Blog for acupuncture and home therapy - Cozy Acupuncture in Salem, MA

Spices to prevent and improve diseases (Quick note)

12/9/2018

High Blood Sugar: Yamaimo (Japanese yam) (Fig. 1) >> slow down absorption of sugar by wrapping it around

High Blood Pressure: Lemon >> antioxidant effect of polyphenol

Dementia: Seaweed laver (Fig. 2) >> rich in folic acid >> toast with seaweed laver and cheese containing short-chain fatty acid which is also good for dementia, Seaweed baked with butter

Smoothening blood: Bonito flakes (Fig. 3) >> EPA and DHA prevent blood clots>> be careful in winter because don’t drink water very much >> more effective if eat with soy products like miso, tofu

Immune system: Scallion (Fig. 4) >> Null which strengthen immune cells which are macrophages, IgA and natural killer cells >> green part of scallion, more in thick scallion >> prevent a cold and flu

Aging of blood vessels (Hardening of the artery): Sesame >> vitamin E prevents oxidization of blood vessel and Sesamin lowers LDL cholesterol >> any kinds, 1 tablespoon per day is effective >> grated is better to absorb

Cold intolerance: Japanese pepper (Sansho) (Fig. 5) >> sprinkle on fried food or miso soup, mixed with mayonnaise as a dip

Osteoporosis: Yuzu (a citrus fruit) (Fig. 6) >> citric acid increases the absorption of calcium by 20 % >> use instead of vinegar >> taking the skin containing Beta-cryptoxanthin helping form bones is effective

5 Best Acupuncture Points You Can Easily Press and Improves Symptoms Chosen by 100 Acupuncturists (3/5)

11/19/2018

3rd : Chosen by 18 out of 100 Acupuncturists

Indications

Low back pain, Knee pain, Cold intolerance, Edema and Menstrual cramps

Acupuncture Point

Spleen-6 (SP6)

Location

SP6 is located where the point 4 fingers above the inner side of the ankle bone meets the inside of the leg bone (Fig. 1).

Pressing SP6 increases the blood flow around the pelvis, uterus and ovaries and regulates the balance of hormones, so it is effective for low back problems and gynecological problems.

How to press SP6

(1) Press SP6 like putting your thumb into the inside of the bone for 3 seconds (Fig. 2).
(2) Release your thumb for 3 seconds (Fig. 3).
(3) Repeat (1) and (2) for 5 times.

Aren't your hands and feet cold?

1/2/2018

There are a lot of people whose hands and feet are always cold.

If the body temperature goes down by 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F), your immune system becomes weak by 30 %.

So cold intolerance is very dangerous.

To raise your body temperature, it is important to warm your body from the inside.
To warm your body from the inside, it is important to make the blood flow better.

There are two substances effective to make the blood flow better.
They are Niacin and beta-glucan.

Niacin has the function to expand the blood vessel.
Beta-glucan has the function to make the blood fluent.

The combination of these two effects makes the blood flow better.

The food rich in both substances is Maitake mushroom (Niacin: 9.1mg/100 g, Beta-glucan: 2.3 mg/100 g).

Generally mushrooms contain both substances a lot.

If it is difficult to gets Maitake mushroom, it is also good to eat Oyster mushroom (Niacin: 10.8 mg/100 g, Beta-glucan: 1.5 mg/100 g) instead.

Beta-glucan is absorbed better into your body when it is cooked with oil.

Acupuncture is also effective to make the blood flow better and improve cold intolerance. If you have been straggling with cold intolerance, please try acupuncture.

If you live close to Salem, MA, Cozy Acupuncture is here to help you! Call today to set up an appointment: 617-584-8703.

What Constitution is Easy to Have Summer Heat?

8/12/2017

The followings are the questions to judge whether you have constitution easy to have summer heat or not.

