Posts Tagged ‘cancer’

Turmeric. It’s the spice that makes your curry yellow. This little yellow root is a powerhouse of healing properties. So many, in fact, that it would be hard to list them all.

Benefits

* Anti-inflammatory
* Antibiotic
* Skin conditions- eczema, psoriasis, and hives
* Pain reduction
* Metabolism
* Blood detoxifier
* Helps cough and asthma
* Gas & bloating
* Speeds up wound healing
* Heals stomach ulcers
* Prevents cancer
* Gallstones
* Slows progression of Alzheimer’s and MS
* Reduces side effects of chemotherapy
* Lowers cholesterol

Fresh is always best. But powdered and capsules will still help. Turmeric can be added to soups, stews, grilled veggies, tofu scramble, and, of course, curry. Juice a small amount with some cucumber, carrots, lemon and lettuce for a delicious, immune boosting treat every morning. You can also make into a paste with aloe vera to reduce itching from bug bites and chicken pox.

Isn’t it amazing how the things we have in our kitchen cabinet can keep us healthy? Every time we cook, we have the opportunity to improve our quality of life. Food can really be thy medicine.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

So you’ve gotten the big C diagnosis. Now what? Whether you decide or not to go with Western treatments- surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation, Chinese medicine and nutrition should be a part of your healing plan.

Chinese medicine can help with any cancer related symptoms and side effects associated with chemotherapy and radiation, including: nausea/vomiting, burns, weakened immunity, stress, anxiety, detoxification, pain, bruising, hair loss, skin issues, hot flashes, fatigue, digestive issues, loss of appetite, and anemia.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proven that acupuncture used on cancer patients improved their immune system response. Their studies also showed that acupuncture reduced pain levels in some cancer patients. Clinical trials performed all over the world have determined that acupuncture reduces nausea and vomiting caused by chemo and anesthesia.

What can you do?

Eat & Drink

* Immune boosting- astralgus root, probiotics, lemon, aloe vera, bell pepper, kiwi

* Nausea- ginger, mint, dry crackers, apples

* Calming- beets, radish, carrots, yams, melons

* Detoxifying- dandelion greens, cucumber, kale, beets, seaweed, tumeric, garlic

Avoid

* Sugar- cancer loves to feed on sugar.

* Dairy- casein, which is a milk protein, encourages tumor growth.

* Non- organic- pesticides and steroids cause and promote cancer.

* Toxins found in beauty and household cleaning products.

Most importantly, do what makes you happy. Find support from people who will keep you on track. All experts agree that having a positive outlook on your diagnosis and treatment is vital to recovery.

These tips are meant for prevention as well. Whether or not you’ve gotten diagnosed with cancer, you can use this opportunity to take charge of your health and even come back healthier than ever before.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

Another question I get asked a lot: “Don’t you need milk for calcium?” The answer is a big “NO.” On top of dairy not having much calcium compared to many plant foods (see below), a lot of people are allergic/lactose intolerant. This means they can’t access the calcium in dairy anyway and it can make them really sick. Dairy has also been linked to heart disease, prostate cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.

The dairy industry paid almost $200 million in the US in 2011 on advertising. So that’s pretty much everyone believes you can only get enough calcium from eating dairy. Marketing. The guys at Mad Men would be proud.

A staggering statistic that also disproves this myth- On average, Americans eat the most dairy and have the highest rates of osteoporosis. According to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, we eat almost 300 pounds of dairy per year.

Besides not having the highest levels of calcium, eating a lot of dairy and animal protein makes your body acidic. To alkalize itself, the body leeches calcium from your bones.

Inuits have the highest dietary calcium intake of any other people in the world– above 2000 mg per day from fish bones. Their diet is also the highest in the world in protein- up to 400 g a day mostly from fish and have the highest rate of osteoporosis in the world.  The Bantu of Africa consume an average of 350 mg of calcium a day and have almost no cases of osteoporosis.

Still don’t believe me? Look at these numbers.

