Sandra Murphy, ND Naturopathic Doctor

Shambhala School Pre-Primary to Grade 12 Open House We invite you to drop by our Pre-Primary to Grade 12 Open House at the Shambhala School on Wednesday, July 3rd starting at 6:00pm. This event is an excellent opportunity for prospective families to explore the unique offerings of our school. We encourage anyone who might be considering a change in t...

So I did a new thing on the weekend. A year and a bit after realizing my love of all things barbell, .and.wellness.studio encouraged me to try a powerlifting meet! As someone without a lot of anxiety or fear of public speaking, I finally understand "Do It Scared".
Nerves abounded, but I hit 7 out of 9 lifts for 3 new Personal Bests.
What a welcoming community lifters are. People I had just met were clapping, encouraging, and teaching the ropes.
Every day, the body of evidence for the benefits of strength training grows.
Start today.
Lift heavy.

Weight bias is pervasive in health care. Many health care practitioners shame body weight for a litany of health conditions. Ones weight is deemed solely one's personal responsibility. Judgement is placed on those in larger bodies for "burdening the health care system".
Fat bias is a societal problem, and so it is also a problem in medical education both conventional and naturopathic. THINNESS DOES NOT EQUAL HEALTH. Associations have too long been deemed causation and those bodies larger than deemed acceptable are shamed as a "problem". Whether they are in the white coat or across the desk.
A study of female medical students showed 79% had body image dissatisfaction despite normal BMI (Bosi, 2016). This is a ripe environment for eating disorders.

Today, the Government of Canada and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health announced the launch of the 9-8-8: Su***de Crisis Helpline across the country.

This easy-to-remember number will connect anyone in Canada to free 24/7 su***de prevention support by phone calls and text.

If you or someone you know is thinking about su***de, please call or text 9-8-8 for judgement-free su***de prevention support. You are not alone.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/uchE50QcRIa

Reminder-If you have a therapeutic light, you can't benefit if you don't use it! 15-20 min can make a big difference to your mood and brain fog on dark dreary days 🌧

"Certainly, MDs concerned about the harms of pseudoscience should be open to dialogue and partnership with NDs who follow evidence-based approaches rather than summarily dismissing the entire profession."

https://healthydebate.ca/2023/11/topic/naturopathic-doctors-underutilized-partners/?fbclid=IwAR0y8ZhlN1RPHCrZyhrjkVWeNIg6oDFb3pHbnn1R2Lbai2l-uUKR39ZxiGw

Naturopathic doctors: Underutilized partners in public health and primary care - Healthy Debate Naturopathic doctors (NDs) have an important role to play in the health-care system. We need a pilot project to assess the viability of ND integration into team-based primary care models.

Happy Halloween from a celler spider that loves my clinic. She moves around, hunting the spiders that really scare me and I let her be. A symbiotic relationship 🕷
Friendly reminder; taking kids candy away from them Ala the Switch Witch doesn't teach them self-regulation. Offer a solid meal before leaving tonight. Allow them to eat what they want while offering other snacks. Seasonal sweets make memories.

Second installment of supplement ads that DRIVE ME CRAY-CRAY! Overpriced American products who put their $$ into influencers and targeted ads instead of the product. Canadian-made supplements like have gone through a process to prove effectiveness for label claims. (Look for an NHP #) Not only are they available locally saving you $$ on shipping and duty charges but they are often 1/2 the price and in Canadian Dollars. Other favourite Canadian supplement companies are

Ugh. What a load of $ #!+
640mg proprietary "blend" ÷ 29 things in the blend = ~22 mg each if equal amounts.
Even if rounded up to 50 mg (2 cap dose) each day, that is well below an amount that could possibly elicit a response by the body. For example, mustard seeds are typically dosed between 2-4 grams a day or 40-80 times what is in this formula.
Don't waste your 💰 save it for groceries.
The only interventions with years of good data that can improve your quality of life "after 40" regardless of your unique health needs (which is a separate thing) are:
♡timely primary care (think bloodwork/blood pressure screening and early intervention in acute illnesses)
♡weight training
♡consistent movement that incorporates balance (whatever that looks like for you: walking, zumba, chair yoga, hiking, jogging etc)
and
♡NOT undereating
💪 🚶‍♀️ ❤️

They aren't perfect and will take adjustment but if you have them, wearing your hearing aids regularly points to some pretty positive outcomes for slowing the onset of dementia.

New Evidence Hearing Aids Help Slow Cognitive Decline Hearing aid use was linked to a 48% slowing of cognitive decline among individuals at increased risk of dementia, results of a first-of-its-kind, randomized trial show.

If you need me, I'll be eating Kitchen Sink Salad for the rest of the summer. 🥗 Vermeulen Farms' Canning-grown romaine hearts are at the grocery store and what a difference! I added 🍒 🧀 🥓 🥒 🍅, garden herbs and tortilla crisps for crunch!
(Fruit on salad? Heck yeah)

Eating food recently picked, enduring minimal transport/plastic exposure increases the tastiness exponentially! Do you have to pretend to like vegetables? Maybe they have all just travelled too far? 🤔
After a season of drought, fires, and floods our farmers need all of our support. There has never been a more important time to buy local delicious food.

New Patients will notice a new disclaimer when booking in ➡️. After TWO new patients "No-Showed" today (in a row!!😡) with no phone call/email/explanation/excuse I am implementing a policy where I will be tracking the offenders, and you may be prevented from booking in the future.
I work limited hours, and when one doesn't cancel in a timely manner, it lowers my earning potential, prevents others from getting timely treatment, and it's RUDE.

