Acupuncture
Which Sparkling Waters are Safe?
I don’t know many adults who don’t love sparkling water. I don’t know whether bubbles are having a generational popularity surge, or I’ve just reached that age where friends are enjoying it as a preferable vice in lieu of soda, beer, or other intoxicants we’ve all but ditched for better health. I’m pretty sure it’s both factors, and especially ever since the quieter life of parenthood and middle age, my wife and I both anticipate with great pleasure, our respective “sparklings” once our toddler is finally asleep for the night.
First, the obvious: Is sparkling water healthy?
Yes and no. My teacher, Dr. Suzanne Robidoux, suggests that people who gravitate incessantly to sparkling water probably suffer with a great deal of dampness in their stomachs. The carbonation causes gases to move, which helps to temporarily dissolve the dampness, and beyond being delicious, they feel better. Take note of what you’re eating when you have a strong craving for these gases—it is probably a damp-causing food. Conversely, people who feel bloated or uncomfortable in drinking the bubbles probably suffer with a “dry stomach,” one that is lacking in healthy fluids and/or digestive acids, and can’t handle the gases as well.
This informs us that (the gases in) sparkling water has a drying effect, which is not the worst thing if taken in moderation, but if over-indulged in over time, can have deleterious effects. Let’s be honest: Nobody actually believes these often flavored, commercial sparkling waters could possibly be as clean and neutral for our organs as plain, room temperature water, right? My opinion is as long as we limit ourselves to 1-2/day and are additionally giving to our bodies plenty of plain, clear water, we should be fine.
With that said, there are recent reports that many sparkling waters are laden with PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are manmade chemicals that have been around only since the 1940’s. Nicknamed, “forever chemicals,” they are thought to not break down in the human body and accumulate over time, potentially causing a wide array of serious diseases. These chemicals are found on non-stick pans as well as pizza boxes, as if the white bread, mozzarella, and inorganic (nightshade) tomato sauce wasn’t inflammatory enough.
Knowledge is power, and fortunately these same recent reports have informed us of which major companies’ waters tested positive for such chemicals, and which tested negative. Apparently, brands to avoid include Perrier, La Croix, Poland Spring, Bubly, Polar, and Topo Chico, once topping the charts with levels of 9.76! So, if you go to a Mexican restaurant, you’re probably better off with tequila than a fresh bottle of Topo Chico water.
Safe brands include Spindrift (which uses real fruit to flavor!), Mountain Valley (which has previously been ranked the cleanest water in the country, bubbles or not), Pellegrino (the classic!), Waterloo, and Sound.
I would post a link to some of the articles I referenced to get this information, but there are so many that are so easy to search online. I recommend doing so if you love your daily bubbles and wish to read more. Hope all are enjoying the summer!
Acupuncture: A Gentle Touch in the Fight Against Cancer
Hearing you’ve been diagnosed with cancer can feel like getting run over by a freight train. It can be overwhelming to learn about the prognosis, treatment options, and what to expect as you begin the journey that will hopefully lead to a full recovery.
The aggressive treatments, often including chemotherapy and radiation, can leave patients feeling drained and in constant pain. What many people don’t realize is that acupuncture can be a great source of hope as it helps bring physical relief to many of the symptoms caused by traditional cancer treatments. continue reading
Tom Brady & Nightshade Vegetables
If he isn’t universally considered the greatest football player of all time, he’s at least objectively the most successful. Supposedly, one of Tom Brady’s secrets to success was an extremely strict diet, which was about 80% plant-based, organic, paleolithic, with abstinence from sugar, alcohol, soy, condiments, frozen foods, gluten, and nightshade vegetables.
Nightshade vegetables include white potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and bell peppers, and although all of these contain nutrients, they also contain a compound called solanine, a natural pesticide that can be toxic in high concentrations. People with irritable bowel, autoimmune, and/or arthritic conditions can be more vulnerable to solanine’s adverse effects—in Chinese medical terms, it creates dampness, or inflammation in the gut, which gets sent “outwards” to our joints. As someone who has battled gout disease off and on for twenty years, I’ve recently decided to experiment with nightshade abstinence. When it comes to self-experimentation, I generally recommend and adhere to the rule of the life cycle of a red blood cell, which is 120 days, or about four months, so I’ll let you know how things are when I reach the finish line.
