Healing with Whole Foods

Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford is a book that I have owned, loaned, and given away many times in the past decade.

It's not a book that you read start to finish, nor is it a cookbook; it's more like a much-loved resource that keeps you coming back for a paragraph or a few pages. It's the ultimate in references because it combines food knowledge with health to the point that the two are inseparable.

Hidden within the encyclopedia are some of the most beautiful and succinct interpretations of Chinese medical theory. If you know part of your Chinese medical diagnosis, then you can simply look it up in HWF and follow the path to the exact foods that you need to eat to stay healthy or turn things around if you're having troubles.

Better yet, the diagnosis look-up isn't just for Chinese medicine. Whether you have heart trouble, hypertension, IBS, and many other commonly-diagnosed illnesses in our modern world, Pitchford has information about that, too.

And it's not even the best part.

Healing with Whole Foods can show you
the relative benefits of any food in this photo.

The best part is being able to look at the ingredients of your dinner (or recipe) and say, "I wonder what effect this has on my body." Look up 'broccoli' in the index and there you are, staring at the wonders of broccoli from a balanced, integrative perspective.

This tome is so comprehensive. If you want to learn more about Chinese medicine, if you are the health and food expert in your family (or are choosing a gift for someone who is), this book will be actively jumping off your shelf every day.

By the way, it's a great reference. There are recipes included, but I recommend them only for advanced users who know how to incorporate flavor in a healthy way. Otherwise, you'll end up eating dinner with Blandy McBlanderson. I tried making some of the recipes while I was in school, and my dog loved them! He's a labrador - they'll eat anything.

Carbohydrate Schmarbohydrate: Balance Your Blood Sugar to Lose Weight

If you have been struggling with weight control for most of your life, you've probably been told that there is something about your body (genetic or functional) that interferes with the way you process food.

What if that wasn't entirely true? What if there was something that you could change about your diet that would improve the way you process food so that the weight would drop off?

There is. We can reign the overindulgence of simple and refined carbohydrates that is overwhelming our metabolism and keeping us constantly off balance. Why carbs? Carbs don't exist in a vacuum; they are broken down into sugar without very much effort by the body. Sugar is a source of energy on one hand, but we use such concentrated amounts that we can't make use of all the potential energy. Not only do we store it in fat, but we also have a difficult time managing the high levels of sugar that get dumped into our bloodstream. (If you would like more information on how sugar affects the body, I suggest this NY Times article.)

A better way to use donuts - as a flash drive!

When you eat a donut, for example, you get a sugar bump immediately (hello sugary glaze!), followed by another bump once you unlock the carbs. The flip-side is that your body produces a ton of insulin to stabilize your blood sugar, and after about a hundred donuts or so, it starts to build up. Now you can't process the sugar properly and you get - not diabetes at first - but metabolic syndrome (extra weight around the middle that just doesn't go away).

Craving a ton of carbs is common when we eat every 6-8 hours because our bodies are screaming by the end of that fast. With all that extra insulin from the hundred donuts, it's easy for our blood sugar to really bottom out. Without stores of energy, your body panics, and you panic. Eating every 3 hours disrupts the feast/famine cycle, and I guarantee you'll see a pleasing change in your mood.

First, you'll want to see how many carbs are in the foods you love. Are there foods in your diet that have 60g or more carbs per serving? That's enough for the whole day! Here are some examples of some "healthy" foods that are actually carbohydrate bombs: one banana has about 27g, a cup of pinto beans has about 43g. Eat two of either and you've eaten your allotted carbs for the day, and you're still hungry! Root vegetables such as potatoes are higher in carbs than leafy vegetables or fibrous stalks. Fruit is high in carbs because of fructose.

Simple vegetables, herbs, and butter.
I do this all the time at home and find it delicious.
(Click the link for the recipe.)

More importantly, what foods are low in carbs?  Squash, spinach, herbs, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, onion, and of course, eggs, butter, and fish. Don't forget nuts! I could go on.

The beauty of this approach is that you can use butter and other healthy fats. If you have been avoiding fat and cholesterol for health purposes, I highly advise that you read this NY Times article about the perception of fats in the United States. Enjoy the advent of your return to the community of cheese-, egg-, and butter-lovers.

