Coronavirus Quarantine: A Time to Purge

As the coronavirus quarantine restrictions continue, we all of a sudden find ourselves with free time on our hands… And a whole lot of it.

I’m as guilty as anyone for running my life at a thousand miles per hour. Days, weeks, months, even years seem to zoom past me, with me barely having enough time to glance out the window and take in the view. However, when people ask me what is new in my life… I often struggle to find an answer. So, how is it that we spend so much time buried in our routines of running around like lunatics… And yet, have very little to show for it?

Being quarantined is an opportunity to press the RESET button and really take focus of what’s important, and what we should purge from our lives. Here are some topics to consider: What can you stand to get rid of?

• Food & Beverages: During times of abundance, we might have a list of foods that we “can’t live without.” This may include chocolate, processed snacks, or alcoholic beverages. However, as we’ve been forced to really streamline our trips to the grocery stores (and ponder what happens in the event that grocery stores close), we’ve been forced to think about what we actually need in our fridge, freezer, and pantry. Maybe you’re going to the grocery store and are stocking up on chocolate (and toilet paper), or maybe you’re focusing on making sure you have access to vegetables, fruits, healthy grains, protein, and water.

• Clothing: Well, we always say that we’re going to spend time thinning out our closets, but either never get around to it, or think of reasons to hold onto an article of clothing that we haven’t worn in years. Yes, human beings are sentimental creatures, and thinning out our closets are hard! Maybe you wore a shirt on the first date with your significant other, but haven’t worn it since… Or you feel like there’s a “lucky” item in your closet, and if you get rid of it, your life will surely fall apart… Or you’re just holding on something because one day you might use it again. We all have excuses for holding onto things! But whenever I think about purging my closet, I think of my mother. On my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary, my mom’s best friend made her put on her wedding dress so that we could take family pictures. My mom was a good sport, we took the pictures, and then she quickly changed into something more comfortable. Shortly after, my parents sold their house and moved. My mom got rid of her wedding dress, as the lace was itchy and uncomfortable. Did my parents get divorced as a result? Did Mom’s life fall apart? Did she ever once regret her decision to move on from her wedding dress? To all of these questions, the answer is NO! So, if something is non-essential, get rid of it! It’s the Corona way! ;-)

• Daily Routine: Many of us think that we rely on some external comfort to get us through the day or week, including things like stopping for a cup of coffee on the way to work, going to the gym, frequenting a favorite bar or restaurant, or socializing with a group of friends. However, with the quarantine restrictions put in place, most of us are not going to work, socializing is prohibited, and gyms, bars, and restaurants are closed. So, we’re forced to find a way around these restrictions in order to maintain some sense of normalcy (and sanity)… Maybe we’re making coffee instead of going out for it, or we’re cooking more at home, or we’re spending more time with family, or we’re getting out in the fresh air to exercise. Take the time now to develop positive habits that you can continue to implement, even after the quarantine is over!

• Travel: Some of us say that we need to travel to quiet the “travel bug” that lives inside of us. I understand this, as I have family and friends spread all over the United States and I itch to travel around and see them. However, let’s try to reframe this, and be grateful that traveling is often an option. Feel guilt-free about missing the ability to travel right now, but when we are able to travel, let’s remember the time where we weren’t so that we can fully appreciate this luxury!

So, while we’ve all given up a lot during this unusual time… Try to take advantage of the things that you do have. Spend more time with the family members you live with, appreciate simple pleasures in life, allow yourself to rest GUILT-FREE, get out and smell the fresh air! And do all of this with an open, abundant heart.

Love!

Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System During the Flu & Coronavirus Season

There are many things that we can do… and not do… to help our immune and respiratory systems. By following these suggestions, we will be less at risk for developing diseases such as the common cold, flu, and Coronavirus.

• Reduce sugar intake. White and brown sugar causes our bodies to be more acidic, which assists the growth of bacteria. Synthetic sugar alternatives (such as Splenda) are damaging to the nervous system and should always be avoided. Instead, use natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, local honey, or coconut sugar.

• Gargle with salt water after brushing your teeth. This will help clean your mouth and decrease probability that a pathogen will be able to penetrate the body.

• Get a skin brush and start brushing your skin after you shower in the morning. This stimulates lymphatic circulation and increases energy and wellbeing. When you’re using this technique, always work towards the heart.

• Apply essential oils before going out in public. This can be done in the form of an anti-viral massage oil (applied to the chest, neck, and lower arm areas) or an anti-viral “perfume” (applied directly below your nostrils). During the bubonic plague in the middle ages, essential oils prevented those who wore essential oils daily from becoming ravaged by the pandemic. Mix essential oils together to create an essential oil blend and mix with a high-quality olive oil, apricot seed oil, or jojoba oil. There should be about 30 drops of essential oils per ounce. The following essential oils have proven to be most effective for the prevention and treatment of upper respiratory infections in early 2020:

  • Eucalyptus

  • Tea Tree

  • Niaouli

  • Lemon

  • Cinnamon Leaf

  • Clove

  • Rosemary

  • Thyme

  • Frankincense

  • Myrrh

• Swab inside nostrils with vinegar if you need to go out in public. During the 1938 smallpox epidemic in China, Chinese medicine practitioners successfully swabbed their nostrils with vinegar before seeing afflicted patients.

• Get plenty of sleep. Use this time of quarantine to rest! Spend more guilt-free time in bed. Being in a restful state is going to increase your body’s ability to heal. If your body is less burdened by chronic ailments, then your immune system will have more energy and support to prevent acute illnesses such as the common cold, flu, or Coronavirus.

• Use of Chinese herbs has been proven effective in the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus and SARS strains during the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China. Please get in touch with me if you’re interested in pursuing this path.

Coronavirus Diet

Eastern dietary therapy is one of the most powerful modalities within the Chinese medicine paradigm because you can implement changes on your own, with the correct guidance. In a time of chaos, there are few things that are as powerful as feeling like you have control over something.

In a recent blog post about Coronavirus from a Chinese medicine perspective, we learned that this virus primarily attacks the lung system, and is a damp pathogen in nature. From this information, we can match our diet to combat this pathogen. These dietary suggestions can be used for prevention or treatment of Coronavirus.

The basic dietary suggestions are that we want foods that expel pathogens and boost the immune system, which is our first line of defense; foods that transform dampness to prevent the cloying, sticky nature of COVID-19; and foods that specifically target and benefit the lung system.

Please keep in mind that these are general recommendations, and therefore some of the recommendations may not be beneficial to you. If you would like individualized suggestions, please get in touch.

• Note: The most beneficial recommendations are bolded.

Vegetables:

• Alfalfa Sprouts

• Artichoke

• Asparagus

• Burdock Root

• Carrots

• Chives

• Cilantro

• Collard Greens

• Cucumber (with peel)

• Daikon Radish

• Dandelion Greens — Found to be extremely effective inhibiting bacteria, virus, and fungus

• Garlic

• Jerusalem Artichoke

• Kale

• Lotus Root

• Mushroom (Button, Reishi, ganoderma, shiitake, black, white)

• Mustard Greens

• Onion, Leek

• Parsnip

• Pumpkin, Winter Squash

• Scallion (Green Onion)

• Seaweed

• Spinach

• Summer Squash, Zucchini

• Sweet Potato, Yam

• Turnip

• Water Chestnut

• Watercress

• Winter Melon

Fruits: Good for prevention and recovery phases of Coronavirus; Be cautious about consuming during initial/severe stage of COVID-19.

