Why is sleep so important? Short sleepers-people who get six or fewer hours of sleep per night-are at a higher risk for viral infections, obesity, diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, and pain. In addition, REM sleep-the rapid eye movement stage-and dreaming are crucial for memory, learning, and emotional healing.

How to Sleep Better

Many people can improve their length and quality of sleep by avoiding certain stimulants and depressants.

Caffeine has a half-life of six to eight hours. That means that you will may still have some caffeine in your blood at bedtime if you have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. It may not be enough to keep you up at night, but the more you have and the later you consume it, the more likely it will disrupt your sleep.

Large meals before bedtime will make it hard for your body to rest as it tries to digest foods. Smoking can also have an effect on sleep according to a 2008 study, which showed that smokers don't spend as much time in deep sleep.

Drugs can also impact sleep: Excessive alcohol, most antidepressants, and beta-blockers disrupt sleep and REM patterns. Oddly enough, sleeping pills also suppress REM sleep and they have been found to decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep by only about 15 minutes and to increase total sleeping time by only about 20 minutes. The reason why we feel as if we've slept better is that sleeping pills damage memory, so we simply forget that we didn't sleep well.

As you go through your day, there is a lot you can do to help promote better sleep. Exercise early in the day and avoid exercising before bedtime, as this may make you more alert. A few hours before bedtime, simulate dusk by dimming your lights.

Read more about bright screens hindering sleep

At bedtime, good sleep is all about clearing your mind and creating the right environment for sleep. Establish a sleep routine to get your internal clock working properly, and reserve the bedroom for sleep and sexual activity-that means no watching TV, doing work, using a computer, and other stimulating activities.

Keep your bedroom cool and dark. Human body temperature follows nature with the lowest temperature happening just before dawn. Disruption in body temperature is related to melatonin levels with the lowest body temperature being found with REM sleep. When we run too warm at night, it interferes with sleep.

Try to reduce your "sleep noise"-worries, anxiety, etc.-before bedtime with cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, visualization, progressive relaxation. Bring to bed a different mind than you bring to the day. Many of us go to bed with thoughts of what we'll be doing the next day, so we're going to sleep with our intentions focused on waking up.

Read more about yoga for insomnia

End your "war" against insomnia, as surrendering can actually help you sleep better. And forgive nighttime wakefulness; some kinds of waking at night may actually be normal. If you cannot sleep and lie awake in bed for more than 20 minutes, get out of bed and do something else until you feel tired. Lying awake tends to increase worries about sleeping.

If you continue to have sleep issues, seek help, as there are many natural solutions such as acupuncture that may help.

The post Sleep Better for Your Health appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

About 6,000 new chemicals are listed weekly in the Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts. That adds up to more than 300,000 new chemicals every year!

Every year we consume an average of 14 pounds of food additives that include preservatives, flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, humectants, and antimicrobials.

Read more about the 7 scary food additives to avoid

We also consume an average of one pound of pesticides and herbicides every year.

Our bodies were designed to eliminate the toxins we encounter, but not at the level we are currently encountering them. Our science has progressed faster than our bodies can evolve to cope with these changes.

It sounds bleak, but there is hope.

Obviously, the first solution is to eliminate some of the toxins you come into contact with, including:

• Quit smoking or using drugs.
• Avoid excessive alcohol.
• Eat fresh, non-processed food.
• Buy organically-grown foods when possible and wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
• Drink a lot of clean filtered or spring water to help your body flush out toxins.
• Use simple cleaning solutions like diluted vinegar, baking soda, and lemon to clean your house.
• Read the labels on your personal care products and try choosing more natural brands.
• Make your own personal care products with foods like oatmeal, avocado, bananas, cucumbers, etc.
• Decrease your impact on the environment by using your car less to reduce toxins. You'll also receive the added benefit of getting more exercise as you walk, bike, or rollerblade to your destinations.

