About one year after Merrin was born I was still super tired. I blamed in on school and being a new mom but enough was enough and I decided to go to the doctors and get some lab tests done.
Everything looked fine…even my thyroid panel which is what we thought might be off. Despite the fact it didn’t appear that I was iron deficient, my amazing doctor decided to dig a little further and tested my ferritin levels. Ferritin is a globular protein that is pretty much the primary storage of iron in the body. My levels were minuscule…so I was anemic, very anemic.
The reason I am telling this story is to show the importance of really getting to the cause of a problem. Be diligent with your doctor about having a few extra tests done. Sometimes you need to pay for these tests but usually it is not much more than $20.00.
A good friend of mine just purchased this for her house. It is a UV-C light meaning the light can alter the genetic structure of bacteria and viruses thus killing them. It is not new technology and the first usage was in France (1909) to aid in disinfecting their water system. Its efficiency tests were quite impressive by the Harvard School of Public Health and an independent third-party laboratory.
But I wonder if this is a total necessity for the average household. Everyday our bodies fight off thousands of bacteria and viruses, and with that, our immune systems become stronger and smarter. If our immune systems do not get a chance to do this, well then, maybe our bodies do not gain strength and power?
Well, it is really a toss up…if you eat healthy, take care of yourself then maybe the GermGuardian can add a little more relaxing moments for your immune system. However if you are not willing to be proactive in your health and fuel your body optimally, then you are really doing a disservice to your body.
This was exciting to me - HBD first Blog Review - and a great one at that! Browse around Andi’s blog ( after reading abut HBD first!) as she has many interesting tales to tell!
This is a bit of a hot topic right now, and I think it should be!
At this moment there is really no regulation from the FDA on supplements until they are on the shelf. The Council of Responsible Nutrition says that by-law a supplement company must put what is in the bottle on the label. This is a great start, however, some mis labeling can occur. For example, with Echinacea, it is the root that is highly medicinal. To keep costs down a supplement company may want to only use 5% of the root and 95% of the rest of the flower. With no real regulation, this type of business may occur.
I highly suggest that people visit their doctors - naturopathic, medical or chiropractic - and purchase their supplements through them. There are great supplement companies at the local stores but I would do some research on the companies first or even ask your doctor for a company he recommends. It will save you some money and most importantly, keep you healthy on the best supplement.
With school just around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to introduce my new discovery, Jonesy’s Allergy Cards.
An allergy card is a custom card created for your child with their name, birth date, allergies, EpiPen directions and your contact information.
To me, they seem quite essential if your child has any type of allergies from food to bees.
Jonesy offers 2 types of cards, one for a restaurant and one for play dates, that will escort your child wherever they are going. Jonesy will help design a perfect card that fits your child’s own specific needs.
Please pass this information on to anyone you may know who has a child with allergies. It is really an inexpensive way to inform people about your child’s needs.
Be well,
PS Jonesy designs an array of beautiful cards (they do custom work as well), so take a minute and check out her site
I stumbled across this article from a fellow friend and naturopathic physician. Love the conclusion!
“Daily dietary probiotic supplementation for 6 months was a safe effective way to reduce fever, rhinorrhea, and cough incidence and duration and antibiotic prescription incidence, as well as the number of missed school days attributable to illness, for children 3 to 5 years of age.”
PMID: 19651563 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
I think probiotics are extremely helpful in preventing sickness and help during a sickness. We usually have a daily smoothie and I love my kids getting some fruits from the smoothie, but I really love to throw in some extras goodies to help keep their immune systems strong. Probiotics are one of them along with Nordic Natural Cod Liver Oil and Vital Kids Berry Well.
You may be able to pick some these supplements at your local healthfood store or you can purchase through my site with Emerson Ecologics ( the access code is 96743).
The HBDs are at it again! At it in the kitchen that is! This month Merrin ( with the help of Pearl) are making one of their favourite snacks ~ Mochi. It is an easy snack, can be healthy ( depending on what you decide to stuff it with) and is gluten free ( I love that!)
So please go check them out on my site on the Healthy Kids page. Just click on the recipe card!
