News
Summer '08 Newsletter
Here's our Summer '08 issue of a collaborative effort here in Golden. We have created a newsletter with the intention of helping the people in our community live a life of health and wellness.
Enjoy!
Dr. Kaycie Rosen
Fall 2007 Newsletter
Here's our second issue of our collaborative effort here in Golden. We have created a newsletter with the intention of helping the people in our community live a life of health and wellness.
Enjoy!
Dr. Kaycie Rosen
Resources in the Golden Community
We have many wonderful resources for health and well-being in the Golden community and surrounding area. Here are some:
InspiritAlive! - Eliza Parker
Guild Certified Feldenkrais PractitionerCM
Body-Mind Centering(R) Practitioner
www.InspiritAlive.com
Golden Cliffs Chiropractic - Colleen Vaillancourt, DC
Chiropractor
www.drcolleendc.com
Green Mountain Yoga
www.greenmtnyoga.com
Help Dr. Rosen Write a Book!
Dr. Colleen Vaillancourt, Chef Lilly Allison and I are collaborating to write a book that will help people be able to make healthy food choices that will promote long-term health. The book will contain lots of information about how the body works to use food, how to make healthy food choices, and how to prepare delicious, easy meals that keep the body well. We are still in the beginning stages of writing, and we need your help! Attached to this blog is a survey that will give us information about your favorite cookbooks, what types of information will be useful to you, and how we can best meet your needs. Please feel free to download the survey and email it back to us at kaycierosen@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Dr. Kaycie Rosen
All Good Medicine--Golden's Healthy Newsletter June 2007
Hello Everyone! Here's our first issue of our collaborative effort here in Golden. We have created a newsletter with the intention of helping the people in our community live a life of health and wellness.
Enjoy!
Dr. Kaycie Rosen
Naturopathic Legislative Update January 2007
Help Support Regulation of Naturopathic Medicine in Colorado!
What is the Current State of Naturopathic Medicine in Colorado?
As you probably know, naturopathic medicine is currently unregulated in the state of Colorado. Due to this lack of regulation, a person may advertise themselves as a naturopathic doctor or ND regardless of the training they have received. While we trust that each person providing health care services is doing his or her best to provide quality care, this wide variability in training qualifies each person to administer a different type of service. Because of this, it becomes the responsibility of each patient of a naturopathic provider to research the type and quality of training their ND has received. This unfortunately puts the public at risk because they may not be getting the type of health care they think they are receiving.
What is Being Done to Change This?
This year, the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians (COANP) is presenting a bill to the state legislature to bring regulation of naturopathic medicine via licensure to the state of Colorado. Membership in the COANP is only extended to those who meet the following requirements:
• He or she has graduated from a four-year, postgraduate, accredited medical school. In North America, these schools consist of Bastyr University, The National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Bridgeport University, The Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, and the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.
• He or she has passed the required national board exams for naturopathic doctors.
• He or she holds a medical license in a jurisdiction that regulated naturopathic medicine.
How Does this Affect the Public?
The passage of a bill to license naturopathic doctors in Colorado benefits the public in two ways:
• It allows consumers to feel confident that they know the training and qualifications of the person from whom they are receiving care, and increases their safety.
Golden Naturopathic is here!
We are open for business!
The Golden Naturopathic Clinic, LLC had its Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting with the Golden Chamber of Commerce on November 17th, 2006. We are the only clinic to offer Naturopathic, Holistic Medicine to Golden and West Denver, and are so happy to be a part of this wonderful community.
We will be hosting another open house on Friday, January 12th, 2007 from 11-2pm to welcome in the new year and new opportunities to keep those resolutions for greater health and vitality in the year to come. Please join us!