• Apple

• Apricot

• Avocado

• Banana

• Cherry

• Chinese Dates (Red or black jujube)

• Chinese Prune (more sour than sweet, regular prunes are also beneficial)

• Coconut

• Fig

• Goji Berry

• Hawthorn Berry

• Lemon, Limes

• Loquat

• Mango

• Mulberry

• Orange

• Papaya

• Peach

• Pear

• Persimmon

• Plum

• Pomegranate

• Strawberry

• Tangerine

Grains:

• Amaranth

• Barley

• Rice

• Spelt

• Wheat Bran

Beans & Legumes:

• Azuki Bean (Aduki, Red)

• Garbanzo Bean (Chickpea)

• Lima Bean

• Mung Bean

• Pinto Bean

• Soybean

• Tofu, Soybean Curd

Nuts & Seeds:

• Almond

• Cashew

• Chestnut

• Pecan

• Pine Nut

• Walnut

• Winter Melon Seed

Meat, Fish, Poultry, & Animal Products:

• Beef

• Chicken

• Chicken Egg

• Duck

• Fish

• Pork

• Quail Egg

Miscellaneous Foods, Herbs, & Beverages:

• Basil

• Black Fungus (Wood Ears)

• Black Pepper

• Brown Sugar, Turbinado

• Cardamom Seed

• Cinnamon

• Cloves

• Coffee

• Ginger Root (Fresh)

• Honey

• Molasses

• Olive

• Rice Vinegar

• Tea

• White Fungus (Silver Ears)

7 Positive Developments about the Coronavirus Outbreak

With so much gloom and doom surrounding the recent coronavirus outbreak, it is easy to forget about the more positive aspects, and even silver linings, of this pandemic. Since I’m a silver-lining type of gal, let’s focus on the positives!

1. China’s Road to Recovery: Thursday, March 19th is the first day where there have been no new domestic cases in China since the outbreak started on December 31, 2019!

2. Research is a Team Effort: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that 10 countries are working together in an international study to find a viable treatment for patients infected with COVID-19.

3. Decrease in Air Pollution: Satellites operated by NASA and European counterparts detect significant decreases in nitrogen dioxide over China, due to factories ceasing operations.

4. Crisis is Creating Business Innovation: Several companies have adjusted production to manufacture items in high demand. Distilleries across the country started to use alcohol supplies to produce hand sanitizer, General Motors and Ford have prepared their factories to be used to manufacture ventilators.

5. “Keep the Americans Connected Pledge”: More than 200 telecommunication companies and internet services (such as AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast, Cox Communications, Frontier, RNC, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon) throughout the U.S. are waiving late fees and not terminating services for customers who cannot pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

6. Free TV: Providers of television programming have started making paid content available for free over the internet to keep Americans informed and entertained amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Sling TV, as one of many examples, is providing complimentary access to live coverage from ABC News, in addition to thousands of movies and shows accessible through its website and mobile apps.

7. The Shows Must Go On: All sorts of musical acts are continuing to be performed live and broadcasted on the internet in an attempt to entertain fans. Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Erykah Badu, Garth Brooks, and Neil Young are among artists who are finding ways to keep their fans happily entertained.

Is Coronavirus Mother Nature's Way of Hitting the "RESET" Button?

In Chinese medicine, we are always interested in how the environment plays a role in health challenges people are facing. A Chinese medical text, named Treatise on the Differential Treatment of Warm Disease (Wenbing tiaobian), which was written by Wu Tang (1758-1836), states, “Winter is supposed to be cold, but if it turns out to be warm instead, then yang is not going into its customary state of storage and the populace will fall ill with warm diseases as a result.”

Although winters are normally characterized by cold weather, this year we had an abnormally warm, rainy winter. Due to this seasonal abnormality, the weather may have allowed for a pandemic disease to occur and spread rapidly. Also, since there was a wetter climate, it allowed damp pathogenic influences to infiltrate the environment, and then into our bodies.

BUT, is this just Mother Nature’s way of hitting the “RESET” button, and reminding us of who is in charge?!

With global pollution always on the rise, environmentalists have been trying without much success to reduce the amount of pollution and wear on the environment that humans have. However, due to COVID-19 shutting down factories and limiting travel, satellite data over China and Italy have indicated that there are less harmful gases in the atmosphere, such as methane, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.

Additionally, animals seem to be filling in the spaces where humans usually populate during this time of isolation. Dolphins and swans were seen swimming in the Venice canals, and monkeys are roaming cities in Thailand.

