Why You Should Lighten Your Purse and Lose Your Wallet

The days of big fat leather wallets loaded with long roles of plastic sheathed photos of friends, family, and girlfriends are over, thanks to modern day technology.

Large wallets were so 1987!

The new wallet is the “money clip” one simple tip I always give men with low back pain, neck pain, hip/hamstring/knee problems, is to check their wallet for unneeded items and then shift the wallet to the front of their pants or carry it in a jacket pocket.

It’s amazing how simply sitting on a large wadded up leather wallet all day long can throw a body out of whack.

Now let’s get one thing perfectly straight….I am in no way as a doctor endorsing fanny packs *shudder* unless they are those Kevlar kind from REI that kind of look cool.

Part of being healthy and feeling good is checking in on the ergonomics of our posture, and physical structure from time to time. Read more

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My Basic Vitamin Program

“What Vitamins Should I Take?”

Is the most common question I get as a Naturopathic Physician.

I typically believe the average person that doesn’t eat “perfectly” ie:

• Eats the “Basic American Diet” (BAD) of white refined, processed foods
• Doesn’t consume 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies daily
• Eats Fast Food several times a week Read more

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Fibromyalgia: Latest Research News

By Dr. Jim Tabios, PhD

Fibromyalgia is a widely misunderstood and sometimes misdiagnosed chronic condition, commonly characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, concentration issues, and sleep problems.

According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, it affects an estimated 10 million people, mainly women, in the United States alone.

The severity of fibromyalgia symptoms can vary from one person to the next and may fluctuate even in a single individual, depending on such factors as time of day or the weather.

Because it is a chronic condition, in most cases, fibromyalgia symptoms never disappear entirely. The good news is that fibromyalgia isn’t progressive or life-threatening, and treatments can help alleviate many symptoms.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms

The symptoms of fibromyalgia and their severity vary widely, although pain and fatigue are nearly always present. Major symptoms of fibromyalgia include: Read more

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Disease as Our Teacher

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week Everyone!

Who is Your Teacher?

Did you know that even adults have teachers?

We may not knowingly be matriculated into the curriculum, but LIFE is teaching us so many things.

In my opinion, disease is an amazing teacher.

Whether chronic or acute, disease is the only way the body can send us messages.

My friend with diabetes refers to her diabetes as her “teacher.”

Anyone with diabetes who is reading this can commiserate at what a challenging life lesson having this disease can be.

Pain is also one of the most common signals that the body sends to us when it wants to teach us a lesson, but we often miss the other hidden messages, the otherwise less pronounced teachers,  those substitute teachers….you know? The ones that NO ONE wants to pay attention to,  and they are known as SYMPTOMS.

Symptoms are a lot like substitute teachers because no one wants to listen to them.  They are going buh-bye in a day or two. Yippee! We can do whatever we want….

But we can’t.  What we need to do is listen to that inner wisdom of the body…pay attention to those symptoms.

Wow….symptoms are our teachers too! How amazing is that to think about? The body is trying to tell you something when you are spending hours on the toilet with The Swine Flu (or nature’s Spring Cleaning as I like to call it.) We know that this virus causing gastroenteritis is upsetting the digestive system, and the body is smartly shooting it out of us as quickly as possible (no puns intended…I promise with all due respect.)

Same thing happens when we get a bad cough, or when we have to sneeze…..and maybe boring yawns even have something to teach us.

Speaking of yawns, bear with me here for a second while we transport back in to time….

Picture it– Issaquah High School 1993:

When I was in high school, my best friend and I had this substitute teacher who eventually became our full time teacher.  He was fresh meat out of grad school, and not much older than we were. Smelling his fear, everyone in the class acted like the typical high school students that knew more than everyone else in the world (let me tell you when I was 18, I was the smartest I will ever be in my entire lifetime. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I will ever know.)

It seemed that everyone in the class had fun taking turns making his day a nightmare.  We were a bunch of arrogant Honor Society Students.  We were used to receiving “A’s” for thinking out of the box and leaving a tiny dot on a science test that asked us to draw a scientific model of a geographical system, and the teacher gave credit.

We had been tested, we had applied to schools, we already knew where we were going for college, many had full ride scholarships, we had it made….

In all nerdy honesty, I was just taking the Advanced Physics as an elective because I almost failed small engines, and in the 17 years that Mr. Endicott taught his curriculum, he never had a group of students not have their lawn mower run.  He even took it apart and put it back together again, and it still didn’t work.

He never had a group of students like us, who thought we were taking the class for an easy “A,” kind of like the “nerd” in “Breakfast Club” who wanted to kill himself with a flare gun because he couldn’t get his elephant lamp to work. Anyway, I got a C in the small engines class, the worst score I had ever received, and never had to work harder to almost not fail.  My BF and I would stay up late with flashcards talking about “tulip valves” and memorizing auto parts. To each his own genius right?

I digress….

In advanced physics class we refused to listen, we had already had six months of physics and thought we knew more than the teacher. We caused trouble just to cause trouble. We made our poor teacher work a million times harder than necessary. We chatted loudly amongst ourselves while he was forced to just yell louder and louder over us to gain our attention. In guilty hindsight, I’m quite certain we must have driven him to drink. I think he may have even given up teaching.

