27March2010
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article; Beverages & Tonics.
Soft drinks are not healthy beverages. Loaded with sugar, sugar substitutes, high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and phosphates (which leach calcium from your bones), they actually erode your health.
Soft drinks once were health tonics. Root beer, ginger ale, and many others were bubbly beverages made from herbs, trace minerals (from real salt, not table salt), probiotics, and lacto-fermentation. You cannot buy these in stores easily, but you can easily make them at home.
Recipes here.
I make a number of ginger ales, orange soda, and “red pop.” I will admit, the root beers are a bit tricky so start with something easier.
Don’t have time? This is a GREAT thing to let the kids do! Just make sure to supervise, and expect some extra clean-up!
20March2010
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Snacks.
If you think you don’t like liver, you haven’t had pate like this before. When I bring it to parties, it is devoured. People want the recipe. They request me to bring it to their next party. It is divine. Made with 1/3 liver, 1/3 mushroom, 1/3 scallion (and hard boiled egg if you prefer more of a liverwurst taste), it’s a great introduction to liver in the diet. Keep it on hand and use it for snacking or as a sandwich spread. A few tablespoons per day can go a long way toward health.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken livers, soaked in water with lemon juice repeatedly until water runs clear
1/2 lb button mushrooms
1 bunch scallions
1 cup dry vermouth
butter
spices: salt, garlic, rosemary, dill, dry mustard, black pepper
Instructions
Saute in butter equal parts of chopped liver, mushrooms, and scallions until done. Add vermouth and spices to taste (about 1 tbsp each except black pepper) and boil it down until the liquid is gone. Puree in food processor with butter to taste. Chill and serve.
For more detailed instructions, use Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon, or ask me for a copy of her recipe on your next visit. I keep it in the office!
Amy Galvan, AP
20March2010
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Beverages & Tonics.
Beet Kvass is a fermented, non-alcoholic beverage that has been around for centuries. Fermented with lactobacillus (like yogurt) instead of yeast, it does not produce alcohol. Beet Kvass is a great tonic for the blood. It detoxifies and builds blood, moves the bowels, and repopulates the gut with friendly probiotics. It’s simple to make, so keep it on hand and drink half a glass everyday for good health.
Ingredients:
3-4 beets
2L filtered water in a glass jar
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp whey
Choose organic, farm fresh beets. Those you buy in the grocery store are so deficient in nutrients that they cannot keep the microorganisms alive to ferment this beverage.
Use filtered water. City water contains chlorine and will kill the microorganisms needed to ferment this beverage.
Celtic sea salt is best. It contains trace minerals and does not raise blood pressure in most salt-sensitive hypertensive people. Always check your blood pressure to see if your hypertension is salt-sensitive or not.
Whey is the clear liquid you find on your yogurt. Leave yogurt out on the counter overnight and you’ll get plenty of whey for this recipe. It is loaded with lactobacillus to lacto-ferment the beet kvass. If you are vegan or intolerant of dairy, you can purchase dairy-free lactobacillus.
Directions
Quarter the beets, and put them in the jar with water, salt, and whey. Let sit on countertop for 3 days or longer, until bubbly with fermentation. Drink a serving every day. When you get down to the last half-glass, use it to start the next batch by adding it to the water.
6November2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Recipes.
Here’s the recipe that makes people beg me to bring liver pate to parties! It’s from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook, based on French recipes. I always recommend this for a first liver food. It is 1/3 liver, 1/3 mushroom, 1/3 scallion cooked in wine with herbs and spices. Fabulous!
If you don’t like it, blend it into meatballs and meatloaf and it will enrich the flavor without standing out.
3 tbsp butter
1 lb chicken livers (soaked in water with lemon juice to draw out blood, rinsed)
1/2 lb mushrooms, rough chopped
1 bunch scallions, rough chopped
2/3 cup vermouth
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 stick butter, softened, to taste (I use much less)
sea salt
Quick and easy: saute equal parts rough chopped liver, scallion, mushroom until browned, 10-20 minutes. Add vermouth, fresh crushed garlic, a generous squeeze of lemon, and sprinkles of rosemary, dill, dry mustard, salt. It looks soupy. Boil until all the vermouth is evaporated, about 20-30 minutes. Cool. Process in blender, food processor, or mini chopper with butter to taste. Serve chilled on crackers.