While you may have genetic or cultural limitations that affect your body's response to sugar and carbs, these are weaknesses which can be overcome by giving yourself the proper building blocks. And I guarantee that they're not in that donut.

Adding Acupuncture for Total Health Care

Acupuncture can help to improve your quality of life in a way that no therapy originating here in the West has been able to do. Like many acupuncturists, I trained vigorously for four years, learning about not only the standard body systems and common methods of clinical care, but also about the body's energy system and comprehensive care. This Chinese medicine is the frontier of how we perceive health care in the United States; however, doctors are often happy to recommend acupuncture because they have seen it help improve their patients' quality of life.

Acupuncturists like me often see people at their wit's end, where they have been prescribed strong medications and recommended to have major surgery to address their pain. Because acupuncture has no side effects and poses a very low risk to health, those who suffer from pain find Traditional Chinese Medicine to be a safe, effective solution.

I believe that understanding the fundamental concepts of this medicine will provide you with a deeper knowledge of how your body works naturally. These concepts, like wholism and the energy system, are what I see missing from the current biological model that we practice today. If you have gone to your doctor confused and lost, and come away feeling like the treatment administered was not right for you, you have just touched upon these missing links between your body and the strategies that we have developed without the comprehensive Traditional Chinese Medical system.

These missing links mean that TCM is needed here in the US, not to replace your regular doctor, but to complement your health care effectively. While there are some fundamental differences in these systems, I hope that they never operate exclusively from one another. Acupuncturists want to improve your quality of life; we also want you to continue seeing your doctor. Being assessed by your medical doctor is vital to your health; seeing an acupuncturist is vital to your well-being. I tell my patients that I am pleased to be a part of their therapeutic team – without a team of medical professionals, we could both be overwhelmed.

Acupuncturists want to help you get better
in a team with other medical professionals.

In fact, you may be overwhelmed with pain, discomfort, weight gain, stress, digestive problems, sleeplessness, and many more conditions. These are signs that you have entered a stage in which acupuncture can be very effective. You may have decided to just live with your pain, because you experience side effects when taking medications, or you have been told that surgery is the only answer. The good news is that acupuncture can stop your pain, reduce your body's response to stress, ease your digestion, balance your metabolism, and help you calm down and rest. An acupuncturist like myself will work with you as a unique individual and start a treatment plan that will show you the results we can offer. I use time-tested, painless techniques to help your body heal itself. This natural restoration may have been dormant in you for some time – in fact, you may feel that your body is actively working against you! My patients who have problems with their immunity and allergies often mention this feeling. Again, there's good news – your body has been working very hard, but it may have been distracted, overloaded, or unduly stressed. I appreciate the change that occurs in someone's life when their body comes back into balance with Traditional Chinese Medicine, and they have a powerful experience of seeing their body working for them again.

My words cannot replace the experience of acupuncture treatment and individual consultations with a licensed professional. I encourage you to seek contact with an acupuncturist who can speak clearly with you about your condition in specific terms; moreover, I encourage you to participate in a treatment plan, because in this way, you can see what acupuncture can offer not only to you, but to your entire community. Please contact me directly if you would like to know more about what I do in Austin. I always find time to help others on the path toward better health with Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture.

Nutritional Supplements

When we've begun to eat right but are still struggling with health problems, we may turn to supplements for help. Unfortunately, many supplement providers cannot tell us the actual effect of their product on our bodies. When we eat Centrum or Flinstones chewables, they have a high "nutrient content," but most of it cannot be absorbed and used by the body, so we just pass it via urination or defecation. Many people taking multivitamins report significant changes in their urine color for this reason. Passing huge amounts of nutrients through our bodies is not proportional to the nutrient benefit our bodies are actually metabolizing from the product.

Vitamin vendors may give information about their product which can be valuable and true, given that we apply it to the vitamin and not the supplement product. They say, "Your body would benefit from additional Vitamin D." I usually nod, smile, and walk away from their pill table and into the free sunshine. (Apply aloe vera gel for added Vitamin E and UV protection. Applying it directly from the plant works best.)

