Benefits of Bringing Your Lunch to Work

Posted on by
Reply

Lunch box

The famous brown bag…it is a sight that is familiar to many and which is truly dreaded by some. That is because the brown bag lunch is not considered all that sexy, exciting, or appealing. This is a horrible mislabeling because a brown bag lunch, or a lunch made at home is almost always going to be far more healthy, delicious, and cost effective than anything purchased from a store or restaurant.

Just consider the financial aspect: If the average “takeout” lunch is around $7 – $12 per day, then that can mean an expense of $35 to $60 per week on lunches alone. Over the course of a single month, that could add up to more than week of groceries!

Additionally, even when you get a “healthy” option from a restaurant, it is likely to be higher in sodium than anything you might make at home, in a portion or serving size that is unnecessarily large, and a serious waste of resources such as plastic containers and wrappings.

Finally, when you opt to buy food out instead of “brown bagging it” from home, you don’t get to control the quality of the food. After all, how easy can it be to find a totally organic sandwich, fruit, and beverage? What if you have some food concerns such as lactose or gluten intolerance?

Clearly, there are both health and financial benefits from opting to bring your own lunch. However, even when you can cut costs and control quality you may not make the best choices. For example, many people will choose a pre-packaged solution (such as cup or can of microwaveable soup) that is just as costly and unhealthy as something that can be purchased from a store or restaurant.

So, this tells us that we enjoy the greatest benefits from bringing our own lunch when we make a point of creating a meal that we might make or choose if we were still at home in our own kitchens. Below are our top tips for simplifying the lunch creation process to ensure good results:

  1. You don’t have to use the brown bag – buy a good lunch box or cooler and use that to tote your homemade foods.
  2. Make meals over the weekend and divide into easy to grab servings – keep old deli containers or buy reusable containers to package your lunches ahead of time, and then it is a “grab and go” scenario.
  3. Bring snacks too – you are a lot less likely to succumb to an offer for takeout if you have snacks from home too.

The benefits of bringing food from home are many, and it will make for much more enjoyable workday meals.

Check out our Pinterest Page for some great ideas for a healthy and tasty lunch.

pinterest

 

Attack Allergies Before they Attack

Posted on by
Reply

Allergy sneeze

If you equate the coming of spring with red, itchy eyes; sneezing marathons; a runny nose; scratchy throat; and fatigue, you’re not alone. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, up to 30% of American adults suffer from seasonal allergies.

Fortunately, there are ways to survive the season without resorting to heavy-duty prescription meds or staying cooped up indoors. Here are 10 natural remedies, many of which help solve underlying issues that cause allergies—and deliver swift relief!

  1. Inside Out – Clean your sheets, vacuum, and dust frequently. Use a HEPA air filter in your bedroom, and minimize opening the windows to keep pollen from entering your home.
  2. Wash Hair and Pets Frequently – Because pollen can travel into your home on your clothes, in your hair, and in the hair of your pets, you’ll want to wash frequently. You may also want to consider giving your pet a haircut during pollen season to make grooming easier!
  3. Nose, Meet the Neti – Using this simple device in the morning and the evening can ease sinus congestion and gently sweep allergens from your nasal passages. Fill your neti pot with lukewarm distilled water (this is important!) and ¼ teaspoon of pure sea salt, run the solution through both sides of your nostrils, and gently blow your nose. Relief should be almost instant.
  4. Helpful Herbs - Three herbs that have shown to be beneficial in fighting allergies are butterbur (found in tablet form), nettle, and goldenseal. In fact, a study published in the British Medical Journal found that butterbur’s effectiveness rivals that of antihistamine drugs, but without the sleepy side effects.
  5. Supplement with NAC – The antioxidant NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) works to thin mucus and has valuable expectorant as well as anti-inflammatory properties.
  6. Raw Local Honey – This works much like allergy shots because the honey contains pollen that is present in your area. By exposing yourself to small doses of this pollen, via a daily spoonful of raw, local honey, you have a delicious way to build your immunity.
  7. Eliminate Offending Foods – If you have food intolerances, your immune system will be compromised as you head into allergy season and your body will have fewer defenses to deploy against allergies. By eliminating these offending foods, you can minimize your allergy symptoms considerably.
  8. Introduce Healing Foods – According to Chinese medicine, seasonal allergies are a result of a liver or gallbladder imbalance. To strengthen these organs, consume lots of leafy green vegetables (kale, chard, arugula, cilantro, parsley) as well as broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Also introduce such sour foods as apple cider vinegar and fermented foods (miso, sauerkraut).
  9. Try Acupuncture – With very high success rates and no reported side effects, acupuncture can help soothe an overactive immune system and reduce inflammation associated with allergies.
  10. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate – Dehydration activates histamine production, which can exacerbate allergy symptoms. Therefore, one of the simplest things you can do to minimize these effects is drink plenty of filtered water during allergy season.

