Rooted In The Wild

10/29/2025

90% of women experience menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, brain fog, and anxiety.

60% of Michigan woman say their medical provider did not discuss what to expect during menopause.

Symptoms can last 7+ years.

The average age a woman begins to experience hormonal changes and challenging symptoms is 47.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if we began preparing for hormonal shifts long before the shifts occur? 10% of women are doing it - and are symptom free!

The definition of symptom is “indicator of disease or disorder”. When did a normal function of a woman’s cycle become a disease state?

DUTCH hormone testing gives us a clear indicator of hormones, precursors, cortisol “steal” of s*x hormones, liver clearance, and necessary organic acids for metabolism of hormones. If I had it my way, every woman would have this test yearly to check in with her hormones and adjust lifestyle and protocol accordingly to PREPARE for a symptom-free menopause.

Maybe there’s an another way to crone.
www.rootedinthewild.org

10/21/2025

We are on the other side of chicken pox.

One kid at a time over 6 weeks, as things always seem to go.

Supporting the body’s natural healing abilities with reishi-infused bone broth butternut squash soup full of thyme, roregano, sage, and rosemary.

Internally, we’ve been using liposomal vitamin C and D, herbal cat’s claw and VS-C, collagen, silica, omega-3’s, and homeopathic Viru-Chord.

Externally, the pox on the skin have resolved very quickly with the supportive care from Jordyn at www.alchemyestheticstudio.com with KPS organic products pumpkin enzyme mask, vitamin C serum, and Super ORAC oil.

Sometimes, illness is a beautiful and gracious teacher of slowing down, simmering soup from the garden, and remembering our capability to self-heal.

10/13/2025

As a naturopathic doctor, I have worked backstage (and on a tour bus!) with celebrities, on a floormat with breastfeeding mothers, in a locker room with professional athletes, and had home visits with immobile elderly folks.

My work with clients is intimate, supportive, and held deeply confidential. I rarely allow interns to sit in appointments with me as the conversation between client and myself is held as a sacred container.

BUT…I have the fortune to have an incredible 15-year veteran ER nurse intern for the semester. After spending the past 2 years studying natural health, Sabrina combines her skills as a ER nurse with natural remedies to support healing at a deeper level.

Together, we are offering appointments this week, Thursday (October 16), at half-price for Sabrina to witness the flow of a naturopathic appointment. At these appointments, you will be given an assessment by Dr. Mel along with a recommended protocol, and offer Sabrina an opportunity to grow in her skills.

Use the code: INTERNDAY to book an appointment on Thursday, October 16.

There are only 3 available appointments, so move fast!

www.rootedinthewild.org

Pic below: sometimes I work in log cabins too!

09/29/2025

There are at least five strains of opportunistic gut bacteria responsible for rheumatoid arthritis.

When was the last time you heard of a rheumatologist doing a stool test?

Viruses in the gut can lead to Type 1 diabetes, lupus, Hashimoto’s thyrioditis, and multiple sclerosis.

Fungi and yeast in the gut present on the body as eczema, vaginal infections, and thrush.

Parasites can contribute to arthritis, anemia, headaches, fatigue, and unexplained weight loss.

When we silo medicine into parts and pieces of the body, we lose the research and studies that tie it all in together. What happens in one part of the body impacts the whole.

Have you heard the story about the blind men and the elephant? The one touching the trunk thought he held a snake. The man at the back leg thought it was a tree trunk. Each man could only know the part he made contact with and no more.

Let’s get to the root of it and see the whole elephant.

-Dr. Mel, ND, RN
(Me, at an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka)

www.rootedinthewild.org

09/22/2025

Sometimes it’s best that you can’t hear pictures. I snuck up and took this sweet one of my kids fishing in the backyard.

But…they were fighting over fishing lines, hooks, and property rights to the “good spot”.

It looked so precious and beautiful.

From a distance.

Some days are hard. Mamas giving everything and the bickering persists.

