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Juicing vs Blending: The Great Health Debate

By admin | Published December 15, 2014

green-456839_640Adults who need 2,000 daily calories to maintain a healthy weight should eat 2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables per day (a total of nine servings). According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, only 14% of adults consume the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables (source). That’s a shockingly low number that should serve as a wake-up call to people everywhere.

If you struggle to achieve to consume the recommended amount of vegetables and fruit, you should consider investing in a blender or juicer. Juicing and blending are both excellent ways to include more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. Now for the million dollar question: which method is better for your health. continue reading »

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Getting Family Exercise In The Winter

By Daniel Melton | Published December 12, 2014

Interesting Ways to Help Your Kids Exercise in Winter
It’s cold and dark outside.  You come home with the kids and all you want to do is snuggle on the couch.

Snuggling in winter may be fun (and I’m not going to say you shouldn’t snuggle) but your kids need something more.  In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), kids need at least 1 hour of physical activity—every day.  And depending on your children’s school program and sports activities, they may not even get close.

There are many benefits.  Exercise helps kids feel less stressed, have higher self-esteem, focus at school, sleep better and maintain a healthy weight.  You’ve probably noticed that parenting children who get enough exercise is also easier than parenting those who don’t.

Winter is a time for yin activities.  It’s healthy to be introspective and quiet.  However, children need physical activity—even in the winter. But on a cold, dark day, how do you get your kids to exercise?

Indoor Exercise
The first strategy is to get physical activity at home. Young children may enjoy creative home exercise.  Try playing “rock, paper, scissors” with your legs.  Do sun salutations together.  See who can walk upstairs backward the fastest.

When you spend time at home, keep moving.  Take breaks every hour and do jumping jacks.  Play exercise workout games, like Dance Dance Revolution.  Do push-ups, sit-ups and squats.    Use commercial breaks to challenge each other to a dance contest.  Even jump-roping is a good exercise option.

Outdoor Exercise
The winter is full of outdoor exercise for kids.  Walking the dog is two birds with one stone.  If you are in an area where it snows, have kids assist in shoveling snow.  Of course sledding, skiing and snowball fights are a few more options.  In warmer climates you may be able to still go on a family bike ride.  Ice skating at a rink is always a great way to get moving too.

When you enjoy an activity that doesn’t require a lot of physical exertion, think of ways to make it vigorous. For example, walking to the cafe for hot chocolate instead of driving.  Look for ways to build exercise into your normal activities.

Kids’ Exercise Programs
There are many exercise classes for kids.  Most cities have traditional options—sports leagues, gymnastics, dance studios or even a local YMCA. But now many cities have even more opportunities for children. There are yoga classes, Zumba, wall climbing, in-line skating, skate boarding and boot camps.  Your child can train for marathons, triathlons and other endurance events.  Some cities even have parkour gyms—a gym where kids half run and half fly, propelling themselves off the obstacles in their way.

If just reading this list of activities makes you feel exhausted, you may need an acupuncture “tune-up.”  Sometimes inactivity is more than just a reaction to the dark winter season.  If you feel lethargic, you’ll have an even harder time getting your children to move.

Give me a call and I’ll help you and your children feel ready to keep moving in the winter.

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Keep Your Immune System In Tip-Top Shape!

By Daniel Melton | Published December 12, 2014

Here are a few easy pointers on how you can support and promote your own health this time of year:

Take herbs that support the immune function. Astragalus, Osha root, Reishi and Shitake mushrooms are helpful. These have been used for thousands of years by acupuncturists to keep people healthy and strong.

Avoid the consumption of ice cream and iced beverages. If possible, drink liquids at room temperature. Too many colds foods, especially during the colder months, can disrupt your digestion.

Sleep. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. Go to bed early and if possible, wake up after the sun appears in the morning. Extra sleep will also benefit you if feel as though you are coming down with something. If you do become ill, naps may help you recover faster.
“C” it. Load up on Vitamin C and other multivitamins. These can help support your health.

Water, water everywhere. Drink water. Every cell of your body requires this liquid gold to keep it lubricated and running smoothly.

Stress. Try to avoid it as much as possible. If you can’t, adopt habits that will enable you to de-stress, such as meditation, yoga, dance, reading, acupuncture, or painting.

Exercise. You have heard it a thousand times, exercise, exercise, exercise. There is no substitute for the health-promoting benefits of this easy task. Get up to 20 minutes of heart pumping exercise daily.

