Staying Healthy Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Acupuncture in the Park

Seven Steps to Faster Healing

A twisted knee, a blown out back, or an unexpected illness are all it takes to put your life on hold and abruptly curtail you activities. Whether your recovery takes days, weeks, or even months, there are things that you can do to help or hinder how well or quickly you will heal.

More than once, I have treated patients who have had illnesses or injuries, in which they slowed or actually reversed the healing process. One that comes to mind is a woman who was an ultra-distance runner. She came to me because she was training for a 100-mile race while nursing a foot injury. She was healing just fine with a little acupuncture and rest, but felt compelled to test the foot out with a 50-mile training run, just to see how it was holding up. The results were predictable—on race day, she started out well, but was ultimately hobbled by her injury and had to drop out of the race.

While it may seem fairly simple to just get out of the way and let your body heal, there are actually a few things you can do (or not do) to help the healing process along. Among them:

Listen to your body. With its incredible wisdom, your body has everything it needs to heal, and will let you know when you’re good to go. If you’re still feeling fatigued, in pain, or just not quite right, you’re still in the healing process, so don’t push too hard. Let your body do its thing.
Get enough rest. Your body heals while you rest and sleep. In fact, you may feel deeply fatigued after an illness or surgery. So grab a book, watch TV, sleep, and allow your body to use its energy to heal.
Let the glue dry. Allow your injury or illness to heal completely. Resist the urge to “test” your injured limb or your ability to function at 100 percent. You’ll be back soon enough.
Realize that the older you are, the longer it takes to heal. Children tend to heal before your eyes due to their expansive nature and the fact that they are growing very quickly. As you get older, your body will still heal completely, but it takes a little longer. Don’t compare yourself to your 12-year-old with a broken arm.
Eat to heal. While you’re healing, it’s even more important to eat as healthfully as possible. Your body is using building blocks to heal based on the food you eat. Make sure you’re getting enough protein, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. At the same time, if you’re laid up and worried about gaining a few extra pounds, realize that once you’re up and around, that weight will come off fairly quickly.
Heal your spirit. Stress, depression, boredom, fear, and frustration are all common feelings associated with illness and injury. Recognize that these feelings are normal under the circumstances. Talking to friends, family members, or a health professional can be extremely helpful. In addition, finding activities that are relaxing and enjoyable (reading, old movies, learning something new) can help, too.
Get some acupuncture. Acupuncture can speed up the healing process, alleviate pain, and is excellent for treating stress and mood disorders. It works by affecting brain chemistry in a number of positive ways, as well as increasing the concentration of white blood cells locally where the needles have been inserted. While you’re healing, let your acupuncturist help—you’ll feel better and heal faster.

Improve Your Memory with Chinese Medicine

Do you sometimes walk into a room and forget what you went there for? Have you ever drawn a blank on a close friend’s name? Do you routinely forget common words? If you worry that your memory is going, join the club. These little episodes are embarrassing and frustrating, but are you on the fast track to Alzheimer’s? Probably not.

Memory loss can the result of a number of factors, the most common of which is your age. However, hormonal changes, diet, stress, and simply trying to do too many things at once can also mess with your memory.

There are a couple of organ systems in Chinese medicine that are related to memory. The first (that I can remember) is your Heart. The Chinese Heart is home to your consciousness, spirit, feelings, thoughts, and…yes, your memory. Memory loss is one of the hallmark signs of a Heart disharmony.

Your Chinese Spleen is the organ closely related to digestion. Good digestion helps something called clear Yang to rise upward allowing for mental clarity. When your digestion is funky, you may experience fuzzy thinking and memory problems, along with digestive symptoms, such as heartburn, stomachaches, low blood sugar, gas, bloating, poor absorption of foods, and diarrhea or constipation.

The Kidney system is also a player in memory. One of the important functions of your Chinese Kidney system is how well and healthfully you will age. As you get older, your Kidney gets weaker as a matter of course, affecting everything from your hearing to the strength of your bones, and your mental function/memory. Along with aging, your Kidney also controls things like growth, sexuality, and reproduction. When women go through menopause, their Kidney system is affected, which is why memory seems to take an additional hit during this time.

So the question is: Can Chinese medicine and acupuncture help with memory loss? There is no simple yes or no, depending on the source of the problem. However, in many instances, Chinese medicine can help. For some people, memory problems are directly related to the amount of stress they’re experiencing, and in others, the memory issues began as part of menopause. For older adults who are beginning to show the signs of senile dementia, it may be too late to reverse their memory loss.

