Three Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Cravings

Many of my patients ask me for advice about how to reduce their appetites or cut cravings for certain foods.

As a general rule, if you are craving something, your body probably needs a small amount of it. If you're craving fat, you probably need some fat. If you're craving bread, eat one piece of bread.

The problem is that most of us aren't that good at receiving messages from our bodies. In fact, we're used to ignoring them. Tired? Have a cup of coffee. or It's Martha's birthday, time to eat a piece of cake whether you're hungry or not...

After years of overriding our body's signals, it can become hard to be sensitive to what we really need. The following behavioral techniques will help you reset your appetite so that sticking too a healthy diet doesn't feel like an impossibility.

1. Get Enough Sleep - Recent studies show that individuals who get four hours of sleep a night have a 24 percent larger appetite than individuals who sleep for eight hours a night.

Why? Because people who sleep less produce less leptin and more ghrelin. Leptin, a hormone produced in fat cells, lets the brain know that it's time to stop eating. Ghrelin, a hormone produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates an individuals appetite.

The result? When you don't get enough sleep, you're hungry more often. If you're trying to lose weight, you've got to prioritize a good night's sleep.

2. Reduce Your Stress ASAP - When the body is under stress, it produces more cortisol, a hormone that stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism for increased energy, increases insulin production and increases appetite.

Weight gained because of increased cortisol production tends to gather around the abodomen, so if you are accumulating belly fat then you know that it's time to take steps to decrease your stress level.

3. Your Brain is Hard-Wired to Seek Out Fatty Foods - A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that fatty foods trigger memory consolidation using the same neural pathways as emotional learning.

What does this mean to you? Comfort food isn't just a clever catch phrase - it's a real, palpable emotional experience, and gives scientific evidence to support the fact that overeating can be triggered by specific emotional situations.

In addition, this information gives insight into the failure of lowfat diets. Without fat, a meal is not satisfying, and therefore indiviudals are tempted to overeat.

How can we overcome this deep-seated programming? Eat a little bit of a fatty food. The small portion will satisfy your craving and, if you give yourself a minute, you'll feel satisfied. (The key word in that sentence is "little.")

Another great tactic is to stay focused on a goal that you want to achieve - fitting into your skinny jeans or climbing the stairs at work without losing your breath - and let that motivate you to take a pass on the comfort food that you're craving.

In short, the answer is easy: three small meals a day, consisting of protein, fat and carbohydrates; two snacks and as much water as you want. Stick to this, and you've got it made.

Antibacterial Soaps Could Be Hazardous to Your Health

Most people who use antibacterial soaps are trying to be healthy. They want to kill germs that could cause them to become sick, prevent the spread of disease and make the world a happier and healthier place.

Unfortunately, the active ingredient in many antibacterial soaps, a chemical called Triclosan, has been linked to endocrine system disorders such as thyroid and reproductive system disorders. Environmental groups are fighting to get the ingredient pulled from consumer products. Even the FDA is not entirely sure whether or not Triclosan is safe - they have decided to re-evaluate the product's health risks in the year 2013.

In the meantime, I'd recommend avoiding products that contain this ingredient, especially if you are considering becoming a parent. In case you're not a label reader, here's a list of products that contain Triclosan.

Not ready to give up antibacterial soap yet? A recent study revealed that plain soap is just as effective at removing germs as antibacterial products, and carries none of the health risks. So next time you want to lather up and get clean, reach for good old-fashioned soap.

Eating Healthy is Harder Than You Might Think

Many people think that eating organic is only for the rich and the fussy. They believe that the USDA and the FDA do a fine job of regulating foodstuffs and keeping the general public safe.

In general, this is true. But there is one exception: cottonseed oil. Any byproduct of the cotton plant, for that matter.

It's not that cottonseed is bad for people in its natural form - on the contrary - it is naturally hydrogenated and contains many antioxidants. The problem is that the plant is not classified as a food, and, therefore, the pesticides used on cotton are not subject to the same regulatory standards as the pesticides used on food.

Cottonseed oil manufacturers assert that the oil can be purified, but scientists at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition say that it's not clear whether or not pesticides can be removed.

