A Wisdom Archive on dietary

Empathology: Remedies in empathology include affirmations, exercise and dietary changes. Practitioners emphasize a body/mind approach, using applied kinesiology and other means to assess physical and emotional imbalances in a person.

 
(See also: Empathology, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul )

MUSCLE TESTING
Muscle testing involves finding a muscle that is unbalanced and then attempting to determine why that muscle is not functioning properly.
 
Treatments may involve specific joint manipulation or mobilization, various myofascial therapies, cranial techniques, meridian and acupuncture skills, clinical nutrition, dietary management, counselling skills, evaluating environmental irritants, and various reflex procedures.
 
The object is to test the function of a single muscle in the best possible manner. (Adapted from www.icak.com.)

 
(See also: MUSCLE TESTING, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul )

A flower, a thing of beauty, brings joy - but not forever. Soon, it withers and dies. Its transience helps us to understand the value we attach to flowers. Their ephemeral qualities, their fragility and vulnerability, make flowers precious. Flowers are transient like life itself.
 
In all creation, change is eternal. This and their sensory qualities, particularly colour and scent, have made flowers popular as a universally loved symbol of greeting and felicitation. Whether traditionally worn in the hair of women, in the cap of a Himachali farmer or in the buttonhole of a gentleman's tuxedo, flowers are the ultimate in personal adornment, their freshness, unsullied purity and natural perfection enhance the celebratory spirit of the wearer.

 
(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: A Bouquet of Thoughts for Weekend Cheer

MACROBIOTICS
This Japanese philosophy is known in the West by its dietary principles and practice of whole foods cooked in a prescribed way, and in accord with required combinations. High fiber is generally accepted as a tenet, based on organically grown food.
 
This philosophy is a commitment to a particular regime that involves many considerations that are brought into balance. Including, being aware of our own individual part that we play in this physical world, and accordingly achieve a broader, fuller sense of Self in relation to the Whole.
 
Balance is encouraged within ourselves, with the food the body imbibes, and with the world. In this way a synchrony between these diverse elements is established, resulting in a unified way of living. Most importantly, a synchrony is established between the practitioner and the food.

 
(See also: MACROBIOTICS, Alternative Health, Holistic Health, Body Mind and Soul )

MELATONIN
hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain and released mainly at night in the absence of light on the retina. Regulates the onset and timing of sleep and seasonal changes in the body such as winter weight gain. Levels of melatonin decline with age.
 
Melatonin is being investigated as a sleep promoter and to prevent or reduce jet lag. Synthetic melatonin and melatonin derived from bovine pineal glands are available as over-the-counter dietary supplements. Melatonin occurs naturally in some foods but in fairly small amounts.
 
Reported side effects include reduced fertility, inhibition of male sexual drive, hypothermia, damage to the retina. Some physicians and scientists advise against taking melatonin as a long-term supplement.

 
(See also: MELATONIN, Alternative Health, Healing, Body Mind and Soul )

TOUCH FOR HEALTH
Developed by chiropractor John Thie, Touch for Health combines methods and techniques that include acupuncture principles, acupressure, muscle testing, massage, and dietary guidelines.
 
The method of treatment requires a second person who performs muscle testing. This determines which muscles are strong or weak, indicating if a physical problem or organ malfunction exists. Once weak muscles are determined, a variety of methods are used as part of a muscle strengthening program. Such techniques include finger pressure on neuro-vascular holding points on the head and pressure on the acupressure holding points.
 
After the muscles have been strengthened, Touch for Health theory states that energy then flows through the body, improving vitality and ability to maintain good health. See kinesiology.

 
(See also: TOUCH FOR HEALTH, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul )

Panchakarma
In Ayurveda treatment consists of four basic forms, namely - medicine or drug therapy, pancha (five) karma (actions/ systems), dietary regime and regulation of lifestyle. And works in two fundamental ways - cure and prevention.
 
The preventive aspect of treatment is further subdivided into swastha varta (personal hygiene) - consisting of dinacharya (daily routine), ritucharya (seasonal corrections) and sadachara (appropriate behaviour) - rasayana & vajikarana (rejuvenation & virlification) and yoga. The curative aspect consists of three parts antati parimaijana (internal medicine) - consisting of samsodhana (internal purification through panchakarma) and samsamana (curative action) - external medicine as massage, use of pastes & powders and finally surgical treatment.
 
The deep cleansing process, unique to Ayurveda, that enables the body to release excess doshas and toxins from its cells and expel them is called Panchakarma, which basically denotes detoxification or elimination of toxins from the body. Although the human body is considered as a great, intelligent, natural healing system capable of rejuvenating itself, the formation of toxins reduces that natural capacity. It is then that Panchakarma plays a crucial role in that correction.

 
(See also: Panchakarma, Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul )