Blog
Brio is moving to a new BIGGER office!
We are SO excited to announce to all of our patients that we are moving at the end of this month!
We are moving down the hall to a much larger office, which has more rooms for us to expand.The new office is almost 3X the size of our current office. It offers a large room for us to run our Weight Loss Rehab program,offer more educational presentations and offer more services to our patients.
Visit the blog and be sure to follow our newsletters to stay posted on our exciting changes.
Check out your local Farmers Markets
I was talking to my Weight Loss Rehab group the other week, that when I go grocery shopping I dont just shop in one store. It's funny, I used to do one-stop shopping at the local grocery store. However, over the last few years I have become really passionate about what I put in my body. I shop produce at one location, eggs at another...you get the picture. With sumnmer around the corner, I really enjoy checking out the local Farmers Markets. I grew up in Tsawwassen and love the Ladner Farmers Market. You can find such great assortments of local veggies and fruits, breads, specialty cheese, free run eggs and more!
Are you looking to shop a local Farmers Market? Search the BC Association of Farmers Markets to find a market near you.
Acupuncture & Low Level Laser Therapy for Elbow Pain
Celebrate Dr.Neetu's 10 Years of Practice
Prevent Seasonal Allergies with Chinese Medicine
Spring! The mild temperatures, the daffodils in bloom, downtown full of Sun Run-ners, our neighborhood streets densely lined with cherry blossoms, the opening of farmers markets and (the theoretical possibility of) less rain in the near future. We are drawn outdoors by the inviting weather and community events only to be faced with that dreaded sneezing and sniffling.Chantel's Moroccan Chick Pea Salad
½ a bag of thawed organic frozen green peas
1 big bunch of cilantro chopped up (stems included)
1 small orange pepper (chopped in small pieces)
1 small yellow pepper (chopped in small pieces)
½ a red onion diced (thin small pieces)
Drain chickpeas from the cans and put in to a colander. Rinse under cold water to get
all the brine off them. Lightly pat dry and put in a big bowl. Add the thawed green peas,
chopped peppers, your diced red onion and the cilantro. Once all this is done add it to
your bowl and set aside. Ok now its time to make the dressing for the salad.
You'll need:
500ml container of 2% Greek yoghurt
½ a juiced lime
1/8 cup (or more... to your taste) of curry powder
½- 1 tbsp sea salt
Mix all these in a separate bowl. Taste to make sure the seasoning is how you'd like it
before adding it to the salad.
Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 4 hrs or longer in fridge so the flavours
have time to fuse together and enhance each other. NOTE: you may not need all the
dressing you made. I usually make big batch of this ( I add another 2 cans of chickpeas
and a full bag of thawed green peas) so it lasts us 5-7 days in my fridge. It never makes it
past day 2 or 3 in my house.
ENJOY!
Chantel
Don't forget about the most important person this Valentines....YOU!
Learn to love yourself unconditionally. Dr.Neetu: Completed 30 Day Food Combining Challenge
Oct 11-Nov 11th I embarked on a 30 Day Food Combining Challenge. If you need a bit of a refresher as to what the challenge entailed, have a look back at the guidelines! "30 Day Food Combining Challenge".
The 30 days actually flew by. However, having said that, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I could eat this way forever and it didn't seem so hard. But as soon as Nov 11th hit, my body innately stopped food combining, or made it really difficult to continue. So I will try to explain what I actually did.
I generally eat gluten free; the only dairy I consume is goat milk cheese and raw milk cheddar cheese; and sugar free. I used to be anaphylactic to lentils, beans and peas, although I am no longer, I just generally still avoid all these. When you grow up thinking a "pea" can kill you, it kind of the best way to stop any need or desire for that food, dead in its tracts. Lets just say, me and pea's are not friends.
Anyhow, I will lay out a typical diet intake, and then below will indicate how I modified it:
B - 2 poached eggs with cheese and guacamole + 1/2 cup of granola (protein+carb)
L - Beef and vegetable spaghetti sauce with 1 cup of brown rice pasta (protein+carb)
S - 1/2 cup black berries+ 1.5 scoop Dream Chocolate Whey Protein+1 tbsp virgin coconut oil = Smoothie (ok exception to combining rules)
D - Fish and vegetable thai coconut curry+ 1/2 cup of buckwheat noodles (protein+carb)
30 day food combining challenge modification:
B - 2 poached eggs with cheese and guacamole (protein+veggies)
2 hours later snack - 1/2 cup of granola (carbs)
Lunch - Beef and vegetable spaghetti sauce + spaghetti squash (protein+veggies)
2 hours later snack - 1 cup brown rice spaghetti aioli - made with olive oil, garlic and green olives (carbs+veggies)
Snack - protein smoothie same as above
Dinner - Fish and vegetable coconut curry (protein+veggies, an fish is not combined with dairy)
Can you see how I did that? Was not to difficult! I basically split up my 4 meals to 6. The extra carb only meals provided a bit of a challenge as it was a bit of extra cooking. I can't just eat spaghetti on it's own, so I had to cook an extra sauce for that spaghetti in place of having it with the meat sauce. The second thing I found most challenging was breakfast. The timing of having the eggs separate from granola. Was a bit hard to fit that in while working. If I had gotten up 2 hours earlier, it may have been easier, however, I generally did not. But I did manage to get everything in, and keep it separate.
