Treatment Tuesday 2: Convocation 2013

I attended the class of 2013's convocation about a week ago. It was a lovely ceremony in which ~120 new naturopathic doctors graduated! One particularly exciting moment was when the 2000th CCNM graduate was announced. Wow, to think there are 2000 naturopathic doctors (from CCNM alone, there are six more naturopathic medical schools in North America) out there...

Another exciting moment: when the students all read the naturopathic oath together out loud! 

And yet another exiciting moment: realizing that in one year's time it will be my time to convocate!

Congratulations to the new NDs!

Just Dance

Hello May! Why aren't you beautiful?

Took this picture near my school. Isn't it the most perfect daffodil?!

I don't know about the rest of Canada, but Toronto's weather has been a beaut these last couple of days. May flowers? Check! (See above). May sunshine? Check! (Today it was 22*C). May sunburn? Check! (Doh! That was my bad. I got caught up in today's glorious weather, spending too much time outside without protection or shade. Lesson learned).

Now that the weather is nice, the side-walks and parks have been bustling with people getting in some exercise. But apparently the exercise doesn't have to shop once the sun goes down. Now, according to this article, it has become trendy in New York City to party while exercising. That's right: rather than going to a bar on a Saturday night, you go to a "workout" club, complete with a DJ and fancy disco lights. You can read the article about this cool new workout option here.

While this idea sounds super fun, and is a great alternative to spending your Saturday night binge drinking, I must chime in with some of potential health concerns that may arise when following this trendy new workout regime:

First, what about sleep? After engaging in that much physical activity and excitement late into the night, it may be hard to "wind down" and fall asleep. Don't be alarmed if you can't get those catchy club beats out of your head! Exercising at night may throw of your circadian rhythm/normal sleep cycle.

Second, what about refueling? After physical activity, it is very important to refuel your muscles with protein and carbohydrates. Oh, and lots of water to replenish the fluid you lost through sweat. But these dancers may not want to have a meal at 1 AM. My suggestion would be to have a smoothie (the liquid will be easier to digest that meal or solid snack), complete with protein powder, berries, banana, and coconut water for ultimate replenishment and hydration.

Third, what about those who are still drinking after exercising? I wonder how many of these late-night exercisers will still go out and have a "night on the town" after their workout; a night full of alcohol and late-night pub food. An intense workout (which dehydrates) plus alcohol (also dehydrates) plus salty food (resulting in more dehydration) could equal one killer hangover the next day! These dancers should be careful when combining heavy exercising with heavy partying.

Insect Defend: A Cool New (Nutraceutical) Product!

On the weekend, I attended the Green Living Show here in Toronto. I had an awesome time checking out the vendors, talking to reps, eating the locally prepared grub (mmm vanilla drinking chocolate by ChocoSol), making a few 'green' purchases (a product from Pure Thanks and some amazing blueberry juice), and test driving an electric car, the Nissan Leaf! Fun times for sure.

One company with whom I talked at the expo was Insect Defend. They make this natural and safe alternative to toxic bug sprays: instead of using harmful chemicals to deter bugs, they use vitamins!

Their product is a small, clear patch that adheres to the skin and releases vitamin B1 into the body. You simply stick the patch on your body two hours before you plan on going outside and/or around mosquitos.

How does it work? Well, apparently mosquitos and other pesky bugs hate the scent of vitamin B1! When the vitamin is absorbed into your skin via the patch, the B1 that is now in your skin keeps those bugs away. That's it, that's all: no more bug sprays or nets, just vitamins!

Vitamin B1 to the rescue!

Taking vitamin B1 through the skin is more effective than taking it orally. When you take it orally, the vitamin has to go through the whole digestive tract and is subjected to the first-pass effect of the liver. But if it is absorbed through the skin, it avoids all the degradation that occurs during digestions.

Apparently many people have used and testified to the effectiveness of Insect Defend. Several major clinical trials are also being conducted to test its efficacy. I myself purchased a pack to give them a try; I want to see vitamin B1 in action for myself!

Thanks to a major deal on Dragons' Den, Insect Defend Patches are now available at most major stores, like Loblaws, Superstore, Metro, Walmart, Canadian Tire, and many more. ...if you give them a try, let me know your experience. As a naturopathic medical student who studies vitamins at great length, I am super curious about this new-to-me way of using vitamin B1!

