Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout… Acupuncture

Did You Know? The tongue is the window to our health

Watcha Reading? Reflections of the Moon on Water

You Want Me to do WHAT??!! Drink avocados

Mud baths are a beauty and health tradition dating back to Cleopatra. Although it may sound a bit icky to be in a tub full of mud it actually feels very relaxing. Mud baths have some very powerful benefits. Some of the best are that it draws out toxins from the body while nourishing it with the good elements found in the mud. It also is credited with relieving the symptoms of Rheumatism and arthritis while reducing stress, fatigue, anxieties, swelling and joint & muscle pain. Mud baths improve complexion and also increase circulation while soothing the nervous system. Sound good now? A great place to get some mud to take home for your own bathtub is Body Blitz at Portland St. and Adelaide St. W. They also do mud treatments (for women only, sorry guys) if you want to stay the day at the Blitz! Make sure to enjoy any activity that will heat your body with plenty of water to replenish lost moisture.

This weekend, play in the mud, Fly Girl gives you permission!

This month we are focusing on inflammation and Julie Daniluk’s book is the perfect match for the topic. Meals That Heal Inflammation is a practical guide to living with and healing inflammation, taking diet as the main source of rehabilitation. What was most valuable for me in this book was the knowledge that inflammation doesn’t always cause pain or obvious symptoms. It can be more of a silent problem in many cases which is the reason most people ignore it and continue to eat foods that cause more inflammation. Inflammation can have serious side effects that cause major health problems as varied as constipation to cancer! Daniluk provides 8 chapters full of information, case studies, facts and tips surrounding the issues of inflammation. She calls this set of chapters “Why Do We Hurt?” and covers causes, emotional issues around food, allergies, infections, injuries and other issues that can be a result of inflammation in the body. Then the book takes a turn towards meal plans and recipes. This book has food charts, a meal schedule, a large section about teas and of course desserts! I tested one of the desserts last week, Cinnamon Baked Apples, and was very surprised by how good it was. So long skepticism!

I think this is a very useful book. It opened my eyes to many symptoms I have noticed in myself, that I have ignored, thought were something completely different or didn’t even realize were symptoms at all. And to follow the eye opening information with a practical guide to changing your diet in order to heal some of the symptoms is extremely helpful. Its one stop shopping with this book, especially with the website and blog that Julie Daniluk has available for further information.

The book is available from Julie’s website, http://www.meals-that-heal.com/ in E-book format or print version. Julie Daniluk also has a website dedicated to her work outside of this book, http://www.juliedaniluk.com/ that has information on her TV show as well as a lot of other great stuff!

I tried a recipe from the book I’m review for next week’s post, Meals That Heal Inflammation by Julie Daniluk. I was a bit skeptical because she says this is recipe can be a substitute for apple pie. And what can possibly replace apple pie? But… I gave it a try anyways and found that what I was eating tasted exactly like apple pie but without the crust! I highly recommend this recipe for everyone, especially people who do not eat gluten or are looking for a healthy dessert when everyone else is reaching for the pies and tarts! The best part… it is really easy too! Thanks Julie for a great alternative for dessert!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

½ cup of various nuts and/or seeds

¼ cup of dried cranberries (apple juice sweetened)

2 dates pitted and chopped

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

4 apples

¼ cup honey

1 cup apple juice

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 325˚F (160˚C)

2)      Mix nuts, seeds, cranberries, dates, ginger and spices in a bowl.

3)      Do not peel the apples, since the fiber is in the skin. Cut a hole into the top of the apples to remove the seed pod, but be careful not to cut through the bottom so that the filling does not fall out.

4)      Stuff each apple with mixture, then drizzle with honey and place in a baking dish.

5)      Pour apple juice around the fruit (this will keep it moist).

6)      Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the fruit is soft.

Makes 4 servings.[i]

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[i] This recipe is taken directly from Julie Daniluk’s book, Meals That Heal Inflammation, from Players Press. Visit Julie Daniluk’s website for more information.

http://www.juliedaniluk.com/

Seen a few books lately on anti-inflammation or anti-inflammation diets? Inflammation is a new fad in the health and fitness world but what does it all mean?

The process of inflammation in our bodies is a natural reaction of our immune system. Our white blood cells work to protect the body from infection and foreign substances like bacteria and viruses by causing an inflammation around a certain area. Like when we walk into the side of a table and we get a bruise, the body naturally reacts by causing an inflammation at that spot, a red swelling. Along with redness and swelling, warmth and pain are the other two classic signs of inflammation. So if our bodies naturally react to injury, irritation and infection through inflammation what is all the hype about? Well, sometimes the body wrongly diagnoses and produces an inflammatory reaction when it is actually inappropriate. This can cause certain health issues that may not have appeared otherwise. But the other reason inflammation is currently hot news is that if we are aware of the inflammatory process we can help to heal the area that is inflamed. Let’s take inflammatory bowel syndrome for an example. This disease means that the colon is inflamed, making the process of elimination much more difficult, thus slowing down the movement of the bodies waste and allowing the colon to leak unhealthy chemicals back into the body rather than eliminating them as it intended. The body is naturally reacting to something in the bowels through inflammation but the inflammation is causing something else negative to happen as well. Through curing the inflammation you can also open up the cure for whatever was causing that inflammation in the first place.

Here are some examples of disorders associated with inflammation:

• Acne
• Asthma
• Autoimmune diseases
• Chronic prostatitis
• Glomerulonephritis
• Hypersensitivities
• Inflammatory bowel diseases
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Reperfusion injury
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sarcoidosis
• Transplant rejection
• Vasculitis
• Interstitial cystitis

Inflammation can also contribute to allergic responses in some people.

The most popular way to combat inflammation is by eating an anti-inflammatory diet. This means that you eat foods that are known to reduce and soothe inflammation or are known to prevent it. Check back later this month for my review of a cookbook for an anti-inflammatory diet.