Q: Is it dangerous to basically just exercise on the weekend? I don’t have time to workout during the week.

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ALLERGIES is a word we hear a lot these days; everybody seems to have them, especially kids. Atopic children — those prone to allergies — have chronic runny noses, red itchy eyes and a little crease just above the tips of their noses from constantly swiping off a drip. This gesture is ruefully called the “allergic salute” in naturopathic pediatrics. Often when people say they have “allergies” they actually mean they have “sensitivities” to certain foods. An allergic reaction has many different manifestations, most of them quite profound. These reactions range from anaphylactic shock and death (for example an extreme reaction to a bee sting where the bronchial airways swell shut) to chronic fatigue, malaise and foggy thinking from constant exposure to the allergen. Besides foods, people can be both allergic to, or have sensitivities to, pollens, danders, molds, preservatives, pesticides, various building materials, and even to their own hormones and tissues (as in auto-immune diseases).

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Q: I can’t understand living in Alaska and being purely vegetarian. Is there something wrong with eating meat or fish?

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Fats, or lipids, are essential to good health. Fats serve as a concentrated source of energy. Each gram of fat supplies 9 calories, whereas protein and carbohydrate supplies 4 calories each per gram. Fatty tissue in the body helps to hold the organs and nerves in place and protects them against traumatic injury. The layer of fat just below the skin insulates the body and maintains a steady temperature. Fats allow for the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). In the stomach, fats depress enzymatic activity thus slowing the emptying of the stomach after a meal and providing the felling of fullness (satiety) after eating. Fats are also terrific carriers of flavor, so add to the good taste of foods. Having said all that, Americans tend to consume way more fat calories than is necessary for optimal health. Most of the increase in fat consumption in America over the past 25 years represents an increase in the consumption of salad dressing and fried foods. The average American diet consists of 40% fat, 30% protein and 30% carbohydrate. A better ratio for good health would be 10-15% fat, 20-30% protein and 55-70% carbohydrate.

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From Living & Raw Foods

Enzymes: The tiny and enormous difference between raw and cooked foods

Virtually all chronic degenerative diseases are caused or aggravated by digestive problems. After the most extensive study on nutrition ever undertaken by the government, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs concluded in its 1978 report entitled “Diet and Killer Diseases,” that the average American diet is responsible for the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, stroke, etc. Many of the most common health complaints revolve around a 20-foot, mucus-lined tube that directly interfaces us with our environment. This is no mystery: This is the gastro-intestinal tract, affectionately abbreviated “GI.” The job of the GI is to alchemically transmute the food we eat into our flesh, blood, actions, thoughts and feelings… with a little help from our friends the salivary glands, the pancreas, the liver, and most importantly RAW FOOD — all of which provide (now we’re getting to the point) ENZYMES.

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Prostate problems are very common in men in the U.S. and generally present in one of three forms. These are separate conditions called “Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy,” “Prostatitis,” and “Prostate Cancer.” The conditions are listed here in order of increasing danger to the patient. The first condition, abbreviated BPH, generally comes on after about age 40, whereas prostate cancer is rare in younger men. However, almost all men who live to a ripe old age will have some degree of prostate cancer, detectable by autopsy. Men will quite often have no significant symptoms from either of these conditions, but it is very important to rule out cancer, which could spread to the bone and other vital organs. Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate gland, usually due to an infection, and should be treated so as to restore vitality to the sufferer. This brochure will introduce you to a variety of alternative medical approaches to treating these three problems. The types of treatment include physical medicine, botanical medicine, nutritional suggestions, acupuncture, homeopathy, color and gem therapy and psychospiritual methods. These suggestions are not intended to replace a visit to your holistic MD, naturopathic physician, acupuncturist, herbalist, or other licensed health care practitioner versed in alternative modalities. This brochure is intended to provide you with sound information in order to make an informed decision about how to treat your body, mind and spirit to achieve optimal health. [Read more →]

First Trimester Nausea… Yikes!

First, a tried and true quotation heard many times during my adolescence from my father… “this too will pass.” You’re thrilled, all your relatives are thrilled, you’re starting to dream about darling infant outfits, researching the best pre-schools, baby-proofing the whole house, and how do you feel? Yuk! Second, full-fledged, woozy, faint, lethargic, stomach-heaving nausea is one of the signs that yes, your hormones are changing, and the pregnancy is “taking.” This is not to say that you should be worried if you DON’T feel like throwing up every few hours for the first few months, just a reassurance that healthy embryos often stir up a lot of change.

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Osteoporosis, which means “porous bone,” is a bone-thinning disease that has affected over 200 million people worldwide. It has been called the “silent disease” because it comes on with few or no warning signs. It is the major cause of fractures, particularly of the spine, hip, ribs and wrist in older persons. Common symptoms include a loss of height, a hunched back, and back pain. While the condition itself is not fatal, it makes bones more susceptible to fractures and can make moving around increasingly difficult. It is important to note that osteoporosis is NOT merely a loss of calcium from the bone. That condition is called osteomalacia. Osteoporotic bone is losing not only inorganic (calcium mineral) density but organic bone matrix made up primarily of collagen and specific proteins.

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Health, as defined by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is balance. The Qi (pronounced chee), or vital force, will flow smoothly through all the meridians when Yin and Yang are balanced in the body. This also implies a balance between cold and hot elements, resistance to both internal and external pathogens, and neither conditions of excess nor deficiency. To treat “excessive” conditions, such as obesity or acute infections, the Licensed Acupuncturist must use “reducing” techniques. The treatment principle for “deficient” conditions is to “tonify” which means building up strength, endurance and flexibility.

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Figuring Out The Right Diet

Very few modern humans, particularly women, have escaped the notion, at one time or another, that they could “lose a few pounds.” Weight, eight loss, looking good, making the right food choices — these are all complex social, economic, political, nutritional and psycho-spiritual issues. Everybody “knows” that the average magazine cover model is too thin, and is probably malnourished with chronic health problems to boot. But many of us still compare ourselves to them and sigh, “Too fat…” The flip side of this argument, to be sure, is the fact that America boasts more obese individuals than anywhere else in the world, and consequently more cardiovascular problems, diabetes and other degenerative diseases. Most people in our society, as a rule, eat way too much yet are not getting the proper nutritional balance of whole, fresh foods to support their vital force. While organic farming and health food co-ops are slowly and steadily growing to meet the demand, just look around: SOMEBODY’s supporting all those donut and burger joints out there.

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