Life Updates

- I have roughly one month left of classes until I enter clinic! It's going to be the last month I set foot in a classroom in my life... after twenty years of classes. Crazy.
- I start learning vitamin B12 injections tomorrow.
- I've made this pizza twice now. Awesome!
- I have my official clinic schedule for next year! I'm super happy with the shifts I have AND the supervisors who I'll be working under. I'll talk more about my shifts, satellites, and supervisors in a later post.
- I had my OSCE 3 on Friday. Here is how it runs: enter clinic room, greet patient, take their history (i.e. ask them a ton of questions about their health complaint), rule out emergent conditions and red flags, perform physical exams, diagnose the patient, recommend further testing/labs, and recommend a treatment for their condition ...all in 18 minutes ...all the while being marked/evaluated by a clinic supervisor who is sitting in the corner of the room ...then repeat this whole process two more times with two new patients. It was an adrenalin-packed hour that's for sure!
- I celebrated completed OSCE 3 by checking out this place with friends. Fun times.
- I think my OSCE 3 went very well. I was proud of performance(s). I have to pass OSCE 3 in order to enter clinic. Here's hoping the evaluators thought I was competent!

Caramel Apple Timbits

- I made these donuts yesterday (but since I didn't have a donut pan, I made "timbits" using a mini muffin tin).  They are pictured above.
- Anyone have nice Spring weather yet? While it's sunny out here, it is still cold.
- I walked into Bulk Barn this weekend: holy Easter candy overload! I forgot how sugar-laden this holiday is. However, seeing them all (an entire row of Eater candy only, by the way) brought make nostalgic memories. Malt chocolate eggs, foil wrapped chocolate eggs, jelly beans, gummy bunnies, mini eggs, caramel filled chocolate eggs... Om nom nom!
- I selected my clinic office for next year. I'm going to be sharing a room with two of my CCNM best buds. 

Massage Memories

I visited the Royal Canadian College of Massage Therapy located in Toronto recently. They operate similar to CCNM, in that they have a teaching clinic where the students work under supervisors near the end of their studies. Since the practitioners are still students, the massage fees are greatly reduced too.

Image from the RCCMT website. 

The best part of attending the college was not getting the massage (the massage was actually quite rough! Definitely not relaxing, but structurally therapeutic in that the student worked heavily on the tight muscles)... but was being reminded of all the massage techniques I learned in my first-year Massage class. Here is the link to all of my posts that talk about Massage from year-one at CCNM.

The entire massage experience was a giant flash back to what I learned in year-one. We were trained in all of the basic massage techniques and were taught by Registered Massage Therapists (RMT). I remembered the draping, the pillowing, the names of the different massage techniques, the correct terminology (you lie on a table, not a bed!), the etiquette, the sequence of events, and much, much more! I am really surprised at how much I recalled. Now I know that in the future, when I forget a modality or technique taught in class, I just need to go and experience it as a refresher! It's amazing how quickly the material comes back once the memory is prodded.

Mid-Winter Dreaming

Source unknown

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Please excuse my mid-Winter dreaming...but I am seriously craving some time by the sea. 

Is it Summer yet? 

Opportunities Abroad

Who wouldn't want to escape the winterness and go do some medial volunteering abroad! Lots of CCNMers are escaping Toronto's winter by attending a medical brigade abroad.

If you are interested in naturopathic medicine and love to travel, there are many opportunities to travel and use your naturopathic medical skills.  There are several organizations with which you can travel as a student offering naturopathic medical services including NDI (naturopathic doctors international), NWB (naturopathic doctors without borders), etc. There are trips to India, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Guatamala.

                                                                                            More information on these trips my next post!

Summer Scenes 5.

Love me some wide open spaces.

Road trip!  

I went on several road trips this Summer.  The best part of being cooped-up in a vehicle is when you finally reach stretches of the road that look like this.  Scenery that is so open and free, that you no longer feel claustrophobic and cramped while riding around in your metal box. Just beyond the concrete passageway, lies acres and acres of untouched, pristine nature. It makes me very happy and thankful that long stretches of wilderness like this still exist here in Canada. 

Since I live in Toronto, where trees are somewhat scarce, these roadside forests made me eager to roll down the window, to breath in the clean, oxygen-rich air that the trees had kindly purified for me. My-oh-my was this air ever so sweet.

Summer Scenes 3.

Footprints in the dark blue sand.

Beach! Happily, I made it to the beach this Summer. It may be hard to see in this picture, but the color of the sand is navy blue, with bits of rusty red too. According to my Wikipedia sand search, sands that are darker in color have higher levels of magnetite.

(Elisabeth the Geologist, perhaps you can verify this?)

Summer Scenes 1.

White wine grapes!

