Can you feel it beginning?  The decline into winter is on its way, and if you're like me, you're starting to feel the need to start snuggling in for winter.  The weather has turned a little cooler and the rains have returned and I am ready for a hot cup of cocoa next to the fire!

According to Chinese medicine, winter is the time to rest and recuperate in order to be ready to reactivate in the spring.  Fall helps us to be ready for that long rest.

What are some things you can do to help you become ready for the winter both physically and emotionally?

• As the weather gets cooler, switch to easy-to-digest foods such as soups and stews.  Because they've been cooked, the nutrients are ready to be absorbed by your body.  This can give your body the building blocks to rebuild so that you'll be ready for spring when it comes!
• Everyone talks about spring cleaning and how it can be useful for shaking off the dust after a long winter of "hibernation," but I'd argue that "fall cleaning" is just as useful, energetically. Autumn is the season associated with the metal element.  The metal element likes for everything to have its place. 
• It is said in Chinese medicine that if you can avoid catching a cold in the late summer/early fall that you'll be healthier through the winter.  Take extra special care of yourself during this time.  Drink plenty of fluids, get lots of rest and try to keep stress to a minimum. If you do start feeling the first inklings of a cold, get to your acupuncturist ASAP to make sure it doesn't stick around.

Autumn is a season of change from the liveliness of summer to the rest of winter.  If we can recognize the importance of each of the seasons and live our lives to match, we'll be much happier and healthier!

If your immune system doesn't seem to be working right - you get sick often, you have allergies, you've been diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder, you've got a skin condition - LISTEN UP.

I'd like for you to stop and think for a second.  Have you ever considered that the insides of your intestines are actually on the outside of your body?  We are actually one long tube from mouth to rectum and our intestines protect us from the outside world, just like our skin does.  Go ahead, sit with that for a moment ;)

I find this notion absolutely fascinating because in Chinese medicine, the Lung (which is in charge of your immune system and relates to the skin) and Large Intestine are connected.  Think of them like a married couple, they exchange ideas, support each other, etc.  If one becomes unbalanced, the other can easily become unbalanced as well.  In biomedicine, the skin and intestines serve a similar purpose in keeping the bad out and letting the good in and Chinese medicine matched them up!

So what does your intestinal health have to do with your immune system?  As I mentioned above, your intestines are a barrier between you and the outside world.  If the intestines are damaged or inflamed, they can let things in that should remain out.  When these substances are allowed in, it's now your immune system's job to destroy them before they can cause a ruckus.  

If your intestines are consistently allowing in these substances, your immune system gets stuck on high alert at your gut and can't be particularly effective elsewhere. This can be a difficult pace to keep and eventually your body gets tired - leading to a malfunctioning immune system.  Here are some symptoms that can be related to poor intestinal health :

• Eczema
• Psoriasis
• Allergies
• Food Sensitivities
• Catching colds often
• Digestive issues like gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea
• Acne
• Migraines

So what are some things you can do to improve your gut health to in turn improve your over all health? 

• Take Colostrum - Colostrum is the amazing part of milk that gives babies their first real boost of immune system.  It helps protect them until their own immune system becomes mature and can take over this important task.  You can get it in pill form, so it's super convenient.  What Colostrum does for an adult with a disfunctional immune system is it help to heal the intestines so they become a better barrier against the outside world.
• Drink water - Making sure you're getting enough water will help your body flush the biproducts of digestion and keep your intestines moving smoothly.  If a bowel movement sits in your intestines too long, you'll have more time to absorb things that put your body on high alert.
• Eat fiber - related to drinking enough water is making sure you're getting enough fiber so that your bowel movments can move.
• Take a probiotic - Probiotics are the good bacteria that help us digest our foods properly.  Your gut bacteria balance can be disturbed by any number of things including use of antibiotics, use of hormonal birth control medications and poor diet to name just a few.

Take the above steps to improve your intestinal health, and I'm positive you'll start noticing some improvements quickly!

• Gas and bloating
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Allergies
• Eczema

What do all of the above symptoms have in common?

Your digestion (and the ability to absorb nutrients efficiently) play a role in all of them!

You have over 8 feet of intestines, divided into the large and small intestines.  Your intestines are responsible to absorbing much of the nutrients from the foods you eat.  

