3 Easy Tips to Stay HYDRATED this Summer!
3 Easy Tips to Stay HYDRATED this Summer! Written By Karleen Tsai Yip Summer officially begins on June 20th and is the height of the Yang, the energy of the fire element, which is the time for activity, growth, and expansion. The fire element includes the heart, small intestine, triple warmer and pericardium meridians. This is the season to use all that stored energy from winter and spend time doing the things we love and spending time with the people we care most about. But it’s also important not to overdo things and completely burn out. Be sure to take in a siesta if you’re waking up early and going to bed late. Balance the activity with adequate rest. And if you need help regulating your sleep schedule, acupuncture can help so be sure to book an appointment! I know we discussed hydration in the spring newsletter but this is paramount in the heat of summer. Most people suffer from chronic dehydration and aren’t even aware of it. Years of chronic dehydration leads to dirty blood and less than optimal health. As a result, our immune system suffers, our skins lack luster, and people can be quick to anger. With the long days and high temperatures, staying hydrated helps our cells stay healthy by moving toxins out and moving the good stuff in. It helps us stay calm so that we’re not as hot tempered. So without further ado; here are some summer wellness tips to help you enjoy this season of activity, all focused on hydration! Tip #1 – Enjoy All the Melons Melons in all forms are extremely hydrating and nourishing for your body. Luckily, they are at their prime in the summer season and there are so many varieties to choose from. They all have a winning combination of glucose, vitamins, and minerals to bring nutrients into your cell bodies. Glucose is the primary source of energy for every cell in the body. We shouldn’t shy away from glucose that comes from fruit. What we shouldn’t do is combine glucose rich foods together with fats, for example: ham wrapped melon. Our livers prioritize processing the fats and aren’t able to absorb the glucose, vitamins, and minerals it needs. So eat melons by themselves. Another thing you should know is that because melons are very easily digested, they shouldn’t be eaten after a heavy meal. This can lead to fermentation and stomach upset. Melons are best eaten first thing in the morning or on an empty stomach. When you see them on a buffet table, eat them first! See how many varieties you can eat this summer season. Your skin will glow and your body will thank you for it. Want more interesting info on melons, check here. Tip #2 – Cucumbers to the Rescue Is your patience running thinner with the summer heat? Looking for the fountain of youth? Then look to cucumbers. They will help you keep your cool, deliver trace minerals, and keep you looking young and hydrated. Eaten regularly, they can help reverse liver damage too. Have them spiraled in place of noodles, juiced, or in salads. Have a fever or suffering from hot flashes? Try to eat two a day. Need more convincing? For a healthy cucumber noodle recipe and to learn more about what cucumbers can do, check here. Tip #3 – Coconut Water Coconut water is another helpful tool to help keep you hydrated. It’s full of electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals, and is highly nutritious, helping to boost your immune system. It can help bring down high blood pressure and help resolve skin issues. But you want to make sure that it doesn’t come in a can, doesn’t include additives or preservatives, and hasn’t turned pink or purple. So what’s the perfect way to enjoy coconut water you ask? Directly from a fresh coconut! Here’s a video to show you how to safely open a young coconut. Bonus is that you can use the young coconut meat to make a delicious vegan ceviche and pair it with cucumber slices instead of chips for a win-win! Recipe here. If you want more info on the benefits of coconuts, see here. We at Tao to Wellness, hope you enjoy the long days and the beautiful produce that is in abundance during the summer months!
Ease into Spring with these Wellness Tips!
