Tips for Seasonal Allergy Sufferers

It is Springtime…and the trees and flowers are in bloom.  For seasonal allergy sufferers, this is not such an enjoyable experience.  But, I am here to share some tips that may make your Spring a little easier.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, respiratory allergies are related not only to the function of the energy of the Lung (which also includes the nose, sinuses, throat, and windpipe), but also to the function of the digestive system, or Spleen Qi.  (For more information on how digestion affects our immune and other body systems, refer to Nutrition Part 2 post).

Together, the Lung Qi and the Spleen Qi contribute to what is known as the Defensive Qi, which acts as a shield for our bodies, keeping us from being so sensitive or vulnerable to allergens, bacteria and viruses.

Keeping all of this in mind, there are several things you can do to minimize your allergic reactions:

1.  Eliminate dairy products from your diet. This includes anything made from cow’s milk, goat’s milk or sheep’s milk, including yogurt, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, feta and all creamy or cheesy dressings and soups. Animals’ dairy products are very difficult for humans to digest, depleting the Spleen Qi, and often creating a lot of excess mucous (or Dampness) in the digestive and respiratory systems, which restricts breathing airways, and traps more allergens in the respiratory passages for the body to react to.

Eliminating dairy products usually results in a clearing out of excess mucous within 3 to 8 weeks, and a much less reactive respiratory system.

2.  Determine if you have any “gateway” allergens.  Dairy products can also be quite allergenic themselves, even if you don’t have obvious digestive distress after eating them. For many people, they can act as what I refer to as a “gateway” allergen. This means that consuming dairy products could make you more allergic to other eaten or inhaled substances.

An example that comes to mind is a woman my mother knew when I was young, who was only allergic to her cat when she ate eggs. And I’ve had many patients who, once they eliminated dairy products, were no longer allergic to trees, grass or dust. In fact, my own husband’s allergy and asthma problems were reduced by about 80% when he eliminated dairy products.

The most common “gateway” allergens are dairy, wheat, eggs, soy and corn. Interestingly, all of these common “gateway” allergens are also considered to be Dampness forming foods, according to TCM.

It would be a good idea to get a food allergy test done, to find out which foods your system reacts to.  As you eliminate the worst offenders from you diet, you may find that your respiratory allergies clear up as well. (If you need one, I can supply you an easy-to-do food allergy test kit.)

3. Avoid sugar.  While sugar itself isn’t an allergen, it is a burden for both the Spleen Qi, and the immune system, often making it more reactive against allergens, and less effective against pathogenic microbes. Sugar also feeds many of the microorganisms that the immune system needs to keep at bay on a daily basis, making you more susceptible to colds, flu’s and other infections.

4.  Take probiotics. These supplements are comprised of the beneficial bacteria that line our digestive and respiratory systems. These helpful micro-organisms assist our immune system in keeping populations of harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites and yeasts in check. Taking antibiotics, corticosteroids or chemical nasal sprays can destroy large numbers of our beneficial bacteria, leaving us more vulnerable to future infections.

Unfortunately, modern life expose us daily to chemicals that kill these vital allies: fluoride and chlorine in tap water, many types of medications, and antibiotics in meat, dairy and poultry are the most ubiquitous sources. While we can never fully restore all of the colonies of beneficial bacteria that should be living in our bodies, we can do our best to restore as many of them as possible with a high quality, multi-strain supplement. (I do carry high quality probiotic supplements if you would like to get them from me).

5.  Avoid being outside in early morning, or at dusk.  This is when the most offending allergen plants are in bloom, and the pollen concentrations are the highest.

6.  Keep your home’s windows and doors closed, to filter the indoor air.  Be sure to change your air filter every 30 days during high pollen seasons. Consider getting your carpets steam cleaned, or replacing them altogether. Wood, laminate or tile is much better than carpet for chronic allergy sufferers.

7.  Be sure you don’t have an indoor mold problem. This is a very common issue in the damp conditions of Florida, and it can be very dangerous. I’ve treated many extremely ill patients who lived in homes that had mold problems which were ignored or treated improperly. If you have even the slightest suspicion that you have a mold problem, you owe it to yourself to get your home inspected.

8.  If you still are suffering, please call for an appointment.  You may just need some acupuncture and Chinese herbs to finally bring you relief.  For an example of the effectiveness of acupuncture and herbal treatment for allergies, check out this testimonial.