The next solution is to help your body's detoxifying organs—the liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin. According to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), the liver and gallbladder are the active organs during spring, so adding foods and herbs that support these organs are especially important. Examples are dandelion (drink it as tea or use the leaves to make a salad), artichoke, milk thistle, and many green vegetables. Recognize that if your body is very toxic, you may experience a "cleansing reaction" which is a temporary worsening of symptoms, or flu-like symptoms, before you improve.

In addition, a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioner can help create individualized detoxification and support programs suited to the individual.

Image: Chiot's Run

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As a health professional, I’m supposed to tell you that multitasking may be bad for your health. After all, your focus is usually poor when you try doing two or more things at once. Take, for example, the well known risks of driving and talking on a phone or text messaging.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), even eating and working at the same time is discouraged. We believe that the digestive system (pancreas and spleen) is an important processing center-processing both foods and thoughts. If you are thinking intently about your next work project as you chew your food, your digestive energy is split.

I do believe that multitasking can be a four-letter word, but I seemingly can’t help being proud of my ability to multitask. The other day I was in a rush getting ready to go out. I was shaving my legs as I checked my emails on my iPad. I thought that was being pretty efficient, but I was still running late, so I grabbed my husband’s electric shaver (sshhh…don’t tell him) and had both my and his razors going at the same time, one in each hand.

I have also been known to brush my teeth as I select my clothes, combine a dog walk with my banking, have three to six books going at any given time, and make my business calls as I walk to work.

Everyone multitasks on some level, even if it’s just walking and chewing gum. But when is too much too much? How do you get your multitasking under control?

Yes, a woman’s brain may be better set up for multitasking than a man’s brain. Though it is yet unclear, some studies have shown women to have a larger corpus callosum, the connection between the left and the right hemispheres of the brain. If this is true, then it could explain why women seem more comfortable with multitasking than men.

I believe that some multitasking is good for me. Multitasking sometimes saves me time when time is tight. It also exercises my brain. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should all the time. Sometimes multitasking just allows my distracted energy to take over and I become unfocused and inefficient. Sometimes multitasking stresses me out!

Yoga is my break from an overactive mind. Yes, it’s true that in doing yoga I have to remember to work on my breath at the same time as I work on getting through the various moves. However, I can’t also remember then to think about what I want to do at work or the chores that need to get done. Reading a good fiction novel has always been another way that I can escape my multitasking brain. Sometimes reading works too well. I remember being a kid reading a Nancy Drew book in the back of my parents’ station wagon. I was snapped out of my intense focus on Nancy’s sleuthing prowess by my sister and my cousins laughing at me. I then noticed the reason for their laughter. Sticky, cold ice cream was melting its way down my arm and was dripping off my elbow because I had forgotten that I was holding an ice cream cone!

How do you feel about multitasking? How do you recognize when your own multitasking has become unhealthy? What do you do to give yourself a multitasking break?

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

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1. Reduce Exposure to Allergens in the Home

I hate cleaning, but dusting and vacuuming your home regularly can help to get rid of allergens like pet hair, dust, pollen, and pollutants. Vinegar can help to prevent mould from building on surfaces that get wet and humid, such as windowsills.

2. Rinse Your Nasal Passages

Allergen irritants can be rinsed out of your nasal passages using a simple warm saline solution. There are many tools you can choose from to do so, including traditional neti pots, small spouted squeeze bottles, and specially made devices like the Nasaline syringe.

3. Drink Tea

Histamines are released during an allergic reaction. Green tea and chamomile tea both contain natural antihistamines that can help the immune system [Editor's note: avoid chamomile if you have ragweed allergies.]

4. Avoid Foods that Irritate the Immune System

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, foods that produce mucus and dampness can exacerbate allergies. Those foods include dairy, too many cold and raw foods, and too many simple sugars. With these things in mind, you can see that ice cream is the ultimate evil. Other potential immune system irritants are common food allergens like corn, citrus, peanuts, soy, shellfish, wheat, and the nightshade vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. This doesn't mean that all these foods are bad for you, but they are ones to keep an eye on and limit or avoid when your allergies flare.

5. Eat Foods that Help Boost the Immune System

Leafy green veggies are your friends. Berries and cherries help balance the body's immune and inflammatory response. Remember to wash your foods well to remove chemical and pesticide residues. Eat more foods rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, including flax seed, wild salmon, and fish oil supplements. Choose whole grains instead of processed grains, such as brown rice rather than white rice. Choose sprouted grain breads instead of flour-based breads for easier digestion. Choose ancient grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet, and spelt instead of only wheat. Use spices like turmeric, garlic, oregano, basil, horseradish, and white pepper, organic whenever possible.

6. Stay Hydrated

Water is important to keep the sinuses hydrated and essential for proper lymphatic drainage. Drink fluids at room temperature or warmer (try squirting some lemon juice into warm water for a hydration boost).

7. Try Self-Acupressure Massage

Make sure you wash your hands first so as not to add more allergens from your hands to your nose. The acupressure point "Welcome Fragrance" is positioned on either side of the nostrils, where the nose and cheek meet. Use your index fingers to press those points for two to three minutes while taking slow, deep breaths.

8. Consider Traditional Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help treat allergies. In a study published in the journal Allergy in 2004, patients suffering from allergic rhinitis were treated with acupuncture and herbs, and those with hay fever symptoms showed "significant after-treatment improvement."

Photo Credit: parrchristy

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Instead, the movie starts off in an underwater sequence with a diver, Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart, quietly sitting on the bottom of an ocean floor hugging a shark. No bloodthirsty man-hunting creatures from the deep dark here.

I have to admit that whenever I have entered the water-as a kid, even a swimming pool-I have had a small thought that sits with me: "What if a shark attacks me?"

This fear many people experience is one of the reasons why saving sharks is not as popular as saving seals, whales, or pandas. Sharks are not cute and do not appear to be gentle; instead, they seem to be menacing, even mean. That's just human nature to attribute character to other living beings based on appearance.

Rob Stewart, however, has seen through all that and has a real passion for saving sharks. Even when he risks losing a leg-not from a shark bite, but from an infection-his thoughts are still on how quickly he can return to the ocean to continue his work for sharks.

Whether you like them or not, the fact of the matter is our world needs sharks. Sharks have populated the Earth's waters for more than 400 million years. They are top marine predators, keeping the oceans healthy by playing a key role in balancing the population levels of their prey. Again and again we have seen the ecological problems that result from taking out a key player in an ecosystem, yet we're killing sharks at an alarming rate.

About 100 million sharks are killed each year by humans. Over the past 15 years we've depleted some shark populations by 80 to 90 percent, leaving great whites, hammerheads, and many others on the brink of extinction.

Sharks are being hunted because one pound of dried shark fin can be sold for as much as $300, as it is considered a delicacy by some Asian populations. Others feel sharks are dangerous and should be killed, and some people like the "sport" of catching sharks. Another threat to sharks is they can be accidentally caught by longline fishing, which also catches dolphins, swordfish, and many other marine animals.

Shark cartilage has been touted as a cancer cure, often due to the inaccurate belief that sharks are immune to cancer, but there is no conclusive evidence that shark cartilage can treat cancers. Others believe that shark cartilage can help treat arthritis, but the jury is out on this one.

The first rule of medicine is "do no harm." I take this to pertain to not only doing no harm to my patients, but also to doing as much as possible to avoid harm to other creatures and our environment. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes rhinoceros horn, tiger bone, and bear gallbladder have health benefits, but these "herbs" are banned for use in North America because the first two animals are endangered, and the method of extracting bear gallbladder is cruel.

If you watch Sharkwater you will see finning, a brutal act that involves cutting fins off live sharks, after which they are tossed back into the water to sink helplessly to the bottom, where they will be eaten by other fish or drown. It's barbaric. It's an industry. It's even political.

Rob Stewart has dedicated his life to changing all of that. My focus remains in my clinic, but I want to contribute in my own way, so I took a look at all of my products and found shark cartilage in my one of them. Though the company is doing the best they can to obtain the shark cartilage in a way that is as sustainable as possible, the fiscal rewards for suppliers are still very high, thus making it more likely that people will sidestep proper guidelines and regulations. If you are using shark products, consider that there are many other options that have proven more effective, are cruelty-free, and are easier on our environment.

