Seattle Naturopathic Doctor | Deborah Epstein, ND

Step 1? Eat real food. Unfortunately, that’s not a joke. Our supermarkets teem with “edible non-food.” By “non-food” I mean: anything with ingredients that you can sooner imagine a scientist cooking up in a lab, rather than your great-grandmother cooking up in her kitchen.

Step 2? Eat high-quality whole food, close to the way nature grew it. Free yourself from obsessing about carbs, or your percentage intake of fat. Rather, eat a variety of foods (not including any you have a sensitivity to), as close to their whole and unrefined state as possible. For example, rather than skipping fats, choose healthy and natural fats. Choose brown rice or quinoa with your dinner, over flour-based (especially white flour) pastas or breads. Choose a high-quality protein source (such as beans, nuts, and seeds) at each meal. Or, when you do eat small quantities of animal-based foods, buy from a farmer’s market, a market like PCC or Whole Foods, or direct from a small organic pasturing operation. In short, find a source that raises their animals naturally, and helps you opt out of the industrialized farming methods that are dangerous to health – yours and the planet’s.

Step 3? Eat clean food. Speaking of industrialized farming, many of the most popular produce items are grown with synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers that not only deplete nutrients and harm the environment, but leave toxic residues on the food you eat. Email me and I'll send you information on the “Dirty Dozen” – the 12 most-contaminated conventionally grown produce items (i.e., that you want to switch to buying organic).

Educating on developing a nutritional program that works for you is what I do. To schedule an appointment, call 206.547.1980.

May you enjoy luminous good health,
Deborah Epstein, ND

Digestive complaints aren’t exactly polite dinner conversation, but what you enjoy at dinner may have a direct effect on what complaints you’re likely to be making in my office the next day. Haven’t noticed that direct a link? You're not alone; without experienced support, you probably wouldn’t be able to pin it on a certain food, even if in the end the inquiry turns up one clear culprit. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1.       Do you have a long-term relationship with constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating, or some combination of the above?

2.       Do you feel tired after eating?

3.       Have you duly detailed your digestive discomfort to a doctor, only to have them tell you, after potentially much uncomfortable poking and prodding that there’s “nothing wrong.”  Or that you “just have Irritable Bowel Syndrome – sorry, there’s no treatment.”

4.       Are there any foods that you eat daily?

5.       Do you eat wheat and/or dairy, in one form or another, every day?

6.       Do you have any skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, mystery rashes, even acne) that you’ve tried 100 creams on, but won’t go away?

7.       Do you have chronic respiratory problems or nasal/sinus congestion?

If you said yes to any of these, you may have a food intolerance -- the result of any food you personally don’t digest well. Its undigested presence in your digestive tract creates an inflammatory reaction; all sorts of delightful digestive drama may then ensue.  

That inflammation can cause what is loosely known as “leaky gut.” [But don’t panic, it’s nothing that requires an adult diaper.] Too-large molecules make it into the bloodstream, when they should have been broken down further before being permitted to enter. This sets up an immune response, which may create a variety of symptoms on your skin, in your respiratory mucosa, in your joints, and more.

If any of this sounds unpleasantly familiar, call my office today to schedule a free introductory consult. Through blood tests and/or an Elimination/Re-challenge diet, we can find the culprit. Healing up your gut is absolutely possible, will get you digesting as properly and painlessly as those good ol’ days, and is very likely to improve your overall health and energy. Even in this tough economy, fixing your digestion is a smart investment in both your short- and long-term health.

May you be blessed with luminous good health,
Deborah Epstein, ND