Tom’s Too-Thick-To-Drink Fruit Smoothie

By

Too Thick to Drink Fruit Smoothie

As the title suggests, this smoothie is chock-full of fruit and added nutrients. The supporting players give the smoothie its body and complement the fruit flavors: you can actually taste the cherries and blueberries and banana separately. We make it so thick we use a spoon. The spoon will slow you down but gives the added benefit of allowing your body more time to absorb the gorgeousness of this anti-oxidant rich meal.

Please note: if a thick smoothie isn’t your thing, just add more (veggie) milk or juice to thin it out- you’ll still get the benefits and the yum body feel.

This smoothie is fantastic after a workout or as breakfast in the hot summer months. The additions are rough suggestions and change with what’s on hand, so feel free to add what you like best to make your own concoction.

 

Yields: 2 servings in 12 oz. glasses

Ingredients:

1 C blueberries (fresh or frozen)                               2 T Green Vibrance

1 C cherries (pitted fresh or frozen)                          2 tsps chia seeds (Mila)

2 bananas, ripened                                                2 tsps milled flax seeds

2 T coconut flakes                                                 2 tsps nutritional yeast

½ C soy, rice, or almond milk                                 2 tsps lecithin

½ C plain Greek yogurt, 0% fat

 

1.Slice bananas into a blender and add the milk liquid; puree until smooth.

2. Add the blueberries and cherries (Costco sells organic both) and puree or liquefy.

3. Add yogurt and all other ingredients and blend until everything is well incorporated.

4. Enjoy

 

Nutritional Notes:

The blueberries and cherries are full of antioxidants.

Green Vibrance is a green-based product made of powdered vegetables, fruit, and herbs- real food- to provide a whole host of nutrients and probiotics.

Chia and flax seeds contain high amounts of both Omega 3 and 6 from a plant source, which makes it more balanced, and trace amounts of minerals.

Nutritional yeast has a high percent of most of the B vitamins, and good amount of magnesium, both of which are highly beneficial to nervous system function.

Lecithin is a fat emulsifier and many claim its health benefits include reducing cholesterol, boosting liver function, fighting heart disease, and improving brain function, but we looked it up and the research to back these claims is inconclusive so far.

_____________________

At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted

 

Filed Under: All Things Food, Cooking Basics, Health Tips, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Auricular Acupuncture and the NADA Protocol

By

image courtesy of ACT: Shanghai College of Traditional Medicine

Recently, a new patient came in, wanting to quit smoking. After the initial intake conversation, the first treatment centered around the NADA protocol.

The NADA protocol is a set of 5 points that work together to soothe the nervous system and detoxify the body. This combination  make withdrawal symptoms easier to deal with. The NADA protocol may as likely be used if someone came in feeling “over-the-top”emotionally.

The NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) protocol is specifically used to help addictions and issues related to mental health, including disaster and emotional trauma disorders. It was developed in 1985 by Michael Smith, an acupuncturist and MD at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, and has spread world wide as an acupuncture system. NADA gives immediate relief that has a lasting effect and is further strengthened with subsequent treatments.

There is a larger system of auricular acupuncture that can be used for everything from physical injuries to endocrine disorders. Auricular acupuncture was developed by Paul Nogier in the 1950’s, and is based upon clinical research. Nogier drew a map of points on the surface of the ear locating muscles, joints, and organs. Subsequent practitioners have built upon his work, creating new maps that specify functions of the nervous, endocrine, and inflammatory and immune systems, as well as regions of the brain.

We use auricular acupuncture with body points, to complement the treatment on the body, or vice versa. We also use seeds and beads, applied at the end of the acupuncture session, to provide a low level of stimulation at the point site. These can be worn for days after the treatment.

For the patient who came in for help quitting smoking, we prescribed Chinese herbs and used other modalities, addressing the general constitution, health status, and emotional tendencies as well.

