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Dr. Liz Carter

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Seattle, WA
Dr. Liz Carter

Teaching you naturopathic medicine the 5 elements of Chinese medicine to improve your health ✨ Contact her for an appointment today!

New Leaf Natural Medicine is committed to providing comprehensive, compassionate, and affordable healthcare for everyone. Dr. Carter uses a combination of acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, craniosacral therapy, herbal medicine, homeopathy, nutrition and lifestyle counseling, and hydrotherapy to help you feel your best!

12/26/2025

In Chinese medicine, winter is the season of the Water element. This is the energy that governs rest, reserves, fear, and inner drive. When water is balanced, we move through life with wisdom and appropriate caution. When it’s off, we can feel frozen by fear or push forward in ways that leave us depleted.

Winter isn’t the time to force productivity. It’s the time to slow down, rebuild resources, and listen more closely to what your body and emotions are asking for. 💤🧘‍♀️

These are a few simple ways to support your water energy this season, from conserving energy and nourishing yourself with blue and black foods 🫐, to working with fear instead of fighting it, and soaking in mineral-rich baths 🛁🧂.

Self-care in winter often looks quieter than we expect, but that quiet is what prepares us for growth in the spring 🌱

👉 Find my free salt bath guide here to support your water element: https://www.drlizcarter.com/lp/salt-bath-guide/

Save this for later, share it with someone who feels depleted, and follow along for more Chinese medicine–inspired tips on seasonal balance ✨

12/25/2025

Another quilt update! I finished a pair of quilts for my wonderful in-laws. I used the same background color for each quilt top to help them coordinate, as well as a more muted color scheme.

My father-in-law is red/green color blind so Chris helped me to pick some orange and blues. The theme for my FIL’s quilt was pretty easy: he just retired from being a contractor, so a Carpenter’s Star pattern made sense! He’s also worked with bees for 30+ years so a bee themed backing fabric was a must.

My mother-in-law loves flowers and gardening so I had to choose a sweet flower print for her backing and a pattern that reminded me of flowers (in a quilty way). Her quilt was the most complicated pattern I’ve attempted and my first go with half rectangle triangles. Definitely a learning curve there but I didn’t lose too many points 😅

I quilted both of these on my domestic machine. I wish I had chosen a different pattern for my MIL’s quilt as I feel like the pattern interferes a bit with the design, but that might also just be the lighting. Every quilt is a learning experience!

Father-in-law quilt:
Pattern: Carpenter Star
Fabrics: AGF Latte (background), sienna brick, ocean fog, northern waters, ocean fog for the binding, and Buzzed - Nougat | The Bees Knees for the backing

Mother-in-law quilt:
Pattern: Celestial Path by
Fabrics: AGF Latte (background), sweet fig, bewitched for the binding, bloom on light pink from the floral song collection for the backing

Quilted by me.
Quilt model:

12/23/2025

Generational trauma can be passed down family lines AND it’s possible that positive traits can be as well (more research needed).

These ideas come from the field of epigenetics - or the study of how environmental factors (diet, lifestyle, behavior, emotions, trauma, etc.) impact your genes.

What’s super cool is that epigenetics is also showing us that our genes aren’t set in stone. They change based on the above factors AND those changes can be passed down to the next generation.

If you’re ready to work on changing some of those genes, check out my favorite book for addressing generational trauma - It Didn’t Start with You.

It’s on my Amazon Trauma/Grief booklist 📖 that you can find here: https://amzn.to/3Up19TW

Study reference: PMID: 26410355

12/23/2025

One of my latest finishes! My brother and his family are pretty into Christmas, so I wanted to add to their Christmas cheer and make something they could all enjoy.

I loved this color palette the instant I saw the quilt kit. It feels a little traditional and a little modern at the same time. And my niece loves pink so I felt like this was a winner!

This was easy to put together as it’s all strip piecing and I really like how the scrappy stripe in the back turned out!

I used wool batting (Hobbs 80/20 wool and cotton for any quilters who read this!) for the first time and I love the loft and texture! Plus its home is in Minnesota so the warmer the better :)

The quilting was done by a local longarmer and it turned out so well! The detail and intricacy just isn’t something you can do on a regular machine and I love the choice of gold thread.

Pattern: Upscale Plaid by
Fabric: Kit from Lo and Behold featuring AGF solids: Evergreen, Quartz Pink, Cactus Flower, Crystal Pink, Spruce, Tender Green, Cinnamon, Weathered Brick, Rock Candy and Cherry Lipgloss
Longarm quilting:
Quilt model:

12/22/2025

Good digestion is crucial to good health!

