Several weeks ago, my friend handed me a large tupperware container filled halfway with a strongly vinager-scented liquid and a floating jellyfish-like culture. It was my first kombucha mother or SCOBY, an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. Sounds tasty, right?
This particular SCOBY was one that I had tasted the product of before. During a holiday party, my friend handed a glass of the freshly harvested kombucha to me. I took a whiff of it, and, trying to keep a neutral face, said that I would happily share it with my boyfriend. He took a whiff of it, and poured it into the large mug of hot tea he was holding, hoping to make it palatable. Unfortunately, it mostly just increased the quantity that we had to drink and compliment.
Coenzyme Q10, AKA CoQ10, ubiquinone, or active compound ubiquinol) is a naturally-occurring antioxidant found in the body. More commonly known as a dietary supplement, it is naturally present in the body’s cells and plays a vital role in the process by which cells generate energy. It is particularly helpful in protecting skeletal muscles and organs that require greater amount of energy to perform effectively, i.e. the heart, liver and kidneys. CoQ10 protects cells from oxidative stress, (which can occur as a result of unhealthy diet, stress, environmental factors, lack of exercise, social isolation, etc), thus helping to maintain cell integrity.
Read MoreI get a lot of interesting looks when I'm drinking my green smoothie. Some people seem weirded out, but most people seem curious as to what it is and why I'm drinking it. So here's my two cents on why green smoothies rock:
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For the past 5 or so years, I’ve seen the garnish I avoided like the plague on the plates of chicken tenders I ordered at restaurants as a child gaining immense popularity. It seems like nowadays you can’t browse a menu or get out of Whole Foods without encountering at least some form of kale. In the health food industry, kale is everywhere! You’ll find it in green smoothies, juices, salads, and any number of recipes in a modern cookbook. It’s arguably currently the nation’s most popular vegetable and has definitely won me over since the days I was ignoring it on my plate at Red Lobster. But recently, I’ve seen a darker trend growing in kale—and I’m not talking about leaf color.
Congee is traditionally a rice porridge popular in Asian countries and goes back thousands of years to the first recorded congee (made of millet) eaten by Emperor Huang Di. It is more about the process of cooking rather than the grain that is used. Long cooking times break down the grain until it is literally mush. This renders it almost completely pre-digested so your body doesn’t have to work in order to absorb the nutrients from it. This is ideal for those with digestive problems who lack the ability to break down foods enough to get the nutrients they need from it.
Read MoreIn Traditional Chinese Medicine it’s not uncommon to use food that has medicinal qualities to help treat various conditions. In the summer months we are more prone to conditions of toxic heat. In the Chinese herbal pharmacopoeia there is a whole subsection of herbs that treat “Summer Heat.”
Read MoreIf you love coffee like I do, then you may want to pay attention...
I love the stuff! The smell, the taste, everything. I used to watch my parents and grandparents wake sleepily, pad toward the kitchen to grind the beans and fill the pot with water, and flip the switch; the house would fill with a earthy, familiar aroma. It was a morning ritual that, as I grew up, I continued.
Spring is here! For many of us it’s a time we think about renewal and growth. It’s a wonderful time for clearing out old stuff that’s accumulated; both emotional and material junk. Letting go of old grudges is just as important as clearing out the pantry and tossing expired medications. Small shifts can be very rewarding.
A few people told me they got pregnant after long periods of trying unsuccessfully to do so after following the advice from a book called The Fertility Diet. So I got curious and have been reading it this week, and thought I’d share with you their top tips.
The Fertility Diet, by Jeorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD and Walter C. Willet, MD, DrPH, both professors at Harvard Medical School, presents the results of the Nurses’ Health Study, broken down into their top 10 simple lifestyle and diet changes that can improve your chances of getting pregnant.
I frequently hear from patients that they are hesitant about taking Chinese herbal formulas, and/or don't understand the benefit of them. Many more people are on board these days with receiving acupuncture treatments, but Chinese herbal medicine is still underutilized in reproductive health. So lets discuss some of the benefits and the safety regarding Chinese herbal formulas.
Why take them?
First of all, the herbs help us, the acupuncturists, make progress faster. We make progress at each treatment towards correcting your diagnosis and improving your overall health, and preparing you for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) if you are going that route. But your using the Chinese herbal formulas consistently allows us to continue making this progress between appointments. So taking your herbs: