Summerland and Osoyoos Offices are Open

People living in smaller communities within the South Okanagan no longer have to commute large distances to Penticton or Kelowna to meet face to face with a Naturopathic Doctor.  In keeping with the Spokes' values of accessibility, community, and sustainability, we're moving back into the smaller under served centres.  

For more information about the clinic, please visit: http://www.spokesclinic.com.


Warmly,

Dr. Bentham

Spokes is OPEN for Business!

The doctor is in!  Spokes is Victoria's newest boutique Naturopathic medical clinic.  We're located in the heart of Fernwood square, right across from the Belfry Theatre.  The doors are open for business and so far the reviews have been great!  Full website is in development and should be up and running by the end of the week.


In the mean time you can find the location info here: Spokes Website.


Come pop in and say hello.  I'm in the office Tuesdays, Thursdays, Friday's and Saturdays.


See you soon,


Bryn


ps.  Grand Opening is on May 5th.. be there!

New Clinic Opening Soon!

Construction is underway at G2 - 1284 Gladstone Avenue in the heart of Fernwood square.  The website is under construction, and the clinic will be operational from Monday April 9th.

I'll keep you posted on the progress,

If I'm using my right brain, which one's left?

I'm pretty sure Hawkeye never severed a corpus callosum on M.A.S.H., so I'm sure finding someone who has was on his bucket list when the show ended.  When a corpus callosum is cut, the two halves of the brain can't communicate and operate totally separately.  The video outlines some experiments that have been done with a guy who's had his cut.  It's given us interesting insight into the differences in function between the left and right.


It turns out that our left brains are more concerned with analysis of cause, effect, interpretation, and explaining things.  Logic and reason are the strength of the left brain.  It seeks to break things down into their individual components and figure out mechanisms of how or why things work.  Modern medicine operates almost exclusively in this hemisphere.  This is reinforced at the end of the video where the Dr. Mike is clearly bias toward the left brain, which is not surprising given his vocation as a researcher.  Math and science are realms that lend themselves to the left brain.


The right brain recognizes patterns.  It's not concerned about the details, what happened in the past, or what may or may not happen tomorrow.  It just perceives in the present.  This is where our perceptive, creative, and intuitive brainpower comes from.  This is the hemisphere where many of the alternative healing arts operate.  The arts are experienced in the right hemisphere.


So why am I writing about it?  Well, this division of labour has consequences on our health, and learning how to navigate between the two can be tremendously helpful for many of us - both patients and physicians.  


Take anxiety or insomnia as an example.  If you've ever found yourself lying in bed awake, and your mind is racing over the details of what happened yesterday, what may happen tomorrow, and what you need to the next day, that's your left brain in a death spiral.  You can't talk or reason your way out of that spiral.  That's like pouring water into a pool to help someone who's drowning.  What you need to do is get into your right brain.  This is done by brining your awareness to what your body is feeling in the present.  There are many ways to do this.  Deep breathing, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, integrated body psychotherapy, biofeeback, meditation.. the list goes on.  It's helpful to consult with a professional at first to help guide you through the process, but you'll find that over time, you'll be able to snap yourself out of it quite easily.  I use a combination of some of the above, particularly breathing and progressive muscle relaxation.


In my opinion we were given both hemispheres for a reason.  Why limit yourself to half a brain?  We have been given a tremendous ability to reason, interpret, and analyze.  We've also been given highly sensitive and accurate perceptions, intuitive abilities, and artistic expression.  You'll likely resonate a bit more with one or the other (I've always been a bit more of a lefty), but I encourage you to open your mind and give your other half a chance.  You may be surprised at how much richer life can be.


Bryn

Surgical Success!

On Monday night we successfully installed 12 virtual gastric band's in my office.  12 participants have now embarked on a trial program that will see them eat less, drop weight, and live healthier lives without the need for drastic diets or surgery.  We also explored food addiction, why it is we feel compelled to eat tubby foods, and why we eat to soothe.


