Why Is Sleep the Best Medicine?

If you suffer from insomnia chronically, it can affect your gut health because gut and brain communication is bi-directional, it can also increase the stress hormone cortisol level, which contributes to chronic inflammation that increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
 
The glymphatic system is a waste collector that picks up toxins and waste in your brain and nervous system. This housekeeping system works best during your sleep, which makes sleep the perfect time for brain detoxification. One of the most important waste products that your glymphatic system helps to remove is the beta-amyloid proteins. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, beta-amyloid proteins play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, your sleep quality is linked to the risk of Alzheimer’s. When you have good sleep, the glymphatic system helps detoxify beta-amyloid proteins and other waste and slows down brain aging.
 
Improving your deep sleep is very important for brain detoxification, cognitive and neurological health, reducing inflammation, cellular rejuvenation, boosting your energy levels, and improving your immunity and overall health. Researchers have found that shift workers who have to adjust their sleep cycles experience more disturbed sleep and also have an increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. REM sleep is critical for deep cleansing of your brain, balancing your emotions, and boosting your mental health.
 
Today, I am going to introduce two simple remedies to boost your sleep quality. We have five senses, but many of us overlooked the amazing healing power of smell. You can make a small herbal pillow beside your bed that can induce deep and restful sleep.
 
Here are the recipes for your sleep pillow:
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of lemon balm
2 teaspoons of rose petals
2 teaspoons of lavender
2 teaspoons of camomile
1 teaspoon of dill seeds
 
Recipe for babies:
2 handfuls of camomile
1 teaspoon of dill seeds
 
Method:
Mix everything and put them in a small bag. Place it next to your pillow or under your pillowcase. You will find yourself drifting to sleep easily with these soothing scents.
 
Many of us have been using nutmeg as a spice in the kitchen. Did you know that nutmeg helps induce deep sleep? Nutmeg and poppy seeds are great sleep remedies, nutmeg takes about four hours to induce sleep and California poppy seeds work in 15 minutes, this two combining together can increase your sleep duration and quality. You will need to take the nutmeg four hours before your sleep to maximize its effects. The best way to take nutmeg is to crush a whole nutmeg before taking it, you can take half of it with a glass of water. Poppy seeds are also great for hair and skin, they benefit your heart and digestion too.
 
Here are some amazing health benefits of nutmeg:

• Enhances digestion and reduces diarrhea.
• Improves sleep quality and relieves insomnia.
• Relieves joint pain and muscle spasms due to its powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
• Stimulates the brain’s nerve cells, lifts mood, and reduces stress.
• Helps eliminate toxins in the body, boosts metabolism, and promotes weight loss.
• Nutmeg is rich in myrislignan which helps treat liver inflammations.
• Enhances the circulation of blood, regulates blood pressure, and reduces high cholesterol.
   

I hope you enjoy the information; I will give a presentation at “Know Your Service Provider” on Dec.1^st in Nanaimo about how nutrition plays a role in your sleep. Please check my poster below for more details. I am looking forward to meeting you there.

How to Listen to the emergency Calls from Your Internal Organs?

Have you ever had these feelings? Your arms often feel sore and numb, and your calves are prone to cramps when you sleep at night. You may wonder what’s going on. This is because our internal organs have accumulated too many toxins, and the body is sending us a distressful signal and asking for help. Regular detoxification is absolutely necessary for a healthy body, but do you know where the toxins are hiding in your body? Let’s explore.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), an issue with your kidneys can affect your voice and your speech quality, and your voice may sound hoarse. If you have heart issues, your left arm may be sore, numb, and painful; and you are more prone to tongue ulcers, insomnia, and heart palpitations. When your spleen and stomach are weak, you may experience migraine and fat accumulation, especially in the abdomen. If your liver is stressed out, you may experience cramps in your calves at night when you sleep; and the surface of your nails may have raised ridges or sunken downwards. When you suffer from lung issues, you may experience constipation because the lung meridian is associated with the large intestine meridian, and you may be more emotionally sensitive to sadness and grief.

If there is an issue with the internal organs, it is necessary to detoxify them in a targeted manner, otherwise, the accumulation of toxins will cause more damage to the body down the road. Let’s look into the solutions on how to detoxify each organ specifically.

Detoxify the Heart

The “Shaofu”(HT-8) acupoint is one of the most important acupoints on your palm when it comes to detoxifying the heart meridian. When a loose fist is made, the Shaofu acupoint is located at the tip of the little finger between the 4th and 5th metacarpal bones. You can add some pressure when pressing this point and alternative both of your hands.

