Five Seasons Women’s Wellness: Health and Wellness Blog

As consumers become more nutrition savvy, clever food manufacturers are changing their labels to reflect consumers’ values.  Phrases like “all natural,” “made with whole grains,” and “a good source of fiber” are common sights in the grocery store, but these slogans can be misleading.

Tara Parker-Pope of New York Times Health exposes six common meaningless claims on food labels.

NY Times Article: Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels

For an authentic, 100% natural diet, avoid all prepackaged and processed foods.  Eat a diet rich in fresh organic produce, whole grains, nuts and local farm raised meats.  Simple, whole foods are not only better for your health, but they are usually easier on your wallet than their “natural” processed and prepackaged counterparts.

According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, winter is associated with the water element, and is a time for preservation and storage.

The water element corresponds with the kidney system in the body. The kidneys house the root of our energy and substance - the energetic fire and water that feed our bodies’ functions.

Cold winter weather drives our kidney energy deep into our bodies, making the kidney system more vulnerable and open to damage if care is not given.

In Chinese medicine, a weakened kidney system might manifest as:

• Bladder and kidney infections
• Low back pain
• Knee pain
• Cavities in teeth
• Weak or broken bones
• Infertility
• Low Libido
• Premature gray hair or hair loss
• Ringing in the ears
• Increase of phobias or fears

With just a few simple adjustments, you can protect your kidney energy and maintain your health during the winter and throughout the year:

• Stay warm! Bundle up when you go outside and avoid cold drafts. Take extra care to keep your head, neck, feet and mid-section warm.

• Eat cooked seasonal foods and hot soups with warming spices such as fennel, cinnamon and ginger. Avoid raw and cold foods.

• Follow your natural tendency for winter energy storage: go to bed earlier and rise later.

• Exercise, but in moderation. Avoid strenuous exercise that causes heavy sweating, as this consumes yang energy that should be stored. Try more internally focused exercise such as tai qi and qi gong.

• Get plenty of sunshine. The sun provides vitamin D and warming yang energy that help to balance the cooling yin energy of the winter. In dark places such as the Pacific Northwest, a vitamin D supplement can be helpful.

Certain foods are more nourishing to the warming energy of the kidney. Include some of these foods in your daily diet:

• Grains: quinoa, wheat germ
• Vegetables: cabbage, kale, garlic, leek, mustard greens, onion, parsnips, radish, scallion, turnip, watercress
• Fruits: citrus peel, dates, cherry, raspberry
• Beans: adzuki, lentil
• Nuts/ Seeds: chestnuts, pine nuts, pistachio nuts, walnuts
• Fish: anchovy, lobster, mussel, prawn, sardine, shrimp, trout
• Meats (1 to 3 servings a day): chicken, lobster, lamb, venison, shrimp, kidney
• Spices: basil, black pepper, caper, cayenne, chive seed, cinnamon bark, clove, dill seed, fennel seed, fenugreek seed, garlic, dry ginger, horseradish, nutmeg, peppermint, rosemary, sage, savory, spearmint, star anise, turmeric, thyme, white pepper
• Other: chai tea

In order to experience the lively, dynamic energy of the spring (the time of re-birth), it is important for us to allow our bodies to slow down and experience our roots in winter (the metaphorical death). When we are in harmony with the seasons, we are naturally healthier!

If you are already experiencing symptoms of kidney imbalance, acupuncture and herbal medicine can be used to strengthen the kidney system and prevent further damage.

A new Australian study suggests that babies that are breastfed for longer than six months could be at lower risk for mental health problems later in life.

Researchers found that children who were breastfed for less than six months had a 52% increased risk of a mental health problem at 2 years of age, a 55% increased risk at age 6, a 61% increased risk at age 8, and a 37% increased risk at age 10.

The findings are based on data from 2,366 Australian children over the past 16 years.

“Breastfeeding for a longer duration appears to have significant benefits for the onward mental health of the child into adolescence,” reported Dr. Wendy H. Oddy of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

“Even when we adjust the results to take into account other factors such as the parents’ socio-economic situation, their education, their happiness and family functioning, we see that children that were breastfed for at least six months are at lower risk of mental health problems,” Dr. Oddy said.

Dr. Oddy said that children that were breastfed had particularly lower rates of delinquent, aggressive and anti-social behaviour, and overall were less depressed, anxious or withdrawn.

“These results are powerful evidence for more support to be given to mothers to help them breastfeed for longer,” she said.

Check out this interesting NY Times article on how culture influences mental illness.

The Americanization of Mental Illness by Ethan Watters

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that acupuncture may be effective in treating frequent urinary urge and mixed urinary incontinence (UI) according to a recent pilot study.

In the randomised, double-blinded clinical trial, nine women between the ages of 44 and 66 were randomly assigned to true or sham (placebo control) acupuncture groups.  Both true and sham acupuncture treatments were performed twice a week for six weeks.

Subjects randomised to the true acupuncture group had an average 63.30% reduction in daytime accidents one week after treatment and 67.47% reduction at 4 weeks. In contrast, the average reduction in daytime accidents after sham treatment was 18.88% at 1 week and 16.67% at 4 weeks.

The authors recommend further research to examine the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of UI in women.