Have a wonderful Spring!

Dawn Potter, AP, Dipl.OM

727-475-4710

#health #springtimeallergies #respiratoryallergies #nutrition #seasonalallergies

A Few of my Favorite Things

Happy Thanksgiving!

Once again, I am inspired to write a Thanksgiving post, since this is my favorite holiday. As I’ve said before, connecting to gratitude in our lives is an incredibly healing force that impacts all aspects of our bodies and minds.

You may have noticed that the title of this post is “A Few of my Favorite Things.” I wish to clarify this. Like the majority of people, my VERY MOST favorite things are not things at all, but instead are…

…people: my husband, my family, my 4-legged furry babies, my friends, people that inspire me for various reasons;

…places: the paradise that is Florida in November, or the mountains of New Mexico in the summer; the smell in the Autumn air of Minnesota and Ohio in October, as the sugar maple leaves glow in golden brilliance, seeming to return the sun’s summer rays before surrendering to Winter.

…beauty: the beauty in life that shows itself in various forms, including people with ideas, actions and words that are based in love for others and for future generations, even amidst all the political and social confusion and conflict surrounding us lately; like the proverbial lotus flower arising from the mucky waters to blossom in glorious color.

While I am grateful for all of these non-things, this post is about actual THINGS I have discovered this year which have provided me with assistance or enjoyment. Things that you may find useful yourself, or that you might put on your Holiday shopping list.

By the way, I do not get any compensation for my endorsement of these things.

1. Mountain Rose Teas – if you enjoy loose leaf teas, like I do, you will appreciate the selection of amazing organic teas at Mountain Rose. Unlike more commercial loose leaf teas, such as Teavana & David’s Tea, Mountain Rose teas are more affordable, all organic, and don’t have any added mystery flavors, such as “natural and/or artificial flavors.” They contain only organic herbs, spices, tea leaves and extracts. So far, my favorites include Hibiscus High Tea and Turmeric Chai.

2. Podcasts –  I’ve actually been listening to podcasts for several years, as I find them a wonderful source of free entertainment and education. This year I have been enjoying a new one that I wish to recommend. It is A Healthy Curiosity, hosted by my friend, classmate & colleague, Brodie Welch. In it, Brodie and guests discuss various topics related to natural health, Chinese medicine and self-care strategies. I feel that Brodie is supremely talented at taking foreign concepts that can be difficult to understand and making them accessible for everyone. I find each of her episodes to be valuable and insightful. You can find her podcast on iTunes, Google Play, iheartradio and Stitcher.

3. The Dirt Tooth Powder – I’ve been brushing with this stuff all year, and feel that it is superior to any toothpaste I’ve tried, including “natural” pastes, which usually leave me with a thick, sticky coating. While it takes some getting used to brushing with a powder that doesn’t foam up, and spitting something that looks like mud, it is actually great at gently whitening teeth, and getting my mouth squeaky clean. I also find that the naturally-antibacterial cinnamon, nutmeg and clove make my gums feel good.

4. Austin Air Healthmate Plus Air Purifier – many of you know we did some major remodeling to our home this year. Part of the remodel was replacing our old laminate flooring in the common areas with the new “luxury vinyl tile” (LVT) that is supposed to be water-resistant and durable while looking like actual wood or tile. We bought a brand that was supposedly free of VOC’s and formaldehyde, and was to be adhered with a low-VOC glue.

Well, the Friday evening after the installation, I was completely overwhelmed by the smell. Even after opening all the windows and running all the fans, I still woke up the next morning with a severe sore throat, loss of voice, cough, and puffy face. I was obviously reacting to something the new floor was emitting. I stayed with friends for the weekend (Thank you Diana & Bob!)

We aired out the house for 3 full days, but it didn’t help. Finally we had the installers remove the new floor. Unfortunately, the glue, which was still tacky, was impossible to remove. We had to wait for it to completely dry, continuing to emit its own fumes, before we could install ceramic tile. The fumes were so noxious that I could not live in my house. So, I researched and found the Austin Air Healthmate Plus which filters air for particles and for chemical fumes. Within 24 hours of turning it on, my house was livable again!

