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Obesity and Cold Foods
Obesity and Cold Foods
America is obsessed with weight control. Many throughout the country actively diet, subscribe to fitness magazines and health journals, and pay for pre-made health foods. Although low-fat and non-fat foods crowd supermarket shelves, many studies estimate that approximately half of the citizens throughout the US are overweight, and sadly this includes children as well.
For the general public, the word 'obese’ invokes images of a very large individuals, perhaps weighing 300 pounds or more. In the medical community, however, the word ‘obesity’ is used to describe a weight that directly compromises health and makes the individual susceptible to various medical conditions which including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, etc.
Medical doctors believe that obesity is caused when there is an imbalance between the calories one consumes and the calories one uses. Simple overeating and under exercising is the most common reason for this excessive weight gain. A small number of individuals have a physical reason- such as hypothyroidism (or slow metabolism) that is linked to causing obesity. This makes the body store calories as fat instead of burning them.
So, if you choose to see your physician, he or she may run a series of tests to eliminate any medical reason for your excess weight, such as a thyroid condition. If there is no identifiable medical reason for your weight, however, your doctor will suggest a weight loss plan.
Now, this is how holistic (Humoral, Eastern, non-traditional) medicine looks at one major cause of obesity. It has to do with modern eating habits, namely cold drinks and cold food.
Humans are warm-blooded by nature. Our normal body temperature is 97.8 Fahrenheit or 36.6 degrees Celsius. The human body maintains such temperature (thermoregulation) as it is crucial to our wellbeing. Thermoregulation is a part of a very complex process called ‘homeostasis’, i.e. ‘maintaining a balance’.
Not to get too scientific, let’s just say this. The founding fathers of medicine (Hypocrites, Galen, Avicenna) teach us that the main reason for normal digestion is warmth generated by the body. So, whatever we drink or eat should be at a ‘room’ temperature or higher. Warmed up food, like hot soups and teas stimulate and improve digestion.
Conversely, drinking or eating refrigerated food works the opposite. Consuming cold food makes the stomach work harder to ‘rot and ripen’ food. In other words, to maintain the proper acidic environment and efficiently break up food, the stomach stresses itself. The same is true for the intestines and liver as your body has to compensate for lack of proper temperature.
When drinking or eating cold food becomes a habit, your digestive system constantly works on high gear. Years of such overload deteriorate your digestive organs. Food no longer is absorbed properly. This creates a constant overabundance of ‘dampness and phlegm,’ or in modern words, metabolic sluggishness. This results in excess accumulation of fat throughout the body, specifically around your belly.
So, why in our restaurants we are served iced water and soft drinks? Cold delays reactions of stomach hunger receptors. Your stomach is a sack. As you eat it expands and ‘hunger receptors’ send signals to your brain so that you stop eating. Unfortunately, that is not what restaurants want.
Here, is more of ancient wisdom. In the summer, when you are hot - drink hot tea. It dilates skin pores and excess body heat leaves. Thus, the body naturally cools. Cold drinks, on the other hand, provide only short relief, and in fact can be harmful since they cause your pores to constrict, trapping your body’s excess heat!
So, drink warm or hot fluid. When you are at a restaurant, especially with kids, refuse iced water and ask for hot tea. If you happen to like sea food (which is cold by nature) always compliment it with sliced ginger or green mustard in order to temperature-balance your food. You stomach will be forever grateful!
With all that is was said, understand the following: Diets provide symptomatic relief only.
Diets do not treat the cause of excess weight, which is weakened digestive system.
Holistic medicine formulas contain herbs that strengthen digestive organs and thus promote metabolism.
As digestion improves, excess weight disintegrates and slowly leave the body.
Call us for a complimentary evaluation!
Cold Weather and Ginger Benefits
Ginger is ‘The Wonder Drug’ in non-traditional medicine. The health benefits of ginger on digestive, pulmonary and cardiac systems are vast. This wonder-herb can even help fight bloating, reduce inflammation, and be used during pregnancy to help fight morning sickness.
Ginger can even help people “deal” with the changing seasons.
When daily weather fluctuates, as it often does now from warm to cold, some people (especially the elderly) cannot adopt quickly enough to be one with nature. Catching a cold can result from these seasonal imbalances.
Ginger can help people manage seasonal fluxes and may prevent people from catching a cold.
Mix ginger root powder with honey. Make the mixture as thick as you like it to be and keep it in a closed container.
During chilly/cold days take a half to full teaspoon of the mixture with warm tea 2-3 times daily.
Ginger is warm by nature. So, do not use it if you have a fever or any hot sensations.
Inability to cope with weather changes may be related with bodily dysfunctions. With such conditions medicinal herbs can greatly help.
Call for a free checkup and consultation!
Stopping Allergies
Stopping Allergies
Although many of us love to enjoy the great outdoors in Fall or Spring, the drawbacks associated with these 2 great seasons are, for many people, the onset of seasonal allergies.
I was 30 years old when my senses became reactive to pet hair and the changing seasons. Blooming trees in the spring time brought on symptoms of teary eyes and runny nose. Medical tests in a specialty allergy center confirmed my condition and I started treatment. Two years of weekly (then monthly) anti-allergy shots didn’t improve my condition at all.
Around that time my mom and I met an herbal doctor in a far away clinic, in Middle Asia. After a quick pulse examination he pointed out a weak digestion and disharmony between my lungs and heart. Such condition caused insufficient blood oxygenation and consequently the allergy-type symptoms described above. Western doctors attempted to treat my symptoms, but had no success. The herbal doctor, after explaining his diagnosis, prescribed an herbal treatment that he said would improve digestion and then “reboot” my system. After drinking herbal formulas for about ten months I forgot that I ever had allergy problem.