One morale of this blabbering story is that: He kept yelling louder and louder….and we didn’t listen. Hmmm…sound familiar? Pain and other disease symptoms can keep yelling louder and louder too….when we aren’t listening.

I think many of us that now work with super scary teenagers wish that we could flash back in time and apologize to or thank a particular teacher who worked really hard to make us better.

Teachers are some of the most under-appreciated professionals in the working world in comparison to what they are asked to do, and how much they are asked to give.

As a doctor, I have grown to accept that disease is one of our best under-recognized teachers.

Why else does the public speaker develop laryngitis when he does, or the athlete sprain their ankle? Why do most people have heart attacks at 8am on Monday mornings? Why does the skin problem finally show up on your face where your own vanity is forced to recognize it? Why do we get sick when we get sick? Why do we get sick with the things that we get sick with?

Why does our body choose the particular messages in the form of disease that it chooses to communicate with us?  Why aren’t we listening to the inner wisdom, or in Naturopathic Medicine we call it, “The Vis Medicatrix Naturae” or “The Healing Power of Nature.”

We recognize that although their is no cure for the common cold, for instance, the body manages to still recover.

The problem with symptom suppression is that we are ignoring the body’s inner wisdom. Obviously there are times when we have to ignore this “inner wisdom” and intervene to do what is safest, such as in the case of a high fevers! But let’s stop and think about what the purpose of a low grade fever is before we choose to immediately suppress it with acetaminophen.

When the immune system first interacts with a virus or bacterial particle, a message is sent to the brain to increase our thermostat. When the body has a higher temperature, it makes oxygen more available to white blood cells that kill the very bugs that are making us sick.  This is the immune system equivalent to the President giving a report that then gets distributed and the captain of the ship then says, “Computer–activate our shields.”

Sorry once a Trekkie always a Trekkie.

When we ignore our teachers, and assume we are better than our teachers, we are not quite present for life’s lessons. We miss the growth opportunity in the challenge. When we don’t listen to the messages sent by disease, disease just shouts back louder at us. What is that cold really telling you? Why did you have a heart attack? What is your chronic heart burn telling you?  Why does your back really hurt so bad?  Why do you do more nurturing for other people than you do for yourself?  Why aren’t you taking care of yourself?  Why aren’t you listening to your teachers?

Today is the day to start thinking about these things.

And, if you happen to be the 6th period Advanced Physics teacher at Issaquah High School in 1993, I would like to offer my sincerest apology!

God bless all of our teachers!

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Acupuncture Acupuncture Acupuncture!

Is there anything you would like to know about acupuncture?

Well today is your lucky day, as I interviewed Eric Martin, LAC one of Bastyr Clinic’s finest acupuncturists.

On top of that, Eric is a walking Rolodex of herbal information. I first met Eric in an advanced Botany class, as he was one of the teachers at the time, and I stuck to him like glue writing down everything he said about every plant we walked by.

So, since so many friends and family ask me about acupuncture, I thought I would take you all straight to the source. The following interview questions are the ones I most commonly get:

How does the philosophy of Chinese Medicine differ from Traditional Western medicine?

There are far more differences than similarities between Chinese medicine and Western medicine. The analogy I like to use is that Western medicine tends to view the body like a machine, whereas Chinese medicine views the body like a garden. In the western “machine” paradigm, you tend to view the body as unique, individual, yet connected parts. If someone has a bad knee, you take it out a put in a new one. Are you low on a particular nutrient? Just take a supplement.

In the garden paradigm, there is a focus on the balance of the entire system. Primarily Chinese medicine is asking are things too hot or too cold? Too wet or too dry? If, for example things are too wet, we need to know why things are too wet. Again just like a garden, is there too much rain? Not enough sun? Or maybe the soil simply is not draining properly. Any of these conditions would lead to too much dampness, but each would be remedied differently.

Interestingly, I think both the machine and garden systems of thinking are useful. In many ways the human body is like a machine; but I believe the human condition is much more like a garden.

Another fundamental difference between the western and eastern view, is that while western medicine is focused largely on form, Chinese medicine is almost entirely concerned with function. This can be clearly seen when contrasting the “spleen” in western and eastern medicines.

A western medical doctor could tell you where the spleen is located, what size it is, what types of cells it is composed of, etc. Chinese medicine on the other hand, views the spleen entirely as a set of functions. The “spleen” in Chinese medicine is all about the metabolism of nutrients, from digestion, absorption, and utilization throughout the body. From a western stand point these processes take place across multiple organs, but in Chinese medicine the entire process of absorbing and utilizing the energy stored in food is attributed to the spleen.

Does acupuncture hurt?

This is a tricky question. No, acupuncture does not hurt, but neither is it without sensation. First, acupuncture needles are extremely thin, a little thicker than the width of a human hair, a bit thinner than your cat’s whiskers.

The sensation of an acupuncture needle is nothing at all like a hypodermic needle. Acupuncture needles, when correctly inserted, will often illicit a dull, or heavy sensation at the point of insertion. Most patients actually enjoy the sensation. As my patients grow more comfortable with the process they actually will let me know if they are not feeling anything, because they know that heavy “Qi” sensation means the needle is working.

Are there any side effects to acupuncture?

Serious side effects of acupuncture are very rare. The most common side effect of acupuncture is bruising at the site of needle insertion. Some patients may experience what is known as “needle sickness” which is a temporary sense of faintness or light headedness. If you have had problems with needles in the past (fainting with piercings, or injections) you should discuss this with your acupuncturist prior to treatment

What do you recommend for patients with a fear of needles?

Acupuncture is not for everyone. If you have a serious aversion to needles, you may want to consider other options. I do work with several patients who I do not needle, but instead use tuning forks held at acupuncture points and Chinese herbal medicine.

What kinds of conditions does acupuncture best help?

Almost anything. Acupuncture is a complete system of medicine developed over thousands of years, as such its application is very wide. That is not to say that every patient will benefit, but the vast majority of patients will find some level of benefit, regardless of the condition.

That being said, the most commonly used and widely accepted application of acupuncture is for pain. Both chronic and acute pain responds well to acupuncture, and there is a growing body of research that supports the use of acupuncture for pain relief.

The World Health Organization has done an extensive review of acupuncture research conducted over the past 20 years and in 2003 published the following list of conditions:

1. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment:

• Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
• Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
• Biliary colic
• Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
• Dysentery, acute bacillary
• Dysmenorrhoea, primary
• Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
• Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
• Headache
• Hypertension, essential
• Hypotension, primary
• Induction of labour
• Knee pain
• Leukopenia
• Low back pain
• Malposition of fetus, correction of
• Morning sickness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Neck pain
• Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
• Periarthritis of shoulder
• Postoperative pain
• Renal colic
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sciatica
• Sprain
• Stroke
• Tennis elbow

2. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed:

• Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
• Acne vulgaris
• Alcohol dependence and detoxification
• Bell’s palsy
• Bronchial asthma
• Cancer pain
• Cardiac neurosis
• Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
• Cholelithiasis
• Competition stress syndrome
• Craniocerebral injury, closed
• Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
• Earache
• Epidemic haemorrhagic fever
• Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)
• Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
• Female infertility
• Facial spasm
• Female urethral syndrome
• Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
• Gastrokinetic disturbance
• Gouty arthritis
• Hepatitis B virus carrier status
• Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus
• Hyperlipaemia
• Hypo-ovarianism
• Insomnia
• Labour pain
• Lactation, deficiency
• Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
• Ménière disease
• Neuralgia, post-herpetic
• Neurodermatitis
• Obesity
• Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
• Osteoarthritis
• Pain due to endoscopic examination
• Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)
• Postextubation in children
• Postoperative convalescence
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Prostatitis, chronic
• Pruritus…itching.
• Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome
• Raynaud syndrome, primary
• Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
• Retention of urine, traumatic
• Schizophrenia
• Sialism, drug-induced
• Sjögren syndrome
• Sore throat (including tonsillitis)
• Spine pain, acute
• Stiff neck
• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction Tietze syndrome
• Tobacco dependence
• Tourette syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis, chronic
• Urolithiasis
• Vascular dementia
• Whooping cough (pertussis)

The entire WHO report can be found here

Are there any research studies showing acupuncture to be efficacious?

There is a lot of research validating the effectiveness of acupuncture. The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine says this about the current body of acupuncture research:

“There have been many studies on acupuncture’s potential health benefits for a wide range of conditions.”

Summarizing earlier research, the 1997 NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture found that, overall, results were hard to interpret because of problems with the size and design of the studies.

In the years since the Consensus Statement was issued, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has funded extensive research to advance scientific understanding of acupuncture. Some recent NCCAM-supported studies have looked at:

• Whether acupuncture works for specific health conditions such as chronic low-back pain, headache, and osteoarthritis of the knee.
• How acupuncture might work, such as what happens in the brain during acupuncture treatment.
• Ways to better identify and understand the potential neurological properties of meridians and acupuncture points.
• Methods and instruments for improving the quality of acupuncture research.

Eric Martin is a licensed acupuncturist and supervises clinical shifts at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health where he works with patients in both Team Care and Practitioner Care settings. Eric is also an adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University where he teaches classes on backpacking and the use of herbal medicine in the wilderness.

Additionally Eric is the owner of GoodMedizen Acupuncture and Herbs located in downtown Seattle. With

training and degrees in acupuncture, Chinese herbalism and western/scientific based botanical medicine, Eric is uniquely qualified in the field of natural health.

Eric Martin practices a different style of Oriental medicine from most acupuncturists in the United States. Rather than inserting needles directly into, or in close proximity to, the area of pain or discomfort; only points well away from the area of pain are used.

The acupuncture points used in this style of treatment are located from the elbows to the fingers, from the knees to the toes, on the scalp and ears. As a result, the patient never has to take off their clothes and the treatments are efficient, comfortable and effective.

More information about acupuncture and Eric Martin, LAC is available at: www.goodmedizen.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Heart Healthy Herbal Cocktail

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

With the hot summer months upon us (well not so much in Seattle today), I thought I would share my favorite herbal iced tea recipe to help you “Unleash your inner fabulosity”.

