Dr. Corrine Wang, ND

Do you often have heartburn, stomach pain, or gas and bloating? Many people have digestive issues caused by bad diets and specific foods. Food irritants and food sensitivities can lead to inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract, and ultimately manifest as skin conditions and other symptoms. Choosing to eat a clean, nutritious diet can help with these digestive and skin issues and maintain overall health.

Eating offending foods not only affects the digestive system but also impacts the immune system. Inflammation in the digestive tract results in “leaky gut,” allowing for the absorption of proteins not normally absorbed. With the increased antigenic load, we see increasing symptoms as the immune system reacts against the proteins. Eczema and asthma are examples of other symptoms. Limiting exposure to problem foods decreases inflammation in the digestive system and ameliorates related symptoms.

A good start to a clean diet includes varied and colorful fresh fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens. The antioxidant protection these foods provide reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses. To minimize exposure to toxins while maximizing nutrients, choose organic foods when possible, paying special attention to avoid the fruits and vegetables that are highest in pesticides. (Click www.foodnews.org for a list of the “dirty dozen.”) When choosing animal foods, choose free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats and eggs, and wild fish. Emphasize lean meats over red meats. Drink plenty of water to help flush out toxins, aiming for at least half your weight in ounces of water per day.

To further clean up your diet, avoid the chemicals and high amounts of salt, sugar, and other damaging ingredients in packaged foods. If you are having trouble, consider experimentally limiting the foods known to be most allergenic. These foods include wheat, corn, soy, dairy, nuts, and eggs. By limiting exposure to offending foods and eating a good diet, you can heal your digestive system, decrease your symptoms, improve your general health, and prevent other illnesses from occurring in the future.

So many things in our world today drain us of our natural state of vitality and energy.  After spending the day this past weekend with my niece, I was struck by just how alive she is and how connected she is to her own spirit.  She still flows with her own life energy – playing, creating, and being in whatever state her body and mind nudge her towards in that moment.  Comparing this spontaneity she has with life to my mostly structured adult life (or my need to structure life), I realize just how much our own connection to life can be lost along the way as we mature.  Much of our energy as adults is spent on trying to control our lives, trying to structure and organize everything.  Most of us do not spend much time anymore in the creative sphere, allowing that aspect of us to dwindle or fade away.  But that playful, creative sphere is where we can do our best healing, come up with the best solutions to things, and make the most progress in our lives.  Allowing ourselves to open to the world and be open to life gives us space for wonderful things to happen.  It gives us the clarity to see new opportunities or new perspectives on an old situation.  It gives us space to break out of our old cycles and patterns that do not serve us and create new ones that rejuvenate us and help us grow.  We need to reconnect with ourselves, especially reconnecting with our inner child who is creative, playful, and willing to explore.  In doing so, we can tap into that vital energy that can give us more vibrancy and help in our lives and in our healing.

Craniosacral therapy is a great way of helping to bring our awareness back into our bodies and into our natural state of being – the state of openness, flexibility, and spontaneity.  It can help to open our hearts and bring flow back into life.  Craniosacral therapy at its deepest level can access those places that may have been hidden or lost, getting us back in touch with our core self.  It can help to break down the structure we have placed around us and give us space in stillness.  In finding stillness, we often have more clarity and can find the creativity and spontaneity to help us in different situations.  We may be able to touch the child within through craniosacral therapy – the accepting, non-judging, and spontaneous souls that we are inside.  Through this, we may be able to regain some of the vitality and zest for life that we all had as kids.

Craniosacral work to me is a heart-centered therapy that can help heal the heart not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. On the physical level, craniosacral therapy can assist in rebalancing the autonomic system by supporting the parasympathetic system and decreasing the drive of the sympathetic system. This allows the body to move into relaxation mode, decreasing stress levels and stress hormones.  By doing so, craniosacral therapy can facilitate a drop in heart rate and respiratory rate, dilate blood vessels, and increase blood flow – all good things for the heart.  The decrease in stress levels also directly helps heart health, as stress is a risk factor for heart disease.

