Join the Creston Valley Public Library as it continues its speaker series, Healthy You, Healthy Community, focusing on complementary health care to help you make the best decisions for your own well-being. The series will highlight naturopathic medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture and more.
At 7 p.m. Feb. 23, the library will present “Multivitamins: Hype or Helpful?”, featuring Dr. Kim Masuch.
Are you getting what you need in your food alone? Multivitamins being helpful or harmful is a topic that has been raging in the media lately. What are you supposed to believe, and what are you supposed to do? Does your food still have the value that it once did, or are genetic modifications and depleted soils affecting your health? Do you even know what amount of essential nutrients you need per day, is the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) enough or do you need more? This talk will focus on clearing up the multivitamin debate, defining the amounts of nutrients we need for each age group, and if we are able to get what we need from our food and lifestyles. Please bring a list of all the food and drink you had in one day, and any nutritional information from packaging you may have.
The series is led by Masuch, a licensed naturopathic physician with a vibrant practice in Creston. Trained at the University of Victoria and the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine from 2003-2012, she also holds additional certifications in pharmaceutical prescriptive authority, intravenous therapies, acupuncture, and Bowen therapy, allowing a wide range of treatment options for all types of health concerns. Masuch offers both primary care and adjunctive care with all other types of practitioners, including medical doctors. She is a licensed member in good standing with the College of Naturopathic Physicians of BC, the BC Naturopaths Association and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
Masuch believes that health is a personal journey and as we are all individuals, we require options for our health that are unique to each of us. She uses the principles of naturopathic medicine to help each person regain control over their own health and healthcare choices, and allowing the body to heal using the help of natural therapeutic alternatives. With naturopathic medicine, she treats a wide range of health concerns, including chronic digestive concerns, fatigue, depression and anxiety, cancer support, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, healthy ageing, pregnancy and fertility issues, children’s medicine and much more.
Naturopathic medicine is an accredited branch of medical practice that has existed for hundreds of years. Those studying naturopathic medicine follow the same pre-med curriculum as medical doctors but specialize in naturopathic medicine rather than another discipline such as family, internal or surgical medicine. All treatments are science-based and research supported, and focus on treating the cause of the issue, looking at the whole body and all symptoms, with therapies as natural-based as possible (diet, exercise, herbs and supplements) but using prescribed pharmaceuticals when necessary.
“Multivitamins: Hype or Helpful?” is the second talk in a series of eight featuring various complementary health care professionals from our community. Stay tuned for these other exciting talks in the series: Cancer care – adjunctive support options for those battling cancer (Masuch, 10:30 a.m. March 17) and herbal medicine (herbal practitioner Jessica Shearer, 7 p.m. March 23). Look for sleep blues, returning to an ancestral diet and acupuncture also coming up.
All talks are free of charge at the Creston Valley Public Library. For more information, call the library at 250-428-4141.
—CRESTON VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY