Is Cold Therapy Good or Bad for the Immune System?

I remember when I was a kid, our family would go to Carmel Beach often to visit. If you haven’t been there, the water is always ice cold! One Christmas on college break, we decided to go back there and I wanted to challenge myself to immerse into the ice-cold ocean. Well most Asian parents don’t want their kids to get cold, because you could get sick. But my parents were pretty open minded. So my sister and I ran up and down the beach till we were warm, then polar plunged into the Dec 25^th cold ocean. It was cold. Photo Credit James Petts

To my surprise the shock of the cold made me laugh. When I got out of the water, the feeling of the blood rushing was invigorating. And then there was a sense of bliss, accomplishment, self-resolve and confidence that flooded over me. That was unexpected.

Cryotherapy, the “Ice Man”, and contrast hydrotherapy seem to be hot therapies lately. How does it work? A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10444630) showed an increase in WBCs (white blood cells) and NK cells (a particular type of T cell, the fights viruses and cancer) when subjects were exposed to cold, after having been preheated with exercise.

But a different study published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17705968/) concluded that exposure to cold is associated with an increase in respiratory disease. And that the longer the duration of exposure to cold, the higher the risk of infection. This study seems to be in line with the Chinese old wives tales of “don’t get cold, or you’ll get sick.”

In-fact in Chinese medicine TCM certain conditions are associated with “cold” such as arthritis being worse in cold, or poor digestion with “cold” in the middle Jiao. Hives are often associated with “internal wind” imbalances. Sometimes “wind” imbalance in the head can cause brain fog, or dizziness. Usually patients with these conditions do not have enough qi (or prana) to expel these external influences trapped inside the body such as cold, damp, or wind and physical disease occurs. And here’s where herbs, and energy work come into play to help.

Back to cold exposure, there is a lot of evidence and people reporting improved immunity, improved circulation, decreased depression, improved mood, improved focus, decrease fatigue, decreased pain etc. that comes with practicing cold exposure. It looks like there is conflicting data. My personal opinion is that it depends on body type and also one’s current health in time. Someone who is constitutionally “depleted” may not do well with cold therapy. Cold therapy also should be done gradually and trained. It is also important that the body is warm (such as after exercise, a hot shower/bath, sauna etc) before exposing to cold. Do not let yourself feel internally chilled, because in my experience that can increase susceptibility to getting sick. But an invigorating shock of cool/cold to a warm body for a short period of time can sometimes be beneficial.

You can easily start by taking a hot shower, then doing a couple rounds of 2 min hot and (10-30 seconds of cold). Initially just turn the water cooler, so you feel a difference. This will alert the autonomic nervous system (often improving mood, decreasing anxiety, waking up the immune system etc). As you are more accustomed, you can slowly turn the water colder and increase the time for your cold blast.

“To expose to cold, or to not expose to cold…this is the question.” Let me know what you think and what your experiences are.

What is the key to happiness?

Why are you doing what you are doing? Ultimately, you want a good life. Do you have a good life? Is it working?

If not, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result. So how do you get the result you want?

It’s 2021, a new year. Yes we have a pandemic and a lot has changed. But I want to encourage you not to blame what you can’t have on the pandemic, the mitigation efforts that did or did not happen, other people and so forth. Remember that there is always an infinite number of opportunities. There are opportunities in good times and bad times. So don’t settle with the world events as a reason for your life to not be the way you would like it to be.

Not everything is always going to go your way. It is life. Pain happens, circumstances happens but suffering is a choice. Suffering is our response to something happening outside in our environment. Good news is suffering can end. 

How long suffering lasts depends on 2 things:

1.     Your Response to it

2.     Your actions or inaction to move on

For example:

Negative Responses that are not helpful: (The following are common feelings that can feel quite real in the moment)

“This politician is horrible, if they don’t do that, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“I’m stuck, I don’t see a way out”

“I don’t have what they have, so it’s not possible for me”

“I’m so anxious and depressed, I’m paralyzed in my own emotions”

“What if I make a mistake”

Positive Responses that are helpful: (These can help reframe your situation)

“I’m grateful for what I have and more blessings will come to me”

“I can love those who don’t “understand me” yet”

“They may be mean to me, it’s not about me, but about their own suffering they are going through”

“There are infinite possibilities and opportunities for me”

“I can learn this lesson and move on”

“Successful people have made many mistakes; mistakes will not stop me”

They key to ending suffering and being happy is:

1.     Having the right viewpoint and mindset

2.     Saying the right words (to yourself and others)

3.     Taking the right actions

4.     Letting go and moving on

Studies show a correlation between happiness, health and longevity. The happiest people live longer. (Effects of happiness on physical health. R. Veenhoven. Journal of happiness studies Feb 28, 2007). Happiness is also associated with lower inflammatory markers before and after acute stress. (Ann behavior medicine April 2019). Immune system cells and the thyroid can cross talk and one study even indicated that thyroid function can be influenced by mood. Mood can affect functions such as histamine responses, immune system, serotonin levels and even blood clotting. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6544341/).

Your wellbeing, mood and happiness is very important to physical health as we can see. If you are wanting to take your life and health where you want to be, today is the day not to settle for less. Please feel free to contact me.

Hair Loss?

Hair Loss? Don’t want to Lose Any more Hair?

I really like crystals and rocks.  They are known both for their beauty and healing properties. Hematoid crystals have iron inside of a clear quartz, so it can appear layered with clear and red/orange colors. Hematoid crystals are healing to the root (basic chakra) and the sacral (sex chakra). It can be a nice crystal to have to support healthy hair, alongside other therapies specific for your situation.

A deficiency root chakra can manifest with stress, lack of motivation, fatigue, decreased immune and if very imbalanced, depression and apathy. Sometimes imbalance in this chakra can be related to hair loss. A contaminated root chakra may contribute to anxiety, fear, or feeling ungrounded.

The sacral chakra controls the reproductive organs so an imbalance in this center may contribute to low sex drive, pelvic infections, difficulties clearing cervical dysplasia HPV, PMS, cramps, or yeast infections. Since the sex chakra transmutes the sacral energy into creativity, a healthy sacral chakra along with the throat chakra is very important for creative energy to flow as well as for attracting financial abundance.

Patients who receive a balancing of the 2^nd chakra often say their abdomen feels so much lighter sex drive increases, self-confidence improves as well as an improvement in getting more things done with more ease. They tend to notice these improvements after the fact and didn’t know they needed work prior to feeling better.  Sometimes, certain symptoms come in a package with each other, and are related. Certain of the symptoms mentioned above may sometimes accompany hair loss, so it’s important to address them all.

Hair Loss

There are many factors that can contribute to hair loss:

-hormone imbalance

-elevated DHT (dihydrotestosterone)

-hypothyroidism

-autoimmunity

-iron deficiency

-mineral deficiency

-stress

-crown chakra imbalance

-low qi, blood deficiency

-inadequate circulation

Many of my patients suffering with hair loss seem to have gone through quite a bit of either physical stress, emotional stress, or long periods of overwork. Balancing both the root chakra, crown chakra (top of head), scalp and spine can be very helpful for getting blood flow back to the head to help with hair loss issues. Sometimes there isn’t enough strength in the scalp as if the slightest pressure with brushing of hair or shampooing results in hair loss. It is important to strengthen the energy of the scalp so it can have strength to “hold in the hair” instead of it falling out so easily.

The body prioritizes the internal organs over the skin and hair. Unfortunately, even though the hair may be the most important to some, it is not to the body. The body gives its energy and nutrients to the internal organs first, then to the muscles, then to the skin/hair, so it is important to take care of one’s internal health. Luscious hair and beautiful skin is often a reflection of good health. 

Sometimes an easy fix to hair loss is simply anemia or low iron levels. Besides getting a blood test, symptoms of iron deficiency include, fatigue, feeling cold, heavy periods, and sometimes craving ice chips. This ties back into our discussion of the hematoid crystal, which is full of iron. I don’t think the crystal alone will fix hair loss issues. But along with some proper supplements, and energy work can be promising for those with hair loss. Many patients have tried biotin, but tell me they are still seeing clumps of hair fall out in the shower. When we get to the specific cause of hair loss often within a couple months patients report to me, they are not seeing all the hair falling out in the shower. From there, improvement continues. If you need help with hair loss please feel free to contact me.  

To Fast or Not to Fast?

There are so many diets out there and intermittent fasting is really popular now. On the contrary, for some people it’s best to consume protein within one hour of waking, otherwise your blood sugar will be a roller coaster the rest of the day.

If the blood is too low, then you may feel fatigued, lack of concentration, “hangry”, or even lightheaded. But if Photo Credit Marco Verch your blood sugar is too high, extra sugar gets turned into FAT by your liver. So having a properly managed blood sugar is important not only for your waistline but may be key if you are having problems losing weight.

What’s wrong with insulin resistance, or borderline hypoglycemia? When the blood sugar dips low, it triggers your body to secrete cortisol (a stress hormone). Low blood sugar is a stress to the body. But that does not mean to keep eating carbs or sugar to prevent the hypoglycemic dip because doing so will cause a rebound effect of triggering the low blood sugar dip. Generally eating proteins and healthy fats keep your blood sugar steady, which is good.

Cortisol imbalance can create feelings of anxiety, stress, lack of focus, increased inflammation, immune suppression, hormone imbalances, fatigue, and cause your body to gain more weight especially in your belly area. So eating in a way that works with your body’s physiology is very important when it comes to your health, living longer, mood and if you are wanting to lose weight. What about fasting?

After 12 hours of Fasting the body secretes growth hormone. What does GH do?

• Stimulates fat loss in a process called lipolysis. “lysis” means bursting of cells. So essentially it explodes your fat cells and kills them.
• GH prevents aging and keeps you looking young. GH stimulates your body to secrete IGF-1 which stimulates new healthy cell growth. If you have more breakdown of cells and tissues (catabolism) you age. If you have more regeneration (anabolism) it is anti-aging and anti-inflammatory.
• GH involved in healing which fasting will trigger

You can simply achieve this by eating an earlier dinner, sleeping for 8 hrs and then having a breakfast after 12 hours of your last meal.

