I am a caring daughter, a cool sister, a valuable teammate and a loving friend. I am also an aspiring Chiropractor who will one day change the world.

I have a passion that burns deep inside of me to help and bring healing to others. When I joined the team at NRFC I knew right away that I was in the right place and that this was where I was meant to be. The health miracles that we see on a daily basis make it easy for me to see that Chiropractic is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Upon starting at North Ridge I knew very little about the miracles and health benefits that Chiropractic brings to people. I had heard stories of Chiropractic and at first was afraid to get adjusted, but I noticed in my own life and health immediate benefits after I began getting adjusted and immediately realized it helped people.

I am a graduate of York University with an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Health Science. I graduated not knowing what career path I wanted to take. I began to get very discouraged because I could not see myself in any of the positions I had applied for. Just as I started to question whether or not I made the right decision in getting my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology, God led me to Dr. Julie.

Before I started getting adjusted I did not think I needed a Chiropractor because I was not in any pain. I quickly realized that was not true. Just because I don’t have pain does not mean I do not need to see a Chiropractor. My body went through a harsh detox period after my first couple of adjustments; I developed a sinus cold, had headaches and even had a rash appear on my arms. This happened to me because I was sick and debilitated and I didn’t even know it. My body had a lot of toxins that it was releasing with every adjustment. Immediately after my first week of adjustments I witnessed amazing changes and benefits in my body and health. I was sleeping a lot better, my mood improved and I felt a lot more relaxed. I also noticed that my neck flexibility had increased which made many daily activities such as driving a lot easier.

When I am not at the clinic I am playing sports or spending time with my family. Playing sports for the past ten years has kept me active, healthy, busy and happy. Before I was an athlete I was a competitive dancer and gymnast which gave me a good foundation for my sport life but also caused a lot of subluxation or misalignments in my spine. I have always been an active person and my family and I together spend our time staying active, and relaxing while watching movies and cooking together.

In this life we will all go through breakdowns but it is important to remember that “in order to go through a breakthrough you must first go through a breakdown.” It is important to see the positive in everything that you do, and I want to be remembered for always staying positive and measuring my life in the LOVE that God has provided me.

“Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” – Luke 6:38

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It is rare for great nutritional advice to be provided to women considering becoming pregnant; since our western lifestyle typically leads to unhealthy and out of balance choices. Your Family Wellness Chiropractor can often provide nutritional and healthy lifestyle information to his or her patients and if you’re considering becoming pregnant, you’re an ideal candidate for such advice.

The first question to ask your Chiropractor is: what does the body require to have a healthy pregnancy? The answer would be: the whole food concept. To eat a balanced diet you need to understand that living a “whole foods” rather than “processed foods” lifestyle is best for you and your future baby.

Balanced Whole Food Diet

Living a “whole food” lifestyle isn’t as difficult as it may sound. The most important thing to remember is that living food is healthy food. Some areas to focus on would be the following:

• Proteins and Iron – These can be found in organic, grass fed or hormone and antibiotic free beef, lamb and poultry. Eggs will give additional Vitamin A. Additional sources of Iron can be found in wheat germ, bran, nuts, parsley and molasses

• Essential Fatty Acids and Protein – These can be found in fatty fish (salmon, black cod, etc.), and fish oil supplements should be a part of any health conscious woman’s diet
• Dairy Products – These are a great source of calcium and protein, however, your diet should be balanced with other healthy calcium sources, such as: soy products, nuts, seaweed products, wheat germ or wheat bran
• Beans, Legumes and Green Leafy Vegetables – These will provide you with fiber, protein and other essential vitamins for a healthy balanced diet
• Folic Acid and Vitamin B – These are found in a diet containing whole grains, nuts and dairy products; and mono-unsaturated fats can also be found in nuts and avocados. Berries will provide you with valuable antioxidants as well as additional vitamins and phytonutrients.

When considering dietary changes for your health and the health of your unborn child, remember that living foods do not come in boxes or packages. They will not be found in the aisles of your grocery store, but in the meat, dairy and produce section.Pre-Conception Lifestyle Changes

A wellness pregnancy doesn’t start while you’re pregnant, but four to twelve months prior to conceiving. One of the first things you should do, after deciding to have a baby, is speak with your Family Wellness Chiropractor about healthy nutritional advice. The vital first step in having this discussion will be to provide your Chiropractor with a nutritional journal for one week so that he or she can review your lifestyle of eating and drinking. Often it’s not how much you’re consuming that will concern your doctor, but rather what you’re eating.

