Welcome to
Dr. Melissa Carr's
March 2012 Newsletter.

Spring is here!
 

For some, spring is welcomed with the happiness for its warmer weather, flowers, and longer hours of light. For others, it's struggling through the start of allergies.

Other health topics follow below along with a super easy recipe for chocolate pudding that is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, a rich source of omega 3s, and is yummy!

Connect Health News

We will be announcing soon an opportunity to get to know the services that my colleagues and I offer at the same time as you can help a great charity called Beauty Night. Stay tuned for more info about our fundraiser.

If you are a health professional, contact me for further information about a health professionals gathering at Connect Health.

If you are needing MD services, ask the clinic about options. The MDs at Connect are whole-body/mind/spirit oriented and some of their services are MSP billed.

The "Body Team" at Connect (chiropractor, registered massage therapist, fitness trainers, and me) will be offering a free lecture about joint health April 25th. Call the clinic to register as that will fill quickly!

Health Information

If you are suffering from allergies, check out my past articles about allergies:

Allergy tips

Also, did you know that acupuncture is an effective treatment for allergies? It is! Check out this link:

Acupuncture Treats Allergic Rhinitis

This month's blog health topics include articles of lessons I've learned about habits, challenging an article from a reporter for the Vancouver Sun, and information I lectured to UBC's pharmacy students:

• Do you look at the things that you do by habit to see if they are really working for you? I recently discovered a small change that I could easily make to make my life less frustrating. It's not specifically health-related, but it prompted me to observe the other automated actions I take, including those that are health-oriented: The Way You Do The Things You Do...

• My response to misleading information in an article written on Vancouver Sun's health blog site: Acupuncture Reported: Is He Accurate? Note: I had a lot more that I could challenge him on for his article, but I chose to write about just one of the pieces.

• About Chinese herbal prescriptions: What You Want To Know If you Are A Pharmacist And/Or Take Chinese Herbs

I have more blogs here if you'd like to peruse, including TCM is a New Medicine; Dog Day Morning, Afternoon, and Evening; and Relearn How To Eat: My Blog (comments are welcomed and feel free to share them!)

RECIPE

Chocolate Chia Pudding

(4-6 servings, though I found it to be enough for about 8 servings)

Ok, if you've known me for just a short while, you may even still know that I don't like to cook. Well, I'm learning to. Learning to cook and even learning to like it. I do, after all, LOVE food!

What I most love about preparing food is finding the simplest, quickest ways to make healthy and delicious foods. I found this one (which I've modified slightly) that works as a great healthy substitute for chocolate pudding. The consistency is, no question, different. But, I actually like the way it sticks. Must be something about the inner kid in me still liking to play with my food!

Without further ado...

Ingredients

1 cup chia seeds (I used sprouted dark chia seeds)

3 cups nut milk, coconut milk, or hemp milk (I liked the coconut milk best)

2-4 Tbsp raw honey or maple syrup (I liked both options)

1 tsp vanilla - optional (I LOVE vanilla!)

1-2 Tbsp raw cocoa powder (you could choose carob, but I chose raw cacao power powder--yum!)

pinch of sea salt
 

Directions

Place everything in a bowl and stir well. I used a mixer as I found it hard to get everything to blend properly when just using a spoon. Make sure that there are no clumps and that the chia seeds are coated in milk. Let sit at room temperature 20-30 minutes or cover and refrigerate. Oh, and I haven't done this yet, but just thought about it. If you want to add a bit of crunch and some extra energy, add a sprinkling of cacao nibs on top when you serve it!

Contact

Email drcarr@activetcm.com for health questions or if you would like to book me in to talk at your workplace, event, or community gathering about ways to reduce stress, improve health, and learn about easy, safe, and effective wellness options.

Call 604-733-4400 or email cs@connecthealthcare.ca if you'd like to book an appointment.

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Helping you help yourself!! My goal: To work in partnership with you to bring you to your optimal health. My focus: Ongoing health, not just temporary relief.       This is active health.