Cottonseed oil appears in our food supply in two main ways. First, cottonseed oil is used in many different kinds of processed foods - crackers, cookies, salad dressings, potato chips and more. For example, most Nabisco products contain cottonseed oil.

The second way that cotton enters our food supply is through food fed to cows, more specifically a substance called "gin trash." Gin trash is a natural substance - plant byproducts from cotton production given to cows for roughage. These materials can contain pesticide residues that are absorbed by the cow's digestive systems, and passed on to humans through milk and meat.

How can you avoid ingesting potentially harmful pesticides? Simple: Don't purchase any processed food that contains cottonseed oil; don't cook with cottonseed oil; and, finally, consume only organic beef and dairy products.

Alcohol and Atrial Fibrillation in Middle-Aged Women

Happy Holidays! The celebratory season is upon us, filled with social events and pressures that often lead to indulgence in food and drink.

How much is too much? What is a moderate amount of alcohol? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines moderate drinking as no more than one drink a day for women and no more than two drinks a day for men.

This number might seem absurd to many social drinkers, but a recent study found that adding just one more drink a day caused heart problems in some women. CNN's Dr. Gupta explains in this video:

Alcohol and Atrial Fibrillation

So be good to yourself this holiday season! Enjoy yourself. Partake in every pleasure. Just don't overdo.

Indigo Inhibits Psoriasis

Once again, Chinese herbal medicine beats Western pharmaceuticals in a clinical trial.

WebMD reported today that an ointment made of Indigo Naturalis, also known as "Qing Dai," performed better than corticosteroids to reduce or eliminate chronic plaque psoriasis. Patients in the study reported dramatic improvement over the 12 week time frame - 31 out of 42 patients reported that their bilateral plaques either cleared or nearly cleared.

Patients in the study were chosen because their psoriasis was unresponsive to standard Western drug therapy. Researchers said the Indigo treatment was non-toxic and without side effects, but that the ointment did stain the participants' skin and clothing.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/18/health/webmd/main4613580.shtml

Extra Sleep Lowers Heart Attack Risk

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Heart organ is more than just the heart muscles - it includes the brain and the blood vessels that nourish both organs.

Viewing the heart in this holistic sense, it makes perfect sense that Swedish researchers discovered that extra sleep lowers the risk of heart attacks.

The study was based on data collected after both the "Spring Forward" and "Fall Back" clock adjustments for daylight savings time. Researchers discovered a five percent increase in heart attacks the first week after losing an hour of sleep in the spring, as compared to a five percent decrease after gaining an hour of sleep in the fall.

From a Western medical perspective,sleep has a beneficial affect on the heart by lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, inflammation, clotting and other factors that strain the heart and vascular system.

Go on, take that nap! It's good for your heart.

Acupuncture, Lifestyle Changes Lower Blood Pressure

Before we get started on this topic, let me say this: if your doctor has prescribed blood pressure medication for you, you need to take it. No if's, and's or but's. Both acupuncture and lifestyle changes are effective tools to lower blood pressure, but they are not a substitute for medication. If you are diligent with natural methods, you doctor may choose to lower your dosage or discontinue your medication, but it's not a decision you, the patient, are qualified to make.

That said, I was excited to read about this 2007 German study that is the first rigorous, randomized study in the West on blood pressure and acupuncture. It concluded that properly performed acupuncture reduces blood pressure as much as an ACE inhibitor. Reasearchers concluded that the reduction isnot massive, but it is significant.

In addition to regular acupunture, the American Heart Association recommends the following lifestyle changes for individuals diagnosed with high blood pressure:

1. Get Moving - Regular physical activity means a healthier heart, period. Depending on your individual health profile, you may need a specific exercise program. Be sure to check with your doctor.

2. Avoid Alcohol - Limit yourself to one drink a day if you're a woman and two drinks a day if you are a man. Anything more can increase blood pressure.

3. Avoid Salt - This doesn't just mean don't add salt to your food, it mean reading labels and avoiding restaurants. Fresh fruits, fresh veggies and whole grains prepared without salt are excellent choices.

4. Check Your Blood Pressure Often - This will let you know if you've got your pressure under control. If you don't have a machine at home, go to a local pharmacy. There is usually a cuff in the waiting area that you can use free of charge. Write down the results, and report them to your doctor on your next visit.

