Did you know ….. you can help reduce your stress by what you eat?

Written by Chelsey

Last week we talked about stress. We all feel it, we broke down the basic mechanisms of the nervous system in relation to stress and we talked about a couple lifestyle choices to help combat it! Today, let’s explore some ways to eat to beat stress.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids also known as DHA and EPA

Stress can increase inflammation in the body (remember the sympathetic nervous system and the hormone cortisol - stress triggers the release of cortisol and keeps the body in hyper alert mode). Omega 3s reduce cortisol levels which curbs inflammation and improves our health. Find it in: anchovies, sardines, herring, salmon and trout. If fish isn’t your thing - try a supplement or a plant based option!

B Vitamins especially B12

Diets that lack these nutrients are connected to stress and anxiety. When the body is stressed, it consumes more of these must have nutrients for the nervous system. Do you have irritability? Depression? Fatigue? Increasing your B vitamin in take could help.  Find it in: animal products including fish, meat, eggs and milk products. If you have a plant based diet, B12 isn’t present in plant based foods so you have to find it in fortified foods and supplements. 

Magnesium

Like B vitamins, stress depletes magnesium levels. Did you know that magnesium is responsible for over 300 cellular functions in the body? Between the body’s high need for this and a magnesium deficient diets, this is something to pay attention to! Find it in: leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes and whole grains. Supplements are another way to get the daily dose but be cautious, high doses often result in diarrhea that can accompanied by nausea and abdominal cramping.

Healthy Carbs

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for happiness and wellbeing. Carbohydrates can boost serotonin in the brain. Complex carbs like whole grains and vegetables (I’m sorry simple carbs like sugar and syrups don’t make the cut!) boost levels of serotonin by making the amino acid tryptophan more available in the brain. Find it in: brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, potatoes. 

Fermented Foods

Did you know that the gut bacteria produce about 95% of the body’s serotonin supply? So if the gut is healthy, the brain is happy! To keep the guy healthy, probiotics are a friendly bacteria that help reduce stress and cortisol levels. Fermented foods such as yogurt (look for low sugar options, yogurt hides high sugar content!), kombucha, kefir, miso, pickles, tempeh and sauerkraut contain probiotics. 

Lastly, monitor your caffeine consumption. Caffeine has a big impact on the nervous system and can elevate cortisol levels, exacerbating the effects of stress on the body. Pay attention to how your body responds to caffeine and experiment with the amount you consume. 

Next time we will share some recipes that include these nutrients to beat stress. Eat your way to calm and be well!

Hey friends! Dr. Lorena here 🙋🏽‍♀️ I wanted to link the multivitamins I take that include Omega 3s, B12 and so much more. They are affordable and convenient: https://share.ritual.com/x/4CwmaZ Try them out!

Acupuncture Trick or Treatments

Howdy Friends!

I hope you’re amazing! In this months blog post I am talking about all the conditions acupuncture can help with. We had a glimpse last blog on how acupuncture works and how it can treat the body as a whole system. Let’s go more in detail with what it treats and how.

As we discussed on the last blog Chinese Medicine views the body’s ailments as stagnation of blood and energy. Therefore the goal of acupuncture is to move the blood and energy. I will give a generalization of conditions and how acupuncture can help to treat those conditions.

Sleeping Issues our goal is to increase blood flow to the brain to calm the mind helping to fall asleep and stay asleep. 

Emotional conditions may include grief, depression, worry, over-thinking, stress, anger, irritability, fear and insecurity. The goal is the same with sleeping to increase blood flow to the brain to calm the mind. 

Pain may include arthritis, neuropathy, sports injuries, back pain, neck pain, etc. The goal will be to move blood and decrease inflammation. Acupuncture is great for moving out inflammation and improve the healing processes of the body.

Digestive disorders include constipation, gas, bloating, abdominal distention, pain, loose stools, diarrhea, heart burn, acid reflux, and decreased/increased appetite. Many times we have an increased amount of heat or cold in our body that is creating digestive issues. Our goal will be to strengthen the stomach’s function and increase nourishment. I like give patients diet recommendations for clearing heat or cold in the stomach. 

Common cold may include cough, sore throat, sneezing, etc. Acupuncture can help support the healing process and speed up recovery time from sickness. 

Female issues may include menstrual cramping, PMS, irregular blood flow, hot flashes, night sweats, and low libido. Many times female issues can stem from a blood or energy stagnation or deficiency in blood or energy production. The goal would be to clear the stagnation and/or support blood production in the body. 

Headaches & Migraines this may include chronic or acute issues with headaches. Pain as we discussed before can be addressed with moving out the stagnation or increase blood production. 

