Back in 1993, several weeks before the opening of what would come to be called WholeHealth Chicago, I was summoned to the office of the chief of medicine at the hospital where I was a staff member. The chief had heard rumors I was opening a center that would combine conventional and alternative practitioners. Seeing […]
Tag: candida yeast infections
Controversial Diagnosis #3: Candida Overgrowth Syndrome
Patients come to WholeHealth Chicago regularly with this common refrain: “You’re the fourth (or seventh or tenth) doctor I’ve seen. I feel terrible but am always told that my tests are normal and there’s nothing wrong with me. Recently I read about Candida overgrowth and the symptoms seem to fit me exactly. But the doctors […]
“I Am So Bloated!”
Susan had written “BLOATED!” in the section marked “What’s the main problem?” She told me she’d been suffering for years, her stomach feeling like some gremlin was inflating a balloon every time she ate. When the bloating was especially severe, Susan said she looked like she was in her fifth month of pregnancy. She was […]
The Girl Who Smelled Like Pennies
She could not get rid of the awful taste in her mouth. Metallic, she described it, like having pennies in your mouth. Two years it had been. She’d tried a tongue scraper to no avail. Changed her diet, swished an assortment of mouthwashes, rinsed her sinuses with a neti pot, and then, thinking she might […]
Grapefruit Seed Extract
This unlikely herbal infection-fighter is synthesized from the seeds and pulp of the grapefruit. It was farmers who first used grapefruit seed Extract (GSE) to inhibit the growth of mold on their equipment; later, cosmetic companies added it to their products as a preservative.
Oregano
The leaves and flowering tops of more than two dozen fragrant plant species are endowed with a distinctive mildly minty flavor widely recognized as the herb oregano. The most popular of the Origanum species in North America is Origanum vulgare, otherwise known as European oregano or origanum. It’s actually a member of the mint family (Labiatae).