Should You Be a Vegetarian?

My patients often ask if I'm a vegetarian. I am not. My diet is free of gluten, sugar, dairy and fruit but not animal protein. I love fruit. It has a lot of good vitamins in it but my body doesn't love it. Except for limes and lemons I really do get all my vitamins from vegetables and healthy grains. I love buckwheat and the highest source of plant based protein is found in lentils so I eat lentils almost every day. If you want to incorporate lentils in your diet you have to cook them with a pressure cooker to get the lectins out. That is also how I cook the buckwheat and any rice I eat too. Lectins are a protein found in many plants that can cause leaky gut.

I also don’t eat eggs because my body doesn’t like them. Even pasture-raised eggs my body goes weak to. Pasture-raised eggs are the best quality eggs, even better than organic and if you can find pasture-raised organic eggs that would be even better.

In 2001 I did spend 3.5 years being a vegetarian but it wasn't for me. At first I felt like it was a relief to my body to go vegetarian but eventually my health started declining so I started eating meat again but just a little for I would say I still eat 85% vegetarian. That other 15% is just enough meat to make my body happy. I am very careful about the quality of meat I eat and make sure it is grass-fed or pasture raised and straight from the farmer who I know treats the animals well. I can respect eating vegetarian or even going all the way vegan but unfortunately what I have found in my office is that for most people being vegan for a long period of time is a disservice to the body. Being vegetarian can be sustainable given your body type and that's why muscle testing is so important. Everyone is different.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is an MD who wrote a great article on this topic called Feeding vs. Cleansing. This article explains the importance of a plant based diet for a temporary time in order to cleanse the body. "Human body (without water) is largely made out of protein and fat (almost half and half), these are the 'bricks and mortar' from which your bones, muscles, brain, heart, lungs, liver and all other organs are made. Laboratory analysis of plants and animal foods show that the best protein and fat for human physiology comes from animal foods. The amino acid profile of animal protein is correct for the human body, while amino acid profile of plant-derived proteins is incomplete and unsuitable for human physiology. The same with fat: animal fat has the right fatty acid composition for human body to thrive on, while plant oils are unsuitable. So, when it comes to FEEDING your body and BUILDING your bodily tissues and structures animal foods are the best and the only suitable ones."

If you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian or are a vegetarian and you are thinking about incorporating more animal product you can always let me know so I can test the body and see what your body says. Just ask me; the answer is always to muscle test!

What to do For Your Health After Having COVID-19

Unfortunately with Omicron I have now seen enough post-COVID patients from various strains to write this blog.  Good news is if you have gotten COVID and still feel off in any way I have some health tips to help you feel like your old self again.  This blog is for those who got COVID and please share with your friends and family so we can help each other post-COVID.

Post COVID or long haul COVID are the terms used when symptoms or signs persist for more than two weeks after COVID-19 onset.  I have seen symptoms continue for months after and include fatigue, headaches, poor focus or attention, shortness of breath, and so much more.  Symptoms after having COVID-19 continue after the initial infection because the SARS-CoV-2 virus goes into the body causing more inflammation than the average virus.  The number one place that inflammation hits is the air ways and lungs because that’s how it gets into the body. The second place this virus hits is the liver.  We are aware that it affects the lungs but no one is talking about the liver.  So our goal at Healing Arts is to help boost up your immune system to reduce the inflammation while supporting the lungs and liver.  

Due to the affect the virus has on the liver DO NOT go for any medical procedures that include anesthesia for 6 months after having COVID-19 even if you don’t have long haul COVID.  The liver will not be able to handle the anesthesia and you will have a hard time detoxing it from your system afterwards.  So unless it’s life or death, no anesthesia during this time.  

The attack that the SARS-CoV-2 virus does on the liver is actually similar to what the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) does to the liver.  EBV causes mono and is prevalent in high schoolers and college kids.  Besides causing mono and attacking the liver, EBV has a third stage of attacking the thyroid and causing the autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s. I am now seeing in patients post-COVID, whether they have long haul symptoms or not, the SARS-CoV-2 virus also in the thyroid.  It is supposed to take months to years for the EBV to hit the thyroid and that’s only after having a chronically weak liver.  I’m seeing the SARS-CoV-2 virus hit the thyroid in weeks.  What takes EBV years, is taking the SARS-CoV-2 virus weeks.  

Using muscle testing I pick up on thyroid weaknesses due to an Epstein Barr virus energy a lot in my office even without the patient knowing there is a thyroid issue.  It is because we are picking up on it before it becomes an issue.  Western medicine has done a lot of studies saying that the majority of Hashimoto’s patients have Epstein Barr antibodies so there might be a correlation and I will tell you that there definitely is from what I see in the office.  

Inflammation can happen in any organ due to any pathogen or heavy metal or heavy chemical.  Toxins cause inflammation period.  That’s why our goal at Healing Arts is to help the body detox and with the right nutrition it can heal. When we start supporting the body to kill pathogens we have to be careful that the body does not have a die off reaction or a herxheimer reaction.  It occurs when any immune challenge: virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite, is being killed too fast. When these things die, toxins are released, literally pus and mucus build up and the body releases proinflammatory proteins (known as cytokines) in response. While some cytokine activity bolsters the immune system to fight infections, too many of these chemicals can have adverse effects. An overabundance of cytokines in the body leads to muscle and joint pain, fatigue, a suppressed immune system, skin rash and brain fog.  It is with some post COVID patients that 8 weeks later I am still seeing a high level of cytokines in their body and this is even after putting them on a program to reduce the inflammation.  Even if your COVID symptoms were mild, less than 24 hours of a slight cold, when I muscle test I am seeing cytokines stuck in the liver or thyroid causing inflammation.  

I think SARS-CoV-2 weakens the body to feed off of glutathione and that’s why it loves the liver.   SARS-CoV-2 goes into the body through the airways and starts attacking the lungs because that’s where it settles first but as it gets stronger and finds it way to the liver it feeds off glutathione and becomes even stronger.  This stage 2 in the liver doesn’t happen for everyone if the immune system is strong enough to fight it off before SARS-CoV-2 makes a home in the liver.  Stage 3 is when it burrows itself in the thyroid the same way EBV does. So the stages of EBV and COVID-19 are very similar except SARS-CoV-2 goes through the stages so quickly the body does not have time to recuperate and a lot more inflammation occurs with SARS-CoV-2. 

Depending on the body this inflammation can look like a lot of different things.  A study was done to show 50 different symptoms post COVID.  The majority of symptoms were fatigue and headaches followed by attention disorder and hair loss.  Besides supporting the immune system to fight COVID-19, then supporting the lungs, liver, and thyroid depending on what stages the body is going through we also support the headaches or attention disorder or hair loss by doing everything we can to reduce inflammation.  What I am seeing in the office that is testing the most often with great results besides the usual vitamin D with vitamin K, zinc and vitamin C are these four supplements: Inflammation Relief , Wellness Blend , Hydroxygen and Glutothione. 

Inflammation Relief is a supplement I made to reduce inflammation in the body including the cytokine response.  The supplement contains: Curcumin, Gotu Kola, Quercitin, Boswelia, Bromelain, Magnesium, Black Pepper,  and Fenugreek which are all amazing herbs to reduce inflammation.  This supplement is good for the post COVID patient who is still having headaches or muscle aches.

Wellness Blend is the first supplement I ever formulated to really help boost up the immune system when sick or to take to prevent getting sick.  Ingredients include garlic, liposomal vitamin C, mugwort, echinacea, oregano, lysine, eucalyptus and goldenseal.  This supplement tests well for patients who just need that extra immune system support.  

Hydroxygen are drops of oxygen that the body needs to heal faster.  These drops are especially good for the post COVID patient that is still coughing or having trouble breathing.  

Besides giving the body the right supplemental support we also want to replenish the glutathione that SARS-CoV-2 used.  We muscle test to see if the glutathione supplement will help and here are some ways to increase your glutathione naturally.  Glutathione is one of the body’s most important and potent antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances that reduce oxidative stress by combating free radicals in the body. While most antioxidants are found in the foods you eat, glutathione is produced by your body. It is primarily made up of three amino acids: glutamine, glycine and cysteine. There are a number of reasons why your body’s glutathione level may become depleted, including poor diet, chronic disease, infection and constant stress. Glutathione is also known to decrease with age. Maintaining adequate levels of this antioxidant is incredibly important for your health in general, not just post COVID. Here is what you can do to ensure healthy glutathione levels. 

1. Consume Sulfur-Rich Foods

Sulfur is an important mineral that occurs naturally in some plant and protein foods.  Sulfur is required for the liver to make glutathione.  Sulfur is found in beef, fish and poultry as well as cruciferous vegetables.  Cruciferous vegetables are a family of vegetables known for their sulfur content and include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, boy choy, arugula, radishes, watercress, collards and mustard greens. Eat too much at once and it can bloat you due to the sulfur.  Allium vegetables, including garlic, shallots and onions, also boost glutathione levels also due to their sulfur-containing compounds.  

2. Increase Your Vitamin C Intake

Vitamin C is found in strawberries, citrus fruits, papayas, kiwis and bell peppers.  This vitamin has many functions, including working as an antioxidant to protect cells from oxidative damage. It also maintains the body’s supply of other antioxidants, including glutathione.  Researchers have discovered that vitamin C may help increase glutathione levels by attacking free radicals first, thereby sparing glutathione. They also found that vitamin C helps reprocess glutathione by converting oxidized glutathione back to its active form (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12499341/). 

The same study also showed that taking 500-1,000 mg vitamin C supplements increased glutathione levels in white blood cells in healthy adults by 18%.

Another study showed that taking 500 mg of vitamin C supplements per day increased glutathione in red blood cells by 47% (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8317379/).

Vitamin C’s relationship with glutathione is why intravenous Vitamin C drips are helpful when treating COVID.  Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist in NYC, has been giving his intensive-care patients who have been infected with the coronavirus 1500mg of intravenous Vitamin C several times a day - as part of an anti-viral protocol.

3. Add Selenium-Rich Foods to Your Diet

Selenium is an essential mineral and a glutathione cofactor, meaning it’s a substance needed for glutathione to work. Some of the best sources of selenium are beef, chicken, fish, organ meats, cottage cheese, brown rice and Brazil nuts. By increasing your intake of selenium, you may help maintain or increase your body’s supply of glutathione.

4. Eat Foods Naturally Rich in Glutathione

The human body produces glutathione, but there are also dietary sources. Spinach, avocados, asparagus and okra are some of the richest dietary sources.  However, dietary glutathione is poorly absorbed by the human body.

5. Add Turmeric to Your Diet Which Helps absorb Glutathione

Turmeric is a vibrant yellow-orange herb and a popular spice in Indian cuisine.  The medicinal properties of turmeric are likely linked to its main component, curcumin.  The curcumin content is much more concentrated in a turmeric supplement, compared to the powder we use to cook with. Just make sure the supplement has black pepper added to it because black pepper contains the bioactive compound piperine, known to increase the absorption of curcumin into the body by 2000% (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9619120/)

Numerous studies have shown that turmeric and curcumin extract have the ability to increase glutathione levels (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650394/). Researchers conclude that the curcumin found in turmeric may assist in restoring adequate levels of glutathione and improve the activity of glutathione enzymes.

6. Consider Milk Thistle

Milk thistle supplements are another way to boost glutathione levels naturally.  Milk thistle is a herb comprised of three active compounds, collectively known as silymarin. Silymarin is well known for its antioxidant properties and shown to increase glutathione levels.  Researchers believe that silymarin is able to maintain glutathione levels by preventing cell damage (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1360480/). 

8. Get Enough Sleep

A good night’s rest is essential for overall health. Interestingly, long-term lack of sleep can cause oxidative stress and even hormone imbalances (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25945148/). As if that wasn’t bad enough, other research has shown that chronic lack of sleep may decrease glutathione levels. Therefore, making sure you get good, restorative sleep each night may help maintain or boost your levels of glutathione.  If you don’t sleep well here are my sleep tips: https://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2020/05/sleep-well.html

9. Exercise Regularly

Regular physical activity of course is good for both your physical and mental health.  Recent research shows that exercise is also helpful in maintaining or increasing antioxidant levels, especially glutathione. Studies show it is a combination of both cardio and circuit weight training that increases glutathione the most, compared to completing cardio or weight training alone (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17925621/). However, overtraining without a balanced diet and proper rest can deplete your levels because too much exercise can be stressful to the body.

The good news is viruses can only affect us if we have a weak immune system.  For the most part, a strong healthy body, virus comes in and virus goes out, creating very little damage, even SARS-CoV-2.  The body’s own innate immune system is the strongest thing against any virus or other germ for that matter.  Having a strong  immune system is dependent on a healthy nutrient dense diet and a healthy lifestyle of exercise and good sleep.  The less stress the better for mind and body health, and a body void of as many toxins as possible.  We live and breath this concept at Healing Arts. We live this lifestyle, eat healthy and take our supplements for optimal health.

Brain Boosting Tea

I love getting muscle tested for a personalized tea blend at the Healing Arts Tea Bar. When I want more focus I specifically get muscle tested for a Brain Boosting blend.  Our tea menu is different than anything you have ever seen before.  We have the teas listed and you can pick one and enjoy it either stay at the tea bar or take it to go but what is different is on the back of the menu is a list of symptoms and you can choose the symptom you want to work on and then get muscle tested for which 3 herbs your body needs.  So you don't choose your tea but your body does!

Besides getting a cup of hot tea we can also make a container for you of your personalized blend that is 12 servings. Here is the list of teas we have that can help boost your brain health:

Bergamot-Digestion, lowers cholesterol, brain health, acid reflux, immunity booster, energy booster, weight loss, skin support, constipation, hydrates

Black Tea- Digestion, blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, brain health, heart health, improves blood pressure

Butterfly pea -Eye support, skin support, improves blood pressure, hair support, lung support, brain health 

Cat’s Claw-Digestion, brain health, immune support, improves blood pressure

Earl Grey- Digestion, brain health, immune booster, energy booster, weight loss, hydrates, and great skin support

Echinacea- Immune booster, respiratory health, digestion, anti-inflammatory, brain health, skin, anti-aging

Ginger  - Digestion, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss, women’s health, pain relief, heart support

Green tea  - Heart support, anti-aging, weight loss support, immune support, brain health, anti-inflammatory, blood sugar

Holy Basil-Digestion, blood sugar, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss support, skin support, respiratory support, eye support, detox

Jasmine - Liver support, relaxation, brain health, digestion

Lavender - Relaxation, brain health, women’s health, sleep support, skin support

Lemongrass - Pain relief, sleep support, brain health, anti-inflammatory 

Mugwort -Diuretic, women’s health, energy booster, brain health, digestion 

Peppermint - Digestion, respiratory, anti-inflammatory, brain health, pain relief, sleep support, women’s health, weight loss, skin support, immune support, relaxation, brain health

Rose - Hydrates, respiratory support, skin support, sleep support, women’s health, immunity booster, brain health, digestion 

Rooibos - Improves blood pressure, women’s health support, energy booster, brain health,

lower cholesterol, blood sugar 

Turmeric - Pain relief, eye support, immunity booster, brain health, lower cholesterol, anti-inflammatory (for more on turmeric, click here)

We also have blends to help inflammation, energy, women’s health, digestion, immune system, high blood pressure and more.  So if you haven’t tried a personalized tea blend yet you must at your next visit!

More on brain boosting health listen to our podcast.

Collagen For Weight Loss

Collagen is a protein that’s naturally found in the body.  It makes up 25% to 30% of the proteins in your body and gives structure to connective tissue like your skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscles, bones and blood vessels.  I test for collagen supplements to help people improve skin elasticity, reduce appearance of skin wrinkles, increase skin hydration, reduce bone loss, improve brittle nails, boost hair health, support heart health and improve weight loss.  Because collagen helps gives so much structure to the body it can be used for lots different reasons in the body.  When I test for collagen ! test for it in capsules or powder.  There are lots of different kinds out on the market and they are not all made the same so before you add it into your daily life I highly suggest getting muscle tested for it.  

Bone broth is the number one food that has collagen in it and the question is do you test better for chicken bone broth or beef? It is best taken on an empty stomach.  This way the body can absorb more nutrients from it.  If you are doing the capsule or powder that can be taken with food.  

Let me now explain how collagen can help with weight loss goals:

Promote satiety

Collagen supplements may increase satiety, or the feeling of fullness. This could aid weight loss by reducing hunger, and therefore, how many calories you eat in a day. Collagen might have this effect because it’s a protein. According to a 2020 study, high-protein diets increase satiety hormones. They also suppress ghrelin, which is a hunger hormone. According to a 2008 study, increased protein intake can also increase thermogenesis, which is the ability of the body to produce heat. The more heat your body makes the more calories it will burn which will help with weight loss. The study also notes that higher protein diets may stimulate muscle protein anabolism, “favoring the retention of lean muscle mass while improving metabolic profile.”

Increase muscle mass

Building muscle is an essential component of weight loss. That’s because muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does, increasing overall calories burned. Taking collagen supplements helps increase muscle mass. Remember, collagen is the main structural protein in your muscles. In a 2015 study involving older adults, participants with sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) completed 12 weeks of weight training. Half of the participants took collagen peptide supplements, while the other half took a placebo. Those who took collagen peptides experienced a greater improvement in muscle mass and strength. They also lost more fat mass than the placebo group. These results suggest that collagen supplements can support loss of body fat by enhancing the effects of weight training on muscle mass.

Reduce fat accumulation

There’s some evidence that collagen may reduce the development and accumulation of fat cells. A 2019 study found that collagen from skate, a type of fish, reduces body fat in humans. The amount of fat lost was small, but suggests potential benefits for weight loss.

Relieve joint pain

Collagen supplements might indirectly help weight loss by reducing joint pain. Healthy joints are needed to move comfortably during exercise and daily activities. Engaging more regularly in physical activity could then in turn support weight management. A 2015 study found that collagen peptides can help people with osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis happens when your joint cartilage wears down, causing joint pain and stiffness. If joint pain prevents you from working out, let us know at your next appointment so we can muscle test you to see if a collagen supplement can help!

22 Healthy Things to do for a Healthy 2022

New Year, New You!  Making changes to enhance your health and your life can be difficult but what better time than in the new year.  I made a list of 22 things that I do in my life and often recommend to my patients to help them make healthy changes.  I loved putting together a list for 2021 so much that here’s the list for 2022!  Even though it’s a list and the goal of any list is to accomplish each item as soon as possible know that you have all year to make these changes and stick to it.  So maybe the hard part is not making the changes but sticking with it.  Some days it may be easy.  Other days may be harder but every day is a new day so hold yourself accountable to always doing your best.  With enough momentum, over time, it will get easier and easier to stick to it until one day you realize you are making these healthier choices with very little effort.  That these healthier choices have become habits that are easy for you to do is the goal.  

