You Already Clean Your Hands, So Now Clean Your Liver!

Do you ever feel like you're eating too much junk, too much fat, sugar, and/or carbs?  Or maybe you have a sneaking feeling that you have a food allergy but aren't sure to what kind of food.

A great way to address both of these concerns is with a liver cleanse or "detox".  If you've never heard of this, it's where you go on a special diet for a fixed amount of time, eliminating all foods that stress our systems, and gradually reintroduce them.  This both gives our liver a break, allowing it to catch up on all the filtering it does on a daily basis, and isolates certain foods so you can see if you react to them once they are reintroduced.

As with most diets (or changes in our routine) it's easier to do with support.  My husband, Jim Chialtas, is leading a 7 day "group cleanse" starting the week of February 15.  He made sure it starts after Valentine's Day so you can still enjoy your favorite restaurant!  If you are in San Diego you can attend a meeting he is holding to kick off the cleanse.  If you are not local then he will call you to discuss the diet and answer any questions. 

Included in the $100 cost is a kick-off meeting (choose from 2 sessions) or a personal phone call, the cleansing drink powder and supplements, literature, and email support during the 7 day cleanse.  Jim is even setting up a discussion board on his Facebook fanpage for participants to share recipes, tips, concerns, or anything else with eachother. 

For more information or to RSVP, check out his events at his Functional Medicine fanpage. Thanks!

Acupuncture for the Squeamish

I'm phobic of needles. Well, at least I was before my Cesarian Section and now I'm pretty tough. But ever since I was a kid and had to get a series of 5 shots in one day to get into kindergarten, I have been terrified of any kind of injection or - god forbid - getting my blood drawn.

So it's ironic that I'm married to an acupuncturist. If I wasn't, there's no way I would have ever tried it. But my husband, Jim Chialtas, is amazing and has helped me with health issues including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, PMS, depression, and he even made our daughter flip into the proper position when she was still in the womb!

Traditional Chinese medicine is thousands of years old. Unlike many western treatments that keep changing every couple of years, acupuncture has been fine tuned and is extremely effective for so many maladies, including elusive problems like migraines and infertility.

But, still. It involves having needles - many of them - stuck into you. That may sound scarey but actually it's not. In fact, most acupuncture treatments are extremely relaxing. The needles are super thin, unlike hypodermic needles which are actually sharp tubes. You could fit an acupuncture needle into a hypodermic syringe!

If you're squeamish, no amount of describing or reassuring would convince you to try it. So one of Jim's patients, who started SingleDad.com, created a video of a typical acupuncture appointment. You will see Jim's clinic room (typical of most modern clinics), and the process of receiving a treatment. Check it out here on Youtube.

If you have had acupuncture or haven't but checked out the video, please leave a comment here. I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks!