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By Schuyler Corrigan
RNM Blog
Naturopathic Support for Headaches and Migraines

At Richmond Natural Medicine, we are always committed to getting to the heart of your health issues. Some symptoms that become normal parts of your daily life don’t necessarily have to be something you just live with. When it comes to headaches or migraines, these can be frustrating, daily occurrences that either leave you feeling irritable or completely unable to continue your day. Headaches and migraines may be the result of other underlying health concerns or the symptom of something else that only happens occasionally. In any case, if headaches and migraines are something that you experience frequently, naturopathic medicine can offer you some insight and support. 

What is the cause of headaches and migraines?

There is no single cause for headaches or migraines, however, there can be several contributing factors unique to each person. Some of these include:

  • Dehydration
  • Exposure to chemicals or mold
  • Consuming food intolerances regularly
  • Certain trigger foods such as artificial sweeteners, MSG, or artificial additives
  • Stress, tension, or emotional triggers
  • Over-exercising
  • Exposure to light (too bright, or strobe lighting for example)
  • Genetics may play a role in migraine headaches 
  • Hormonal changes 
  • Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

How can Naturopathic Medicine Help?

First, your naturopathic doctor will take a thorough look at your health history, current health state, any medications, and supplements, and actively listen to your concerns. With there being so many causes and contributing factors to the presentation of headaches and migraines, looking for patterns and small clues is essential for your naturopathic doctor to determine where to begin. Dietary changes, hormonal testing, stress and sleep support, adjustments to exercise, and supplement changes are common recommendations that will be personalized for you and your individual case. It may be very helpful for your naturopathic doctor to review a symptom journal prior to your visit that includes your dietary inputs, stress, and symptoms. Through detailed questions and follow-up visits, your naturopathic doctor will support you in finding solutions to reducing the occurrence of headaches or migraines in your life. 

 

Read More: The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise & Movement 

 

For further questions or to schedule an appointment, visit this link or call us at 804-478-0733

 

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By Schuyler Corrigan
RNM Blog
Ulcerative Colitis – Digestion Support and Naturopathic Approach

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Commonly referred to as UC, ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory condition primarily affecting the rectum, colon, and large intestine. The severity of inflammation can vary from person to person. Symptoms can induce diarrhea, cramping, bloating, anemia, and pain from small ulcers caused by the inflammation in the lining of the colon. Our immune system may develop an overactive response to this inflammatory condition, and many people experience symptoms of UC for several years, making it one of the more chronic digestive conditions with the Irritable Bowel disease category. 

The cause of ulcerative colitis is currently unclear, however, the research and understanding of the interplay between the role of our immune system and digestive health are rapidly growing. The naturopathic approach to supporting ulcerative colitis will take into consideration your entire health history, as well as your individual symptoms and current research. 

The Naturopathic Approach to Ulcerative Colitis

Due to our immune system being largely impacted by the overall health of our gut, symptoms of UC suddenly “flare”, or go into remission for unpredictable periods of time. Lifestyle factors such as stress, diet, sleep, environmental exposure, or even travel can impact the state of our gut, and therefore manipulate our immune response. These are all factors that your naturopathic doctor will take a thorough look at during your consultation to determine any patterns or triggers to your UC story. 

Naturopathic medicine operates under the principle that, under the right conditions, the body has an innate healing capability. The role of a Naturopathic doctor is to determine what those unique conditions are for each person. For some people, healing may look like reassessing lifestyle factors such as their eating habits and stress levels. For others, healing may mean managing chronic inflammation or immune function with herbs or other natural therapies.

Since there is often more than one issue causing imbalance, a multi-layered approach is utilized. This approach ensures that all issues are addressed, as well as further encourages long-term results. Depending on the person, various therapies and modalities may be used to improve gut health. These can range from diet changes and nutritional supplements to herbs, probiotics, and more.

One of the most important factors to achieving optimal gut health is determining the diet and dietary choices that work best for each individual. There is no “one size fits all” approach to a healthy diet and self. Your naturopathic doctor will help determine which foods work best for you, and which do not. Many people consume common foods that their bodies simply cannot break down well. This can set up an ongoing low-level inflammatory process that leads to issues beyond just digestive symptoms, such as “leaky gut,” immune reactivity, and so on.

To schedule an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors, click here. 