Although COVID-19 is serious, scary, and having negative ramifications on the human population… Maybe we can take this as a wakeup call when we think of moving forward, where Mother Nature kicked our butts and forced us to listen.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Chinese Medicine Perspective

In Chinese Medicine, we often think about how environmental influences impact our internal environment. There are six main pathogenic factors we think of in Chinese Medicine that can negatively impact the body in a variety of ways:

• Cold

• Heat

• Wind

• Dampness

• Dryness

• Summerheat

• Summerheat-Damp

In the case of CODVID-19, there are a couple pathogenic factors at play, but the primary pathogen is dampness. Since this winter had significantly more rain than previous years, it created a wet, soggy environment for this pathogen to thrive in. We believe that coronavirus is a damp pathogen for a number of reasons:

• Tongue: For those who are infected with COVID-19, their tongue color has been red or dark red, with a tongue coating that was often thick and either white or yellow and greasy. This is indicative of damp-heat within the body.

• Slow-moving characteristics of the virus: The incubation period can be up to 14 days, which is much longer than normal. In addition, the low-grade fever can last a long time. Dampness is sticky and cloying, so the body becomes more and more overcome by this virus, and mild to moderate symptoms can linger for a while, before the body either fights the pathogen or becomes overwhelmed by it.

• People who are more severely impacted by the virus have dampness already present: The people who have more severe symptoms tend to be overweight, smokers, or have preexisting conditions. Excess weight and smoking create a damp, turbid environment in the body. People who eat food items that are rich, sweet, and greasy, and who work too much and rest too little, have a lifestyle that promotes the development of internal damp-heat conditions, or at the very least has an internal condition that can quickly generate dampness and stagnant heat once the virus has been contracted.

Coronavirus has the most significant impact on the respiratory system. The initial symptoms include aversion to cold with fever, leading to a fever with a dry cough. This indicates that damp toxins are depressing the ability of the lungs to circulate smoothly.

As the disease progresses, the pathogen moves deeper into the body. The symptoms of this include dryness of the mouth and throat, a red or dark red tongue tip, with a tongue coating that is both greasy and cracked open. In this instance, damp toxins stagnate, leading to increased friction. This friction creates smoldering heat inside the body, which burns up the fluids. The sticky, cloying nature of the dampness disallows the heat to move through the body quickly. In addition, the sticky dampness can create stifling sensations in the chest and choppy breathing because the lungs are being bogged down by this heavy, immobile pathogen.

The third stage of the disease (and the most severe) occurs when dampness, toxicity, and heat enter more deeply into the body. This can cause a life-threatening situation where there is internal blockage and external dissipation. It needs to be said that not everyone will enter this stage. There is a lot of mass hysteria because a lot of people seem to be passing away — But, a lot of people are recovering!

During the recovery stage, the body is incredibly depleted from battling this pathogen. Overall energy is depleted, and the lungs are dried out. This may create a situation where there may be a chronic dry cough (possibly specked with blood), fatigue, and possibly constipation or decreased appetite.

If you’ve suffered from coronavirus or something similar… please reach out! We do not need another chronic illness, and your body will likely need support in order to heal completely!

Symptoms of Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease, known as the great imitator, can mimic a variety of different diseases.  This makes being knowledgable about Lyme Disease and self-advocacy extremely important.  It is not enough to place full trust in your family physician, emergency medical personnel, or diagnostic tests with Lyme Disease.  Act with reservation and learn possible symptoms of this disease so that you or your loved ones can receive better help.