Along with helping the heart on the physical plane, craniosacral therapy can be very beneficial for the mental and emotional planes as well.  We lock many of our emotions and experiences in our heart, guarding ourselves from more pain, and we can often feel this tension and hardness physically in our chest. With the complex and almost chaotic lives we now lead, it is often hard to make space for processing our stressors and emotions.  This is extremely important in being able to move through our experiences, especially if they are difficult. During a craniosacral session, I am fully present in the moment with the other person, offering a compassionate space for the person to decompress and express themselves if they need to. While having my hands on a person’s heart space and allowing them the time to be vulnerable, the pain and emotions that are locked in their heart can start to unfurl and release if they are willing to let go, opening them up to new possibilities. With this softening, a person can start to release unneeded tensions and patterns and make space for other alternatives and ways of being.  In this way, craniosacral therapy can be helpful to the heart not only on a physical level by decreasing tension and stress, but more importantly, it can allow for an opening in a person’s mental or emotional being, helping to spur a change  that can ultimately affect how that person wants to be in their life.

Working with craniosacral therapy continues to renew my passion and love for the subtlety yet simplicity of the therapy.  By allowing myself to become still, almost meditative, I am more capable of tuning into another person’s body and feel the flow and rhythm of life that runs through each and every one of us.  Through the stillness, I can feel restrictions in the body that decrease the normal patterns of movement, causing an imbalance in different areas of the body where the cranial rhythm may be slightly off.  The craniosacral treatment provides a space for the body to be recognized and gives it the opportunity to let go of its restrictions and stuck patterns that are manifesting due to physical or emotional ailments.  By honoring the body and soul of the person on the table and really allowing them to be heard, many tension patterns can unwind and release.  Healing occurs at the highest level with the absence of stress and through the embrace of loving, supportive energy.  I try to imbue each session with that energy, holding space to allow each person to relax, unwind, and heal in the way their body wants to heal.

With February being American Heart Month and cardiovascular disease being so prevalent, I wanted to focus on some supplements that can be beneficial to a healthy heart.  Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, as well as being the leading cause of disability, time off from work, and preventing people from enjoying other activities.  Furthermore, cardiovascular disease is very expensive, costing the nation over $444 billion in 2010 in health care expenses and decreased productivity. Because of this, it is important to try and prevent our heart from becoming sick or weak. The supplements below are a few things that can help our heart stay healthy, but keep in mind that these are most beneficial when taken in conjunction with maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Fish oils

Fish oils are beneficial for our health in numerous ways, but for heart health, they can decrease blood pressure, reduce triglycerides, and increase HDL cholesterol.  The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week, especially fatty fish like anchovies, bluefish, carp, catfish, herring, salmon, etc.  When eating fish, it is best to choose wild and smaller fish to decrease the possibility of exposure to mercury, other heavy metals, and toxins.  If supplementing with fish oils, 3 g of omega-3s a day have been shown to reduce plaque found in the arteries.

Chocolate

Recent studies have shown that dark chocolate is now beneficial for preventing heart disease!  The cocoa bean is high in protective flavonoids and antioxidants, so eating an ounce of high-quality, dark chocolate a few times a week can be great for the heart.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn can help with the dilation of blood vessels, strengthening the heart and capillaries, and lowering blood pressure and lipids. The bioflavonoids found in hawthorn are also potent antioxidants.  Hawthorn thus allows for protection of our heart against damage, direct strengthening of our heart, and better circulation of our blood through our bodies.

Garlic

Garlic is one of the most beneficial herbs to treat atherosclerosis, or a hardening of the arteries. Garlic prevents cholesterol from depositing in the artery walls by decreasing serum cholesterol levels. It also helps to lower blood pressure, thereby decreasing stress on our heart as well as in our vessels, so consuming garlic is very beneficial overall for heart health.

Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is an anti-oxidant that is essential for energy production and may play a role in cellular defense against oxidative damage. CoQ10 can be beneficial in the treatment of several health problems, including cardiac conditions, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. One way CoQ10 helps the heart is through the prevention of plaque formation in arteries.  It accomplishes this through preventing the oxidation of LDL cholesterol that ultimately forms the plaques. A main reason for CoQ10 supplementation, especially for people who already have a preexisting heart condition, is that CoQ10 is in great demand in heart muscle cells due to the high energy requirements of the heart. CoQ10 is needed for producing ATP, the molecule required as energy for all cells, so this is a major factor in the efficiency and strength of the heart. Thus, CoQ10 supplementation is beneficial in a number of ways for heart health.