According to Chinese medicine, there are some things that you can do to safeguard your memory. This includes:

-Simplify your life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, your brain is full. At a certain point, you just can’t hold onto any more details, so you start to forget them.

-Jettison the stress. Stressful situations cause you to be preoccupied, making it difficult for you to remember anything except details about what’s stressing you out. Do whatever it takes, whether it’s steps to resolve the stressful situation, or a Yoga class, meditation, taking up a hobby, or carving out quiet time to yourself.

-Eat good food. It sounds simple, but it’s not always so easy when you’re running from meeting to meeting or getting your kids from one activity to another. Sometimes the only solution seems to be something quick—and not so good for you. Take the time to plan what you’ll eat, and bring it with you if necessary. Good food is whole food, unprocessed, whole grains, lots of vegetables, and a little protein, with very small amounts of red meat, if any. Ditch the sugar, as it messes with your blood sugar levels and can be a direct contributor to fuzzy thinking. Remember the Twinkie defense?

-Digest that good food you’ve eaten. Take the time to sit down and eat. Chew your food and sit up straight. In addition, cooked foods tend to be easier to digest, and ice cold foods and drinks bring your digestion to a halt.

-Protect your Chinese Kidney. How? Well, slow down, for one. Overwork can be a direct cause of illness and depletion in Chinese medicine. Also, excessive partying, while fun, weakens your Kidney system and sends you into your senior years in less than optimal health.

In addition to Chinese medicine, Western doctors and scientists are looking for ways to protect memory as we age. They have been conducting research on memory and the various factors that may help slow memory loss. Among them:

-Get moving. Data from a study that began in the 1930’s shows that moderate exercise (as little as two times a week!) can lower your chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

-If you’re a smoker, quit now. While you can’t completely undo the damage in terms of degeneration to your brain, the sooner you quit the better.

-Drink green tea. Results from a 2006 study indicate that as little as a cup or two a day of green tea, which is packed full of antioxidants, can cut your risk of cognitive problems by 50 percent.

-Make lists. Memory lapses can be the by-product of simply trying to do too many things at once. At a certain point, your brain just can’t hold any more details. Make lists of the things you want to do or remember to get rid of some of that brain clutter.

-Play mind games. Crossword puzzles, soduku, trivia quizzes, or even learning a new skill or language can keep your brain exercised and can slow memory loss.

The good news here is that small changes can be enough to yield big results as long as you keep them up. A few cups of green tea, acupuncture to relieve stress, exercising a couple days a week, and moderate changes in your diet can be enough to lower your risk of age related memory problems.

Tips for Healthy Aging

We all want to live a long time, just as long as we can stay relatively healthy. Unfortunately, more and more often when we get together with friends, talk turns to a recent colonoscopy, cholesterol medications, or acid reflux. While there are no guaranties, there are some things you can do to stack the deck in your favor in the healthy aging game.

Here is a list, in no particular order, compiled from what we’ve learned from our patients, Chinese medicine, the scientific community, and some just plain common sense:

1) Eat for good digestion. In Chinese medicine, your digestion is every bit as important as what you’re eating. You can eat the healthiest foods on the planet, but if you don’t digest them well, you might as well be doing the drive through at Burger Doodle. Slow down, chew your food, and avoid the rich and greasy chow. Choose more cooked vegetables than raw, and go easy on the frozen foods and drinks.

2) Laugh. It feels good, it’s invigorating, and actually releases chemicals in your brain that are good for your health.

3) Go outside. Get in touch with the nature around you. This is the foundation of Chinese medicine, in which the natural world is reflected in your body. Slow down in the winter, eat new green shoots in the spring, be especially active in the summer, and check out your locally harvested produce in the fall (well, all year round.) Know also, that extreme weather conditions have the ability to make you sick, whether it’s a dry sore throat in the fall or heat exhaustion in the summer.

4) Quit smoking. This is a no-brainer. It may seem obvious, but if you’re a smoker, quitting now is the single most important step you can take to improve your health and increase your life span.

5) Make sure you’re getting enough Vitamin D. Vitamin D may sound like the magic supplement du jour, but D boosts immunity, helps with depression, and offers a whole host of health benefits. And most of us aren’t getting enough. You can get your serving of D through 15 minutes of direct sunlight, or by supplementing with Vitamin D3. Those of us who live far from the equator may not be able to get adequate D from the sun year round. So think about supplementing if you own and use long underwear more than a few times a year.

