Living in Ontario, by the time March comes around it can sometimes seem like winter is never going to end. I love winter and have to admit that I actually feel a bit sad when the last of the snow is melting. I couldn’t imagine living somewhere that I wouldn’t be able to experience four […]

CAN THIS VITAMIN SLOW AGING? New research has suggested a possible link between vitamin D and a slowing down in the aging of cells and tissues in women. A King’s College London study involving 2,160 women found fewer age-related changes in the DNA of women who had higher vitamin D levels. They had longer telomeres […]

Canadians, like members of most Western societies, are living longer and there are those who would like us to believe that this is largely the result of the many medical advances that have taken place in last century. Although there is probably some truth to this, what seems to be forgotten in our increasingly materialistic […]

Now that the fall colours have passed their peak and most of the leaves have fallen, things are going to look a little barren until everything starts growing again in April. This is a time of rest for the plant people. But it is not yet a time of rest for herbalists. Harvesting season starts […]

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 […]

Find Relief from Anxiety, Depression, and Stress with Allies from the Plant Kingdom September is a great time of year. Summer is winding down and fall is around the corner. The worst of the midsummer heat, humidity and smog has passed, as have most of the biting insects. It's a great time of year for […]

Benefit from Sun without the Skin Cancer Summer is a great time of year. Days are long, everything is growing and changing at an incredible rate, and the sun is shining. This is when we spend a lot more time out in the fresh air and sunshine. In Europe back in the Middle Ages, fresh […]

Saturated Fat: More Risks Uncovered Recent studies serve as a reminder to eat less saturated fat. Previously, experts warned against saturated fat because of its direct relationship to LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and heart disease risk. But now studies suggest that too much saturated fat may be risky even if your cholesterol isn’t high. Research now […]

Common Kitchen Herb is a Potent Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Viral, and Anti-Bacterial Medicine I have often written about how some of the most incredible healing herbs grow right under our feet. Knowledge of these herbs is sometimes lost or forgotten because the popularity of herbs in our consumerist society is largely market-driven. There is another place where […]

Foods and Herbs to Nourish this Hardworking Master Gland Stress is something that we have learned to accept in modern Western society. It has become a way of life. For example, the technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier are actually accelerating our stress load. It began with answering machines, then came cell […]

Effective Ways to Fortify Yourself Against Winter Colds and Influenzas 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 […]

A Threatened Species in the Wild, this Herb Is Now Emerging as a Valuable Organically-Grown Medicine As an herbalist, I am painfully aware of how important it is that the herbs I use and recommend are harvested and grown in an ecologically sound manner, both to ensure that they are available for future generations and […]

Of all of the afflictions that plague humankind, there is none that is associated with greater fear than cancer. No matter how strong-willed or optimistic we are, there is always a part of us that interprets the diagnosis of cancer as a death sentence. The way modern medicine deals with cancer is largely responsible for […]

Helps Heal Inflammation of Lungs, Eyes, and Bowels It’s late March and I’m in front of my computer working on an early draft of this article. Periodically my eyes get tired of staring at the screen and I look out the window to give them a rest. Outside, winter is starting to retreat. March has […]

This Sun Worshipping ‘Weed’ Provides Food for Monarch Butterflies and Potent Herbal Medicine for Humans When we take a walk in the open fields in July in most parts of Ontario, sooner or later we are going to find that the air is filled with a strong sweet aroma that is quite amazing, although it […]

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 […]