SOMA Natural Health News

June, 2004

In this Issue:

• Dr. Hangee-Bauer on Radio June 16th
• Breast Thermography - June 17
• Dr. Hangee-Bauer Speaks at UCSF
• News from the Clinic
• New Web Site
• New Product Info
• Simple Things You Can Do Every Day to Stay Healthy

Thermography - June 17
Our next scheduled breast thermography sessions are scheduled for Thursday, June 17. There are still a couple of times available. For more information about breast thermography, please see our web site.

Dr. Hangee-Bauer Speaks at UCSF
With the upcoming licensure of naturopathic doctors in California, I have seen signs of increasing interest in our emerging health profession in the halls of mainstream medicine. In April, I was invited to dialogue with 4th year medical students at UCSF about naturopathic medicine and its place in California's health care system. It was a very interesting experience. I found these medical students to be very interested in other approaches to health care, and I sense that many of these new doctors will be more accepting of their patients using complementary and alternative approaches to managing their health. One highlight for me was during a discussion on how integrative medicine can work between NDs and MDs. One of the students commented that after 4 years of medical school, it was refreshing to step back and view the patient as a whole person and remember the ideals that made her decide to become a doctor in the first place.

In May, I was invited to be a speaker on naturopathic medicine at the Integrative Medicine Forum, again at UCSF. The forum was attended mostly by medical students and other health practitioners in the UCSF community as well as some members of the general public. Again, there was a great deal of interest expressed about naturopathic medicine, especially regarding education and how an ND works with his patients.

Both of these experiences have given me a sense of optimism as to where health care is heading in California's future. While there remain many obstacles to true integration, there are open minded practitioners on both sides of the health care fence who have the best interests of their patients at heart and are open to integrative approaches. We can all learn from each other, and I look forward to the challenges and rewards of making California's health care system a model for the rest of the country.

News from the Clinic
In May we said farewell to Anne Perkins, RN, LAc, who has left SOMA Acupuncture to open her own practice. Anne has worked with us since 1998 when we moved to our current location. She is now practicing at 129 Fillmore Street and can be reached at 722-9848. We wish her much success in her new practice.

We have been actively making plans to establish a women's natural health department sometime in the fall of this year. Stay tuned for further details.

New Web Site
We have been working hard on rewriting our web site so we can offer lots of information on natural medicine in addition to information on the clinic. Our domain name will remain the same, www.SOMAacupuncture.com, but the site will be brand new. We hope to launch it some time later this month, and we will be adding new content throughout the summer.

Product Info
We are carrying a line of homeopathic care kits which are nicely packaged in bright plastic boxes and have three remedies in each. The kits are for quitting smoking, stopping snoring, summer needs, and jet lag. They retail for $9.95, which is an excellent value for three remedies.

The Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals have been very popular, and we're sold out on some items. I will be ordering more of these soaps and lotions very soon. If you have any particular requests, please let me know, and I'll be sure to order them for you. Their web site is www.hawaiianrainforestnaturals.com.

Simple Things You Can Do Every Day to Stay Healthy
One of the guiding principles of naturopathic medicine is that the doctor is also a teacher. In fact, the roots of the word doctor comes from the latin word for teacher.

Naturopathic medicine, in treating specific health problems, also pays a great deal of attention to treating the whole person and looking for ways to improve one's general health while we find effective therapies for specific conditions. We believe that by improving one's general health, our specific therapies become more effective. This wholisitc approach is a fundamental concept of naturopathic health care.

Time and time again, I have become aware that there are a few simple things that people can easily do every day to stay healthy, improve energy levels and a sense of well-being, improve their diets, and make management of specific health concerns more effective. So, I have created a short list of simple things you can do every day to stay healthy. By following these general principles, I guarantee you will feel better and go a long way in preventing many of the chronic diseases and health problems which are all too common in our society.

The entire list can be found on our new web site (see related story). Each month in SOMA Natural Health News, I will expand on one of these topics. Today, we'll begin with the first step: eating a healthy breakfast.

As I work with my patients to improve their diet, I continue to be amazed at how few people eat breakfast. Most either skip it entirely, or drink coffee and eat sugary pastries instead.

A healthy breakfast is the cornerstone of a good diet. It is a meal that provides the opportunity to eat a serving of whole grains, a digestible protein, and have a serving or two of fruit. The energy from a healthy breakfast can carry you through your morning in a more stable way than by eating stimulating foods such as sweets and coffee.

Studies have shown, for example, that people can lower their cholesterol by eating breakfast. This is due to several factors. Breakfasts tend to be high in fiber (fruit, oatmeal, whole grain cereals) which absorb cholesterol in the intestines for removal from the body. More importantly, however, when we skip breakfast, our bodies go for 10-16 hours with no outside source of energy. Our chemistry begins to shift to a mode of starvation, which increases appetite and changes how our bodies regulate blood sugar. We then tend to crave high fat and high carbohydrate foods and binge later in the day, resulting in taking in more calories than we need just as our bodies are primed to store energy in the form of fat.

If you are trying to improve your diet and nutrition and stay healthy as you age, eat a good breakfast every day. Vary your foods and try to get some protein if you have problems regulating your blood sugar.

To get you started, here's a recipe for the Immune Support Breakfast which is very popular with students at the naturopathic medical colleges. We eat this a few mornings a week at our house.

Recipe: 4 cups rolled oats
  2 cups oat bran
  1 cup lecithin granules
  1 cup flax seeds, finely ground
  1 cup milk thistle seeds, finely ground
  1-2 cups sunflower seeds
  1-2 cups almond slivers (toasted or untoasted)
  1-2 cups raw cashew pieces
  Optional: raisins or other dried fruit to taste

Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container, such as Tupperware. In the morning, soak 3/4 to 1 cup of the mixture in soy milk, rice dream or juice for 30 minutes. Before eating, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of flax seed oil. Add fresh fruit if desired.

SOMA Acupuncture & Natural Health Clinic Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc 1615 20th St • San Francisco CA 94107 • 415-643-6600 Website: www.SOMAacupuncture.com Naturopathic Medicine • Acupuncture • Herbal Medicine • Supplements Nutrition • Women's Health • Weight Loss • Breast Thermography Smoking Cessation • Work-Related Injuries