Man Experiencing Energy Medicine

Conquer Migraines Workshop

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Conquer Migraines Workshop

Man Experiencing Energy Medicine

A FREE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP
presented by Jon-Erik Lido, L.Ac.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Woodcroft Professional Building
Durham, NC

Do you or someone you care about suffer from migraine headaches?

What if you could reduce or eliminate your need for expensive prescription drugs for treating migraines, and all of the side-effects that come with them?

Conquer Migraines is a FREE hands-on community workshop where you will discover how to regain control of your own health.

What you’ll learn:

  • Simple yoga postures, when done in a very specific way, which can reduce stress, restore lost energy, and reduce the frequency and severity of migraines. These poses will be taught by a registered yoga teacher!
  • Five enjoyable drug-freeapproaches to preventing migraines.
  • Prevent stress headache triggerswith practical stress reduction techniques. Lots of options for everyone!

Event details:

Thursday, August 21 from 7-8:30 p.m.
Woodcroft Professional Building
5501 Fortunes Ridge Dr, Suite K
Durham, NC 27713

RSVP to reserve your spot!

https://www.facebook.com/events/342902045865193/
(919) 228-8448
info @ bb-acu.com

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Acupuncture for insomnia and sleep

Computer Caused Insomnia?

Man suffering from insomnia- needs acupunctureComputer Caused Insomnia effects so many people.

So many people suffer from insomnia, or poor sleep quality in America that I’ve written on the topic of sleep several times in the past. We live in a constantly connected, always-on, artificially illuminated world. Our night-time artificial lighting is easily visible from space! That’s a lot of light.

The problem is that artificial illumination is a very recent invention. Our bodies are simply not designed for it. What we are designed for is synchronization with the natural diurnal cycles of light in the day, darkness (or low, red colored lighting- like a campfire) at night. I’ve blogged about how this can be a problem with getting your body synchronized on a regular sleep schedule.

Today I want to share with you some free software that can, to some degree, help with this situation. It’s called “f.lux”. It helps adjust the color of your computer display from cooler colors in the daytime to warmer colors at night. This is helps prevent your body from getting off of a natural sleep cycle. There is more info about f.lux and sleep research at their website.

Here’s the link to download f.lux for your computer.

If you suffer from sleep issues definitely check out my tips for better sleep for some powerful techniques you can use sleep easier and better.

If you’re interested in learning more, simply schedule an appointment. To schedule an appointment call 919-228-8448, or use our online scheduling system.

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Ginger for Motion Sickness

A piece of fresh ginger root

A piece of fresh ginger root

Ginger for motion sickness? Yes. Motion sickness can quickly put a damper on any travel. Nothing crushes the fun quite like turning green and vomiting, or feeling like you might vomit at any moment!

I’ve blogged about a great way to prevent motion sickness in the past. My patients have reported great results with that technique. However, today I have a new way to deal with and prevent seasickness to share with you. This one has even been studied and found effective against nausea from motion sickness and several other causes in clinical studies.

The studies tested ginger (which in Chinese medicine is known as Gan Jiang) usually in the form ginger powder. They used ginger alone and found it more effective than placebo. Herbs are usually combined into formulas in Chinese herbal medicine, but we’ll excuse the researchers for trying to simplify the study. A little ginger tea (put the ginger in some warm water) might go a long way to deal with queasiness.

Ginger is a common ingredient in Asian and Indian cuisine. However, ginger has been used for its medicinal properties for centuries among many cultures. The root or underground stem (rhizome) of the ginger plant can be consumed fresh, powdered, dried as a spice, in oil form or as juice. Ginger is part of the Zingiberaceae family, alongside cardamom and turmeric, and is commonly produced in India, Jamaica, Fiji, Indonesia and Australia.

Using fresh ginger is an easy way to flavor foods and drinks without adding unnecessary sodium. Since it is often consumed in such small amounts, ginger does not add significant quantities of calories, carbohydrate, protein or fiber.

The great thing about this finding is that you can safely combine ginger with other ways for reducing nausea from motion sickness, such as acupressure, acupuncture, ear seeds, and pharmaceuticals.

If you’re interested in learning more, simply schedule an appointment. To schedule an appointment call 919-228-8448, or use our online scheduling system.

Bon voyage!

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Man suffering from insomnia- needs acupuncture

Another Way to Sleep Better

I’ve posted a lot on sleep and how acupuncture for sleep problems. I think quality sleep is crucial for good health. A good night’s rest plays a role in preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, and is crucial for optimal weight loss. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who suffer from insomnia or poor sleep quality.