It was not easy to narrow this list down to just 22 things.  I could think of so many different things that you may or may not be doing that could make a difference in your health.  Many of these things are not new but reminders of things you know are good for you that you may not be doing.  As you go through the list I recommend starting with an easy one and working towards the hard ones.  I also recommend making only one change a week.  This way you can make changes that last.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Do too many changes all at once and it won’t stick for the long haul.  The goal is to make changes that will last and over time it will be good to review this list to remind you of items that may have slipped through the cracks.  Healing is a journey and so are the changes that get you healthy and keep you healthy.  We are here on that journey to help you.

1. Get muscle tested

If you haven’t tried it yet or it’s been more than 2 months your first New Year’s resolution should be to go get muscle tested.  This is definitely the right way to start a New Year.  Holidays are done with and everyone wants to be healthier. That’s why, all of a sudden, the gyms are full every January.  Instead of guessing on what to eat to be healthier, why not get muscle tested to see exactly what would be healthy for your body?  

Using muscle testing we can address your health concerns, help you detox heavy metals or chemicals from your body and put you on a personalized cleanse and tell you exactly what to eat or not eat for better health.  Make the new year about you and your health.  

2. Add bee pollen to your diet.

When muscle testing what foods to add into your diet bee pollen is one that can be very beneficial to a lot of people but no one seems to be eating it.  Bee pollen is a great brain booster, lifting brain fatigue, improving alertness and helping concentration levels over an extended period of time. Rich in the B vitamins; B1, B2 and B3 – these are essential for a healthy nervous system and powerful detoxifiers, especially to the brain. They are often referred to as “anti-stress” vitamins - when the nervous system is working optimally anxiety and stress can be greatly lessened.  Bee pollen can be eaten raw or can be added to your favorite cereals, smoothies, yogurt or hot drink. I see most people test for 1-2 teaspoons a day as a daily dose.

3. Soak your nuts, grains, etc.

Nuts, grains and beans are packed with healthy fats, protein and minerals, but to get that all good stuff assimilated into your body, it is recommended that you prepare them by soaking them. See, nuts, legumes and seeds contain phytic acids and enzyme inhibitors to keep them from sprouting until nature delivers the sun and rain that they need to grow. Have you heard people, maybe even yourself, say “nuts or beans are hard on my stomach”? Well, enzyme inhibitors/phytic acids are the reason. By soaking, enzyme inhibitors are neutralized, the beneficial enzymes are activated and the vitamin content increases. Soaking makes seeds, nuts and legumes easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed. For directions on how to soak nuts, grains and beans: https://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2014/12/nuts-grains-and-beans-oh-my.html

4. Grow an herb

There is no way to beat the nutrition from a plant you just pulled out of the dirt yourself.  All the enzymes and nutrients are available.  Whether you have acres of land or no backyard at all, there is always a way to grow something for you to eat.  Start with a simple window bench herb garden.  Pick 3 of your favorite herbs and simply grow them on your windowsill. It’s the easiest way to go and requires very minimal maintenance or skill.  If you have more space consider taking a local gardening course to know which plants are most suited for your climate and some basic skills to ensure your garden is successful.  There’s also many community gardens to join if you don’t have a backyard.

5. Take deep breathes 

This should be the easiest habit of all to create this year!  Deep breaths can be done anywhere, at anytime.  Just 3 deep breaths can shift your mood and nervous system to be more calm when you are feeling out of sorts.  Besides helping your stress level and mood, if it’s one thing this pandemic has taught me it is the importance of strengthen your lungs.  Yes the lungs are an organ that you can exercise.  The stronger they are the healthier you can be even if you don’t have asthma, or other breathing issues.  There are tons of different breathing techniques out there so pick one and use it on a daily basis.  I personally love and use heart centered breathing from Heart Math, and coherent breathing which I probably use the most of. Coherent breathing is simply breathing in for 6 counts and breathing out for 6 counts.  I think there is something calming about the counting as well.  It gets you out of the emotional, upset right side of the brain and more into the logical, mathematical left side of the brain.  

6. Use an essential oil

Also for stress one can use an essential oil.  My favorite stress relieving oil is Lavender, .  One big inhale of lavender and I feel my whole body relax.  You can wear it on your wrists, put it in a diffuser or spray a dilution of it on your pillow case to inhale it as you go to bed for a deeper sleep.  Doterra makes a great relaxing blend with lavender called Peace.  They mix lavender in with other calming herbs: ylang ylang, frankincense and clary sage for the ultimate calming affect.

7. Dry Brush and Gua Sha daily

Gua Sha, also known as “coining”, “skin scraping”, or “pressure stroking” is an ancient lymphatic technique utilized in Traditional Chinese Medicine using a stone to apply pressure to the body.  When done on the face, gua sha can reduce fine lines and wrinkles, restore firmness and elasticity, promote a brighter complexion, relieve jaw tension, promote lymphatic drainage, and decrease puffiness. It can also help with sinus congestion and headaches. I find that when I do it in the morning it helps with mental clarity and reducing brain fog too.

The flow of lymph only goes one way: towards the heart. So when you use the gua sha stone the strokes should be from the center of the face outward and moving down the face and neck.  The best way to learn how to do gua sha on the face is by watching a demonstration, so I posted this video on Youtube to show you: https://youtu.be/vaJiBU83tWo

One of the biggest positive cosmetic benefits I notice when I perform facial gua sha on myself is a reduction of facial puffiness, most notable in my cheeks. You could say that it sculpts my cheeks. Others may notice de-puffing of their eyelids, jawline, under their eyes, or in the forehead. The reason that facial gua sha reduces puffiness is due to the drainage of lymph out of the face and neck. The lymph’s job is to carry toxins so gua sha is a great way to detox.

To move the lymph and toxins from other parts of the body you need to dry brush.  Instead of a stone roller it is a specific bristled brush that you will use on the rest of the body.  Use the brush and start at your feet and brush each area 5 times towards the heart. For a video demonstration: https://youtu.be/PlgJVAtgJTI

8. Add collagen to your diet.

Collagen is a protein that’s naturally found in the body.  It makes up  25 to 30 percent of the proteins in your body and gives structure to connective tissue like your skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscles, bones and blood vessels.  I test for collagen supplements to help people improve skin elasticity, reduce appearance of skin wrinkles, increase skin hydration, reduce bone loss, improve brittle nails, boost hair health, support heart health, heal leaky gut, and improve weight loss.  Because collagen helps gives so much structure to the body it can be used for lots different reasons in the body.  When I test for collagen ! test for it in capsules or powder.  There are lots of different kinds out on the market and they are not all made the same so before you add it into your daily life I highly suggest getting muscle tested for it.  

Bone broth is the number one food that has collagen in it and the question is do you test better for chicken bone broth or beef? It is best taken on an empty stomach and just a little every day is better than a lot once or twice a week.  Sip on one cup daily for best results.  This way the body can absorb more nutrients from it.  If you are doing the capsule or powder that can be taken with food.  

9. Add micro movements

Exercise is always great for health and if you are not on a weekly routine that should be part of your New Year’s resolution.  But what I have learned this year from a great book called Quench by Dr. Dana Cohen is micro movements help too by keeping us hydrated.  Any type of movement including fidgeting actually helps push water into the fascia of the body instead of staying superficial.  From the fascia, the water then goes into the organs and muscles of the body so that the cells can absorb it.  What I found fascinating reading the book was that even  micro movements counted as helping move water into the body.  Micro movements can include turning of the head and shoulder circles but even little movements such as fidgeting can make a difference.  Studies show that fidgeting actually improves the longevity of a woman's life up to 43% by pushing water into the body.  The book specifies for better health you really want 360 degrees of movement, full range of motion, so every tissue in your body has in and out flow to remain supple and healthy. 

10. Drink Healing Arts Apple Cider Vinegar Tea every morning

Years ago I started suggesting to patients to drink apple cider vinegar to help with candida problems but when I found out that Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) knew about apple cider vinegar’s antibiotic properties and recommended it to his patients for its healing properties centuries ago I started doing more research.

Apple cider vinegar has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Not only does it help kill all those microbes and boost up your immune system but it also helps with allergies, acne, high cholesterol, joint pain, weight loss, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, dandruff, chronic fatigue, candida, sore throat, gum infection, and acid reflux. It’s also used to help dissolve kidney stones, lower high blood pressure, and it’s also been shown to help with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.

Even though vinegar is acidic, when we drink apple cider vinegar it has an alkaline effect in our bodies. The fact that apple cider vinegar causes our pH levels to become more alkaline could play a large part in it's healing abilities. It also reacts to some toxins in our bodies, converting them into less toxic substances. Our bodies need a slightly alkaline pH balance to be healthy. The typical Western diet creates an acidic pH in our bodies, and many health problems are attributed to this. Taking a tonic containing apple cider vinegar can help restore alkalinity, and therefore assist the body in getting rid of some of the health problems listed above.

The recipe I am about to give you has been perfected over the years of me experimenting with a variety of apple cider vinegar concoctions. 

1 Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar

1/2 organic lime squeezed

1/4 tsp. baking soda

the baking soda will fizz, so wait for it to fizz out then add 1/2 cup warm water or more

a pinch of cayenne

a pinch of turmeric

a pinch of black pepper

Drink 20 minutes or more before breakfast every day.

Make sure the water is warm, not hot, for hot water will change the properties of the vinegar and lime juice.

The spices are added to the tea tincture because cayenne will increase circulation which is beneficial in healing and turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.  The black pepper is added to enhance the turmeric.  Studies show that with black pepper, the ability for the body to absorb and use turmeric increases by 2000x. 

11. Boost Immune System 

Drinking the apple cider vinegar tea can keep your immune system boosted but so can lots of other things as well.  Once a month or more, even up to once a week, do something to take care of your immune system.  I built the Healing Arts Wellness Center based on this philosophy and that’s why I wanted one place that had all these healing services at your convenience.  To keep the immune system boosted we have the Himalayan salt booth and lymphatic therapy to help. Before COVID I was thinking the salt booth was great for 4 things: sinus and lung issues, skin issues, to boost the immune system, and to detox from crappy NYC air.  Now with COVID I think doing salt booth sessions is a must to stay healthy.  We can no longer just assume we are healthy but we need to take preventative health measures to ensure we really do stay as healthy as possible.  Just 10 minutes in the salt booth can boost your immune system. As you inhale deeply the salt goes into the body and breaks up inflammation and kills viruses, bacteria, parasites, candida and mold.  The lymphatic drainage therapy works differently, using electric bulbs across your skin to get your lymphatic system to move.  Your lymphatic system carries white blood cells to infections, in this way boosting your immune system.  You could also go for cupping, get a massage or acupuncture.  There are lots of ways to keep your immune system boosted.  

12. Stay Detoxed

Besides keeping your immune system strong it is important to keep your body detoxed.  I want you to do at least one thing a month that can help you detox on a deeper level.  It could be a liver flush where you take certain supplements for a week to break down what is stuck in the liver and then one night before bed you drink 1/4 cup of olive oil to get the toxins to move out of the liver.  At the office we have lots of different services that could help detox.  You could do a PEMF session, using energy to move out toxins or a detox foot bath that pulls toxins out of your body through your feet using an ionic charge.  The strongest detox we have is the Ozone Sauna where you sit in a personalized sauna pod from your neck down and heat builds as the pod is pumped with ozone.  Ozone is oxygen with an extra oxygen molecule. When you combine the wet and warm skin with the ozone gas the extra oxygen goes into the body and has such great detoxing and anti-inflammatory effects. Ozone therapy is a great detoxer because it breaks up lactic acid, increases cellular respiration in muscles, speeds up recovery of damaged tissue and accelerates growth of muscle for those who have tight, sore muscles. Ozone therapy improves blood circulation, improves vitamin and mineral absorption, fights inflammation, and is wonderful at killing mold, parasites, candida, viruses and bacteria. Because it’s such a strong way to detox we offer 10 minute, 20 minute and 30 minute sessions depending on how much detox you can handle.  

13. Drink Ozonated Water

Since ozone is so powerful another way to harness it’s healing abilities is to drink it.  I muscle test for how much ozonated water someone should drink but on average I get 16 ounces a day. Ozonated water has a clean, fresh taste. The health benefits are a result of the ozone breaking apart creating a single oxygen atom that the body can use.  The more oxygen in the body the better! Ozone adds oxygen to the blood stream and eliminates impurities. Increased oxygen in the brain heightens its function. Ozonated water also boosts the immune system making it stronger and better able to fight infections. This type of water has been shown in a number of scientific studies to kill bacteria and viruses.  That’s why I also use ozonated water to wash my fruits and vegetables.  Drinking cold ozone water on an empty stomach regularly can also detoxify your intestinal tract and give you energy. So there are a lot of health benefits to drinking ozonated water.  You will have to buy a machine that puts the extra oxygen in the water.  I use the Ozo-pod that you can buy online,

14. Add MCT oil to your diet

MCT oil which is a type of oil from coconut, is known for fueling your brain for more energy and focus throughout the day.  So, a few teaspoons in the morning or before a workout can fuel your brain and body for hours —better than any other food or coffee drink. And because the body metabolizes MCTs at a higher priority than carbs or other fats (and optimizes your metabolism for fat-burning), they’ll help you burn calories instead of packing them away as fat.

So what is this magical oil?  MCT oil or medium chain triglycerides (MCT’s) are unique fatty acids that are found naturally in coconut and palm oils.  They have a remarkable ability to stabilize blood sugar and enhance ketone body production.  This process makes MCT’s a powerful tool to reduce inflammation, improve metabolism and enhance cognitive function.

Most people tolerate MCT oil very well, however, too large of a dose too quickly can cause gastrointestinal problems such as nausea or diarrhea. If you have this problem, don’t panic and give up on MCT oil right away. You can easily reduce or eliminate these symptoms by starting with very small doses at a time. This would mean ½ tsp several times daily and slowly increasing the dosage as tolerated. Adding MCT oil can substitute for some of the oil in your diet but should not be used to replace all the fat in your diet. Begin using MCT 1 tablespoon per day and slowly increase over several days. 1-3 tablespoons per day is recommended. 

15. Have an anti-aging regiment

People don’t think the fountain of youth exists but I do.  Our fountain of youth is stem cells that our body makes in our bone marrow.  Stem cells are blank cells that once stimulated go anywhere and become any new cell.  The question is how do we stimulate our stem cells?  There is something called stem cell therapy that we do at Healing Arts.  We use Biocell Stem Cell supplements which are formulated to optimize cell function because if we have healthy cells we will be healthier every day.  Biocell supplements work together to promote energy production and cell growth.  

Another thing you can do to help stem cell growth is Intermittent Fasting which is a certain way of eating that can stimulate stem cells.  I do see most patients get the best results eating from 1pm-7pm.  

I think stem cell stimulation has something to do with pressure.  We have to use it to not lose it.  That’s why the number one treatment for osteoporosis (bone loss) is weight bearing exercises.  We need to apply pressure to the bones to stimulate the stem cells and get calcium into the bones. I believe bones can remodel and grow more dense into our 70s and likely longer.  Of course it’s easier if you are 25 years old or younger but it still can be done.  

Sleep is very important for stem cell stimulation.  Research shows that sleeping only 4 hours a night decreases the ability of stem cells to migrate 50% compared to an 8 hour sleep.  A 7-8 hour sleep cycle actually stimulates stem cell circulation.  For more on a better night sleep, listen to this podcast https://healingarts.buzzsprout.com/894679/3795920-sleep-well.  

To help the aging of the skin we use a stem cell supplement from Biocell called Dermal and then topically a frankincense roll on for dark aging spots which I see mostly on patients’ faces but I have seen them at times on back of hands and shoulders too.  65% of the time they will go away just with the frankincense roll on but the combination is excellent for most aging dark spots.   

When we breath, oxygen goes into our body and finds an electron to stabilize itself.  Oxygen does this by stealing it from any molecule it can and then that molecule has a free, unpaired electron. Now this makes for a very unhappy little electron because it is missing its partner. Electrons like to be in pairs and so the single electron now behaves very radical-hence the name free radical. When this happens in the body, that free radical will look to find an electron anywhere it can. Unfortunately when it snatches an electron from a cell it damages it in the process creating another free radical. This process is repeated continuously until the free radical meets up with a molecule that has an extra electron that it can donate to the equation to stop the reaction. In the body this donor electron might come from something like Vitamin C that has extra electrons. This is why Vitamin C is called an "anti-oxidant". It is a substance that helps there be less oxidation in the body. So one thing you could do this year is make sure you add more anti-oxidant foods to your diet including blueberries, beets, broccoli. For more information on antioxidant rich foods:  https://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2019/07/purify-your-blood-naturally.html.

The most powerful free radical fighter you have is your lymphatic system. The body's lymphatic system holds 80% of your body's anti-oxidant capacity. To help keep the lymph system happy and your anti-aging ability up I highly recommend lymphatic drainage therapy.  

16. Do something for yourself every day 

Health is mind, body, spirit and if not addressed on a daily basis the stresses of life can get to us and our health.  When you are stressed it’s hard to take time for yourself but it’s when you need it the most.  It’s important to do before you feel depleted in order to prevent the burnt out feeling.  When you feel burnt out know that your immune system is low too and so it’s easier to get sick which can further stress you out.  So the time it takes to take care of yourself is worth it to prevent getting sick.  To help with the stress of life all you need is 5 minutes any time during the day to reset.  It could be longer than 5 minutes but at least 5 minutes every day invest in yourself.  It could be a quiet moment of deep breathing.  It could be meditation, exercise, writing, foot rub, talking to a good friend, anything that fills you up and makes you feel good mentally or physically. 

17. Talk to yourself

Besides doing something for yourself every day to help your stress and your health, I want you to learn to talk to yourself.  This is a good way to manage stress and address underlying issues that you wouldn’t necessarily address unless they blew up in your face. This is a way of checking in with yourself. Think of it as free talk therapy.  You may not have the best advice for yourself but you can watch the negative self talk and choose to do less of it. You can also be your own sounding board. Check in with yourself and see how your body feels.  What does your body want to tell you that you need to listen to?  Is it the stomach ache, the stress headache or the trouble sleeping?  Listen to yourself and to your body before something becomes more of an issue.  The nice thing is this can be done anytime of day and no one needs to know.  

