Welcome to the Acadia Wellness Centre!
Welcome to the Acadia Wellness Centre!
Feb 10:
Foods That Fight Cancer (Part 2)
This is the second part of a 2 part blog on foods that fight cancer. Last post you were informed that cancer is something that can be prevented with different lifestyle factors, like diet and exercise.
Knowing that you can make choices on a daily basis that will either help you commit suicide or save your life is a big deal. Cancer isn't your fate based on your genes. It's a matter of what lifestyle choices you make every waking moment of your life that determines if you will help your body kill off cancer promoting cells or not. The lifestyle choice that makes the biggest impact based on hundreds of peer reviewed journal articles are foods. Specifically raw fruits and vegetables. I know. You were hoping it would be something more appetizing! But an interesting thing is is that every animal has its own diet. Giraffes have a specific diet. Kuala bears have there own diet and us humans have our own diet too. Our diet is supposed to consist primarily of foods grown from the earth that are unchanged or unprocessed. That's because foods like fruits and vegetables grow in a harsh environment that require an ability to adapt and resist certain destructive forces such as insects, fungi and molds. With that idea, edible fruits and vegetables have immune systems that produce certain biochemicals to aid in this process. Almost like natural antibiotics and pesticides. It just so happens that this very biochemicals can function similarly in our bodies where they can fight off certain things like cancer promoting cells. These biochemicals are what's called nutraceuticals. "Nutra" because they are nutrients and "ceuticals" because they are therapeutic.
The following is a list of very portent nutraceutical containing fruits and vegetables that are the heavy weight contenders in fighting cancer;
Cruciferous vegetables ( brocollii, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts)
Turmeric Root
Citrus Fruits
Strawberries
Red Wine
Dark Chocolate
Green Tea
Tomatoes
Fish
Please try and incorporate these above mentioned foods as much as possibly in your daily diet. It would be icing on the cake to get organic and local varieties but the seasons can most certainly change which raw foods are available. I surely hope this information helps clarify the concerns around preventing cancer.
Until next time, stay happy and healthy my friend! This Article
More Articles Jan 19:
Improve Your Health with Simple Basics for 2012!
Improve Your Health with Simple Basics for 2012!
By: Dr. Jennifer Bunzenmeyer BSc, ND
Welcome to 2012! As we start our year, I like to reflect on the basics to set my 2012 healthaspirations. Try these things to help give your year a kick-start:
DIET – after all the indulgences over the holidays, our bodies crave a balanced diet full of nutrients. A balanced diet with protein (legumes, raw nuts, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, and tofu with each meal), complex carbohydrates (veggies, fruits, brown grains such as rice, quinoa, spelt, kamut) and healthy fats (olive/fish/flax oil, avocado and raw nuts and seeds) will putenergy in your step and help boost mood.
MOVEMENT – 30 minutes daily continuous movement helps increase circulation and Qi (energy) flow to help your mood and energy through the day. Walking, yoga, swimming, Qi gong, stretching and aerobic activity are great movement activities.
SLEEP – Set regular sleep times - going to bed and waking at the same time every day. Sleep helps our bodies regenerate, allowing muscles to relax and our minds to rest and stop thinking! A good night’s sleep will help increase energy and mood through the day.
PLAY – FUN and LAUGHTER bring joy into our daily lives. Go for a walk outside in the fresh air, take a new class, go to a funny movie, take the kids to the mountains or simply enjoy the sun shining through the window!
WATER – Drink at least half your body weight in ounces daily. For example, 128 lbs/2 = 64 oz= 8 glasses, of filtered (or spring) water every day.
ROUTINE – Set a routine that will work in your lifestyle. Regular bed/wake times, meal times, exercise times and appointment/meeting times will allow your body to get into a routine. When we are out of routine, we make our adrenal glands work harder to help us adapt to the new routine. Supporting the adrenal glands helps with our stress management through the day.
Specific naturopathic activities to consider (please consult your naturopathic doctor before doing these):
DRY SKIN BRUSHING – dry skin brushing aids in improving lymphatic flow through the body. The lymph system is responsible for taking toxins away from the muscles and tissues to be excreted out of the body. Use a soft bristled dry skin brush, applying gentle pressure to the skin as you move the brush in small circular strokes towards the heart.
CASTOR OIL PACKS – these are fabulous at increasing lymph flow, enhancing bowel movements and decreasing inflammation. We may recommend applying it over the abdomen for aiding a cleanse or over inflamed areas like joints.
The above adapted from Dr. Dick Thom ND’s Basic Treatment Guidelines.
