Health WellNews

Starting a new fitness routine can be a little daunting, but improving your health doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it can be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other!

Why walk?

Walking is an effective, easy, and low-impact way to improve your health. In fact, regular physical activity such as walking can provide major benefits, including:

• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Weight loss
• Lower blood pressure and cholesterol
• Reduced risk of developing diabetes
• Stress relief

Getting started

Set aside some time in your day, choose a safe route, invest in some comfortable walking shoes, and go! While it’s ideal to get at least 45 minutes of moderate exercise a day, any amount of activity can be beneficial. Remember, start slowly and work your way up if you haven’t been exercising regularly. Aim to walk a short distance three times a week, and increase your distance and speed gradually.

Stay motivated by walking with a partner, listening to music, or choosing a route that you really enjoy. Try carrying a pedometer to keep track of how far you’ve gone. As your body adjusts to the new activity, you may find that you have more energy, your moods feel more balanced, and you feel healthier overall. If you set realistic goals and stick to them, you’ll be amazed at what a simple daily walk can do for your health! 

Cool-Out Summer Salad

• 6 medium tomatoes
• 2 small cucumbers
• 4 radishes, sliced
• 2 scallions, minced
• 1 large dill or sour pickle, minced
• 1 bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup red onion, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 – 2 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Allow salad to marinate for 1 hour.

Cut tomatoes in half, squeeze, discard seeds, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Toss all ingredients together. Serve cool or at room temperature.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), all of life is influenced by seasonal cycles.  You are probably Most people love a clean house but few people have time to do a deep clean. The days of spending a week thoroughly cleaning your home are gone.

It’s unfortunate. Spring is a great time for cleaning. Feng Shui (the Chinese study of harmonizing your environment) recommends spring cleaning, not only because it’s nice to live in a clean house, but also because it increases the Qi of your home. Living in an environment of healthy, balanced Qi supports your health and happiness.

It’s possible to have a clean home without spending days cleaning it. Follow these professional house cleaning tips to get your house sparkling in record time.

• Simplify your cleaning products. Most cleaning only needs two solutions: an all-purpose cleaning solution and a window cleaner. This means you only need to carry two bottles and some rags.
• Use a tool-belt. Use a tool or garden belt to keep your supplies handy at all times. If you simplify your cleaners, you’ll need a pocket for some rags and two loops to hang the spritzer bottles.
• Have a large supply of rags. Instead of rinsing your rag when it gets dirty, get a clean one. When you are finished, throw all the rags in the washer at once.
• Work clockwise. Begin directly to the right of the door. Work high to low and circle the room clockwise. For example, dust top shelves before the lower ones; wipe counter tops before baseboards. Be very systematic—don’t jump ahead or backtrack. Clean top to bottom and when you finish one patch, move to your right to do the next. You’ll finish the room in one cycle.
• Clean all aspects of a room in a single cycle. Dust, wipe and do windows in one pass. Make sure that you have all your supplies in your belt before you begin.
• Vacuum or sweep the floor last.
• Soak your tub. If your tub or shower has soap scum built up, spritz with white vinegar 10 minutes before you get to the bathroom to allow time for it to soak.
• Use a squeegee. Squeegees make window and mirror cleaning fast. For the best results, use a professional-grade squeegee. After you squeegee your window, use a dry rag to clean up the edges. If the surface has sticky dirt, use a rag to scrub the window before squeegeeing.
• Collect your clutter. Use a laundry basket to collect items that need to be returned to a different room. Move the basket from room to room and only empty it when you are finished.
• Clean inside to out. Clean the inside of the toilet before the outside. When you clean the outside, start from the top of the tank and work down. Use a rag until it is dirty. Throw the rag in a pile to be washed later—don’t take time to rinse it.

Green Cleaning Products

Some of the strongest toxins in your home are from cleaning products. And sadly, most cleaning jobs don’t even need them.

Mix your own cleaning products to keep your home fresh and healthy.

All-purpose cleaner: Mix ½ cup white vinegar (or use the citrus vinegar below), one teaspoon castile soap, two cups water and 15 drops of essential oil. Shake to mix the essential oils with the water. Add tea tree, lavender or lemon essential oils to boost the germ-killing properties.

Window cleaner: Mix ¼ cup white vinegar and two cups water. Use in a spritzer bottle. For best results, wipe with a squeegee.

Scrubbing powder: Mix baking soda with water to make a paste. Scrub. Use this on sinks, countertops and dishes with stubborn, baked-on food.

Mineral deposits: Use vinegar to get rid of mineral deposits in your sink, toilet, showerhead—even your coffee maker. Spritz the surface with white vinegar. Allow the vinegar to penetrate and wipe away. Depending on the buildup, you may need to reapply. Sometimes you can spritz and then scrub with baking soda to remove chunks of deposits.

Air freshener: Use essential oils to make your home smell fresh. Try lemon, orange or grapefruit for an uplifting scent.

Homemade citrus cleaner: Peel oranges and put as many peels as you can in a quart jar. Fill the jar with vinegar and let sit for two weeks. Strain the peels and use the orange-scented vinegar in your cleaning products.

Food allergies are common these days. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that food allergies among children increased approximately 50% between 1997 and 2011.^[1]

No one knows why food allergies are increasing, although several theories exist. This leaves doctors and scientists unsure about what to recommend in order to prevent them.