Whole supplements are the most efficient method of integrating nutrients into our bodies. Here are some examples of supplements I use:

• Floravital is an excellent supplement for regulating anxiety, sleep disturbance, lethargy and more.
• Emergen-C is an important electrolyte replacement method, which uses much less sugar than Gatorade. (I use bell peppers, fresh herbs, and oranges as a source of Vitamin C.)
• Chinese herbs are whole food supplements that can be combined to balance the whole body, with emphasis on your specific concerns.

Mangoes are rich in Vitamin A

When the "whole" aspect of food is removed by extracting or synthesizing more intense versions of a useful compound, the nutrient becomes less useful. Toss your supplement pills in favor of more nutrient-rich foods. If you need to adjust your metabolism, the appropriate combination of acupuncture and Chinese Herbs will smooth the root of your digestion.

Whole Foods & Our Moods

If you're feeling depressed, I suggest having a banana. If you came here looking for answers and you haven't eaten in the last four hours, please use the time you would finishing this post and dedicate it to a strawberry or something that you find super yummy.

It's hard to think when we're hungry; it's a part of the human condition.We require food to physically relax and without it, we are basket cases. Ever seen your uncle blow up at the staff at a restaurant because of a long wait? He was hungry.

We can pack pills full of all the nutrients in a week's worth of meals, but they cannot replace the food, and we will become hungry. Why ignore the hunger mechanism and give our bodies only part of what they need? Food is bioavailable; we can pack many nutrients into the foods we eat. They are meant to be processed by your stomach and small intestine, and passed on to your liver, where all the impurities are filtered and the vitamins sucked out and plugged into your system where they're needed.

Eating....

• subdues the hypothalamus (relieving it from having to secrete hunger hormones as well as manage the body's stress from its nutritional deficit)
• assimilates essential elements in order to relax muscles, potentiate energy and stabilize emotions
• stimulates the body into releasing powerful feel-good chemicals

 The brain is a great example of an organ that requires a good many exotic substances in order to release and receive its communications with the body. I'm not talking about the "Brain Food" that was marketed in the late 90's; all food is brain food, because the primary substance used by the brain is glucose. Most foods have substantial amounts of glucose, yet we often only provide our bodies with refined sugars, which are more difficult to assimilate than the simple sugars in fruits and vegetables. So how about that banana?

Mama's Mix

My friend told me about this recipe she created for her family. She's a young mother who was also a student, and she needed a way to prepare a great, quick breakfast. So she created Mama's Mix. It's simple to digest yet nutrient-rich. It keeps frozen, so make sure you have freezer space.

Mama's Mix

1 cup each of the following grains:

• brown rice
• steel cut oats*
• millet
• quinoa

1/3 cup each of the following nuts:

• raw pepitas
• raw almonds
• walnuts
• flax seed

1/4 cup each:

• yeast
• wheat germ*

*Gluten-free giving you struggles with this recipe? Replace the oats with bulghur and remove the wheat germ. Viola!

Prepping the Mix

1. All the grains should be milled to a fine powder. If you don't want to mill them with a VitaMix, coffee grinder, or a food processor, you can buy most of them pre-milled.
2. Grind the nuts almost to a powder. They'll start to milk if you grind them too much. Most of the nuts are soft and easy to process. The flax is often too small, but the occasional whole flax seed isn't noticeable.
3. Mix in a large bowl, adding yeast and wheat germ, if desired. Portion in appropriate containers and freeze until you want to use it.

Fixing the Mix

1. Put Mix and water in a small saucepan at a ratio of 1:3. For one bowl, I recommend 1 1/2 c water to 1/2 c Mix.
2. Stir well, turn heat to med-high. As the Mix starts to simmer, give it a good stir. Turn heat to low.
3. Remove from heat when it's close to the consistency you want. I like to remove it when it looks like fresh oatmeal (after 10 minutes).
4. Thickens quite a bit upon standing.
5. Add anything you want to make it taste however you want. I like to add 1 T coconut oil and 2 T maple syrup. I have used coconut creamer, brown sugar, craisins, chocolate, honey, agave and more. Feel free to experiment.