5. Foobot air quality monitor -concurrent to the flooring debacle described above, I also researched air quality monitors. I settled on the Foobot, and I have been very happy with its performance. It indicates the levels of particulate matter in the air, as well as VOC levels. Incidentally, for floor glue that was supposed to be low-VOC, the Foobot measured VOC’s in the 9000 units, which is 30 times higher than the recommended limit! After the Austin Air Healthmate Plus had been running for 24 hours, that number came down to 200!

6. Sonos music system – my old EOS music system at the clinic finally needed to be replaced. I loved that it had allowed me to play the same music throughout all the clinic rooms without having to install speakers and wiring into the walls and ceiling. But I didn’t love that the Bluetooth speakers would get crackly and fuzzy sounding, and the volume nobs would stop working. I already had replaced 2 of the 4 speakers. So, when I was faced with replacing 2 more, I looked at other options.

I decided on the Sonos system, and it is awesome! The speakers are well made with sound quality far exceeding that of my old system. It uses an app that you download to your wi-fi enabled device; through which you can stream any music service you wish, including iTunes, Apple music, Spotify, Pandora, Sirius XM, Google Play music, Amazon music and others. It has made playing music at the clinic much simpler and more enjoyable!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dawn

#teas #health #podcasts #indoorairquality #favoritethings #gratitude

Steps to Healthy Weight Loss

Interested in healthy weight loss? The holidays are fast approaching and we all will be tempted by high-sugar, high-fat treats. On average, people gain 7 to 15 lbs over this time of the year. Not only that, but this high sugar intake depletes our immune systems, leaving us more vulnerable to seasonal colds and flu’s. This guideline is meant to encourage you to stick to your healthy eating plan, to stay healthy, and to avoid the weight gain, or even drop some unwanted pounds.

Causes of Weight Gain

In addition to taking in too many calories for our bodies’ needs, excess weight can be caused by several different factors. Most people with weight struggles have a combination of these: liver stress / toxicity, adrenal / thyroid fatigue, and digestive deficiency. (In Oriental Medicine diagnostics, these would equate to Liver Qi Stagnation, Damp-Heat in the Middle, Spleen deficiency with Dampness, and Kidney deficiency.)

Steps to Successful Weight Loss

In addition to the appropriate acupuncture and herbal regimen, the following guidelines are essential to help correct these imbalances, and shed excess weight. The more of these steps you follow, the more you will benefit.

Reduce your stress levels:

Take up yoga, meditation, prayer-work, breath-work; whatever helps you manage your stress. This is #1 for a reason. If reducing your stress means changing your career / job, relationship, or residence, then you should consider doing so.

Why? Aside from halting weight loss, and promoting fat gain, stress is a killer! It is a major precipitator of all forms of disease and dysfunction in the body. Stress puts a burden on the adrenals, which weakens the thyroid, and causes cortisol release, wreaking havoc with hormonal balance, and adding belly fat. Stress also impedes the processes of the liver, which is vital for detoxification, blood sugar balance, hormonal balance and metabolism. Lastly, stress makes us crave junk food & refined / processed carbs and leads to overeating.

Sleep 8 hours every night:

Why? Enough sleep allows the body to recharge and renew itself. Without it, the adrenals, thyroid and liver become depleted. Too little sleep also adds more stress into the system. Plus, we tend to crave junk food and overeat when we are tired.

Walk at least 30 minutes every day, after a meal:

after lunch or dinner, or both. This is in addition to any other exercise you are currently doing. Why? The light, low-impact, rhythmic movement of walking after meals promotes digestion and stokes metabolism. This is not about burning a lot of calories, so you don’t have to walk fast.

Drink enough water:

Women, 64-96 oz daily. Men, 80-112 oz daily. This should be filtered or purified water. No added flavors other than fresh squeezed lemon, lime or sliced cucumber. (After about 10 days, your body will get used to the water, and you won’t have to run to the restroom so often.) Why?  Studies show that increasing water consumption boosts metabolism, aids in detoxification of liver and kidneys, assists hormonal balance, decreases aches and pains (inflammation) and calms excessive hunger.

Have a snack between meals: Do not allow yourself to get too hungry:

If you are feeling hunger pangs between meals, eat a handful of nuts, some fresh fruit, a clean protein shake, or some fresh veggie sticks.

Why? Allowing ourselves to get very hungry drops blood sugar too much, causes adrenal and liver stress, and leads to poor food choices and overeating when we do eat again.

Limit caffeine intake:

to 1 cup daily of organic coffee or tea, before 10 am. Why? More than this stresses the adrenals and liver, releasing stress hormones that throw off blood sugar levels, making us crave sugar and adding belly fat.