Staying Healthy During the Fall Season

I just got back from AAAOM Convention in Chicago, and I brought back more than a conference binder, a book on channel theory and free smaples of needles and herbs - I caught a cold.

No big surprise there. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the fall season is the season of the Lung, the most delicate of all the major organs. The Lung is the first organ to be affected to external pathogens like colds and flu, and, therefore, an integral part of your immune system.

Here are some tips for keeping your lungs healthy this season:

Stay Warm - Traditional Chinese Medicine recognizes that significant changes in temperature weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to colds and viruses.

Spice Up Your Food and Drink - The spicy taste is good for the lung, and most common spices - garlic, ginger and cinnamon, to name a few - have anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Get Acupuncture - According to the National Cancer Institute, studies show that acupuncture improves the immune system response in cancer patients.

Eat Chicken Soup - Evidence suggests that it's more than comfort food.

Get Rid of Money Stress with Acupuncture

According to the American Psychological Association's annual survey, 80 percent of Americans are stressed about the economy and personal finances.

In past years, the top stressors have included personal finances, work issues and problems raising children. The association's executive director noted that the inclusion of the economy is unusual.

The health of the overall economy is something that we as individuals cannot control, so if you are experiencing anxiety about the economy then it's important to find a way to cope so that the stress does not affect your physical health. Following are a few coping strategies:

• If you can't stop thinking about the economy, try one of these Ten Strategies to Stop Worrying.
• Exercise, or, in Chinese medicine terms, move your qi.
• Know that you aren't alone. 80 percent of Americans are feeling the exact same thing.
• Get Acupuncture. Acupuncture is an ideal treatment for relieving stress, including post-traumatic stress, without drugs, especially effective for new moms.

Natural Methods for Coping with Baby Blues

The term "baby blues" is not a flippant dismissal of post-partum depression: it describes a mild, short-lived depression that affects 80 percent of new mothers.

Typically, symptoms begin three to four days after giving birth and go away about 10 days later. Unfortunately, 10 percent of new mothers do not experience relief, and the condition develops into a more serious post-partum depression.

Symptoms of baby blues include exhaustion, trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, irritability, sadness and mood swings. Psychologists at the University of West England concluded that these emotions are part of the transition to motherhood during which a woman grieves the freedom she had before giving birth.

As long as symptoms are mild and short-lived, it's possible to cope with baby blues using the following simple techniques:

1. Get as Much Rest as Possible - Give yourself as much time as possible to relax. Take naps whenever you feel tired. Even 15 minutes can make a huge difference.
   

2. Express Your Feelings - If you feel like crying, go ahead. Don't judge yourself for being emotional. It's normal at this time.

3. Find Someone to Talk To - Talk to your spouse, family and friends about how you're feeling. You can also join a new moms support group to talk to others going through a similar transition.

4. Ask for Help - Don't be shy about needing assistance. Accept help when others offer it. Learn to put off tasks that can wait so that you have time to take care of yourself.
   

5. Keep Visitors to a Minimum - Wait until you're rested and feeling well.

6. Eat Plenty of Nutritious Foods - Don't worry about baby weight until you're back on top of your game. It's been found that low blood sugar can make your symptoms worse.

7. Start Moving Slowly - Exercise is a natural mood booster, but don't go all out until you're feeling stronger.
   
   
8. Write It Down - If you're feeling overwhelmed, keep a journal of your thoughts and feelings.
   
   Most of all, take care of yourself. Your baby needs you, but your baby needs you to be healthy and strong.

Watch Me in the Clinic

Here's a video blog entry from a marathon runner featuring one of my acupuncture treatments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBFVQQZuWE

Enjoy!

Alabama Penalizes State Workers for Obesity

Growing up in the Midwest, my friends and family always made fun of me for being "healthy"-being a vegetarian, doing yoga, that sort of thing. I knew that I was going against the grain, but I didn't care because these things made me feel good.

None of these people will laugh after reading the following information.

As the numbers of obese Americans of all ages continue to rise, the Alabama state government set an important precident - they've mandated that obese employees pay a $25 monthly fee for medical insurance. Employees have one year to get fit before the fee goes into effect.

