Unlike Western medical treatments where non-prescription antihistamines only provide temporary quick fixes to relieve those miserable symptoms, Chinese Medicine can cure hay fever naturally. It works by correcting underlying imbalances and strengthening the immune system so it can repel external pathogens such as pollen, bacteria and viruses.

Hay fever sufferers are hypersensitive to things due to constitutional weaknesses. Firstly, they are unable to resist repeated attacks from offending substances in their surroundings. Secondly, they are also unable to dispel unresolved pathogens that have invaded their immune systems, and it is these that cause the recurring episodes of discomfort. Unfortunately, allergies happen very quickly so you cannot predict when you need to be on guard and when you’re susceptible to an attack. Sometimes all it takes is a single allergen exposure and you’re doomed with full blown misery for weeks and even months!

The beauty of Chinese Medicine is that there are natural herbal remedies that work to support the immune system to fight offending substances and at the same time dispel previous irritants from the body. Furthermore, a customized herbal formula not only solves the root of the problem but can also relieve acute allergic symptoms that are specific for the individual. Allergy sufferers may share similar symptoms but the effects do vary slightly from person to person. Some victims may experience more nasal congestion, others more intense episodes of sneezing and runny nose. Some people may experience severe itchy sore eyes, and others may not. That is why conventional drugs do not work because they assume everybody’s body constitution is the same and everyone’s symptoms are identical. We all have specific imbalances so it is important that herbal formulas are tailored to the individual.

Don’t forget that each time you pop in conventional drugs, these all contain side effects. Some may even produce life-threatening ones when taken with other medications. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine effectively and safely manages hay fever without any adverse effects.

So stop sporting off-season trends, appearing as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer during springtime or hibernating indoors during gorgeous spring weather. Beat the pollen! Find out what Chinese Medicine can do for you. Herbal consults come free with Acupuncture. For more information you can email Adrienne at Adrienne@sknclinic.ca

Taking new approaches with these tips:

1. Plan to eat at a holiday party.  Instead of eating before you go to a party in order to control temptations…if you feel hungry go ahead and eat! Try to really go for what your body craves. If you eat exactly when you are hungry, and exactly what you are hungry for…the food will taste more satisfying and you will eat less!

2. You don’t have to stick to carrots and celery sticks at a party.  If you are really craving low-fat foods than that is great! But if you eat them when you really want something else, you will find yourself overeating later in response to the deprivation.

3. Choose comfortable, flattering holiday party outfits that make you feel sexy!  Instead of wearing tight outfits to remind yourself not to eat, wear something special that will make you feel attractive and good about yourself to prevent emotional overeating at parties. Anxiety usually leads to compulsive overeating.

4. Instead of forcing yourself to say “No thanks, not today….” Love yourself enough to say “YES” when you feel like saying yes and “NO” when you feel like saying no. Trust yourself, stop stressing, count your blessings and truly enjoy what this holiday season may bring!

Glenna Kohl -A Death by Suntan at Age 26!!

Power breakfasts: If you have a crazy schedule, breakfast and lunch are usually a light grab while dinner’s your one big helping of comfort. But recent research shows that if you flip that all around and eat most of your calories early in the day, you can drop more than just a couple pounds in just a month! Here are some tips on creating the most effective meals that will allow you to indulge AND lose!

1. Add lean protein early at breakfast time. Protein gives you a bigger metabolic boost than carbohydrates and fats and helps you feel full longer. Examples include: a scoop of Vega protein mix to your favourite smoothie, egg-white veggie omelette, or hot cereal with chopped almonds!

2. Choose thirst quenching foods in the morning like a fruit salad (room temperature), herbal tea, green drinks (wheat grass), oatmeal or congee. Upon waking one is often thirsty but not hungry because of dehydration during sleep.

3. Begin your day with a warm meal. In Chinese Medicine, between 7-9 am is the interval where the stomach is working at its prime to start the day. Morning meals should therefore be warm and prepared with ample water to allow energy to rise and your mind to be clear. When you eat something too cold in temperature it will contract your stomach sometimes making you feel ill with stomach pains or cramps. Cold natured foods also make you feel bloated and slow down digestion giving you a sluggish start to your day. Opt for a cup of warm ginger or green tea instead of tall glass of soymilk with breakfast.

Hearty Lunches: Is your salad making you fat? Choosing salad for lunch sounds healthy but watch out it’s very easy to pile on the extra saturated fats, sodium and calories with your virtuous greens! Here are some hints to lighten up your greens while satisfying your mid-day appetite!

