This week., I am STILL limping on that MCL sprain/mensicus issue! More interesting stuff, like having to use a hinged brace, heavy and hot in June! And more staying off the bike. I was a lot better a few days ago and rode a couple of days and now I'm set back; obviously not healed yet. HInged brace, exercises, rest, ice, elevation, specific exercises. Unlikely need for surgery! We also went back to discussing the microbiome, GABA, and sleep, and there are easy ways to improve sleep by eating the right foods and getting the right probiotics. We touched on help for high blood pressure and we'll pick up on that next week.

This week, I talked about my knee injury! There are great natural ways to help with knee pain, as long as the injury isn't TOO severe. I had marked knee pain for a few days that rapidly improved with the right care! Rest, ice, compression, elevation. Helpful salves. Chiropractic and acupuncture. Kinesio tape! PT exercises. All good stuff! Also, it's strawberry season, and the first strawberries have come out. Here's why they're good for you! We finished with starting to review one more talk from the CNPA summit, about GABA, the microbiome, and sleep. Did you know that Camden, NJ and Detroit, MI are the worst places to try to get enough sleep? I wonder how that compares to East Windsor, NJ, where I grew up???

This week, I had MORE to talk about from the CNPA conference. So much great stuff! I started with Lyme disease causing arrhythmias. Lindsey Wells talked about the use of HELMINTHS, yes, WORMS, as a probiotic treatment epecially in the autism spectrum, and for PANS and PANDAS. Then we moved on to a GREAT talk from my friend and classmate Lorilee Schoenbeck all about the history of naturopathic medicine. Way to get inspired again! Then Robyn Kutka gave a great talk about natural hormone replacement therapy. Seems we don't need to be as cautious as we thought, and it can be very helpful!

This week, I am fresh from the Connecticut Naturopathic Phyiscians Association conference. So much to learn! I did a redux of the first few talks. We started with inflammatory bowel disease, moved on to natural treatment of cancer, then tick borne illness, then a great talk about herbs for cardiovascular disease. I am so grateful to my colleagues for putting together such helpful, informative talks!

This week, I started talking about the very important topic of hypertension, high blood pressure. Our focus this week was on basic lifestyle things to do to lower blood pressure. Some of it is SHOCKING! Stuff like: eat more vegetables and fruit, eat more clean protein, drink more water, get more exercise, stop smoking, do stress reducing activities like deep breathing, leisure walks in nature, yoga, and meditation, and get good quality and quantity of sleep. WHO WOULDA THUNKIT??? It's so important that we'll pick up on this next week, and include actual supplements that help with blood pressure.

This week, we found that Ron is plugging along and had a not-so-good day because yesterday he dared to work in the yard. His poor muscles just don't want to be disturbed! We are hoping that this will just take time and he'll be back to his favorite activities soon. As for me, my tremors have been quiet, and I'm hoping that's in part due to the low dose lithium orotate, and that the herbs are working to clear any remnants of tick borne illness! However, I have to face that I have hereditary hypertension. All the supplements and stress-reducing activities are just not working to get my blood pressure into a safe zone. So, I'm going to try a low dose of an angiotensin receptor blocker. My mom and sister are both on blood pressure meds and they work well for them. My mom is also on an ARB but my sister is on a pair of diurectics. I am taking an ARB because they are safer for athletes, in that they don't dehydrate you nor reduce your cardiac output. More about hypertension next week!

It's SPRING, and that means beautiful flowers, trees, and POLLEN! So we did a nice review of what to do for your respiratory allergies. Neti pots, supplements, nasal sprays, foods, we've got it all!

This week, we unfortunately found out that Ron had to get off his bike to help his legs heal further. The PCSK-9 inhibitor may still be in his body, and when he exerts himself his muscles hurt. We are doing everything we can to speed the process of healing, including proteolytic enzymes to break down the drug, milk thistle to rebuild liver cells, and resveratrol to protect his arteries from further damage. It's going to take TIME. As for me, I rode 32 miles yesterday and feel good! My femoral jnerve pain is greatly reduced since the ride. I am assuming the ride provided positioning and circulation to get the nerve out of the way.

We then talked about negative effects of caffeine. As delicious as a good cold brew or your favorite coffee with creamer is, too much caffeine can lead to dependence, insomnia, heart rhythm issues, and digestive issues, to name a few. We get into it here!

This week, we talked about Shilajit, this interesting, antioxidant-rich substance that comes from the HImalayas. It has a lot of fulvic acid in it which is detoxifying and free-radical quenching. And it's energizing and helps with hormone balance! We also talked about rhodiola, plant extraordinaire that is energizing, an immune tonic, and helps with altitude sickness. And LITHIUM, the nervous system's best friend! It can be helpful with simply improving anxiety to helping with dementia to preventing murder, suicide, and rape in towns where it's high in the water. I wonder if the US, Israel, Gaza, and the world need to microdose lithium?