Q1. Do you dislike staying in the bathtub long?
Q2. Are you a shallow sleeper?
Q3. Do you often sweat in your palms?
Q4. Do you feel cold in your feet when AC is on?
Q5. Are you easy to panic like when you can’t find your glasses?
Q6. Are you irritated by the smallest things?

If you have more than 3 Yes, you have Lower Body Cold Intolerance.

If you have a type of Cold Intolerance easy to feel cold in your lower body, you easily have summer heat.

There are 3 types of cold intolerance.

Whole body type cold intolerance
Extremities type cold intolerance
Lower body type cold intolerance

In these three types of cold intolerance, if you have lower body type cold intolerance, you easily have summer heat.

Why do you easily have summer heat if you have the constitution of lower body type cold intolerance?

People with lower body type cold intolerance have abnormal changes in their body temperature when they are in the air-conditioned room. When they are in the air-conditioned room, the temperature of their upper body goes up while the temperature of their lower body goes down.

People with lower body type cold intolerance have the constitution sensitive to cold air from AC. Their autonomic nervous system in the lower body overreacts to the cold air and contracts the blood vessels. Because of the contraction of the blood vessel, heat can’t go to the lower body and is accumulated in the upper body.

Once the autonomic nervous system overreacts, the overreaction doesn’t stop and the contraction of the blood vessel is progressed, resulting in more heat in the upper body and more coldness in the lower body.

If you go outside where is more than 86 degrees F, the temperature of your upper body goes up higher. That makes the brain temperature higher, leading to dizziness, lightheadedness, etc. Over sweating leads to dehydration, causing the lowering of the muscle function, feeling sluggish.

How can people with lower body type cold intolerance avoid summer heat?

1. Acupuncture points

The following 3 points activate the blood flow of all the body and prevent the accumulation of heat.

Spleen-10 (Fig. 1): 3 fingers above knee cap
Spleen-10 strengthens digestive system and makes the blood flow of all the body.

Kidney-3 (Fig. 2): Between the inner side of ankle bone and Achilles’ tendon.
Kidney-3 makes the blood flow in lower body and abdomen better.

Eight Winds (Fig. 3): A half inch above between toes
Eight winds make the blood circulation of the toes better. When you stimulate these points, you should feel warm in your toes.

When you press these points, if you feel comfortable, it is good to press the point lightly, and if you feel painful, it is good to press a little strongly.

Pressing acupuncture points aims at improving the constitution, so it is recommended to continue at least for a month.

2. Food

Onion and celery have the function to circulate the energy in the whole body.
Cinnamon lowers the heat accumulated in the upper body down to the lower body.

Experiment

A 38 years old woman who is suffering from lower body cold intolerance attended an experiment.
She ate Sauté of onion, celery and chicken that was the dish cooked using the above ingredients and pressed the three acupuncture points for 5 days.

After the experiment, the temperature of her feet elevated by 6 degrees C (10.8 degrees F) (28.5 to 34.3 degrees C) and the temperature of her face lowered by 0.6 degrees C (1.1 degrees F) (35.4 to 34.8 degrees C). She felt not so cold in her feet and not so hot in her face after this experiment.

If you have lower body type cold intolerance, please try the above 2 methods to prevent summer heat.

The Strongest Seasonal Food To Prevent Diseases - Cold Intolerance

6/9/2017

Cold Intolerance

There are a lot of people who complain about cold intolerance in summer due to AC.

What is the cause of cold intolerance?

Cold intolerance is caused by stress, cold air or other various factors that contract the blood vessels, the blood flow decreases, the blood doesn’t reach the tip of the fingers and the toes, and they become cold.

Why do more women have cold intolerance than men?

Because women have less muscles than men so basically women’s metabolism is lower than men’s. that means women produce less heat than men. That is why women tend to have cold intolerance.

To prevent and improve cold intolerance, improvement of blood flow is important.
The substance which improves blood flow is citrulline.

The food rich in citrulline is Water Melon.

Water melon has the effect to cool the body.
But the part of water melon rich in citrulline is whitish part between the skin and red part. (Fig.1)
Rec part also contain citrulline but the content is more in whitish part.