Mixing fat burning green tea with pomegranate juice is a most delicious delivery system for the heart healthy antioxidants, proanthocyanins, bioflavonoids, and polyphenols that protect our cardiovascular systems from the ravages of inflammation.

Ultimately these gifts from nature work synergistically to preventing heart disease and aging. Green tea is also a known fat burner, and can be consumed copiously by dieters for its thermogenic properties.

Ingredients:

• 8 bags of Green Tea.
• 1 cup pure Pomegranate juice (Trader Joes has a great organic one that I like).

Directions:

• Steep eight tea bags with seven cups of boiling water for about 15 minutes in a Pyrex container.
• Remove tea bags.
• Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add 1 cup of pomegranate juice (Or to taste).
• Chill and serve over ice cubes.
• Drink several glasses daily to prevent heart disease, and increase fat burning.
• One eight ounce glass is only about 20 calories! If you are trying to get off diet soda, a Villain of the Kitchen Table, this Whole Foods cocktail should be your new best friend! Diet pop actually makes you fat, this recipe will burn fat.

Variations:

• For parties add some festive garnishes: Mint, lemon balm, lavender, fruit, and edible flowers will surely make you look like Martha Stewart gone on a health rampage. Plop a few frozen blueberries or raspberries in there as well to make it look interesting, or chop a bunch of fruit and create an herbal non-alcoholic “sangria” for your guests.
• Black tea is also high in polyphenols for those that don’t care about burning fat, you may also use Oolong, White Tea, or any herbal tea. Have fun with the ingredients you have readily on hand.
• For stress relief, grab a box of herbal stress relief tea like Celestial Seasonings “Tension Tamer” or a “Night Night” tea and enjoy iced with your favorite fruit juice.
• For diarrhea, mix heavily steeped black tea with blueberry juice. The tannins have an astringent quality on the gut that serve to stop diarrhea. For extra tannins, try a bit of cinnamon too if you like!
• Add a pinch of sea salt and you have yourself an herbal fat burning organic sports drink! For long work out sessions you may also want to increase the amount of juice in the recipe.
• For sick children, mixing pure juice and prescribed herbal teas (not caffeinated!) prevents dehydration while also treating illness. Add a pinch of sea salt for electrolytes.

If you have your own favorite herbal iced tea recipe, feel free to share it in the comments section.

Isn’t being healthy so much fun?

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~ Dr. Nicole Sundene

Naturopathic Physician
www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Pain and Positive Mental Attitude

Do You Think Positive Mental Attitude Can Heal Pain?

In the case of Jennifer Mannion it did.

I am very grateful that Jennifer found Kitchen Table Medicine so that she could share her story with us. The following is a case report on how positive thinking was used to heal chronic pain.

Below is Jennifer’s personal account on how she cured her fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome with a change in her thinking.

If this story doesn’t support the naturopathic model of mind/body/spirit holistic healing, I am not sure what else will. Since no pharmaceutical company can patent “positive thinking” and sell and promote it, I will do my best to be the spokesperson (not the poster child) for positive mental attitude.

Please welcome to the kitchen table Jennifer Mannion, the author of the website Heal Pain Naturally!

I had been chronically ill and in chronic pain for 6 years and had received several diagnoses including Fibromyalgia, Chronic Mono and Benign Hypermobility Syndrome. The doctors told me I would always be in chronic pain and would most likely be in a wheelchair. They told me to manage my pain with prescription drugs. Being a mom in her mid thirties with two young children this did not sit right with me but I did not know what else to do.

Upon seeing the movie “The Secret” I knew I would learn all I could about the mind/body connection and that I WOULD heal myself. I did not agree with 100% of the material in The Secret but the parts on health really struck a chord. The fact that our bodies are constantly creating cells and we have a new body every couple of years was new to me. It woke me up to the fact that I could in fact possibly control the type of cells my body was producing “sick” cells or “healthy” cells depending on what I was telling myself.

I surrounded myself with audios, books, ebooks and immediately started putting into practice what I was learning. Within 2 weeks I was off of pain killers. Within a month I felt better than I had in 10 years. Now 18 months later I am still pain and pain pill free. I KNOW how powerful the mind is and I KNOW it is possible to shift from a reality of sickness to a healthier you.

I adopted a method to healing that I call the PAGING ME SYSTEM. It is about “waking up” your subconscious and using tools to put you in the right frame of mind. I have found so many great teachers in the last year and a half and continue to learn every day. I am grateful for my illnesses because they brought me to this point of my life. I have found my passion which is to empower others to realize their own power within to heal. Paging Me is an acronym for the methods I adopted to heal myself.

PAGING ME SYSTEM

Forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness was a key part of my healing. It is something that people often have trouble dealing with. But how therapeutic it is when you let go of all the reasons you have been upset with yourself, all the mistakes you made or bad timed things you might have said.

After this was forgiveness of others/circumstances as I could spend hours saying well if “he hadn’t done this….” or if “this hadn’t happened”. I realized I had spent enough time being angry and whoever/whatever circumstance I was angry at and that it had taken enough of my energy. I was going to let that go as well and try and think of a reason why I encountered that person/thing and how I grew from the experience. I needed to PARDON myself, situations and other people from the anger, resentment and blame that I had held onto for so long.