 

Author’s content used under license, © 2013 Sprouted Content, LLC

 

Four Most Common Therapeutic Uses of Aromatherapy

Posted on by
Reply

flower essence

Aromatherapy is all about scent. The scents of the various compounds used in aromatherapy are meant to create specific results. From stress relief to immune function improvement, aromatic plants and their essential oils have a huge array of therapeutic uses. Let’s look at four of the most common ways that aromatherapy is used therapeutically.

  • Energy enhancer – You are sitting at your desk or driving in the car and feeling the usual 2-3 PM fatigue. What do you do about it? Rather than heading for your fifth cup of coffee, or even worse, a candy bar, why not take out a vial of your preferred aromatherapy oil? Yes, it will be able to keep you alert during any sort of repetitive or routine tasks because it will stimulate certain areas of the brain. Use oils such as Orange, Grapefruit, Peppermint, Basil, Ginger to boost your energy.
  • Mood booster – Feeling grouchy? Maybe a bit of the post-holiday blues have got you down? Are you anxious about something? Believe it or not, there are aromatic oils that will help you get back to normal. For example, it is known that the scent of Bergamot, Melissa (Lemon Balm), Geranium, Peppermint, Orange, Jasmine, and Sandalwood are all “uplifting” and greatly improve the mood of those who inhale their aromas.
  • Stress reducer – Scent is meant to stimulate but also to calm, and that is why one of the most common ways that aromatherapy is used therapeutically is for stress relief. It is also why so many practitioners will tell you that aromatherapy works for headache, a racing or accelerated heartbeat, and even indigestion because they are viewing the stress relieving properties of the compounds used. Lavender, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood, and Bergamot are great resources for stress.
  • Memory – Did you know that a huge amount of our memory is tied directly to sound and scent? In fact, studies have been done to see if recall is improved when associated with smell, and the evidence points to it being a valid theory. Thus far, the scents most often used to trigger improved memory are Rosemary, Lemon, and Clary Sage, though Basil and Bay Laurel show good results too.

Don’t think that these are the only ways that aromatherapy are being put to use. You will find practitioners at Apothecary Wellness who use it to treat PMS, burns, arthritis, acne, eye issues, and much more. If you have a health condition, visit our Aromatherapy Blending Bar to see if aromatherapy is a good solution or remedy for you.

Why you should definitely be waxing your underarms

Posted on by
Reply

treat-underarm-ingrown-hairs-1

 

During warm-weather months, it’s natural to want to show off more skin with spaghetti straps, sleeveless dresses and bathing suits. Therefore, underarms are considered an area that women are likely to shave every single day in the shower. Which is why switching to underarm waxing might be a great way to take care of unwanted hair without extra effort. Here are four great reasons to switch to waxing your underarms.

1. Save time – stop shaving every day. You can cut back on your shower time when you don’t have to reach for the razor on a daily basis. While most women shave their legs every few days, underarms are one area that typically gets shaved every day. But taking this step out of your shower time, you’re free to worry about one less thing each day—and spend those extra minutes (they add up, you know!) on more important things.