In contrast, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a strong grasp of allergies. From a TCM perspective, many allergies are caused by a Wei Qi imbalance. Wei Qi is similar to the Western medicine view of the immune system; Wei Qi defends the body against foreign substances.

And unlike Western medicine, TCM recommendations for food allergies are always individualized. Your specific diagnosis impacts your treatment plan and how you will balance your immune system.

Until you get a personal diagnosis, use these tips to control your food allergies.

• See an allergist and get tested to learn exactly what you are allergic to.
• Avoid your food allergens, especially if you are exposed to multiple allergens at once. For example, you may be more sensitive to your food allergens when you have hay fever.
• he most common food allergens are peanuts, the proteins in cow’s milk, shellfish, tree nuts, fish, eggs, gluten, wheat and soy. These are good foods to avoid if you don’t know exactly what you’re allergic to.
• Ask about ingredients when you eat at restaurants or when your meal is prepared by someone else. Don’t be shy to get specific.
• Read labels to make sure there aren’t any “hidden” ingredients you’re allergic to.
• Sometimes people outgrow food allergies. Talk to your allergist to get tested if you believe you’re no longer allergic.
• Eat foods that nourish your immune system. Cauliflower, Asian pears, water chestnuts and white cabbage are good antioxidants and support your Wei Qi. Be sure to eat both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are found in salmon, tuna, mackerel and other cold-water fish.

^[1]http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db121.htm

Dandelion Pesto

Makes 2 cups

• 12 ounces washed and cleaned dandelion leaves
• 1 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 1/2 ounces Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

1. Put one-third of the dandelion greens in a food processor or blender with the olive oil and chop for a minute. Add the remaining dandelion greens in two batches until they’re finely chopped.
2. Add the garlic, pine nuts, salt and Parmesan, and process until everything is a smooth puree.
3. Taste; add more salt if necessary.  Thin with olive oil or water if needed.

Storage: The pesto can be refrigerated in a jar for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  To prevent the top from darkening pour a thin layer of olive on top.

When you go to an acupuncturist, have you noticed that the way they describe your illness is different than the way your doctor describes it?

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks for patterns of imbalance. Identifying these patterns allows your acupuncturist to form a TCM diagnosis and leads to your treatment. Because of this, illnesses that western medicine considers unrelated may be considered similar by your acupuncturist.

There are several systems for viewing these patterns. One of them is called the Eight Principles. In this system, four sets of qualities help define your illness.

• Interior/Exterior. Your acupuncturist will look at your illness and determine if it is located in an interior organ or if it is caused by an exterior pathogen.
• Hot/Cold. Your acupuncturist will determine if your imbalance is hot (like a fever) or cold (like chilliness).
• Full (excess)/Empty (deficiency). Your acupuncturist checks the strength of your Qi and whether there is a pathogen present.
• Yin/Yang. Your acupuncturist determines if your condition is primarily yin or yang in nature.

How can the Eight Principles Help You?

If you’re not familiar with TCM, getting a diagnosis of “excess heat in the interior” won’t mean anything to you. But remember, the Eight Principles are patterns of imbalance.

Ask your acupuncturist what your diagnosis means. Then ask what symptoms point to that diagnosis.

Start observing your everyday complaints, aches, pains and health challenges. Notice if you regularly have symptoms that point to the diagnosis. It’s likely that you will start to see patterns in your symptoms, even if western medicine doesn’t understand the links between them.

Once you know your constitutional tendencies, you can begin a long term plan to balance your body and prevent illness.

Winter is the season for the kidneys & bladder.

In Western medicine, kidneys are the organs that filter and purify blood.  They maintain pH, mineral and electrolyte balance by removing excess water and salts to create urine.  The urine is then stored in the bladder until you pee.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the kidneys and bladder are seen as an energetic system, bigger than just the physiological function of the organs themselves.  To TCM, the kidneys govern reproduction, produce bone marrow, influence growth and development and control sexual energy.

From a TCM perspective, there are several kidney functions that differ from a Western perspective.

Like in Western medicine, the kidneys are responsible for water metabolism.  However, instead of understanding water and salts from a bio-chemical perspective, TCM describes fluid as clear or turbid.  Clear fluid is lighter and the kidneys send it upward to moisten the lungs.  Turbid fluids are heavier and they are sent downward to be released through the bladder.

One of the kidneys’ primary roles is storing the vital essence called Jing Qi.  Jing is the essence of Qi and is responsible for reproduction and regeneration. There are two types of Jing—the Jing inherited from your parents and forming your basic constitution, and the Jing acquired from the food, water and air of your daily life. The kidneys store and control Jing, and this process influences growth and development, sexual maturation, reproduction and aging.

The kidneys are also in charge of “Zhi”—mental drive and courage.  Zhi is the will to live and provides determination and focus to accomplish your goals and realize your dreams.

It’s important to provide care and nourishment to your kidneys.  Eat warming foods, and avoid raw foods and cold drinks.  While a green salad is OK now and again, winter is not the season to be salad-crazy.  Eat soups and stews.  Add extra root vegetables, squash, beans, miso and seaweed to your diet.  Use garlic and ginger for flavor.  If you want fruit, eat blueberries or blackberries.

And keep your kidneys warm.  Wear long shirts and sweaters that come down to your hips. Better yet, make a haramaki (see sidebar) and wear it every day.