Posts filed under digestion

Why Cold Foods May Be Wrecking Your Health

I have a post for you today with some information that pretty much blew my mind when I first learned it. Eating and drinking too many cold/frozen things can seriously impact your health in a negative way. Yes, too many salads, cold smoothies, cold juices, and iced beverages can actually be bad for you. I'm not just talking about digestive disorders, I'm talking about your entire body on a systemic level.  Here are some things that can be affected:

  • Digestion

  • Pain levels

  • Inability to lose weight 

  • All things uterus related (cramps, endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, fertility, etc.)

Obviously, what I'm saying is based on Eastern Medicine. Please do not walk into your doctor's office tomorrow and tell her that the cold salad and iced tea you had last night for dinner are the cause of all your ailments. However, please hear me out. Thousands of years of Chinese Medicine observation,  theory, and treatment have to count for something, right?

Why Is Coldness A Potential Problem?

Coldness slows things down and it also constricts. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we find that if the too much internal coldness impacts the circulation of blood and fluids *think slow moving iceberg or imagine trying to drink a frozen slushie through a straw*. Things just aren't moving as fast or as smoothly as they should.  In TCM we often talk about 'blood stasis'  resulting from too much coldness in the body. This simply means that your blood is not circulating at its optimal potential. Again, this is from an Eastern perspective. This does not mean that you are losing all blood flow to your body parts. However, too much stagnation in women can manifest as endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, menstrual clots/cramps, fertility issues, etc.

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Posted on January 23, 2018 by JoAnna Montoya, L.Ac., Dipl.O.M. and filed under digestion, nutrition, women's health.

Is Your 'Healthy' Salad Doing More Harm Than Good?

Vegetables are healthy, but eating them in their raw state is not necessarily the healthiest way to consume them. Raw vegetables can actually be very hard on the digestive system, and for certain body types, can really impact overall health in a negative way. Ironically, many people eat an abundance of salads because they want to lose weight, but for certain body types too many damp foods actually cause the body to retain dampness which make it MORE difficult to lose weight.  

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Posted on July 14, 2015 by JoAnna Montoya, L.Ac., Dipl.O.M. and filed under digestion, nutrition.

Back To The Basics (part 2)....NUTRITION

While I love the effectiveness of acupuncture and herbal medicine, I know that if you're truly trying to create significant change in your health, you simply CANNOT IGNORE the fundamentals. The food choices we make truly do set the foundation for our health, and while most people make the connection between food and their digestive issues (acid reflux, gas, bloating, constipation), it can sometimes be difficult to make the connection between dietary choices and other health issues. Beyond digestive disorder, poor food choices can set the stage for issues such as chronic inflammation and pain, hormone imbalances, allergies, skin conditions, and much more.

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Posted on February 8, 2015 by JoAnna Montoya, L.Ac., Dipl.O.M. and filed under nutrition, digestion.