I’ve offered some tips for better sleep in the past. Here is a new one- get regular exercise. A new study provided evidence that regular exercise helps create better sleep. In addition the study found that participants had more energy during the day.

I also offer great health tips like these in my email newsletter. This is exclusive content for my subscribers that doesn’t make it to my blog. For instance, in my most recent issue I shared a potent combination of foods that slashed breast cancer rate by an astonishing 89% in one study! Subscribing is completely free, and won’t clog your inbox- issues come out at most twice a month. Follow this link to Subscribe to my Newsletter so you won’t miss the next one!

If you’re interested in learning more about acupuncture, simply schedule an appointment at our location in Durham, NC. To schedule an appointment call 919-228-8448, or use our online scheduling system.

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Navel piercings inhibit the flow of qi and jing in the conception vessel.

Navel Piercings Reproductive Health

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Navel Piercings and Reproductive Health

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlUYSAVl46M

I’ve written a blog post about this topic in the past, but now I’ve created a video on navel piercings.

A navel piercing may seem like a benign adornment, but acupuncture theory strongly suggests that this is not a healthy or safe practice.

The problem is that the piercing is creating a semi-permanent obstruction in the flow of a very important energy channel known as the Conception Vessel (or Ren Mai in Chinese). The conception runs from between the legs up the front of the body, ending below the mouth. Here’s a diagram of the Conception Vessel, for the curious. If you do look at the diagram, notice that the navel is an acupuncture point on the Conception Vessel- CV-8. You may also notice CV-8 is a point that one is specifically forbidden to needle.

When an obstruction like a navel piercing is placed in a channel it creates a physical blockage to the flow of the channel. The piercing represents a constant interruption in the energetic field of the body. As you might gather from its name in English, the Conception Vessel is a very important channel in the energetics of the reproductive system.

Consequently the blockage created by the piercing can possibly lead to problems down the road, particularly with the reproductive system:

  • Infertility
  • Amenorrhea (no menstrual periods)
  • Cervical Dysplasia (abnormal cells of the cervix which may lead to cancer)
  • Uterine fibroids
  • Endometriosis

When a woman comes to me for treatment with menstrual complaints or infertility it is very common for her to have either a navel piercing or surgical scar along or across the Conception Vessel. It is also pretty rare that I talk to someone who has had a navel piercing for more than five years who doesn’t have some sort of menstrual or cervical abnormality.

Some people can do okay with navel piercings for a few years, but problems may develop down the line. I’m sure it is possible that most people will never develop symptoms from a navel piercing. Is it worth the risk? You’ll need to decide for yourself.

I would love to hear what you think about this. Would you consider removing a navel piercing based on this? Do you have friends or family with navel piercings?

If you’re interested in learning more about acupuncture, simply schedule an appointment at our location in Durham, NC. To schedule an appointment call 919-228-8448, or use our online scheduling system.

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An image of nerves of the nervous system, a posterior view.

Good Sleep Prevents Alzheimer’s

Man suffering from insomnia- needs acupunctureGetting a good night’s sleep is inarguably important for good health. The type of rest we can only get with sufficient restful sleep keeps us alert, energetic, and mentally clear during the day. Earlier this year I blogged about how good sleep helps weight loss.

Now there’s increasing evidence of a link between sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s disease. The study involved measuring spinal fluid participants for the presence of a protein called “amyloid beta”. Plaques found in the brain of sufferers of Alzheimers disease are composed of mostly amyloid beta, so this is seen as a marker for the disease. The study showed that during prolonged sleep these protein levels dropped, and during prolonged wakefulness the levels rose.

Well over 20 million prescriptions a year are written for habit-forming sleep aids, such as Ambien in America. It’s clear that the problem of sleeplessness is a large one.

If you have not yet read my “tips for falling asleep” article, I encourage you to do so. It includes simple but powerful things you can do to help achieve restful sleep without all of the pitfalls of pharmaceutical sleep aids.

If you’re interested in learning more about acupuncture, simply schedule an appointment at our location in Durham, NC. To schedule an appointment call 919-228-8448, or use our online scheduling system.

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Household Toxins

Household toxins create an unhealthy living environment

Household toxins can be very dangerous. In fact, the air quality inside your home might be worse than the air quality outside your home.

You may have heard that inside air is often more polluted than outside air. Air filtration companies love to cite this in their advertising. Creating a healthy environment at home is a critical step to creating vibrant health. Since helping you create vibrant health is what I’m all about at Balanced Being Acupuncture, I’m going to help you find ways to detoxify your house.

Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

  • Dry cleaning- avoid purchasing dry-clean-only clothing. Hang recently dry-cleaned clothes out in a well-ventilated area immediately, or outside in the shade.
  • Cleaning products- choose non-toxic products whenever possible. Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar are great cleaning products that are healthy for your home environment. A self-cleaning oven can help you avoid toxic oven cleaners, but presents problems of its own. During the self-clean cycle all sorts of volatile organic chemicals are created and released by the high temperatures that are used. Vent your house and stay outside when operating the self-clean cycle of any self-cleaning oven.
  • New Carpets- Carpets are notorious for venting volatile organic chemicals in to your home. New carpets made of recycled fibers are now available. These present far less less off-gassing of these chemicals.
  • Air Fresheners- These unnecessary products are adding a chemical soup to your home. Chuck them immediately! If you must add fragrance to your home, consider natural potpourri, or use an oil burner to gently heat essential oils.
  • Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs- These are great for the environment, but they contain a small amount highly-toxic mercury. When the glass in these bulbs break in your home they are poisoning your home. This may be fine for out-of-the-way ceiling fixtures, but floor and table lamp bulbs are much more likely to get accidentally broken. This is especially true if you have pets and/or children. You may want to look into highly efficient LED lighting. While they are more expensive, LED lights do not contain mercury, are more energy efficient, and last longer than CFL light bulbs.

Have any more tips for reducing toxic chemicals in the home? I’d love to hear about them. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Sleep Helps Weight Loss

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Night time is the time of day when our bodies regenerate. For millenia the Chinese have known the importance of quality sleep in the regeneration of the “yin”, or most substantive aspects of the body. Western medical research is starting to discover what Chinese Medicine has been telling us about the importance of sleep all along.

A recent study of 472 obese adults shows that well rested people loose more weight. This finding is completely unsurprising through the lens of Classical Chinese medical theory.

When the yin aspect of the body is not nourished with sleep the body naturally desires to balance the internal aspects of yin and yang. Sleep deprived people often turn to food as a source of yin in lieu of the yin regenerated through sleep. As you can imagine:

  1. food is a terribly poor substitute for sleep
  2. more food (particularly the high-carb, high-fat foods people crave) leads to more fat and weight gain

If you have not yet read my “tips for falling asleep” article, I encourage you to do so. Without proper sleep you are likely to find meeting your body weight goals to be more of a challenge. Acupuncture and effective sleep habits can make achieving quality sleep possible. Reaching your target weight is hard enough; why make it harder?

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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Ginseng and Green Tea – Poor Combination

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In last week’s blog post I wrote about how, despite is presence in so many products, ginseng is an inappropriate herb for many people. In fact it can cause problems. This is especially true for younger people on fatty western-style fast-food inclusive diets to whom these products are frequently marketed.

Today I want to look at one of the most popular products containing ginseng currently- sweet green tea with ginseng.

I would call these products a marketing triumph, but as a “supplement” a huge failure. The problem is that even if ginseng happens to be appropriate for the person consuming this product, they won’t see much if any benefit.

They way I see it there are are four reasons these products score a huge FAIL. These are:

  1. Green tea neutralizes the effects of ginseng.
  2. These products contain no herbs that harmonize or moderate the ginseng.
  3. They don’t taste like ginseng, so they can’t contain much of it.
  4. These products contain vast amounts of sugar.

The first point is that green tea neutralizes the effects of ginseng. You are supposed to avoid tea (as well as turnips and daikon radish) when taking herbal formulas containing ginseng. Fail one!

The second point is that ginseng is used alone in these drinks. In Chinese Medicine the ginseng is almost always combined with other herbs into an herbal formula designed to create a specific effect. These formulas often contain herbs to moderate the harsh side-effects of certain herbs (like ginseng). They also may be there to enhance or to focus the effects of the main herbs in the formula. Fail two!

I’ve tasted ginseng. I know what it tastes and smells like- it’s pretty yucky, like bitter dirt. I don’t taste or smell it in these drinks. They can’t contain much of it. Fail three!

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, these teas contain massive amounts of sugar! One very popular brand contains 54g of sugar per bottle. They even offer an “extra sweet” version with 69g of sugar! With the ginseng neutralized by the tea the primary effect of these drinks will be the result of the sugar they contain. Large amounts of sugar swamp the stomach and pancreas, causing large amounts of insulin to be dumped into your bloodstream. The result? A big energy crash and mental fatigue as soon as the caffeine wears off. Exactly the opposite effect being advertised! Fail four!

If you want more energy avoid sugar, exercise, and schedule an appointment with your friendly local acupuncturist.

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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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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