Summer Special - Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture starts July 1st!

🌞Summer Special 📍 💥Starting July 1st take an additional 10% off our Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture 6 or 12 pack💥 💆🏾‍♀️💆🏼‍♀️💆🏻‍♀️

Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture is a non-surgical method of reducing the signs of the aging process and is suitable for those with deep wrinkles, fine lines, bags under the eyes, sagging, puffiness, drooping eyelids, double chin, large pores, dry skin or acne.

A study in 1996 in the International Journal of Clinical Acupuncture reported that 90% of the 300 cases treated with Cosmetic Acupuncture had marked effects including the leveling of wrinkles, improved facial muscle elasticity and overall rejuvenation.

✔️Email us info@oaklandrootandstem.com to get started and learn more here.

Menopause is natural! So why is it treated like a disease?

Menopause is a naturally occurring process, so why is it treated like a disease??? ‼️⚠️‼️ 💉💊Conventional medical treatments only address various symptoms and signs associated with menopause, however, symptoms and signs are just one factor of the whole picture. 🔆 📍📚 Both acupuncture and Functional Medicine understand that symptoms are merely indications of an imbalance deep within the body, and this time of change occurs because the body chemistry is shifting. . .

Chemistry change is a natural process, and there are so many ways that acupuncture and Functional medicine can look deeper to help this change be as smooth as possible. Estrogen is similar to what we call Jing Qi. Jing Qi is like the battery that provides us with all the life energy we need to power all our functions. As we age, our Jing Qi slowly decreases. 📉During menopause, our Jing Qi is often declining a bit faster and this can cause our organ systems to get out of balance. Left untreated, the imbalances get more severe and symptoms like hot flashes/night sweats get worse. 😨

When we get acupuncture and have our labs analyzed by a Functional Medicine doc, we can see the underlying imbalance and support the bodies ability to make hormones, instead of suppressing it with hormones! 💡Over working, poor dietary habits, energetic imbalances and blockages will increase the decline of Jing Qi. Treatment to support the healing energies of Jing, provide the body with the building blocks it needs in order to nourish, heal, and regain balance. 🌀

Summer Celery Juice Cleanse Recipe

Enjoy this special celery juice recipe (from the amazing @brookie.mackie) to stay cool and also cleanse your body this summer! 😎 🌞It's so important to remember that as the daylight hours and temperatures increase getting hydration from our foods --- as well as from drinking plenty of water is important for our health this season.

The Celery Juice Cleanse 🌱

Have you heard about drinking celery juice for health? It’s all the rage right now and has been promoted by the Medical Medium for its many health benefits such as cleansing the liver of toxins and viruses like Epstein-Barr and Shingles, combatting chronic acid reflux, reversing auto-immune diseases, and recovering from SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth). While these are undoubtedly amazing healing effects from a humble bunch of celery, if you plan on joining the ranks of juice guzzlers, consult your acupuncturist first! Most of us in the modern Western world need some liver detoxification due to stress, alcohol, caffeine and processed food consumption along with exposure to environmental toxins. However, you should make sure your digestion is strong and not affected by Cold or Damp pathogens, as we would say in Chinese Medicine. If your Spleen or Stomach tend to have deficiency, cold, or damp, celery juice, which has a cooling effect on the GI, could worsen the problem, leaving you a bit too “cleansed“, if you get my drift!

If you get the okay from your practitioner that it could be helpful for you, consider adding this amazing vegetable-herb-medicine to your morning health routine!

You’ll need a juicer and plenty of fresh celery! I drank 16 ounces each morning and waited 30 minutes before consuming any other food. If you include the leaves, it is beneficial, but makes the juice more bitter. Enjoy cooling and cleansing this summer, and pay attention to how you feel to make sure it’s a good medicine for you!

Hydrate Through Foods + Liquids this Summer!

Hope you all had a great Summer Solstice last weekend! 🌞

・・・

Not that you need a reminder ... don’t forget to

REPLENISH 💚

Through both hydrating foods and drinks of course. Doesn’t this cucumber water look yummy?! 🥒

{lil vid + tip courtesy of Lyssandra Guerra of Native Palms Nutrition.}

Acupuncture for Men's Health + Fertility

Did you know? Male health and fertility is a common reason men seek out acupuncture? 📍🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

**4 male disorders that can benefit from acupuncture treatment are : **

✔️Male subfertility: acupuncture helps increase sperm count, motility, hormone balance, and structural issues like varicoceles.

✔️Erectile dysfunction: Acupuncture and Chinese medicine offers a wide variety of treatments to reverse erection issues, increase stamina, and libido.

✔️BPH or benign prostatic hypertrophy is a common reason men seek out support with acupuncture.

✔️Chronic pelvic pain syndrome--which is more common in males than reported! Pelvic pain symptoms affect up to 50% of men in their lifetime, and can easily be treated with acupuncture!

