Chen's Acupuncture

America Addicted to Sweetness

156 pounds

The average American consumes about 156 pounds of added sugar each year per capita, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s troubling, especially when those statistics are coupled with the results of a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association which says there’s a significant correlation between dietary added sugars and an increased risk for diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

Published this week, this is the first major study to look at sugar and blood fats. It found that added sugar has adverse effects on the level of blood fats and therefore, on the heart. American adults eat about 104 grams of sugar per day, but the American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugars to 25 grams per day for women and to 37.5 grams a day for men.

Candy, soft drinks and processed foods a concern

Fruits are a wonderful source for getting natural sugar. The biggestt concern is eating candy, soft drinks, and processed foods that contain 25g of sugar or more in one serving.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Why You Should Care About EGCG

What is EGCG?

Green tea could raise your energy expenditure, and possibly even help battle obesity, according to a new study. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound found in green tea, was shown to increase fat oxidation by 33 percent. This result comes from one of many studies that have looked at green tea’s potential in weight loss. EGCG has been shown to be a key component in many of these studies. There are a number of ways the EGCG could help aid weight loss:

1) It increases metabolism and fat oxidation

2) It inhibits fat cell development

3) it increases fat excretion.

Other studies indicate that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in particular may also be helpful in preventing and/or treating:

• Dementia

• High blood lipid

• Arteriosclerosis

• Cerebral thrombus

• Pain and inflammation related to rheumatoid arthritis

• Prostate cancer 

Including 1-2 cups of gree tea every morning can be an integral part of your weight loss lifestyle. Acupuncture and natural herbshave also been found to increase digestive energy and absorption, therefore helping in weight loss and maintenance.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

(Image courtesy of Arun Katiyar, Flickr under the creative commons license)

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ALLERGIES are COMING!

Unusually strong pollen seasons this year

Some of the same regions of the country that experienced unusually cold temperatures this past winter are now in the middle of one of the worst pollen seasons in several years. The problem has been particularly bad in the Southeast, where allergy sufferers and clean-car lovers are dealing with a constant yellow blanket of near-record pollen. In normal seasons, a pollen count of 120 is considered high. Last week in Atlanta, the pollen count hit 5,733, the second-highest level on record, according to The Weather Channel.

You can track you local pollen count at POLLEN TRACKER.

Natural products

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs has a long history of effectively treating allergies. In general, acupuncture is known for its anti-systemic inflammatory effects and efficacy in calming the nervous system. These are two extremely important systems that correlate with allergic reactions. Herbal formulas are used to balance these two systems as well.  Some of our staff use a natural productevery year to get them through a one-month period of allergies. They get the same results as from medications such as Claritin, without the side-effects.

Talk to us today about how we can help you through this allergy season.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Spring Health Tips

 While it is nearly time to enjoy warmer weather, it is also one of the two most susceptible times of the year to catch colds and flu. 

Although your internal body heat is rising toward the surface (like the trees’ sap), the air is still cool and it’s important to remain warmly dressed outdoors. The shining sun and hint of warmth encourage us to shed heavy clothes and act like it’s summer. Yet, this is exactly how those spring colds and flu begin. This is also the windy season and exposed necks invite pathogens to invade the body. Foil that flu bug by wearing a scarf outdoors and keep those layers on.  

Likewise, refrain from eating cold foods and drinks (iced drinks and foods, juices, raw foods, salads, soy milk) until summer arrives. Continue eating cooked foods and protein until your body adjusts to fluctuating temperature changes. Add in a large variety of cooked vegetables, dark leafy greens, some whole grains and cooked fruit and you will stay well through this vulnerable time.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Pregnant? Hit the Gym!

For a healthier start in life

For most pregnant women, exercise is the last thing on their minds. After all, keeping slim while you’re expecting isn’t exactly the top priority — rather, it’s making sure your baby gets enough nutrients to grow. But in a small new study, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand report that a mother’s regular aerobic exercise may be good for a growing fetus’ health — and may even help a baby get a healthier start in life.

The finding is a bit surprising, because exercise is known to lower the incidence of insulin resistance — the precursor condition to diabetes. Although insulin resistance is a detriment in healthy adults, it turns out to be helpful for proper fetal development. Insulin-resistant individuals gradually lose their ability to respond to changing glucose levels in the blood; in pregnant women, the condition, which occurs when hormones produced by the placenta interfere with the proper function of insulin in the body, means nutrients get shunted to the growing baby. (If the condition gets severe, however, it can result in a temporary condition called gestational diabetes in the mother, which is associated with heavier babies and a higher risk of obesity in childhood.)

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Hospitals are Scary! In So Many Ways!

