Have you ever wondered: Is my monthly cycle normal? Or, does everyone experience the same monthly symptoms I do? Most women experience a wide variety of symptoms prior to their menstruation, including lower abdominal cramping, increased tension, headaches, fatigue, and depression. All of these symptoms can be prevented or significantly limited with some simple lifestyle modifications. It can be as easy as eating a balanced diet, enjoying regular physical exercise, and working toward greater mental clarity. Environment, diet, and emotional stability all have a direct relationship with the regularity of female hormones.
A regular cycle is considered 28 days, plus or minus 3 days. The duration of the actual period ranges anywhere from 3-7 days, depending on the individual. Paying attention to these cycles and qualities has a direct correlation on overall women’s health. Balanced hormone levels early on are essential for a healthy pregnancy and easy transition into menopause.
Practicing good habits are a vital component to find regularity and ease from month to month. Chinese medicine teaches us this is a fragile state, as interior fluids are shed and the body is exposed to the exterior, leaving the body vulnerable. Vulnerability, in this case, means the body’s vulnerability when exposed to environmental factors, both emotional and climate. Through Chinese medicine, we learn ways to cultivate our life through common daily practices as they are listed below. The focus is on prevention rather than emergency care.
Ask your acupuncturist how he or she can help you in all areas of women’s health.
Healing Tip of the Week
Here are some helpful tips of things to avoid or incorporate during your menstruation:
Avoid heavy physical work
Avoid emotional stress
Avoid overexposure to damp and cold conditions
Avoid working with your hands in cold water
Avoid constipation
Get plenty of rest
Abstain from sexual intercourse
Good Habits to Support a Healthy Menstruation
Have you ever wondered: Is my monthly cycle normal? Or, does everyone experience the same monthly symptoms I do? Most women experience a wide variety of symptoms prior to their menstruation, including lower abdominal cramping, increased tension, headaches, fatigue, and depression. All of these symptoms can be prevented or significantly limited with some simple lifestyle modifications. It can be as easy as eating a balanced diet, enjoying regular physical exercise, and working toward greater mental clarity. Environment, diet, and emotional stability all have a direct relationship with the regularity of female hormones.
A regular cycle is considered 28 days, plus or minus 3 days. The duration of the actual period ranges anywhere from 3-7 days, depending on the individual. Paying attention to these cycles and qualities has a direct correlation on overall women’s health. Balanced hormone levels early on are essential for a healthy pregnancy and easy transition into menopause.
Practicing good habits are a vital component to find regularity and ease from month to month. Chinese medicine teaches us this is a fragile state, as interior fluids are shed and the body is exposed to the exterior, leaving the body vulnerable. Vulnerability, in this case, means the body’s vulnerability when exposed to environmental factors, both emotional and climate. Through Chinese medicine, we learn ways to cultivate our life through common daily practices as they are listed below. The focus is on prevention rather than emergency care.
Ask your acupuncturist how he or she can help you in all areas of women’s health.
Vincent Koeller, LAc
Licensed Acupuncturist
Healing Tip of the Week
Here are some helpful tips of things to avoid or incorporate during your menstruation:
I cannot go a day without eating an egg. I love them. But when I go to the grocery store, I never know which ones to buy. Which type of egg is the best choice?
The labels they put on eggs can be deceiving. When I first realized what all of them actually meant, I was shocked! There are 5 typical classifications: organic, vegetarian-fed, cage-free, free-range, and pastured (not pasteurized).
The first, organic, seemingly would be the best for you. However, this only means that the chicken’s food is free of harmful chemicals. It speaks nothing to how the chickens were raised. Vegetarian-fed chickens are only given grains for their diet. This seems like it would be healthy except for the fact that chickens need to get protein from grubs and bugs. So, this term also means that the chickens do not have access to the pasture. Next up are the cage-free hens, which sounds very humane. Unfortunately, these chickens are not confined to their cages, but usually are left in a dark barn. Not a very good place to roam and find nourishing things to eat. A step up from cage-free is the free-range chicken. These lucky birds not only get access to roam around the dark barn, but also can go out to the yard, where they can stand on a fenced-in piece of dirt or cement. This was definitely not what I thought free-range meant. Lastly, the pastured chicken makes its appearance. I didn’t even know this was an option until recently. Pastured means that the chickens are free to roam through the pasture, so they’re grass fed. They can eat the grubs and bugs they were meant to, in addition to the food they are given. This type of egg usually comes from small farms that sell their product at local farmer’s markets.