Come in for acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture works extremely well when you have a cold, and also as a tune up to stimulate the healing capacity of your body. If you begin to get the sniffles, body chills, or feel under the weather, give me a call, I may be able to help!

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Winter Health Foods

By Daniel Melton | Published December 12, 2014

During the winter it is healthy to cook with “warming foods.” The weather is cooler, and your body needs to generate extra warmth in order to keep it functioning optimally.

Winter foods usually require a bit more preparation. These foods should be cooked longer and slower so they can provide you with meals that will keep you warmer. This is the time of year to stoke your inner fire, avoid raw foods, like salads and cold drinks, as these will cool your digestive function.

The winter diet should be made up of complex carbohydrates from whole grains, squash and root veggies, such as carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, onions and garlic.

Thick and hearty soups and stews are especially good this time of year. They are nutritious, warming, easy to digest, and your home will smell wonderfully inviting.

Spice up your meals with a little ginger, a dash of cayenne, or garlic. These will add heat to your meals and warmth down to your toes.

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You’re Getting Sleepy…

By Daniel Melton | Published December 4, 2014

During the winter, it is natural to feel a little sleepier, slower and possibly less motivated.
It’s the season of stillness and conservation. It’s a period of hibernation and our time to rest, slow down and revitalize our reserves. Winter is a great time of year to reflect on our health, replenish our energy, conserve our strength and heal on a deeper level.

According to the traditional theories of the Five Elements, Water is the element that is associated with Winter and with the Kidneys, Bladder and Adrenal Glands. Our Kidneys are extremely important organs that have various functions–the main one is that they store our inherited constitution, also known as our Source Energy or Jing Qi. Consider it your body’s internal battery.

According to Chinese Medicine, our internal Kidney batteries are powered up with a supply of energy that will carry and sustain each of us throughout our lives. This power supply is imparted to us from our parents, and provides us with the energy for all of our bodily functions.

It is believed that every action we take depletes energy from this power supply. Some people quickly deplete their Jing Qi; others preserve it. Jing Qi is finite, so if not protected, it will be easily wasted and eventually, when it becomes depleted, various symptoms and signs may appear.

During the winter, it is important to conserve our battery reserves. Our bodies are instinctively expressing the fundamental principles of winter–rest, reflection, conservation and storage. The “downtime” that winter provides, gives us an opportunity to slow down, check in, take account as to how our life-style supports or detracts from our health, and to recharge our battery.

As for getting some exercise, it is always healthy to get some form of it daily, but during the winter months, it is best to participate in gentler, less exerting exercise, such as, yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, swimming, walking, and other low impact sports. Save the extreme exertion activities for the spring and summer months.

“During the winter months all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period, just as lakes and rivers freeze and snow falls…Retire early and get up with the sunrise, which is later in winter. Desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued. Sexual desires especially should be contained, as if keeping a happy secret. Stay warm, avoid the cold, and keep the pores closed. Avoid sweating. The philosophy of the winter is one of conservation and storage. Without such a practice the result would injure the Kidney energy.”

Your Amazing Kidneys

  • Your kidneys normally come in pairs. They are roughly 5 inches long and 3 inches wide.
  • To locate your kidneys, place your hands on your hips, and slide them up until you feel your ribs. Place your thumbs against your back-that’s where they reside.
  • Your kidneys receive about 120 pints of blood per hour.
  • Over 400 gallons of recycled blood is pumped through your kidneys every day.
  • Half of one kidney could do the work that two kidneys usually do.

Your Kidneys According to Western Medicine

  • Filter waste from blood, and purify blood for your body.
  • Maintain homeostasis by balancing fluids and minerals in the body.

Your Kidneys According to Chinese Medicine

  • Store Jing Qi
  • Govern reproduction & development
  • Control water metabolism
  • Receive & grasp Qi
  • Control the bones
  • Produce marrow to fill the brain
  • Relate to the ears
  • Manifest in the hair
  • House will power

A few signs of kidney imbalance according to Chinese medicine

  • Sterility/impotence
  • Darkness under the eyes
  • Low back pain/sciatic
  • Urinary problems
  • Fatigue/lethargy
  • Premature grey or loss of hair
  • Knee problems/weakness
  • Poor memory/confusion
  • Colds hands/feet
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