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HOW TO BE HEALTHY
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Nutrition
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Lifestyle
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Seasonal Health Tips
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Herbs and Supplements
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Fruit and Vegetables
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Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants in Los Angeles
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Grow Like A Tree
Grow like a tree: reach ever upward, slowly and persistently. Take a century to grow, or more. Grow so slowly that no one sees; but when they leave, and return after years, they will. Grow slowly enough that no matter how tall you become, you keep your proportion, your balance, and have no risk of collapse.
For every inch you reach into the sky, your roots must dig deep into the ground. Favor the roots. Yes, the branches reach for the Sun, but without deep roots there can be no upward growth. And if you are cut down, with strong roots you can start again.
These are your roots: Sleep, Nutrition, Meditation, Stretching and gentle Exercise, Staying in Touch With Nature, Love, and Compassion. It’s from these foundations that a persistent growth occurs. Reaching for the Sun is so much easier when we have something solid to stand on.
Here at craigswogger.com I plan to share with you my tips for how to accomplish this kind of gentle, healthy, persistent growth and healing. I would love to help you live a century or more. Check back often, and use these resources to slowly nudge your system toward the best health you can achieve.
May All Beings Be Happy,
Craig Swogger, L.Ac.
Grow Like A Tree
Grow like a tree: reach ever upward, slowly and persistently. Take a century to grow, or more. Grow so slowly that no one sees; but when they leave, and return after years, they will. Grow slowly enough that no matter how tall you become, you keep your proportion, your balance, and have no risk of collapse.
For every inch you reach into the sky, your roots must dig deep into the ground. Favor the roots. Yes, the branches reach for the Sun, but without deep roots there can be no upward growth. And if you are cut down, with strong roots you can start again.
These are your roots: Sleep, Nutrition, Meditation, Stretching and gentle Exercise, Staying in Touch With Nature, Love, and Compassion. It’s from these foundations that a persistent growth occurs. Reaching for the Sun is so much easier when we have something solid to stand on.
Here at craigswogger.com I plan to share with you my tips for how to accomplish this kind of gentle, healthy, persistent growth and healing. I would love to help you live a century or more. Check back often, and use these resources to slowly nudge your system toward the best health you can achieve.
May All Beings Be Happy,
Craig Swogger, L.Ac.
Powdered Turmeric
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Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa), a relative of ginger, is a common herb used in households around the world to add color and flavor to curries and stews. But this beautiful yellow spice is more than just an ingredient in curry, as hundreds of scientific studies now reveal. In fact, turmeric shows great promise as a treatment for many health issues, including pain, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer, type II diabetes, stomach upset, poor digestion, and much more. As well, it can help with weight loss, and detoxification.
If you would like to know more about how turmeric helps with these conditions (including references to studies that back up the claims) click here.
It's due to these positive effects that I recommend turmeric to many of my patients. Typically, I ask them to take 1200mg a day in three 400 mg doses or two 600mg doses. Turmeric is best taken between meals with almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk, as the fats in these drinks assist with absorption, but can also be taken with water or in food. If you would like to purchase high quality, organic turmeric, check out Mountain Rose Herbs, where you can find it in capsule or powder form.
An ancient Ayurvedic recipe for using turmeric to relieve back pain and joint pain due to inflammation can be found here: Golden Milk. Wishing you Health and Happiness,
Craig Swogger, L.Ac
Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa), a relative of ginger, is a common herb used in households around the world to add color and flavor to curries and stews. But this beautiful yellow spice is more than just an ingredient in curry, as hundreds of scientific studies now reveal. In fact, turmeric shows great promise as a treatment for many health issues, including pain, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer, type II diabetes, stomach upset, poor digestion, and much more. As well, it can help with weight loss, and detoxification.
If you would like to know more about how turmeric helps with these conditions (including references to studies that back up the claims) click here.
It's due to these positive effects that I recommend turmeric to many of my patients. Typically, I ask them to take 1200mg a day in three 400 mg doses or two 600mg doses. Turmeric is best taken between meals with almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk, as the fats in these drinks assist with absorption, but can also be taken with water or in food. If you would like to purchase high quality, organic turmeric, check out Mountain Rose Herbs, where you can find it in capsule or powder form.
