Traditional Roots Healthcare
May Newsletter
WELCOME TO SPRING
We have a lot of updates, events and workshops to share!
In this newsletter:
- Expanding clinic partnership at People Inc.
- South Korean delegation at Wilder Southeast Asian Center
- "Medicine for Peace" April Fundraising Campaign
- Thursday, April 7th workshop "New Moon Infusion"
- Sunday, April 10th workshop "Tonics, Tinctures and Brews"
- Saturday, April 23rd volunteer meeting
- Dietary advice on healthy fats & protein
- Five element Qigong for spring
- DIY Essential oils for stress, sleep, concentration and more
Join us at some of our upcoming workshops and volunteer events! Looking to schedule an acupuncture treatment? Schedule online or email info@traditionalrootshc.org today
Expanding Clinic Partnership at People Incorporated
The Huss Center for Recovery is an innovative treatment program for adult men and women with co-occurring chemical dependency issues and mental illness. The program offers a full spectrum of services including inpatient, intensive outpatient, continuing care and concerned persons group. Our person-centered treatment services provide an integrated, interdisciplinary approach that links psychological, biological, and social factors to assist people in the process of recovery.
People Incorporated's mission is to supporting mental health and wellness in our community through collaboration and integration of care, and Traditional Roots is an active clinic partner offering holistic and non-drug options for targeted populations. Specifically regarding mental health and trauma informed care.
Government Delegation from the Republic of Korea
Last March 21st, a government delegation from the Republic of Korea visited Wilder Foundation's Southeast Asian Healing Center. They were interested in learning more about programs offered and how we support those with trauma, with an emphasis in trauma informed care.
Traditional Roots is proud to be an official acupuncture clinic partner with Wilder Foundation serving our refugee population with holistic, non-drug approached to trauma informed care.
Medicine of Peace Campaign
Please join Traditional Roots Healthcare to share the MEDICINE OF PEACE with people who have experienced trauma in the U.S and around the world.
Acupuncturists Without Borders is an international organization, who's mission is to bring healing, hope and empowerment to communities affected by natural disasters, environmental devastation and human conflict.
When we see images of the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees or other disasters, we often feel helpless in the face of so much pain. Now each person CAN do something to help. Give to AWB and you are helping Syrian Refugees and others in need today.
Please share the benefits you’ve received from acupuncture with people
who don’t have access to this powerful Medicine of Peace. Your donation makes it possible for Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) to provide trauma healing treatments to:
- Veterans and their families
- Refugees in the U.S. and internationally
- Sexual and domestic violence survivors
- People displaced by natural disaster and climate change
- Communities affected by social, racial and economic inequality
Or goal: raise $10,000 from seven communities across the country in April.
Click here to donate online or learn more about AWB’s trauma healing programs visit AWB's website www.acuwithoutborders.org
New Moon Infusion
Set your intention for spring at our New Moon Infusion and learn how to infuse wine and liquor with medicinal herbs.
New moon rituals bring meaning to our lives by "charging" an intention with power. We're always setting intentions, and this is a way to do it in a more conscious way. There is power in coming up with visions for your life, and keeping them in your sights as they come into being.
In this class we will:
~ Infuse wine and liquor with medical herbs
~ Provide recipes for other useful infusions
~ Set an intention for spring and how this ties to the element Wood in Chinese Medicine
Suggested donation $20
Supplies, herbs, and booze included
Class size limited to 20 people - please rsvp at info@traditionalrootshc.org
Thursday, Apr 7, 2016, 07:00 PM
Traditional Roots Healthcare, Dunlap Street, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Tonics Tinctures and Brews
Learn how to make your own herbal remedies from scratch. Now that we are transitioning into spring, the element of Wood is associated with Spring in Chinese Medicine as well as the Liver.
We will be using herbs and essential oils to support the liver and help detoxify.
This is a hands-on class and will instruct you on how to make your own, from scratch, medicinal remedies including:
~ Salves
~ Tinctures
~ Bulk Herbal Formulas
~ Essential Oil Blends
Class size limited to 20 people - rsvp at info@traditionalrootshc.org
Suggested donation $20
Sunday, Apr 10, 2016, 01:00 PM
Traditional Roots Healthcare, Dunlap Street, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Disaster Relief & Community Suffering - Volunteer Info Meeting
Join us and learn more about how our Traditional Roots volunteers will work with the Minnesota Medical Reserve Corp, MN Department of Health and Acupuncturists Without Borders during times of natural disasters and community suffering.
