Fall and spring may be the most talked about time to detox because they are seasons of transition, but the summer months – filled with busy social calendars and beach vacations – is also a beneficial time to cleanse.  Consider a summer detox a way to reboot and reverse the dinners al fresco, crisp rosé, and trips to the ice cream parlor.

Take a Break from the BBQ’s

Summer is a social season.  Practically every weekend is booked by the time July hits with parties, bbq’s, vacations and holidays. We don’t believe in deprivation and advise our patients to indulge occasionally, but in-between events, our bodies need a break from the sugar, alcohol, and carbs, so the liver can detoxify.  Liver function is a key component to reducing inflammation and is essential to our health.

Detox for More Energy

Hot summer days coupled with poor food choices can make the body feel overtired and sluggish.  It may sound counterintuitive, but detoxing can actually increase your energy so you can enjoy those long summer nights.  By removing foods that slow you down like sugars and processed flours, and adding vital nutrients like greens, herbs, and proteins, energy will increase naturally – you may even have a better nights sleep!

Beat the Bloat and Lose Weight

Water retention, slow digestion, and salty, processed foods contribute to public enemy number one in the summer: bloating.  Feed your body with nutritious vegetables, fruits, and herbs during a detox and you’ll naturally see a decrease in water retention and stomach bloat.  Because let’s face it, it’s full on bathing suit season.

Make it Easy on Yourself

A lot of the times fitness routines and diets ramp up in spring only to lose steam come the end of June. Recharge your body and eliminate unhealthy eating patterns with a detox program that is easy to follow and will set you up for success! Mary Gocke, our Director of Nutrition, will walk you through step-by-step what to expect including foods to eliminate, a shopping guide and recipes.  For more information on our program click here.

Looking for something even easier?  Organic Pharmer has foods that are detox approved for grab and go ease to take with you to the beach, pools, and parties!

Have you ever searched for happiness in a glass of wine?  Was happiness hiding in the new bag you just purchased? How happy did you feel after binge watching a whole season of House Of Cards on Netflix?

It’s ok, we’ve all been there before and you’re not alone.  Everyone has searched for happiness in some form outside of him or her self- whether conscious of it or not. Though you may enjoy the quick high or entertaining distraction from what you are feeling, this immediate rush and diversion only ends up fueling even more discontent.

For many of us, including Dr. Blum, unhappiness stems from a disconnection with your true self.   To change these default habits, you have to have a better understanding of the most important person in your life…you!

During our Happiness Retreat on June 6^th, Susan Blum, MD, MPH and Elizabeth Greig, MSN, FNP, will give you the tools you need to reconnect to the true you.  Our signature one-day retreat is designed to offer an enjoyable learning experience with simple, practical mind-body techniques that you can use everyday.

Come learn new skills, explore your inner world, and move to the music!  Pharrell got it right when he wrote, “happiness is your truth”.  Come discover the happier you!

Click here for more information or to sign up for the retreat 

I believe diets make people very unhappy.  They don’t work long term because every one of us is different and requires an individual food plan. When you try and fit the mold of a restrictive diet, you live within the confines of your new program instead of exploring the freedom of foods that make you feel better.

All of our nutrition programs, whether through testing or food experiments, are designed to help you figure out what makes your body work well and feel well, which is a key step on the path to overall happiness. Our 21-day elimination food plan is brilliant at helping you discover how food actually makes you feel.  Removing all allergenic foods for 21 days and then adding them back individually is a great way to experience this body-mood-food connection.  These food reactions can be very insidious at first, but with care and mindfulness you can discover, for example, that dairy can give you brain fog, or that eggs make you gain 2 pounds.  I have found that sugar can feed depression, and that for some people, taking it out of the diet is the best happiness cure there is!

Choosing the right foods for your body can tap your highest potential. While I know that finding your true north food plan is a process, it is important to me when I work with you to bring you into your own power of healing – and happiness — by finding the foods that work for your body and then staying the course.  Join me on May 11th for our 21-Day Group Detox and discover the foods that make you happy! Check out our class calendar to learn more about our cooking class dates and times.

Your body will benefit from cleansing at any time of the year, but there’s a reason why spring is a special season for detox.   When the weather starts to shift, so does the energy in your body.  It’s a time to release the old and make space to welcome the new.

1. Come out of hibernation.  Hit the reset button and clean up your diet after a long winter to assist your body’s shift into spring. During the winter your body needs more moisture, therefore we eat foods that are richer and higher in fat. Sweep out of this excess moisture and lighten up with liver supportive, low-fat greens, vegetables, and juices.

2. Eat alongside nature.  The winters grounding root vegetables, warm     soups and hearty meals become “off-season” for both your body and the earth.  The ground starts to soften and rain adds moisture to the soil. Lighter vegetation sprouts like crisp greens, light fruits, and herbs arise in abundance. Feed your body with these spring vegetables and live in tune with nature.

3. Clear out mind clutter.  Just like the rain washes away the snow and prepares the ground for new growth, so should your efforts to clean out the toxins in your body and the negative patterns in your mind, making room for new thoughts and positive experiences.   It’s the perfect time of year to get “unstuck” and get active.  Take advantage of the warm weather, begin a new exercise program, or start meditating. 

There’s lots of different ways to begin a detox program.  At Blum Center for Health we offer a variety of programs in May, whether it be a 5-Day, or 21-Day detox program, or make small steps to big change and take a cooking or meditation class.

View our class programs and sign up here: http://bit.ly/whichdetox

Happy, healthy 2015! With January comes the start of a new year and the opportunity to set resolutions as well as goals for the year ahead. A common thread of New Year’s resolutions often includes losing weight and becoming healthier in our mind body connection. This year we’re focusing on giving you tools that will set you up for an overall attainable healthy lifestyle plan versus a fleeting quick fix. Through group weight loss programs, mindfulness classes and healthy cooking demos, we’re confident that the knowledge and support you’ll receive will bring out your healthiest, happiest self in 2015. Here’s a look at ways you can get involved this month at Blum Center for Health!
–Winter Fat Flush Detox: With two class offerings on Monday, January 12th, at 10-11:30 am or 6-7:30 pm, you’ll receive guided instruction on Kitchari Cleansing, a total body detox that’s perfect for winter months. You will also have the opportunity to purchase all of the ingredients to make the Kitchari, along with recipes, ghee, supplements, and a comprehensive Instruction Guide! Fresh home-made Kitchari will also be available for sale at Organic Pharmer.

–Winter Weight Loss Group: Beginning January 26th, our 2 month Winter Weight Loss Group provides a supportive group setting for long lasting weight loss results. The group meets 4 Monday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30pm, and focuses on warming foods that help restore and boost your mitochondria, the energy producing cells that play an important role in your metabolism. Come discover which foods can improve your health and promote weight loss!

–Mind-Body Skills Groups: Eating healthy and staying active are only part of the equation. Beginning January 21st, our Mind Body Skills Group provides a supportive small group environment to gently begin the journey towards self-discovery, reducing and relieving stress and creating optimal health. You’ll learn a series of powerful and effective, research-based healing tools such as meditation and breathing to help you explore life changes, stress and well being. Anyone can benefit from the deepening self-awareness that comes from these explorations, as well as people who have a particular health or life challenge and want to understand more about the connection between what is happening on the outside (life!) and what is happening on the inside (your body, mind and spirit). Groups meet weekly from 9:00am – 10:30am over the course of 6 weeks.

Are You In the Gray Zone?

When it comes to thyroid health, thousands of women are in the gray zone. Meaning their TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) may not be high enough to warrant medication but is certainly borderline enough that they are experiencing uncomfortable symptoms such as unexplained weight gain, brain fog, fatigue, constipation, and low body temperature.

There’s no need to suffer!

Tune in to The Dr. Oz Show next Tuesday, October 8th and find out from Dr. Blum how to incorporate lifestyle changes that will alleviate your symptoms while simultaneously preventing your TSH from rising.

Click here to check local listings for time/channel and set your DVR’s!!!

Welcome to our Blum Center for Health Community!

Through our website and blogs, you can stay in touch with other like-minded souls seeking information, guidance, and education on health-related topics! Feel free to click around the site to get familiar with what we’re all about. Learn about functional medicine; meet our staff; and keep up-to-date with our workshops and classes on our calendar of events page.

Because many of you don’t live in our area, we have been hard at work developing online support programs to help you succeed! Here, we outline all the many ways we can help in your immune system recovery.

1. READ DR BLUM’S BOOK!

• The Immune System Recovery Plan A Doctor’s 4-Step Program to Treat Autoimmune Disease
  
  • Written with intention to provide hope and healing to many more people than can possibly come to our office, this 4-step program is the same protocol our patients follow with great results. Way more than a typical ‘how-to’ book, this book gives you insights and tools that will put you back in charge of your health and well-being. Warning: you may never look at health the same way again! Order your copy today!
• We have created a Starter Kit for each of the 4-Steps in the program. A one-stop shop with everything you will need to begin your treatment plan and get you on the road to wellness! Visit our store to purchase your kit.

