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Green Juice Recipe

By Sean Michael Hall, L.Ac.

Green Juice RecipeWarm, summer days are the perfect time of year to enjoy fresh juice. And juice that you make yourself or with loved ones is by far the best. Nothing compares to farm fresh produce, straight from juicer to mouth. Once you’ve taken a look at my juicing guidelines, give this recipe a try. It’s by far my favorite.

Green Juice Recipe

1 large Cucumber
1 medium Fennel bulb (with greens)
1 bunch Celery sticks
1 bunch Spinach
1 bunch Parsley (Italian)
1 medium Lime (with peel)
1 medium Apple (with peel & core)
1 thumb Gingerroot (more or less to taste)

Directions: You can either juice or blend this recipe. If you want to preserve all of the fiber and make it more of a meal, you can blend it. Make sure you have a relatively powerful blender. If you want a light, refreshing beverage a juicer is required.

I love this recipe! It tastes amazing, and the emphasis on green vegetables makes it super healthy. The exclusion of cruciferous vegetables makes it easy to digest. The spinach and parsley both provide a broad range of nutrients and other health promoting ingredients. The fennel, lime and ginger aid digestion and give the recipe a robust, unique flavor. The apple gives a touch of sweetness, without adding too much sugar.

The great thing about juicing is that the possibilities are endless. Why not visit a farmer’s market this weekend? Get creative!

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East Bay Acupuncture: Sean Michal Hall, East Bay Acupuncturist · Filed Under: Author: Sean Michael Hall, Detoxification, Nutrition, Recipes Tagged With: East Bay Nutrition, easy juicing recipe, green juice, green juice recipe, jucing, juicing recipe, natural health, nutrition, vegetable juice

Keep Juicing Healthy

By Sean Michael Hall, L.Ac.

Keep Juicing HealthyJuicing can be a tasty, enjoyable and nutritious part of a healthy lifestyle.

However, some guidelines are important to make sure you are juicing in a way that is truly healthy for you. As most of you know, juicing only fruit can result in a large spike in blood sugar levels. And some have constitutions or digestive systems that make juicing less enjoyable and less healthy, especially at certain times of the year. Following these simple guidelines will allow most people to enjoy fresh juice in the healthiest way possible.

1. Don’t over do it.

The traditional medicine systems of China and India teach us that strong digestive fire is essential to good health. Digestive fire in Ayurveda is known as agni, and in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) it involves abundant Spleen and Stomach Qi. Too many cold or raw foods can challenge and even harm our digestive fire.

If your digestive fire is strong, juicing in the warmer months usually isn’t a problem and can be very healthy. But, if you are prone to digestive problems like indigestion, gas or bloating, then juicing may not be appropriate for you. Individuals with cold, weak constitutions may have to enjoy fresh juice in moderation. Those with the weakest or coldest constitutions may benefit more from soups, stews and broths, even in the warmer months.

2. Limit the amount of fruit, carrots and beets.

Juicing fruit and sugary vegetables like carrot and beet should be done in moderation. Recent research shows the harmful effects fructose, the sugar found in fruit and some vegetables, has when it isn’t buffered by the fiber found in the whole food.

Drinking 8 ounces of apple juice, for example, is in most ways as unhealthy as drinking 8 ounces of soda. Yes, fruit juice has some vitamins and other healthy phytochemicals. Unfortunately, the beneficial effects of those constituents are offset by both a surge in blood glucose levels, as well as a fructose overload on the liver that has other negative effects. [1] [2]

Our bodies need both the fiber found in the whole food, as well as the slower consumption time involved in eating the whole food, to mitigate those negative effects. For optimal health, fruit, carrots and beets should be added to your juice for a little flavor and sweetness, not as the main ingredient. Enjoy lots of fresh fruit, but eat all of it, not just the juice.