18. A relaxing bedtime routine

The body needs structure to signal that it’s time to unwind, relax and go to sleep so for the last 30 minutes of the day have the same routine.  A good night’s sleep is so important.  It’s only when you are sleeping the body is healing.  Even if you think you sleep well it’s a good habit to not have any electronics on at least 30 minutes before bed.  This includes phones, computers, tablets and TV. The blue light from the screens actually signal our body to stay awake.  I promise you if you do this you will feel like you get a deeper sleep. So what do you do with those 30 minutes before bed?  It’s like an unknown.  If I don’t have my electronics I don’t know what to do.  Find a healthy bedtime routine.  If you do about the same thing every night it helps signal the body to start winding down. Some ideas: take a hot shower or bath, read a good book, but not too exciting, do your deep breathing technique, meditate or listen to a visualization.  This is also a good time to practice gratitude.  As you are lying down in bed review the day and make a list either in a journal or just mentally of all the good things that happened that day that you are grateful for.  In this way, no matter how intense of a day it was, you go to bed only thinking of the positive things which is helpful to get a deeper night’s sleep and for your mental health. It is also helpful to start the 30 minutes bedtime routine at 1030pm at the latest and be asleep by 11pm.  Every organ has a circadian rhythm that it follows which means in a 24 hour cycle it has a 2 hour window where it is at it’s peak and performing strong and 12 hours later where it is at it’s weakest, most vulnerable stage.  So the reason for the 11pm bedtime is because that’s when the liver is at it’s peak dumping all the toxins from the day into the gallbladder duct where it travels to the large intestine to be excreted the next morning.  It is best to be asleep during this 11pm-1am time so the liver can easily do it’s job and move more toxins.  Again, the body only heals while it’s sleeping.  If you need help sleeping try our PEMF therapy or our Chakra Light therapy at the office to help.

19. Use full spectrum light bulbs

Seasonal depression is a real thing and I think after the year we just had anxiety and depression are at a full time high.  During the fall and winter, we don’t get enough of the sunlight exposure needed to stimulate the hypothalamus, a part of the brain linked to our body’s internal clocks controlling the sleep-wake schedule, among other things. Without enough bright light stimulation from the sun, our brain may increase its production of the sleep hormone melatonin, while decreasing the production of serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical that helps regulate mood.

Besides spending more time outside, even if all you are doing is sunbathing your face for 10 minutes every day, the second easiest thing is to buy a full spectrum light bulb.  It’s a special light bulb that looks like a regular lightbulb but emits a light spectrum that simulates the full visible light spectrum of natural sunlight. You can easily replace lightbulbs in your lamps to full spectrum light bulbs and then to get the benefit just turn the light on in the room.   

For more intense therapy try a light therapy box provides striking, bright white light using fluorescent or LED light in a color temperature between 5000-6500K, which is consistent with the color temperature of the sun at noon. Light therapy boxes emit 10,000 lux (a measure of the perceived brightness of light) of blue/white, more energetic wavelengths, intended to trigger a biological response in our bodies. 

Light boxes produce very powerful light, and are therefore intended as therapy and not a source of general light. The goal is to sit in front of a light box for up to 30 minutes per day, allowing your eyes and body to receive a simulation of sunlight that would otherwise be difficult to receive this time of the year. 

20. Spend time with nature

Another thing to help us with our mood is to spend time in nature.  I know, so simple.  That’s why there is not excuse to incorporate more walks in the park, going for a bike ride or a long hike.  Especially for my NYC patients, we need this more than the average person and yet we are less likely to do it.  Getting outside and just going for a walk is helpful but the nature part is missing and yet I think that it can be so healing, both mind and body, to spend time in nature.  Have you every spent time out in nature and came back in a bad mood? No, it just doesn’t happen because nature has a way of calming us down, making us feel at home.

21. Use less aluminum

Our test kits contain 45 different heavy metals.  The heavy metal that comes up the most frequent is aluminum. It’s in our daily lives and it creates big health problems if our body does not detox it. It’s scientifically proven to cause Alzheimer’s. The brain absorbs aluminum very well and it’s one of the main places where aluminum gets stuck in the body. 

When I am helping a patient detox aluminum I tell them to do their best to avoid eating and drinking out of aluminum cans, foil, baking sheets, pots and pans and check their deodorant for aluminum as well.  Stainless steel is okay to use.  In the oven I use glass dishes or baking stones. You can also put parchment paper down on your baking sheets so the food does not touch aluminum.  Check your rice cooker to see if that is aluminum.  Mine is nonstick teflon which I don’t love because if it gets scratched underneath it is aluminum so we are just careful to not scratch it.  When you eat out there is not much you can do about aluminum toxicity.  The kitchen of the restaurant will probably use some aluminum and if you have leftovers forget it, it’s going to come in either aluminum or plastic.  When you get home transfer it to a glass container like a Pyrex and I just make sure food does not touch the rubber tops.  

Most deodorants use aluminum as their active ingredient so look at your deodorant ingredients and if there is aluminum go ahead and switch to something without aluminum.  You can find non-aluminum deodorant at your local grocery store now.  Even Dove makes a non-aluminum version.  Some people complain that the more natural deodorants don’t work as well.  It is hard sometimes to find the one that works best for your biochemistry.  My top 3 favorites are Thai crystal, Kiss My Face roll-on and Every Man Jack with Every Man Jack being the strongest and what I suggest for men.  

22. Take soy out of your diet

Before you take soy out of your diet the best thing to do is get muscle tested for foods to see which foods your body reacts to and which ones are fine to eat.  But if you can’t get muscle tested then I do suggest eliminating soy from your diet for 3 weeks and then adding back in and seeing how you feel.  If you notice any negative changes when adding it back in your body is telling you it doesn’t like it and I would continue to stay away from it.  

A lot of studies have been done about the ill effects of soy.  Soy contains something in it that acts like estrogen in our body.  We call it phytoestrogen.  ‘Phyto' means plant and when something acts like estrogen in our bodies it really does disturb our hormone pathways.  Animals eating a lot of soy and being given hormones is the main reason why I think girls reach puberty and get their periods at a younger and younger age each generation.  Science also shows phytoestrogens have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.  Soy phytoestrogens are known to harm the thyroid too and cause hypothyroidism and may even cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Soy, like beans, have high levels of phytic acid which reduces the body’s ability to absorb calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc.  Vitamin B12 in soy is not absorbed and actually increases the body’s requirement for B12. Soy also increases the body’s requirement for vitamin D.  So instead of being nutritious, soy depletes our body of nutrition.  

When asking patients to stay away from soy, besides avoiding edamame, tofu, and soy sauce eating only good quality, pasture raised meat and eggs are in order otherwise the animals eat a lot of soy.  Also read food labels to look for hidden sources of soy.  Soy is hidden in so many foods as soybean oil, soy lecithin and MSG.  Monosodium glutamate or MSG, is a extreme neurotoxin, and is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

So there you have it 22 things that will make a difference in your health to make sure you do for 2022.  Start with the easier changes and work to the harder ones.  Keep this list on hand to refer back to because in a few months certain things may slip but your goal is to always get back on.  I know you are already looking forward to my 2023 list!  

Coconut is Our Favorite Superfood

Whether it hits after lunch or a few hours before the workday ends, even the most motivated people can find themselves skipping workouts and putting off important projects because of midday fatigue.  Before you pull that third shot of espresso… 

What if the one thing your body craves isn’t more caffeine, but some critical fatty acids from a coconut?

MCT oil which is a type of oil from the coconut, is known for fueling your brain for more energy and focus throughout the day. 

So, a few teaspoons in the morning or before a workout can fuel your brain and body for hours —better than any other food or coffee drink.

And because the body metabolizes MCTs at a higher priority than carbs or other fats (and optimizes your metabolism for fat-burning), they’ll help you burn calories instead of packing them away as fat.

So what is this magical oil?

MCT oil or medium chain triglycerides (MCT’s) are unique fatty acids that are found naturally in coconut and palm oils.  They have a remarkable ability to stabilize blood sugar and enhance ketone body production.  This process makes MCT’s a powerful tool to reduce inflammation, improve metabolism and enhance cognitive function.

The term “medium” is in reference to the length of the chain of fatty acids.  Oils can have short, medium or long chains.  Most oils are a combination of short, medium and long chain fatty acids.  MCTs are the easiest type of fatty acid that your body can burn for calories. They get absorbed directly from the gut to the liver and then are used for energy instead of being stored as fat.

Research confirms that MCTs can make you lean and healthy. In one study, researchers compared the results of MCTs with long-chain triglycerides on body fat, energy expenditure, appetite, and other aspects of weight loss in overweight men. They put these men on different diets for 28 days. One group ate a coconut-oil-rich diet high in MCTs. The other group ate a diet rich in long-chain triglycerides like olive oil. They then switched the diets so that they could see differences in the same subjects.

The researchers found the coconut group lost more body fat, which they attributed to a greater increase in energy expenditure and burning fat. Coconut oil actually sped up their metabolisms, allowing them to lose more belly fat and curbing their appetite compared with the men on the olive-oil-rich diet.

In fact, studies suggest that MCTs can help men burn about 460 extra calories a day and women about 190 extra calories (I know, women it’s just not fair!).  MCTs also affect your hormones, including appetite-controlling hormones, helping you feel full.

Part of what makes MCT oil magical is the ketones it contains. Ketones are unique energy producing molecules made from fatty acids.  Our bodies can make them from stored fat or from MCTs.  Ketones feed all the cells of the body, but in particular they are a preferred fuel for the brain.  This is what makes MCT oil brain food.  Research has demonstrated that MCTs can readily cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and be oxidized by the brain. Not all food can do that.  

More information on brain health is in Healing Arts podcast Poison and the Blood Brain Barrier and includes steps to follow to help with ADD, poor memory, lack of motivation, depression, and dementia by detoxifying the body of pesticides,  and heavy metals, eating probiotic foods to keep the gut balanced. and eating more essential fatty acids than just coconut oil which are vital for the brain, like avocado, flaxseed, hemp seed, oily fish, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts..  Good brain health includes making quality sleep a priority and reducing psychological and emotional stress through exercise, meditation, journaling.

You need to be careful of the MCT oil you purchase.  Read what type of oils make up the MCT oil.  The best MCT oil is made of caprylic and capric acid.  An MCT oil is processed in a manufacturing plant to remove all the longer chain fats and other compounds except these two fatty acids.  Your MCT oil should also be tested for purity and heavy metals. Th MCT oil we use at Healing Arts is Jarrow.  

MCTs raise up ketones and lower blood sugar naturally.  They have a strong blood sugar stabilizing effect that helps to reduce inflammation. For more on Reducing inflammation through the diet  - Listen to our podcast on Chronic Inflammation.  

You might be hesitant to use coconut oil or MCT oil because it's high in saturated fat, which has unfairly been demonized for decades. There is a world of difference between quality saturated fat in coconut or MCT oils and what you might get in a fast-food meal.

You can get MCTs from whole foods: 

Coconut oil: 15%

Palm kernel oil: 7.9%

Cheese (if you tolerate dairy): 7.3%

Butter: 6.8%

Milk: 6.9%

Yogurt: 6.6%

But you can also get MCTs from specially concentrated MCT oil, which is much more concentrated.  A tablespoon of coconut oil will give you 2 grams of MCTs while MCT oil will give you 15 grams of MCTs.

Most people tolerate MCT oil very well, however, too large of a dose too quickly can cause gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, and diarrhea.  If you have this problem, don’t panic and give up on MCT oil right away. You can easily reduce or eliminate these symptoms by starting with very small doses at a time.  This would mean ½ tsp once a day and slowly increasing the dosage as tolerated.

Adding MCT oil can substitute for some of the oil in your diet but should not be used to replace all the fat in your diet.  Begin using MCT 1 tablespoon per day and slowly increase over several days.  1-3 tablespoons per day is recommended.  

It can be used as a salad dressing, in smoothies, for cooking or just straight up off the spoon.  As a 

Cooking Oil:  MCT oil is highly stable under heat like coconut oil but no coconut flavor

Salad Dressing:  No major flavor so combine it with herbs and vinegar

In Coffee & Tea:  Great for thickening up coffee or tea and improving their health benefits. Putting it in coffee started with Dave Asprey and is called Bullet Proof Coffee.

Smoothies:  Add 2 tbsps of MCT oil in a smoothie to curb hunger and have the smoothie keep you satisfied longer.

If you are thinking of adding MCT oil to your diet ask me at your next appointment and I will muscle test you for it. 90% of patients test well for it.

But there are a couple of issues with most MCTs you’ll find on grocery store shelves…

They’re packed with fillers and derived from low-quality sources…

Clumpy powders and tasteless oils don’t mix well and are hard to get down...

They’re not optimized for absorption!

The one I use, JARROW is different. It contains emulsified MCTs for unparalleled absorption. Plus, it will completely disperse when mixed into any liquid (no blender required).

Besides the MCTs coconut oil has many health benefits.  Coconut oil is great for hair care, skin care, stress relief, cholesterol level maintenance, weight loss, boosting the immune system, proper digestion and regulating metabolism. It also provides relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, and cancer.  I have also seen it help improve dental quality and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and their respective properties, such as  antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial and soothing qualities.

For Hair care:

Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrients for your hair. It helps in healthy growth of hair and gives your hair a shiny quality. It also provides the essential proteins required for nourishing and healing damaged hair. By regularly massaging your head with coconut oil, you can ensure that your scalp is free of dandruff, even if your scalp is chronically dry. It also helps in keeping your hair and scalp free from lice and lice eggs.

Heart diseases:

There is a misconception spread among many people that coconut oil is not good for heart health. This is because it contains a large quantity of saturated fats. In reality, coconut oil is beneficial for the heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in actively preventing various heart problems like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. The saturated fats present in coconut oil are not harmful as you commonly find in vegetable oils. Coconut oil does not lead to increase in LDL levels, and it reduces the incidence of injury and damage to arteries and therefore helps in preventing atherosclerosis.

Digestion:

A tablespoon taken before each meal can help improve digestion. It can also be taken in warm ginger tea to sooth heartburn or nausea.

Skin care:

Coconut oil is an excellent massage oil for the skin. It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skin and has a natural SPF 4. It also delays the appearance of wrinkles and sagging of skin which normally accompany aging. It makes for a great after-shave lotion. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. It can relieve the pain of hemorrhoids when used topically. When put on cuticles it helps nails grow and also makes a great eye-makeup remover!

Weight loss:

Coconut oil is very useful for weight loss. It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and endocrine system. Further, it increases the body’s metabolic rate by removing stress on the pancreas, thereby burning more energy and helping obese and overweight people lose the weight. 

Immunity:

Coconut oil is also good for the immune system. It strengthens the immune system because it contains antimicrobial fats. Yes, these fats kill germs, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. A tablespoon melted into a cup of warm tea can help sooth a sore throat.

Candida:

Coconut oil has been shown to prevent and even cure candida. It provides relief from the inflammation caused by candida, both externally and internally. Its high moisture retaining capacity keeps the skin from cracking or peeling off. Further, unlike other pharmaceutical treatments for candida, the effects of coconut oil is gradual and not drastic or sudden, which gives the body an appropriate amount of time to slowly kill the fungi and prevent adverse symptoms that can occur when killing the fungi too fast. Adverse symptoms of treating candida to aggressively is known as a die-off reaction. But, in the treatment of this condition, people should systematically and gradually increase their internal dosages of coconut oil and shouldn’t initially start with a large quantity. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and work up to 3 tablespoons over several days.  When having a yeast infection you can soak a tampon in coconut oil and insert it overnight for topical treatment.  

Now there are different types of coconut oil: refined, virgin and pure.  Only use organic coconut oil and for cooking use refined organic coconut oil.  For the skin, hair, medicinal uses it could be pure or virgin organic coconut oil.  It's best to get muscle tested to see which one works best for your body.   There is also a great book by Bruce Fife for even more info on coconut oil called "The Coconut Oil Miracle”.

There has also been in recent years a lot more coconut based foods being made.  Three years ago coconut water was just making an appearance on store shelves and now you can get it anywhere. There are all kinds of enhanced waters these days, but coconut water is the real deal. The drink quickly became a staple everywhere from health food stores to fitness studios but it's sweet, nutty taste isn't for everyone. Do the nutrition facts back up the hype? Here's what you need to know.

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside coconuts. You'd typically get coconut water from young, green coconuts—those harvested at five to seven months of age, whereas the browner coconuts, are a better source of coconut milk.

Drinking coconut water for post-workout recovery is amazing! I’m so grateful there is something out there other than gatorade.  Just like gatorade, coconut water is abundant in several electrolytes including potassium, sodium, and magnesium. If you're having an intense sweat session, especially in the summer months when you may be sweating more, grab a coconut water and not regular water.  The electrolytes in coconut water can help regulate fluid balance, prevent dehydration, and even ensure proper muscle function. Of course, you'll want to make sure you refuel with enough carbohydrates and protein post-workout as well but coconut water really can help prevent muscle soreness and cramping. 

Coconut water also helps reduce blood pressure and stroke risk. Bananas are notorious for their high potassium levels, but just one cup of coconut water contains more potassium than a medium sized banana. Research suggests that potassium-rich diets can help support the heart by reducing blood pressure and even protecting against stroke.

Coconut water helps with digestion because it contains magnesium, a mineral that helps to keep things moving and prevent constipation. Magnesium also helps prevent cramping.

If you're under the weather, the body can lose a tremendous amount of fluid from vomiting and diarrhea. Coconut water can help with hydration status and balance electrolytes better than regular water in this scenario and you don’t want to drink ginger ale with all the added sugar.

Also use coconut water as an alternative to sugary beverages. Unlike sugar sweetened juices and sodas, coconut water usually has little to no added sugar (in unflavored varieties) and is yet still sweet. This makes it a great choice for those craving something sweet and yet trying to reduce their consumption of added sugar.

I personally add 4 ounces of coconut water to my morning superfood smoothie because it has a way of enhancing the health benefits of the other superfoods in it so I can get even more nutrition out of my smoothie. I only drink one type of coconut water, Harmless Harvest. I was first attracted to it being organic and not thermally pasteurized and after trying lots of different coconut waters it’s the taste that keeps me loyal to this brand. For your convenience and my enjoyment we sell Harmless Harvest coconut water at the office.  

What Foods to Eat for Better Health

Health is all about eating well and it is in this blog that I get into the details of why certain foods test poorly during a muscle testing appointment.  The top 2 foods that most people have to stay away from for a period of time to help the body heal is sugar and wheat.  In my last podcast I went into great detail of how sugar can ruin your health and what healthy sugar alternatives one could use instead.

When you eat too much sugar it can cause depression, it can cause you to store sugar as fat instead of using it for energy.  It can cause you to have highs and lows in your energy, and it can lead to diabetes. Sugar makes you gain weight, and feel tired. Eating fat doesn’t make you overweight, sugar does. Eating too much sugar and carbs is the reason that most people are tired all the time as well. Not to mention that sugar zaps the collagen in your skin, and dulls your complexion. There is no nutritional value to white refined sugar, which most of it now comes from genetically modified beets, or white sugar from sugar cane which is now labeled as cane sugar or evaporated cane juice.  There is very little nutritional value in real brown sugar because the molasses holds some nutritional value but not much.  Brown sugar really is just one step away from being white sugar.  The molasses content is 3.5% molasses (light brown sugar) to 6.5% molasses (dark brown sugar).  

