Dump the Ginseng!

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Ginseng for energy or acupuncture?Dump the Ginseng!

Non-medicinal products containing ginseng abound in America. You can find:

  • Sweet iced green tea with ginseng
  • Multivitamins with ginseng
  • B Vitamin complex with ginseng
  • Energy drinks with ginseng

Ginseng comes to America from its use in Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. In Chinese herbal formulas ginseng (红参 or “ren shen” in Chinese) is used as an energy booster. And it is a really powerful energy booster when used in these formulas.

The problem is that the inclusion of ginseng in all of these products is primarily for marketing purposes. Some brilliant marketing person probably figured out that their products would sell better if they were marketed as containing this amazing herb. So many of us are dragging ourselves through life with low-energy that the promise of a quick fix can be very appealing. The problem is this:

Ginseng is completely inappropriate for most of the people to whom it is being marketed!

Don’t self-medicate with ginseng. If you are not middle-aged or older with symptoms like low appetite and a cold body, ginseng is probably not for you. If you are experiencing low energy do your body a favor and skip the caffeine-loaded energy drinks, mega-size coffee or ginseng-containing products.

There are many different causes of low energy. A licensed acupuncturist can help you get to the source of your low energy. You shouldn’t need rocket fuel just to get through your day.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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The Acupuncture Meridian Myth

The Acupuncture Meridian Myth

I am an acupuncturist who says that acupuncture “meridians” are a myth! Do I have your attention? Read on…

Acupuncture Defined

I often see acupuncture defined in terms similar to this:

Acupuncture is a system of healing using the insertion of thin needles at 365 specific points on the body to supposedly “balances the flow” of a kind of mystical bio-energy, called qi (pronounced chee), along invisible lines on the body called “meridians”.

To which, I say hogwash! This statement is just plain wrong! The statement contains multiple incorrect assertions about acupuncture. Here I’m going to focus on the part about “meridians”. The others will be addressed in future articles.

Meridians vs. Channels

Acupuncture chart of the xin bao luo "meridian"A meridian is infinitely thin imaginary line on the surface of a body. It is a term taken from geography and cartography. It is a good description of what the first westerners saw when they first observed an acupuncture chart. It looks like a map. Consider the chart on the right. But, as Alfred Korzybski famously noted, “the map is not the territory.”

The human body contains no meridians. What it contains are channels. Channels have width and are located at different depths in along their path through the body.

That the channels run deep to the surface of the skin is pretty obvious when you stop to think about how acupuncture is performed. If the acupuncture points and channels were on the surface there would be no reason to puncture the skin with a needle! You could just lightly touch the point to get the same effect.

So please, let’s use the word “channel” for paths of energy in the body. “Channel” provides a much more accurate and specific term for what actually runs beneath the surface of the skin in our bodies.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Is Acupuncture “Energy Medicine?”

Is Man Experiencing Energy Medicine - AcupunctureAcupuncture Energy Medicine

More and more these days I’ve noticed people advertising or discussing various forms of “energy medicine”. It seems like every few weeks I learn of some “amazing” new form of energy healing that involves fancy devices, laying on of hands, crystals, sounds, colors, smells, elixirs and so forth. As many of us find ourselves frustrated with what is missing from modern “western medicine” new alternative therapies continue to appear to meet those needs. The latest and greatest energy medicine modality can sound very attractive.

Crystals and Incense and Auras… Oh My!

Sadly there are many charlatans out there willing to take advantage of the sick and desperate. I would go so far as to say that most of the “latest and greatest” energy medicine modalities out there amount nothing more than a simple placebo. It is a strange and amazing universe in which we live, of course. Simply being different, strange, unconventional, or difficult to explain does not rule out effectiveness or truth. Likewise, simply falling under the label “energy medicine” does not make a particular healing practice a sham.

Mainstream Energy Medicine

One could certainly call electronic defibrillation a form of energy medicine, for instance. This therapy works time and time again and is as central to conventional western medicine as it gets. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cancer radiotherapy, electrocardiograms (ECG), phototherapy, laser vision correction (LASIK), nerve conduction studies, deep brain stimulation (DBS), among many others are all very mainstream therapies yet could all rightly be labeled as energy medicine. Indeed most of these would be considered science fiction or fantasy just a few decades ago.

Acupuncture – Energy Medicine or not?

So where does acupuncture fall? Is it energy medicine or something else?

Acupuncture relies on needles and heat (moxibustion) to cause various therapeutic effects on the body and/or mind. The foundation of acupuncture (or at least the kind of acupuncture I do – Classical Chinese Medicine) is the homeostatic functional balance between the various organ systems of the body. Acupuncture points are locations on the body that over thousands of years of observations have been empirically shown to cause a certain effect on the body and/or mind when stimulated. The relationships observed between these points ultimately lead to the theory of channels of energy or information linking these points.

It is pretty clear to me that acupuncture, as it is most commonly practiced, is a form of energy medicine. The functional and energetic effects on the body/mind are considered when selecting acupuncture points. Furthermore, moxibustion is a form of energy medicine involving the application of infrared energy to stimulate acupuncture points.

