by admin | Apr 18, 2023 | health |
I hope you enjoyed the Newsletter about Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing). This weekend I went to the New York Botanical Gardens and immersed myself in the orchid show and the beautiful flower and forest offerings on their campus! Very calming and enriching and I got my steps in! Definitely worth a trip! I also received a notice that the JCC of New York is offering two Forest Bathing excursions in Central Park, the first, this Thursday morning, April 20th and the second, on May 18th. It should be fun and I am going to try and make one of them. Click below to register and I hope to see you there! —————————————— In Person Forest Bathing Lori Klamner, Association of Nature + Forest Therapy Forest bathing involves taking a walk in the woods with a trained guide to open your mind and body to connect with your surroundings. Lower your blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of stress. Step into a deep and relaxing relationship with nature by slowing down and becoming more fully present. Register Now —————————————— I am sending you this Newsletter to tell you about four books that are educational and inspirational that can help us have better health and well-being. They are from my friends and Functional Medicine Colleagues, Dr. Jill Carnahan and Dr. Vince Pedre. The third book, is a compilation of 30 authors, including me, and the fourth is my book, Don’t Mess with Stress™ , which I wrote during the pandemic and still timely.* Please see these Four Empowering Books below: Dr. Jill Carnahan’s new book is called Unexpected. Dr. Jill Carnahan’s honest...
by admin | Apr 14, 2023 | health |
I am excited to report that I just returned from an amazing trip to Japan! I was immersed in Japanese culture from experiencing the beautiful cherry blossoms, seeing Mount Fuji in its magnificence, traveling on high-speed trains, and witnessing a culture of people respectful and eager to please. I was impressed with many things—the precision with which trains arrive and leave on time within seconds, the bowing after an interpersonal interaction, and the attention to detail, beauty and simplicity of their art and architecture, not to mention heated toilet seats!!! I was also deeply affected by my excursion to Hiroshima. Hiroshima had been a bustling City, filled with life and in one instant, was decimated by the atomic bomb in World War II. On a happier note, I want to speak to you about a wonderful custom endemic to Japanese culture—the practice of “Shinrin-yoku”—also known as Forest Bathing or Nature Therapy. It is the process of enjoying nature through our senses. Research has shown that being in nature and “green environments”(1) has significant health effects. With most of us connected to our technology, we often barely see the light of day. Exposure to daylight, especially morning daylight also has tremendous benefits.(2) Because of the significant health advantages from exposure to forest environments, a new medical discipline called “Forest Medicine” has been created, which combines “alternative medicine, environmental medicine and preventive medicine”(4) to study and define how to best prescribe this type of therapy for people. These are some Health Benefits of “Forest Bathing”(4): Increased Natural Killer Cell activity suggesting preventive effect on cancers Lowered blood pressure and heart rate...
by admin | Mar 9, 2023 | health |
I hope you are enjoying the winter season. This month’s Newsletter is about the new research on alcohol. Two new definitive statements about the dangers of alcohol were released this past January 2023 by the World Health Organization and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. (1,2) These groundbreaking pronouncements have shaken and stirred the general consensus that drinking alcohol in moderation is good for you. The word was that two drinks per day for a man and one drink per day for a woman were cardioprotective and might even decrease the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes. The new dictum from the WHO and the Canadian Centre is: “No level of alcohol consumption is safe for your health” That’s right. Zip, none! The World Health Organization now states that the risk of disease from alcohol starts from the first drop! Dr. Carina Borges, the WHO advisor for alcohol, claims that “the risk to a drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage.”(1) If you drink more, your risk of developing disease increases proportionately and alcohol is known to cause seven cancers including bowel and female breast. Furthermore, the WHO reports that moderate or light alcohol drinkers in the European region developed half of the cancers caused by alcohol, including the most alcohol-related breast cancers. The WHO believes that the potential good effects of light and moderate drinking are outweighed by the risk of cancer associated with the same level of drinking. Dr. Borges claims it doesn’t matter how much one drinks because there is no safe level of alcohol intake. Quantity counts. More is...
by admin | Dec 27, 2022 | health |
I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying the holidays! The holidays and the New Year are a time of celebrations but they also lead us to excess, usually with increased consumption of sugar, processed foods, and alcohol. It is important to add more healthful foods, especially those that contain flavonoids, to counteract the harmful effects of your seasonal diet! Flavonoids are a part of “Nature’s Pharmacy” and are compounds found mostly in plants such as tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peas, apples, broccoli, red grapes, watercress, kale, spinach, parsley, citrus fruits, and tea. (2) They are “bioactive” which means that they have positive effects on our minds and bodies.1 They nourish and support our health through their anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, cardio-protective, and anti-diabetic actions. (2,3,4,5) Two flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol, have been found to slow cognitive decline. A study in the journal Neurology indicated that older people who ate the equivalent of one cup of dark, leafy greens had the lowest decrease in their rate of cognitive decline. (6) So my advice to you: Eat your flavonoids!!! You don’t like veggies? Quercetin is available as a dietary supplement, but high doses may damage the kidneys, and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, and people with kidney diseases should not take quercetin. Quercetin may also interfere with certain drugs, so it is important to discuss supplementing with your physician. And it is unclear if Quercetin should be taken for long periods of time without breaks. (7) During this time of year, which can also be a time of stress for many, it is good to shore up other healthy habits...
by admin | Nov 23, 2022 | Newsletter |
At this time of year, we are especially thankful for our lives, family and friends. Living a life of thankfulness is a wonderful quality to have year round. To live with gratitude means continuously appreciating all we have. Things may not always turn out as we hope, but living with gratitude means looking on the positive side, appreciating what we do have and taking advantage of every moment and experience. “Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”(1) The importance of living life to the fullest was brought home to me recently when two people dear to me, a relative and a friend passed away suddenly. Life is precious and we need to live joyous, purposeful, and giving lives. Here are some steps to achieve these goals: 1. Acknowledge that we can choose how we live. We can prioritize what makes us happy. We can live life to the fullest! 2. Ask these questions: What really matters to me? How am I spending my time and does it make me feel fulfilled? Am I devoting time to self improvement and living a life of purpose? Can I find humor even during challenging times? Am I pursuing my passions and also contributing to the lives of others? Am I managing my health so that I have optimal mental, emotional, and physical vitality, resilience, and well-being? I hope these questions inspire you to make positive changes in your life and the lives of others. I wish you a beautiful Thanksgiving. And...