When it comes to wheat sometimes patients have to stay away from wheat but other times they have to stay away from gluten.  Gluten is a protein found in grains including wheat but gluten is also in oat, spelt, rye, and barley and some people have a true allergy to it where their body cannot digest it so when consumed, their digestive track becomes inflamed, the intestinal wall gets damaged and over time celiac disease forms. Celiac disease is diagnosed by blood tests and examining a small piece of tissue from your intestinal track to see if it's damaged.

But a lot of people who feel that gluten may be an issue for them go for the celiac disease test and it comes back negative, yet they know they somehow feel better if they don't eat gluten. So even though there is no true gluten allergy causing a disease there could be a gluten sensitivity causing symptoms. That is why I muscle test to see if gluten is a problem for the body to digest and once off gluten their symptoms become better. Symptoms helped by not eating gluten when indicated by the muscle testing include acne, constipation, diarrhea, gas, acid reflux, headaches. A lot of the times patients inform me about weight loss that occurs as a result as well.

Sometimes though, when testing the body, I don't find gluten as a problem for the body to digest but wheat itself is a problem. Whereas the other grains, oat, rye, spelt, and barley are okay for a patient to eat. So why would wheat be an issue but not gluten? The answer is because wheat has been genetically modified and the body looks at it as a toxin instead of a food. So for some bodies it is a "perfect, chronic poison," according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published Wheat Belly. Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s." This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. The gliadin protein is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite. Opiates include chemicals like morphine, heroin and opium.  So this genetically modified wheat is addicting and not easy to get off of without some determination.  

The original wheat plant is averages 48 inches and also has less gluten in it.  So this new genetically modified American wheat is shorter, with up to 3 times more gluten in it and a new protein, gliadin in it that makes it addictive.  Genetically modified wheat is not a food but a poison.  This is why the ‘gluten-free’ trend is not a trend but a healthy lifestyle that is here to stay since they changed the plant 50 years ago.  

When I talk about staying away from wheat I include white flour in that as well because white flour comes from the wheat plant but when it is made in the mill it is bleached with chlorine.  That is the difference between wheat and white flour, bleach, which we would never drink in a million years but is in our food.  When buying wheat look for ‘unbleached flour’.  If it just says flour then assume it is bleached.  

My patients and I notice when we go to Europe and we eat the wheat there it doesn’t make us feel bad and that is because Europe’s wheat is not genetically modified,  and our body knows how to digest it and use it as food.  it is illegal to bleach it too in Europe.  Instead it is the millers’ job to separate the heat bran, wheat germ and pure white flour in order to get the unbleached white flour.  One of my really good friends is Italian, living in Paris, and explains to me that they purposely stay away from American food with wheat or white flour in it because they know it doesn’t make them feel good.  They call it ‘American wheat’ and they purposely go out of their way not to buy it.

So when people stop eating wheat, just like when people stop eating gluten, they tend to lose weight. My patients have also found relief in digestive issues, fatigue, headaches, acne, severe PMS and brain fog when not eating wheat. When making food options while staying off of wheat you know if it's gluten-free then it won't have wheat so buying/ordering gluten-free is an easy way to go about cleaning up the wheat in your diet.

Besides staying off of the bread, pasta, bagels, pretzels which are obvious white flour/gluten containing foods one should be careful of gravies, soups and salad dressings which tend to use wheat as a thickener. Soy sauce has gluten in it as well and so a lot of my patients go to a health food store and get gluten-free soy sauce and bring that to the restaurant when ordering sushi or sashimi.

There is something called ‘sprouted wheat” which we test as a different food than wheat or gluten.  When wheat is sprouted it keeps many of it’s nutrients.  Other grains such as oats, rye, rice, and quinoa can also be sprouted and are healthier for you compared to regular grains.  Refined, processed grains are stripped of most of their nutrients, as the bran and the germ of the grain are removed. When making white flour, most of the vitamins B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, zinc, iron, and fiber are lost leaving you with a useless starchy food that has a host of negative health consequences.

Eating refined grains can directly contribute to obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. This is why sprouting your grains or buying them sprouted is so important. As much as 5x more nutrients are found in sprouted grains compared to processed grains and if you have ever had sprouted wheat bread you know there is a huge difference compared to Wonder bread.  It’s brown and heavier; dense with nutrition and your body digests it better too.

Before the usage of commercial farm harvesters, grain naturally sprouted in the field before it was milled into flour. During the industrial revolution grain was quickly harvested unsprouted and moved to storage bins.

Sprouted foods are considered superfoods. They rank as the most nutritious of all foods available.

Benefits of Sprouted Flour:

Easier to digest - sprouting breaks down the starches in grains to simple sugars so your body can digest them like a vegetable

Increased Vitamin C

Increased Vitamin B

Increased Carotene - sprouting increased the carotene up to eight times

Increased enzymes - enzymes are produced during sprouting

Reduction of anti-nutrients - Sprouting neutralizes enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid which is present in the bran of all grains that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc.

Sprouted grains are significantly higher in protein, vitamins and enzymes. In fact, one of my favorite protein powders is Garden of Life because they use sprouted grains for the protein. Sprouted grains have low glycemic index so they are digested more slowly by the body, keeping the blood sugar levels stable for longer, making people feel more satisfied. This leads to snacking less.

Those who have allergies or intolerances to wheat or grains in general may find that they have absolutely no negative health reactions to sprouted grains. 

Nuts, seeds and beans are packed with healthy fats, protein and minerals just like grains, but to get that all good stuff assimilated into your body, it is recommended that you prepare them by soaking them. Just like grains, nuts, legumes and seeds contain phytic acids and enzyme inhibitors to keep them from sprouting until nature delivers the sun and rain that they need to grow. Have you heard people, maybe even yourself, say “nuts or beans are hard on my stomach”? Well, enzyme inhibitors/phytic acids are the reason. By soaking, enzyme inhibitors are neutralized, the beneficial enzymes are activated and the vitamin content increases. Soaking makes seeds, nuts and legumes easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed. The process helps to alkalize the body. Why is this important? Bacteria and disease don't seem to flourish in alkaline environments. When nuts are soaked or sprouted, their pH increases, which makes them more alkaline and in turn can be a part of an alkaline-rich diet that takes your body from more of an acidic state (think inflammation), to an alkaline state. The process helps to alkalize the body.  

We have a nut/seed vial and we also have a bean/legume vial to test people for.  A third vial we have is just for peanuts.  We muscle test peanuts separately because in the manufacturing of peanuts mold easily grows on them and is the main reason why peanuts are a true food allergy that can cause anaphylactic reactions.  It’s not the peanut but the mold that grows on them.  When people test for no peanuts it could just be a sensitivity and we want them to stay away from peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil. So read labels carefully.  

STEP 1, SOAK // In a large glass mason jar, pour your seed/grain/legume along with enough water to cover completely with an each or two above. The measurement of water doesn’t matter here, it’s only for soaking purposes.

Where to buy: If you’re looking for sprout seeds (alfalfa, broccoli, mung, etc.), check out your local health food store.

STEP 2, WAIT // Let the nut/seed/grain/legume soak for the given time. Here is a link to a sprouting chart that will tell you how long to soak. (http://nutritionstripped.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-24-at-2.39.19-PM-e1395690006116.png)   Soaking and sprouting times differ amongst each grain, seed, nut, or legume.  Note in the chart that soaking times take about 8-12 hours and sprouting times take 2-4 days so try to plan accordingly.  

STEP 3, RINSE // Follow the soaking process with thorough rinsing. Rinse the water until it becomes clear, pour the old water out, fill with new clean water and repeat until clear. If you’re using a sprouting jar this is incredibly easy because you just pour water through the mesh lid and rinse as well- no needed to use a strainer. If you’re using a strainer simply rinse water on top and pay close attention for the water to become clear.

The process can stop here for most nuts/seeds and grains as they can be used just soaked and not sprouted. For example, making your own nut milks from the soaked nuts/seeds is perfect. Also, if you want to cook immediately your soaked grains and legumes, you can do so. Another option is to continue to STEP 4 and sprout them, dehydrate, and then enjoy.

STEP 4, SPROUT // Refer to the sprouting chart for the times on how long it will take each nut/seed/grain/legume to sprout as they all differ. Essentially what you will be doing for this sprouting time is rinsing with filtered water several times/day- think of it as “watering” a plant (do this at least twice/day). The goal is to rinse the nut/seed/grain/legume and drain the rest of the water off (I do this by putting my sprouting jar upside down at about a 45 degree angle in my kitchen dish drying rack, it’s perfect because all the excess water goes right down the sink and gives the seeds enough air circulation to grow!

STEP 5, GROW // As the nut/seed/grain/legume starts to sprout, you’ll notice tiny “tail” coming from the seed, this mean it’s growing and sprouting! Sprouting times can vary from 1-4 days, you’ll know it’s finished when the seeds have a tail or they’ve sprouted greens!

STEP 6, STORE // Keep sprouts fresh in the fridge by wrapping them in a mesh cheesecloth and use within 3-4 days.  You have to be strict about eating them for only 3-4 days and keeping them refrigerated because sprouts are at risk for contamination with food illnesses and bacteria such as E. coli. This can simply be avoided by keeping your kitchen clean, jars cleaned, hands washed, and purchasing organic seeds/nuts/grains/legumes. I’ve been sprouting almost weekly for the past 8 years and I’ve never had an issue.

Besides testing wheat versus gluten versus sprouted grains when it comes to carbs we also test white rice versus brown rice.  Brown rice is known to be healthier and people voluntarily eat brown rice thinking they are making the healthier choice but what if they aren’t?  It is true, brown rice has more fiber and nutrients than white rice but sometimes the fiber doesn’t do well with people who have an inflamed gut.  The fiber can be scratchy to the intestinal wall irritating the inflamed gut.  The second reason why someone would test negatively for brown rice is that the brown rice plant has the ability to absorb arsenic from the soil.  Arsenic is not normally found in soil but if the soil is contaminated it will absorb it.  Believe it or not arsenic is found in conventionally raised poultry because it is in commercial chicken feed.  It is also in wine, treated wood, pesticides, insecticides, paints, table salt, and tobacco smoke.

Obviously arsenic poisoning is just a way of life that no one told you about.  A healthy body arsenic in, body will detox it and arsenic out but those who are sensitive to it need to stay away for some time until we can get the body healthier and able to detox on it’s own.  Just a quick sidetone, kale will absorb thallium from contaminated soil just like brown rice absorbs arsenic.  Kale is a superfood that people are eating like crazy to be healthy but if your detox pathways aren’t open and you can’t handle the thallium then you need to be careful. That’s the beauty of muscle testing, knowing exactly what foods are healthy for you and kale may not be one of them.

To learn more about detoxing heavy metals, listen to this podcast: https://healingarts.buzzsprout.com/894679/3022864-heavy-metal-detox

Now white rice has very little nutritional value and can spike up the blood sugar easily.  Eating sprouted rice is healthier and it does not absorb arsenic or have fiber that can be irritating so it can be a very neutral food for people.  Neutral meaning it does not harm nor has much nutritional value and can be an easy carb to eat when avoiding gluten/wheat.

Oats is another carb that people think is healthy and is known specifically to be heart healthy but there are so many people that have to take a break from their daily oatmeal after being muscle tested precisely because they are having it daily.  Foods need to be rotated for optimal health.  The body cannot eat the same thing over and over again.  It puts too much stress on the digestive system.  The body needs variety.  It needs the different nutrients from different foods.  My rule of thumb is to rotate foods every four days.  So you will need three different breakfasts.  

Speaking of breakfast, one of the other things we test for are organic eggs versus common egg versus egg white versus egg yolk.  We want to be very specific about what type of egg you can eat if any.  If so, you may think that buying organic eggs is the best you can do… but there’s more! Organic eggs are really just a single step up from regular eggs.

If you see the word “organic” on a label, including eggs, you might think that the hens who laid the eggs lived in better conditions and enjoyed happier lives than their battery cage friends, but even certified organic eggs can come from birds who are subject to living in inhumane factory conditions.

Most industrial egg-laying operations get by following the minimum standards required. They are allowed to do this by simply including a small porch area attached to a two-story building where their chickens are housed, and they can call this “outdoor access.” 

Certified organic eggs come from hens that are raised on hormone-free and antibiotic-free organic feed full of corn and soy, and have “access” to outdoor areas. But with those living conditions the chickens are not at their healthiest to produce the healthiest eggs.

If you can’t even trust a certified organic label for eggs, which eggs can you buy? Here are some other terms used to label the various conditions under which eggs are produced and what they mean:

Cage-free: This is a loose, unregulated term describing eggs which could be from hens confined to a barn, OR from chickens with access to outdoor space. There is no specific regulation for the term cage-free and there is a big difference between these options! Cage-free egg producers are not audited by independent inspectors, unless they are also certified organic.

Many people buy cage-free eggs thinking that these hens have access to outdoor pasture, but the truth is that they usually live inside dark enclosed sheds. The chickens are free to roam around within the confined space and to stretch and spread their wings, which is a significant improvement over cage conditions, but they still don’t typically have free roaming access to outdoor pasture.

Free-range: Even though it sounds good, “free-range” doesn’t mean pasture-raised any more than “cage free” does. Free-range hens, you would think, should have access to the outside, but again, there is no regulation that guarantees how long they need to be outside, how much room they are given, or any other standards that would make them “free-range.”

Free-range hens can still be fed GMO feed, given antibiotics, and other animal by-products. They often live in overcrowded conditions, and they may or may not have access to more comfortable nests and perches.

Omega-3 Enhanced: Omega-3 enhanced eggs come from chickens that consume significant amounts of flax, which contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Most omega-3 enhanced egg laying hens in battery cages. The amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in these eggs is unregulated and can be quite variable.

Pasture-raised: Authentic free-range eggs come from hens raised on grassy pastures. These eggs are visibly more nutritious than eggs obtained from cage-free, or confined environments. The color, flavor and texture of a pasture-raised egg is distinctively noticeable, and due to high amounts of Vitamin A, D, E, K2, B-12, folate, riboflavin, calcium, zinc, beta carotene, choline, and loads of omega 3 fatty acids, a pasture-raised egg is a true superfood. If you’ve never eaten an egg from a hen raised on sunshine, bugs and grass, then you are in for a treat!

Note that some eggs are labelled “pasteurized” and this means something different from pastured. Pasteurized eggs have been treated to eliminate bacteria such as salmonella so they can be eaten raw.

If you are not sure how the eggs you buy rate, use the Organic Egg Brand Scorecard link to learn more about the source of eggs available to you and to help you choose a healthier, and more humanely raised egg!

Another food we test for is corn.  Corn sounds easy to stay away from.  If I tell people to stay away from corn they think, “that’s fine, no corn on the cob, corn chips or corn flakes.’  But it also includes corn oil, popcorn, high fructose corn syrup and some people are so sensitive to it that they have to make sure that the eggs and meat they are eating are not from animals eating corn but are instead pasture raised or grass fed.  Without those labels you can assume the animals are eating tons of corn, soy and antibiotics.  Corn and soy are extremely cheap to produce and America produces a lot of them so the food companies find new ways to incorporate them into our foods.  That’s where high fructose corn syrup comes from.  Do you think we need another processed sweetener in our food? No, but the FDA found a cheaper version than cane sugar and beet sugar when it made high fructose corn syrup.  If you are allowed to eat corn it is very important to only eat organic.  Otherwise the corn you are eating is genetically modified and ladened with pesticides.

We muscle test for soy as well. A lot of studies have been done about the ill effects of soy (http://www.westonaprice.org/wp-content/uploads/FDASoyReferences.pdf).  Soy contains something in it that acts like estrogen in our body.  We call it phytoestrogen.  Phyto means plant and when something acts like estrogen in our bodies it really does disturb our hormone pathways.  Animals eating a lot of soy and being given hormones is the main reason why I think girls reach puberty and get their periods at a younger and younger age each generation.  Science also shows phytoestrogens have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.  Soy phytoestrogens are known to harm the thyroid too and cause hypothyroidism and may even cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Soy, like beans, have high levels of phytic acid which reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. Vitamin B12 in soy is not absorbed and actually increases the body’s requirement for B12. Soy also increases the body’s requirement for vitamin D.  So instead of being nutritious, soy depletes our body of nutrition.  

When asking patients to stay away from soy, besides avoiding edamame, tofu, and soy sauce eating only good quality pasture raised meat and eggs are in order otherwise the animals eat a lot of soy.  Also read food labels to look for hidden sources of soy.  Soy is hidden in so many foods as soybean oil, soy lecithin and MSG.  Monosodium glutamate or MSG, is a extreme neurotoxin, and is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

When it comes to drinking milk, specifically cow milk, there is a lot of controversy.  Is it good for us?  Don't we need the calcium from it?  Is whole milk really the best with a higher concentration of fat? The questions can go on and on.

So let's take it step by step.  Is cow milk healthy for us?  My answer, which is my answer for everything, is it depends on how you muscle test for it.  So to all my patients who do test well for milk the best cow milk to drink is A2 milk.  A2 milk is cow's milk that mostly lacks a form of β-casein proteins called A1 and instead has mostly the A2 form. Beta-casein makes up about 30 percent of the protein in cow's milk. A1 and A2 are two variants of beta-casein. Historically, cows produced milk that contained only the A2 form of beta-casein. So the genetic change that makes A1 protein is harder for us to digest.

The percentage of the A1 and A2 beta-casein protein varies between herds of cattle, and also between countries. While African and Asian cattle continue to produce only A2 beta-casein, the A1 version of the protein is common among cattle in the western world. Goat, sheep, water buffalo and human breast milks all contain only A2-like proteins, and thousands of years ago, cow’s milk also had only A2.

During the breakdown of A1 in the gut, a peptide fragment (a chain of amino acids) called BCM-7 is formed. This fragment can slow down digestion, trigger inflammation and cause symptoms such as bloating, gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea and constipation (http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/7/9/5339/htm). No such fragment is formed with A2 digestion. If those symptoms sound similar to those of lactose intolerance, it’s because they are. And many people may be misdiagnosing themselves when it is really A1 they need to avoid.

Milk that contains only A2 milk was brought to market by The a2 Milk Company from New Zealand in 2000 and is sold mostly in Australia, New Zealand, China, United States and the United Kingdom. I just recently found it at a local grocery store called Shop Rite.  A genetic test, developed by the a2 Milk Company, determines whether a cow produces A2 or A1 type protein in its milk. The test allows the company to certify milk producers as producing A2 milk.

Whole fat A2 milk is the best type to drink because the extra fat content is how Mother Nature made it so your body can digest it better.  Research even shows that among adult women, higher intake of high-fat dairy was actually linked to less weight gain than intake of low-fat dairy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26912496/). And a recent study of children ages 1-6 years old found that those who drank whole milk had higher vitamin D levels and lower BMI (body mass index) than those who drank low-fat fat (https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/104/6/1657/4668588). 

