It’s that time of year again…the weather is getting colder, the leaves have fallen off the trees and people are beginning to trickle into the office with autumn colds and allergies. As an acupuncturist, I have to say I rarely get sick. I have lots of tools and tricks in my bag to stay healthy during cold season, and I’m happy to share some of them with you!

You know how your mom always made you wear a scarf when you were a kid, telling you that you’d catch a cold if you didn’t? I used to think she was just saying that, but as it turns out, there was something to it after all! In the world of Chinese medicine, there is an area at the back of the neck which can absorb wind and cold, allowing it to permeate into your system and creating an ideal situation to catch an actual cold. By keeping this area warm and covered, you are putting up a shield between yourself and this invading wind, increasing your chances of avoiding colds.

Since we acupuncturists view cold as an entity that can migrate into your system, adding warm foods into your diet can help to balance out that cold, keeping you healthy or speeding up your recovery once a cold has set in. Eating chicken soup to ward off illness isn’t just a fallacy; the temperature of the soup is helpful, but there are also lots of “warm” ingredients within the soup. Every food has an energetic quality, and warm spicy foods balance out excess cold in the system. Most good chicken soup has garlic, pepper and other spices that are considered “warm” in TCM.

Adding spicy foods into your diet when cold season hits is a way to protect yourself from succumbing to the sniffles. Whenever I begin to feel a cold coming on, I sautée slices of ginger with a little butter or oil, and add it to a tea made with lemon, honey, cinnamon, clove and a dash of cayenne. I let the ginger soften as I drink the tea, and then eat the ginger. This never fails to get me feeling healthy again, if I drink it before the cold settles into my system. It’s also delicious!

Staying warm and eating the right foods are two ways to stay healthy, and another is acupuncture. If you don’t have access to your acupuncturist, the next best thing is to utilize some acupressure points to crank up your immune system. If you slide your finger down the side of your thumb, you will hit a bone just below the wrist crease. Keep sliding down about an inch or so, and press hard while feeling for a tender spot. This is Lung 7, which is a powerful point to build up the energy of the lung, which boosts the immunity. Another great immunity point is Stomach 36. This point is located approximately four fingers down from the bottom of the knee cap, along the outer boundary of the shin bone. This point boosts the energy of the entire body, so massaging it will help to keep your “Wei Qi” up. This Wei Qi is your defensive energy, which creates a barrier between yourself and pathogens that cause harm. In Western terminology, it would be the equivalent of the immune system. Pressing on both of these points will allow you to tap into the positive effects of acupuncture, minus the needles.

The common cold is something that everybody deals with throughout the year. For some, it’s just a quick two to three day speed bump on the road of life. For others, it can become an ordeal that may last for weeks. Regardless of the amount of time, the common cold has been wreaking havoc on humans for centuries. And to date, nobody has found a bulletproof cure for this little monster.

That is mainly because the common cold is attributed to a virus. There are actually over 200 known viral strains of the common cold. Viruses are tricky because they learn and mutate, making them nearly impossible to treat. When somebody catches a cold, the virus will attach itself to the mucous membranes of the throat and nose. The virus then hijacks the cells that reside in the mucous membranes and forces them to replicate more virus cells. The symptoms of the common cold, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, congestion and fatigue, are all just the defensive attack the immune system mounts when trying to fend off the cold.

If there is no “cure” for the common cold, then how do we deal with it? Well, there are a lot of natural choices out there for fighting the common cold. Some are age-old, tried and true, while others are a little less utilized. We are going to examine three of the most widely known and frequently used ways to alleviate the common cold. Methods we all can use to hopefully bring some relief from the suffering.

1. Chicken Soup

Ever heard the saying “feed a cold, starve a fever”? Well this actually has some validity to it. When the body is fighting off an infection, there may be a fever involved. However, typically with most colds, this is not the case. When a cold occurs, the body needs nourishment to fight off the attack. This is why chicken soup is a great remedy for the common cold. Hot liquids and bland foods like chicken soup, will help keep the body hydrated and nourished. With proper nourishment, the body can return to a harmonious balance and the cold will diminish. And chicken soup is full of essential vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants known to speed up the healing process. Homemade organic chicken soup is the best option.