Calcium Sources

In milligrams per 100 gram serving

Butter                                 20
Whole milk                        118
Chickpeas                         150
Collard greens                   203
Parsley                              203
Soybeans                          226
Almonds                           234
Sesame seeds                 1160

In milligrams per 8 oz (1 cup)

Soybean sprouts              50
Alfalfa sprouts                 25
Nori                                 1200
Kombu                            2100
Wakame                         3500
Tofu                                350
Quinoa                           80
Kale                                72
Okra                               81
Corn meal                      50
Oats                               40
Carrot juice                    57
Navy beans                   140
Pinto beans                   100
Lima beans                    60
Black beans                   60
Lentils                            50
Hazelnuts                      450
Walnuts                         280
Sunflower seeds           260

Recommended Daily Allowance

* 0-6 months                           200 mg

* 6-12 months                         260 mg

* 1-3 years                               700 mg

* 4-8 years                              1000 mg

* 9-18 years                            1300 mg

* 19-50 years                          1000 mg

* pregnant/lactating               1300 mg

* 51-70 years male                1000 mg

* 51-70 years female             1200 mg

* 70+ years                             1200 mg

So as you can see, ‘Milk it does the body good” campaign just isn’t true. Do yourself a favor. Go to your local farmers market this weekend. Try some fresh, green veggies. Buy yourself a juicer and enjoy. Grab a handful of almonds. Eat some hummus. Your bones will thank you.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

Note: Oxalic acid, which is found in spinach, rhubarb, chard, and beet greens binds with calcium and reduces its absorption. They should not be considered good sources of calcium.

Do you get headaches or migraines? Is there anything worse? Headaches can ruin your quality of life. Not only do they suck, but the medications that ‘fix’ them don’t always work and can have drastic side effects.

Has your doctor still not figured out why you have them? “Take a pill” is probably their response.

Have they ruled out all these potential causes?

* Dehydration- most people are dehydrated
* Hormonal imbalances
* Food allergies
* Stress
* Neck tension & misalignment
* Mercury/heavy metal poisoning
* Adverse reaction to medications
* Tumors
* Head colds and sinus infections
* High blood pressure

How Chinese medicine can help

Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and proper diet can all relieve or fix any of the above causes. How? Chinese medicine is able to regulate hormonal imbalances, detoxify the body, relieve stress, lower blood pressure, improve the immune system, reduce pain & inflammation, and minimize tumor size & growth. Pretty amazing, right?

Have you been living with headaches or migraines for years? It’s time to give Chinese medicine a try.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

I’ve seen a drastic increase in hormone related illnesses in the last ten years. Unfortunately, no matter how clean our diet is, we can’t completely avoid all pollutants. Just in the last 3 months, I’ve seen 15 new female patients in their 20s. All of them got their first period between the ages of 8 and 10. All of them. This is just one symptom of how all the toxins and pollutants we’re exposed to are damaging all of us.

Some simple steps to minimize your risk

* Minimize or eliminate your consumption of:
-animal products (especially non-organic)
-sugar (real & fake)
-trans-fats

* Avoid all plastic, especially in food packaging. See my blog post for more info.

* Do a liver cleanse at least once a year.

* Make sure you get plenty of healthy fats in daily. See my blog post for more info.

* Organic produce as much as possible. See my blog post for more info.

* Put a water filter on your taps and showers.

* Exercise that helps get your blood pumping & de-stressed 3-5 times per week.

* Have your hormones tested. If anything is off, you can naturally treat almost any imbalance.

* Get active. Whatever your political beliefs, we all what safe food, water, and air for ourselves and our children. Contact your state and federal representatives and let them know you vote and you want to see changes.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

You want to know what I hear when I recommend buying organic?  “It’s so much more expensive!”  Patients of mine who don’t live in Southern California also say, “It’s impossible to find in winter.”

When it comes to produce, some non-organic options are safer than others.  Please use this list when doing your shopping.

The 12 Most Contaminated, AKA The Dirty Dozen

* Peaches

* Apples

* Bell Peppers

* Celery

* Nectarines

* Strawberries

* Cherries

* Pears

* Grapes

* Spinach

* Lettuce

* Potatoes

The 12 Least Contaminated

* Onions

* Avocado

* Sweet Corn

* Pineapples

* Mango

* Asparagus

* Sweet Peas

* Kiwi Fruit

* Bananas

* Cabbage

* Broccoli

* Papaya

Asking your grocer to carry more organic, local options will encourage them to supply the demand.  As the demand grows, more farmers will listen.

Live natural. Live Well.

Heather

I’ve had so many patients ask about the potential side effects of radiation hitting the West Coast. This gives me a chance to talk about my favorite subject- FOOD.

Whole Grains & Legumes

Brown rice should be lightly roasted to increase your protection against radiation.

Adzuki beans- little red beans used in soups and stews- are great for improving kidney function, which is necessary for removing toxins.

Other delicious grains to help protect you include: buckwheat, millet, and quinoa.

Sea Vegetables

Most sea vegetables contain a polysaccharide that binds to radioactive strontium and other pollutants. This helps to eliminate them from the body.

Kombu, a common kelp, can be used when cooking beans or vegetables. Add to your soup or salad a few tablespoons of sea vegetables, such as nori (used in sushi rolls), hiziki, alaria, arame, or wakame.

Miso Soup

1 or 2 bowls of unpasteurized miso soup every day, preferably prepared with kombu seaweed and root vegetables.

Miso broth with root vegetables (like carrots, beets, yams, onions, turnips and radishes) stimulates digestive enzymes and supports the elimination of pollutants and toxins from the blood.

Eat Your Veggies

Any dark, leafy greens will promote detoxification, including: dandelion, kale, cilantro, and chard. Other veggies to alkaline the body and reduce inflammation are: pumpkin, squash, garlic, avocado, and broccoli.

Root vegetables are a great source of antioxidants and support your kidneys.

Add tumeric- the spice that makes curry yellow- to your veggies to reduce inflammation and support your immune system.

Adding lemon to your filtered water supports the liver’s function to eliminate toxins. It also stimulates your metabolism. Who wouldn’t want that? I recommend drinking lemon water all the time, but especially first thing in the morning to jumpstart your day. No matter what the circumstances.

Supplements

The Iodide Question

There are many conflicting studies about the benefits and efficacy of taking iodine to protect your thyroid from radiation. So I’m hesitant to say anything about it. I personally think taking a low dose potassium iodide pill is usually safe as long as you don’t have a thyroid condition already. Short-term use should be fine, but please consult your physician first. According to the CDC, a single dose is all you need. Should radioactive iodine remain in the environment for more than 24 hours, another dose might be required. You shouldn’t take any at all unless you know that there is an immediate radiation hazard.

Other Steps to Take

Reishi and Cordyceps mushrooms protects your bone marrow from radiation and other toxins.

Spirulina and chlorella help the liver to flush on toxins, including radiation.

If you don’t like to or don’t know how to cook with tumeric, as suggested above, you can take it as supplement. 2-4 grams per day is should be enough.

Some homeopathic remedies to treat radiation: radium bromatum, uranium nitricum, plutonium nitricum, x-ray and plumbum. Please consult a qualified physician or homeopath before taking.

Taking a bath in Epsom salts, sea salt, bentonite clay, and/or baking soda to support your body’s ability to release toxins.

Acupuncture has long been established as great for detoxification and supporting the thyroid & immune system.

Foods To Avoid

You want to make sure your body can easily eliminate toxins, especially radiation. The healthier you are, the better your organs can do their job. So you want to avoid acidic foods and foods that slow down your body’s ability to detoxify. It is important to avoid coffee, sodas, refined sugars, dairy, and ‘white’ (bread, rice, etc…) and processed foods

All of these tips should be incorporated in to your daily lives, whether or not you’re directly affected by nuclear fall out in Japan. Eating a plant based, alkalizing diet will help protect you from almost any disease or pollution.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

Cancer prevention.  Maybe I should have titled the subject line “Illness Prevention.”  But the big C always gets people’s attention.  Especially when 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men are getting cancer now.  So why not change a few things to reduce your risk?

1 Eat more vegetables
Vegetables aren’t just delicious and filled with vitamins and nutrients; they also contain a lot of fiber, antioxidants, and beta-carotene.  All of these help reduce your risk. Eating vegetables makes your body more alkaline, which is also good for preventing any illness.
For more on why eating a more plant based diet is better for you and the environment, please read another great resource at GoVeg.

2 Go organic
Organic food not only tastes better, it doesn’t have all those pesticides, antibiotics, steroids and growth hormones that can make you very sick.  A lot of people say to me organic costs more.  One trick is to go to your local farmer’s market right before closing.  The vendors are practically giving their products away.  Plus, eating organic is much cheaper than getting sick, missing work, and having medical expenses.

3 Sweat more
Sweating releases toxins through the skin.  Fewer toxins in your body, the lower your risk of getting sick. Go for a hike, take a power yoga class, or sit in a sauna on a regular basis.

