Sharing Lunch

We have a small "kitchen" area in the office where we can sit, eat and visit. Small tablecloth covered table, a few chairs, full size fridge, counter top convection/toaster oven, coffee maker and electric tea kettle. We used to have a microwave but we removed it about 6 months ago.
We had heard and read research about the health hazards to using the microwave and were convinced that it should be removed but the time would go by and there it sat.

Side note, I work best with deadlines and when I am under a bit of pressure. So the pressure to remove the microwave came in the form of our annual fire inspection. The fire inspector told me that I need the microwave plugged directly into the wall not into a power strip because it could cause a fire. He would be back in 10 days to see if I made the changes and then sign off that the office is compliant. Needless to say the microwave "left the building" that afternoon.

Joya brings a balanced and nutritious lunch each day. If you are one of her patients and she advises you of the best balance for your meals be assured that she practices what she preaches. Most days Marylou Gantner sits across the table from Joya and they share a laugh over lunch. Marylou prepares great food that looks beautiful because she mixes colors of veggies and serves her lunch up in lovely dishes.

This past week Heather Crider brought in some pureed butternut squash and shared it with me. It tasted yummy and I decided to photograph the squash and share the photo here.
She insisted that it looked like baby food but I assured her it was a lovely puree not baby food. I've asked her to share the recipe in a blog post sometime soon because she said it is a very easy recipe done in the oven and I can attest to the fact that it was delicious.

Lunchtime for me usually consists of a meal size salad of greens, some type of protein, and some cut up veggies. This is most efficient lunch for me because it is all in one dish, transports easily and if I want to sit in my office and read emails instead of being in the kitchen I don't have anything to spill. So share lunch ideas with us. You can comment here or on our Facebook page through our website.

Adrenal Fatigue

Who hasn't heard the term Adrenal Fatigue yet? Just about every student knows the word well; late night studies, early morning coffee, tests, stress, and then having a bit of fun from time to time as well.

With our busy lifestyles, everyone has long to-do lists, appointments, budgets, staying healthy, and then what to do if we are presented with anything additional? We tire out.

Do you feel a bit like this donkey?

Simple ways to get back on your feet is to rest. Having quiet is a wonderful way to relax, let your eyes relax into the distance - look as far as you can. Look around. Your eyes are most relaxed when looking into the distance. Most indoor spaces never allow our eyes to relax.

• Spend some time outdoors.
• Sleep 8 hours.
• Limit sugar intake.
• Come in for a consult and IV.
  

  IV's full of nutrients that help accelerate your cells' ability to heal.

Homeopathy can be life changing, with the right intake and remedy, you will start to feel like you can take on the world again!

Papaya for Beauty

Did you know papaya can help you stay beautiful?

The cosmetic industry found that vitamin C on your body can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles. In 2007, a study in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that higher dietary intake of Vitamin C was associated with a decreased likelihood of a wrinkled appearance. Vitamin C is essential to collagen support and health. The healthier and more vital your collagen, the less likely you will show wrinkles.

Papaya ranked #1 out of 36 fruits for Vitamin C content. Vitamin C can also be found in broccoli, brussel sprouts and red, yellow, and green bell peppers. Throw all of that in a stir fry for a beautiful meal! Buy some fresh to throw in a salad.

My favorite way to eat papaya is to first scoop out the seeds, then take a half of a lime and squeeze over the papaya! Makes my mouth water just thinking of it.

Healthy Tips for Summer

This Tuesday, at 6:30 pm, I will be going over how to eat good foods for summer, natural sunscreens, natural mosquito repellent, and introducing our summer-time cleanse! We will have suggestions, recipes, and tell you about our favorite products.

It gives you a leg up in surviving summer!

You will also get handouts for GMO foods, and recipes on how to make your own mosquito repellent!

We hope to see you there.

Can laughter protect your heart?

Do you laugh? Do you have long, gut busting laughs?

If so, your heart thanks you. According to a new study through the University of Maryland, "laughter, along with an active sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack." People with heart disease are 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to others the same age without disease.

