The biggest secret in Western society about coughs, colds and flus is that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is usually the best solution. In the West we say “I’ve got a cold”. A cold could be a wide variety of different symptoms. A cold could have: a fever, chills, a cough, a sore throat, head, neck and back achiness, nasal congestion, an upset stomach, phlegm of varying colors or other symptoms. Each of us catches a cold our own way. But to listen to Western medicine “a cold” is a generic bundle of symptoms.

In Chinese Medicine we have a far more specific taxonomy of colds. Once your practitioner knows which type of cold you have, they can treat you for that specific cold with acupuncture and herbal formulas. Because Chinese Medicine is more specific it can address the underlying cause of what’s wrong with you and fix it quickly.

One of my clients came into my office the other day with a cold.  She felt achy, she had chills and nasal congestion. I checked her tongue and her pulses, asked a few questions to find out which cold she had. I gave her an acupuncture treatment and an herbal formula with specific instructions. She needed to go home, take the formula (which could be a tea or a soup, but most often it is most convenient in pill form). I encouraged her to make a pot of porridge, eat some and go to bed. I asked her to stay in bed until her fever broke.  I called to check in on her two days later and she said “Oh I’m back at work. I did exactly what you suggested. Once my fever broke I felt so much better that I was ready to go back to work.” She continued to take the formula until she felt 100% better and had no relapse.

Another client called to say that he was starting to have a sore throat. He knows that when he lets me know at the first sign of a sore throat, I’ll prescribe the right herbal formula for him. He dropped by to pick up the formula and started taking it immediately. He got plenty of rest and kept taking the formula for the next few days. He never got a fever, cough, nasal congestion or any other cold symptoms.  Best of all he was able to continue to work while fighting the cold because he had a significant deadline he had to meet. Because he addressed his cold at the earliest stage, he was able to stay in action and recover quickly.

To recover quickly from a “cold”, pay attention to what’s happening in your body and get help early. The earlier you treat a cold the faster you can typically get rid of it. The longer you wait to get help the further the cold can progress, once you’ve waited and the cold has progressed it can take longer to bounce back.  Of course I’ve got herbal formulas for colds that have progressed into bronchitis and worse, but ideally you don’t need to have that experience if you notice your symptoms early and immediately take action to get help.

If you’ve got a cold, cough or flu and want help with it send me an email  (nina@ninaprice.com) with your symptoms and a phone number where I can reach you.

Wishing you a cold free winter!

Left in their wake, however, is the sugar hangover, that annual holiday tradition that may include an upset stomach, headache, lethargy, brain fog, skin problems, join pain, mood swings, allergy symptoms, and a heap of regret.

While alcohol hangover cures are a folklore staple, you can take solid steps to recover from your sugar hangover:

• Quit eating sweets. Those holiday treats have sent your blood sugar levels skyrocketing and plummeting repeatedly, taxing the immune system, the brain, hormone balance, and every other system in the body.To recover, put blood sugar levels on an even keel by eating protein every two to three hours, eating a good breakfast, and avoiding starchy foods, desserts, and sweet drinks (soda, sweet coffee drinks) that spike blood sugar. Instead focus on quality proteins, leafy vegetables, and good sources of fat (olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, salmon, etc.)
• Drink plenty of water. This is also the most popular alcohol hangover cure for a reason. Staying hydrated with clean filtered water will help flush your body of toxins and aid in recovery.
• Support your liver. Processing all those sweets burdens your liver. Help your liver flush these toxins with such liver detox nutrients as milk thistle, dandelion, N-acetyl L-cysteine, beet root, panax ginseng, and more. Contact my office for more advice on liver detoxification.
• Restore your gut. Sweets cause inflammation, promote overgrowth of harmful yeast and bacteria, and irritate the gastric lining. You can restore gut health by avoiding sweets and other starchy foods, temporarily adopting a strict detox diet that eliminates common immune triggers (i.e., gluten), and by eating cultured and fermented foods.
• Move your body. A brisk walk, a swim, yoga, or some other gentle exercise will get your lymphatic system pumping and blood flowing to help flush toxins and rejuvenate cells. You may want to avoid extremely vigorous exercise until hangover symptoms subside so as not to further promote inflammation.

