Dr. Safiya McCarter

02/04/2026

Fire cupping isn’t just for pain—it’s great for detoxing your body and releasing tension. 🧘‍♀️ Feel rejuvenated and lighter with this holistic treatment. 🔥

02/02/2026

Supplements…are they helpful or not? There are so many questions when it comes to supplements. Do they really help? Are they worth the expense? How do I know what to choose and what brands to trust?
Supplement ideally should function just as the name implies, add to or enhance the healthy food and lifestyle habits that you have in place.
For personalized recommendations and support from a practitioner for your specific health and wellness needs, contact Flourish & Balance for a consultation today!

01/28/2026

I just love when research catches up to what we in naturopathic medicine have observed and incorporating into our evaluation and treatment clinically for years! Welcome to preventative and functional medicine! :)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16xUV2QG7a/

Vitamin B12 is long understood as a vital nutrient required for red blood cell formation and nerve function, but a new Cornell study suggests its role in human biology is far more intricate, with implications for aging, metabolism and disease prevention.

The research, published Jan. 19 in the Journal of Nutrition, reports previously unrecognized pathways by which B12 influences cellular metabolism and uncovers biomarkers that may identify early nutritional stress far before classic deficiency symptoms appear.

“This is the first study that shows B12 deficiency affects skeletal muscle mitochondrial energy production,” said corresponding author Martha Field, Ph.D. ’07, associate professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. “It’s highly relevant because muscles have high energy demands. More importantly, my co-author, Anna Thalacker-Mercer from theUAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham, wondered if B12 supplementation in aged mice would improve muscle mitochondrial function – and it did.”

Up until now, most research has focused on B12 deficiency and the resulting clinical syndromes – megaloblastic anemia, neuropathy and cognitive decline – rather than its deeper mechanistic roles.

At Cornell, a team including Field and two of her former lab members, first authors Luisa Castillo, Ph.D. ’25, and Katarina Heyden, B.S. '18, Ph.D. ’24, set out to probe those mechanisms, mapping how B12 interacts with lipid metabolism, organelle stress pathways and epigenetic regulation.

What emerged was startling: The vitamin appears to act as a gatekeeper of multiple “hub” pathways, meaning that its insufficiency may ripple far beyond the classic symptoms.

Read more at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/01/vitamin-b12-clues-offer-hope-new-therapies.

01/16/2026

Happy Founder’s Day to all of the Finer women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. Wishing you abundant health as we celebrate 106 years of scholarship, service, sisterhood and finer womanhood. 💙🤍

01/10/2026

#2026

01/09/2026

01/08/2026

12/19/2025

From naturopathic medicine, acupuncture to fire cupping, our holistic services offer mind-body healing. Each treatment is customized to support your unique health goals. 🌸 Ready to thrive naturally?

12/17/2025

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) each season is associated with an element and an organ. We are in the midst of the transition from fall to winter. Clinically, these transitional times result in increased incidents of illness. The fall is associated with the lungs and its counterpart the large intestine and the metal element. The winter season is associated with the kidney and its counterpart the bladder and the water element. To maintain health and decrease your risk of getting sick, it is important from both a TCM and western medicine perspective to support your immune system. This is especially important at this time of year as we are in the peak of cold and flu season. So, how do we support and nourish our health and bodies during this time of year?
In the peak of cold and flu season, support your immune system with foods and spices that are high in water like
white mushrooms
daikon radish and other root vegetables like garlic, onion and leeks
pears, apples
cinnamon
fermented foods
bone broth

This is the perfect season for soups and stews where a variety of the foods and spices mentioned can be added. Experiment and enjoy!

12/15/2025

Starting your fertility journey? At Flourish and Balance, we work with many individuals and couples that are at the beginning stages of family planning or who are actively trying to conceive (TTC) and are seeking a holistic, integrative approach to support their fertility journey. Our whole body, whole health approach includes testing and education regarding those factors that can negatively impact fertility such as chronic inflammation and elevated blood sugar. Chronic inflammation, as we see with diabetes, has negative consequences on reproductive health affecting male factor fertility resulting in low s***m count, poor s***m quality and poor blood flow to the reproductive tract. The consequences to female factor fertility include hormone imbalances, poor egg quality irregular me**es and ovulation as well as increased risk of miscarriage.

Explore our holistic services today!

12/06/2025

Give yourself the gift of release from anxiety this season! 🎁