2. Ginger

Ginger is an amazing plant with lots of healing properties. Ginger can be helpful when fighting off the common cold due to its antiviral, anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties. Eating raw ginger or adding it to tea several times a day, can greatly improve cold symptoms quickly. And to enhance the power of ginger, add some lemon and honey, both powerful herbs in their own right. The anti-inflammatory property in ginger makes it great to help relieve a sore throat. Ginger also helps the body sweat out the toxins associated with the common cold. It is recommended to keep ginger handy at all times of the year and use it as a preventive medicine, even when not feeling sick.

3. Get Plenty of Rest

This one seems like a no-brainer. But in today’s society, we really don’t take this as seriously as we should. When fighting off an illness, proper rest is pertinent. A number of studies have found sleep deprivation leads to poor immune function. Having good sleeping habits will not only help somebody recover from a cold, but it also helps prevent getting sick to begin with. The rest itself should be quality though, not restless. And this can sometimes be difficult with a cold. This is where a lot of people turn to over-the-counter cold medications that contain alcohol. Alcohol will induce sleep but it won’t allow for quality sleep. So try to steer clear of these if possible. And take time off from the everyday grind when needed.

Dealing with the common cold can be difficult but incorporating these important habits, may just be what is needed to kick that cold to the curb. So give them a try next time that nasty cold tries to take control.

As the air starts to cool and the sun begins to fade with entrance of autumn, many people begin to experience a flare up in back pain symptoms. Back pain is a very common problem; one that will strike four out of five Americans at some time in their lives. In fact, it’s one of the top reasons people seek medical care. Unfortunately, back pain isn’t always easy to diagnose or relieve. Low back pain in particular can become a chronic, or ongoing, problem.

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are very effective in treating back pain and helping keep your body in tune with the seasonal shift. They can also be used together with traditional Western treatments to maximize your healing and recovery.

There are many possible causes for back pain, including strained muscles or ligaments, often caused by improper lifting, sudden movements or traumatic injury. Other culprits include arthritis (whose symptoms can be exacerbated with the onset of cold damp weather), structural abnormalities of the spine, or when the disks between the vertebrae bulge or rupture and press on a nerve.

Practitioners of acupuncture and TCM view back pain another way. An acupuncturist will not only work to relieve your symptoms, but will also work to find and treat the underlying cause of your pain.

Back pain can arise from disharmonies such as:

• Stagnation type pain
• Cold, damp obstruction type pain
• Deficiency type pain

Once I have determined the cause(s) of your back pain, I can create a specific treatment plan designed to address your concerns and boost your overall health and vitality.

Transitioning to Autumn

With autumn approaching and the beginning of the yin cycle, the energy of plants is moving down into their roots, helping the body become aware of the energy of the season. This season is a time for the body to begin gathering energy for the colder months to come.

The lungs and large intestine are the organs associated with fall. The lungs are responsible for the circulation of Qi (the body’s natural flow and circulation), and are also very susceptible to cold and illness. For this reason, it is important to stay healthy and warm during the season. If the Qi circulation is weakened, muscles will not be able to warm the body properly.

Autumn Foods: Vegetables of autumn like carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and kale can help purify and protect your body against free radicals. These color-rich vegetables are packed with beta-carotene, which then turns into vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for our immune system, especially as the cold and flu season rolls in. These vegetables can also strengthen your lungs and large intestine to fight illness.

Autumn weather becomes more yin, calling for warming dishes. Foods to cook that are in harmony with the season include more sour foods, as well as foods rich in protein and fats.

Some find it hard to let go of summer, with the longer days and warm air transitioning into the crisp and shorter days of fall. Acupuncture not only helps the body physically, but mentally as well. Fall is a great time to see an acupuncturist as your body and mind adapt to the changing of the season.

Give your acupuncturist a visit to prepare for the new season ahead and to stay in good health!

The shriveled red Goji berry doesn’t look like much at first, but this Himalayan fruit, otherwise known in Tibet as the “key to eternal youth”, is a superfood packed with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. You can add it to almost any meal, it tastes delicious, and it may add some pep to your step.

Chinese medicine has known about this berry, Lycium barbarum, or “wolfberry”, for many years, and it’s used as an herbal remedy to treat many age related ailments, as it’s been known to treat the root and essence of the body, the kidneys, and the liver, which stores blood. You can eat it alone or along with other herbs that boost the benefits to create a formula specific to your individual needs. Your acupuncturist is the best person to assess and create a formula for you.