Common Symptoms of Lyme Disease

Here are a list of common symptoms of Lyme Disease:

• Unexplained fevers, sweats, chills, or flushing 
• Unexplained weight change (either loss or gain) 
• Fatigue, tiredness 
• Unexplained hair loss 
• Swollen glands 
• Sore throat
• Irritable bladder, Bladder dysfunction 
• Sexual dysfunction or loss of libido 
• Upset stomach 
• Change in bowel function (constipation or diarrhea) 
• Chest pain or rib soreness 
• Shortness of breath, cough
• Heart palpitations, pulse skips, heart block
• Any history of a heart murmur or valve prolapse 
• Joint pain or swelling 
• Stiffness of the joints, neck, or back
• Neck cracks, neck stiffness
• Muscle pain or cramps 
• Twitching of the face or other muscles 
• Headaches 
• Tingling numbness, burning or stabbing sensations 
• Facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy) 
• Eye/vision disturbances: Double, blurry, floaters
• Eyes/hearing: Buzzing, ringing, ear pain 
• Increased motion sickness, vertigo 
• Light-headedness, wooziness, poor balance, difficulty walking
• Tremor 
• Confusion, difficulty thinking
• Difficulty with concentration or reading
• Forgetfulness, poor short-term memory 
• Disorientation: Getting lost, going to wrong places
• Difficulty with speech or writing 
• Mood swings, irritability, depression 
• Disturbed sleep: Too much or too little or early awakening 
• Exaggerated symptoms or worse hangover from alcohol 
• Men: 
  • Testicular pain 
• Women: 
  • Pelvic pain 
  • Unexplained menstrual irregularity  
  • Unexplained milk production 
  • Breast pain 

The Secret to Solving Your Health Problems that Doctors have Never Told You

With all of my patients, I recommend that they check their temperature twice per day.  This information has been invaluable for determining — and then solving! — the root cause of a variety of symptoms, especially when problems have been going on for years, and even decades!  

Why check your temperature?

When doctors take your temperature, they’re typically looking for if someone has a fever.   However, it is very common for someone to have a low temperature.  The optimal temperature is 98.6 F.  If you routinely have a temperature of 97.5 F or below, then your body doesn’t have enough functional energy to sustain normal physiology.  This can start contributing to or creating various symptoms in the body.  In fact, leading endocrinologists are now making a hypothyroid diagnosis when the core temperature is routinely 97.5 or below.  

The thyroid regulates multiple functions in the body and acts like the core metabolism.  When your temperature is 97.5 F or below, the digestive fire of the entire metabolism is low. Digestive enzymes are not activated to break down food properly.  You may start to gain weight more easily, feel fatigued, have pain that you have no explanation for, and notice other dysfunction and imbalances in the body.  These symptoms are occurring because you are not getting proper nutrients from the food you eat - even if you’re eating all the right foods!  If the core temperature is low, you will not extract nutrients from food, regardless of what you are eating. 

Some Eastern Medicine specialists have noticed a correlation between the first and second morning temperatures.  In a Western medical lens, this indicates that the day and night hormones are out of balance, leading to a major root cause for chronic disease and ongoing pain.  Most importantly, by discovering and correcting this root cause, we can not only dramatically improve symptoms, but often resolve these symptoms forever!

The good news?  We have found we can reliably increase the core temperature and then stabilize it so that it stays at the higher level, significantly reducing — or completely eliminating — chronic pain and disease!

How & when to check your temperature

I recommend checking your temperature orally over the next several days to see if your temperatures are in the right range, indicating the proper hormone balance.  Your temperature needs to be checked at two different times: 

The first time is right in the morning, before getting out of bed but just after waking.  Have a thermometer on your nightstand by your bed.  At this time, your temperature should be between 97.5 and 97.9 F.  

The second temperature should be taken 30 to 60 minutes later after you have gotten out of bed as you participate in your normal morning routine.  This temperature should increase by half a degree from the first recording.  The increase in temperature results from a surge of warming and energizing hormones for the day.  Often, people find that their temperature does not rise the full half a degree that is expected, and their temperatures may actually decrease.  This indicates that your body wants to stay in bed, and does not have enough energy to get through the day.  

Additionally, try taking your temperature a third time in between 1-3pm.  This is your mid-day temperature.  People often experience a “crash” in their energy level in the mid-afternoon.  If their temperatures are low during the mid-afternoon, then this can explain their decrease in energy and spike in symptoms!

By taking your temperature in this fashion over a series of three days, you can calculate the average first temperature and second temperature to understand how your body generally functions.

