Alta Natural Medicine

05/14/2026

I (finally) made a new YouTube video. It’s about my biggest sleep-herb pet peeve, and I hope it will help folks find better options.

One thing I wish more people knew is that not all herbs work for every body. For instance, one of the most popular herbs for sleep, can actually worse and sl...

12/29/2025

I’ve been working on blog posts today.

Here’s a jumpy video scrolling through some of my recent ones. Top two are from today.

Link in comments.

12/20/2025

There’s a new article in the Journal of Sport and Health Science detailing ways that exercise slows aging. It’s something all of us can do in one way or another, and it can be $0.

Really, exercise is the panacea we all claim to seek.

But also, check out this infographic: It’s clear and … well, since I’ll always still be a tween girl, it’s also beautiful and RAINBOW.

Can we put this on the walls in med schools? As art?

(And now I want it on my office wall…)

Article link in the comments.

06/25/2025

Fairbanks folks, did you feel it? Heat messes up sleep. Here’s what we know, and some things you can do.

Sleeping cool is self defense in a rapidly warming world. Why this matters and what you can do about it. Let's get into it.

04/30/2025

A fun thing happened a few weeks ago: I got invited to join Rosalee de la Forêt on her Herbs with Rosalee podcast!

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that we focussed on thyme — the garden medicine that got me started in herbalism.

It's really true that plant people are the best. Check out the podcast (audio or video) and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks to Rosalee and her whole team!

https://drornaizakson.com/thymes-unsurprising-medicinal-might/

02/23/2025

Did you know that prunes can help prevent or reverse bone loss in menopausal women?

I’m not talking about some fancy, expensive medicine that costs gazillions of dollars and only grows someplace far, far away.

Just regular prunes.

I’m also not talking about gigantic quantities that will give most folks nausea or other digestive problems.

Just 5-6 prunes daily will do it.

Here’s one study showing how little it takes to slow bone loss while keeping new bone forming. It’s not the only one, either!

What a delicious and simple way to address osteoporosis and osteopenia!

So tell me, are you planning to get prunes on your next grocery run?

Link is in the comments.

12/17/2024

Science is about having an idea, testing it, and then testing it some more. It fact checks itself by design over time. And here we see good science identifying flawed science, and responding accordingly.

Unfortunately, people who didn’t know much about science uncritically acted on the bad science. It costs lives and relationships.

Remember, COVID-19 is *still* very new — 5 years is a big chunk of a life, but not a ton of time to learn everything about a similar tricksy virus. This is why it’s important to continue taking precautions and not jump on the unproven.

https://www.science.org/content/article/infamous-paper-popularized-unproven-covid-19-treatment-finally-retracted

09/26/2024

07/31/2024

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/well/move/exercise-boost-mood.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Are the Olympics inspiring you to use your body more? This article offers tips for getting the biggest mood boost for your effort. Take-home message: Persistence wins.

Link in comments because algorithm.

07/26/2024

I am excited to announce that I have officially joined the faculty of Psychiatry Redefined – the leader in functional mental health education.

In this role, I will create coursework around some of my main mental-health passions: herbal medicines in psychiatric practice, functional sleep support, and both winter and summer seasonal affective disorders. I will also be available directly to students in faculty office hours and online supervisions.

These courses are geared toward practitioners, including psychiatrists, naturopathic doctors, nurse practitioners, therapists and nutritionists.

I am honored to join Dr. James Greenblatt and the rest of the PR faculty in this important work.

Link in the comments.

07/18/2024

COVID vaccines are far from perfect. But reducing long-COVID risk by 72% is a big deal.

//Among vaccinated people who had been infected, the rates of long Covid were markedly lower. Differences in variants and other aspects of the Delta and Omicron periods played a role, the authors said, but they attributed about 72 percent of the decrease to vaccines.

About 5.3 percent of those infected during the Delta period had long Covid a year later, and 3.5 percent of those infected during the Omicron period did.

“This is lower than earlier phases, but it is not low,” Dr. Al-Aly said. “Multiplied by the huge number of people who continue to get infected and reinfected, 3.5 percent per 100 adults infected will translate into millions of additional cases of long Covid.”//

Link in comments.