June is an amazing month in Ontario. It tends to be the time of year when everything is incredibly lush and at its greenest. Life radiates intensely, no matter where we look. As an herbalist, this is when harvesting herbs goes into high gear. The year begins early to mid April with the appearance of […]

What is the meaning of my life? Many of us have been confronted with this great existential question which tends to surface when we’re feeling a lack of balance. According to psychoanalyst Danielle Quinodoz, the need to find a psychic meaning for our personal history may be the key to warding off the emotional anxiety […]

Crohn's disease and Colitis are inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Colitis affects only the rectum and occasionally the lower colon, whereas Crohn's may affect the GI tract from mouth to anus, but most commonly the small intestine. The main symptoms, common to both conditions, are relapsing bouts of severe and frequent diarrhea occasionally mixed […]

Allergic disorders are varied in kind and increasing in frequency in the industrialized world. They range from respiratory conditions such as seasonal “hayfever” and asthma to food allergies and skin disorders such as atopic eczema. Potentially deadly anaphylactic allergies to peanuts are becoming more and more common, despite the fact that we in the West […]

One of the more interesting developments of the early 21st century is that our health care system claims to have embraced preventive medicine. Apparently, if we want to stay healthy all we have to do is quit smoking, lose weight, wash our hands a dozen times a day with antimicrobial soaps and lotions, stockpile medicine […]

I’ve seen the designation D.N.M after certain practitioners advertising in Vitality. I know that it stands for Doctor of Natural Medicine, and I know that isn’t the same as an ND, or Naturopathic Doctor. Can you explain exactly what the differences are? Molly Wright, Toronto Editor’s Note: This is an understandable confusion. Because some practitioners […]

One of the most common endocrine disturbances in our society is an underactive (or hypo) thyroid characterized by reduced production of thyroid hormones. These hormones regulate the metabolic rate of other cells as well as calcium metabolism. When thyroid hormones are deficient many of the processes that occur in cells are slowed down. Hypothyroid influences […]

Updated August. 15, 2021 Psoriasis is a relatively common skin disease, occurring in about 2% of the population. Onset is usually between 10 and 30 years of age, and tends to run in families. In its most common form. it presents itself with thickened patches of inflamed, red skin, covered with waxy silvery scales which […]