In this issue you will find:

• Important PCOM Dates
• Reducing Food Cravings with Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Flaxseed and Other Natural Remedies for Hot Flashes/Menopausal Symptoms
• Green Practices and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Chinese Wisdom: Quote of the Day

Important PCOM Dates

• June 1st: (Sunday)
  New York CEU, Gary Strauss: Clinical Energetics

• June 9th-10th: (Monday and Tuesday)
  San Francisco CEU, Giovanni Maciocia: The Pathology and Treatment of Dampness and Phlegm

• June 21st: (Saturday)
  Chicago Open House for All Programs

Reducing Food Cravings with Traditional Chinese Medicine

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 97.1 million adults are overweight, and 39.8 million of those people also meet the criteria for obesity. Even more disturbing is the fact that approximately 280,000 deaths and 39.3 million missed workdays are attributable to obesity each year. Health conditions that accompany obesity include high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gallstones and more.

Fortunately, the health community has recognized that weight control and healthy living are important issues that require immediate attention. Unfortunately, the result has been an excess of solutions. The number of diets on record has grown to such staggering proportions that people no longer know which ones are healthy and actually work. While Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight-loss products and services, the prevalence of obesity increased 61 percent between 1991 and 2000, according to a 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Those seeking an alternative to these fads and short-term solutions are turning to lifestyle changes that often include the use of acupuncture.

Acupuncture consists of the gentle insertion and stimulation of thin, disposable sterile needles at strategic points near the surface of the body. Over 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body connect with 14 major pathways, called meridians. Chinese medicine practitioners believe that these meridians conduct qi, or energy, between the surface of the body and internal organs. It is qi that regulates spiritual, emotional, mental and physical balance. When the flow of qi is disrupted through poor health habits or other circumstances, pain and/or disease can result.
READ MORE ...

Flaxseed and Other Natural Remedies for Hot Flashes and Menopausal Symptoms

by Alex A. Kecskes

Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings are just a few of the symptoms women in their 40’s and 50’s have suffered from menopause. New techniques like hormone replacement therapy have emerged as common remedies. But there are other natural remedies besides HRT (hormone replacement therapy) that can help control these symptoms.

A 2007 Mayo study showed that 21 women who consumed 40 grams of ground flaxseed daily had a significant decrease in the frequency and severity of their hot flashes. High in phytoestrogens (especially lignans), flaxseed can help minimize symptoms like hot flashes and prevent heavy bleeding. It’s also high in omega-3 acids, so it may help ease symptoms like breast tenderness, cramping, and other PMS-type discomforts.

Recent studies have found that soy can also help reduce hot flashes, as well as night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms. Rich in phytoestrogens, especially isoflavones, as well as omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, folic acid, iron, and other vitamins and minerals, soy offers a variety of health benefits for early menopause. Soy can help lower cholesterol -- which tends to rise when you enter premature menopause. It can also help lower triglycerides, which often rise when you take estrogen.
READ MORE ...

Green Practices and Traditional Chinese Medicine

By Steve Goodman

The philosophies of balance within the body, and between the physical self and the natural world are basic to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine and most naturopathic physicians. Many people, from political candidates to environmental activists, talk about “Going Green” today. As a patient or advocate of TCM, you will surely agree that taking steps to reduce the “toxicity” of your body and your own personal space is integral to your overall well-being. And by extrapolation, such practices will also help to bring balance and healing to the planet.

In the theory and practice of TCM, there are Five Elements that make up the material world: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. These elements are in constant movement and flux. Obviously then, the tenets of TCM would hold that humankind’s negative influence over these basic elements through pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and unbridled use of natural resources without restraint, disturbs the natural order of things  - in essence the world’s “qi,” or energy essence.
READ MORE ...

Chinese Wisdom: Quote of the Day

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.

~ Anonymous