2. Reduce underarm skin discoloration. When you shave, you only remove the tops of hair strands. Meanwhile, hair roots stay beneath the skin’s surface. Not only does this mean that hairs grow back immediately (often showing above the skin again within one day), but it also means that the skin under your arms appears dark or discolored. When you wax, the entire hair is removed, leaving no trace behind. The appearance of your underarms looks natural to your own skin color.

3. Conditions the skin under your arms. Regular waxing means that the skin cells in the area where hair is removed is regularly conditioned. This is because dead skin cells from the surface of your skin are routinely removed, providing a more youthful and healthier appearance. Plus, when you visit Apothecary Wellness, our waxing services are always followed by a soothing treatment with vitamins and nutrients that are great for your skin and help inhibit hair re-growth. While daily shaving can be abrasive to the skin and result in ingrown hairs, waxing gets the job done without skin stress–for much softer and smoother underarms!

4. Never worry about throwing on a sleeveless outfit. In warmer months, women should have the freedom to throw on arm-baring apparel without worrying about whether they remembered to shave. With a regular waxing schedule, you’re always free to flaunt your underarms. Instead of worrying about it on a daily basis, you can wait weeks to think about your underarms again—then simply stop by for a quick and easy visit to your esthetician at Apothecary Wellness.

Click here to request an appointment with your esthetician

Click here to request an appointment with your esthetician

Foods for Fertility

Posted on by
Reply

“Don’t eat sulfites”

“Avoid caffeine”

“Cut down on artificial ingredients”

Fertility

 

When you are seeking to improve your chances at becoming pregnant you often hear a lot of “don’ts”. It can be a bit overwhelming to those who also struggle with fertility issues, and so we are going to provide five foods that you can and must try to eat each day in order to really boost your fertility. Most of them are really delicious, and it should be good news to those who are tired of hearing the “don’t do this or that”.

  • Dark ChocolateFoods high in zinc – This is a mineral that is known for boosting fertility in both menand women alike. It can be found in chicken, turkey, beef, oysters, toasted wheat germ, dark chocolate, and roasted pumpkin seeds.
  • Dairy with full fat – If Harvard University says that high fat dairy foods are good at promoting healthy and productive ovulation, you can believe it to be true. Of course, you can have too much of any good thing, so just try to limit yourself to one serving per day…and yes, a cup of ice cream is okay!
  • Complex carbohydrates – Whole grains are really the way to go here, and if you are someone with gluten intolerance or celiac, you can still use brown rice, stone-ground cornmeal, and beans.
  • Good fat – Avoiding Trans Fats is just something everyone should do. When trying to boost fertility with the diet, however, you do want to be sure you are getting the best of the “good fats”. These are the Omega-3 fatty acids, the best monounsaturated, and the polyunsaturated fats. These are found in avocados, nuts, fatty fish like salmon or sardines, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and lean protein sources.
  • FoodheartFruits and vegetables – Though this seems like a “no brainer”, a lot of people donot up their daily intake of the most beneficial foods as they seek optimal fertility. Go for choices that are naturally high in folate and folic acid as these are great for fertility and for preventing birth defects. Choices include all of the dark green leafy vegetables, any citrus fruits, strawberries, bananas, berries, and wild yams.

Now that you know five food groups from which to build a fertility diet, you can begin making meals for yourself and your partner that are sure to really improve your chances at conceiving.

Four Benefits of Eating Glorious Kale

Posted on by
Reply

Let’s say that you are walking through the market and you spot a pile of remarkably brilliant green leaves. You stop to take a closer look and see that they are very sturdy, heavily crinkled, and packed in an enormous clump. What are these huge and ample greens? It is likely that you have picked up a bunch of kale, or more appropriately, glorious kale!

Why glorious? It is a truly “super” food that comes with a long list of benefits. We are going to review for of the key benefits of kale, and explain why you should include it in your daily diet.