After 18 hours of fasting autophagy is induced.

 “Auto” means self and “Phagy” means eat. What does Autophagy do and what is good about it?

• Gets rid of Advanced Glycated End Products (AGE) which are bad. You get AGEs from burnt foods, charred foods, fried foods, smoking etc. AGEs are carcinogenic (cancer causing) but after 18 hours of fasting, Augophagy is triggered allowing your body to get rid of AGEs.
• Gets rid of Amyloids. Amyloids are bad molecules found in aging or chronically inflamed people’s brains. They are associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
• Starts to eat away at abnormal cells or cancer cells.
• Augophagy of bad microbes such as molds, yeasts, bad bacteria, viruses etc.

You can simply achieve this by skipping 1 meal.

After 24 Hours of fasting

• Inflammation starts to decrease. Many autoimmune, allergic or other inflammatory conditions get a chance to heal.
• You may start to switch to Ketosis, a state the Ketogenic diet aims to induce. Ketosis allows you to burn fat as fuel rather than glucose (sugar). This helps with burning fat, weight loss.
• BDNF is stimulated to start repairing brain cells. Thinking may start becoming more clear. And this may have long term effects of preventing age related memory loss.

You can simply achieve this by skipping 2 meals.

Most people can easily prolong all the benefits listed above by extending the fast to 36 hours, which is basically skipping 3 meals plus the time of a night of sleep. Never fast without drinking water. Sometimes it is beneficial to supplements with certain nutrients or protein during a fast, sometimes not. If you suffer from medical conditions, are very depleted, fasting may not be the best for you initially without supervision. But fasting may be one of the keys to support healing. Some people do well on a weekly fast, intermittent fasting, ketogenic diet, FODMAPS diet, anti-inflammatory diet, blood type diet and many other methods. If you are confused as to what is best for you and your health goals, please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you.

How to Get Rid of the Quarantine Weight

Are you looking at your scale after a few months of the stay at home orders and not liking the number on the scale? It may feel hard to lose the weight, but if this is something you desire, the way is there. And maybe there is a better way than what you’ve done before. Photo Credit TipsTimesAdmin

So you want to lose weight and you want it to work. You may have lost weight before but it felt like so much work. Then gained it all back. So you don’t feel like trying again if your efforts are so high for it not to last right?

Let’s talk about what works. If you were told about a method that sounds a bit unconventional, are you willing to try it if it worked? Are you someone who tends to reject ideas and miss out? Are you someone who likes to consider new and better ideas? Imagine if you were living in the early 1900s and made your travels by horse and buggy, and someone told you, you can get from California to New York in 6 hrs, would you believe it then? Sounded impossible back in the 1900s then but we now fly this route all the time without thinking it is impossible.

Back to losing weight, most patients ask me to help them with a “diet” to lose weight. The problem most people have is difficulty sticking to a diet, not that they absolutely do not know what to eat. I would say most people have some idea of what foods to eat to lose weight but the hard part is sticking to it, or that it is too much work, or they gain the weight all back.

Here’s the part that most people do not think of when wanting to lose weight but is key to getting more lasting results. In my practice, a few sessions to remove unconscious sabotaging beliefs have made a huge difference in successful weight loss. Doing it this way also makes losing weight feel easier, because what causes you to fight yourself is removed. I dropped 8 pounds myself during the quarantine in 4 weeks time, without feeling like a did much. You can as well!

For example here are some un-helpful beliefs some patients had that after they were released allowed them to lose weight and keep it off:

• I’ve worked hard today, food is my reward (So why would you take your reward away?)
• today was stressful food makes me feel better (If food is mostly your way to cope with stress, it will be hard to fight your body’s desire for comfort)
• I feel empty: food fills the void (Do you keep eating even when you are not hungry? It’s more an emotional void than hunger)
• People who looked good when I was growing up got it easy. I felt judged by my looks when growing up. I need people to love me no matter how I look. (Need to prove value of self not based on looks, so with this belief, it sabotages one’s desire to achieve a desired body.)
• I have been violated in the past. This trauma makes me self-conscious of my body. (Until the trauma is healed, the extra weight can subconsciously feel “safer”)
• I feel like people are looking at me, or judging me. I feel vulnerable. (Sometimes weight is a protection from being seen).
• I’ve been stressed (people often hold burdens as extra weight, and stress increases cortisol which increases belly fat)

There are numerous healing techniques I use to help patients identify and release their unique unconscious beliefs that block them from successfully losing weight. I want to give back, and make a video to walk you through getting rid of a belief that gets in the way of losing weight. I’d love to hear from you. Please respond to this email, with what mental/emotional/belief system is hindering you from losing weight. I will select one of your responses (no name will be mentioned), and do a healing video next time. Email me and we could be working on yours.