An ancient Ayurvedic recipe for using turmeric to relieve back pain and joint pain due to inflammation can be found here: Golden Milk. Wishing you Health and Happiness,
Craig Swogger, L.Ac
Ginger
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Ginger
Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) a relative of turmeric, is an incredibly versatile and powerful medicinal herb. This spicy yellow root, commonly used to cleanse the palate between bites of sushi, has also been used as medicine for over a thousand years. The list of things ginger is said to treat is manifold, and includes: cancer (ovarian, breast, prostate, colon), type II diabetes (control and prevention), ulcers, morning sickness, motion sickness, arthritis (RA and OA), infections, inflammation, digestive issues, and more. To learn more about ginger, have a look at a more in-depth article at my blog.
Readily available in most markets, ginger is safe to use as a food, and imparts most of it's benefits when taken this way. When used medicinally, taking 3-9gms of fresh ginger a day is the standard dosage in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dried ginger can be taken in smaller doses of about 3gms. Be careful to talk with your doctor if you take medications for heart disease, diabetes, or blood thinners.
If you would like to learn more about how ginger might help you, consider booking an herbal consultation with me. You can also purchase high quality, organic ginger products from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Ginger
Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) a relative of turmeric, is an incredibly versatile and powerful medicinal herb. This spicy yellow root, commonly used to cleanse the palate between bites of sushi, has also been used as medicine for over a thousand years. The list of things ginger is said to treat is manifold, and includes: cancer (ovarian, breast, prostate, colon), type II diabetes (control and prevention), ulcers, morning sickness, motion sickness, arthritis (RA and OA), infections, inflammation, digestive issues, and more. To learn more about ginger, have a look at a more in-depth article at my blog.
Readily available in most markets, ginger is safe to use as a food, and imparts most of it's benefits when taken this way. When used medicinally, taking 3-9gms of fresh ginger a day is the standard dosage in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dried ginger can be taken in smaller doses of about 3gms. Be careful to talk with your doctor if you take medications for heart disease, diabetes, or blood thinners.
If you would like to learn more about how ginger might help you, consider booking an herbal consultation with me. You can also purchase high quality, organic ginger products from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Artemisia Annua
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Artemisia Annua (Qing Hao)
For thousands of years the Chinese have used Qing Hao (Artemisia Annua) to alleviate the effects of Summer Heat, Deficient Heat and to treat Malaria (Qing Hao is so effective at treating malaria, in fact, that the World Health Organization has adopted the use of Qing Hao as the world standard for treatment). But there is even more positive news about Qing Hao: recent studies reveal that it has remarkable anti-cancer properties.
To those familiar with TCM, it will come as no surprise that an herb which clears "Deficient Heat" will also treat cancers that have symptoms common to both: night sweats, weight loss, low-grade fever and fatigue ... and indeed it has been found that Artemisia not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells, but also induces their self-destruction, and works even in certain drug resistant lines. Artemisia was found to be most effective on Leukemia, which most closely resembles the aforementioned "Deficient Heat" symptoms.
For my in depth scholarly discussion of the history of Artemisia Annua in Chinese medicine, and it's recent use by modern western medicine, see my article on Artemsia Annua in my blog (by clicking this text).
Artemisia Annua (Qing Hao)
For thousands of years the Chinese have used Qing Hao (Artemisia Annua) to alleviate the effects of Summer Heat, Deficient Heat and to treat Malaria (Qing Hao is so effective at treating malaria, in fact, that the World Health Organization has adopted the use of Qing Hao as the world standard for treatment). But there is even more positive news about Qing Hao: recent studies reveal that it has remarkable anti-cancer properties.
To those familiar with TCM, it will come as no surprise that an herb which clears "Deficient Heat" will also treat cancers that have symptoms common to both: night sweats, weight loss, low-grade fever and fatigue ... and indeed it has been found that Artemisia not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells, but also induces their self-destruction, and works even in certain drug resistant lines. Artemisia was found to be most effective on Leukemia, which most closely resembles the aforementioned "Deficient Heat" symptoms.
For my in depth scholarly discussion of the history of Artemisia Annua in Chinese medicine, and it's recent use by modern western medicine, see my article on Artemsia Annua in my blog (by clicking this text).
