Hamilton Naturopathic Doctor
Dr Justin Gallant ND
  • Home
  • Naturopathic Medicine
    • What is Naturopathic Medicine?
    • What to expect
    • Diagnostics
    • Typical Patients
    • Conditions
  • About
    • Qualifications
    • Education
    • Philosophy
    • Why I'm an ND
    • Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
    • Me in the Media
  • Book In
    • Advantage Chiropractic
    • Free consults
    • Fee Schedule
  • F.A.Q.
  • Contact
    • Feedback
  • Blog
  • Events

Risks of Intermittent Fasting: Great for weight loss...terrible for your adrenals, anxiety, sleep and a couple of other things.

3/19/2017

61 Comments

 
Picture

Dangers of Intermittent Fasting: Cortisol and Low Blood Sugar

I usually only recommend intermittent fasting (IF) for my patients who are low carb/keto and not overly stressed/anxious. If my patients consume a fair amount of carbs and/or are stressed/anxious, I try to work on decreasing carbs and de-stressing first. I’ve heard nothing but great things about intermittent fasting lately, but everyone is failing to address the risks of intermittent fasting. Cortisol is pumped out in large amounts during the fasted state. We have this survival mechanism so, if our blood sugar gets too low or we’re stressed, we’ll pump out a bunch of cortisol (stress hormone) to turn the glycogen stored in our liver back into glucose to bring our blood sugar back up without having to eat anything. It also increases glucose to the muscles so we can fight or run away from whatever threat is present. This is a great survival mechanism and was great for the cave people because the cortisol would put them into fight or flight mode but now that food is in abundance and we’re not hunting anything down, it’s just contributing to our stress load. We pump out a bunch of cortisol when we’re low in blood sugar, when we’re stressed and when we have too much caffeine. We have enough stress in our lives, we don’t need intermittent fasting amplifying our stress levels.

Edit (Nov 12, 2018): Intermittent fasting is meant to be a stressor to our system in order for it to induce phagocytosis and regenerate our immune system. This can be a great thing when used in appropriate situations (under supervision of a trained professional, and while fat-adapted/keto). It's bound to worsen your symptoms if you are already stressed, anxious and eating a fair amount of carbohydrates. Intermittent fasting does have some benefits but just like any other therapeutic modality, should be done with proper guidance from a medical professional. If that medical professional denies that there are any risks, including the ones I list below, you need to find a different medical professional to help you through it. Rhonda Patrick mentions that our bodies were meant to be challenged and that's why IF helps, but in our current society our systems are already being challenged (stress, anxiety, external factors, insomnia, carbs, sugar, etc...) It's common for Intermittent Fasting to be a bit too much stress for an already over-stressed system. Please read some of the comments below for personal stories if you don't believe me. 
​
Check out how similar the symptoms of low blood sugar are to stress symptoms. 



Read More
61 Comments

Refreshing Sleep: How to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed in the winter

12/6/2016

3 Comments

 
Picture
Refreshing sleep article by Dr Justin Gallant ND
Waking up refreshed is rarely checked off as (Yes) on the review of systems that I give each new patient. There are quite a few things that I’ve seen work personally and clinically to achieve a refreshing sleep. If you have an underlying condition which is causing sleep issues or fatigue, those conditions should be addressed. I’ll discuss those conditions below, as well as strategies you can use to get a restful, refreshing sleep.

Here’s a sneak peak:
  1. Misting humidifier
  2. Leave the pets out
  3. Timing is important
  4. Snore stopper mouth guards
  5. Conditions which can cause sleep conditions and fatigue
  6. Environmental factors
  7. Pumpkin seeds!
  8. Sleep cycle app
  9. Water
  10. Get vertical
  11. Protein
  12. Coffee
Click "Read More" to read more about how to feel refreshed in the morning

Read More
3 Comments

Vitamin D Deficiency: Symptoms, why it's so common and what to do about it.

11/19/2016

8 Comments

 
Picture
Vitamin D deficiency information by Dr Justin Gallant ND

Vitamin D deficiency symptoms

​Vitamin D deficiency has been coming back low in so many of my patients lately.

Getting your vitamin D tested before winter comes is a great idea because it’s only going to go downhill until summertime.