If you want to see the trailer, find out more about the film, or buy the movie-which features a shark fin mafia, pirate boat collision, charges of attempted murder, a Coast Guard chase, amazing scenery, and education about a desperately important cause-visit Sharkwater.com.

The post Shark Cartilage for TCM is Often Cruelly Harvested appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

TCM is the second largest, and the oldest, continuously practiced professional medicine in the world, used by one-third of the global population. Before we can discuss TCM treatments for digestive health, we need to understand the basics of digestion from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective.

Tongue/Mouth

Digestion starts in the mouth. When you go for a TCM consultation, don't be surprised when you are asked to stick out your tongue. The tongue is the only internal organ that we, as TCM doctors, can ask to see. Unfortunately we can't ask you to pull out your liver or stomach! Observation of tongue color (should be pink), the coating on the tongue (should be thin and white), and the shape and size of the tongue reveal clues as to what is occurring in the body. If, for example, you have a swollen tongue with a thick coating on it, then perhaps some of the symptoms you suffer from include bloating and borborygmus (a fancy name for rumbling tummy caused by intestinal gas). A TCM doctor would have you limit or avoid phlegm-producing foods like dairy, wheat, and bananas. If your tongue is red, dry, and thin, your symptoms may include heartburn, constipation, or hemorrhoids, and a TCM doctor would advise you to avoid spicy foods.

Stomach

Let's follow food digestion down from the mouth to the stomach. TCM envisions the stomach as a cooking pot. When food reaches the pot, it is partly broken down by the cooking process. This continues the digestive process that began in the mouth.

Since a pot requires fire or heat to cook food, TCM recommends the avoidance of excess cold and raw foods such as rice, ice cream, and sushi (although remember that sushi is traditionally eaten with the warming foods ginger and wasabi). Instead, the emphasis is on lightly steamed vegetables, and during colder seasons, more soups and stews, for easier digestion.

If you do not have enough digestive fire, your metabolism may be too slow and symptoms may include bloating, undigested food in the stools, and pain that is reduced by warmth. If you have too much digestive fire, you may suffer from heartburn, an insatiable appetite, or constipation. Because foods can have an innate warmth or coolness, you may want to eat foods appropriate to your constitution, as well as to the weather. For example, spicy foods are heating, but too much or too hot may cause digestive irritation. More suitable warming foods include ginger, cinnamon, fennel, winter squash, sweet potato, kale, oats, spelt, and quinoa. If you have a tendency toward heat signs and symptoms (not necessarily just feeling hot), you could consider cooling foods like peppermint, dandelion greens, cilantro, apples, watermelons, citrus fruits, tofu, millet, barley, amaranth, lettuce, cucumber, and yogurt.

Spleen/Pancreas

The next organ involved in TCM digestion is the spleen. The spleen and pancreas together are termed the spleen system. If you suffer from bloating, soft stool/diarrhea, undigested food in your stools, fatigue, and/or poor appetite, your TCM practitioner will likely say you have a spleen energy deficiency. One of the spleen's jobs is to transform food and fluid into useful nutrients and to transport those nutrients to where they are needed in the body. Treatments include foods like squash, carrots, yams, well-cooked rice, ginger, and small amounts of honey or molasses in your diet, while limiting or excluding dairy, citrus, fried or heavy foods, and too much sugar.

Liver

The liver helps cleanse the blood and detoxify the body. It also secretes bile which is stored in the gallbladder. Bile is required for the proper digestion of fats. In TCM the liver system has these functions, so poor quality fat, intoxicants, chemicals, and denatured foods all cause problems with the liver. In addition, the TCM liver soothes and smoothes the functions of the whole body, including the emotions.

A person whose liver system is not functioning properly will likely have emotional struggles such as irritability, frustration, aggression, impatience, stubbornness, and anger. Dandelion root or greens, milk thistle, artichoke, and chlorophyll-rich foods such as spirulina, wheatgrass, and chlorella may be helpful. Because stress can particularly aggravate problems with this system, it is also important to find ways to relax and manage stress.