People can have various allergies that manifest themselves within the body in different ways. Some are allergic to items from birth, while others develop allergies over time. Some people get hives after eating strawberries, while others, like me, become congested and teary-eyed after exposure to pollen in the air. These symptoms are the immune system's response to the presence of substances it sees as harmful.
The catch is, that often times the substance is not harmful at all. Yet for some reason the strawberry, pollen, or other offending substance (allergen) sets off the body's production of histamine. Histamine is a chemical that occurs naturally in the body and acts as an irritating stimulant. Histamine causes the symptoms of allergy, such as runny nose and sneezing - actions specifically designed to expel the intruder from the body.
In a non-traditional (Chinese, Humoral, Ayurveda, etc.) medicine any treatment begins with a proper diagnosis. The beginning of this article explained how an herbal doctor cured me of allergy because he treated the root cause of the problem: my digestion, lungs and heart. Allergies can be triggered by any malfunctioning organ/imbalance within your body’s ecosystem. To determine the cause of your allergy, a practitioner will examine the pulse, tongue and your other vital signs.
Clinical experience of holistic practitioners proves efficacy of medicinal herbs and acupuncture in controlling and treating allergy and its symptoms. That includes itchy eyes and throat, runny nose, diarrhea, lactose intolerance, chronic migraines, etc. The immune system is strengthened via treatment of the stomach, spleen, liver and lungs. Thus, body improves its ability to defend itself against allergens and other bacterial intruders.
Suffering from temporal headaches?
Acupressure point 'Gall Bladder 41' (GB41 for short) can help provide short-term relief.
Follow instructions below.
Raise your big toe and simultaneously run your finger towards the ankle along the inter-space between
the 4th and 5th toe until it passes over a ligament into a depression.
Use your finger to gently massage the depression.
GB41 is a good point for temporal, occipital and vertex headaches.
Such headaches could be related to Liver and/or Gallbladder issues.
Frequent headaches of any type could be a sign of ongoing bodily dysfunctions.
Arrange for a checkup either with your physician or call us for a complementary checkup today!
What Are Meridians?
One saying goes as follows: ‘Today’s discoveries are nothing short of old forgotten ones.’
Great doctors of antiquity Hypocrites, Galen and Avicenna are the founding fathers of what is known and practiced today as ‘western medicine’. They believed that every living thing has energy that operates at different frequencies and spreads in our body through a network of pathways just as invariably as blood through blood vessels. They called that life force “Pneuma”.
The ancient Siamese (Thai) culture called the same pathways ‘sen’ lines. The ancient yogis who established Ayurvedic medicine referred to these energy pathways as ‘nadis.’ And traditional Japanese, Tibetan, and Chinese physicians called them ‘channels’ or ‘vessels.’ Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners also referred to them as ‘meridians.’
Today, some people wonder: “Can it really be that we have a network of pathways that transport energy throughout our body? Is this microscopic pipeline really responsible for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being? And can we really correct imbalances in our bodies using herbs as well as stimulating points with needles that are inserted along these pathways? “
What are meridians?
A basic TCM definition of the meridians of the body is that they are a network of energy channels. You’ve probably seen an anatomical chart of meridian points in an acupuncturist’s treatment room, or other type of healer. When you take a look at this chart, it appears that these meridian lines are superficial, appearing just below the skin. Meridians can go much deeper than skin’s surface.
Meridian lines are thought to connect the surface of the body with the internal organs. As long as Qi (energy) can flow through these energy channels unobstructed, and in proper quantity, disease can be averted.
Every organ and major region in the body needs energy in order to function. Energy comes from the nutrients we eat from food, and from free-flowing blood. There are six pairs of meridians (12 total ьфшт meridians), each affecting a corresponding organ.
Can Science Prove Meridians of the Body?
Long before Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity, ancient physicians recognized that the human body contains charged particles. Doctors of Antiquity likely knew that the body’s vessels could store and produce electrical charges. They may have not been familiar with ‘ATP’ or Adenosine Triphosphate, which is what glucose (blood sugar) breaks down into to provide us with energy. However, it seems they were well aware of the full physiological workings of nerves, capillaries, blood vessels, arteries and veins.
Ancient doctors and healers were using meridians to activate what modern-day researchers would use to generate nerve or neuronal function.
Some modern-day doctors believe that these neural centers process the incoming signals and adjust endogenous regulation; this results in improved circulation, organ function, analgesia, muscle relaxation, and normalized immune function.
Just like the acupuncturists of many centuries ago, a modern medical acupuncturist studies the nerve connections and selects sites according to the desired neuromodulatory outcomes. Medical researchers and physiologists are now in agreement that the peripheral and central nervous systems constitute the most rational basis for defining meridians.
How are Meridian Lines of the Body Researched?
Research from China published in the Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, concluded acupuncture points have a higher density of micro vessels. In addition, they also contain a large amount of involuted microvascular structures. The non-acupuncture points did not exhibit these properties.
In the study the researchers observe specific acupuncture points. These points reveal microvascular densities with two branches existing around thick blood vessels. These points contain fine structures with more large blood vessels that are significantly larger in size. The researchers also determined that meridian (acupuncture) points possess a higher density of vascularization of vessels.
Modern research has provided significant proof that acupuncture meridians are visceral. In fact, this research employs several techniques, including MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), infrared imaging, LCD thermal photography, ultrasound and other CT imaging methods. Other studies, define meridian lines as “special conduits for electrical signals.“
Could it be that modern science has recently confirmed what the ancients knew all along?