NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS: HEALTHY WINTER DETOXIFICATION

How would you like to start off the New Year with renewed energy, better digestion, and healthier skin, leaner body mass, reduced allergy symptoms, and a stronger immune system?

It's a good time to cleanse your body from the overindulgences of the holidays. But in the colder winter months a severe cleanse can be depleting and leave you more vulnerable to colds and flu. A mild cleansing program does not include fasting, but rather, eating a very clean, organic diet that nourishes and tonifies the yin (internal energy). In Chinese Medicine, this is the time of year to focus on the kidneys and bladder. Foods such as millet and root vegetables cooked in stews are warming and strengthening. Exercise and meditations should be directed inward, replenishing your root energy.

Cleanses should always be tailored to your individual needs; no program is right for everyone. We will use a combination of dietary changes, exercise, herbs, and breathing or meditation techniques to help enhance your body's inherent well-being.

*Come in for an individualized Winter Cleanse session before Feb. 29th and receive 25% off a bottle of Tyler's Detoxification factors.


REDUCE CANCER CAUSING TOXINS BY EATING WILD CAUGHT, COLD WATER FISH

By now most of my patients understand the importance of eating Essential Fatty Acids. You also know that the essential fatty acid, omega 3, is much more abundant in wild caught fish than in farm-raised fish. Here is yet another reason to avoid the farm-raised fish:

(New Mexican, Jan. 9th, 2004) Philadelphia: "Farm-raised salmon... is so contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals that people should eat it no more than once a month. "Wild salmon have much lower levels of contaminants and are safer to eat." The article sites a study published in the journal Science, which tested both farm-raised and wild caught salmon. It demonstrates that chemicals, including pestisides, that have long been banned in the U.S. are still present in our environment. Farm-raised fish are fed smaller, ground up fish that contain these chemicals.


EFFECTS OF MICROWAVING COOKING

This month's issue of The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients sites two small studies on the effect of microwaving food. (Larger studies were called for, but a trade organization representing the microwave industry took the researchers to court and won a "gag order", prohibiting them from speaking out).

One controlled study showed that the group eating microwave food (compared to a group eating the exact same foods, but not microwaved) exhibited negative changes in hemoglobin (important for red blood cells), cholesterol, and lymphocytes (immune cells).

Another study showed that microwaving breast milk destroyed enzymes and antibodies, and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria. These effects were also seen when the breast milk was microwaved at lower temperatures, suggesting that microwave energy, not heat alone, is damaging to our food.


RECIPE OF THE MONTH
From Healing with Whole Foods, By Paul Pritchford

MILLET WITH SQUASH

Millet is a nourishing winter grain that builds yin, moistens dryness, and strengthens the kidneys.

5 inches kambu, soaked
2 cups millet, soaked
1-cup acorn, butternut, or summer squash, diced
¼ cup burdock root, sliced (optional – hard to find this time of year)
5-6 cups water
½ tsp sea salt

1. Place kambu on bottom of pot. Layer with squash and burdock.
2. Add millet, water, and salt.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
4. Simmer 30 min. or pressure cook 20 minutes.
5. Serves 4-6


I hope that you all enjoyed a peaceful, happy holiday season. Many Blessings to us all in the year 2004!

Deb Keller, ND, LM, CPM