For those of you who don't drink milk but have read this and now are worried about not getting enough calcium in your diet here are other calcium sources: http://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2018/06/got-milk-if-not-try-these-other-calcium.html.

Besides milk we also test for cheese in a separate vial.  Due to the fermentation process sometimes people will test fine for cheese but not for milk.  Other times it’s the other way around and because of the mold during the fermentation process someone will test negatively for cheese and okay for milk.  Butter is also a dairy product but tends to be fine for more people because it has barely any lactose or casein in it which are the two main culprits of why someone would react poorly to milk and cheese.  Again, to know for sure if butter is okay for your body, it is best to get muscle tested.

Fruit can be a sensitivity that some people have to stay away from because the fruit sugar also known as fructose is stress full on the body, especially the liver.  Even when people test fine for fruit sometimes I limit the fruit to only one serving a day.  There is a lot of vitamins and minerals in fruit but the fruit sugar can cause stress on the body.  Also with genetic modifications and our soil being depleted of minerals an apple today contains more fructose and less minerals than 50 years ago.  A good book on this topic is Empty Harvest by Dr. Bernard Jensen. Our food unfortunately isn't as nutritious as it used to be. 

Depending on the person’s muscle testing sometimes fruit has to be limited even more to only berries, limes and lemons because the sugar content of those fruits is less than other fruits.  Other times, the muscle testing shows that a person cannot handle any fruit  at all.  If the person is really going through a blood sugar situation or an adrenal fatigue phase we have to stay away from fruit because even fructose can cause an increase in blood sugar.  Even a small spike in blood sugar can elicit a hormonal reaction from the adrenal glands that sometimes the body cannot handle.  

I do look at tomatoes as a fruit that gets muscle tested separately because tomatoes are also a night shade.  Night shades are a group of foods that can cause chronic pain due to the inflammation that they cause.  Besides tomatoes night shades also include peppers, potatoes, eggplant, and goji berries. 

The other thing about tomatoes is the lectins. Lectins are microscopic proteins that plants evolved to defend themselves from predators, including insects and animals (that includes humans!). They are essentially indigestible and have the unique ability to increase the permeability of your intestines which eventually can cause a leaky gut or more intense situations.

That means that lectins and other small particles of food can pass through the wall of your gut, and will be treated as foreign invaders by your immune system. This causes an inflammatory response, which is a main reason for food sensitivities but can also set the stage for a host of diseases, as well as weight gain. If you have leaky gut until that gut is healed you will have food sensitivities.  

Dr. Steven Gundry popularized the lectin-free diet. He is a former heart surgeon who switched his focus to food and supplement-based medicine. Dr. Gundry describes lectins as the main danger found in the American diet. In response, he has written a book that provides information on how to avoid lectins, alternative food choices, and recipes, The Plant Paradox. 

According to the book when lectins are harmful, leaking through the gut and causing inflammation, the auto-immune diseases that can be created are celiac disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, cancer, and depression.

Following a lectin-free diet could be a way to lower inflammation in the body. The best way to know if avoiding lectins would make a difference in your health is to get muscle tested to see how your body responds to lectins.  

According to Dr. Gundry, people should limit the following foods when trying to avoid lectins:

    •    legumes, such as beans, peas, soy, lentils, and peanuts

    •    squash

    •    nightshade vegetables, such as eggplant, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes

    •    fruit, although in-season fruit is allowed in moderation

    •    all grains

    •    corn

    •    meat from corn-fed animals

    •    A1 milk

Soaking beans overnight in water and some baking soda, then draining them and thoroughly boiling or pressure cooking them, can eradicate nearly all lectins. In fact, pressure cooking vegetables and legumes is also an excellent way to decrease lectin content in those plant foods.  But, using a pressure cooker doesn’t get rid of all lectins – it won’t even touch the lectins in wheat, oats, rye, barley, or spelt.

Likewise, sprouting grains, seeds, and beans releases enzymes that reduce lectins, and the process of fermentation can cut the lectins in dairy and vegetables.

Peel and deseed your fruits and veggies – If you’re going to use lectin-rich plant foods, make sure to peel and deseed them. Often, the most harmful part of a plant is it’s lectin-filled hull, peel, or rind. To reiterate, the peels and the seeds are often where lectins are hiding, so you can significantly cut down on your intake by eliminating that part of the plant.

Finally, if in fact you must eat grains, opt for white over brown. So, instead of brown rice, eat white rice. Instead of whole wheat bread, find a healthier version of white bread.

Turns out, though many believe brown rice is healthier than it’s white counterpart, those who eat rice as their staple grain have always stripped the hull off of brown rice before they eat it. That’s because the hull contains all the dangerous lectins.

A lectin-free diet is not easy to follow but the science is there to back up why lectins would cause inflammation in the body and lead to certain diseases.  If you think it may help you and you can’t get muscle tested then try not eating lectins for 2 weeks and then add them back in and if you notice a difference then maybe avoiding lectins is the best thing you can do for your body. 

Now what food blog would not be complete without talking about the health of chocolate?  Over the past dozen of years or so, a steady stream of science has emerged, showing that cocoa possess extraordinary life-imbuing and disease-fighting properties, is extremely anti-inflammatory and even helps in weight loss (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24100674/). Cocoa also demonstrates significant benefits for the cardiovascular system, helping to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, reduce the risk of high blood pressure, and even reduce the risk of cancer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4696435/).

Cocoa contains over 700 known compounds. And for all we know, there may be many more that remain undiscovered. Of particular interest to scientists are the antioxidant compounds in cocoa. Antioxidants are compounds that plants manufacture to prevent their own cells from premature destruction due to exposure to heat, light, air, moisture and time. In the human body, many of these compounds prevent reactive oxygen species (ROS) from destroying cells and causing premature aging and disease. Cocoa is especially rich in polyphenols, a group of protective antioxidant compounds found in many plant foods such as red wine and tea. Yet, of all foods, cocoa has the highest antioxidant polyphenol content, and provides the greatest cardio-protection.

Cardiovascular disease is the primary killer of adults. The polyphenols in cocoa are cardio-protective in two ways. They help to reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or so-called ‘bad cholesterol.” Oxidation of LDL is considered a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease, most notably heart attack and stroke. Additionally, polyphenols inhibit blood platelets from clumping together. This clumping process, called aggregation, leads to atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries. By inhibiting aggregation, polyphenols reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.

Another dimension of the benefits of cocoa and chocolate consumption concerns mood. Cocoa is rich in agents that enhance the production of various feel-good chemicals in the brain, notably serotonin and dopamine. This means that cocoa possesses anti-depressant, mood-elevating properties. This may be no surprise to the millions of people who self medicate with chocolate every day and now you know why you do.  

Of the mood-modifying compounds in cocoa, one is PEA, or phenethylamine. This chemical, which occurs in chocolate in small quantities, stimulates the nervous system and triggers the release of pleasurable opium-like compounds known as endorphins. It also potentiates the activity of dopamine, a neurochemical directly associated with sexual arousal and pleasure. Phenethylamine increases in the brain when we fall in love.  The giddy, restless feelings that occur when we are in love are at least partly due to PEA. This adds a rather remarkable dimension to cocoa, and may account for why it is so highly prized. For while there are a great many agents in nature which boost libido and enhance sexual function, (High Libido Diet: https://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-high-libido-diet.html) chocolate alone actually promotes the brain chemistry of being in love. Chocolate is a main gift at Valentine’s Day for this very reason.

Cocoa additionally boosts a sense of well being by increasing brain levels of serotonin, the so-called feel-good brain chemical. For this reason cocoa provides a highly desirable mood boost to women during PMS and menstruation, when serotonin levels are often down. In fact, women are consistently more sensitive to cocoa than men. Women typically experience stronger cocoa cravings than men. And for many, cocoa is the perfect PMS prescription. A little cocoa can restore a feeling of well being.

The one thing that hinders chocolate from being a great super food is all the sugar we put with it. Find chocolate that is made with coconut sugar, stevia or monk fruit instead and even when it’s made with a healthier sweetener make sure you have at most only a serving a day.  You can also make your own chocolate using raw, organic honey: https://healingartsnyc.com/raw-chocolate

Life is a Story

We each have a story, actually many stories. Our lives are full of the stories that we tell ourselves. We each have a story about family, our work, our home, etc. And I want you to know that if there is a story about your life that you don’t like, you can change it. You can tell yourself a different story, for we are the author and each of us is writing a book of life.

We can literally tell ourselves a different story. We can believe in a different story. What we believe in, what we think and tell ourselves, matters for our thoughts give way to feelings. Feelings give way to actions. Actions give way to character. Character is our identity and what we use to create and write our book of life. If we think a certain thought long enough it becomes a belief that we then act on. Take an inventory of your beliefs. Do you believe life is fun or a struggle? Do you believe in love at first sight or love is something to be earned? Do you believe money should come easily or do you need to work hard for it? There is a danger in believing in a thought that does not serve you and then it comes out in actions of self-sabatoge. There is also a danger in believing that what other people think matters. Your thoughts and feelings are fleeting and so are theirs. What do you want to believe in? Choose that. Yes, thoughts are a choice. They are not truth. What is truth? Truth is defined as 'in accordance with fact or reality'. But if our thoughts or feelings are fleeting then is it a fact? Is it truth? No. Truth is not your fleeting feelings or thoughts. But your feelings and thoughts do give rise to a 'truth for now'. Meaning as we grow and learn and have new feelings and thoughts we are creating a new truth for now, we are creating a new story. We are not the same person we were a year ago because we are not thinking or feeling the same things. We may be thinking happier thoughts or we may be thinking more depressed thoughts but they are not the same and the choice is ours.

If you don't like an aspect of your life, then change the way you think about it. Tell yourself a different story. If you have different thoughts about it then you will feel and act differently and your life will change. If you tell yourself a better, happier story your life will change for the better. If something upsetting happens to you, or even traumatic, something that should never happen to anyone, it is okay, you can rewrite your story with courage. Courage allows you not to get stuck in that sad story. For if you do get stuck in a sad story your character starts changing and becoming sad. That is depression. But even with a sad story we can find some silver lining about it, something, even if it’s small, to be grateful for. And when we find that something to be grateful for that is what we can choose to think about. We can do a paradigm shift. We can tell ourselves a different story and think different thoughts and create a different life instead of being stuck in a story that doesn't help serve us. Maybe the story, at some point, did help us. Such as the story of love gone wrong and we aren't going to make that choice again. But do we really want to close ourselves off from all chances of finding love or do we just want to be smarter about it next time. We can learn from our stories and make better, healthier choices. That is the point. Learn and move on. The point is not to get stuck in them and replay them again and again in our minds and feel miserable about our book of life.

When life blindsides you and you are working through a story that you don't have any control over or you wake up one day and you realize you don't like your story, you can learn to move through it with courage, the best way you know how. Feel your feelings. Get mad, get sad, cry, etc. whatever you feel, feel it. Do not numb yourself with distractions. Do not eat a gallon of ice cream, drink a bottle of wine or numb out on television.

Feel your feelings because they are telling you something, but don't identify with them. We should not define who we are by our thoughts or our feelings. There is no truth in fleeting feelings. 'I am sad,' is not true. 'I feel sad' is true. Give your feelings space to be the energy that they are and let them come up. Allow your feelings to communicate what they need to. Listen to them. Act accordingly for the highest good and then let them go. No need to hold onto them. No need to identify with them. In fact, unless they are feelings that make you feel good they need to be felt in order to be let go and nothing more. If you don’t feel them then you can't let them go. If you don't let them go they hold you down, emotionally and physically. Feelings are energy and you keep that energy and store it in your body. That is what stress headaches are. Stomach knots, shoulder pain, low back pain can all be areas too where you put your stress. Stress occurs in the body when you are thinking thoughts or tell yourself a story that doesn’t make you happy. It is at those times your body is telling you to tell a different story. The goal is to try to change your thoughts and change your story before it starts to change your character and affect your body. You need to change your story when you don’t feel good about it. You know you are telling yourself the right story when you do feel good about it.


When anger comes up as a feeling we tend to be confused by it. It is an easy feeling to ignore for we have the stigma that nice people aren't supposed to get angry. I want you to know that anger is nothing to be scared of. It is a feeling that comes up to make us pay attention to what is going on for it is an indicator that something is not right. If this feeling is ignored we act out in different ways. We become passive aggressive or we take it out on others. Or maybe we are in denial and don't let ourselves feel it until one day it is too much pressure and we explode. So next time you feel anger, first practice gratitude for it, because it is telling you to pay attention to something. Then just be aware of your anger and really confront what is going on and use courage to change what needs to be changed in the situation so you feel safe again. I will tell you most of the time what needs to be changed is not the other person involved in the situation but something within yourself needs to change that you are not seeing and your anger allows you to see it and do something about it. If there is truly nothing you can change about the situation then acceptance is a choice. It is a choice that will get you out of anger, vibrating higher and feeling better.

In your book of life if you don’t like your story about work or relationships but you like your story about taking sailing lessons then keep your thoughts on sailing. Keep whatever thoughts make you happy. Thoughts are vibration. Vibration is energy. Higher vibrating thoughts are happy thoughts. The higher vibrating thoughts will give you more energy, put you in a higher vibrating place to have the energy to shift and move the lower vibrating thoughts and energy about the stories you don’t like and want to change. Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” So go to a different level. Go to a higher level with happier thoughts.

An easy example is when we break up with someone and we are devastated by it. Our heart is broken, our lives are in pieces and we don’t know how to get out of the sadness and despair. We slowly pick up the pieces and life does go on without them. But how it goes on is up to us. Do we stay in our sad story or do we practice gratitude for what we did learn from the relationship and trust that it’s over for a reason and move on with a story of trust and gratitude. How we move on is especially important now in order to attract the next person into our lives. If we are telling ourselves a sad story and vibrating low we are more likely to attract someone also vibrating low with their own sad story, for like attracts like.

Another example, a personal example, is when life blindsided me when my father died. I did the best I could to cope and go through the emotions of losing a loved one. Shock, denial, anger, bargaining, guilt, depression and acceptance and hope. Nine months after he died I was stuck on anger. I was angry. Every thought justified my anger. I was so, so, so angry that it was affecting every aspect of my life and I was miserable. So how do you go from anger to hope? You tell yourself a different story. For me, when I finally admitted to myself I was angry, I picked up the Bible, being raised Christian, that's all I knew at the time and I said to myself, 'you better figure out who you are mad at'. It took about six weeks of reading the Bible and other spiritual writings daily before my anger turned soft and started slowly transforming into acceptance. Now, 12 years later, after studying the Bible, Bhagavad Gita, teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh while meditating daily I can say, my dad's death served as the spark I needed to find my beautiful, loving relationship with God. Before his death I thought maybe I believed in something but I wasn't even sure what that something was. My father gave me the best gift he could have ever given me, he lit my path towards enlightenment, but only by his death did this happen and that is the paradigm shift I needed to go from anger to hope.

So that is my new story. The story of my father and I. It is no longer a story of anger and loss but of love renewed between God and I. A story of all the loving things my father did for me and when I miss him and start thinking about the loss I watch my feelings and then choose thoughts that make me happy. I choose to think of my father and the memories I hold so dear in my heart that bring a smile to my face. These thoughts fill me with love and gratitude. Whereas, if I stayed thinking of the loss I would probably still be stuck in anger and filled with bitterness.

In her book “On Death and Dying”, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described the 7 steps one takes to emotionally cope with death. But these steps are really taken to cope with any loss or sad story we are trying to emotionally process. Again, the steps are shock, denial, anger, bargaining, guilt, depression and finally acceptance and hope. The steps are not written in stone. You may not go through them in order and you may be able to process in a way where you do not have to go through all the steps. You may also get stuck in a step. You may get stuck in a story. Know that your goal for happiness is to find a story of hope and acceptance. You have to hope to cope! To move through the steps think thoughts that give you hope. Have the discipline to hold onto these thoughts and the feelings that come about due to these thoughts. And with those thoughts and feelings you will build an energetic momentum to get you out of the unhappy step you are in and closer to hope and happiness. This energetic momentum means it will be easier and easier for you to go to the higher vibrating thoughts. You won’t have to consciously choose the higher vibrating thought but you will start thinking it automatically and soon have higher vibrating thoughts on different aspects of your life as well. And it is in this way that you create your life and have the freedom to write a happy book of life.

Healthy Holiday Recipes

When trying to eat healthy we tend to feel deprived at times. It's easy to feel that way around the holidays. The best thing to do is to find healthy versions of the same recipes so you don't feel like you are going without. Enjoy these healthy versions!

GARLIC MASHED NO-TATOES
White potatoes -- while nutritious and natural -- can have potentially significant impact on blood sugar levels. Try adding mashed cauliflower to your holiday table instead. To prepare it, break a head of cauliflower into florets and then boiling or steaming until tender. Drain the cooked cauliflower, then mash it up. Toss in tasty additions, such as organic butter from grass-fed cows or olive oil, roasted garlic (optional), ground pepper and sea salt.



PALEO PUMPKIN PIE
15 oz canned pumpkin puree, or 11⁄2 cup roasted pumpkin puree

3 large eggs
1⁄2 cup full fat coconut milk (the hard, cream part)
1⁄2 cup honey
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄8 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 Paleo Pie Crust, unbaked
In a food processor combine pumpkin puree, and eggs. Pulse in coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour filling into Paleo Pie Crust. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Allow to cool then refrigerate for 2 hours to set up
Paleo Pie Crust
2 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)

1⁄4 teaspoon Himalayan salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil, room temperature
1 large egg
Place flour and salt in food processor and pulse briefly. Add coconut oil and egg and pulse until mixture forms a ball. Press dough into a 9 1/2-inch glass pie dish

CRANBERRY SAUCE
Cranberries provide ample antioxidants -- natural substances that help keep your cells healthy. But while cranberries that appear in one solid, canned piece or in sugar-laden sauces aren’t health supporting, homemade cranberry sauce is Paleo-friendly. Try making cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, pure orange juice, raw honey and a touch of fresh ginger, orange zest, cinnamon and grade D maple syrup.