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By Lindsay Kluge
Articles RNM Blog
A Holistic Approach to Weight Management

Several things contribute to how our body maintains a healthy weight during our lifetime. It’s not just calories in and calories out as the rhetoric may lead us to think. Factors such as age, metabolism, thyroid health, food sensitivities, poor sleep, stress, daily movement and exercise and our food choices all make a difference. It is easy to assume that if we are over or underweight, we should immediately either restrict or over consume more calories. But for most people, there may be a little more to it than that.

A holistic approach to weight management looks at all of these contributing factors and how they present in the context of your life. How has your weight fluctuated throughout your life, and what has been your “normal”? When we look a little more closely at the timeline of weight loss or gain, we want to look for other inputs that may have contributed to this change such as periods of prolonged stress, a change in your lifestyle, an injury that prevented you from exercising, experiencing a trauma of some kind or any hormonal changes. You may have the best diet in the world, but if you’re under chronic stress, unable to exercise or experiencing hormone or thyroid problems, these may be impacting how your body is holding weight. Some people dramatically lose weight in these situations while others may gain weight.

Learn More: Optimizing Weight With Holistic Nutrition

Questions to get you started with holistic weight support

  • How has my weight changed over the past year?
  • Why do I feel like I need to gain or lose weight now?
  • Do I know the reason for my previous years weight loss or gain?
  • What are the changes that I know will support my weight management?
  • What is my goal? Is it a number on the scale? How my clothes fit? How I feel?
  • Is this a realistic goal based on how my body has historically carried weight?
  • What are your obstacles in reaching this goal? And where can I get additional support?
  • What are you truly willing and ready to change in your life?

If you’ve been experiencing frustrations in maintaining your weight and need individualized support in finding a solution and long term plan, consider making an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors for a personalized approach to reaching your goals.

 

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By Lindsay Kluge
RNM Blog
Supporting Your Immune System In a Changing World

Although these past 18 months have been unusual in many ways, the basics of immune health are still applicable for supporting our body seasonally, especially as we enter fall and winter. Keep these primary habits in mind for your immune system this year, and remember – many of the best practices for our immune health are daily, preventive habits.

Maintain a whole food (mostly plant based) diet

A diet plentiful in whole, unprocessed foods with fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, adequate fiber and herbs and spices will keep our body nourished and strong. Maintaining a nutritious and balanced daily diet is truly one of the best self care + physical health and wellness practices we can do for ourselves every single day to support all of our organ systems and even our mental health!

Stay hydrated

Our body relies on healthy elimination and detoxification pathways in order to keep us functioning optimally in our environments. Water is such a key input that we need every single day in order for these pathways to work properly! So many of us are under-hydrating throughout the day, so keep in mind that we should be aiming to consume half of our body weight in ounces each day (not to exceed 100 ounces for women and 120 ounces for men). For example, if you weigh 160 pounds that’s 80 ounces of water per day. Try enjoying cold brewed herbal teas, kombucha, mint + cucumber infused water, or even add plenty of juicy, fresh fruits to your diet to increase your water intake

Remove triggering foods or lifestyle habits

The more things we are exposed to throughout the days, weeks and months that trigger our body to mount an immune or inflammatory response, the harder our body is working to keep our immune system constantly elevated. Thus, if you know there are foods that you cannot digest well, allergens that are triggering an inflammatory response, or behaviours that negatively impact your body, do your best to minimize or eliminate these from your daily life.

Read More: Naturopathic General Wellness Support

Eat your vitamin C!

Foods rich in vitamin C are also rich in antioxidants and help to support the vitality and strength of our immune system. Especially when we are actively ill, vitamin C has been shown to protect our body from oxidative stress and improve immune function when under stress. Foods such as oranges, cherries, parsley, kale, broccoli, lemons and strawberries are all great sources of vitamin C.

Continue to practice good hygiene and preventive habits

As always, washing your hands, covering your coughs and avoiding people or places with active illness are advisable preventive measures to support your immune system in any season.

Maintain a connection with Nature

Feeling a sense of connection with the natural world around us not only supports our mental health, but entrains our circadian rhythm to optimize sleep and maintain healthy energy levels throughout our days and nights. When our body is out of alignment with the natural rhythms of the world, we are more likely to feel imbalance and susceptible to seasonal bugs. Our immune health is closely linked to our levels of stress and rest, and these are closely tied to our connection with nature.

Read More: How Does Vitamin D Affect Immune Health?

If you need personalized support for seasonal immune health, consider making an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors here at Richmond Natural Medicine.