Of particular interest was one gentleman who had originally signed up for gastric bypass surgery, but was convinced otherwise after meeting with people who had "successfully" undergone the procedure.  In his opinion although many of them had lost weight, they were less healthy, in his opinion, than if they'd not had the surgery. 


Most people were optimistic about the endeavour, and we're all certainly excited to see how it turns out.


More as the trial unfolds..


Bryn

Happy New Year. Lets shed some pounds.

For Christmas this year I got a new pant.. size.  I'm pretty sure what Mr. Claus has on his back there is a bag full of regret.  I, however, enjoyed my holiday binge and am looking forward to getting back into shape.  


If any of you feel the same, you may be interested in a new approach to the age old weight loss conundrum.  A colleague Julia Andersen (a clinical hypnotherapist) and I have put together a FREE program for 12 people that incorporates a "virtual gastric band" and a naturopathic approach to safe and effective weight loss.  We'll explore why we tend to overeat, use food for comfort, and provide a blueprint for getting you to the shape you want.  We'll meet on Monday evenings for 8 sessions between January 9th and March 12th.  


For more information and to sign up, check out the Living Healthy Victoria website.
Perhaps you'll be one of the lucky few who get to partake!


Until then,


Bryn

Extended health plan? Use your benefits!

I love December.  I had my first egg-nog in October (only legit Naturopaths drink egg-nog).  December is the month of giving and for many of you there's a little gift waiting for you that you may not even know about.  It's from your extended health plan.


Most extended health plans have a yearly allotment for Naturopathic medicine.  At the end of each calendar year, the unused benefits expire.  If you've ever considered consulting a Naturopath, why not use what you've already paid for?  This is the perfect time to do it.  If you book in this month, you'll essentially have 2 years worth of benefits to use in the next 12 calendar months.


For Christmas this year, you're health insurance is offering you a jump-start on your new year's health goals.  Let's face it we're all going to be hitting the food hard and repeatedly over the next 4 weeks, I promise I won't stand in the way.  I will, however, be here to help put you back together when all is said and done.


See you soon,

Bryn
Vital Victoria Naturopathic Clinic
(250) 386-3534

Movember is Upon Us.

In honour of Men's health awareness month, I've embarked on a journey of growing facial hair that my growth pattern doesn't support.  In response to the feedback I've received on multiple occasions I've deemed it the Cary Elwes (known best for his role as Wesley in the Princess Bride).


Movember is a movement born out of a need to get men to see doctors.  Here's an exerpt from the Movember website:


Changing the face of men's health begins with starting a simple conversation
Let’s face it - men are known to be a little more indifferent towards their health, especially when compared to the efforts of women, who proactively and publicly address their health issues in a way you don’t typically see with men. As a result the levels of awareness, understanding, funding and support of male health issues, like prostate cancer, lag significantly behind causes such as breast cancer.

The reasons for the poor state of men’s health in the Canada and around the world are numerous and complex and this is primarily due to a lack of awareness of the health issues men face. This can largely be attributed to the reluctance of men to openly discuss the subject, the old ‘it’ll be alright’ attitude. Men are less likely to schedule doctors’ appointments when they feel ill or to go for an annual physical, thereby denying them the chance of early detection and effective treatment of common diseases. 


For more information on the movement, click here: Movember Website.  For a discussion on why men don't see doctors, and why it may be a good idea to reverse the trend, tune in to my "why men don't see doctors" series.


Here's to men,


Bryn

Why don't men go to the doctor? Reason #2.

This is how they do testicular exams in Japan.  Fortunately for those of us in North America we use a much gentler technique.  Despite this fact, many of us are afraid that someone will spring a testicular exam on us.  When I was 19 I went to a walk in clinic for an infection on my foot.  While they focused primarily on the foot, before I knew it the doctor was playing game-boy with my nards.  While it was a prudent thing to do, this sort of thing happens to be another obstacle that keeps us guys, particularly the younger ones, from seeing a doctor. 


What you may not know is that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men between the age of 15-35.  There have been some high profile cases in the past decade or so including the NHL's current leading scorer Phil Kessel, comedian Tom Green (who televised his testicular removal), and most famously Lance Armstrong.