How About a New Year’s detox?

These are some basics to help you recover from a sugar hangover and get you back on the wellness path. In fact, all of these tips will help you recover from an alcohol hangover, too. For more advanced strategies and to get started on a detox plan for the New Year, click here.

What are your tips for a sugar hangover cure?

Of course the best way to cure a sugar hangover is to avoid one. But if you happen to overindulge on special occasions, what are some of your tips for a sugar hangover cure?

Studies link low vitamin D with flu virus

Compelling evidence links low vitamin D levels with illness. One study showed vitamin D-deficient subjects were 36 percent more likely to report an upper respiratory infection than those with higher levels. That rate jumped significantly for those with asthma.

Another study found children who took vitamin D supplements suffered almost half as many incidences of the flu virus than the children who didn’t. Also, vitamin D levels were found to be lower in children who died of swine flu than in those who survived.

Vitamin D benefits go beyond fighting the flu

Vitamin D does so much more than fight the flu. Sufficient vitamin D lowers the risk of cancer, autoimmune disease, gum disease, heart disease, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and weak bones.

Are you getting enough vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a cornerstone to good health, however research shows many people do not get enough from sunlight and diet alone. In general, we spend most of our lives indoors, wear sunscreen when outside, and don’t eat a vitamin D-rich diet.

More than 40 percent of the overall population and 60 percent of children are estimated deficient. Blacks, Hispanics, and other populations with darker skin show the highest rates of deficiency. Living at a northern latitude, obesity, and aging also increase the risk for deficiency. One study found 60 percent of postmenopausal women to be deficient in vitamin D.

Boosting your vitamin D levels

Supplementing with vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and its cofactors will help you outpace the flu and prevent disease. A 25-hydroxy vitamin D test is the most accurate way to measure and monitor your levels, with optimal levels falling between 50–80 ng/mL. However if you suffer from an autoimmune disease or some chronic illness, your practitioner may recommend a more specific goal.

What is all the fuss about hydrogenated oils, or trans fats? Aren’t they OK to eat in moderation?

Answer:

The hydrogenated fat you eat becomes part of your brain and nervous tissue. Because of its unnatural structure, cells and neurons composed partly of hydrogenated fat do not function properly.

If someone calls you a fat head they are not off the mark. The brain is made up mostly of fat, including the fat you eat. While hydrogenated fats are best known for contributing to cardiovascular disease, lesser known is their impact on brain health.

Hydrogenated oils have been molecularly restructured for a long shelf life and are found in many processed foods. Heating oils too high while cooking also causes trans fats.

Cell membranes communicate with other cells and determine what is allowed to enter and exit the cell. These membranes incorporate hydrogenated oils into their structure, making them more rigid and less able to function properly. The nerve sheaths that insulate and protect neurons also incorporate trans fats.

When trans fats become part of the cells and the nerve sheaths they replace vital brain fats, such as DHA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid. As a result cellular communication suffers, the cells degenerate, and the person can experience a wide range of consequences, including diminished mental performance, mood disorders, memory loss, or health problems.

Trans fats are best known for their contribution to cardiovascular disease by thickening the blood, slowing circulation, and clogging arteries.

The brain, too, has a vascular system that delivers nutrients and oxygen and removes toxins throughout the brain. When this vascular system becomes clogged with trans fats, this also impacts brain health and function.

Although conventional wisdom says all things are OK in moderation, hydrogenated fats are a man-made substance closer to plastic than food. When eaten they become a part of  your cells and your brain for some time. Therefore it is best to avoid them completely.

I practically fall asleep in my plate after every meal. Why does eating make me so sleepy?

Answer

Feeling sleepy after meals is a common symptom of insulin resistance, a risk factor for diabetes.

Starchy foods and too much insulin

Insulin resistance is common today and is a stepping-stone to diabetes. Overeating and eating a diet high in sugar and starchy foods causes insulin resistance. These foods include breads, rice, pasta, pastries, chips, potatoes, soda, sweet coffee drinks, and more.