The amount of citrulline effective to improve cold intolerance is 800 mg which is one sixth of whole water melon.

Recommended recipe (for 1 person) (Fig. 2)
Whitish part of water melon cutting into fine pieces: 100 grams (3.5 oz)
Grinded white sesame: 1 table spoon (sesame lignan contained in sesame makes blood flow better)
Grated ginger: 1 tea spoon
Japanese noodle soup (3 times concentrated): 1 tea spoon
Mix the above materials.

Improving Capillaries Makes You Younger

11/11/2016

The capillaries decrease with age. Ghost vessels are the condition that the U-shape of the capillaries decreases and cannot be seen like a ghost (Fig. 1) (Fig. 2)

Essentially, if you have a certain level of youth, female hormone keeps the blood flow, but due to various causes such as stress, tiredness or intemperance, a lot of women have ghost vessels. If the capillaries disappear, sufficient oxygen and nutrition are not provided and wastes is not excreted and is accumulated. If you have any health issues including general malaise, most probably the number of the capillaries is decreasing.

Let’s check whether you have ghost vessels or not.
1. Gray hairs increased recently.
2. The eyes easily feel tired.
3. Dark circles under the eyes easily appear.
4. Swelling of the body easily happens.
5. Tiredness remains the next morning in spite of good sleep.

If one of the above questions applies to you, there is a possibility that you have ghost vessels. If two and more apply to you, the possibility is higher.

If the capillaries in the liver and kidneys become ghost vessels, detoxification doesn’t progress, resulting in not recovering from the tiredness.

How to check ghost vessels by looking

Look at the area below inside of the ankle. The condition of the capillaries is clear because the skin in this area is thin. (Fig. 3)

If the capillaries are normal, blue and thick blood vessels can be seen.
If the capillaries become ghost, purplish-red, thin blood vessels are floating around blue, thick blood vessels (Fig. 4) (Fig. 5). These are not really blood vessels but uncompleted blood vessels which are seen among the people whose capillaries become ghost vessels.

How to check blood flow of hands and feet (Fig. 6)

When you press the pad of the finger and release it, if the white part quickly returns to red, your blood circulation is good. If it takes time to return to red, there is high possibility that your blood circulation is not good.

Influence on your health caused by Ghost Vessels

The total length of the capillaries in our body is 2 times as long as going around the earth. More than 90 % of blood vessels in our body is the capillaries.

If the capillaries in the hands and feet become ghost, required oxygen and nutrition is not delivered to the area sufficiently, making the area cold.

If a part of the capillaries in the heart becomes ghost, that can cause heart attack.

Cancer cells tend to increase around the area of ghost capillaries.

Summary of diseases caused by ghost capillaries

Head: Hari loss and gray hair
Face: Pigmented spots and wrinkles
Neck and shoulder: Tightness
Heart: Heart attack
Hands and feet: Coldness
Serious disease: Cancer

3 Major Causes of Ghost Vessels

The width of the capillary is one size of the red blood cell. If the width of the capillary becomes smaller by some reasons, required blood is not delivered.

1. Lack of Exercise
We need to deliver nutrition through the capillaries to every muscle to move our body. But if you don’t move your body, our body judges that delivering nutrition is not necessary and the capillaries decrease.

2. Overweight
When you gain weight with unnecessary fat, the capillaries go to the fat as well. But since the blood delivered to the whole body is constant, the blood is delivered to the excess fat, so the capillaries can’t receive sufficient blood. That causes the capillaries to become ghost.

3. Overeating
When you eat food, blood gathers to the stomach and intestines. People who eat and drink too much or always eat something between meals have blood in the stomach and intestines chronically, making the blood in the limbs stagnate, damaging the capillaries.

Ingredient to improve Ghost Vessels

Long Pepper (Fig. 7), sometimes called Indian long pepper (Pipli), is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. (from Wikipedia)

In Ayurveda, long pepper is used as medicine to remove coldness. In the sixth or fifth century BCE, Hippocrates discussed it as a medicament rather than a spice in Greece.

