Hello Spring!

Optimize Your Health this Spring with the Following Foods and Activities

photo thanks to Portland Farmers Market- a great place to stock up on fresh spring greens!

The seasons are a changing.  As the temperatures start to rise and the days get longer, our bio rhythms change as well.  Our energy naturally increases and so does our interest in staying up staying up later and sleeping less.  Our digestion and immune systems also take a turn. Spring cleanse anyone? Spring allergies anyone?  The differences are palpable. 

After a winter of eating squashes and sauces and heavy, rich foods, spring marks the time for eating lighter, nutrient dense foods. 

1. #1 Spring food: Spring greens!  Eat bitter greens like dandelion leaf, arugula, mustard greens.  These nutrient dense foods stimulate digestive enzymes and are vitamin and mineral rich.  Green salads mixed with some bitter greens are a great way to include these in your diet.  Also, consider steamed bitter greens recipes as well. 

2. Fruits that are in season like strawberries and kiwis are the best way to get your vitamin C at this time of year, a very important nutrient to balance the immune response associated with spring pollen allergies.

3. Spices: Turmeric as an antinflammatory is a great food for you any time of year, but especially in the spring when allergies abound.

4. Get outside!  Breathing fresh air can increase oxygenation of your entire body increasing your energy and improving your mood.  Open your windows and let fresh air into your house to get the air moving through your home environment.  There are a host of bacteria and dust mites waiting to get outside.  Let them out J

5. Let the sun shine on your skin (for 20 minutes and then put on your sun hat to avoid a spring sun burn). Our vitamin D-starved bodies crave the sunshine on our skin. 

6. Move your body: As we move our muscles, bones and ligaments, our lymph moves which helps with detoxification and healing. 

7. Consider brewing up a batch of a spring time herbal vinegar.

Spring Greens Mineral Rich Vinegar Recipe:

1 bunch nettles (In Portland you can buy this a People’s CO-OP or New Seasons)

1 bunch dandelion leaf

organic apple cider vinegar

Place greens in a wide mouth mason jar. Press the greens so they are crushed down in the jar.  Cover in apple cider vinegar ( Bragg’s is one good quality brand of ACV).  Make sure that greens are covered with the vinegar because pieces not covered may mold.  Let sit for at least one week.  Pour off the vinegar and store in a glass jar.  Compost the left-over greens.

This vinegar is vitamin and mineral rich with vitamins A, B and C and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. It can be used as a salad dressing or in cooking, also as a tonic for sore muscles, and muscle cramps and as a great spring tonic.

Salad Dressing Recipe:

¼ cup cold pressed olive oil

¼ cup cold pressed flax seed oil

¼ cup spring greens vinegar

1Tbs mustard

salt and pepper to taste

garlic to taste

Spring Tonic Vinegar Drink:

1 Tbs vinegar

1 cup boiling water

honey to taste

drink 1-3 cups daily for improved digestion, increased energy and immune support

My nettle vinegar home brew.

Castor Oil Packs, Wet Sock Treatments, and Saunas...Oh my!

Naturopathic hydrotherapy and home treatments have been in use for at least 100 years, and probably a lot longer.  The purpose of these treatments is to improve circulation of the blood, lymph and nutrients throughout the body, improving healing time, enhancing detoxification and increasing energy. 

One of the best things about these treatments is that they are free!  You do them at home. Think of it, wouldn’t it be nice if when you or a loved one was home sick suffering with cold, flu, belly aches or injury, you had something you could do to make them feel better and hasten the healing process?  Don’t get me wrong, when I’m under the weather, I like to sit on the couch and veg out as much as the next person, however, I also enjoy a speedy recovery.  Naturopathic home treatments are key to speeding up the healing process, and in my experience are more helpful than many medications or herbs.

Below are the guidelines for the wet sock treatment used for headaches, sinus congestion, to increase immunity, improve immune function and to increase quality and quantity of sleep.  While seeming counter intuitive, this therapy actually work wonders. Many a cold has been stopped in it tracks by three consecutive days of wet sock treatments.  Try it out next time you or a loved one starts to feel the tell-tale signs of impending illness.  Wet sock treatment is also a useful tool to combat insomnia.

Wet Sock Treatment:

1.      Warm up feet in a hot bath or shower

2.      Moisten a pair of cotton socks with cold water. Be sure to wring them out - they should not be sopping wet

3.      Place the cold, wet socks on warmed feet, cover with a pair of DRY WOOL socks and go directly to bed.

4.      Repeat 3 nights in a row

If you are interested in learning more about how to use naturopathic treatments, I’ll be teaching a class next Monday at the Wellspring School  in Southeast Portland:

Nature Cure Home Treatments

Monday  3/5/12  6-7:30pm

$15

To Register click HERE  

Autumn- a season for cleansing

I am sad to see the Summer go.  It's my favorite season - the time in Portland when the city comes alive with  perfect weather and a plethora of amazing outdoor cafes and restaurants.  It’s always such a pleasure to brunch at Tasty n sons , or to have an outdoor happy hour IPA at Portland’s own Hopworks brew pub,  or treat the in-laws to a delicious savory dinner of local meat and wine at Olympic Provisions.  The repercussions from too much of this imbibing, like bloating, weight gain and sluggishness, are less pleasant.  This, coupled with the shorter days, the cooler temperatures and the approach of flu season, makes Autumn the perfect time to clean up the diet,  improve digestion and reset the immune system. 

