Integrative Health Centers Acupuncture Blog

Australian researchers tracked 8,800 men and women for six years and found that for every hour of daily TV viewing, risk of dying from cardiovascular disease increased by 18%. People who watched more than four hours of TV daily were 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who watched less than two hours.

Humans evolved to move. Our ancestors had to run down and kill lunch, and even berries and roots had to be foraged. Prolonged sitting slows down the central nervous system, increases fatigue, weakens muscles and stiffens joints, and reduces enzymes in the capillaries that burn fat. Taking an occasional aerobics class and then sitting the rest of the week does not reduce the harmful effects of sitting. Activity needs to be increased daily, and throughout each day. Even just standing while performing certain tasks is helpful. We burn five calories an hour sitting, and fifteen calories while standing. In other words, we need to increase our activity even while not exercising. Get up during the commercials, park further from the mall, take the stairs rather than the elevator, and even look into a “standing desk” if feasible at the work place.

From a Chinese medicine point of view, qi needs to move. Lack of movement leads to stagnation of qi, and negative consequences to our health will follow.

So many Chinese herbs reside in our gardens, their healing properties unbenknownst to most of us. Take the balloon flower, a common garden plant that opens up bright blue in the early summer and is shaped like a rounded bell, or like a balloon. It’s Chinese name is Jie Geng. An interesting characteristic of Chinese herbal medicine is the way it describes herbs as having affinities for certain organs in the body and also for directing energy in certain ways in the body. Jie Geng has an affinity for the lung, and it also acts as an “herb guide” to the lung for other herbs because it has a rising quality, directing the action of other herbs above the diaphragm. This is the herb of choice for any “excess” lung problem, which basically means phlegm. It clears the lungs, resolving heat and phlegm from that organ and is usually found in herbal formulas for productive cough.