Debra Gaffney is an acupuncture physician practicing in the DeLand, Florida area.  She is the author of : Sensitivities: The Subtle Cause of Suffering, the Hidden Cause of Disease. Below Debra shares her perspecitive for healing and health in the new year. The first article is for a simple detox program that will help to get your body back in balance.  The second contains tips and information for supporting your body throughout the winter months. For more information about Debra, and her book visit her website: www.acudebra.com.

 A Simple/Easy Detox

Now that the holidays are over you may be asking yourself “Why do I push myself so hard?"  Or you promised yourself you wouldn’t overeat or sample everything that passed your way these last 6 weeks, but you did – so now it’s time to recuperate and “fix” your body.

One of the best ways to start the New Year is with a “fast” of some kind….to eliminate any toxins that may have built up from a few "indulgences" as well as to give you body a chance to take it easy for a few days.  I’m not in favor of the traditional fast of just water for 3 days, or anything radical like this.  You still have to get up every day and live your life.  But there is a simple and healthy way to do it

All you need are the ingredients listed here and a Crockpot.  Pour in 2 bottles of low sodium vegetable juice. Add 1 package of low sodium vegetable, chicken, or beef broth.  Now the vegetables (remember them – the colorful stuff not made with flour, sugar, or fat!)  Frozen is great (they are actually picked at the height of the season and frozen as soon as possible, sometimes that day).  If you have access to good local winter veggies and/or organic – do it!!  Add whatever you like – and maybe one or 2 you haven’t tried or don’t really care for – remember it is only for 3 days – GROW, STRETCH, CHANGE – it’s a NEW YEAR!!!!  Kale is inexpensive, sweet, tasty, and loaded with wonderful nutrients needed to get you through the winter months and is easy to find at the store – raw.  Squash comes frozen or cubed in your fresh veggie section.  Add lots of onions – all colors.  Garlic – try fresh – if not, the stuff in the jar will do, use lots!!!!!  Tomatoes (canned is ok) – high in lycopene.  Green beans, carrots, spinach.  Raw beets will help the “detox” procedure.  I use Oregano for the flavor and for its healthy benefits – it also gives this soup an “Italian” flavor.  You can add more broth or juice if you have a really big crock pot.  Then plug it in and 6 hours later your home smells sooooooo good.
 
You want to eat six cups a day for 3 days so split this up in 3 to 6 “meals.”  Feel free to also eat raw or cooked veggies, too.  And yes you can eat soup for breakfast.  If you have trouble getting started in the morning eat 1 egg – cooked any way – without butter.  No bread!!!!!!!!  Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.  If you experience a detox headache drink more water or do whatever you need to do to get rid of it – napping helps if you can.   After the third day start by adding another egg and some chicken or fish with 6 servings of veggies and 2 servings of fruit, 14 nuts or ¼ cup of sunflower seeds.  Notice what’s missing??? That’s right – bread, cereals, pasta, rice, and anything else that has flour or grains in it.

If you're asking where’s the coffee – if you really, really have to,  have 1 cup in the morning – or try an herbal tea – some have caffeine – not a lot – but enough to keep you from major withdrawals.  NO SODA!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Take your vitamins as usual.

 If you can stick to this plan for 3 weeks you will see a big difference in your energy levels and sleep.  If you are under a doctor’s orders not to eat vegetables, allergic, or diabetic – by all means follow the doctor’s orders. 

Good nutrition is simple and doesn't need to be complicated! – you can start slow and you will still make dramatic changes in your life and the lives of your loved ones.  It’s a New Year – a New Day - and you can have a New View on life!!   Debra Gaffney A.P.

Winter is the Season of the Kidney Meridian

In Oriental Medicine one of the systms we work with is the Meridian System.  There are 14 Meridians in the body; they are also called Channels or Pathways.  Pretend you are a Christmas tree.  You have 14 strands of lights; if your lights are on, some are slow moving, some move fast and maybe some of your lights aren’t even on!  The same thing can happen with the meridians in the body.  And because these Meridians correspond with body functions, this can lead to health problems. 

The Kidney and Bladder Meridiasn correspond with the winter season, and include the Kidney, Bladder, Liver, Gall Bladder, Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, Triple Warmer, Stomach, Spleen, Lung and Large Intestine.  They work with your kidneys, bladder, joints, feet, nerves, teeth, brain, spine, ears, memory, head hair, and part of the reproduction system. The colors blue/black is involved in the Kidney/Bladder Meridian as are the flavor of salt, the time of day is 3-7 p.m.  The emotion is anxiety and fear. The Bladder Meridian starts around your eyes and moves down your back, down the back of your legs onto the outside of your foot to your little toe.  The Kidney Meridian starts on the bottom of your foot right after the pad below your toes, almost to the arch (called Kidney 1), up the inside of your leg, up your torso close to your belly button, up to your clavicle area and stops.

The cold, dark and sometimes damp season is bad for our joints and back problems.  There are more earaches in the winter also.  Cold weather causes some people to urinate more frequently.  Cold and damp makes Qi get stuck and that causes stiffness, aches, and pains. We call this “stagnation.”  Rubbing your back, using moist heat and Acupuncture all help release your Qi so it can move freely.   Rubbing the inside of your ankles up the inside of your legs and the back of your legs will also help move Qi.  Those are parts of the Kidney/Bladder Meridians.

Here are some tips to help you through the winter season:

• Your spine is made up of “joints.”  Cold and damp affects your back.Place your hands on your back just below your waist.  Your kidneys are here. Gently run this area up toward your back muscles. Keep this area warm day and night. . Do this daily – more than once if you have aches and pains there.  
• I believe one of the most important Acupoints on the body is the first one on the Kidney Meridian (K1).  You can stimulate this point by placing the big toe of the opposite foot on it and rub.  You can do both feet.  You can rub these spots for 30 seconds at a time.  Early evening is a great time for this because it’s the strongest time of day for the Kidney and Bladder Meridians. Hot showers and moist heat packs are beneficial. 
• During the winter season we tend to crave hot soups and beverages. Over thousands of years our bodies and brains have figured out what helps us to survive.  In Oriental Medicine foods have an energetic property.  Foods can be cold in nature but served hot like tea or tomatoes.  Or they can be hot or warm in nature and served cold like wine and green onions. (For more information please refer to my book, Sensitivities: The Subtle Cause of Suffering, the Hidden Cause of Disease or Unleashing the Power of Food by FaXiang Hou.)
• Coffee is warm in nature and tea is cold.  It is better to drink a hot cup of coffee (decaf, too) to warm you up if you have a chill.  Ginger tea is warm (it’s not black tea) and is a good choice.
• Food also has flavors.  In the winter we must need more salt because that is the flavor of the Kidney Meridian.  All foods have some salt in them and use extra salt in reason. A food does not have to taste salty to be salty in nature. Some winter foods are crabs, artichokes, barley, clams, millet, oysters, and seaweed.  Other good winter foods are cinnamon, watermelon, lettuce, onions, black sesame seeds, caraway, chestnuts, carrots, chicken eggs yolks, dill seeds, kidney beans, mangos, string beans, mangos, star fruit, tangerines, walnuts, and sweet potatoes.
• Eating these foods, herbs, nuts, and seeds can strengthen the Kidney/Bladder Meridians.  Try to eat a variety of the foods daily.  Eating the same foods day in and day out can trigger a sensitivity reaction.  Cooking the food is better than raw food if at all possible if you have a weakened system.
• Winter is a good time to look inward, to write up new goals, plan your year and stay warm.

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