However you label it, energy medicine or not, acupuncture is a form of healing that has truly stood the test of time.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Insomnia: What to Avoid Before Bedtime

Insomnia – What to Avoid Before Bedtime

Man suffering from insomnia- needs acupunctureAvoid insomnia for many reasons! I’ve written on the topic of sleep before, including some tips for sleep and insomnia before. There are many things that can be done to deal with insomnia besides medication. Acupuncture can make a huge difference in your ability to fall asleep when it is time for bed and it can help you achieve truly restful quality sleep without drugs or herbs.

Acupuncture is just one technique of many available for dealing with insomnia. When you are lying in bed, wide awake at 3 A.M., it is a small consolation that you can make an appointment tomorrow, or the next day for acupuncture. You want to sleep that very night!

Don’t Bring Technology to Bed

A recent Bank of America consumer trends report found that roughly 71% of survey respondents sleep with their smartphones and 23% actually fall asleep with their tech tool in their hand. It’s time to break free from the dependence and reclaim your bed.

Don’t Drink Coffee

A cup of coffee contains anywhere from 80 to 120 milligrams of caffeine per cup, and you probably already know you should avoid it right before bed. Even though you might like the idea of a hot drink after dinner, did you know that although bedtime might still be several hours away, this could disturb your sleep. Why? Because caffeine can stay in the body for up to 12 hours.

Don’t Eat Spicy or Fatty Foods

You should have dinner at least two hours before going to sleep to give your body enough time to begin digesting it. If you’re used to eating something right before bed, stick with sleep-promoting foods like simple carbs or a glass of milk but stay away from spicy food.

Oh, and do go ahead and make that acupuncture appointment or set up a free face-to-face consultation. Sleep does not need to be hard to come by.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Acupuncture for Menopause

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Acupuncture for Menopause

Every once and a while a study of acupuncture comes out that has me take notice. This time it was a study on post-menopausal women who were experiencing symptoms such as hot flashes, irritability, depression, and decreased libido.

First I want to point out that I am not big on studies of acupuncture. Almost never are these studies well designed or conducted by people who understand that acupuncture is a science of the particular. In real acupuncture each person needs to be diagnosed treated independently and given a treatment appropriate for their exact condition. This doesn’t match well with western-style studies which usually involve attempting to test a single variable.

So it is with some surprise that I’m sharing a study that Consumer Reports Health (of all places!) brought to my attention. The poor doctor who wrote the Consumer Reports article couldn’t even spell “yin” right, but at least he found this fascinating study.

The study, published in BMJ, studied the effect of acupuncture on postmenopausal symptoms and reproductive hormones. They made sure to pick experienced acupuncturists for the study, which impressed me. But what I really like here is that they measured both improvements in symptoms and in the hormone levels of the participants.

Acupuncture has always been a great substance-free choice to treat health concerns related to menopause. In perimenopause- the years of transition into menopause the body is looking to find a new kind of balance as it adjusts to changing hormone levels. Helping the body find a homeostatic balance is what I feel that acupuncture does best. This is exactly why I called my practice Balanced Being Acupuncture.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Artificial Sweeteners Are Not For Fat Loss

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The sweet flavor from a dessert adds insulin to the blood, making weight loss difficultArtificial sweeteners are not for fat loss.

There is a concept in Chinese Medicine that refers to the energetic impact that the flavor of food imparts. The ancient doctors called this the impact of the Five Sapors (Wu Wei), or flavors. This idea has been essentially ignored in “the west” until recently. If you are trying to lose weight (fat) or are diabetic you will want to take note. You will see why diet drinks and artificially flavored foods are not your friends!

The ancient Chinese identified five flavors and associated these with the energetic system that they most affect:

  • Sour – Wood
  • Bitter – Fire
  • Sweet – Earth
  • Pungent – Metal
  • Salty – Water

For example, this means that if I eat a sour food that it will increase the Wood energetics in my body. They went further than this to say that the taste of the food, without even swallowing it, would immediately start to impact the body.

Flash forward a few thousand years to 2008 where a study was conducted on “Cephalic phase insulin response after taste stimulation“. In the study human volunteers tasted various solutions which contained either sugar, artificial sweetener, plain water, starch, etc. The subjects then spit out the solution.

Chinese Medicine would predict that the sweet solutions, the sugar and artificial sweetener, would impact the Earth energetics resulting in increased insulin release and other earth-related effects. So what did they find?

A significant increase of plasma insulin concentration was apparent after stimulation with sucrose and saccharin. In conclusion, the current data suggest that the sweeteners sucrose and saccharin activate a CPIR even when applied to the oral cavity only.

Surprise, surprise. As soon as the tongue sensed the sweet flavor, even if it was from an artificial sweetener, the pancreas started dumping insulin into the blood. This is one of the reasons artificially sweetened foods aren’t especially helpful for people looking to reduce fat on their bodies and loose weight. Your body doesn’t much care if it is getting real sugar or fake sugar. Extra insulin will be released and that’s going to make you hungry. Your body will require that you eat those missing calories one way or another. Sweet is not your friend if you are looking to loose fat.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Acupuncture for Depression?