This photo was taken while visiting wine county, Ontario (aka Niagara-on-the-Lake). If you enjoy local wine, Niagara is the place to visit. Within a 30-minute drive or day worth of bicycling (you can rent bikes to tour all the wineries, but be prepared for a long day!)), you can visit approximately 30 vineyards/wineries.

While you can eat the grapes that make wine, they won't taste as sweet and juicy as the grapes you'd find at the market or grocery store. In red grapes, this is mainly due to their high tannin and resveratrol content.  Believe it or not, but the yummy grapes we eat as a snack would make pretty gross wine if they were fermented (not what you'd expect, right?).

Fun Times.

Sorry, guys.  No blog post today!  

I just got back from a mini-vacation that was fun-times, but also tiring... I'm too pooped to do a real post. 

 Until tomorrow, enjoy these fun pics from around the World Wide Web! Sources unfortunately forgotten.

 

How do you like your pasta? Chewy!

Sexual Humor > Environmental Humor

Take that corporate coffee giants!

Life After NPLEX.

Sooooo my NPLEX exam was a week ago.  Now, what does a post-NPLEX-er do with all the free-time on her hands?

- Read. Sometimes literature, sometimes junk, sometimes educational. It's all about balance.
- Clean. I felt like it was Spring again, because I got my clean-on!  Summer cleaning is the new Spring cleaning.
- Organize school notes. My bookshelf and office area was in serious need of some TLC. Now all my NPLEX materials are stored away and my second-year notes have a home now too.
- Experiment with supplements a la Dr. Phil.  More on that in a future post...
- Enjoy more of the great outdoors. This past week I found myself at the beach!
- Complain about the NPLEX exam with classmates. This has been done about a million times since last Tuesday. 
- Hang out with said classmates.  Once we're done complaining, we tend to have a lot of fun ;)
- Stuff myself with amazing goodies.  Toronto is so lucky to have Bunner's Bake Shop.
- Work diligently on my cookbook (it WILL be published this Summer!).
- Preceptor with naturopathic doctors and dream about the future!

Phew, 'tis been a busy week.  Got to make the most of August before the craziness of year three begins!

Wishing you all productive yet fulfilling days this August! ...and thanks for making me a part of your day :)

Canadian Pride?

Warning: this is going to be a monstrous post.

Savory and Sweet: Edible Canadian Flags

Yesterday was Canada Day, but boy-oh-boy did it not feel that way. I really tried to make it feel like Canada Day in that I dressed myself head-to-toe in red and white (literally, I had red/white on my head and feet).  I also packed picnics made of these beauties I alluded to yesterday on the blog; this made sure that my eats were at least festive.  

Feature above and to the left: savory Canadian open-face sandwich. Made with this lentil bread as the crust and topped with sundried tomato spread (not homemade, from a farmer's market) for the red, and half goat's feta cheese and half dairy-free sour cream-style spread (Vegenaise) for the white. 

To the right, we have a sweet version of the same lentil bread (just added some cinnamon replaced 2 tablespoons of water with maple syrup), topped with cashew cream (minus the lavender) for the white and strawberries attached with some strawberry jam for the red.

However, my Canada Day still did not feel very Canadian. This flag sort of sums-up how the day felt:

Image source here.

This flag represents the day not just because it represents Gay Pride and because July 1 was also the PRIDE Parade (more on that later in the post), but because I like to think that it also represents the diversity of Canada, especially Toronto.  I saw so very few people celebrating Canada at all.  No fireworks, no "Oh, Canada" song, no abundance of red and white.  Toronto really is a hub of all cultures... and maybe "Canadian culture" has been since placed aside? Or has become the norm that "Canadian culture" means celebrating everything and therefore nothing? Hmm...

In all fairness to the city, yesterday was jam packed with other events. While I didn't see a lot of red and white, there sure was a TON of people dressed in rainbow clad (and not just at the parade!) and even more people wearing either Spanish or Italian soccer/football jerseys. After the Euro Cup final game concluded, the streets downtown became instantly rowdy; with all the Spain-team worshiping people cheering and honking their horns in delight. Moreover, while I was celebrating my friend L's birthday last night, we went to the most culturally unique restaurant that I've ever been to in Canada (one in which you weren't allowed to wear shoes, practically sat on the floor, and had no idea what food you were ordering or eating, food pictured below). Enjoy some stereotypically-Canadian cuisine on Canada Day... nope, not this year.

