by ancientCurrent on November 3, 2010
| I had the fortune of taking a class with a Classical Chinese medicine scholar by the name of Heiner Fruehauf. His entire lecture was based upon a subject that I have been mulling over for the past few months….wheat, gluten, sugar and/or dairy intolerance leading to an overabundance of bacteria and fungi in the digestive tract and/or nervous system. These invaders can cause brain fog, lethargy and even infertility.
Many women in my practice show the tell-tale signs of dietary intolerance including weight gain, bloating, heavy menses, yeast infections, brain fog, digestive complaints, sugar cravings, fatigue and easy bruising to name a few. Elimination diets as well as acupuncture & cleansing herbs can rid the body of yeast, candida and spirochaetes.
Please read below to see if any of these symptoms sound like yours?
As always, thanks for reading.
|
| I often treat women suffering from “unexplained” infertility. As a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine it is my job to find the underlying pattern that is impeding the proper connection of egg and sperm.
One pattern that keeps arising is SPLEEN and KIDNEY YANG deficiency. Women with this “pattern” often experience irregular menses, migraines, pms, frequent miscarriages, heavy menses, luteal phase defect, low temperature, thyroid imbalances, joint pain, digestive pains, bloating, gassiness, cold hands and feet and frequent yeast infections may have sensitivities to wheat and/or gluten.
This “type” often looks overweight or collects weight in the middle of the body. They may also be thin but have a greatly enlarged and scalloped tongue with a thick white or yellow coat.
Usually when things are bogged down in the center or middle jiao (stomach) every other organ suffers. I find that middle jiao stagnation often causes a back up of phlegm that manifests as post-nasal trip or constant mucus.
I like to suggest is trying to eliminate all gluten, sugar and dairy from the diet for at least two weeks. It is best to eliminate one group at a time to see which one has the biggest impact on your body and mind.
Consume mostly organic, sautéed or lightly cooked vegetables with organic chicken and meat.
Avoid:
* Cold, raw foods
* Ice cream
* Smoothies
* Diet soda
* Refined carbohydrates like pasta, wheat, bread
* Fruit juice
* Dairy
Add:
* Walnuts
* Gingerroot
* black beans, adzuki beans
* Citrus peel, dates, cherries,
* Oats, garlic, onions, chives, pepper, anise.
Treatments vary but an average of three months of weekly acupuncture & herbs are recommended to bring the system closer to balance. |
by ancientCurrent on August 27, 2010
If you have ever suffered from morning sickness then you know that you would try just about anything to quell that wretched feeling. Everyone seems to suffer a little differently; some people feel nauseated all the time, others just in the morning, other just at night…some people vomit all day long for 5 months and others are lucky enough to feel completely normal.
Causes & Treatment
The cause of morning sickness it not entirely understood. Some scientists argue that feel rising hormone levels alter the functioning of the hypothalamus and trigger the gag reflex, others feel it is a biological warning sign for the body to avoid any foods that could be potentially harmful to the growing fetus.
I have an entire regimen for treating women with morning sickness. I employ acupuncture, ear press needles and sometimes I even leave in ear tacks on specific points. I always recommend Vitamin water (it saved me) and continual nibbling on whatever you can get down. It’s extremely tough to eat when your nauseted but keeping blood sugar levels constant is key in feeling well.
Just recently a friend and excellent homeopath, Rebekah Azzarelli of Brooklyn Homeopathy recommended Umeboshi Plums for morning sickness. I had heard of umeboshi plums in macrobiotic cooking and also remembered that mume or Wu Mei is a Chinese food used for digestive issues and diarrhea. Interesting!
“Umeboshi (Japanese: 梅干; literally “dried ume”) are pickled ume fruits common in Japan. Ume (Prunus mume) is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus Prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot. Umeboshi are a popular kind of tsukemono (pickles) and are extremely sour and salty. They are usually served as side dishes for rice or stuffed inside of rice balls (sometimes without removing their seeds inside) for breakfast and lunch. They are occasionally served boiled or seasoned for dinner.
This Japanese style traditional pickle is considered good for digestion, prevention of nausea, and for systemic toxicity, including hangovers. Green ume extract is even used as a tonic in Japan. The citric acid is claimed to act as an antibacterial, help to increase saliva production and assist in the digestion of rice. Additionally, umeboshi is claimed to combat fatigue (historically given as part of a samurai’s field ration) and protect against aging.
How Umeboshi Plums are prepared:
The plums are pickled, left outside to be exposed to the elements of the sun and evening dew, packed in barrels with crude sea salt and shiso leaves, and then pressed by a weight. The combination of these elements, pressed over a period of at least six months, creates the natural bacteria, enzymes, organic acids and powerful alkaline qualities of the Umeboshi Plum. In fact, Umeboshi Plum has been called “The King of Alkaline Foods.”
Benefits:
Alkalinity is an important factor for health. We want our blood to be just slightly alkaline (about 7.35). If the blood is too acidic, then harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, fats and mucous thrive and grow, contributing to degenerative blood and disease. Our blood can become too acidic from consuming an excessive amount of sugar, refined flour products, alcohol, toxins and animal foods.
This condition worsens with an inadequate intake of oxygen, often caused by sedentary lifestyles.
Umeboshi is rich in organic acids, especially citric acid and phosphoric acid. Organic acids help ensure a rapid breakdown of an excess of acids (such as lactic acid and pyruvic acid) in the body. Such an effect helps to balance, or often eliminate, the symptoms of excessively acidic conditions, including a hang-over, fatigue, morning sickness, car/sea sickness, some headaches, stomach troubles and anemia. In fact, an Umeboshi Plum that has been aged 6 to 7 years has been known to stop diarrhea.
Acupuncture has been proven effective by the NIH for the treatment of nausea. To schedule an appointment with Laurel Carroll e-mail Laurel@ancientcurrent.com.
Info above taken from Macrobiotic.com and Wikipedia