Tangy Quinoa Salad
Inspired by Mary Shaw
Preparation: 15 minutes
- 1 Cup Quinoa
- ¼ Cup walnuts
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice from 1 lime
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 4 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp red onion, chopped
- ½ chopped tart apple
Wash and dry toast quinoa, and place in a pot with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes until quinoa is dry and fully cooked. Chop nuts and dry toast in a pan. Combine oil, lime juice and zest, sea salt, garlic, and herbs, and mix until well combined. Mix nuts, dressing, onion and apple into cooked quinoa and serve.
Serves 4
How Things Work: Red Blood Cells
When we draw blood for a complete blood count, what are we actually counting? About 55% of our blood is made up of plasma, comprised of water, proteins, electrolytes, nutrients, and hormones. The other 45%, or the part that we count, is comprised of White Blood Cells—our immune cells, platelets—cells that make the blood clot, and red blood cells (RBCs), which are required to transport oxygen from the lungs to our tissues and carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs.
Because they are responsible for bringing nutrition to and wastes from the entire body, when RBCs are low, a condition called anemia, it is easy to understand why one would experience the symptoms mentioned in Iron Ironies. Blood gases are carried in RBCs via hemoglobin which is contained in the RBCs. Hemoglobin is made of proteins that fold around a central heme molecule with an atom of Iron in the center, which gives the cell its red color. RBCs are formed primarily in the bone marrow of the sternum, ribs, vertebrae, skull, and pelvis, although the femur, tibia, liver, and spleen also have the ability to make RBCs. Causes of anemia include nutritional deficiencies, chronic disease, and chronic blood loss.
Good nutrition is integral for formation of RBCs. Deficiencies in Iron, which functions as noted above, or Copper, which is necessary for transporting iron to the blood marrow, will create cells that are too small. The B Vitamins B12 and Folic Acid are necessary for making DNA and influence cell division; deficiencies in these will cause large, immature cells to be released into the blood. Vitamin C enhances absorption and utilization of Iron, Copper, B12, and Folic Acid. In particular, it enhances intestinal absorption of Iron, particularly from vegetarian sources, and thus is of particular importance for those choosing not to eat meat.
Staying Energetic Through the Inward Pulls of Autumn
By recognizing our patterns ahead of time, we have the ability to prevent falling into those cycles that cause us to feel exhausted.
Heading into the new school year is a good time to set our intentions for how we want to live in the months ahead. Especially here in Alaska , summertime leads us to focus on the outside world. Our energy goes towards producing and gathering food, enjoying the sunshine, and keeping the body active. As the seasons shift towards fall, however, that energy moves inward. As the light fades, our focus shifts towards school, work, and interpersonal relationships. Stresses may increase as work hours augment, schoolwork piles up, and we suddenly have to juggle more activities into a busy schedule.
Each of us has a pattern of how we act and react to stress, and these patterns can cause the body to get out of balance. Stress is of critical importance to our survival. From an evolutionary standpoint, exposure to stressors enforces that we are perpetuating the strongest and most fit members of our community. On a less philosophical level, moderate levels of stress keep us motivated and engaged, and the body is built to perform optimally when there is a balance of stressors and relaxation. However, our cultural standard is focused on rewarding productivity, and often relaxation is viewed as laziness. In this context, that balance can be easily discarded or lost.
We all know what it means to feel out of balance, but what is actually happening physiologically? Depending on your pattern, there are a number of ways that imbalance can manifest itself in the body:
The body’s first reaction in a stressful situation is to produce the hormones that have historically allowed us to survive. This means that when our ancestors ran into the bear, their bodies released hormones (epinephrine and cortisol) that allowed them to run fast, jump high, and see well. Epinephrine, or adrenalin, increases the heart rate, brings blood to our muscles, dilates our pupils, and opens our airways to bring in plenty of oxygen. Cortisol quickly mobilizes our fat stores and turns them into glucose to feed the brain and muscles. These hormones are very important for surviving the run from the bear; however, these are released with any stressor. This means that if we become angry with a coworker, feel pressed for a deadline, are running late for a meeting, or are too tired from lack of sleep, our adrenals will produce epinephrine and cortisol.