The main symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency are:
  • Fatigue
  • General poor sense of well-being
  • Discomfort in muscles, joints and bones
  • Muscle cramps, weakness or discomfort
  • Low mood, depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D) 
  • Getting sick all of the time or taking a long time to recover from infections or viruses.
  • Low white blood cells (leukopenia), specifically low neutrophils (neutropenia). 
  • Increased risk of several different cancers
  • Osteopenia or osteoporosis
  • Flaring of autoimmune conditions like eczema, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc...
  • Cold sore or shingles breakouts
  • Hair loss
  • There are too many too list! 
Click on "Read More" or scroll down to learn more about vitamin D deficiency

Read More
8 Comments

Fatigue... There's a good chance you're not just being lazy

7/26/2016

0 Comments

 

Fatigue... There's a good chance you're not just being lazy 

PictureFatigue by Dr Justin Gallant ND
​​Fatigue...

I hear it all of the time after running proper blood work for a patient, “I thought I was just really lazy, it’s so nice to see why I have no energy on paper.”
​

There are many different causes of fatigue and in my practice I have so many patients claim that they are lazy, but once I run proper blood work, we realize what the true cause is.

Click read more if you'd like to read about the most common causes of fatigue, why they're often not diagnosed, and more. 


Read More
0 Comments

Palpitations: The Most Common Causes by Dr Justin Gallant ND

6/14/2016

10 Comments

 

Common causes of Palpitations

Picture
Palpitations can be a scary sensation. Most patients describe them as a fluttering, racing, painless throbbing or just an awareness of the heartbeat. While these may seem random, there is usually something causing them. I’m going to go through the most common causes that I see in my practice unrelated to actual heart issues. Palpitations should definitely be investigated if they are frequent, severe or getting worse and worse and this article by no means is replacing a proper work-up. These are just some of the common reasons I see in my clinic. 

  

Click on "Read More" to read the rest of the causes. 


Read More
10 Comments

Why am I so cold and tired all the time? All about iron deficiency by Dr Justin Gallant ND

3/12/2016

123 Comments

 
Picture
Iron deficiency can cause you to feel cold, tired and weak. Dr Justin Gallant ND

Iron deficiency: The most common reason for fatigue and feeling cold

Iron deficiency is one of the most common conditions I see in practice and also one of the most misdiagnosed. These patients are told their iron is fine by either their doctor or the receptionist but this is far from the truth. 

Iron deficiency symptoms: 

These symptoms can vary based on your iron levels. Some will just have one extreme version of a symptom and others will have a bunch of these symptoms.
PictureIron deficiency causes pale nailbeds as illustrated in the picture above.
  1. Feeling tired all of the time
  2. Feeling cold all of the time
  3. Restless sleep
  4. Weak nails
  5. Pale nailbeds (refer to picture) 
  6. Restless leg syndrome
  7. Muscles spasms
  8. Shortness of breath when trying to exercise
  9. Palpitations
  10. Pale skin
  11. Hair loss
  12. Low blood pressure
  13. Depression and post-partum depression
  14. Chronic fatigue
  15. Brain fog
  16. Random sharp stabbing left-sided chest pain
  17. Poor blood sugar control
  18. Dark bags under eyes (pale skin reveals the dark veins in that area)
  19. Heavy periods
  20. painful periods
  21. Easy bleeding
  22. Easy bruising
  23. Low motivation 
  24. Constipation 

There's much more juicy information below, please click on "Read More" if you'd like to learn more information about iron deficiency. I discuss why it's so commonly undiagnosed, proper reference ranges, why certain iron supplements are terrible and others are amazing, causes of iron deficiency, why you feel cold when you have low iron and who should get their iron tested. 

Read More
123 Comments

IBS Treatment and Causes - Dr Justin Gallant ND

2/28/2016

4 Comments

 
PictureIBS causes and treatment by Dr Justin Gallant ND
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a condition that I see on a daily basis. Just like most conditions, there are several different possible causes and contributors. It takes a thorough, directed investigation to figure out what could be causing your symptoms. I hear so many patients tell me that their doctor told them it’s all due to stress but I disagree. Stress can definitely worsen the symptoms of IBS but it’s rarely ever the cause. Blaming stress for IBS frustrates me because it puts the blame on something that is not under your control and patients get upset with themselves thinking that stress is the cause. They can’t reduce their stress so they think it’s their fault they have IBS, which stresses them out even more. It’s obvious to me that stress isn’t the cause of IBS because I have so many patients who I’ve helped, and even though their stressors are still present, their digestive symptoms are gone. IBS is just a label given when the cause of digestive symptoms has yet to be identified. Click on "Read more" to read more juicy info about IBS.