Take your daughter to Work 💪 Day!
This is our movement joy; pushing sleds, incline bench press, walking lunges, deadlifts-etc! Proud to show my kids that exercise is a gift and not a punishment. Many, many thanks 😊 to .and.wellness.studio and for a and safe environment to show Nina bodies are made to move!

Land plants have been around for 470 million years longer than humans. We are their descendants, standing on the shoulders of plant evolution. Our reliance on plants is undisputable. The oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, shelter, clothing and MEDICINE.
Human metabolites mimic the molecular composition of plants not the other way around. 👈
Plant molecules provide INFORMATION for our bodies. Sometimes stimulating, sometimes nourishing, sometimes calming or transmitting safety. Pictured are some of my favourite plants I use often in my practice to help connect bodies to their environment.
I hold them in reverance and with gratitude, (top left to bottom right):
Ashwagandha
Barberry
Calendula
Ginger
Licorice
Neem
Passionflower
Reishi
Vitex

Do you have a favourite plant?

Vitamin D is most hyped for its role in strong bones/muscles and prevention of chronic diseases. Yet every day I see Vitamin D deficiency contributing to frequent infections and autoimmune disorders. Not getting enough of this crucial "vita-hormone" prevents your immune cells from SEEING properly. Not only will they have difficulty finding virus-infected cells or bacteria but there is an increased chance of your immune system misidentifying your own cells as invaders. In both cases increased levels of inflammation is the result. Never a good thing.
Vitamin D needs vary from person to person, 1000 IU per day is ideal for some while inadequate for others. See your health care practitioners to determine what is appropriate for you.
In Mi'kma'ki, oral Vitamin D (AKA D3) supplementation is vital from the time the leaves change colour until they are completely back on the trees. If you need to protect your skin with strong sunblock or are inside most of the day in the summer ☀️ you will need to take it year round to maintain your levels.
Parents PLEASE ensure your children are getting Vitamin D. Over half of my pediatric patients haven't been getting Vitamin D since infancy. This needs to change.

More blood work info for you In Nova Scotia the standard thyroid screening test is not actual thyroid hormone but the pituitary hormone TSH.
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (abbreviated TSH) is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T4 ), which when activated to triiodothyronine (T3) stimulates the metabolism of almost every tissue in the body.
TL:DR
Pituitary: TSH
Thyroid: T4
High TSH --low T4 (HYPOthyroid)
Low TSH --high T4 (HYPERthyroid)

When the thyroid gland secretes T4, the pituitary gland reacts to the amount of hormone in the blood stream. If the level of T4 is high, the pituitary gland does not secrete TSH. A low level of T4 in the blood prompts the pituitary to secrete TSH, which in turn causes the thyroid to react by increasing the production of T4.

A lower level of T4 in the bloodstream corresponds to a higher level of TSH. If a blood test shows that the TSH level is higher than normal, the patient is diagnosed with hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism causes some body systems to function at a slower rate. Some symptoms of an underactive thyroid include:
• Fatigue.
• Constipation.
• Weight gain.
• Feeling cold.
• Decreased heart rate.
• Depression.

A higher level of T4 results in a lower level of TSH in the blood. Patients with lower than normal TSH are diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid. An overactive thyroid causes an increase in some areas of metabolism and symptoms such as:
• Insomnia.
• Frequent bowel movements.
• Weight loss.
• Overheating.
• Increased heart rate.
• Jitteriness.
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Taken together, overwhelming evidence confirms that when it comes to drinking alcohol: Less Is Better. The
and agree, the only low-risk consumption is 2 or fewer drinks per WEEK.
Alcohol is a carcinogen (cancer causing substance) and is linked to at least 7 types of cancer. Drinking less or no alcohol is among the top 10 heath habits to prevent cancer.
But what about the French Paradox? Drinking alcohol prevents heart disease, thins the blood, right?? Nope. Turns out Pathologists in France in the 1950-80s, were reluctant to list heart disease as a cause of death when the death occurred outside a hospital. THAT is the only reason it appeared France had less heart disease. Alcohol has no protective effect, it only harms.
Speak to your health care practitioners if alcohol is playing a big role in your stress management. Check out for info and inspiration of where to go/what to do if you are sober-curious. Also and
have great info to help make "alcohol small and irrelevant" (Wendy McCallum- love that!)

Most nutrition science come down to this: Eat As Many Vegetables As You Can Afford.
Unpopular Truth: Most conventionally raised vegetables don't taste good. Baby carrots can taste of chlorine, apples and broccoli that taste like their plastic packaging, green peppers that are super bitter etc... I hear it every day. "I know I should eat more vegetables but I don't want to."
I don't blame you, with the abundance of choice we live in, vegetables need help to compete with other foods. If you do not have access to locally grown vegetables from great soil that haven't spent time in plastic, proper cooking techniques can help A LOT!
Check out this great video from Ethan:
1:32 1. Salt is the seasoning, not herbs or spices
4:40 2. Use fats, thoughtfully
6:56 3. Embrace high heat (+ convection)
8:12 4. Give the vegetables space and time
9:21 5. Try parboiling
10:30 6. Frozen vegetables are your friend
11:41 7. Add flavor enhancers after roasting
📃 RECIPE Link(s) in video description

Why are a restaurant's vegetables so much better than homemade ones? Today, I show you why roasted vegetables at a restaurant are so good and how you can replicate them at home.Inspired from Shaquille ‘s vid ➡️Why ar...