Nearly every Mama I work with says her joy is in her children and helping others. Which is vital and so, so important. And it’s time to put on your own oxygen mask, inhale deeply, and tend the gorgeous and life-giving temple of the Mama, too.

Women have never been tasked with more than now. And there are resources to bring health to the body and restore vitality to the soul. Let’s test our hormones, understand our cortisol levels, learn about the medicine of the Earth.

Tend the temple of the soul. And enjoy wordless pictures of beauty and children.

-Dr. Mel, board-certified Naturopathic Doctor and Registered Nurse

www.rootedinthewild.org

09/17/2025

We are moving into a new season. My kids have always been homeschooled, and now my oldest has made the choice to enter public middle.

Which means drop-off at 7am and pick-up at 5pm after football practice. The school offers free breakfast of poptarts, doughnuts, and cereal. Free hot lunch is a choice between hot dogs, pizza, breadsticks, or hamburger with an optional bright red or blue slushie.

What the hell is going on here? No wonder kids are experiencing ADHD, behavioral, and anxious symptoms. They are tired, strapped down to a chair, and fed nutritionally useless and harmful foods and expected to perform at peak!

Here’s what we are doing at our home:
*Agreement to packed lunches 3 out of 5 days (because…my child has an opinion)
*Daily multivitamin with methylated B complex, D, zinc, and so much more
*Omega-3 with EPA and DHA
*Lion’s mane mushrooms
*Liposomal vitamin C
*Creatine, electrolytes, and minerals in the football water bottle
*Giant protein-packed breakfast before school

This has to change for kids. Each generation is becoming sicker with shorter (and more chronically ill) lifespans than our ancestors. We can do better than this.

08/14/2025

Jase and friends are bringing another session of FIRE TENDERS to boys ages 10-13. This is a critical age to move away from screens and into deeper meaning in relationship to Earth. Please share this offering with your friends who you feel may benefit.

08/12/2025

It was a pleasure to join the Michigan Women's Commission last night as a panelist for a conversation around menopause. With over 200 attendees including Senate Majority Leader, Winnie Brinks and Congresswoman, Hillary Scholten, many viewpoints were discussed from allopathic to naturopathic approaches so each woman can decide for herself which journey to take into her crone years.

Grand Rapids, what a wonderful night! On top of an engaging conversation, we had RECORD turn out! Thank you to the community for showing up in such a meaningful way.
Today’s theme was put best by panelist Rebecca Greier Horton, “Know your worth. Always come to the table knowing what value you provide.”

And thank you to our statewide sponsors Astellas and Bayer!
To learn more about Astellas follow this link:
https://www.astellas.com/en/about

And to learn more about Bayer follow this link:
https://www.bayer.com/en/this-is-bayer

08/07/2025

Herbs don’t work, “they” say.

But then “they” will wait in line forever for coffee to stimulate the brain, and smoke cannabis before bed to fall asleep.

Want to know if herbs really work? Try out pet-friendly remedies on your animals. See what happens to felines with a little catnip. A little charcoal binder on a puking dog.

Pictured below is my daughter giving our horse spirulina, milk thistle, and slippery elm to decrease inflammation.

If herbs and mushrooms have worked well enough to make them illegal, perhaps they just might work after all.

www.rootedinthewild.org

08/03/2025

I hear it from parents all the time. A desire to care naturally for their family when the inevitable fever, earache, wound, dislocation, pain, rash, etc. happens. In this workshop we'll discuss assessment, plan of action, healing plants and mushrooms found on the land, homeopathic use, and when to seek higher medical attention.

Dr. Mel is a Naturopathic Doctor and Registered Nurse trained in NOLS wilderness first aid. Join us in Mount Pleasant for this workshop by registering here: https://www.elmastery.org/class-schedule

07/28/2025

I will be speaking as a panelist at this event in August along with other powerhouse female health experts. Women do not need to suffer, endlessly sweat, or socially disappear through menopause! Maybe there’s another way….

RSVP here: www.michigan.gov/mwc/events/2025/08/11/menopause-its-a-movement-conversation-in-grand-rapids