Acupuncture Blog

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Julie is busy!!

She is lecturing at Assabet After Dark Adult Continuing Education in October, for CTI/Daycare/preschool providers in September and October, and doing Learning at Lunch educational experiences for Doble Engineering! Catch her lectures on Adult/Pediatric Acupuncture and Sensory Integration/Processing disorders near you! You can reach us at www.MarlboroughWellnessCenter.com through the contact us page!

With the love of summer, it’s sun vibrancy and outdoor activities, we must not forget the environmental dangers our bodies face this time of year.  According to  Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer-heat pathogens may invade the body during the hot humid weather, often at the end of summer. These symptoms of high fever, copious sweating, irritability, headache, dizziness and thirst can be seen.  This type of disease has a rapid onset and digestive symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or lack of appetite may also occur.  Careful consideration must be taken in preventing an attack by keeping the right Qi of the body strong by limiting hard physical labor during the extremely hot weather.  

    If one is attacked by these summer-heat pathogens, traditional Chinese herbal medicine offers various herbal teas to cool the body and rebuild fluids lost through sweating.  Bai Hu Tang or White Tiger decoction, which is taken as a warm tea, is one such formula that addresses the symptoms of summer-heat.  This formula contains 4 ingredients including licorice root.  If the body’s qi is weak, ginseng may be added.  The dampness of the humid summer may also invade with the heat leading to sensations of heavy body and scanty urine whereby other herbs can be added to the above formula.    

    Additionally, further care can be taken by consuming cool natured foods that will help to resolve summer-heat symptoms.  Watermelon fruit (xi gua) is sweet, bland and cold, thus will help resolve summer-heat symptoms of intense thirst and difficult urination.  Just simply eat watermelon or drink 100-300mls of its juice and its efficacy will be immediately apparent.  Summer is here!  Enjoy its fruits but do so with your health in mind!

~ That our very own Jodi Eldridge was the featured massage therapist at the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce’s PGO Golf tournament in early June?

~ That Diana Fernandes, acupuncturist/herbalist, was featured on a discussion panel on Health and Wellness at the Townsend Senior Center in May?

~ That Jenn Smith is expecting a baby boy in the beginning of July?

~ That Julie Dalbec and Diana Fernandes will be starting the acupuncture program at the Framingham Union Hospital Cancer Center in the upcoming months?

~ That we donated more than 20 full bags of canned food to the Marlborough Food Pantry in April as part of our philanthropic efforts in the community?

KEEP AN EYE ON THE MARLBOROUGH WELLNESS CENTER BECAUSE WE ARE BUSY!

(Cooking Light magazine, December 2008) 

Mayo:

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove

Chicken:

1/4 egg substitute

3 tablespoons hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

4 1/2 ounces baked tortilla chips (about 6 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Remaining Ingredients:

4 (2 ounce) Kaiser rolls, split

12 (1/8 inch thick) red onion slices

4 lettuce leaves

1. To prepare the mayo, combine the first 4 ingredients.

2. To prepare the chicken, combine the egg substitute, hot sauce, oregano, and salt into a large zip-top plastic bag. Cut the chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 cutlets. Add chicken to the bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or up to 8 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

3. Place tortilla chips in a food processor; process 1 minute or until ground. Place ground chips in a shallow dish.

4. Working with one cutlet at a time, remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken completely in chips. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and chips.

5. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned and done. Spread mayo evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer bottom half of each roll with 3 onion slices, 1 lettuce leaf, and 1 chicken cutlet; top with top half of rolls.

Yields: 4 servings (1 sandwich).

Especially in these troubled economic times, we must keep ourselves healthy, balanced, and focused on the positive future! Massage and Acupuncture can assist with achieving that balance but what can we do on a daily basis? To slow your pulse, lower your blood pressure, and tame tension your in no time, Woodson Merrill, ma (the source: unleash your natural energy, power up your health, and feel 10 years younger; Parenting magazine, October 2008) suggests the following exercise:

1.     Sit up straight, shoulders back.

2.     Inhale slowly and deeply to the count of four, filling your belly with air.

3.     Hold for one count.

4.     Exhale slowly and completely, to the count of six. Allow your shoulders to relax (but don’t let them slump forward).