I have substituted liver from calves, deer, and pig with stronger onions and leeks, and used stronger mushrooms like baby portabella and shiitake, and it has turned out well enough, but for parties, use milder chicken liver and button mushrooms.
9June2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Dessert; Recipes.
Homemade pudding nourishes yin. It uses milk and barely cooked eggs, both Jing-Essence foods of prima materia. Here’s an easy way to make it in the evenings, for one serving. It takes about 20 minutes, longer if you double the recipe. You can make a lot if you have 45 minutes to bring it to a boil, and refrigerate the leftovers or bake into a pie.
1 tbsp corn starch (non-GMO, aluminum-free is healthiest)
1 tbsp sugar (rapadura, sucanat is best; 1 tbsp agave nectar works also for diabetics)
Mix in a mug.
Add milk slowly, stirring in so it doesn’t clump, until mug is full. Dump into a saucepan. Fill mug with an egg yolk, or whole egg if you prefer. Keep mug with egg set aside.
Heat over medium to medium high heat in saucepan, stirring constantly so it doesn’t scorch, until it boils. It will reduce and thicken slightly due to steam releasing. As it begins to boil, the cornstarch will activate and thicken the milk. (Don’t try to thicken it faster with more cornstarch; it will just get gummy like taffy.)
Slowly slowly pour hot pudding mixture back into mug with egg in it. The trick is to not cook the egg with the hot pudding, so stir vigorously to cool it and pour slowly to increase temperature in tiny increments. If you mix too fast and suddenly cook the egg, it will clump instead of blend with milk, and you will have chunky pudding. Some people use more than one egg for more thickness and easier temperature control because you have more egg-to-milk ratio as you begin.
You can put it all back in the pan and bring to a second boil if you want to cook the egg more and thicken the pudding more, without lumps, now that it’s evenly mixed with milk. This step is not necessary unless you want to guarantee the egg gets pasteurized to protect against salmonella.
Stir in 1/4 to 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, or add coconut flakes, raisins, grated almonds, etc.
For chocolate pudding, add powdered cocoa to sugar and cornstarch mix before you add milk.
Enjoy!
15May2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article; Diet & Nutrition; Probiotics & Gut Health.
Gut Reaction: Environmental Effects on the Human Microbiota is an excellent introduction to the large body of current research being done on the digestive tract that takes into consideration the gut “flora” and the implications of probiotics on illness, disease, and digestive problems.
This is a scholarly article published by the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) but it is easy to read. Click here to read the full article.
6April2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article; Conditions Treated; Diet & Nutrition; Probiotics & Gut Health.
A New Framework for Diagnosing and Treating Developmental Disorders: Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS)
Abstract
Gut and psychology syndrome (GAPS) offers diagnosticians an alternative to the DSM-IV-TR Axis II symptoms-driven diagnosis. GAPS offers clinical signs for diagnosis of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral developmental disorders based on biological medical markers. It also offers treatment protocols known to cure two out of three patients using natural methods. Developed by Natascha Campbell-McBride, M.D., Ph.D., after pioneering research by Andrew Wakefield, M.D., the treatments eradicate neurotoxins by balancing intestinal flora using “industrial strength” therapeutic doses of soil probiotics not found in retail health food stores. These treatments offer medication-free cures in longitudinal case studies of 10 years, for persons with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disability (LD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and other Axis II disorders.
Full Article
I have written a research paper on this subject, which includes the treatment protocols and where you can find resources for pursuing treatment. Read the full article here.
To learn more about the diets recommended for autism, ADHD, ADD, and other developmental disorders, you can find books on the subject here.
Safe enough for over-the-counter use, you can purchase Bio-Kult here, the specific probiotics prescribed by doctors to treat properly diagnosed patients including soil probiotics and those necessary for removal of heavy metals.
23March2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article; Diet & Nutrition.