Depressed woman - choosing acupuncture or drugs?Acupuncture for Depression

Depression is a huge problem. Did you know that in the United States doctors write over 150,000,000 prescriptions for anti-depressants each year? Drugs like Abilify, Pristiq, and Zyprexa net billions of dollars for their manufacturers each year.

That’s good news for the drug manufacturers, but not necessarily good news for those suffering from depression. For one thing, anti-depressant medications can have serious side-effects. Furthermore people using anti-depressant medications can find it difficult to get off of them. Consequently there are lots of people suffering with depression who are looking for non-drug options.

Depression Statistics: Who Is Affected by Depression?

  • Major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year. (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun; 62(6): 617-27)
  • While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32. (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics, 2005)
  • Major depressive disorder is more prevalent in women than in men. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003; Jun 18; 289(23): 3095-105)
  • As many as one in 33 children and one in eight adolescents have clinical depression. (Center for Mental Health Services, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1996)
  • People with depression are four times as likely to develop a heart attack than those without a history of the illness. After a heart attack, they are at a significantly increased risk of death or second heart attack. (National Institute of Mental Health, 1998)

I’ve written another article about acupuncture for depression which describes this drug-free approach. Acupuncture provides a surprising amount of flexibility and specificity for treating conditions of the mood and mind.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Cold and Flu Prevention Ideas

Cold and Flu Prevention

Chris Lehmann at Eastern Sun Acupuncture (in MA) wrote a great blog post recently about Flu and Cold prevention. I’ve talked about this topic some in my newsletter, but since Chris had some great ideas that I didn’t cover I thought I’d share it. Thanks for the great post, Chris!

Here it is: Flu and Cold Prevention

I am hopeful that there is not much winter left for us down here in North Carolina, but if you take a look at the flu map (as I write this) you can see that this is still a serious issue for most of America right now. Adopting these ideas can help prevent illness, which can come at any time of year. Take care of yourselves, everyone!

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Pistachio – A Cancer Fighting Food

Pistachio- cancer fighting nutPistachio – A Cancer Fighting Food

Pistachios are one of my favorite nuts. They don’t seem to receive the same respect for being a healthy food like walnuts, almonds, cashews, or even peanuts.

As recently blogged about at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Blog and Dr. Weil’s Blog, it appears as though pistachios may help prevent cancer- specifically lung cancer. Pistachios are a great source of a form of Vitamin E named gamma-tocopherol.

A study conducted at Texas Woman’s University – Houston Center found that a diet containing about 2oz of pistachios per day significantly increased the levels of gamma-tocopherol in the blood.

My take-aways from this are two-fold. First of all, 2oz of pistachios is a lot- about 117 kernels according to the study abstract. Secondly, this study was small and wasn’t designed to show any direct effect on lung cancer, or any other type of cancer. So it’s impossible to infer what a handful of pistachios every now and then will do for your health. Still, to me, this is all the justification I need to eat some yummy pistachios! So think about the pistachio, a cancer fighting food.

More Facts About Pistachios

  • They’re nutrient-dense.
  • They have as much protein as an egg.
  • Their shells may help you eat less.
  • They’re heart-healthy.
  • They’re grown in the U.S.
  • They’ll fill you up, not out.
  • They’re great for cooking and baking.
  • They’ll help you snack smarter.
  • They open on their own.

Pistachios grow in heavy grape-like clusters surrounded by a fleshy hull (they’re actually related to mangoes!). When they ripen, the pistachio kernel grows inside until (in most cases) the shell splits open.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Eat Healthy, Save Money – Buy Food in Bulk

Eat Healthy, Save Money – Buy Food in Bulk

Eating healthy is an important part of any wellness plan. My wife (Melissa, The Avocado Queen) and I have decided that one place where we simply won’t scrimp is in the area of how healthy we eat. Still, with the economy not yet running at full steam and warnings about inflation in the news, there are plenty of smart ways to save money on healthy food.

One no-compromise way to save money on healthy food is to buy in bulk. This works great for dry foods like nuts, pasta, rice, buckwheat, oats, quinoa, beans, green tea, and dry spices. It also makes sense to stock up when you find a good deal on almond butter, pre-made curry (always check the ingredients for preservatives and unwanted chemicals on any pre-made foods), almond milk, soy sauce, or any other food with a naturally long shelf-life.

There are plenty of locations in the Raleigh/Durham area where you can buy in bulk or buy healthy foods. Just google for the locations in your area.

  • Sam’s Club
  • BJ’s Wholesale House
  • Whole Foods
  • Harris Teeter
  • WalMart Super Stores
  • Target Super Stores
  • Lowe’s Supermarkets
  • Publix
  • Kroger Supermarkets
  • Food Lion Supermarkets
  • Fresh Market

There are also specialty stores in Durham.

  • Whole Foods in Durham
  • Durham Co-op
  • Bulldega Urban Market
  • Li Ming’s Global Market
  • Around the World Market
  • Mediterranean Grill and Grocery

With the cost of food rising and predicted to climb higher in the near future you can save quite a bit of money this way. Everyone likes saving money!

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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