So why eat pastured eggs? What difference can there really be? Well, Mother Earth News conducted an egg experiment in 2007 to see what the differences really were. In comparison to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data for commercial eggs, pastured eggs contained: ⅓ less cholesterol, ¼ less saturated fat, ⅔ more vitamin A, 3 times more omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, and 7 times more beta-carotene.
Personally, I’d rather get more bang for my buck. I’ll be making my next egg purchase at my local farmer’s market.
Healing Tip of the Week
Pastured eggs are a healthier, more humane choice. If you love eggs like I love eggs, try pastured eggs. You can usually find them at local farmer’s markets. And, while you’re there, you can pick up some fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits.
Gurus, Buddhists, yogis and many other meditators have practiced meditation for centuries to discover and rediscover the benefits of simply sitting to quiet the mind. With deeper and deeper introspection, they write about feeling more relaxed, reaching higher states of empowerment and enlightenment, and having greater understanding of the world and suffering and joy.
Only recently has a study been conducted with MRI brain scans to measure how meditation actually changes the brain. So far, the studies have found that meditation increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory. Images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, the region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that didn’t meditate showed no such changes.
The style of meditation practiced for the study is called, mindfulness meditation. Its roots are in Buddhist techniques. The idea is to focus attention in the here and now and keep the mind from wandering. For example, participants would focus on breathing, or emotions or thoughts, while observing body sensations.
The study’s lead author, Britta Holzel, a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says the results are still preliminary, but there is something there.
Other studies on meditation have suggested that meditation may reduce blood pressure in patients with coronary artery disease and that meditators have longer attention spans.
While MRI brain scans are still in the preliminary phases of studying meditation, centuries of meditators already know the results. And, if something stands the test of time, only to be proven beneficial again and again, it must be worth some exploration.
Source: “How Meditation May Change the Brain,” New York Times, Jan. 28, 2001
Healing Tip of the Week
Write yourself a mantra, such as, “I am happy, joyous and free.” Spend five to 10 minutes per day sitting with your focused attention on your mantra. Each time your mind wanders (and it will), refocus your attention on your mantra. Do this for 21 days in a row. See how it affects your attitude and your well being. Remember, mindfulness is a practice. Be patient with yourself and enjoy.
After the holidays, most people worry about how to take off the extra pounds they gained. They feel bloated, congested, and tired. Boosting your metabolism is one way to help burn off the extra weight and get your energy back. Here are some tips for boosting your metabolism:
Interval Training
Here’s an example: Walk at your normal pace for 1 to 2 minutes, then speed-walk for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat the sequence 10 to 15 times. According to an Australian study, women who did intervals while they were biking lost three times as much fat as those who worked out at a steady pace.
Build Muscle
Adding just 5 pounds of muscle to your body can burn up to 150 more calories per day without even working out those muscles, according to Kristin McGee, a trainer and Pilates instructor.
Eat a Big Breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. A couple of tips for breakfast: Take your first bite of food within the first 30 minutes of waking up and make your first food of the day protein and vegetables – not a carbohydrate. This will help maintain your blood sugar. The more balanced your blood sugar, the more balanced your energy throughout the day and the less you crave carbohydrates. That could lead to healthier eating habits. Try it.
Water, Water, Water
Drink about half your body weight in ounces of water per day. While some report that drinking COLD water will cause a slight surge in metabolic rate, the increase is just that, slight. In the Chinese medicine world, it is more likely that ice or ice water, or anything cold, will slow down the digestive system. So, as a compromise, just drinking the right amount of room-temp water for your body weight will hydrate you and help your body function more efficiently.
Healing Tip of the Week
Take your first bite of food within the first 30 minutes of waking up, and make your first food of the day protein and vegetables – not a carbohydrate. This will help keep your blood sugar more balanced throughout the day.
Many of my patients have been choosing to replace coffee and energy drinks with green tea. That’s an awesome way to minimize congestion in the body, boost antioxidants and maintain a more balanced level of energy throughout the day. Of course, food also affects those things, but small steps add up over time. While green tea is excellent, during the Fall, an even better tea choice is Oolong.
