Detox With Ear Acupuncture And Herbal Tea

In Chinese medicine, ear detox treatment consists of five points, which balance and support detox organs and systems of detox. We needle shen men, which balances the nervous system, sympathetic point, which balances the endocrine system, and then the 3 organs of detoxification; lungs, liver and kidneys.

These points can help when the body is detoxing from anything physical to emotional. These points are used in hospital detox clinics as part of the support for people detoxing from drugs and alcohol. They can also be used when people are detoxing from sugar, caffeine, nicotine, wheat, dairy, or even unhealthy relationships, lifestyle choices, or toxic thoughts and self-talk. Needling these points bring immediate and lasting balance and relief.

Another way to support the body with detox is with herbal tea. We can choose herbs which mirror and support the points and organ systems chosen:

• oatstraw for the nervous system
• cleavers for men and red raspberry leaves for women, to support the endocrine system
• nettles to support the kidneys
• dandelion to support liver
• mullein to support lungs

We can choose one at a time, mix and match, and add things like lemon balm, spearmint and peppermint for flavor.

Many of these plants can be found right outside most people's doors. They can be harvested, dried and stored to have available year round. We have a sister website, Food Under Foot, filled with information, pictures, videos and recipes for identifying and using wild plants. Cleavers, nettles, dandelions and mullein are easy spring weeds to find.

Be well,
~ Melissa and David Sokulski
Acupuncturists

Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Safe Nutritious Purslane Proves To Be As Powerful As Western Drugs

• Wild Burdock Root Cleanses Blood, Clears Acne and Speeds Weight Loss

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions 

Balance Emotions End Cravings With Five Tastes

In Chinese medicine, there are five elements - fire, earth, metal, water, wood - which correspond to organ systems, emotions, tastes, color, seasons, and many more attributes.

Often, when we experience cravings, it is because we are not eating a balance of all 5 tastes. In our culture, we tend to stick with sweet, salty and sour, ignoring bitter and pungent/spicy almost completely. (Incidentally, the amount of wild greens that fell into the sour category was huge!)

Check out the chart below and see if you can add more balance to your menu. You will feel more satisfied and widen your range of nutrients. The balance and health of your emotions, organs and whole body is effected by the foods we eat.

Taste	Element	Emotion	Organs	Food	Wild food
Bitter	Fire	Joy, lack of joy	Heart/small intestine	Lettuce, endive, kale, green tea	Dandelion, chicory, broad dock greens
Sweet	Earth	Compassion, worry	Spleen/stomach	Grains, spinach, squash, fruit	Lambs quarters leaves and seeds, nettles, chickweed
Pungent/spicy	Metal	Sorrow, letting go	Lungs/Lg. Intestine	Onion, garlic, arugula	Garlic mustard, onion grass, ramps
Salty	Water	Fear, wisdom, will power	Kidney/Bladder	Sea salt, seaweed, soy/tofu, swiss chard	Wild orach, plantain leaves, seaweed
Sour	Wood	Anger, creativity, growth	Liver/gall bladder	Fermented foods, cheese, collard greens	Yellow dock leaves, Japanese knotweed shoots, staghorn sumac, sheep sorrel, wood sorrel

Love to all,
~ Melissa and Dave


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Cinnamon, Ginger, and Onions Strongly Protect Us From Cold and Flu

• Easy To Make Fermented Vegetables Boost Immunity and Improve Health 

• Keep Kidneys Strong All Winter Long With Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions

Menu Monday: Apples, Nettles, Soups and Pumpkin Latte

We're trying out a new feature here at Birch Center: Menu Monday, in which we post some menu ideas for the upcoming week. Based on fresh, seasonal (and sometimes wild) ingredients, there will also be some energetic explanation on the food choices based on Chinese medicine. Though it is hard to go wrong (energetically) when you are eating fresh, local foods!

nettles

This week we are incorporating foods from our garden:

• kale
• beets
• arugula

from farmer's markets:

• apples
• squash/pumpkins (my favorite is delicata squash)
• cabbage
• broccoli
• carrots
• onions
• potatoes

from the grocery store:

• cucumbers
• celery

chicken mushroom

from the wild:

• nettles
• chicken mushroom
• burdock root
• dandelion root

and from my pantry:

• brown rice
• beans, canned: black and kidney
• red lentils
• raw cashews
• jar of Indian Curry (vegan)
• tofu (refrigerated)

