Gluten-Free Cornmeal, Fig and Orange Muffin
The New York Times is brilliant.
Check out this fantastic recipe for scrumptious gluten-free cornmeal muffins!
It’s important to remember that just because something is gluten-free it doesn’t mean that it is inherently health food. This delicious recipe is certainly a treat and a dessert, not a go-to staple for breakfast.
If you’re looking for a little more protein-rich, energy-dense breakfast treats, try out these Egg Muffins!
Many people feel down as winter approaches. It’s dark. It’s cold. The holidays can be stressful.
But for some people every winter is unbearable. They’re tired and depressed. They don’t want to get out of bed. They snap at their families and binge on junk food.
These people have seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Our moods and energy levels fluctuate with the seasons. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) understands these cycles but modern life does not. These days, you are expected to be active, productive and creative at all times of the year. There is no accommodation for a slow, quiet winter. According to TCM, this conflict causes stress, which can result in SAD.
It’s about almost month into the New Year. Do you already wish you had a do-over for your New Year’s Resolutions?
If so, you’re in luck. You do.
February 10th is the Chinese lunar New Year. The celebration of the New Year, the Spring Festival, is China’s longest and most important holiday. Because it is based on a different calendar, it falls on a different date between January 21 and February 20 every year. You can think of Spring Festival as Christmas and New Year all rolled into one. Just like our holiday season, it’s a time of celebration, visiting family and friends, giving gifts and preparing for the next year.
In China, there are many New Year’s traditions during the 15-day Spring Festival. Many people clean their homes to sweep away the past year and usher in the next. Oftentimes family members travel home for a visit. Children receive red envelopes, called hóngbāo in Mandarin, filled with money from their relatives. People hang red lanterns outside their homes to bring happiness and good luck. On Chinese New Year’s Eve families gather for a huge meal and enjoy “lucky” foods together. And, of course, there are fireworks.
The Chinese zodiac has 12 years in its cycle, each one represented by an animal; 2013 is the Year of the Snake. Astrologers say that people born in the Year of the Snake are wise but enigmatic. They are very intuitive and size up situations well, but say little. Snakes are refined; they like to dress well and are usually financially secure. They are intense and passionate in relationships, but can become jealous and suspicious. Snakes prefer a calm, stress-free environment.
The Chinese do not traditionally make New Year’s Resolutions like we do in the West, however this is a good time to reflect on the goals you set a month ago. Are you keeping your New Year’s resolutions?
If you’re having trouble, maybe it’s time to take a lesson from the Snakes. Take a quiet moment and reflect on what is stopping you. Do you need to get serious? Do you need additional support? Are your goals genuine—do you want to do them or do you think you should do them? Why haven’t you kept your New Year’s Resolutions?
If your resolutions include improving your health in 2013, I can help you with that. Give me a call and we can arrange an appointment for anything from a tune-up to weight control to mood balancing.
If you need to make a deeper commitment to your resolutions, take a moment and think about what you need to do to keep them. Write down 3 easy action steps.
…and do them. Now.
Use the Chinese lunar New Year as a do-over. Commit to your New Year’s resolutions.
Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái. Happy New Year.
Photo credit: Gayle Nicholson / Foter / CC BY-SA
Your mother was right–say thank you.
Scientists have now proven what your mother always knew–it’s good to be grateful. Being grateful is more than just politeness; it’s actually good for your health and well-being.
In a study by Robert A. Emmons, of the University of California, and Davis and Michael E. McCullough, of the University of Miami, people who kept gratitude journals showed higher levels of health and well-being than people who journaled neutral events or counted hardships. After 2 months, the people who journaled their gratitude felt more optimistic and happier than their control counterparts. They reported fewer physical problems and spent more time working out. People with neuromuscular problems who did the same thing fell asleep more quickly, slept longer and woke up feeling more refreshed. Even their spouses noticed the difference!
How can you cultivate gratefulness even if you’re a glass-half-empty person?
Pie. Cookies. Chocolate. Eggnog. Champagne.
The holiday season is filled with good foods. You eat and drink with your friends and loved ones to celebrate how much you care about them.
But we all know that too much of a good thing is no longer good. Too many rich foods can lead to extra pounds, digestion upsets, mood swings and a generally “yucky” feeling.
It’s all about balance.
Good, healthy holiday eating can make the difference between an enjoyable holiday season and a miserable one. The trick is to enjoy treats without overdoing them. Make a healthy holiday eating strategy and plan to enjoy the holiday celebrations without feeling bad the next day.
If you live in a rainy area, the odds are pretty good that your automobile will develop some body damage over its lifetime. Does this mean that you never wash your car because it’s going to rust out anyway? Of course it doesn’t. If you care about your car, it means that you’ll fight extra hard to protect your investment.
The reality is that most of the top killers today are lifestyle related, regardless of your family history. Just because you inherit the genes doesn’t mean that you have to continue the lifestyle.
Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders…all of these conditions are greatly impacted by diet, lifestyle habits, depressed nervous systems, our home environments, etc.
Until we change our focus from the curing of disease to the propagation of health, history is destined to repeat itself.
Remember that the body has the capacity to heal easily, as long as there is the proper balance and flow of energy. The key to staying healthy is not to inject “cures” from the outside, but rather to get the innermost layer (the meridian system) in order first, and then to insulate it with layer upon layer of healthy, productive lifestyle habits.
