Multitasking: Healthy or Unhealthy?
Dr. Melissa CarrHow do you feel when I say the word multitasking? Do you feel overwhelmed? Or do you proudly say that youre a good multitasker? Does it stress you out? Or do you feel efficient? As a health professional, Im supposed to tell you that multitasking may be bad for your health. After all, your focus is usually poor when you try doing two or more things at once. Take, for example, the well k...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets West | Holistic Therapies | Mind and Mental HealthFace Reading
Shannon 'Shakaya' LeoneThis is an ancient practice that is a truly an extraordinary way of being able to see deep into your body. Your face is a reflection of your health, a magic mirror. Your face can tell you what is happening inside your body. The Chinese have been studying the face for thousands of years to determine character (known as physiognomy) and medical diagnosis through Face Reading or Mien ...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestHow To Cleanse Your Body Of Toxins
Dr. Melissa CarrThe U.S. Centre for Disease Controltested the blood and tissues of about 2500 people and found 150 different toxic chemicals, including PCBs, lead, and other carcinogens. These toxins are only a minute portion of the number of chemicals currently in use in North America. Of the more than 75,000 chemicals, less than half have been fully tested for their impact on our health and the environm...
Read more...CategoriesHolistic Therapies | East Meets WestBiopuncture
Dr. Melissa CarrWhat is Biopuncture? Biopuncture is the injection of sterile biologic products into specific locations of the body. It is also known as Acupuncture Injection Therapy (AIT). Acupuncture points can be chosen based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) principles and diagnosis to stimulate an immune response, balance hormones, regulate function, speed healing, and restore energy and vital...
Read more...CategoriesHolistic Therapies | East Meets WestWhat Is Ayurvedic Medicine?
Nahid AmeenAfter graduating from nutrition school, I decided to focus on Ayurvedic healing methods. This was the class I enjoyed the most and applied many practical changes. With my strong background in traditional cooking I was already familiar with some of the spices and herbs used in Ayurveda. What interested me most was a few culinary herbs were used as supplements such as ginger, garlic, holy ba...
Read more...CategoriesHolistic Therapies | East Meets WestThe 12 Moves to Wellness
Dr. Melissa CarrThis season, many of us feel overwhelmed by our to-do lists and do not want to add more to that list with New Years resolutions or other such self-imposed undertakings. Being a fan of simplicity, Ive come up with 12 easy moves you can make towards wellness. 1. Drink water lemon in the morning Lemons are rich in vitamin C and citric acid. Adding it to warm water and drinking it...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestSimple Solutions for a Sound Sleep
Dr. Melissa CarrAre you getting enough sleep? If your answer is no, then youre not alone. Approximately 29 percent of Americans report getting less than seven hours of sleep per night on a regular basis. Sure many of us can handle the loss of an hour or two or even three every now and then, but it becomes a problem when we become unable to pay back our sleep debt. Just one week of insufficient sleep can a...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTreat Breast Cysts with TCM
Dr. Melissa CarrMost women know that regular breast exams are important, but many of us neglect to do them. Breast exams allow us to feel out possible areas of concern so they can be addressed early. Though it can be scary, many of those lumps are actually nothing to be concerned about. Many lumps are fluid-filled cysts, which are not cancerous, nor a risk for cancer. A cyst is a tissue sac that is filled with f...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestShark Cartilage for TCM is Often Cruelly Harvested
Dr. Melissa CarrLast month I went to see the movie Sharkwater. My husband was excited because he loves sharks, and he thought the movie would be an action movie showing sharks as dangerous man-eaters, like in the movie Jaws. Instead, the movie starts off in an underwater sequence with a diver, Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart, quietly sitting on the bottom of an ocean floor hugging a shark. No bloodthirsty man-hunt...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestControl Pain with TCM, Not Acetaminophen
Dr. Melissa CarrAcetaminophen finds its way into most home medicine cabinets in the form of brand name products Tylenol and Excedrin, and in many cold medicine and prescription painkiller combinations. In fact, it is one of the most commonly used drugs, with 28 billion doses bought in the U.S. in 2005. Recenty, however, an advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that the FDA set m...
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Protect Yourself Naturally From Influenza
Dr. Melissa CarrWhen it comes to the H1NI virus—sometimes called swine flu—there seems to be two types of people: those who are terrified of it, and those who are tired of hea...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestActive Health: Acupressure
Dr. Melissa Carr“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” - Ralph Marston "The future depends on what you do today." - Mahatma Gandhi “What you do today, c...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTime to Renew
Dr. Melissa CarrCrocuses are blooming! During spring flowers begin to bloom, leaves appear, and birds return from the south. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis and ...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestLetting Go: Cleansing and Detoxifying with TCM
Dr. Melissa CarrYour immune system defends the body against anything foreign which may cause problems. Sometimes the immune system becomes confused and reacts against things t...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestGive Acupuncture a Chance
Dr. Melissa CarrAre you still skeptical that pins can heal your ills? I understand your doubts. My mother is a practicing nurse and my father has a PhD in chemistry. It’s no su...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestProstate Health & Traditional Chinese Medicine
Dr. Melissa CarrWhile the majority of people seeking alternative and complementary medicine are women, we must not neglect you men out there. Prostate health is one area that b...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestGo Green with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Dr. Melissa CarrTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) follows the flow of nature. Although where I live is green throughout the year, spring still heralds new growth: new green le...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTCM: ABCs (Apples, Bananas, & Carrots) of Food
Dr. Melissa CarrIf you learn about nutrition by watching TV or following fads, you are probably confused. According to TV ads, chocolate flavored hazelnut breakfast spreads and...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestWard Off Allergy Attacks with TCM
Dr. Melissa CarrWhile fall is the best time to start treating your allergies, it is never too late to benefit. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), autumn is associ...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestDigestion According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
Dr. Melissa CarrWhat foods should I eat? For my patients, both with and without digestive health issues, this is a common question. My answer is not that simple. Traditional Ch...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestHow Do You Spell Relief with TCM?
Dr. Melissa CarrTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used for thousands of years to treat pain and injuries. More and more people are discovering what has been passed do...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTraditional Chinese Medicine & Spring
Dr. Melissa CarrBecause Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was developed thousands of years ago, ancient practitioners looked to nature to help to define the body’s organ sys...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestThe 5 Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Dr. Melissa CarrTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was developed through studied observations of people and their symptoms, and of nature. In order to more easily describe patt...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTraditional Chinese Medicine: Spring Cleaning
Dr. Melissa CarrOf course, cleaning your house and workspace is important, but don't neglect your body and mind this year. Here are some scary statistics…About 6000 new c...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestTraditional Chinese Medicine: Spring Forward
Dr. Melissa CarrThe classic TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) textbook, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, has a famous saying: "Instead of exerting great effort ...
Read more...CategoriesEast Meets WestMaking The Common Cold Less Common with TCM
Dr. Melissa CarrThe common cold could not be more appropriately named. U.S. citizens suffer about 1 billion colds per year, with an average of two to four colds per year for e...
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