February 2015 Newsletter
Slashing prices, stock up while
supplies last… during February only, get 25% off ALL our nutritional supplements. Please call ahead if you plan to purchase
supplements that we do not regularly stock, so that they can be ordered for
you.
Help the Needy February Fundraiser… on the 28th of this month will carry on our ‘Saturday Fundraiser’ events throughout this winter. Held on the last Saturday of each month from 10am – 2pm, the clinic will host a fundraising event offering a chiropractic adjustment or a meridian balancing treatment in exchange for a donation. This month’s proceeds will benefit Help the Needy. Ongoing special… don’t forget, every time you refer a new patient to our office, you get 20% off your next chiropractic adjustment!
Cancer advice, part four… in my ongoing series about battling cancer. When I was fighting cancer, I realized that there is a temptation to overdo it when pursuing a return to good health.
For example, I was told that mate tea had a basic pH and would be good for my body to help rid it of lymphoma. I was tempted to overdo it and drank a quart a day. Within a month I noticed breast lumps. My oncologist was alarmed, thinking there had been some metastasis. I, however, wasn’t alarmed, because I remembered that I’d previously developed the same problem in college after consuming huge amounts of coffee and cola (10-12 cups a day). I stopped drinking the mate tea, and within three months the breast lumps were gone. I then underwent a mammogram just to be sure. As it turns out, mate tea is not basic, it’s actually acid. While on the subject of coffee or mate tea, my best advice is to limit it to only one cup a day, or better yet, avoid it altogether. On the subject of cola, I recommend one cup a year because it has few redeeming factors.
Water consumption is important while fighting cancer, but the temptation to overdo it also exists. There is a condition called water intoxication, which happens when you drink too much water. Balance is always needed, even in things that are healthy. Eight to ten glasses of pure, filtered water daily is usually enough. Depending on special conditions, a doctor might change that advice. Too much water all at once can actually stress out the kidneys, so spread out the consumption throughout the day. One idea is to fill two quart bottles in the morning and sip on those until they are gone. Glass or stainless steel is recommended because plastics can leach chemicals (and flavor) into the water. To give it a little flavor, you can add a slice of fruit or cucumber to the water.
Another example is overconsumption of soy products. Based on the idea that soy products mimicked estrogen in the body, perimenopausal women were advised to eat or drink soy products. A variety of soy products like milk, cookies, crackers, and tofu spreads became available in stores. Some soy is okay, but too much is not. One problem with soy is lack of digestibility unless it is fermented. Soy also interferes with thyroid hormone. If you start feeling the symptoms of deficient thyroid you would need to try to avoid all soy products. The main symptoms of deficient thyroid activity are tiredness, forgetfulness, dry brittle hair, thinning hair, loss of the outside two-thirds of your eyebrows, goiter, slow heartbeat, dry skin, cold intolerance, weight gain, heavy menstrual periods, constipation, and brittle nails. Again, a little soy is usually tolerated quite well but too much will begin to cause problems.
On the flip side, when a home remedy might be unpleasant, there is a temptation to ignore it or not do it enough to be effective. Adopting an all raw food diet is one example of this. A strong following suggests that raw foods are much better for fighting cancer because some of the natural enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked. While this is true, the “rest of the story” is that this process actually makes some foods more absorbable for the body. Before 2006, the American Cancer Society didn’t think diet was helpful or hurtful to cancer patients. Today, they stress the importance of a diet that includes 7-8 servings of fruit and vegetables daily, and will even recommend vegan diets. A half cup of carrot juice is one vegetable serving. If vegan, you don’t have to worry about raw meat or raw eggs. If choosing to eat meat – a “totally raw” food diet would not be advisable. Another idea, offered by Traditional Chinese Medicine, is that cooking foods and eating them with their natural juices is optimal. Asian food is usually heated quickly and not too much, allowing the vegetables to retain some crispness. Eating entirely raw usually requires using a juicer or blender to decrease the amount of chewing because the jaw actually becomes tired. After trying the raw food diet for three weeks, I decided it was not a doable idea for me. Cooking with my children was joyful for all of us, and eating cooked food was comforting, it literally warmed me up. It is a personal decision for each individual. Good homemade soup is one cooked food I highly recommend. It is almost always intensely nutritious. I’m talking about good multi-vegetable soup that uses real broth and stews the vegetables to release the nutrients trapped in the cell walls of the plant. If desired, puree to acquire a smooth, creamy consistency. Since I avoid dairy, I look for and recommend recipes that do not use actual cream, and fortunately there are many of them. Following is a recipe for Manhattan clam chowder that is tomato-based. It is dairy-free and full of vegetables. The clams can be replaced with Tilapia, cod, or even chicken if you don’t prefer clams.
Manhattan Clam Chowder
3 T olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup each diced celery and carrots
½ cup diced green peppers
24 littleneck clams, well-scrubbed (or 2, 20 oz. cans baby clams)
4 medium red potatoes - cut into ½” cubes
1 can chopped plum tomatoes with juice (28 oz.)
½ cup tomato puree
3 c. water
3 tsp chicken broth concentrate (or 3 cubes)
1 cup white wine
1 tsp dried thyme
2 T fresh, chopped, flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste before adding salt
Heat oil in a lidded soup pot over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, celery, carrots and green peppers, cook until tender, about ten minutes. Add clams, cover pot and cook until clams open, about five minutes. Remove the clams from the pot, and discard any that are unopened. Shuck the clams, set the meat aside, and discard any empty shells (for convenience, I just bought two cans of baby clams).
Add potatoes, tomatoes, tomato puree, broth concentrate, 3 cups water and wine, and let simmer until potatoes start to soften, about five minutes. Add clam meat and simmer until clams are cooked but still soft, about three minutes. Add thyme, parsley, bay leaf, pepper, and simmer until parsley wilts, about five minutes more. Whisk in butter, then season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf before serving. Enjoy!