I like to start the day with fresh juice. Even though the season is getting colder and juice has a cold energy, it is detoxifying to the body and helps rid the body of excess (such excess weight, which can lead to excess heat which may show up as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, headaches, etc.)

juice ingredients with burdock root

This week's juices:

• apple, carrot, beet
• cucumber, celery, kale, apple
• burdock root, apple, ginger, lemon

I may add ginger root to warm up the energy a bit, and I will water the juice down to cut the concentrated sugars.

red lentil, potato, nettle soup

Fall is a perfect season for soups! The soups I'll be making this week are:

• Borscht: Recipe from Moosewood Cookbook, which uses beets, cabbage and potatoes
• Red lentil, potatoes, nettles soup
• Bean Chili with Chicken Mushroom (I dry sauteed the chicken mushroom earlier this fall, it is in my freezer) - the linked recipe uses fresh Hen of the Woods mushroom, I will just substitute the chicken mushroom 

A couple rice dishes include:

• Tofu, Brown Rice, kale, broccoli and onions, tossed with a jar of vegan Indian Curry (I picked this up at the supermarket)
• Stuffed Delicata Squash - baked squash (don't forget to save and roast the seeds!) stuffed with rice, celery, onions, mushrooms

Simple salads to complement the meals:

• Romaine lettuce
• "Garden salad" - using kale and arugula from my garden!
• Coleslaw (cabbage and carrots)
• Cucumber and onions

 Finally, as a yummy treat, this Pumpkin Latte, which is vegan and caffeine free!

 Dandelion Coffee:

• Dig dandelion roots
• Clean well, chop into small pieces and roast in oven at 350 degrees until dry and brown, about an hour
• Add a couple Tablespoons of the roasted roots to 4 cups water, simmer 20 minutes.

Cashew Milk:

•  1/2 cup raw cashews (dry or soaked)
• 2 dates, pitted (you can omit dates entirely, or substitute with a couple tablespoons honey, agave or maple syrup)
• 4 cups water

Blend well in a high speed blender such as a vitamix. If you don't have a strong blender, soak the cashews first for at least 1/2 hour to soften. Then blend well. You shouldn't need to strain this milk because cashews are so soft and will blend entirely. 

To make latte, to blender:

• Add equal amounts of dandelion coffee (hot) and cashew milk to blender. 
• Add a tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
• Add a couple scoops of baked squash or baked pumpkin
• Optional: agave nectar, honey, maple syrup or dates to sweeten (it may be sweet enough if your cashew milk is sweet)

Blend well and enjoy.

I hope this menu gives you some great ideas for healthy seasonal foods this week.

~ Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac.

Hawthorn Berries, Shan Zha

One thing you can do in a kitchen clear of clutter is make medicines for yourself from the many wild plants that grow abundantly all around.

In Chinese medicine hawthorn berries, (Crataegus sp.) or Shan Zha, were used for thousands of years to benefit digestion.  Western herbalists used hawthorn to benefit the heart and circulation. The Chinese recently did their own studies on this and found indeed that hawthorn is very beneficial to the heart. Now the hawthorn is used both ways in the East.

Below is a simple vinegar I am making by steeping hawthorn berries in apple cider vinegar. I will leave it at least 6 weeks. The berries are coming above the vinegar so if they don’t drop into the vinegar in a day or so I may crush the berries to see if that helps. It’s best to have them submerged so they don’t mold. Also, I used a plastic lid…metal corrodes with vinegar.

I also made fermented soda, fruit butter and a shrub, which is a concentrated mixture of vinegar, fruit and sugar. Shrubs are often drunk on seltzer water or alcohol (I prefer the seltzer.)

Visit our sister website Food Under Foot to see the pictures and information on the rest of the ways I put up the Hawthorn berries.

Two other ways to take advantage of the medicinal properties of hawthorn are to make a tincture (soaking the berries in alcohol like vodka) or an apertif, which is a nice way to use hawthorns to help digestion.

And remember, now is an excellent time for an acupuncture tune up or to begin treatments again. 

In health,
David and Melissa Sokulski
licensed acupuncturists

Cooling Wild Purslane is also Powerfully Medicinal

(This article first appeared in Natural News. Here is a full list of all my Natural News articles. ~ Melissa Sokulski.) 