  1. Low calorie, high fiber, zero fat – very few foods can claim such innocence as kale. A full cup has less than 40 calories and more than five grams of fiber. It also has absolutely no fat and is packed with flavor and nutrients.
  2. It is loaded with nutritional benefits – while the ample amount of insoluble fiber available in a cup of raw or steamed kale is enough to make it a dietary “must have,” it is the vitamin and nutrient content that puts it over the proverbial top. For example, a serving of kale has a tremendous amount of calcium (more than milk on a per calorie basis!), vitamin C, vitamin A, antioxidants, and more.
  3. It is a major source of iron – if you have never had to take iron supplements you may not know that they can make you feel very ill. Kale is a safe way to supplement the diet (or simply supply it) with ample amounts of all natural iron. It is more iron rich than beef, and yet has no fat and none of the harmful compounds that appear in red meat.
  4. It is unique for its vitamin K content – there are not a lot of foods that contain high amounts of vitamin K, but kale is simply loaded with it. This is a vitamin only now earning regard for its ability to fight Alzheimer’s and to ensure bone health.

Kale is a veritable super food, and whether you steam it and serve it with a splash of vinegar, chop it and add it to hot soup, use it to “wrap” sandwich fillings, or as the main ingredient of a green smoothie, it is going to pack a lot of bang for the buck. Give it a try…you’ll find it to be surprisingly delicious.

 

Hearty Kale Salad from Eating Well Magazine

Click for recipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kale and White Bean Soup from Real Simple Magazine

Click for the recipe

Spring Detox ~ The Right Way

Posted on by
Reply

Feeling sluggish, crabby and tired? Springtime is the perfect time for a detox

Grandma called it a “Spring Tonic”. Today we call it detoxing. All winter we have sat inside where it is warm and poked in holiday cookies, New Year’s drinks, Super Bowl junk food and Valentine’s Day candy. After a long hard winter the body needs to prepare for Spring, sunshine and fresh alive foods.

From the Chinese point of view, winter is a time for guarding and conserving energy so people are less inclined to exercise or exert themselves. According to ancient medical systems such as Chinese medicine, Spring is a time of building Chi (life-force) and it’s the best time of the year to detoxify the body and cleanse the mind.

Detoxing involves many systems of the body including the digestive, respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems. Here are some simple ways to help the detoxing process.

1. Pick a start day where you won’t be doing a lot of activity. Whether you choose to follow it for one or 5 days (i don’t recommend longer than 5 days), make sure you try to follow the plan as much as possible to get the full effect.

2. Aim to eat and drink only organic fresh fruit, vegetables and juices, purified, mineral or spring water as well as herbal teas, such as dandelion, peppermint, red clover and chamomile.

3. For the rest of your meals aim to include cooked brown rice, organic whole-grain cereals, live-culture yogurt, plain cottage cheese, steamed fish or chicken.

4. If you normally drink more than two or three cups of coffee or soda per day, wean yourself off slowly before starting a detox, or you may get withdrawal symptoms of irritability and headache if you don’t.

Remember to take it easy and try to go to bed early each night to give your body a chance to rejuvenate and refresh itself.

greens_firstAnother great way to help your system stay clean and healthy is to take Greens First every morning. This is a great tasting greens drink sold at Apothecary Wellness, that gives you the antioxidant boost of 15 fruits and vegetables in one 8 oz glass. Come in for a free sample.

Also available at Apothecary Wellness, you can try an herbal detox system such as Herbal Cleanse First from Greens First, this will help clean your liver, kidneys, intestines and blood. Follow the instructions on the box carefully.

We offer an amazing acupuncture treatment that can help you in your detox regime.

This rejuvenating treatment of auricular (ear) acupuncture addresses and soothes addictions, cravings and compulsive behavior. Consider it as a “reset button for the body”.

canstockphoto9349915

AcuDetox has been used for anxiety, depression, irritability, and other conditions where there is a mind-body disconnect. It helps balances the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system to clear out toxic energy that tends to show up as anger, tension, and emotional upset.

AcuDetox can help patients with the symptoms of withdrawal, create a feeling of inner peace, sleep better, calm anxiousness, and feel more present in the moment.

 

Click here to request an appointment today!

Click here to request an appointment today!

How Negativity and Negative People Affect You

Posted on by
Reply

Note that the title above does not say that negativity and negative people “might” or “can” affect you, but simply that they will affect you. This is not a theory, it is a simple truth.