5.     Pause for one count. Repeat four times.

6.     Enjoy a moment of nirvana before jumping back into the fray.

Did you know that…

400 = number of times kids laugh each day

15 = the daily chuckle count for adults….

We need to laugh it up more often!

The season full of “fun and sun” are upon us but so are the unfortunate sunburns and bug bites! Have you wondered what natural remedies are in your home to cure the complaints? Here are a few for sunburns:

1. Apply undiluted apple cider vinegar to sunburn by cottenball..

2. Apply mayonnaise as a skin cream to sunburn.

 3. Apply peanut oil to sunburned area(s).

 4. Apply thin slices of cold cucumbers, apples, or potato directly to the skin.

 5 Apply cold, plain yogurt then rinse with cool water.

Our contemporary contribution for bug repellent is DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide), a powerful insecticide found in over 400 repellents.  DEET can peel paint, damage rayon and spandex, and melt plastic.  Up to 56 percent of DEET applied to the skin enters the bloodstream, and reactions to it include skin rashes, lethargy, muscle spasms, nausea, and irritability. It’s hardly worth using DEET to deter insects unless you’re someplace with high rates of insect-borne disease or you experience severe allergic reactions to bites and stings. (www.naturodoc.com)

There are natural alternatives to DEET, made primarily from plant essential oils, which can protect you in less threatening circumstances.  Look for products containing any of the following: lavender, eucalyptus citriodera, litsea cubeba, geranium, rosemary, peppermint, cedar, and/or tea tree oil. For more information on properties of essential oils, go to www.crescentmooncreations.biz and click on “Learn About-Plant Oils” button.

Not only does massage make you feel great, massage is a wonderful addition to your approach to golf. Massage will help relax and tone muscles, increase flexibility, rejuvenate and increase muscle sensory mechanisms.  All of this adds up to better balance and body awareness, key factors in playing good golf.

Massage is beneficial for lots of reasons, but the most important one is circulation. Several massage strokes increase the movement of blood and lymph.  If a muscle is stiff because of a long day on the course, getting oxygenated blood to the area improves the condition rapidly. Massage can help relax muscles and return them to normal health and physical condition. With your golf muscles relaxed they will function efficiently, reducing the risk of “strain,” and producing consistently better shots. Massage can also relieve pain, due to its encouragement of endorphin release, especially if it is caused by muscle tension.

Post-round massage increases circulation in the muscle tissues, helping to prevent build-up of harmful “fatigue” products resulting from strenuous exercise and competition. So when you are ready to take your golfing performance to a new level.

Has been put on hold for a moment of time but since we are never too old to learn, please check out the Assabet Valley Center for Community Education’s Assabet After Dark program! Every season, John MacKenzie and his staff compile an amazing array of class topics and adult learning modules to interest anyone! The program is located at the located at the Assabet Valley Technical High School in Marlborough, MA and you can receive their class catalog by mail (if you don’t already) by calling 508-485-9430 or by going to their website at www.AssabetAfterDark.com to see what interests you! Guaranteed you will find something to enlighten your mind this year!

The Marlborough Wellness Center is located at 331 Boston Post Road East, Ste. 7, and provides a place for medical wellness and education.  We believe that there are two worlds: one with experts who fix people, and the other world of wellness that educates and empowers them to fix themselves. It is here where you will find professional practitioners who can meet all your health and medical needs. Jodi Eldridge, Jennifer Smith, and Joyce Clancy, our licensed massage therapists, are going strong! Julie Dalbec, a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, continues to focus her practice in the areas of Japanese style, non-insertive pediatric acupuncture techniques and women’s health issues. Diana Fernandes, MAOM, Lic.Ac., also a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, has written the focus article on summer heat for us! Our monthly community education series titled “Alternatively Speaking” has gone on hiatus but community education is never too far away and we are never too old to learn something new! Take a moment to look into the Center! We offer a variety of treatments that can be found on our new and improved website and active blog at www.MarlboroughWellnessCenter.com!