by Debra Arko Novotny | Jul 18, 2019 | Acupuncture
Acupuncture and Food
It’s always fun to share my recipe ideas with my acupuncture patients. Food has a significant effect on our health. It can increase pain, and it can help pain. Food and acupuncture are connected.
Why?
You know the saying, ‘You are what you eat.’
If you’re in pain, for instance, or have digestive problems, inflammatory foods can cause more pain and swelling. As I share this recipe for Commotion Salad know that it is healthy and made fresh in your kitchen. It also works for those avoiding inflammatory ingredients.
It’s Paleo, Keto, and Whole30. Of course, you can leave out something if you’re particularly sensitive to it.
Commotion Salad And Acupuncture
I call this recipe Commotion Salad because it creates a commotion in your mouth as the flavor mingle. You’ll enjoy sweetness along with tartness and a myriad of tastes. Because inflammation can slow or even stall your healing it’s great to get acupuncture and know what food with help you have less pain, more balanced hormones, and better sleep. Many patients say our recipes also help with digestion problems! Acupuncture and food are related!
This is for two people.
Acupuncture Along With Anti-Inflammatory Commotion Salad A Perfect Mix For Pain Relief
Ingredients
3-6 cups of romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, spinach, and arugula.
A ¼ cup of diced mango
½ cup of sliced strawberries
1/3 cup of walnut, almond, or pecan slices. You choose!
A ½ cup of carrot. Prepared the way you like it.
4-5 slices [diced] of Italian Genova sausage. You can substitute other sliced meat too.
Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar
Directions
Place lettuce and carrot in a salad bowl.
Top with diced meat and nut slices on top.
Prepare fruit and store in a separate container until ready to eat.
Mix your oil and vinegar in a jar or container and store on the counter. You need a lid on your container.
by Debra Arko Novotny | Jun 13, 2019 | Acupuncture, Functional Medicine, Nutrition
Food influences everything, not just our weight. Does diet influence menopause timing? It does, and you can be in control it. Not only when but the symptoms you struggle with or rather don’t experience.
Acupuncture For Menopause
As an acupuncturist, many people think all I do is put tiny sterile needles into people. Nothing is further from the truth. Chinese medical practitioners are often trained in whole body health. I bring into my Littleton practice functional approaches to health as well.
Food, for instance, is part of medicine like acupuncture. In my Littleton office, I often deal with the whole person, especially when it comes to hormones. Acupuncture is excellent at quick relief for hot flashes, weight gain, or night sweats. The cool thing though is when this stop altogether because of different food choices.
Does diet influence menopause timing? There’s no science I found saying it ‘affects’ the timing though this study at Harvard suggests it does. However, poor health can bring on the cessation of your mensural cycle in before 45 let’s say.
Acupuncture can help you jump start your cycle and keep it going by stimulating your body chemistry to balance stress, food, and hormones. Besides changing the diet can have health benefits that improve not only hormones but energy, happiness, while decreasing stress.
Acupuncture Is More Than The Needle
As an acupuncturist who is also training in ‘food’ and ‘diet’ from a functional, my goal is to help you sail through menopause at the right time.
Does diet influence menopause timing? The lack of a well-balanced diet is well studied, and too much fast food, sugar, dairy, or avoidance of protein from animals often are related to wellness.
Diet and Menopause Connect
Let’s state the obvious. Menopause isn’t something to be avoided. The timing of when it occurs should be around 49 to 52. When it occurs earlier, we have to ask does diet influence menopause timing in this person? It means doing a few tests to confirm the patient’s health. It then becomes a choice of how to deal with it through acupuncture, diet, and supplements.
Now the question.
Does Diet Influence Menopause Timing?
by Debra Arko Novotny | Mar 6, 2019 | Acupuncture
I remember when if you had aches and pains all over your body the western medical community sent you off to a mental health expert. They determined that a select set of trigger points for Fibromyalgia suggested you needing counseling.
Soon they discovered.
Trigger Points For Fibromyalgia
Most of the trigger points for Fibromyalgia are the main pain points for many people who complain of pain. Does this mean if you have neck, low back or hip pain you have an autoimmune disease?
Not so fast.
While according to the Mayo Clinic Fibromyalgia is very common; the main indication has 18 specific trigger points on your body that are tender when pressure is applied. There are other factors too. Today labs tests and thyroid functions help determine you have this autoimmune disease. Today we know there are better ways to treat trigger points for Fibromyalgia.
It’s Not In Your Head Either
By the way. . .
It’s no longer a mental health issue but a confirmed pain syndrome. But for those with Fibromyalgia, it’s not a win to be taken seriously. The battle still rages for proper health care. The pain still dominates their happiness.
While counseling still is listed as one of the top three ways to treat Fibromyalgia, there’s a better way to deal with the pain itself.
