Goji Berries and Chrysanthemi Flowers

These two herbs are used in chinese medicine for many reasons.

Ju Hua (Chrysanthemi Flos): A cool, sweet and bitter herb that is used to disperse an exterior wind heat invasion (headache, fever, aversion heat, red eyes, sore throat), clear liver heat (red/painful eyes, floaters) and calm the liver (dizziness, headaches, blurred vision) and is a popular tea in the summertime in China secondary to its cooling nature.

Gou Qi Zi (Goji Berries): A sweet and neutral herb that is used for nourishing and tonifying the kidney and liver (yin/blood deficiency), benefits essence to brighten the eyes, and enrichs yin to moisten the lungs to eliminate cough. These can be used in a tea or just eaten raw with nuts or in oatmeal. It is also a great herb for erectile dysfunction, to improve circulation and for certain eye disorders.

In Chinese Medicine, the spleen is like a big boiling pot that is essential in producing blood, fluids and essence from the food we eat, the fluids we drink and the air we breathe (they work together with the lungs and kidney to do this). So the spleen is essential in producing blood. On an emotional level, the spleen also houses the intellect of the soul and of the person. When you use your intellect, you use your blood. Unless you replenish it with red foods (meat, beets, goji berries, etc) or with chinese yin tonic herbs, you will start to become blood deficient. The signs can range from pale complexion, thin hair, weak and thin body, cold extremity’s and thin/pale tongue. This is very common in females.

Well, from being in school and studying all the time and reading all the time, which is a passion of mine, I started to get blurry and double visions towards the end of the day and evening. It would last for seconds, but I would have to cover one eye or look of at something to regain focus. I spoke with one of my professors and he recommended me to buy these raw herbs above and to make some tea out of them daily.

Well, after about 6 months of my symptoms each night and always being a hot person as well, I can say that after only two days of having one glass of tea each day, my eyes have not blurred yet!

Joshua Rubin

www.eastwesthealing.com

Ulcerative Colitis

Frequently, I work with clients who have Ulcerative Colitis, as well as consult with practitioners who have clients that have UC and are suffering a great deal. In my clinical opinion, this is a self induced disease from an unhealthy diet. Whether it is nutritional related, parasitic related and so forth, in my clinical opinion from experienced, it can be healed. It takes time and a 100% effort from the client, but in the end, all of my clients have been symptom free.  

What is ulcerative colitis?

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon. Ulcers form where inflammation has killed the cells that usually line the colon, then bleed and produce pus. Inflammation in the colon also causes the colon to empty frequently, causing diarrhea.

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the general name for diseases that cause inflammation in the small intestine and colon. It can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are similar to other intestinal disorders and to another type of IBD called Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease differs because it causes inflammation deeper within the intestinal wall and can occur in other parts of the digestive system including the small intestine, mouth, esophagus, and stomach.

What are the symptoms of ulcerative colitis?

The most common symptoms of ulcerative colitis are abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Patients also may experience

• anemia
• fatigue
• weight loss
• loss of appetite
• rectal bleeding
• loss of body fluids and nutrients
• skin lesions
• joint pain
• growth failure (specifically in children)

Here are my thoughts in no particular order of how I work with clients who have Ulcerative Colitis. This disease baffles most MD’s and most client walk away with no nutrition and lifestyle advice, a pocket full of pills that typically makes things worse and a continues to be in pain.

1. I fully assess my UC client with my Nutrition & Lifestyle forms, some Chinese Medicine forms, as well as labs. If finances are an issue, the most important lab that should be done is the 90 Food Antigen Test through Biohealth. Most people may be eating foods that are facilitating inflammation and beating down his immune system. The next lab I do is the Gut Test (401H) from Biohealth. This will tell us about any parasite, bacteria or fungus that will facilitate the above as well. If there is nothing, well, then we can rule things out! It is a win win either way! I find most of the time that clients who are diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis have some sort of bacterial infection and/or parasitic infection that is a large facilitator in their disease.
2. I put clients on a food elimination diet, eliminating all gluten (which has been shown to be a LARGE contributor to inflammation, but also to UC), sugar, flour, salt, soy and dairy. Dairy is the #1 food intolerance that most people have. You can eliminate this one, even raw, for about 90 days and then add a small amount of raw back in. If there are no symptoms, great. If there are, well, you know the drill. But the 90 Antigen Food Test will tell you all this anyway.  The key with this is to decrease inflammation
3. Eliminate any and all synthetic supplements at this time. That entails all multivitamins, amino acids, etc. Most are made in a lab with synthetic sources, which creates a huge cycle of inflammation in the gut.
4. All foods should be organic, not natural, as most natural contain grains. No boxed, packaged, or foods that have a shelf life.
5. I recommend a high dose of Cod Liver oil, which is a natural anti-inflammatory. I typically run then on about 6-8K mg for about 2 months and then taper down.
6. Put them on a high quality probiotic powder, at the right time in their healing process. I find the powders work best. I a great one is called Replenis.
7. Take Cayenne Pepper supplement with meals or just start cooking with it. Start with a really low dose. Taking to much can really hurt the gut and the colon (trust me, you will feel it). This will help increase the amount of SIgA in the gut, which is your first line of defense against foreign invaders.
8. The diet should be mostly protein, veggies and a large amount of fats. Fats are natural anti-inflammatory to heal the gut and help to sedate the nervous system.  Good fats are olive oils (do not cook with because it will become rancid), coconut oil (the best source of saturated fat, as well cook with because it does not denature under high temp), avocadoes, etc.
9. Eliminate alcohol, as most contains gluten. As well, most wines, etc create leaky gut, dysbiosis, inflammation, forms of IBS, etc.
10. I also put them on specific Chinese herbs that I recommend they use as a tea. Ones to help boost their immune system (astragulus, ginseng, etc) and ones to disperse heat from the middle jiao (Shu Gan Wan, Mu Xiang Shun Qi Wan, and Xiao Yao Wan). Consult a TCM practitioner before buying these herbs, as each case is individualized.
11. Down the line I add in digestive, liver and pancreatic enzymes as well. This is called Biogest that I use from a company called Thorne Research Group.

I set up a treatment plan when I work with clients such as this. After I assess all their paperwork, I set up an educational plan where we meet 2x month for 3 months to get the ball rolling. Then after 3 months, we meet or have a phone consult 1-2x month for follow up. It takes time for something like this to heal, but in the end the results speak for themselves. My last UC client was 28 years old and at his wits end with this so called disease. He could not date, go out with friends, and was in great pain and depression. After 8 months, he has a new girlfriend, new outlook on life and now knows how to lead the lifestyle that creates the reality that he wants.

For more information, please visit my website at www.eastwesthealing.com.

Joshua Rubin