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By Richmond Natural Medicine
RNM Blog
Staying Nourished During Outdoor Activities

With longer days and warmer weather, more and more people are spending the day outdoors, and it’s important to be mindful that the summer season requires extra awareness in terms of replenishing our body.

Mid summer is the most physically active time for many, and there’s hardly a more exciting time for outdoor activities. What the body can more easily tolerate in the fall and winter is very different than in the summer, and it’s easy to forget (or not pay attention to) our body’s signals for nourishment when we are depleted from a long day in the sun.

Stay Hydrated – It’s very easy to become dehydrated in the warmer summer months, especially if we spend a lot of time outdoors being active and sweating. Aim to consume about half of your body weight in ounces of water each day, not to exceed 100 ounces for women and 120 ounces for men. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, that’s 80 ounces of water. Consume this throughout the day to maintain hydration, and invest in a large water bottle to keep with you if you’re out and about during the day.

More Tips on Staying Hydrated

Avoid prolonged sun exposure – Too much intense sun exposure can be draining and cause fatigue, skin irritations or cause you to become overheated. If you are spending much of the day out in the sun, bring some shade with you and do your best to avoid prolonged, direct sunlight between the hours of 12-4pm. You can also protect your skin by wearing spf clothing and high quality sunscreens.

Even if you don’t think you’ll need it – always pack and apply a clean sunscreen consistently during the day. The sun is a harsh reminder of how sensitive our skin is, and even a minor sunburn can be damaging to our overall skin health. When looking at sunscreens, look for zinc oxide as the main ingredient, and you can also check ewg.org to cross-reference your ingredients for safety.

More Summer Skin Care Tips

Snack on water rich, fresh foods – Plan ahead for your days outdoors by packing snacks that will not only nourish you, but provide some hydration relief and electrolyte support. Fresh fruits are ideal snacks for outdoor adventures as they are water rich, contain antioxidants and are refreshing to eat! Strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, raspberries and oranges make wonderful snacks on warmer days (and are a sneaky way to get more water in!).

Bring cooling supplies – Bringing along ice packs or ice water to soak a cloth in to place on your neck or face can be a welcome relief if you’re starting to feel overheated outside. This can quickly help to lower our body temperature – especially in our face and head – if we’ve overdone it in the heat.

Replenish – Consuming extra water, electrolytes, taking Epsom salt baths, eating plant-based nutrients, practicing skin / lymphatic massage and taking rest are all essential to allow your organ systems and muscles to recover from a day outdoors. Although you may have done simple outdoor things like floating down a river or playing lawn games, when the weather is so warm the body often overworks to account for the extreme weather and replenishment after those activities. Keep in mind that alcohol is dehydrating to the body, and if this was part of your day outdoors, you should be drinking twice as much water for every ounce of alcohol you’ve consumed. For example, for every 8-ounce beer, you need to follow that up with at least 16 ounces of water. Sounds like a lot (and it is!), so keep track of this and make sure you’re replenishing properly before, during and after your day.

 

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By Richmond Natural Medicine
RNM Blog
Summer Skin Care Tips

Summer is predominantly a hot, dry, and humid season, and depending on your personal makeup and location, it can be a challenging month to acclimate to especially if you have sensitive skin. It is a season where we need to take extra precautions to protect our skin from long hours in the sun or excessive heat. Here are some RNM summer skin care tips to get you through the season:

  • Wear sunscreen or SPF clothing. This is your first line of defense against long exposure to UV rays. Always opt for a mineral based sunscreen. Keep in mind that sunscreens are used in large quantities, all over the body and reapplied regularly. Thus, the (usually chemical) ingredients in sunscreens are absorbed into the skin and can be measured in the blood. When using a mineral sunscreen such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, these particles are larger and do not absorb into the skin (hence the white coating on the skin look). This ensures that mineral-based sunscreens are acting as a literal barrier between your skin and the sun, and not directly absorbed into your skin, or your blood. Here are some of the best sunscreens available recommended by the Environmental Working Group, and you can check your sunscreen ingredients within their database for safety.
  • Apply skin soothing herbs to sun-irritated skin. Aloe vera gel, chamomile or calendula compresses are great options to calm inflamed skin.
  • Avoid intense sun exposure during peak hours. Depending on where you’re located, this is usually between 11am-4pm. If you plan to be out in the sun, plan to do so earlier in the morning, or in later afternoon.
  • Hydrate! Maintaining internal hydration is so important to keeping your summer skin healthy and balanced. As a general rule, consume about half of your body weight in ounces of water, not to exceed 100 ounces for women and 120 ounces for men. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, that’s 80 ounces of water per day!
  • Nutrition: Focus on consuming colorful, seasonal berries (cherries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and grapes); nutrient-rich greens (rainbow chard, kale, collards, beet greens); healthy fats (avocados, coconut oil, olive oils, organic dairy products, high quality fatty fish and seafood, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds); plant-based/organic proteins (lentils, kidney beans, nutritional yeast, black beans, mushrooms, and even collagen powders).

A Natural Approach to Dermatological Health

Depending on your skin color, your age, your location, and your skin sensitivity, all of these recommendations can be customized for you so that your skin health is optimally supported long term. If you have concerns about summer skin health, or how to protect yourself this season, consider making an appointment with a naturopathic doctor at Richmond Natural Medicine to go over some strategies specific to your needs. Check out our naturopathic doctors specializing in dermatological concerns:

 

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By Richmond Natural Medicine
RNM Blog
Demystifying Cholesterol with Dr. Paskar & Dr. Gerep

Have you ever received lab work or a cholesterol panel that you didn’t know how to interpret, or understand what your results meant for your overall health?

Join RNM on Wednesday, July 14th at 6:00 pm for “Demystifying Cholesterol: A Naturopathic Perspective”, a virtual class with Dr. Paskar and Dr. Gerep. Together they will be discussing the different types of cholesterol, their connection to blood sugar, the importance of healthy fats for basic hormone function, and work with participants to complete a personalized, educational handout and diagram for continued learning. Richmond Natural Medicine always encourages the education and empowerment of their clients to learn more about their own health, and this virtual class is an excellent start for those seeking holistic support and understanding of their cholesterol.

What are the main topics you will be covering in this class?

We will be discussing how to read lipid panel results by understanding the meaning of the different sections on a lipid panel and how diet and lifestyle factors contribute to higher or lower cholesterol levels. 

Why is client education important?

Client education such as classes and panels are important because we believe in empowering our patients with the information and tools they need to improve their health. Getting high values on a lipid panel can be frustrating and confusing, yet so many of us are impacted by elevated lipids. Understanding which diet and lifestyle factors contribute to high values can help you be more active in your wellness journey and better prepared to make informed choices. Our hope is for participants to learn more about the function of cholesterol in the body and to feel more empowered in discussing their results with their doctors or other healthcare providers. 

Who should attend?

Our class is geared towards the general public and for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of cholesterol and how cholesterol levels can be used as a health-monitoring tool. In addition, class participants who are new to RNM will receive a $20 off coupon towards their initial Naturopathic visit.

When: Wednesday, July 14th at 6:00 pm

Where: Virtual – from the comfort of your own home or office

With: Dr. Shruti Paskar & Dr. Naomi Gerep

Cost: $25.00

Purchase Your Ticket Here

 

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By Lindsay Kluge
RNM Blog
The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise & Movement

Our mental health is influenced by such a huge array of situations, and our response in terms of our mental health balance is just as individual as we are. From childhood trauma and our personal relationships, to our home environments and our overall state of wellness, our mental health encompasses our perceived and experienced balance with the world around us, and our inner peace within us. Especially during times of trauma, world instability, familial discord and during a health crisis, our mental state needs care and attention. There are several tools we can use to support our mental health including professional counseling, naturopathic and nutritional support, and recent research is showing the additional benefits of daily exercise and movement.

Not only has exercise been shown to decrease levels of anxiety and depression, it has been linked to increased self esteem and cognitive function. This is likely due to the impact of exercise on our limbic system and overall stress response system which, through a lifetime of day-to-day stressors, can become overwhelming and difficult to manage. Daily exercise also has the benefit of improving quality of sleep – a foundational pillar for overall health and wellbeing. You may quickly notice an improvement in your sleep patterns when you begin the daily habit of intentional movement and exercise!

There is new and exciting research being done on the benefits of outdoor immersion on our mental health as well (see here), and combining our movement practice in the outdoors can be an excellent way to experience the benefits of ‘ecopsychology’. When we take a step back and look at the big picture, exercise fits into a quality of life structure that supports multiple body functions at once. Not only for mental health, the benefits of daily exercise and movement have a lasting and profound effect on preventing chronic disease, supporting our cardiovascular system, maintaining a healthy metabolism and weight, balancing our blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and strengthening our joints and muscles. All of these together are a large port of our entire health story, and mental health is a significant piece of our story.