3. Enjoy fresh juice in the spring and summer.

Save juicing for the warm months of spring and summer. Your system needs warm, grounding meals in the cold, winter months to keep your digestive fire strong. Some with very strong digestive fire are the exception, but even in that case, care should be taken.

4. You may need to go easy with cruciferous vegetables.

There are some vegetables that require more digestive fire than others, and this is especially true of cruciferous vegetables. The cruciferous vegetables include kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts. Of course, plenty of research tells us how amazingly healthy the cruciferous vegetables are. But, any food prepared in a way that wrecks digestive fire and causes bloating or gas is not good for you.

Simply sautéing cruciferous vegetables will allow you to get the benefit of those vegetables in a way your body can handle. If your digestive fire is strong and you don’t get gas or bloating from juicing cruciferous vegetables, then by all means, enjoy!

5. Add ginger.

Adding a touch of ginger, turmeric or garlic (gasp!) to your juice can help support your digestive fire, plus give a zing of flavor. Don’t overdo it. A little too much ginger or turmeric can be very spicy, and too much garlic may make you smellier to others than you may want.

6. Keep it fresh.

Bottled, canned, cooked, or reconstituted juices lack most of the enzymes and other micronutrients that make fresh juicing so healthy. Buy fresh, local produce; juice it within a few days; then drink it the same day for maximum nutrition and flavor. There are a lot of great juicers on the market at a variety of price points. I recommend doing your research and finding one for less than 100 dollars if you’re just getting started. If you find that you’re juicing regularly, you may want to upgrade at some point.

Raw versus cooked.

Some have a misconception that raw foods are easy to digest. For the most part, the opposite is true, especially if the cooked food is eaten soon after cooking. Cooking foods breaks cellulose and other constituents down into more easily digestible forms. Cooking also transforms some toxins into nutrients; this is especially true of many legumes. And lycopene, another well-known nutrient, is created through the cooking process.

Yes, many nutrients and enzymes are lost during the cooking process, so including some raw foods in your diet is a great idea. Generally speaking, the stronger your digestive fire, the more raw foods you’ll be able to tolerate. Fermented foods like kvass, sauerkraut and other pickled vegetables, are a great way to consume raw foods in a more digestible form, as the fermentation process partially digests the food for us, creating healthy probiotics and other important nutrients in the process.

Take home message:

Fresh juice is healthy for those who have digestive fire strong enough to digest it, especially in the warmer months of the year. If you get gassy or bloated after juicing it means you are not getting the benefits of the juice, and they are causing harm instead. Nothing is healthy for everyone.

Your body needs to be able to digest, metabolize and absorb nutrients, and if your system is unable to do that, then even supposedly healthy foods are not healthy for you. If you are having problems digesting fruits and vegetables in one form, like juice or raw salads, then support your digestive fire, and try steaming or sautéing them instead.

[1] “Fructose Consumption is Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Markers and Visceral Adiposity in Adolescents”. J. Nutr., 2012.
[2] “Fructose Induced Lipogenesis: From Sugar to Fat to Insulin Resistance”. Trends Endocrinol. Metab., 2011.

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East Bay Acupuncture: Sean Michal Hall, East Bay Acupuncturist · Filed Under: Author: Sean Michael Hall, Detoxification, Nutrition Tagged With: detoxification, digestive fire, East Bay Nutrition, fruit, ginger, healthy habits, juicing, juicing guidelines, natural health, nutrition, tumeric, vegetable juice, vegetables

Muesli – A Quick, Tasty Breakfast Recipe

By Sean Michael Hall, L.Ac.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, though unfortunately, it’s the meal most commonly skipped.

A healthy breakfast should contain fiber, fat and protein.

Not only do we need those macronutrients for good health, but in this recipe they also slow the transit time of glucose to the bloodstream, from the complex carbohydrates. This helps to regulate blood sugar levels throughout the day, keeping one grounded and focused until lunch. It also helps to satiate, and reduce mid-afternoon and late-night snacking. And the combination of eating a healthy breakfast that satiates, and not eating after 8pm at night, is one of the best ways to take some of the excess pounds off.