I’m interested in your findings!  Email me your results, along with any questions, comments, and concerns, to acupuncturebyariel@gmail.com.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!

What is Lyme Disease?

What Is ‘Lyme Disease’? 

Lyme Disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States.  Lyme Disease is caused by four main species of bacteria: Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia mayonii.  Borrelia burgdorferi is most common in the United States. 

The most common way of transmission is through the bite of an infected black-legged tick, commonly called the deer tick.  Lyme bacterium is a spirochete, which literally translates as “coiled hair”.  The corkscrew structure helps the Lyme spirochete worm its way through the tissue until it reaches the destination that it wishes to colonize.  Lyme spirochetes have over six perfect of their genetic makeup designated to motility, making them are highly mobile.  Lyme spirochetes love collagenous tissue, and are most commonly found in synovial fluid in the joints, aqueous humor in the eye, meninges in the brain, and collagenous tissues throughout the body, such as the skin, knees, and heart tissue.  

Borrelia rapidly rearranges their gene structure, which allows them to hide from antibiotics and better fit themselves into new hosts (such as humans and animals) by avoiding the immune system.  Different genomic composition results in different symptoms, making Lyme Disease extremely difficult to diagnosis and treat. 

Lyme spirochetes are patient and opportunistic, and will slowly destroy the body, without the host necessarily being aware of it.  Lyme spirochetes grow extremely slowly, every 8-12 hours (instead of every 20 minutes like most bacteria).  There are three stages of Lyme Disease: Early (days to weeks after initial infection), early-disseminated (weeks to months after initial infection), and late (months to years after initial infection).  The later treatment occurs, the harder it is to get rid of the disease.  When the host’s immune system weakens, either from the Borrelia or another source (such as the common cold or stress), Borrelia attacks the weakened body and spreads further in the body.  

Unlike popular belief, some of the ticks that pass this disease are so small that you may not even be aware of getting bitten by a tick, or be able to see the tick embedded in your skin.  Also contrary to popular belief, Lyme Disease only causes the stereotypical ‘bullseye rash’ (erythema migrans (EM)) that comes to mind when people think of Lyme Disease in about one third (37%) of the population infected with Lyme Disease.  Since tick bites can go unnoticed by the host, it is especially important to pay close attention and thoroughly examine your body for ticks if you live or spend time in grassy and heavily wooded areas.  

Stay Tuned: In the next posts, we’ll go into different symptoms to look out for with Lyme Disease so that you can be aware of what to look out for if you suspect you may have Lyme Disease.

“…Lyme disease has been ignored or trivialized by the medical profession for more than a quarter of a century.” ~ Dr. Richard I. Horowitz, MD.

Limited Time Offer: Free Freedom from Pain & Fatigue Consultations!

Are you suffering from many of these symptoms, but doctors keep telling you that these problems are just in your head? 

• Always tired
• Always hurting somewhere
• Joint pain and stiffness
• Muscle pain and/or weakness
• Mind is in a fog
• Difficult concentration
• Memory loss
• Headaches / migraines
• Difficult sleep (insomnia)
• Cardiac irregularities
• Hands and feet are numb or tingling
• Mood swings
• Digestive disturbances
• Visual disturbances (blurred, double vision, floaters)
• Bell's Palsy
• Sugar cravings
• Vague sense that something is wrong

Do these symptoms make it difficult just to get through each day?

You may have Lyme Disease or other chronic diseases

According to the CDC, there are over 329,000 new cases of Lyme Disease each year.  This disease is still poorly understood and wildly mismanaged by the medical community.  As someone who suffered from Lyme Disease for decades, I dedicate my life to the treatment of Lyme Disease and other chronic medical conditions.  

 

Limited Time Offer: 

Free 'Freedom from Pain & Fatigue' Consultations!

During these appointments together, we will: 

Uncover the root causes of your chronic illness pattern 

Discover the hidden obstacles that are blocking your healing process

Create a Customized Action Plan to get you fatigue- and pain-free TODAY!

You will leave this appointment feeling renewed, invigorated, and READY to solve your pain once and for all!