I guess it just boils down to me being a little sad that the celebration of Canada got a little lost in the kerfuffle of yesterday's events. Maybe next year, Toronto. Anywho, here are three pictures from the PRIDE Parade (which was a HOOT, by the way. Very fun times indeed) and a picture of the strange dish I ordered at L's birthday dinner (it was a hard boiled egg, wrapped in acorn squash, and topped with Thousand Island salad dressing... weird, but surprisingly tasty).

There was LOTS of dancing and people scantily clad. Oh, and even some full-on nudity.

Loblaw's float: a rainbow of fruit and veggies!

There was even a wedding on a float. Beautiful.

30 Days with Nature.

Congrats on spending 30 days with nature!

Today the 30x30 challenge wraps-up.  Let's take a look back at the last 30 days (feel free to answer these questions yourself if you participated):

What did you manage to do?  Lots of walking (including evening strolls), Frisbee, soccer, managed to explore a new park, picnic/ate outdoors, etc.

What didn't you do?  Didn't get out biking, no gardening, and not as much time reading outdoors as I had hoped (I did this a bit, but most days in June were just soooooooo hot it was hard to stay idle outdoors).

How did you feel spending so much time with nature? Loved it. Especially now that it is warmer, it was nice to take advantage of the warm and bright evenings too. However, I must say that most of the time I didn't actually feel like I was immersed in 'nature'.  Remember that I live in Toronto, people :P  Finding true green spaces was HARD, but I made the most of city parks and neighborhoods.

What was the trickiest part?  Rainy days were challenging.  I managed to find a moment during one particularly wet day when the rain had stopped and got outdoors.  On another rainy day, I just put on my rubber boots and took an umbrella to keep me dry. Oh, and as I said above, completing the challenge in a city was tricky.

Hmm, now that July is here, should we start another challenge?  I am thinking about starting a smoothie one. A smoothie-a-day would be quite refreshing! 

Island Fun.

Today was fun! I spent the day on the Toronto Islands. The weather was sunny and breezy; perfect for visiting the lush green islands for the first time.

What did I do on the island? Play Frisbee Golf (or rather Disc Golf, because Frisbee is technically a brand name). Disc Golf is just like golf, only instead of swinging a ball into a hole, you have to throw a Frisbee into a net.  To the left is a picture of my Frisbee held up beside the map for Hole #10.

There is a lot I could say about the islands, but I'll keep the post short by discussing only my favorite island detail.  The best of the island was the activity!  Everyone on the island (and it was busy, even for a Tuesday) was being physically active. I saw bikers, roller bladders, canoe-ers, kayake-ers, hikers, walkers, Fribee-ers, paddlers, swimmers, runners, and more! You could even rent these cool two-to-four person bike buggies (pictured to the right) to drive around the island in. The island was simply bustling with (physical) activity.  What a sight to see so many people content while moving.

My visit to the islands today confirmed my belief that physical activity can most definitely be fun. So here is my plea: dear readers, now that it is Summer---sunny and warm---it is time to get moving! No cold wintery excuses will do.  The great outdoors is one giant playground just waiting to be explored.

So, who is with me? Let's make this Summer an active one!

Hippie Fest.

My weekend felt very bohemian, very urban, and very vegan. It was like I attended my own hippie fest.

Saturday - Dined at the most popular vegan restaurant in Toronto (Fresh).  Ordered my first green juice (caution: for experienced palates only!). Ate this super soup/salad/cornbread/hummus combo (below). Hung out in Kensington Market with all the other Torontonian hippies who came out to play on a Saturday.  Shopped at a health food store, bought a floral dress for $7, rocked on...

Sunday - Attended the Raw Vegan Festival. Tried so many types of raw chocolate; marveled at how different they all tasted. Bought Dandelion Root Coffee and Cashew Curry Nut Butter (below); marveled at the hippie-ness of these two purchases. Stumbled upon the Annex Festival on Bloor. Part of Bloor Street was shut down to accommodate musicians and vendors. Wandered through the festival, mostly in a daze due to 30 degrees Celsius sunny weather. Came home and watched a documentary about raw chocolate.

Time for this flower child to sign-off. 

Love & Peace, 

 Becca

Health Scenes 6.

The Caption: Plaque found at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). When translated into English it reads: he who teaches learns.

The Comment: This phrase reminds me of the naturopathic principle I love most: doctor as teacher. The field of naturopathic is both a selfless and selfish profession.  As a good doctor, you have to be empathetic, gentle, non judgmental, caring, etc. It can quite a taxing profession; giving patients the attention and care they need day in and day out. However, there are selfish reasons drawing me to the profession too: learning all about the body, disease detection techniques, applying the health advice given to patients to personal health, etc. Yes, I will be a doctor and a teacher, but the ROM phrase reminds me that I too will be doing a lot of learning, as every new patient will provide me with a new opportunity to learn.  There will be many days when I will be the pupil and the patient the educator!