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More Articles Jan 4:
Foods That Fight Cancer
[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Food is the Drug of Choice"]
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Cancer. Just thinking the word brings chills to my spine. Cancer is responsible for over seven million deaths per year globally, 13% of all reported deaths on Earth! You may have been affected, one way or another, from a loved one or friend being a victim of cancer. If you haven’t, believe you me, cancer is a HUGE epidemic. To help place it in perspective, you have a 1 in 2 chance of getting cancer in your lifetime and a 1 in 3 chance of dying from cancer. Comparatively, the chances of dying from an airplane crash is 1 in 3,000,000 and dying form an automobile accident is 1 in 7,000. So, if you are thinking that you won’t be affected by cancer, think again.
Now you may be thinking that there is nothing you can do about it, it’s just a game of chance and your genes that you inherited from your mom and dad will be the deciding factors, right? In fact, a recent poll stated that 89% of North Americans believe that hereditary factors are primarily responsible for the deaths caused by cancer. Fortunately they were wrong. In fact, only 15% of all risk factors are due to your genes! That’s right, only 15%! You may be asking yourself, what about the other 85%? Well, the gap between the actual causes of cancer and popular belief lies in your LIFESTYLE. Over 70% of all cancers are directly related to smoking, lack of physical exercise, obesity, and dietary habits! This means that you can avoid 2 out 3 cancers simply by the way you chose to live!! Genes are not your destiny, health is a choice.
Okay, now that you know lifestyle is the single most important factor in causing or preventing cancer, now what? You will need to know what is the best lifestyle choices, right? But wait, if you are like me than you know that everyone has opinions on lifestyle choices. You are inundated with them everyday by advertisers and friends, what exercises to do/not to do, what foods to eat & not eat, so on and so forth. So who is right? Well, instead of getting into the the whole myriad of complex lifestyle choices that scientists are recommending I’m going to stick to 2 categories, tobacco and foods.
Smoking cigarettes chronically increases your chance of dying by 50%. Out of all the various cancers, smoking is linked directly to 30%. So, as long as you don’t smoke or work on quitting soon you will decrease your risk dramatically.
The next category of lifestyle change is food. Food is something that is a bit misconstrued in the western world. You may eat, like many others do, to “refuel” and eat for your body’s energy production. While this is one important role of food, caloric intake, there is a more important aspect, health. Food is just as much a matter of nourishing your body with its much needed micro and macronutrients in order for your cells to function optimally. With not enough of the right foods and too many of the bad ones your cells don't function the way they were intended. They begin to, over time, build up bad characteristics and eventually start to disobey orders from your body. When this happens, cancer takes place. Foods play a massive role in predicting this outcome and your local cultural diet is mainly to blame.
You see, cancer is a global epidemic but there are some interesting trends based on geography. Depending on where you live in the world dictates how common a particular type of cancer is. Where you live geographically is major predictor for all cancers. This is NOT based on exposure to industrial pollutants as much as it is the local cultural diet. For instance, breast cancer, the most common cancer for females, is 4 X less common in Japan than it is in Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. That means, genes accounted for, if you change your diet drastically (as is the case when comparing the standard Japanese diet to the American-Hawaiian diet) then you can significantly affect the your future likelihood of getting breast cancer! This isn’t an isolated phenomenon. Many countries around the globe have different prevalence rates for the same cancer. Unfortunately Canada and the USA are not the best role models for eating foods that fight cancer. The major contributing factor, again, is food.
Hopefully now you understand that cancer is a real threat to your longevity, as well as those that you hold near and dear to your heart, and that food plays a HUGE role. So, what foods are best and which foods are worst? Well, I’ll explain the right foods to eat in the second part of this blog post. For now, stay happy and healthy my friend. This Article
More Articles Dec 17:
Give Yourself The Gift of Breath This Holiday Season
I love the holidays! There is so much to look forward to; staff parties, dinners, yummy treats, tasty eggnog, hot chocolate, good conversations with friends & family and maybe some fun in the snow (depending on where you live!). But, if you’re like me, the holidays can be a little bit stressful and create a lot of anxiety. From gift shopping at the chaotic malls to white-knuckle grip driving on the icy roads, the holidays can add some unwanted stress and tension into your body. You probably would rather enjoy all of the festivities by not feeling the tension in your shoulders & neck and be mentally exhausted. So why don’t you give yourself the best gift for the holidays, relaxation! In the following few paragraphs our Yogi, Theresa Farkas, explains some easy ways to give yourself some much needed relaxation, mentally and physically. Enjoy! [caption id="attachment_13" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Theresa Farkas (Certified Yoga Therapist and Yoga Teacher)"]
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"It’s been two long months since I have laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement for a run. Due to an injury, I have had to back away from one of my passions and loves….running. When you are in a position where you can’t do something, it seems like everyone else is out there doing it and enjoying it! It got
me thinking about what it means to be patient with our bodies and tuned in to our minds. I started to ask myself the question of, “How can I use this downtime to become more aware of what I am experiencing emotionally and how that may be connected to my physical pain?” So I began to explore this notion in my daily meditation time. This became my intention and focus when I came to my yoga mat every morning.