Converting glucose to fat demands energy

Insulin escorts glucose into the cells to make energy. Starchy foods bombard the bloodstream with too much glucose, forcing the release of insulin to lower it. When a person eats a starchy diet on a regular basis, the body overproduces insulin to lower chronically high blood sugar.

Eventually these constant surges of insulin exhaust the body’s cells and they refuse entry to the insulin, which is called insulin resistance. As a result insulin can’t escort glucose into the cells to make energy and the person feels sleepy.

Also, because glucose can’t get into cells, blood sugar climbs too high. The body lowers it to safer levels by converting excess glucose into fat for storage. This is a demanding process that robs one of energy.

Insulin surges overproduce calming brain chemical

A fluctuation in brain chemistry is another factor that causes tiredness. Carbohydrates provide precursors for serotonin, the “joy and well-being” brain chemical that can ward off depression and also be calming.

However, the insulin surge that follows a high-carb meal overproduces serotonin in the brain, contributing to that need for a post-meal nap. After serotonin levels drop, people then may feel depressed, which spurs cravings for more high-carb foods and sweets to get that pleasurable “high” and start the cycle over again.

Restoring insulin sensitivity

If you feel sleepy even after a very low-carb meal, it could be because you over ate or because your glucose metabolism has become too disordered to function properly. While adapting a lower-carb diet is vital, you may need the guidance of a practitioner in using nutritional and botanical compounds that can help restore insulin sensitivity.

I learned I have intolerances and allergies to certain foods, and that I need to avoid those foods if I want to lose weight. Isn’t it just a matter of eating fewer calories?

Answer:

Some people find they can’t lose weight through calorie restriction alone. When that happens several issues need to be investigated. One of the most important is food intolerances. Eating foods to which you are allergic or intolerant will prevent weight loss.

Food intolerances cause inflammation
Food intolerances and allergies create inflammation, and inflammation prevents weight loss. Every time you eat gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, or some other food that may be a problem for you, you create inflammation in your body.

Leaky gut is a primary culprit
For many people today, a variety of foods trigger inflammation. This is due largely to intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut,” which allows undigested food particles to slip into the bloodstream through damaged and inflamed intestinal walls. Leaky gut is very common today due to poor diets, excessive sweets, chronic stress, and other maladies of modern life. Gluten intolerance and celiac disease are also common and cause leaky gut.

As these food particles circulate throughout the body the immune system responds by attacking and destroying them for removal, just as it would respond to a viral or bacterial infection. Unfortunately, if the food is eaten regularly, this keeps the immune system constantly at work, hence creating chronic inflammation. Symptoms can be obvious in the way of joint pain, skin issues, abdominal pain, or even brain fog, memory loss, or moodiness. Sometimes the inflammation is not obvious, yet a person finds she or he can’t lose weight.

Inflammation halts weight loss
Studies show the immune compounds that cause inflammation also make insulin receptors less sensitive, creating insulin resistance. As a result glucose can’t get into cells and blood sugar becomes too high. The body lowers blood sugar by converting it to fat for storage. Insulin resistance also hinders fat burning.

Inflammation also has been shown to cause leptin resistance, which stimulates hunger and promotes fat storage. Furthermore, excess body fat secretes immune messenger cells that trigger inflammation, promoting a vicious cycle that prevents weight loss.

You’ll emerge looking and feeling fantastic… and in control, with new friends, ideas, recipes and a fresh
outlook on life. Our goal is that you’ll remember this holiday season as being the best one ever – because you took great care of yourself so you could enjoy the holidays as never before.

Click over to http://www.midlifewithoutcrisis.com/sailing and click on the play button at the top of the page to listen in!

I went to see my natural medicine practitioner for depression and she wants to work on my digestive health. I don’t get the connection.

Answer:

Many people would be surprised to learn how greatly gut health affects brain health. A poor diet, inflamed gut, and intestinal permeability definitely can promote depression.