Did you know that foods with a bitter taste help detoxify the heart meridian? The most popular remedy from TCM to detoxify the heart meridian is the core of lotus seeds, it looks like a small green shoot and has a bitter taste. It disperses the excess fire in the heart meridian but does not affect the Qi (energy flow) in the body, so it has been considered the best food to dissolve excess heat in the heart meridian due to toxins overload. You can use it to make tea, and add some licorice root to enhance the potency of its detoxification.

The best time to detoxify the heart meridian is around noon between 11 am to 1 pm because the energy is peaking in the heart meridian during this period. Foods with red color help nurture the heart, such as dates and berries. Longan fruit has been long regarded as a heart-tonifying fruit. A short nap during this period also helps rejuvenate your heart and facilitate the detoxification process. 

To read more, please click here.

If you are interested in a supplement that helps the body remove toxins and toxic heavy metals more efficiently, please check here.

Why Is A Healthy Bile Flow Critical for Your Health?

Did you know that a healthy bile flow is also critical for liver detox? Liver detox involves three phases. Phase three is the final conversion where toxins are ready for excretion in the bile or urine. This is why a healthy bile flow is critical to help remove toxins from the body through the intestinal tract.

Most people believe that gallstones can be found only in the gallbladder. The truth is that most gallstones are actually formed in the liver and a few occur in the gallbladder. Apart from assisting with the digestion of fat, calcium, and protein foods, bile is needed to maintain normal fat levels in the blood, remove toxins from the liver, help maintain proper acid/alkaline balance in the intestinal tract, and keep the colon from harmful pathogens. There is a close connection between bile production and thyroid function. Bile triggers the release of the enzymes that convert T4 to T3, which is the active form of thyroid hormones. T3 specifically supports brain function, heart function, and digestion and plays a role in your metabolic rate and bone health. According to studies in Finland, hypothyroidism is 7 times more likely in people with decreased bile flow. Fats are the building blocks of hormones, if you are not absorbing fat, your body is unable to make thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones also help relax the sphincter of ODDI, which is the muscular valve surrounding the exit of the bile duct and pancreatic duct into the duodenum. It controls the bile flow into the small intestines.
 
People with chronic illnesses often have several thousand gallstones blocking the bile ducts of the liver. People who are overweight or obese have a significantly higher rate of gallstones because being overweight increases the amount of cholesterol in the bile, which increases the risk of gallstones. People who undergo rapid weight loss are also at a higher risk of developing gallstones because the liver reacts by releasing extra cholesterol into the bile. Being overweight tends to reduce the amount of bile salts in the bile, which cause less cholesterol to be dissolved. Women are more likely to develop gallstones than men. The main reason is the female hormone - estrogen. Excess estrogen from pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, and birth control pills can potentially increase cholesterol levels in bile and decrease gallbladder movement, which leads to gallstones.

Many people don’t produce enough bile. Bile insufficiency is linked to many health challenges, such as bloating, indigestion, nausea, chronic fatigue, constipation, and back pain. 

How to boost the detoxification power of your liver and bile production in a simple way? Please check my recent video. 

A Natural Remedy for Psoriasis and Much More

Many people suffer from skin issues such as psoriasis these days due to the toxins overload from our food supplies, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the skin and hair products we use. Today I am going to talk about a herb that helps relieve psoriasis and detoxify the body.

Sarsaparilla is a tropical plant from the genus Smilax. It is a woody and prickly vine that grows deep in the rainforest. It’s native to South America, Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Its other common names include Liseron epineux, Liseron piquant, Salsaparilha, Zarzaparrilla, Khao yern, and Jupicanga, etc. Many parts of the sarsaparilla plant are used as flavorings in foods and beverages. Modern forms of the drink called sarsaparilla don’t contain any part of the plant.

The sarsaparilla root has been used medicinally for centuries. It contains plant sterols and natural antioxidants that are known to benefit human health. Indigenous people around the world used the root of the sarsaparilla plant for treating joint problems such as arthritis, and skin problems including psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis. The root also has blood-purifying properties. It is also a rich source of flavonoids that are known to benefit the immune system and prevent cellular damage. Chemicals known as saponins can help reduce joint pain and skin itching and also kill bacteria due to their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Another compound in sarsaparilla called astilbin treats psoriasis. Studies have shown that sarsaparilla root can protect collagen production from damage due to the sun rays. Saponins are also referred to as natural steroids that can help relieve many symptoms associated with menopause. Sarsaparilla also possesses diuretic properties that help reduce water retention, puffiness, and swelling. One of the traditional uses of sarsaparilla was to cleanse the blood of impurities and eliminate toxins by binding to the toxins, which helps protect the liver.