As mentioned above, the true key to a healthy heart is prevention through diet and lifestyle (eating more fruits and vegetables, exercise, and decreasing stress levels). These herbal supplements can help aid in maintaining a healthy heart, but only as a part of a comprehensive diet and lifestyle program supporting cardiovascular health. The key to great cardiovascular health as well as overall health is always prevention and maintaining balance in life.

For more information on other supplements that can keep your heart healthy, check out this article on WebMD: Supplementing Your Heart Health

More and more we are surrounded by pollutants, whether they be from our environment, our foods, radiation, and even energetically from our society.  All of this causes stress on our bodies physically and emotionally, which can lead to multiple disease conditions including multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, diabetes, autoimmune conditions, obesity, chronic infections, and many others.  To decrease the toxic load on our bodies and minds, a detox program that includes nutritional as well as physical components can be very helpful. 

First and foremost, limiting known offending agents such as allergic foods or allergens in our immediate environment is very important.  The longer we can avoid known pollutants, the less our bodies have to work to process them and the quicker we can heal.  To help the healing process and aid the movement of toxins out of our bodies, we can use nutritional support, making sure we are drinking plenty of water, eating more fiber, as well as adding in foods (such as broccoli and beets) and nutritional supplements that can help the liver and kidneys, two main detox organs.

Some physical methods of promoting detox include the use of castor oil packs over the liver in the evening to help the liver process the toxins in our bodies.  Another physical method is through the use of Epsom salt baths, which helps to eliminate toxins through the skin, another major organ of elimination.  Even plain, old exercise can help with detoxification by increasing circulation and eliminating toxins through the skin via sweating.  There are many different components to a detox program, including support for the mental and emotional processes that occur during a detox.  For more information about our programs or for a program more tailored to your needs, please contact us at Pacific Naturopathic.

Prices for different detox packages can be found here: Health packages

Here’s a link to our last newsletter that focuses specifically on detoxification.

As the year draws to a close and the New Year is upon us, we have a wonderful opportunity for reflection and beginning any transformation we would like for ourselves. It is a great time to think back on what we have accomplished throughout the year, what we may have missed or dropped, and what plans we would like to honor for the upcoming year as well as for the future.

Like most everyone else, the end of the year from Thanksgiving to New Year’s is always a whirlwind for me, littered with social engagements with family and friends. I enjoy massive feasts and the warm, comforting company of the ones I love, but the holiday season can also be slightly overwhelming with the multitude of activities and commitments.

Even though it can be a stressful time, the holiday season is a time I truly cherish. I am reminded of the wealth around me by the connections that I have, from family that I often see to long-time elementary school friends that I see maybe once a year or every couple years.

I am grateful for this abundance of love, and I remember again that this is what is important in life – the community that we share with one another. We often forget that we are connected to each other, as we try to pursue the things in life that we believe we want or believe we should pursue. But I always return to this feeling of connection with others.

The feeling of community is what grounds me and what makes sense to me in our often crazy lives. What else are we here to do but to love and to help each other? What else truly matters in this life? The successes we achieve in life may be great but can be even greater when shared with other people. As we go through our triumphs and failures and the rollercoaster that is Life, it is helpful to come back to this point – that what truly enriches us and fills us is our community and the people that are around us.

What really matters in life is love and our connections, and to truly give to ourselves and fulfill our lives, we must remember to give back to others and to cultivate the relationships that surround us.  

Homeopathy, a system of medicine developed in Germany by Samuel Hanhemann in the 1790s, is based on the principle that like cures like.  The symptoms a substance can produce in a healthy person are the symptoms it can cure in an ill person.  Homeopathy requires attention to details yet also focuses on the totality of each case and the person as a whole.  In choosing remedies, the practitioner not only has to know the remedies well, but he/she must also get to know a person on a deeper level – not just the symptoms of the person but also the reasons for why they may do the things they do.  This is how the practitioner is able to choose the correct remedy for a person, because each remedy picture is very specific for different physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.  Also, because our physical bodies are connected to our mental and emotional bodies, an imbalance in our mental and emotional bodies can cause problems in our physical bodies and vice versa.  Choosing a specific remedy for a person can help clear areas where the person may be stuck energetically or physically, producing shifts in their mental or physical spheres to speed along their healing processes.  This can even allow a person to better absorb certain nutrients or supplements that they are taking.  Homeopathy can shift and transform a person’s health when other things may not be working by stimulating and directing the healing force in their body to certain areas that need to be addressed.  By signaling those areas and addressing the parts in a person that need to be healed, homeopathy can be a subtle yet very powerful approach to healing mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Heartburn is a very common condition that affects many people.   Over 40% of adults experience it monthly.  It is usually associated with the regurgitation of stomach acid, which is the major symptom of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).  People can often feel a burning in the middle of the chest, which can radiate up to the neck, throat, or jaw. The pain can mimic angina, and with severe pain, people may often believe they are having a heart attack. Heartburn is increased by bending over, lying down, or after large meals, and it is usually worse at night. A different presentation of reflux other than burning can be a feeling of something stuck behind the chest.