1. Skip super salty foods even if you aren’t required to restrict your salt intake. Avoid getting bloated in the summer heat. Omit the bacon bits, processed meat like ham and sausage and ask for dressing on the side. Opt for lightly seasoned chicken breast or fish and go easy with the crumpled feta cheese and olives. If making a home-made salad, try sprinkling seaweed. Seaweed is high in sodium and minerals but doesn’t contribute to water retention. In fact it is high in iodine which can stimulate your thyroid to boost your metabolism. It is an ideal substitute for salt!

2. Dress your salad with healthy fats or whole fat foods instead of commercial salad dressings loaded with hydrogenated fats and preservatives. Most of us enjoy that rich fatty feeling in our mouth because fats are tasty, simply delicious and leaves us feeling full and satisfied. Healthy examples of fatty foods you can top your salad with include avocado, toasted almonds, pecans, sunflower or hemp seeds. Drizzle greens with cold-pressed unrefined Udo’s oil, flax, hemp or olive oils and add your own herbs and seaweed to your salad for extra zest. Be aware that some people are sensitive to digesting oils in its isolated state. It is a common misunderstanding that everyone must religiously consume the recommended daily dose of isolated omega-3 oils. However in general, foods in its whole form are best digested. For example the whole avocado, the whole nut with all its fibres and mineral, the whole olive seed or coconut in its whole form is optimal!

3. Make lunch your largest meal with greatest variety. So feel free to have your biggest serving of whole grains breads, brown rice or pasta at noon!

4. Always mix hot and cold natured foods. In TCM, food energetics is crucial for optimal digestion. A common mistake in the summer time is to fill up entirely on cold-temperature and cooling natured foods to cool off the heat. Too much can lead to bloating, gas, stomach distension and discomfort the rest of the afternoon. Examples of lunch combos that have balanced food energetic are: grilled steak on spinach salad, cold sushi with wasabi and ginger, warm soup with raw salad, or toasted whole grain sandwich with veggies and mustard.

Downsized dinners: Dinner should be the smallest meal, cooked, contain concentrated proteins and the least carbohydrates. Food combining and order of ingestion is also critical for optimal digestion at the end of the day! Here are some helpful hints!

1. Combine protein meal with non-starchy vegetables. This is the optimal combination for your last meal of the day. Examples include fish/chicken with steamed veggies, steak with grilled mushrooms.

2. Eat protein foods first. Highest protein foods have priority because they require copious stomach acids, where as starches by comparison use very little. If protein rich foods are eaten after starches and other foods, stomach acids will not be sufficient for their digestion.

3. Opt for starches combined with non-starchy vegetables as a 1-pot meal. If you do crave starchy meals at the end of the day, try pasta with mushroom and olive oil. Skip the protein. Often mixing proteins with heavy starches and fats is difficult for the body to digest especially at the end of the day.

4. Choose healthy frozen dinners: Frozen dinners can be ideal for a hectic schedule and if chosen wisely. I recommend Amy’s Organic Frozen Entrees. They are often made from organic whole foods and contain balanced nutrition with minimal sodium, calories and saturated fats.

5. Eat fruits alone or 2 hours after a large meal: Fruits are best eaten alone or after a couple hours after dinner. Fruits and desserts are high in simple sugars and digest quickly. If they are eaten right after a high carb/protein meal, its quick digestion is blocked and will be left to ferment especially with acidic foods. This often makes you feel bloated and uncomfortable right before bed.

These guidelines are designed for you to get the most nutrition and satisfaction out of your everyday meals while losing weight and getting in shape for summer. Happy eating and good luck!

Here is a complete list of photosensitizing foods, herbs and drugs that do NOT mix with ultraviolet light and should be restricted prior to extended sun exposure. Beware tanners!

photosensitizing list.pdf

www.greenlivingonline.com

1) “Cooked foods are dead foods”
Western medicine has identified certain proteins as “enzymes.” Every living thing needs “enzymes” to catalyze chemical reactions. In humans, we secrete enzymes in our digestive juices to break down the foods we eat. It is a common misunderstanding that eating raw foods is easier on the digestive system because the living enzymes they contain will contribute to its break down once ingested, making it less work for our stomach. Unfortunately, the enzymes in plants only exist to serve the plant’s purpose not ours. Plant enzymes get digested by our digestive secretions along with the rest of the food and are absorbed and utilized as nutrients.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, raw foods weaken digestion and may harm the Stomach and Spleen in the long term. Due to the cool thermal nature of raw foods, it requires more stomach energy to warm the ingested food to be digested and absorbed. Cooking is pre-digestion, breaking down the plant cell walls making food easier to be assimilated in our bodies. It requires less time, less stomach energy and less work for the system.

