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Karen Vaughan
Karen Vaughan Acupuncture and Herbs
253 Garfield Pl Apt 1R
Brooklyn
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NY
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111215
(718) 622-6755
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A fascinating look at Russian herbal folk medicine from the St. Petersburg Times: Mumiyo is the Russian form of Shilajit. I suspect they mean charcoal instead of coal.
Garlic, Mustard and Herbs: Russian Folk Remedies
 Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times A visit to the banya is believed to be good for the lungs, but not always for the liver. By Irina Titova
The St. Petersburg Times
If, when entering a Russian home or even an office, you are hit by the strong odor of raw garlic, it’s not necessarily because someone is cooking or eating garlic.
More likely, it is because someone is ill, and in order to stop others from getting infected, people have chopped up garlic and left it on a plate. In Russia, many people believe that garlic’s phytoncaedos kill diseases — even viruses as strong as flu.
Garlic therapy is one of Russia’s most popular folk remedies. During flu epidemics, Russian parents may put a piece of garlic in their children’s pockets. They also tend to eat more garlic in the winter in order to strengthen the immune system. Continue reading Russian Folk Remedies
Acupuncture works better than drugs like aspirin to reduce the severity and frequency of chronic headaches, U.S. researchers reported.
Photograph by: China Photos/Getty Images, Getty Images
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Acupuncture works better than drugs like aspirin to reduce the severity and frequency of chronic headaches, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
A review of studies involving nearly 4,000 patients with migraine, tension headache and other forms of chronic headache showed that that 62 percent of the acupuncture patients reported headache relief compared to 45 Continue reading Acupuncture Beats Aspirin for Headaches
(Schwarz, Eleanor et al. University of Pittsburgh. Quoted by the New York Times April 22, 2009)
A study from the University of Pittsburgh looked at the health history of 139,681 women and concluded that the longer women nursed their babies, the lower their risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease. While mothers who nursed only one month had lower blood pressure and diabetes, those who nursed at least one year had significantly lower rates of cardiovascular disease as well.
Continue reading Breastfeeding May Be Beneficial To Mothers, Not Only To Babies
I was listening to Jeffrey Yuen speak about how heat turns into fire toxins unless the body damps it down, and it suddenly hit me why people with long term heating emotions might eat the way they do.
In Chinese medicine, the seven emotions are considered causes of disease. If you are feeling chronically stressed or anxious, it can cause a condition of internal heat in the body. Heat can turn into fire, which can harass the heart, causing anger or mental illness, depending upon the situation. Fire, if unaddressed, can turn to fire toxin, a truly toxic situation that can lead to abscesses, ulcerations and even cancers.
What does the body do to prevent this? Fire can be cooled, but the human body lacks internal refrigeration. So the more likely response is to dampen the fire with fluids. Fluids in the body are generated primarily by food and drink.
And what kinds of foods do we look for when we eat emotionally? Sweets, breads, chocolate, ice cream, perhaps with a glass of milk- all the foods that tend to generate dampness when consumed. We rarely have cravings for bell peppers or mustard greens or shitake mushrooms when we are  emotionally spent.
Continue reading The Energetics of Emotional Eating
What is the Glycemic Index? Not all carbohydrates are created equal and those with a high glycemic load will send your blood sugar spiking. [...]
Flu deaths have been more prevalent in those who are from Mongolian ancestry, including Amerindian. [...]
“Much of the evidence suggests that the more doctors, more drugs, more tests and more therapies given to patients, the worse they fare — and the unhappier they become, said Donald Berwick, president of the independent research group Institute of Quality Improvement.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/10/AR2009061003669.html?hpid=topnews
 The Late Barbara Davis, Age 48 The CDC concurs. The Swine Flu is becoming more virulent: a recent report from Milwaukee reads like books on the 1918 pandemic-swift, deadly and attacking healthy young people:
“Barbara Davis, 48, was healthy just a week ago. She had dinner with her mother Josephine last Friday night. But just hours after that dinner, Josephine got a phone call.“My friend, he called me and told me Barbara was real sick. And I said, “Well, she wasn’t sick when I left, so what’s the matter?” Josephine Davis said.
Barbara told her mother that she was ok. But the next day, things got worse. She had trouble breathing, and she was shaking. She could barely walk into the hospital.“She tried to talk to people, but she just couldn’t talk,” Continue reading Flu Turning More Virulent
John Virapen is a German who spent 35 years in the international pharmaceutical industry, who describes his hands as dirty as anyone’s: he personally bribed the “clean” Swedish government to register Prozac. He describes how Zyprexa was pushed when executives knew it caused the diabetes that the company made the medicine for. (The side effects were hidden.) He claims that big Pharm kills more people each year than war- and he is right!
The piece is entirely in English, despite the Hebrew titles. It is well worth listening to, since his book isn’t available here. (In fact there are no English versions.)
Statistics from the weekly report of the CDC show that most of the flu around now is H1N1 Swine Flu.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
Get out your Jade Windscreen to prevent it!
 Turmeric has been used as a major anti-inflammatory herb, and is considered a panacea herb in Ayurveda. Now research, both in vitro and in vivo, shows that it may have another benefit. The May, 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reported the discovery of researchers at Tufts University in Boston that that mice given curcumin experienced a reduction in the formation of fat tissue and the blood vessels that feed it. Curcumin is the major polyphenol in the spice turmeric.
Continue reading New Herb for Weight Loss
 Fatty liver is now recognized as the most common cause of abnormal liver function tests in the western world. Around one in five persons in the USA has a fatty liver and it is poised to be as big a disease as diabetes. Fatty liver is usually associated with abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Fatty liver may be associated with or may lead to inflammation of the liver. This can cause scarring and hardening of the liver. When scarring becomes extensive, it is called cirrhosis, and this is a very serious condition which can lead to liver failure. Continue reading What is Fatty Liver and How Can Chinese Medicine Help?
Please Support HR 646, The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act Give health consumers choice by including acupuncture as a convered benefit under Medicare part B. CONTACT CONGRESS
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Worried About Breast Cancer?
Read about Natural Breast Care and support me in the 2010 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Paleo Diet in A Nutshell Eat
1. Pasture raised or wild meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and any natural animal fat
2. Vegetables, including leaves, stems, bulbs, roots
3. Fruits and berries (includes avocados and olives)
4. Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, etc.
5. Herbs and spices
Avoid/minimize
(in order of importance)
1. Sweeteners, including sugar (white, brown, organic, whatever), maple syrup, rice or agave syrup, etc.
2. Vegetable oils other than extra virgin olive, avocado, palm, and coconut.
3. Cereal grains and flour or grain products (bread, pasta, pastries, etc.) Especially avoid glutinous grains like wheat, barley, rye or triticale.
4. Dry legumes (beans and peas, including soy and peanuts)
5. Dairy products. If you take them, use goat or raw or both
.
(thanks to Rachel and Donald Matsez, authors of The Garden of Eating)
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And Organic Berries
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