Happy Holidays!
A study of over 25,000 Dutch adolescents concluded that skipping breakfast is a significant risk factor for developing obesity. Also shown as risk factors were alcohol consumption and lack of exercise. Let’s just start with breakfast….in Chinese Medicine it is said that one should “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”. The idea being that we should have our largest meal early in the day and closer to bed should be our smallest meal. This makes sense from an energy standpoint as we need the calories to keep our energy up through the day. I often get the “…I don’t feel hungry in the morning…” argument from patients. Read the rest of this entry

Acupressure is a treatment modality using finger, hand, or elbow pressure on acupuncture points. One major acupuncture point known as “Inner Gate” is on the anterior forearm between the 2 tendons (palmaris longus and flexor carpi radialis) 3 finger widths from the wrist crease. You find it by having your palm point upwards, then have the index, middle and ring finger of the opposite hand touch each other so they are sitting flat. Place the ring finger on the wrist crease of the hand pointing upwards. “Inner Gate” (or Pericardium 6, PC6) is where the middle knuckle of the index finger meets the forearm and between the two tendons so it is approximately in the middle of the forearm. (Is that confusing enough? The study has a picture that shows exactly where the acupuncture point is located). Read the rest of this entry

Wow! Amazing. There was an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2005 that demonstrated how you can reduce your chance of death by 50%! Why haven’t the pharmaceutical companies caught wind of this major breakthrough yet??? Knowing how to cut your chance of death in half cannot be held as a secret for long, can it??

However it isn’t any pill. It isn’t any magic potion. It is simple smart nutrition and lifestyle. Imagine that – smart nutrition can cut your risk of death in half! This study looked at all inclusive mortality of a 10 year period of people aged 70-90 years old in several European countries. What it found was that those who didn’t smoke, moderately exercised and ate a Mediterranean diet had less than 50% chance of dying over the 10 year period of the study.

What is the Mediterranean diet? Many healthy vegetables – cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale), onions, garlic, lean meats, small amounts of cheese, whole grains, beans, and small amounts of alcohol. It doesn’t contain the copious amounts of fried fatty foods, baked sugary foods or refined carbohydrates in the American diet. It also doesn’t contain high amount of the unstable polyunsaturated oils. The Mediterranean Diet use mostly olive oil which is a monounsaturated fat and contains a tremendous amount of beneficial phytochemicals.

OK that was a European study you say….so what about the American melting pot? How would we fare with the Mediterranean fare? A study just released answered that question. Similarly it was a 10 year study with over 214,000 mean and 166,000 women looking at all cause mortality and the Mediterranean diet. A decrease of 20% all-cause mortality was observed when subject ate a diet of vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, fish, meats, and moderate alcohol.
It seems to be a no brainer to eat this way unless you are not genetically programmed to eat this way. For example and an Inuit that that lives on whale blubber and meat would not be healthy on a Mediterranean diet. However for the majority of us of European decent and most likely Asian and African it would behoove us to eat a Mediterranean diet. Not only will we feel better on it, but there is at least a 20% chance of living longer. You can read the entire article here:All Cause Mortality in US Population on Mediterranean Diet

In Health,
George Mandler

Acupuncture, Nutrition & Herbal Medicine

I just had another patient this week telling me that they avoid eggs because their cholesterol is high. I hear it so often that I find myself explaining over and over that eggs are an incredibly nutritious food and that they have little effect on increasing small particle LDL. There are a plethora of research articles referenced below showing that eggs increase important antioxidants – lutein and zexanthine and do not cause an increase in small particle LDL. Why does it matter small or large particle LDL? Read the rest of this entry

In 2004 there was a JAMA article concluding that the Mediterranean diet and moderate exercise can reduce your chance of death by 50%. An article just released in the Archives of Internal Medicine did a similar study with a U.S. population and found a reduction by at least 20% with a Mediterranean diet alone. You can find a link to my article and both of these studies by clicking here.

In Health,
George Mandler
Licensed Acupuncturist
Licensed Dietitian / Nutritionist
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Acupuncture Nutrition com

Catassi C, Fasano A.

Below is my powerpoint presentation I gave to the Uveitis foundation on November 29th 2007. I most definitely feel that acupuncture can be a powerful adjunct therapy to ocular inflammation. There are numerous studies that show it can help with many of the secondary diseases that occur with uveitis. References for these studies are listed on the powerpoint. I also have the full text articles for most of these studies. If you would like to receive any please email me and I’ll send you a copy. Read the rest of this entry

Here is another study showing that low vitamin D is associated with some common disease. Amazing. Soon we’ll find out that global warming is caused by low vitamin D levels.
The clinical status of patients with knee OA is primarily predicated by their level of pain and their muscle function. Recent studies have shown that vitamin D influences both musculoskeletal health and neuromuscular function. Vitamin D deficiency is common among elders and those with comorbidities. This suggests that vitamin D may especially influence the clinical status of patients with knee OA. This study examined whether serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level was associated with pain and physical function in patients with symptomatic knee OA. Read the rest of this entry

Folic acid has been added to our white flour, wheat flour and other grain products for about 10 years to offset the poor diets of potential mothers as it was proven last decade that low folate levels at conception can cause neural tube defects (NTDs). Certainly it has been shown to be very beneficial as folate supplementation has considerably reduced the number of NTDs. However, as with just about anything in life there are always two sides to the coins. Where there is yin there is yang. And timing is everthing. It seems that taking folate early in life may prevent cancer, but taking it later in life after there has been cell damage may futher accentuate damage and cause cancer. Read the rest of this entry