Being in pain it became easy and a habit to wake up every day and say “ow my back hurts” or “oohhww my leg”. When I woke, my mind was on alert for what part of my body hurt and that is where my attention went. Instead I had to shift my attention to the one part of me that didn’t hurt. Even if it was my little finger that is where my whole conscious mind went as I said repeatedly in my mind “I am so happy and grateful I am so healthy – I know how good my finger feels and that means my whole body is healthy”. Shifting the ATTENTION to what was working and feeling good and away from what was bad and negative did wonders for helping me to feel better.

My next tool was being GRATEFUL. When you are in chronic pain or have been diagnosed with illnesses it is easy to feel ungrateful. I needed to concentrate on what I DID have and who and what I WAS grateful for. I LOVE the house and community where I am living. I have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful, very smart and healthy children. I have always had a lot of friends and consider myself to be a very good friend to others. I have wonderful parents and extended family. This tool worked wonders for me in the morning and at night right before bed.

Then there were the INFLUENCES (people & media) that I was surrounding myself with. I was watching or listening to the news a few times a day. I was around people who would constantly complain but did not want to listen to me. I was reading violent fiction novels. When I shifted to reading personal development, law of attraction and mind/body connection books and STOPPED watching the news I noticed a HUGE shift in my mood. I also surrounded myself with my more positive friends and limited my time with what James Ray calls “Energy Vampires”.

The next tool was being conscious of my self-talk. Was I telling myself I was sick because the doctors had told me that for years? Was I saying “can’t and “won’t” more than “can” and “will”? I was honestly appalled when I stopped and listened to my subconscious mind. I discovered just how NEGATIVE it was and was very happy to change the messages I was sending myself. If I was waiting in line at a store and someone in front of me was “holding it up” I would get angry – now I stop, relax, realize the person in line isn’t doing it on purpose nor are they happy about the situation. I think about what I can do to pass the time and feel good – think of a happy memory, prioritize the stuff to do later, think of a blog post I want to write about….. Your time is only wasted if you tell yourself it is – there is always a place to go in your mind to make the use of time more positive.

It was also imperative for me to set some GOALS. My life had become wrapped around the kids and my illnesses and I felt I had no time for goals – you ALWAYS have time for goals. If you don’t know WHAT you want – how are you ever going to get it? I did some soul searching and realized while I had pursued my invention I was not putting my all into it or setting obtainable goals in the road to getting a manufacturer. I was exercising here and there but wasn’t setting goals as to how far I could walk or how many times I would exercise that week or what jeans I wanted to fit me…..

Goal setting for my physical and mental wellness was key. I broke them into smaller steps so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed. I felt so great when I crossed something off of my list that brought me one step closer to my final goal. In time I found it necessary to set goals in a bunch of different areas: mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and financial. I started with concentrating on 1 or 2 at a time but felt if I didn’t have goals set for all these areas – how could I hope to grow in all these areas? Any small step crossed off is a HUGE boost in self esteem and gives you something to add to your gratitude list!

Being a mom and wife at times I felt that I had lost some of myself. I was always mommy, wife or daughter but I needed to find out who Jenny was again. I feel the best tool that helped me do this was MEDITATION. To take 10 minutes during the day and lock myself in my bedroom and either play Deepak Chopra’s Guided Soul Healing Meditations or to sit in silence and let my mind go and concentrate on my breathing. It allowed me to see what I was focusing on and it allowed me to relax. I loved the feeling of peace I achieved after just sitting for 10 minutes. With 2 young kids, noise and movement are pretty much par for the course…..

To know what you are passionate about and continually EDUCATE yourself in it boosts your self confidence. Whether it is music, social causes, wherever your passion lies – the more you know about it the better you will be at achieving goals with it. There are tons of free resources online and in libraries to learn about almost anything… take advantage of it and nurture what you love. It is only by really knowing about a topic that you can teach others and figure out a way to work doing something that involves a passion. Make sure when you are educating yourself you find a teacher/author who really speaks to you and resonates. This will make learning seem effortless and will ensure your interest will keep growing.

I think of these tools like “PAGING ME” (your subconscious). Waking it up so you can be the difference in your life and the world around you.

• Pardon yourself and others
• Attention shifting to health instead of feeling pain
• Gratitude
• Influences (people, news, reading – make them predominantly positive)
• No Negative self talk! Turn it around and Make it positive
• Goal Setting
• Meditation or quiet time for self.
• Education – am I continually learning about what I am passionate about?

I use the PAGING ME method to be in the moment and to help me keep focused. If things don’t go my way I use it to figure out why what happened did and how I can use it to move forward and learn from it. I use these tools daily to ensure my health. I have not taken a pain pill or been in pain for over 18 months.

I am now teaching my children to believe they can achieve anything they set their minds to. Once you know where your mind is and WHAT you want to accomplish it is a whole lot easier to make a plan to achieve it. I never doubted I would heal myself and here I am – feeling better than I have in years! I know the belief was integral in my healing. I believe if you use these tools you will heal what ails you or maintain your health and become more self aware in the process.