Our goal is to recruit over 20 individuals!
What you will learn as part of this volunteer team:
- Mobilize a disaster response effort - as part of the MN- Medical Reserve Corp
- Provide effective, safe, culturally supportive acupuncture treatments
- Become connected with other professionals who are community minded
- Receive a discount on this summer's June 4-5th training with Acupuncturists Without Borders "Disaster Response Training"
- Receive additional training through MN- Medical Reserve Corp
- Goals for how we can better serve our local communities in times of community suffering and disaster relief
- NCCAOM CEU/PDA Credits Available for our TRH Volunteers
Contact us at info@traditionalrootshc.org for more info
Saturday, Apr 23, 2016, 02:00 PM
Traditional Roots Healthcare, Dunlap Street, Saint Paul, MN, United States
The Saturated Fat That Keeps You Full
By now, you probably know that eating fat won't make you fat. In fact, there's a unique fat that can actually help keep you full and provide fuel to burn body fat: medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs.
MCTs are a special form of saturated fat with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that support your immune system.
You can find MCTs in coconut oil, although using MCT oil provides more therapeutic, concentrated doses of this fabulous oil. You can use it as a salad dressing, in your smoothie, in coffee, as a marinade base, or by the tablespoon.
I'm personally a huge fan and using MCT oil every single day because I find it keeps me full and satisfied longer.
How MCTs Can Help With Weight Loss
MCTs are the easiest type of fatty acid that your body can burn for calories. They get absorbed directly from the gut to the liver and burned very quickly. For many patients, they become that nudge to ditch those last 10 to 15 stubborn pounds that just won’t seem to budge.
Research confirms that MCTs can make you lean and healthy. In one study, researchers compared the results of MCTs with long-chain triglycerides on body fat, energy expenditure, appetite, and other aspects of weight loss in overweight men. They put these men on different diets for 28 days. One group ate a coconut-oil-rich diet high in MCTs such as caprylic acid and lauric acid. The other group ate a diet rich in long-chain triglycerides like olive oil. They then switched the diets so that they could see differences in the same subjects.
The researchers found the coconut group lost more body fat, which they attributed to a greater increase in energy expenditure and burning fat. Coconut oil actually sped up their metabolisms, allowing them to lose more belly fat and curbing their appetite compared with the men on the olive-oil-rich diet.
In fact, studies suggest that MCTs can help men burn about 460 extra calories a day and women about 190 extra calories. MCTs also affect your hormones, including appetite-controlling hormones, helping you feel full.
Why You Shouldn't Fear Fat
You might be hesitant to use coconut oil or MCT oil because it's high in saturated fat, which has unfairly been demonized for decades. Yet newer studies vindicate saturated fat, with one study arguing “a variety of saturated fatty acids may provide distinct benefits to various metabolic processes and overall health.”
Besides, there is a world of difference between quality saturated fat in coconut or MCT oils and what you might get in a fast-food cheeseburger.
Fat is one of your body’s main building blocks, yet for decades we followed a low-fat diet according to U.S. dietary guidelines, which became a high-sugar, high-refined-carb diet—contributing to an epidemic of insulin resistance, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and many other serious health problems.
We now know that inflammation caused by following these flawed guidelines is the true health-robbing villain. Rather than demonize fat, we need to restrict sugar and carbohydrates that break down to sugar, as well as inflammatory omega-6 fats.
Instead, we should be focusing on getting more omega-3 fats and MCTs like coconut oil, which can help you to lose weight and stay healthy. Quality rather than quantity matters here.
Signs You're Not Getting Enough Protein
Protein is essential for living organisms. It gives us energy, helps our bodies recover, and keeps our tummies satisfied. Protein is composed of long-chain amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle.
Your body produces 11 amino acids and the others—the 9 so-called essential amino acids—you must consume from food.
How would you know if you're protein deficient? Below are some symptoms that can be related to inadequate protein. Keep in mind that as with any nutrient deficiency, symptoms can have other causes, so this is a general list and not to be used to self-diagnose.
1. Food cravings
Constant food cravings and needing snacks often between meals may be the consequence of a high-carb/sugar and low-protein diet. Protein evens out blood sugar highs and lows.
2. Muscle and joint pain
Muscle weakness, pain, or being flabby where you used to be muscular may be a sign of your muscles or joint fluid breaking down to supplement calories instead of using the protein you eat to build muscles, tissues, and cells.
3. Slow recovery from injuries
To heal and rebuild new cells, tissue, and skin and for immunity we need a sufficient amount of protein.
