Dr. Christa Reed Kruger, ND

12/29/2025

On this snowy and blowy day, you might be tired of the heavy foods from the holidays but still looking for warmth and comfort.

Simple ingredients with warming spices do the trick. Plus, some extra nourishment and gut healing & soothing might be in order by now as well. Listen to your body!

I made a butternut squash soup and used bone broth instead of regular broth or cubes to pack in additional nutrients and protein. Lots of anti inflammatory, antimicrobial, and warming spices too.

Since you know I’m not a baker, I used a mix from XO Baking Co. to use up some bananas in banana bread (although my son will be asking me to buy more to make smoothies since he got a new blender for Christmas).

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
- sauté onions, celery, carrots, garlic & ginger in olive oil until soft
- add 2 cartons bone broth (I used Imagine because I didn’t have any homemade left in the freezer)
- add 2 butternut squashes peeled and chopped
- add 3 small apples peeled and chopped
- add 2-3 tbsp curry powder
- 2-3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 bay leaves
- sea salt & pepper
- simmer until cooked through, remove bay leaves
- purée with immersion blender, regular blender or enjoy without blending
- dash of cinnamon on top (optional)
- can add leftover chicken or turkey pieces, pumpkin or h**p seeds on top for more protein, if desired

BANANA BREAD
- XO Baking Co mix with Enjoy Life chocolate chunks
- Gluten free, rice free, dairy free
-> still yummy

In this space between Christmas and New Years it’s a great time to be slow, reflect, sleep more, and nourish yourself on all levels.

Looking forward to supporting your best health in 2026!

12/02/2025

December is an interesting month that can be full of fun and gatherings, food, gratitude and giving.

It can also be busy, stressful, emotionally charged, and far from your normal routine and habits for sleep, eating, and moving.

There are 3 key areas that I find come up with health at this time of year:

- Gut & Digestion
- Immune
- Emotional well-being

There’s an abundance of ways to support these areas of health, and your plan should always be individualized to your own unique needs, experiences and tendencies (talk to me or your own practitioner).

Year after year I’ve seen health gains sidetracked or derailed by the holiday season. When we bring in additional supports at this time of year we can avoid those setbacks or rollercoasters.

Also remember that just like summertime, we can benefit from intentionally letting our routines slide a little bit. The key is finding ways to offset (like digestive enzymes to help break down a heavy meal) and reinstating your hard earned habits soon after.

Need help with this?

Book an appointment or go on the waitlist.
(link in bio)

I’d love to help you move through the end of 2025 with ease, and feel your best ever in 2026!

________________________________________
Information not advice

11/28/2025

What a wild ride the last year has been. I’ve been privileged to be a part of your journey, and I’m looking forward to more healing stories to come!

- clearing cystic acne to feel more confident
- reducing stress & anxiety to feel more regulated, balanced and calm
- digestive healing to feel less inflammed and more comfortable
- discovering food sensitivities, nutrient deficiencies and treating chronic infections to feel more energy
- lessening muscle tension to not be in pain
- supporting organ function to return lab numbers to normal (liver & kidney)
- reviewing your labs with you so that you truly understand what it all means

As more and more people turn to other options for their health, they quickly become overwhelmed by the abundance of information that’s out there. I help cut through the noise and build a plan designed for you.

Here’s my reflections from the past year, let me know if this resonates 👇

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ ➡️ 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣🌱

There’s still a few spots left to get in before the end of the year. I can’t wait to see you!

_____________________________________
Information not advice

11/26/2025

B O N E B R O T H 🍲

A tremendously healing food, bone broth can be made into soup, enjoyed in a mug like tea, or added to recipes in place of water to make rice or quinoa.

Any time we eat meat at home we reserve the bones and store them in the freezer to make into broth another day.

How to make bone broth:

- organic bones (or sometimes I use a whole chicken and remove the meat from bones halfway through)
- onions, garlic, celery, carrots
- splash of apple cider vinegar
- top with water in a large pot
- can use chicken feet for extra collagen
-> boil ingredients together for 2-3 hours or place in crockpot on low for 12 hours the remove bones from liquid

I find it interesting when we do studies that support what our ancestors already knew: bone broth is nutritious, gut healing, and high in many elements that people now often supplement with, like collagen.

I include bone broth in many of my treatment plans, especially for digestive health, nutrient deficiencies, osteoporosis, burnout/adrenal fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and immune support.

I’ll be making it tonight as some of my family works through sore throats and headaches. (To be used alongside some other herbal & homeopathic remedies).

It’s also a fall/winter staple to have soup in our fridge because it makes a perfect after school or before practice snack. (My teens often have 2 dinners … yay 🙃). Why not make it healthy and nourishing?

Nourishing meals mean less cravings and balanced energy.

I’ve also been known to enjoy soup with a bit of sauerkraut for breakfast. I don’t love most typical breakfast foods and my body feels best with a high protein start to the day.

Get creative, be nourished, stay healthy.

_______________________________________
Information not advice

10/30/2025

I won’t hide the fact that I dislike daylight savings and get excited every time I hear rumblings that we’re going to do away with the time change.

There’s plenty of studies that show it is bad for our health: increases in heart attacks, strokes, and car accidents. But I don’t need a study to tell me that it just feels gross!

Fortunately there are things we can do to move through the time change and make it a little easier on ourselves. (These strategies apply in both the spring & fall).