6) Exercise. I can’t say this enough. It’s the fountain of youth if there were such a thing. Physical activity keeps your heart and lungs in shape, your muscles toned, your bones strong, your butt tight, and studies are indicating that it also may slow or reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

7) Exercise your mind, too. Play word games, do puzzles, or learn a new language. The adage “use it or lose it” also applies to your mind.

8) Change the behaviors that are making you sick. You know that stress, junk food, and toxic relationships aren’t good for you. If you want to feel good and live long, now’s the time to jettison those negatives in your life.

9) Stand up straight! Poor posture can mess with your digestion and breathing, and can give you back and neck pain. Stand and sit tall; your body will thank you.

10) Get enough sleep. Your body rejuvenates, heals, and recharges while you sleep. Go to bed with enough time to get seven to eight good hours. Slow down before trying to sleep. If you struggle with insomnia, get some help. Ahem…acupuncture is pretty effective in treating sleep problems.

11) Get regular health screenings. You can laugh all you want at your friends’ colonoscopy stories, but you had better be keeping up with your own. Make sure you’re getting regular mammograms, Pap tests, blood pressure checks, mole screenings, etc. based on the guidelines for your age and risk factors.

12) Calm down. The Chinese say that the emotions are the cause of 100 diseases. That means that staying angry at your obnoxious neighbor or stressing out about a nosy co-worker will only make you sick. Do whatever it takes to defuse and de-stress.

13) Almost anything is okay—in moderation. According to Chinese medicine, a little sweetness may help your digestion, but eating a half of a cheesecake is a toxic food bomb. In the same vein, the right amount of exercise is good for you, but too much can cause your body to break down. Too much of anything over time can be damaging, so aim for variety.

14) Garden. Whether it’s a stretch of your back yard or containers on your balcony, growing your own vegetables outside is beneficial on so many levels. You’re getting the best kind of exercise, you’re connecting with nature, you’re growing your own organic food (if you lay off the pesticides), and you have the joy of going out your door to pick something you’ve grown yourself.

15) Get in touch. Connect with your sense of purpose through journaling and self-exploration, connect with others in social situations, and connect with the divine through prayer and meditation. In Chinese medicine, connection feeds your heart, which is the home to your soul.

16) Eat for the long run. Eat breakfast, don’t skip meals, and get a little protein at each meal. Try to get a variety of colorful foods into your diet each day, especially the darkly colored fruits and vegetables. Strive for a diet made up of lots of veggies, some whole grains, a little protein, a little fruit, and small amounts of everything else (Okay, maybe not hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup, but mostly every thing else.)

17) Just breathe. Breathing deeply opens up your lungs, oxygenates your brain for mental focus, and wards off fatigue and anxiety. In Chinese medicine, your lungs are an important component in immunity, so strong and healthy lungs translate into a strong ability to fight off colds and flu. Try taking a deep breath to the count of four, holding it for the count of seven, and releasing it to the count of eight.

18) Just say no. The ability to prioritize your life and say no to some of those annoying and unimportant things you don’t want to do and don’t really have to do is incredibly freeing. It helps decrease that stressful feeling of being overwhelmed, which can be exhausting and depleting.

19) Cultivate compassion. By being kind to others, you’re being kind to yourself. Kindness is embodied by generosity and service to others. Compassion and kindness dissolve anger, annoyance, and competition—all feelings which diminish both the quality and length of your life.

20) Cook and eat with joy. It has been said that how you approach food mirrors how you approach life. Do you approach eating and life with joyfulness or do you worry about every little thing you do and eat? Lovingly prepare your meals, sit down, and share them with people you love—as often as possible.

21) Listen to your body. Your body is infinitely wise. It knows what it needs, how to heal, and how to signal you when it’s in trouble. Listen to those little signs; headaches at work, an upset stomach when you’ve eaten poorly, an achy lower back, or fatigue.

22) Indulge in your passion. This is simple. Figure out what you like to do and figure out how to do it more often.

23) Go green. The cosmetics you put on your body and the products you use to clean your home have the ability to either enhance or harm your health. Become savvy about what’s in your shampoos, lotions, bathroom cleaners, etc., and if the ingredients are sketchy, find cleaner, greener alternatives.