Although a handful of states reward employees who engage in healthy behaviors, Alabama will be the first state to penalize individuals for being obese.

Alabama already charges state employees who smoke, and has seen some success in getting them to quit. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30.3 percent of Alabama residents are obese.

Although employees protest and blame genetics, an individual with a BMI from 35 to 39 percent generates $1,748 a year more medical costs on average than a person with a BMI of 25 percent or less.

These incentives are only the beginning. As our medical system and overall economy slide further into crisis, employers and insurance companies will come up with more ways to make medical insurance cost effective.

The burden of responsibility for health is shifting back from the medical system to the individual. It's just one more reason to make every effort to lead a healthier life.

Exercise Helps You Live Longer

Traditional Chinese Medicine doesn't diagnose illness, it diagnoses imbalance. The medicine is based on two major philosophies - Yin/Yang Theory and Five Element Theory - and the interactions of internal organs, both good and bad, makeup most of the diagnoses I use every day in the clinic.

For example, a patient comes into the office complaining of insomnia. They have a hard time falling asleep, a red complexion, dark urination, and a rapid pulse. These are the symptoms of a pattern known as "Heart Fire."

The most common diagnosis that I see in the clinic is a condition known as "Liver Qi Stagnation." Patients are frustrated, stressed-out. Many times, their digestion is not satisfactory or their appetite is down. Sometimes they get headaches. Sometimes it's just PMS.

In other words, Chinese Medicine equates stagnation, or lack of movement, with physiological imbalance.

I treat patients with acupuncture and herbs, which work, but also I always prescribe exercise. If patients follow my advice, they always report feeling better. Happier. More alert. Their minor physical complaints disappear. Exercise benefits body, mind and spirit.

If you're not convinced by ancient wisdom that has survived 2,000 years of clinical practice, I've included the results of a recently completed 20-year study details the health benefits of exercise.

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, this study focused on more than 500 participants aged 50 and older and followed them for a 20 year period. The study was divided into two groups - runners and non-runners - and found that runners gained the following health benefits:

• improved aerobic capacity
• better cardiovascular health
• lower inflammatory markers
• increased bone mass
• less physical disability
• improved thinking, learning and memory
• improved response to vaccinations

By the end of the 19 year study, 15 percent of the runners had died, compared to 34 percent of non-runners. Most non-runners experienced some sort of problem with daily living, such as difficulty dressing, while runners experienced none, for the most part.

The authors of the study stressed that any kind of vigorous cardiovascular exercise would produce the same health benefits.

If you want to feel better and live longer, start exercising and keep exercising.

Acupuncture and Migraines

Migraine headaches still aren't clearly understood by Western Science. For years, doctors and scientists thought that migraine headaches were vascular spasms, but recent research suggests that migraines are caused by functional changes to the nervous system, specifically the trigeminal nerve, and imbalances in brain chemicals.

The latest theory is that seratonin levels drop suddenly, causing the body to release neuropeptides, which bind to the trigeminal nerve covering and cause pain. Once the peptides have bonded, the blood vessels become enflamed.

Migraines are often triggered by changes in estrogen levels. Many women report migraines as part of PMS, or during the first week of their periods. Some have a higher incidence of migraines during pregnancy or menopause, or when taking birth control pills. Other migraine triggers include changes in sleep patterns, vigorous exercise, bright lights and certain foods.

Even though the causes of migraines are not yet clearly known, acupuncture proved as good as prescription medications in reducing the length and severity of migraine headaches.

In a German study performed in 2006, the same proportion of participants experienced relief of symptoms in both the acupuncture group and the medication group. In fact, the study showed a slightly better result for traditional acupuncture: 47 percent of participants felt better 50 percent of the time, as compared to 40 percent of the medication group.

Experts in the field suggested that the conclusions drawn meant that there is no "one size fits all treatment" for migraine sufferers, but the possibility does exist to like a happier, healthier and less painful life using natural medicine.

Ailing U.S. Healthcare System Diverts Resources from Third World

This news story should embarrass all U.S. citizens and government officials into some sort of policy action. Either we are a developed country with abundant resources able to care for our own population, or perhaps we should just admit that the United States is about to become a Third World country.