The main reason for this is fermentation. The more heavily fermented Oolong tea is usually roasted, which imparts “fire” to the tea, making it more warming. Warming can also mean improved circulation in Chinese medicine terms. Green tea is not fermented, while Oolong tea comes in a variety of levels of fermentation. For best results, Oolong tea should be lightly infused, not strongly steeped. Its healing benefits include: brightening the eyes, clearing the voice, invigorating the constitution, removing flatulence, illuminating the spirit, relieving thirst, and improving digestion. It also helps cut fats and oils from meals.
Healing Tip of the Week
Choose Oolong tea, and be sure to steep it for a short time; less than one minute for higher quality tea. Pay attention to how you feel and how it tastes as you sip it. Be present and enjoy a relaxing, healthy moment with tea made especially for the Fall season.
Contrary to popular belief, we do have seasons in California. We may not see the extremes that other parts of the country do, but our bodies and minds are still affected by the changes in the weather and our overall environment.
The Fall is especially challenging for our lungs and large intestine. It’s the dry season, and the season our lungs are working their hardest to balance our immune systems and keep us healthy.
During this time, we are more prone to the following symptoms: dry nose, throat, skin, and lips, excess thirst, itchiness, coughs and colds, sinus infections, constipation, bloating, gas, belching, depression, turbid thoughts and emotions, sluggishness and lack of desire to do anything. You are especially at risk if you have a tendency toward any of those symptoms throughout the rest of the year.
The best way to prevent those symptoms is with food, including the “holiday” spices! The key is to maintain balance. More is not better. Be moderate in adding in the healing foods, and be aware of the amount of food you eat every meal.
Here is a list of Fall flavors and cooking tips and how they can keep your body feeling great:
Baked and sautéed food stimulates the appetite.
To internalize your focus, cook with less water and lower heat for a longer time.
Also, to improve your focus, eat more sour foods, like yogurt, lemon, lime, vinegar, olives, pickles, aduki beans, and sour varieties of apples, plums and grapes. Small amounts have a strong affect!
To keep the lungs moist and healthy, eat moistening foods, like almonds, pine nuts, soy milk, sesame seeds, eggs, cooked honey, loquat, pears, and apples.
To help digest the moistening foods, which can be a little sticky and hard to digest, add small amounts of warming and moving spices. For example, add Allspice to sweet potatoes, meatloaf, squash, soups and stews. Cinnamon can be added to pumpkin, egg nog and cider. Add pepper to just about anything.
Digestion is always improved when eating in a relaxed atmosphere. For example, avoid eating while watching the news or other potentially negative television. Most of all, be grateful for and enjoy what you’re eating. A little smiling with your meal goes a long way.
Healing Tip of the Week
In general, adding cinnamon, ginger, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, or cardamom help the body digest the sticky foods, like yams and sweet potatoes, as well as desserts and fruits. Keep in mind that just pinches of these spices go a long way to improve digestion!
Autumn is the time when the extreme yang of the summer sun and long days give way and transform into a cooler/yin season with longer nights. It is the time to slow down and gather energy to be stored for the colder winter months. The ancient Chinese medical text, “The Huang Di Nei Jing” (“The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon”) states, “Those who knew the way of keeping good health in ancient times always kept their behavior in daily life in accordance with nature.” Just as the changes occur on Earth, our choices of food, length of sleep and level of activity should be attuned to ensure proper immunity and health.
In Chinese medicine, the element associated with autumn is metal, and the organs related to this element are the lungs and the large intestine. The lungs function to breathe in fresh air, delivering oxygen to our body and exhaling carbon dioxide. The large intestine gathers nourishment and eliminates the waste. Some conditions of the lungs and large intestine that may be more prevalent during the three months of autumn are: colds and flus, psoriasis, dry/itchy skin, asthma, sadness/depression, constipation and bronchitis.
Symbolically, this is a time to gather our thoughts, feelings and emotions and consciously let go of the old, useless aspects of our lives that may be in the form of harshness, grudges, or fears which inhibit our spiritual growth. Letting go of the old makes room for the new. What new thoughts and behaviors can you harvest to renew your focus in life?