2. ONLINE PROGRAMS!

We want to help you succeed! To maximize the benefits of the program to support you while you work your way through the book, here are your options:

• ‘Do It With Us’:

  • Join an interactive online group, designed to give you additional guidance and help, if needed, as you journey through each step of the book. We offer online groups for Steps 1-4, each launching at a different time. Connecting with others on the same path as you helps to make the process realistic, achievable, and even enjoyable! We use a blog format so you can ask questions and see our conversation with others. So, sign up today to ‘Do It With Us’ and make your health goals a reality!

• Do it on your own, with our support:

  

  • Buy your starter kit in our store, and follow the complete guide that comes with each kit. If you have any questions as you’re going through any of the steps or using any of our products, use the ‘Ask Us Anything’ button on the web-site.

• Blum Blogs:

  • ‘Do It With Us’ Blog: this is where we lead our online groups. Check back here anytime to read our posts, and to see the discussions from past groups.
  • BCH Blog: we also post weekly informative, valuable, and practical information on all matters relating to health and wellness!

3. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Connect with us! We are always sending out great information about health, nutrition and wellness so sign up for our newsletters and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn.

An added bonus to support you:

• BlumKitchen Nutrition Guide and Cookbook

  • Expand your culinary horizons and satisfy your and your family’s appetite with additional recipes from our BlumKitchen cookbook. All recipes were happily taste-tested and approved by the entire Blum Team! This book is included in our Step 1 Starter Kit, or may be purchased separately here.

Wishing you vibrant health and wellness!

The Blum Team

For information about visiting Blum Center for Health, call our toll-free #: 855-9-IMMUNE (946-6863)

At the core of functional medicine is prevention. Using food as medicine is the key to giving your body the nutrients it needs to function optimally.

But, not just any food will do! You want to make sure you eat the very best quality foods you can get your hands on. Thankfully, nature offers the most amazing abundance of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to keep you healthy and vibrant.

So, let’s zero in on antioxidants. What are they? What do they do? And, where do you get them?

Free Radicals

Antioxidants are plant or phyto-chemicals that protect your cells and tissues from damage caused by electrically charged molecules, a.k.a. free radicals. Cell and DNA damage is at the root of most diseases – including: autoimmune disease, cancer, and chronic inflammation. Antioxidants act like natural sponges, mopping up these free radicals to protect your cells and DNA from damage. This is why it is so vitally important to get as many antioxidants into your body as you can.

Antioxidants can be found in fruits and vegetables as well as herbs. So, be sure to eat your garnish – it doesn’t just make your plate look pretty, it can help keep those free radicals at bay!

Organic vs. Conventional

Also, choosing organic over conventionally-grown will give you the best antioxidant punch for your buck. The reason for this is that when left to their own devices, plants give off their own natural (phyto) chemicals to keep the bugs away, increasing their antioxidant goodness! On the other hand, with conventionally-grown produce, pesticides are used to keep insects from eating away at the plants, so since they don’t need to work as hard to keep the bugs away, their antioxidant power is way less. Also, pesticides in your food come into your body and increase the free radical damage to your cells. This is another reason to go organic when possible.

It can be challenging, -and costly- to eat organic all the time, so to help you make the best choices, the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list includes fruits and veggies with the most pesticide residue, in which case, you should choose organic. EWG also lists the Clean 15 fruits and veggies that don’t necessarily need to be organic, since they have been found to have the least amount of pesticide.

Nutrient-Packed Options

Now that farmers markets are popping up all over, you will have an amazing array of fresh, local, and nutrient-packed choices. So, ditch the processed foods and go for foods bursting with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that keep the inflammation in your body low, and your immune system strong. It’s as easy as:

· eating fruit as part of a breakfast smoothie, as dessert, or a quick portable snack

· having at least one raw green salad a day, either as a side dish or, as a main course adding healthy protein and good fats

Antioxidant Support

A busy lifestyle can sometimes make it harder to get the necessary nutrients. We get it, so we’ve made it easier by developing two BlumBoxes that when taken together give you the antioxidant punch you need to keep your immune system strong, and your cells protected. Our Once Daily Multi Packets give you the basics you need every day, which include your multi, vitamin D, and fish oil. And our Immune & Antioxidant Support Packets give you additional EGCG, Lipoic Acid, A, C, E, and zinc.

So, avoid the pharmacy – and, instead go to the farmacy for your medicine!

farm stand