Insight on the Fall Season...and Apple Crisp! by Denise Zeiff, L.Ac., C.N.S.

It's Fall:

The season of harvest and gathering. A time to gather together to store food, wear warm clothing, it is a time to study and plan for the approaching stillness of winter.  Everything in nature is contracting and moving downward.  Leaves and fruit fall and the seeds start to dry.

The forces of Autumn create dryness in Heaven and metal on Earth; they create the lung organ and the skin upon the body…and the nose, and the white color, and the pungent flavor…the emotion grief, and the ability to make a weeping sound. 

                                                                                                 The Inner Classic

 Harvest is only a part of a cycle: without the preceding season of planting and growth, nothing would be possible to reap.  One season gives way and a progression into the next phase begins.  A continuous cycle is the core of Chinese medicine and philosophy.

The season of harvest requires hard work and the ability to receive.  The lungs receive qi or vital energy from the air and the qi extracted from the foods that we eat.  The combination of qi and nutrients are then distributed throughout the body.  In health, the lung qi consolidates, gathers, maintains strength to protect us against virus’, bacteria etc…The ability to hold on and let go can be expressed by the emotional attachment.  The colon is the yang counterpart of the lungs and its function is of letting go what is no longer needed.

Apples moisten dryness and cool heat in the lungs; it stimulates the appetite and remedies indigestion.

 The phytonutrients in apples can help you regulate your blood sugar. Recent research has shown that apple polyphenols can help prevent spikes in blood sugar  and that "an apple a day" can increase HDL (the "good" cholesterol) and lower Triglycerides (the "bad" cholesterol).

Healthy Apple Crisp (when I make this for family and friends, there is never any leftovers, we have eaten it warm straight from the cooling phase as well as straight from the refrigerator…either temperature works)

10 apples peeled and sliced (start with 10 apples, however, you can really use as many apples as you would like)

arrowroot powder

1/4 cup agave

cinnamon

raisins and/or cranberries

your favorite granola

 Use a large bowl to coat apples with arrowroot powder.  Drizzle the agave and mix until apples are coated.  Place apples into a greased baking dish and sprinkle granola and raisins/cranberries on top until the apples are covered.  Pat the granola down and bake at 350 degrees until apples are bubbling.  Cool for at least 1/2 hour and enjoy!

A Celebration of Health!

On Tuesday, October 5^th a group of men and women gathered at Bee-Organic in Great Neck, N.Y. to celebrate their victory of re-claiming their health.  They were participants in a 12-week therapeutic lifestyle program headed by Dr. Michelle Klein (Chiropractor, Clinical Nutritionist) and Denise Zeiff, (Acupuncturist, Clinical Nutritionist) at Balance Equals Health, Inc. Located at 310 E. Shore Rd. in Great Neck, NY. Patients entered the program with various chronic disease and health issues including hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, pre-diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.  Some were taking medications while others were warned by their medical doctors that they would be put on medication if they did not change their lifestyle. 

The 12-week therapeutic lifestyle program incorporated objective and subjective testing including base line lab reports from their primary care physician, bio-impedance analysis, health and stress questionnaires, waist and hip measurements, and body mass index (BMI) measurements.  Based on the objective data and the individual needs of the patient, a custom food and exercise plan was created.  Many patients also were given stress management tools and taught how to implement them into their daily lives. 

What makes this program unique is that instead of using a pre-made diet and exercise plan, each patient received an individualized, customized lifestyle plan that was meant to fulfill their personal health goals.  They were supported throughout the program by having weekly office visits.  That way, their program was able to be slightly altered as needed based on how their bodies were responding to the therapeutic plan. 

By the end of the 12-week therapeutic lifestyle program, all participants improved their cholesterol levels, blood pressure, waist/hip ratio, BMI, blood glucose levels, and lost weight.  The diagnosis of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia no longer applied to some participants.  Some were able to go off of medications under the supervision of their medical doctors.  They felt better, looked better, and most importantly improved their quality of life through the improvement in their health.

Michelle Klein, DC, CNS and Denise Zeiff, L Ac, CNS can be reached at:

Balance Equals Health, Inc.

(516) 466-1045

BalanceEqualsHealth@gmail.com

www.BalanceEqualsHealth.blogspot.com

Michelle Klein, D.C., C.N.S. and Denise Zeiff, L.Ac., C.N.S. with David J.A. Jenkins, Ph.D., M.D., FACN and Tamas Szamosi, M.D., Ph.D., FACN

Dr. David Jenkins

This past week we attended the 51st annual Meeting of the American College of Nutrition.  The topic was "Advances in Clinical Nutrition."  We had the opportunity to learn about the current research in the area of clinical nutrition and to meet with doctors such as Dr. Jenkins who is a leader in the field of the Glycemic Index.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Tamas Szamosi from the Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary who discussed the "Life Modification Treatment as an Intervention for the Prevention of Young Adult Atherosclerosis in  Childhood and Adolescent Age in Europe."



Dr. Tamas Szamosi



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