Health Scenes 4.

The Caption: Saw this awesome image on a hoodie. It captures my time in Toronto perfectly: studying medicine ...in the city! The image is of an ECG (electrocardiograph, one of the hallmark images of medicine) which shows the electrical activity of the heart. Hiding in this ECG is the city's trademark: the CN Tower.

The Comment: ECGs are incredible inventions because they allow doctors to see what the heart is up to. They may look like a line of squiggles, but each peak and dip represents an action of the heart. In short, the heart beats because the heart gets flooded with negative and positive electricity; the changes in electricity cause the different parts of the heart muscle to contract and relax causing the beat. There are four main parts (note that there are other segments which won't be discussed): the P wave represents the atrial depolarization (meaning the atria of the heart are getting more positive), the QRS complex means the depolarization (more positive) of the right and left ventricles, and lastly the T wave is the repolarization (more negative) of the ventricles. Image source here.

Make-In Take-Out: Poutine.

A month ago, I finally ventured to Poutini's. This place had been on my list of "must visit in Toronto" since September of 2010. Like its name implies, Poutini's is a poutine place. That's all they sell, but they are some variations of the classic fried, gravy, and curds, such as bacon poutine and my favorite, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free poutine!  Yep, even hippie eaters like me can still enjoy some classic, gooey poutine ...yippee!

Here's a picture of my poutine, a la Poutini:

After my yummy Poutini adventure, I decided to make it at home, a la Make-In Take-Out.  Now, you might ask: how on Earth is homemade poutine any better than the store bought stuff?  It can't be healthy, right? You're doubts are definitely sound. Poutine is not health food; nope, not one bit.  But sometimes we humans get cravings. And cravings that can be made at home are a million times better than restaurant ones! Some reasons why making poutine at home is better: no deep fried fries (oven baked), so potentially sketchy gravy (what the heck is in that brown goo?), portion control (you choose the size), much cheaper, less of chance of food poison/borne-illness, and last but not least, it contains more love!

Recipe: all you need is frozen french fries, gravy (homemade or this packaged variety), vegan cheese (Daiya) or organic cheese curds. Bake the fries, stir the gravy, sprinkle the cheese.  That's it, that's all.

Here's a picture of my poutine, a la Home (served with a salmon burger and greens):

The verdict?  Although going to Poutini was a fun treat... home cookin' still rules :)

Best. Cookies. Ever.

Waaayyy back when, I stumbled into a Planet Organic while they were sampling their Cosmic Cookies. It was love at first bite. I swear they were the best tasting cookies that ever crossed my lips. Those cookies rocked my world and I couldn't stop thinking about long after they had been digested.

Fast forward two years to me moving to Toronto. I thought I had left those dreamy cookies behind, but low and behold I've since found two (1 and 2) vegan, gluten-free bakeries that sell cookies very similar to my beloved Cosmic Cookies. Reconnected at last!

The only problem is that these cookies are very $$ and the bakeries are located nowhere near my neck of the (Toronto) woods. I haven't had a taste of a Cosmic Cookie since my birthday (months ago) but have been plotting ways to have them again ever since. But the craving got the best of me last week and it was do or die! So I scoured the Internet and to my delight I found the recipe for my lovelies. Why oh why did I not learn to make these myself YEARS ago?! Ah well, I'll just have to make them every week from here on out to make up for lost time, right? ;)

May I present, my favorite cookies! Otherwise known as Cosmic/Power/World Peace/SuperSonic Gypsy Cookies depending on which bakery you source them from. Recipe based on this one. They are hearty and full of goodness (seeds, fruit, oats, etc), but still taste like dessert thanks to the chocolate and maple syrup.

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour*
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons flaxseeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 teaspoons molasses
Up to 1/4 cup water, as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in a second (minus the water). Combine the wet and dry. Fold in the chocolate and cranberries. Add enough water to make the batter moist and clumpy. Bake cookie dough on a lined or well-greased baking sheet for 20 minutes at 350F. Makes 16 large cookies.

*To make gluten free, use brown rice flour, plus 1/4 cup arrowroot starch and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum.

Note: The picture above is NOT MINE, but is better quality and since my cookies look IDENTICAL to these ones, I thought I'd post this pic instead.