Japanese Acupuncture
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Self-care Education
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Many people have Lyme disease without experiencing any discomfort from symptoms. Many others are struggling with complex symptoms of Lyme, but are unaware that they are infected, and so are not getting treatment.
Even if we eat pretty well?
1. We tend to eat based on what we prefer, and our preference is often based on flavor and convenience rather than on nutrient richness. Basically, this is a result of affluence; we have many choices to choose from, rather than just what’s available locally and seasonally. (It is one of our culture’s ironies that local seasonal food has become the most expensive, but greater demand is helping to make it more affordable.)
Gluten includes several proteins that are common to grains. Wheat, barley and rye are the three main gluten-containing grains. The type of gluten in barley is hordein and the one in rye is secalin. The glutens in barley and rye are weaker than wheat gluten, and therefore easier to digest.
Sorghum, corn, buckwheat, oat, amaranth, and rice are some gluten-free grains. Beans and their flours are gluten-free. In the U.S., soy and oats are often processed in the same facility as wheat, so unless they are labeled “gluten-free” there is usually some gluten contamination.
We have over 500 species (strains) of beneficial bacteria in our body. We actually have more bacteria cells in our body than human cells! Most of these bacteria help us digest food and fight off pathogens. They also protect parts of our body from our own secretions (for example the intestinal membrane from caustic bile). Probiotics and prebiotics are substances which stimulate the growth of these microorganisms.
Dysbiosis, or disbacteriosis, refers to an imbalance of beneficial bacteria in (or on) the body, particularly in the digestive tract.
If, due to dysbiosis, we digest some foods incompletely, digestive distress and inflammation will result. Left untreated, the problem can develop into serious digestive distress and a generally compromised immune system.
This article contains suggestions for reducing the side effects of long-term antibiotic use. It is not a recommendation for alternative treatment of dangerous infections.
Before 2005, my only patients on long-term antibiotics were HIV patients. Recently, I have noticed more common use of long-term antibiotics. We have increasing numbers of infectious diseases that are resistant to conventional antibiotic treatment. Lyme disease, Cat-scratch disease and other infectious diseases are on the rise. The precautions I recommend here are for my Lyme disease patients who are on long-term antibiotics. If you have been prescribed long-term use of antibiotics for any reason, it is my hope that this article will inspire you to consider taking additional precautions to maintain your health.
There are two major types of common colds, and in the Chinese medical language, two names: wind-cold and wind-heat. Wind, cold and heat are three common pathogens which can enter the body from the exterior. Chills, aversion to cold, stiffness (especially of the neck), headache, and white or clear-colored phlegm are signs of wind-cold. Sore throat, feeling warm and/or agitated (whether or not there is a fever), yellow or green-colored phlegm, and aversion to heat are some indications of wind-heat. A third type of cold, which usually occurs in the autumn, is wind dryness. There may be a combination of fever and chills with a dry throat and dry cough.
Many people who come see me are hoping to improve their energy. In addition to suggesting dietary changes (see ‘Easy, stress-free diet’ article), I often find that these patients are regularly getting less that seven hours of sleep.
Perhaps we could get away with that when we were 20, but most of us need at least seven hours of good sleep. Many of us are sleep-deprived, and I believe that this is a common reason for complaints of low energy.
If I suggest to patients that they go to bed at an earlier hour, they often respond “But Iʼm not sleepy then!” Many other patients get to bed early, but toss and turn, wake frequently, and rarely feel rested in the morning.
By ‘stress-free’ I am referring both to the stress we feel trying to decide how to eat, and also to the stress we experience that results from an imbalanced diet.
The U.S. is undergoing a collective eating disorder. Food has been frozen, freeze-dried, canned, fried, genetically modified, sugared, salted, stripped of nutrients, dyed, preserved, sprayed, radiated, and transported long distances. And much of it this food is labeled ‘natural’, ‘organic,’ and marketed to us by national corporations who are taking advantage of the fact that most of us are so bewildered by the myriad of choices, misinformation, and doctors’ warnings, that we haven’t a clue anymore about what to have for breakfast.