Dr Kristin Spark ND, Naturopath

This was such a magical day. 08-17-24 Our new beginning. I am still revelling in the glow of it all✨💕 I promised pictures to some of you, so here we are😉

We had amazing vendors that made our day so special! Our venue experience was excellent!! It was wonderful to work with as many local businesses as possible for our wedding. I wanted to share who we worked with, because they all truly delivered an amazing experience for our day!

On August 17th Aaron and I are going to tie the knot!
🪢 💕🥂✨👰🏻‍♀️🤵🏻💒 I am so excited to get married to this man!!!!!!!

I will be taking some time off of patient and clinical care before and after the wedding to prep, relax, and enjoy our newly wed bliss☺️💕 I will therefore be out of office from August 13-26!

✅Be sure to book your appointment now, and contact the clinic ASAP for prescription/hormone refills.

On this day 8 years ago I crossed the graduation stage and collected my naturopathic medicine degree from - 4 years of academics, clinic hours, exams, assignments, and most importantly friendship with my colleagues!!💕

I can’t believe it’s already been 8 years, but I guess when I look at my hair colour that’s a clue 😜

I am so thankful to love my life’s work helping people through their health challenges to thrive and understand their body deeper. I love to SPARK ⚡️ your curiousity about the body and its interconnectedness. 💕

🌱💚Spring has sprung!✨

I keep seeing SO much garlic mustard everywhere while out on walks, and I think this is natures way of telling me to use this medicine 🌱

This plant is part of the brassica family and is invasive. This plant is edible and though I’ve not tried it, I’ve been told by a wise herbalist and forager that this makes a great pesto!

I think I’ll try it this weekend💚👍🏼

✨Join us for Embrace Wellness: a three part event for women to embrace their inner strength, peace and health!

✨Spring is a time of fresh life, hope and renewal. Turn over a new leaf and meet some like-minded ladies, as we move three this a three part wellness event.

1️⃣ Functional strength class with .fit.with.brittt
2️⃣ Yin yoga class with
3️⃣ Health talk with naturopath

When: Sunday, April 28th from 1-3pm
Where: Conestoga at the gorgeous .strength.embodiment
Who: Anyone can join! The fitness class and yoga class are for all abilities!

✨$35+ tax investment🤍free swag bag🤍giveaways 🤍 community and connection 🤍 Get your ticket from .fit.with.brittt link 🔗 in bio!

IMMUNE MISCONCEPTIONS!

Though we are almost out of cold and flu season here in Ontario, Mother Nature is giving us one last blast of winter here in Ontario! I know I have personally been affected by cold and flu season this year. If you're a parent with a young child in daycare you'll get it. It's been a lot!

There is a lot that we can do to support a healthy immune system, and yet, sometimes getting sick is just part of the road towards building immunity.

With my patients, I discuss targeted immune supplements, testing vitamin D levels and other markers for immunity, lifestyle changes like optimal sleep and regular exercise, and a balanced diet rich in proteins and veggies and fruit.

If you're feeling run down, and wanting to discuss immune system health, let's chat! Send me a DM to get started!

AN INITIAL INTAKE WITH ME!

This is the DEEP dive. The information gathering session. The starting point to which we can launch into further investigations, treatment discussions, and building your unique care plan, together.

During your initial intake we will:
- review your goals and concerns
- review relevant tests or imaging reports that have been done
- your medical history, family medical history, medications, allergies, supplements
- a review of all systems - sleep, stress, diet, exercise, menstrual cycles, etc.
- relevant physical exams

This conversation uncovers a lot. The information you provide, and the questions that I ask help us to understand the root causes, and the health whole picture.

Not everyone is used to speaking to a healthcare provider about themselves and their concerns for up to 75 minutes, so this can feel like a big download of information. I aim to make patients are comfortable as possible, while thoroughly getting the information I need to help you make informed decisions.

Then, we are ready to discuss the next steps. This often looks like:
- dietary changes, or specific nutrition strategies
- lifestyle tools like, movement goal setting, and stress coping tools
- clarifying investigations, tests, or questionnaires
- targeted supplementation, if indicated

I send you on your way with a customized action plan - consider this a starting point. How you respond to treatments (or do not) can provide great feedback, and so we always need a follow-up to assess progress and fine-tune our treatment plan - especially if testing uncovers new diagnosis, or focus areas.

