Acupuncture and Herbs

Traveling with Allergy Cards

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:31:09 +0000

I was looking for some multi-lingual no-gluten cards to take with me on my trip to Israel, when my sister called me with a new life-threatening allergy of her own. I wanted to find a card that was customizable and would work for multiple allergies for her and something that I could find in Hebrew and Arabic as well as English for me. I looked over a variety of cards and thought that some would be of interest to those of you with allergies.

Translation cards are essential to your travel whether you have ended up somewhere where English is not spoken or, say, the Olympia Holiday Inn where complex verbal planning negotiations may only cover two of your three days stay because the chef has a night off. (And the cards will help in the hospital too!) Even if you know the language it might be difficult to convey the detail required. These are cards in many languages and they will alert your server about your dietary restrictions. They help you bridge the communication gap and speak openly about your dietary needs without feeling like the characters on Portlandia.. You might want more than one to get your point across when traveling since they don’t have every conceivable situation on a single card. In my experience, most restaurant staff are happy to comply. There are free cards and pay cards and probably more if you do an allergy card search on Google.

Free Translation Cards

Special Gourmets Chef Cards A list of cards [...]

Bacteria and Sexual Desire

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:52:20 +0000

Sex, fruit flies and their bacteria. We are affected too. Image via Wikipedia

Most of us know that we have lots of organisms in our guts to help us digest food (and if we forget it, Jaime Lee Curtis is willing to tell us in her Activia commercials!) The microorganisms are so important that termites cannot digest wood without their gut bacteria and we cannot break down all our food without the human kind. What you might not know is that we have hundreds of trillions of organisms especially along our GI tract, respiratory system and skin. And they do a lot more than digest. They fight infections, create certain vitamins, form a living wallpaper on the intestinal wall to protect our bloodstreams from debris. Some help make us fat or thin. But did you know that our bacteria might affect our sex drive? At least they do for white fruit flies, known as Drosophilia. If you kill off their gut bacteria, they won’t mate the same way.

In the February 2011 issue of Surgery News, Lazar Greenfield wrote:

It has long been known that Drosophila raised on starch media are more likely to mate with other starch-raised flies, whereas those fed maltose have similar preferences. In a study published online in the November issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators explored the mechanism for this preference by treating flies with antibiotics to sterilize the gut and saw the preferences disappear (Proc. Nad. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010 Nov. 1).

[...]

Red Clover

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:16:16 +0000

Red clover, Trifolium pratense is one of my favorite herbs for gynecology, treating cancer and detoxification. The part used is the flowering top picked as soon as the dew has dried, with care not to bruise the flowers. It grows in moderate climates. Russians recommend the herb for bronchial asthma, and it is widely used for respiratory issues. The Chinese use the tea for respiratory infections with dry cough.

Image via Wikipedia

Energetically red clover blossoms are cool, sweet, with a mineral saltiness that makes them slightly moistening. The flower is classified as an alterative which means it encourages nonspecific elimination of the organs. It is also a lymphatic tonic. This makes it useful for detoxification and in cancer treatment.

It is slightly demulcent since its minerals attract moisture to the throat and bowels. On the other hand it is slightly expectorant.

The flower goes to the female reproductive system, the liver, the lungs and mucous tissues, the immune system, skin and blood. James Duke of the USDA describes red clover uses as including “alterative, antiscrofulous, antispasmodic, aperient, athlete’s foot, bronchitis, burns, cancer, constipation, diuretic, expectorant, gall-bladder, gout, liver, pertussis, rheumatism, sedative, skin, sores, tonic, and ulcers. ”

Red clover is a source of many valuable nutrients including protein, calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, and Vitamins A and C. There are a number of isoflavones which can affect the hormones including daidzein, geneisiten, formononetin and biochanin A. Flavonoids which are antioxidant include trifoliin and calycosin. There are courmarins but this is [...]

Eat Your Christmas Tree

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:15:07 +0000

Douglas Fir. Image via Wikipedia

What do you do with a Christmas tree after Christmas is over? Have you considered eating it? Well not the trunk (although the inner bark can be used medicinally), but the needles. Fir or spruce tips and pine needles can make a fine tea- infused a short period of time (don’t boil it.) But there is a world of uses beyond teas.

Pine needles are high in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, quercetin, flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins, pine oils, resveratrol, pinosylvin, shikimic acid, and isocupressic acid. Vitamin C levels may be as high as 5 times as that of lemons, depending on the species. The flavonoids, Vitamin C and associated compounds, and proanthocyanin are considered protective against cancer and scurvy. They are also are good for respiratory infections. Russian studies show pine oils as useful for weight control, lowered cholesterol and lowering blood pressure while Chinese studies find them as slowing the growth of liver cancer. Pinosylvin is antifungal and antimicrobial. Proanthocyanin and resveratrol are potent antiaging compounds.

Isocupressic acid blocks progesterone in ruminants like cows and is considered toxic and abortafacient to them after the fermentation in their second stomach. This should not be a concern for humans due to our single stomach digestion, but of course has not been studied. The less tasty, more resinous pines like Ponderosa or Lodgepole pine have the highest levels. I think that if you let your taste be your guide, you will not overdose- pregnant women are quick to feel nauseated by [...]

Alternatives to Milk You Can Make Yourself

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:37:43 +0000

Soymilk with soybeans. Image via Wikipedia

My sister has an outright milk allergy but I can tolerate it so long as I don’t go crazy on the fresh ricotta. That means I’m not without some sensitivity to milk, and pretty much only use it for coffee. So we have always had some milk alternatives in our house. In fact now you can find all kinds of milk alternatives in the refrigerator aisle, from soy to coconut milk. But the prices are high and I was pleased to see that you can make milk substitutes from soy to chickpea to oat milk. If you are allergic, vegan, frugal, keep kosher or just like the taste of different milks, here are some recipes. Note that these may lack the nutritional qualities of dairy milk and that the freshness of the beans or nuts will affect the flavor. Use these in baking if you don’t like the flavor. You can adjust saltiness, sweetness or add vanilla or other flavor if desired. And you can dilute milks that seem too thick with water. Best yet, you usually have some residue that can be used in soups and sauces.

Oatmeal Milk

This is perhaps the easiest milk to make since it requires no cooking. Take one cup of oatmeal and put into a blender. Add a quart of filtered water, cap and blend for a minute. Strain through a fine sieve. Season as you wish (vanilla is nice) and serve or use for baking.

Herbalist’s gloss: I always [...]

Let Your Digestion Enjoy Your Feast Too.

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 05:05:27 +0000

Feast photo credit: http://tinyurl.com/6p92sw2

The Winter holidays seem a time to indulge: Christmas cookies, Hanukkah latkes, spiked eggnog, chocolate everything, groaning sideboards with heavy food. While we can manage some festive indulgence provided we don’t eat that way all the time, there are things we can do to protect our digestion.

Begin your meal with gratitude. Grace, brachot, an introspective moment to take in all of the plenitude, will prime your body to make good use of good food. Feel gratitude to the Creator, the farmer, the animal or plant who provided the food, those who picked and transported the food, those who stock the stores, the cook, those who inspired him or her, and family and friends who are joining you. (There, doesn’t your stomach feel better already?) Start your meal with something bitter, be it bitter greens like arugula or radicchio, a shot of Fernet Branca or a bite of citrus peel. Bitters cue our gallbladders to secrete bile and out stomachs to produce digestive juices. (Herbalists may wish to concoct dandelion leaf, artichoke leaf, orange peel, angelic. gentian and ginger bitters.) Also take something sour to help your liver and to reduce blood sugar spikes. Lemon in seltzer, vinaigrette on a salad, balsamic vinegar in water, sauerkraut, pickled vegetables or lime juice all work.

Fernet Branca is a good commerical bitters formula. Image via Wikipedia

Choose foods with carminative spices like cinnamon, pepper, ginger, cardamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, Italian herbs, star anise, fennel and cumin. These will warm [...]

Curried, Gluten-free Sweet Potato Beet Latkes

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:17:38 +0000

Photo credit: Chow.com

A slightly healthier version of Chanukkah latkes uses beets and sweet potatoes which are lower in glycemic load, higher in flavonoids and simply taste better. I cook them with coconut oil which does not oxidize when heated and is thus healthier than a peanut or canola oil. I like to serve them with a chunky applesauce mixed with garam masala (1/2 tsp per cup.) If you don’t have garam masala, use a mixture of pepper, cumin, cloves, nutmeg and star anise.

Grate 1 medium sweet potato and 1 beet of a similar size and place in a mixing bowl.

Add a small minced yellow onion

Add 1/2 cup oat flou1

1 Tbs brown sugar

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 beaten large eggs

Mix well. Heat up a platter in the oven at 300 degrees , covered with paper towel to drain the laltkes. Heat a cast iron skillet with enough coconut oil to come half way up the latkes. When a bit of the mixture sizzles when dropped into the oil, you can cook the latkes. Form into cakes about the size of a hamburger and fry until done. Keep in the oven until finished

Serve with Greek yogurt or sour cream, spiced applesauce and a light salad. I suggest starting with a salad of romaine lettuce, radicchio, pomegranate seeds, mandarin orange and balsamic vinaigrette [...]

Delicious Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Probiotic, Pain-relieving Dessert

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:19:33 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

I put together a dessert using pureed pumpkin or butternut squash, spiced up in a way that moves the blood and is actually good for you. It is brim full of antioxidants and flavonoids. Plus it is delicious. You can switch a good yellow squash for the pumpkin and canned puree works well, but make sure it is puree and not pumpkin pie mix. I prefer the canned coconut milk to that found in the refrigerated milk section because it has more of those good fats. You can sweeten with stevia, agave, maple syrup or cane sugar, but the agave, maple syrup and sugar have a lot of fructose which is hard on the liver which you will want to avoid if you are in pain. Honey doesn’t blend in all that well in my opinion, but your taste may differ. I recommend adding stevia to taste (but go slow, a very little at a time!). The black pepper makes the effect of the spices more bioavailable- in Ayurveda it takes the herbs into the tissues.

I eat this like pudding or top my coffee with it to make pumpkin latte, perhaps with a dash of rum. This makes a great winter dessert.

Put in a mixer on low:

3 cups pumpkin puree

A 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk

An 8 oz. container of plain, full-fat yogurt, preferably Greek style

1 can tomato paste

Add:

2 tsp cinnamon

Avoiding Materialism For the Winter Holidays

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:49:24 +0000

Advent Wreath

One of the main themes that I have been hearing from both Christian and Jewish friends is that they don’t like materialism driving out the true meaning of Hanukkah and Christmas and also don’t like the effect that materialism has on their children. I’m sure my pagan friends have similar issues around Yule. Stores ramp up shopping right after Thanksgiving- and even on Thanksgiving itself. The infamous pepper spray shopping incident illustrated how out of balance things have gotten.

To be fair, stores get their best merchandise in stock before the winter holidays, and most people like a meaningful present. But there is no reason to fill up the tree with too much junk or to give eight meaningless presents instead of one or two that people really want. On the other hand I know families that were so anti-materialism that they didn’t give any gifts at all and their children felt slighted and ashamed in front of their friends. Instead there are other strategies.

Don’t assume that your children want tons of stuff. I remember, at 5, my family told me that money was tight and there wouldn’t be much under the tree. All I asked Santa for was some scotch tape, a magical substance which had recently caught my eye, and I meant it. Plus I felt good about helping my parents. There is no shame in letting children know that times are tough- and even if your family is doing well, this can be a time for giving [...]

A Calorie Is Not A Calorie: Why All Calories Are Not The Same

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:11:48 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

When I was in the second grade and was told to cut calories, I wanted to know why if the calories were the same, I couldn’t just cut out the squash and beans at dinner for the equivalent caloric amount of ice cream. “Vitamins” were too abstract for me and besides I took a vitamin pill. It wasn’t until low carbohydrate diets became popular that I started learning about different metabolic actions of different types of food, and later about different nutrients, the need for one nutrient to absorb another and biological responses to ingested foods that affect what is used.

The first law of thermodynamics indicates that energy is conserved and thus that a calorie might be a calorie if you equalize calories in and calories out, plus fat storage. However the second law says that no machine is completely efficient. Some of the available energy is lost as heat and in the internal chemical changes and in entropy. In the human body this means that hormones, enzymes(1) , allergic processes, constraints from lack of essential minerals and cofactors all have an impact on the food retained.

It takes more energy to break down some foods than others. For protein to break down to energy it is transformed into glucose. That step takes ATP (energy) and thus a calorie of sugar transforms into energy (or stored fat) more efficiently than protein. 100 calories of sugar will make you fatter than 100 calories of boiled egg. And people on [...]

How to Prevent Drug Side Effects

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:03:32 +0000

Adverse drug reaction

Image by Benicio Murray | www.benicio.com.au via Flickr

When my children were young, a their doctor, who was describing side effects turned to me to confirm his statement that all drugs have side effects. I didn’t. Coming from a Chinese Medicine tradition where we individualize herbal formulas and dosages to an individual’s constitution, symptoms and underlying conditions, I see “side effects” as the result of sloppy prescribing and one size fits all dosage.

What is a “side effect”? A side effect is one or more of the effects of a drug that does not have to do with a current (arguably restricted) treatment goal. It is not incidental, it is the property of a drug. Drugs are widely assumed to be designed to target a specific organ or medical issue, but they rarely do. They have effects on multiple organs and interact in complex feedback loops. Side effects are just drug effects interacting with a specific individual.

Suppose two young women come to a medical doctor with the same bacterial respiratory infection. “A” is quite thin, pale, vegan, of southern European ancestry and wears heavy sweaters in moderate weather because she always feels cold. Perhaps she also suffers from Renaud’s with cold hands. “B” is robust, omnivorous, has a reddish complexion, drinks alcohol, is perhaps of Nordic extraction and wears sandals and short sleeves well into winter. The doctor could give them the same antibiotic for the infection and it would probably work in the short term, but the longer [...]

Musings on the 10th Anniversary of 9-11

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:38:37 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Ten years ago my youngest son pulled me up to the roof where we could see the smoke from the destruction of the first World Trade Center tower. We watched in horror as smoke billowed, soon to be followed by windrifts of shredded paper and air full of a peculiar dust smelling of construction debris and dead bodies which lasted for weeks. Subways and roads had been closed so I couldn’t grab my EMT bag to help the survivors, and word soon came that there was no need for additional EMTs with so few injured survivors. People apparently either got out or they were pulverized.

At that time I was at Old First Church, serving as the top layperson in a church without permanent clergy. I decided we should open the church since people would be worried and the walkers escaping Manhattan would need somewhere to sit down on their way towards home. Soon a crowd formed, exchanging information, needing to share fears. Someone brought a radio since cell phones were out. Others brought flowers. The front steps of Old First became a nerve center for the community, for people regardless of affiliation.

Around 7:00 two of us decided we needed to close up and go home, but it was clear that people still needed a way to express themselves. I wondered whether we should put up paper that people could write on and she knew of a roll of butcher paper. We taped large sheets to the wooden [...]

Simple Health Practices that Help with Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:04:23 +0000

Image by JD'na via Flickr

Pain is complex and there are many facets to it. Here are a few things that may help. But do what you need to in order to minimize pain rather than toughing it out because pain isn’t good for you.

Pain may be fixed and stabbing (usually nerve pain) or throbbing and movable. Try to figure out the nature of your pain, what makes it better or worse, how many inches into your body it is found and how broad the area is and whether it radiates. Is it better or worse with heat? In Chinese medicine we do not use ice, which we believe only suppresses the pain but we do use cooling medicinal herbs that help release the pain at the skin level. If you are told to use a liniment or dit dat jiao formula, apply it frequently because it moves blood, reduces inflammation and can reduce pain. If you have sciatica that goes into a flare, or pain down the side of your leg, take a lancet or sterile needle and prick the lower outside corner of your little toenail. Massage it first and then push out 2 or 3 drops of blood. This can help bring pain down from the nerve. Back pain benefits from decompressing the spine. Lying head down on an inversion table, a sit-up bench or an ironing board that is propped up at one end for 15 minutes once or twice daily can help. Lying on two [...]

Pelvic Pain and Functional Disorders

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:06:18 +0000

Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

Image by EUSKALANATO via Flickr

Your pelvis, referred to as the Lower Jiao in Chinese medicine is the area that lies roughly between your hips below the umbilicus (belly button), within the pelvic girdle of the skeleton. It includes the intestines, rectum, bladder, genitals and their supporting and connecting structural elements like the messentery (connective tissue attaching the intestines), urethera, ureters, muscles holding the structures in place and the external skin.

In men the pelvis includes the penis, testes, prostrate and associated internal organs.

The vestibule is where the vulva (area of the skin on the outside) meets with the vagina, going up to the clitoris. It is an extremely sensitive part of your body and contains the Bartholin¹s gland (which produces vaginal lubrication), the urethra (where you pass urine) and a number of the small minor vestibule glands which also produce vaginal discharge.

The pelvic floor muscles go from the end of the coccyx (tailbone) to the front of your pubic bone. forming a muscular floor to your torso. The muscles are designed to both tighten and loosen, providing support but allowing a flow that supports walking, and allows you to differentially tighten your urinary, anal and vaginal sphincters. When you always tuck your pelvis, the muscle contracts. A muscle that is usually contracted will tend to shorten, leaving itself unable to be strong enough to stop the flow of urine or to support your spine.It also reduces your ability to move, which is [...]

Food Remedies for Various Conditions

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:13:43 +0000

Image by whologwhy via Flickr

Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine.” Similar things have been said in Ayurveda and in Chinese medicine. Food can balance your immune system, provide seasonal relief (think watermelons in the heat of summer) and can even provide specific cures or extra help when you are treating diseases with herbs or medications. The chart below shows specific effects of many common foods.

I would caution however that the cause of problems needs to be considered as well as its energetics: a hot bacterial diarrhea should be treated differently than a chronic cold diarrhea that comes early in the morning and has undigested food in it. Foods should generally be eaten in season and either locally or from regions where the current weather is similar. And consider your constitution: if you run hot, choose a more cooling food. If you run cold, choose a protein-based food cure, or warm it up with herbs like cinnamon or ginger. If you want to lose a few pounds or tend towards constipation, figs may help but if you have blood sugar problems, they may be too sweet. If you tend towards hypothyroid, make sure your cabbage family foods are cooked. And if the home remedy doesn’t work, call in a professional who can diagnose and guide you towards a more targeted protocol of diet, herbs and medication.

Foods that Can Treat Various Conditions Apples Protects your heart Prevents constipation Blocks diarrhea Improves lung capacity Cushions joints Apricots Combats [...]

On Formulating Herbs for Montezuma’s Revenge

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:31:39 +0000

Artemisia annua. Image via Wikipedia

Say you were just visiting a country with bad water like Guatemala, or were swimming in a lake with pollution or had the Louisiana fish fry for Mother’s Day where the spicing could cover up any off flavors. And somehow you ended up with hot watery diarrhea that wouldn’t stop, even after days of the BRAT diet (Banana- astringent with potassium, Rice-absorbent and easy on the stomach, Applesauce- colloidal with its pectins and Tea- astringent with its tannins, or depending on your interpretation, Toast to absorb.) You need something stronger.

This entry is about how to formulate herbs for a more effective cure, but it is also on diarrhea, so if you are squeamish, be advised.

First off, while there may be wisdom in starting antimicrobial herbs early on, it is a good idea not to take antidiarrheals until what needs to get out has a chance to get out. DuPont and Homick found in 1973 that treating Shigella- caused diarrhea with Lomotil extended the course of the fever because diarrhea itself is a protective mechanism. But diarrhea is the number two killer of children under five and kills over 1.1 million people over the age of 5 annually. It imbalances electrolytes which can kill, especially the elderly and it dehydrates. It isn’t something to leave untreated. I’ll give it three days before looking at an antidiarrheal strategy.

BRAT diet lunchbox. Image by Kelly Sue via Flickr

What exactly happens? First an organism, usually microbial but [...]

On Different Cross-Cultural Uses of Shared Herbs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:47:57 +0000

Horsetail image via Wikipedia

When I was in Chinese Medicine School, my herbal teacher and I got into an intense discussion of plantain seed. In Western medicine, plantain (a related species to psyllium) seed is used as a mild laxative. In Chinese medicine it is used as a diuretic to guide fluids from the small intestine and to stop diarrhea. Usually I’d expect that different parts of the plant would have such different uses, but in this case we were both talking about the seeds. As I was dropping off to sleep that night it hit me: in Western medicine we eat the seeds with all the roughage. In Chinese medicine we make a decocted tea and strain it out.

When I was in Guatemala last week, I spent time talking to herbalists who used the same herbs I do, differently. One woman who had been documenting the indigenous uses of herbs for 25 years told me that horsetail was used for respiratory inflammation. The Mayan women I was staying with used it for stomach inflammation. Neither of them had heard of the western use for bones, nails and hair. But all of the uses make sense: minerals like silica which build the bones and hair are also anti-inflammatory. Chances are that all of us mix the herbs with “medicine horses,” herbs that direct their action to certain parts of the body, directing the constituents. I use oatstraw and nettles with horsetail to reinforce my uses while the Mayan women use peppermint [...]

How to Store Your Emergency Meds

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:55:01 +0000

A few years ago I had food poisoning with severe diarrhea. After a couple of days, I found myself home alone, collapsed on the floor, unable to pull myself to standing. I knew I needed fluid and electrolytes. I even had made up oral hydration salts, proud of my cost-savings venture. But they were high in my medicine closet and I wasn’t able to pull myself to standing to get them or the faucet or a container to mix them up in. There were no sodas or juices, since I don’t use them. Now I keep a bottle of Pedialyte in drinkable form on the floor of my pantry. If I can crawl, I can get to it.

We have all heard that we should keep medicine locked in a medicine chest, if not in the humid bathroom, then somewhere out of reach. (For those of us who have both conventional and herbal medications, the sufficiently large medicine chest hasn’t been built! ) That is fine for infrequently used toxic prescriptions. But don’t do that with emergency medicines. Keep those where you are most likely to use them.