And watch for them next month as they ventured int a local restaurant to create something really fun and creative!
My kids have started school …..and now I am working, quietly except for my few YIPPPEEES, with no interruptions.
Every year before school starts I take them to visit their doctor. Since she became their doctor, this is the really the only time and reason we go see her. My older daughter always complains but I think it is important to establish a relationship with your doctor in case something does happen and you really need them.
Ok well this is what happened. Our health insurance changed this year and when I handed over the new cards the receptionist told me that the girls check up would not be covered. I was baffled. How could they not cover something clearly so preventative. And then later in the day I stumbled across this article, “Rate of severe childhood obesity up sharply in U.S.” Maybe if parents didn’t need to pay the $100 or so for the yearly check up, this number may not be so high!
I realize that no simple answer exists but do realize something needs to occur and that it will have to be multiply of things,for example, free yearly check ups, more outdoor play time (PE), and educating the children more about their bodies ( this is where Human Body Detectives could play a role).
Let me know what you think and what problems you may have with your insurance company.
I stumbled upon this website, natural doctors international, (actually I think I stumbled upontheir video first – see below) and was blown away with what they are doing.
This is directly from their site:
“Natural Doctors International delivers natural medicine to underserved communities throughout the world and works with local peoples and international agencies to advance natural medicine and fully integrate it into global health care. NDI focuses on primary healthcare delivery, global health education, global health policy, research in natural medicine, and socially responsible volunteerism and service. Our medical rotations and global health courses are for licensed naturopathic physicians & acupuncturists, chiropractors, nurses, herbalists, midwives, and conventional medical doctors with an interest in natural medicine. Undergraduate students and lay people are encouraged to apply to our programs as well.”
I wish I had known about this when I was in school. I love to travel and am always amazed at what the third world countries are doing for their healthcare. I love that NDI is helping them be more proactive (and even re introducing) in their own botanical medicines and teaching so much more. It is very empowering for these people and for the people of the organization.
If you have a moment, please watch their video and if you have some time to donate or have some monies, please contact them.
I have never really mentioned where you can purchase my book! Human Body Detectives: The Lucky Escape can be found on Amazon or on my Human Body Detectives site ( where there are also some free downloads!)
The book includes a 24 page workbook ( full of puzzles and games), 2 pages full color stickers and an audio cd.
Today we had out first Human Body Detectives book signing. Unfortunately, Pearl missed out on the first part as she had a soccer game, but did manage to enjoy most of the excitement.
We set up a table for people to ask questions and browse through the book, a table to listen to the theme song, watch the book trailer and do some colouring.
It was a lot of fun and I would like to thank everyone who came out to support me ( and for the library - Mr. K was a pleasure to work with!)
Our next book signing is scheduled on August 30th from 10am to noon at Huli Sues on the Big Island. Hope to see some of you there( the HBD tattoos should be in by then for some added fun!)
This is the last week of summer break. We have had a perfect summer combo of absolute craziness and absolute laziness ( some days the kids never got out of their PJs!) Now it is time to get back into a schedule and to get the kids immune system strong before they are back in a classroom with many kids ( and bugs!)
This is the plan….
1. Go to bed earlier ( all of us!)
2. Eat regular meals at regular times (this maybe hard!)
3. Start putting Berry Well in their morning smoothie ( this will be easy!)
And adding some Probiotics and definitely Cod Liver Oil will be good. You can purchase some of these supplements at your local Health Food Store or through my site with Emerson Ecologics.
This is one of the things you find on the Healthy Kids page ( remember the recipe?) Well, I am so happy with the design of this page ( or the start of the evolution of the design……I now understand how things change when the creative juices begin flowing…very fun!)
If the full version is just too long for you, here is a shorter one.
PS Nina with Jonesy created the graphic design and Gillian, also with Jonesy, put it all together with her techno genius! Their site is super! Check it out when you have a chance.
The other morning Merrin emerged into the kitchen with one very PINK EYE! I just didn’t want to acknowledge as treating pink eye naturally is really hard. I ignored it for a while and then decided I really needed to be a proactive mom and doctor.