24) Live in the moment. We spend most of our time rehashing the past or fixated on some future event. The reality is that the only moment that’s real is right now. Impatience means that we’re anxious to move onto the next thing—the next moment; however that next thing is a moment like this one. Slow down and enjoy right now.

Twenty Weight Loss Tips You Can Live With

Do you have certain articles of clothing in your closet that seem to shrink every winter? They fit when you wore them the previous summer, but after a long winter, does every pair of shorts you own betray you by not getting past your hips?

It’s hard to admit that you may have had a hand in this, and your clothes may not actually be shrinking over the winter. It may be hard to own up to the fact that you’ve eaten a few too many acorns over the winter. And, rather than buy a whole new wardrobe, you may need to drop a few pounds.

While losing a few pounds may sound simple on paper, we all know it’s not easy. Most of us have tried to lose weight at one time or another—some of us actually are successful; some struggle with weight on a daily basis; and some have just given up. Through personal experience and by working with many patients who have figured out how to lose or maintain their weight successfully, here are our best weight loss tips:

Eat breakfast. Get up in time to have a breakfast that includes whole grains and a little protein; it’s the best way to get through the morning without hunger pangs, sugar cravings, and low blood sugar.
Plan ahead. You know you’re going to come home from work hungry. It’s a given that you’ll eat lunch tomorrow. It’s not that difficult to plan for those meals and have something healthy on hand. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy foods that you like. You can also make meals ahead of time and freeze them in meal-sized portions.
Watch what you’re drinking. For some reason, many people think that if they drink it, the calories don’t count. Think again. Fruit juice, alcohol, pop, lattés, and chocolate milk all have the potential to derail your weight loss efforts.
Make small changes you can sustain. While you may not be able to stick to a strict plan, you can cut out that pop you have every day with lunch. And while you may be too busy to get to the gym, you can take the stairs to your office on the sixth floor.
Think lifestyle, not diet. A diet is something you undertake for a limited period of time. When you reach your goal, you go off your diet. (And weight inexplicably reappears). However, if you think about making lifestyle changes, you will need to choose those that you can maintain for the rest of your life. This tip goes hand in hand with the one above—make only those changes that feel doable long-term.
Quit snacking. Or if you must snack, plan ahead and have healthy snacks on hand.
Pack your lunch. If you buy your lunch each day, you are eating one meal out of three in which you have no control over the ingredients, caloric content, preparation, portion size, or freshness. Think about it.
Get your emotions under control. Strong emotions, especially stress, cause an imbalance in a number of hormones in your body, including cortisol and insulin. These changes mess with how you metabolize food, cause you to gain weight around the middle, and cause cravings for those fat-laden sugar bombs that you always regret eating.
Get moving. Exercise is key to losing weight. It burns calories, relieves stress, helps you sleep better at night, and dampens your appetite. Bonus tip: Build muscle by lifting weights. Muscles burn more calories than fat.
Eat for good digestion. You may be eating the healthiest diet in the world, but if your digestion is funky, you might as well be ordering your meals at the McDonald’s drive through. If you have heartburn, gas, rumbling, bloating, constipation, loose stools, stomachaches, or nausea, your digestion could definitely be better. In Chinese medicine, poor digestion is one of the most common contributors to weight gain. The first step to better digestion is to slow down and chew your food. The second is to prepare your foods in a way that they will be better digested. Generally cooked foods, in the form of soups, stews, stir fries, and fruit compotes take less energy and are easier to digest than cold or raw foods.
Eat foods that are locally grown and in season. First of all, they taste better than something that’s been on a truck for the past week. Second, according to Chinese medicine, foods should be eaten during the season in which they are grown. For example, during the spring, your diet should be full of rich green shoots and baby lettuce. In contrast, during late summer and early fall, you should be eating the yellow and orange veggies, like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and corn. Trust me on this—it’s better for you.
East mostly vegetables and fruits with whole grains, a little protein, and small amounts of everything else. This is the ideal diet according to Chinese medicine.
There are really no bad foods unless you eat them all the time. We tend to label foods as heroes and villains, and sometimes try cut out entire food groups we perceive as unhealthy. However, we need fat in our diet; we need carbohydrates; and we need protein. So, while you may want to beat yourself up over that doughnut you had at yesterday’s staff meeting, in reality, once in a while won’t kill you, so get past it.
Exception to the above tip: Grease-laden fast foods.
Set attainable goals. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it can feel overwhelming to set a goal to lose it all at once. However, if you set a goal to lose ten pounds, and once that’s done, then lose ten more, you’re less likely to give up, and more likely to feel successful with each goal you reach.
Don’t go to a party hungry. Ditto for the grocery store and out with friends. In every situation, your hunger will derail all your good intentions, especially when combined with cocktails.
Eat foods that haven’t been processed to death. There are a couple of tipping points here. If you look at the label on the package and it lists more than ten ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Also, if the food is unrecognizable as to what it once was, put it back.
Try something new. Check out some new recipes, try a food you’ve never eaten, rethink your meal menus, and try a new grocery store or farmer’s market. It will bring you new motivation to eat more healthfully.
There is no magic bullet or miracle food. There are lots of good, healthy foods, but there is no one single food that you can eat every day that will peel off the pounds, give you boundless energy, immortality, and keep you disease-free. For those things (except the immortality), you need an assortment of foods, with their variety of nutrients.
Eat as many differently colored foods each day as possible. This is especially true for darkly colored foods. The colors in natural foods represent their inherent nutrients. Think red peppers, tomatoes, cherries, grapes, blueberries, dark leafy greens, yellow squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, black beans, sea vegetables, eggplant, white mushrooms, turnips, and brown rice. You can’t go wrong.

