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Please enjoy my blog posts below, or CLICK HERE to go to the new Laurel Acupuncture Clinic website. Thank you!

Welcome

Welcome to the website for Jim Chialtas, L.Ac., and Laurel Acupuncture Clinic of Functional Medicine, located in San Diego.

Click on the tabs above to learn more about what Functional Medicine is, and about many of the health concerns I specialize in. Or scroll down for my blog. You might find it helpful to use the labels in the lower right column to find topics that interest you.

In addition to seeing clients privately in my clinic, I also offer many of the same services remotely to US residents. Please feel free to contact me to set up a consultation or appointment. Thank you!

9/26/09

Food Sensitivities: Humbling Yet Empowering!

I have been in private practice now for more than six years and I can’t avoid it any longer. For a long time now I have been helping people streamline their diets to suit particular disharmonies in their body based upon the nutrition of the foods, but I have done very little to screen for foods that might be contributing to the problem at hand. I have recently teamed up with Immuno-Laboratories who are leaders in food sensitivity testing. I believe this new addition to my spractice will launch me to the next level in patient care. Read on and learn some basic concepts in food sensitivity and how it is an important consideration for all health concerns.

When talking about reacting to a food it is important to understand the difference between food allergy and food sensitivity. I am primarily talking today about sensitivity. A food allergy will produce an immediate reaction which can be mild like numb lips, or mild itchiness to sever as in your throat is closing and you may die without immediate medical intervention. Peanuts and shellfish are known for these types of reactions, and people who are in this category are usually already aware of this personal reality. Sensitivity on the other hand is a much more common problem than you might think. It is thought that up to 95% of the population has some amount of food sensitivity. These types of reactions are delayed. You can literally eat something one day and not notice anything for many days later. But there is a cumulative effect that goes on with sensitivity. The idea is that more you eat of an offending food the more you will notice and suffer chronic and seemingly unrelated medical conditions.

Consider this list of potential symptoms that are directly associated with food sensitivities:

Digestion: nausea, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, belching, passing of gas,
Emotions: mood swings, anxiety, anger, depression, binge eating
Energy: fatigue, sluggishness, drowsiness, apathy, hyperactivity, restlessness
Eyes, Ears & Nose: watery/itchy eyes, ear infections, sinus problems
Heart & Lungs: irregular heartbeat, chest pain, asthma, bronchitis, congestion
Mind: poor memory/concentration, speech problems, learning disability, ADD
Muscles & Joints: general weakness, muscle/joint pain, stiffness
Skin: hives, rashes, dry skin, acne, hair loss, irritation around the eyes
Throat & Mouth: coughing, sore throat, hoarseness, sores on tongue/gums/lips
Other: excess weight, dizziness, water retention, insomnia, headaches, genital itch

Any of these sound familiar? Can you add them up and come up with one or more in each category? If so there is quite easily a food sensitivity concern for you. Finding out which foods you are sensitive to is the first step in feeling much better. If you are suffering any chronic condition I urge you to consider taking the steps to finding out what you are sensitive to in your diet. It could make a huge difference in your quality of life and may just be that one thing that finally gets you over the hump with your pain and suffering.

From my point of view as a clinician I see all kinds of chronic problems where some sort of stress on the body is contributing to the root of the problem. I often write about the interaction of the adrenal glands and the stress hormone cortisol with other systems of the body such as sex hormones. Indeed when the body is stressed all kinds of nasty things can happen with your hormones for example. Chronic pain is another mainstay in an acupuncture clinic and often has its root in chronic stress to the system. It is my obligation as a practitioner of Functional Medicine to find the hidden sources of this underlying stress and fix them so that the hormone problem or the pain can be fixed as well. Without finding the source of the stress success of the therapy will often be diminished and treatment ends up being a matter of chasing the symptoms. That becomes expensive and draining and ultimately leads to failure.

The above title mentions feeling both humbled and empowered through this process. It is humbling to find out that wheat for example may be causing you harm. Our reward centers in our brain kick in and say things like, “But I love my bagels, and my muffins! What will I do without them?” But it is important to know that when we eat these foods we release natural opiates in our brain. The poison is actually rewarding the drug addict within us. So yes, it is humbling to overcome an addiction. We are addicted to the foods that make us sick. How’s that for tough luck? But this process is also empowering because it is important for us to take control of our lives. There is power in that ability. And once you start to feel the benefits there is more enjoyment in life. This is the type of thing that can change your daily experience. You will be more inclined to exercise and spend time with your family, take vacations, etc. All it takes is the courage and follow through to create the change. Allow me to help you through this process and let’s see what changes we can make happen for you!

9/9/09

Swine Flu: Is it really worth the worry? Or is it just a cool name?

Well another flu season is coming and we get a whole new opportunity to be told how this will be the year that thousands of people are going to come down with Swine Flu and potentially die from its deleterious effects. It is therefore vital to go and get immunized! Or is it? Haven’t we heard this one before? Could there be better alternatives to this extremely new and untested vaccine? This health care professional thinks so.

If you really look at the numbers of people who are coming down with Swine Flu and how many of those are actually dieing from it, it is all rather unimpressive. The normal flu still kills many more people than the Swine Flu variety of virus. But of course it is new and sounds cool, and makes good news that we could potentially be killed by something that makes pigs sick for heavens sake! But the reality is that Swine Flu is just the flu. And Chinese Medicine has had safe and effective remedies for things like the flu for millennia. These remedies are tried and true and come without the potentially life threatening side effects of the flu vaccines.

New developments have surfaced recently in the UK from their government Health Protection Agency that has strongly link the new Swine Flue Vaccine to a deadly nerve disease called Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS). GBS attacks the lining of nerve cells causing problems like paralysis, inability to breathe and death. In fact in 1976 there was a similar Swine Flu scare which resulted in the mass vaccination of the American population. This resulted in more people dying from the vaccine itself than the Swine Flu “epidemic.” There was also an eight fold increase in contracting GBS in those who were vaccinated than in those people who did not get the vaccine.

So what can you do to avoid the Swine Flu? Or any other flu strain for that matter? Follow these simple steps and you will be way ahead of the dangers people are so worried about:

1)Get good rest. Sleep is when we heal ourselves. Poor sleep can lead to many different health concerns including a lowered immune system.


2)Eat well. Stay away from excess sugar. It has been shown that a diet high in sugar and simple carbohydrates results in a lowered immune system.


3)Wash your hands often! This is one of the most important concepts for avoiding infectious diseases. I wash mine at least ten times per day.

4)Take immune building herbs and nutrients. The Chinese Herbal Pharmacopia has a lot of herbs for building the immune system during times of wellness. This is where the preventative medicine concept comes in. We know it is the flu season coming so build your immune system up before the flu season arrives! I carry herbal formulas for this purpose in my clinic and would be happy to ship them to where ever in the country you are located.

The bottom line here is that the media will definitely want to chase this Swine Flu story as long as they can. It is sensational! There are people getting infected by it all the time now, but in general people are not suffering any major health concerns as a result. The people who are actually dying are the very young and very old, and even then they usually have some sort of debilitating condition already. They certainly do not represent the general population. Really, the vast majority of us are going to be just fine even if we do catch the dreaded H1N1 virus. And if taking the basic precautions that I described above the chances of contracting any flu will be minimal.

And when in doubt, please consider me a valuable resource. I am happy to help you in what ever way that I can. Do not hesitate to call or write with your questions or concerns.