Acupuncture is part of a system of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which includes practices that promote whole-person health. In addition to offering guidance on how to adjust your diet to match the seasons, TCM recommends working toward a balance of different tastes in your diet to increase feelings of satiety and emphasizing specific flavors in different seasons. In TCM “flavors” or “tastes” are less about the actual taste, and more so descriptions of the effects in the body.
Read moreSummer Eating
Summer is here! Over the last few months as the daylight hours have slowly increased, you may have noticed a change in your circadian rhythm, eating habits and energy levels. Traditional Chinese Medicine codifies these natural seasonal changes into a system to help us live our happiest, healthiest lives. In TCM, summer is a yang season full of energy and abundance.
Read moreSpring Eating
Few things feel better than the first signs of Spring! After the long, cold, isolating winter we’re overjoyed to see those classic harbingers of spring: birds chirping, green buds sprouting, daffodils blooming, and longer daylight hours. This post continues our series on seasonal eating and living with Traditional Chinese Medicine, preparing us for spring!
Read moreWinter Eating
Continuing our series about seasonal living and eating guided by Traditional Chinese Medicine, here’s what to keep in mind during the winter season.
Read moreAutumn Eating
As the weather starts to cool off in Autumn, it’s important to change our habits and behaviors to suit the new season. Our bodies need different things at different times. As our environment changes it impacts the types of nutrition our body needs to appropriately balance. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a guide for seasonal eating to optimally support your body!
Read moreJune is Men's Health Month!
During the month of June, we bring awareness to men's health issues. There are several key factors and things you can do to participate and help yourself (or the men in your lives).
Get screened! HPV also affects men and most men never know they have it, but it can cause cancer. 1 in 2 men get cancer in their lifetime; for women it's 1 in 3. Regular check ups with your doctor can help keep you healthy and disease free.
June 15th is wear blue day to show support for men's health awareness. Wear blue to show your support and spread awareness about preventable diseases and early detection in men and boys.
Beat the Heat and Increase Your Antioxidants at the Same Time
This summer has been one of the hottest on record for the Pacific Northwest, which makes it much easier for us to become unknowingly dehydrated. During the heat waves, have you felt sluggish? More tired than usual? Have muscle weakness? Dizziness? Slow thought processes? These are all symptoms of dehydration.
Drinking water is the best way to stay hydrated, but if you are getting a little bored with pounding 8-10 glasses of water a day, consider getting some of your daily water from fruits and veggies, which typically make up about 20% of our daily water intake. A favorite among the staff at Equilibrium, with the second most water content of any fruit or vegetable after iceberg lettuce, is watermelon.
Ultra Hydrating: The amazing watermelon has a whopping 93% water content. One cup is considered a serving, but it is awfully easy to chow down on twice the amount of this refreshing fruit during a heat wave.
Nutrient Dense: Don’t be fooled by this watery fruit: Leading scientific research has returned some surprising additional health benefits besides hydration. Watermelon supplies high levels of lycopene-a carotenoid phytonutrient that is essential to cardiovascular and bone health that many only associate with tomatoes. Lycopene is a well-known antioxidant that fights free radicals in the body, and is responsible for the watermelon’s reddish pink colored flesh. Watermelon is also an excellent source of Vitamin C. If you eat the seeds, your body gets added zinc and iron.
Reduces Muscle Soreness: Watermelon is rich in the amino acid citrulline, which our kidneys process and turn into another amino acid, arginine. A common enzyme in our body, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), uses arginine to produce a small molecule of gas, nitric oxide (NO). NO acts as a muscle relaxer by telling the smooth muscle in our blood vessels to relax, which decreases blood pressure and increases blood flow and muscle relaxation.
Don’t Just Survive, Thrive During the Heat Wave
Stay healthy this summer and all year round: drink 8-10 glasses of water a day, supplement your water intake with vegetables and fruits high in water content, and pay attention to the warning signs of dehydration. For more information on the health benefits of watermelon, please visit the World’s Healthiest Foods webpage at http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=31
Try This: Summer Tomato-Watermelon Salad with Feta and Almonds
(Adapted from Epicurious)
Ingredients:
8 cups 1 1/4-inch chunks seedless watermelon (about 6 pounds)
3 pounds ripe tomatoes (preferably heirloom) in assorted colors, cored, cut into 1 1/4-inch chunks (about 6 cups)
1 teaspoon (or more) fleur de sel or coarse kosher salt
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped assorted fresh herbs (such as dill, basil, and mint)
6 cups fresh arugula leaves or small watercress sprigs
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 5 ounces)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
To Assemble:
Combine melon and tomatoes in large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon fleur de sel or kosher salt and toss to blend; let stand 15 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons oil, vinegar, and herbs to melon mixture. Season to taste with pepper and more salt, if desired.
Toss arugula in medium bowl with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Divide arugula among plates. Top with melon salad; sprinkle with feta cheese and toasted almonds and serve. Enjoy your antioxidants!
Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance
By Regina Chanté
I am cautious about calling out individual foods as being the source of our suffering without seeing the bigger picture. We have to also take into account additives in our foods, water, air, medications, cleaning agents and toxins in our home and office environments that may, collectively, wreak havoc on our immune systems. Having said that, many people in my practice and personal life are going gluten-free and feeling better. If reducing aggravating foods to reduce internal inflammation and histamine overload helps us think and feel better then that’s a good place to start. Reduced inflammation also means you can you can experience greater relaxation and circulation from your massage and bodywork! Below are five common symptoms of gluten intolerance:
1. Headaches and/or migraines can be common after eating gluten.
2. Gastrointestinal (GI), stomach, and digestive issues. This can show up as one or more of the following: bloating, queasiness, gas, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, constipation, or an alternating combination of both – IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
3. Fatigue can appear chronically or after every meal that contains gluten. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a syndrome, not a disease. If a doctor diagnoses you with CFS, they are simply stating they cannot locate the cause of your fatigue.
4. Sudden changes in mood and emotions. Irritability or irrational changes in feelings can also be a symptom.
5. A number of neurological issues can also be present. These include: difficulty balancing, dizziness, and peripheral neuropathy affecting nerves outside the central nervous system which results in pain, weakness, tingling or numbness in the extremities.
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