Testicular cancer also happens to have one of (if not the highest) cure rate of all the cancers you could end up with.  With early detection, cure rates approach 100% and in more advanced cases cure rate is still in the 90% range.  Lance Armstrong's story illustrates this well.  When he was found to have testicular cancer, they had found it had spread to his lungs and brain.  In pretty much any other type of cancer, metastases to the brain and lungs tend to have grim prognoses.  After successful surgery and chemo (which works really well for testicular cancer), Lance went on to win another 6 Tours de France.  


Testicular cancer typically presents as a painless mass in the testicle.  It can also cause symptoms like a dull ache or heaviness in the lower stomach, scrotum, or groin area.  Unless you're having complaints related to that region on your body, you won't likely be asked to drop trou.  If you're in the 15-35 age range though, 30 seconds of testicular game boy could save your life.


Bryn

Why don't men go to the doctor? Reason #1.

Us gents are pretty good at many things, but it turns out going to the doctor isn't one of them.  There are a few reasons for this, so in the spirit of Movember - a month dedicated to men's health, I think it's time we explored the question.  In no particular order, here's what I've found.


Reason #1.  You're afraid you're going to get a finger in the butt.  While this will almost certainly happen if you've got a problem with your bowels or blood in your stool, it also may be the case for many gent's in the 40+ age range as a screen for prostate and colon cancer.  


While this type of screening (along with a PSA test via the blood) has been done for years, there are new and controversial recommendations calling into question their usefulness.  US Preventive Services Task Force is a government citing evidence that prostate exams and PSA testing in "healthy men" with no symptoms have no net benefit in helping save lives.  Read more here.  While I understand what they're getting at (tens of thousands of men experience serious untoward effects, including death from treatment of less aggressive cancers that may not have ever killed them), I think most of us would still rather know if we had cancer.  It also can come across in a way that can mislead men into thinking that they shouldn't ever be checked, which is not the intent of the recommendation.


The other thing that bothers me a bit about this "task force" is that they call themselves preventive.  Early detection isn't the same thing as prevention.  Early detection is great, but if you do your job right on the prevention side, ideally there would be nothing to detect.  


So how can one prevent prostate cancer?  That's a great question, and one we'll explore soon enough.  


More soon,


Bryn

Leverage

It's interesting to me how things manifest themselves in clusters.  On three occasions today the word leverage came up in unrelated conversations.  When that happens, as I've been told, there's a lesson to be learned.  

Leverage is one of those ambidextrous words that's both a noun and a verb.  One can have leverage, and one can leverage.  It means to employ a device to gain some sort of advantage.  As depicted above, one can use a lever that pivots about a point to help move a heavy object with considerably less force.  In other words, it's a principle one can employ to get something unstuck.

Digression alert:  Stuck is another good word.  Babies are the master of maximizing the few words they know.  A friend's daughter, when learning to speak taught me this.  If she wants out of the car, "stuck".  If she can't yet get her own feet out of her shoes, "stuck".  Having a hard time on the toilet?  Stuck again.

Many of us feel stuck in some way, and often it's our beliefs that are keeping us there.  We tell ourselves things like "I'm too old" or "I can't do ______ because I'm not ______ enough."  Just fill it in with whatever your dysfunctional tendencies tell you.  Regardless, the best way to leverage yourself unstuck is to spend some time reflecting on all the pain and loss that belief has caused in the past, is causing you today, and how miserable your life will be in the future if you keep holding onto that belief.  THEN you get to replace that belief with one one that is empowering.  

Personally, one of beliefs I held that was limiting me was that if something I'm creating isn't perfect, then it's not worth presenting to the world.  This belief was keeping me from progressing in different areas of my life.  A friend of mine who works in production also shared perfectionistic tendencies.  He recently told me three words that changed all that: Just ship it.  Or in the case of a blog post, just hit publish.

Warmly,

Bryn

Benthams Moving to Victoria!