Follow the “50/25/25 meal plate” at your 3 main meals per day:

Visualize dividing your plate into 4 quarters:

50% (2 quarters) of your meal is vegetables: raw, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, roasted – it doesn’t matter – it just needs to be vegetables (not corn or peas). Do not add cheese or creamy dressings to your vegetables. You may add dressing made of balsamic vinegars, herbs, spices and raw flaxseed oil or hot sauces (if they don’t contain sugar.) For roasting or sautéing use grass-fed ghee, sesame oil, coconut oil or authentic virgin olive oil.

Why? Vegetables are nature’s perfect health & diet food; Low in calories and fat, while being high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and anti-cancer properties, as well as countless phyto-nutrients that assist the thousands of processes that our bodies and organs must perform everyday.

25% (one quarter) of your meal is clean protein: (about 4-6 oz) all animal protein must be ORGANIC and GRASS-FED or FREE-RANGE. Any fish must be WILD CAUGHT. You may also choose gluten-free, vegetarian protein options such as whole cooked beans, nuts, organic tempeh/tofu, or a clean sugar-free protein powder. Any dairy must be ORGANIC and GRASS-FED. Any eggs must be ORGANIC and CAGE-FREE.

Why? Animal-based foods that are not organic, grass-fed, free-range and wild-caught have higher concentrations of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, PCB’s, dioxins and other toxins, due to the biomagnification of fat soluble toxins as they travel up the food chain. All soy products must be organic because non-organic soy is genetically-modified.

25% (one quarter) of your plate is either Wheat-free, Whole-food Starch or Fresh Whole

Fruit: Wheat-free, whole-food starches include: Baked sweet potato, yam, acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash; or Slow-cooked brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, buckwheat, or oatmeal.

Why? These are the most healthful, lowest glycemic starchy carbs. Contrary to popular fad “low carb” diets, our bodies actually need high quality whole-food starches to perform optimally. Low-carb diets stress the liver, gallbladder, thyroid, adrenals and hormonal processes.

Eliminate:

alcohol, sugars of all types (except for whole fresh fruit), sweets and sweeteners of all types (other than stevia), hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fats), all flour-containing products such as breads, tortillas, chips, pretzels, crackers, as well as instant oatmeal or other instant cereals/grains. Also avoid all artificial colors, flavors and preservatives (as much as possible!)

Why? All of these products burden the liver and adrenals, and wreak havoc with blood sugar balance, slowing down or halting fat burning, and making us crave junk food.

Notice if you are sabotaging your own weight loss:

If you find that you are eating in response to negative emotion, then seek counseling or coaching to help you resolve the emotional issue, and find healthier ways to manage stress. Why? Many emotional-eaters have experienced an abuse, major loss or trauma in the past that precipitated overeating. If this is true for you, you must address and resolve this before you will be able to shed the weight for good.

Taking it to the Next Level

Those who are the most successful at dropping and maintaining their weight also incorporate these things:

1. Use the free My Fitness Pal to track calorie intake. It includes a program to determine how many calories you need per day. In general, meals should be between 300-400 calories (women) or 500-600 calories (men) and snacks between 100-200 (women) or 200-300 (men). More than this at any one sitting usually gets stored as fat.

2. Plan your meals! Know each day what and when you are going to be eating. Get creative! Try new tasty, vegetable-heavy recipes, such as salads, soups, stir-fries, and green smoothies.

3. Maintain a positive attitude. Realize this is a day-by-day process. Successful, long-term weight loss is not a quick fix. You will slip up, and hit plateau’s. It is important to stay positive and keep on going.

4. Stick with it. It can sometimes take 2-3 months on this program before you see significant change. This is because you are feeding your body vital nutrients and rest that it may have been lacking for many years; often the body needs time to heal and detoxify before it is “willing” to release excess weight. Be patient. Have faith, know that you doing the right thing for your body. Even if you can’t see the changes externally yet, your body is getting healthier.

5. Add a regular routine of resistance training, cardio and/or yoga. A regular fitness routine will help tremendously. Building muscle revves up the metabolism, tones the body, greatly helps to balance blood sugar, and decreases the aches and pains of everyday life. It also keeps us more mobile and able to do things as we age.

Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and healthful Holiday Season!

#food #health #nutrition #weightloss