Michael Miller, M.D., is the director for the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He says they don't understand yet why laughter protects, but they do understand that stress, hostility, and negative feelings have a damaging effect on the lining of the veins and arteries. Atherosclerosis, begins as inflammation and damage to the arteries that leads to deposits of fat and cholesterol.

The study compared how 300 people answered humor responses. Half of the people asked to participate had already suffered a heart attack or had coronary artery disease. The other half did not have heart disease. The questionnaires asked how much or little people laughed in certain situations and the second one used true or false answers to measure anger and hostility.

Dr. Miller found that those with heart disease found less humor in everyday situations than those who did not. They were generally more angry and hostile and laughed less even in positive situations.

A popular inflammatory marker is CRP, or C-reactive protein. This is a blood test that measures general inflammation in the body. Marsland, in a study of 855 middle-aged subjects showed that hostile affect was independently associated with increased CRP levels (Antagonistic characteristics are positively associated with inflammatory markers independently of trait negative emotionality).

Naturopathy also offers a variety of herbs to help reduce inflammation in association with laughter.

Orlando has a wonderful comedy club named SAK, that our office had the pleasure of visiting on Friday. We laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more! They were superb! Laughter is the best medicine!

Mindful Eating

Ever find yourself snacking on a bag of chips and suddenly end up at the bottom of the bag? But how did that happen exactly?

T.V. snacking is an easy way to load up on unwanted calories quickly. Practicing mindful eating is one way many people avoid the endless snacking and stay slim. Ever wonder why ‘Readers Digest’ has digest in it? What we see, read, hear, and eat all nourishes us. When we watch T.V. and eat at the same time, our powers of digestion are divided. We must now digest what we are seeing on the television and what our mouth is taking in. Not only do we overeat, but we also weaken our power of digestion.

Slow down. Relax. Focus.

Try this: Take something small, a grape, fig, dried cranberry, etc. Take a deep, long breath, envisioning it going into your kidneys as you pick your food up. Look at it. Smell it. Smile at it. Place it in your mouth and savor it. Feel the texture of it. Bite into it and notice the flavors, the juice, the wrinkles, the multiple levels of taste. Let it fully nourish you. Enjoy all of the flavor before you swallow.

• Start to savor the look, texture, taste, and smell of every bite. It works and has a huge impact on curbing binge eating.
• Another way to help is to think mini meal. One way of achieving this is to use 7” plates instead of 11” plates. Buy small.
• If you choose to snack, don’t hide the evidence. You are likely to eat less if you don’t hide what you’ve done.
• Hydrate! Your body’s signals for thirst may mimic those for hunger, especially if you aren’t used to listening to the thirst signals. If you feel hungry, try 2 large glasses of water. Give it 5 – 10 minutes. You may find yourself doing something and forgetting that you ever felt hungry in the first place.
• If you feel like you are starving, try to eat a little fat before you sit down for a meal. If you eat about 6 walnuts or a small handful of almonds 20 minutes before you eat, your body feels full. The good fats in a small portion of nuts produces CCK, cholecystokinin that communicates to the brain that you’ve had enough to eat. It also keeps you feeling full by slowing the emptying of your stomach. This way you eat for pleasure and not from a famished, "scarf all your food at once" place.

SHONISHIN

SHONISHIN (SHO: Little - NI: Children - SHIN: Needle), is a very gentle, non insertive Japanese Pediatric Acupuncture style. Shonishin specializes in the treatment of infants and children.

It is very effective to treat minor viral infections/feverish conditions, pain, digestive sensitivities, respiratory conditions and allergic reactions.

Shonishin treatments are brief, comforting and offer a gentle stimulation to regulate and fortify the child's vital energy, harmonize their emotional system and strengthen their constitution and immune system.

The techniques involve rhythmic stroking of the acupunture meridians; as well as, rubbing, tapping and pressing the skin at specific acupuncture points and areas of deficiency or excess.