Jude, Chelsi, and Bryn at Kits Beach

The time has come for the Bentham's to come home.  Today marks the two month countdown to our move to Victoria, BC.


Born in Victoria, I spent much of my childhood there and completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Victoria.  From there I moved to Toronto, New York, London, Seattle, and most recently Vancouver.  These all-world cities provided me with some great experiences but alas, they just weren't home.

Neil looking sharp

I'll be practicing at Vital Victoria Naturopathic Clinic with renowned Naturopath Dr. Neil. McKinney.  Neil has 26 years of experience in medicine and is an accomplished author, lecturer, teacher, and overall great guy.  He's best known for his work in the cancer field, but he's by no means a one trick pony.  Look for him on the cover of the upcoming October edition of Integrative Health Practitioners Magazine.  

I'm available to patients from November 3rd.  If you've been thinking of consulting a naturopath, I'm your man.  

Clinic Information:

phone: (250) 386 3534

toll free: 1 888 722 6401

fax: (250) 386 3500

#125 - 1555 McKenzie Ave

Victoria, BC

V8N 1A4

With excitement,

Bryn

How I'm Spending The Weekend

I've made my way down to San Francisco to take a weekend seminar from this man.  I've heard great things about his technique, but what finally swayed me was the look in his eye.  The first step in eliminating pain, so it seems, is to intimidate it.  


I'll post more as I go.  It should be a fun weekend.


More soon,


B

http://www.myofascialrelease.com

Why Is a Cheeseburger Cheaper Than a Green Pepper?

Ever wondered why a cheeseburger is cheaper than a green pepper?  Does that seem odd to you?  On one hand you have to grow wheat, make buns, grow corn, use that corn to raise beef, turn that beef into hamburger, milk cows and make cheese out of it, not to mention the ketchup, mustard, pickles..etc.  On the other you have to plant a seed and water it.  


I just came across an article that lists the 9 foods that the american government spends the most money subsidising.  By pumping money into these foods, it keeps the cost down.  While there can be some good reasons for governments to do so (there haven't really been any domestic famines), it also helps explain why the poorest of them can still manage to be chubby.


Here's a list of the foods the government is paying for their people to eat and how much of these the average american will consume in 1 year.  I wonder how far off we are up here in Canada?


Soy bean and sunflower are on the list, but no estimate as to how much people are chowing down.


Sunflower: consumption not listed.
Barley: 203 beers.
Peanuts: 13 lbs of peanut butter.
Cow: 66 lbs of beef (28 of it was ground beef).
Dairy: 106 litres of milk.
Rice: 21 lbs of rice.
Soy: amount consumed not listed.
Wheat: 150 lbs of flour.
Corn: 33 lbs of corn products, of which 20 lbs is high fructose corn syrup consumed in soft drinks.


I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions here.


B

What does ice cream and heroine have in common?

If there's one thing that's become clear to me in the short time I've been a parent, it's how intimately linked food is with comforting.  From the minute we're born, the act of nursing simultaneously feeds us and eases our pain.  In light of this it's no surprise then most of are to some degree emotional eaters.


I hear you ask "why is this so, Dr. Bentham?", well I'm glad you asked.  It turns out that the act of nursing causes both mother and baby to release endorphins.  If you want to know what endorphins do, they are our body's natural version of morphine, codeine, heroine, and oxycontin.  These drugs are known to ease pain and infamously for their addictive properties.  The reason they work is because they mimic our natural endorphins, only much more intensely.

As an aside, the reason these can become addictive is that when prescribed for physical pain, they also ease emotional pain.  As with any other drug, when withdrawn, people experience the opposite effect as the drug - ie pain.  So even after the physical pain is gone, when the drug wears off, the emotional pain floods back stronger than before, and the addiction cycle begins.


As I work with patients who are in the process of re-shaping themselves (read lose weight), it can be helpful to talk about why we feel compelled to eat.  Dopamine is a part of it, and so are the endorphins we get from certain foods.  Fortunately there are other ways to give the body its' fix of endorphins.  For example, a good run will do the same thing.