Many complications can occur with recurrent heartburn and reflux and are listed below:

-          Hoarse voice or sore throat

-          Cough or wheezing, which can lead to asthma, especially at night

-          Difficulty swallowing (can be caused by narrowing of the esophagus due to scarring)

-          Dental problems (from regurgitation of acid eroding enamel of teeth)

-          Esophageal ulcer

-          Barret’s espohagus (a change in the lining of the esophagus that increases the risk of esophageal cancer)

Conventional Treatments

The most common treatments people start with are over-the-counter antacids like Tums or Rolaids.  These are quick-acting and can relieve symptoms momentarily, but they do not provide much relief for reflux in the long-run.

The next line of medications are H2 blockers, which lower the amount of acid released in the stomach and provide partial or complete resolution for 50-70% of symptomatic people.  Examples include cimetidine (Tagamet], famotidine (Pepcid), and ranitidine (Zantac).

A step up from H2 blockers are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). They provide the greatest relief for symptoms because of their greater anti-secretory effect – they suppress acid output almost completely.  An example of a PPI is omeprazole (Prilosec).

Because reflux causes irritation and inflammation to the mucosal layer in the esophagus and stomach, these conventional medications can allow for the healing of the irritated lining by decreasing acid in the stomach. The problem with the medications, however, is that they do not address the underlying reasons for reflux and heartburn, and people often have symptoms recur after a period of time following the discontinuation of medications. If people are on these medications for long periods as well, stopping the medications can also cause an immediate rebound effect of increasing stomach acid and actually inducing heartburn in the beginning. In general, taking conventional medications for heartburn decreases stomach acid and can actually make the overall situation worse, because stomach acid is needed to digest and break down foods. Without stomach acid, foods can ferment in the stomach and intestines, causing more digestive issues (i.e. bloating, stomach pain, etc.) and leading to more inflammation in the digestive tract.

Naturopathic Treatments

Naturopathic treatments for reflux and heartburn not only relieve symptoms, but they help to resolve the underlying issues that are causing the reflux and heartburn in the first place.

First of all, heartburn is often the result of food allergies. When people are eating foods that their bodies are sensitive to, this will cause problems with digestion and cause inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Heartburn can be a result of this, so getting rid of offending foods is important for preventing heartburn and keeping heartburn from recurring.

Stress can also be a causative factor of heartburn.  Increased stress causes our digestive system to shut down, leading to problems with digestion and inflammation in the gut as well.  Decreasing stress, especially while eating, is important in warding off heartburn as well.

Other things that can help include eating smaller meals and eating less fatty and fried foods. It is also helpful to stay away from things that can relax the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus that would allow reflux to occur more.  Food and drinks that relax the sphincter include spicy foods, tomato products, citrus juices, coffee, carminatives (peppermint, spearmint), coffee, tea, and alcohol.

For helpful supplements, taking digestive enzymes with meals will aid the digestion of food and decrease the chance of heartburn that can occur from not digesting food properly.  If heartburn is already an issue, aloe vera juice and marshmallow root can coat and soothe the esophagus, stomach, and gastrointestinal tract and decrease inflammation. Deglycyrrhizinated licorice and glutamine can also be used to speed the healing of the irritated lining.

By staying away from offending agents and adding in supplements that can aid the healing of inflamed mucosal tissues, heartburn symptoms can be relieved quickly as well as addressing the root causes for heartburn. These supplements also do not cause rebound issues of increased acid output when coming off of them like conventional medications do. With lifestyle changes and supplements, heartburn can be treated naturally and effectively as well as preventing it from returning in the future.