Spring is the time of growth and renewal.  Our diet during this time should be simple, light and contain plenty of young plants, fresh greens and sprouts.  In the spring, food is best cooked for a shorter time but at higher temperatures.  That way, we preserve more nutrients.  Small amounts of raw foods are recommended especially for individuals with warm constitution and during periods of intense physical activity.  Large amounts of raw foods can weaken digestive fire so individuals with cold constitution and weak digestion should be cautious.
Last night I …

So, you have decided you want to try acupuncture for your fertility concerns.  If you don’t know anybody who is seeing an acupuncturist or if your doctor does not have any referral sources, what do you do?  Do you start searching the Internet first or do you get your phone book out and call the first person that you randomly selected by sticking a pencil into the page with your eyes closed?  How do you find an acupuncturist that you can trust who can address your needs?
Searching for the right …

Yes!  Ibuprofen and other drugs that belong to non steroidal anti inflammatory drug class like aspirin, excedrin, motrin, advil, aleve etc. can interfere with ovulation.  A study published in Journal of Clinical Pharmacology  (Bata MS, Al-Ramahi M, Salhab AS, Gharaibeh MN, Schwartz J. Delay of ovulation by meloxicam in healthy cycling volunteers: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study. J Clin Pharmacol. 2006 Aug;46(8):925-32) showed that women who took NSAID medication had delayed ovulation by approximately 5 days, decreased levels of serum progesterone in the second part of the cycle and increased …

Concept of Blood
The concept of blood (xue) in traditional Chinese medicine is closely related to the concept of blood in Western medicine except that it goes further to include functions such as tissue nourishment.  The diagnosis of “blood deficiency” in Chinese medicine often corresponds to iron deficiency anemia in Western medicine but a patient can still have “blood deficiency” by Chinese medical standards even though testing may reveal normal blood iron level.
During female monthly cycle, blood plays a major roll in nourishing the endometrium (uterine lining) and preparing it for …

Debra Betts, a renowned author, an acupuncturist and a midwife, writes about acupuncture as a prebirth treatment in her book The Essential Guide to Acupuncture in Pregnancy and Childbirth:
“Prebirth acupuncture refers to a series of treatments in the final weeks of pregnancy to prepare women for childbirth.  Research has demonstrated that the mean duration of labor in a group of women giving birth for  the first time was reduced from eight hours and two minutes in the control group (7o women) to six hours and 36 minutes in the group …

If you think that the quality of your food does not have an effect on you and your partner’s fertility think twice!  An  article about organic food and infertility lists studies after studies that were done on animals and humans which prove that eating organic food has a positive effect on sperm and eggs.

Here are some of the highlights:
“Human fertility has been decreasing since the birth of intensive agriculture …