Is your digestive system running smoothly? Do you experience reflux, constipation, or loose stool? Do you have trouble with gas, bloating, or digestive discomfort? If so, you might benefit from supplementing with a probiotic.
Congee is a very basic traditional food that people in China and across Asia have been eating for thousands of years. The basic rice porridge is easy to digest and serves as the perfect medium for medicinal foods.
Patients ask us all the time for suggestions on products, books, and other stuff we like. As acupunturists and herbalists, we have to keep abreast of all things alternative-health. We read about supplements, nutrition, home and skin care products, meditation techniques, and more and more and more! In this newsletter article, we've compiled a list of some of our favorite sites for the things we love to read about, learn about, and buy.
Natural Calm is a highly absorbable magnesium supplement. Magnesium is an important nutrient that is used by muscles, organs (including the heart and kidneys), contributes to the makeup of teeth and bones, activates enzymes, and is part of energy production. Even though you can get magnesium from many foods including whole grains, nuts, and green vegetables, many people are deficient in magnesium and positively benefit from the right kind of supplementation. Natural Calm is a very popular magnesium supplement because it restores healthy magnesium levels and balances calcium intake, which ultimately results in natural stress relief--who doesn’t want that?!
This bright green, crunchy salad is bursting with Asian flavors and is so easy to make and is perfect for summer. Green beans are in the height of their season right now--look for fresh, plump organic green beans at the farmer’s market. Ginger, well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties, is also considered a helpful addition to your diet in the hot months of summer. The warmth of ginger helps to prevent summer colds, and warms the digestive system as we introduce colder and less cooked foods.
We have an opportunity. Over the past several years, the NC Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCAAOM)'s Director of Government Affairs (our very own Chris Helmstetter), and their lobbyist, Randolph Cloud, have been meeting with the NC Department of State Treasury to get acupuncture included in the state employees’ health benefits plan. According to the NCAAOM, it looks like they are going to be given an opportunity to make a presentation on August 28th for acupuncture to be a covered benefit for ALL NC state employees.
"When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
When people see things as good, evil is created.
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other."
- Dao De Jing
One of the guiding principles in Chinese medicine is the concept of yin and yang. Though not necessarily a complex idea, the concept of it can elude patients and sometimes even their practitioners. Yin and yang are fundamental opposites, and yet, between the two ends of that spectrum, yin and yang are the dynamic, creative, and interdependent forces upon which all health, according to Chinese medicine, relies.
July in North Carolina is a beautiful time of year and the perfect time to take advantage of all the seasonal fruits and vegetables by enjoying salads and homemade smoothies. It seems fitting that the featured product for July is Smart Basics organic Goji Juice. Goji berries have been recognized for centuries in Asia for their high nutrient content and powerful antioxidant properties. Goji berries or gou qi zi is a common herbal medicinal in Traditional Chinese Medicine that is used to nourish and tonify the yin and blood of the body.
Rainbow light prenatal provides essential nutrients needed while trying to conceive, pregnant, or nursing. Specially blended vitamins and foods help nourish mom and baby throughout the day. The serving size in prenatal petites is 3 small pills/day that can be easily swallowed and taken at once or spilt into three servings. There are hundreds of brands of prenatals to choose from. Here are the reasons we like rainbow light so much and choose it over other brands:
Raitha is a very common dish in India and can be a side dish or condiment. It is a blend of thick yogurt with various vegetables, herbs and spices. It is used as a dip for Indian flat breads as well as being served and mixed alongside curries, pulaos, kabobs, falafel pitas, and/or anything spicy. The yogurt, cucumber and tomatoes soothe the palate to balance the heat.
What happens right after a car accident can have a traumatic effect on the body and mind. I was in my very first car accident last year and what I did afterwards saved me a lifetime of pain.
If you've been coming to see me for acupuncture, you may have heard me tout the benefits of Qi Gong. Qi gong is a form of excercise performed by a person to enhance, vitalize, and strengthen their energy. "Qi" means energy, and is described as the motivating force behind all our body's actions. Qi is what allows us to open our eyes in the morning, makes our heart beat, our lungs breathe and our muscles move. "Gong" means work, and qi gong is the act of working our energy, directing it, exercising it, and balancing it. The benfits of qi gong can be found all over the web--Deepak Chopra, Dr. Oz, and Dr. Andrew Weil have all promoted Qi Gong as an important piece in the overall puzzle to create life-long health.