In Chinese medicine, your spleen is your most important digestive organ!

Taking care of it will improve gas, bloating, constipation, loose stools, nausea, fatigue, and more.

In Chinese medicine, your organs are associated with more than just physical functions - they carry emotions, thoughts, and parts of your spirit.

The best way to support them is to address all of these issues and following the advice in this post is a good start!

If you enjoy what I share here, join my email list to help you deepen your understanding of the 5 elements and naturopathic medicine and how they can transform your healing process: https://www.drlizcarter.com/landing/newsletter/

12/20/2025

Inflammation may curb, not cause, chronic pain says a recent study 🤯 Actually, this isn’t news to naturopathic doctors.

Inflammation has been equated to ill health, but truthfully, it’s vital to our health. Inflammation recruits our immune cells and tells them where and how to heal damaged tissue.

This recent study shows that an initial burst of inflammation can help to prevent chronic pain in the future. In other words, you might not want to immediately suppress your healing response with anti-inflammatory drugs.

In naturopathic medicine, we understand that if we suppress the body’s natural response, we run the risk of creating chronic health issues because the body doesn't fully heal and “unfinished business” remains.

I hope more and more research is done in this area!

Here’s the link to the article: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/news-events/nidcr-news/2022/inflammation-may-curb-not-cause-chronic-pain

12/19/2025

The main goal during a fever is to support your body’s process so it can do its job more quickly.

Your fever IS the medicine - it’s creating a hostile environment for the bacteria/virus/whatever. Raising your body temperature kills off viruses and bacteria and it helps your immune system work faster.

Supporting your fever helps you move through your illness more quickly and often improves chronic health conditions after you’ve recovered.

Fevers are safe in adults until 104 degrees. Get a good thermometer and check in often!

Please note this is not medical advice. Check with your doctor to see what’s right for your personal health.

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12/18/2025

Want deeper, more nourishing relationships? ⏰ According to Chinese medicine, when you connect is important.

Your organs follow natural daily rhythms and your ability to bond with others is closely tied to your heart and its protector, the pericardium.

💓 11AM–1PM is peak heart time and is a powerful window for joy, connection, and love.
💞 7PM–9PM is ruled by the pericardium, your heart protector, supporting trust and emotional intimacy.

Swipe to see why these times matter and how to align your day for better relationships, mood, and connection.

✨ Want to learn how to work with your body’s natural flow for better energy and focus? Check out my on-demand workshop Improve Your Energy, Mood, and Focus with Chinese Medicine workshop: https://www.drlizcarter.com/improve-energy-workshop/

12/17/2025

🎁 My favorite holiday dessert from me to you 🎁

✨ B U C K E Y E S ✨

It’s full of family history, tradition, and most importantly, chocolate, peanut butter, and graham crackers. It’s hard to say no to that combo!

We made these growing up most years in Iowa: home of corn, tornadoes, and practical, no bake recipes that can feed an army.

I’ve included a few adaptations in order to make these allergen friendly. Feel free to make the version that works best for you!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I have over the years! 💛

Ingredients:

*8oz butter or coconut butter, slightly softened
*16oz of honey or 1lb confectioner’s sugar (you can also blend monkfruit sugar with a little cornstarch to make a confectioner’s sugar substitute)
*1lb pb
*1 box graham crackers (more, about 3-4c. total if using honey), pulverized in food processor
*2 tsp vanilla
*salt to taste (about 2 tsp if your pb is unsalted)
*1 bag dark chocolate chips or 2-3 70% chocolate baking bars

👉 Cream butter, sugar/honey, and vanilla. Add pb and continue mixing, taking care to keep things cold enough that the butter doesn’t melt.

👉 Add graham cracker crumbs 1 cup at a time. You might need to mix by hand at this point as things get very thick.

👉 Roll mixture into balls about half the size of a golf ball and place a toothpick in each. Chill on parchment lined cookie sheet for a few hours.

👉 Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Dip pb balls into chocolate, covering the sides as much as you can. There should be some pb peaking through on the top to resemble the buckeye nut.

👉 Place dipped balls back on cookie sheet, allow to cool and harden.

👉 Store in fridge for 3 weeks (if they last that long!). Makes 50-70 buckeyes.