When reviewing your diet journal, your Doctor of Chiropractic is going to be looking for the following specific areas of concern:

• Missed meals (usually breakfast)
• High carbohydrates
• Low proteins
• Unhealthy fats
• Processed foods
• High caffeine
• Other chemicals

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Perhaps you remember your parents telling you to sit up straight and now you’ve found yourself telling your children the same thing. Is this just a right of passage from childhood to adulthood, or is there something more to this thing called posture?

What is Posture?

Posture is defined as the position of the body or the position of several parts of the body with respect to each other for a particular purpose. Posture is not, regardless of what we have been led to believe, simply a matter of sitting or standing up straight. Instead, it is the actual and proper alignment of the parts of the body in relation to the spine, and the proper use of the body at all times.

Posture and the Young Child

As soon as a child begins to stand upright, you can begin to look for signs of improper posture. Signs of head, shoulder or hip tilt can be seen as soon as a child is weight bearing.

Although this may seem early for a child to have misalignments to their spine, birth injuries and falls taken when learning to walk can already begin to affect their posture.

Posture and the Pre-Adolescent

With a child that is between the ages of seven and ten, misalignments to the spine are more than likely due to minor falls and injuries associated with certain activities. These typically include soccer or other sports, as well as injuries sustained on playground equipment or trampolines.

It is also with this age group that we begin to see a lot of time spent watching TV, and in many instances, the child will be lying on their stomach; another habit that can cause postural issues. Children in this age group are frequently seen playing video games and, with both handheld games and console games with a controller, the child will be sitting in a head down position or with their shoulders hunched which is equally troublesome to a developing spine.

In response to these causalities, the body will typically begin to adapt to the improper alignment and cause postural deviations that you can see. These can include a tilting of the head, which may reflect a misalignment in the neck. A shoulder tilt might indicate a mid-back issue, and a tilted hip can mean a misalignment of the hip, sacrum or lower back. If a child’s foot is turned out or in, this can indicate a problem in the pelvic area.

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Many parents have a daily challenge with their families: “my kids are picky eaters and won’t eat what’s good for them”. This problem is seen with children of all ages; and it’s a very frustrating daily battle, that it seems your child is winning. As a parent you feel you’ve lost before you start.

So what is the solution? There really isn’t one answer. Much of this challenge stems from your own adult relationship with food, meaning that many of your childhood habits are now being passed to the next generation, both the good and the bad.

The Family’s Nutritional Lifestyle

Starting nutrition right for your children actually should begin prior to conception as future parents. Take the time, sit down and review your attitudes and beliefs about what it takes to raise your future family. This may include the family’s moral compass, discipline, education and a daily snap shot of your family. Ask yourself what in your childhood background with food may create a food problem for your kids. Then consider the nutritional lifestyle most suited to grow and fuel your child’s development.

When parents struggle with their picky-eater(s) the first response should not be, “What’s wrong with my child.” Rather, remember your child enters this world not knowing what he or she hates or loves about food; for the most part kids learn this relationship from the example a parent sets.

If dad hates vegetables and doesn’t eat them, or as parents you don’t expand the taste palate of your children by “trying something new,” this often creates the picky-eater in the home.

Food Relationships

So where do you begin? Before you become a parent. Start by reviewing your personal relationship with food. For example, which parent has the bad eating habits and what are they? Consider how the two of you will blend or create new food relationships and expand your knowledge or cooking base with research. There are many books and websites available that take a wellness approach to raising healthier children.

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With time, research is revealing that nuts and seeds do not deserve their bad reputation. Absolutely, they are high in fat. But it’s the good fat, not the bad, and when eaten in moderation, their health benefits far outweigh the dangers of their fat content. The fact is, the more we learn about nuts and seeds, the more we realize that they’re one of our best snack food options.

Isn’t Fat Bad?

We know that nuts and seeds are high in fat. An ounce of almonds and sunflower seeds both have 14 grams, cashews have 13 and pecans have a total fat count of 20 grams. It’s when we consider what kind of fat they contain that we see the difference between these and other foods with a high total fat count.

Saturated fats are those that raise our bad cholesterol levels and increase our risk of heart disease and strokes. These are the fats that are high in most snack items and put our health at risk. An ounce of almonds contain 1 gram of saturated fats, and cashews and pecans have 3 and 2 grams respectively.

Where nuts and seeds are high in fat is in the mono and polyunsaturated fats, but these are good for us, raising our “good cholesterol” levels and typically containing essential vitamins like A, D, E and K.

The Facts

In 1996, the Iowa Women’s Health Study found that women who ate nuts 4 or more times a week were 40% less likely to die of heart disease. Since then similar studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health and Loma Linda University in California have found the same. The Physician’s Health Study in 2002 found that men who consumed nuts 2 or more times per week had a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death.