Observing the external environment, what we see in nature, can help us learn how to keep our internal environment in harmony. Visit the local farmer’s markets and add a variety of seasonal foods to your diet. Transition from eating cold raw salads and foods right out of the fridge to foods that are more warming in nature or cooked. Your body will appreciate it!
Healing Tip of the Week
Steamed Asian pears are considered beneficial for the lungs. It’s a tasty way to help resolve dry coughs, soothe soreness in the throat and resolve phlegm.
Up to 14 percent of pregnant women experience some kind of serious depression, a condition characterized by feelings of dread, gloom and hopelessness, as well as a loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities. The mom-to-be, if left untreated, could stop caring for herself, her fetus and someday, her child. Many women choose not to take antidepressants during their pregnancy for fear of harming the fetus.
According to results of a recent study by the Stanford University School of Medicine, acupuncture can be an effective way to reduce symptoms of depression during pregnancy. The study followed 150 women who were given eight weeks of treatment in one of three control groups: acupuncture specific for depression; control acupuncture (during which needles were inserted in points not known to alleviate depression); or massage. Researchers found that 63 percent of women receiving depression-specific acupuncture experienced 50 percent or greater reduction in symptoms, compared with 44 percent of the women in the other treatment groups combined.
The use of antidepressants during pregnancy doubled between 1999 and 2003, according to a 2007 American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology study, but many women still avoid the medications for safety concerns. Rachel Manber, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and leader of the study group, said that 94 percent of participants were reluctant to take antidepressants. The authors said they hope the study will raise awareness of depression during pregnancy and provide patients and physicians an alternative to antidepressants.
Depression during pregnancy can be triggered by a number of events. For example, women who were previously taking antidepressants may stop once they get pregnant, thus experiencing a return of symptoms. Some women may become depressed once they realize a baby will precipitate major life changes. Clinicians also believe the influx of hormones during pregnancy could potentially trigger underlying emotional and psychiatric disorders.
“I hope that people will respect the rigorous methodology used in this blinded, randomized, controlled trial and accept the result: Traditional acupuncture was associated with a significant improvement in depression,” said Deirdre Lyell, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
Brandt, M. (2010). Acupuncture Lessens Depression Symptoms During Pregnancy, Study Shows. Stanford School of Medicine. Retrieved from: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/february/acupuncture.html
Healing Tip of the Week
If you feel you might be experiencing symptoms of depression, schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation with me or your local acupuncturist! Acupuncture is a natural way to alleviate most symptoms characterized as “depression”.
Flatulence may be a laughing matter for some, but it’s still socially inappropriate in most settings. So why do some people have it more than others and what can you do to save yourself the embarrassment of excess gas and “letting one go” accidentally?
Excess gas is commonly caused by the body’s inability to digest certain carbohydrates (for example, beans and legumes, sugars, starches and fiber). When the body doesn’t have the right enzyme to digest the food, it ferments in the large intestine where it gets broken down by beneficial bacteria. This process produces hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. This gas produced in the colon needs to exit! Hence, flatulence occurs.
If excessive gas becomes a problem for you, your healthcare practitioner can offer effective treatment. You may be asked to provide a food journal to review your food and drink intake and decipher which food may be the culprit. Certain digestive herbs or supplements may be recommended to help resolve the issue.
Want to get to the bottom of your gas? Write us a question or comment, and we’ll offer suggestions and/or let you know how we can help!
Healing Tip of the Week
Some of the healthiest people eat simply and chew food thoroughly, as do many children, who are more in touch with their instincts. This makes it easier for the body to manufacture the enzymes to properly digest food.
I came across the following quote by author Daisaku Ikeda: “No matter how strong the hostility another person may feel towards you, if you approach them in an attitude of sincerity and truth, they will invariably abandon their ill will and respond with friendliness. A sense of sincerity is the one thing that somehow, in a very subtle way, gets across to others. Human beings perhaps possess some deep inner power that allows them to sense sincerity instinctively. Whatever the case, the degree to which they can do so is almost frightening.”
When I read this quote, the first thing that came to mind is that sincerity is one quality you get from the doctors at the Advanced Wellness Center. They are all motivated by the sincere desire to help their patients achieve a healthier life.
Healing Tip of the Week
Approach everyone with an attitude of sincerity and truth and see if you receive different responses or feel differently each day.
