National Nutrition Month is wrapping up, but your healthy choices don’t have to! Wanting to ditch those carbs? Try substituting zucchini ribbons, instead of regular pasta noodles for your next pasta dish. In Chinese medicine, zucchini helps reduce heat in the body. It’s also a great source of fiber and protein. Check out this recipe from Yummy Supper:
Ingredients
- 4 large (or 6-8 small) zucchini
- 1 large or 2 small lemons, juice and zest
- 1/4 cup feta
- olive oil
- sea salt
- 1 bunch fresh mint
Directions
- Scrub lemons. Grate the zest and set aside. Slice lemon in half and remove seeds. Set aside for juicing later.
- Wash, dry and trim mint leaves and set aside.
- Wash zucchini. Cut off the stem and base ends. Using a mandolin, or simple vegetable peeler, cut thin strips - ribbons - of zucchini. Slice 3 or 4 strips on a side, and then rotate the zucchini and continue slicing. Then rotate again. Keep working your way around the zucchini until you get to the seedy middle. Discard the core.
- Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, though not smoking, add 1/3 to 1/2 of the zucchini ribbons. Toss to coat with olive oil. Add a pinch or two of sea salt. Cover the pan for a minute or so allowing the zucchini to steam a bit. Uncover and continue to saute until tender and just cooked through - al dente. If sliced thin, the zucchini really only needs a few minutes to cook. Give a generous squeeze of lemon juice to the cooked zucchini so that the citrus can blend with the warm oil. Set aside the cooked veg as you continue to saute zucchini in batches until done. Don’t worry about the zucchini cooling down, this dish should be served warm or even room-temp.
- Heap zucchini ribbons onto individual plates. Sprinkle with finely crumbled feta, lemon zest, and mint leaves. Add a little more sea salt if desired, though this usually isn’t necessary with the salty feta and flavorful lemon juice.
Let us know what you think and check out more healthy substitutes here!
March is National Nutrition Month! Celebrate by substituting some of these yummy ingredients into your favorite recipes. Need some suggestions? Check back each week for one of our recipes to give a whirl!
In Oriental medicine (OM), different foods are often prescribed for different conditions. Did you know it’s actually possible to tell a lot about a food’s effects just by its taste? According to the cookbook: “Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen,” by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir, and Miko Ono, each taste is linked to a different therapeutic effect. Enjoy some of these common foods and learn what they can do for you!
Tastes and Popular Foods:
- Sour - A sour taste is associated with the liver channel in OM and is used to counteract symptoms such as diarrhea and excessive sweating. Foods with a sour taste, such as lemons, grapes, zucchini, and cashews are good examples.
- Bitter - A bitter taste is associated with the heart channel in OM and can improve appetite, treat fever, constipation, some types of cough, and arthritis. Examples of bitter foods include: corn, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and cherries.
- Sweet - Most people love sweets, and too many ca
n lead to fatigue and overweight problems, but some sweets can help harmonize many systems of the body. Sweet taste is associated with the spleen channel and can address conditions such as weakness, dry cough, and thirst. Healthy sweet food examples include: strawberries, pineapples, carrots, a
nd pine nuts.
- Spicy/Pungent - These tastes are associated with the lung channel and help with blood circulation and treating the common cold. However,too many of these foods can cause skin problems, restlessness, and sleep disorders. Some foods to try are: onions, almonds, rice, and pears.
- Salty - Salty foods, in moderation, can address cyst
s, inflammatory masses, and connective tissue accumulation. The salty taste is associated with the kidney channel and tends to soften firm masses. Try all sorts of beans: black, pinto, kidney, and also raspberries and walnuts.
Everyone has allergies from time to time, but imagine your life if you had a stuffy or runny nose, headache, or sinus pressure every day? This is what it’s like for those with chronic sinitus. There is something natural that can not only reduce these symptoms, but make you feel more energized, boost your immune system, and can even improve your skin and hair health: eating foods that fight inflammation.
Oriental medicine (OM) has long held the belief that the foods you eat and the lifestyle you lead can impact your health as much as any medical regimen. Inflammation is the root cause of chronic sinus problems, as well as allergies and hay fever.
A nutritious diet can not only decrease inflammation in your system, but a
lso boost your immunity to bacteria that can lead to sinus infections. Also, there are foods that can unclog nasal passages and ease your breathing. Just as we would put the right kind of gas into a car to ensure it runs well, the food you put in your body can be tailored to your needs to help you feel your best.
The common thread between all the foods is that each contains antioxidants and or omega 3s. A part of the world that naturally gravitates to a omega-3 rich diet is Greece. A Mediterranean diet is very high in antioxidants, and studies have shown that people in Greece have very few reported allergies. Think like the Greeks! Eat fresh salads with tomatoes, onions, olives, and plenty of fresh fish.
So, what other foods can reduce and prevent inflammation? Find our here!
Ok, so most of the patients ARE women, but at Fertility Specialists Medical Group (FSMG) in San Diego, both men and women, are experiencing the benefits of fertility acupuncture, according to Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) Alumnus Maring Allen LAc.
Allen works at Zen Fertility Clinic and with FSMG treating men and women fertility patients, some who are integrating acupuncture treatments with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and others who are trying to conceive naturally.
For women patients, here’s how fertility acupuncture works:
· Fertility acupuncture regulates the hormone system.
· Treatments help to direct blood flow to the reproductive organs.
· Acupuncture points are chosen based on the woman’s menstrual cycle (This is key for women trying to conceive naturally. Acupuncturists like to treat throughout the woman’s cycle.)
An important note to consider is this: it takes three months to build an egg, according to Allen. This means that patients should plan to schedule a minimum of three months of acupuncture treatments for optimum results.
Want to learn more? FSMG is hosting a free event TONIGHT at 5:45p.m. on “Complementary Therapies” including Fertility Acupuncture. Click Here for Details.
Who should attend? “Anyone who is looking to get pregnant,” Allen said, “Even if you’re not having fertility issues, you can learn and plan for conscious conception, producing the best quality embryo.”
Does it really work? Success speaks for itself. Allen talks about one couple that had been trying to conceive naturally for over a year. The husband had “1% morphology,” which meant IVF was the best option. They both came regularly to Allen receiving acupuncture, herbs and supplements…a week before their first IVF cycle was scheduled to begin the woman had a positive pregnancy test. Allen continued treating the woman up through her pregnancy of a healthy baby boy!
Along with acupuncture, Allen suggests other complementary therapies as well, including: Mayan Abdominal Massage (to help properly position a uterus that is out of alignment), hypnosis to help emotionally and mentally with improving fertility, and proper nutrition.
Zen Fertility Center offers a “Fertility Challenge” email newsletter, describing fertility exercises to try such as: daily meditation, yoga, qi gong, and more! To become part of the “Fertility Challenge” email: info@zenfertility.com.