I like to think of your intestines being like your skin. If you think about it, we are one big tube with our mouths being one end and our anuses being the other.  Technically, the inside surface of our intestines is like our skin - the barrier between us and the outside world!  Take a moment to think about that - it's wild, huh? :)

So what happens if your skin or intestines aren't healthy and can't provide an effect barrier?  On our skin, bacteria can cause an infection.  In our intestines, we can either absorb things that aren't supposed to make it through, or be unable to absorb nutrients that we should be able to.  This can lead to increased allergies, in the case of absorbing things we shouldn't; or nutritional deficiencies in the case of being unable to absorb vitamins and minerals properly.

Improper diets, antibiotic use, and stress can all lead to an unhealthy digestive system.  Poor digestion can also be complicated by Celiac Disease (gluten intolerance), Irritable Bowel Disorder and Chron's Disease which all damage the absorptive lining of the intestines.

So what can you do to help keep your intestines happy and healthy on your own?

• Probiotics - If you've ever taken antibiotics, the natural balance of bacteria in your gut has been altered.  A good, high potency probiotic can help bring it back into balance.
• Drink plenty of water - This will help keep everything moving smoothly and help flush your system.
• Eat a clean diet - Avoid sugars and processed foods.  The chemicals that are found in so many of our foods are irritants to our intestines.  In small doses, in a healthy intestine this might not be as much of a problem, but many of us have weakened digestion and we're overwhelming our systems with processed foods.
• In addition to eating a clean diet - eat plenty of fruits and veggies!  The fiber in them will help your intestines move unwanted compounds through more quickly!

Keeping your intestines healthy is absolutely necessary for maintaining your health.  Without an effective barrier against the outside, your immune system will have to work overtime to protect your body.  Without a proper absorptive surface, your body won't get the building blocks for maintaining your body!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and in western ideology, the heart is king of love.  But in Chinese medicine, the Kidney plays a huge role in addition to the heart!  I've seen a LOT of great articles around the last few days on just this topic, here are a few :

• Jennifer Dubowsky of Acupuncture Blog Chicago - How to Boost Your Kidney Qi for Valentine's Day
• If you want to boost your Kidney Qi using nutritional therapy, this recipe from Healing With Whole Foods looks AMAZING!
• If a massage is right up your alley, then this article by Sara Calabro of AcuTake will be a perfect match!

Regardless of whether you have a valentine in your life, it's important to keep your Kidney Qi strong and healthy!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanksgiving is a time of gathering with friends and family to celebrate all the things we're grateful for over good food.  

Sometimes too much food.

Curing Pills is a traditional herbal formula used for just such days!

If you're worried that your eyes might be bigger than your stomach, pick up a bottle (or two, if you have a lot of guests coming!) to relieve the symptoms of overindulging!

Read this article first, then come back here.  It's a long read, so if you're a little short on time, just read Parts 1 & 2; they are the inspiration for this post.

Now that you're back, let's get down to business!

I have a certain type of patient who comes in.  I call them my "zombies." 

They know that I call them this.

We joke about it.

But really, it's not funny.  (I'm just the sort of person to laugh rather than cry when I'm in a serious situation)  These women (it's always been women so far) come to me exhausted, depressed and cold.  They can't get enough layers of clothing to be warm.  Many of them also have digestive complaints.  When I look at them through my Chinese Medical Eye, they're pale and they have no pulse, hence the teasing about being a zombie.

There's always one thing that ties these women together:  they have some sort of a nutritional deficiency.  For some it's a consequence of a disease that makes their bodies unable to absorb the proper nutrients.  For many, it's a consequence of being vegetarian or vegan and not getting enough of the right nutrients.

It's not that I'm on a crusade to enforce a certain way of eating.  I don't care one way or another what a person's eating habits are - until those habits start effecting their health in a negative way.

People never like to hear nutritional advice.  Especially when it goes against their morals or excludes their favorite foods.  But I often find myself having to suggest some pretty extreme changes.  That they add animal products back into their meatless diet.  Or that they stop eating dairy or gluten or sugar.

And even though I'm always nervous for these talks, many times the response I get is, "I knew you were going to recommend something like this.  I think it's time to try it."

Sometimes it takes hitting bottom to realize that we've got to try something new.

And that's okay.  We can't know what will work for us until we try it, right?

