Moving Sale- 20 - 50% off Tu'eL and PFB Products!

To celebrate the change of seasons and lighten our load as we move to Suite 612 of the Hobart Building, we're having a big sale on selected products.

Locally made, botanical cleansers, moisturizers, masks, treatment products and sunscreens will be 20-50% off from now through October 31.

Need something to make your skin happy? Send us a note and we'll help you select the right stuff for you-- cheap cheap cheap and shipped to your door! Free pick-up and free shipping on orders of $50+

Write kirstenqb@gmail.com for details and with requests.

Real Food Nutrition in the Bay Area

It is fantastic to see whole, organic, sustainable, REAL food experiencing such a renaissance in the Bay Area. Slow Food Nation was so fun and educational last summer. The Eat Real Festival was loads of fun this summer. We have so many amazing year-round local resources, my favorites being our gorgeous farmers markets (I like Alemeny best) and the truly wonderful Three Stone Hearth.



We have access to an abundance of great local food here in the Bay Area. There is also a wealth of education available. I want to share two resources with you.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a training with excellent local nutrition educator Julie Matthews of Healthful Living and Nourishing Our Children. Ms. Matthews' approach is built around traditional, unprocessed foods, because, as she writes on her web site, "organic whole foods, unprocessed dairy, traditional fermented foods, and other nutrient-dense foods are ideal ways to build nutrient reserves and support healing." Her areas of focus range from fertility and healthy children to autism, detoxification and emotional issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction and aggression. Her classes are fun and her manner is approachable and warm. I highly recommend taking a workshop with her, but if you can't do that you can catch up with her on her weekly radio show, "Reality Sandwich" that airs Thursdays @ Noon, on 89.5FM KPOO in San Francisco.

Next weekend is a fun and informative training with the good people over at Circle Community Acupuncture. They write, "Have you ever wondered how Chinese medicine views the Four Seasons? Have you ever wanted to learn how to use food as medicine? If so, join us at our upcoming workshop! The workshop will include some demonstration, recipes and a resource guide to take home, and (best of all) samples of nourishing foods to foster a healthy season. If you thought healthy food was boring and expensive, think again!The workshop will include some demonstration, recipes and a resource guide to take home, and (best of all) samples of nourishing foods to foster a healthy season. If you thought healthy food was boring and expensive, think again!"

The workshop is on Saturday, October 17 at 1:30pm. See their website for contact information.

Now that I'm writing I can't resist throwing in one more recommendation. I tell all my clients about Nina Planck's books, Real Food: What to Eat and Why; and for my pregnant skincare, massage, and doula clients, Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods. Ms. Planck's books are readable, sensible, and full of great information that will leave you feeling empowered and inspired about your food choices. Great reads- check them out.

Nutrition is so important for holistic health. What we eat truly affects how we feel and how we look. What are your secrets to incorporating real, whole foods into a busy and active life? What challenges do you face? Has anyone out there transitioned from a processed, industrial diet to a real, whole foods diet? How did it make you feel?

Simply Give Birth

Simply Give Birth is a new book of inspiring birth stories collected by the brilliant Heather Cushman-Dowdee of Hathor the Cowgoddess fame. It includes more than 30 birth stories collected to inspire strength and empowerment in birth, rather than inspiring the kind of dread that comes from watching those scary birth shows on The Discovery Channel.





From the book:

". . .for too long the other story, the drama, and pain and horrifyingly out-of -control helplessness, has been the predominant tale. It’s time for that story to go the way of dinosaurs. There’s a new way to tell our birth stories, a simple way, with humor and spirit and matter-of-fact exuberance, and that if we collect these types of stories and spread them out into the world, we’ll be spreading the idea that birth is a funny, crazy, everyday, yet still life-changing to our very core, experience. Because it is all that. And more."

Go here to buy the book!

Stay Healthy Without Dangerous Vaccines

From Dr. Mercola's always-interesting site: how to protect yourself against swine flu and any flu by keeping the immune system strong.

