Dr. Kim Bretz ND - Fundamentals Of Health, 6-420 Erb Street W (yes, we've moved 2 doors down, right next to Beechwood Wellness Pharmacy), Waterloo, ON (2025)

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6-420 Erb Street W (yes, We've Moved 2 Doors Down, Right Next To Beechwood Wellness Pharmacy)

12/22/2025

“This time of year, food guilt shows up louder than joy.”
Let’s talk about why - and what to do instead.

12/17/2025

Cortisol isn’t the villain it’s made out to be.
But when weight feels stuck, it’s easy to look for one.

Here’s what the science actually says - and what matters more.

12/16/2025

No one reviews an average hamburger. Think about it.

You don’t rush online to write about the burger that was…fine.
You review the amazing one. Or the terrible one.

And that’s exactly how “doing your own research” works online.
You mostly find:
👌 The person who tried something and had a life-changing transformation
❌ Or the person who tried it and was completely wrecked by it

What you don’t see?
The huge middle group where:
– It helped a bit
– It didn’t help much
– It helped for a while
– It worked in context
– It wasn’t the main issue

So when people go searching for answers, they’re not seeing reality. They’re seeing extremes.

And extremes do one of two things:
– Make something look miraculous
– Or make it look dangerous

Both can push people into fear, urgency, and bad decisions.
This is why self-research so often makes health feel either incredible or terrifying
And why so many people end up more confused, not more informed.

Good health decisions aren’t built on viral testimonials. They’re built on patterns, probability, context, and nuance.

Most health interventions are…average burgers.
And that’s not a failure - that’s how biology actually works.

Clarity doesn’t come from louder stories. It comes from better framing.

12/15/2025

Ten years ago, I thought more patient education was the answer.

I assumed that if people had access to trustworthy info and clear explanations, they’d feel more confident navigating their health.

What I see now is different.

People aren’t overwhelmed because they don’t care about evidence. They’re overwhelmed because they’re surrounded by too much advice - emotional, contradictory, and framed as urgent.

Add:
🔵Long wait times
🔵Short appointments (if you can get in at all)
🔵A sense that the system isn’t built for you & isn't listening

And suddenly an online stranger starts to feel safer than the healthcare system.

Not because it’s right. But because it feels available, validating, and personal. That’s a very different problem than “people don’t understand the science.”

People aren’t rejecting healthcare. They’re trying to feel safe inside it.

This is what I’ve been thinking about lately. Curious how others are seeing this

12/11/2025

If your feed feels heavier, louder, or more chaotic lately, it’s not you.

It’s your algorithm doing its job too well.

Here’s how to take back control.

12/10/2025

We’re comparing real lives to curated ones — and it’s affecting how people think about health.

12/10/2025

I had a moment of identity confusion this week when my YouTube Music Wrapped insisted that I’m in the top 0.4% of Kenny Loggins listeners (not to be too braggy).

I thought something must have gone wrong…until I remembered our morning routine.

Most days, before work, Don and I put on one upbeat song - apparently that is most commonly Footloose (who knew it was sung by Kenny Loggins?) - and dance around while we're getting ready for work.

It’s a few minutes. It’s ridiculous. It makes us smile. And it’s one of the most reliable “health practices” in my life.

We talk so much about the big things in health: perfect routines, strict habits, serious goals.

But honestly? Change can happen in the small, joyful, almost (actually)-silly rituals that remind us we’re human.

A single song.
A tiny moment of connection.
A choice to start the day with levity instead of pressure.

And in case you were wondering, the second most popular artist on my wrapped? Bill Withers. Let me know if you know why 😍

And PS: Don doesn't know I've posted this. It's a secret

12/08/2025

I just watched a video by a DIY creator building a secret attic room for her daughter. She’s cutting wood, wiring lights, installing custom trim (plus building a skylight with a walkout - of course)… And somehow it all looks easy.

Meanwhile, I can’t even hang a picture straight without creating a hole big enough to hide evidence of a crime.

But that’s the magic of video - hard things look simple. And, so, when I watched the video I thought: “I can probably do something like that.” Maybe minus the skylight.

Health is like this.
We watch videos, see “before and afters,” listen to confident voices explaining complex biology in 20 seconds… and we start to think we can DIY our way through everything:
• the weight gain
• the hormones
• the fatigue
• the “mystery symptoms”
• the burnout
• the massive list of foods we’re suddenly afraid to eat

And sometimes we can do pieces on our own - with the right tools, knowledge, and support.

But here’s the part we don’t talk about: If you’ve never learned the skills or built the foundation, DIY isn’t empowering - it’s a setup.

