I have an admission to make…

At the YinOva Center we are not paragons of virtue. Patients visiting us for the first time sometimes imagine that we will be scarily macrobiotic women who will pour scorn on their efforts to take care of themselves. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are all working-women who, like you, are trying to do the best we can to support out own health and that of our families. We understand our patients because they are like us. We too struggle with our weight, get stressed out, drink too much coffee, enjoy a beer and find it hard to fit an exercise program into our over-scheduled lives.

All our practitioners have an M.Sc. in Traditional Asian Medicine and are Licensed Acupuncturists and Herbalists. All have access to the time-tested wisdom of Chinese Medicine when it comes to giving you advice. We know a thing or two about staying healthy but rest assured that you won’t get any “attitude” from us. We understand what its like to juggle a job, kids and a partner because we do it too.

In my own life I have found it less overwhelming to make small lifestyle changes rather than try to tackle everything at once. So with that in mind I want to suggest 5 ways to start your day in a healthy way. Continue reading…

I’ve been hearing from my patients about a vicious bout of viral gastroenteritis going around. Some people have thought they had food poisoning and one patient even rang to see if her herbs could be causing violent diarrhea and vomiting. I was able to assure her they weren’t.

Last week it was my turn. My husband and I were struck by the virus after catching it in a restaurant. We ate different things so it wasn’t food poisoning but evidently someone who was sick (and a poor hand-washer) touched our food. For two days we ate nothing. We just sipped water and waited for it to be over.

When I started to contemplate food again I looked around my kitchen for something that was nourishing but easy to digest. Then I had a brain wave. Rice Congee also known as Jook. My teachers at Chinese Medical School had taught me to make this for patients who were convalescing. It’s a kind of slow cooked rice porridge that is a common breakfast food in China and is also often given to old people, small children and people recovering from an illness. I made a big pot and it made me feel so much better that I thought I’d share the recipe with you here. There are many variations on congee throughout Asia so this is only one of many recipes. If you develop a congee passion you may want to buy The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges–A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast by Bob Flaws, which is full of great information.

Continue reading…

When my daughter was small she loved the book The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts. She even wrote a book report about it in 1st grade and was devastated when her teacher told her off for writing about something inappropriate and offensive. Personally I was with my daughter, rather than the teacher, on this one. It is completely normal to pass some gas. In fact most people produce about 1 to 4 pints of gas a day and pass gas about 14 times a day. However if the amount of gas you produce is embarrassing or uncomfortable here are some tips to naturally reduce the gas you pass. Continue reading…