Nourishing Winter Recipe
Winter relates to the water element, Kidney and bladder.The taste of salty, corresponding to our ears, bones, low back, knees, and the emotion of fear. Winter relates to the color black or dark blue and the direction of North.Winter energy goes deep into our bodies as the energy hibernates.The quality of seasonal energy is cold, internal, slow, sleepy, storage , rejuvenating, contemplation and reclusive. According to Chinese medicine, winter is the best time to heal or aggravate a chronic condition. Here are some tips for cooking and eating in harmony with the winter months.
24 Seasonal Qi Nodes
Each season has a different quality or tempo. Harmonizing with these seasonal changes will keep our bodies healthy and free of disease. Do you want to swim with or against the current? Going against the seasonal flow often manifests in the next season. Our bodies actually change with the seasons. Each season relates to an element, organ, color, taste, direction, and climate factor. The earth element is unique in that it is 15 days before the beginning of a new season. The Chinese lunar calendar is known as the 24 Qi Nodes.
Doctor Monte to discuss Eastern Philosophy of Seasonal Nutrition
“Eating with the Seasons” presentation at Natural Grocers in Couer d’Alene, ID
Eating with the seasons is a timeless tradition in every culture. Eastern cultures have refined the simple art of aligning our eating with the change of seasons. This informative presentation will outline the basic theory behind the circadian changes, food energetics of the seasons, a calendar of the seasonal shifts, and a menu of fall recipes to indulge in.
Doctor Monte will be presenting on Tuesday, Nov 10 from 6-7 p.m. at Natural Grocers (located at 222 W Neider Ave Coeur D Alene, ID 83815).
Acupuncture Effective for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Acupuncture and herbal medicine relieve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Data also reveals that acupuncture plus herbs reduces inflammatory markers. In a randomized controlled study, researchers from Anhui University of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) compared the efficacy of acupuncture plus herbs in one study group with drugs in another study group. Acupuncture combined with herbal medicine achieved an 85% total effective rate and drugs achieved a 70% total effective rate. This shows great promise for the future of rheumatoid arthritis treatments.
Got Pain? Acupuncture has got your Back
“Nearly 8 out of every 10 people will have low back pain at some point in life. Back pain is one of the top reasons people seek medical treatment. It is also the No. 1 reported reason for seeking acupuncture.”
The good news is chronic low back pain is one of the conditions that research suggests acupuncture may be an effective tool for treatment. Acupuncture can also be used to address a specific type of low back pain, called sciatica. Often a shooting pain running down the back of the leg or even to the foot due to a compression of the sciatic nerve. This compression can be due to many issues and not just a disc. Conventional medicine will often prescribe pain medications and sometimes even steroids. Acupuncture and herbal medicine provide a safe and natural remedy for sciatica.
Dr. Oz votes Acupuncture Best of the Best for Pain!
Dr. Oz has showcased Acupuncture numerous times on his show to demonstrate its effectiveness to the public. He effortlessly undergoes acupuncture for his shoulder pain while narrating the show in the below clip!
Early-stage Breast Cancer: No Treatment IS Treatment
Lao Tze teaches us to do nothing in order to achieve more. He calls it wuwei (无为), or non-doing. In the original phrase of Chinese, it literally means ‘doing nothing’.
“In the U.S., many women with breast cancer are being massively over treated.”
“This year more than 40,000 women in the U.S. will die of breast cancer. That’s the same, give or take, as last year, and the 13 years before that.” There is a new treatment proposal from breast cancer surgeons at the University of San Francisco hospital. Current studies show that no matter how a woman is treated for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the mortality risk is 3%–similar to the average for the general population. This implies that most women with early-stage breast cancer (DCIS) don’t benefit from chemo/radiation and can skip it. Using just the medication tamoxifen, which inhibits estrogenic activity of tumors, DCIS can just be monitored biannually without further treatment.
This ultimately means that breast cancer is not a one size fits all diagnosis and that people have choices and need to be their own strong advocate for the proper path to take.
In related news, women under the age of 45 will be relieved! The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that women with an average risk of breast cancer should undergo regular screening mammography starting at age 45 years instead of the previous guideline of 40 years of age. This is according to the October 20, 2015 guideline update from the ACS.