Mama's Mix is not meant to fill you up - it will stimulate your system into refreshing productivity.

Easy Tips for a Healthy Diet

When cooking I use whole ingredients, and recommend fresh when possible. My highest recommendation for food shopping is using local organic and sustainable delivery programs, like Greenling's Local Produce Box.
The grocery store presents a working alternative to having fresh produce delivered to your door. You may emerge victorious even from the grocery store if you use these simple guidelines:

1. Meal plans and grocery lists are essential, especially if you're on a budget. Depending on how much structure you need, sometimes a simple grocery list will suffice, but I recommend making a meal plan for at least two weeks. You can bargain and compromise with your meal plan, but after two weeks, you may start to find it comforting or see enough improvement to operate without it. For patients, customized meal planning is included in sessions with me.
2. Buy foods that make your mouth water. The quest for resonant and inspiring experiences to promote well-being includes flavors. Purchase ingredients that you want to be a part of, because they will become a part of you.
3. Be generous. Reduce waste while meeting your needs, without limiting ingredient portions. If you have a lot of waste or hate leftovers, split the ingredients to make varied, smaller meals. By maintaining your food supply, you can begin to understand your habits and make important changes, instead of swinging on the diet pendulum.
4. Try my recipes, taken from a variety of cookbook resources, as well as my own taste. There's Summer Breakfast Tacos, Healthy Mac & Cheese, Pasta Primavera, and more!
5. Acupuncture regulates the hormones ghrelin and leptin, balancing both your metabolism and your cravings. Regular acupuncture sessions provide a blueprint for you to lose weight faster and more easily with your diet and exercise program.

Give over to your feral nature at the grocery store! Become wild, and gather your ingredients as if you were about to cast a spell of the utmost importance! After all, eating is a personal priority.

An Acupuncture Testimonial

Growing up, I watched Sleeping Beauty and went to the doctor, so I was terrified of needles. The 80's was big on safety (who uses a spinning wheel anymore?), so everywhere I went, there were warnings about sharp objects, and especially needles. Sharp. Painful. Warning. It usually is painful, too, when someone uses a needle to get something out of us.

I understand when we say that acupuncture is an unexpected and unlikely solution to our physical problems. Ten years ago, I felt that way, driving by acupuncture clinics and imagining God knows what is going on in there. I was also experiencing severe allergies, digestive upset, and I was piling on cumulative stress. My face was so swollen it needed ice some mornings, and I went to the bathroom once a week. A friend of mine convinced me to try acupuncture, and after about 3 years of exposure from a distance, I tried it. Within two months of treatment, my allergies cleared up. I haven't needed to return for that intense weekly treatment of allergies in seven years.

I waited so long to get acupuncture because I had a few misconceptions about it, and about health care in general. For one, I didn't understand that I had power over my own health care. Sometime during the first year of treatment, I realized I had power. I still sit forever in the waiting room like anyone else, but when I receive examination and treatment, I understand that it is always with my permission.

I also didn't see how easy and comfortable an acupuncture treatment could be. An acupuncture needle isn't trying to get anything out of you, or put anything into you. It recognizes that within your body, you have all the tools to right yourself both physically and emotionally. It is an open communication with the subtler aspects of the nervous system. An acupuncturist has been taught to put needles in the most instructive and helpful spots for you.

After this experience, I became inspired to listen to your story and help you change it for the better.

Healthy Mac & Cheese

A great comfort food, this healthy version of mac and cheese has a lot less cheese, and adds some aromatic herbs to leave you feeling energized - never bloated.

Ingredients:

1 package pasta, swirls or shells preferred
1 butternut squash, medium
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin (optional)
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
grated cheese to top

Directions:

1. boil 6 cups water
2. peel & cube butternut squash
3. add dash of salt, 1 tbsp olive oil
4. add pasta to water
5. boil 1 1/2 inches of water in a steamer
6. add butternut squash to steamer
7. drain pasta, place in bowl
8. when soft, add butternut squash to pasta
9. add cumin, cilantro, olive oil, salt & pepper
10. mix thoroughly until squash is smooth
11. serve and top with cheese