It is recommended to use long pepper instead of other peppers like black pepper. It is good to take a half of tea spoon a day (1 gram). Maximum is one tea spoon (2 grams).

Ginger and cinnamon are also recommended.

Actually it is dangerous - Cold Intolerance (4/4)

3/1/2016

Q10. Ginger is famous for the effect to warm the body. How do you eat ginger to warm your body more effectively?

A10. Heating up ginger.

When you eat raw ginger, the effect to sterilize and strengthen immune is expected. When ginger is heated up, the substance changes to shogaol which makes blood circulation better.

Honey ginger with boiled water warms your body:
(1) Soaking sliced ginger in honey for a week.
(2) Putting two table spoons of honey with a sliced ginger in a cup.
(3) Pouring boiled water and mixing it.
Oligosaccharide in honey and shogaol in ginger are expected to have the effect to make blood circulation better. Honey activates intestinal bacteria.

Q11. Our body temperature is the lowest in the morning. What is effective to warm up your body when you eat for breakfast?
(A) Boiled eggs (B) Coffee (C) Salad

A11. (A) Boiled eggs.

Coffee and salad cool the body. When protein contained in a boiled egg is digested, stomach moves intensely producing heat, leading to the rise of the body temperature. It takes time to digest protein so it produces more heat.

Q12. Which is effective exercise to warm your body?
(A) Rubbing your back (B) Rubbing your thighs

A12. (A) Rubbing your back.

Body warming exercise
(1) Prepare a towel.
(2) Fold the towel in four.
(3) Put the towel around your back and holding it in your arm pit.
(4) Moving toward the right and left pulling the towel a little strongly.

There are many brown adipose cells producing heat in the back, the neck and the arm pit. This exercise is good for raising the body temperature and losing weight because it produces heat, raising basal metabolism.

Actually it is dangerous - Cold Intolerance (3/4)

2/29/2016

Q8. As the prevention of cold intolerance, wearing socks when you sleep is good.
(A) True (B) False

A8. (B) False

As verification, a person slept for 5 hours wearing socks. When the person woke up, the feet were still cold. (Fig. 5)

So why isn’t it good to wear sock when you sleep?

Because socks tighten capillaries in the feet so blood circulation gets worse. Also the bottom of feet sweat to control the body temperature. If you wear socks when you sleep, moisture fills inside socks and there is a risk that cold intolerance gets worse.

Instead of socks, leg warmer is recommended. Since leg warmer can warm calves which are called the second heart, pumping action of calves is helped. As verification, a person slept wearing leg warmers. When she woke up, her body temperature went up and her blood circulation got better. (Fig. 6)

Q9. Which is the best item for cold protection to warm your body?
(A) Ear warmer (B) Scarf (C) Gloves (D) Tights (E) Abdomen warmer (Haramaki)

A9. (E) Abdomen warmer (Haramaki)

In abdomen, there is abdominal aorta which is a thick blood vessel so warming abdomen leads to warming all the body.

As a verification, a person wore an abdomen warmer. 30 minutes later the person’s hands and feet warmed up. (Fig. 7)

Actually it is dangerous - Cold intolerance (2/4)

2/28/2016

Q6. If you have cold intolerance, you feel cold in your hands and feet, but there is cold intolerance that you don’t notice you have cold intolerance, which is called “hidden” cold intolerance. What part of the body is cold when you have “hidden” cold intolerance?

A6. Abdomen.

There are important organs in the abdomen so the body try to warm the abdomen with priority. Hands and feet become cold because the body tries to keep the core of the body warm. On the other hand, when you have “hidden” cold intolerance, your hands and feet are warm so it is difficult to notice that you have cold intolerance, but your body temperature is low and your internal organs are cold. When the internal organs are cold, the action of the internal organs decreases, resulting in dangerous condition. If you touch your abdomen and it feels cold, you need to be careful.