Image via Wikipedia

That means that if you are deathly allergic to bee stings, you might want to carry an epi-pen in your gardening apron (and make sure you have lots of plantain around.) Or your emergency asthma inhaler if Spring pollens leave you gasping. If asthma strikes at night, keep the inhaler near your bed. Wear a nitroglycerine pendant for cardiac emergencies. If [...]

Statin Drugs Can Increase Diabetes or High Blood Sugar

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:51:11 +0000

This article by pharmacist Suzy Cohen, originally published at Mercola.com is very important because doctors are told that diabetics especially need to go onto statin drugs on the unproven theory that cholesterol causes heart disease. But by increasing blood sugar, lowering Vitamin D and lowering the anti-inflammatory CoQ10, statins can make matters worse.

There are now 900 studies proving adverse effects showing complications from increased risks of moderate to serious liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, moderate or serious myopathy, and cataracts. (This particular metastudy did not look at the effects of statins on blood sugar.) But if your doctor wants you to go onto statins let him or her know that they increase blood sugar, corrosive blood insulin levels and diabetes.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Hidden Diabetes Link No One is Telling You About…

By Suzy Cohen, R.Ph.

Coronary heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, killing one in five adults, and doctors are very quick to prescribe statins. In fact, statin drug sales rank in the billions each year globally.

These drugs are so pervasive that they are no longer just indicated for hypercholesterolemia, they are also being prescribed for elevations in C reactive protein, and are promoted for kids as young as eight years old.

Heart disease is so pervasive that some have boldly suggested that we should put statins in our water supply as some kind of protection.

This is very disturbing.

Do You Really Need a Statin Drug?

By far, statin drugs are the most popular [...]

Snow Day! Redux.

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:24:59 +0000

Image by ShashiBellamkonda via Flickr

Last night we had a thundersnow, a snowstorm complete with thunder, lightning and hail, that managed to drop almost two feet of snow in 8 hours. Today I awoke to a fairyland of snow, with thick coats of snow on windows and trees, and few signs of the cars buried under drifts. I filled a thermos with Darcy’s spice chocolate, bundled up and sidled between four foot snow embankments towards Prospect Park. Trees with thick branches were weighted down with up to a foot of snow. Cross-country skiers and sledders were scattered across the park. The soft snow sank below my boots, as I sought out packed snow, trying to avoid the cross-country paths.

I love snow, as only someone who grew up in the mild climate of California’s San Francisco Bay Area can do. We had a dusting every five years or so, but it generally melted off within a couple of hours. I love the way snow transforms the city, covering dirt, cleaning the air, glistening in the sunlight, causing tree branches to sparkle. The reflections of sunlight off the snowdrifts in an otherwise dim season cheer me immeasurably.

This is something like the seventh major snowstorm of the season, closing down schools, roads and above-ground transit. But we haven’t had a big snow season for a few years and I missed out on the December snowstorms when I visited family, so I haven’t burned out on it.

I crossed the Long Meadow towards the forested [...]

Recovering from the Feast

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:32:18 +0000

Angostura Bitters Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday, before Thanksgiving, I advised my Facebook readers to start their meals with some bitters- Angostura bitters, Fernet Branca, radicchio or dandelion greens to stimulate their liver and gallbladder to secrete digestive juices. I also suggested taking a little lemon juice or vinegar in water before the meal to prevent blood sugar spikes and to help with liver detoxification. It also helps to leave a little room in your stomach when you eat. But what if you didn’t?

This morning you may want to take Bao He Wan (Balenex Extract) or Curing Pills (Po Chai Pills), the two Chinese remedies for overindulgence. The pills contain herbs for food stagnation (when that meal is hanging out in your digestive tract instead of moving out,) herbs to drain dampness, and probiotics. Bao He Wan also has Chinese hawthorn which is good for your heart, although not as good as European hawthorn. Bao He Wan is helpful for hangovers as well. But the probiotic, massa fermentata, is grown on barley so may bother people with gluten sensitivity.

Sushi ginger Image via Wikipedia

If you are gluten sensitive, look to peppermint and ginger. Generally you use peppermint if you tend to run hot or ginger if you run cold or suffer from nausea. If you run hot and feel nausea, a jar of sushi ginger is easy to keep on hand and is perhaps the least heating. That ginger is traditionally fermented, so you get some probiotics benefit. In [...]

Getting Your Minerals from Herbs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:23:50 +0000

It isn't easy to get minerals from a pill, but minerals in herbs are more easily assimilated. But how you use them-tincture, decoction, infusion, eating them- has a big impact on what you absorb. [...]

Cloves for Preservation and to Lift the Spirit

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:08:49 +0000

Raw Clove Flowers-Image via Wikipedia

Two months ago I made a chai tea redolent with cloves, but without milk or sugar. I put it in my water bottle to drink during the day, but it was pushed behind other bottles and I forgot about it. Two weeks later there was not one spec of mold floating in the liquid and a quick smell and taste of a few drops revealed no souring. I was curious and put it back. Two months after making it shows no growth of organisms or off taste or odor. Which got me thinking about the Spice Route.

In the ancient time, refrigeration was unavailable, especially in cities where cellars and ice were generally unavailable. Spices were important not only for food preservation, but to fortify the digestion and to cure food poisoning. In Europe where there was little tradition of fermenting meat, spices or smoking (often with spices or aromatic wood) were the primary way of dealing with meat that might not be fresh. Cloves were one of the most important.

Cloves are flower buds of a tropical evergreen tree called Syzygium aromaticum, and formerly known as. Eugenia aromaticum or Eugenia caryophyllata). They look a little like a hand-hewn nail: in Italian they are called “chiodi del garofano” or ‘carnation nails,’ while in Mexico they are called “clavos de olor” or “odorous nails”. It takes 7000 ripe red buds to make a pound of cloves.

Cloves are found in the Philippines and Moluccas (once called “the Spice [...]

How to Make Turmeric Honey For Inflammation

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:30:52 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Turmeric honey is one of my favorite ways to give turmeric. Turmeric is an adaptogen, a nontoxic herb that regulates the immune and endocrine systems. It also is antiseptic, is hepatoprotective, invigorates the blood, and helps prevent or treat infection. Regarded as a panacea in Ayurveda, turmeric is widely used in food, medicine and skin care. Indian curries, Persian dishes like masak lemak, Thai and Indonesian dishes like rendang use curry to color and impart flavor. In skin care, its golden color and medicinal properties enhance dark skin. (I have had people react in alarm when a turmeric foot soak turned my pale legs yellow!) It is used ceremonially throughout South Asia, including Bengali weddings where it adorns the married couple or Pujas where the powder is moistened and formed into an image of Ganesha. Rich in pigments it is used for dyes and to color food. It is one of my favorite herbs.

Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 5% curcumin, a polyphenol considered the most active constituient of turmeric, although I think it works best when mixed with its other natural antioxidants including curcuminoids, flavanoids and carotinoids. Volatile oils include tumerone, atlantone, and zingiberone which is also found in the related plant, ginger. Other constituents include Vitamins C and E, sugars, proteins, and resins. It is used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of inflammation, flatulence, jaundice, menstrual difficulties, hematuria, hemorrhage, and colic. Turmeric can also be applied topically in poultices to [...]

How to Make Thieve’s Vinegar To Protect from Respiratory Infections

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:32:02 +0000

For medicinal use you need much higher ratios of herbs to vinegar

The traditional story is that during the Black Plague, a group of men were going into houses where people had died, stealing their goods. The authorities figured that they would soon be infected and die, so did not pursue them until it became clear that they were resistant to the disease. And then the motivation was to find what protected them. Finally the thieves were apprehended and one confessed that his mother, a midwife, had provided them with a protective vinegar that they drank and washed with after handling the cadavers. And in exchange for freedom, shared the recipe.

My version is slightly different, in that I use chili peppers which were not available at the time. I love to make the vinegar and use it for both cooking and to put a quarter cup in my water bottle to build up resistance. Vinegar in water was called Posca by the Romans and accompanied most meals. I take a tablespoon of the vinegar every few hours if I am coming down with an infection. All herbs are dried to increase the strength.

1/4 cup dried lavender blossoms

1/4 cup sage or white sage

1/4 cup lemon balm

1/4 cup rosemary

1/4 cup peppermint

2 Tbsp crushed chili peppers

2 Tbsp cloves

8 minced cloves of fresh garlic

1 oz. tinctured wormwood or Artemisia annua (Sweet Annie)

2 cups apple cider vinegar.

Mix the dried herbs well and place in a jar, [...]

What Does Pulse Diagnosis Show?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:34:07 +0000

Pulse diagnosis communicates a lot more than rate, rhythm and pattern. There are qualities to the pulse, physical manifestations of stress, edema, hypertension and lipids which can be felt, along with the traditional Chinese medicine qualities of form, meridians affected and [...]

Thoughts on the Loss of Trees

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:36:44 +0000

Park Slope Tree Downed by Tornado

New York City doesn’t usually have tornadoes or hurricanes, although we are in the path of such storms. The city heat produces a high pressure bubble that usually pushes storms away. Well most of the time. A freak storm toppled 500 trees in Central Park last August and a tornado dipped into a coastal neighborhood in Brooklyn in April. Last Thursday we had two small tornadoes which cut through Brooklyn and Queens in a period of about 20 minutes, with winds up to 80 miles an hour and “microbursts” of 125 mph. One person was killed and a few others injured. When it finished 3000 dead street trees lay in its wake, with the branches of untold others ripped from their trunks.

New York City has, or had until Thursday, about 5 million trees including 650,000 street trees. When I came here as a teen, raised on West Coast horror stories of the city, I was stunned at how green New York City was, especially compared to San Francisco which was relatively bereft of trees at the time. There are oaks of various kinds, London plane trees, maples, beeches, mulberry trees, Callery pears, lindens, ginkgos, blight-resistant elms, birches, liquidambars, osage oranges, sycamores, horse chestnuts, sumacs, catalpas, alianthus trees, magnolias, weeping cherries, various pines and hundreds of other species. My neighborhood has trees that range from a seedlings to 150 years old with much older trees in Prospect Park’s secondary forest where at least 100 trees were killed. [...]

Book Review: Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:00:03 +0000

Hal Herzog is fascinated with our moral relationships with animals, the contradictions we feel and the ethical problems when we avoid contradictions. A dog, he points out, is a member of the household in the United States, vermin in India, and food in Korea. We humans tend not to eat animals we either adore or despise. As Koreans and Chinese have started keeping pets, they have become more ambivalent about eating dog meat and relegate certain species to the dog trade. The Oglala Indians eat dogs and keep them as pets, but pets are chosen at birth and only pets are named. This is a tactic that many farming families use for animals that could be pets or food.

Herzog is an anthrozoologist who studies the interactions between humans and animals. He is also possessed with a quick eye for absurdity and a broad range of interests. In this book he has visited industrial farms and Appalachian cock fights, dogmeat markets, dolphin treatment centers, loggerhead turtle nest- protection runs,animal research laboratories, and rescue refuges for injured animals. Even his family pets come up for scrutiny, when an animal rights neighbor apologetically called to ask if he was feeding kittens to his new pet boa constrictor and he experienced a revulsion that he would not feel about feeding the snake mice. And it led to a comparison of the food a snake needs compared to a cat- 5 pounds of flesh versus 50 each year- which leaves a moral burden of owning a cat ten times that of a [...]

Two Year Low Cal/Low Carb Diet Study Misleading

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:17:19 +0000

A two year, $4 million studyof 307 people, purporting to compare low carb to low fat diets has been completed, apparently showing similar weight loss after two years, but improved blood lipids for people who followed the low carbohydrate diet. They tell us study results show it doesn’t matter which way we diet. But the study has several problems:

The low carb diet went for 12 weeks, after which people were encouraged to add 5 grams of carbohydrates daily for a week, increasing carbohydrates until their weight stabilized. The low calorie diet went on for 2 years. So a short term diet was compared to a long term diet. No one looked at actual food intake. Yep, a diet study with no data on what people actually ate eventhough they kept food diaries. And data from dropouts was extrapolated and included, or as the rest of us call it, the data was made up.

Why Would You Include Data from Dropouts?

The last point may need some explanation. Usually one would compare only people who followed the protocol, but in recent years people wondered what happened to the dropouts. Why would you ever look at data from people who didn’t follow the diet? It seems counterintuitive, but there are legitimate questions here, if too many people drop out of a study it may be because the protocol causes real life problems. If you are looking at what is called “Intent to Treat” then you might well look at the end result to see if [...]

Vitamin D Researcher Frank C. Garland Passes Away

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:59:12 +0000

Frank Garland, an epidemiologist and cancer researcher who studied the effects of Vitamin D in fighting cancer, has died. He was 60. Photo care of Kim Edwards.

One of the greatest contributors to human understanding of vitamin D, researcher Dr. Frank C. Garland, passed away on Tuesday, August 17 at UCSD Thornton Hospital after a nearly year-long illness. He was 60 years old. Science, and the rest of us, have lost a great researcher.

Dr. Garland, along with brother Dr. Cedric Garland, were the first to make the connection between vitamin D deficiency and cancer, igniting the interest of the scientific community. Today, there is evidence of as many as 20 different cancers that are responsive to vitamin D and more may be found.

For his work in the area of vitamin D and cancer prevention, Dr. Garland received the Arnold-Rikli Prize for Advancement in the Field of Photobiology. In 2006, the International Journal of Epidemiology re-published, in its original form, the 1980 article by the Garlands concerning vitamin D and cancer prevention entitled Do sunlight and vitamin D reduce the likelihood of colon cancer?

A memorial video by Carole Baggerly (made when he was still alive) and a donation link to the Frank C. Garland Cancer Prevention Fund can be found at http://www.grassrootshealth.net/ His videos on Vitamin D research can be found on YouTube.

The Garland brothers are seminal researchers showing the ability of Vitamin D to prevent cancer of the colon, in opposition to the conventional wisdom that sunlight is primarily [...]

August Herbal Blog Party: Herbs for Fertility

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:18:25 +0000

There are many ways herbs can help a couple deal with fertility. A simple red clover infusion can kick off a pregnancy for many women. Herbalists can make specific formulas for the five parts of the menstrual cycle identified by Chinese medicine or more simply incorporate menstrual charting with formulas, using herbs to tonify the yin or yang phases of the menstrual cycle as needed. One may even managed to open a blocked fallopian tube with a phlegm stasis formula. Or reduce insulin resistance in PCOS. Or improve sperm quality and motility in the male partner. Or use flower essences with a frightened first time mother. We can even use plants to deal with the residues of sexual abuse so that a prospective mother can embrace her fertility.

Here are the results of our August Herbal Blog Party where different people wrote articles on various aspects of fertility:

The indomitable Henriette Kress’s article Trying to Get Pregnant? looks at stress, tight jeans, model-thin proportions and discusses going off of carrot seed or taking lily and peony.

Kristena Haslam at Dreamseeds Organics has written a tribute to Exotic, Erotic Damiana and even has a picture of the (in)famous Mexican Liqueur bottle shaped like a sitting pregnant woman.

Gail Faith Edwards of Blessed Maine Herbs has had 25 years of women bringing their red clover babies to her and writes Red Clover Is Not Just for Healthy Women Who Want to Conceive, It Is for ALL Women Who Want to Conceive. She recommends that men [...]

Staging Herbal Formulas to Enhance Fertility

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:59:31 +0000

Women with infertility are cyclic and should not take the same herbs through their cycle. Staging fertility herbs for different parts of the cycle respects natural rhythms. Chinese medicine uses herbs to regulate the menstrual cycle and strengthen the yin yang relationship. [...]

Vitamin D in Pregnancy and Nursing

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:52:54 +0000

Vitamin D at 4ooo iu reduced adverse events in pregnancy by half compared to the 400 iu level found in a prenatal vitamin. Virtually 100% of African American pregnant women in the SC study tested as severely deficient or deficient in Vitamin D. The study looked at preterm labor, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, hypertension, infections, and preterm birth. [...]

Is Acupuncture Useful for Labor Induction?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:12:05 +0000

A recent study purports to show that acupuncture does not help induce labor, but the study had problems like an active placebo, acupuncture was not customized, and the acupuncture group actually did better although they were slightly older, heavier and smoked more. Sham acupuncture cannot be done effectively. [...]

Full Fat Dairy Helps Ovulation in the Infertile

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:02:26 +0000

We live in a world where low fat is treated as the holy grail of health. Fat is necessary to make hormones and to provide essential nutrients. Women with low fat diets may have lower ovulation rates, measured by low fat milk consumption. Butterfat has special nutrients that may be useful for conception and pregnancy, even if milk is not consumed. [...]

Insulin Resistance and Infertility

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:25:53 +0000

Insulin resistance has more to do with infertility than just PCOS. Cell wall resistance affects many kinds of cells. Fat produces both androgens and estrogens. Inflammation reduces blood supply. Deal with insulin resistance to help getting pregnant. [...]

What is the Right Vitamin D Level?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:01:03 +0000

Since Vitamin D absorption varies tremendously depending on skin color, weight, age, malabsorption conditions and the use can be accelerated by disease, you need to periodically test your 20 Hydroxy D level. How high should it be? [...]

How to Make the Most (Vitamin D) from the Summer Sun

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:28:59 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Sun has been rehabilitated. It isn’t the great killer you thought it was. In fact, despite 40 years of contrary messages from the dermatological society, it helps protect you from cancer. And more important, sunlight is the main way we humans get Vitamin D, the lifesaving hormone that is used to prevent cancer, heart disease, MS, diabetes, fibromyalgia, osteomalacia and rickets.

We make the Vitamin D in oils on our skin when the sun is directly overhead. That means you don’t want to block the sun then, or to wash it off. A SPF15 sunscreen blocks 99% of all vitamin D production. And it is usually filled with chemicals, nanoparticles and other things you don’t want to absorb through your largest organ. Most sunscreens have avobenzone, benzphenone, ethoxycinnamate, PABA and similar chemicals that are known free radical generators and believed to damage DNA or lead to cancers. They often contain phthalates which are endocrine disruptors. But you don’t want to burn, because that IS as dangerous as your dermatologist says. So what to do?

The Vitamin D is made between 11 and 1:00, or when your shadow is shorter than you are. In the south you have a longer time than the north. Before that time, if you are out, cover your skin with clothing. Don’t wear makeup, even mineral makeup, because virtually all of them have a skin protection factor that blocks the sun. Ditto the daytime moisturizers. Use a night cream or a pure oil like coconut or [...]

Lead Found in Juice Boxes and Children’s Food

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:16:43 +0000

Image by mmatins via Flickr

The California group, The Environmental Law Fund released a report on June 9 alleging that lead in substantial amounts had been found in children’s food including juice boxes of apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail. Most troubling was that many brands of organic food were included including Earth’s Best, Santa Cruz Organics, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Walnut Acres, O. Organics, R.W. Knudson, and brands such as Gerbers, Del Monte, Safeway, Motts and Krogers. They provided a list of those brands that did and did not meet California standards of 0.5 micrograms of lead per ounce. This is especially troublesome because children may have 3 to 5 servings of the foods, and the violation was based upon a single serving.

There is no safe amount of lead for children according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Lead causes learning disabilities, brain problems and physical problems which are long term.

Lead is cumulative, comes from multiple sources and can build up in the body, stored in the bones. In our youth, we bank bone for old age when we would normally lose it. During pregnancy, osteoporosis, old age or after bone breaks, the lead is released into the blood stream where it can migrate to the brain.

Nearly 40 percent of us have toxic levels of lead in our bodies at official levels (see more below). We often attribute symptoms like headaches, nausea, memory loss, trouble concentrating, poor coordination, tremors, insomnia, ADD [...]

Herbal Blog Party: Herbs to Beat the Heat

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:08 +0000

Image of Kristine Brown

The June blog party is hosted by Kristine Brown of Luna Herb Company on the topic of herbs to beat the Summer heat. Those of you who are familiar with Chinese medicine know that there are two categories of herbs, “Herbs for Summerheat” and “Herbs for Summerheat Damp,” the latter of which is a problem on the US East coast and southeast, as it is in southern and eastern China. People in dry summer weather will find other strategies for beating the heat.

Kristine’s article “Beating the Heat of Summer” discusses the symptoms of heat exhaustion, making electrolyte solutions and preventing heat stroke.

Rosalee de la Foret wrote a lovely article on making chamomile popsicles

Kristena of Dreamseeds wrote a great article full of fun tips for keeping cool, including using essential oils and a reminder about drinking cold, alcoholic beverages this time of the year

I wrote about cooling summer herbal beverages and listed my top 10 favorite summertime drinks, below.

Cory Trusty of Aquarian Baths wrote about a nifty trick to help keep cool using flax seeds

Herban Chica wrote about her favorite summer tea

Sean Donohoe wrote about herbal first aid for heat exhaustion

Related articles by Zemanta May Blog Party: Herbs for Sexual Health and Vitality (acupuncturebrooklyn.com) April Herbal Blog Party (acupuncturebrooklyn.com) January Herbal Blog Party: Warming Herbs (acupuncturebrooklyn.com) February/March Herbal Blog Party: Emerging From Winter With Herbs (acupuncturebrooklyn.com) The Use and Abuse of Herbal Medicine (acupuncturebrooklyn.com) The Sweet Herbal Blog Party [...]

Cooling Summer Herbal Beverages

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:01:34 +0000

Iced coffee (photo care of Baltimore Sun)

When summer comes around I turn to the cooling bitter or astringent drinks, served slightly below room temperature or at most refrigerated. I don’t really like to use ice because it can ruin your digestion but cold feels awfully good. The bitter flavor is also cooling. Sour or astringent flavors help reduce water loss, so I like an infused vinegar in water at times as well as lemon or lime water.

And while warm beverages don’t often come to mind, hot tea is often consumed all day long in China or the Mideast. Think of it as homeopathy- like cures like. Or just as a way of reducing the difference between your body and the environment so adjustment isn’t such a shock.

One word about caffeinated beverages. You aren’t eating dry leaves or beans, you are drinking a water-based beverage flavored with the leaves or beans. The research shows you don’t lose more water than you take in, but you do lose it sooner, so tissues don’t hydrate as well. Rule of thumb: you lose 25% of the fluid value from coffee compared to water, and 10% for tea.