The recipe on my blog: https://www.drlizcarter.com/buckeyes-chocolate-peanut-butter-balls-goodness-gluten-free-vegan/

12/12/2025

In Chinese medicine, every element expresses itself through color and for water, those colors blue and black 🧊🌑 Think of the midnight ocean, a frozen lake, or the sky just before dawn. These tones signal depth, stillness, and power held in reserve.

How these colors show up in nature ❄️
Blue and black are the colors of winter, water’s season. Shadows lengthen, nights stretch longer, and the world feels quieter. Nature draws its energy downward into roots, seeds, and soil. Everything is conserving resources, storing potential, and surviving the cold until movement returns in spring.

How they show up in our health 🌀
In the body, water relates to the kidneys and bladder, the systems responsible for our deepest reserves of energy. When water is balanced, we feel a steadiness of our will, instinct, and trust in ourselves. We sense that we can meet challenges without burning out.

When water is depleted, the colors often show up in our appearance:
💧 Darker tones under the eyes (commonly dusky blue/black/purple like after a night out)
🌫️ A bluish cast to the skin

These shifts reflect water’s message: you’re running on fumes instead of restoring your reserves.

Cultural idioms that echo water’s wisdom 💬
Certain sayings unintentionally reveal water’s nature:

💙 “Feeling blue” we often think of as an emotional state, but it’s also usually a sign that your reserves are low, making life feel heavier and harder to navigate.

😤 “Blue in the face” means pushing yourself beyond your limits, mirroring water’s risk of draining willpower until there’s nothing left to give.

Both phrases point to water’s teachings: conserve, restore, rest, and rebuild your reserves by learning to trust yourself rather than fear-driven effort.

The takeaway 🌊
Blue and black aren’t just nature’s winter colors! They're reminders to honor your energy and limits. They invite you to slow down, settle, and trust the wisdom of resting deeply. So the next time you see these colors in nature, use them as a reminder to protect your energy now so your power can rise when the time is right.

12/10/2025

Did you know that only certain types of gift wrap are recyclable?

Anything that’s metallic, includes glitter, or that has velvety flocking is NOT recyclable.

I hate to break it to you, but neither are bows and ribbons 😱

Ribbons get caught in machines at the recycling plant and gum them up. Kind of like hair around the roller brush of your vacuum.

Plain wrapping paper IS recyclable, so that’s great.

But if you’re looking for a different and more sustainable option, here are some ideas:

→ Try Furoshiki wrapping using a flour sack kitchen towel. BONUS: your loved one gets their gift, something useful for their kitchen, and a pretty package!

→ If you’re crafty, sew up a bento bag. I did this for a family one year and now they use their bento bags to carry toys, food, and whatever else they need!

→ Use old yarn or string you have around the house for bows, or make a pom pom out of yarn (super cute and the perfect cat toy or reusable decoration!)

→ Choose a gift bag instead of paper, as they are easy to reuse

→ If you do use bows, gather them up and save them for next year. Use tape to help them stick the next year (I grew up doing this, so thanks, mom.)

→ Gather some natural items from around your yard or local park to decorate your package: acorns, pinecones, rosemary sprigs, sturdy leaves that have fallen, small fir, cedar, or pine cuttings

→ Check out Pinterest for ideas! There are thousands!

→ And my personal favorite, DIY wrapping paper out of old paper grocery bags. Oftentimes grocery bags have pretty, wintery designs on them this time of year. Use the pattern or decorate the blank side of the paper bag to your liking! I love trying out my very mediocre lettering skills, writing holiday jokes, and drawing really terrible trees, lights, and other festive things! If I get a laugh from someone with my wrapping paper, even better!

What’s your favorite way to wrap gifts?

Enjoy what I share here? Join my email list to help you deepen your understanding of the 5 elements and naturopathic medicine and how they can transform your healing process: https://www.drlizcarter.com/landing/newsletter/

12/08/2025

Chronic illness is a rollercoaster 🎢 that can be exhausting and disheartening.

That being said, it’s been one of my best teachers and I’m a better person and practitioner for having experienced it.

It’s helped me define my boundaries (if we don’t make them, the body does), be more accepting of myself, and realize that true healing can’t be done alone.

I hope these tidbits help you in your healing ❤️‍🩹

Enjoy what I share here? Join my email list to help you deepen your understanding of the 5 elements and naturopathic medicine and how they can transform your healing process: https://www.drlizcarter.com/lp/newsletter/

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Monday	10:30am - 7pm
Tuesday	10:30am - 7pm
Thursday	9:30am - 5:30pm

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http://www.drlizcarter.com/

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