4. Hair, skin, and nail troubles
Thin hair, hair falling out, peeling skin and nails, and ridges in nails are some of the first signs your body may not have enough protein.
5. Fluid retention
Edema, or fluid accumulation: protein plays a part internally in keeping fluid from accumulating in tissues, especially in feet and ankles.
6. Getting sick regularly
Frequent illness means you have a poor immune system and immune cells are made from proteins.
7. Brain fog
Foggy brain, short bursts of mental energy, followed by the fog may be related to fluctuating blood sugar and lack of protein.
How much protein should you eat?
It's pretty difficult to become protein deficient if you eat a diet with a variety of whole foods. If you aren’t getting enough protein, that probably means you aren’t eating enough calories, you’re following a bizarre or unhealthy diet, or you have some digestive imbalances.
If you eat too few calories, your body will use the protein you do eat for energy instead of building muscles, immunity, and healthy hair, skin and nails, etc.
At a minimum, the average person needs to consume 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. For a person who weighs 150 pounds, that would be about 55 grams of protein per day.
But the “right” amount of protein depends on many factors, including activity levels, age, muscle mass, and current state of health.
Who's at risk of protein deficiency?
Elderly
As we age our digestion and ability to use protein is less efficient.
Athletes
Athletes burn more calories and use more protein to build muscle.
Those recovering from an acute illness or injury
To heal you need at least one and a half times the normal protein recommendations.
People who are stressed
Stress hormones increase muscle and tissue breakdown in times of both physical and emotional stress.
People on a weight-loss diet
It's been shown in studies that adequate protein is needed for weight loss to balance blood sugars and prevent muscle breakdown.
Those with digestive issues or low stomach acid
Many people have an imbalance in their gut and don’t digest proteins efficiently, which can lead to lowered immunity, weight gain, and protein deficiency. To digest protein you must have adequate stomach acid (hydrochloric acid or HCL).
What can you do if you think you're lacking in protein?
- If you're eating processed foods and lots of carbs and sugars, start replacing those with whole foods like three or four servings of fresh meat, fish, chicken, dairy, eggs, plus whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. There's great protein in plant foods as well as in animal products.
- If you're vegan, great protein sources include whole grains, lentils, soy, beans, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
- If you don’t like protein foods or don’t want to eat them, consider a protein powder supplement made from soy, egg, rice, peas, or whey.
- If you think you may have low stomach acid, check with your physician or dietitian to get a good supplement.
- If you have too much stress in your life, look into learning to meditate or do yoga, or find whatever activities work best for you to reduce stress.
Lucky for us, protein is available in many forms, raw and cooked. No matter what type of diet you follow, we have a number of ways to add more protein to our diets in a healthy and delicious way!
Five Element QiGong
The harmonious balance of ‘the five elements’ are key components of a healthy life.
In Chinese philosophy the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the five basic aspects of Qi, or life energy. These five elements are interconnected and interdependent. The harmonious balance of ‘the five elements’ are key components of a healthy life.
Like all forms of energy, all forms of Qi, the energy of the five elements are constantly in the process of transformation:
- The energy of each element is more prominent or less prominent in seasonal and daily cycles.
- Each element is also more strongly connected with specific organs and energy channels in the body.
Wood
Season: Spring
Energy Channels: Liver and Gallbladder
The Qi of the Wood element is most prominent in the spring when plants are sprouting new growth. The color of this element is green. The energy channels most prominent in wood element energy are the liver and gallbladder. As the liver energy starts to flow more easily in the spring, helping to detoxify the body and helping to give us more energy and vitality. This is an important time to focus on the liver.
Fire
Season: Summer
Energy Channels: Heart, Small Intestines, Pericardium, Tripple Heater
The Qi of the Fire element is most prominent in summer when the weather is hotter and fire is heat. The color of this element is red. The energy channels most prominent in the wood element are the heart, small intestines, pericardium and the triple heater. Heart energy is so critical to healing and health and joy in our lives it is important to always focus on enhancing our heart energy and especially in summer time.
Metal
Season: Fall
Energy Channels: Lung, Large Intestine
The Qi of the Metal element is most prominent in fall, which is the time of harvesting the abundance of summer. The color of this element is white. The energy channels most prominent in the metal element are the lungs and large intestines, as well as the skin and nose, which are parts of the breathing energy system. Since fall is a transition time from the heat and outdoor activity of summer to the cooler temperatures and more indoor activity it is especially important to focus on the lung energy to help prevent breathing problems, colds and the like that are associated with fall and the winter to come.
