2018

Hill Park Medical Center > 2018
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Facial Rejuvenation through Acupuncture: Revive Your Beauty & Self

Facial Rejuvenation through Acupuncture: Revive Your Beauty & Self
10% off a series of 6 Facial Rejuvenation Treatments (normally $165 per treatment)

Honor your promise to focus on yourself this new year – give yourself the gift you deserve to feel and look your most beautiful. Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture applies a combination of effective, natural techniques to give you vibrant, healthy, and youthful skin in the most chemical-free and non-invasive way possible. With facial acupuncture, the collagen and elastin matrix is shallowly pierced and activated while increasing local blood and lymph circulation, also improving facial color and tone. When working with the body’s entire constitution as a springboard for facial transformation, the entire system is balanced and supported, promoting a sense of well being and joy.

Skin Benefits:
  • Diminished fine lines and wrinkles
  • Pumped up collagen production
  • Strengthened muscle tone
  • Lifted eyelids, reduction in dark circles, brightened eyes
  • Reduced appearance of scars and age spots
  • Decreased puffiness and stimulated facial blood circulation
  • Tightened pores and improved skin tone with reduced redness
  • Vibrant, softer skin tone and facial glow
Systemic Benefits:
  • Uplifted energy
  • Consolidated sense of well-being
  • Boosted metabolism
  • Improved digestion
  • Restful sleep
  • Allergy, Acne, and headache relief
  • Ease of PMS and hormone imbalance symptoms

Your appointment will last approximately 75 minutes, utilizing a blend of delicate acupuncture needles, rose cleansing and hydrating skincare products, followed by jade roller and hydrosol application. Mountain Rose Herb products (100% natural facial care using botanicals sourced from organic farms located in the great Pacific Northwest) are gently applied to your skin in this treatment. In addition to any skin issues, lifestyle and dietary recommendations will also be discussed. The number of treatments depends on the patient’s age, skin goals and desired results. While most report increased energy and vitality after the initial treatment, the skin rejuvenation improvement and results listed above tend to occur after the first 4-5 treatments.

Jennifer Monin, LAc provides facial rejuvenation treatments at our center using a combination of proven techniques, extensive training, clinical experience, and natural products that result in a dynamic facial acupuncture treatment addressing the complicated impact of stress and age on our skin. Jennifer believes that you can have youthful, healthy, and vibrant skin in the most natural and least invasive way. In addition to facial acupuncture, Jennifer also specializes in women’s health and supporting patients through life transitions. She is a deeply respected acupuncturist, teacher, and yoga instructor who we are most fortunate to have on our team at Hill Park.

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Food is Medicine: Golden Cauliflower Soup with Seared Wild Mushrooms

The first time I made this soup I was really lucky – it came together beautifully. Perhaps because it was the end of a cozy Sunday where I could lose myself in cooking and not overthink the process much. I happened to have all of the ingredients at hand and rather thoughtlessly moved through the motions of the recipe and was delighted with the nourishing and complex flavors at the end of the process. After such fortune, I was hooked. To me, that is one of the greatest delights of cooking – allowing the art of connection with nutrient rich foods and some simple technique to combine seamlessly into a nourishing meal.

This soup is really lovely on its own, but the nutty mushroom flavor and oceanic bite to the pistachio blend really elevate it to a great experience. The mineral, antioxidant, and immune benefits are an added plus. I encourage you to play with this recipe a bit – maybe adding some additional turmeric for heightened anti-inflammatory and detox benefit, or add some dried astragalus root to the broth to get an extra immune boost from your meal. Whatever variation you may choose, I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do and share the recipe with your family and friends.

This soup recipe is by Julie Morris, Superfoods chef and cookbook author, and sourced by “Superfood Soups” (Sterling Publishing Co. Inc, 2016)

Golden Cauliflower Soup with Seared Mushrooms
Ingredients

2 TBSP shelled raw pistachios
¼ tsp. wheatgrass powder (optional)
¼ tsp salt
1 TBSP coconut oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lbs cauliflower, cut into 1” pieces (about 4 cups)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups Miso Broth (see recipe)
½ cup raw cashews
1 cup wild mushrooms (maitake, chanterelle, &/or shiitakes work well)
1 TBSP grapeseed oil
2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
¼ cup microgreens or edible flowers for garnish (optional)

Miso Broth

(amended from original recipe)
2 TBSP yellow miso paste
1 qts (4 cups) bone broth or water or equal parts of each
½ tsp kelp granules (optional)

Soup Instructions:

Chop pistachios very finely. Place in a small bowl and add wheatgrass powder and a scant ¼ teaspoon sea
salt; set aside.

Warm coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes until leeks are softened. Stir in cauliflower and thyme, and cook for 1 minute longer. Add turmeric, cayenne,and Miso Broth, and turn heat up to high. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 minutes or until cauliflower is very soft.

Remove pot from heat and add cashews. Transfer soup to a blender, working in batches as needed, and puree until completely smooth. Return soup to pot and keep warm.

Depending on the the size and variety of mushrooms you use, tear into bite sized portions or slice into ¼
inch pieces.

Warm grapeseed oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the mushrooms, spreading out in an even layer as much as possible. Without stirring, cook mushrooms for 1-2 minutes to sear.

When mushroom bottoms have turned golden, flip over with a spatula and repeat on the other side for 1-2
minutes longer.

