Meridian Acupuncture in Los Angeles CA

Monica Campins, Licensed Acupuncturist

1551 Colorado Blvd. #206 Los Angeles, CA 90041 phone: (323) 257-1901

a little more information on detox and weight loss

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Rather than thinking “diet” we’re gonna visualize our bodies getting clean and efficient. The liver and the kidneys especially, have to be in good working order since they are the organs that eliminate unwanted substances from the body, and when they get overloaded they fail to perform this important function efficiently and those unwanted substances stay rather than be moved out.So we have to keep the body clean and efficient. If it’s not so at this time, we have to coax it into becoming so.FIRST and most important it’s to stop putting in things that will clog the body: trans-fats food additives unnecessary medications. Read all food labels, or better yet, consume only things that don’t have labels:fruits, vegetables, whole grains, eggs, pasta and beans.These should be your main staples with fish being an occasional treat.Beverages should be water, teas (green or black if you need the caffeine), and vegetable juices that you make in your juicer. Avoid bottled water, get a kitchen filter and fill up your glass or stainless steel bottles.For a treat you can have a glass of soda water once in a while if you need it.THIS IS MY EATING PLAN FOR LOOSING WEIGHT.MORNING: Make a lemonade with a quart of warm water, a little honey or maple or agave syrup, the juice of 1 lemon and a dash of cayenne pepper. Drink all this slowly, while you’re doing other things without eating anything. This will clean your digestive system of all phlegm, it will hydrate you and keep you busy without eating. The idea is to prolong the night fast a few more hours. After you’re done drinking it you won’t be hungry for a little while, and then you will be REALLY HUNGRY. You need to get familiar with your hunger, don’t fear it. If you're very overweight you probably seldom experience real hunger. We need to differenciate between “hunger” and “appetite”. We should only eat when we are hungry, appetite is what creates problems.So now it’s time for BREAKFAST. You’ll break the fast with a dish made of cut fruits. Banana, apple and orange are the basics but you can add pineapple, strawberries, pears, whatever you want. Make it good and plenty.Have a little more water before lunch and wait for the real “hunger” signal and then eat: a good salad of greens, carrots, cabbage with beans (you can use canned beans to make it easier) with lemon, olive oil and a little salt and 2 slices of sprouted bread$0$0keep drinking water. You will be really hungry in 1 or 2 hours since this food goes through really easy and that’s what we want.$0$0so have a SNACK of raw unsalted nuts (raw pistachios are specially good) this is important because they are not addictive and you will eat only as many as you need to be nourished. If nuts are salted and roasted you will not stop. $0$0WE NEED TO ELIMINATE ADDICTIVE FOODS SINCE OVEREATING IS AN ADDICTION. For DINNER you can have: a piece of fish with steamed vegetables with a dish of pasta prepared however you want (no cheese, that’s addictive) a baked potato with olive oil and a little salt and some scallions.Always end your dinner with a piece of baked kabosha pumpkin. This will cut your cravings for sweets.If you have to have “something” have a banana or other fruit,but make sure at least 3 hours passed since your last meal since fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach.This diet is your ideal meal plan. If you do it, you will be healthy in a month, and that means THINNER.This is your 100% but if you do a 75% you would be doing great too, just slower.Whatever you add to this diet make sure it DOESN’T HAVE CHEMICALS.Your consistency in keeping your ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS is very important since acupuncture will: harmonize all body systems help you eliminate toxins and burn fat by activating the metabolism calm anxiety help you sleep diminish cravings Remember you have my complete support while in this plan. Don't focus on results, IT'S A LEARNING PROCESS!!!

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How Acupuncture alleviates and heals SEASONAL ALLERGIES

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Monday, March 02, 2009

Spring, what could be the happiest season of the year is for some of us the one in which we feel most miserable. Everything is in bloom exploding with colors, aromas, life. Little flowers everywhere, even the sides of the freeways are covered with them. But when you suffer from seasonal allergies that sight can be dreadful, announcing a long period of head congestion, itching eyes and runny nose, sometimes coughing and always a terrible feeling of being irritated. And indeed you are.

You might feel angry at your fate but as it has been said many times: diseases don’t fall from the sky. But think about it, this is actually good news because knowing that we realize we have the power to be healthy, to prevent illness and be more in tune with our environment, creating more enjoyment for ourselves and others.

So, what is the reason for this outbreak of symptoms at the end of winter? Well ... one of the reasons is that: winter. Mother Nature moves through the seasons in its own way and we have to move with her. If we go with her flow we don’t get sick. So, in winter Nature goes inside, it retrieves. We do the same in a sense but what that means for us is we spend a lot of time indoors in artificially heated, most of the times overheated rooms with artificial lights, most of the time low quality lights, no ventilation, watching TV or working on the computer, consuming more food and drinking less water. This kind of life style is not the best for our immune system.

Your immune system is a set of mechanisms that not only shields the body from the environment but also maintains a harmonious relationship with it. When it is strong and alive that is, but we can to do the right things in order to keep it that way, and if it’s not strong and healthy we have to know that we can restore it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine works very well in both restoring the health of the immune system and keeping it strong to prevent illness.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs, the main treatment modalities of Traditional Chinese Medicine, work in combination to alleviate symptoms once they are already in place and making you miserable. Acupuncture breaks all that stagnation you feel in your nose, eyes and ears by allowing a better flow of the body fluids, bringing down inflammation, cooling the affected tissues and opening up all the head cavities. The right herb formula on the other hand, can give the body the right nutrition and ingredients to facilitate that process.

This immediate although temporary relief is very important because it sends the whole body the message that things are now in order, and an injection of the much needed oxygen enlivens the whole body again. In conjunction, acupuncture treatments, no matter what the chief complaint is, always harmonize the nervous system and allow for a deep relaxation which we know is the main tool to allow the body to function naturally and repair tissues, organs and functions.

After this initial relief has been accomplished, acupuncture and herbs have a deeper and more lasting purpose: to turn the immune system into an invincible shield against pollen, cold, heat, dryness, damp, toxicity. It’s important to know, though, that to get to this point the practitioner needs the undying commitment and discipline of the patient, since is not without the transformation of their life style that this much desired change will take place.

On the bright side we have to remember that there is an added benefit, a “side effect”, to these treatments and that is that the whole body will be harmonized and strengthened, which in turn prevents illness and promotes happiness.

This is true health insurance. And the only one you need.

Monica Campins L.Ac.

www.eartharmony.com

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what you can (and should) expect after acupuncture treatments

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Friday, February 20, 2009

The first goal of acupuncture treatments is, of course, the disappearance of your symptoms, but beyond that we strive for your radiant health.

That is: perfect body weight,healthy skin, abundant energy, great elimination, restorative sleep, greatenjoyment of food, great enjoyment of sex, balanced relationships, abundance ofmoney and of course, peace of mind. Your radiant health involves body, mind and spirit. That is what I strive for and this wecan attain together.

Acupuncture needles are very fine and delicate -- about the thickness of three human hairs. They are not hollow as injection needles are. Naturally, acupuncture needles are disposable and sterile. Also, acupuncturists take special care with the handling of these needles so there is no risk of infection.

While the needles are being inserted you can expect discomfort or slight pain in some of the points, that is called “arrival of QI”. Occasionally, a point can be painful due to a lot of stagnated energy but the pain recedes in a few seconds. After the needles are in place you can expect a sense of relaxation and peace as the body is “rewired” into its natural energy patterns.

This correction of the vital energy flow through acupuncture can have a dramatic impact on one’s wellbeing. Symptoms can disappear very rapidly and never come back. In most cases, though, this reversal occurs over the course of several treatments, usually depending on the severity of symptoms, how long they were experienced, and also on the constitution of the person.

You can't go wrong or have any adverse effects with a medicine that allows the vital energy to run free and abundantly through your system!

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Pain Relief Through Acupuncture

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Friday, February 13, 2009

The majority of my patients first seek my help because they are in pain. They come to Meridian Acupuncture after discouraging encounters with orthodox medicine and are looking for a less invasive approach.

So how does the insertion of a few small needles alleviate pain, and sometimes so dramatically?

From a Chinese Medicine standpoint, and as explained before (see “What acupuncture is and how it works”), the vital energy, or “QI,” flows through the human body in a network of channels called meridians. This energy flow can be impaired by trauma, repetitive movement or it simply stagnates when the flow slows down (lack of vitality). When this happens the QI gets blocked in certain areas of the body and we experience pain.