Most of us have tried to break a habit at one time or other. It’s a solitary journey that sometimes benefits from outside influences. Taking time and being patient with oneself make it possible to cross the threshold from having a habit to letting it go. It is said that nature abhors a vacuum, so be on the lookout for something engendering to take its place during the transition.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/auricular-acupuncture-and-the-nada-protocol

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: Conditions Treated, Integrative Medicine, Nourishing You, Stress Busters Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Insomnia

By

full_issuecomMarch 7-13 was National Sleep Awareness Week in advance of the Daylight Savings time change. In our practice, people frequently mention problems surrounding sleep, so we’re taking this opportunity to summarize the two approaches taken by western and eastern medicine in the treatment of sleep-related issues.

The Importance of Sleep

1. Sleep allows the body’s restorative metabolic processes to do their work.

2. The neutral position and inactivity of sleep allows the spinal discs to re-absorb fluid lost from the compression experienced throughout the day’s activities.

3. Sleep and the lack of sleep affects physiologic activity: immunity, the need for REM-cycle sleep, cardiovascular health, and psychiatric conditions are all subjects of ongoing research.

Insomnia….as defined by Western Medicine

Insomnia is characterized by having difficulty getting to sleep, or staying asleep, or waking up several times during sleep, or experiencing non-refreshing sleep for at least one month.

There are two types of insomnia: primary and secondary. Primary insomnia derives from an unknown physical or mental condition. Secondary insomnia may be psychological, physiological, learned, and/or chronic, and it may be caused by a medical condition such as depression or pain.

Along with the suggestion of lifestyle changes, sedating drugs are the primary treatment.

Insomnia….as defined by Eastern Medicine

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AOM) characterizes insomnia similarly, viewing it through the lens, for lack of a better expression, of body-mind-spirit. Insomnia is not treated as a disease condition, but as a symptom.

Regulating sleep and dietary habits are emphasized, and we have methods of sedation as well. Our extra arrow in the quiver is our ability to free constraint, using gentle measures.

In a nutshell, constraint is created in response to events, good or bad, experienced as an inner gripping. Once this gripping is let go, the individual can move forward, naturally transitioning the bound mental and/or physical holding to a general sense of ease.

Think of the last time a stranger cut you off in your car or walking on the street. While you didn’t do anything to deserve this behavior, you now have to deal with it. You can crash into each other, you can deflect it and avoid it altogether, or, most commonly, have to suddenly alter your trajectory in the blink of an eye. Most people are a little shocked by such minor events and shake them off quickly. However, multiply the number of external and internal stimuli and events needed to navigate through a typical workday, and we see a lot of anxiety and stress, headaches, digestive disorders, and on and on, piling up and compounding difficulties with sleep.

East and West Agree

Common sense is elusive when we’re sleep-deprived, so here is the list of lifestyle recommendations both medical paradigms suggest:

  • Avoid caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine after 1 pm
  • Don’t take naps during the day
  • Eat at regular times each day, and avoid large meals before bedtime
  • Exercise long before going to bed so that your nervous system has time to settle down
  • Keep on schedule: go to bed at the same time every night
  • Figure out comfortable sleeping conditions:
  1. How much do you want the window open?
  2. How many blankets do you like?
  • Use the bed only for sleep and sex
  • Wind down by reading or bathing before bedtime, versus television or computer viewing
  • If you can’t fall asleep within 30 minutes, get up and engage in quiet activity until you find yourself becoming sleepy
  • Remove the anxiety from focusing on not being able to fall asleep

Acupuncture has the ability to create subtle movement inside of you, freeing up what has been bound or grounding what has become unstable. Herbal formulas are immensely helpful in conjunction with acupuncture, and in our experience, we find difficulties surrounding sleep gradually evaporate in most cases.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/insomnia

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have over 30 years experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice at The Highlands Ranch Medical Pavilion in Littleton, Colorado.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

Filed Under: Conditions Treated, Integrative Medicine, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,