Your Emotions, Digestion, and Acupuncture

Have you ever heard people talk about having butterflies in their stomach, a gut feeling, a nervous stomach, or a visceral reaction? Of course you have. We use these terms because we intuitively know that our emotions are very closely tied to our digestion.

One of the most common conditions that we see in the clinic is something called a Liver and Spleen disharmony. This just means that strong emotions are interfering with the digestive process. If you’ve ever had a huge emotional upset that has ruined your appetite or given you an upset stomach, you know what I’m talking about. A Liver and Spleen disharmony is similar, but it usually works in slow motion.

Your Chinese Liver is an organ system that oversees the smooth flow of everything in your body, including digestion, bowels, circulation, menses, and emotions. Stress, anger, or an emotional upheaval can cause the Liver system to stagnate. When this happens, one of the first things it affects is your Chinese Spleen, which is your organ of digestion.

In the clinic this pattern is a player in many, if not most, conditions affecting our patients. It can manifest in conditions such as Irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, insomnia, PMS, fatigue, and even obesity, to name just a few.

So what exactly is happening when you are stressed out, upset or worried? Your stomach is a muscle, and when you’re in the emotional wringer, that stomach muscle contracts, making it difficult for you to digest much of anything.

Why you have this reaction goes back to the fight or flight response you experience when you’re stressed or feel threatened. Your body responds by shutting down those functions that aren’t necessary to run or fight, including digestion. The idea is that in ancient times, feeling threatened was a short-lived affair—only as long as it took to chase off or kill the wild animal lingering in front of your cave.

Today, however, many of us are in a constant state of fight or flight due to the unrelenting stress of our daily lives—whether it’s a cranky boss, a sick kid, a late mortgage payment, or having too much to do. Constant emotional upheaval doesn’t give your body time to recover its equilibrium, and your digestion stays on the back burner, unable to do its job effectively.

What can you do to get your digestion back on track and working efficiently? The most important thing to know is that it’s a two-step process: getting your stress and emotions under control, while you pamper your digestive tract. Acupuncture can be extremely effective for this kind of imbalance. In fact, many of our patients who have recovered from this kind of pattern never dreamt that they could ever feel good again. Two things you can do for yourself:

-Calm down and chill out. This may seem to be the most obvious, but is often the hardest thing to do. Find time during your day to relax; whether you take a yoga class, meditate, go fishing, or take a stroll in the woods. Without decompressing, your emotions and digestion will not have an opportunity to recover.

-Pamper your digestion. This means sitting down and actually eating a meal—not something on the run in between meetings or kids’ sporting events. This also means eating good food, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and a little protein. Cooking most of your food makes it easier to digest—raw foods take more digestive effort to break down. The same goes for very cold foods; when you drink or eat something frozen, it uses up a lot of your digestive energy. Chewing your food and enjoying the dining process will help you digest your meal more effectively.

Help for Hair Loss

There is nothing worse than a shower drain full of hair, especially if it’s yours and it’s falling out fast. Or perhaps you run your fingers through your hair and come up with a handful. Your hairbrush is full and you’re finding stray hairs – lots of them – on your pillowcase. What’s going on?