Weight loss/gain this can include eating disorders, uncontrollable cravings and obesity. The goal with acupuncture will be to strengthen your digestive function and any other misalignment that may be hindering the bodies proper function. The patients homework will be to monitor diet and home exercise routine. 

Other conditions we can help with would include diabetes, high blood pressure. bi-polar, PTSD, addiction,  asthma, seasonal allergies, and so much more. 

Back to Basics -Acupuncture

Hello friends!

I hope you had a great month! In this months blog post I wanted to take it back to the basics. I find myself talking to my patients about the same information and I wanted to share it. I feel its very helpful to understand how we look at the body in Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

When we are healthy the blood and energy (Qi) flows throughout our body naturally and normally. When we have an injury, accident, emotional event or even sitting/standing in the same position every day, Chinese medicine can observe this as an interruption in blood and energy circulation throughout the body. This interruption is called a Qi or blood stagnation. The goal with acupuncture is to use the needles to increase circulation in the body and remove the stagnation. 

With the advancement in technology we can now demonstrate with magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, and/or positron emission tomography, PET, scans what happens to the body when an acupuncture needle is inserted. The scans are showing that inserting the needles into certain points on the body triggers to the brain that a micro-trauma has occurred. This trigger activates an increase in blood flow to the insertion site of the needle. Therefore by inserting needles into certain points on the body we can increase circulation and remove the stagnations. 

The Chinese medicine diagnosis method can simply be explained as patterns. We ask the patient about symptoms they are experiencing and then categorize these symptoms into a Chinese medicine pattern. Then we use acupuncture points that are known to benefit the specific pattern for treatment. 

Is this starting to sound confusing? Let me give you an example.  One of the most common patterns in our culture today is called Spleen Qi Deficiency. Understand when we talk about organs in Chinese medicine we have a different interpretation of the organ’s function than the traditional western medicine interpretation. Spleen Qi Deficiency pattern symptoms include fatigue, worry, overthinking, heaviness sensation, craving sweets, poor appetite, loose stools, difficulty waking up in the morning, sore muscles and a pale tongue. The person may not experience all the symptoms but recognizing the pattern with a few symptoms can help the practitioner choose which acupuncture points to use. 

In my clinic, my passion is drawn towards treating the underlying emotional pattern. Last year I wrote my thesis on the neurological connection between pain and emotions. Writing this paper helped me to understand on a deeper level the impact our emotions have on our body and vice versa how our pain impacts our emotional state of mind. Recognizing the impact of stress and emotions that a person may be dealing with can be extremely helpful in the healing process.

My goal with treating emotions is to increase blood production and circulation. When we increase blood circulation throughout the body this can increase blood flow to the brain. Increased blood circulation to the brain can calm the mind and help us fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night. When our digestive system is working properly we extract the nutrients from our food that are necessary to make blood. That combined with a good nights rest can support the regeneration of blood. Having fresh new blood production each night can translate to increased energy and improved appetite the next day. Increased blood in the system can also move out stagnations in the body that may be causing pain or discomfort.

As you can see Chinese medicine looks at the body as a whole system so we can heal entirely. Do you experience any of these symptoms? I am so happy to share this medicine with you. Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to sharing more next month! Thank you for reading my blog!

My 2018! 💫

Hey friends! 

Wow I haven’t written a blog post in a while. I want to tell you all about my 2018. It was such an exciting year for me. I love sharing about me and hearing all about you. I truly believe when we connect with each other it creates comfort and calmness. When we are comfortable with the people surrounding us this can allow us to be more open with each other. To be straight forward I am asking about your poops and periods, and I want you to feel comfortable talking to me about the crap 💩 (literally 😉 ). 

If you are new to me or my business I want to extend a warm welcome! Howdy! Thank you for reading this! My name is Lorena and Madrid Acupuncture is my baby, my pride and joy, my business. I worked as a massage therapist before I decided to become an acupuncturist. I love my job so so much! If you have never heard of acupuncture let me tell you about that too! Acupuncture can be very intimidating. The unknown always seems to be a little daunting. Acupuncture originated in China more than two thousand years ago. It’s another form of medicine using small teeny tiny little needles (that don’t hurt) to regulate the circulation throughout the body. Acupuncture looks at the body as a whole system therefore I ask about everything!  We look at the imbalance between emotions, digestion, sleep and then of course any physical ailments that may arise. You're always more than welcome to skip over any questions that you don’t want to talk about. I get it. 

