Most people know that they should be watching their intake of salt, but how many of them know what they should be watching for?
Ideally we should be keeping our intake of sodium to less than 2300 mg per day, less than 1500 mg if you have high blood pressure or have a family history of it. Do you know what that looks like? One teaspoon, 15 ml, per day – that’s it.
Now, one teaspoon is actually quite a bit of salt. Very few people would add that much from the shaker to their food. The major culprits are processed foods and fast foods. Enter label reading.
To keep your levels down, try to keep main meals at less than 500mg and your snacks at less than 200 mg. Manageable with packaged foods, but very hard with fast foods.
A Wheat Carrot muffin from Tim’s has 660 mg of sodium. A Mandarin Chicken Salad from Wendy’s has just over 1200 mg.
Do yourself a big favour – pack your lunch. If you can’t, at least check out the nutritional guides on-line so that you don’t eat what you think is a healthy option only to find out later that it wasn’t.

Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton ND

Sodium – how much are you getting?Read More

I have recently had two women in my office who have been experiencing gallstone attacks. Upon further investigation, I found out that both women had been doing a cleanse.
Although cleanses are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, there are times when they need to be done with extreme caution, and preferably under the care of a qualified professional. Gallstones are one of these cases.
If you have gallstones you need to be aware that a sudden decrease in caloric intake or a drop of dietary fat under 10g per day can lead to severe attacks. This is scary, as a stone could get lodged in the duct and lead to emergency surgery.
If you or someone you know has a family history of gallstones, or a personal history of gallstones, please see you Naturopathic Doctor before starting a cleanse or weight loss program.

Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton

Gallstones and cleansesRead More

So there I was, feeding my nine month old son, watching CBC, when I heard it – organic food is not any more healthy than conventionally grown produce. http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/07/30/organic-food.html
I had so much to say, and only Patrick to speak to. It was at that moment that I knew it was time for me to blog.
And so, here I am writing my first. Welcome.

Back to the organic food thing for a moment. I think these studies are necessary but misleading. Unfortunately, most people won’t seek out the actual study and read it before making their decision. From what I see, people from both sides of the argument are using the same study to support their point of view. http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/organicreviewappendices.pdf

We as a culture are so dissociated from our food. How many people really think about what is on their plate and where it came from? For those who would like to explore this, I recommend Micheal Pollen’s books The Omnivore’s Dilemna and In Defense of Food. These books were the first that I read that echoed my thoughts. He presents the argument beautifully. He discusses organics grown at a small local farmer, vs. organics grown in a pesticide-free agri-business. Visit www.rootedinhealth.ca/contact.htm to obtain a copy.

Here’s what I think. Grow some lettuce in your backyard or in on your deck in a box. Cut some, wash it (or not) and eat it right away. Buy some lettuce from the supermarket. Wash it, and eat it right away. If you can’t taste the difference, then go ahead and keep buying from the supermarket. Me? I’m going to grow what I can, then I’ll walk down my street and buy the rest from the local farmers.

Organic food study leads to bloggingRead More