Q7. Which is more effective to improve cold intolerance?
(A) Soaking in hot tub
(B) Soaking in lukewarm water

A7. (B) Soaking in lukewarm water

Soaking in lukewarm water which temperature is 38 to 40 ˚C (100.4 to 104 ˚F) for 20 minutes is recommended.
Fig. 1 shows the body temperature after soaking in hot tub. The feet became cold 1 hour after taking a bath.
Fig. 2 shows the body temperature after soaking in lukewarm water. The hands and feet became warmer than right after taking a bath.

Why does your body temperature go down quickly when you soak in hot tub?

Autonomic nervous system controls your body temperature. When you soak in hot tub, you’re your body temperature goes up suddenly so the autonomic nervous system tries to lower your body temperature. The method to lower the body temperature is making blood vessels thin and decreasing the blood flow. If the blood vessels become thin, it gets difficult to transport blood to the ends of limbs. As a result, your hands and feet become cold quickly.

On the other hand, in the case of soaking in lukewarm water, your body relaxes, transporting blood to the ends of limbs.

To improve cold intolerance, it is better to soak in lukewarm water up to your neck because there are autonomic nerves related to raising the body temperature around your neck.

If you don’t have good results with soaking in lukewarm water, warm and cold bath is recommended. Warm and cold bath is a bathing method repeating warming up and cooling down your body. The bathing method is:
(1) Soak in water of about 40 ˚C (104 ˚F) for 4 minutes. (Fig. 3)
(2) Shower your hands and feet with cold water for 15 seconds. (Fig. 4)
(3) Repeat (1) and (2) for a few times.

Warm and cold bath is stretching of blood vessels. Soaking in lukewarm water enlarges blood vessels and showering hands and feet with cold water contracts blood vessels. Repeating this cycle strengthens blood vessels resulting in better blood circulation.

Actually it is Dangerous - Cold Intolerance (1/4)

2/27/2016

Examples of symptoms caused by cold intolerance are stiff neck and shoulders, low back pain, constipation, menstrual cramps and depression.

Why does cold intolerance cause these symptoms?

Q1. What weakness causes cold intolerance?

A1. Pumping of muscles

Our body is warm because blood is circulated by pumping of heart and muscles. Hands and feet are easily cold because blood can’t be delivered to the area.

Q2. Cold intolerance is caused by the weakness of muscles, but there are two other causes. What are the two other causes?

A2. (1) Lack of water (2) Unhealthy diet

Muscles transport blood. Even if the transporter is good, a heavy package is hard to transport and a light package is easy to transport. If you consume excessive amount of fat, blood becomes sticky and becomes difficult to pump. So it is important to take proper amount of water and balanced meals.

Q3. Why will you easily get serious diseases if you leave cold intolerance as it is?

A3. Because your immune strength lowers.

If the body temperature goes down by 1 ˚C (1.8 ˚F), your immune strength lowers by 30%.

Q4. Why do women easily become cold intolerance more than men?

A4. Because women have less muscles which produce heat and transport blood than men.

Heat transfer of fat is not good so fat blocks the heat. Fat seems like it works as heat insulation but actually fat is difficult to warm up once it becomes cold. Fat is like heat insulation and women are covered more by the heat insulation than men, so it is difficult for women to transfer the heat to the skin.

Q5. In recent years, men with cold intolerance are increasing rapidly and they tend to have depression. Why did men with cold intolerance increase?

A5. Due to stress.

Autonomic nervous system controls the body temperature. Autonomic nervous system loses balance due to stress leading to cold intolerance.

When our body temperature is high, our body lowers our body temperature by sweating. When our body temperature is low, our body keeps our body warm by decreasing blood flow. When you are in stress, your autonomic nervous system is not able to control these things.

Your body feels stress without subjective symptoms. How to distinguish if you are feeling stress or not is to check if you are sweating in your palms or not. Sweating in your palm is related to your mental state.

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