Any who, let’s go back to 2018. If you don’t know I love to travel! I finally got my passport in 2018. The first big trip was to Tulum, Mexico to learn Spanish. We visited the mayan ruins, Chichen Itza (Mayan Pyramids), and cenotes (natural caves).  I was immersed in Spanish for a week and I loved every minute. I have many patients that speak Spanish and my goal is to continue to learn mas y mas! Every year I visit my friend Rachael in Alaska and go salmon fishing. I love fishing in Colorado but after catching my first 20lb salmon in Alaska it's just not the same catching a little rainbow trout. I loved it so much and now I make it a tradition to go each year to stock up on salmon. In 2017, I went back to school for additional acupuncture education at Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. I would fly out one weekend per month for classes. Last year as a requirement for school we studied acupuncture in HangZhou, China. It was a life changing experience from the plane rides to the food, culture, history and of course learning more about acupuncture. In October, I traveled to Bali, Indonesia on a women’s empowerment retreat. It was absolutely incredible. I am in love with elephants! I collect them and have them all over my house and treatment room. I love them so much my business logo is an elephant. Guess what I did in Bali? Yup! Dream come true! I gave baby elephants a bath, fed them and rode on the momma elephant. It was extraordinary! I finished the year by receiving my Doctorate in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. 

Amazing year right? Like I said before, I want to share more of me! Connection to our fellow humans is so valuable. Surrounding ourselves with people that encourage us to be better and work harder. My goal is to continue to share more with you each month! I plan to choose further topics more health and acupuncture related. Please feel comfortable to ask me any questions. I am happy to answer and share. 

Benefits of Meditation

Science of silencing the mind

Meditation is an exercise that has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation is defined as engaging in thought, reflection or contemplation. The simple description would be to focus the mind on a particular element and keep your minds focus directed toward this element. The element may be breathing, a word, a goal, a dilemma, or even a feeling. The possibilities are limitless. Exercising meditation can be performed in different positions. One can sit or lie down, walk or swim. The goal is to calm the mind and train it to focus on the one element without distraction. The study of meditation is proving to be beneficial in an array of areas. Mediation can benefit the body, mind, relationships and communication amongst individuals. Scientific studies are confirming meditation can alter our body down to the cellular level. 

Forbes magazine published an article about meditation. The article describes the impact that meditation can have on our bodies. A Harvard study demonstrates what they define as “relaxation response.” The patient listened to a health CD for 15 minutes to create meditative state of mind aka “relaxation response.” This was an eight week long study. The patients had blood draws before and after the eight week treatment. The results were phenomenal. The study proved to lower blood pressure, calm anxiety, improve sleep and increase memory. On a molecular level the study also showed to “enhance gene expression associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, insulin secretion and telomere maintenance and reduced expression of gene related to inflammatory response and stress related pathways.” This simply means metabolism and energy can be influenced down to the cellular level. Insulin production can be impacted and inflammation can be reduced by simply meditating.  

Another article I read exhibits how meditation can effect an entire community. This article discusses the effects of a social experiment called the Maharishi Effect. The theory of the Maharishi Effect is that if 1% of the population meditates the entire city will be positively impacted. The logic behind the experiment is reported “that there is an underlying connection between individuals in much the same way that physics has uncovered greater unity beneath the diversity of matter and energy fields.” The more this “underlying field” is influenced the greater the impact on the community. In 1960 this experiment was practiced on a small town. One percent of the community practiced meditation and the crime rate dropped 16%. Then in 2007 the same experiment was conducted on a mass level. Researchers gathered 1% of the US population and performed the Maharishi Effect. The national average homicide rate from 2007-2010 dropped 21.2% and violent crime rate dropped 18.5%. The benefits of meditation are phenomenal and can impact the world. 

I recommend meditation, prayer, gardening, or even just deep breathing exercise as a daily practice for all my patients. 

Resources:

• Quora, contributor. (2017). The Effects Of Meditation On The Brain. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/05/15/the-effects-of-meditation-on-the-brain/#4cf0a3562ddb
• Bhasin MK, Dusek JA, Chang BH, Joseph MG, Denninger JW, et al. (2013) Relaxation Response Induces Temporal Transcriptome Changes in Energy Metabolism, Insulin Secretion and Inflammatory Pathways. PLOS ONE 8(5): e62817. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062817
• Author unknown. (2016). Study on the Maharishi Effect: Can group meditation lower crime rate and violence?. Transcendental Meditation news & more. Retrieved from: https://tmhome.com/benefits/study-maharishi-effect-group-meditation-crime-rate/
• Dictionary.com. (2018). Retrieved from: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/meditate

Insomnia

Sleep like a baby

Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated because you slept so good the night before? If your answer is no, well you’re not alone. 40 million Americans suffer from insomnia or some form of sleeping disorder. Whether you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep I can help you.

The use of acupuncture for the treatment of insomnia is becoming more and more popular because this preferred method has proven to be a very effective alternative for those wishing to avoid the addictive medications prescribed as sleep aides. Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine and has been around for thousands of years. Chinese medicine acknowledges the body as an integrated functioning entity encompassing the emotions, digestion as well as sleep. This holistic approach allows the practitioner to affect many areas of the body and improve the patient’s overall health; not just one symptom such as insomnia. It finds the root cause of imbalances and clears up any stagnation that may be causing the symptoms seen at the surface.