What does it mean to be healthy? Health is a state of optimum physical functioning, spiritual enlightenment, social well-being, and mental aptitude. True health is so much more than settling for mediocrity. It’s not about living life just barely above the doldrums, or hoping against hope that you won’t get sick or that you’ll finally feel better.
Understand that your body was designed to be healthy and in balance. This is your natural state. If you are struggling with your health, you have most likely, throughout the course of living, allowed your body to get out of balance. Taking medicine to treat a symptom will never create balance within the body. Acupuncture works with the body to return it to its natural state of balance so that it can heal from the inside out. Don’t divert the smoke, put out the fire!
I just posted a yesterday on utilizing acupuncture in the treatment of chronic pain. Today the New York Times published a wonderful article, Acupuncture Provides True Pain Relief in Study, by Anahad O’Connor.
The article is evaluating information published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, financed by the National Institues of Health, on over 18,000 patients suffering from osteoarthritis, migraines and chronic pain.
Dr. Andrew Vickers, researcher at Memorial Sloa-Kettering Cancer Center in New York states “We think there’s firm evidence supporting acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain.”
The meta-analysis included studies that compared acupuncture with usual care, like over-the-counter pain relievers and other standard medicines. It also included studies that used sham acupuncture treatments, in which needles were inserted only superficially, for example, or in which patients in control groups were treated with needles that covertly retracted into handles.
Ultimately, Dr. Vickers and his colleagues found that at the end of treatment, about half of the patients treated with true acupuncture reported improvements, compared with about 30 percent of patients who did not undergo it.
“There were 30 or 40 people from all over the world involved in this research, and as a whole the sense was that this was a clinically important effect size,” Dr. Vickers said. That is especially the case, he added, given that acupuncture “is relatively noninvasive and relatively safe.”
I also, very often, hear “I tried acupuncture and it didn’t work. I only felt better for a few days/weeks/months before the pain returned”.
Let me touch on the second point, duration of relief, and then return to efficacy.
It is insane for me to hear a patient complain about an improvement that lasts longer then 4-6 hours. The typical long-term use of muscle relaxers, narcotics, pain relievers, and anti-inflammatories cannot provide relief longer than 12 hours. If a treatment, acupuncture included, brings benefits that last longer than the VERY transient effects of the pharmaceutical industry we should mark that down as a success.
In my experience the duration of relief is completely individualized. There are a number of variables that play into the successes of the treatment.
1. Patient Compliance – are they following instructions on icing/heating, stretching, changes in posture, activity, lifestyle modifications
2. Timeline of Injury – how long has the patient been in pain?
In chronic pain it will often take some time to change the body’s perception of pain, response to injury, posture, structural alignment, etc.
Pain is so individualized. It is a multidimensional stimuli that is hard to even quantify.
In a study conducted on pain perception, Psychologic Aspects of Pain perception, researcher Mcgrath says “The perception of, expression of, and reaction to pain are influenced by genetic, developmental, familial, psychological, social and cultural variables. Psychological factors, such as the situational and emotional factors that exist when we experience pain, can profoundly alter the strength of these perceptions.”
More and more research is being conducted on acupuncture’s efficacy in pain management. We are finding that complimentary and alternative approaches to pain can be very effective. If this is true, why are patient’s still preferring a pharmaceutical solution to their pain?
Leave your answers in the comments section!
A recent NCCAM-funded study, employing individual patient data meta-analyses published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, provides the most rigorous evidence to date that acupuncture may be helpful for chronic pain. In addition, results from the study provide robust evidence that the effects of acupuncture on pain are attributable to two components. The larger component includes factors such as the patient’s belief that treatment will be effective, as well as placebo and other context effects. A smaller acupuncture-specific component involves such issues as the locations of specific needling points or depth of needling.
Although millions of Americans use acupuncture each year, often for chronic pain, there has been considerable controversy surrounding its value as a therapy and whether it is anything more than an elaborate placebo. Research exploring a number of possible mechanisms for acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects is ongoing.
Our bodies are 60% water. It amazes me when I have to remind people to drink more water. Then again, it amazes me when I reflect on my day and realize I need to drink more water. Hyper-hydrating, or carrying around a gallon jug with you, isn’t necessary to get proper hydration. The 8 glasses of water adage isn’t a bad one, but not necessarily based in any real science. Drinking according to what your body is telling you is a much better indicator.
Signs you need to be drinking more water
1. Dark Urine or lack of urine – urine should be no darker than a pale yellow
2. Dizziness
3. Hunger
4. Sluggishness
5. Inability to sweat
6. Confusion
7. Headaches
8. Palpitations
9. Pain – especially in the low back
10. Fainting
Very often the water you are drinking with your medications helps your symptoms faster than the pill itself. Drinking a big glass of water with your Tylenol might be doing more to offset that stress headache than you realize.
Benefits of Drinking Water
1. You need it to live. This goes without saying. Need more convincing?
2. Stressed? You can control, your stress hormones, by staying properly hydrated.
3. Kidney troubles? Creatinine and arginine vasopressin, markers of kidney function, are dramatically improved with increased water consumption. If you tend towards kidney stones you need to keep the intake up!
4. According to The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition you can Gain a 30% improvement in Athletic Performance
5. Bad mood? The USDA has shown that hydrating can improve memory and attitude.
Fun Fact: 20% of water come from our food. Eat your vegetables!
The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.
Here’s a good PDF recommending water consumption.