Help the Needy February Fundraiser… on the 28th of this month will carry on our ‘Saturday Fundraiser’ events throughout this winter. Held on the last Saturday of each month from 10am – 2pm, the clinic will host a fundraising event offering a chiropractic adjustment or a meridian balancing treatment in exchange for a donation. This month’s proceeds will benefit Help the Needy. Ongoing special… don’t forget, every time you refer a new patient to our office, you get 20% off your next chiropractic adjustment!
Cancer advice, part four… in my ongoing series about battling cancer. When I was fighting cancer, I realized that there is a temptation to overdo it when pursuing a return to good health.
For example, I was told that mate tea had a basic pH and would be good for my body to help rid it of lymphoma. I was tempted to overdo it and drank a quart a day. Within a month I noticed breast lumps. My oncologist was alarmed, thinking there had been some metastasis. I, however, wasn’t alarmed, because I remembered that I’d previously developed the same problem in college after consuming huge amounts of coffee and cola (10-12 cups a day). I stopped drinking the mate tea, and within three months the breast lumps were gone. I then underwent a mammogram just to be sure. As it turns out, mate tea is not basic, it’s actually acid. While on the subject of coffee or mate tea, my best advice is to limit it to only one cup a day, or better yet, avoid it altogether. On the subject of cola, I recommend one cup a year because it has few redeeming factors.
Water consumption is important while fighting cancer, but the temptation to overdo it also exists. There is a condition called water intoxication, which happens when you drink too much water. Balance is always needed, even in things that are healthy. Eight to ten glasses of pure, filtered water daily is usually enough. Depending on special conditions, a doctor might change that advice. Too much water all at once can actually stress out the kidneys, so spread out the consumption throughout the day. One idea is to fill two quart bottles in the morning and sip on those until they are gone. Glass or stainless steel is recommended because plastics can leach chemicals (and flavor) into the water. To give it a little flavor, you can add a slice of fruit or cucumber to the water.
Another example is overconsumption of soy products. Based on the idea that soy products mimicked estrogen in the body, perimenopausal women were advised to eat or drink soy products. A variety of soy products like milk, cookies, crackers, and tofu spreads became available in stores. Some soy is okay, but too much is not. One problem with soy is lack of digestibility unless it is fermented. Soy also interferes with thyroid hormone. If you start feeling the symptoms of deficient thyroid you would need to try to avoid all soy products. The main symptoms of deficient thyroid activity are tiredness, forgetfulness, dry brittle hair, thinning hair, loss of the outside two-thirds of your eyebrows, goiter, slow heartbeat, dry skin, cold intolerance, weight gain, heavy menstrual periods, constipation, and brittle nails. Again, a little soy is usually tolerated quite well but too much will begin to cause problems.
On the flip side, when a home remedy might be unpleasant, there is a temptation to ignore it or not do it enough to be effective. Adopting an all raw food diet is one example of this. A strong following suggests that raw foods are much better for fighting cancer because some of the natural enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked. While this is true, the “rest of the story” is that this process actually makes some foods more absorbable for the body. Before 2006, the American Cancer Society didn’t think diet was helpful or hurtful to cancer patients. Today, they stress the importance of a diet that includes 7-8 servings of fruit and vegetables daily, and will even recommend vegan diets. A half cup of carrot juice is one vegetable serving. If vegan, you don’t have to worry about raw meat or raw eggs. If choosing to eat meat – a “totally raw” food diet would not be advisable. Another idea, offered by Traditional Chinese Medicine, is that cooking foods and eating them with their natural juices is optimal. Asian food is usually heated quickly and not too much, allowing the vegetables to retain some crispness. Eating entirely raw usually requires using a juicer or blender to decrease the amount of chewing because the jaw actually becomes tired. After trying the raw food diet for three weeks, I decided it was not a doable idea for me. Cooking with my children was joyful for all of us, and eating cooked food was comforting, it literally warmed me up. It is a personal decision for each individual. Good homemade soup is one cooked food I highly recommend. It is almost always intensely nutritious. I’m talking about good multi-vegetable soup that uses real broth and stews the vegetables to release the nutrients trapped in the cell walls of the plant. If desired, puree to acquire a smooth, creamy consistency. Since I avoid dairy, I look for and recommend recipes that do not use actual cream, and fortunately there are many of them. Following is a recipe for Manhattan clam chowder that is tomato-based. It is dairy-free and full of vegetables. The clams can be replaced with Tilapia, cod, or even chicken if you don’t prefer clams.
Manhattan Clam Chowder
3 T olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup each diced celery and carrots
½ cup diced green peppers
24 littleneck clams, well-scrubbed (or 2, 20 oz. cans baby clams)
4 medium red potatoes - cut into ½” cubes
1 can chopped plum tomatoes with juice (28 oz.)
½ cup tomato puree
3 c. water
3 tsp chicken broth concentrate (or 3 cubes)
1 cup white wine
1 tsp dried thyme
2 T fresh, chopped, flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste before adding salt
Heat oil in a lidded soup pot over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, celery, carrots and green peppers, cook until tender, about ten minutes. Add clams, cover pot and cook until clams open, about five minutes. Remove the clams from the pot, and discard any that are unopened. Shuck the clams, set the meat aside, and discard any empty shells (for convenience, I just bought two cans of baby clams).
Add potatoes, tomatoes, tomato puree, broth concentrate, 3 cups water and wine, and let simmer until potatoes start to soften, about five minutes. Add clam meat and simmer until clams are cooked but still soft, about three minutes. Add thyme, parsley, bay leaf, pepper, and simmer until parsley wilts, about five minutes more. Whisk in butter, then season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf before serving. Enjoy!