~Jenny

Jennifer Mannion was chronically ill and in chronic pain for over 6 years. Her prognosis was that her condition would only get worse. After studying the mind/body connection she was able to heal herself of all pain and illness. She is now a coach as a mind/body mentor and also maintains the blog Heal Pain Naturally that is about natural ways to heal emotional and physical pain.

If you have more questions you may leave them in the comments of this post, or you may personally contact Jennifer at jennymannion@yahoo.com and SKYPE: Jennifer.mannion

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Rosemary Salmon Recipe

If I can make this recipe, then ANYONE can make this recipe. Combining the simple whole foods ingredients of salmon with rosemary is not only great for the cardiovascular system, but memory and concentration as well.

The omega-3 oils combine nicely with the anti-oxidant and circulatory properties of the rosemary to give your brain a much needed mental boost! This is brain food at it’s finest people! Try eating this salmon for lunch to have a productive afternoon. This is the perfect recipe for someone with ADHD.

Dr. Nicole’s Rosemary Remembrance Salmon Read more

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

McInflammation: Are You Really “Loving It”?

Recently a friend reported over dinner that his inflammatory problem (and let’s just say almost all medical problems are caused by inflammation) was not much better.

He said he was diligently taking everything I had recommended, and had only noted minor improvement.

Although natural remedies take time, I was curious how the dietary recommendations were going….you know, the most important part of his prescription? To no surprise, he was struggling to make the necessary changes.

As I climbed in to his car to head to our next destination I noted the eight bags of fast food littering his car floor.

“Well here is the source of McInflammation in your diet right here!” Read more

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Why Does My Eye Twitch? Why Do I Get Leg Cramps?

Most muscles twitch due to calcium and magnesium deficiency, especially the eye.

Although our eyes might twitch a bit when we are annoyed, a twitchy eye is typically the initial warning sign of calcium deficiency.

Basic Human Physiology 101: Calcium helps our muscles contract and when deficient the muscles begin to spasm in “tetany”. Magnesium helps our muscles relax.

Excellent sources of calcium are dairy and leafy greens. Magnesium is found in green vegetables and whole grains. A cal/mag supplement can be taken of about 500mg cal/250mg mag if you are worried you are not reaching the 800mg of necessary calcium each day. Do not take more than 500 mg of calcium at a time as the body can not utilize more than that and it may cause digestive upset such as constipation. Read more

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Fish Oil vs Flax Oil? The Great Debate

One of the greatest flaws in the Standard American Diet (SAD) is a lack of omega-3 fatty acids.

Repleting this deficiency typically improves memory and mental functioning as well as corrects a gamut of other annoying health problems.

The reason for this is that these essential oils are necessary for proper brain functioning, immune function, hormonal balance and skin integrity as they are the necessary building blocks for the cellular membrane of every single cell in our body. Wow just ONE thing for all SIXTY TRILLION cells in your body!

This must be pretty important then… Read more

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Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Who should be on the anti-inflammatory diet?  Well– just about everyone!

Anyone with arthritis, chronic pain, chronic disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or sjogrens, as well as those looking to slow the aging process and disease prevention will benefit from an anti-inflammatory eating plan. Eating healthy is the gift that keeps on giving!

My first day in Human Pathology class back in med school I learned about how inflammation led to cellular destruction and that cellular destruction was ultimately the root cause of disease. Little did I know at the time that it was just about everything I needed to know for treating disease. Many years later, as I watch most chronic disease clear up if not vastly improve just from the implementation of the anti-inflammatory diet, I am consistently reminded of the importance of treating the inflammatory load in the body.

To understand the detriments of inflammation on a cellular level, imagine that your body is a factory.

Now let’s pretend that the cells that make up all your tissues are simply the product of an assembly line in this factory. The factory is required to produce a certain quantity of functional cells every day, regardless if cells are destroyed or made improperly. Every time the factory loses cells, or makes dysfunctional cells, the assembly line will then need to speed up that much more in order to achieve that day’s production quota.

I’m sure you can quickly see that the faster the line speeds up the more room for error there then becomes.As the line speeds up to max capacity quality goes down and quantity of error goes up.

In order to manage the “factories” called our bodies properly we must learn how to keep the assembly line running at a nice steady consistent virtually error free rate.

So what causes these errors?

Arachidonic acid is the biochemical “mother of all evil” when discussing inflammation.

Most pharmaceutical medications as well as anti-inflammatory herbs work to inhibit the enzymes like cycloxygenase and lipoxygenase that convert this bad fat in to the inflammatory products that cause us pain, destroy our joints, and ultimately make us sick. Most physicians heavily rely on anti-inflammatory meds like “COX Inhibitors” also known as “NSAIDS” that are either prescription or over the counter pain relievers for treating a myriad of complaints. COX just stands for cycloxygenase. COX is the enzyme that converts arachidonic acid in to inflammatory products that cause us pain or make us sick.

Why depend on taking a daily drug to reduce inflammation when you can simply achieve the most of it through diet?