Climate plays a role in which beverages work best. I live on the humid East coast, so tend to retain water in the summer, a condition the Chinese refer to as Summerheat damp. When I lived in California where Summer is the dry season, something more hydrating might well be better, such as hibiscus tea. Someone in [...]

Vinegar, Muscle Cramps, Blood Sugar and Acids

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:09:37 +0000

Recent research shows that pickle juice reduces exercise-induced cramps. What is the relationship between the vinegar in the juice and magnesium in relieving cramps or blood sugar spikes? Does the acid level have a long term effect on the acidity of the body? [...]

The Herbal Treatment of Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:58:27 +0000

Pain is a huge topic and the roots of pain must be treated as well as the immediate pain. A review of many herbs and a few supplements used for treating pain. by Karen Vaughan [...]

Musings on the Treatment of Allergies

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:37:01 +0000

While some allergies require complete withdrawal, the strategy may not be the best for every allergen. People who are highly allergenic may face an ever diminishing pool of foods, increasing allergic response as they put more reliance on fewer foods. There doesn't seem to be clear evidence in either western or alternative medicine for a single, or major strategy. [...]

May Blog Party: Herbs for Sexual Health and Vitality

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:37:03 +0000

Sean Donahue

Greenman Sean Donahue, of Green Man Ramblings is host to the May Herbal Blog Party on Herbs for Sexual Health and Vitality. A number of prominent herbalists have written articles on various facets of sexuality and herbs, from improving function to contraception. Here is his reblogged post with the links to the articles:

Saturday, May 15, 2010

May Blog Party: Herbs For Sexual Health and Vitality How do you promote healthy, vital, joyful sexuality? Its May, and with the sap risen and the world coming into blossom, this month’s Blog Party focuses on herbs (and complementary strategies) for sexual health and vitality — from aphrodisiacs to contraceptives to herbs for the reproductive system to herbs that help to heal our emotional and spiritual relationships to our bodies and our sexuality.

Karen Vaughan writes about a holistic response to sexual dysfunction – http://www.acupuncturebrooklyn.com/alternative-health/herbs-for-sex-and-sexual-response

Cory Trusty writes about a use for “Horny Goat Weed” that’s quite different from what you might expect – http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/2010/05/use-of-epimedium-for-exhaustion-and.html

Yael Grauer writes about self-care in the aftermath of sexual assualt – http://www.dirttime.org/2010/05/04/somatics-staphysagria-and-regaining-wholeness/

Rachel Fee-Prince writes about motherhood and sex – http://thefamilyherbal.blogspot.com/2010/05/motherhood-and-sex.html

Lisl Meredith Huebner writes about the use of Queen Anne’s Lace seeds as a contraceptive – http://herbalisl.blogspot.com/2009/11/queen-annes-lace-conscious-choice-for.html

Henriette Kress writes about “sexy herbs” — and the fundamentals of good health for a healthy libido – http://www.henriettesherbal.com/blog/sexy-herbs.html

The Sensory Herbcraft blog features a post on the flowers of Beltane –

http://sensoryherbcraft.blogspot.com/2010/04/may-blossoms.html

Kristine Brown writes about using some familiar herbs to support sexual vitality –

http://lunaherbco.com/2010/05/may-blog-party-herbs-for-sexual-health-and-vitality/

Cynthia Froelich writes [...]

Herbs for Sex and Sexual Response

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 15 May 2010 04:39:43 +0000

Avena Sativa, milky oats for sex problems due to adrenal exhaustion. From Matt Lavin at www.flickr.com

Sexual response is not just about sexuality, it is about overall health. When you aren’t functioning sexually, it is a sign of overall ill health. Sexual response is complex and sexual dysfunction refers to a wide variety of conditions. Because of this you should not go willy nilly into popping herbs, or for that matter Viagra. The herbal treatment of sexual dysfunction depends on a good differential diagnosis. So here are some basic questions.

1. First, do you trust your partner? Should you be having sex with them? Are you in love? Are you angry? Is your communication not good? Maybe you don’t want to be available to just anyone or with someone who does not value you. If your body is refusing to become aroused, maybe it is trying to tell you something about your partner or the state of your relationship. Address that first.

2. Are you stressed or exhausted from too much work? Have you been burning the candle at both ends? if you are stressed out from work or family obligations you may not have enough juice for sex.

3. Have you carved out time for each other in your busy schedules? Time for intimacy is at least as important as time at work or at the gym. You may need a sacrosanct schedule for time with your partner rather than trying to squeeze in intimacy between your other obligations.

4. [...]

Escape Reading for People Who Love Herbal Medicine

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:51:42 +0000

Cover of Prodigal Summer: A Novel

Herbalism consumes me. My idea of a vacation is to go wildcrafting in the woods or to explore the spice markets of exotic locales. Escape reading for me is luscious accounts of life enhanced by flavors and spices, biographies of curanderos, accounts of life in the jungle, the natural history of food. It doesn’t need to be fiction, an unusual locale, or a different way of life, as long as the herbs are there. If you share the passion, try these books:

1. The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Initiated in the ways of turmeric, cinnamon, fenugreek and cloves, the spice mistress Tilo finds herself an old lady in a spice store in East Oakland, tempted between immortality and romance.

2. Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Chocolate and love in the south of France. This is an extraordinarily sensual story of postwar Provence. Actually I recommend anything by Joann Harris.

3. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. The Wheatherby women of Bascom, KY had special knacks, and an apple tree that threw out apples which gave visions. Claire used her flowers and spices to create magical catering occasions but couldn’t resist love.

4. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver’s lush descriptions of Appalachia told through the intertwined stories of a ranger protecting coyotes, an elderly organic farmer’s conflict with a cultivator of blight-resistant chestnuts, and a young widowed entomologist make for entrancing reading. Lessons learned: killing predators is worse than killing herbivores, even vegetarian food extracts [...]

Sleep and Learning: More sleep means less study needed

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:33:55 +0000

Napping is not only restful but it helps them learn

When I lived in Italy, we went to school until 12:30 then returned home for 2 hours for lunch and a nap. Afterward we went back to study until 6:00. At the time I was astounded at how much more Italian high school students learned compared to American students. New research shows that the napping might have something to do with it.

A University of California, Berkeley study took 39 healthy adults and studied their ability to learn and memorize with or without naps. The participants who napped between learning sessions (for 90 minutes) improved their own scores by 10 percent while their non-napping counterparts saw scores dropping by 10 percent.

The two groups were given learning tasks that were intended to tax the hippocampus, a region of the brain that helps store fact-based memories. Both groups performed at comparable levels immediately after learning. Then one group was allowed to nap while the other was kept awake. At 6pm the two groups were given new information to learn, but the nappers were much better able to learn the new information than either those who stayed awake or even better than themselves in the morning.

“Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap,” said study author and psychology professor Matthew Walker.

Other studies have indicated that sleep helps consolidate memories after cramming. Students who study [...]

Lowering Inflammation Naturally

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:20:20 +0000

One of the most plausible reasons to give statins, despite significant side effects like severe muscle pain (rhabdomyolysis), impotence , cognitive impairment, neuropathies and 9% increases in type 2 diabetes, is to lower inflammation. Cholesterol, which is higher when the body is inflamed, is the body’s bandage for irritated arteries, preventing us from bleeding out if those arterial walls give way. While cholesterol is correlated with heart disease, inflammation is the real culprit.

Inflammation is caused by elevated blood sugar, allergy, disease or injury and it causes sudden increases in C-Reactive Protein, an inflammatory marker which is the fastest and is the most reliable indicator of clinical disease and its severity. Testing blood levels of C-Reactive Protein gauges the inflammation level of the body which is correlated with heart disease. Agents that lower C-Reactive Protein (CRP) frequently lower cholesterol, but you do not want to lower the cholesterol without lowering the inflammation.

The statins deplete the Coenzyme Q10, the body’s own anti-inflammatory compound, leading to muscle weakness, pain, brain fog and

Plants contain many compounds called polyphenols, which have been shown to reduce inflammation and hereby to increase resistance to disease. Examples of such polyphenols are isothiocyanates in cabbage and broccoli, epigallocatechin in green tee, capsaicin in chili peppers, chalones, rutin and naringenin in apples, resveratrol in red wine, Japanese knotweed and fresh peanuts and curcumin/curcuminoids in turmeric.

Fish Oil

Fish Oil causes reductions in CRP. Consuming 2 grams daily in divided doses, yielding 960 mg/d of EPA and 600 mg/d of DHA [...]

Breastfeeding Protects Mothers From Diabetes

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:17:01 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

It is known that having children increases the chances of women developing Type 2 diabetes in later life. New research shows that breastfeeding can reduce this risk to the same level as that of women who have never had children.

Australian researchers studying 53,700 women over 45 found that diabetes rates were similar for women with children and those who had remained childless. But among women with children, each year of breastfeeding was associated with a 14 percent reduction in diabetes risk.

Compared to childless women, women who’d had children and never breastfed were 50 percent more likely to have Type 2 diabetes. However if mothers had breastfed each child for at least 3 months, the risk was not elevated.

Researchers analyzed a number of other factors that could affect a woman’s likelihood of developing diabetes — including age, weight, family history of diabetes, reported exercise habits and education and income levels. When those issues were factored out, breastfeeding remained linked to the odds of having diabetes.

The study was retrospective, which means that it relied upon the memory of breastfeeding. It was a correlation which does not prove causation.

Lead researcher, Dr. Bette Liu speculated that the hormonal changes that come with breastfeeding may have lasting effects on how a woman’s body processes blood sugar,

Sources:

Liu B, Jorm L, Banks E. PARITY, BREASTFEEDING AND THE SUBSEQUENT RISK OF MATERNAL TYPE 2 DIABETES. Diabetes Care. 2010 Mar 23. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 20332359

Taylor JS, Kacmar JE, [...]

Grapefruit seeds for urinary tract infections and diabetes

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:08:10 +0000

Although grapefruit seed extract as a "natural antibiotic" may be a scam, the use of the seeds themselves appears to hold value in the treatments of diabetes and urinary tract infections. [...]

April Herbal Blog Party

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:41:09 +0000

Cory at Aquarian Baths is hosting the Spring Herbs blog posts this month. Here is her post: Spring is such a wonderful time of year for the herbalist and gardener. I am pleased to present an amazing collection of Spring Herbs blog posts this month. Make yourself a cup of herbal tea and settle in a while to read what others are doing with herbs this time of year. What are you doing with herbs? We would love to know, so leave us some comments. For more information on ongoing blog parties visit the Herbwifery Forum.

~Tina Sams of from the Essential Herbal gives us a tour of emerging Spring herbs in Pennsylvania. Her Anise Hyssop photo is featured in this blog post.

~Cindy Jones of Sage Script also shows us what herbs are coming up in Colorado, and discusses plans for herbal planting.

~Sarah Head of Tales of a Kitchen Herbwife in England shares a richly descriptive post on the first medicines of spring.

~Lady Barbara of Lady Barbara’s Garden in Oregon takes us on an exuberant Alice in Wonderland stroll finishing up with a treasury of Violet Magic.

~Beth Brynne of the Garden Meanderings blog in Western New York also discusses emerging Spring Plants.

~Karen Creel of Garden Chick suggests planting a Mosquito Repellant Garden for Spring.

~Visit Maggie McMillan’s lovely farm. What beautiful animals she has. Maggie shares about making biiter Dandelion coffee and Dock syrup.

~Yael Grauer of Dirt Time is also “Embracing the Bitter” this month. Check [...]

Springtime in an Urban Garden

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:17:48 +0000

Springtime in an urban garden is different than in a suburban or rural garden. For one thing you may not own your land. Your plants may be growing in raised beds, in pots or in circumstances that would not be considered optimal. Your coop board or condo association may prevent compost bins. Your wildcrafting may be in city parks where you need to avoid areas of pesticide use.

For many years I struggled with feeling that I couldn’t be an authentic herbalist living in the city. I thought “real herbalists” should be living off of the land like Kiva Rose or farming herbs like Matthias and Andrea Reisen, or living in rural settings like David Winston. But one day while conversing with a local practitioner of Yoruba Ifa medicine, after harvesting weeds from the church garden and going home to decoct my locally purchased Chinese herbs, I realized that urban herbalism, complete with its lower than average carbon footprint, had its own advantages.

When I first started, land was my initial challenge. We have a first floor apartment in a four-story building that is built nine feet from the next building, and the alley intersects with long a ten foot light court. The building has a narrow front yard, barely large enough for oak barrel planters. All of the ground is covered in concrete. And we don’t own it outright, so I had to obtain permission to put out pots, eventually parlayed into raised beds (but lost the compost when a neighbor expressed the [...]

Self Care Products to Avoid While Pregnant

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:29:44 +0000

Photography by ElvisHuang

If you are pregnant, you are probably being careful about the foods you eat. But how about your deodorant, shampoo, hair gel or face creme? Your skin absorbs chemicals through your pores, and those which affect your hormones, and those of your baby, known as endocrine disruptors, can be potent at parts per billion or even parts per trillion. Your exposure is higher than that.

You should avoid a number of products or types of products. First, look at anything with “fragrance” as an ingredient, or at anything that foams, or at anything that might extract the plastic from the bottles. In 2002, three-quarters of the 72 products tested by the Environmental Working Group contained phthalates, plasticizing chemicals linked to birth defects, obesity, feminizing infant boys, liver and kidney damage, infertility and premature breast development in both boys and girls. These include both brand name cosmetics like L’Oreal, Dove, Cover Girl and Revlon and some “natural” brands .

In a recent study, 145 preschoolers whose mother’s prenatal urine was high in two common phthalates, their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting. Girls, OTOH are more likely to become more aggressive with prenatal and postnatal exposure to BPA which can leach from hard plastics, especially #7. We know that the reproduction of other species is compromised by these chemicals, so the results on people are potentially profound.

One thing that has affected all of us, from the developing embryo to [...]

Spring Mugwort

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:19:41 +0000

Young Spring Mugwort. Picture by Nick Tacket.

When, many years ago, I was walking through Prospect Park with my then toddler Francis, tasting the sprouting plants, he pointed out a lace-leafed plant with a lovely aroma. We tasted it and agreed that, in judicious quantities, it was delicious and used it in our wild salads and omelets along with chickweed, oxalis and wild onion. But once it got over five inches the bitter taste was overpowering. This was our introduction to mugwort. Mugwort is a shrubby artemisia, Artemisia vulgaris, although other mugwort species can be found in temperate climates. It looks in the spring a bit like a chrysanthemum or baby poison hemlock, so smell before you taste and look at the underside of the leaf. A feathery perennial, mugwort has deeply divided pinnate and opposite leaves which are fuzzy on the underside with their signature, a powdery silver sheen. The crushed leaves, when crushed, emit a pungent, distinctive aroma reminiscent of chrysanthemums and sagebrush.

Mugwort grows to be from three to five feet tall, in thick stands, generally found along streams or near sources of water. Howie Brounstein talks about following a stand of mugwort up an otherwise dry Southern California hill, finding a hidden spring with archeological treasures. I have found it in Eastern Washington state above petrified logs, along with its cousin sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata. It is ubiquitous in Brooklyn because of our wet summers.

Mugwort is well-known for its use in dream pillows. Dream pillows are traditionally made [...]

Herbs to Avoid for Passover

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:26:06 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

As a public service to my Jewish readers who are freeing their houses of chometz. This list is restrictive- even including herbs processed in barley wine where none remains- since I have a number of Hassidic clients. Of course there may be others I have missed- if so, please comment so I can update my information. Consult with your rabbi about medicinally necessary herbs on the list.

But you still get your horseradish!

Many greens drinks contain sprouts from grain.

Oat straw, milky oats.

Emergen-C in raspberry and mixed berry flavors only, the other flavors are fine.

Barley is fermented into wine to process Chinese medicinals

Several Chinese herbs are derived from species of wheat and barley which may have fermented and others are traditionally processed using products made from wheat or barley. For example, E jiao and Lu jiao jiao are processed with barley wine, Mai ya is barley sprout and Yi Tang is barley sugar. Fu xiao mai is a type of wheat, and Shen qu, known as “medicated leaven”, is processed with wheat or barley. Other herbs are E. jiao/Equus asinus gelatin, Lu jiao jiao/Cervus nippon antler, Mai ya/Hordeum vulga,Yi tang/Maltose, Fu xiao mai/ Triticum aestivum, Shen qu/Massa fermenta

The following raw herbs and raw herb powders are processed with barley or sorghum wine: Shu di huang/Rehmannia glutinosa root – prepared, Huang jing/Polygonatum sibiricum rhizome, Chuan xiong/Ligusticum chuanxiong (wallichii) rhizome, Rou cong rong/Cistanche deserticola herb, Gui ban jiao/Chinemys reevesii shell–gelatin.

Chinese herbal formulas that [...]

Why A Parasite Cleanse Can Make You Worse

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:38:25 +0000

Black Walnut Hulls

Spring is the time when people often indulge in a seasonal fast. And since Americans are prone to heroic fasting, many will decide that they should indulge in a parasite cleanse. Black walnut hulls, wormwood and cloves are traditional, often with a cayenne/fiber supplement. And the Hulda Clark devotees may use an electric “zapper” to kill parasites. There are a number of Chinese medicine antiparasite remedies. But if you have allergies, autoimmune disease or simply a weak immune system, a parasite cleanse can make you worse. The word “parasite” shows our attitude towards even benign worms (“helminths”) that live in our bodies. We don’t like worms, which we usually only notice if they are in overgrowth. They are ugly and primitive. Although only 10% of the cells in our bodies are human, we resist thinking of ourselves as walking colonies in a superstructure. Commensuals (which merely inhabit us) or Symbionts (which benefit us) might be better terms.

Of course there are harmful worms which tax our organs or nutrient supply or which burrow into areas where they are dangerous. Or like pinworms which are itchy and contagious. But not all worms fit this definition. And I have long maintained that we most likely have larger organisms along with our probiotic organisms that are necessary to human health.

Some also refer to gut organisms like candida as parasites. I will speak more about that in another piece, but they are also symbionts that are only problematical in overgrowth.

[...]

Grow Your Own Drugs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:08:12 +0000

It is almost Spring. Even if your garden is primarily ornamental, you can include medicinal herbs, many of which are lovely. And don't forget to eat the weeds, once you know what they are and what is safe! [...]

What is More Dangerous, Herbs or CT Scans?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:01:15 +0000

Ephedra

Do you think politicians or even the FDA could answer this question, posed by my friend Alan Tillotson?

Fact A : Herbs, vitamins and nutritional supplements caused zero deaths in 2008 [in most years actually]

Fact B: CT scans cause 30,000 new cancers and 14,500 deaths each year, with children being most at risk

Which of these answers is the correct political action to take?

A. We should crack down on the supplement industry

B. We should crack down on the CT scan industry

Government regulators seem to think choice “A” is best.

Radiation from CT Scans Linked to Cancer

USA Today reported on two research studies published in the December 15 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine revealing that CT scans deliver far more radiation than previously believed. In fact, the scans may actually be responsible for nearly 30,000 cancers each year and 14,500 deaths.

One study, led by researchers from the National Cancer Institute, estimated the number of cancers that might be caused by the scans. The other study found that patients undergoing the scans may be exposed to up to four times more radiation than previously estimated. Researchers studying 1119 patients at four San Francisco-area hospitals concluded that one CT scan could expose a patient to as much radiation as 74 mammograms or 442 chest X-rays.

Young people are at highest risk from excess radiation, partly because they have many years ahead [...]

How to Make Burn Cream

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:37:08 +0000

Zi gen Lithospermum

Burn cream, known as purple cloud ointment or shiunko in Japanese medicine is traditionally used under direct moxa where small “rice grain” cones are adhered to the body with the purple cream. But it is also used for burns, skin rashes, psoriasis and eczema. The major herb used in the burn cream is lithospermum, also known as gromwell or puccoon, or in pinyin Chinese as Zi cao gen (purple herb root). Lithospermum is in the category of herbs that cool fire toxins, and both internally and externally. It is used in Chinese and Japanese medicine to cool fevers, reduce purple rashes, express measles (by helping get the toxins out through the skin) and topically to heal burns and rashes. Frances Brinker teaches that a whole plant tincture taken internally will inactivate LH (luteinizing hormone) helping reduce enlarged prostate glands.

Equipment needed:

Stainless steel pot with heavy bottom Chinese style strainer Stainless steel bowl Cheesecloth Silicon spatula Jars for final product

Material needed

500 ml (2 cups) of unroasted sesame oil 1/2 pound of grated beeswax 2 Tbsp clean lard or lanolin (makes cream silkier and better absorbed) 3 oz of dang gui (Angelica sinensis root) 3 oz of zi cao gen (Lithospermum root, aka puccoon or gromwell) 1/4 teaspoon vitamin E oil 1/4 teaspoon essential oil of lavender (not traditional but great for burns)

Heat up sesame oil in a heavy pot. Add in the grated beeswax and lard. When just melted and at a gentle bubble, add [...]

February/March Herbal Blog Party: Emerging From Winter With Herbs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:32:46 +0000

Kitty in Spring Snow by Peter Pateau

The herbal blog party for this month deals with herbs that help us emerge from Winter, making the transition into Spring. For me the promise awakens when the angle of bright sunlight changes to hit my back window, where buildings have blocked it all winter. The raised beds in the back may soon lose their snow so that the Jerusalem artichokes, anise hyssop and calamus can poke through. Meanwhile my sister in Seattle is surrounded by a riot of hyacinths and Rosie in Houston frets that she won’t have time to harvest the cleavers before the hot temperatures wipe them out.

We are writing from different places, with different climates and different experiences. But the awakening of Spring stirs something in each of us. And we make our preparations, whether from a Lenten fast, a week-long cleanse or just the venture out to harvest the wild greens we have been craving.

LadyBarbara wrote Rising Spring about the quickening of the season and how she changes her diet for that new movement.

Yael Grauer wrote Emerging from Winter With Herbs about her three favorite adaptogens and nasal irrigation.

Rosalee de la Foret wrote about Spring violets, Emerging from Winter to Find Violet

Emerging rhubarb

Sean Donohue wrote Skunk Cabbage: New England Bear Medicine about the plant that heats its way up through the snow and feeds the bears after the acorns are gone.