$8.9 billion cost

Nearly 1 million patient-safety incidents occurred among Medicare patients over the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 — the figure remained virtually unchanged in last year’s annual study. In all, the incidents were associated with $8.9 billion in costs.

Some of the most common and most serious indicators even worsened, including decubitus ulcer (bed sores), iatrogenic pneumothorax (collapsed lung), post-operative hip fracture, post-operative physiologic and metabolic derangements, post-operative pulmonary embolism (potentially fatal blood clots forming in the lungs) or deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs), post-operative sepsis, and transfusion reaction.

One in 10 patients — almost 100,000 people all told — experiencing a patient-safety incident died as a result.

Top hospitals make a difference

Patients at hospitals in the top 5 percent experienced 43 percent fewer patient safety incidents, on average. If all hospitals performed at this level, more than 218,000 patient safety incidents and over 22,000 deaths could potentially have been avoided, saving $2 billion over three years.

Scary huh. We can all avoid the hospital by taking care of ourselves and getting preventive treatments.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Does Number of Meals Matter?

The science is still split

You’ve probably heard this advice many times: Eat smaller meals more frequently to lose weight. Unfortunately, science is still split on this issue. Some studies show a benefit to eating this way, while others find no discernible biological differences whatsoever. So which advice should you follow?

According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, increasing meal frequency from three meals a day to three meals plus three additional snacks did not promote greater weight loss. Both groups consumed an equal amount of calories (2931 kJ/day) and both groups ended up losing a little less than five percent of body weight after eight weeks.

The best confirmed way to really boost your metabolism is exercise. When you exercise you clearly burn more calories, but you can super-charge your calorie burning mechanism even more by building muscle! Why is this? Because muscle demands energy to just “sit” on your body. Fat does not.

Hit the gym and lift some weights!

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Pork and Diabetes

A high protein diet with regular, moderate pork intake and resistance exercise is an excellent way for sufferers of type 2 diabetes to lose weight, new research has found.

The research comes from the team that produced The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet and has been released as part of Diabetes Australia’s National Diabetes Week.

The research was jointly funded by Australian Pork Limited and the Pork Cooperative Research Centre and published in a paper titled The role of Australian pork in improving thiamine status, heart disease risk factors and glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes.

High protein, low carb and exercise

It found that people with type 2 diabetes and are overweight or obese can benefit from a high protein, lower carbohydrate diet that includes regular pork intake in conjunction with resistance exercise.

Such a diet will deliver weight and fat loss results, the researchers found.

Researchers also found regular pork intake reduced risk factors associated with the disease.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Coffee Is Good For You?!

Two new studies

A steaming hot cup of coffee in the morning can actually do wonders for your health.

And now two new studies have provided more support to the drink’s benefits.

Coffee contains several nutrients (eg. calcium) as well as hundreds of potentially biologically active compounds (eg. polyphenols) that may promote health. For instance, observational studies have suggested a beneficial link between coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes. Two studies have lent additional information concerning the potential health benefits of coffee.

Clinical trials are needed

These studies provide additional support for the emerging evidence of health benefits of coffee. Rigorous clinical intervention trials will be needed to understand more fully the biological mechanisms. The studies by Kempf and Sartorelli “add to a growing literature suggesting that my steaming cup of morning coffee might help me stay healthy,” said ASN Spokesperson Dr. Shelley McGuire. “I’m a research scientist, but I still trust that foods and beverages which have been part of our culture for generations are probably good for us, or at least they’re probably not bad for us in moderation! Of particular interest is the well-controlled clinical trial that suggests coffee can lower chronic inflammation and even raise our ‘good’ cholesterol. I for one will enjoy my coffee even more in the weeks to come,” she added.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

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Importance of Sleep

How much do you need?

As most of us lead extremely busy lives, it is often sleep that gets sacrificed so we can cram more in to our day. Reduced quantity and quality of sleep can lead to a suppressed immune system and make you more prone to grogginess, illness and increased stress. Most adults need between 6-8 hours of quality sleep per night. You judge which amount leaves you feeling alert and vibrant the next morning. Make sleep a priority by allowing yourself time to unwind at the end of each night in a way that suits you.

Sleep = Balance

We see the benefits of acupuncture helping sleep daily. Most people report having “the best night of sleep for a long time” after having an acupuncture session. Acupuncture helps to calm the nervous system, balance the body’s energy and promotes systemic relaxation. When the body enters a relaxed state, it is better able to heal itself and gain internal homeostasis. If we are not able to relax and sleep well, out body and minds do not get the break they need in order to function properly.

At Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about acupuncture and herbal medicine. Just stop by our office, email us at info@chensacupuncture.com or call Peishan, Janette or David at 425 644 2056. Thank you.

(Image courtesy of GettysGirl, Flickr under the creative commons license)

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