Many plants which grow wild and are considered weeds are not only edible, but are also delicious, nutritious, and even medicinal. Wild purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which most consider a weed is actually a green vegetable with the highest amount of heart-healthy omega 3-fatty acids of any green. Purslane is also used extensively in Chinese Medicine as an herb which clears heat toxin. Purslane is widespread across the United States, growing in fields, lots, lawns and gardens. It spreads along the ground, and it has fleshy leaves and a slightly sour taste. It is high in iron and has appreciable amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, which are more commonly found in seeds like flax and in fish. Purslane has .01 mg/g, a very high amount for land based vegetable sources. Purslane is excellent when used fresh in salads, and it can also be steamed or cooked into soups or added to dishes as spinach would be. In Chinese Medicine, Portulaca oleracea is known as Ma Chi Xian. It is commonly used to treat dysentery, urinary infections, sores, and abscesses, and it is even used as an antidote for snakebites. More recently it has been used to treat post partum bleeding. Extensive clinical research has been done on purslane in China, and it has been found to have extraordinary results:

• Antibiotic and antifungal effect
• Increases uterine contractions
• Prevention and treatment of dysentery: purslane was found as effective as sulfa drugs, over 90% effective in acute cases and 60% in chronic cases.
• Kills parasites: in one study of 192 patients, 80% were cleared of parasites in one month of treatment.
• Treats appendicitis: a decoction (strong tea) of purslane and dandelion (known as pu gong ying in China) treated 31 cases of clinically diagnosed appendicitis (only 1 needed surgery; all others recovered with no medical intervention).

People are beginning to become more aware of the edible and medicinal uses of plants which are known commonly as weeds. Purslane is turning up in farmer's markets, so keep an eye out. Next time you are weeding your own garden, look for this delicious weed. When you pull it, place it in the colander instead of the compost pile and toss it in to your next salad. In health, Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac.

It's windy again today

It's windy again today. It's been a windy spring. In Chinese Medicine, wind is associated with spring. It is associated with the wood element, and in our bodies: the liver and gallbladder. This is the season that if our liver is strained or out of balance, we may experience symptoms related to the liver: anger, headaches, dizziness, aches and pains (especially ones which move around), digestive complaints, menstrual complaints, insomnia. Depression and mood swings can also be prevalent when this element is out of balance. Even jaundice and hepatitis can flare up this time of year. Acupuncture at the Birch Center is a wonderful way to balance the liver energy. There are powerful points such as Liver 3 on the foot and Liver 8 near the knee which move and smooth the energy of the body. Gall bladder points on the back of the head and neck can ease headaches and help us sleep more soundly. At the Birch Center we carry Chinese herbal formulas such as Xiao Yao San (Rambling Powder) which help move liver energy, easing menstrual complaints as well as elevating the mood. Western herbs such as dandelion, burdock, milk thistle and motherwort can also work on balancing the liver and often grow wild all around the United States: here in Western Pennsylvania motherwort and burdock are currently in bloom. The spring has a lot of wonderful energy too: growth, green-ness, creativity, movement! There is a lot to enjoy about spring, we hope you are out there enjoying spring (and now heading into summer) to its fullest! In Health, ~ David and Melissa Sokulski, L.Acs. Licensed Acupuncturists 

Many Weeds Are Potent Chinese Herbs

Many wild plants - which we consider weeds - are actually very useful as food and medicine!

The weeds above were found right here in Pittsburgh, and they are all in the Chinese Materia Medica and considered very powerful herbs.

Why buy expensive supplements from overseas with questionable ingredients, when you can find your medicine (and food) at your doorstep?

In Health,

Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

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Foraging Friday

Food Under Foot is awake from a long winter nap!

Lots of stuff has been coming up around the 'burgh, and we are out taking pictures, harvesting, and making yummy wild things!

We document all we do with wild plants on our sister website, Food Under Foot.

Here are some highlights from this past week:

We walked around Hartwood Acres and spotted lots of garlic mustard popping up out of the ground.


We went to Frick Park to harvest some garlic mustard. I took it home and made a horseradish-like condiment from the roots. You can find the recipe and how-to here.



Today, we harvested a bunch of nettles (my fingers are still buzzing from nettles stings!) I've had a couple green smoothies and the rest is in the dehydrator. There's no post for that up yet, but there are pictures on our new facebook page!



If you're on facebook, please become a fan of Food Under Foot!

Have a great weekend and happy harvesting.

Let us know what you find.

Thanks so much,

~ Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Wild Edibles

Getting ready for a new season of wild edibles!

above: early spring Burdock from last year...haven't seen it this year yet.

Tomorrow I'm doing a presentation for the Oakland Garden Club, (Wild Edibles in the 'Burgh) and the first Wild Edible Walks of the year are now scheduled!