Read More: Daily Practices to Support Mental Health

Getting Started:

  1. Take a 30 minute walk in nature, listening to the sounds around you and paying attention to colors, textures, and movements around you.
  2. Get up and stretch at least 5 minutes per every hour that you’re sitting during the day. This encourages circulation throughout the body and the brain.
  3. If pain or joint discomfort limits your ability to do impact movements, consider gentle swimming or chair yoga during the week.
  4. If your body allows, go on an afternoon hike with a friend or group to a new location.
  5. Keep resistance bands in your home for a gentle arm, leg and core workout while you’re working from home.
  6. Within two hours of waking, enjoy a 10-60 minute yoga session in a class, or in your personal home-practice.

This year, if you commit to adding daily movement and exercise into your day, keep a journal of your progress and note the changes that you see and experience in yourself. How did your state of mind shift from before your walk, to during and after? How does your body feel when you complete your run, jog or swim? How has your sleep shifted or improved? Tracking these small changes can bring a greater sense of awareness to how your body and mind respond to lifestyle shifts, which can be profound over time!

If you need additional personalized support in finding holistic solutions to your health needs, consider scheduling an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors at Richmond Natural Medicine.

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By Lindsay Kluge
RNM Blog
Naturopathic Residency at RNM: Behind the Scenes

Richmond Natural Medicine is one of the few clinics on the east coast where graduates with a naturopathic medicine degree can complete their residency to gain additional mentorship and guidance during their first year of clinical practice. This is a unique opportunity to develop their clinical practice skills seeing their own clients, while also rotating with the other doctors within the practice to increase their expose so various health conditions and outcomes.

RNM currently has two naturopathic residents in our practice: Dr. Naomi Gerep and Dr. Shruti Paskar. Each share their personal experience of what it’s like behind the scene of the RNM residency.

Watch: Meet Dr. Gerep and Dr. Paskar

What is involved in a naturopathic residency? What sort of skills and training are involved?

Dr. Paskar: Naturopathic residency programs, similar to conventional residencies, can differ significantly based on the program and focus of the residency site. Many of the residency programs are based in primary care, in states where we are recognized as primary care physicans, and require skills and training of a general medicine or family medicine doctor. Naturopathic clinical residency sites are located in hospitals, universities, or often private clinics and some are also able to provide opportunity for additional training in IV medicine or minor surgery.

One of the ways the RNM residency site is unique is that we are in an unlicensed state and even though we have all passed our board exams and hold licenses to practice medicine (in another state), we cannot perform physical exams, order labs, or prescribe pharmaceuticals in Virginia as we would be able to in other states that do recognize us as physicians. 

However while this creates some barriers to care, it can also encourage more collaboration with other providers and use of natural therapies which is what we’re here to do. I continue to use clinical reasoning skills from a naturopathic and primary care perspective, just in a different capacity here.

Dr. Gerep: We see our own patients but also have time scheduled every day for us to do rotations with each of the other providers in office so that we can exponentially increase our exposure to different conditions and the therapeutic approaches used by each provider. The residency also involves a mentorship with Dr. Hollon, in which she is available to guide us when we encounter difficult cases.

Tell us about a day in the life of the RNM residency.

Dr. Paskar:  A typical day starts 30 minutes before the clinic opens — prepping for patients and maybe charting. Naomi and I will then either see our own patients or rotate with other doctors in the clinic for the entire day. We also help out with administrative tasks when we are needed.

Read More: Naturopathic Appointments: A Comprehensive Guide to What is Included and What to Expect

What’s your favorite part of a typical day? 

Dr. Gerep: My favorite parts of the day are spending time getting to know new patients, and getting to hear about the progress that an established patient has made since their last visit. I also love making customized herbal formulas and leafing through my homeopathic repertory to find the perfect remedy for a patient.

Why did you choose the residency at RNM?

Dr. Gerep: I chose the residency at RNM for many reasons. First of all, I am originally from Tennessee, so helping improve access to Naturopathic Medicine in the Southeast region of the country has been a dream of mine. Secondly, despite having been exposed to many conditions and patients while in school, I felt that I would benefit greatly from having additional mentorship and guidance during my first year out in practice. Finally, this residency has allowed me to learn a lot about what running a Naturopathic practice in a pre-licensed state looks like.