If you weren't already motivated to vote this fall, let politicians know that health care is the reason you are voting and that you expect action on this issue.

Read more about the state of U.S. health care here and here.

Any questions?

Spice Up Your Medicine Cabinet with Ginger

As far as I'm concerned, it's important to have a solid arsenal of natural remedies at home so that you can put a stop to common illnesses before they begin. For me, this mean that I've got some Rescue Remedy and some Yin Qiao San, and a variety of herbal teas, including ginger.

Ginger is one of those herbs that it's okay to eat with the same frequency as food. You can drink ginger beer, eat gingerbread, throw ginger in your stir-fry or eat a couple slices after a piece of sushi.

In Western Herbalism, ginger is most often used to treat motion sickness, which presents as nausea, dizziness, sweating and vomiting. When compared to factory-engineered medicines in clinical trials there were no conclusive results, but ginger did have a similar effect to the medications.

Ginger is used also for morning sickness, although pregnant women should not take more than one gram daily. It has performed better than placebo for relieving both nausea and vomiting in several studies.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy can use ginger to relieve the nausea associated with their treatments. A recent study found a significant reduction in nausea in patients who consumed a high-protein diet with ginger.

In addition to its stomach settling properties, ginger is also adept at treating inflammation and pain associated with arthritis and ulcerative colitis. In fact, ginger performed better than ibuprofen in a study on patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Traditional Oriental Medicine considers ginger a warming herb to treat not only the digestive and inflammatory conditions listed above, but also cough, common cold, and pain. Studies have shown that ginger dilates blood vessels, which could account for its warming and pain relieving effects.

A word of CAUTION: Ginger has an anti-platlet effect, so patients on any sort of blood-thinning medication such as Coumadin, Warfarin, or Plavix (to name a few) should consult their doctor before taking ginger in medicinal doses.

Maintaining Sexual Health in the Big City

This weekend one of my girlfriends shared a truly horrific story with me, and the real tragedy of her tale is that it could have been prevented by open and honest communication. This story contains adult content, so the young and faint of heart should probably stop reading right here.

All of you grown-ups who could use a little tale that's one part Brothers Grimm, one part Sex in the City, and too many parts "happens all the time," gather 'round.

My friend met her last boyfriend when she was about 30. He was a well-educated guy who used big words to describe art and came from a nice middle-class household. When they started dating, they did all the right things, like practicing safe sex (or so she thought).

After they had been intimate for three months, her new boyfriend sat her down and confessed that he was having an outbreak of herpes. He told her that they should abstain from having sex until it passed, and hoped that she would be understanding.

She was, unfortunately. Here's my problem with the whole scenario: he put her at risk the moment they became intimate. Condoms help prevent herpes, but they don't protect against it completely. And most people don't use condoms when performing oral sex, if you get my meaning.

Even though her partner knew he had an incurable sexually transmitted disease (STD) and could have informed her so that she could have taken the necessary precautions, he chose not to divulge his condition until it was impossible to hide it. He changed her life forever without giving her a choice.

Again, this was a clean-cut, well-educated guy from a good family.

A recent Canadian study showed that most people rely on subjective measures to judge their partners' "safety" when it comes to STDs. These criteria included how long that they've known their partner or their partner's intelligence.

If you are going to be sexually active in the big city you need a healthy balance of trust, which is tricky to achieve in our modern world. On the one hand, you've got to trust your partner to be healthy and faithful - otherwise why would you sleep with them?

On the other, more important hand, you need to communicate openly, honestly, and specifically about sexually transmitted diseases before you engage in foreplay. Most STDs can be cured with a healthy dose of antibiotics, but viruses like herpes and HIV last a lifetime.

What's more uncomfortable? A five minute conversation with an attractive person or a lifetime of randomly-occurring itching, painful and oozing sores?

Ultimately,we're all responsible for our own health and our own bodies, and it's inappropriate to blame someone else for not protecting us properly. If we're sexually active, we're all adults (or, at the very least, we all have adult responsibilities) and, therefore, responsible for our own choices.

Choose wisely. Stay informed.