My goal is to get you sleeping better as soon as possible. A good night’s rest allows the body to regenerate and nourish the blood and tissues allowing the body to utilize energy efficiently in other areas including the digestive system. Many people have multiple symptoms other than insomnia including headaches, depression or irritability. When treating the body as a whole we can address all these symptoms together. Using acupuncture we will move the blood and energy and create a sense of calmness throughout your body. Nourishing the body and balancing your energy creates an avenue for the brain to relax and the mind to fall asleep peacefully.

Acupuncture is sometimes avoided because of the fear of needles. My priority is to help you feel relaxed and comfortable the entire visit. I will walk you through every step of the treatment process. If you experience any discomfort or anxiety I will change my approach to help you feel at ease. I encourage you to call and ask me questions about any fears, doubts or just for curiosity sake. Getting a good night’s rest is very crucial and necessary for your body to function optimally. Improved digestion and increased energy are results of a good night's rest.

 

Sleep better tonight!

 

• Try to get to bed by 10:30pm. Your bodies most beneficial sleep is between 11pm-1am.

• Stick to a nightly routine (read a book, take a bath, and go to sleep at the same time each night)

• Many tend to sleep better in a cool, dark and quiet room.

• Avoid caffeine and sugars 6 hours before bed.

• Exercise daily. Even if you just go for a walk. The increased blood flow will help you sleep better at night.

• Avoid bright lights 3 hours before bed. Many of us are guilty of watching TV or checking our phones before bed. Try to limit the amount of bright lights that you expose yourself to especially 1 hour before bed.  

Stress

Have you ever fallen in love? You get those nervous butterflies fluttering around in your stomach. It's an exciting, scary, anxious feeling all wrapped up in one little cocoon. How about this? Have you ever been pulled over by a police officer? Similar feeling right? Scared? Nervous? Your heart beats really fast? If your answer is yes then you have been influenced by stress. Stress is a necessary trait that all animals possess. It has been instilled in us for survival purposes against predators or danger. Our stress has evolved from keeping us safe from being someone's dinner to stressing over having the time to make or even eat dinner. Stress is traditionally perceived to be a negative response. I'm stressed about work, school, family; these are common “stressors” you hear or experience every day. How about the excitement of your child's first day of school? Or the day of your wedding? These are natural responses that we hardly think of as “stress” because it generally comes with a happy feeling. Stress plays a role in our life whether it be positive or negative. Many people are so consumed by negative stress that they hardly have time to observe the positive.

The consequences of negative stress generally materialize as headaches, insomnia, muscle tension, decreased energy, digestive issues, and menstrual issues. After years of prolonged issues heart disease, high blood pressure, weight gain, depression and even cancer can emerge as result of persistent stress. According to the American Psychological Association stress keeps more than 40% of adults lying awake at night.

Many of us find ourselves medicating this stress with unhealthy food, alcohol, tobacco or even marijuana. I have created a list of alternate methods to help treat and manage the adverse effects of negative stress. To learn more about stress management and how I can help please call my clinic and I will be happy to answer all of your questions.

Treat My Stress!

• Make time for enjoyable activities (go for a walk, garden, paint, read a good book)

Do not feel guilty about not giving attention to other responsibilities

Stay present with your activity

• Monitor your stress throughout the day. What triggers it? What thoughts and emotions do you have with it? Use a journal to track your stress and create a plan to address it. Whether it be prioritizing your daily commitments, asking for help from others to reduce the load or eliminating unnecessary tasks.

• Find a friend or family member that you can discuss your problems with. An outside perspective can sometimes help calm your uncertainties.

• Last but not least of course ACUPUNCTURE! Many studies have been conducted to show the benefits of acupuncture on stress. Acupuncture can help treat the many side effects of stress. Many people find that after a few treatments their stress is reduced and they are able to handle new conflicts more easily. Stress is often the root to many physical and emotional conditions. Many acupuncture patients will experience an overall feeling of relief in symptoms when solely focusing on treating their stress. Acupuncture provides a committed wellness routine to help keep the body balanced. As well as mental clarity in order to feel confident when one is faced with decision making. I will continue to explore the dynamics of stress in later blogs.

Here are some more interesting articles on stress:

http://www.pacificcollege.edu/news/blog/2014/06/03/chinese-medicine-eases-stress

http://acupunctureecology.com/stress-anxiety-and-depression/

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6007/10-Tips-to-Reduce-Stress-From-Chinese-Medicine.html

Resources:

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress.aspx