This is I wanted to do ( I have had great results with it in the past):
Make a Boric Acid eye rinse
I searched EVERYWHERE and I could not find any boric acid. Hmmm…not very orgnized lately I guess, however, I did stumble upon Wise Woman Herbals, EUPHRASIA EYEBRIGHT.
“Yippeee,” I said to myself happy that my best parent ever ego ( haha) was coming back!
Euphrasia Eyebright is very concentrated so I added a few drops to a good amount of saline, tested it out on my eye and then gently poured it into Merrin’s infected eye while wiping it clean. We did it a few times and then let it go. A few hours later we did it one more time despite the fact it looked perfect-the redness was gone!
I have to admit I was quite surprised at how fast it cleared up. The eyebright is now in perfect sight in my natural pharmacy and I have added it to my Emerson page in my shopping supplements section (remember the access code is 96742) for all of you to order. I highly suggest everyone have some Euphrasia Eyebright handy!
Very recently, I decided to create a facebook fan page for my human body detectives series.
I am writing, adding pictures and just keeping everyone up to date with what me and my little hbds are up too. We have been super busy this summer and we could all use a little holiday. Too bad school starts soon but we are planning for a BIG trip for next summer!
A few months ago, I began to ponder the idea of taping the kids cooking favourite yet simple , healthy ( well sometimes!) snacks and meals. I asked Merrin and Pearl about it and luckily they are always up for something new. At first we thought Merrin would film but now with a few videos done, we can see that being in front of the camera is where the action is!
You will find their creations by going to www.drheathernd.com and clicking on Healthy Kids. You will then see the recipe card ( above). You can watch their silliness and print up the recipe. We have some good friendly kid recipes coming up and we are even going into a local restaurant to create an adult entree into a kid entree!
Have fun!
PS while you are on the Healthy Kids page, listen to the HBD theme song!
I am very lucky to be involved with LAVAMAN. The owner and coordinator is truly a gift to the Big Hawaii by putting her time and effort into this triathlon.
My connection with Lavaman will be to help out with their LavaKids Youth Triathlon camp. I have yet to see it in action but just the thought of helping to promote children to get out and have fun swimming, biking and running is a sure sell to me.
Their site is very informative, and you can sign up for the triathlon ( coming up fast - September 13th! but do not worry because they have another one in March - Waikoloa!), and/or sign up your kids for the camp.
It is all exciting and I will keep you up to date with it all!
Be well,
PS there are many YouTube videos, especially about Chris McCormack, but this one stood out to me.
This was the real deal! I was really excited ( and a tad nervous) but then became even more excited when I noticed that all of the musical sound equipment was made by a company called MANLEY! It seemed to be a sign….
From the moment I suggested to Pearl that she might want to spend her music lesson coming up with a theme song for Human Body Detectives and hearing Pearl ask Jessica, the creativity was on this project did not stop! I never imagined it would get this far ( but deep down I hoped!)
Pearl and Jessica started the lyrics and I tightened them up. Jessica then put the music to garage band, we went into Charles Broteman’s studio and did it live with Karl. Karl polished up the mix and VOILA!
I hope you love it!…..PS you will need to go to my site www.drheathernd.com and click on the Healthy Kids page to hear the final mix!
The other week while I was in a store promoting my book, HBD: The Lucky Escape, a gentleman approached me and asked what “online school” I went to for natural medicine.
Hmmmm…I thought as I explained to him that I received my bachelor’s degree in pre-med and then went on to spend five years at an accredited medical school, National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon.
I realized that it might be important that I explain the difference between an “online school” and an accredited school in a blog.Not only do licensed naturopathic physicians(N.D) have far more education, we have years of clinical experience, which is vital to treating patients.
I highly suggest that people seek out licensed N.Ds and ask for verification. N.Ds may be members of the American Association of Naturopathic Medicine. This is a great place to find a N.D. close to where you live. There are now many accredited schools in North America:
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About one year after Merrin was born I was still super tired. I blamed in on school and being a new mom but enough was enough and I decided to go to the doctors and get some lab tests done.