Arachidonic acid (AA) is the fat found primarily in animal fats. The body can still produce AA on it’s own from vegetable fats in the event that we do need some inflammation to help the healing and remodeling process that is necessary for short term illness and injury. However the body tends to REALLY overshoot when it comes to inflammation.Anyone that has had some very painful swelling from an injury can understand how unnecessary most of the inflammatory response actually is. When dealing with chronic inflammation however, we need to do the best that we can to tone down this overshooting of the inflammatory response.

Fried foods are just like throwing gasoline on the inflammatory fire.

The unstable molecules in the fried foods just contribute to the chaos.

• The best thing you can do for your long term health is to get fried foods out of your diet. Do not use butter or margarine.
• Please never use shortening!
• Olive oil should be used at all times unless cooking over 350F which then cold pressed canola or rapeseed oil should be used.
• Flax seed oil should not ever be used for cooking due to it’s low smoking point, but can be used as salad dressing, or drizzled over steamed veggies for a nutty flavor.

The other most important step is to reduce if not eliminate animal fat consumption. This is why many people do well on a vegan diet (no animal products at all). You should check with your doctor to determine if a vegan diet is the right choice for you, as it is not the easiest to follow and may not be recommended for your particular body type and metabolism. At the very least you can eliminate red meat from your diet, all processed meats like hot dogs and sausages should absolutely be avoided as the nitrates in them particularly increase inflammation, as well as the ridiculously high fat content. Eggs have a high AA content and thus are best to be avoided or consumed in moderation.

Remember: Animal fat=Inflammation.

Eat lean poultry, fish, and plenty of wild Alaskan salmon.www.ewg.org to find a list of low mercury content fish that are not endangered. Fat free organic dairy products may also be acceptable for those without severe disease.

Although consuming omega 3 fats in the form of Alaskan salmon is most optimal, I understand it is not always practical.Those with severe inflammation will benefit from adding cod liver oil or fish oil in to their diet. Check with your naturopathic doctor to determine the dose that is appropriate for you. Those with bleeding disorders and on anti-coagulant medications should not take fish oil. The reason that fish oil is so anti-inflammatory is that it competes with arachidonic acid for the same enzymes to produce opposing products.In the presence of fish oil, arachidonic acid has less raw materials to produce inflammatory products. The average daily dose of fish oil is about 1tsp to 1 tbl daily. Be sure to take it with food. I like the lemon flavored cod liver oil by Carlson in the green bottle. It can be found at any health food store.

Other substances in the diet aside from arachidonic acid can also lead to inflammation.Anytime you have food allergies or intolerances, you will have an increased level of inflammation in your body as your immune system is forced to work overtime.You can do an ALLERGY ELIMINATION DIET to determine which foods you are most sensitive to.Most patients are triggered by a favorite food. Not typically what anyone ever wants to hear, but that is why I get paid the big bucks to be the bad guy. Aside from favorite foods top inflammation offenders are: Wheat, dairy, soy, citrus, peanuts/nuts, corn, chocolate, alcohol, caffeinated beverages, bananas, and beef.

Now at this point after I recite such a list most patients will look at me and say “But Doc that is my entire diet!” which then I will be forced to respond “Well no wonder you are so sick…”It may seem tough at first, but giving up foods that make us sick means giving up disease, and ultimately being healthy is what makes us the most happy and productive. Nothing should be more important to you than your health.Especially not a silly little food! If you are having a difficult time with these changes, and demonstrating to yourself this level of care and self love, please work with a therapist to sort out the issues surrounding making the necessary health improvements.

Some patients will notice a marked improvement in their arthritis by avoiding the night shade family, some will not.

The “night shade” family is comprised of potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers.The chemical solanine is thought to specifically cause pain in some individuals although it is not specifically researched.

You can try a 2 week elimination of the nightshade family with a re-introduction challenge as explained on the ALLERGY ELIMINATION DIET page and see if these foods are problematic or not. You will simply need to play around with all these foods that typically cause allergies and irritations and figure out which if any are causing you trouble. Typically after a week you should notice a marked improvement without that food in your diet, more severe disease may require two to three weeks without the food. Children respond faster and will typically resolve in 3 to 4 days.

Reducing sugar consumption is also key to reducing the inflammatory load.

Sugar basically “rusts” our system. Sugars in our system get stuck to healthy cells and basically “tags” them for destruction.A process called “glycosylation”.To prevent this inflammatory/aging process start with eliminating all white refined sugars and flour products like white breads, bagels, white rice, and other “evil white foods” from your diet.Find substitutes whenever possible, and enjoy your favorites judiciously. Follow the LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX DIET and learn how to appropriately pair high protein and high fiber foods with your carbohydrates to reduce the total glycemic load, which will stop your system from prematurely “rusting”.

Learn to eat more cleanly by adopting a WHOLE FOODS DIET.

Getting processed foods out of your diet is extremely important.So now that we have discussed the bad stuff in the diet that needs to go, let’s talk about the good foods that should be eaten liberally. Certain foods have magical anti-inflammatory properties. The more you can learn to use foods as medicine, the less medication you should inevitably be required to take.

Foods as medicine are great for people that already are on medications as they are less likely to have negative interactions than herbs and other natural supplements.