You’re not failing.
You’re not “not disciplined enough.”
You’re not missing the magical trick that everyone else seems to know.
You’re trying to renovate an attic when no one ever taught you how to use a level.

Health was never meant to be a solo project. Especially not in a world where the loudest voices can be the least qualified, and where complex medical problems are packaged as “5 easy fixes.”

Sometimes what looks simple… isn’t.

And sometimes what you need isn’t more effort - it’s a guide, a plan, or someone to say: “You weren’t supposed to do this alone.”

If this hits home for you, you’re in good company. Most people I see in practice aren’t lacking motivation - they’re lacking realistic expectations, tools, and support. And that’s fixable.

12/06/2025

December is a lot. If you’re struggling to keep up, you’re not doing anything wrong - you’re just human.

Save this for the days when you need a softer approach.

11/22/2025

When I taught a 5-hour SIBO Intensive for The Confident Clinician in 2024, it was one of the hardest presentations I’ve ever done - not because of the science, but because it challenged the dominant beliefs in our field.

Beliefs like:
• SIBO is extremely common
• Bloating + bowel changes = SIBO
• Breath tests are definitive
• “Relapse” means the overgrowth returned
• Another round of antimicrobials will fix it
• Restricting more foods is healing

And then this new 2025 study landed… and honestly, it just reinforced everything we talked about. Lactulose breath tests were positive in 60% of healthy people - and the SAME 60% stayed positive two weeks later. That isn’t SIBO they accidentally found in healthy people. That’s physiology.

Lactulose is a laxative. It speeds up transit. So instead of measuring the small intestine, we’re measuring the colon - where trillions of bacteria ferment lactulose and create a totally predictable gas spike. The test looks “reliable”… but it’s reliably measuring the wrong thing.

This matters because:

1️⃣ SIBO exists, but not in the way many clinicians think.
It’s not a catch-all for bloating. It’s a motility disorder with specific risk factors - not a default diagnosis.

2️⃣ A positive test without pre-test probability is noise, not clarity.
Low likelihood going in = false positives coming out.

3️⃣ Many “relapses” aren’t relapse - they’re misdiagnosis.
If someone keeps getting worse after antibiotics or restrictive diets stop, we need to ask whether we were treating the wrong thing from the start.

4️⃣ The kill/starve cycle is harming patients.
Over-restricting diets + repeated antimicrobials = less resilience, more fear, and worsening symptoms.

Our patients don’t need more killing. They need more understanding of motility, sensitivity, fermentation patterns, gut–brain interaction… and care that isn’t based on outdated tests.

If the test doesn’t mean what we think it means, neither does the diagnosis.

11/12/2025

I ate a grilled cheese almost every day for four months. And not a sourdough, organic cheese homemade grilled cheese sandwich. A Tim Hortons grilled cheese melt. I might have also had a Timbit (or three) with it on many days.

A loved one was seriously ill in hospital out of town, and between the travel, the worry, the constant decision fatigue, keeping my practice running, teaching at the university, being the chair of a regulatory college along with the rest of my life, that sandwich was about all I could manage. It wasn’t nutrient-balanced. It wasn’t vegetable-heavy. It was what I could do.

And that’s the point.

We see so many posts about non-negotiables - the habits we should “never” skip: movement, hydration, vegetables, protein, deep breathing. I love those things. They matter. But sometimes life doesn’t leave room for “ideal.” Illness, caregiving, grief, burnout, hormonal changes, children, finances - these moments test every system we’ve built. When the non-negotiables fall apart, you’re not failing. You’re being human.

Health isn’t a checklist you pass or fail. It’s a relationship that bends with your life.

So when things get hard, instead of starting over from zero, lower the bar.
🔵Movement might be pacing hospital halls.
🔵Protein might be that grilled cheese.
🔵Deep breathing might be the heaving gasps you take after sobbing because it feels like nothing is ever going to be okay again.

Don't judge yourself based on the perfection you see in someone's social media post. Health & wellness isn’t about never missing a day. It's remembering you can always come back. And then coming back.

11/11/2025

It’s a full season of conversations that matter. Between now and early 2026, I’ll be speaking with practitioners, workplaces, and the public on topics that all share one goal - making health easier.

From gut health and probiotics to misinformation in the workplace, to navigating perimenopause and menopause - each talk explores where we often get it wrong, and how to make care, communication, and decisions simpler.

Whether it’s helping practitioners feel more confident in evidence-based gut care, supporting HR professionals as they tackle health misinformation, or helping women understand their bodies with more clarity and less fear - it all comes back to the same thing: clarity over confusion, and real-world solutions over perfection.

Here’s to more honest conversations and fewer health myths ahead.

Dr. Kim Bretz ND - Fundamentals Of Health

12/22/2025

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