Peppermint is Medicine

I don't know about where you live, but it's starting to heat up here in Los Angeles. When the weather heats up my thoughts turn to... peppermint.

When I lived in New Orleans so many years ago, I had a glass jug that used to hold orange juice that I filled up with tap water and kept in the fridge in the summertime. Being tap water, it tasted sort of funny so I started dropping in a bag of peppermint herbal tea to improve the taste. It was so good that I just kept doing it.

I didn't know it at the time, but aside from being a delicious, breath-freshening flavor, peppermint is good medicine, especially in the summertime. It has several medicinal actions, including:

• Releasing Wind Heat. What the hell does that mean? In Chinese Medicine, "wind heat" is a term for contagious diseases - colds and flu. Peppermint has an anti-viral effect in the early stage of such illnesses as mumps, influenza, and herpes. It is also an anti-fungal, and applied topically to the skin can prevent itching, fungal infections, and gum disease.
  
  
• Soothes the Throat and Eyes. Peppermint is an expectorant and a decongestant. A German commission noted peppermint's ability to soothe nasal passages when inhaled through the nostrils.
  
  
• Improves Digestion. In European herbalism, peppermint is used mainly for its ability to soothe nearly all segments of the digestive tract. Peppermint has been used for centuries to treat heartburn, it relieves upset stomach by calming the stomach muscles and improving the slow of bile; and peppermint improves the pain and irritation associated with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), with statistical improvements ranging from 75 to 89.5 percent in the groups studied.

There is some controversy in using peppermint to treat gastric reflux. Peppermint improves the flow of bile, and some patients may experience an aggravation of symptoms. People who suffer from gastric reflux should use peppermint with caution, which includes peppermint in foods such as ice cream and candy.

Last, but absolutely not least, peppermint is also used to treat stress and nervous disorders. That's right, peppermint relaxes you. In fact, inhaling the aroma of peppermint can help reduce stress while you are sitting in traffic, and cuts down on road rage.

Need more reasons to choose peppermint? I didn't think so...

Acupuncture and Back Pain

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know that acupuncture is good for pain.

One of the most common and insidious forms of pain in the U.S. is back pain. There are lots of reasons that this is the case. Your spinal cord, the hub of your central nervous system, is located in your back. The concentration of nerve tissue is greater in this area, which increase the possibility of pain sensation from a local problem, or referred pain from other parts of the body.

Regardless of the cause, back pain is a serious problem. It is:

• the most common reason people seek medical attention
• one of the most frequent causes of missed work in the United States
• one of the most expensive medical conditions in the United States

Most back pain is muscular, and most patients recover within 3 to 12 weeks. In my clinical experience, acupuncture can stop back pain in as little as one treatment, depending on the cause.
Even better, a recent study shows that acupuncture is an effective long-term treatment, preventing back pain for six months or more.

In addition to acupuncture, there are plenty of natural remedies for preventing and stopping back pain once it starts.

Bottom line is that you don't have to suffer, you don't have to tough it out, and you don't have to take drugs. You can find relief from back pain naturally.

Acupuncture Prevents Chronic Headaches

As our world becomes more connected through technology, the wisdom of different cultures is spread throughout the world.

For example, in 2004, United Kingdom researchers determined that acupuncture significantly reduced the frequency and intensity of headaches in patients that suffered from chronic headaches. They determined that the government, doctors, and patients would all benefit by offering more acupuncture services throughout Great Britain.

Just how does acupuncture benefit everyone? Well, if the number of headaches are reduced, patients feel better, and they take less pain medication. This saves the government money, and decreases any risk of drug dependence.

In fact, if you read the BBC article in its entirety, you will discover that doctors in Great Britain refer 10 percent of their patients to acupuncture. (Interesting to see what happens in a medical system that's not motivated by profit.)

Interestingly enough, the same study was conducted in the United States in 2004 by the NIH, and is listed on PubMed. They found that acupuncture had persisting, clinically relevant benefits for acupuncture patients.

In 2005, Science Daily reported that the reduction in headaches was as much as 50 percent.

This is huge for people who suffer from chronic headaches. Most pain medications carry risk factors, everything from stomach pain to stroke to addiction. Acupuncture is good for you, it's time-limited, and it's effective.