Depression a not-so-obvious symptom of poor digestion

Sometimes digestion issues are obvious; they cause gas, bloating, heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, or abdominal pain. Other times the main symptom is not so obvious—depression.

An unhealthy diet and compromised gut health can promote depression in several ways.

Poor nutrition

When one eats a junk food diet laden with processed foods, trans fats, sugars, and artificial chemicals, the brain suffers. The brain needs healthy fats, high-quality protein, abundant vitamins and minerals, and a diet low in starchy foods and sugars.

Gluten

Gluten is directly linked to depression in some. It causes gut inflammation, which can lead to inflammation in areas of the brain that regulate mood. Some people digest gluten into gluteomorphin, an opioid similar to heroin or morphine that can cause depression (not to mention constipation). Gluten can also cause autoimmune attacks in the brain with symptoms of depression. Dairy or other foods may also cause depression, depending on sensitivity.

Leaky gut

Leaky gut happens when the lining of the intestines becomes overly permeable. This allows undigested foods, bacteria, and other pathogens into the bloodstream, creating inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation in the brain may cause depression.

Inflammation in the gut also inhibits absorption of nutrients necessary for good brain function. An example is tryptophan, an amino acid found in proteins. The brain synthesizes tryptophan into serotonin, a “well-being and joy” brain chemical.

Always consider gut health

Depression is a complex, multi-faceted condition that can have its roots in various causes. However the role of diet and digestive health should always be included in a functional approach to depression.

It seems as though ever since I took antibiotics I haven’t been the same. I’m sick more frequently, my digestion is messed up, and I have chronic yeast infections. Why?

Answer:

Antibiotics are one of modern medicine’s life-saving miracles. However if preventive care isn’t taken, their use, and especially their abuse, can lead to chronic health problems.

Good bacteria serve us

The digestive tract contains an estimated 2–4 pounds of beneficial bacteria that are an integral part of our immune system. They resist bad bacteria, and they aid in the digestion of food, the absorption of nutrients, and the synthesis of B vitamins and vitamin K.

These beneficial bacteria coat the lining of the intestines, providing a protective barrier against toxins. They also nourish the gut lining and ensure appropriate production of immune cells, helping to maintain balance in the immune system and prevent autoimmune disease.

Antibiotics wipe out good bacteria

While antibiotics eradicate disease-causing bacteria, unfortunately they wipe out the good bacteria too. This leaves the digestive tract defenseless, and it compromises both nutrient status and immune balance.

Overgrowth of bad bacteria produces toxins and antibiotic-resistant strains

Antibiotic use makes it easy for bad bacteria, yeast, and fungi to over multiply, wreaking havoc on digestive and immune health. The overgrowth of yeast, or Candida, is especially common. This can produce a wide range of troubling symptoms, including yeast infections, sugar cravings, skin rashes, brain fog, and more.

Also, pathogenic bacteria, yeast, and fungi produce toxic substances that make their way into the bloodstream and the rest of the body. These toxins have been linked to allergies, and health ailments in the digestive, respiratory, immune, and nervous systems.

Research also shows that antibiotic use develops long-lasting strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Restoring beneficial bacteria is vital

This explains why antibiotics can contribute to myriad health problems, even though they may have successfully treated a condition. Unnecessary antibiotic use should be avoided.

Did you know that Traditional Chinese herbal antibiotics are as effective as pharmaceutical antibiotics – without the side effects? 

When my clients need them I recommend herbal antibiotics, because they are effective and don’t promote candida or yeast infections. My clients report that they get well faster and have fewer yeast infections than their colleagues at work who’ve taken pharmaceutical antibiotics.

When my clients say: “My doctor prescribed antibiotics but I’m still sick!” they usually have a viral or fungal infection. If that’s the case I recommend Chinese herbals that are antiviral or antifungal, or both, depending on the symptoms.

If pharmaceutical antibiotics are necessary, be sure to take probiotics to restore the beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract.

Want to know more about herbal antibiotics or probiotics? You can ask your questions as a comment or you can write to me nina@ninaprice.com