Granny Sam Gahagan writes from her snow covered lair about Emerging from Winter [...]

Nettles!

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:55:33 +0000

Stinging Nettles: Urtica dioica

“If they would drink nettles in March and eat mugwort in May fewer young ladies would go to the grave”- in John Murrell, A Garden of Herbs, 1621

Nettles are the quintessential herb for getting over winter in my book. They push their way up in early spring, despite a dusting of snow. The small ones are bright and vital and don’t have quite the sting to them. But their roots mine the soil for minerals, often missing after a long winter without fresh greens, and they have an intense green taste. The magnesium in the leaves is especially helpful if you have the winter blues. And if you have aches and pains from the cold winter, you can whack them away with nettle stems.

Urtica dioica, the stinging nettle, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America. It is ubiquitous in temperate South America where it was introduced and is the best-known member of the nettle genus Urtica. Urtica urens is also well-known, although a broad variety of nettles are used for medicine or food.

Nettle in Flower

The stinging nettle plant has opposite lanceolate or ovate sawtooth leaves, and is dioecious (one sex or the other). Seeds are born in dense clusters.

For eating, the herb should be harvested before flowering because tiny oxalic acid cystoliths can form in the leaves, which irritate the kidneys. Cutting the plant back will prevent this. Cystoliths are not present in alcohol tinctures [...]

Limit Carbohydrates Rather Than Fats To Prevent Heart Disease

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:20:51 +0000

A new study by Siri-Tarino of the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California,concluded in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that we are missing lower cardiovascular disease targets when we urge the obese to lower dietary fats. The emphasis on reducing dietary saturated fat isn’t preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the obesity epidemic and associated metabolic disturbances, the authors concluded. Limiting carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates, offers the best hope for reducing the CVD burden associated with fats clogging the arteries.

Siri-Tarino and her colleagues cited evidence to support their views and conclusions:

Clinical trials and prospective-cohort studies have not consistently shown that reducing dietary saturated fat lowers CVD risk. Replacing saturated fat with carbohydrate has not been shown to reduce CVD risk. Interest in the relationship between glycemic load or index and CVD risk has insufficient evidence to develop prevention programs. The effect of saturated fat on LDL may be modulated by the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Substituting mono- and polyunsaturated fats for carbohydrate effectively reduces LDL. Both overweight and increased carbohydrate intake have been linked to the poor lipid profile associated with metabolic syndrome. Reducing carbohydrate intake has been shown to lower the concentration of artery-clogging small, dense LDL particles. Relationships between dietary fats and other CVD risk factors, such as blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation, are unclear.

In a meta-analysis published in the same issue of the journal, Siri-Tarino and colleagues concluded that the evidence does not support “the conventional wisdom that reduced dietary saturated fat intake is [...]

So You Think Surgery is a Good Way To Lose Weight?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:50:26 +0000

Like many people dealing with weight problems I have looked into surgery as a way of losing weight. It seems so inviting to have a quick fix and I saw medical studies indicating that bariatric (weight loss) surgery was the only way to permanently lose weight. And yet all of my patients who had surgery, from a Roux en Y gastric bypass to Lap Bands have had complications. And all but one, whose Lap Band is too new to tell, are still obese.

One of my patients even had her gastric bypass redone, resulting in the loss of her spleen when it was accidentally cut during the surgery. And my 40-something pharmacist lost her life to a heart attack after a successful gastric bypass that allowed her to lose 100 pounds and recover from diabetes. But it gave her unpleasant gastric symptoms that interfered with her life and most likely the rapid weight loss caused loss of muscle including heart muscle, which killed her.

Gastric bypass conceptually creeps me out. You have a long stretch of the GI tract which is isolated, no longer carrying food and not cleaned by the friction of food going by. It is living, secretory tissue. Is it then colonized by undesirable bacteria, fungi or yeasts? You have a brain in your gut, a real brain. What happens to that? You make most of your serotonin in your gut- 85%. Is that impaired? And how do you manage when you can’t absorb essential fatty acids? Too many unanswered [...]

Meta-Study Finds Acupuncture Eases Menstrual Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:56:46 +0000

A Korean meta-study reviewing data from 27 studies found that acupuncture was effective in relieving menstrual pain. Over 3000 women were studied in total, with treatments ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine to herbal injections into acupuncture points. The analysis from Kyung Hee Medical Center found that patients with severe period pain reported a greater reduction in their symptoms when using acupuncture than when using pharmacological treatments.

Acupuncture could help period pain, researchers say

Period pain is a common complaint

Acupuncture may be an effective way of easing severe period pain, a South Korean review of 27 studies suggests.

Researchers said there was “promising evidence” for acupuncture in treating cramps, but that more work was needed.

More at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8518745.stm

Niacin Outperforms Drug At Lowering Cholesterol

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:43:50 +0000

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a time release version of an inexpensive Vitamin B (Niacin- not niacinamide) was compared to a common cholesterol drug, ezetimibe (trade name Zetia), made by Merck. The vitamin gave superior results.

In 2008, 9 million Americans were taking Zetia versus just 2.5 who were taking niacin, putting the majority at higher risk for stroke and spending more money for their treatment.

Niacin is easier on the blood vessel walls. Niacin had a beneficial effect on the plaque buildup in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the brain, while Zetia caused a slight worsening. Nine patients taking Zetia had heart attacks, stroke, or died from heart disease, versus just two patients taking niacin.

Niaspan, the niacin used in the study is a prescription product that has a special timed-release formulation, which may cut down on the hot flashes that are associated with niacin use. It does still cause flushing in some people however.

Zetia reduced LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol by 20%. But unlike Zetia, niacin boosts HDL, or good cholesterol by 20%, as well as reducing LDL by 16%, total cholesterol by 10% and triglycerides by 28%.

The prescription version of niacin is Niaspan, a 500mg-1000mg version taken at two tablets in the evening. The vitamin does cause flushing, but less so than straight niacin. Niacinamide (also called nicotinamide or “no flush niacin”) does not work the same way, although it is often used as a substitute for niacin in [...]

Home Remedy to Use Instead of Nyquil

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:14:13 +0000

This amusing video shows a homemade substitute for Nyquil, which contains a number of ingredients you might not want to put into your body. His uses Southern Comfort as the alcohol, but if you click through to Vimeo there are a number of comments with other home remedies. I prefer to use either Thieves’ Vinegar or honey, fresh garlic and ginger syrup. Or a drop or two of essential oil of rosemary over the glands and at the nape of the neck.

KniQuil from Hot Knivez on Vimeo.

What Does Research Say About the Health of Eating Meat?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:38:41 +0000

Meat and Vegetables

We are badly in need of a study that compares good vegetarian to good meat-containing diets using quality foods, with high vegetable content and good quality fats in both diets. Too often vegetarians are compared to a standard American population, health-conscious vegans are compared to non-health conscious omnivores and studies on omnivores with low meat diets are extrapolated to suggest that a diet with no animal food altogether may be superior. The study should isolate the effects of gluten from other starchy foods and meats from fish.There was a study in the 1970s that supposed a loss of bone (measured by urinary calcium excretion) with a diet high in meat. The study lasted two weeks and subsequent studies showed that no loss occurred after two weeks, so that the effect might be transitional. But urinary calcium excretion may not come at the cost of bone. Additional studies by Kerstetter and Insogna demonstrated that there is higher absorption in the intestine and net calcium increases with high protein in the elderly. Kerstetter also demonstrated using tracers that the calcium in the urine from bone goes -down- while calcium from absorption goes up.

In fact other studies indicate that the phytates in legumes, traditionally consumed by vegetarians or vegans can lock up minerals necessary for bones. Fermentation, and to a lesser extent, cooking can reduce the anti-nutrient effect of legumes, and isoflavones in the beans may help counteract the phytic acid.

Grain based vegetarian diets contribute to hyperinsulinemia (high blood insulin) [...]

Kids with High Body Mass Index Not Necessarily Fat

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:24:56 +0000

A recent large study of children with high body mass indexes (BMI) found that many children of normal body mass had high fat percentages while 25% of children with high BMI were not obese by fat percentage criteria.

BMI (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) does not distinguish between the weight of muscle, fat or bone and has a statistical artifact that tends to classify tall children as overweight.

“One out of six children in our study who had a BMI in the normal range had an unhealthy level of body fat,” said Dr. Kenneth Ellis, a Baylor College of Medicine professor of pediatrics who studies growth and body composition at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston. “And one out of four with a BMI in the at-risk-to-obese range had a body-fat level that was normal.”

There is an assumption when using BMI as a criteria for obesity that individuals who have a BMI within the normal range have an average amount of body fat. And another assumption is that every ounce of body weight over the standard weight for height is fat.

While the BMI/fitness disparity can be true of adults- many pro athletes have BMIs that are very high- in children there is also often a weight gain just before growth spurts. High levels of physical activity, early maturity, genetics and ethnicity can all contribute to an elevated childhood BMI with a healthy amount of body fat.

BMI is not the only measure of obesity that [...]

Cordyceps for stamina, against cancer

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:27:28 +0000

Cordyceps is an adaptogen from a fungus that invades an insect body that increases stamina, prevents cancer cell proliferation, increases immune system function and reduces arrhythmias. [...]

Communication In A Persistent Vegetative State?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:23:58 +0000

A recent New York Times article found that by using functional MRIs on long term persistent vegetative state patients, a few could hear and process information. The idea sounds exciting, helping differentiate those who had residual brain function from the majority that did not. But a few caveats are in order:

1. Even those who have brain function may never be able to emerge from a comatose state, with even fewer able to regain the ability to live a good life.

2. Functional MRI studies, while exciting, are plagued with inaccuracies. For instance Science Daily tells of FMRIs on dead fish that register activity. The procedure may be better in the future, but still needs improvement.

3. Interpretation of FMRI results is difficult. We know it is not true that only one part of the brain correlates to one function. Brain processes are complex and often non-localized.

4. The cost of an FMRI is prohibitive. New 1.5 tesla scanners may cost $1,500,000 and new 3.0 tesla scanners $2,300,000, plus a half million dollars for the suite to use it and a few hundred thousand annually for liquid nitrogen and helium. These are not common in hospitals and our country does not fund low cost primary care visits ostensibly because of cost.

5. The growth of nerves, neurogenesis, is relegated to very limited, specific brain regions and the individual will not likely regain cortical mass or function.

6. Persistent vegetative states are different from comas or being brain dead. There is no evidence that the [...]

Agave Nectar: A Healthy Sweetner?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:59:13 +0000

When Agave nectar first burst on the scene as a healthier sweetener, it appeared to be superior to sugar and other dietary sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. It was easy to imagine that for thousands of years Native Americans had been tapping the sap of the agave plant, using its sweet juice, perhaps boiling it down to a honey-like syrup.

According to Wikipedia’s article on agave, there is a nectar called aguamiel that can be collected by cutting underneath the flower spike or extracted from the flower like it is from sugarcane. It is collected from the maguey agave and sold as a sports drink in Mexico, often with added chili pepper. This has nothing to do with the commercial agave nectar sold by any manufacturer.

Agave piña, photographed by Wildpansyflower

The agave rootstalk or piña is, like chicory and Jerusalem artichokes, full of a slightly sweet mostly indigestible polysaccharide called inulin. There are likely other starches in the tough rootstalk since the amount of inulin is estimated from a minor constituent to virtually all inulin. This root is treated with enzymes, according to the patent below from Aspergillis niger mold but possibly from other sources depending on the maker, and is converted through a complex process to fructose.

Glucose and Fructose

It is worth pointing out that fructose is not the identical to the fruit in sugar, levulose which is a levorotatory D-form of fructose combined with a number of compounds found in fruit. Most of the fructose in fruit [...]

Going Gluten and Dairy Free

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:23:57 +0000

Going gluten and dairy free can be daunting. How to prepare, what to eat, recipes for ceremonial foods. [...]

Fermented Blueberry Drink Prevents Diabetes and Obesity

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:33:52 +0000

Blueberry juice fermented with the Serratia bacteria normally found on blueberry skin was better than blueberry juice at preventing diabetes. Probiotic designer foods are likely to come. [...]

247 Hospital Patients Die Daily Due to Doctor’s Not Washing their Hands

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:16:22 +0000

An estimated 90,000 patients die from hospital-acquired infections due to lack of handwashing. Doctors wash hands 50% of the time. Deaths are comparable to 30 World Trade Center bombings or a jumbo jet crash every two days. [...]

Pregnant Women Should Avoid Antidepressants

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:14:51 +0000

Antidepressant pharmaceuticals, especially Paxil and tricyclic antidepressants can cause birth defects. Review of alternatives including exercise, sunlight, Vitamin D, fish oil, magnesium and herbs. [...]

How to Use Pole Moxa

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:01:32 +0000

Pole moxa on hand

I often give clients a stick of moxa to use between appointments, especially if they run cold or are overstressed.

Pole moxa is shaped like a long cigar with paper on the exterior. It burns quite hot, with a very directional heat and has a strong aroma that some people mistake for cannabis. There are “smokeless moxa” sticks that I do not find to be as useful for warming points or body areas. Use the moxa in a room with good ventilation and have a small jar of dry sand, a metal cigar tube (cut your stick to fit) or a moxa snuffer. Also use a good lighter- I prefer the gas matches with a long handle which keeps my fingers away from the heat during the time the head is lighted. And you need an ashtray so that you can gently remove the hot ash.

Pole moxa is made of compressed mugwort snuff, often mixed with other warming or aromatic herbs. To use the moxa, you tear off about an inch of the outside paper layer, but not any inner layers. Light the end with the lighter- it may take a while to get the surface hot. Blow lightly to make the end glow. While you may start with some of the surface not ignited, it should eventually form a glowing coal. Hold the moxa about an inch above the point or area to be warmed. If you place the thumb and index finger of your other hand [...]

January Herbal Blog Party: Warming Herbs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:22:46 +0000

January’s herbal blog party is on warming herbs. Several herbalists helped participate to share what helps get them and their loved ones through the winter. [...]

Doctoring Yourself on YouTube

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:01:54 +0000

There are how to videos on YouTube for all kinds of medical conditions from setting broken fingers to delivering a baby in a taxi. Know your limits and how to choose well. [...]

School Gardens and Learning

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:33:43 +0000

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr

The Atlantic Monthly recently published an article by Caitlin Flanagan called Cultivating Failure: How school gardens are cheating our most vulnerable students which is criticizing Alice Waters and the Edible Schoolyard Movement which she believes is channeling students back to farm labor. In this month’s Salon, Alissa Novoselick wrote a wonderful response based upon actual knowledge of how students learn in a garden, The School Gardener Strikes Back. And while Atlantic chooses not to publish comments on their article, Salon received many excellent responses from teachers and students.

Most of the responses focused on how gardening is not an end to itself, how teachers are bringing Walden and Emerson into the garden, are doing math over the planting process, are bringing in parents as educators, even immigrant parents who don’t usually participate and how they get respect from the children for their knowledge. Many point out that Flanagan did not interview a single teacher, parent or child and that as an avowed “housewife” who admits she has never sewn a button on in her life, she seems to have a disdain for manual labor. I especially liked a comment by Mr. Ed who tells how his grandmother showed him the usefulness of math, algebra and science by gardening, turning him around academically.

My critique focuses on the fact that children are botanically illiterate today. I’m not a teacher, but I am an herbalist who was brought into a Brooklyn elementary school to talk about plants, both [...]

Vinegar or Acid Food Helps Blood Sugar Go Down

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:41:41 +0000

Vinegar and acid foods slow insulin spikes and cause weight loss. Bitters help stimulate bile. Ways to integrate this into your diet. [...]

Herbs to Warm You Up

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:51:52 +0000

Do you feel cold inside in the winter? Is it very hard to warm yourself up? Taking cayenne or hot chili peppers may increase heat at the surface for a few minutes, but may leave you feeling even colder after the first flush. The cold that you feel deep in your bones will respond to herbs that warm what the Chinese refer to as your Yang.

In Chinese Medicine, Yang represents metabolic energy in the body, coming from genetics, the transformation of food, and breath. Food, including herbs, is the best way to intervene in someone who is chronically cold.

What kinds of foods tonify Yang? Root vegetables, which store their energy in fall are good to eat over the winter. Pureed parsnips, baked potatoes, carrots, sauteed and minced celeriac root, mashed Jerusalem artichokes all help. Then the dried beans help: lentils, chick peas, black beans, aduki beans, kidney beans all provide substantial energy. But perhaps the meats are the most yang-tonifying: try stewing lamb or beef or buffalo with your root vegetables or beans. Venison roasts, pork (wild boar is a great alternative to factory farmed pig), or game birds are good at warming you up. Fats are essential to keeping warm in the winter, so don’t cut away all of the fat if your meats come from organic sources which are less likely to store toxins.

In Chinese medicine the term “herbs” includes things from the animal and mineral kingdom. Yang tonifying herbs include many animal products, including beef, gecko and deer [...]

What to make of Scientific Studies?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:27:42 +0000

Bad science leads to contradictory studies which are prevalent in studies of herbs, vitamins, supplements, diet and acupuncture. Scientific studies appear contradictory for many reasons. Why studies might be different, problems in studies, bad science, low sample size, herbs not assayed, active placebos. Meta studies and literature reviews compound the problem. [...]

Low Vitamin D tied to Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:48:18 +0000

Diabetics have significantly lower Vitamin D levels, and Vitamin D prevents cholesterol from being transformed into foam cells which build up as arterial plaques. As a result, low Vitamin D status can cause cardiovascular disease in diabetics. [...]

Is a Vegetarian Diet Healthier Than an Omnivorous Diet?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:01:32 +0000

Humans have the teeth, intestinal length, digestive apparatus and brain metabolisms of an omnivore. Why a vegetarian diet is not healthier than an omnivorous diet. [...]

Fewer Serious or Lethal Prostate Cancers in Male Coffee Drinkers

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:01:43 +0000

I have been writing for some time about the positive benefits of coffee. Coffee is not caffeine, it is a complex aqueous herbal beverage with flavanoids, bitters, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, polysaccharides, ogliosaccharides, essential oils, 5% of the daily magnesium and 2% of the daily potassium needs, plus vitamin E and niacin. There is also caffeine, which varies range from 58 to 75 mg in a typical espresso, and from 70 to 130 mg in a small coffee. In boiled but not filtered coffee there are also the cholesterol-raising kahweol and cafestol. We know that the chlorogenic acid is significantly anti-inflammatory and two cups a day reduces C Reactive protein by approximately the same amount as a statin drug.

Life Extension Email December 11, 2009

Less advanced and lethal prostate cancers in male coffee drinkers

The American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held December 6-9, 2009 in Houston was the site of a presentation of the finding that men with a high daily intake of coffee have a significantly lower risk of advanced and lethal prostate cancer. The beverage contains antioxidants and minerals as well as caffeine, all of which could impact cancer risk.

Postdoctoral fellow Kathryn M. Wilson, PhD of Harvard School of Public Health and her colleagues at Harvard Medical School’s Channing Laboratory and McGill University in Montreal evaluated data from nearly 50,000 participants in the Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study. Regular and decaffeinated coffee intake was assessed for 1986 and every four years thereafter until 2006. [...]

Rocking Chairs Help Post Surgical Constipation

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:17:11 +0000

I recently wrote a post in praise of physical medicine. Here is a physical home remedy that can make a major difference in recovering from surgery.

After all kinds of abdominal surgery, cesarean sections, or prostate surgery. constipation can be a painful and debilitating side effect, resulting in vomiting, nausea, abdominal bloating, lack of appetite and general discomfort. It can last for a week or more, although it should resolve in a few days. Many patients consider it more troublesome than the surgery itself and it occasionally requires re-hospitalization to deal with the bowels. The bowel dysfunction most likely results from the stress of surgery rather than physical impairment, but having the side effects can have long term consequences.

Dr. Robert Massey, PhD RN, director of clinical nursing at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas conducted a study with 66 patients who were recovering from abdominal surgery. He observed that the 34 patients who rocked in rocking chairs for 10 or 20 minutes experienced an earlier return of bowel function than those who only walked. Massey’s study used the rocking chair intervention in both male and female cancer patients recovering from surgeries for abdominal cancers, as well as from gastric, colon, small bowel, pancreatic or liver surgeries. Those in the rocking group first passed gas which is a post-op healing benchmark, 16.8 hours earlier than the other group. 16.8 hours less pain is a considerable benefit and allowed overall healing to be accelerated.

Massey believes the positive results are [...]

Snow Day!

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:49:31 +0000

Today was a glorious snow day, after the blizzard blanketed the city with white glistening snow. As I walked through the park, I was moved to see how much bright light was available, in December, yet.

All sunlight is not the same of course. When I borrowed red violet goggles from my optometrist who wanted me to get more of that color, I wore them in the streets and found that part of the color spectrum did not penetrate to the streets- I could only see it in the sky or wide open spaces. What happens is that the angle of the sun gets cut off, so while the full spectrum light is there when you look up at the sky, you are not actually in the full spectrum. But the snow is full of millions of crystals that bend, reflect, and concentrate the light. It is Creation’s way of compensating for the low light conditions of the north. It doesn’t have the UVB that makes Vitamin D, but the brightness lifts depression.

The world was crystalline with the snowfall. Snow was caught in the ridges of red oak bark and on the prickles of the liquidamber seed balls still attached to the trees. Cross country skiers crisscrossed the park. Children slid down any minor slope on sleds, snow discs, garbage can lids and even Rubbermaid storage containers. A Vietnamese family photographed their children in new green parkas and a matching sled.

In the woods, red berries decorated the bare branches of the viburnums. [...]

In Praise of Physical Medicine

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:32:28 +0000

The number one cause of death in the US is medicinal drugs, accounting for approximately 784,000 deaths anually. In-hospital adverse reactions to properly prescribed medicines is 2.2 million per year. So why is our instinct to pop a pill when there are physical methods like acupuncture, physical therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy and massage that may be less dangerous, cheaper and more effective?

