Last week we held our annual staff holiday party which was a lot of fun and proved that we at the YinOva Center are not immune to the excesses of the season. However we do have a few tricks up our sleeves when it comes to combating a hangover.

What is a hangover? Alcohol is a diuretic so most of the symptoms associated with overindulging are related to dehydration. Over time the alcohol we consume breaks down into acetaldehyde, which our bodies find toxic. It’s normal for your body to try to get rid of this toxin, hence the nausea. In response to the toxins the liver swells, reducing blood flow and stopping its normal functions which include processing hormones and expelling toxins hence the aching and malaise. Finally, alcohol stops our bodies from processing glutamate, one of the body’s stimulants. At first this makes us feel sedated which is part of the fun, but as the alcohol wears off, our bodies realize that they are lacking in glutamine and so produce more of it. This excess glutamine inhibits sleep and is the reason we wake up in a sweat after drinking.

However help is at hand in the form of an age old Chinese herbal formula called Bao He Wan which is available at our clinic or from any herb store in Chinatown. It can be used either to treat a hangover or as a preventative if you take it before you start to drink. It’s particularly useful for treating the digestive problems associated with a hangover and when combined with lots of water or fruit juice, it can be a great way of treating a fragile system after too much holiday indulgence. The ingredients include hawthorn fruit and radish seed which get your digestive system flowing again combined with tangerine peel, melia, pinellia, and ginger which treat nausea and headache. White peony helps your liver to function normally and poria harmonizes the relationship between your liver and your digestive system. Coptis and forsythia clear heat and help treat that clammy feeling after one drink too many.

A hearty breakfast the morning after may be the last thing you feel like but it can help. Carbohydrates help to stabilize your blood sugar and can reduce stomach acid and the cysteine in egg yolks binds to the acetaldehyde and neutralizes it. Avoid caffeine, however. A cup of coffee may be what you’re craving but it’s a diuretic and will only exacerbate your dehydration. Likewise exercise may not be the first thing you feel like doing but going for a brisk walk increases circulation, helping your body to expel toxins and getting blood and oxygen to your brain.

Of course the best advice is to take steps to prevent a hangover during this holiday season. Don’t drink on an empty stomach and alternate each alcoholic drink with a soft drink or glass of water.

There’s virtually a yoga studio on every block, a spa for every Starbucks, and an acupuncturist for every ailment. And the quickly changing well-being landscape means this year’s health innovation is next year’s New York Magazine coverline.

Everyone’s a trend-predicting psychic this time of year, including us. Of course, we think our crystal ball reads pretty accurately, since our trends were divined from hundreds of interviews we’ve done with the city’s top wellness experts. And in addition to working the phones, our front line experience includes vetting yoga classes, trying facials we won’t do twice, and giving up food for juice.

wellandgoodnyc.wordpress.com Dec 16,2009

Men make new sperm every day and those sperm come to fruition withing 72 days. This is good news for men who want to give their fertility a boost, because it means that within three months they can make a big difference to the reproductive health. For more detailed information it is worth checking out our book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility where Dr. David and I give specific advice to men based on their fertility type. Briefly though, here are five simple things men can do that have a big impact on sperm quality and quantity.

1. Keep them cool

It’s important that the testicles are 1- 2 degrees cooler than the rest of the body and so taking hot baths or sitting with a lap top on your knee can be contributing to diminished fertility. Likewise men who sit at a desk all day can become overheated so at the YinOva Center we advise them to get up a move around once an hour to air off their private parts.

2. Eat right

You will find more information in Making Babies about how to eat right for your fertility type but all men can benefit from eating a wide range of colorful fruits and vegetable, whole grains and lean protein. Poor intake of vitamin C and E and the minerals zinc and selenium can affect sperm quality and would-be fathers with borderline sperm counts might want to consider supplementation. Finnish men have some of the highest sperm counts in the world which is thought to be due to the amount of oily fish they eat. For this reason at the YinOva Center we suggest men use a fish oil/omega-3 supplement.

3. Limit your exposure to toxic chemicals.

In Making Babies we discuss how the average sperm count for American men has plummeted over the past few decades. Dr. David and I believe that environmental toxins and the main reason and so advise men to eat as much whole food as possible and to avoid processed foods. I have blogged about this here.

4. Drop some bad habits

Smoking, whilst it does not reduce sperm count, does damage sperm DNA which can lead to a greater chance of miscarriage. Excessive alcohol use can affect hormone levels and lead to atrophy of the semeniferous tubules, loss of sperm cells, and an increase in abnormal sperm. Marijuana use has been shown to reduce sperm and semen volume. If you need help dropping unhealthy habits come on in to the YinOva Center. We are happy to support you.

5. Get checked out for hidden infections.

Infections such as chlamydia or urea plasma can impair fertility and also lead to early miscarriages. Men should ask their doctors for a semen culture to make sure that they are not infected.

Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness. Here’s how to fight five common bacterial infections before resorting to them, plus how to make the best of it if you must.

Natural Health December/January 2010