Transfer mushrooms to a bowl, add parsley, season with salt, and toss well.

Serve soup by ladling it into bowls and sprinkling with ground pistachios. Place a mound of mushrooms on
top, and garnish with greens as desired.

Miso Broth Instructions:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until miso is fully dissolved.

Use in soups as directed, or warm over low heat to enjoy as a sipping broth. The broth may be stored in the
refrigerator up to one week or kept in freezer for several months.

Dr. Denise Version: Warm bone broth over medium heat. Once warm, scoop about a ½ cup of the broth into a small bowl and whisk with the miso until it dissolves fully and a smooth paste is formed. Pour this mixture back into the broth and then add to soup. Be careful not to overheat the miso broth – adding it to boiling water will kill the probiotics in the miso, nixing the health benefits it typically offers, like better digestive health.

* Dr. Denise Tips:

Steamed kale or collards are very nice toppings here. This soup also does well with a dollop of quinoa for additional protein. Consider using bone broth to increase mineral content and enhance the immune benefits of this meal.

Natural Allergy Treatment, Natural Immune Health, Sublingual Immunotherapy Treatment

Eliminating Allergies Without Injections

Eliminating Allergies Without Injections

How is this allergy season going for you so far?

Does your nose get so congested and stuffy that it’s hard to breathe?

Do your eyes feel like they’re itching or watering all the time?

Is daytime drowsiness or fatigue slowing you down?

Does your asthma act up simply from going outside?

Are your allergies poorly controlled with your current medications and inhalers?

Does the thought of doing allergy injections sound painful or like a hassle?

We have a solution for you…

Allergies and asthma are the 5th leading cause of chronic disease in America. Nearly four million work and school days are missed each year due to seasonal ragweed allergies alone! Allergy concerns are on the rise in Sonoma County, with many people having their first allergic event within 3 years of living here. Northern California is a uniquely difficult allergy region because of our temperatures, microclimates, highway design, and air quality issues. The temperatures bring us our amazing landscapes, but also contribute to an unusually high pollen count and poor air quality.

A significant concern with allergies is preventing the progression to asthma or developing multiple additional allergies. There is an “atopic march” in which 16-40% patients with an allergic runny nose are likely to develop asthma later on in life. People with airborne allergies such as pollen, dust mites, or pet dander, are the most at risk to develop additional allergies as they get older.

An “allergen” is a typically benign protein that the body recognizes as a threat and then mounts an immune response to ‘wash away’ the allergen, resulting in our symptom experience of a runny nose, watery eyes, etc. Sublingual Immunotherapy (also referred to as SLIT) is a very effective treatment that “desensitizes” and eliminates the body’s response to an allergen. This form of immunotherapy is administered by placing drops underneath the tongue. The region under the tongue is especially responsive to this therapy as it allows the immune system to have exposure to the immunotherapy concentration of allergens without undesired effects. The treatment is non-invasive, does not involve needles, and eliminates the need for weekly travel to an allergy clinic receive injections. In 2009, the World Health Organization stated that SLIT represents a good alternative to more standard immunotherapy delivered by injections, commonly referred to as “allergy shots”. SLIT is widely used in Europe – as of 2011 about 40% of European allergists were using SLIT as a treatment.

Before starting SLIT, blood tests are performed to assess how allergic a person is to their suspected allergens: pollen, molds, grasses, pets, foods, etc.. The concentration of the body’s allergic responsivity determines the treatment dose of the allergen. The goal is to expose the body to the concentration of an allergen that is just below the concentration in which the immune system mounts an allergic response, thereby normalizing the presence of the allergen and desensitizing the body’s response to the allergen altogether. As treatment progresses, the concentration and dosage of the solution is adjusted over time as the immune system responds favorably. Improvement is usually seen within 2 to 4 months for pollens and 6 months to a year for dust mite allergy. The treatment can be started at any time of the year and “pre-season” treatments are extremely helpful for seasonal allergens such as grasses, weeds, and trees. The allergy response can be completely resolved and eliminated within 1-3 years.

There is strong evidence that supports an excellent safety profile of sublingual immunotherapy for people of all ages. This is a much more pleasant allergy treatment alternative for kids, their parents, and grownups alike. SLIT is very well tolerated, with the most common side effects being oral itching, swelling, nausea, vomiting, and stomach ache. These side effects, which are not common, are either mild and go away by themselves or are easily managed by a temporary reduction in dose of therapy.

In addition to using immunotherapy, it is important to decrease exposure to allergic triggers as much as possible. It is hard to avoid pollen when outdoors, especially when the weather is nice. Daily rinses using a neti pot to clear the nasal passages can also help quite a bit. One factor often overlooked when treating allergies is the benefit of avoiding foods that a person is allergic to. For example, if a person is allergic to mold, they should avoid foods that are moldy (e.g., some cheeses, mushrooms, vinegar, sour cream, dried fruit), which are more common than you might expect. Would you believe that even chocolate and fruit juices are moldy? Yeast in the gut also contributes to the level of mold in the body, so treating an overgrowth can be of great benefit.

To learn more about options for treating allergies using SLIT, allergen testing, yeast overgrowth, and taking a holistic look at your health, we welcome you to schedule an appointment with Richard Chen, MD. He is currently offering patients a 15 minute introductory visit or phone call at no charge.