December 7th 2005 – In Praise of Physical Medicine Copyright Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac., MSTOM

We live in a country where the number one cause of death is medicinal drugs, accounting for approximately 784,000 deaths anually. In-hospital adverse reactions to properly prescribed medicines is 2.2 million per year. Dr. Richard Besser of the CDC speaks of tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions written every year. So why is our instinct to pop a pill when there are physical methods that may be less dangerous, cheaper and mor effective?

I first understood the power of physical medicine when I had mononucleosis as a college student. It was viral, so there were no medications other than analgesics to keep me comfortable. But my doctor insisted that I attach a rubber hose to my shower to irrigate my throat several times a day. The result of physical removal of phlegm was that I no longer stayed up coughing all night, my respiratory passages could function and I was able to recover faster. Now I use neti pots to wash out phlegm if I get a respiratory infection.

Cranial Sacral Work

When my [...]

Holiday Interview

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:16:37 +0000

I was interviewed recently on the subject of hangover prevention and care in Well and Good, NYC. The best way of course is to not drink too much. But read the article here.

Four ways to fight holiday hangovers–according to an acupuncturist

Park Slope acupuncturist and herbalist Karen Vaughan isn’t immune to holiday excess. She loves to make her own eggnog and her calendar is chock-a-block with holiday parties, but Vaughan, who has a Masters of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine, knows better than most how to navigate through this season of alcoholic merriment without a long-running hangover.

The Use and Abuse of Herbal Medicine

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:40:07 +0000

It concerns me when people say that they take kava kava or valerian each night to get to sleep. Although the herbs are very useful and probably more attuned to human biology than synthetic chemicals, the fact remains that it is not healthy to drug yourself to sleep each night, even herbally. Occasionally, to get over the rocky parts of life, fine. But we know that pharmaceutical sleeping medication interferes with the dream states and the quantity of REM sleep. While the herbs are more benign, I would be surprised if they did not have some effect on normal sleep patterns.

Not all herbs are tonic herbs- like oatstraw, nettles, Siberian ginseng or astragalus-which are nutritional and are best taken for two or three months for maximal effectiveness. That kind of food grade herb was called “superior” in Chinese medicine. Even herbs with specific actions like vitex, which should only be taken when indicated for certain kinds of hormonal conditions, may need long treatment periods before their efficacy shows up. But that does not apply to all herbs (say pokeweed or Amanita muscaria), even if we consider them “natural”. Some herbs should only be taken upon occasion, or at least with consciousness of the possible negative effects.

We have all probably seen people who abused marijuana, although the herb has legitimate medical uses. But did you know that in the nineteenth century, people referred to “valerian users” with the same opprobrium people use for alcohol abusers today?

Ephedra is useful for asthma [...]

Non Pharmaceutical Ways to Deal With Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:48:43 +0000

Pain can be caused by physical or emotional blockages to the free flow of blood and energy. Gate theory says that a little pain can block out larger amounts of pain.

July 26th 2006 – Copyright by Karen S. Vaughan.

There are different nonpharmaceutical ways to deal with the pain.

According to gate theory, a little pain drives out a larger pain, up to a certain threshold. So for instance I might drive my index fingernail into my thumb when pain starts to get too bad.

With acupuncture, needles stimulate the body’s immune cascade and endorphins and encephalins, chemicals that cause relaxation and good feelings flood the area.

Increasing circulation also has a good effect on pain, which is why linements work. Heat or capascin-based linements or cool stimulating menthol-based linements will increase circulation. The cool linements like Icy-hot are best for the early stages of acute pain, while the warming ones are better for longer term pain.

Circulation also comes from massage, electro-stimulation acupuncture, tens units, ultrasound, qi gong machines and even hands on healing like Reiki or Therapeutic Touch which uses body sound waves emitted through the giver’s hands. (Bet you didn’t know you emitted sound waves, but you even have radio waves.)

Much of the pain comes from blockages to energy or blood circulation. Sometimes you need a vigorous and sometimes painful stimulation to break the blockage- trigger point massage, some needling, chiropractic. This can be especially true of nerve pain.

Scarring causes blockages, so after the acute healing [...]

Baking Soda, the Immune System and the Flu

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:21:20 +0000

Baking soda alkalizes the body and may prevent disease:

“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.”

The article below by Mark Sirius, OMD who has written a book on sodium bicarbonate, is drawn from the booklet that Arm and Hammer wrote on baking soda and disease. It also includes information on when best to take it. I suggest taking the baking soda on an empty stomach, as most people over the age of 30 have low stomach acid, even if they think they get acid reflux or acid stomach (which has the same symptoms but is worse with antacids.)

Mercola suggests using Bob’s Red Mill Aluminum-Free Baking Soda instead of Arm and Hammer. According to the product ingredients, only bicarbonate of soda is included in any baking soda. (Baking powder does sometimes contain aluminum salts.)

Mercola’s site also contains articles referencing baking soda as a

Household cleaner Sunburn remedy Alternative to toxic antiperspirants Sports performance enhancer

Few people realize that baking soda also has potent medicinal properties. Taken internally, it helps maintain the pH balance in your bloodstream without resorting to taking calcium from bones. This is likely the basic premise behind its recommended uses against both colds and influenza symptoms, and even cancer.

Alkalinized water is also suggested as [...]

Happy Hanukkah!

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:27:44 +0000

In a time of darkness and cold, we especially appreciate the power of a small flame. As I sit here in the evening watching the flicker of candlelight, the bitter cold seems farther away. The waning moon yields little light out my window. I imagine the Maccabees pouring the last of the prepared and dedicated olive oil in the reconsecrated Temple, lighting it and watching the flame, moved by its burning even on the first night.

The holiday celebrates the miracle of the oil, naturally enough for one night, lasting for 8, the time it took to press and consecrate new olive oil. Two things come to mind. How often have I had patients come in needing an herb that I haven’t finished macerating in tincture, where I need to stretch out the little I have. What if there were no other herbs in the formula and I could not stretch it with decocted or immature tincture? What a miracle it must have been for the old oil to stretch the eight days.

And my other thought is the old question of why the holiday is celebrated for eight days instead of seven when the first night’s burning was natural and the seven days that followed were the miracle. But why should oil burn at all?

Creation is a miracle that we take for granted. Why does the new moon come after the old one wanes? Why do plants, or people grow? Why is Artemisia annua bitter and cooling while Mugwort [...]

People Use Herbalism Because It Works Better

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:27:03 +0000

A recent study in Great Britain queried people as to why they went to medical herbalists, a category of herbalists who have training much like Registered Herbalists of the American Herbalists Guild, people with the NCCAOM Oriental Medicine Diplomate designation or other trained herbalists. Most of the patients had not initially sought out herbalists, but resorted to them when Western medicine failed to deal with usually chronic conditions. Based upon the favorable outcomes, they decided that the medical herbalists generally did a better job of dealing with everyday health conditions and came for other conditions.

The authors noted that patients had a different idea of what constituted effective care than the doctors had, with a premium placed on collaborative care where patient and herbalist negotiated strategies to deal with the chronic conditions. They also preferred the more natural herbal medicines to stronger pharmaceutical medicines with greater side effects.

Here is the abstract of the study:

Simply because it works better: Exploring motives for the use of medical herbalism in contemporary U.K. health care. PMID: 19942632 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher Complement Ther Med. 2009 October - December;17(5-6):300-308 Author: Little CV AIM: To clarify the reasons underlying people's use of medical herbalism in the context of contemporary U.K. health care. DESIGN: This qualitative, interpretative study recruited 19 adults who were consulting with registered medical herbalists in a region of southern England. Participants were interviewed about their experiences and the data were analysed thematically. Study methodology was informed by Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology. RESULTS: Few of [...]

Natural Remedies for Indigestion

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:45:56 +0000

This is the season of holiday meals and parties, when indigestion raises its ugly head. There are a variety of causes and patterns, so not everyone will fit the same remedies. If you tend to feel excessive heat in your stomach and upward rising energy, go with cooling herbs like peppermint, gentian and artichoke leaf. If your stomach feels cold, unable to mount the fire to digest, then use something warming like ginger.

Untreated GERD (reflux) can cause erosions of the esophagus, so are quite dangerous. However most treatments are for high acid GERD while the majority suffers from low acid GERD. Killer indigestion may be associated with gallstones and should be monitored to prevent gallbladder disease. Excessive food and poor combinations can exacerbate gallbladder disease.

Usually people over 35 have low acid and people under 35 have too much acid. The symptoms are identical but you can take this quiz to see where you lie. When people who have low acid take a calcium carbonate antacid like Tums, it will make digestion worst. Proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec or Nexium also inhibit acid and should not be taken by older people who are more likely to suffer from hypochlorhydria. Similarly H2 Blockers like Zantac, Tagamet and Pepsid reduce acid production by blocking signals that tell the stomach to make acid. The long term use of these just blocks feedback from your body that your diet is not suiting your needs.

Dandelion greens

Start your meals with something bitter: bite down on a [...]

Quote of the Day

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:01:26 +0000

“Blinded by the fruit, we often ignore the full range of a plant’s possibilities. We’re never more than a stone’s throw away from a cup of coffee, yet few of us have ever tasted amertassa or kuti, the green and black equivalents of coffee leaf tea. Or kish’r, the drink made from the coffee cherry itself. Nor have we simply eaten the coffee cherry, which some say has flavors of watermelon and jasmine.”

Aaron Kagan “Avocado Leaf Tea”

Endometriosis and Chinese Medicine

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:32:01 +0000

Endometriosis of Abdominal Wall

Endometriosis is a painful condition where the tissue normally inside of the womb, the endometrium, is found in other parts of the body. The endometrial cells build up blood for pregnancy, which is shed during menstruation. However if this tissue is found outside of the womb, it can cause bleeding in areas where blood is not supposed to be shed and it can cause major pain and inflammation. Typically areas of endometrium are found near the ovaries or fallopian tubes, the anterior or posterior cul de sacs of the exterior uterus, the peritoneum of the pelvic wall, the sigmoid colon or ureters, but it can be found as far away as the diaphragm, the lungs or the nose. Surgical incisions can be populated with endometrial tissue as well.

The causes are largely unknown. In some cases, the endometrial cells may be shed along with the menstrual blood, only to migrate to areas where they can attach to other structures. It is widely believed in Europe, for example, that sexual intercourse during the menstrual period can cause the vaginal vault to expand, permitting endometrial cells to get into areas where they otherwise would not, pushed upward by the sexual act. In Chinese medicine, sexual intercourse is seen as an upward, yang act which should not take place during the powerful yin periods where the body is and should be focusing downwards.

Endometriosis in the Abdominal Cavity

However in other cases there seems to be parallel development of extra-uterine endometrial [...]

Sinusitis and Herbs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:23:48 +0000

This is the time of year when we see a lot of sinusitis. There are several causes, and many things that can get rid of the condition.

It helps to understand how sinuses work. The sinuses form a kind of cup that serves to lubricate our respiratory tract. Sinuses work like an overflowing teacup, filling with a thin liquid that moves up with the cillary action of small hair like cells and drips down your nose and throat, lubricating the tissue and providing mucus, potentially a designer antibiotic fluid that can fight off infection, prevent abrasion and protect tissues. The problem comes when the fluid is cooked down and is too thick to flow. This is considered pathological Phlegm in Chinese medicine. The problem isn’t usually that you make too much mucus, it is that the mucus has cooked down and exerts pressure on your sinuses, nasal tract and lungs.

Sinusitis refers to the inflammation often caused by bacterial, viral or fungal infections of the sinus cavities. Other causes include blockage from polyps, enlarged nasal turbinates, scar tissue, dental infections or a deviated septum, all of which require surgical intervention. Inhalation of irritants can cause sinusitis- I have even seen inhaled poison ivy sawdust create a chronic condition.

First determine if your sinusitis is acute or chronic. Acute sinusitis is somewhat easier to treat. It tends to be hot energetically and to respond to herbs like goldenseal, eyebright and xanthium, preferably in a heavy boiled tea called a decoction. If your phlegm is really [...]

November Herbal Blog Party on Morning Wake Up Beverages

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:05:16 +0000

Tansy hosted November’s herbal blog party. The subject was morning beverages…be it coffee, mate, or some herbal concoction. Herbalists share our morning beverage rituals. Here is the blogroll:

Karen Vaughan writes about the benefits of coffee and talks about mixing it with herbs

Lisl writes all about chai and includes a recipe for her favorite blend

Susan Lubbers writes about waking up with a holy cuppa…holy basil!

Darcey Blue French shares her chocamatamatelatte recipe

Kiva Rose writes of the wild woodlands morning brew, with a combination of herbs that you might never have thought of trying

Need a little caffeine in your morning ritual? Try Rosalee de la Foret’s suggestions for black tea

Tansy’s idea of a great caffeine free morning beverage: roasted root chai

Aquarian Bath’s secret to a great cup of earl grey tea

Stephany shares some great recipes for all sorts of moods!

Aartiana writes about her favorite morning infusions

Amazon.com Widgets

See Related Posts: Coffee Herbs Caffeine Halts Progression of Alzheimer’s Simple Ways to Support Brain Function Health Myths About Hydration Coffee Beats Statins in Reducing Diabetes Inflammation Fewer Serious or Lethal Prostate Cancers in Male Coffee [...]

Acupuncture For Veterans and Others With PTSD

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:21:54 +0000

For vets and others in NYC, CRREW run a clinic by donation that treats PTSD with ear acupuncture. It is on the Lower East Side at the University Settlement House, 184 Eldridge Street (corner of Rivington and Eldridge streets) on Wednesdays at 5:40-7:00 in the conference room. The F train Second Avenue stop is closest to University Settlement House.

Wendy Henry and I run the clinic. We have been working through CRREW (Community Relief and Rebuilding through Education and Wellness) since 9/11 using acupuncture and related techniques to help people suffering from PTSD. We have worked on 9/11 rescue workers, Katrina survivors, residents of Lower Manhattan and veterans. CRREW also has worked in Vietnam and Cambodia. Other notable founders and volunteers include Laura Cooley, Marcella Robinson and Rachel Kaplan. All workers have trained at the Lincoln Hospital drug treatment facility in the NADA technique and are licensed acupuncturists.

Vets who want something besides talk therapy are especially welcome. When events are overwhelming physical treatment can sometimes reach you when words are inadequate. One fireman who spent time being treated with us said that we opened him up to the point that he could discuss and deal with the horrors of digging through the pile at 9/11.

In 2008, 14 times as many US veterans died from a lack of health insurance than the US military death toll in Afghanistan the same year. Even with the VA, 1.5 million veterans lack access to health care. We all need to reach out to veterans in need.

[...]

Obesity and Swine Flu: A Chinese Medicine Perspective

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:27:08 +0000

A recent report report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy indicates that 25% of hospitalized H1N1 victims in a California study were morbidly obese versus 4% of the US population and more than half were obese. It did not collect data on whether the heavy patients had other underlying conditions although the analysis found that probable. Now the question is, is obesity an independent risk factor or a proxy for other conditions that make flu infection worse?

The problem with correlations is that they tend to label clusters of risk factors with one cause. Obesity often is associated with conditions that can worsen the flu. And people can be relatively healthy although fat if they lower their blood insulin levels, triglycerides and are active. However the proportion of fat people who exercise regularly, eat well and keep their blood parameters in good shape is not high.

Still it is not easily apparent that obesity would be a major factor in flu deaths. What then accounts for the correlation? Here are insights from Chinese and western medicine:

Carrying extra weight can make the lungs and heart work harder to oxygenate and circulate the blood, causing stagnation. Regular exercise can diminish this effect which is why it is essential for heavy people to move. We know that a high proportion of heavy people have elevated blood sugar and blood insulin. We also know that sugar, which is energetically cooling and damp, feeds infection. Food allergies are often related to obesity, providing an underlying [...]

How To Make Mountain Mint Honey

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:18:44 +0000

Chinese Herbal Formulas May Prevent Diabetes

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:22:23 +0000

Adding herbs to lifestyle changes doubles the likelihood of lowering blood sugar in people with metabolic syndrome and according to the study will prevent progress to Type 2 diabetes unlike lifestyle changes alone. Three proprietary Chinese formulas included Jiangtang Bushen, Xiaoke huaya and Tang Kang yin. The ingredients were not specified but when I searched Pub Med I found that the lead researcher has done positive research on American ginseng saponins, puerarins from kudzu, glucosides from bai shao and berberine from coptis for the problem. Herbs such as rhemannia, jiaogulan and mai men dong are also traditionally used for diabetes, depending upon the Chinese medicine pattern. And I suggest that an individualized herbal prescription would do better than a one size fits all pill.

A Cochrane Library meta-study analyzing 16 trials using Chinese herbal medicine further found that it was likely that Chinese herbs could successfully reduce blood sugar. However the quality of the studies were not good.

Chinese herbs show promise for diabetes prevention

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes, a new research review suggests. The review, which examined 16 clinical trials of 15 different herbal formulations, found that the herbs generally helped lower blood sugar levels in people with “pre-diabetes” — those with impaired blood-sugar control that can progress to full-blown type 2 diabetes.

When the researchers pooled data from eight of the studies, they found that adding an herbal remedy to lifestyle changes [...]

Ear Acupuncture Curbs Back Pain in Pregnant Women

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:36:17 +0000

I’ve been in California this week and after kayaking, fellow acupuncturist Bob Linde noticed that the guide was suffering from back pain and put zaccaria seeds in her ear on the auricular points dealing with back pain. She felt changes immediately and claimed it was the best tip she’d received yet.

We know that acupuncture works for back pain and since treating back pain in very pregnant women can require pregnancy pillows or cutout tables in order to prevent pressure on the belly, auricular acupuncture makes a great alternative.

Ear Acupuncture Curbs Back Pain in Pregnant Women October 16, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A special acupuncture technique can help ease lower back and pelvic pain in pregnant women, new research shows.

In a study, women who had pressure needles held in place with tape at three acupuncture points in their ears for one week, were more likely to experience significant reductions in lower back and pelvic pain than those who had the needles placed at three “sham” points or women in a control group who didn’t get real or fake acupuncture.

Pregnant women often suffer from pain in the lower back and pelvis — and this can set the stage for chronic pain later on, Dr. Shu-Ming Wang of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues note in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Ear acupuncture might offer a drug-free way to help ease pain in these women, Wang and colleagues say.

They randomly assigned 159 [...]

Chemicals and Obesity: What if if isn’t all your fault?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:35:51 +0000

As someone who was around in the ’50s and ’60s when there was less obesity, I have to tell you that diets were not that good. TV dinners, Wonder bread, instant mashed potatoes, fish-sticks and whole milk predominated and vegetables tended towards the overcooked. Food was cooked in Crisco, full of trans fats, and cotton seed oils. Fresh vegetables came in during the late 60s, but predominated on the coasts. There was less soda and no high fructose corn syrup, and portion sizes were somewhat smaller, but the caloric difference may not be enough to explain why we have an epidemic of infant obesity today that we didn’t then. And I doubt that the babies today are doing any less exercise, although their older siblings may be indoors on computers more instead of riding bikes.

While diets included a lot more fresh vegetables after the 1960s and mothers showed an increased willingness to breastfeed, obesity rates increased. And not just in couch-potato adults or fast food addicts. The Harvard School of Public Health reported in 2006 that the prevalence of obesity in infants under 6 months had risen 73 percent since 1980. You need to look at more than calories in and calories out when infants start showing up obese.

One thing that has affected all of us, from the developing embryo to the adult is a category of chemicals named obesogens by researcher Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irvine. These chemicals mimic hormones and upset the body’s homeostasis and disrupt [...]

Fig Poultices for Breast Health

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:05:47 +0000

This is fresh fig season, and it is a good idea to spend a week, and a baker’s dozen of figs to protect your breasts from lumps. Poulticing the breasts with fresh figs can make a dramatic difference in your ability to see problems that might need attention, without the distraction of fibrocystic breast conditions.

Figs are rich in pharmacologically active latex and can draw out toxins and stimulate the lymphatic system. They are cited in the Biblical book of Isaiah where Hezekiah was covered with boils and was cured by poulticing with figs. I have seen a hot red lump the size of an egg disappear within two weeks of poulticing, and the doctor was unable to find it for biopsy even with an x-ray. I suggest doing it preventatively for a week each year.

Herbs and Hypertension

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:05:34 +0000

Hypertension is a silent disease which can be lethal. An estimated 60 million Americans suffer from the disease. It causes strokes, heart attacks,heart failure, kidney disease, arterial aneurysm and varicosities, headaches, vision problems and has many secondary effects.

In 90-95% of high blood pressure, the American Heart Association says there is no one identifiable cause. This kind of high blood pressure is called primary hypertension or essential hypertension. It is usually a combination of factors, such as:

Weight. This can affect both high and excessively low blood pressure but is not simple. The greater your body mass, the more pressure there is theoretically on your artery walls. That’s because more blood is produced to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues in your body. However in many sedentary heavy people, there is insufficient blood pressure to perfuse tissues, leading to brain fog and fatigue. Still there are many obese people who have strong artery walls and normal blood pressure. Sleep. The average American in the 1920s slept 9 hours a night, and we have not evolved to need less. Lack of sleep raises cortisol, the stress hormone, which in turn raises blood pressure. Diet. Hypertension is associated exclusively with western diet and lifestyle; it is virtually unknown in undeveloped areas of the world following traditional diets Low Vitamin D levels. Serum 25 Hydroxy D3 levels should be around 50, but show some protection around 30. Low fiber diet. Fiber helps carry out fats through the intestines so they are not reabsorbed in the gut [...]

The China Study Misrepresents Data: Does Not Support a Vegan Diet.

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:49:29 +0000

T. Colin Campbell came out with his book, The China Study which purports to be the most comprehensive study of diet and disease. However Campbell is so intent on promoting a vegan data that he misrepresents the data in the real China Study and cherry picks anti-animal food data. The book distorts the data generated by Junshi Chen in Mortality, Biochemistry, Diet and Lifestyle in Rural China and in no way supports Campbell’s subtitle “The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health” or his thesis that a vegan diet is superior.

For instance, he rightly cites the link between milk and autoimmune disease but fails to mention that gluten, from wheat and related grains, is at least as important a cause. He writes of the association between casein, a milk protein, with cancer, but fails to mention that whey and butterfat are protective against cancer, and in milk you get all of them. He makes completely false statements like folate not being in meat when organ meats are much higher in folate than any plant source according to the USDA. He assumes nutrient consistency with the US without actually measuring it, despite the fact that soil nutrients and species differences have a huge effect on nutrition.