Intestines

The small and large intestines absorb nutrients and eliminate digestive waste. In order for this to happen properly, the intestines must have healthy cells lining the walls, and the muscles must be able to contract rhythmically (peristalsis) to move matter along. Sufficient fiber and water are also needed to ensure proper elimination, but I'm sure you already know that. If you do suffer from constipation, then avoid alcohol, yeasted breads, foods with baking powder or baking soda, and refined "white" foods such as white bread, white pasta, white sugar, and white rice. General foods to take for chronic diarrhea are rice or barley broth, leek, eggplant, sunflower seeds, yam, and adzuki beans.

While many of TCM's wordings for how the digestive system works are different from conventional allopathic medicine, the basic principles are similar. Eat healthy, whole foods, limit junk foods, chew your food well, eat regular meals, and enjoy!

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Maybe you know exercise is important, but perhaps you are struggling.

Here are some suggestions:

1. If you are injured or have chronic pain, seek professional help so you can be active again. If you are prone to pain and injury, or if you exercise more often or more vigourously, it would also be wise to get periodic maintenance checks and treatments, just like you would for your car.
2. What motivates you? What would get you exercising? Looking better? Being able to beat your friend at tennis? The ability to run for your bus without getting winded? Winding down at the end of a tough day with a great yoga class or perhaps a boxing class? Socializing with people at the gym or golf course, or being able to play an ultimate Frisbee game? Remember, it's not always about lifting weights and running on the treadmill. Find out what motivates you.
3. What time of day should you schedule your exercise? Does the crack of dawn sound like a perfect way to beat the crowds? Do you prefer a brisk walk during lunch hour or bike ride? Perhaps would you rather end your workday with a workout before heading home? It's even harder to exercise if you are trying to fit it into a time that doesn’t work for you. Keep in mind if you decide to work out at the end of the day, you'll need to avoid thinking up more reasons not to exercise when that time comes!

There are so many ways to be more active, so mix it up! Bike or rollerblade to work, walk your cat (I've seen someone walking their cat, really!) or see if you can still do a somersault or a cartwheel (Careful though! Maybe skipping rope is a safer thing to do). You could also park a block or more further away from your office (I have to park several blocks away, like it or not, grumble, grumble) or even dance a jig! I just started playing squash again–if you've ever played, then probably you also know what "squash butt" feels like!

For information on HOW to move safely, Click Here.

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Each element produces another element. In earth you find metal; metal condenses water; water grows wood; wood creates fire; and fire burns down to earth. Picture this as a circular cycle. Within this cycle, each element is controlled by another element. Earth dams water; water puts out fire; fire melts metal; metal chops wood; and wood blocks earth like a tree fallen on a dirt path. Thus, it can be seen if there is an excess or a deficiency in the energy of one element, it will influence the other elements.

Unlike western medicine, TCM is not based on internal anatomy and physiology-it was developed prior to the dissection of cadavers. There are common terms between Western medicine and TCM, and although their meaning and functions may overlap, they are not the same. TCM has a completely different diagnostic system. For this reason, I will capitalize the first letter of the TCM "organs."

There are 12 main organs that are paired in TCM. They are: Spleen/Stomach, Lungs/Large Intestines, Heart/Small Intestines, Kidneys/Urinary Bladder, Liver/Gallbladder, and Pericardium/Triple Warmer (San Jiao). The last two are the most unusual organs for Western minds. The pericardium is an actual organ in the body; it is the membrane sac that surrounds and helps to protect the heart. In TCM, its function is similar, but includes more. The Triple Warmer is unique to TCM. It is an entirely intangible organ that covers the upper torso region (Lungs and Heart), middle torso (Stomach, Spleen, Liver, Gallbladder), and lower torso (Kidneys, Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Uterus, Urinary Bladder). It functions to connect the organs of the body as an avenue for Qi, and also helps control the passage of water. It is very complex because it is elusive and has been a subject of controversy for centuries.

