There is a greater emphasis being placed upon nutrition these days especially when it comes to food allergies. You will often hear nutritionists recommending elimination diets to self-test for possible food intolerances and allergies. To a certain extent, I feel that elimination diets are great because they allow you to focus on yourself and see how you feel after consuming certain foods. The bonus with using an elimination diet for testing for potential allergies is that it is a non-invasive form. However, I feel that if you want to do an elimination diet, you should do it the Ayurvedic way.

First of all, what is in elimination diet? An elimination diet is a diet in which you remove all potentially allergenic foods. The top eight allergenic foods are dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc), fish (bass, cod, flounder, etc), shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp, etc), soy, and gluten. For an elimination diet, you remove all of these foods plus any others that you feel may be causing you health problems. You basically strip your diet down to the bare minimum of soups with fresh vegetables (non-nightshades, such as eggplants and tomatoes) and eat that for a few days. Then, you introduce one item at a time back into your diet and eat only that for three to four days and see how you feel. One by one, you add each food item back into your diet and notice any physical symptoms you may have.

The problem with the western approach to the elimination diet is that there is no consideration given to improving digestion. The process seems simple. For example, you strip your diet down for three days and then you introduce yourself to dairy for example. Well, dairy is hard to digest, so after having a liquid and easy to digest foods, you are bound to naturally have a tough time digesting dairy. It will be natural to feel an upset stomach after drinking a glass of milk or eating some cheese. The same applies to all of the potential allergenic foods because they are all heavy and hard to digest.

Here is my recommendation for doing an elimination diet:

1) Start by having a light diet for three days. Have only soups along with warm and cooked foods only. Nothing raw except for ripened fruits. Avoid all cold foods and drinks. Avoid leftovers, processed foods, fast foods, trans and saturated fats, and all foods with artificial ingredients or additives. If possible, have a vegetarian diet and eat your largest meal at lunchtime. Follow this diet for about 3 days at minimum.

2) While having a light diet, work on improving digestion. Drink hot water and use digestive spices in your cooking and in your teas. Some spices that improve digestion are ginger, cumin, black pepper, fennel, turmeric, and coriander. Lemon juice and honey in warm water is also a good tonic for cleansing the digestive tract.

3) During this time, it is important to eat at least three meals a day, so do not starve yourself. Staying hungry will not help with improving digestion.

4) Then, on day four, introduce your first food back into your diet. Whatever you do, do not over eat or stuff yourself. This will not help you when figuring out how you feel after consuming the food. Overeating will lead to all sorts of different symptoms that mimic the signs of food allergies, including constipation and nausea.
I suggest starting with dairy. Now, keep in mind that dairy is hard to digest. So, be sure to have some fresh ginger before your consumption of dairy to aid with digestion. Start with fresh cheeses or boiled milk. And then see how you feel for the next few days.

5) And then slowly, one by one, add everything back into your diet and consume all vegetarian foods before testing any meats. It is important to keep an eye on your digestion during this time, as your digestion is very sensitive. Continue to use spices, drink hot water, and have some fresh ginger before every meal.

6) Pay attention to how you feel and your digestion. If you are having a reaction, you will feel it within 72 hours and that is why you add only one food at a time every three days. Constipation, diarrhea, upset stomach, nausea, headaches, and fevers are just some of the symptoms of potential food allergies. And of course, during this time, if you feel that you need to seek medical attention and see your doctor, please do so. Important thing is to monitor how you feel before and after consuming each of the different foods.

Best of luck with your elimination diet!

- Varsha

I know that this is not my usual style of writing or the things I typically write about, but it pertains to health and I do have a strong opinion about it. And that is why I would like to share it all with you. I just saw the commercial on tv about Bridalplasty which is a new reality show airing on E! The LA Times says that this, “new reality series preys on the insecurities of brides who compete in wedding-themed challenges in the hopes of winning a plastic-surgery procedure.” I have to say that I was absolutely disgusted by the concept of Bridalplasty. I totally agree that every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day, but this is just too extreme. Having plastic surgery is a personal choice, but to change your entire body on public television to get married is degrading. More so, this is about the message E! is sending to women everywhere, not to mention the implications of what this will do to growing up teenagers. The entertainment industry really needs to think about the affect on health, self-esteem, and self-respect this will have on the viewers.

The American culture is already very superficial and is all about the way you look. There are even face creams that are supposed to make your skin lighter in color, because supposedly, according to the media, dark skin is unattractive, however, this is a whole other topic for another time. Bridalplasty also sends the message about how who you are as an original is not good enough for your wedding. As a bride-to-be, I also want to look my best for my big day and we all have our flaws, but you know what, my fiancé loves me for me. We are getting married because we accept and love each other for who we are and Bridalplasty takes this sacred aspect away from the idea of sacred matrimony.

From an article from ABC News: “Under the American Society of Plastic Surgeons code of ethics, we’re technically prohibited from giving procedures away as a prize for a contest. It totally undermines the doctor-patient relationship,” says Dr. Gayle Gordillo, associate professor of plastic surgery at Ohio State University. “The ethical and social implications of this [show] are frightening.” I also agree that this show has way too many negative social, medical, and ethical implications.

All I am trying to say is that if people want to have plastic surgery, it should be their own personal choice and not promoted on national television. A show like Bridalplasty will make women and young girls think that they have to be super duper perfect and meet the model standards to get married, which is totally wrong and immoral. True beauty really does come from within and the whole concept of getting married is that your partner should find you to be beautiful just the way you are.