Potatoes are an easy workaround, since sweet potatoes are safe, not to mention healthier overall, and delicious. I’ll miss French fries, but I’m an adult, and let’s be honest, they’re probably one of the worst things we can possibly eat. Eggplant and peppers are generally easy to avoid, but tomatoes will be tough. I love sauce and meatballs, not to mention a good caprese salad as we approach the season, however I do not love any of these things as much as I do my internal organs. Potential workarounds in said Italian realm are sauceless meatballs (+olive oil), pesto sauces, or garlic and oil primaveras, the latter of which sans peppers of course.
In playing with diet, I’ve found the same benefit I once did when imposing creative restrictions on myself as a comedian many years ago. For example, at one point I chose to not do or write any jokes about race anymore, simply because they’d become so ubiquitous and hacky on the circuit. I got so bored of hearing them that I couldn’t bring myself to perpetuate the problem, no matter how unique I thought a particular idea of mine was. By “censoring” myself in this way I think I became a superior writer, forced to think harder and write more imaginatively. Similarly, when we omit certain foods from our diet, we might be forced to broaden our horizons (just use Google!), expand our minds and at-home menus, and probably discover new foods that we love, and more importantly love us in return.
If you suffer from any chronic joint pain, autoimmune, or intestinal condition I would invite you to join in my self-experiment and see how your body feels. You/we don’t have to commit to forever. Just four months to intelligently reassess. If you prefer to wait until after tomato season you can enjoy throughout the summer, begin after Labor Day, and resume nightshade indulgences again for the winter holidays. As humans go, it seems the second most common time of year to clean up our acts after New Year’s is the end of summer, in the wake of vacations, ballgames, beers, and barbeques.
None of us can become Tom Brady on the football field, but it would be nice if our internal organs and systems could be as close as possible to the Tom Brady’s of our bodies. As we weaken with age, I believe the most logical antidote is strength in discipline, in hopes of maximizing physical freedom through restrictions or subtraction. Less is more, as they say, a fine maxim to default to under the spell of American food.
These Longest Days of the Year
Welcome to the Tai Yang time of year. Say that three times fast, and maybe add “Thank You,” to complete the trifecta, TYTYTY! “Tai Yang” means the most yang, as we enter the longest days of the year, leading up to the summer solstice next week, at which time days will begin to very gradually, grow shorter.
Until that time we might be more vulnerable to “yang pathogens,” exemplified by inflammatory heat and/or “external invasions,” which is probably why we see a minor uptick in Covid cases around this time each year, despite the warm weather which should mitigate such spread. More common are the former, symptoms of “heat rising,” a la insomnia, anxiety, palpitations, acid reflux, constipation, headaches, and ANGER!!! If you’ve noticed an exacerbation in any such signs within yourself, rest assured, it is normal for the time of year and relatively wane after June 21st. If it doesn’t, see a doctor, and/or myself.
Some of the things we can do to cool excessive yang rising include green tea in the mornings (after breakfast), then peppermint or chrysanthemum teas at night, snacking on watermelon, cucumbers, and celery, and minimizing spicy foods and alcohol. Most importantly, sweat!
In Chinese medicine we treat most “Tai Yang disease,” or viral pathogens through moderate sweating—underscore moderate for you high intensity athletes—and as the weather now is increasingly humid to begin with, it is important to sweat, just a bit every day.
The Tai Yang time of day is mid-day, around noon, which makes that window optimum for exercise—although as I often advise my busy patients, the truly best time to exercise is whenever you have time. ‘Tis better to do imperfectly than not do at all.
Although I am admittedly a slave to air conditioning for sleep, it is obviously manmade, unnatural, and ultimately not physiologically (or environmentally) beneficial. In the humid climate of summer, the contrived cold air traps pathogenic fluids at the exterior, or “Tai Yang layer” of the body, thereby exacerbating local inflammation, often inducing skin/joint conditions, and compromising immune function. I recommend using it as minimally as possible and/or wearing a scarf or long-sleeves while in offices or public transportation that insist on killing us slowly. And spend as much time outdoors as possible. We are all too deprived of it these days.
Happy Father’s Day!
Benefits of Working with Allied Practitioners
How your acupuncturist can build bridges among your health care team.
Let’s see if we can set the scene of something remarkable, something that could become the future of healthcare. Picture yourself walking into a doctor’s office or health clinic looking for relief from your debilitating chronic pain. The nurse calls your name and leads you into a serene treatment room. As you settle onto the examination table, the door opens and you are greeted by not just the familiar face of your acupuncturist, but also by a team of allied practitioners working in harmony to address your health concerns. continue reading