How to Protect Yourself Without Dangerous Drugs and Vaccinations

For now, my point is that there are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or created, and there will always be potentially toxic vaccines that are peddled as the solution. But you can break free of that whole drug-solution trap by following some natural health principles.

I have not caught a flu in over two decades, and you can avoid it too, without getting vaccinated, by following these simple guidelines, which will keep your immune system in optimal working order so that you're far less likely to acquire the infection to begin with.

• Optimize your vitamin D levels. As I've previously reported, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the absolute best strategies for avoiding infections of ALL kinds, and vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE culprit behind the seasonality of the flu -- not the flu virus itself.

This is probably the single most important and least expensive action you can take. I would STRONGLY urge you to have your vitamin D level monitored to confirm your levels are therapeutic at 50-70 ng.ml and done by a reliable vitamin D lab like Lab Corp.

For those of you in the US we hope to launch a vitamin D testing service through Lab Corp that allows you to have your vitamin D levels checked at your local blood drawing facility, and relatively inexpensively. We hope to offer this service by June 2009.

If you are coming down with flu like symptoms and have not been on vitamin D you can take doses of 50,000 units a day for three days to treat the acute infection. Some researchers like Dr. Cannell, believe the dose could even be as high as 1000 units per pound of body weight for three days.

However, most of Dr. Cannell's work was with seasonal and not pandemic flu. If your body has never been exposed to the antigens there is chance that the vitamin D might not work. However the best bet is to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D around 60 ng/ml.

BUT to keep this in perspective the regular flu, not the swine flu, has killed 13,000 in the US since January. But there is strong support that these types of figures are grossly exaggerated to increase vaccine sales. However, the fact remains that the regular flu at this point in time is FAR more dangerous than the swine flu and were you worried about the regular flu before the media started talking this up?

• Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods. Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, and as you likely know, a strong immune system is key to fighting off viruses and other illness. Be aware that sugar is present in foods you may not suspect, like ketchup and fruit juice.

• Get Enough Rest. Just like it becomes harder for you to get your daily tasks done if you're tired, if your body is overly fatigued it will be harder for it to fight the flu. Be sure to check out my article Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for some great tips to help you get quality rest.

• Have Effective Tools to Address Stress . We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.
  
  If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using an energy psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma. You can check out my free, 25-page EFT manual for some guidelines on how to perform EFT.

• Exercise. When you exercise, you increase your circulation and your blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it spreads. You can review my exercise guidelines for some great tips on how to get started.

• Take a good source of animal based omega-3 fats like Krill Oil. Increase your intake of healthy and essential fats like the omega-3 found in krill oil, which is crucial for maintaining health. It is also vitally important to avoid damaged omega-6 oils that are trans fats and in processed foods as it will seriously damage your immune response.

• Wash Your Hands. Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure you don't use antibacterial soap for this -- antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. Instead, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

• Eat Garlic Regularly. Garlic works like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. And unlike with antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use. However, if you are allergic or don't enjoy garlic it would be best to avoid as it will likely cause more harm than good.

• Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines In this particular case, I'd also recommend you stay away from hospitals unless you're having an emergency, as hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to this new bug. Vaccines will not be available for six months at the minimum but when available they will be ineffective and can lead to crippling paralysis like Guillain-Barré Syndrome just as it did in the 70s.

October Specials at Apotheca

To celebrate our recent nod in Allure Magazine's October issue Best of the Best in San Francisco, we're offering complimentary upgrades on massage sessions of 70 minutes and longer! No limits- book as many October massages as you like and enjoy even bigger savings.

Massage upgrades are for sessions booked online and with Alicia, Eri, Kim and Kelly only. Use booking code OCTOCALM.

This month you can also get a complimentary brow or lip wax with any facial treatment you book with Alicia Claire. Use our online scheduler and promo: WAX1

Book online here. We look forward to seeing you soon!