Your hair is constantly falling out and regrowing, and most people lose an average of 50 to 100 hairs a day. However, if you’re noticing an increase in shedding or if your hair is noticeably thinning, you’re probably losing more.

Your hair grows in cycles during which it actively grows for about two to three years and then rests for a couple of months. During the growth phase, a hair generally grows about 1/2 inch per month. At the end of the resting phase, the strand of hair falls out and a new strand begins to grow. Noticeable thinning of your hair is due to an above average number of hairs resting at the same time.

In Chinese medicine, the Kidney organ system governs the hair on your head. The Kidney system is also responsible for body functions related to growth, fertility, menopause, and aging. As we get older, your Kidneys become weaker, and one way that weakness is reflected is through the health of your hair. Hair loss, gray hair, and unhealthy hair are all signs that your Kidneys could be a little stronger.

In addition, your Kidney system is one of the Chinese organs most deeply damaged by stress. The adrenal glands sit right on top of your Kidneys, and in Western medicine, adrenal fatigue is the direct result of unrelenting stress. Extreme levels of stress can cause your hair to prematurely go into its resting phase, causing hair loss and thinning.

Beyond stress, there are other reasons that your hair may be falling out. Among them:

Poor diet. Remember the season of Survivor (Australia) when Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s hair fell out by the handful? The contestants didn’t have anything to eat, and Elizabeth’s hair began to fall out as a result of poor nutrition. Extremely low calorie diets or a diet low in protein can cause your hair to fall out.

Hormones. Many women complain that once they went through menopause their hair became much thinner. The decrease in estrogen after menopause can be another culprit in hair loss. In addition, an imbalance in your thyroid hormones can raise the levels of a chemical called DHT, which causes your hair to fall out faster than normal.

Low iron. Iron deficiency is a common cause of hair loss. Low levels of iron decreases the level of red blood cells necessary for healthy hair follicles. Also, it’s possible to have low iron stores (ferritin), but not be anemic.

Medications. Some antidepressants, diuretics, and certainly chemotherapy can cause hair loss.

Health conditions. Scalp infections, frequently fungal in nature, can cause your hair to drop. In addition, diseases such as diabetes and lupus can be associated with hair loss.

Hair treatments. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but how you treat your hair can have a direct impact on the health of your mane. Harsh chemicals, tight braids or pigtails, and brushing too vigorously can damage your hair and scalp and cause your hair to fall out.

So what can you do if your hair is falling out? Make sure your diet is sufficient in protein and iron, to nourish your body and hair. Don’t supplement with iron unless you’re sure your levels are low. Check with your doctor if you think low iron or hormone imbalances might be to blame. Also ask your doctor about adjusting the dosage or changing your prescription if hair loss is a side effect of any medication you’re taking. If stress is the problem, work on coping using Yoga, meditation, visualization, acupuncture, and any other relaxation techniques that work for you.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine would deal with your hair loss by strengthening your Kidney system through acupuncture and the use of herbs. A common herbal formula for hair loss and premature graying is called Seven Treasure Formula for Beautiful Whiskers, which nourishes the Kidney and benefits the hair.

Is Stress Causing Your Weight Gain?

There was an article in my local paper last week about the relationship between stress and weight gain. The gist of the article was that during the current economic crisis many people who are stressed about their financial situation turn to food as a way to cope.

Medical experts know that stress and other strong negative emotions have an impact on your body’s hormonal balance, specifically the balance of adrenaline, cortisol, and insulin. In addition, it’s known that hormonal changes caused by stress can be responsible for weight gain around your middle, and can increase your risk for certain cardiovascular health problems. Your doctor may describe this phenomenon as the difference between being pear shaped (good) versus apple shaped (not so good).

In Chinese medicine, this same phenomenon would be described as a Liver/Spleen disharmony, or a case of your emotions upsetting your digestion. Your Chinese Liver is the organ system that regulates the smooth movement of everything in your body, including your emotions, circulation, menstrual cycles, and digestion. The function of the Spleen system is to efficiently turn food into nutrients, energy, and blood—in other words, all aspects of digestion. You know your Spleen isn’t up to par when you have signs or symptoms related to your digestion, including food cravings or a loss of appetite, constipation or loose stools, stomachaches, nausea, and weight gain. You might think that if you’re gaining weight your digestion is just fine, thank you very much, but in reality, weight gain is a signal that your digestion is impaired in some way.