Read More
4 Comments

Relationship Advice: How To Be A Healthy Lover

2/9/2016

 
Relationship Advice: how to be a healthy lover by naturopathic Doctor Justin Gallant
Relationship Advice by Naturopathic Doctor Justin Gallant
With Valentine’s Day around the corner I figured I’d drop some knowledge on you guys with some of the things I work with to improve relationships with my patients. Here are some tips to improve the health of your relationship. ​

Listen to your partner

This one is especially for the men… Listen to your partner. I mean actively listen. If your partner has a hectic day all they want to do is vent about it. Having a bad day sucks but it sucks even more when no one cares. It’s actually pretty easy once you accept that you don’t have to fix anything. You just have to pay attention for 5-10 minutes and understand how crappy our partner is feeling, and then show that you care. Don’t try to help them fix it and don’t trump their story with yours.  If you don’t do this your partner will bottle everything up and eventually it’ll come out as a physical symptom like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or, headaches or a big juicy zit, or they’ll find someone who will listen.
​
Real life situation: Susie comes home after a long hard day of putting up with her passive aggressive coworkers and her boss gave her crap for not getting everything done. She’s been bottling her emotions up all day at work and wants to spill the beans when she gets home. She pours out everything that went on today without taking a breath.
What are the proper responses?
  1. Tell her you worked overtime today and Trevor got fired
  2. Give her a big hug and say, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
  3. Listen actively and show some concern
  4. Tell her she should find a new job. 
Click here for the answer

Read More

Why Do I Get Itchy Dry Skin in the Winter?

11/26/2015

1 Comment

 
PictureDry skin in the winter article - Naturopathic Doctor Justin Gallant.
Most of us dread the winter, partly due to being so itchy. Whatever heating mechanism we use, whether it’s a furnace, radiator, fire place or space heaters, they warm the air up by drying up the water molecules in the air. This means humidity is decreased. The reason we get so itchy is because the water molecules on our skin, in our eyes, our nasal passages and sinuses get dried up as well. This can lead to itchy skin, dandruff, dry eyes, raw bloody noses and sinus pain. Since the humidity is low and you don't drink liquids during your sleep, it's difficult to keep our skin moist. 

For information on what to do about dry itchy skin please click on the read more button below. 


Read More
1 Comment

Burdening Others With Your Problems

9/29/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you've never been burdened by listening to someone else's issues, they won't be burdened by listening to yours. 
#Dontbottleitup
​Dr. Justin Gallant ND
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Dr Justin Gallant ND

    Naturopathic Doctor with a passion for teaching about health. Health detective, health guide, health ambassador and health educator. 
    Hamilton, Ontario

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Alternative Medicine
    Anemia
    Arginine
    Attitude
    Caffeine
    Cancer
    Coconut Oil
    Coffee
    Cortisol
    Depression
    Digestion
    Fatigue
    Fish Oil
    Gluten
    Health
    Health Quotes
    Heart Health
    Hypoglycemia
    Hypothyroidism
    IBS
    Insomnia
    Intermittent Fasting
    Iron Deficiency
    Marathon
    Natural
    Naturopath
    Palpitations
    Refreshing Sleep
    Relationships
    S.A.D.
    Seasonal Affective Disorder
    Skin
    Sleep
    Supplements
    Training
    Valentine's Day
    Vitamin D
    Vitamin D Deficiency
    Waking Up
    Weight Loss
    Winter

Dr. Gallant's office is located in Advantage Chiropractic and Massage

59 Dunsmure Road
Hamilton, Ontario
L8M 1S1
Phone: 289-808-9076
Fax: 1-289-667-0100


website: www.DRJGND.com

​email: justin@DRJGND.com 
Hours

Monday: 10-7pm
Tuesday: 9-4pm (virtual only)
Wednesday: Admin day
Thursday: 10-7pm
Friday: Admin day
This website is intended for educational purposes only. There are no contents on this website that are intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you require medical advice, diagnostics or treatment, please contact me or your nearest healthcare professional.