Every autumn my partner Scott and I embark on some kind of health diet – what Naturopathic doctors call a cleanse. Three years ago it was an elimination diet.  Two years ago it was 3 months of  the “Anti candida diet”, last year it was my two week detox diet that includes a few days of juice fasting and this year the cleanse we are doing is what i have fondly called the post summer-of-gluttony “paleo” cleanse.

  

There are so  many great reasons that i love this annual ritual.  It gives me a natural boost of  energy before the daylight wanes, improves my digestion, and hep me shed a few pounds.  It also reminds me that planning and preparing food  is not that hard!  Actually, the benefits of having food that doesn’t make me sluggish or pack on the pounds are way beyond the mild annoyance of having to plan and prepare meals.  One of the other reasons I do this to myself, and Scott, is because any of these diets that we try out, are recommendations that i give to my patients.  I can’t tell someone else to eat a certain way unless i have already tried it myself!  So, here we are mid-way through our paleo-cleanse 2011. 

But, what is a cleanse?

A cleanse is a period in which a person might abstain form food or activities, usually with the purpose of increasing vitality, losing weight, reducing pain, detoxification, improving particular health problems and more.  It can be strictly food related, or can include abstaining form activities like TV watching, alcohol, internet surfing and more. It also can include adding in healthy activities like gentle exercise, sauna, yoga, epsom salt baths or mediation.  

My cleanses always involve a diet modification. Usually eliminating things that you regularly eat or drink that might be making you feel less vital than you could be. Common offenders: alcohol, wheat, gluten, dairy and sugar. Less common but also on the list of common irritants: corn, soy, nightshades, nuts, and chicken.

How about Colon cleansing?

Some think of colon cleansing as a cleanse, and this refers to using colonics  or increasing fiber in the diet to produce more frequent and more complete bowel movements.  While normalizing bowel function is very important during a cleanse, not all cleanses need to include targeted colon cleansing.

How to choose which cleanse to do?

Every person is unique.  We all have individual needs in general and different needs at different times in our lives.  It's best if the cleanse you choose to embark on has been tailored to suit your particular needs.  For example, a person who is very weak, yet still under the pressure of a demanding lifestyle should not try a juice fast.  And a pregnant woman, would not want to be doing a liver detox or a fast.

Not all cleansing means fasting. We've been eating plenty on our cleanse this month.

Here is an example of a day of eating on our paleo-cleanse :

Breakfast: detox smoothie- detox powder, blueberries, flax seeds and coconut milk

                

Snack: Fritatta muffins

Lunch: beef and vegetable stew ( leftover from dinner) 

Snack: celery, red pepper slices, carrot sticks and a handful of home sprouted nuts

Dinner: Roasted brussel sprouts, baked cod, salad

Dessert: Figs and walnuts for me, coconut paleo "ice cream" and berries for Scott

For a personalized cleanse program, make an appointment with me (Dr Elise) at Blossom Clinic 503-287-0886 

Preconception Health part 2: Optimizing Hormone Balance For Fertility

There are multiple factors that influence physiology and culminate in ovulation and conception.  Not only internal factors, like healthy blood and vitality, but also external factors like the seasons and the amount of light in our bedrooms at night.  Reproduction is truly an amazing and complicated process.  All contributors being equal though- what ultimately decides whether a woman will produce an egg and conceive is .. drum roll please.......our hormones. 

Hormones are the chemical messengers of the body.  They literally communicate information to cells. Without hormones, or when our hormones aren’t working optimally, these messages can be missed, leading to all sorts of “miscommunications”.  For example, if the hormone insulin isn’t communicating with cells, diabetes is the result.  When thyroid hormones don’t communicate there can be fatigue, dry skin, slowing of the metabolism.  When sex hormones aren’t communicating the results can be missed periods, lack of libido, or infertility. 

Hormones really are in charge

But what affects hormones and their ability to communicate?.... well that is a long list, let's start with just a few:

1.      Other hormones - thyroid, insulin, pituitary hormones, testosterone, adrenal hormones like DHEA and cortisol. When one hormone is out of balance (too high or too low) the other hormones have to make up for that, by filling in the gap or overcompensating.  Hormones prefer to coexist in harmony.  They help each other to do their best jobs.  When one fails, the others compensate temporarily, but  eventually those hormones get over used as well and the result is a whole lot of  miscommunication  and disharmony - hormone imbalance. 

2.      Vitamin or mineral deficiencies - vitamins and minerals (like B vitamins, iron or iodine) act as cofactors in the body in certain metabolic processes and some hormones rely on vitamins and minerals to be produced .  As an example, iodine is needed for thyroid hormone production.

3.      Toxicity -  can affect hormone communication. Actually, it's the body's ability to rid itself of these toxins that affects hormone communication. These chemicals do not have any nutritious or useful qualities, so the body needs to process them out or "detox". With increased exposure, the detox burden can become too big and excess toxins circulating through the system can affect normal physiology.  The result - conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, infertility, anovulation , nutritional deficiencies, depression, anxiety, fatigue, body aches, and more.  Here is a short list of some toxins that we exposed to regularly: pesticides, hormone like preservatives in bath and body products, chemicals in gasoline and exhaust fumes, chemicals in our carpets, furniture, plastics and paint. 

There are other factors that can affect hormone health.  Stress, sleep, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D and immune system health, other health condition like PCOS or diabetes, to name a few. The take home message here: For optimal hormone function and fertility, get your body in  tip top shape- address your nutritional needs, lifestyle needs and any underlying conditions that might be affecting your vitality.