How did I feel? It was quite a neat experience. I may not be the best to provide feedback, as I have changed and altered and played around with my diet so many times. Earlier in my health history it was out of need, and later on it became moreso about tailoring to my own personal body chemistry. So I didn't experience any cravings. I did have a bit of a headache for one or two days, but it was very minor.
I noticed a huge improvement in overall digestion. I thought my digestion was great, but apparently it can get alot better, and so it did!
I noticed overall less puffyness in my entire body.
I think with proper and complete digestion it eliminate the overall stress of the digestive tract and therefore, the entire body. The majority of the nervous system is located in the gut. So the theory of Ayurvedic medicine is to have strong digestive fire, and that will result the absence of disease and long term health.
Ayurveda encourages us to take responsibility for our health as much as possible by making appropriate changes in diet and lifestyle. What we eat and how we live on a daily basis can be our strongest allies in changes in diet and lifestyle. What we eat and how we live on a daily basis can be our strongest allies in restoring and maintaining health. All other therapeutic measures will be strongly supported by this daily effort. According to Ayurveda, there is no separation between body, mind and consciousness. Healthy gut, equals clarity of mind and a sense of ease with daily life.
I had a big A-ha moment while doing the 30 day challenge. Is that there are so many diets out there to treat various conditions, to build muscle, to make a political stand for the environment, and everyone feels there way is the best way to eat.
You can be vegetarian, you can be vegan, you can be gluten free, you can have a paleo diet and consume all meat products and no carbohydrates, you can have no carbs at night only protein..etc..etc. And the list can go on and on.
However, what is the common thread of all of the above diets? At some element, if you partake in any of the above diets, you have to food combine.
Paleo diet - all meat, no carbs = follows the laws of food combining
Vegetarian/vegan - all plant source carbs+grains and no animal protein = follows the laws of food combining
Gluten free - if you can't eat gluten, you have to do more meals with just the protein+veggies, or protein+plant based carb such as potato's. Innately when you go gluten free, there is far more meals of food combining included. And less mixing of carbs+protein. = follows the laws of food combining
No carbs at night - even just that one meal allows you to sleep with completely digested food not resulting in any stress to the system = follows the laws of food combining, even for just one meal per day.
All of these diets are decreasing the stress of the digestive system, and therefore the entire nervous system.
That was my huge epiphany. I think it is unlikely I can food combine for the rest of my 6 meals per day. But I am committed to at least one meal per day. And if I can include more, that is just a bonus!
We would love to hear your feedback if anyone tried the challenge along with me. Please email us or comment on facebook.
Until the next challenge. In health, Neetu
Dr.Neetu: Completed 30 Day Food Combining Challenge
Oct 11-Nov 11th I embarked on a 30 Day Food Combining Challenge. If you need a bit of a refresher as to what the challenge entailed, have a look back at the guidelines! "30 Day Food Combining Challenge".
The 30 days actually flew by. However, having said that, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I could eat this way forever and it didn't seem so hard. But as soon as Nov 11th hit, my body innately stopped food combining, or made it really difficult to continue. So I will try to explain what I actually did.
I generally eat gluten free; the only dairy I consume is goat milk cheese and raw milk cheddar cheese; and sugar free. I used to be anaphylactic to lentils, beans and peas, although I am no longer, I just generally still avoid all these. When you grow up thinking a "pea" can kill you, it kind of the best way to stop any need or desire for that food, dead in its tracts. Lets just say, me and pea's are not friends.
Anyhow, I will lay out a typical diet intake, and then below will indicate how I modified it:
B - 2 poached eggs with cheese and guacamole + 1/2 cup of granola (protein+carb)
L - Beef and vegetable spaghetti sauce with 1 cup of brown rice pasta (protein+carb)
S - 1/2 cup black berries+ 1.5 scoop Dream Chocolate Whey Protein+1 tbsp virgin coconut oil = Smoothie (ok exception to combining rules)
D - Fish and vegetable thai coconut curry+ 1/2 cup of buckwheat noodles (protein+carb)
30 day food combining challenge modification:
B - 2 poached eggs with cheese and guacamole (protein+veggies)
2 hours later snack - 1/2 cup of granola (carbs)
Lunch - Beef and vegetable spaghetti sauce + spaghetti squash (protein+veggies)
2 hours later snack - 1 cup brown rice spaghetti aioli - made with olive oil, garlic and green olives (carbs+veggies)
Snack - protein smoothie same as above
Dinner - Fish and vegetable coconut curry (protein+veggies, an fish is not combined with dairy)
Can you see how I did that? Was not to difficult! I basically split up my 4 meals to 6. The extra carb only meals provided a bit of a challenge as it was a bit of extra cooking. I can't just eat spaghetti on it's own, so I had to cook an extra sauce for that spaghetti in place of having it with the meat sauce. The second thing I found most challenging was breakfast. The timing of having the eggs separate from granola. Was a bit hard to fit that in while working. If I had gotten up 2 hours earlier, it may have been easier, however, I generally did not. But I did manage to get everything in, and keep it separate.