Natural Medicine’s Top Three Tips For Fibromyalgia Suffers
- Try the AIP diet which stands for Autoimmune Protocol. This eating lifestyle is one of the healthiest ways to live. The focus is on vegetables [no nightshades], fruits, protein, and healthy fats.
- Get Moving. It’s important to keep moving even on days you hurt more. Take a walk. Stroll a park or the mall, but physical activity is crucial. If you can do more and not create problems, do it.
- Acupuncture with massage. Why the combination? Gentle bodywork on trigger points for Fibromyalgia is best. Acupuncturists are trained in how to apply the right type and amount of pressure. Be sure to see a licensed [LAC] acupuncturist as they have the training you need to help you manage your pain.
Acupuncture Injections are usually part of treatment for autoimmune.
Combining AIP, movement, and acupuncture can help you lead a normal life. Age is not a factor in autoimmune, and the trigger points for Fibromyalgia are painful. Let these three tips support you in leading a normal life.
Photos from Unsplash and Bigstock
by Debra Arko Novotny | May 7, 2018 | Acupuncture, Fitness, Health Coach
It hit Susan like a train wreck she said. “I seemed to gain weight overnight, and I need help for losing weight after menopause.”
She is a regular for pain related acupuncture but we’ve never talked about menopause or weight gain. “My butt is as big as a caboose don’t you think?” Susan asked me turning around to show me where the fat had deposited itself. Like many women, her body had betrayed her. Why? Simple.
Menopause means a change. That’s what my mother called it. It’s right – a change in hormones. A change in your lifestyle. Particularly food and fitness.
Handing my patient a tissue I explained this.
Start Before It Happens
First thing is don’t wait until you notice symptoms. Start in your 40’s by being proactive. Use acupuncture for wellness care. In my office, we can do acupuncture through health insurance even when you don’t have acupuncture as a covered benefit. Acupuncture is one of the leading ways to reduce stress a major factor in weight gain.
Vary your exercise from walking to cycling. Do weight lifting and some yoga.
Start removing grains, pseudo-grains if you haven’t already.
Losing Weight After Menopause
Susan like many other women I work with in my practice had done an exercise routine for years. She explained that she did these videos at home and then walked every lunch hour for 10 minutes. Yet her belly and butt got bigger. The scale showed a gain too.
Two sizes bigger she felt that losing weight after menopause would be impossible. Not true!
As an acupuncturist, I know that acupuncture will boost the metabolism. I know as a functional medicine practitioner that certain supplements, food, and exercise will help you with losing weight after menopause.
Change Up Your Eating and Exercise
- Begin a move toward a Paleo eating lifestyle if you haven’t already. Remove grains, sugar, and dairy from your diet for a while. Work with someone like myself who is an acupuncturist and a health coach.You’ll need to plan the changes in your eating habits. Cleaning out the kitchen, learning to cook or new ways to prepare tasty yet easy meals. You don’t have to do this alone.‘ Food is the most abused anxiety drug. Exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant.’ Unknown
- Exercise[1] is about to change. Yes, you can still walk daily but the 10 minutes is now 45-60 minutes – daily. If you’re open to it, try other forms of cardio. Going to a spin class or a dance class for women.
For Susan, we needed to add strength training. I suggested weightlifting. She preferred to try Yoga and Pilates. It all works.
The point is you have to change some things up. What worked when you were 40 doesn’t work when you’re 50. It will not work when you’re 60 either. You may move from high-impact to lower impact.
Mix it up at any age Susan did. She found a “spin room” on her way home from work and a Yoga place nearby. She still walks just further outside for longer.
She donated her exercise videos and bought a few light weights. On some days, she lifts weight in front of a mirror in her home.
Expected The Unexpected
Let it be fun. Your acupuncture treatment should be relaxing and a special time for you. Enjoy it. If you get your nails or hair done professionally then invest in your wellness and longevity through acupuncture care too.
Think about finding new recipes with our website.. Aren’t you tired of the same old thing? It’s exciting to eat new flavors and try old favorites with a new approach. A lot of women have gotten away from cooking. Using a health coach helps you find what fits your professional and personal lifestyle.
Susan resisted the idea of anything other than walking. Her busy schedule interfered with fitness classes. Deciding to give it a try she chose the “Spin room”. Indoor cycling helped to relieve stress more than walking. She began to sleep better. Losing weight after menopause became easier.
‘Let exercise be your stress reliever, not food.’ Unknown
Not everyone will have Susan’s amazing results of returning to her old dress size and have a shapelier body yet it’s possible for you too.
Losing weight after menopause always works if you apply my 2 tips. Susan latest comments about her body to me this past week, “Look! My butt looks better than it did when I was 40!”
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296386/
Photo by Abraham Elworo Dan Gold on Unsplash