We're all different.  We can eat different things and get very different results.  We can exercise different amounts and in different ways and get very different results.  The trick is to find our own set of "different" so that we can be our vibrant, energetic, lovely selves.  And be understanding of each others' "differents," so that we can all be the best that we can be.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids (O3FAs) are an important nutrient that is somewhat overlooked. I find that there are several "types" of patients that I tend to strongly recommend O3FAs to.

• Anyone with allergies of any kind. Environmental (hayfever, trees, pets, etc.), Foods (including sensitivities, not just true allergies), and Skin allergies.
• Anyone with a skin condition of any sort. Eczema, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, etc.
• Anyone with arthritis.
• Anyone with heart disease/cholesterol problems.

O3FAs are great for breaking the cycle of inflammation. This is why they get recommended to so many of my patients! While they don't work quite like an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen, over time they can be extremely useful for reducing the amount of inflammation in your system. They have even been used in higher doses as an anti-histamine to break the cycle of allergic inflammation often associated with hayfever!

O3FAs have also been found to be useful in reducing the inflammation associated with heart disease and in lower "bad" cholesterol levels.

So where does one get O3FAs. The best, of course is if you can get natural, whole food sources of O3FAs. Some common sources are:

• The flesh of fish - particularly the gray area between the skin and the "regular" flesh.
• Flax seeds
• Walnuts
• Soybeans - including, in lesser amounts, tofu

If you don't feel like it's doable, or enough to just eat a diet high in O3FA foods, you can take it in liquid or capsule form. There are vegetarian forms, usually made with flax seed oil, and fish sources. If you decide to take the fish-sourced oil, make sure to look for one that is certified heavy metal free (heavy metals would certainly counteract the whole point of taking the O3FAs in the first place!).

As always, talk with your acupuncturist or other health care provider about appropriate doses for you.

Okay, so an elimination diet doesn't really fit into the realm of Acupuncture & Chinese medicine. However, it is something that I occasionally recommend some of my patients to do.

What is an elimination diet? An elimination diet is a diagnostic tool to determine if someone reacts unhealthfully to a certain food or foods.  Here are some instructions on how to do it. I'll give you the short version here. Basically, you eat only non-allergenic foods including rice, turkey, and certain fruits and vegetables. You eat only these foods until your symptoms have gone away. Once you are symptom-free, gradually add in one of the allergenic foods at a time and see if you react. If you do - BINGO. If not - on to the next allergenic food.

Once you have found which foods you are sensitive to, you now have some decisions to make. How important is it to your health that you completely avoid this food forever from now on? Are your reactions minor? Are the reactions that you have to the particular food worth suffering through for the food?

Here are a couple of examples:

Female patient in her early twenties has been nauseous, vomiting and experiencing explosive diarrhea non-stop for three years. She and her doctor did all of the biomedical tests and exams to determine the cause. No cause was found. Because of her desperation, she was willing to try ANYTHING at this point and started receiving acupuncture and herbal treatments. She had some limited results - a decrease in the episodes of vomiting and her nausea. At this time, it was recommended that she consider trying an elimination diet. She agreed. She found that she was sensitive to dairy and wheat. Once she discontinued eating these foods, her symptoms disappeared completely within two weeks. After some experimentation with her diet, she discovered that she could have small amounts of wheat if it was organic and preservative-free.

Female patient also in her early twenties has difficulty breathing, with a sensation of being "stuck under a blanket and unable to absorb enough oxygen." She had seen several doctors who determined that it wasn't asthma, but offered no other explanations. She was advised to take benadryl every day, thinking that it was some sort of allergic reaction. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs brought some relief, but only for a a few days at a time. At this time it was recommended that she try an elimination diet and she too found that she was sensitive to gluten and dairy. Each food caused different symptoms in her. Gluten was the culprit behind the difficulty breathing. Dairy was behind a chronic post-nasal drip. After some experimentation with her diet, she decided that it was never worth eating gluten - even the slightest of contamination would lead to a week of symptoms. Dairy was okay as occasional treats for holidays, but she would know to expect her post-nasal drip to return for a couple days.

The most exciting part about elimination diets is the amount of knowledge that is gained! To all of a sudden understand where your symptoms are coming from, and to have the power to control when, if at all, you'll experience them!

Elimination diets aren't the answer for everyone, but what if it IS the answer for you? Talk with your acupuncturist or naturopath to see if it's right for you!