Juli Mazi

Holistic Health Coach serving the Sacramento, CA area.


7 Tips for Aging with Grace

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Aging is a natural process.  In today’s modern world, with the chronic mental, emotional, physical and environmental stressors impacting us, we are seeing signs of premature aging in younger and younger populations.

From a holistic perspective, here are 7 tips to aging with grace: 

  1. Exercise – incorporate cardio, weight-bearing, stretching and balance for about 30 minutes 6 days a week.
  2. Eat a whole foods, plant based diet – high in vegetables, moderate in fruits, whole grains, legumes, and high quality fish and meat, and very low in refined carbohydrates. Incorporate a rainbow of colorful, nutrient-dense foods, full of antioxidants- these nutrients help to prevent cellular damage, and can vastly decrease signs of aging. Decrease or avoid caffeine, refined sugars, and alcohol to avoid further oxidative damage.
  3. Stress management – gentle yoga-based stretching, deep breathing exercises, meditation, visualization for 30 minutes 6 days a week.
  4. Hydrate – if you don’t have kidney issues, drink ½ your body weight (lbs) in ounces of water daily. Many fine lines and wrinkles are exacerbated by dehydration. Better energy is also achieved through hydration.
  5. Sleep – aim for 8 hours of sleep nightly. The hours of sleep before midnight are better quality sleep, so the sooner the bedtime, the better for your overall health.
  6. Increase Omega – 3 fatty acids. Take at least 2000 mg of omega 3’s daily. If taking Fish Oil, make sure it is quality tested for purity. Omega 3’s decrease inflammation, elevate mood, regulate weight, and support cardiovascular and brain health.
  7. Adaptogenic Herbs – adaptogens such as Maca, Ginseng, Rhodiola, and Holy Basil help with energy, stamina and hormone balance.

Aging with grace is possible. For more individualized care, consider working with a Holistic Health Coach to achieve your specific health goals.

How to Love Your Liver

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This day in age, the liver takes on quite the burden with all of the toxins from our environment to which we are involuntarily exposed, as well as those toxins we voluntarily introduce. Our livers work harder today than they have ever had to work in the history of mankind. That is why it’s a great idea to start giving your liver some tender loving care.

The liver is one of the vital organs, meaning the body cannot survive without it. The liver is the body’s filter.   It filters the blood and helps the body to detoxify. Cholesterol and hormones are synthesized in the liver. So if there is liver congestion, there may also be high cholesterol and hormone imbalance. The liver helps the body process medications, as well as poisons. It also plays a role in metabolism and the storage of cellular energy. Proteins are synthesized in the liver, including factors for blood clotting and fluid balance. The liver also produces bile, which helps in the digestion of fats and oils. It aids in immune function as well by producing much of the body’s lymphatic fluid. Responsible for many different functions, the liver deserves some love.

In fact, the liver is pretty close to the heart. It lives in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen beneath the rib cage. One way to support the liver is by applying Castor Oil topically to the liver. This can be done with a Castor Oil Pack, or simply by applying the oil right over the liver. It’s best to do this at night before bedtime and a heat pack can help drive the oil in. This treatment is most effective when performed multiple nights in a row. Castor oil supports efficient detoxification in the liver, and stimulates the flow of lymphatic fluid. It enhances immunity and decreases inflammation in the body.

Other ways to give your liver some loving include vitamins, minerals, and herbs:

Vitamin C 1,000 mg/day Antioxidant properties that are protective to the liver and prevent fatty deposits and cirrhosis.
Vitamin E 400 IU/day Liver protective antioxidant which reduces inflammation and risk of liver cancer.
Zinc 30 mg/day Reduces oxidative damage to the liver and assists in liver repair processes.
Selenium 200 mcg/day Synergistic with Vitamin E, protective to the liver
Magnesium 400 mg/day Crucial to one of the major detox pathways in the liver
Methylated B  vitamins B1: 3-8 g/day

B2: 300-500 mg/day

B3: 1500 mg/day

B5: 500-900 mg/day

B6: 300-400 mg/day

B12: 3,000-5,000 mcg/day

 Especially protective to livers exposed to alcohol
Methyl Folate 800 mcg per day Helps to prevent viral and alcoholic damage to the liver

Amino Acids that love the liver include:

  • Methionine and Cysteine- protect liver tissue from damage by harmful toxins
  • Carnitine- contributes to more effective metabolism of fats
  • Choline- important in cholesterol synthesis
  • Inositol- aids in healthy bile flow

Herbs and Spices:

  • Artichoke Leaf- supports cholesterol and bile metabolism, and helps improve liver function.
  • Ginger- tonifies the liver, decreases cholesterol and increases bile flow. Eat the root, use the spice, or use a tincture or capsule.
  • Turmeric- antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, helps detoxify the liver. Eat the root, use the spice, or use a tincture or capsule.
  • Dandelion Root- liver tonifying, and protective. Drink as a tea, or use a tincture or capsule.
  • Milk Thistle- This one is the Don Juan of liver lovers. Cures your hangover faster, and even regenerates diseased liver tissue! The most powerful liver herb we know. Grind and sprinkle the seeds over your food, or use a tincture or capsule form.