LOW CARB BREAD - Serves 8
2 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal) 1⁄4 cup golden flaxmeal
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
5 large eggs or flax eggs
Optional 1⁄8 teaspoon of stevia or tablespoon or two of honey
In a food processor combine almond flour, flaxmeal, baking soda, and salt. Pulse in apple cider vinegar and eggs. Transfer batter to a greased 8" cast iron skillet. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Serve

PUMPKIN CRUMB MUFFINS - Serves 8
Muffins
5 large eggs
1⁄3 cup canned pumpkin puree 1⁄3 cup coconut sugar
1⁄4 cup coconut flour
1⁄8 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
Topping
1⁄3 cup palm shortening
1⁄3 cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
In a food processor, combine eggs, pumpkin, and coconut sugar. Pulse in coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Divide batter between 8 paper lined muffin cups. Rinse out food processor. In a food processor, combine shortening and coconut sugar. Pulse in coconut flour and cinnamon. Sprinkle topping over cupcake batter. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Serve

Foods to Help Protect Against Radiation

Now radiation is a huge topic. Also known as EMF’s or electromagnetic frequencies we have to be very careful because there’s no way of getting around this toxin. With our constant use of computers, cell phones, iPads, Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth everything we are bombarded with EMFs. At Healing Arts our goal is to minimize the effect of radiation on the body by healthy lifestyle choices and support the body with the right nutrition to help detox it.  The first step is to get an EMF blocker for your cell phone. Unfortunately there are a lot of EMF blockers out there on the market that do not work so do your research and find one that works. We like to use EMF Harmony. They have ones for the cellphones but other products as well. 

Lifestyle changes include not having your cellphone in your pocket. Carry it in a bag instead and do not charge it by your bed. At least have it across the room on airplane mode and better yet would be to have it charging in a different room but I know a lot of us use it as an alarm. Try not to have laptops or iPad directly on you when using them but on a table or at least on a pillow. Now the bluetooth headphones people have are an EMF disaster, having that sit right there in your ear, so close to your brain drives me crazy.  For those of you who have them I”m sure you love them and they do look nice but it’s better to go without especially if you are suffering from high blood pressure, headaches, neck pain or other joint inflammation.  Go back to the headphones with a wire and actually I like those headphones better than holding the phone to your ear too.  So when you are using your phone and you can use your headphones with a wire or put the phone on speaker and off your body  that is the safest way to use your phone. 

At Healing Arts we are all about using food to heal.  Food that you want to add to your diet specifically to help detox radiation includes chlorella, spirulina, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and seaweed.

Spirulina is nutrient-dense, with just one tablespoon of this powdered supplement containing 11% of the recommended daily intake of iron and four grams of protein. After the Chernobyl incident in 1986, the Institute of Radiation Medicine in Minsk proved that children experienced enhanced immune systems, T-cell counts and reduced radioactivity with 5 grams of spirulina a day for 45 days. Spirulina can be found in most health food stores as a green powder that can be added to smoothies. I personally add a raw paste one from https://www.rawlivingspirulina.com/ that is organically harvested from Florida.  

Chlorella is another type of algae and has the highest chlorophyll content. Studies show it helps protect against gamma radiation. So eat your green veggies to have more chlorophyll in your diet.  Chlorella and liquid chlorophyll can also be found in most health food stores.

Brassica vegetables and high beta-carotene vegetables – Researchers have found that all the brassica family plants protect your cells from the damaging effects of radiation. Beta-carotene has also been researched and found to protect your cells against radiation. Brassica vegetables include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, broccoli rabe, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, and bok choy. Beta-carotene can be found in concentrated amounts in foods such as sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, turnip greens, winter squash, collard greens, cilantro, fresh thyme, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and broccoli.

Beans and lentils have high nucleotide concentrations. Nucleotides are the building blocks that make up RNA and DNA. Nucleotides also carry out several critical functions needed for cell replication, as well as neutralizing toxins, increasing cellular metabolism, improving the response and efficiency of the immune system, enhancing the effects of antioxidants and increasing the body’s ability to heal and repair. Other foods high in nucleotides include spirulina, chlorella, algae, liver, anchovies and mackerel.

Fatty acids, such as cod liver oil and olive oil can protect against radiation. Studies have been done to show olive oil helps protect the liver against radiation given during cancer treatments.  

Make healthier choices when it comes to using electronics and eat your veggies to protect yourself from EMF toxicity.

Healthy Sugar Alternatives

Healing Arts has their own Food Pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is minimal sugars.  Minimal sugars include honey, stevia, real maple syrup, monk fruit, molasses, and coconut sugar.  It does not include white sugar, brown sugar or cane sugar.  Maximum allowed of these healthy sugars is a serving a day and better if you were to have it only once a week. You can get muscle tested to know what specific natural sugars work for your body.  Does your body do better with honey? Or maybe your body does better with coconut sugar?

Very rarely do we allow agave because it is a syrup that comes from the cactus plant and by the time it is bottled it is too highly processed.  Anyone with blood sugar issues should stay away from it.  Another thing to know, is if you have monk fruit it also counts as a fruit serving as well.  

When it comes to honey, not all honey is made the same and the honey in the plastic bear is definitely too processed.  Instead try to find raw, organic honey.  Honey is one of the oldest known sweeteners.  In Russia, the extremely potent honey from Siberian bees was given out as a prescription for almost all ailments.  In ancient Egypt honey was used to heal wounds. Honey is extremely heat sensitive due to the sheer number of beneficial enzymes, vitamins and minerals.  Honey that has been processed in any way losses most of its benefits.  Also, honey that was not properly harvested and made by bees that have been fed sugar instead of naturally collecting pollen from flowers can contribute to a loss in nutrients.  This processed honey is just as bad as sugar.

Raw honey is the best honey.  It is an alkalining food that doesn't ferment in the stomach.  It can be used to counteract acid indigestion.  When mixed with ginger and lemon juices it also relieves nausea and supplies energy.  Raw honey is also good to take for respiratory infections, liver problems. stomach ulcers, digestive problems, constipation, strengthening the immune system and promoting general vitality.

Manuka honey is most nutritious of honeys.  I have never been able to find it raw but it is worth the hype and the price.  It is only made in New Zealand and Australia from European honey bees foraging on the manuka tree. To be labelled New Zealand manuka honey at least 70% of its pollen content should come from the manuka tree. In 2004 Britain's National Health Service (NHS) licensed the use of medical grade manuka honey as a wound dressing. And in New Zealand, Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit of the University of Waikato, has been studying the antibacterial properties of manuka honey and he says it kills every type of bacteria, including MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant “superbug”. For some reason this antibacterial property is stable and doesn't lose its potency when exposed to dilution, heat or light as in other processed honeys.  So I always have a jar of it in my house that I take out when I feel I am starting to come down with something. Manuka honey comes with a number on the label +5, +10 etc.  The higher the number the more enzymes are in the honey and so the more medicinal the honey is but also the more expensive it is.  So I buy the highest number and use it only when I feel my throat or lungs need it and when I just want something sweet I use raw honey. 

Also made from bees is bee pollen and it is so full of nutrition it is labeled as a super food! It is about 40% protein and since about half of that is in the form of free amino acids it is ready to be used directly by the body and can contribute significantly to one's protein needs. So that’s why I add a teaspoon every morning to my breakfast smoothie.

It interestingly cannot be synthesized in a laboratory.  When researchers feed bees manmade pollen the bee dies even though all the known nutrients are present in the lab-produced synthesized food.  It is important to recognize that one teaspoon of pollen takes a bee working eight hours a day for one month to gather.

Pollen is known to improve endurance and vitality, aid in recovery from chronic illness, reduce cravings and addictions, regulate intestines, build new blood and boost the immune system.  It is thought to protect against radiation and to have anti-cancer qualities. Pollen is rich in proteins, free amino acids, and vitamins including B-complex and folic acid. A true superfood!

Besides honey we do allow minimal amounts of maple syrup.  Of course, it has to be the real organic maple syrup and not the corn syrup kind.  With antioxidants that support the body’s immune system and heart health as well as several beneficial vitamins and minerals, maple syrup is a great sugar substitute in any recipe. The conversion of maple syrup versus sugar in recipes can vary depending on the recipe, but typically one cup of white sugar can be replaced with 2/3 to ¾ cup of maple syrup.  Maple syrup comes in different colors. Maple syrup is classified from light to dark grades that include extra light/light (grades AA/A), medium (grade B), and amber/dark (grades C and D).  It is grade D that you want because darker syrups show significantly higher phenol and antioxidant content, along with more phosphorous, calcium and total mineral content than the other syrups.

Maple syrup having such nutritional content gives it a strong anti-inflammatory effect.  Especially the antioxidants content which lowers the impact of free radicals and prevent oxidative stress, which increases the risk of chronic diseases and chronic inflammation throughout the whole body.  

Phenolics have attracted significant research attention for their potential role in the prevention and treatment of several chronic human diseases including cancer.  Studies show that phenolics from maple syrup can stop colon cancer from growing. I’m sure phenolics can also help with other types of cancer but the research has not been done yet.  If you are wanting to use maple syrup medicinally add 1 tsp.grade D to your diet a day but do not heat it.  It loses some of it’s medicinal value if it’s heated.  Other food high in phenolics are berries, spices, nuts, green tea, and olive oil. 

Coconut sugar is made from the sap of coconut palm trees in a process that is very similar to the production of maple syrup. The harvested sap is reduced to a thick syrup and then boiled until it is reduced to a granulated form similar to that of brown sugar. Coconut sugar has many culinary applications, but my favorite way to work with it is to use coconut sugar in baking.  Coconut sugar does not taste like coconut (disappointing to coconut fans, I know!), but instead has a unique caramel flavor. While it is similar in texture to light brown sugar, it isn’t quite as “wet” and doesn’t pack down quite as tightly as real brown sugar. It also doesn’t have the same molasses notes, so it brings a lighter overall flavor to baked goods.  Despite these differences, coconut sugar can be used like both white and brown sugar in recipes. Do use coconut sugar as a 1:1 substitute for white or brown sugar.  

Just like maple syrup, coconut sugar retains a significant amount of the nutrients from that sap, unlike traditional table sugar that is stripped of nutrients.  Coconut sugar contains zinc, potassium, magnesium, calcium, copper, phenolics, specialized fiber, vitamin C and other antioxidants, rather than the basic “empty calories” of traditional sugar. However, coconut sugar is still very high in fructose, and just like the other healthy sweeteners, should be used in moderation.  When the liver processes fructose, it releases triglycerides, which are a form of fat that you want to make sure doesn’t get too concentrated in the body because it is not heart healthy.  Fructose is fruit sugar and is a different type of sugar than glucose.  This is the main reason why my rule of thumb is a serving of fruit a day.  You don’t want too much fructose in your diet.  Evolved chocolate and Hu chocolate are vegan chocolate companies that use coconut sugar if you want a sweet treat. 

Stevia is very healthy sugar alternative made from the green leaves of the stevia plant that is native to South America.  Only stevia provides zero calories and is the healthiest sweetener for diabetics.  While stevia is an excellent substitute for sugar, it's twice as sweet than sugar, and because of this you really can't use it to replace sugar at a 1:1 ratio.  It’s better to cut the stevia amount in 1/2.  Look for stevia in powder or liquid form in supermarkets and health-food stores. You’re likely to find it in the baking goods aisle.  Major U.S. soda companies now sell soda sweetened with stevia. Some flavored waters also have stevia but unfortunately they come in aluminum cans so I haven’t tried them.  Unlike the other sweeteners I feel like stevia can have an aftertaste and different brands do have a slightly different taste so you will want to experiment.  Lily’s chocolate is a healthy chocolate sweetened with stevia that tastes good.  

In 2015 a study came out that stevia can kill the bacteria that causes Lyme’s disease (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4681354/pdf/eujmi-05-268.pdf).  Ever since then I have been using stevia with success not only with my Lyme’s patients but also with other patients fighting bacterial and fungal infections.  It has to be an organic liquid stevia and it’s amazing how it works!   

Blackstrap molasses is another healthy sugar alternative produced by refining raw sugar cane. It is also known as the final by-product of cane mills.  Thick and dark, with a sticky, syrup-like texture, molasses is what's left over once no additional sugar can be crystalized from sugarcane or sugar beets.  Molasses comes in light, dark and blackstrap.  It is only the blackstrap that has nutritional value.  

While blackstrap molasses contains roughly the same amount of carbohydrates as sugar, it stabilizes blood sugar levels and is digested more slowly because it is full of nutrients.  Blackstrap molasses is an excellent source of calcium that promotes good bone health, aids in the removal of toxins from the colon, boosts the function of the enzyme system. It is loaded with magnesium which aids in the functioning of the nervous system. Magnesium also balances the amount of calcium in the body, allowing the blood vessels and nerves to relax. Blackstrap molasses is also an excellent source of vitamins and minerals including pantothenic acid and vitamin B6. Deficiency in these vitamins can trigger headaches, stress, asthma, and fatigue.  

I also suggest taking one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses a day as a good vegan source for iron.  Blackstrap molasses contains about 3mg of iron which is not enough iron to treat anemia when the average person needs 15mg of iron a day.  Besides iron, blackstrap molasses could increase antioxidant intake to a level similar to that found in a serving of berries or nuts. Blackstrap molasses is used in food products like gingerbread, baked beans and barbecue sauce.  It has a very distinctive taste that you can't substitute other sweeteners in any recipe that calls for blackstrap molasses specifically and would not be a good substitute for regular sugar.  

I also apply molasses topically on the skin to treat minor injuries and burns. I first clean the injured area and then apply a thin coat of molasses and cover it with a dry, clean bandage.  It works like magic. If I don’t have molasses handy then I will use non toasted sesame seed oil instead.  

Monk fruit is a newer healthy sugar alternative that is zero calories like stevia.  Monk fruit, also called luo han guo, is a small green melon that was cultivated for centuries by Buddhist monks—hence its name. This fruit is native to southern China and northern Thailand, and most of the world's monk fruit is still grown in that region.  The extract is derived from the monk fruit once it’s dried.  It has a sweeter flavor than sugar and offers many health benefits. Stevia and monk fruit are the only two sugar alternatives that are keto-friendly because they have zero calories.  Additionally, monk fruit has anti-inflammatory and infection-fighting properties. It contains fructose but its sweetness doesn’t come from the fruit sugar but instead comes from certain antioxidants in the fruit called mogrosides, and unlike sugar, this diabetic-safe ingredient even promotes weight loss.

Monk fruit sweeteners can be used to sweeten almost anything, such as coffee, smoothies, hot cereals, tea, and sauces. And since monk fruit sweeteners are heat-stable, they are safe to use in baked goods.  Since it is sweeter when you use monk fruit I would cut the amount in half, so for every 1 cup of sugar use 1/2 cup of monk fruit.  

Follow these healthy sugar alternative guidelines and I truly believe you can create a healthy life no matter what you suffer from.  It is amazing, food can really be medicine and we can help!

Immune Boosting Personalized Tea Blends

Now that the cooler weather is here I love getting muscle tested for a personalized tea blend at the Healing Arts Tea Bar.  Our best seller right now is our Immune Boosting tea blends.  Whether you want to prevent getting sick or you are starting to feel a sniffle getting tested for your own personal tea will help you!

Our tea menu is different than anything you have ever seen before.  Yes, we have the teas listed and you can pick one and enjoy it to either stay at the tea bar or take it to go but what is different is on the back of the menu is a list of symptoms and you can choose the symptom you want to work on and then get muscle tested for which 3 herbs your body needs.  So you don't choose your tea but your body does!

Besides getting a cup of iced or hot tea we can also make a container for you of your personalized blend that is 12 servings. Here is the list of teas we have that can help boost your immune system:

Bergamot    Digestion, lowers cholesterol, brain health, acid reflux, immunity booster, energy booster, weight loss, skin support, constipation, hydrates

Cat's Claw   Digestion, brain health, immune support, improves blood pressure

Earl Grey     Digestion, brain health, immune booster, energy booster, weight loss, hydrates, and great skin support

Echinacea    Immune booster, respiratory health, digestion, anti-inflammatory, brain health, skin, anti-aging

Fennel          Digestion, weight loss, immunity booster, energy booster, women’s health, respiratory health, eye support, detox, improves blood pressure, diuretic 

Ginger          Digestion, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss, women’s health, pain relief, heart support

Green tea.   Heart support, anti-aging, weight loss support, immune support, brain health, anti-inflammatory, blood sugar

Hibiscus     Lowers blood pressure, immune booster, supports liver, lowers cholesterol, 

Holy Basil    Digestion, blood sugar, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss support, skin support, respiratory support, eye support, detox

Marshmallow Root  Digestion, blood sugar, acid reflux, immunity booster, weight loss, women’s health, skin support, anti-aging, constipation, detox, liver support, pain relief, heart support

Peppermint     Digestion, respiratory, anti-inflammatory, brain health, pain relief, sleep support, women’s health, weight loss, skin support, immune support, relaxation, brain health

Rose              Hydrates, respiratory support, skin support, sleep support, women’s health, immunity booster, brain health, digestion 

Sarsaparilla  Anti-inflammatory, immune booster, skin support, liver support

Turmeric      Pain relief, eye support, immunity booster, brain health, lower cholesterol, anti-inflammatory (for more on turmeric, click here)

We also have blends to help inflammation, energy, women’s health, digestion, brain health, high blood pressure and more.  So if you haven’t tried a personalized tea blend yet you must at your next visit!

Keep Your Immune System Strong with a Healthy Lymphatic System

By Ingrid Young

The lymphatic system is a vital part of our immune system.  It has many functions, but one of the most important is its ability to remove waste – like bacteria, viruses and other invaders – from our body. It helps filter out poisonous waste from every cell, tissue, and organ. The lymphatic system also produces disease fighting white blood cells and carriers it to all parts of the body.  You can think of the lymphatic system as our body’s natural sanitation or garbage disposal system.  When the lymphatic systems is “backed up” this leads to inflammation, bloating, and disease in the body.

So where is the lymphatic system located in the body? It’s actually everywhere in your body. The lymph is made of up vessels located throughout the body. The lymphatic vessels have valves like veins that keep the lymph flowing in one direction towards the heart. The vessels collect lymphatic fluid that sweeps up metabolic cellular wastes, dead cells, and toxins and drains the fluid through two lymphatic ducts under the collar bone. The lymphatic fluid eventually gets eliminated through sweat, urine, and our bowels. As simple and straight forward as this sounds, the lymphatic system is actually twice as extensive as the arterial blood supply system (that brings oxygen and nutrients to the cells) and is the largest circulatory system in our body. As vital as the lymphatic system is for our health, unlike the arterial body supply system, it does not have a natural pump (like the heart) and needs help to flow smoothly throughout the body.

What does lymphatic congestion look or feel like? Every feel bloated, fatigued, swollen, morning stiffness, or see visible inflammation? This could be from a back-up lymphatic system. A combination of a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, stress, and dehydration contribute to lymphatic congestion the body. Again, since the lymphatic system doesn’t have a natural pump (to flow to the heart), it needs assistance to flow throughout the body. Here are a few ways to keep your lymphatic flowing and draining!

-        Stay hydrated!  Lymph becomes thicker and less mobile when you are dehydrated, but flows well when hydrated. 

-        Deep breathing. The act of breathing – I’m talking real breathing – acts like a lymphatic pump and helps direct the lymph through the chest.  Constant shallow breathing leads to lymphatic congestion.

-        Exercise!  One of the best ways to activate your lymphatic flow is to take brisk walk.  Take a power walk - with arms swinging for 15-30 minutes a day. Another great way to get your lymphatic system moving is jump on a rebounder.  A rebounder is a small trampoline.  The gentle up and down bounding causes the one-way lymphatic valves to open and close thus moving the lymph. 