Dr. Paskar: I applied for the RNM residency because it was in an unlicensed state where I knew I would be challenged out of necessity to develop care plans based completely in natural medicine as opposed to also being able to use pharmaceuticals as we did in school.

How does the ND residency experience better prepare you for clinical practice? 

Dr. Paskar: An ND residency is special because mentorship under a medically-trained naturopathic physician offers an opportunity to understand and develop a unique perspective and skillset in medicine compared to what most people have access to in the United States. 

This is extremely important because no matter what state a person is in, natural medicine can always be a useful tool in improving their health, if you are knowledgeable and skilled in its use. The options in natural medicine are seemingly infinite and I find it empowering for myself and my patients to be able to share that with them. Residencies exist so new doctors with limited experience can continue to explore and train in their profession under the safety and guidance of a skilled practitioner aka apprenticeship, which is how medicine was traditionally taught. We have medical schools now which are critical in understanding the foundations, but sometimes lack true apprenticeship which to me is integral in becoming a truly developed physician. With this residency site also being a small business, we have also been able to observe operations and decision-making from an entrepreneurial perspective which will also serve us in our own practices one day.

Dr. Gerep: Entering an established practice has allowed me to start seeing patients immediately, and at a volume that would have likely been impossible if I were in practice on my own. Not having to worry about marketing, scheduling, paperwork, etc. has been great because I can focus on delivering care and cultivating myself as a practitioner. I am also able to gather information about the business side of things, which I’m sure will help make the process smoother once I endeavor to start my own business in the future.

Share with us your experience with collaborating with the other practitioners at RNM.

Dr. Gerep: If there is a clinical situation I haven’t encountered yet or otherwise do not feel totally comfortable with, I always feel extremely supported by the other practitioners, by their wisdom and experiences.  Sometimes I will ask every provider about a case, and they will each have a different and unique perspective, which allows me to integrate and synthesize all of their experiences to inform my overall understanding of a condition or clinical situation. I love that this allows me to shape the development of my own philosophies of medicine from a more balanced perspective than relying merely on textbooks and what I see with my own eyes.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Gerep or Dr. Paskar, click here, or call our office for more information.

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By Lindsay Kluge
RNM Blog
Springtime Liver Support

Springtime can be one of the more noticeable and abrupt seasonal shifts from cold to warm, with plenty of weather fluctuations within a short period of time. During this time, it is important to gradually include gentle liver support throughout the early spring so that it has opportunity to subtly and effectively transition with this new season. Spring is one of the optimal seasons to focus on supporting liver health and detoxification for several reasons.

  1. With the abundance of new spring bitter greens, our digestive system is primed this season to enjoy the benefits of nourishing, cleansing and stimulating bitter foods that naturally support liver health and detoxification.
  2. With increased environmental allergy exposure, it is important to make sure we are supporting the liver to process and facilitate these increased allergens from our body.
  3. Our diet and lifestyle habits can shift considerably in early spring. We may be moving and exercising more, eating fresh foods, and even traveling a bit more. Supporting our liver health also ensures that we have optimal energy and “lightness” to participate in experiencing this season to the fullest.

Read More: Batch Cook: Weekly Spring Staples

Nutrition for Optimal Liver Health

  1. Include bitter spring greens in your diet once a day such as dandelion greens, arugula, mustard greens ad baby kale.
  2. Stay hydrated with plenty of filtered water. Approximately half your body weight in ounces per day is recommended (ex: if you weight 160 pounds that’s 80oz of water daily).
  3. Try to consume at least 5 different colors of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. The more color in your diet means the more vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants you’re consuming which are all excellent for liver health.
  4. Enjoy your meals about 4 hours apart so that your digestive system as a chance to fully digest the previous meal.
  5. Minimize alcohol intake to no more than two days per week. Alcohol is one of the more difficult inputs for your liver to handle.

Read More: Heal from Within: How Colorful Foods Support Detoxification Pathways

Herbs for Optimal Liver Health

  • Dandelion greens and root
  • Burdock root
  • Calendula
  • Nettle
  • Artichoke

Each of the above herbs are rich in nutrients, and support our liver and detoxification pathways through bitter flavor, nutritive compounds, and gently stimulating actions. Enjoyed as a tea, nettle, dandelion, burdock, calendula and nettle are classic springtime herbal allies for liver and digestive health, while artichoke is often enjoyed as a tincture diluted in a bit of water.

How are you noticing the change in season this year? If you need support with balancing your health and wellness during this time, consider making an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors for guidance and individual support.

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