2) “Cooking leads to nutrient loss”
It is true that foods subjected to high heat especially when fried or barbequed may form toxic compounds. Water-soluble nutrients may also be lost with over-cooking. As a result, low-temperature cooking such as boiling or steaming is optimal as many water-soluble nutrients such as Vitamin C may survive even when heated up to 10min of low temperature cooking. As well, Acrylamides, the most recognized heat-created toxin are not formed with moisture-based cooking methods.

From a Western medicine perspective, cooked plants are far more nourishing than raw plants as cooking breaks down cell walls liberating minerals to our bodies and actually activating many vitamins. Cooking corn significantly boost its antioxidant activity despite a slight reduction in vitamin C. A phytochemical in corn called ferulic acid has been shown to have anti-cancer properties and can only be released and made available for the body after cooking.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, cooked foods are more “building” and nourishing and is more suited for people with normal health or deficient type. Raw foods may be more cleansing but is only suitable for excess robust individual customized to a rich diet. Even still, a raw food diet is harmful long term and should only be adopted for a limited time period.

Optimal digestion and balanced nutrition will help us feel great from the inside out. For more information on Healing with Whole Foods or dietary guidance you can contact Adrienne@sknclinic.ca

Puffy Eyes- typically occur when we first wake up in the morning and are a common complaint for those concerned about premature aging. The skin around the eyes is extremely thin and delicate and as we age the skin in that area becomes loose. If the skin surrounding the eyes is not firm enough, when we lie down and fluids in the head increases, the delicate skin around the eyes will not be able to resist the higher internal pressures. It therefore swells and makes the eyes look puffy. Other factors that may cause puffy eyes include: allergies, lack of sleep, crying, high salt and fluid intake, poor circulation and alcohol.

Natural Remedies:

• Sleep with the head elevated (extra pillows)
• Increase water intake during the day but drink less just before bed
• Reduce salt and processed foods
• Apply ice packs, cold compresses or cold metal spoon over puffy areas
• Avoid constant rubbing and stretching of delicate eyelid skin especially during allergy season
• Use a good daily eye cream morning and night to firm up skin around eyes.
• Long-lasting solution: Cosmetic acupuncture or Microcurrent therapy (firms up skin, improves circulation and lymphatic drainage, reduces puffiness and improves sleep)

Dark Circles- mostly caused by lack of sleep, dehydration or progressive skin thinning making blood vessels underneath more apparent. Other causative factors include: smoking, excessive sun exposure, kidney malfunction or thyroid disorders.

Natural Remedies

• Almond oil: natural bleach
• Steeped green or black tea bags: constricts blood vessels under eyes! Next time you have your cup of tea, save the teabag and slap them on your eyes!
• Rosewater: dip rosewater on cotton pads and place on dark circles for 10 minutes
• Sunscreen!
• Good daily eye cream: delays aging, maintains moisture, thickness and firmness of skin around the eyes
• Long-lasting solution: Acupuncture (improves sleep, helps with smoking cessation, corrects internal imbalances)

Crow’s feet- wrinkled skin around the eyes are called “Crow’s feet!” These wrinkles occur because the skin around the eyes contains limited amounts of sebaceous glands. As a result the skin gets very dry, less elastic and susceptible to wrinkling. The main causes of Crow’s feet include: sun damage, excessive muscle movement (smiling, squinting) and aging.

Natural Remedies:

• Sunscreen around eye area
• Sunglasses
• Good daily eye moisturizer (especially for people with dry skin)
• Relax facial muscles (over use of facial muscles will mark the face with lines)
• Long-lasting solution: Cosmetic acupuncture or Microcurrent combined with LED light therapy (stimulates collagen production around eyes and tightens skin)

As you can see there are plenty of natural ways to care for your eyes and the surrounding skin. For more information on Cosmetic acupuncture, Microcurrent or LED light therapy you may contact Adrienne@sknclinic.ca

It’s all about prevention. Choose a product that helps reverse the damages as well as prevent from further damage and aging. Looking for products with Vitamin C and E is the first step. These are common antioxidants with supporting evidence.

Next is to choose a product with the active ingredients near the top of the list. You want the ingredients advertised on the bottle to be in an effective concentration so the product will work. A well designed treatment protocol doesn’t have one miraculous ingredient that will do everything. Instead, a good skin care product will combine many active agents necessary for its specific role. In Chinese Medicine, several herbs are often mixed together in a formula to help each other work more effectively.

Lastly, avoid common cosmetic ingredients such as parabens, phthalates and sodium lauryl sulphate which have been linked to increased cancer risks. Find out more about these cosmetic chemicals in our upcoming blogs.

For all the reasons mentioned above, the favourite product of the month is the Jade & Ginseng Cleansing Cream for Face and Eyes which can be purchased online http://www.sknclinic.ca/shop/