-        Lymphatic Massage:  Lymphatic massages reduce swelling, helps detox the body, and speeds of regeneration of tissues and cells.  You can do a full body lymphatic massage or work on targeted areas.   For example, headaches, sinus pressure, and brain fog can be signs of lymphatic congestion in the face and head.  You can do a lymphatic massage on the face and head to get the lymph moving and flowing.   You can do you own lymphatic massage or come to the Wellness Center and make an appointment for one.

-        Dry Brushing.  Dry brushing promotes lymphatic drainage of waste and also refreshes the skin and reduces cellulite.  Use a natural bristle brush, and brush your skin in small circular motions toward the heart.  For example, start from your feet and slowly brush upwards  to your calves, then your thighs, pelvis, lower abs, stomach, and eventually to your chest to the heart.  You also want to brush your arms.  This time in a downwards motion – from your hands, forearms, biceps, shoulders, and eventually to your chest and heart.  This is daily for a few minutes before you take a shower or bath.

If you’re interested in learning more about the lymphatic system and ways to ways to keep it naturally flowing for optimal health, come join us on Instagram this Wednesday, October 13 at 6:30pm for our lymphatic workshop.  RSVP at info@healingartsnyc.com!

Our Favorite Coffee Alternatives

Coffee is one of the vials we test for in our food test kit.  Due to the acidity and making the adrenals push out more adrenaline than necessary it definitely isn't a healthy drink for everyone.  We also test caffeine in a separate vial to see if the sensitivity is to both or just one or the other.  We know coffee can be extremely hard to quit and you may even go through caffeine withdrawal with a 3 day headache with it FINALLY being okay on the fourth day.  So we wanted to take the time to give you some coffee alternatives.  

1. Golden milk
This drink does quite the opposite of coffee for it helps you relax and is a good drink to have after dinner to relax. For all my nondairy drinkers out there, don't worry, you can use seed or nut milk instead of regular milk.  Dr. Armitstead's favorite way to make golden milk is with coconut milk.  But first, here are 9 reasons to start drinking golden milk or turmeric lattes:

1. Turmeric helps build immunity

2. Helps sleep

3. It is a good remedy for digestive problems.

4. It supports the liver.

5. Helps fight cancer

6. Clarifies the skin.

7. Gives relief from autoimmune diseases

8. Good for the brain and fighting Alzheimer's disease

9. Is anti-inflammatory

When adding it to your diet you need to know that adding black pepper to it helps turmeric become more bioavailable. Which is another way of saying your body can absorb more turmeric if you add black pepper with it. Drinking golden milk before bed can help sleep because turmeric reduces inflammation, lowers your blood sugar levels, helps your liver to detoxify, boosts your immune system and eases your digestive system – all of which help you to get to sleep faster, to sleep better, and to wake up feeling refreshed.

How do you make golden milk?
Serves 2

Ingredients

• ½ cup warm water

• 1 cup coconut milk (or any milk you prefer)

• 2 tsp turmeric powder

• 2 tsp virgin coconut oil

• ½ inch ginger knob, peeled and grated

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper or 2 black peppercorns, crushed

• ½ tsp cinnamon powder

• ½ tsp nutmeg powder

• ¼ tsp cardamom powder

• *Optional 2 tsp raw organic honey or pure maple syrup for the vegan version

Preparation

1. Whisk coconut milk, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, honey, coconut oil, black pepper, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.

2. Make ahead of time. Golden milk can be made 5 days ahead and reheated.

Golden milk powder with the exact ratios of spice can be bought here at Wellbends.  Just add a teaspoon to simmering milk and you're done!

A great place to buy a turmeric latte with almost any type of milk you want is at Gregorys Coffee with the closest one to the Manhattan office being on 40th St. and Madison Ave.

2. Mud/Wtr
Is a spin of Golden Milk with a little caffeine and health benefits of mushrooms.  All organic ingredients with 1/7th the caffeine as a cup of coffee, you get focus, energy and immunity without the jitters, crash and dependency.  Ingredients: Cacao, Masala chai, Turmeric, Himalayan salt, Cinnamon, Chaga, Cordyceps, Reishi, and Lion’s mane.  The mushrooms boost your immunity in a way that Golden milk does not but it is missing black pepper for the turmeric to be better absorbed.  It can only be found online here.

3. Teeccino 
Is a dark roast of chicory and barley with other plants that make it taste good and is actually like a dark tea.  It is the darkest hot drink we can find other than coffee and does not have any caffeine.  They have over 20 different flavors however not all flavors are organic.  Some flavors include mushrooms.  A great one has dandelion in it to help the liver detox.  Teeccino can come in tea bags or like ground coffee depending on how you would like to make it.  It can be found at health food stores, local grocery stores and online.   Flavors include Chaga Ashwagandha Butterscotch Cream, Chocolate Raspberry, Dandelion Coconut and so much more!,

Two of My Favorite Healthy Powders

Prebiotic Powder

A prebiotic powder is great to add to your diet. Prebiotic fiber is in foods like bananas, onions and garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, the skin of apples, chicory root and beans. Prebiotic fiber goes through the small intestine undigested and is fermented when it reaches the large colon. This fermentation process feeds beneficial bacteria colonies (including probiotic bacteria) and helps to increase the number of desirable bacteria in our digestive systems that are associated with better health and reduced disease risk. Chicory root fibers (inulin and oligofructose) have proven health benefits such as weight management, improved calcium absorption besides supporting digestive health. Chicory root fiber can be found in a variety of foods, including nutrition bars (ThinkThin), yogurt (Oikos Triple Zero), smoothies and oatmeal. You can get tested for Standard Process prebiotic powder at the office to see if you need it to help your good gut flora grow or have your probiotic work better for you. Standard Process also has a probiotic with the inulin in their supplement called Prosynbiotic.

Blueberry Powder

Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition found that daily consumption of the equivalent of one cup of fresh blueberries, given as 24 grams of freeze-dried blueberry powder, showed positive changes in cognitive function in older adults over a placebo. Eating for brain health is so important. Alzheimer's disease is now being referred to as "Type 3 diabetes" and "brain diabetes," as both conditions involve insulin resistance and deficiency. A randomized control trial of the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH intervention for neurodegenerative delay) diet is looking into the benefits of a nutrient-rich diet emphasizing foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts and berries in preventing Alzheimer's disease. Frozen blueberries are being given to participants because they are rich in antioxidants that may be beneficial for the brain, particularly when it comes to memory loss in aging.

Feeling Wired But Tired? We Can Help!

In helping a patient restore their health using muscle testing a question we get a lot in the office is, ‘Why not just do x-rays, blood tests, or some other technologically advanced clinical exam? Aren’t they more reliable?’

In some cases yes, in other cases no. As a rule, muscle testing does not substitute clinical exams, rather the two are used in conjunction. I do look at a lot of blood work and X-rays in my office as other tools to help. Yet, clinical exams are designed to detect frank pathology or disease where I am trying to identify an issue before it becomes a disease. Muscle testing can also detect frank pathology, but its uniqueness lies in the fact that it can pick up problems before they've arrived as full-blown disease.

For example, many suffer from chronic headache or back pain, and travel from doctor to doctor, undergoing test after test, only to be told that there is nothing wrong with them because the tests don't show anything. When people ask me what I specialize in they are asking me wondering if it is headaches or digestive issues or infertility etc. but I feel like I specialize in people who have been to doctor to doctor and no one can tell them what is wrong but the patient knows there is something off, they don’t feel well and their body is not healthy.   Using muscle testing the true causes of problems like headaches or back pain are addressed in an earlier stage and bigger problems are prevented.

So here’s another question: ‘Besides headaches and low back pain, are there specific examples of when muscle testing  is preferable to Western medicine?’

There are countless examples. Sandy is an example.  She came to Healing Arts office at 41 years old complaining of trouble sleeping, fatigue that was not helped with a good night sleep when she did sleep well, brain fog with trouble focusing and a constant bloat no matter what she ate.  She was in a high stress job and would work 60 hours a week for the last 4 years and was gaining weight  the last 2 years even though she ate and exercised the same.   

Upon muscle testing Sandy, her nervous system and adrenals went weak.  They needed nutritional support.  Sandy was a perfect picture of adrenal fatigue syndrome. It’s an extremely common condition especially in our NYC patients that goes largely unrecognized by the medical community. The adrenal glands produce adrenaline during times of stress. When a person is stressed for long periods of time like Sandy was, his/her adrenal glands get depleted, and begin to under function. For an MD doctor, adrenal fatigue syndrome is only significant when it arrives at full-blown Addison’s disease. For a muscle tester practitioner, adrenal fatigue syndrome has relative stages.

In the early stages of adrenal fatigue syndrome, a person may just feel tired, hard to wake up in the morning or hit that 2-4pm slump in the afternoon. The second stage is when it turns into being tired all the time. If nothing is done about it, the third stage is what I like to call, ‘wired but tired’, where you are so tired and yet when it’s time to sleep the body can’t calm down enough to relax and so restless nights start to happen and can turn into insomnia.  Fourth stage is when it starts to affect other parts of the body. A person can all of a sudden have low back or knee pain, or they may have tired feet and ankles halfway through the day. They can also experience depression, low immune system, hair loss, weight gain, dark circles around eyes, digestive problems or lightheadedness due to the adrenals being burnt out. While the root causes of all of these symptoms are depleted adrenal glands, a traditional medical doctor would never recognize this because they are not looking for it. As long as there is no diagnosis of Addison's disease, there's no problem with the adrenal glands. Compounding the problem, the patient will usually get treatment to the areas causing pain, the knee, the low back, or the digestive symptoms, and all the while, the underlying cause is burned out adrenal glands that haven’t been addressed yet and is bound to cause even greater problems later on unless addressed.

A muscle testing doctor would see adrenal fatigue syndrome in the early stages maybe even before the patient started noticing any fatigue because the examination process is thorough. Caught early on, a patient will be on the road to recovery before more serious stages set in. 

How do the adrenal glands burn out in the first place?  It is lifestyle. Not giving the body enough rest, on the go lifestyle, is what burns the adrenals out.  Also a lifestyle of emotional stress can burn out the adrenals.  When you live in a stressful state the adrenal glands produce adrenaline but they can’t for too long so when you are under stress for too long a period of time the  adrenals will burn out.  So besides giving the adrenals the right nutrition, stress management is key, otherwise the adrenals will heal much slower if they have to keep responding to stress.  With Sandy her job was high stress, she was going to have to continue working those 60 hour weeks but if we could do better time management so she could add in meditation with breath work for 20 minutes twice a day that would calm her mind and nervous system down to give the adrenal glands a break and the ability to sleep better at night.  She already had exercise in her routine and she did eat well for the most part.  I had to tweak her diet and get her to stop drinking caffeine and coffee.  Both things we test for in the office separately because the body does respond differently to them.  Sometimes people can have coffee but are sensitive to the caffeine.  Other times it is the coffee that is just too acidic but the caffeine is okay.

It’s important to get that specific when building nutritional programs because many people we see have eaten themselves into their current state of ill-health, to one degree or another. The deficiencies or imbalances may not lead to a breakdown in the adrenal glands but somewhere else in the body, lowering the body’s resistance, lowering immunity, and a loss of the body’s ability to cope with environmental toxins. Wherever the breakdown is in the body, know that with muscle testing, we can identify what organs go weak and which organs are strong and then from there identify what toxins need to be detoxed from the body and which foods to avoid as a personal cleanse while we rebuild the body using organic food supplements from a farm called Standard Process. This is how we help people get well and stay well!

Energy Medicine: PEMF Mat Therapy

PEMF Mat: The Wonders of Healing Using Energy Waves

PEMF is an acronym for Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field. PEMF therapy consists of a mat which emits pulses of energy waves. This energy courses through the body directly to inflamed or injured areas. The energy is also drawn to areas experiencing chronic pain.  The energy waves of the PEMF mat passes through the organs and tissues and into the cells of your body, amplifying the cellular energy. The increase in energy promotes a natural reaction that regenerates and enhances the efficiency of the cell’s function. This natural process stimulates healing and helps to improve your overall well-being including your mood.  I couldn't wait to have a PEMF mat at the office!

As the energy goes into the body patients usually don’t feel anything.  The energy is that subtle to not disturb the body’s natural process as it goes into the cells.  besides giving cells energy it also helps Increase blood flow which is also part of the healing.  With increased blood flow It is promoting an increase in the blood’s oxygen levels.  In causing the body to have more oxygen that’s how chronic pain and stiffness is reduced. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670735/). If you have frozen shoulder or any other really stiff joints PEMF helps with range of motion (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15986086/).  

Healthy blood circulation in your system not only promotes thorough oxygenation of the blood vessels causing less inflammation and pain but it also helps cleanse out the toxic waste through the lymphatic drainage system.  In this way PEMF therapy also promotes lymphatic health and detox.  In fact there is a setting just for this type of detox. 

PEMF therapy also helps you have better sleep. A goodnight’s sleep allows your body the chance to recover from pain, rejuvenate, and regain lost energy. However, not everyone gets a good night sleep, which, in turn, robs them of the opportunity to recover and heal.  The body only heals when it is sleeping.  PEMF therapy tunes the frequency of the brain cells and transforms it into a pattern that calms the brain, regulates circadian rhythms and then enhances sleep. PEMF therapy also makes the Pineal gland release more melatonin in darkness, which is an important hormone to enhance sleep quality.

PEMF therapy also helps boost up the immune system.  There are many factors involved in helping our bodies to build and maintain a strong immune system; eating well balanced meals, exercising, keeping our stress levels low, to name a few are within our daily control.  

Keeping our stress levels low ie: a calm autonomic nervous system is of great benefit to the immune system and PEMF treatments do just that.  The electromagnetic waves have a calming effect on the autonomic nervous system as well as supplying more blood flow thus more oxygen to the whole body.  For this reason I feel like the more calm we are during a PEMF therapy session the more electromagnetic energy our body can absorb and use.  So try meditating during the session for greatest benefit and if you don’t meditate just take deep breaths and try to relax as much as you can.  

Not to get too technical but wanting you to understand more is that both interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 increase with PEMF therapy.  The result is that a larger number of intruders can be destroyed by white blood cells called macrophages.  In this way you have a stronger immune system. 

Interleukin 1 and 6 also increase the activity of bone and cartilage cells. Since PEMF therapy helps stimulate them PEMF therapy has been shown to help with bone growth (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30645684/) which you would want if you had osteopenia, osteoporosis, a fracture to heal or even with arthritis - rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis etc.  

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a serious and complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that lasts for at least six months that can be helped with PEMF.  There are lots of reasons for CFS and is usually due to a combination of factors, including viral infections, hormonal imbalances, physical or emotional trauma, immune system problems, etc.

In people with CFS, the cells in the body have difficulty producing enough energy. For these patients, the symptoms of CFS may worsen after even minor physical, mental or emotional exertion. Through the increased motion of ions and electrolytes, PEMF therapy can help cells increase their energy by up to 500%. PEMF therapy is known as a safe and natural way to literally recharge your body and improve the symptoms of CFS.  Symptoms include trouble sleeping and joint and muscle pain that people with CFS usually have.  Both of those symptoms PEMF has been proven to help with.

By no means do I have CFS but the other day I did a PEMF treatment and put on the mode for energy and I swear to you I walked away feeling like I had just been on vacation.  I felt like a million bucks and thank God, because with COVID I haven’t gone on vacation in a year and a half.   That’s what an increase of up to 500% felt like to me.  

About half of people with CFS develop depression, stress and anxiety at some point. Some drugs used to treat depression have other effects that might worsen some other CFS symptoms.  PEMF therapy is a drug-free and safe method to help depression and mental wellness https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27449361/. It has been shown to have a dramatic effect on anxiety and depression in both chronic and acute forms.  In 2006 the FDA approved the use of PEMF therapy for the treatment of depression and anxiety.  PEMF therapy can also help with the insomnia that usually comes with anxiety.  Insomnia, depression, and mood disorders have been related to abnormal serotonin levels, while PEMF therapy works well on the alteration of serotonin by exciting the neurons to dispense their own natural chemicals to help balance out deficiencies and restore normal brain function. Also, it can work on the areas of your brain that control mood by affecting the electrical activity of neurons to change the neuronal networks.

PEMF has even shown to help many post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers with their depression. PEMF therapy can deliver repetitive magnetic pulses that stimulate various nerve cells controlling depression and reducing re-experiencing symptoms.  Many with PTSD often lack a sound, restorative sleep because of the traumatic events they have encountered. Low frequency PEMF devices can make them feel relax in the evening and help them fall and stay asleep. PEMF therapy also has positive effects on calming the brain and regulating circadian rhythms which have an important role in controlling sleep patterns and cycles.

Tinnitus is a common problem that affects many, usually described as a noise or ringing in the ear. It is a symptom of an underlying condition, such as age-related hearing loss, ear injury, heavy metal toxicity or a lack of circulation to the ear.

Tinnitus can significantly affect the quality of life. In some cases, the sound can interfere with concentration, sleep, and even mental health. Tinnitus usually isn’t a sign of something serious, but it is bothersome and may worsen with age. Fortunately, PEMF therapy has been proven to be a safe and non-invasive way to help people with tinnitus by helping cells increase their energy and opening up of the cell membrane to let nutrients enter the cells easily and quickly. By recharging cells and boosting nutrient absorption, PEMF therapy can stimulate the healing process of damaged cells and tissues in the ears. PEMF therapy can help treat the complications of tinnitus, including fatigue, stress, sleep problems, trouble concentrating, memory problems, depression, anxiety, and irritability, etc.  Treating these linked conditions may not affect tinnitus directly, but it can help you feel better and improve the quality of life.

PEMF can also help Lyme’s patients.  Lyme disease is a bacterial infection primarily transmitted by ticks.  Lyme disease can affect brain, muscles and joints, lungs, heart, intestinal tract, etc.

PEMF therapy can help with reducing inflammation, improving circulation, reducing pain and in general improving the therapeutic effect of other treatments. PEMF therapy can be a wonderful complementary therapy to your current treatment plan by boosting the immune system and stimulate the healing process.  Lyme disease in the brain, is especially challenging to treat. Many medical treatments and nutritional approaches can not access the hidden Lyme bacteria in brain tissue, due to not be able to get through the blood-brain barrier. PEMF therapy has been shown to increase the diffuse-ability of the blood-brain barrier, allowing better access of treatments, supplements, herbs, and nutrients into the brain.

It’s amazing what I have seen it do for my fibromyalgia patients.  If you suffer from fibromyalgia know that there is hope for I have seen PEMF therapy give absolute relief from Fibromyalgia and its symptoms. Some of you might not know what Fibromyalgia is.  It is characterized by extreme musculoskeletal pain coupled with memory loss, lethargy, fatigue, and an imbalanced sleep cycle. In addition to that, Fibromyalgia also amplifies how our brain receives pain signals, thereby intensifying pain sensation.

