Radio Naturopath Episode 297: St. Patrick's Day, Women in Naturopathic Medicine, Protein Calculators and Shakes

Today we talked about the origin of St. Patrick's Day. Apparently, good ol' Maewyn did NOT physically chase the snakes OR the pagans out of Ireland, but he DID promote and spread the practice of Christianity there. But he wasn't born in Ireland, likely in Wales or Scotland, to a Briton of Roman descent! Who knew. In the US, anywhere where there's lots of Irish (I'm looking at you, Boston, MA) there's a lot of drinkin', partyin', and the wearin' o' the green. In Chicago they dye the Chicago River green, and in New York and lots of other places they have a parade. Everyone is Irish for a day! Many pagans believe that St. Patrick at least sought to replace paganism with Christianity, so don't observe or wear snake jewelry for the day.

In continued celebration of International Women's Month, we profiled another celebrated naturopathic physician, Lise Alschuler, N.D. She is the premier woman naturopathic oncologist in the world!

We got out a protein calculator and figured out that a lot of folks, likely peri- and post-menopausal women, don't eat enough protein, and that may be why they're getting symptoms! Lots of women, especially in this age category, don't eat enough protein, which would likely help them with fat loss. So I recommending mixing animal and vegetable sources to get the right amount of protein. One way to do this is with protein shakes. If you're not dairy intolerant, the best one is whey, but if you are, we discussed alternatives, both animal and vegetable.

Radio Naturopath Episode 190: Happy Halloween! Halloween Candy? Should You Go To Extremes?

I talked about a brief history of Halloween, how it was taken from the Celtic Pagan holiday of Samhain, the new year. On this day it was thought that the veils between the living and dead were the thinnest and you could communicate with your loved ones in the beyond. When the Christians came, in order to get more adherents, the Christians allowed the Pagans to incorporate their traditions into Christianity, and blended All Saints and All Souls Day with Halloween, the even of All Saints Day. The costumes and commercialization are, well, about making money. It's celebrated this way here in the US and on the British isles. 

Also, Halloween candy. Should you eat it? Ways to preserve your teeth if you indulge! And, we take on the topic of going to extremes: dieting, exercise, any sort of program.