Saturday, April 17, 2010
Frick Environmental Center
Earth Day Celebration
2 FREE walks: 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm.
These are very easy walks, where we mostly meander along and observe and discuss wild edibles we find. I'm sure we'll see onion grass, garlic mustard, burdock, dandelion, fiddleheads, cresses....it will be great fun!

I hope you join us!

We'll have our full spring schedule up soon, along with lots of other exciting things.

Stay tuned!

~ Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Safe Nutritious Purslane Proves as Powerful as Western Meds

Though we are blanketed in snow (with more falling as I write!), we know that spring is on the way!

In the meantime, here is my most recent article for Natural News: Safe Nutritious Purslane Proves as Powerful as Western Meds. I hope you enjoy it! I have confidence we'll all be enjoying fresh purslane soon!


Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream. ~ Barbara Winkler

Thanks so much!

~ Melissa and David Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Sign up today and receive your free gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Health Right Now. We'd love to stay in touch. Thank you!

Raw Food Potluck and Wild Edible Walk Sunday

If you are interested in raw foods and wild edible plants, please join us in Schenely park this Sunday, October 4 at noon (Steeler game is not until 8:20 pm this Sunday, so you won't miss a thing!)

Black Walnuts - still in their green hulls - which we will likely see on Sunday

This event is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Raw Food Meetup Group, so if you'd like to attend (it's a free event), please join the meetup group (there is no charge to join) and RSVP on the meetup invitation page. This way you will be contacted if there are any last minute changes (weather!), and given the full information about the whereabouts and who to contact with questions. We hope to see you there!!!

If you are new to raw foods: this is a potluck, so please bring a dish containing only raw (uncooked) fruits and veggies...a simple fruit salad is always welcome (no canned fruit, though, only fresh.) If you are feeling adventurous, check out some of the many raw recipes on sites like www.goneraw.com or the wonderful recipe page of the All Raw Directory. If you are really inspired, you may want to check out some of the raw "cook" books we recommend in the raw food section of our bookstore.

Here is a simple recipe I am preparing tonight:

Garden Fresh Tomato Salad

5 Garden Tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed (or finely chopped)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or you can use fresh thyme or oregano)

Mix all ingredients together well and serve...delicious!

See you soon!

~ Melissa and David Sokulski
Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Thank you!

Autumn: The Metal Element

Autumn is here! In Chinese Medicine, the fall corresponds to the Metal Element (of the Five Element Cycle). The metal is the element of the Lungs and Large Intestine (paired organs.) The emotion is grief and letting go, the color is white.

It is the time of year to harvest what we have sown (in the garden and life), clean out the garden beds, tidy up. It is a wonderful time of year to let go of things: that which is cluttering our space (I was just in the garden, pulling lots of overgrown weeds, making space for some paw paw seeds and kale...can you tell?)



Speaking of Paw Paws (pictured above), fall is the time of year for some wonderful wild edible plants! Take a look over at Food Under Foot, where I have posts about two of my favorites: paw paws and black walnuts.

Back to the metal element, the change of seasons is a great time of year to come in for an acupuncture tune up. Changing seasons often bring to the front any small imbalances we may have going on...this time of year we may notice (all which may be related to the metal element):

• allergies
  
• asthma
  
• acne
  
• sinus issues
  
• constipation
  
• sadness or depression
  

as well as other imbalances coming to the forefront:

• difficulty sleeping
  
• low energy
  
• headaches, etc.
  

Sometimes just coming in four or five times a year (at the change of seasons) is all an otherwise healthy person needs to keep themselves on track and functioning at their best.

If you'd like to come in for a treatment give us a call at (412) 381-0116. We're back in Pittsburgh and regular office hours have resumed: Monday through Thursday, 8 am to 9 pm, by appointment.

If you are wondering about acupuncture and what it can do for you, please take advantage of our 20 minute, free with no obligation consultation with acupuncturist David Sokulski of the Birch Center for Health. He will be happy to sit down with you and discuss your questions and condition, and offer his thoughts about acupuncture and other health options for you. Just call us at (412) 381-0116 to set up an appointment.

And if you are in the Monroeville area, you can meet David on Friday evening, September 25, from 4 pm to 8 pm, at a FREE Wellness Fair, hosted by Palms Therapeutic Massage, LLC. The Fair will be held in the Parkway Office Complex (upper level – right above Palms Therapeutic Massage, LLC.) The address is: 4280 Old William Penn Highway, Monroeville, PA 15146.

Thanks so much! We hope to see you soon!