Also from ABC’s article, Dr. Michael McGuire, president-elect of the American Society for Plastic Surgeons’ code of ethics, says that, “the show is embarrassing to the field and the society frowns upon taking a “well-recognized specialty down into this level of entertainment,” he says that without an actual violation of the code, there is “nothing we can do about it.” The surgeon on the show has already screened and evaluated each of the girls and has approved them for all their surgeries and that is how Bridalplasty found their loophole.

There must be something that we can all do to keep Bridalplasty off the air. For now, all I can think of is to not watch it and therefore, giving it lower ratings. It should be as simple as that. If nobody watches the show, then it simply won’t have enough resources to continue. We should not allow the entertainment industry to sabotage women any further than what has already been done. Reality shows are one thing, but messing with other people’s bodies and health on national tv is a whole other thing that is just down right immoral. Let’s send the right message to women everywhere and not promote Bridalplasty.

Take care,

Varsha

Happy day after Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is meant to be a holiday in which you express your gratitude and appreciation for all the people and wonderful things in your life. However, why should there only be one day out of an entire year in which you say your thanks and show your appreciation? Believe it or not, being grateful and counting your blessings can actually be very healing and therapeutic because you begin to focus more on what you do have rather than paying attention to what you do not have. Healing is about focusing on the positivity around you and that is the purpose of expressing gratitude.

I took a class on Physiology and Psychology of Stress a few quarters ago, and in that class, we worked with a few modalities for managing stress and anxiety. One of them was keeping a Gratitude Journal. My journal is the one pictured here and I created that specifically to use in this class. Our homework was to write in it everyday about something that we are grateful for in our lives. Mine started with expressing the more obvious ones, such as being grateful for all my loved ones, family, friends, having a job, my home, my Masters program, my professors, and my list continued. Then I began to realize that I was grateful for my computer, my cell phone, and even my water bottle and all the other “little” things I had in my life. I soon started to journal not only what I was thankful for, but also why.

In the process of having a Gratitude Journal, you realize that you have more to be grateful for than you realize. It’s very healing and it really does lift your spirits. As you journal about them, feel free to share some of your gratitude with those you are close to or feel comfortable sharing with. You can never go wrong in sharing your appreciation for someone or something. Gratitude journaling is also a great exercise when you feel stressed, anxious, and even depressed. I recommend that you begin and end each day by acknowledging something that you are grateful for. Gratitude is very nourishing for the heart, mind, and soul and with over time, gratitude will become a part of your life.

With that said, I thank you all for reading my health blog and I shall leave you today with this quote by Anthony Robbins: “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

With love,

Varsha

I know that it has been quite some time since my last blog entry. But I am now back and with some interesting posts coming up, which include nutrition, spirituality, health conditions, home remedies, and overall health promotion topics. And of course, all my entries revolve around the topic of healing. For me, curing is different than healing. I am a promoter of health and healing. One of my goals as a health professional is to empower every individual…your health is in your hands. You have more control over your health and your decisions than it may seem. Do not be afraid to question or challenge your doctor or any medical provider you work with. When it comes to your health, go with what you believe is to be true.

Yes, I do pulse diagnosis and I work with a variety of health conditions. But I do not just treat symptoms…I work with the whole person. I am in alternative medicine and if you are simply looking for a cure or a magic pill, I am not your go-to person. When it comes to your health, there is no such thing as a miracle pill. Ayurveda will tell you the same thing along with all the other modalities of healing. For true healing to occur, it takes time, patience, and work. Healing is a journey and a process, and is not always about the pill.

We live in a world governed by Big Pharma that says that there is a pill for everything. The more reading you do, the more you will discover that Big Pharma is all about the money and not so much about healing. Don’t get me wrong, Big Pharma has helped to do some good as well, especially in cases of trauma, chronic diseases, and increasing life span, but they also do not have all the answers. The truth is that nobody has all the answers for every single problem. That is why people work together in teams to come up with solutions. Do not be afraid to get second opinions.

As a child, I was vaccinated with the BCG vaccine, which prevents Tuberculosis, also known as TB. Therefore, if you ever do a TB skin test, you will test positive because you already have the antibodies for it. As a teenager, I was given the skin test to be able to work at the hospital and therefore, I tested false positive. I went and got a chest x-ray and I was cleared to be negative for TB. However, I still had to visit my pediatrician. I went and saw her and she said that I needed to be put on a six-month medication program. I was recommended to take medication for a condition that I did not have! Where is the logic in that? My parents took me in for a second opinion in which the doctor said that I did not need to be medicated and that I should never ever take another skin test in my life. The nurse who administered the TB-skin test overlooked the fact that I had a BCG vaccine. For all of you out there with a BCG vaccine, keep in mind that you are to never take the skin test, which could potentially end up being fatal. You are to do the chest x-ray.

How does my tangent story relate to healing? Well, think about it. If my parents and I had blindly trusted the first doctor, I would have had to take medication with adverse side effects. I still remember hearing the doctor say that the side effects of the primary medication included kidney and liver failure so I would need additional drugs to balance the first drug. That’s scary. Healing also means to follow common sense. Get second opinions and do not blindly trust your health to just anybody. Do your research!

Stay tuned in the coming weeks, where I will share with you my meaning of healing and some different methods for healing, along with what true healing is really all about.

In the meantime, I ask all of you to explore what your meaning of healing is? How do you define healing?

Happy healing!

Varsha