Don’t confuse sarsaparilla with Indian sarsaparilla, which is called Hemidesmus indicus. Indian sarsaparilla is sometimes used in sarsaparilla preparations but doesn’t have the same active chemicals as sarsaparilla.

The effect of sarsaparilla may vary depending on which specific type of sarsaparilla plant is used and which parts are included. The root is most often used medicinally.
The health benefits of sarsaparilla include the following:

• Relieve rheumatoid arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
• Contain astibin that helps treat psoriasis.
• Prevent seasonal colds and flu and relieve coughs and fevers.
• Protect the liver from damage.
• Fight against many cancers and boost immunity.
• Promote weight loss.
• Detoxify the body and purify the blood.

Cautions: taking a large amount of sarsaparilla may cause stomach irritation. It is a diuretic and increases urine output, therefore, it is best not to take sarsaparilla while you are dehydrated.

You can take this amazing medicinal herb in a supplement form, but the best way is to use the root to make your herbal tea. Here is how to do it: boil up a cup of water and add a teaspoon of your finely chopped sarsaparilla roots. Allow it to steep for at least 20 minutes before draining the mixture. You can drink it several times a day, especially when coming down with a cold or fever. It is a great remedy to put your health back on track quickly. What do you think?

I just added a new service: ear candling. Ear candling helps relieve annoying tinnitus, removes excess ear wax and also reduces headaches, sinus infections, vertigo, and improves hearing. The ear candles I use are made from pure beeswax and essential oils, with no preservatives of any kind. If you are allergic to essential oils, I also have unscented ones. As an add-on service to my other TCM treatments, it is $20 for one treatment, a single treatment is $30. Please click here to check more details.

Why the Oral and Sinus Health Matters

Gut health has been a hot topic these days, many people are aware of the leaky gut syndromes and SIBO (bacteria overgrowth in the small intestine). But your digestive tract starts from your mouth. Have you ever thought that the leaky gut may relate to the imbalance of the oral microbiome? Maybe your dental surgery is overkill for your oral health? Let’s talk about root canal treatment, it basically applies antibiotics to the dead cells in your gum, which means applying acute care to chronic infection, this may pose risks of potential infection later on. Has your dentist discussed with you the potential health consequences before the surgery? Or do you solely rely on your dentist to save your teeth? It is time to look into different options before jumping to a conclusion. According to TCM, your mouth is linked to many meridians, such as the spleen, stomach, kidney, heart, and liver meridians. Therefore, your oral health can significantly impact your cardiovascular system, your gut health, and much more.

How to take care of your oral health with some simple self-care tips? Oil pulling is a great way to prevent oral cavities and improve the self-defense mechanism of your oral microbiome. Oil pulling kills harmful bacteria in the mouth and prevents bad breath and cavities. It also improves gum health by reducing inflammation, reducing plaque and gingivitis, and stimulating saliva production, which is needed to help break down the nutrients in your foods. The key is to make it a daily practice and make sure you swish the coconut oil around in your mouth for at least 10 minutes and slowly increase the duration.

What about mouth breathing habits at night? When you sleep with your mouth open, you keep elevating the stress hormone cortisol in your body all night long, plus:

• Impaired sleep. While it may seem like you can get more air through your mouth, this breathing method reduces oxygen absorption in your lungs. The result is a lack of deep.
• Dry mouth. Breathing through your nose introduces air to the mucus lining within your nostrils. This mucus plays three roles: warming and moisturizing the air before it is absorbed by your lungs.
• Bad breath. A symptom of dry mouth is bad breath. As the mouth dries out, your saliva glands try to compensate but are rapidly overwhelmed by the continual influx of dry air. Saliva helps wash down food particles, staving off bacterial growth which reduces unpleasant odors.
   

Taping your mouth at night can be an option in order to train your mouth to close at night if it is necessary.
 
Let’s talk about the nasal microbiome, which is not only linked to your lung health but also affects your brain health. If your nasal microbiome is compromised, harmful pathogens can travel to the canals of your brain through the nasal passage and damage the neurons and brain cells, which can cause brain fog, anxiety, and panic attacks. The energy is peaking in the lung meridian in the fall according to TCM, this is the time to take care of your lung health. One simple tip to prevent sinus infection is to apply a thin layer of coconut oil with a cotton swab in your nostrils, coconut oil not only helps increase the moisture in your nasal passage but also prevents sinus infections due to its antibacterial and antimicrobial activities. This technique is simple and effective to improve your sinus health.
 
Prevention is the key, all you need is to develop a healthy daily routine and take charge of your own health. For more information on self-care tips and natural remedies, please visit https://optimalhealthsolutions.ca.