Dr. Parker's Book Recommendation : Cystitis

I’m really enjoying my office vibes today! 🌞📚 Also two thumbs up for this book. 👍👍Have any of you read it before? 💗

It’s so illuminating and authored by a leading uro-gynecologist Dr Larrian Gillespie who is one of the only female urologists with expertise in pelvic pain.

Food, Lifestyle + Getting to the Root Cause of Diabetes

Something that really stuck out to me during my time as an acupuncture resident at Highland Hospital in 2016 was the conventional treatment of Type II Diabetes. 💉💊

I saw so many well-meaning docs and residents discussing pharmaceutical treatments with absolutely zero mention of food or lifestyle changes. 🤷🏻‍♀️ There are so many challenges in our health care system that make this a difficult reality for our conventional docs, but food as medicine should not be considered an “alternative” course of treatment for any issue. 🥗🍋🥒

Diabetes, according to Eastern and Functional Medicine, goes beyond a simple diagnosis of Type I or Type II. We call diabetes “Xiao Ke” or “Wasting and Thirsting disease”, and there are approximately 7 patterns that can cause this issue. 👣💭Since diabetes has an impact on every part of your body, it is important to try a therapy that takes a holistic approach to health. 📍

Acupuncture, along with other holistic health choices and lifestyle changes, can be highly effective, sometimes even making medications unnecessary. Really getting to the root cause of any issue will take time and effort, and changes that may seem hard at first!

➡️The best approach to controlling your diabetes is to work with a team of health care providers who can address the many aspects of diabetes.

Try Children's Pediatric Massage to promote healthy digestion!

Try Children’s Pediatric Massage to Promote Healthy digestion 👶🖐

📍

Typically points are stimulated 100 times quickly and lightly with a little oil.

1. 🐠“Big Fish”: stimulate this point with a circular movement, typically done with thumb. This point helps with general digestion.

2. 🍲Spleen/Stomach: apply pressure back and forth here for stomach aches and poor appetite.

3. 😒Large Intestines: Pressing towards child’s body for chronic diarrhea or constipation, away for an acute condition.

4. 😨Liver: pressing away from child’s body for digestion problems due to an emotional upset

5. 😴Heart: massage this point for digestive issues that are worse at night or cause insomnia.

6. 💨Lung: massage for combined asthma and constipation issues

7. 🦠Kidney: massage for congenital or autoimmune digestion issues

Healthy, organic food should NOT be a luxury!

When talking about going organic it can certainly spark some money triggers. Healthy, organic food should not be a luxury! Unfortunately, this is a huge socio-economic issue and when you go to the store, we all see the price difference between conventional and organic food. BUT there are so many ways to make it affordable by finding the right places to shop and deals to be had. I can’t stress the importance of an organic diet enough and the studies show...the less toxic junk you have in your diet now the better you will be in the long run. The more and more we recognize how much the chemicals in our food are the cause of issues like all kinds of autoimmune disease, digestive disorders, depression and mental health, chronic pain (this list could go on forever) the more the industry will have to adjust and go clean. You already know how much I love Grocery Outlet ;) and here is a list of other ways to go organic that is financially realistic:

• Join a CSA! Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs are amazing ways to not only get organic foods, veggies, and meats, but they bypass the markets so you deal with the farms and farmers directly. Definitely saving $$ and supporting your local farmers! @edibleeastbay has a great link to a list of amazing CSAs in the Bay. https://edibleeastbay.com/csa-guide/
  

• Check out your local Farmer’s Market! Localharvest.org will help connect you to all your nearest Farmer’s Markets
  

• Berkeley Bowl, Farmer Joe’s, Trader Joe’s, and Whole foods all have huge selections of organic foods that are competitive and won’t break the bank.
  +++ Check out these links to coupons :
  https://allnaturalsavings.com
  

• Online grocery deliveries offer amazing organic deals on items, and/or whole meal plans: @thrivemarket @greenchef

Spotlight on Marya Vohryzek

We’re shining the light on practitioner Marya Vohryzek @rootandstem 💗

Marya specializes in working with people during chemotherapy and radiation. + Those who use acupuncture often say that it helps them feel relaxed and improves their overall sense of wellbeing. ✨ 📍

No matter what the diagnosis, acupuncture can help increase the quality of life for any individual, and find a sense of calm and peace during what can be a very stressful and painful process. The main areas of research show promising results for relieving symptoms of cancer and the side effects of chemo, such as nausea, insomnia, hot flashes, lymphedema, body aches, joint pain, depression, neuralgia, skin pain, and burns.

