• Keep your fingers out of your ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. Viruses can enter through any of these openings - not just the nose and mouth.
• Wear a scarf. Protect the back of the neck and head. The Chinese say exposure of the back of the neck and head to a draft makes us susceptible to viruses.
• Get enough sleep. One of the best ways to avoid getting sick is to support your immune system with rest.
• Stop eating sugar. Sugar is an immune suppressant. If there are colds around you and you avoid sugar, you?ll greatly improve your chances of avoiding sickness. If you do get a cold, avoiding sugar will mean a shorter period of illness and less phlegm. Refined sugar is worse than unrefined sugars, but you should limit your intake all types, including fruit and carrot juice.
• Drink plenty of water. Many of you have heard me say, ?Half the number of pounds you weigh as fluid ounces a day.? For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of pure water a day - room temperature or warmer. This is vital to your overall well being, and if you do get sick it is especially important that you keep well hydrated. It will keep your phlegm in a fluid state so it can be blown out or coughed up rather than congealing in your lungs or sinuses.
• Get acupuncture. Acupuncture enhances the immune system and reduces stress to keep you healthy. When you?re sick acupuncture can alleviate the symptoms of colds and flus and speed up your recovery.
• Take vitamin C. Be aggressive when you?re sick - take 1000 mg (1 gram) an hour. If this loosens your bowels, you can space the doses out a bit more or take it with a little food. When not sick, your ?bowel tolerance? is much lower - take 2000 mg two to three times daily as a maintenance dose. Avoid the chewable kind since it usually contains sugar.

2768 NW Thurman Street, Portland 97210 - 503.522.2613 - www.whiteflowerhealing.com

     Well, we?ve certainly gotten more of a winter than usual in Portland. I hope you all enjoyed the wonderland and avoided any flying snowballs. As many of you know, in July I moved my practice from southwest Portland to the DragonTree Spa in Northwest. Since then we have been working hard to get the space running smoothly and looking beautiful.  If you haven?t seen it yet, I encourage you to stop by - even for just a quick look - when you?re in the area. You?ll be impressed. From east Portland, the quickest way to get here is by taking I-5 to 405 over the Fremont Bridge, exiting to Vaughn Street at NW 23rd. Thurman is 2 blocks to the left (south) and the spa is between 27th and 28th next to E-San (the Thai restaurant). I?ve compiled my most important tips for getting through the season with vitality. A significant part of my work is to provide my patients with the tools to practice their own health maintenance. In the times that extra support is needed, acupuncture and herbs can bring you back into balance. If you are in need of a tune-up, or if you have any friends or family who could benefit from my care, please contact my office. Your referrals are very much appreciated. If there?s any way that I can serve you or your health needs, let me know.

• Use Gan Mao Ling. This is a Chinese herbal pill available at our clinic. It?s the best general earlystage cold remedy, and in my experience, much better than echinacea. It is most effective when taken at the very first sign of a cold. Start with 8 pills at once - you will most likely not develop a cold if you catch it early enough. If symptoms persist, continue with 3-6 pills up to 6 times daily. For later stage colds, coughs, and flues, contact the office for a more appropriate herbal formula.
• Use zinc lozenges. They have been shown to shorten the duration of a cold. Let them dissolve in your mouth (don?t chew). Zinc gluconate is the best form to take and they should not contain sugar (that includes fructose). Some people may experience digestive upset if they are taken on an empty stomach. Don?t take much more than 100 mg total zinc daily.
• Try cold sock (revulsive) hydrotherapy. This can be very effective for decongesting the head and relieving headaches Just before bed, soak cotton socks in very cold water, put them on just up to your ankles, and then put on a pair of dry wool socks (pull these up as you do normally). Get into bed immediately, go to sleep, and don?t take them off until morning. As your body directs its attention to warming up your feet (the furthest place from your head) the head is allowed to drain and open up.
• Eat light. Small meals and easily digestible foods. Let your body devote its energy to fighting the infection rather than digesting heavy foods.
• Try a customized herbal formula. If the remedies you are trying are not helping, you may decide to call in the big guns - bulk Chinese herbs prepared in a formula specifically for your condition. While they require some preparation into tea and may not be the most pleasant tasting drink, they are usually stronger than any of the above remedies.
• If you?re up for an experiment... Try putting half a capful of hydrogen peroxide in each ear at the very first sign of sickness. Some recommend doing this daily as a preventative measure. The idea behind this recommendation is a theory that colds often invade and incubate in the ear. Turn your head to one side and pour in the peroxide. There will be bubbling and perhaps a mild sense of pain if there is any infection. Wait until the activity stops and then do the other ear. This remedy has not garnered wide acceptance, but it?s harmless and extremely cheap. If you try this, I?d love to hear about your experiences.

     In the Five Element tradition of acupuncture, winter is related to the Water element (Portlanders should have no trouble with this association). TheWater element can be thought of as representing resources, reserves, or potential - like a well or a spring. The presence of water in a region shows the potential for life to develop - for instance, communities have always formed around water sources. Winter, likewise, is a time of potential energy - when much of the water is frozen, when the outward activity of plants and animals subsides and life is well hidden. Similarly, winter is the time of year when stored reserves are most important. Plants have all their resources dormant in their roots and seeds in the ground.

     Don?t be discouraged if you have less energy in the winter - there is less energy around you - use what you have wisely. Finally, take this lesson beyond the current season. The energy of water is not only present from December to March - there should be a ?winter? in every day and at the end of every project you take on - the period of rest and stillness, of turning inward and taking inventory. This phase is a vital part of life and longevity, and yet it is probably the most neglected in our modern lifestyle.

2768 NW Thurman Street, Portland 97210 - 503.522.2613 - www.whiteflowerhealing.com