On cancer, he uses this data from the real China Study, Mortality, Biochemistry, Diet and Lifestyle in Rural China: Geographic Study of the Characteristics of 69 Counties in Mainland China and 16 Areas in Taiwan, and [...]

Foods and Herbs to Prepare for a Fast

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:06:26 +0000

Photo care of http://homeandgardenchat.com/

This week is Yom Kippur and people will be fasting. I was asked to put together some information on what will allow people to have a good fast that will allow them to focus on the meaning of the holiday without keeling over from blood sugar fluctuations. Here are a few tips to keep the fast from debilitating you and to keep hunger pains from being a major distraction. (You will still know you are fasting.):

Keep those honey cakes and sugary treats for a sweet new year to the first part of the week before Yom Kippur and only take a little the night before. You don’t want to have huge fluctuations in blood sugar. Eat proteins and fats that will not cause your blood sugar to rise and crash. Eggs, beans, fish, chicken, quality meat if you can get it, nuts, butter, avocado will help maintain your blood sugar. Avoid sweets and starches. Start the meal with a mineral-rich soup. Eat foods with fiber to slow your gastric emptying. Vegetables and fruits that are not too sweet will work. Cooling vegetables like cucumber, okra and celery are especially good because they soothe the stomach fire, cabbage and greens also help. Salt, which you may normally not want too much of, will allow your body to retain the water. (People who have hypertension avoid salt because more water in the blood raises blood pressure.) But if you don’t have high blood pressure it will help you through [...]

Sleep, Disease and Herbs for Insomnia

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:56:15 +0000

In the 1920s, when electricity was not nearly as prevalent (but sources of artificial light were common), Americans were surveyed on sleep habits. The average American slept 9 hours a night, which meant that many slept more. Today the average American is believed to sleep 6 1/2 hours a night. We have not biologically evolved to need less sleep.

There are many types of insomnia: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, waking too early and sleeping at too superficial a level. People with sleep apnea may believe they sleep like a log, but they have hundreds of micro-awakenings from not being able to breathe, which send their adrenals into fight or flight mode and which leave them exhausted throughout the day. Sleep problems can be occasional, transitory (for short periods of time) or chronic. But the problem I see the most in practice is that people aren’t spending enough time in bed.

Why is this a problem? In a nutshell, it makes you fat, stupid and sick. We know that driving with insufficient sleep makes you as prone to accidents as drunk driving. Almost 1/4 of 18 to 29-year olds report they have fallen asleep at the wheel at some point during the past year, according to the National Sleep Foundation. And half of U.S. adults admit to driving while they are tired. Their judgment is impaired, their reaction times are reduced and they can’t think straight.

We know that people without enough sleep not only eat more, to keep their blood sugar up, [...]

Vitamin D During Pregnancy Reduces Pre-Eclampsia

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:19:14 +0000

Several studies in different parts of the world have shown that there is a benefit to a baby when the mother takes Vitamin D in excess of the amount in prenatal vitamins. This shows that there is a benefit to pregnant mothers in reducing the complications of pregnancy. While the study only looked at a fairly low dose of Vitamin D, probably from cod liver oil and diet, it indicates that supplementation reduced pre-eclampsia by 25%. Based upon Finish studies, I wonder how much less pre-eclampsia would be found if blood levels were raised to 50.

Vitamin D may reduce pre-eclampsia risk: Study By Stephen Daniells, 20-Aug-2009

Related topics: Research, Antioxidants, carotenoids, Vitamins & premixes, Maternal & infant health

Increased intakes of vitamin D during pregnancy may reduce the development by about 25 per cent, suggests a study with over 20,000 Norwegian women.

The risk of pre-eclampsia was 27 per cent lower in women who consumed vitamin D supplements with daily doses of 10 to 15 micrograms, compared to women who did not take supplements, according to researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

However, a correlation between vitamin D intake and omega-3 fatty acid intake was observed, and the researchers noted that “further research is needed to disentangle the separate effects of these nutrients”.

Pre-eclampsia, affecting two to three per cent of all pregnancies, occurs when a mother’s blood pressure rises to the hypertensive range, and excretion of protein in the urine becomes too high. It is estimated to be responsible [...]

Don’t Use Echinacea for This Season’s Flu

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:21:57 +0000

A flu that causes a cytokine storm should not be treated with immunostimulants like echinacea. Immunomodulating herbs like forsythia and gardenia are less likely to overstimulate the immune system. [...]

Biofilms and Disease: Why should I care?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:38:55 +0000

Anyone who has felt plaque on their teeth, seen films at the edge of a pond, found thick slimy glop when cleaning out a sink or fountain or suffered a respiratory infection has come into contact with biofilms. When certain bacteria are in wet environments, they attach and send out signals to attract other bacteria called “quorum sensing” molecules. When the other bacteria start congregating, they start differentiating into bacteria that attach, that transport nutrients, that digest, that form protective films or crusts, adjust resistance and become far more formidable than any bacterium alone. The biofilms are made of the bacteria, the water and the proteins, sugars and DNA that the bacteria exude. For instance, when you get a respiratory virus, your bronchi are moist sites for bacterial complications. When a bacteria lands, it calls others and makes a biofilm that blocks oxygen intake, causing you to cough. The biofilm protects the most interior bacteria. When you take antibiotics, the surface bacteria adapt by taking in samples of the antibiotics, “tasting” them with tiny efflux pumps and figuring out how to adapt. They communicate this information to other bacteria in the biofilm. This is how bacteria get resistant to the antibiotics. They are even able to recombine with dead bacteria from other diseases to learn chemically how to protect themselves. This is why our antibiotics have become less effective and why we have resistant “superbacteria”.

There are herbs that being weaker than antibiotics, sneak in under the radar of the [...]

Vitamin D, Statins and Red Yeast Rice

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:41:30 +0000

Rosuvastatin was found to increase blood levels of Vitamin D. Red Rice Yeast is a statin but less dangerous. If you cannot raise 20 Hydroxy D levels with Vitamin D3 alone, try Red Rice Yeast [...]

Should I See An MD for Acupuncture?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:30:59 +0000

Doctors are not better trained than acupuncturists, they are differently trained. MDs may only have a 200 hour video course in acupuncture whereas acupuncturists may have 4500 hours. [...]

Hypertension “Epidemic” caused by Wrong Blood Pressure Cuff Size?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:02:23 +0000

As a heavy person, I often find that places which measure blood pressure do not use the proper cuff size. Using too small a cuff will show hypertension, where none exists. Given the obesity epidemic, this can be a serious problem. Many overweight people have hypotension, which may interfere with their exercise, it is important that they be measured carefully, especially when medication is involved. And this is also very important during pregnancy when fluids can cause swelling but do not always raise blood pressure or cause pre-eclampsia.

Here is a piece written by a colleague who shall remain anonymous:

I can tell you that a frightening number of practitioners do not use protocol as stated. It was something I was always a stickler about and required my staff to measure arm circumferences for both arms and determine the appropriate cuff size for each arm, and document such in the chart. (My mother, for example, has one arm that is “normal size” and one arm that is considerably larger, and should require a larger cuff - she didn’t know, and this has been a source of much stress every time she goes for her appointments only to see her bp bouncing all over the place. As a result, she has also developed white coat “hypertension” through sheer worry and conditioning of stress upon visits.)

I have to laugh that at least in Ohio, we have a department of weights and scales that goes about testing weights and scales used in businesses around every 6 [...]

Vitamin D Regulates the Immune System

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:19:47 +0000

Antimicrobial peptides called alu have been conserved through 60 million years of primate evolution and they work with Vitamin D to provide an immune defense. [...]

Primates Prefer Cooked Meat and What It Means to Us

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:06:36 +0000

Cooked food is preferred by primates because food needs less energy to digest. While better at extracting nutrients, raw food may be useful in the obesity epidemic. [...]

Nursing Mothers, Infants and Vitamin D

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:44:37 +0000

Nursing mothers should take much higher dose Vitamin D to prevent Type 1 diabetes and reduce autism, and should supplement their infants. African American nursing mothers have lost children to accusations of abuse when rickets were the cause of fractures. [...]

Video on Making Plantain Poultices

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:28:19 +0000

My article on how to make a plantain spit poultice now has a YouTube video to illustrate the technique. Keewaydinoquay's story on plantain is the articles section: Plantain: A Weedy Lifesaver. [...]

How To Get Vitamin D from the Sun

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:02:44 +0000

To get Vitamin D from the sun you need to be north of Atlanta, without sunscreen between 11 and 1:00, to have light skin and to not shower with soap for 72 hours. [...]

How Chinese Herbs Help the Heart

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:44:51 +0000

This study only looks at one mechanism, but it is quite interesting, and found that Chinese herbal patents (OTC herbal formulas, confusingly referred to as "TCMs") helped produce nitric oxide to widen blood vessels. heart zoomAll of the herbal patents tested reveal nitric oxide bioactivity. Many of the TCM extracts contain a nitrite reductase activity greater by 1000 times that of biological tissues. [...]

How to Make A Plantain Spit Poultice

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:48:26 +0000

I got a phone call this morning from a woman who had been bitten by an insect and was swelling up. Fortunately I had a picture of broad leaf plantain on my website so was able to tell her how to make a spit poultice to draw it out.

Broadleaf plantain -Plantago major

I first learned about plantain poultices when Wisconsin ethnobotanist and Anishinaabeg medicine woman Keewaydinoquay Peschel during her last trip to the east coast. She had used plantain to draw out all kinds of things from insect bites to glass during her years as tribal medicine woman. One year she was lecturing to her class on plantain while a student’s visiting mother sat in on the class. Three years later a package arrived for her from Florida, a thank-you gift from the student’s mother. It seems that the woman and two friends were gardening in Florida and had been bitten by a spider. They didn’t think too much of it, insect bites being fairly common, but on her way home she saw some plantain growing, remembered the lecture and made a spit poultice to draw out the venom. The next morning her friends were dead and she was well.

Plantain, (from the genus Plantago not Musa, the banana plantain ) grows all over the temperate world and most any Plantago species will do, although some have such narrow leaves that you need a lot of them. It was called “White mans’ footsteps” by the Native American tribes who nevertheless quickly discovered [...]

Acupuncture Affects Brain’s Ability to Regulate Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:34:57 +0000

This study is quite important because it explains one way that acupuncture works to regulate pain at a cellular level. While those of us who have experienced acupuncture need no proof that it works for pain, it is still useful to have a mainstream university explaining the mechanism for doctors and (dare I say it) insurance companies who restrict coverage to one or two codes.

Pain is regulated in a variety of ways by acupuncture. Like all medicine there is the reassuring placebo effect. But gate theory explains how the presence of a little pain drives out great pain which is why lancing or electrostimulation works. And when a needle is inserted, blood rushes to the site with all of its hormones and immunological constituents. Here is one other way acupuncture helps:

U Michigan Study; How Acupuncture Affects the Brain’s Ability to Regulate Pain

The University of Michigan Health system has just released the results of a new UM study that showed Chinese acupuncture affects your brain’s ability to regulate pain.

Using brain imaging, researchers at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center are the first to provide evidence that traditional Chinese acupuncture affects the brain’s long-term ability to regulate pain. The complete study will be published in the September Journal of NeuroImage.

Acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals – specifically the cingulate, insula, caudate, thalamus and amygdala. Traditional opiod painkillers, such as morphine, codeine and other medications, are [...]

Diets Cause More Harm Than Good

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:11:20 +0000

Dieting is a risk factor for weight gain. The vast majorioty of people regain all weight plus more. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people. [...]

Time Article Misses the Point of Exercise in Weight Loss

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:55:19 +0000

The point of exercise is to metabolically intervene so that fructose is not converted into VLDL, fat and uric acid. And to get that benefit you need to eat BEFORE exercise, not after which will raise your blood insulin level. [...]

Fructose, Sugar, Poison and Obesity

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:11:46 +0000

The video by Robert Lustig of UCSF is extremely interesting, but wonky. If you work in health care or are dealing with blood sugar issues, I highly recommend listening. I do anyway. But here are the highlights for the rest of you:

We have a worldwide epidemic of obese six month olds. Yes, 6 months. So it isn’t all about more food in and less exercise out. Americans now eat 141 pounds of sugar per year, 63 pounds of which is high fructose corn syrup and over half of which is fructose in all forms. A calorie is not a calorie. Some calories are nutritious, some are merely empty, some are poisonous. If we are consuming 275 extra calories a day compared to 20 years ago, it is because our regulatory hormones like leptin are not stopping us. We had as much food available 50 years ago, but less obesity. Something in us changed. And it isn’t our fat consumption, which has dropped. Fat dropped significantly after 1992 when the food pyramid was established, suggesting we increase our carbohydrate consumption.

Japan invented high fructose corn syrup in 1975, which was much cheaper than sugar and it is in virtually every processed food. At the turn of the last century Americans consumed 10.2 g daily of fructose, mostly as fruit which packages it with fiber. Today we consume 54.7 g daily and adolescents 72.8 grams, mostly as soda and juice. Sucrose and high fructose corn syrup are virtually identical. Glucose is less poisonous. Coca-cola [...]

Ten Things About Being Fat

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:08:25 +0000

Ten things you should know about being fat: while eating right and exercising are vital, most diets don't work, infectobesity and gut bacteria all affect weight, [...]

And more on Vitamin D

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:18:42 +0000

A funny and informative video from UCSD on Vitamin D with images that will stick with you. Infant chimps take 5000 iu of Vitamin D per day. Iguana owners know to provide lights for vitamin D. [...]

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, MS, Heart Attack and Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:38:36 +0000

Cancers, diabetes, heart attack, falls, fractures, hypertension, neurological impairment, even pain will be prevented by raising your blood Vitamin D levels to the recommended 50-100 ng/ml. range. [...]

The Sweet Herbal Blog Party

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:23:47 +0000

Each month herbalists are encouraged to submit articles to the Herbal Blog Parties, hosted by various herbalists. The August party had as its theme sweet ways to use herbs, including herbal honey’s, glycerites, elixirs, electuaries, melomels and the like. If you need definitions, go down to Kiva Rose’s article which has an overview.

Kiva's Wild Rose Tincture

While we generally want to keep sugars low in our diet, there are legitimate uses for sweet herbs. Sugar in its various forms is used in a variety of traditional medicines. In Chinese medicine it strengthens the Spleen/pancreas function (in judicious quantities) and formulas often use dates, honey, longan fruit, or licorice to engage the digestive function. Ayurveda makes medicinal honey and ghee preparations like Chayawanprash. Rock sugar, jaggery, palm sugar, dates, honey and a variety of fruits are used traditionally. White sugar is one of the least desirable forms, being stripped of minerals and adding nothing but carbohydrates. Even worse is high fructose corn syrup which prevents your self-regulation of food intake. But fear not, you don’t need them here. Happy and sweet reading!

Sarah Head of Tales of a Kitchen Herbwife had given us an excellent overview of many sweet medicines, complete with a whole slew of yummy and often ingenious recipes.

Susan of Farm at Coventry has a gorgeous post on Exploring the Electuary.

Kiva Rose’s post on Sweet Medicine covers a wide variety of herbal Elixirs, Cordials, Oxymels, Infused Wines and many other treats.

Karen Vaughan talks about sweet [...]

Turmeric, Sweet Turmeric

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Turmeric is an extraordinary herb. An orangey-yellow root that looks something like a riotous ginger, turmeric is beloved in Indian culture for its abilities to soothe the GI tract, reduce inflammation, stop bleeding and fight infection. In China, huang jian “yellow ginger” is used to move qi and blood and to stop internal wind, which means it is a great circulatory tonic while being antispasmodic, valuable properties for arthritis indeed!

By itself turmeric is bitter, dry, spicy, and warming. Dry turmeric is more warming and somewhat less aromatic than the fresh root that I find in Indian grocery stores but both are strongly anti-inflammatory.

In the Indian pujas, turmeric was thrown over young brides and devas.

While much of the research on turmeric focuses on curcumin, the orange pigment, the herb itself is less irritating and gives you more for your money, especially if you mix it with black pepper which can increase absorption up to 2000%. While standardized curcumin should not be given to people with gastritis or ulcers, the herb itself protects the mucosa while addressing any infection.

Turmeric is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-infective, antibacterial and antispasmodic. It reduces cholesterol. If you cut yourself while cooking, just reach for the turmeric jar because it stops bleeding (although you will have yellowed skin for a bit.) It interferes with the ability of cancerous tumors to establish a blood supply. It is nourishing, lowers blood sugar, protects the liver, helps stimulate the bile we need to digest and is carminative, allowing better digestion. No wonder [...]

Our Symbionts, Ourselves

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:59:58 +0000

Only 10% of the cells in our bodies are human. Ponder that. We have easily a hundred trillion bacterial cells, not just in our gut but all over our body. They make us work: breaking down food into something we can assimilate, fighting infection, signaling our cellular processes, converting sunlight to Vitamin D, forming biofilms to protect us. We have fungi that break down wastes, yeasts that ferment and transform extra sugars, worms that can prevent autoimmune disease. Some of our bacteria themselves have viruses. We are walking colonies of organisms in a human superstructure.

I was lucky to have attended Berkeley in the ’70s when the theories of Lynn Margulis on evolution from bacteria were taking hold. Margulis holds that we started as colonies of microorganisms which specialized or cooperated with other kinds of colonies to form superstructures we recognize as species. She noticed that brain cells and sperm share characteristics with spirochete bacteria, positing that they evolved from bacteria that were gradually incorporated into the superstructure.

Since the 1880s when the mitochondria that power each of our cells were discovered, scientists have noticed their similarity to bacteria. They have their own DNA and yet live not only inside of our bodies, but inside of our cells and we would have no energy without them. Margulis calls them endosymbionts (“inside symbionts” or “inside organisms that live intertwined with us.”) We are composites of human and microrganism cells: some are totally independent, some form biofilms over our teeth or guts, some are incorporated [...]

Erectile Dysfunction and Chinese Herbal Medicine

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:51:53 +0000

Erectile dysfunction can be discouraging for men at any stage of life. Side effects like Viagra headaches, interactions between ED drugs and statins or anti-arthritic drugs, and the potential blindness for those who suffer from macular degeneration or diabetes may mean that alternative strategies should be considered.

An article in the Shandong Journal of Chinese Medicine, titled, “A Clinical Audit of 58 Patients with Erectile Dysfunction Treated with the Methods of Fortifying the Spleen & Supplementing the Kidneys,” showed that Chinese herbal medicine can be quite effective at improving erectile dysfunction from a variety of causes.

Fifty-eight men from their 20s to 70s with ED lasting from 1 to over 5 years were given herbal formulas made of codonopsis, astragalus, dioscorea, rhemannia, attractylodes, poria, eucommia, morinda, epimedium, goji fruit, praying mantis egg cases, scolopenda, actinolitum, cyperus tuber and cistanches. Dianthus, patrinus and another dioscorea were added for those who also had prostatitis, for a 20 day course of treatment. When evaluated, 46 out of 58 patients were judged cured, 10 improved, and two got no effect, for a total effectiveness rate of 96.5%.

According to Dr. Wang, ED is primarily due to weakness in the functions of the Kidney and Spleen meridians, which are not identical to the functions of the organs in western medicine. Kidney meridian function is a major player in sexual activity, and can be inherently weak or exhausted by excessive use. Stress can cause Spleen qi deficiency. Further Spleen qi depends upon the warming of Kidney yang, and if the [...]

Caffeine Halts Progression of Alzheimers

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:06:17 +0000

More research showing that coffee is not the brew of the devil. Not only does it prevent Alzheimer’s, it stopped the progression of the disease. But a few caveats: it was caffeine, not coffee; it’s an awfully lot; it was mice, not people and no one asked them if they were jittery.

From the Times of London:

Daily caffeine dose may delay progress of Alzheimer’s, researchers say

Hannah Devlin

Three large cups of coffee a day could help to slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease and even reverse the condition, researchers say.

A daily dose of caffeine can suppress the degenerative processes in the brain that can lead to confusion and memory loss, a study in mice suggests.

Although drinking coffee has previously been linked to a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s, this is the first study to suggest that caffeine can directly target the disease itself.

Alzheimer’s occurs when sticky clumps of abnormal protein in the brain called beta-amyloid build up to form plaques, impairing cognitive function. But mice with a rodent equivalent of the disease showed a 50 per cent reduction in levels of amyloid protein in their brains after scientists spiked their drinking water with caffeine.

The change was reflected in their behaviour as they developed better memories and quicker thinking. In the study, published today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers from the University of South Florida studied 55 mice that had been genetically engineered to develop dementia symptoms identical to those of Alzheimer’s as they aged. Before [...]

Acupuncture Helps Digestive Problems in Pregnancy

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:32:55 +0000

Today I ran into a former patient who had suffered hyperemesis, vomiting during her entire pregnancy. She lives far away but came in because she was desperate for relief. She thanked me and introduced her new son. It was a reminder of how much help acupuncture can be during pregnancy.

by Lief Parsons

Acupuncture is safe during pregnancy providing that certain traditional points are avoided (unless there is a very good reason like stopping a miscarriage.) Since Chinese medicine was so well documented over the years, it was possible to categorize points that would help or hurt a pregnancy and these points are well known by licensed acupuncturists.

Here is a good article from CBS news:

Acupuncture helps pregnancy symptom

Updated on 09 June 2009

Source PA News

Acupuncture can help relieve the symptoms of indigestion in pregnancy, new research suggests.

A small study involving 36 women found “significant improvements” among those treated with acupuncture.

Digestive disorders are one of the most frequent complaints in pregnancy, with 45% to 80% of women reporting things like heartburn, pain or discomfort, regurgitation, belching and bloating. Such symptoms tend to get worse as a pregnancy progresses, said researchers from Sao Paulo University in Brazil.

Their study, published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine, included women aged 15 to 39 who were 15 to 30 weeks into their pregnancy. All were suffering from symptoms of indigestion and none had had acupuncture in the previous year.