Melissa and David Sokulski
Licensed Acupuncturists
The Birch Center for Health
(412) 381-0116

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Thank you!

Article About Us in City Paper!

There's a great article about us in this week's City Paper, if you haven't picked one up yet you can read it here.

It's mainly about our new website, Food Under Foot, and the bounty of Wild Edible Plants (especially these warm summer days.)

Check it out if you get a chance.

Thanks!

~ Melissa and Dave Sokulski

Birch Center for Health

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Thank you!

www.BirchCenter.com

Herbs East and West: Mulberries

I've been having an interesting online conversation with someone who read my article about mulberries in Natural News, and felt that mulberries don't cure tinnitus, since he has tinnitus and he's eaten huge amount of mulberries...sometimes as much as a pound a day.



So I've been thinking about this, and it brings up the difference between the way Chinese herbs and Western herbs are used.

In the West, we think of a specific herb to treat a specific condition. For example: Headache? Try skullcap. Migraines? Give feverfew a whirl. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Why is this?

I believe the answer lies in the East. The way Eastern herbs are used is not symptom-specific. Instead, the root cause of whatever is going on is what the herbs are given for.

So, if someone does have tinnitus, we don't just say: Try eating some mulberries. Instead, we ask more questions about the onset, the pitch of the ringing (high or low.) Is it constant or does it come and go? We also ask about other things: how is the person's digestion? Emotions? Other symptoms? And we look at the tongue and take the pulse, all to truly get an idea of what is going on with the person.

Mulberries don't treat tinnitus, per se. Mulberries help tonify yin and build blood. Often tinnitus is caused by Yin and Blood deficiency, and if so, perhaps eating mulberries will help. However, sometimes tinnitus is caused by Liver congestion, sometimes a trauma to the ear, and there are other causes as well.

In Chinese Medicine, we try our best to get to the root cause of the person's total imbalance, and then we prescribe herbs (usually in formulas, less often singly, which is also a difference between Chinese and Western herbal medicine.)

I've studied herbal medicine in both traditions, and this is one of my favorite topics to think about and discuss.

There is also much more to learn. Please feel free to keep sending in (or writing in the comments) your thoughts, ideas and questions about this.

Thanks so much!

~ Melissa

Birch Center for Health

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Thank you!

www.BirchCenter.com

Acupuncture Treats Depression, Anxiety

One of the most common questions we get these days is if/how acupuncture can treat depression and anxiety.

Acupuncture is often very useful in both these conditions.

Health, in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) depends on the smooth flow of qi (energy) throughout the body. This is important for mental health as well as physical health. In fact, problems in the energy flow often show up first as difficulties in mental health, whether it is feeling stuck in a current situation, not being enthusiastic about life, to experiencing anxiety and clinical depression.

When someone comes in for an acupuncture treatment or consultation, we assess the energy flow in the entire body and see where the cause may be for any symptoms (physical, mental or emotional) they may be experiencing. Often even seemingly unrelated symptoms may have a similar root in Chinese medicine. We find where energy flow may be blocked, weak, or not flowing in the proper direction.

There are many ways to address these imbalances. Of course, acupuncture - placing small, sterile needles in specific points on the body designed to balance energy flow, is one safe effective method we use at The Birch Center.

We can also address the root of the problem with herbs. For example, if smooth flow of energy needs to be restored, we may prescribe a Chinese formula called Xiao Yao Wan. Other formulas, which calm the Heart and settle scattered qi, can often address anxiety and sleeplessness. Depending on each person's specific case, formulas can be given to strengthen digestion, or the overall yin or yang of the body.

We also may discuss lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise, modifications of which can often be extremely helpful to a person's mental and physical well-being.

Finally, we can look at what is available around us. Blooming all around Pittsburgh right now is St. John's wort (pictured above), which is a traditional European herbal treatment for depression. St. John's Wort is used in Germany and other European countries much more often than the prescription medications we use in this country. St. John's wort can be taken as pill, tincture or tea, and is fun to gather yourself, once you learn to identify it.

So if you or someone you love is struggling with depression, anxiety, or other issues, please know that acupuncture can often be a great help.

You can call our office to speak with an acupuncturist directly (412) 381-0116, and can even schedule a free 20 minute consultation with David Sokulski, our head acupuncturist.

For more information about herbs and plants growing locally, please visit Food Under Foot.

Thanks so much!

In Health,

Melissa and David Sokulski, L.Ac
Birch Center for Health

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter! We have raw recipes, information about Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and overall wellness information. Thank you!

www.BirchCenter.com