Until next time,


Bryn

Dopawhat?

Continuing on from some of my other posts about motivation, I figure it's only right that I introduce you to a dear friend of yours you may not know about - the neurotransmitter Dopamine.  If it's helpful, you can picture him as one of the little beings that like Homer, we carry around on our shoulders.  

Dopamine's a sweetheart and means well, but he's also a bit gullible and easily manipulated.  Despite his best intentions, he sometimes ends up causing more harm than good.  One of his main jobs is to ensure our survival and he does so by positively re-inforcing (or rewarding) behaviours that favour getting our genes into the next generation.  Consider for example what happens in your brain when you tub out on brownies. Brownies are high in calories so not only do they taste good, but when we eat them Dopamine makes us feel really good about it, so that we do it again.  Then in instances when we're hungry and little-D is feeling low he rears his head and says "give me more brownies!" and we experience the rush of thinking about brownies, and engage in the compulsive act of seeking them out.  Come on, you know you've done it.  

This same pleasure/incentive/reward system is also at play in any behaviour that can become addicting.  Activities ranging from sex, to work-a-holism, to surfing the internet.  If you've ever found yourself meaning to go to bed at 10 but you ended up clicking your way to 3:30 am on your computer, you've experienced the same reward system.  That impulse you get when you see a link, and then the reward you experience when you do provides an instant mini hit of dopamine.  

So why am I writing about it?  As you can imagine, dopamine plays a major role in addiction, and for those who tend to be a little lower in dopamine, they theoretically are more susceptible to behaviours and substances that give them the dopamine hit.  As you can likely tell by now I'm fascinated by the things that drive our behaviour.  Harnessing the reward system can be a powerful tool in making changes that favour health and living in accordance with our values.  


Best,


Bryn

Why We Do What We Do

There are two fundamental principles that drive pretty much every action we take.  One is the need to avoid pain, and the other is the desire to gain pleasure.  While both are important, if you had to guess which one is the stronger motivator, which would you choose?  Watch this clip and guess why I'm not a pole-vaulter.

As cool as it would be to be able to launch myself over tall stuff with a stick, the potential drawbacks outweigh the positives for me.  This is generally true for most of us - our desire to avoid pain is the strongest motivator that dictates our behaviour.  

Are you having trouble making progress in an area of your life?  Perhaps it's losing weight.  Perhaps it's changing a job or a relationship.  If you're feeling stuck it's because you probably associate more pain with taking action than you do from doing nothing. 

In order to facilitate change, we need to link pleasure with taking action, and pain with not taking action.  Why not try the following?  Pick an action that you've been meaning to do but have been putting off.  List the pain that you associate with doing it that has kept you stagnant, and list the pleasure you've gotten by not not doing it.  Then think of what it will cost you (emotionally, financially, relationally.. etc) if you don't follow through, and write down what you will gain by taking action and doing it right now.   Get emotional about it - it's not what we know that pushes us, but how we feel.

More soon,

B

How to Live Longer

I checked again this year and it turns out the death rate for humans is still 100%.  As a health care provider much of my time is spent trying to help people delay this inevitable reality.  With respect to nutrition I've studied biochemical pathways involved in inflammatory processes, antioxidant systems, vitamin and mineral co-factors required for synthesis of hormones and neurotransmitters, and a bunch of other stuff that would make most people want to put a gun in their mouth and just end it.  If just ending it is what you're after, I'd recommend you stop reading here and maybe call a helpline.  If you want the exact opposite, read on.

Despite all our advances in the understanding of nutrition, there's really only one recommendation that has overwhelming evidence in favour of prolonging life.  Can you guess what it is?  Is it vitamin supplementing?  Nope.  Antioxidants?  No again.  It turns out that calorie restriction has been shown in (as far as I'm aware) every animal in which it's been studied, to prolong life.  That's not to say there isn't a time and place for vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutritional interventions, but if you want bang for your buck, instead of spending that buck on a cheeseburger, donate it to charity and just fast every once in a while.  The caveat here is you want to ensure adequate nutrition, but without all the extra calories.  