Ease into Spring with these Wellness Tips! Spring is the season of new beginnings and fresh starts. And in Chinese medicine, it is also the time of the wood element, which includes the liver and gallbladder organ and meridians. In Chinese medicine, the wood element is responsible for our emotions, especially those related to anger, depression, and mood swings. The wood element also rules our eyes and tendons. It is also the element that when unbalanced, can very readily affect others. For example, when our liver energy fails to move properly, it can affect our digestion or our circulatory system. However, the most important job of the liver is that it filters and stores our blood. If our liver is unable to filter properly, our blood becomes dirty, the immune system suffers, creating a host of opportunities for disease to set in. You see, the liver is a gatekeeper of sorts. It prevents toxins from adversely affecting our other major organs. It works in tandem with the gallbladder, which stores the bile that helps to break down fats from our diet. Taking care of our liver is paramount to our overall health and well being. Our modern lives are all about abusing and taking advantage of the liver’s ability to keep us safe. We usually don’t realize all the things we do to abuse our liver until it becomes too late. Ever been stressed? Drinking coffee, matcha, caffeinated tea or a soft drink? Maybe having a bite of dark chocolate? Stress or ingesting caffeine pumps our adrenals to release adrenaline, which is corrosive to our nervous system. Your liver has to work overtime to neutralize it. Have a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake? High fat foods also put the liver into overdrive working to prevent the fats you just ingested from clogging your arteries. What about using personal care products with chemical ingredients you can’t pronounce, walking through a park with a lawn that had been recently sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, what is really in that ramen sauce packet? We are constantly being bombarded by toxins and absorbing them through our lungs, skin and gut. The reason most people tend to have more health issues as they get older is that the liver has been doing it’s job diligently without the proper care and it’s ability to detox diminishes after years of assault. The accumulation of toxins over our lifetime becomes too much. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Spring is the perfect time to start supporting and caring for your liver. Along with acupuncture and herbal medicine, here are some quick and easy tips you can incorporate into your daily routine to show it some LOVE!!! Tip #1 – Hydration Toxins are eliminated regularly by the body via 3 avenues: urine, sweat, and stool. Most people are chronically dehydrated which makes eliminating accumulated toxins difficult. Caffeinated beverages not only dehydrate you, it acidifies your body, which eventually leads to bone loss. Instead of reaching for a caffeinated beverage first thing in the morning, add this simple routine of drinking lemon or lime water. Adding at least half a lemon or lime to every 2cups (16oz) of water helps deliver hydration deeper into your cell walls so that long standing toxins can be flushed out. Lemon water also helps your body stay more alkaline, For more info on the ins and outs of lemon water, go to this link. Tip #2 – Avoid Chemical Fragrances You’d be surprised what can be absorbed through your skin and nose. Those plug in air fresheners, scented candles, dryer sheets, perfumes, soaps, personal care products, cosmetics, household cleaners and detergents could be exposing you to potentially dangerous chemicals. Ones that could be compromising your immune system. Take a look at the products around your home and take stock of what you can do to reduce or eliminate exposure to toxic ingredients. On your next shopping trip, you can choose products without added fragrances and chemicals. Your body will thank you for it! Be in the habit of researching ingredients you’re unsure of so that you can minimize your toxic exposure and what you’re bringing into your environment. For more info on chemical fragrances, check out this article. Tip #3 – Seek Out Dragon Fruit Why not add this amazing fruit in the year of the Dragon? Dragon fruit, aka pitaya, has anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to be anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and antimicrobial. You want to find the red fleshed variety as the vivid red pigment is a liver rejuvenator that helps slow liver aging. You can often find the fresh fruit at asian supermarkets, but it can often be found in the frozen fruit section and the dried fruit is also readily available online. If you want to read more on the study, check here. Tip #4 – Be Asleep Between 11pm-3am This is the prime time for our liver to be filtering and cleaning our blood. Being asleep during this time period helps ensure this process occurs at its peak optimal level. If you’re having sleep issues, know that it can be regulated with acupuncture and herbs. Come book a session with one of the practitioners at Tao to Wellness here. Tip #5 – Hold Off On Eating Fats Until Noon Remember all the cleansing that your liver just did throughout the night? Let’s extend that goodness a little further and get a little more detox mileage! Hold off on eating fats, proteins (including nuts & beans), avocados, eggs, and dairy until lunch. Choose fresh fruit (not dried) instead for breakfast and your liver will get some extra time to detox before having to be put to work on breaking down fats. Better yet, stay hydrated and avoid dried fruits and salt in the early part of your day so that your body can continue to move wastes out of your body. And there you have it! If you’re struggling with any health issues, chances are that your