Some mornings were easy and others very challenging to sit for even five minutes. Working with the physical and emotional body is ongoing and every day something new or different arises. What I came to discover is that almost everything in our bodies relates to how we feel emotionally, what we think, and this directs the way we move through our days. The relationship is this: Thinking affects feelings, feelings affect physiology and vice versa. For example, if you think you are sad day after day, then you will begin to feel depressed and withdrawn. Your body language may express your emotions with rounded shoulders, as if you are protecting your heart or making yourself seem smaller. You may also experience physical pain or low energy. On the other hand, if you think you are happy and successful: life is good, then you will walk with good posture, long straight spine, your emotions may be lifted, and you will display feelings of confidence and pride.
So first things first, take a moment to check in with yourself and think back to any times in your life where you experienced severe physical pain or ongoing physical tension or tightness in your muscles or joints. Maybe that is where you are at this very moment? Including a daily practice of deep relaxation with breath awareness, helps us learn how to become more aware of what we are feeling emotionally, thus helping us understand what we need to do to keep ourselves happy, balanced and in good physical, mental and emotional health. Enjoy the practice below and remember it is not how long you sit in meditation but rather the consistency of taking the time to sit in stillness everyday. Your mind and body will thank you for 5 minutes or 30 minutes…do what is manageable.
Find a comfortable position either sitting or lying down on your yoga mat, making sure your back is comfortable and supported. Start by scanning your body from the crown of your head to your toes. Notice where you are holding tension in your body or gripping. What pain do you feel? Is it physical, emotional or mental? Slowing down your breath and breathing into nose, deep into the belly and breathing out belly through nose. Place your hands on your belly and feel the rise and fall of each breath you take. Start to visualize your breath moving into those spaces that feel stiff, tight or are painful. Every breath you are visualizing healing energy moving into those areas, dissolving tension and pain. While your awareness is on your breath and relaxing your body, take your attention to your heart center. Feel into this space and observe what you feel. Not what you think but what you feel. What sensations arise? Be open and curious as to what you are feeling, without judgement but a sense of “I am where I am and it’s okay”. If the emotion is uncomfortable for you to be with, then cultivate the opposite emotion (Pratipaksha Bhavana). For example, if you are experience great sadness and your not ready to be with it, cultivate the opposite sensation…happiness and breathe into that feeling. Let the heart experience happiness, feel it throughout the entire body. Come into a memory, place, or maybe a person that brings you unconditional love and peace. Let this sense of love and peace move through your entire body. Spend a few minutes here in this space of quiet, feeling the essence of you, your true self within your heart. Finish by slowly bringing your awareness back into the space around you. Awakening and enlivening the body by moving gently, and if lying down, come into a seated position. With wrists resting on knees and thumb touching index finger, come into chin mudra. Speaking the words SO HUM three times, which translates to I AM. Open your eyes to a new day with the intention of letting light and love into your heart.
Namaste,
Theresa" This Article
More Articles Dec 14:
Hello Blog World!
Hello virtual world! This will be my, as well as Acadia Wellness's, first blog post ever! Very exciting and as I type I am already realizing the amount of lives that will be changed as a result of our blogging. For those of you that don't know already Acadia Wellness Centre is a holistic health centre Mecca for local Calgarians. We have been providing alternative health care in Calgary since 1998. From NUCCA chiropractic, massage therapy and naturopathics we have all of your wellness care solutions! Providing this vast array of wellness solutions we are able to be a one stop hub for your convenience and also a solid healthcare team to best co-manage your healthcare needs. The majority of our healthcare team have been with the centre since its inception. This being the case we are able to be very comprehensive and effective in taking care of our patients. Our primary aim is to change the lives of people in our community. You see, we are just as much members of the community as anyone else and as such we have a common goal, happiness. Happiness is defined in many different ways and everyone has there own defining factors whether it be money, family, freedom, or more vacations! Either way you split it the common denominator is YOUR health. Think about it, there is never a time in your live when you or a family member is sick or ill AND happy. Sometimes these ailments are little aches and pains that become more persistent and bothersome over time, in other words chronic. When these chronic small problems are neglected over time they become bigger than you and affect your ability to enjoy life. This is typically when you arent as happy as you could be and when you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. When this time comes you may not know where to look. Well, take a deep breath and be rest assured because we have an answer! Yes, holistic health care at Acadia Wellness Centre is here to help you achieve wellness and, ultimately, happiness. If you are not experiencing any pains or aches or health problems, even more of a reason to drop by Acadia Wellness Centre! Our speciality is prevention and as the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"! At any rate, drop us a line, give us a buzz or comment below and we'll do our best to help answer any of your questions or concerns regarding our holistic health care solutions. It's been a pleasure writing this blog post and stay tuned for more health and happiness related content. And remember, stay healthy and happy my friends!
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