None of the women had an underlying condition that could have caused [...]

Numen, an Extraordinary Film About The Plants

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:34:37 +0000

Numen is a film that previewed at the International Herbal Symposium this June. It features prominent herbalists, botanists and ethnobotanists like Rosemary Gladstar, Tierona LowDog, the late Bill Mitchell, Stephen Buhner, Phyllis Light, Ken Ausubel, James Duke and Rocio Alarcon, among others. Numen, defined as the animating force in nature, brings together innovative thinkers to discuss how our disconnection from nature affects human and environmental health and the healing made possible by embracing our place in the wider web of life.

You can view a 15 minute preview here:

Rosemary Gladstar

The 80 minute film features wonderful time lapse photography and will be an extraordinary DVD to show and replay. The DVD will include tutorials on growing and harvesting medicinal herbs, preparing kitchen medicine, and on the growing field of ecological medicine and should be available later this month from the site above.

Vitamin D, Health and the Flu

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:34:47 +0000

Clients are often surprised at the high levels of Vitamin D3 that I recommend: new research has shown that the 400 iu available in most vitamins is far too low and children today, indoors or covered with sunscreen, are getting rickets. If you were uncovered at noon in the equatorial regions where we evolved, you would get 25,000 iu of Vitamin D in a couple of hours. So unless you work out of doors in the South, don’t wear sunscreen and only wash with water (soap within 48 hours interferes with the body’s manufacture of Vitamin D), you aren’t getting enough from the sun. (See my last post where people living in Hawaii exposed to the sun were not getting enough.)

And if you go to the Vitamin D Council website, you will see ample discussion of the new recommendations. I personally take 10,000 iu daily, which is the minimum to raise your blood levels and a level that is reasonable to avoid toxicity even if you don’t take blood tests. For clients with cancer I suggest four times that dose, but they get tested.

Toxicity is rare, not documented in the literature except anecdotally, and in levels of 120,000 iu daily for protracted periods. Levels of 300,000 iu given once weekly by prescription are generally acknowledged as safe, but usually require testing. Persons with scleroderma or abnormal calcium metabolism should not take high levels (and should watch calcium as well.)

Vitamin D is a pro-hormone, rather than a vitamin, important for all kinds [...]

Sleep and Health

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:07:39 +0000

Summer brings more light and usually increased levels of activity. You can indulge in more work or play. But don’t let that extra daylight rob you of sleep.

Sleep is essential for your well being. One study published in the journal Science found that the quality of our sleep has a greater influence on our ability to enjoy our day than our income or our marital status. Yet, we remain a sleep-deprived culture.

Sleep 8 hours a night. In the 1920s before electricity was widespread the average American slept 9 hours a night. We have not evolved physically since then, instead we allow artificial light and activities to distract us from sleep. Lack of sleep leads to obesity. In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I, 9,000 were surveyed on weight and sleep. People who with less than seven hours of sleep nightly were more likely to be obese and to increase weight over the study. Participants who slept five hours per night were 73% more likely to become obese than those getting seven to nine hours. In other studies, adolescents who sleep less have higher body mass indexes. A review of 696 sleep studies worldwide confirms this effect in children and adults. This may be because we evolved to store fat in the summer when light is plentiful and to reduce consumption during the dark winters. Insulin sensitivity and levels of two appetite-related hormones, leptin and ghrelin, can be affected by sleep deprivation, which can impact weight. Leptin is associated with appetite [...]

Which Came First, the Egg or Omega 3 Egg?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:14:03 +0000

Many people think that eggs should not be eaten, based on the erroneous assumption that they might cause cholesterol. Your body makes its cholesterol- even vegans get high cholesterol- and reducing carbohydrates that stimulate insulin will actually lower cholesterol better than not eating eggs. This is why I suggest wild salmon and omega 3 eggs. Read what Susan Allport has to say about the difference in nutrition between eggs from chickens who range freely and conventional eggs:

Of Chickens, Eggs, and Omega-3s

Eggs were once a much more healthful food. And they can be again. by Susan Allport originally published Monday, December 17, 2007

Which came first: the egg or the omega-3 enriched egg?

The omega-3 enriched egg, of course, since all eggs used to be full of omega-3s when the chickens that laid them foraged for a living, scratching and pecking in backyards and farms.

These chickens lived — almost entirely — on green leaves and bugs. And the omega-3s in those green leaves and bugs were concentrated in their eggs for the same reason that omega-3s are concentrated in the breast milk of women: to support the brain development of the next generation – chicks, in this case, instead of infants.

When we humans interrupted this process and ate those eggs, we ingested almost as many omega-3s (including long-chain DHA and EPA) as we would from the same amount of many species of fish. Which — considering the importance of eggs in human diets around the world – must have made [...]

Sun Exposure Inadequate for Vitamin D

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:49:28 +0000

I have been recommending for some time now that people not rely upon sun for all levels of Vitamin D. Sunshine is quite wonderful for you, despite what the dermatologists and cosmetic salespeople tell you, so long as you are sensible about exposure. But as the story below tells you, it isn’t enough for your Vitamin D requirements.

Most of us live far too north to get the proper light intensity or the correct angle of the rays needed to produce Vitamin D. Virtually all makeup and most skin creams have a SPF blocking free access to sunlight. And very few of us are willing to foreswear soap for 48-72 hours after sun exposure in order to allow the Vitamin D conversion. Our food no longer has much since animals are fed indoors on grain instead of growing grass and herbs. And frankly the levels we need are too high without supplementation.

I personally take 10,000 iu of Vitamin D daily. That is roughly half of what someone might pick up in a couple of hours of sun at the equator where humans evolved. I suggest considerably higher doses for people with cancer or other serious illnesses, but I do suggest they periodically get their blood tested. Although toxicity is virtually unknown in the literature, it has been seen anecdotally with doses over 120,000 iu for prolonged periods of time. (People with scleroderma or abnormal calcium metabolism can’t take it though.) Doctors give prescription doses as high as 300,000 iu on a periodic basis [...]

Chinese Medicine Treats Seizures in Dogs

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:41:36 +0000

Only veterinary acupuncturists can work on animals, but acupuncture works on seizures in both people and animals. In fact Chinese Medicine is very good on neurological problems.

Chinese Veterinary Medicine Aids Seizures By Dr. Connie Clemons-Chevis McClatchy Newspapers Sunday, July 5, 2009

There are many causes for seizures in animals. The overall incidence of seizures in dogs is estimated at 1 percent, but goes up to 15-20 percent in purebred dogs.

Should your pet have seizures, a minimum evaluation should include a thorough physical exam, blood work, urinalysis, heart worm test, fecal exam and possibly chest and abdominal radiographs, and abdominal ultrasound.

Sometimes CT or MRI Scans, cerebrospinal fluid tap and analysis, or EEG are performed. Many times after a thorough evaluation, no abnormalities are found and this is called idiopathic epilepsy. In idiopathic epilepsy treatment options include Western drugs, Western herbal medicine, acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbs.

In most cases, idiopathic seizures can be controlled with Western medications, the most common being phenobarbital. Anti-convulsant medication must be given every day, can cause drowsiness and can have side effects on the liver.

Seizures in Chinese medicine are considered internal wind. There are several causes and the treatment is slightly different. Acupuncture points and Chinese herbs are selected according to the pattern that is diagnosed. This case illustrates the use of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine on a case of idiopathic epilepsy.

A 5-year-old female spayed beagle was presented for seizures of unknown cause. She had been having seizures for almost a year.

Initially, the seizures [...]

Ask Congress to Add Acupuncture to Medicare

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:57:30 +0000

Please Support HR 646, The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act Give health consumers choice by including acupuncture as a covered benefit under Medicare part B. CONTACT CONGRESS

The Birds, Redux

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:07:36 +0000

Today a nature story. My sister and her husband rescued a golden lab/Rhodesian ridgeback. Jake had been abused and slowly has begun his resocialization process. They usually walk Jake in the wooded parks north of Seattle where tall cedars grow densely and birds nest. One day last week my brother in law Ed was walking the dog when Jake came upon two fledgling crows on the forest floor, and quickly dispached them. Immediately the canopy came alive with screeching crows. The crows dive bombed the dog and Ed, then chased them all the way home where they squawked in protest until the woodpeckers ran them off. In the ensuing days they started screeching at Jake and anyone who walks him- my sister, the neighbor, or my nephew. Even if they avoid the park the birds will try to run them off. None of Jake’s people are welcome in the woods any more, even without the dog. Crows remember and they hold grudges.

The Herb-Blog Party

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:47:13 +0000

Blog Party! The Wonderful and Weedy Ones

It’s here! It’s the blog party! We have an amazing collection of writings on all sorts of weedy wonders that herbalists near and far love dearly. Here’s the breakdown!

Karen Vaughan on Plantain! Dragonlady on dandelions Greenman rambling on Ground Ivy Lady Barbara on Teasel Field of Tansy on Self Heal Aquarian Bath on Mulberry! Rosalee of Methow Valley on Yellow Dock! Tales of a kitchen Herbwife on Sorrel and Watercress Abby Artemisa on Garlic Mustard Granny Sam on Mullien Medicine Woman’s Roots on Nettle Seed Harvesting Dreamseeds on Cottonwood

And Darcy Blue, who called the party will soon have her post on sweet clover (meliotus).

Plantain: A Weedy Life-Saver

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:07:13 +0000

Several years ago I attended an herbal conference, the Green Nation’s Gathering where the Wisconsin ethnobotanist Keewaydinoquay Peschel spoke about her years as a medicine woman. Specifically she spoke about how she used plantain to

Broadleaf Plantain poultice bee stings in those who might be subject to anaphylactic shock, glass stuck in the neck, bug bites, even skin conditions.

One story she told stands out among all others. She had been lecturing about plantain to her ethnobotany class, and the mother of one of her students sat in on the class. Three years later she received a box from Florida. “I don’t know anyone in Florida she said.” The box was a present from the mother of the student. She had been gardening with her friends and all three had been bitten by a spider. They soon went their separate ways and she noticed plantain growing along the walk. Remembering the lecture, she picked a few leaves and made a spit poultice which she placed over the bite. The next morning her friends were dead and, thanks to plantain, she was not.

The idea that this plant which grows in every sidewalk crack can save a life is something that deeply impresses children I have taught and changes their relationship to plants in general. With its vibrant green leaves, vertical ribs and basal rosette, the plant is easy to identify. It ranges in size from an inch or two long to the size of a medium hosta. (In fact I have a border of [...]

How to Make Miso

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:55:10 +0000

Miso is one of the great non-dairy sources of probiotics. In major cities you can usually find it in the refrigerator section of a good health food store. (I do not recommend unrefrigerated miso which may be a flavored bean product without probiotic benefits.) However you can make it yourself and you can use beans other than soy if you have allergies, and you can ensure a non-gluten koji starter (rice rather than barley koji). Incidentally, soy is considerably less harmful when fermented.

Miso and Ingredients Things You’ll Need: 2 cups of beans 4-6 cups of water

Check out the rest in the how to section: How to Make Miso

Russian Folk Remedies

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:03:35 +0000

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.

Like most other countries, Russia has a wide range of so-called traditional folk remedies, and Russians rely to a large extent on medicinal herbs and a number of [...]

Acupuncture Beats Aspirin for Headaches

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:09:36 +0000

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 percent of people taking medications, the team at Duke University found.

“Acupuncture is becoming a favorable option for a variety of purposes, ranging from enhancing fertility to decreasing post-operative pain, because people experience significantly fewer side effects and it can be less expensive than other options,” Dr. Tong Joo Gan, who led the study, said in a statement.

“This analysis reinforces that acupuncture also is a successful source of relief from chronic headaches.”

Writing in Anesthesia and Analgesia, they said 53 percent of patients given true acupuncture were helped, compared to 45 percent receiving sham therapy involving needles inserted in non-medical positions.

“One of the barriers to treatment with acupuncture is getting people to understand that while needles are used, it is not a painful experience,” Gan said. “It is a method for releasing your body’s own natural painkillers.”

They found it took on average five to six visits for patients to report headache relief.

Other studies have shown that acupuncture helped alleviate pain in patients who had surgery [...]

Breastfeeding May Be Beneficial To Mothers, Not Only To Babies

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:25:21 +0000

(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.

The research, which is to be published in the May issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, analyzed data on the women who had enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term national study of postmenopausal women.

Women who reported a lifetime history of more than a year of breast-feeding were 20 percent less likely to have diabetes, 12 percent less likely to have hypertension, 19 percent less likely to have high cholesterol and 9 percent less likely to have had a heart attack or a stroke by the time they enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative.

The association between breast feeding and better maternal health shouldn’t be surprising when we realize that women who breast feed are more likely to take better care of themselves than those who don’t. And we have known for some time that breastfeeding helps prevent breast cancer and lowers obesity. Breastfeeding stimulates the lymph glands and may lead to general detoxification of the body and the hormone oxytocin may well lead to more [...]

The Energetics of Emotional Eating

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:15:11 +0000

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.

Granted there are better ways cool fire. One could swim, or change the external situation so that the stressors stop. A warm bath by candlelight might be better, but rarely feels as compelling or cooling as Haagen Daz. Exercise can release tension, but it is heating, and it can seem difficult to [...]

What is the Glycemic Index?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:27:59 +0000

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 Attacks Those of Asian (and Amerindian) Ancestry Worse

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:59:32 +0000

Flu deaths have been more prevalent in those who are from Mongolian ancestry, including Amerindian. [...]

Why Natural Medicine?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:53:12 +0000

“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

Flu Turning More Virulent

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:50:39 +0000

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,” Josephine Davis said.Doctors treated her for two days, but they couldn’t save her. They believe she died from swine flu. {Authorities confirm a healthy adult died of swine flu but not that Barbara specifically is that person}

“They’ve never seen nothing like that, what she had. That infection just went through her body, attacking her kidney, her lungs, her liver. Everything,” said Josephine Davis.”

“More than 1,800 people have caught swine flu in Milwaukee alone. The city’s Health Department is stressing that if you are mildly ill with flu symptoms, you should call your doctor. If your symptoms are serious or if you have mild symptoms that are getting worse, you [...]

John Virapen, Ex Eli Lily Executive Recants

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:26:49 +0000

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.)

CDC Stats Show Most Flu is Swine Flu

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:23:32 +0000

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!

New Herb for Weight Loss

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:50:05 +0000

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.

The growth and expansion of fat tissues requires new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. In fat tissue, this process is mediated by the secretion of adipokines, such as leptin, adiponectin, resistin, interleukin-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The researchers first investigated the effect of curcumin in cultured human umbillical cells to which adipokines had been added to stimulate angiogenesis. They found the ability of curcumin to inhibit angiogenesis was partly due to the reduced expression of VEGF. They then fed mice a high-fat diet supplemented with 500 milligrams curcumin per kilogram diet for 12 weeks. Weight gain was reduced in mice that received curcumin despite the same caloric intake. The researchers attributed this reduction to a decrease in total body fat in the curcumin-fed animals. Mice that received curcumin also had lower liver weights, and experienced a reduction in VEGF, indicating reduced angiogenesis. Reducing angiogenesis is also important to slow the growth of cancers. While this was not studied in this report, turmeric is frequently used in the herbal [...]

What is Fatty Liver and How Can Chinese Medicine Help?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:23:38 +0000

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.

What causes Fatty Liver? Stress and diet! Stress and diet are the two major causes. When you are chronically stressed, your adrenal glands pump out cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol causes the deposition of abdominal fat, including fat deposits in the liver. Excessive alcohol similarly causes the liver to acquire fat, possibly to protect it from the alcohol toxins. Obesity itself and diabetes mellitus can cause fatty liver, and in turn be caused by the condition. Eating fats alone seems not to cause the condition, but eating trans fats and inflammatory fats may be associated with causing fatty liver.

Many people with a fatty liver are unaware that they even have a liver problem, as the symptoms can be vague and non-specific, especially in the early stages. Most people with a fatty liver feel generally unwell, and find they are becoming increasingly fatigued and overweight for no apparent reason.

Possible symptoms of fatty [...]

Support HR 646, the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:34:04 +0000

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

European Court declares Fluoridated Water A Drug.

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:12:51 +0000

Fluoridated water must be treated as a medicine, and cannot be used to prepare foods. That is the decision of the European Court of Justice, in a landmark case dealing with the classification and regulation of ‘functional drinks’ in member states of the European Community. (HLH Warenvertriebs and Orthica (Joined Cases C-211/03, C-299/03, C-316/03 and C-318/03) 9 June 2005) What are the implications of this? Tap water cannot be used in prepared foods of any kind, foods made with tap water cannot be imported either between European states or from the US. Unless they do full medical testing on it as for any other drug or functional food. I do note that the European countries seem to be ignoring the Court of Justice decision which was given a few years ago and only the anti-flouridation forces are making much of it.

Health Myths about Hydration

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:48:31 +0000

Foods and caffeinated beverages can help meet your hydration needs. And you can overdo liquids. Myths about hydration dispelled. [...]

Darwinian Disease: What is the Adaptive Value of Illness?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:01:40 +0000

We all know people who push themselves until they collapse with a flu, or who suddenly come down with a disease when faced with a wedding where they would come face to face with an ex. We have seen people with chronic stress develop autoimmune disease or chronic fatigue. Perhaps disease is the body’s way of dealing with stresses that might otherwise overwhelm it. Perhaps we should reconsider the adaptive value of disease.

In febrile disease we should look at the value of fever and how it can help. In children over one year of age, fever has the value of increasing the temperature to fight the pathogens, making the child tired enough to get sleep and to challenge the immune system and strengthen it. So what should the strategy be? Modern Chinese medicine cools down fevers with cool diaphoretics like mint, but the Shang Han Lun, the classic treatise on disease caused by cold suggests only using warming diaphoretics, whether for Wind Cold or Wind Heat. And that would reinforce the fever reaction, allowing the patient to sweat out the pathogen.

If we start by looking at disease as the body’s best effort to deal with both physical and emotional stress, then our attitude changes significantly. Do we want to “cure” a condition when it may be saving the person from a more serious situation? Will our chronic fatigue patient get enough relief from an insane lifestyle unless her body is allowed to rest? Should an overweight patient with bulimia be counseled [...]

How Are We Conditioned To Eat So Much?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:29:44 +0000

David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner under GW Bush and Clinton, explores why we are so driven by reward-driven eating that our control mechanisms have disappeared. In his book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, Kessler discusses how we biologically lay down neurological pathways that induce us to eat. In recent decades the food industry, in collusion with the advertising industry, and our own lifestyle changes have short-circuited the body’s self-regulating mechanisms, leaving many at the mercy of reward-driven eating.

There was a time when people ate at home, at the table during prescribed mealtimes and were unlikely to eat on the street. Now we pass outlets that stimulate our senses with neurologically exciting foods made of fat, sugar and salt, attractive presentation, pleasant odors (have you passed a Cinnabon lately?) and all of the emotional triggers associated with the food by advertising, and we biologically set ourselves up for triggering eating these foods. Even if you do not succumb on day one of your diet, the neurological pathways are being laid down to entice you later.

Listen to an interview with Leonard Lopate at:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/04/27/segments/129905″>< Leonard Lopate Show>

And read the book:

http://astore.amazon.com/acupandherbby-20/detail/1605297852″

[...]

Chinese Herbal Medicine Used in Outer Space

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:08:44 +0000

The Shenzhou Vll spacecraft successfully lifted off from China carrying traditional Chinese herbal medicine to prevent the astronauts (taikonauts) from getting motion sickness.

Taikong Yangxin, or “space heart-nourishing” capsules, are “made of more than 10 types of Chinese herbs and have proven to be effective in improving the astronaut’s cardiovascular condition,” according to Li Yongzhi, director of the medical arm of the country’s astronaut training centre.

She told Xinhua News Agency that TCM pills are superior to western motion sickness cures because they do not have side-effects. The herbs will be taken in granule form which can be diluted with water and taken to treat motion sickness during the space flight.

Astronauts Yang Liwei, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, who flew in 2003 and 2005, took the herbal medicines before and after their spaceflight but not during it.

Li said the pills on the spacecraft will be particularly useful for the two astronauts who are scheduled to carry out the extra-vehicular activities. “The medicine will boost their physical conditions and improve their adaptability in an extreme environment,” she said.

Li said that the herbal pills, which have previously been found effective in rats, will be mass-produced for market sales in the future. Ingredients have not been disclosed but it is likely that they contain ginger and Chinese hawthorn.

[...]

Salt!

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:14:51 +0000

Salt is more than the simple white crystals that we used to find in the blue container with the girl and the umbrella. Sea salts, land salts, red and black salts all provide new salt experiences.

Nora Ephron wrote an amusing article in the NY Times recently complaining that salt is no longer on the tables or that lump salt, which she referred to as kosher or sea salt, is out and only sits in lumps on her food.

Sea salt is not the same as kosher salt. Kosher salt is salt in lumps, and is usually refined. Sea salt is unrefined and has more minerals, especially trace minerals in it. It can come in big lumps, as Ephron described, or in small crystals or powder. I am sure that expensive restaurants will use sea salt in large lumps because it seems trendier. Our taste for salt is really a taste for minerals, so just taking in sodium chloride misses the need for a broader spectrum of minerals. In fact if we just use plain sodium chloride, we may overconsume it because we are not getting the other minerals that a salt taste is a proxy for.

Iodine is stripped away when salt is refined then added back in larger quantity. Kosher salt is not iodized. You can also get iodized sea salt which has higher than normal levels of iodine. But we usually don’t have a deficiency in iodine from food unless we [...]

What is Wrong With Toothpick Acupuncture?

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:09:55 +0000

A recent study indicating that stimulating skin with toothpicks was nearly as effective as puncturing the skin with acupuncture needles is being touted in the medical skeptics circles as proof that acupuncture is some kind of placebo.

There was no sham acupuncture involved. Acupuncture is a technique of stimulating, not puncturing, points on the body for physiological effect. Any kind of acupuncture that touches the skin, including so-called sham acupuncture needles, is acupuncture. The Japanese have developed entire systems of noninvasive acupuncture.

While I am more likely to use a stainless steel probe when I use noninvasive acupuncture techniques, the toothpicks touched the skin at the acupoints. The skin contains three afferent sensory nerves that signal the central nervous system as well as modulating the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, specifically the vagus nerve.

The toothpicks stimulated the cutaneous nerves to send a signal to the spinal cord activating the spinal neurons that secrete enkephalin and dynorphin that inhibit pain messages. Then the signal continued up to the midbrain and pituitary to activate the raphe descending pain-inhibitions system which secretes monoamines, serotonin and norepinephrine. Those further inhibit pain.

Once the sensations from the toothpicks reached the spinal cord several nerve pathways were excited, reaching the cerebral cortex which released neurochemicals that not only inhibit pain but also promotes homeostasis. When the body is in distress, homeostasis does help balance the mind.

The study showed that three techniques of acupuncture beat out western medicine for back pain.

[...]

Coffee Beats Statins In Reducing Diabetes Inflammation

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:18:23 +0000

From Harvard: a two years old trial found that diabetic women who drank coffee had 10% less inflammation in their blood vessels, shown by lower CRP levels than controls for each additional cup of coffee drunk per day. These results are much better than the recent Crestor statin trial on CRP. From other research, the likely antiiflammatory constituent is chlorogenic acid, also present in blueberries.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Oct;84(4):888-93.

Coffee consumption and markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in healthy and diabetic women.

Lopez-Garcia E, van Dam RM, Qi L, Hu FB. Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. esther.lopez@uam.es

BACKGROUND: In several short-term studies, coffee consumption has been associated with impairment of endothelial function. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to assess the relation between long-term caffeinated and decaffeinated filtered coffee consumption and markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. … CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that neither caffeinated nor decaffeinated filtered coffee has a detrimental effect on endothelial function. In contrast, the results suggest that coffee consumption is inversely associated with markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction.

See Related Posts: Coffee Herbs November Herbal Blog Party on Morning Wake Up Beverages Caffeine Halts Progression of Alzheimer’s Simple Ways to Support Brain Function Health Myths About Hydration Fewer Serious or Lethal Prostate Cancers in Male Coffee Drinkers

[...]

Acupuncture Beats Western Medicine for Treating Low Back Pain

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:42:05 +0000

Acupuncture Beats Western Medicine for Treating Low Back Pain

by S. L. Baker Natural News The results of the largest randomized back pain trial of its kind shows acupuncture clearly helps people with chronic low back pain more than standard medical care. But the results of the SPINE (Stimulating Points to Investigate Needling Efficacy) study, just published in the May 11, 2009 Archives of Internal Medicine, has some researchers scratching their heads over the remarkable findings. The reason the study’s results are so intriguing? Not just one but three different forms of acupuncture beat out western medicine in helping relieve low back pain.

The SPINE trial included 638 adults with chronic low back pain who were patients at two nonprofit health plans, Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, and Northern California Kaiser Permanente in Oakland. All the research subjects ranked their pain as a minimum of three on a scale of zero to 10 of “bothersome” discomfort.

None of the participants had ever experienced acupuncture before participating in the study. They were randomly put into one of four groups for different kinds of treatment. All received standard medical care but three groups of patients also were treated with varying forms of acupuncture — needle puncture at points individualized for each case, standardized acupuncture that used a single prescription of needle punctures at points on the back and back of the legs and what the researchers called “simulated acupuncture” that involved pressing on points with a toothpick without penetrating the skin.

All the [...]

Butter is Good for Your Health

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:45:08 +0000

Butter has been eaten since Biblical times and even before: In Mesopotamia, butter from goats and sheep has been eaten since 9000-8000 BC, and cows were domesticated for such use a thousand years later. The first reference to butter in written history was found on a 4,500-year-old limestone tablet illustrating how butter was made. Although butter was part of the human diet for tens of thousands of years, a series of misleading studies in the 1950s and 1960s vilified it.

At the turn of the 20th century, heart disease in America was so rare that medical students from all the New York City medical schools were summoned to see a heart attack. By 1960, it was our number one killer. Yet during the same time period, butter consumption had decreased – from eighteen pounds per person per year, to four. A researcher named Ancel Keys first proposed that saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet were to blame for coronary heart disease but numerous subsequent studies costing hundreds of millions of dollars, have failed to conclusively back up this claim. In fact a Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.

Still heavy lobbying from the processed food industry proposed dangerous fat sources like margarine and low fat diets as healthier, advice that persists to this day despite considerable evidence to the contrary. As a result, since the early 1970′s, Americans’ average saturated fat intake has dropped considerably, [...]

Acupuncture found Effective in Treating Breast Cancer Side Effects from Chemotherapy

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:28:08 +0000

Women who are being treated for breast cancer often have side effects like debilitating hot flashes, other vasomotor conditions, and depression that cannot be treated with carcinogenic hormones. A 2008 study, in The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, found acupuncture equal in effectiveness but superior in side effects to treat women coping with the side effects of conventional breast cancer medicine.

Dr. Elanor Walker’s study involved 47 patients who received the common breast cancer treatment of Tamoxifen or Arimidex and as a result had at least 14 hot flashes per week as well as excessive sweating, night sweats and depression. The Results

Both of the groups showed significant improvement in the adverse effects of breast cancer treatment. The study reported “that acupuncture is at least as effective as venlafaxine in reducing vasomotor and other symptoms associated with anti-estrogen hormonal treatment of breast cancer.”

Although the main symptoms were decreased relatively equally among the two groups, the venlafaxine group reported a host of negative side effects such as nausea, dry mouth, headache, insomnia, dizziness, double vision, increased blood pressure, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, feeling ”spaced out,” and body spasms at night.

Patients from the acupuncture group experienced side effects as well, however they were positive in nature. The acupuncture-treated group experienced increased energy, clarity of thought, sexual desire, and an increased sense of well-being compared to before the treatment. After the 12 week trial was complete, the reduction in hot flashes lasted longer for the acupuncture patients than for the venlafaxine group.

In other words, although [...]

Acupuncture found Effective in Treating Breast Cancer Side Effects from Chemotherapy

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:07:14 +0000

Women who are being treated for breast cancer often have side effects like debilitating hot flashes, other vasomotor conditions, and depression that cannot be treated with carcinogenic hormones.

A 2008 American study, which appeared in the September issue of The International Journal of Radiation Oncology, examined the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating women coping with the side effects of conventional breast cancer medicine. Eleanor Walker, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the Henry Ford Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology in Detroit, led a team of researchers to compare acupuncture treatment with the common anti-estrogen treatment used to control breast cancer therapy side effects. The side effects, such as hot flashes and depression, affect about 80% of women treated for breast cancer and are usually treated by the pharmaceutical anti-depressant venlafaxine (Effexor). Many breast cancer patients refuse venlafaxine because of its own set of negative side effects. The Study

The clinical trial, titled “Acupuncture for the Treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Hormone Suppression Treatment,” compared acupuncture treatment to venlafixine therapy for 12 weeks. The trial was randomized, which means that the patients were randomly placed into either treatment group. This ensured that both known and unknown confounding factors were evenly distributed between groups. Randomization is a common scientific technique for increasing the reliability of experimental results.

Dr. Walker’s study involved 47 patients who received the common breast cancer treatment of Tamoxifen or Arimidex and as a result had at least 14 hot flashes per week as well as excessive sweating, night sweats [...]

Constance Marie used Acupuncture for Pregnancy

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:07:10 +0000

Acupuncture has long been used to enhance fertility, including IVF treatments which are enhanced by the treatment, by 10-50% depending upon the study. Constance Marie, 43, best known as George Lopez’s wife on “The George Lopez Show,” recently opened up about her struggle to get pregnant.

Here is an excerpt from a recent article on People.com’s Celebrity Baby Blog

“Constance Marie has been open and honest about her struggle to conceive daughter Luna Marie, 3 months, and in a new interview with MomLogic she offers advice to other women experiencing infertility”

“Constance — who conceived Luna on her third IVF trial after two miscarriages and an unsuccessful attempt with Clomid — also credits a “detox” for helping her to become pregnant. “I did acupuncture throughout the process, started eating organically, cut out fish because of the mercury, did a liver-gall bladder detox cleanse, and stopped drinking out of plastic bottles and got rid of all my Tupperware,” she explains, citing BPA concerns. ”I also tried Japanese enzyme baths, where you get buried up to your neck in wood shavings and enzymes, which pull toxins out of your body when they’re heated — you feel amazing afterward!”

To read the whole article click here

How to Make A Face Mask

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:40:28 +0000

First off, if you work where infectious diseases are prominent, have serious chemical sensitivity or mold issues, you probably need to purchase a respirator with a small micron opening such as the nanomasks that have shaped silicon holders. That said, most of us benefit from the reduction of incoming germs, without total protection, relying upon our immune systems to do the rest of the work.

The easiest thing to do for everyday exposures is to put a double or triple layered scarf over your nose and mouth and breathe through it while you are out in public places, or riding trains Cover the eyes with glasses or dark glasses and wear a pair of gloves, and you are good to go. In the summer just use a cotton scarf and sunglasses, and use your waterless hand cleaner after touching doorknobs, banisters and the like in public places. Make sure you wash well between uses.

If you want a bare-bones type of surgical mask and you can’t find then at your local pharmacy or Home Depot, you can cut a piece of old T-shirt that measures 8″x12″ . Fold it into thirds and insert shoelaces that will tie around your head. Usually 24″ -26″ will fit, but do test them out before going to the work of making the mask. You can also use a strong ribbon or cord. Put one shoelace along each long side, with the folded mask in the middle of the shoelace. What you should have will look like [...]

What To Do To Protect Yourself From the Flu

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:20:30 +0000

As you may have noticed, the Mexican government has closed schools and asked people to stay home because of a new more virulent swine flu that has killed as of this writing 68 people. One characteristic of this is that it strikes and kills healthy young people- this also happened inthe 1921 flu pandemic which killed huge numbers of people. Cases have been found in Kansas and New York. Do your best to avoid it: Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too. Avoid crowds during epidemics- the 200 children in Queens who have probable swine flu got exposed in one school. Stay home when you are sick. If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness. Cover your mouth and nose. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Avoid sugar. Sugar can decrease your immune system almost immediately. Eat raw garlic daily. I find it helps to finely mince the clove of garlic in place, or smash it with a garlic press, then coat with a local honey and take it off of a spoon held upside down in your mouth. Chase with a glass of water and a sprig of parsley for odor control. (If you have no other sugar, this won’t hurt you and it helps assimilation.) [...]

Two Types of Flu, Two Types of Treatment

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:20:38 +0000

The H1N1 Swine Flu may operate in two ways, one of which acts like seasonal flu except is more widespread, and the other which causes the immune system to produce the most damage. What is not clear is whether the current flu is a cytokine storm type flu where you are better off with a low immune response, or a more normal flu where you are better off with a strong immune system. According to Wikipedia:

“A cytokine storm, or hypercytokinemia is a potentially fatal immune reaction consisting of a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune cells, with highly elevated levels of various cytokines.[1]..The primary symptoms of a cytokine storm are high fever, swelling and redness, extreme fatigue, and nausea….When the immune system is fighting pathogens, cytokines signal immune cells such as T-cells and macrophages to travel to the site of infection. In addition, cytokines activate those cells, stimulating them to produce more cytokines. Normally, this feedback loop is kept in check by the body. However, in some instances, the reaction becomes uncontrolled, and too many immune cells are activated in a single place. The precise reason for this is not entirely understood but may be caused by an exaggerated response when the immune system encounters a new and highly pathogenic invader. Cytokine storms have potential to do significant damage to body tissues and organs… If a cytokine storm occurs in the lungs, for example, fluids and immune cells such as macrophages may accumulate and eventually block off the airways, potentially [...]

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Reviewed

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:25:05 +0000

A brief review of Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and the problem with excess degraded corn in our diet.

November 29th 2006 – For anyone who hasn’t run across Michael Pollan’s Book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I highly recommend it. He denounces the Corn Industrial Complex which puts corn into virtually every food (one quarter of the 45,000 foods in a typical supermarket contain corn)and seems to be in a symbiotic relationship with petroleum. Oil goes into the fertilizer which goes into corn which goes into us and makes us sick. One gem is his send up of a McNuggets dinner:

“The ingredients listed in the flyer suggest a lot of thought goes into a nugget, that and a lot of corn. Of the 38 ingredients it takes to make a McNugget I counted 13 that can be derived from corn: the corn-fed chicken itself, the cornstarch (to bind the pulverized chicken meat); mono, tri’ and diglycerides (emulsifiers which keep the fat and water from separating) ; dextrose; lecithin (another emulsifier); chicken broth (to restore some of the flavor that leaches out in processing); yellow corn flour and modified cornstarch (for the batter); cornstarch (a filler), vegetable shortening; partialy hydrogenated corn oil; and citric acid as a preservative.” He then goes on to list the synthetic and petroleum-derived ingredients. It isn’t all doom and gloom. He also tracks an organic farm where cattle are rotated to new grass each day with flexible fencing, a connestoga wagon like chicken coop follows them three [...]

Medical Acupuncture vs. Real Acupuncture

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:23:09 +0000

Many people ask why they shouldn’t go to an MD for acupuncture if they can find it. Isn’t that the best of both worlds?

Acupuncture needles in hypodermic needle.

Simple answer: most MDs aren’t appropriately trained. They may do some simple neuromodulation with needles (which real acupuncturists are also trained to do,) but they never learn the diagnosis that is the genius of Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine has featured an almost obsessive attention to cataloging the clinical treatment of patients for thousands of years. We can go back to doctors Zhang Zhong Jing or Sun Si Miao and read their prescriptions and exactly what patterns of diagnosis they apply to. Having been cured myself of a nasty case of cellulitis with a 1500 year old formula (after my MD missed the problem) I have great respect for the classical formulas. These things are never studied in a 100-300 hour video course that a medical doctor (and in some states a Chiropractor or Podiatrist) will take to call himself a “Medical Acupuncturist.” A real, Licensed Acupuncturist, will have 3000-4000 hours of training in Oriental Medicine, including a few years of clinical internships, national board certification from the NCCAOM, a certificate of Clean Needle Technique, and continuing education requirements. Compared to a 200 hour videocourse, with no clinical trials or continuing education, you can see that a typical MD acupuncturist really doesn’t compare in training.

Why is this important? Well pneumothorax, where the lungs are punctured by a needle almost never happens with Licensed Acupuncturists. [...]

Relief Acupuncture Trip to New Orleans after Katrina

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:32:48 +0000

On December 13, 2 2006 I went to New Orleans to do acupuncture under the sponsorship of CRREW. CRREW has been in New Orleans since last year doing volunteer acupuncture under the Louisiana temporary acupuncture license (which allows only NADA ear points.)

Karen Giving Acupuncture for the New Hope Ministries Health Fair in Algiers

Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006

I arrived in New Orleans at twilight, with little view of the destruction from Katrina. Huynh Quang, a Vietnamese-born acupuncturist picked me up at the airport. Occasionally he pointed out water marks, on the railroad tracks over the highway, by the water pumping plant that I had seen in Spike Lee’s film When the Levees Broke, and in formerly occupied shopping centers that had been completely inundated and were now vacant. We dropped my suitcases at his clinic, then set off for the Musician’s Clinic. St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, on Esplanade north of the French Quarter, has a special mission to musicians and runs a free dinner, legal clinic and medical clinic with both scheduled music and open mikes on Wednesday nights. As we entered, an older African American man with a patterned top hat and an orange print vest was seated at a computer, next to a table of musicians with long dreadlocks deep in conversation with the legal advisor. Music blared from the front of the dining room where a band was entertaining the diners. Mother Mary, a 50 something blond woman with a disarming smile dished up stew on rice, and [...]

Male Pelvic Floor Exercises for Sexual Health

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 06:10:13 +0000

I was at a workshop on mens’ diseases recently, and we were discussing ways to keep morning erections and to prevent erectile dysfunction later on.

Men have a lot of assaults on their fertility, hence sexual health in this day and age. Plastics and pesticides put xeno-estrogens into their systems and into the water table. Meats, traditionally good for testosterone, are often from estrogen-treated animals unless organic. Soy, a common meat substitute has high phyto-estrogens levels. Zinc and magnesium, necessary to male health, are missing from the soils. Phythalates from plastic attack androgens (male hormones). Increases in diabetes, coronary artery disease and CVD, along with smoking hurt the arteries filling the penis. Laptops are often used on laps where they heat the scrotum. As a result of stresses to the male system, sperm counts are way down- 3% anually in Europe and 1.5% anually in the US. A recent study showing a 29% decline since the 80s had to be withdrawn because the men were from New York where sperm counts are _higher_ than in most of the rest of the country. So the problem may be worse.

So in addition to avoiding all of the above stressors, studies have shown that pelvic floor exercises can be very useful. You can locate the pelvic floor muscles around your urethra by trying to stop the urine stream while peeing. (Once you find them it is not a good idea to do [...]

Iron Crotch Qi Gong for Male Sexual Health

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 05:41:18 +0000

Iron Crotch Qi Gong was developed for male sexual health. It treats lack of morning erections, male infertility, impotence, erectile dysfunction, urinary problems and improves overall health.

“Iron Crotch” Qi Gong was developed in China for increased male sexual health. It treats lack of morning erections, male infertility, impotence, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, urinary problems and, since the generative function is at the basis for all functioning, improves overall health.

All men will benefit from this qigong, adapted from Peter Deadman, but avoid it immediately after acute disease or surgery in the groin area. Sexual health is considered the root of all health, and sexual energy imbues more than sexual activity. You can use the emotional power of sexuality to help you accomplish anything and everything you want out of life.

It is best to do these exercises in the morning before dressing or in the evening before bed. In all of the exercises below, take the recommended position, calm the mind, place the tongue on the upper palate and breathe evenly. As you do the exercises feel how your body responds, sending the mind to the area.

1. Running Energy.

Sit, stand or lie on your back. Relax and place your tongue on the upper palate. Imagine a current of energy running from your perenium up your spine, over the top of your head, down your front midline to the perenium. Run the energy continuously, with your mind following the [...]

Deadly Immunity

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:06:41 +0000

When a study revealed that mercury in childhood vaccines may have caused autism in thousands of kids, the government rushed to conceal the data – and to prevent parents from suing drug companies for their role in the epidemic. Do not vaccinate when your child is ill, nor give more than one vaccine at a time and avoid thimerosol or aluminum based vaccines.

Deadly Immunity by Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., RH (AHG)

Vaccines are controversial and I do not dismiss the need for some of them. However I always recommend looking at the relative risks and benefits and not overdosing your child. Vaccinations should only be administered when the child is well, one at a time, and without thimerosol or aluminum bases. Look at the likely dangers of the disease when you consider vaccines for your child, as well as your child’s immune strength.

In Chinese medicine we see a value in childhood diseases like measles or chicken pox which flushes fetal toxins from the body. If your child is strong, with a decent immune response, and autism is in the family, consider whether the disease would be better than the often poor immunity that vaccines provide, especially those with dangerous carriers.

Here is an article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. which outlines some of the problems with the current generation of vaccines:

***********************************************************

DEADLY IMMUNITY

When a study revealed that mercury in childhood vaccines may have caused autism in thousands of kids, the government rushed to conceal the data -and to prevent parents [...]

Vinegar, lemon juice and lactic acid fermented fruits and vegetables can reduce blood sugar spikes, lower the glycemic index of foods being fermented and can cause weight loss. Information on how to make lactic acid fermented foods.

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 15:44:31 +0000

Vinegar, lemon juice and lactic acid fermented fruits and vegetables can reduce blood sugar spikes, lower the glycemic index of foods being fermented and can cause weight loss. Information on how to make lactic acid fermented foods.

January 29th 2005 – Acidic Foods, Fermentation and Blood Sugar copyright by Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac.,MSTOM

Eating acid foods- vinegar, lemon juice or lactic acid fermented foods- can reduce blood sugar spikes after meals, giving glycemic control comparable to Metformin. It has the greatest effect in people who are at risk of diabetes but still test within normal ranges. As such it is a good practice for all meals, and reflects traditional practices of most ethnicities.

Nutritionist Carol S. Johnston of Arizona State University East in Mesa has found that 2 tablespoons of vinegar before a meal can dramatically lower the increased insulin and blood sugar (glucose) levels that typically occur in people who have type 2 diabetes. In her study, she looked at 29 people divided into type 2 diabetics, diagnosed pre-diabetics, and a control with no signs of diabetes. Measuring blood levels after a high-carb breakfast, Johnston found that vinegar improved the readings for all 3 groups, but results were most dramatic among those who were prediabetic. In their case, vinegar cut their blood sugar increase in the first hour after eating by as much as half, a greater reduction than was found with normal participants. Diabetics lowered their blood glucose levels by 25% with the vinegar. The study was a crossover, placebo-controlled study.

[...]

Sophia in the Biblical Tradition

Karen Vaughan, L.Ac., Registered Herbalist (AHG) — Sun, 18 Jan 1998 06:43:36 +0000

Sophia in the Biblical Tradition

Book Reviewed by Karen Vaughan

Authors: Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig

Harper and Row; 1986

Sophia, the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Hochmah” is the feminine personification of Wisdom in the Pentateuch. She is neither a goddess nor a new age creation of feminist theologians. She was a real biblical person with more material on her in the OT (with Apocrypha) than anyone in the scriptures, except God, Job, Moses and David.

Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig’s book Sophia (Harper and Row; 1986) seeks to uncover the Biblical tradition of Sophia and her ultimate identification with Jesus in the Christian tradition.

One reason we little consider Sophia, even in readings of the Old Testament, is that English translations usually translate the feminine “Sophia” into the abstract “Wisdom”. Although the Greek and Hebrew words were fully feminine, the English is not. The fullest development of her is in the so-called “Wisdom Books” of the apocryphia in the Greek Pentateuch that were canonized into Christian Scripture and are still used by theRC and EO churches. Sophia dominates the first nine chapters of Proverbs and is found in both the Old and New Testaments.

In the Hebrew tradition, Sophia was considered to have been with God from the beginning of Creation. In Proverbs 8:27-31, Sophia says:

When God set the heavens in place, I was present, When God drew a ring on the surface of the deep, When God fixed the clouds above, When God [...]

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