All this recipe takes is a quick run to a market that has a good bulk section for ingredients and five minutes preparation to combine and store a month’s supply. Once you’ve mixed the muesli, simply soak a cup overnight in water and yogurt, and cook for 4-5 minutes the next morning. Make sure to add some of the recommended toppings, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coconut milk, whole milk, butter or ghee to make it even more nutritious and tasty.

Sean’s Fantabulous Muesli

Ingredients:

  • 10 cups steel-cut oats (or combination of grain flakes)
  • 1 cup ground coconut
  • 1 cup coconut flakes
  • 1 cup sesame seeds
  • 1 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup black sesame seeds
  • 1 cup chia seeds
  • 1 cup flax seeds
  • 1 cup goji berries
  • 1 cup black currants
  • 1 cup dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries

Directions:

  • The night before, mix 1-cup water, 1-cup muesli and 2 T. yogurt, and let soak at room temperature overnight.
  • In the morning, add 1-cup water, whatever spices you like and ½ t. sea salt.
  • Simmer for a few minutes, until soft and the right consistency.
  • Take off heat, and add any combination of coconut milk, whole milk, butter, ghee, or almond milk; plus a small amount of raw honey, raw cane sugar or maple syrup.

Soaking the muesli in water and yogurt overnight has numerous health and taste benefits. Soaking grains aids in their digestion, and the probiotics in the yogurt increases B and other vitamins in the grains and nuts. Plus, our body needs copious amounts of the healthy bacteria found in the yogurt starter to keep our digestive and immune systems healthy.

Don’t be afraid to add fats like butter, coconut cream or whole milk from clean, responsible sources to your breakfast. Yes, they are calorie-dense, but they are also nutrient-dense, and their satiating effect can alleviate sugar cravings later in the day. And as the more informed of you know , simply speaking, it is the sugar, not the fat in our meals that makes us fat.

And finally, don’t skimp on the spices! Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and cardamom have all been extensively studied in recent years, and their anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, blood-sugar regulating effects have been well documented.

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East Bay Acupuncture: Sean Michal Hall, East Bay Acupuncturist · Filed Under: Author: Sean Michael Hall, Nutrition, Recipes Tagged With: anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, breakfast recipe, healthy breakfast, Muesli, Muesli recipe, natural health, nutrition, probiotics

How Not To Get Sick This Season

By Sean Michael Hall, L.Ac.

We are well in the midst of cold and flu season. Read on for 9 well-researched, scientifically-sound tips to keep you healthy in the months to come.

1. Prioritize sleep.

Aim for 7 to 9 hours every night. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University had 153 healthy men and women track their sleep duration over a 14-day period. Participants with less than 7 hours of sleep were 2.94 times more likely to get sick than those with 8 or more hours of sleep.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19139325

2. Get plenty of exercise, but be moderate with intensity and duration.

Prolonged, intense exercise can actually weaken the immune system. For those not acclimated to endurance events, starting training for a marathon or other endurance event is not recommended during cold and flu season, as the immune system is put under considerable strain each time distance or duration is increased. Research published in the Journal of Athletic Training reports “diminished neutrophil function in athletes during periods of intense and heavy training… and risk of upper respiratory tract infection is elevated.”

