Archives
Categories
- Almond Milk
- Big Pharma
- Cancer
- Corn Syrup
- Death and dying
- DO NOT's
- Electric Cars
- Evidence
- Food Additives
- General Life
- GMO
- Good Reads
- Grass Fed Cattle
- Hard and Fasts
- Heart Health
- Humor
- Immunity
- Juicing
- Meat / Animal rights
- Nutrition
- Pain/ Pain management
- Pet Health
- Raw meat for dogs
- Recipes
- Running
- Shoes
- Swine Flu
- Uncategorized
- Videos
- Vitamin D
- We Are What We Eat Video
- Weight Management
- Western Medicine
- Women
- Words of Wisdom
Blogroll
If this were about an herb…
….it would have a very different conclusion.
This article talks about the popular antibiotic, commonly known as the Z-pac. It seems to have a relationship to heart complications in certain people (those with heart issues), with potential for mortality.
“Any antibiotic is going to have risks and benefits,” Dr. Ray said. “We think this is an important piece of information about risks.”
Last year global sales of Z-pac were 1.8 billion. BILLION.
If this were about an herb, the herb would have been made illegal, like, yesterday.
Posted in Big Pharma, Evidence, Heart Health, Western Medicine
Leave a comment
Medical Doctors Performing Acupuncture
My training in Chinese Medicine took 6 years. Two years of undergraduate study, and four years at YoSan University in their Masters program. Actually, it wasn’t 4 years as in the traditional “summer’s off” model- this was year round 13-20 units per semester training.
Yet, MD’s can take a two weekend course, and perform what is called “Medical Acupuncture”. I’m all for MD’s doing acupuncture- I think it’s brilliant! However, what they are doing after taking these abbreviated (to say the least) courses is about as similar to what I’m doing as a bicycle is to a Ferrari.
I just read a great article about this very topic. Conveniently, it’s written by an MD, Dr. Marilyn Walkey. An MD who took the abbreviated Medical Acupuncture course, called BS on it, and then took full training at a Chinese Medicine college in Oregon. In her article she states;
“We in the acupuncture field are at a crossroads. We can condone physicians doing acupuncture under-trained, unsupervised, unevaluated in terms of competency, or we can strive to raise the standard. I feel strongly that this is a public health issue. I feel strongly that allowing medical doctors with minimal training & without oversight by a non-professional organization is a dangerous and foolhardy policy. I’d like to respectfully remind you that we are talking here about a healthcare profession; we are talking about peoples’ health & well-being; we cannot afford to have a double standard. The general public deserves parity in licensing so that competency can be maintained.”
It’s all medicine. Western medicine, Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine…these are all global medicines which have been thoroughly researched, documented, and implemented with the sole purpose of healing those who are suffering. To allow a practitioner of conventional (Western) medicine to glibly take a rudimentary course of a scientifically proven, intricate, time tested medicine is offensive and rude, not to mention dangerous. As am acupuncturist, my malpractice insurance is at a low cost. Why? It’s not risky when performed by a trained professional. However, it is in danger of rising. Why? Because MD’s practicing “Medical Acupuncture” are puncturing patients lungs.
Here is the link to her article in full. It’s excellent.
Abbreviated Courses In Acupuncture For Physicians Pose A Serious Problem
Posted in Western Medicine
Leave a comment
From the mouths of our Grandmothers
I am so happy to have been shown this interview by Vedana Shiva on the hot topic of seed saving, Monsanto, farmer suicide, Genetic Engineering, and so much more. She is so clear, and says so much by saying so little. Please take 17 minutes of your life to educate yourself about a critical, life altering current issue!
The interview was taken on 16th March 2011, during “Grandmother’s University” a three day course at Navdanya Biodiversity Farm (http://www.navdanya.org/) at Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India which Dr. Vandana Shiva founded in 1987 to help save traditional seeds. The farm also undertakes research and training, along with the important role of distributing native seeds to farmers in the region.
