctoral Associate with the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre and an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine, Western University. Dr. Liu’s background is in the science of stress and resilience. She works with stakeholders to identify th

If you haven’t listened to our past episodes with Dr. Erin Ley, you’ve missed out on a lot of ranting, a lot of practical solutions and a lot of laughing.  Dr. Erin Ley is one of the Naturopathic Doctors at Clarity Health, serving people all over Ontario Canada. Erin sees both our adolescent patients and our male patients (in addition to patients looking for nutrition support and hormonal health) which gives her amazing insight into the challenges of working with this unique population.  Whether you’re a young person yourself or have a young person in your life, this episode will give you insight into why the discussion around nutrition has become so complicated, the role of social media and belief systems in choosing nutrition for a young person and how parents can put down the responsibility of being the expert in their young adult child’s life.  We cover additional topics such as Why Jordan finds working with parents and teens so challenging.  Why Erin loves it! What basic nutriti

We know you’ve likely had information about protein shoved down your throat (pun intended) but do you really understand the WHY?   Things change during ageing and the menopause transition that affect how people’s bodies incorporate dietary protein, and the impact on this is far-reaching. From lower muscle mass, changes to change in satiety (how full you are) and a reduction in energy expenditure (how much we burn in a day), protein affects a lot.    We review what catabolism is, and how eating the same protein you’ve always eaten doesn't provide enough building blocks to prevent muscle breakdown as you age.  In this episode we’ll talk through:  Why is protein the most important macronutrient in menopause? What happens if you don’t hit your targets (and it has to do with appetite)? The impact that both aging and menopause have on metabolism and protein needs (they aren’t the same) Why women have different needs than men.    We’ll also cover how to increase your prot

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus (again!) to talk about sex and how to have a thriving sex life. We outline how little people know about what contributes to positive libido and desire (so they don’t know what they were doing right) and then have NO IDEA what is getting in the way when their desire or drive changes. This feeling of a lack of control leaves people feeling powerless and like the solution lives outside of themselves.   This episode is for you if you are curious about How to learn the difference between arousal and desire.  How to use your erotic brain, even if you’ve been married for 25 years.  Why crumbs on the counter and full dishwasher ruin your libido in your 50s, and not your 20s.  How to think about the complexity of libido and sex, with SIMPLE solutions.  If you want to know if we prefer Speed Keanu Reeves or The Matrix Keanu Reeves ;)  Bat Sheva explains the factors that give you ‘points’ (fantasy, connection and hormone l

This week we are diving into the vault and bringing back our most downloaded and listened-to episode in 2021! We will be back next week with a brand-new episode.  Is your morning routine part of your secret sauce or are you a roll-out-of-bed-and-run kind of person? My morning routine has been an important part of my life for years and I’ve spent a lot of time testing various strategies to make the most of my day. In this episode I give you some ideas of how to create your own routine by talking about: Coffee and caffeine and whether it’s helping you or not (spoiler: it’s helping me!) Creating calm by “deciding” how you want your day to go.  How I delegate tasks and projects. How my partner and I troubleshoot what our pain points are for the day.  Not waking up with an alarm, and how this affects me.  The importance of my morning of coffee (worth talking about twice!) The overall theme is that my morning is a CHOICE and in this episode I want you to get inspired to choose your morning and

It’s common for us to skip over an episode if we feel like a topic doesn’t apply to us, or if we feel nervous to listen.    This particular episode is for everyone, and we’re going to help you feel more confident thinking about cancer either for yourself, or in your family and loved ones.    I’m joined today by Dr. Martha Sharpe ND who focuses her practice on cancer survivorship. We discuss her personal journey with a cancer diagnosis and how she felt as a healthcare practitioner trying to navigate the system. Martha has dedicated her career to helping women understand how to reduce their personal cancer risk, but also to feel empowered in their survivorship.    In this episode we cover: The importance of feeling autonomous in your health care.  The difference between prevention and blame.  How to stack your health deck in your favour to reduce your cancer risk.  The impact of alcohol on cancer risk.  How an anti-cancer lifestyle is actually a whole-

There are patterns that people who are successful with nutrition change adopt, and in today’s podcast, I’m sharing the 3 food categories that I want you to include in your kitchen to help you make it through tougher weeks (and help you meet your goals!). It’s common for a new nutrition plan to focus on novelty, new recipes and unique ways of incorporating unique ingredients into your diet. New nutrition plans can often feel like a part-time job for many people,

Today’s conversation is an important one. On a few levels.  When I sat down to do this podcast I was thinking about the medications for obesity (we’re focusing on Semaglutide/Ozempic today) I was going to focus on the “clinical” discussion. Does it work? Who benefits? What do we expect? Then, that very week, there was a social media explosion about weight loss drugs for adolescents.  And I realized that our conversation had to be much more emotional than that.  Should we treat obesity with medication? Should people be able to manage their medical condition of obesity without help? Shouldn’t people be able to handle this in a drug-free way? Just because some of the challenges related to obesity require changes in policy, access to nutrition, physical activity and mental health support doesn’t mean we don’t also need treatment options today to support the youth and adults that are at risk from their obesity today.  I also asked hard questions like, “why do we care what medications other peop

Janette Yee, an athletic therapist who supports people after vaginal birth and c-section is a joy to listen to. She’s vibrant, excited and passionate about something that we’ve all kept to ourselves.    How freaking hard it is to recover from birth.    As an athlete herself, Janette gives us the metaphor we’ve been waiting for. Birth is a season ending injury. And yet, while most athletes get trainers, time off and rehab, we send people who have given birth home with a screaming baby expecting sleepless nights, selfless weeks and no education on how to take care of themselves.    Even if you don’t identify as an athlete, birth is a traumatic event to your body, and expecting things to just right themselves without support is a hope, not a plan.    I loved recording this episode with Janette (we could literally talk for days) because we both get fired up about how we need to empower ourselves and other women to seek out support after this major physical (and emotional) e

It’s probably a bit of a stretch that an adult with ADHD who has 17,000 undread emails (at last count) is going to do a podcast about managing your email.    But hear me out.    I think we are in an opportunity to show up with leadership when it comes to both our inbox and our outbox, by breaking down some of the email culture we’re observing out there.    We’re going to talk about how our email culture is breeding:   Unrealistic expectations of each other.  To-do lists that we can’t finish.  A lack of self-responsibility and self-reliance.  Confusing channels for communicating with each other.    We also talk about solutions such as:   Muting your inbox Not caring Not responding But also real solutions that don’t compromise your relationships and your work.    I think you’ll enjoy this real and honest call out of all of our email behaviour. We all have an inbox AND an outbox.    Maybe we can slowly change

Today’s podcast is an important episode if you exercise, identify as an athlete or have ever skipped a period. We’re talking about the energy it takes to create a menstrual period, and why women who exercise, diet or both are at risk of missing a period.  I’m joined by Dr. Katrina Allison, a Naturopathic Doctor in British Columbia who focuses on supporting female athletes and young women with menstrual concerns. Even if you don’t think your diet or training is impacting your menstrual cycle, we cover the other symptoms that might be happening due to low energy availability and how to start fuelling yourself to have proper hormonal function.  For many women, symptoms of heavy periods, slightly irregular cycles or night sweats can creep in to their “otherwise normal” cycles, letting their energy balance issues fly under the radar. We easily spot women who have lost their period, but that’s not the only symptom we should be looking for to ensure that your fuelling is supporting your body’s hormonal pro