Studies also show that moderate, regular exercise has a strong beneficial effect on immune health. Research on exact duration, frequency and intensity is lacking, but activities I recommend are:

  • Gentle cardio, like Walking, for 45-60 minutes a day
  • More intense cardio like Running, Swimming, Biking, or Elliptical for 30-40 minutes, 3-5 days a week
  • High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), like Tabata sprints with strength training, 3 days a week
  • Gentle to moderate intensity Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or Pilates daily, or if it’s more vigorous Vinyasa Yoga, Bikram Yoga or Daily Method, limit it to 3-5 times a week.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16558471
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16906627

3. Wash your hands frequently.

And don’t touch your eyes or nose unless you’ve just washed your hands. Cold and flu viruses are more effectively passed through manual not aerosol transmission, and hand washing is the best way to prevent manual transmission. Both alcohol-based hand sanitizers and soap and water work, but soap and water is the gold standard. Research published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that soap and water removed more virus than three alcohol-based hand sanitizers, when hands were rubbed vigorously for 15 or more seconds under warm water.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19115974

4. Reduce stress.

Psychological stress is clearly associated with an increased risk of acute infectious diseases. Many factors in our lives make avoiding stress unrealistic. Still, there are things we can all do to make fun, relaxation, and quality time with family and friends more of a priority in our lives.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1713648

5. Eat plenty of healthy bacteria.

Take a probiotic supplement; or even better, eat high-quality, naturally fermented foods daily. Some of my favorites are yogurt (full-fat, sugar-free), kefir, raw sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha. Dr. Maydani, a researcher at Tufts University says, “The gut is the largest immune organ in the body, accounting for 25% of the immune cells in the body that provide 50% of the body’s immune response.

There are more than 400 species of bacteria residing in the gut, and they have symbiotic relationships with your body.” It’s unclear exactly how these friendly bacteria support our immune system, but a number of studies have shown that use of probiotic supplements decrease frequency of acute respiratory illnesses.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16054520

6. Have your Vitamin D levels checked.

A growing body of evidence now links adequate levels of Vitamin D to a reduction in frequency of acute respiratory infections. I prefer to keep my levels high through moderate exposure to sunlight, eating liver, eggs and full-fat dairy, and by taking a high-quality cod liver oil supplement. If your levels are considerably low however, a Vitamin D supplement is recommended.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22289742
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23007057
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22908115

7. Drink green tea.

If you’re not sensitive to caffeine, drink lots of green tea during the first half of the day. Polyphenols, like EGCG, found in green tea have an extremely beneficial immune-modulating effect. In addition to green tea’s many other health benefits, research shows that it has a specific anti-viral effect on the influenza virus.

Make sure to use high-quality loose-leaf tea. A study published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2007 analyzed close to 400 foods for their EGCG content. They found that loose leaf, freshly brewed green tea had 180mg of EGCG. Decaffeinated green tea had 60mg, flavored green tea had only 45mg, and bottled green tea had a mere 9mg of EGCG.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16137775
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Flav/Flav02-1.pdf

8. Eat your “superfoods”.

Add lots of immune-enhancing and inflammation-reducing foods to your meals. Especially useful are maitake and shiitake mushrooms; oregano, basil, parsley and other culinary herbs; garlic, ginger, turmeric, onion, and cayenne pepper; cruciferous vegetables, and berries. Make sure that every meal is loaded with as many of the above foods as possible.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11697022
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20461582
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15052959
Fuhrman J. Super Immunity. HarperCollins, 2011.

9. Reduce your intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates.

I have to admit… I have a sweet tooth! Made especially difficult by the fact that cooking scones, cookies and pumpkin pie is so much fun. I still believe a treat now and then is good for the soul, but all things in moderation.

Sugar, most other sweeteners, and refined carbohydrates like flour products and white rice, have a long list of documented, harmful effects on our health. Add to the list immunosuppression, as shown by a number of in vitro studies. Human studies are lacking, but when they’re eventually done, I think I can predict the results.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390383
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/26/11/1180.abstract
Taubes G. Good Calories, Bad Calories. Random House, 2007.

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East Bay Acupuncture: Sean Michal Hall, East Bay Acupuncturist · Filed Under: Author: Sean Michael Hall, Cold & Flu Prevention Tagged With: cold, East Bay acupuncture, flu, immune system, moderate exercise, natural health, prevent flu, reduce stress, sleep, stay healthy

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