Five of these organ pairs are designated to the five elements:

• Spleen/Stomach are earth
• Lungs/Large Intestines are metal
• Kidneys/Urinary Bladder are water
• Liver/Gallbladder are wood
• Heart/Small Intestines are fire

Other characteristics are also associated with each of these elements. For example, fire flames upwards (e.g. hypertension), water tends to go down (e.g. edema). In addition, each element is connected to a season, color, taste, tissue, emotion, climate, sense, sound, etc.

As you can see, everything is intricately interconnected. This helps in the TCM diagnosis and treatment because the root cause of the problem can be indicated by paying attention to the varying symptoms, and treatment can follow several paths to balance the body.

Note that when your TCM practitioner refers to an organ imbalance, it does not mean that physical organ is impaired. For example, a Kidney Qi deficiency does not mean there is anything necessarily wrong with your kidneys.

The five element system is complex. However, it is also a beautifully clear system that allows us to communicate more easily why the body becomes imbalanced, and to offer some simple solutions for treating illness and symptoms.

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According to the fads, low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets are best; the DaVinci diet, called the Diet Code, would have you base meals on the golden ratio of 1.618; you need to eat like you are a caveman; you need follow a Mediterranean diet; you need to follow an Okinawan diet; you need to follow a French diet; you need to eat foods based on your blood type; you shouldn't combine fruits with other foods; and so on, and so on, and so on.

I'm not saying that all, or even any, of these fads are wrong. But really, give us a break! It's all very complicated and contradictory. Which diet should we follow, if any?

I love food and I love to eat. However, I'm not a good cook and I don't like to think too much about how to put a meal together. In fact, I believe "diet" is a bad 4 letter word. To follow a diet means being "tied" (if you have you read or seen The DaVinci Code you know that letters can be rearranged to make new words) to a strict eating regimen. I believe a better way to eat is to "edit" your food choices.

The Good…

Let's start with foods we can indulge in. We all know we should eat more vegetables, so this tops the list. There are many options from which to choose. Even if you are anti-veggie, there should be something that suits your palate. If you crave salty foods, try celery, kale, dandelion, spinach, chard, and sea-vegetables such as nori, kelp, kombu, and dulse. If your sweet tooth is calling you, try sweet potatoes, yams, squash, and beets. Want something crunchy? Go for carrots, celery, broccoli, or cauliflower. Prefer something juicy? Reach for tomatoes and cucumbers. Need help with the greens? If you can't find a way to eat enough greens, both quantity and variety, mix a greens powder (e.g. spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, barley grass, or a greens blend) into your favorite shake or juice, or keep it simple by using water.

The Basics…

The basics of nutrition require that you receive a combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. All these nutrient categories are essential even though some are labeled as heroes or foes.

Choose complex carbohydrates over simple carbohydrates because they break down into sugar more slowly and provide you with a more constant stream of energy, rather than a burst of energy followed by a crash. Whole grains (and especially sprouted grains are better because they are easier to digest), and vegetables are examples of complex carbohydrates. Fruit, while rich in simple carbohydrates, can also contain many vitamins and some fiber.

Lean sources of protein are better choices than meats heavy in saturated fats. Choose organic, free-range meats whenever possible to avoid eating animals that are fed steroids, unnecessary antibiotics, pesticides, or other diseased animals. You might also try eating non-meat meals at least once or twice a week, such as a fantastic vegan chili.

Avoid processed and poor quality oils, but don't go completely fat-free. Why: because fats are important! If you remove all the water out of your brain, it will be about 60% fat! All of your cells are lined in fat. Fat protects your internal organs. Fat keeps you insulated. However, not all fat is good. Essential fatty acids (EFA) are fats you need to consume because your body does not make them. EFAs are omega 3 fats (found in flax seeds and fish), omega 6 fats (found in pumpkin seeds, almonds, and sesame seeds), and omega 9 fats (found in small amounts in all of the above). Fish oil capsules are easy to take. To incorporate EFAs into your food, try sprinkling some on your salad as a dressing, drizzle some on your veggies, rice, or pasta, or add a spoonful to a blended shake.