Water
Season: Winter
Energy Channels: Kidneys, Bladder
The Qi of the Water element is most prominent in winter when the cold creates a time for hibernation and plants go into their dormant cycle storing their energy for the spring to come. The color of this element is dark, dark blue, almost black. The kidney energy is the vitality of the body and focusing on enhancing the kidney energy during the winter season is so important for giving you more energy and vitality for the more active seasons ahead.
Earth
Season: All Seasons – Especially Late Summer
Energy Channels: Stomach, Spleen
The Qi of the Earth element has no specific season because it is important and active through all of the seasons. Earth energy is especially prominent during the last seven to ten days of each month of each season and in late summer. The color of this element is yellow.
All energy and all of the other elements have a great relationship with the earth element because the earth energy is grounding. Since earth energy is even more prominent the last seven to ten days of each month this is an excellent time to focus on enhancing your stomach and spleen energy channels.
While each of the five elements is more prominent during different seasons, or times of the month as in the earth element, it is not helpful to focus on those respective energy channels exclusively during these periods of prominence.
As in all things in Chinese philosophy and Chinese medicine, creating and maintaining energy balance and harmony is the goal.
Open House & Spring Fundraiser
Saturday, May 7, 2016, 02:00 PM
Traditional Roots Healthcare, Dunlap Street, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Our Mission
Traditional Roots Healthcare is a Minnesota based, 501c3, non-profit dedicated to heal, strengthen and empower through traditional medicine.
Our vision is to organize sustainable, safe, and culturally diverse healing spaces that incorporate elements of traditional medicine such as, acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietary and lifestyle guidance. Especially for underserved communities affected by acute, chronic, secondary and generational trauma.
Our goals include:
- Offer services to groups such as: Veterans, American Indians, refugee, and victims of assault and natural disaster
- Stay true to patients’ cultural traditions
- Provide support and relief during natural disasters and community suffering
- Educate communities with traditional medical techniques to empower them through life’s journey
- Serve underserved communities
Schedule Today
Schedule online, by phone or email
~ walk-in's welcome ~
165 Dunlap Street N
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-447-2196
Valerie Overby- Mon - Sat
Have a specific date and time in mind? Email us today to schedule.
Accepting Veteran's Choice Insurance & Liberty HealthShare
Traditional Roots Healthcare is an official clinic provider with Veteran's Choice Program and Liberty HealthShare.
Email us for more information and to schedule your appointment at: info@traditionalrootshc.org
Acupuncture Services Offered
- Ear Acupuncture uses specific ear protocols, typically 5 needles per ear. Suitable for adults and children/young adults. A great non-verbal and introductory approach to care!
- Community Style Acupuncture Treatments are treatments is a community setting and typically use points on the head/ears, hands and lower limbs.
- Individual Acupuncture Treatments are private 60 minute treatment and can include cupping, tuina, gua sha, essential oil, tuning fork, and electro-stimulation therapies as part of the treatment. Individual Acupuncture treatments also include an in-depth treatment plan including lifestyle, herbal consult, and dietary recommendations.
Additional Holistic Options
- Cupping Treatment (lymph, circulation, and soft tissue techniques)
- Dietary Guidance
- Essential Oil Treatments
- Guided Meditation
- Gua Sha (increases lymph, shown to reduce fever)
- Herbal Remedies
- Lifestyle Guidance
- Magnet Therapies
- Acupressure Treatments
- Tuning Fork Treatments
- Tuina Treatments (soft-tissue work/traction techniques)
Your Treatment Counts!
Price breakdown and how it helps us serve those in need:
- Any payment above and beyond the sliding scale fee for treatment is considered a donation and tax-deductible.
- For example, by purchasing a treatment for yourself at $55, allows us to provide 3 community style treatments or 1 individual acupuncture treatment.
Our organization relies on the generosity of individuals like you. Without these donations serving these populations would not be possible. No donation is too small and ALL recommendations for patient engagement are appreciated. We are amazed by what acupuncture has done for us, and what we have witnessed it do for others. We hope to spread our excitement for oriental medicine and its 4,000 years of history. Our bodies are truly amazing when they are given the support they need.
Thank you in advance for your assistance and generosity!
Contact Us
Email: info@traditionalrootshc.org
Website: www.traditionalrootshc.org
Location: 165 Dunlap Street North, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Phone: 651-447-2196
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/traditionalroots/