Debbie DownerLet’s begin at the “end” of the story in order to help you understand. Why start at the end? Because we are suggesting that you clean out the Negative Nellies, Debbie Downers, and Patty Pessimists rather than trying to love and support them. It is a common desire to love those around us or to show support and encouragement when we believe it is needed. We even tend to focus on finding solutions or “winning” over someone else’s negativity. That is all well and fine, but it is glossing over a few very important facts.

  1. Don’t you love yourself? It is important to ask this question of yourself when you find that a big or major chunk of your time is spent trying to convince someone else to be less negative. The problem is that many negative people are so engulfed by negative energy that they have totally closed themselves off from the world. You could literally dedicate every waking hour to lifting them out of their funk and it would never work. So, ask yourself if your own sense of happiness and wellbeing matters. Don’t you love yourself enough to make room for the positive by letting go of someone who is utterly (and perhaps permanently) negative?
  2. Energy is not limitless. Just as we try to balance “yin and yang”, dark and light, or good and bad, we also try to balance positive and negative energies too. The glitch here is that negativity is able to far more easily perpetuate itself. It really procreates quickly inside the mind, and even in groups. It causes a lot of chaos and jumbled thinking, and this can be a serious challenge to overcome. When you surround yourself with negative people (who are wildly contagious by the way) you are allowing them to crowd out your positive energy. Soon, you have to use twice or thrice the positive energy required to get through the negativity or lift yourself out of the negative funk. Your energy is not limitless, and you may find it almost impossible to balance things if you are too negative too often.

In the end, you have to cut people loose if it means you will be protecting your wellbeing. You must love yourself to properly love others, and with negativity, that is not possible.

Household Cleaner Clean-up: Six Chemical Replacements

Posted on by
Reply

Our grandparents knew a lot of things we don’t seem to remember today. For example, using a piece of newspaper and some white vinegar is the easiest way to get “streak free” glass. In fact, our grandparents may have given us a blank stare when if we tried to discuss chemical cleansers with them at all because they so often relied on natural or products to get the job done.

So, why not start off this new season with a household cleaner “clean-up” and begin using these six readily available and health-friendly alternatives to chemical products:

  1. Baking soda – this is the natural powerhouse, and can be used for scouring, deodorizing, and even freshening the air.
  2. White Vinegar – though a cooking staple, it is also pretty impressive when it comes to destroying lime deposits and scale, cutting grease, and killing heavy odors. It can easily tackle your spring time window washing and will also do wonders for killing off harmful bacteria from countertops! When combined with baking soda, there is little it cannot overcome.
  3. Oil based soap (also called Castile Soap) – found under several brand names, it is a good all-around household cleanser. It is often diluted with warm water to clean wooden floors, to wash walls and countertops, and even to work as an all-purpose cleaner in the kitchen or bath.
  4. Peroxide – yes, that same peroxide that you put on cuts and scrapes can be used as a far more earth friendly bleach substitute in laundry and will also eliminate almost any sort of stain – even blood!
  5. Lemon – if you are looking for a way to eliminate grease, freshen and sanitize cutting boards or linens, and even eat up hard water deposits, lemon juice is your best bet.
  6. Salt – one of the greatest all-around household cleaners because of its abrasive properties, it can be used to clean the inside of the oven, but also as a stain remover. For instance, when you have a coffee stain you need only pour salt on it while still wet, allow it to dry, and then vacuum or brush the salt away to remove most of that stain.

Combining some of these ingredients often creates remarkably effective solutions too, and even more so if you add things like essential oils or dried flowers for a more appealing fragrance!

Biggs & Featherbelle Now at Apothecary Wellness

Posted on by
Reply

We are proud to announce the arrival of Biggs & Featherbelle products to the Apothecary Wellness Boutique. We will be carrying select bar soaps, bath soaks, belly balms and lip balms.

This Baltimore based company creates wonderful handcrafted products with good-for-you ingredients. Please stop by and check out our selection. We will add more/new items in the coming months.