By inserting needles in different trigger points, the acupuncturist is able to disperse the stagnation and when the QI recovers its normal flow, the body is able to heal the tissue and organs that are affected.

The bonus of this pain treatment is that the whole body becomes revitalized since now all the organs and tissues are nourished again by the vital energy that flows naturally within you.

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LOSING WEIGHT WITH ACUPUNCTURE

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Friday, February 06, 2009

You can expect to lose abnormal body weight with regular acupuncture treatments even if that was not your goal when you first came for treatment.

Weight gain is a result of a lack of balance. Your metabolism may be out of balance, your appetite may be out of balance, your emotions may be out of balance, or your lifestyle may be out of balance.

Traditional Chinese Medicine heals by bringing body, mind and spirit into balance. When QI (vital energy) moves freely through the body is able to clean up, repair, nourish, and harmonize body organs, tissues, and functions. In turn, this natural harmony keeps the emotions in check making sure no one is extreme or excessive.

Acupuncture helps to move extra fat from the body by:

*Cleansing. Removing toxicity from organs and tissues is the first step in losing weight. When the system is busy trying to get rid of deadly toxins is not able to take care of fat that has accumulated. That’s why a very overweight person can drastically reduce their food intake and still not lose weight. As a matter of fact many of my overweight patients are not big eaters, simply toxic. Acupuncture, by reorganizing the flow of energy, aids the body in the process of detoxification.

*Correcting digestive problems. Digestive irregularities are more common than we think and sometimes do not present symptoms other that weight problems. A strong digestion gives us the ability to have a balanced appetite, to process the food in a healthy way, to assimilate nutrients and, of course, to eliminate everything that is not used. Constipation and irregular bowel movements are one of the first goal of any acupuncture treatment no mater what the chief complaint is.

*Balancing emotions. Overweight people eat for many reasons other than authentic hunger. Many of us eat to calm anxiety, or because we feel lonely, or depressed, or simply we overeat in order not to feel a particular emotion. Fat can also act as protection from being hurt and as a way to isolate ourselves. All these psychological issues interfere with the normal metabolism of fat. Acupuncture works balancing the emotions and also shielding the body from their adverse effect.

*Restoring a healthy metabolism. All the factors mentioned above slow down the metabolism, which in plain English means that the body is stagnant, it doesn’t move things around the way it should. By removing stagnation and restoring normal functions the body starts the process of getting rid of fat.

Auricular acupuncture is frequently used to treat overweight. Very small needles are placed in the outer ear in order to directly affect the internal organs involved with the metabolism of fat. This modality is used along regular acupuncture during the same session.

You may also be advised to make adjustments on your eating habits that will gradually lead you to a very healthy nourishing diet.

Expect a slimmer body and a happier you.

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it's February, let's lose weight!

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Tuesday, February 03, 2009

and ... yes, we can! but losing at this game is tricky.

The first step to lose weight is to detox. The body is handling so many toxins and foreign substances that cannot cleanse itself and it becomes clogged, which in turn slows down the metabolism. When we are at this point we "smell food and gain weight", we eat less and don't lose any weight. This is so discouraging we go back to eating more, but then ... we gain! so we can gain but we can't lose?

Our bodies are working so hard in trying to get rid of the amount of toxins they have accumulated, they are not able to get to the fat they have accumulated. It is more important to keep toxins out, than to get rid of fat. After all fat is natural. No dieting will help this. First we need to detox

So before you start "dieting", just start giving your body some rest, some free time. A fast in the traditional way would be indicated but the detox process is so intense when we fast for two or three days that we are not even able to keep regular activities. For a real fast you need to be in a very specific frame of mind. So here is my suggestion: just allow your body to prolong the night fast as long as is slightly uncomfortable, but not beyond that, and that is "the no breakfast plan". I know ... "but you have to have a good breakfast", well ... you've tried that and didn't lose any weight. Remember you're not trying to nourish yourself, or maintain your health, you are allowing your body to regain its powers of elimination, you are breaking through stagnation.

So during the morning hours sip warm water (about 24 oz) with real lemon juice, some maple syrup and a dash of cayenne pepper. This is a very old folk remedy. It will hold you up until noon, so you will be very hungry and then you will eat out of hunger not just appetite.

(More to follow).

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