Please however always check with your doctor before making any changes to your health care routine.

My favorite anti-inflammatory food is BLUEBERRIES

I prescribe one cup of frozen blueberries daily to all my patients with inflammation, heart disease, or diabetes. Most people are happy to add such a delicious food in to their diet, but occasionally I will have a patient balk at the cost of eating so many blueberries each month.If you are already taking medications or other supplements, you are clearly paying quite a bit for your health already so adding a superfood in like blueberries is well worth the $30 a month. You could buy a bottle of some herbal product for that same price, or you could just enjoy eating blueberries.

• Blueberries are highly anti-inflammatory and their proanthocyanin behavior is fundamentally protective to our cardiovascular system.
• In my opinion there is not a more delicious, advantageous way to improve your health than by eating a cup of frozen blueberries a day.
• I like to enjoy them as an evening snack, and let them sit out and thaw about 20 minutes before eating.
• You can also add them to smoothies or your morning cereal.
• Cooking them does not destroy their important pigments, and the freezing process actually makes these proanthocyanins more bioavailable for absorption. A rare exception to the rule that fresh is best!

Green leafy vegetables should also become your new best friend as they are an important anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant food.

Greens are chock full of magnesium a nutrient that most of us are typically deficient in anyways, eating as many servings of green vegetables daily as possible will serve you well. A diet of brown rice, vegetables, lean meats, non-citrus fruits, water and green tea is the ultimate goal to work towards.And honestly, it is the basis of nearly every “therapeutic diet” that we prescribe for just about every disease out there. No wonder treating inflammation is so fundamentally important!

If you add in some turmeric (found in curry spice), ginger, and green tea you should do really well with reducing your total inflammatory load.

Turmeric is a natural COX2 inhibitor and is a better anti-oxidant than vitamin E. Ginger is highly anti-inflammatory as it inhibits phosopholipase which then has the dual effect of inhibiting both COX and lipoxygenase .The catechins in green tea are shown to be anti-oxidant and inflammatory modulating. These can be enjoyed as foods or taken in supplements. Again if you are on any medications please check with your physician before using any herbs or making any changes to your health care routine.

Last but certainly not least is my plug on addressing your emotional state.

Toxic emotions such as anger, depression, and excessive worry or anxiety can lead the body out of balance. A new exciting research field on the forefront is “Psychoneuroimmunology” this is the study of how our emotional state affects our nervous system and how that in turn affects our immune system.The immune system is largely responsible for most inflammation.Having a positive mind set and letting go of past issues is as important as diet in experiencing optimal wellness!

So that is my simple anti-inflammatory formula for success.

Follow the recommendations in order systematically making one change at a time, or start with the changes that will be the most simple for you to build up your confidence and energy to deal with some of the tougher ones. If you are doing all of that and still noticing symptoms after some marked improvement you should continue to work with your Naturopathic Physician or other healthcare provider to determine what other dietary modifications or alternative medicines will benefit you.

Please do drop me a comment if you have any questions!

~Dr. Nicole Sundene
Naturopathic Physician
www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

REFERENCES

“Biochemistry” Fifth Edition by Berg, Tymockzko, and Stryer. “Herbal Medicine: From the Heart of the Earth” by Sharol Tilgner, N.D. “Medical Herbalism” by David HoffmanEastwood MA. Interaction of dietary antioxidants in vivo: how fruit and vegetables prevent disease. QJM 1000;92(9):527-530 Hidaka H, Ishiko T, Furuhashi T, et al. Curcumin inhibits interleukin 8 production and enhances interleukin 8 receptor expression on the cell surface: impact on human pancreatic carcinoma cell growth by autocrine regulation. Cancer. 2002;95(6):1206-1214John JH, Ziebland S, Yudkin P, et al. Effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on plasma antioxidant concentrations and blood pressure: a randomized controlled trial. Lancet. 2002;359(9322):1969-1974. Kremer JM. N-3 fatty acid supplements in rheumatoid arthritis. AM J Clin Nutr. 2000;71:348-351.McDougall J, Bruce B, Spiller G, et al. Effects of a very low-fat, vegan diet in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. J Altern Complement Med. 2002;8(1):71-75Seaman DR. The diet induced proinflammatory state: a cause of chronic pain and other degenerative diseases? J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2002;25(3):168-179.Stark AH, Madar Z. Olive Oil as a functional food: epidemiology and nutritional approaches. Nutr Rev. 2002;60(6): 170-176. Kawachi I, Sparrow D, Spiro A III, et al. A prospective study of anger and coronary heart disease. The Normative Aging Study. Circulation 1996;94(9):2090-2095Kawachi I, Sparrow D, Vokonas PS, et al. Symptoms of anxiety and risk of coronary heart disease. The normative aging study. Circulation 1994;90:2225-2229. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, McGuire L, Robles TF, Glaser R. Emotions, morbidity, and mortality: new perspectives from psychoneruoimmunology. Annu Rev Pschol. 2002;53:83-107

A user friendly book I recommend on this topic is “The Inflammation Cure” by William Joel Meggs, M.D., Ph.D. if you would like to read more on the biochemistry of what I have discussed here.

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