4 Do a liver cleanse on a regular basis
If you’ve been getting my newsletters for a while, you know I’m a fan of doing a SAFE cleanse at least once a year.  Along with sweating, a liver cleanse will flush out the bad stuff that’s stuck in your liver.

5 Taking care of your mental health
Stress can weaken your immune system.  Thus, making you more susceptible to getting sick.  So whether it’s meditating, therapy, a spiritual practice, exercise, or all of the above, please take care of you!

6 Avoid sugar, including sugar substitutes, and dairy
Sugar feeds cancer.  Eat some fruit instead. And dairy is mucous forming, since it’s mucous too.  Try milk alternatives, such as hemp, almond, or rice.  You can get really creative and make your own.

7 Deep breathing
Cancer cells won’t thrive in a highly oxygenated body.  So take out that yoga mat and breathe.

8  Don’t store or cook your food in plastic.
Highly heated plastics release dioxin (carcinogens) into your food and ultimately into the cells of the body.  In fact, avoid using plastic altogether.

See?  That wasn’t so hard, was it?  Knowing that you’ve taken the first steps to being disease free can be so liberating.

Live natural.  Live well.
Heather


Chinese medicine offers relief from the symptoms and side effects related to cancer and cancer treatments. Acupuncture causes physical responses in nerves cells, the pituitary gland, and various parts of the brain, which in turn affects blood pressure and body temperature. In addition, Acupuncture boosts the immune system, relieves stress and anxiety, and causes the body’s natural painkillers to be released.

It is the side effects related to chemotherapy and radiation that often cause extreme distress for the cancer patient. Some of the side effects that Chinese medicine helps alleviate, include, but are not limited to: nausea/vomiting, fatigue, weakened immunity, stress, anxiety, pain, bruising, post operative swelling, hair loss, anemia, skin issues, hot flashes, digestive disorders, loss of appetite, and detoxification/elevated liver enzymes.

Chinese medicine also reduces many cancer-related symptoms. Acupuncture treatments add to a patient’s sense of wellbeing and decrease the malaise associated with any chronic disease, especially cancer.

Human studies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the effect of acupuncture on the immune system of cancer patients showed that it improved immune system response. It was proven that acupuncture reduced the amount of pain in some cancer patients. In one study, most of the patients treated with acupuncture were able to stop taking drugs for pain relief or to take smaller doses. Several types of clinical trials using different acupuncture methods showed acupuncture reduced nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and surgery.

Nutritional and herbal support aids in boosting immune response in cancer patients, along with minimizing the immune and white blood cell suppression that occurs with most chemotherapeutic agents. Kenneth Conklin, M.D., Ph.D., an anesthesiologist at UCLA working with the Oncology Department, reports gratifying results utilizing nutrition and supplements combined with acupuncture.

Fighting cancer might be one of the most challenging things a person has to deal with. Why not let Chinese medicine support you on the road to a full recovery?

From the title, you’re probably saying to yourself:                Avoid using plastic??? Why? I recycle and it’s so convenient! And how? It’s EVERYWHERE!

Besides creating the Great Eastern Garbage Patch and polluting our oceans, plastic has been know to cause:

* Brain damage

* Increased fat formation and risk of obesity

* Hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, and learning impairment

* Auto-immune disorders

* Early puberty, stimulation of mammary gland development, disrupted reproductive cycles, and ovarian dysfunction -I’ve treated girls as young as 7 getting their periods.

* Thyroid disorders

* Stimulation of prostate cancer cells

* Increased prostate size and decreased sperm production

* Increase cancer risk

I know the side effects might seem scary and overwhelming. But doing regular detoxes, getting plenty of clean water, eating nutritious foods, taking the proper supplements can help prevent, eliminate, and reduce any of the above health issues.

I also know, that’s it’s pretty much impossible to avoid using all plastics. I recently interviewed a woman who tried for 2 weeks and failed. A few recommendations to limiting your exposure:

• Storing your food in glass container

• Using cooking oils that are in glass bottles

• Drinking filtered water in metal container

• Do NOT microwave in any plastic. For that matter, don’t microwave at all.

• Using reusable bags when shopping

• And PLEASE recycle!

Please tell your friends, family, and communities this vital information.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather Lounsbury, L.Ac.