A study at the University of Toronto found that nuts, almonds in particular, reduced risk factors that are typically associated with heart disease, specifically LDL count or bad cholesterol levels, and Richard Mattes, PhD, professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University in Indiana found that when people added 1 to 2 ounces of nuts a day to their diets they did not gain weight, contrary to popular belief.

Studies performed at several North American universities revealed that three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to stick to a diet that included moderate fat content in the form of nuts and seeds. They suggested that the fat, protein and fiber in nuts helped the dieter feel full longer, so many felt less deprived and ate less during the day.

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A medical error is defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended, or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim.” A rather benign definition for what is a leading cause of death in the United States; with numbers far greater than fatalities attributed to automobile accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,497) and AIDS (15,516).

The term “medical error” has become an umbrella to cover a multitude of mistakes in the health care system including mishandled surgeries, diagnostic errors, equipment failure and medication errors.

The Facts

A report from the IOM in 1999 has been the standard of statistics for medical errors for over ten years, with many quoting their estimate of 95,000 American deaths per year. The United Kingdom has reported a substantially lower number of 40,000, Canadians are lower still with 24,000, but Australia reports the lowest with just 18,000 per year.

The IOM’s report estimated that medical errors cost somewhere between $17 and $29 billion dollars. It called for sweeping improvements in patient safety and went on the record as stating that it would be “irresponsible to expect anything less than a 50% reduction in errors over five years.” This report resulted in seven high-profile hearings in Congress and the introduction of five medical error bills; but none were adopted and eventually the flurry died down.

A study performed in 2004 by HealthGrades found that the numbers hadn’t dropped by 50% but were in fact twice what was reported by the IOM. Using Medicare hospital records from 2000 to 2002 they determined that the actual number of deaths attributed to medical errors averaged 195,000 per year.

Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ vice president of medical affairs, likens this to 390 jumbo jets full of people crashing each year, making it one of the leading causes of death in the United States; and these are “preventable, in-hospital medical errors”.

“If the Center for Disease Control’s annual list of leading causes of death included medical errors, it would show up as number six, ahead of diabetes pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease and renal disease,” stated Dr. Collier.

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– Dr. Julie Donoso, B.Sc. D.C. –

I am married to my super courageous and amazing husband, Anthony.  We plan to change the world together, ONE person at a time.

I am a Christian.  I am a wife.  I am a daughter.  I am a sister.  I am a sponsor to four beautiful children around the world.  I am also a Chiropractor.

Being a chiropractor is not a job for me.  It’s my calling in life.  I’ve always believed that you must have a passion for what you do and I can genuinely say that I love what I have been called to do!  I also believe that whatever each of us is passionate about reflects what we are willing to dedicate our lives to.

In a very unique way, I am passionate about chiropractic.  I have realized over the years that Chiropractic is a lifestyle choice focused on creating health, not on treating disease.  My passion is lived out everyday by leading families to be fully alive through the principles of Chiropractic.  I do not believe that anyone was created to live a life of sickness and disease.  I believe that each person was designed to be healthy and to live fully alive expressing his or her God-given potential.  My goal is to bring as many families with me to discover health and healing as God intended.

My desire to serve as a Chiropractor started when I was a teenager.  I experienced severe migraines on a daily basis that debilitated my life and left me feeling hopeless. I was desperate and needed a solution.  At that time, I was taking SIX Tylenol a day, just to cope with the pain.  I had seen many doctors and specialists, all who told me that I would have to live like this for the rest of my life, learning to manage the pain with drugs.

During this time, I was pursuing a 4-year undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Health Science at York University (B.Sc).  I was fascinated with what went on inside the human body and marveled at the complexity of it.  I was excited to learn more and when a friend suggested Chiropractic to me, I was eager to learn about the principles and thought perhaps this is what could save my life from the debilitating migraines I was experiencing.

I decided to call and schedule a spinal examination.  I was hesitant at first, but when the doctor told me I had subluxations in my spine (misalignments in my upper neck), I knew with all my heart that this was the answer I had been looking for!  After a thorough report of findings, I received my first Chiropractic adjustment and instantly felt relief!  It was like a drainage plug had been released and I felt my body starting to heal.  It was a life changing experience for me and from that day onwards, I knew that I wanted to help people in the same way with the power of Chiropractic.

I attended the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto and after 4-years of study I graduated with a Doctorate of Chiropractic degree (D.C.).  In 2008 I began serving as a locum Chiropractor in Oakville at North Ridge Family Chiropractic.  After two years, I purchased the clinic and have been faithfully serving the community ever since.