Proper diet is a foundation of Oriental medicine. Your body loses its natural ability to heal when you eat foods that are not natural, or have not been a part of the human body’s diet for thousands of years. Unfortunately, most food on the market shelves today is not natural. . . and most people eating it are not healthy as a result.
Here is a nice introduction to how to change your diet for the better. It’s written by a certified nutritional consultant for the Weston A Price Foundation journal. The ideas are simple. The commitment is up to you.
Read the article Kitchen in Transition here. If you do not have access to a healthy grocery store near you, please check out my page Healthy Pantry to have items shipped to your doorstep. If you have any questions about what you’re eating, send me an email and I will get back with you as soon as I can.
20March2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article.
Comments
Many scientific observations have supported the existence of acupuncture points and channels as they have been perceived by doctors, patients, scholars, and others in Oriental medicine. These include low electrical activity at acupoints, radio-isotope tracing, thermal and sense propagation, and galvanic currents.
Now, scientists have injected magnetic nanoparticles into living flesh and traced their movement along natural pathways using magnetic fields. The natural pathways travelled by the nanoparticles do not correspond to any physical anatomical structure visible to the naked eye; they do, however, correspond to acupuncture channels as described by acupuncture medicine.
Reference: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007 March; 4(1): 77–82
Read the full article on PubMed or read the scientific study and see more images here.
17March2009
Posted by Amy Galvan under: Article; Conditions Treated.
Menstrual cramps are unique for each woman. Oriental medicine is special because it treats your cramps according to your pattern; more precisely, it treats you. Until you can get diagnosed and treated by a doctor of Oriental medicine, here are some ideas that you can try at home.
Sea Salt Compress
Saute about 4 cups of sea salt in a frying pan until all the popping stops. Do not put any oil in the pan to fry the salt! Just “dry fry” it. The purpose is to get the moisture out. The salt will turn dull and darkened.
Pour the salt into a towel or cloth, and bundle up the top like you would a compress.
Being careful not to burn your skin, apply directly to where it hurts. This may be on your lower front abdomen over the womb, or on your low back.
The salt holds the heat in for some time. You can reheat the salt and do it again as often as you like.
Sea salt contains trace minerals not found in table salt or salt substitutes. Trace minerals relax muscles and improve nerve conductivity. Oriental medicine uses sea salt because it treats Kidney. Kidney refers not to the organs the kidneys, but to the collection of functions and channels that are the foundation of the menstrual cycle and reproduction.
Ginger Tea
Here is a warm and tasty beverage to help your body have the energy to send the blood down and out through your menstrual cycle. Ginger is used to “downbear” the stomach. In Oriental medicine, the “Chong Mai” is an energetic pathway that links the uterus and stomach (for example, when it is “disturbed” with a fetus, often women get morning sickness or nausea).
Bring grated or sliced fresh ginger to a boil. Use as much as ginger as you can tolerate. If it’s too strong, you can always dilute it with water later.
When it boils, simmer it for at least 20 minutes. Add sugar to taste. Use white rock candy sugar if your pain is dull and diffuse across a general area. Use red sugar if your pain is intense and localized to specific places, sharp or stabbing. Use red sugar if you have heavy bleeding. [Red sugar is a dark brown red rock candy like sugar that you can find in Oriental groceries. The white rock sugar is also available in Oriental grocery stores.]
It’s ready to drink as soon as it’s cool. The Asian tradition is to pour the tea into teacups without handles. When the cup is cool enough to hold in your hand, it is cool enough to drink.
Chinese Herbs for Menstrual Cramps
Be sure to stock your medicine cabinet with Chinese herbs for cramps. One fast-acting formula is called “Sudden Smile” because it works so well it makes women break out into a smiling face. Another formula that has Sudden Smile in it is called “Calm in the Sea of Life.” Be sure to check with your acupuncturist to make sure these formulas are suitable for your pattern of cramping, or they might not be effective.
If you’re interested in getting a correct treatment based on your diagnosed pattern, please contact me to arrange a free 15 minute consultation. Or simply book an appointment.
My goal is to create a treatment plan unique to your needs and empower you with tools for self-care, disease prevention, and complete recovery.
