Laura's Favorite OTC Remedies for Cold Season

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Laura's Favorite OTC Remedies for Cold Season

Let’s face it, in spite of our best efforts we all get sick sometimes. Many of us would prefer a “natural” option to a pharmaceutical one, but the health aisle in the grocery store can be overwhelming. Since the FDA doesn’t regulate herbal medicine, there are a lot of products out there making claims about what they can do. So where you do start? As a trained herbalist, I want to share with you my favorite over-the-counter (OTC) remedies for cold season. Please know that none of these are sponsored, they’re just my personal go-tos

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5 Asian Medicine Diet Tips to Beat Summer’s Heat

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5 Asian Medicine Diet Tips to Beat Summer’s Heat

According to Asian medical theory, each season is associated with an element and summer is the season of the Fire element. Fire is the element of play, adventure, thrill-seeking, social connection, passion, joy, love, and trust. Fire energy also houses the mind. Harmonious Fire energy manifests with clear thinking, healthy relationships, charisma, and compassion.

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Intro to The Five Elements

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Intro to The Five Elements

Along with yin and yang theory, the core of Asian medicine revolves around the five natural elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Within the body, each element exists as a microcosm of its existence in the outside world. Each element is associated with an organ, an acupuncture meridian, a season, a body tissue, a smell, a flavor, and more. The elements interact with one another in predictable manners in nature as well as in the body. Acupuncturists learn how the elements interact and then apply this knowledge to each patient to determine why a particular symptom is present, how best to bring the body back into harmony with the elements to alleviate the symptom, and how to stabilize the elements to prevent future symptoms from arising. Five Element Theory has many layers; this post is meant to serve merely as an introduction to the five elements and one of the many ways they can interact in the body.

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Female Fertility: How to Track your BBT

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Female Fertility: How to Track your BBT

Whenever a woman asks me if acupuncture can support her fertility goals, my first question is always, "Are you tracking your BBT?" Basal Body Temperature, or BBT, data is the number one tool I use to assess where to begin with female fertility clients. Combining this western technique with the eastern tools of tongue and pulse diagnosis as well as detailed questioning about menstrual health and history is key to using acupuncture to boost fertility health.

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Herbaceous Black Sesame & Honey "Truffles"

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Herbaceous Black Sesame & Honey "Truffles"

3pm slump got you down? Instead of reaching for a cup of coffee or that donut in the break room, try these rich, energy-boosting "truffles" to help carry you through the rest of your day. These sweet treats are loaded with black sesame seeds to give you a more sustained energy boost than coffee. With honey and maple syrup, you will also get the short term pick-me-up the brain seeks from sugar when facing fatigue.

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Equinox Cleanse: Reset Your Body for the Season

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Equinox Cleanse: Reset Your Body for the Season

Asian medicine treats the body in alignment with the natural world. When you come to see me for treatment, I not only look at you and your chief concern today, I also look at the weather outside, the season, the time of day, and more. When taking the reins on your own health care, aligning your body with seasonal energetics is a wonderful starting point. The spring and autumn equinoxes are of particular importance as they mark a shift between yin and yang energies, the two energies at the core of Asian medical theory. This makes the start of spring and fall an optimal time to make a shift within your own body. My favorite way to shift? A whole foods-based reset, or cleanse.

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Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes: a Quick Weeknight Meal

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Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes: a Quick Weeknight Meal

I love to cook, but that doesn't mean I love cooking elaborate meals every night. When I come home late from a full day of treating patients, the last thing I want to do is wait another 2 hours for dinner to be ready. Good thing is, making healthy food doesn't mean you have to spend hours prepping and cooking. These Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes are one of my go-to weeknight meals when I want healthy protein and fat, and I want them fast.

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Sweat into Spring: Spicy Mung Bean Soup Recipe

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Sweat into Spring: Spicy Mung Bean Soup Recipe

Many of you know that I am a huge advocate of soups. Cooking food low and slow has a "pre-digestive" effect that eases the stress on your GI tract, allowing maximum absorption of nutrients and smoother elimination. This spicy mung bean bowl of yum is extra special because it takes only about an hour to make. Bonus: the leftovers taste even better than the first bowl.

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Approaching Asian Medicine: Intro to Terminology

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Approaching Asian Medicine: Intro to Terminology

Let's dive into some the basics of Asian medicine, starting with simple terminology. First off, why do some people say acupuncture and others refer to Asian medicine as a whole? Acupuncture is just one of the eight branches within Asian medicine. The other branches are meditation, herbology, bodywork, nutrition, exercise (including qigong), astrology, and geomancy (such as feng shui).

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Intro to Yin and Yang Theory

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Intro to Yin and Yang Theory

Yin and Yang are at the core of Asian medical theory. Asian medicine developed from Daoist theory. If you’ve been introduced to Daoism, you are probably aware that the essence of the Dao is that all things have a complementary aspect. That is, nothing exists as one, but as two. Yang and yin are the names for these complementary aspects. Yin does not exist without yang and yang does not exist without yin.

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Laura Reads Labels, Part 1: The Basics

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Laura Reads Labels, Part 1: The Basics

You’ve probably heard me say it before: “Read your labels. If you can’t pronounce something on there, or the list is daunting just to look at, pass on the purchase.”

Reading labels aloud is a simple trick to minimize your exposure to highly processed foods. In fact, label-less foods like fresh produce, grass-fed meats, free-range poultry, and wild-caught fish are our best sources of the varied, high-quality nutrients your body needs to build good qi, or energy. People have all sorts of opinions on processed foods and their effects (or lack thereof) on our health. Without diving into that debate, let’s start at building block # 1. If you are purchasing food with a label – do you really know how to read it?

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Autumn Energetics: Fall and Your Body

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Autumn Energetics: Fall and Your Body

Chinese medical theory is rooted in the cyclical passage of time and its effect on our bodies. As seasons wax and wane, external shifts in the environment pull our innate energy like the moon pulls the tide. Fall in particular marks a stark time of transition in the body: we move from the expansive energy of summer to the contractile energy of winter.

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FAQ: Private vs. Community Acupuncture

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FAQ: Private vs. Community Acupuncture

Wondering whether private or community acupuncture is best for you? Read below for some quick tips on how to choose your preferred treatment style. Remember that I am also always available to talk with you personally about your options; feel free to send me an email or give me a call.

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