Being that it’s winter I am feeling the lack of good fresh produce this time of year. I have tried to make up for it by growing indoor herbs, but they never seem to survive in my kitchen. What I found has worked are homemade sprouts. It’s remarkably easy (and it works all year round), as well as being a great source of vitamins and minerals.

Materials you will need:   A wide mouth jar (like a mason jar) Cheesecloth or fine mesh Elastic band Small bowl Sprouting seeds (available at health food stores)

1. Place jar on cheesecloth to measure the size of cheesecloth you will need. Cut the cloth to 2” larger in order to be able to fold it over the edge of the jar.

2. Measure 1.5 tbsp of seeds. Place seeds in jar, cover jar with cheesecloth and elastic band. Add 1 cup of water to soak overnight.

3. In the morning drain the water and rinse the seeds, invert the jar so that any remaining water drains out. (use the bowl to hold the jar inverted at approximately 45 º)

4. Rinse the seeds twice a day (morning and evening). Keep jar inverted in between rinses.

5. Sprouts are ready in 3 – 5 days. Transfer sprouts to a container to be refrigerated until you are ready to use them.

6. Add sprouts to salads, sandwiches or wraps. Enjoy!

This method of sprouting works best with smaller seeds, such as alfalfa, red clover, canola, broccoli, radish seeds.

You can also find sprouting kits that contain the necessary equipment for making your own sprouts available at health food stores. Good Luck!

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Have you ever lost weight on a diet only to gain it all right back? This is an all too common scenario and the problem often lies in your metabolism.

Extreme dieting puts your body into starvation mode, so your body starts to break down muscle tissue for energy. This is exactly the wrong kind of weight to be losing, since muscle burns calories. If you lose muscle you lose the ability to burn calories.

When the diet is over and you want to go back to eating normally, you start to gain weight, but this time in the form of fat.

Maintain a healthy body composition

Your body is composed of two types of tissues: body fat and lean body mass. The lean body mass is made up of your organs, bone, water and muscle. We can measure these tissues through a test called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) to gain a more accurate picture of your body composition. When losing weight the question is: are you losing fat, water or muscle? We want to target the fat tissue.

Achieve healthy weight loss

Our goal is to help you reach results that last through healthy body composition. This way as you lose weight you can keep your metabolism going strong.

Another benefit of returning to a healthy body composition? You are also reducing the risk for disease. Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis and osteoporosis can all be significantly reduced by proper body composition.

You will receive nutritional advice that is specific to your needs and your progress will be followed using the BIA body composition test. This is not a crash diet; rather it is a healthy way of life that you can keep up for years to come.

If you would like to get started on the right track, call us to book your appointment today.

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Our hormones are like messengers that control almost all our body functions. From sleep and hunger to mood, fertility and digestion, hormones are responsible for keeping all of these in check. The problem is that when our hormones are out of balance our bodies pay the price. Some of the most common hormone imbalances include thyroid conditions, PMS, menopause or simply feeling burnt out.

Hormone replacement is not the only answer.

In fact, we want to avoid hormone replacement as much as possible. Natural medicines such as herbal and nutritional remedies should be considered first since they are the safest way to rebalance hormones. These treatments individualized for each patient’s needs.

“In my practice I see the effects of hormones everyday. Many patients come to me knowing something is not right with their body, but until now had no way of knowing what was wrong. Often they are frustrated that they are gaining weight, tired, not sleeping well and just not feeling like themselves. I see how this impacts a person in their everyday life and I am committed to helping each patient feel their best" -Dr Barbara Dao

Want to learn more about hormones?

Dr Dao will be speaking about Naturopathic Solutions to Hormone Health

Date: Tuesday May 4th 2010 at 7:00 pm

Location: Eaton Family Health Care, 38 Queen St W, Cambridge

This is a free talk, but seating is limited. Please call (519) 220-0003 to reserve your spot

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