How can acupuncture or Chinese medicine help? There are a couple of answers. First, acupuncture is an excellent way to soothe your emotions. It can effectively help people who are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. It seems odd that the insertion of a couple of needles can affect your emotions or mood, but research has in fact documented that acupuncture alters brain chemistry in a good way.

Secondly, using a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and food therapy, a practitioner of Chinese medicine can help you get your weight under control. Not only can it help you with food cravings, but Chinese medicine is an incredibly effective treatment for digestive problems.

If stress is impacting your health or causing weight gain, think about acupuncture. It’s safe, effective, and organic.

What You Should Know About Vitamin D

Vitamin D is getting a lot of press recently as health experts are finding deficiencies in this important vitamin are being linked to a number of health conditions.

One of the most important functions of Vitamin D is to stimulate the absorption of calcium in your body. Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets and other bone-related diseases, such as osteomalacia and osteoporosis. More recently, health experts are finding that a deficiency of Vitamin D may be more far-reaching than calcium metabolism. The new thinking is that Vitamin D also affects the immune system, promotes anti-tumor activity, and performs other immune functions. Deficiencies may be related to cancer, depression, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, heart disease, hypertension, and various autoimmune diseases.

There are two forms of Vitamin D: D2, or ergocalciferol; and D3, or cholecalciferol. Either form of Vitamin D may be added to foods as a supplement. Food sources of Vitamin D include cold water fish, butter, and egg yolks.

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means that excess amounts aren’t excreted in your urine. This also means that Vitamin D has a high potential for toxicity if you take too much. Too much Vitamin D can increase blood calcium levels, causing the development of stones and deposits of calcium into internal organs. Recommended amounts are 200-400 i.u. per day, however, many health experts believe that you can safely supplement up to 1,000 i.u. per day.

Vitamin D deficiency is an issue with the use of sunscreens, blocking its synthesis in the skin. Also at risk for deficiencies are the elderly, obese, exclusively breastfed infants, those with limited exposure to sunlight, and people with absorption problems (Crohn’s or Celiac disease).

In northern climates, the sun isn’t strong enough to produce Vitamin D during the winter, so supplementing can be a good option. However, during the summer, it only takes 10-15 minutes of sun exposure to make adequate amounts of Vitamin D, so get some sun, make a little D, and then put on your sunscreen.

Allergy 911

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, you are no stranger to the wide range of symptoms: red, swollen, itchy eyes, a chronically runny or stuffed up nose, itchy ears, a scratchy throat, or that feeling of your head being full of cotton. You may have symptoms for a few weeks in the spring or fall, or suffer for the entire summer. Whatever your particular pattern, seasonal allergies have the potential to make you miserable. The following are some tips to help minimize symptoms during your allergy season:

-Use a Neti Pot. It’s looks like a small teapot and is used to cleanse the sinuses. Neti Pots can be found at most drug stores or natural food stores. Instructions should be included with the pot. (Mix ½ tsp of sea salt in warm water pour half water into one nostril and let it run out the other, repeat on the other side.)

-Wash your face freqently and shower in the evening to wash off the pollen on your skin and hair that has accumulated during the day.

-Change your clothes after you’ve been working or playing outdoors.

-Try supplementing with quercetin and/or grape seed extract. Both are found in red wine, but in supplement form may control the release of symptom-causing histamines.

-Eat spicy foods. They thin the mucous and can help clear nasal passages.

-If you suffer from fall allergies, your symptoms may be aggravated by eating melon, bananas, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, chamomile, and supplements containing echinacea. Experiment and avoid those foods that make your symptoms worse.

-Keep your house and car windows closed during the height of your allergy season. Use air conditioning, but don’t let it blow directly on your face.

-Wash your hands after you have played with or pet any animals that have been outside. Keep outdoor pets off the furniture. Their fur acts like a pollen magnet.

-Wear a paper filter mask (found at drug stores) when you are mowing the lawn.

-Try acupuncture. In a study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, acupuncture reduced symptoms in all 26 patients participating the the study—without side effects.

Beauty from the Inside Out

Adele* first came to our clinic several years ago to be treated for facial pain. Her pain was chronic, and after acupuncture treatments which involved placing small needles in her face, Adele was able to find relief from her pain. Adele continued coming to our clinic almost weekly for months, and even years, as acupuncture was the only thing that really helped her pain. However, after awhile, Adele’s co-workers began to notice and comment on improvements in her skin. It seems that the increased circulation from the acupuncture was actually making Adele look younger!

