By Caitlin Rothermel How can a chiropractor help someone? The main objective of chiropractic care is to get the spinal joints – which your nervous system runs through – aligned. This allows your nerves to penetrate and innervate your organs and glands and keep your system running. For many years, chiropractic just involved spinal adjustments. But our toxin and…
Easing a Sore Throat
By Kathy Abascal As winter weather settles in, more and more people are complaining of being tired and having sore throats. This could be COVID, of course, but in many cases, it is simply the start of a winter cold. Many respiratory infections begin with symptoms of fatigue and a slight scratchy dryness in the…
Black Cumin Seed Oil, a Powerful Medicinal Fat
By Shelley Headley and Tristan Carbery We have learned a lot about “fats” over the years – what’s healthy for us, what’s not – and many have come to understand that heavily processed and refined oils, such as corn, canola, soybean, and sunflower, should be avoided. At the same time, there has been a wave…
The Vashon Health Care District Hasn’t Talked to Us in a While
By Caitlin Rothermel The Vashon Health Care District hasn’t talked to us in a while, and people have definitely been asking questions. But that ended this November when they met to present and pass their 2024 budget. It’s important to talk about the VHCD now because their proposed plans substantially change their original mandate, with the…
Who Were the Eclectic Physicians?
By Kathy Abascal I often mention the Eclectic physicians in my articles because of their deep knowledge about medicinal plants. The Eclectics were licensed medical doctors who primarily used herbs and natural principles of healing to treat their patients. They were a strong force in American medicine from the 1830s to the early 1900s, but…
Getting To Know Lobelia
By Kathy Abascal Lobelia is a lovely plant with a gorgeous flower. There are many lobelia species, ranging from the blue L. sylphatica, to the widely used, white-flowered L. inflata, to my favorite L. cardinalis with its dark red flowers. All lobelias (except nursery hybrids) are medicinal. Although it took me quite some time to get over my fear of using…
Medicinal Plants on Vashon – Hawthorn
By Dr. Leigh Siergiewicz Hawthorn, or Crataegus spathulata, is a small-tree member of the rose family, native throughout the northern hemisphere. Hawthorn has smooth, gray bark, and most but not all varieties have sharp thorns on the stems. The flowers can be white or pink in springtime; they have berry-like “haws” that range from red to…
Support Your Immune System
By Jane Valencia Note: Links within the article are to articles and recipes previously published in the Vashon Loop. As we enter Autumn and the flu season, a responsible thing we can do for ourselves, our loved ones, and our community is to ensure that we ourselves are in excellent health. Here are three avenues…
Health Disclaimer
By Caitlin Rothermel Last month, the Loop Editorial Board reviewed and updated the “Health Disclaimer” run in every issue. We made changes based on input from a writer who pointed out that its language – applied to be legally protective, and typical of what you would see in a health disclaimer – was actually off-putting…