#acupunctureworks #acupuncture #acupunctureforpain #acupunctureforcancer #functionalmedicine #wellbeing #oaklandproud #rootandstem #cancersupport #chemotherapy #radiation #feelbetter

Prostate Spotlight

Prostate spotlight! 🍈 Symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is a very common and great reason for men to seek out acupuncture treatment. 📍

BPH is the swelling of part of the prostate gland causing variable degrees of urinary obstruction. Night urination, hesitant or interruption of the stream, decreased size and force of the stream, sensations of incomplete emptying, dribbling after finishing, or complete urinary retention are symptoms of BPH. Here are some ways to help support the prostate and reduce symptoms: ✔️Maintain vitality and Kidney energy by avoiding overwork and stress ✔️Try to avoid substances which generate damp heat in the lower part of the abdomen like, spicy, fried foods, sugar, pork and lamb. ✔️Foods to include: pumpkin seeds (zinc!), and EFAs (salmon, flax seed, avocados, etc), High Vitamin C foods especially red bell pepper.

✔️Keep energy and Qi circulating: aerobic exercise 20 min per day, yoga, emotional stress reduction, and weekly acupuncture! . . .

#prostate #prostatehealth #menshealth #acupuncture #acupunctureworks #acupunctureforpain #oaklandacupuncture #bestofbayarea #rootandstem

Careful not to overdo it this summer on sugar!

It’s definitely summer ... but careful not to overdo it on the sugar! 🍡🍧🍨🧁🍦🍭😕

What Sugar Does: **Disclaimer: This message is not intended to shame or make anyone feel stressed about food! You know that I’m an avid believer of “everything in moderation including moderation” and I totally enjoyed a chocolate croissant today. ❤️

It’s all about the process of being more mindful with sugar 😉

Sugar makes fluids in the body thicker; it causes swelling in joints, and increased joint pain. Increased mucus in the lungs, throat and sinuses and impairs fluid circulation causing increased swelling.

. . .

Sugar robs the body of minerals that calm the nervous system and leads to increased insomnia, restlessness, and anxiety. . . . 🤒Sugar lowers the immune function: it slows white blood cells as they move toward bacteria and viruses to destroy them

. . .

Sugar creates a climate where “healthy” bacteria can no longer grow in the vagina and intestines causing increased yeast infections. “Healthy” bacteria in the intestines make Vit B which the body uses to make stress hormones. . . .

Coming off sugar may cause low energy, depression, feelings of alienation, lack of coordination for 1-5 days, but it will get better! 🤸🏽‍♂️

#sugarmoderation #sugarawareness #functionalmedicine #healthydiet #balanceddiet #rootandstem #eatwell #moderationnotdeprivation #moderationmovement

Sometimes we need a break from all the self care + work

I recently received an email from a patient of mine that I hadn’t seen in several months. Her email expressed her sadness and frustration that her symptoms had started to come back after taking a break from weekly acupuncture. 😕👎🏽

. . .

She had originally come to see me last year looking for help with her irregular and painful cycle. Her cycle hadn’t always been like this and recently took a turn for the worst. . . .

The OBGYN at Kaiser slapped the “perimenopause” label on her and had very little to offer her in the way of treatment. Thankfully after a few months of consistent acupuncture treatment, functional lab analysis, and a variety of herbs/supplements, we got her totally back on track!

🌟We both felt at that time, that her body was in a good place and due to time commitments, she wanted to take a break from the consistent routine of self care. When she emailed me this week expressing her feelings of defeat, I knew right away that it wasn’t a defeat at all! . . .

Our bodies are always ebbing and flowing. Staying in balance can take work and sometimes we need a break from the work. Just like exercise, we need more and other times less, but our bodies are so strong and adaptable that when we have done the work in the past, it will bounce back. ❤️

#acupuncture #functionalmedicine #chineseherbs #womenshealth #labwork #labanalysis #supplements #balance #bestofoakland

Brooke's Homemade Chocolate Scones

We’re loving these 🍪❤️ grain-free treats from @brookie.mackie **sans refined sugar** so you get all the flavor but without the sugar crash! 😀 👏🏽

. . .

Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Scones ☀️

I call these “cookie scones” because while originally intended as a cookie, they came out with the light, airy crumb of a scone and not as sweet as your usual cookie. With almond flour, eggs, and butter as the main ingredients, these pack a lot of protein and fat for a treat—not just empty carbs. Also, since there’s no refined sugar here, you get to enjoy the flavor and experience of a “sweet”, without the roller coaster effect on your blood sugar. The sweetener here is honey and a scant amount of stevia (very scant as any more can push the flavor into a strange bitter territory). Also, as an option you can add some coarsely chopped dried fruit; I used dried apricots.