If you're interested in learning how to safely reduce caloric intake while ensuring adequate nutritional density, consult with your trusted health professional.  If the idea of restricting calories sounds worse than death itself, then eat away.

Keep it natural,

Bryn  

Sleep - Why and How

In an attempt to manifest that which I'm currently lacking, I want to talk briefly about sleep.  Generally I'm a decent sleeper, and have developed a reputation amongst friends for my ability to sleep in any setting and in almost any position.  That said, I've never quite mastered the urinal-pillow technique.  I wouldn't recommend trying either - it looks a bit hard on the spine.  

Sleep is one of the determinants of our overall health.  Many of our bodies' hormones work on a rhythm that is set by our sleep/wake cycles, called circadian rhythms.  If our sleep is irregular or insufficient it can create a stress to our bodies' hormone system.  A pulse of cortisol, for example, is what wakes us up in the morning and helps us feel alert and vigilant.  Growth hormone, made famous most recently by baseball players, is a naturally occurring hormone that is released during deep sleep and is responsible for growth, rebuilding, and repair.  If sleep isn't ideal, neither will these hormones' functioning.

Sleep difficulties are very common and can be either a primary problem, or secondary to other things that are going on.  Granted the following tips won't make a chronic insomniac a good sleeper overnight (pun, sorry), they will do the trick for many.


1. Don't go to bed until you are drowsy.
Otherwise people typically lay there worrying about life and, in particular, their anticipated poor sleep ahead. This worry results in emotional arousal that prevents the passive sleep process from occurring.  Also, make sure your alarm clock is facing away from you for the same reasons.
 
2.  Sleep restriction. 
The idea here is to restrict the time you spend in bed to the average amount of time you slept over the previous week.  If you'd only slept four hours nightly, try to restrict your time in bed to about 4 hours.  Increase gradually as you sleep longer.

3. Get up at the same time each morning, including weekends.
Regardless of when you go to bet, a regular awakening time is the most important factor for setting your 24-hour circadian sleep-wake rhythm. 

4. Naps?  Nopes.
Napping disrupts the sleep-wake cycle, particularly if the nap occurs more than 10 hours after the major sleep period. Even more troublesome is napping at irregular times, causing further confusion to your system. 

5. Beware the drugs - caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.
Either eliminate caffeine altogether, or at least not after noon.  Alcohol can make one feel sleepy, the sleep that results is not good quality.  In case you haven't heard, smoking is bad for you anyway.

6. Exercise regularly.
This one should be up near the top of my list.  Try to avoid strenuous physical exertion after 6:00 pm though (unless it's sexy time of course, which is the only other activity that should be done in bed).
 
7. Avoid stimulating activities before bed.
TV, talking about finances, and being online are probably not the best ideas, unless it's to read the latest Ask Dr Bentham entry.  That should put you to sleep.
 
8. Get comfortable.
Make sure your room is dark, soundproofed, and on the cooler side.


As for me, it's time for bed.  Keep it natural,


Bryn

Starting The Year Right - Physical Health

Do you ever find yourself bathing in a tub of Cheetos?  If so, this post may be for you.  


With this our final installment of our value inventory, we turn our attention to our physical health.  Although the odd Cheeto now and again will not likely be the difference between a life of longevity and an imminent heart attack, there is a lot that can happen in between.  There are a few things, many of which are modifiable, that ultimately determine our health status.  We've just spent a couple weeks in the mental health realm, and for the next little while we'll turn our attention to some of the basic determinants of health.


So, for one last time:


1.  How important is my physical health? (0 - not important, 1 - moderately so, 2 - very important)
2.  How satisfied am I with my current state of health? (0 - not satisfied, 1 - moderately so, or 2 - very satisfied)
3.  What are some intentions in this area?  Here are some questions to get you rolling.  How and why do I take care of myself?  Why do I want to take care of my body and my health through what I eat, by exercising, or by being physically fit?
4.  What are some barriers to moving forward in these intentions?

Speak soon,

Dr. B