While it may seem odd that performing acupuncture for Adele’s facial pain would cause her skin to look younger, it makes perfect sense from the standpoint of Chinese medicine. The acupuncture treatments Adele had undergone had increased the circulation of energy and blood to her face, making it appear younger and more vibrant. The following is a discussion of the causes of aging skin and wrinkles, and what you can do to improve your skin, according to the theories behind Chinese medicine.

Dryness. According to Chinese theory, the primary cause of wrinkles is dryness. Now, your first thought may be, “Great, just use more moisturizer”. However, while it may show up on the surface, the dryness that we are talking about goes much deeper. Yin, a moisturizing and cooling substance in your body can become depleted, especially as you age. Deficient Yin is a systemic form of dryness that can affect all parts of the body and can make your skin look dry and wrinkled, even though you are regularly using a moisturizer.

As you age, Yin naturally becomes depleted, causing a decrease in moisture that can be seen especially on the surface of the skin. It appears as drying, thin skin. Below the surface, the depletion of Yin causes the sagging, loose skin due to a loss of the fat (also a Yin substance) that pads our face and neck.

Poor Circulation. The circulation of both energy and blood is crucial to good health. If you have impaired circulation, it will frequently show up on your face. In fact, many ancient Chinese texts refer to the appearance of the face in relation to various health conditions. Stagnation or the accumulation of blood, or water can cause dark circles under your eyes, a dusky or dull complexion, or under eye bags.

In addition, the circulation of energy and blood brings all the nutrients you need for beautiful skin to your face, including collagen and elastin. If your circulation is not good, whether from smoking, lack of exercise, or even strong emotions, your face will not look its best.

Diet and Digestion. Good diet and digestion are critical components of any skin care program. It is important to know that what you eat and how it’s prepared have a huge impact on the appearance of your skin.

In Chinese theory, improper diet is a common cause of illness and imbalance. Improper diet can have a few different meanings. First, eating too much food can make us fat, but in Chinese theory overeating can also damage your organ systems associated with the process of digestion. In contrast, not eating enough food can be equally as damaging. Without adequate intake, your body doesn’t have the building blocks to make energy, blood, and nutrients. Eating too much of any particular food can throw your body out of balance and damage various organ systems, too.

In Chinese theory, eating unclean food can also be a cause of disease. In ancient times, unclean food meant food that had spoiled or food that contained parasites. However, in modern times, unclean food might be considered food that is overly preserved or has lots of added chemicals. In addition, foods that have a high bacteria count would also be considered unclean.

The Balance between Work and Rest. The idea of overwork is an interesting concept in Chinese medicine. For me, the idea of overwork conjures up the picture of someone working long hours doing manual labor. However, overwork can also mean too much studying, too many hours at your desk, or excessive exercise. While a certain amount of exercise is appropriate, too much can be an underlying cause of imbalance and ultimately, illness.

Sleep is also part of the work/rest equation. Our bodies rejuvenate when we rest. If you are having difficulty getting enough sleep due to your schedule or because you suffer from insomnia, it is important to address your sleep issues. Lack of sleep will show up directly on your face.

Emotions. Emotions can be the cause of almost any disease, according to Chinese theory. In our day and age, stress is probably the emotion most damaging to our health. Stress, over time, binds up our energy, causing stagnation and illness. Worry, anxiety, anger, sadness, and other strong emotions knot up our energy and damage your digestion. In order to have optimal health and glowing skin, emotions that are overpowering your life, especially stress, will need to be dealt with.

Some Tips. Now you know what causes wrinkling and aging of your skin, but what can you do to improve the appearance of your skin according to Chinese theory?

-Eat foods that are Yin-replenishing. This includes darkly colored fruits and vegetables; healthy, plant based fats like nuts, nut oils, avocado, olives, etc.; and lean proteins.

-Pay attention to your digestion. Foods should be cooked, not too spicy, rich, or greasy. Avoid foods that cause you indigestion.

-Increase your circulation through exercise, movement, and massage.

-Quit smoking, as it impedes your circulation.

-Get adequate sleep—ideally seven to eight hours a night.

-Manage the strong emotions and stress that cause you to squint and frown.

-Find an acupuncturist who can correct the imbalances in your body, increase your circulation, and even perform acupuncture to erase some of your wrinkles.

*Names and identifying details have been changed.

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