🌱Opt for grass-fed butter if possible. Eaten in moderation, a dessert like this that’s high in healthy fats and with a touch of sweetness can nourish the yin of the body—the part that keeps us feeling juicy, grounded, and calm. 💗

Makes approximately 30 cookie scones (I usually double the recipe)

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup honey (can increase for a sweeter cookie scone)

½ tsp stevia powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg + 1 egg white (save the other yolk for an omelet)

2½ cups blanched almond flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp sea salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I use a bar of dark chocolate low in sugar, chopped)

1 cup coarsely chopped dried fruit like apricots, cherries, dates (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix butter, sweeteners, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Mix in eggs until well combined.

3. Stir in almond flour, baking soda and salt and mix well. Gently stir in chocolate chips.

4. Drop heaping tablespoon-sized dough onto baking sheets two inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

5. Enjoy! Preferably not all in one sitting!

Chinese Herb Spotlight - Peonies

Chinese herbal spotlight on the beautiful Peony! 🌺🌱 These babies are really popping up all over right now in this extended spring. Not only are Peonies one of my favorite flowers, they are also make one of my favorite Chinese herbs, Bai Shao! ❤️

#BaiShao is made from the root of this plant, and used to help harmonize the #Liver and reduce heat. This herb is commonly used in formulas that treat, abdominal pain, cramping, irregular menstrual cycles, irritability, and night sweating! . . .

There is also some great research that suggests this amazing herb has benefits in treating #autoimmune disease and #inflammation.

Eating with the Seasons

Eating with the seasons doesn’t just taste good it’s good for YOU and the planet! 🌱🥕🥦🌎🌍🌏🍒🍑

Buy local and organic, from your farmers markets if possible or stores that sell foods from local producers! Right now we’re seeing herbs like cilantro, mint, parsley, and veggies like fennel, carrots, beets, radishes, cucumbers, the first summer squash and even peaches, nectarines and strawberries locally (and so many more goodies)!

Can Acupuncture Treat HPV and Cervial Dysplasia?

Did you know that acupuncture helps treat Cervical Dysplasia and HPV? 💗📍

Most cervical dysplasia (abnormal pap) is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and two of the types of HPV are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer. Other types of HPV cause genital warts. While there is no direct treatment for the virus, supporting your immune system is so key to help the body rid itself HPV on its own. 🌱🥦🥕💆🏽‍♀️💆🏻‍♀️💆🏼‍♀️

While most women clear the virus within 2 years, there is so much that you can do to support your body for this optimal outcome instead of the “watch and wait” scenario. 🤞

In Eastern medicine, we see HPV as a pathogen that causes stagnation in the Liver channel and damp heat in the Lower Jiao (lowest part of the abdomen). Acupuncture is great at helping the body circulate, break up the stagnation, and regenerate healthy cells. ✨ Herbs and supplements like Turkey Tail have been clinically shown to boost the immune system, helping to regress dysplasia. Enjoying a healthy, immune supportive lifestyle is certainly key. ✔️

Cortisol Levels and Coffee

I really, really, REALLY love coffee. ☕️I love the ritual of a thick, warm beverage in the morning. 🌞 I recently had my own labs analyzed and my cortisol levels are totally out of whack. I have high levels of cortisol upon waking, and in the afternoon and into evening my levels totally crashed. I wondered if this had to do with my caffeine consumption, so I decided to take a break from coffee and switch to green tea. I’m already noticing so many benefits! I’m not crashing at all in the day and I have a great level of energy without that slump in the afternoon. My stomach is less upset, and I swear the dark circles under my eyes are vanishing! 🤩

My plan is to keep this up and re-test in the next 3-4 months to see if my cortisol levels have improved. I’ll keep you posted! I’m still enjoying my cup-o-joe on the weekends, but for now I’ll try to switch it up!

Beautiful Flowers Inside and Outside Today

Beautiful flowers 💐 inside and outside today at Harborside Wellness. 🌞 So cool to see bumblebee 🐝 nectars on Jin Yin Hua (Honeysuckle) growing on the fence right behind the building! Jin Yin Hua is a Chinese herb used used to treat allergies and especially those itchy eyes! Come see Brooke for private or community acupuncture on Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-7pm. 🙏🏼💫

Do you know about Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture?

Do you know about Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture? 📍

It is a non-surgical method of reducing the signs of the aging process and has been shown to help with : * deep wrinkles

* fine lines

* bags under the eyes

* sagging + puffiness

* drooping eyelids

* double chin

* large pores

* dry skin or acne.

A study in 1996 in the International Journal of Clinical Acupuncture reported that 90% of the 300 cases treated with Cosmetic Acupuncture had marked effects including the leveling of wrinkles, improved facial muscle elasticity and overall rejuvenation. 💗

***INQUIRE FOR MORE DETAILS + PACKAGE PRICING AVAILABLE*** To book your session with Marya Vohryzek please visit our Book an Appointment page.

p.s. we do recommend at least 6 sessions for maximum results.