When I am not adjusting at the office, I’m with my family relaxing up north at the cottage, playing tennis enjoying the outdoors or training for my next race, swimming, cycling or running.  For the last few years, I’ve been traveling to AFRICA to serve the people there through Chiropractors with Compassion Canada.  I plan on doing that for the rest of my life, with the people that I love the most, because those people have changed my entire life forever.  They have shown me a world that is so much more rich and abundant than I ever could imagine.

At the end of my life, I want to be remembered as someone with eternal vision who knew that she was greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.  I will forever serve God by serving His people with all the passion and limitless dedication that I can!

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

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I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ.  I am also a daughter, sister and a passionate chiropractor!

My desire in life is to share God’s love and help people live life abundantly. Being a chiropractor enables me to fulfill these passions by allowing me the privilege to lay hands on people and see His miracles happen, one adjustment at a time. Over a series of events in my life, I’ve come to the realization that health is a gift and defined by the choices we make every day in our lives. Our bodies were never designed to carry the sickness and ailments that plague our society today. My vision is to help people achieve greater clarity over the choices they make and bring people back to the optimal health they were created to have.

My aspiration to serve as a Chiropractor began when I was a teenager. I suffered from bouts of insomnia due to stress, which left me feeling constantly irritable and angry. At the time, I didn’t think this was that big of an issue and continued to suffer one sleepless night after another. During this time, I was pursuing a 4-year undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology at McMaster University. The intricate processes of the human anatomy that work together to heal and restore the body intrigued me. My understanding of the body’s innate capacity to heal itself was not fully understood until I saw a Chiropractor that checked my spine for subluxations (misalignments). After receiving my first chiropractic adjustment, that same evening, I had the best sleep of my life! Stress levels began to decrease as I got adjusted on a regular basis.

Chiropractic has also had a huge impact on my father’s life. With the onset of high blood pressure and serious breathing problems, combined with severe neck pain and numbness down his right arm, my father experienced difficulty breathing, debilitating pain and sleepless nights. As his daughter, it broke my heart to see him suffer and felt helpless in not being able to do anything to help. Upon a recommendation from a close family friend, my father hesitantly booked an appointment with a Chiropractor. After receiving his first adjustment, he could immediately breath easier and the pain in his neck started to subside! These two experiences sparked a light of hope within me to pursue a career in Chiropractic to help people the same way Chiropractic has helped my family and me.

After studying for four years at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto, I graduated with a Doctorate of Chiropractic degree (D.C.). I have also been trained in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture program and certified as an Acupuncture Provider. In the fall of 2011, I began working as a Technical Chiropractic Health Assistant and then Examination Doctor at North Ridge Family Chiropractic. Upon graduation, I started serving the Oakville community as an Associate Chiropractor.  It is an honor to work along side the team at NRFC in saving lives and I am excited to see all the miracles and blessings together as ONE.

When I’m not at work, I’m in the kitchen cooking or baking up a storm, working out at the gym, playing tennis, reading my Bible, meeting up with family and friends, trying new restaurants or traveling. I am also actively involved with my church community and make every effort to help out with community and outreach events.

In this life, I believe that we have been blessed with an amazing opportunity to love and serve others through the gifts we’ve been given. Every person has a specific purpose and calling and I pray that every person would know how loved they are by God and the awesome plans He has for their lives!

“We love because He first loved us.”- 1 John 4:19

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No one likes getting sick and we like it even less when it’s our children. The question is, how do we avoid getting sick? How can we be sure that the latest “bug” going around isn’t going to hit every member of our family? The answer is a healthy immune system.

What is the Immune System?

The immune system is the body’s natural defense against germs, bacteria or other illness causing foreign invaders. When an antigen or infecting organism enters the body the immune system begins to create antibodies to fight off the illness or disease.

Once this antibody has been created a person is typically immune from further infection, because a strong immune system has a capacity to remember the antibody and reproduce it rapidly to overcome the beginning stages of the illness.

What are the dangers of a weak immunity?

Clearly the first and most obvious danger is that we are more susceptible to illness once we’ve been exposed. However, there is the additional concern that once we have succumbed, we will find it more difficult to fight off the infection and will remain sick longer.

A typical cold shouldn’t last more than 3 or 4 days, but someone who is not living a wellness lifestyle and suffers from a weakened immune system could be ill for up to a week.

Does my diet affect my immunity?

The fact is that many of our daily choices can weaken our immune system, and the most critical is our diet. Research has proven that a diet high in bleached flour, salt and sugar can weaken our immune system leaving us susceptible to infecting organisms.

Perhaps most surprising is the negative effect that dairy can have on our immunity. While milk contains calcium and magnesium, which are vital nutrients for our body, and dairy products tend to be rich in Zinc, the extra work required by our body to digest these complicated proteins and milk-sugars wear out the body.

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