How did I feel? It was quite a neat experience. I may not be the best to provide feedback, as I have changed and altered and played around with my diet so many times. Earlier in my health history it was out of need, and later on it became moreso about tailoring to my own personal body chemistry. So I didn't experience any cravings. I did have a bit of a headache for one or two days, but it was very minor.
I noticed a huge improvement in overall digestion. I thought my digestion was great, but apparently it can get alot better, and so it did!
I noticed overall less puffyness in my entire body.
I think with proper and complete digestion it eliminate the overall stress of the digestive tract and therefore, the entire body. The majority of the nervous system is located in the gut. So the theory of Ayurvedic medicine is to have strong digestive fire, and that will result the absence of disease and long term health.
Ayurveda encourages us to take responsibility for our health as much as possible by making appropriate changes in diet and lifestyle. What we eat and how we live on a daily basis can be our strongest allies in changes in diet and lifestyle. What we eat and how we live on a daily basis can be our strongest allies in restoring and maintaining health. All other therapeutic measures will be strongly supported by this daily effort. According to Ayurveda, there is no separation between body, mind and consciousness. Healthy gut, equals clarity of mind and a sense of ease with daily life.
I had a big A-ha moment while doing the 30 day challenge. Is that there are so many diets out there to treat various conditions, to build muscle, to make a political stand for the environment, and everyone feels there way is the best way to eat.
You can be vegetarian, you can be vegan, you can be gluten free, you can have a paleo diet and consume all meat products and no carbohydrates, you can have no carbs at night only protein..etc..etc. And the list can go on and on.
However, what is the common thread of all of the above diets? At some element, if you partake in any of the above diets, you have to food combine.
Paleo diet - all meat, no carbs = follows the laws of food combining
Vegetarian/vegan - all plant source carbs+grains and no animal protein = follows the laws of food combining
Gluten free - if you can't eat gluten, you have to do more meals with just the protein+veggies, or protein+plant based carb such as potato's. Innately when you go gluten free, there is far more meals of food combining included. And less mixing of carbs+protein. = follows the laws of food combining
No carbs at night - even just that one meal allows you to sleep with completely digested food not resulting in any stress to the system = follows the laws of food combining, even for just one meal per day.
All of these diets are decreasing the stress of the digestive system, and therefore the entire nervous system.
That was my huge epiphany. I think it is unlikely I can food combine for the rest of my 6 meals per day. But I am committed to at least one meal per day. And if I can include more, that is just a bonus!
We would love to hear your feedback if anyone tried the challenge along with me. Please email us or comment on facebook.
Until the next challenge. In health, Neetu
Diabetes – Are you at risk?
Diabetes in your family? High blood pressure? Waist circumference greater than 31.5 inches? East or South Asian ethnicity?
An estimated 9 million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes. Of these, 1 million Canadians live with diabetes without knowing it. The difficulty is we can have prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes without obvious signs and symptoms so often diagnosis (and care) is delayed. The key, however, is to be able to identify our risk of diabetes so we can make effective changes right away. Why right away? Insulin production is 35% of normal by the time of diagnosis! That’s less than half the production of this critical hormone by the time many of us are made aware of a problem.
Using information such as age, body mass index, waist circumference and family history, the simple Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire (CANRISK) calculates a risk score to let you know if you’re at low, moderate or high risk of developing diabetes. It takes only 3 minutes to do and you may be surprised by some of the risk factors!
High risk (scores greater than 33): have a 2 in 5 chance of already having or developing type 2 diabetes
Moderate risk (scores between 21 and 33): have a 1 in 7 chance of having or developing type 2 diabetes.
For the above groups, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing may be indicated. This blood test can diagnose or rule out diabetes while also giving us an idea of your blood glucose control over the past 3 months.
Whether you want to reduce the risk of developing diabetes or you are already taking medication for diabetes, we can provide effective therapies to improve blood sugar control at every stage. We provide thorough but targeted multisystem physical exams, in-office HbA1c testing (results in 5 minutes!), clinically researched nutrients and specific, individualized nutritional and physical activity recommendations based on your risk factors and overall health. For the month of December, Dr. Carin is providing complimentary HbA1c testing with an initial naturopathic consultation – only while tests are available!
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