6 Strategies to Make 2015 Your Healthiest Year Yet

Recently I enjoyed reading Atul Gawande's book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. It eloquently raises an issue that most physicians shy away from: The fact that we can't cure everyone. Some patients die. Eventually, we all die. So what matters most is how we live. And while a cure isn't always possible, healing always is. Everyone can heal on some level, physically or emotionally or both. Make 2015 your best year yet with these six strategies to help you heal.

Holiday Eating Survival Guide

The holiday season is the most difficult time of year for my patients to stick to the healthy diet guidelines I've recommended for them. So they're always relieved when I explain that what we eat most of the time is more important than what we eat just once in a while. There are some exceptions, like people with severe food allergies and those who struggle with food addiction, but most of the time I don't discourage an occasional indulgence as long as some basic rules are in place. Follow these ten tips to eat well and stay healthy this holiday season.

The 10 Worst Foods for Prediabetes

Prediabetes, the state of metabolic imbalance that precedes diabetes, is a growing epidemic. In the United States alone it affects 1 in 3 adults of all ages, 1 in 2 elderly adults, and almost 1 in 4 adolescents.

The condition is characterized by high levels of blood sugar and/or insulin, the hormone that helps cells in the body absorb sugar from the blood. Sugar in the blood comes from the foods we eat, so eating the right foods is one of the most powerful steps we can take to reverse prediabetes. There are other important steps – like exercising regularly, getting good sleep, managing stress, and undergoing detoxification – but making positive dietary changes is a good place to start.

DIY Lavender Salt Scrub

This easy DIY salt scrub will help smooth your rough edges this winter. It also makes a great gift. I used coconut oil to make this salt scrub, but you could substitute almond oil or olive oil.

How to Find Your Perfect Water Filter

More than 50 million people in the United States drink polluted water. In fact, US drinking water has been found to contain more than 300 contaminants and more than half of them are not subject to safety guidelines. Forty-nine chemicals that are regulated have been found to exceed safety limits.

Halloween Healthy Treats

This Halloween, choose healthier treats. Give trick-or-treaters something to encourage activity or creativity, like finger puppets, yo-yos, small games, coloring books, colored pencils, or Halloween-themed stickers, notepads, or erasers.

If you want to give out edibles, pick sturdy fresh fruit like apples or oranges, boxes of raisins, single servings of raw almonds, individually-wrapped string cheese, or 100% xylitol-sweetened candy.

Naturopathic Medicine Week

The United States Senate declared October 6th through 12th to be Naturopathic Medicine Week as a way to recognize "the value of naturopathic medicine in providing safe, effective, and affordable health care" and the role that naturopathic doctors play in "preventing chronic and debilitating illnesses and conditions."