And the Ugly…

At the other end of the scale are foods we should limit. I'm sure you can already guess many of them…

• Greasy, fried, fatty foods (e.g. deep fried anything, stuff that glistens with grease).
• Processed and refined foods (many packaged foods, canned goods, and ready-made meals).
• White foods, white bread, white pasta and white rice.
• Sugar and excessively sweet foods (watch for hidden sugars in foods such as muffins, cereals and other baked goods) Try natural, zero-calorie, blood sugar stabilizing stevia leaf instead.
• Refined and poor quality oils (margarine, shortening, commercial foods with oil in them, and hydrogenated oils/fats).

If you are generally healthy, you can occasionally enjoy these tempting foods, but limit both the quantity and the frequency that you consume them. Resist the temptation to "supersize"! It is not economical and you may end up paying for it in other ways (with a stomach ache).

Bringing it All Together

Eating is important. Here are some tips I'd like to leave with you:

• Enjoy your food.
• Chew your food well and savor the flavor.
• If you are super busy, try scheduling your meal and snack times.
• If possible, plan to eat 5-6 small meals a day. If you prefer, you can choose the standard 3 meals a day, but don't skip breakfast (break the fast) as it is important to start your day off with a healthy meal.
• Eat around the same times each day so your body can prepare itself.
• Practice portion control.
• Eat slowly so that your body can tell you when you've had enough. Eat until you are no longer hungry rather than until you are stuffed to the gills.

Still confused? When in doubt, use common sense. I don't believe taking the nutrients out of food, processing it, then adding back some of the stolen nutrients, while adding colorants, flavorings, and preservatives to make it look, smell and taste like yummy food really sounds healthy. Do you? We have so many healthy options to choose from! There is no need to feel limited!

The post TCM: ABCs (Apples, Bananas, & Carrots) of Food appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH)

Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), or non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, is the most common prostate problem. After age sixty, more than 70% of men are afflicted with BPH and about 40% for men in their fifties. BPH symptoms can vary, but the most common signs are trouble urinating, frequent need to urinate, unable to void completely, decreased force of stream, dribbling urine, and needing to urinate more than twice a night.

Prostate Cancer

It is important for men over the age of forty to get regular checkups because prostate cancer may be present even with no, or minor, symptoms. According to the American Cancer Society, "prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men". However, prostate cancer is also very treatable. In fact, the 5 year survival rate for prostate cancer is nearly 100% when discovered early.

Treatment

There are many treatment options for both BPH and prostate cancers. Surgery is one option, as is the use of prescription drugs, but there are many other natural options as well. There are many changes that can be made via diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices

Effective natural remedies include saw palmetto, pygeum, stinging nettles, zinc, lycopene, vitamin E, selenium, boron, essential fatty acids, and milk thistle. TCM offers its own complement of Chinese herbals and, as always, the focus is on determining the imbalance in the body and formulating an herbal prescription based on the diagnosis.

Diet

It is interesting to note that Japanese men, native to their country, have the lowest rates of prostate cancer in the world. However, when they begin to eat like the average North American, their cancer numbers rise to equal those of their western counterparts.

One major difference between the Asian versus Western diet is the limited consumption of red meat and the greater consumption of soy products like tofu, miso, and tempeh. Soy contains two substances that have been found to be anti-cancerous: the isoflavones genistein and daidzein. There are many ways that soy can be eaten, but if you're still adverse to soy foods, you can also take standardized soy extracts in capsulated form.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs for short) have also been shown to be involved in healthy prostate function. EFAs are unsaturated fats that are necessary components in every membrane of the body. We need to consume EFAs in our diets because our bodies cannot produce them. They can be found in flax seed oil, borage oil, sunflower seed oil, primrose oil, and fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel) oil, to name a few.

Other important nutrients for prostate health include: lycopene (the nutrient that colours tomatoes bright red), zinc (immune system booster found in pumpkin seeds, barley, and chicken), vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant found in avocados, broccoli, and almonds), and garlic (which has anti-tumour properties). For more recipe ideas, visit Naturally Savvy's recipe section or you can also check out: www.wholehealthmd.com.

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