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Greetings!
Here we are in April. What happened to March? The spring seemed to arrive quickly and for a moment we seemed to be in summer! March break for those of us with kids was wonderful. It was so nice to be without all the cold weather clothing!
April is truly our spring - hot and sunny one day and snowing the next! It is also a time when we think about cleansing. Spring cleaning for both our homes and our bodies. That's what we will talk about this month. Feel free to share with your friends and family.
Enjoy!
Tara
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So what about detox?
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In spring we have a n atural inclination to cleanse. Our bodies are shifting from winter to summer and the foods we eat and crave change. This is an excellent time to give the body a chance to do some internal cleansing. For some, just an "abuse break". Giving yourself a week (or a day) away from caffeine, alcohol or sugar is a great start. Replacing it with a new healthier habit like drinking water or walking helps you get started in the right direction. This is also considered cleansing. You have given your body a break from the bad habits and started a new good habit. Given the proper environment your body has the ability to heal itself and return to optimal function. There are many types of detox programs out there, ranging from the "master cleanser" to fasting to "the ultimate colon cleanse". But where to start? Of course a personalized approach is the ideal route. Your naturopathic doctor can help you determine where you need the most support and which organ is the most congested. For those not ready for that type of detox, just picking a "vice", like sugar or caffeine, is a perfect place to start. Eliminate your vice for a week and see how much better you feel!
Now cleansing is much more than just physical. You also need to pay attention to your environment. That brings us to the next topic - digital detox.
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TV can shorten your life
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 Did you know that TV can actually shorten your life. Researchers in Australia studied a group of 9,000 individuals. They were separated into 3 groups. 1. Those that watch more than 4 hours of TV a day, 2. Those that watch between 2 and 4 hours and 3. those that watch less than 2 hours a day. In the end the group that watched 4 or more hours was 80% more likely to develop deadly heart disease than those in the less than 2 hour group. 80 percent! That is huge. The explanation seems to be related to the act of sitting. People are sitting too much in their daily lives. We move from sitting at a desk at the office to sitting in front of the TV at night. This could be expanded to screen time in general. Do you know that on average people watch over 4 hours of TV and spend another 4 hours on the computer/video games - that's per day. If you sleep for 8 hours that means you are spending half of your waking time in front of a screen (or all of your leisure time if you work 8 hours a day!!). It also means that we are in deep trouble if we don't help our kids stop the trend. For more information check out the book
The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life
Why not spend a week in digital detox. That means spend the week eliminating non-essential screen time. (That is outside of the work environment) No facebook, no twitter, no computer games, no TV. Go out and talk to your neighbours. Walk or ride your bike. Get reconnected with the outside world.
I know it is a bit ironic writing about digital detox in an email. I am in need of getting away from the computer in my personal time too. In fact, I think I'll go walk the dog.
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The Great Newmarket Smokeout
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 No it is not Henry's famous barbeque. It is about quitting smoking. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you could do to improve your health. (or improve your fertility guys!)
Can you stop smoking for just one day? To celebrate Naturopathic
Medicine Week please join me at the
Newmarket Public Library on May 4th at 6:30pm to see how naturopathic medicine can help you
stop smoking and remain smoke-free. I am also including for those interested an initial
stop-smoking hypnosis session and reinforcement CD. If anyone you know is ready or getting ready to quit please call the office at 905-836-2723 to register or visit our registration page.
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