Search This Blog

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Pillars of Digestive Health


Some basics of GI Health, by Dr. Kelley Barnes-Valdes

If you have ever seen a naturopath, you have probably realized that much of your health has to do with how well you digest your food.  There are many components to this, but the basic pillars of digestive health are balanced gut flora and the production and excretion of your stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

 In order to keep your flora in check you can eat fermented foods like pickled vegetables, yogurt, kimchee, kombucha, or kefir.  If you don’t have a palate for the sour side of things, then rotating through different probiotic supplements is also a good way to support your digestive health.

There are also several things you can do to get your digestive juices flowing.  Squeezing a lemon into your water and drinking this before a meal will stimulate stomach acid secretion.  The same is accomplished by drinking apple cider vinegar diluted with water before meals or adding vinegar to your salad.  The stomach acid increases the secretion of all of the other digestive enzymes so that your food will get broken down properly.  If this is not enough, your doctor can help you choose a digestive enzyme that is right for you.   Also remember that if you chew your food thoroughly, your stomach and intestines don’t have to work quite as hard to get your nutrients into your body.

These simple steps will lead to a healthier digestive system and thus improved overall health.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Dangerous Pesticides levels in Celestial Seasonings Tea products

Per the Examiner.com article dated 3/22/13 by Roger Ziegler

Original Article: http://www.examiner.com/article/dangerously-high-pesticide-levels-found-celestial-seasonings-teas

Emerald City Clinic has removed Celestial Teas from our shelves, and we encourage you to do the same. Recent tests conducted by EuroFins (www.eurofins.com/en.aspx), an independent analysis company, have found that 91% of the Celestial Seasonings teas contained pesticide levels higher than the US Federal Limits.

These tests were initiated by Glaucus Research Group out of California, who do have a great influence on short-sale stocks. They do provide a full disclaimer that they will, in fact, benefit greatly if Hain Celestial (the mother company) stock plummets (which it has after this research). In addition to Celestial Teas, Glaucus Research exposed numerous other products of Hain Celestial as being falsely marketed. Read the full report here: https://glaucusresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/02/GlaucusResearch-The_Hain_Celestial_Group_Inc-NasdaqHAIN-Strong_Sell_Febuary_21_2013.pdf.

 Although it is hard to sift through all of the research that is out there, when evidence such as this comes across our desks it is impossible to ignore. We do believe that we all need to do our part as consumers to push the market toward organic, pesticide free produce for an overall healthier world.

What tea do we suggest? It seems that similar tests were run on Twinings Teas, and they were given an A in sustainability.

The Emerald City Team