Vandana Shiva on GMO, Monsanto, and Seed Saving
And here is another video, a 3 minute clip for a documentary by the scientists who have worked for Monsanto. I really don’t know how we can stop this…but we have to be aware.
Posted in General Life, GMO, Nutrition
Leave a comment
Homemade Food for Our 4-legged Companions (aka The Story of Violet)
I get so many requests to share how I got into feeding home made food to my dog Violet, and how I actually do it. In the beginning it was a bit of a complicated routine, but over the years I figured out what parts of the process I could let go of and still have a happy healthy dog. *This article is long, so if you are just curious about what I feed her just scroll to the bottom*
This topic is so near and dear to my heart. Mostly because the star of the show is my beloved canine BFF Violet, and also because elaborating on the concept that food IS medicine is a passion of mine.
I am going to take this article as an opportunity to also share the story of Violet and me. It’s a very special story, one I wanted to write before she wasn’t actually lying next me as I wrote it. You see, Violet is 21 years old. I credit her longevity (not only her longevity, but how WELL she has aged) to her diet by about 90%. The other 10% is a combination of her genetics, being terribly spoiled, and her own amazing spirit. She very dedicated to her job (me), and has been my constant shadow for the past 15 years.
Beautiful Violet, after eating her dinner! I believe she is 12 in this picture. Perfect teeth, vision, hearing. Still very athletic, chasing the tennis ball and wrestling with other dogs.
Posted in General Life, Pet Health, Raw meat for dogs, Uncategorized
Leave a comment
This is perfect…
“People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.”
Posted in General Life, Nutrition, Uncategorized
1 Comment
Women, Food, and God
I just watched this beautiful video of the author of Women, Food, and God, Geneen Roth, reading an excerpt from her book.
It is very loving, very poignant, and very true. I don’t think there is much more I need to say, other than enjoy.
Posted in General Life, Good Reads, Videos, Weight Management, Women
Leave a comment
Be afraid- but do it anyway
If you are my friend, a family member of mine, or a patient, you have probably heard me say the above statement. It’s the motto I strive to live my life by, and it has served me well. It is not always (often) a comfortable motto, nor is it (seemingly ever) an easy one.
But it’s effective.
Be afraid, but do it anyway.
It’s the reason I went to graduate school. It’s why I chose to train in yoga with a very intense, very intelligent, very intimidating teacher who broke me through my glass ceiling daily. It’s why I got married, why I ride horses, why I opened my own practice right out of grad school. It’s why I expanded my practice into the next suite over without knowing why (turns out it was because I was soon blessed with an extremely talented chiropractor to share the extra space with). It’s why I feed my dog raw meat and cooked veggies, which is why she is about to enter her 21st year on this planet happy and healthy. It’s why I began training in herbal medicine with a doctor who can run circles around me simply by inhaling and exhaling.
And after all this time of living my motto, what can I say? It gets easier. Well, more like it gets quicker, more succinct. More elegant. Less sobbing and screaming, more “oh, I’ve been here before…I recognize that tree…”. It’s nice.
Which leads me to what I really wanted to share, Neil Gaimans’ New Year 2012 wish for us all. It seems I have a kindred spirit out there.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
Source: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html
Posted in General Life
Leave a comment
Everybody Hurts…
A colleague of mine, Jason Moskovitz, wrote a short and elegant article about the experience of pain. I am linking you to it, as I really couldn’t have written it better myself.
Here is an important excerpt from the article:
“In an era where we have our own living space, our own car, our own schedule, the idea of community seems almost antiquated. We’re left to sift through our own pain, making it very easy to believe we are alone in our suffering, which only serves to compound our pain. These days, community has been replaced with the social network. We, sitting behind our own computers, select digitally who are our own friends, and become digitally oblivious to our pain.
It’s time to let go, to disown what we own. Cast off the idea that our environment would rather have us deal with our own problems by ourselves in the confines of our own life. Release into a world knowing that everyone is in pain. Everyone. And that this is normal.”
Posted in General Life, Pain/ Pain management
Leave a comment