The Goji has 21 minerals, including beta carotene, and trace elements. It also has a powerful antioxidant called zeaxanthin, B vitamins, and has more vitamin C than oranges. The Goji berry also has fiber so you feel full (hello weight loss!) and has about 13% protein depending on the dosage. The Goji contains lutein, which benefits the eyes, as well as the mentioned beta carotene which also benefits the eyes and skin.

What all of these nutrients tell us is that this berry helps keep the blood more alkaline, white blood cells are fortified along with your immune system, and all the amino acids, vitamins and minerals means oxygen is transported nicely through the body. So what do you get? Well-being, more energy, vitality, stronger immunity, and healthy eyes.

The Goji berry tastes sweet and a bit sour and is bright in color. It’s best to buy organic and good quality berries, or you can grow your own.

Some benefits may include improved vision, more energy, lowering of bad cholesterol, increased energy, better sleep, weight loss, improved hair thickness and luster, and less dryness. Goji berries also may help fight depression.

You can include these berries in trail mixes, cereals, or salads, or just eat them straight from your hand. How much to eat to stay healthy? The answer to that depends on your individual needs and palate. Start with a few grams, then a handful, and go from there according to how you feel and what your body is in the mood for.

Goji berries belong to the nightshade family, foods that contain solanine. These foods include tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Some individuals, like those who have arthritis, may have an allergy to these foods and it is not recommended for them in that case. If you are taking some medications like blood thinners, blood pressure medication, or diabetes medicine this berry may not be right for you. It also is a “warming” food, so refrain if you have a fever or the flu. If you are fine with those foods and don’t run too hot, go ahead and indulge in what might become your favorite berry. Benefits may vary depending on the individual, and it’s best to start with a smaller amount and see how you feel. If these aren’t for you, you can also try similar foods like the acai berry, elderberry, or tart cherries. It’s best to eat them by themselves instead of in a juice with other fruits.

5 Ways to Use Goji Berries

Goji berries have been used for their healing and nutritional properties for thousands of years. Traditional Chinese Medicine incorporates goji berries into different meals and healing tonics in order to cleanse the body. Goji berries have been said to have many different health benefits when used as a nutritional and super-herbal tonic. From anti-aging to promoting good eye health, the goji berry works on the body in many ways. Here are five ways for you to use goji berries so they too can benefit you.

1. Make a tea. Goji berries are very popular in teas. Some people swear by goji berry tea, by making it a part of their daily diet. By adding a generous handful of goji berries to a glass of hot water you can reap their healing and restorative properties.
2. Eat them raw. This is the easiest and go-to way to consume goji berries, just eat them! These berries will give off a mild sweet and tangy taste, but can easily be enjoyed and stomached while raw. Small to medium-sized handfuls of goji berries a day will do the trick.
3. Smoothies. Goji berries are great in smoothies. They take your already healthful snack and increase the benefits. Soak the berries in cold water before adding them to your smoothie in order to get them juicy and hydrated. After the berries are plump in size, add the goji berries to whatever smoothie you are making and blend to your desired consistency.
4. Trail Mix. Traditionally, goji berries have been known to be consumed once they are dried. Dehydrate some berries and add them to your trail snacks for the road!
5. Pastries. I’m sure you have had a blueberry scone before, or even a cranberry one. Try making your breakfast a little more interesting by incorporating goji berries into your pastry intake. Goji berries make for a great addition to scones, muffins and pancakes.

Many of us struggle with unpredictable seasonal-allergy symptoms. How does one create a plan of action to reduce the incidence and severity of an illness with such an unpredictable temperament? Luckily, acupuncture is like the duct tape of medical interventions, patching dysfunction and boosting the body’s natural resilience with the creative tenacity of MacGyver.

Acupuncture can often provide a measure of relief spanning several areas at once (stress relief, pain relief and immune system support at the same time). Because acupuncture’s mechanisms of action impact several biochemical pathways that influence seasonal allergies, it is a tool that works in both a preventive and a pain-relieving way. In this case, it treats nearly every stage of the seasonal allergy process (barring emergency medical conditions). continue reading »