This phenomenon leads to almost unbearable physical discomfort that eventually takes a toll on mental and physical health. Loss of productivity, lack of memory retention, decreased concentration, lack of sleep, and loss of motivation to carry out the simplest of daily tasks are all by-products of Fibromyalgia. The reasons for the onset of Fibromyalgia are varied. It can stem from stress, surgical after effects, or any mental or physical trauma. There are plenty of drugs and invasive surgeries to address the pain and reduce its intensity, but PEMF works remarkably well.  So I knew if it could help with fibromyalgia it can help with other pain as well.

HOW IS PEMF THERAPY ADMINISTERED?

There are different types of PEMF therapy devices. The type of device best suited for you will depend on your needs and preferred method of application. Most of the time I suggest the PEMF mat.  It rests on the massage table and you lay on it, having electromagnetic pulses course throughout the entire body. These devices are a popular option for people suffering from fibromyalgia, inflammation or want more energy. The full body mat energizes all of the cells in your body.  Other accessory PEMF devices provide more direct pulses of energy for localized pain. For example, if you are having difficulties with pain in your knee joint, we have a PEMF ring at the office that  is a beneficial option for delivery of pulses directly to the joint. you can also put the ring around your head if you suffer from headaches or migraines.  I know it’s not always easy to come to the office with a migraine but it truly is the best time for a PEMF treatment.  The application process is simple and easy. There is no need for special preparation or chemical agents.  The energy waves go through your clothes too so you can lay on the massage table comfortably.  

Know that you can use PEMF with other treatments. PEMF presents little to no side effects or drug-related contraindications. This means that you can continue using prescribed medications while undergoing PEMF therapy sessions.  

Studies show that PEMF therapy for 20 min. once a week for 6 weeks helps with conditions like fibromyalgia, muscle pain, arthritis, depression, anxiety, tinnitus, PTSD, Lyme’s, chronic fatigue and musculoskeletal pain.  PEMF therapy is a great option for natural, chemical free pain relief and overall wellness because it functions through cell stimulation. Stimulation at a cellular level helps boost the body’s natural ability to fight back against inflammation. PEMF therapy is so effective because it is able to penetrate through skin, muscle, and even the bone. The electromagnetic field helps fight back against cellular damage and inflammation, and create healthier cells.  As the cells heal, the blood vessels, nerves, and capillaries dilate.  The dilated capillaries enable better oxygenation and blood flow.  Lastly, the increase in oxygen and blood flow encourage a healing environment.

PEMF sessions are 20 min. for $35

BOOK NOW

Resources:

PEMF good for post surgical pain and edema: https://academic.oup.com/asj/article/29/2/135/270272

PEMF for hypothyroidism: https://youtu.be/j9eyOga0YD4

Is Oxy Pulling Better Than Oil Pulling?

I love the health benefits I get from oil pulling and suggest it a lot to my patients. Whether for oral health, cleaning the lymph, or detox support oil pulling is helpful in so many ways. I have just recently come across oxy pulling thanks to one of my patients who brought it to my attention and so I have something new to add to my daily health routine! Good news is oxy pulling only takes 30 seconds to do. Oxy pulling was developed to replace oil pulling and that's what my patient wanted to do, stop her oil pulling and do oxy pulling instead, but when I did my research I actually had her do both. It is more beneficial to do the oxy pulling first and then the oil pulling, then brush your teeth.

While you sleep and throughout the day, your mouth is producing live organisms that are not only harmful to your overall oral health, but to your body as well. These organisms can cause a plethora of disease within the body if swallowed. Therefore it is very important that these organisms are not allowed to accumulate and thrive in your mouth. The most opportune time for these organisms to develop and grow is when we are asleep and after we eat.
Similar to what happens during the oil pulling process, swishing the oxy pulling oral rinse around in your mouth will activate enzymes, allowing toxins and bacteria to be drawn out from the body. The only Oxy Pulling solution I know of is Garner's Garden.

The following are the key ingredients that are used to make oxy pulling so effective:

1% or 2% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide, H2O2: Helps by inhibiting the reproduction of bacteria and also kills fungal spores. H2O2 is also able to penetrate periodontal areas between the teeth and gums by its foaming action; this is how oxygen is released to inhibit the growth of bacteria while creating a whitening/bleaching effect for the teeth. Another benefit is the ability to remove and repel plaque from the surface of the teeth for prolonged periods of time. Think of how wax is applied to a car. When water touches the car’s surface that has had wax applied to it, water will bead up and roll off of the car. This is along the same premise of H2O2 and plaque – there will be some accumulation of plaque over a couple of hours of daily activities, but a large majority of the plaque will be repelled and not accumulate on the surface of the teeth.

Other Ingredients that can be in Oxy Pulling Solutions -

Activated Charcoal: Assists with the whitening of teeth and it also traps and removes toxins that are present in the mouth.
Peppermint Essential Oil: Kills germs, helps with pain, and highly effective at preventing bad breath.
Cinnamon Essential Oil: has the greatest antimicrobial potency against streptococcus mutans, the bacteria responsible for tooth decay, and lactobacillus plantarum, one of the bacteria responsible for gum disease.
Tea Tree Essential Oil: Contains terpinen which is responsible for giving this oil its healing properties. Tea tree is known to kill fungus and bacteria.

10 Tips for a Healthy Home

Taking care of your body which is your lifelong home is so important to maintain the health you have.  We cannot take our health for granted and learning to be healthy by eating the right foods and using less toxic material in our daily life is what we teach at Healing Arts.  The environment that we spend much of our time in also has a huge impact on our mental and physical health. These 10 tips for a healthy home will cover a wide range of ways to optimize your living space and promote wellbeing, mind and body.

1. Drink (and Bathe) in Clean Water

Although city tap water is considered safe according to government regulations, it contains an array of chemicals to treat it that actually can be quite harmful to your body over time. Additives like chlorine help kill the bad bacteria that may make its way into the town water supply, but unfortunately, chlorine also kills good bacteria. Since our body’s health depends heavily on the health of our microbiome or our good gut flora, consuming chlorine daily by drinking and bathing in tap water is not healthy.

Ideally, you want to be consuming water out of glass bottles or water filter.  I love a Berky water filter! Shower filters are highly suggested for anyone with skin or hair concerns.  The one I like adds vitamin C to the water which is amazing for the hair and skin, Sonaki. 

Another option is to get a whole-house reverse osmosis filter installed for your home. Reverse osmosis uses the city tap water and puts it through a rigorous filtration. Although it strips the water completely of all bad and good elements (like minerals), many filters remineralize the water. You can also add minerals to your drinking water after the fact.

2. Keep it Clean

Keeping your home clean is important, even if nobody is coming over to visit. Having a clean home space is great for mental health, and promotes sensations of relaxation and general promotion of wellbeing. With all the stress of what the world is going through right now, it is important to have a haven that feels safe, clean, and cozy.  If for some reason your living space cannot be kept clean choose a room or part of a room to prioritize to keep clean.  Having a clean space, no matter how small or big it is, is a reflection of self-care and self-respect. 

3. Use Low VOC Paints

Volatile organic compounds (or VOCs) are the solvents that get released into the air as the paint dries. VOCs are extremely harmful to human health because airborne ingredients like formaldehyde, benzene, and acetone, make their way into your lungs, promoting an array of side effects ranging from immune suppression and asthma to endocrine disruptions.  Chronic exposure to VOCs can lead to long-term damage to your nervous system, kidneys, and liver.

Not all paints contain high degrees of these volatile compounds, and some contain none at all. By asking at your local paint store, or reading the information before you buy online, opting for a low VOC or no VOC paint is a step towards a healthier home.

4. Natural Light

Light plays a crucial role in regulating our circadian rhythm. This internal biological clock called our circadian rhythm is responsible for a wide range of functions, including the triggering of sleep/ wake hormones.

When we expose our bodies (and especially our eyes) to artificial light that has a high concentration of the blue light spectrum, it actually tricks the body into thinking that it’s daytime. In doing so, our body holds off on the release of melatonin, a crucial sleep hormone that induces a deep, restful, and restorative sleep. Furthermore, artificial light comes with a flicker, that is unnoticeable to the naked eye but causes low levels of chronic stress on the autonomic nervous system.

Opting for more natural light sources (windows, skylights) for daytime use can remove the impact of flicker stress. Avoiding artificial blue light can be done by opting for softer light, like incandescent lightbulbs, red bulbs, a pink salt lamp, or candles. This switch to natural light is especially important after sundown to promote deeper sleep. Blue light blocking glasses are another great way to get the best of both worlds, as they help filter out the blue spectrum of artificial light. If you think the computer screen bothers your eyes I highly suggest them. 

5. Keep the Air Clean

Reducing the volatile organic compounds in your home starts by reducing the exposure to these compounds, found in things like toxic paint, artificial rugs, and furniture. But these days, VOCs are almost non-avoidable, since toxins are being gassed off by essentially everything, from plastic electronics to building materials.

 Two great ways to ensure the air inside your house stays clean is to use plants and an air purifier. Plants that help promote air purification include Devil's Ivy, Peace Lily Dwarf Date Palm, Spider Plant, Boston Fern, and Chrysanthemums. The more, the better! That's why you see them all over the Healing Arts Wellness center including the moss and ivy frame.

For indoor air purifiers, invest in a high-efficiency particulate air filter (known as HEPA filters). HEPA filters actually trap pollutants including dust mites, pollen, pet dander, and tobacco smoke, by forcing them through a fine mesh. I love one that also uses ozone to kill bacteria and viruses in the air, found here. 

6. Grow Some Food

Growing food is one of the most radical acts of rebellion you can do to empower your self. Whether you have acres of land or no backyard at all, there is always a way to grow at least something for you to eat.

Start with a simple window-bench herb garden. Pick 3 of your favorite herbs, and simply grow a little window-side garden that requires very minimal maintenance or skill. If you have more space, consider taking a local gardening course to know which plants are most suited to your climate and some basic skills to ensure your garden flourishes. There's also many community gardens, especially in Brooklyn.  

7. Avoid Mold

Household mold is one of the most insidious ways that your home can become a genuine health hazard. Mold forms due to dampness and the airborne spores (known as mycotoxins) that are released as a result can cause various health issues including allergies, suppressed immune system, damage of lungs, and even DNA damage. 

You want to prevent mold as much as possible before it becomes an issue because once spores are present, they can never be completely eradicated. Visible mold is generally like the tip of the iceberg because many places mold grows initially is hidden (behind the drywall, under the floorboards, or above the ceiling tiles). 

Avoiding mold is predominantly a moisture control issue. Having too much moisture in the house promotes the kind of environment that mold thrives in. If you live in a humid environment, keeping airflow in the house and invest in a dehumidifier. This is particularly important in high-moisture rooms like bathroom, kitchen, laundry room. Water leaks are a major cause of devastating mold problems.

If you do find yourself in a moldy home or apartment, act swiftly. Vinegar is one of the best solutions to remove mold, using an 80% white vinegar to 20% water (or hydrogen peroxide) solution. Be mindful of properly rinsing off your brush before every application, as to not recontaminate the surface with mold spores. There is an array of essential oils that can be added to the mix for an even more potent mold killer, including tea tree. The underlying humidity or leak must be addressed as well so that the mold will not return.

8. Get Rid of Dust Mites

Dust mites are microscopic creates that resemble small bugs. They are the source of an array of unfavorable health symptoms including skin rashes and allergies. The symptoms (that include runny nose, postnasal drip, congestion, sneezing, and itchy/ red eyes and throat) are caused by inflammation of the nose and nasal airways. 

Getting rid of dust mites is fairly straight forward: avoid the collection of dust. Vacuum rugs, carpet, and upholstery furniture at least once a week. Wash sheets, blankets, comforters, and plush animals once a week in hot water. For larger items that aren’t conveniently washed once a week, dust mites can also be killed off by throwing the items into the drier once a week. Ensure you properly empty out vacuum bags after each use too.

9. Lower Exposure to Artificial EMFs

Electromagnetic frequencies or field (EMFs) are the forces that quite literally make the world go round. Natural EMFs are emitted by the sun and the earth, but artificial ones were introduced with the advent of electricity. Items like radios, lightbulbs, WiFi, toasters, microwaves, and cell phones emit these non-native EMFs that interfere with our natural human frequencies.

Humans have magnetic fields that emit from the heart and brain, and an array of functions (including mitochondrial activity) operates with electrical energy. Keeping artificial EMF exposure down inside the home is paramount, especially when it comes to promoting deep sleep. One of the most powerful devices I have seen to reduce EMF exposure in the home or apartment is the Lumerian plug.  We have them online or at the office for purchase for $39.

10. Enable Movement

Although the benefits of exercise are well understood, many people who exercise daily are still considered sedentary. Working out in the gym or playing a sport, even daily, can still qualify for a sedentary lifestyle if you spend the majority of the other 23 hours of the day sitting or laying down. 

Enabling a movement-friendly home is a fantastic way to keep your body moving, and mobile, naturally. A few ways include having lower to the ground beds, which promotes a larger range of motion getting in and out of bed daily. Consider sitting around a coffee table, on the floor, instead of the upright in a chair. Standing desks are a great option too but remember: too much standing also creates stagnancy. Placing the bowls and plates in lower cabinets instead of at eye level is another great way to regularly promote more natural ranges of motion.

Hope these tips were helpful for a healthier home and a healthier you!

5 Natural Ways to Prevent Sunburns

In the past I have written about healthy sunscreens but there are other ways to prevent sunburns too.  

Sunlight is made up of about 1,500 different wavelengths.  It is comprised of infrared, visible and ultraviolet light, which filter through the atmosphere to reach us on earth in what we experience as crisp, beautiful daylight. Apart from the obvious necessity of sunlight for visibility, warmth and also for photosynthesis of the plants we eat, studies have revealed numerous benefits for humans including:

• vitamin D synthesizing- the UVB rays of the sun react with cholesterol derivatives in the skin to produce this important vitamin. Without sunlight, this conversion cannot occur and the body must rely on the available sources in foods

• increased daytime awareness- studies show that natural light (over artificial) enhances alertness, drive and focus

• natural pain killer- several studies have shown that sunlight can have an analgesic effect, easing pain

• mood enhancing- spending time in the sun increases serotonin, your feel-good hormone

• cortisol regulating- research has highlighted the effects of natural light/dark cycles on maintaining a healthy flow of cortisol to modulate energy and stress

We culturally are aware of the harmful effects of the sun and using SPF lotions but know these good reasons for sun exposure too.  We just have to be smart about our sun exposure.  What you need to know about SPF lotions is that they rarely work as promised. SPF is the rating system used to designate how much UV radiation is blocked upon application. With the wide variety of products out there boasting these numbers, one would logically conclude that 30 SPF is twice as protective as 15 SPF, and so on...yet this isn’t necessarily the case. Generally speaking, SPF 15 is thought to block 94% of UV radiation, SPF 30 only 97% and SPF 45 98%. Complicating this issue further is the fact that these numbers are all highly variable based on the skin type of the user, how liberally the sunscreen is rubbed on, what kinds of activity one is engaged in, frequency of reapplication and what time of day you are spending in the sun. Therefore as companies continue to design evermore expensive, high SPF, “waterproof” sunscreens- there is little actual improvement on protective value. The Food and Drug Administration even recently proposed an upward limit of SPF 50 on labels in order to limit unrealistic claims about the efficacy of certain “ultra,” "mega," "superstar" sunscreens.

The next problem is the sheer chemical load pumped into these products. Many contain fragrance chemicals, parabens, harsh alcohols, toxic chemical solvents, titanium and petroleum oils that are both unstable and harmful- especially when applied with frequency to porous skin. Titanium dioxide, one of the most popular sunscreen compounds, is a “potential occupational carcinogen” according to the government, and octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), found in many conventional sunscreens, has been shown to cause damage to living tissue if it penetrates too deeply. Non-nano zinc oxide SPF lotions are the best way to go because the zinc will block the harmful rays and the non-nano part is it's size which is too big to penetrate into your skin.  It does the job just by sitting on top of your skin.  

So what can we do to naturally avoid burns while still catching a good amount of healing golden rays? While it is certainly true that red, peely, embarrassing sunburns are problematic and damaging to the skin, experts are now admitting that the dangers of the sun in general have been largely exaggerated, while the benefits underestimated. Newer medical research has revealed that sun exposure is not as closely linked to all skin cancers as previously thought, and other factors such as diet, exposure to environmental toxins and a paradoxical lack of vitamin D also play a role. As always, know your body, know your skin and make the choices that are most comfortable to you.

Limit Time in the Sun

Especially early in the season, your skin needs time to adjust so that the melanocytes kick into gear to produce their protective pigment (resulting in a tan). Also note that the body reaches its full capacity of producing Vitamin D in anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour midday, depending on your skin tone. So after this amount of time, cover up using loose, white clothing or by finding shade. And yes, although it may be counterintuitive, white clothing has actually been scientifically proven to help keep the body cooler than wearing no clothing.

Consume More Vitamin D

While the sun helps us to manufacture vitamin D, consuming vitamin D rich foods like cod liver oil and/or supplementing with quality source of oral vitamin D3 can in turn help to protect us from the UV radiation of the sun.The more vitamin D you have in your body the more protected you are from the sun.  

Eat Saturated Fats

It’s true, healthy fats do truly relate to everything.  Including stable, robust fats in the diet is crucial to resilient skin. Dietary fats and oils provide building blocks for skin tissues.  Without the right fats the skin becomes dry and hair and nails become brittle.  Saturated fats are thought to increase total cholesterol and so use in limited amounts if your cholesterol is high.  Saturated fats include:

• Dairy foods – such as butter, cream, ghee, regular-fat milk and cheese if we allow you to.

• Meat – such as fatty cuts of beef, pork and lamb, processed meats like salami, sausages and the skin on chicken.

• Lard

• Coconut oil

Balance Your Mineral Intake

Deficiencies in certain minerals such as zinc and magnesium can cause photosensitivity and sun rashes. Be sure to have your mineral status checked by us and consume mineral rich foods from both plant and animal sources. Bone broths are particularly balanced in trace minerals.

Rub Coconut Oil on the Skin

Recipe: Homemade Whipped Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil Lotion

It may be delicious to eat, but cold pressed coconut oil is also a powerful healing agent when applied to the skin. There is anecdotal evidence showing that Polynesians frequently rubbed this precious oil on before spending long periods of time in the sun. Although it has been tested to block only about 20% of the sun’s rays, its value lies more in the powerful antioxidants it releases into the skin, which bolster natural defenses and prevents damage from long term sun exposure. For more info; Coconut Oil: Nature's Suntan Lotion by Dr. Bruce Fife 

For more info on natural skin health, read this.