Constipation-Home Remedies

Constipation in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be caused by a variety of patterns. Most common are Yin and Blood (Fluid) Deficiency (common in older patients, after loss of blood, childbirth, or prolonged illness, or in some cases simply constitutional), Liver Qi Stagnation (irregularity due to stress or emotional upset), and Heat or DampHeat (often caused by rich diet, longstanding emotional strain, or constitution.) All types should be treated with acupuncture and individualized herbal formulas, but there are some home remedies that can offer some temporary relief. Other therapies such as colonics and exercises such as qigong, meditation, and yoga are often a necessary component for treating constipation.

Yin and Blood Deficiency Type
In this case we want to lubricate the bowels to make evacuation easier. Eat moistening foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, and good fats such as avocados. Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day. The following is a particularly effective remedy, only take care not to take too often as both prunes and spinach are high oxalate foods that can leach calcium from the system.

Mix the following in a blender:
1 pear
4-5 prunes
1/2 cup of raw spinach
1 tblsp. flaxseed meal
water

Liver Qi Stagnation Type
This type benefits the most from lifestyle changes such as a regular meditation practice, which is usually the last thing overly stressed people want to/can do. Acupuncture and appropriate herbs can start creating a sense of peace that the patient can then maintain. The same is true for getting a hypnotherapy session or attending a meditation class where someone else can direct you on how to relax so you can later do it yourself.

First thing upon awakening have a warm/hot glass of water with lemon/lime juice and a teaspoon of raw honey. The water should be warm as it will go to the bowels. Cold water sits in the stomach.

Heat or DampHeat Type
This type often involves a variety of factors including stress and inappropriate dietary habits.  more personalized acupuncture and lifestyle plan are often necessary. This is the type of patient who often does well with a high raw foods diet.

In this case lemon or lime juice with hot warm/hot water first thing in the morning is often helpful. People with DampHeat often have trouble drinking enough water, so adding a little lemon juice, cranberry juice, or greens formula to drinking water can be very helpful.

Daikon radish eaten between meals will help cool and decongest the body.

Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil are 1 of the few oils that is actually beneficial for this constitution type and can be eaten regularly. A tea made with boiled water and 1 tblsp. of flaxseed meal can be taken 1-2 times a day on an empty stomach.

Natural Probiotics - Rejuvelac Recipe

Probiotics are live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. These microorganisms help keep yeast and less friendly bacteria in check. Probiotics can be purchased in health food stores, but you can also make your own inexpensive fermented culture at home to introduce healthy bacteria into your body.

Every traditional culture has fermented or cultured foods in its diet. They were a way to preserve food in times before refrigeration. They also have the benefit of balancing the body's bacteria. Probiotics are beneficial for everyone to maintain health in our increasingly sterile environment. Probiotics are especially indicated after any course of antibiotics, in cases of yeast infection, or digestive issues.

For recipes on making your own fermented cultures I recommend Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. What follows is a simple recipe for Rejuvelac, modified from Paul Pitchfork's classic Healing With Whole Foods:

Ingredients:
2 cups wheat berries
1 quart water

• Soak 2 cups wheat berries for 1 day. Discard soak water. Rinse berries and soak them again in a jar containing one quart of water. Cover the mouth of the jar with a cloth or sprout screen and let stand for 2 days. Pour off rejuvelac. Add 1 quart of water to wheat. After 1 day, pour off second batch of rejuvelac and compost wheat. Begin soaking more wheat berries to make a fresh batch of rejuvelac.
• Makes 4 cups.
• Rejuvelac tastes sour. If too sour, reduce fermentation time. If it tastes foul discard. Rejuvelac ferments faster in hot weather. Once made, keep refrigerated.

Beets & Carrots: Build Your Liver

An easy way to gently cleanse and strengthen your liver is to eat beets and carrots together. This can easily be incorporated in salads and juicing.

I further simplified a recipe I found Vegetarian Times Magazine, "Jewel-tone Pancakes with Creamy Yogurt-Dill Sauce," found on page 73. The original recipe in more involved so I recommend checking it out. Here was my fast version this morning:

1 beet, grated
1 large carrot, grated
4 eggs
olive oil
Salt, pepper, tarragon, etc. to taste

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add grated beets and carrots and seasoning. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium high. Spoon out about 1/4 cup of the beet mixture into the frying pan for each "pancake." Allow to brown for a few minutes and turn. And they're done!

I put the beet pancakes on toast with vegenaise and a slice of tomato. Surprisingly really good.