Update: I am now taking on a LIMITED number of new patients in my practise. Book a discovery call to see if we are a good fit, and let's get started!

One of my patients recently told me "I love your brain"!!

I have had experience working with over 1000 patients. Developing, refining and perfecting my skill set. I have learned a lot. The benefit of working with me, is that you will get access to my experience, expertise, and my health strategy!!

In an age of artificial intelligence, social media health influencers and coaches, and wellness info literally at our finger tips, you need a clinician strategist!!
Someone to cut through the noise. To give you clarity and direction. Let me your strategist.

If you're ready get clear on what you need to do NOW to feel less bloated, have more energy, improved mood, and happy hormones... then we need to chat!

Book your discovery call to see if we are a good fit to work together! Link in bio!

THE WELCOME BACK APPOINTMENT! You've seen me for naturopathic care before, but it's been a while... 😅

💖Think of this appointment type as the short & sweet, condensed version of the Initial Intake (75 minutes - the deep dive). This 1-hour appointment is used to re-assess where you are at NOW.

📝I send you a short intake form before your Welcome Back to get the updates about your goals, and health changes.

✍️A LOT can change in one year -- so, in order to fully assess your health, discuss testing and treatment, and fully build out your plan, we simply need more time than the Follow-Up appointment can offer.

💰BONUS: because you're already under my care, you can save some money with this appointment type vs. the initial consultation fees!

If it's been over one year since your last consultation, then Welcome Back into my care circle. Let's dive into it together again!!! 💖

It takes 15 minutes... ⏰ Make healthy eating easier by planning ahead for the week on Sundays!

📝A tip I have been sharing with patients a lot lately, is to spend 15 minutes once per week, and PRE-PLAN. Flying by the seat-of-your-pants at 5:00pm is stressful, and you don't need that type of added stress!! Additionally, this helps to reduce food waste, and who doesn't want to lessen their footprint?

🍽Pre-plan your dinner meals (at a minimum), for Monday through Friday. Plan to make for servings of lunch leftovers the next day, and then to stock up on grocery and pantry items for healthy snacks. Keep it simple. Choose one new recipe to try each week on a night that you have time to experiment, OR stick to the tried and true recipes that you can implement without issue.

🍓🥑🥚🥕🧀A few of my favourite snack recommendations are:
- a fruit with nut butter/cheese
- greek yogourt, granola, and berries
- hard boiled eggs, with veggies & hummus
- toast with cottage cheese or avocado
- mixed nuts & dried fruit

Which one is your go-to? What did I miss? Share with me in the comments! 👇

Let's talk about the DUTCH test!

Firstly... is this test catching a lot of airtime on TikTok or something? Patients keep asking about this test and I can't understand why. Someone fill me in!👇

Secondly, this test is used to assess hormones, metabolites, and organic acids. It was designed by Precision Analytical (PA), and has been tested for it's validity by PA. This has it's limitations!

I use this test when I need data, and it's clinically relevant, to look at:
- cortisol & it's metabolites,
- DHEA & DHEAs,
- epinephrine,
- dopamine, and
- melatonin
This gives us GREAT clues about the adrenal/circadian hormones, and the nervous system state, and it does help to guide treatments & outcomes. I find it to be most useful in cases on unresolved: fatigue, weight gain, sleep problems, low motivation, addictive behaviour (food, substances).

I do NOT recommend to my patients to use this test when I am exclusively interested in estradiol, progesterone or testosterone hormones - in most cases blood is sufficient, accurate, and cheaper!

Sure, there are other options to look at those markers mentioned above. The point here is that a clinical decision about which test(s) are needed (if any!) is individualized! Labelling one test as "bad", or "good" doesn't really serve anyone, and there is absolutely more nuance to the conversation then that.

Speak to your healthcare provider about testing options that fit YOUR unique needs. Understand the limitations of a test before jumping on board with it.

Want to learn more about working with me? Book an online discovery call!

As we enter into a new month, here are few gentle reminders to take with you today! 💖