⏰ Go to bed earlier - get enough sleep and you won’t be dragging as much.
⏰ You can start adjusting to the new time now by shifting your bed time by 15 minutes every night
⏰ Morning sunlight as soon as you can, windows down and sunroofs open in the car totally count
⏰ Daytime light exposure sets circadian rhythm
⏰ Eat your last meal while it’s still daylight, or at least 2 hours before bedtime
⏰ Grounding - also helps recalibrate circadian rhythm to the earth
⏰ Limit natural light disruption - esp phones before bed
⏰ Carbohydrates (the healthy ones) are helpful for serotonin production and can help sleep quality, while fats & proteins keep blood sugar regulated and hormones balanced to help too
⏰ Improve overall sleep quality: exercise, nervous system healing, less caffeine & alcohol, mouth taping, and minerals like magnesium
⏰ Sugar & Caffeine can become an energy crutch, be cautious with these
⏰ Melatonin can help in some cases

If you really struggle with the time change, it can also be an indication that your adrenal glands, nervous system and circadian rhythms/light systems are taxed and not as able to make adaptations to our environment.
-> if this is you, we should chat

As we head into a weekend of Halloween, Time change, and then a full moon next week, there will be a lot for our bodies to process! Anything we can do to move through more easily is welcome.

____________________________________
Information, not advice.

10/03/2025

We are fortunate to have many opportunities for having a deeper look into our health status. Bloodwork, saliva, urine, hair, and stool testing can all provide valuable insights into our patterns and imbalances.

Functional tests and scans are a way to check-in on how our bodies are functioning, in the context of how we feel and what symptoms we’re experiencing.

On Friday, November 7th, 2025 we’ll be hosting a Thermography Clinic.

(Link in Bio to Book)

Thermography uses a specialized digital camera that captures heat patterns in the tissue. It is most known to be used for breast tissue, but whole body scans are also possible.

There are several ways to monitor tissue changes in the breasts, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages: self-exam, thermography, ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy - which provides the only definitive diagnosis.

Since we are all unique, there may be reasons that some women choose not to or are not candidates for mammograms. Thermography can be helpful for indicating early changes to blood flow in the area scanned.

Link in my Bio to book your Thermography Appointment with Julie.

If you’d like more information, check out www.somatherm.ca

Read more about Thermography here:
www.orangevillenaturopath.com/blog/get-deeper-insights-into-your-health

_________________________
Information only, not medical advice

10/01/2025

Autumn is a transition time. Each season brings specific health opportunities and challenges to the surface, which is why I suggest seasonal check-ins to prepare and address each of them uniquely.

There are wonderful advantages to the fall:

🍂 plentiful harvest of local produce
🍂 cooler temps making it easier to be outdoors (it was a hot and sweaty summer in Ontario!) and sleep at night
🍂 sunrises and sunsets at times that allow us to capture those infrared rays
🍂 connecting with family time & gratitude at Thanksgiving

The main things I am thinking about in the fall when it comes to your health and keeping you well in the months and years to come:

🍂 immune support
🍂 breast health (October is breast cancer awareness month)
🍂 designing strategies for staying active, eating well, and avoiding too much blue light (screens) in the winter months
🍂 supporting your nervous system and adrenal glands through change of season, routine, and what is typically a marathon from now until January
🍂 keeping detox pathways open - liver, kidneys, gut, breathing, skin, lymph all benefit from extra care & attention

It was a chilly morning today, which makes me start thinking about transitioning to warm & cooked foods. 🍲 (Are you a soup person?)

We’ve also been rocking the sauna on the weekends.

Stay tuned, by request I’ll be launching details about my annual Fall Reset in the coming days.

For anyone looking to nourish their bodies and inspire their routines between Thanksgiving and Halloween, this is a great way to reconnect with healthy living.

Have the best day,
Dr Christa

_________________________
Information not advice

09/04/2025

08/26/2025

After a hot summer, sauna season has started! The water in this cold plunge is about 8-10 oC. The first time was challenging, the next time I enjoyed it.

Years ago, I used to be able to do the cold pools at the spa no problem, until my nervous system and adrenals got fried. I had to take a step back to nourish and rebuild, but now I’m able to do it again.

Sometimes we get caught up in what we “should” be doing for our health, and we forget to tune into what our body is telling us. When I was burnt out, my inner voice screamed “no way!” to the cold water, so I opted for a gentler routine. Now I am ready and able to accept the benefits of this wonderful hydrotherapy treatment.

Remember that just because something is labeled as “good for you”, does not mean that it is good for you right now.

This is the nuance of individualized health care, the stuff that your search engine or AI is not picking up on.

So yes, cold plunges can improve mood & stress, recovery, focus, sleep, immune function, and circulation. But they can also send alarm bells to your system and put too much pressure on an already depleted body.

If you’d like support decoding your health story, let me know, I’d love to help.

__________________________
Information not advice

08/18/2025

I spent Saturday on the shore of Lake Huron, visiting with old friends from university. What a way to fill up - through laughter, hugs, and sunshine.

It’s also so thrilling to spend time with healthy families, kids eating cucumbers & trail mix and swimming all day without a screen in sight, while using tallow balm sunscreen. (My people!)

Waves & sunshine recalibrated my nervous system, and helped rebalance cortisol levels. Walking barefoot in the sand for extra grounding.

This morning was cooler, giving the first hints of fall. Have you thought about how your routine will be shifting soon?

- earlier bedtime
- busier schedules
- more time indoors

This is a great time to plan your next steps, to find ways to support your health all year long.

There’s an abundance of fresh, local, vibrant food available now, I passed about a million food stands on the drive to the lake. Enjoy it while it’s here! 🥒🌶️🫑🥬🍅🍑

Find simple joys wherever you can.

See you soon!
Dr Christa

07/26/2025

Did you know that there are dietary recommendations to go alongside GLP-1 medications? I imagine this could improve outcomes and potentially limit side effects.

From JAMA Internal Medicine: This JAMA patient page covers weight-loss medications, focusing on food craving reduction, blood glucose control, dietary strategies, exercise for muscle retention, and lifestyle changes to prevent weight regain.

https://ja.ma/4o1DPIT