Second Spring; A Poetic Term for Menopause

No woman likes to think of menopause. Some of us even fall into depression when the inescapable happens. When we are hit with hot flashes, insomnia, foggy head, weight gain all at once, depression seams like a normal reaction.
One solution is to fight menopause with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), bio-identical or not. For different reasons, some women cannot tolerate HRT and come to our clinic for help. A great majority of them find relief with a combination of acupuncture and herbs combined with some dietary changes and exercise. I think that a change in perspective may also help. Instead of calling it menopause, I like the Chinese "second spring". It sounds more optimistic; more upbeat.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) women have two spring seasons.
The first spring is the season for growth, and it starts with menstruation at puberty. The first spring carries us  all the way to menopause. Through all the life changing experiences that will transform us into the mature human beings, preparing us for our second spring.
The Chinese author Titian Ni says that the second spring is "the time of renewal of spirit, a time of healing and forgiveness".
In TCM the human life is divided into seven cycles. Each cycle has seven years for women, and eight years for for men.
For women, by the age of seven the first cycle is finished and our teeth, hair and digestive system are developed. At age fourteen the first spring arrives bringing menstruation, development of breasts and the capability to conceive. It is said in TCM that at this time the Kidney Essence ( the root of vitality) flourishes and the body has abundant Blood. At twenty-one our bodies reach maturity, and some Chinese sources consider this the right time to conceive because Kidney Essence is at its peak. Age twenty-eight brings the maturity of emotions in sync with the maturity of the body, and some Chinese sources consider this the best time to conceive. By age thirty-five things slowly start going down hill. At forty-two skin, hair and bones start to change as Kidney Essence continues to decline. When we rich forty-nine the child-bearing years are coming to an end, closing the door of one period in our lives and starting our second spring. I am being nice with my choices of words from the classic Chinese text, which original I have included below.

Second spring in TCM means that the Blood that once flowed out of our bodies now is being used as extra nourishment for our internal organs, including the Heart. The Heart governs the Shen (Mind/Spirit). Well nourished hearts mean wiser minds.

Barefoot is back!

When I was a little girl I remember that when I really wanted to take off, I would kick off my shoes and my feet would grab the ground as I was off. This was especially useful when it counted, running from one of the bigger kids I played soccer with in the street or from a disciplining adult.

As I got older I became indoctrinated into the benefits of shoes and arch supports. I was told to stop running on my toes, and instead run heel to toe. Every activity I did had its own special shoe. I started having problems with my hips and knees and shoulders over the years, all due to "getting older." Acupuncture, massage, and yoga would all fix me for a while, and then I would do something to bring things back.

Recently my daughter had a serious injury that had her trying all kinds of things to fix it. One day she showed up with these weird-looking Vibrams shoes and convinced me to try them. I say shoes loosely as they are no more than toe socks with a rubber sole. Immediately my body started feeling better.

I now wear my Vibrams to work and walk barefoot whenever possible. I have no pain on my feet and my soles are smooth and hydrated. I've had a few women comment that they would never wear those shoes in public, but yesterday I felt vindicated as I read the first page of the Union Tribune Health section. I have heard of people being duped by knockoffs. Beware anything claiming to be 50% off.

Natural Treatment of Rosacea-Part II

Topical Treatments
Soothing facials and LED light therapy twice a week are very effective for bringing down the symptoms of rosacea, while the condition is being addressed internally.

Home Care
At home patients should avoid heat stimuli as much as possible. Exposure to sun or a heat source (such as a cook near a hot stove) can exacerbate rosacea as well as consumption of hot temperature foods and drink. Hot nature foods such as red wine, caffeinated drinks, spicy foods, and cured foods should be limited or avoided.

In terms of topical products, skin care without irritants is crucial. This cannot be emphasized enough. There is a great deal of misinformation in skincare marketing. For example, baby products often contain the most irritating ingredients though they are marketed for the most sensitive skin.
At our clinic we use Hylunia products to treat rosacea. Specifically the combination of Beyond Complex C and Pure Hyularonic Acid Solution brings down the redness and irritation dramatically. Other products are added depending upon the presentation of acne, dry or oily skin, etc.

Results to Expect
What we have found with our patients is that the redness and flushing becomes a tendency rather than a constant condition.

Natural Treatment of Rosacea-Part I

What Is It?
Rosacea (Brandy Nose) is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting primarily the central areas of the face. In advanced cases, the nose can become enlarged and deep red. For this reason rosacea is called "wine dregs nose" in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The skin is characterized by vascular dilation with or without acne in the form of pustules and papules. Typical onset is between 30-50 years of age. Rosacea is three times more common in women than in men, though men tend to get more severe symptoms.


TCM Diagnosis and Treatment
Heat and stagnation are the root of rosacea. Heat in the Stomach and Lung is implicated when rosacea presents with papules, oily skin, thirst, a rapid pulse, and a red tongue with yellow coating. Blood heat tends to manifest as bright red skin lesions with dark capillary vasodilation, constipation, scanty urination, a rapid pulse, and a red tongue with yellow coating. Dark red or purple skin lesions indicate Qi and Blood stagnation, along with dark purple tongue body and a choppy pulse. There may also be other imbalances in the body, which your acupuncturist will be able to diagnose. Treatment includes reguar acupuncture, customized Chinese herbal formulas, and nutritional counseling.