Remember, your liver works around the clock, (and works even harder during holiday splurges) to protect you from toxins; it helps your immunity, digestion, blood clotting, detoxification and hormone production. Supporting your liver so it works more efficiently will bring you more energy, stamina and vitality. Give your liver some loving today.

Food Hygiene: How to optimize your digestion and absorption of nutrients from your food

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If you suffer from heartburn, malabsorption, constipation or diarrhea, you may want to know about a concept called Food Hygiene. Despite it’s name, food hygiene has nothing to do with the cleanliness of your food. It has everything to do with improving your digestion, absorption of nutrients from your food, the ease of your bowel movements, and your overall experience of eating food.

Here are 6 ways to optimize your digestion:

  1. Spend time preparing your food. Digestion does not begin in the stomach, nor in the mouth during chewing. Digestion actually starts in the head with a cascade of nerve signaling and chemicals.  The cascade is triggered in part by our experience of preparing our food- thinking about it, touching it, smelling it, tasting it…taking it in with all of our senses causes us to salivate, our stomach to create the stomach acid, our pancreas to release the enzymes, and our gallbladder to create bile needed for digestion. This cascade is not triggered with the same force by the opening of a package or by picking up an already prepared meal.  If eating on the go, take a moment to take it all in (like you would if you were preparing it yourself), this will allow you to break down and absorb the nutrients from your food more efficiently and completely.
  2. Enjoy ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (or other bitters) ideally about 15 minutes before eating.  The smell and taste of the vinegar in your mouth will also promote the digestive cascade.  Specifically, it triggers a digestive hormone, cholecystokinin, to be released and this causes the digestive juices and enzymes of the stomach, pancreas and intestines to be released.  It preps the whole body to be ready to break down and absorb food.  Sometimes people who have experienced acid reflux in the past worry that it will be too acidic for them.  This is not so.   Although we think of apple cider vinegar as acidic, it is much less so than stomach acid.  In fact, it often greatly improves reflux by tonifying the overall action of digestion.  There are many approaches to treating the cause of acid reflux without proton pump inhibitors or antacids, which only cover up the symptom of an imbalance and  can predispose you to osteoporosis and as well as other preventable conditions.  The apple cider vinegar is not a permanent ritual, but one that if people do for a few months while digestion is getting back on track, and also at times when they are unable to prepare a meal, they can benefit from that stimulus to digestion.  Apple cider vinegar is also an excellent source of minerals and has many other health benefits, so if you choose to make it a lifelong ritual, more power to you.
  3. Drink fluids AWAY from food. It’s ok to take small sips of water as needed during a meal, but don’t chug a whole glass. Try to avoid drinking substantial amounts within 20 minutes before or after a meal.  The idea behind this is very simple.  It allows the digestive juices to stay concentrated and therefore better able to break down food.  Better break down of food allows for better availability and absorption of nutrients. This is one way that conditions of nutrient deficiency, such as anemia, are linked to the way food is eaten.   Still, please aim to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water per day; just try to do it between meals.
  4. Eat in a calm environment, eat sitting down, take a few calm conscious breaths first, avoid stressful conversations and concentrate on your food rather than a newspaper, a computer screen or other work.  These suggestions are all designed to relax your nervous system.  Input from the nervous system extremely impacts digestion.  So often, we’re eating on the go, and our bodies are in flight or fight, stress mode. That is a kind of a stressed out danger mode where your body is on alert; it is what kept our ancestors safe from predators.  When in this mode, the body perceives that it has bigger priorities than digestion.  In fact, the body shunts blood away from the digestive system and into the limbs, so that we can run for our lives if we need to. The opposite state has been referred to as “rest and digest.”  In other words, for proper digestion to occur the nervous system needs to be calm and relatively stress free. Anything you can do to temporarily create this environment for yourself while you eat, will help a lot.
  5. Eat regular meals around the same time everyday.  This simply gets your body in the habit of anticipating food and beginning the digestive cascade.  This can also help greatly with blood sugar balancing and cortisol regulation.  Unbalanced blood sugar (too high, too low, or simply unstable) can contribute to anxiousness, fatigue and light-headedness among other things.  Cortisol dysregulation can have devastating long term effects on your energy, sleep patterns and immune system.  Eating regular meals contributes to overall harmony and rhythm in the body, two things which are generally lacking and needing to be reinstated in people suffering from depression.
  6. Put your fork down and CHEW. Chew your food until it becomes liquid in your mouth, then swallow it.  Some people say chew each bite 31 times, but we don’t really want you to count each chew, that takes the fun out of eating. Chewing your food until it liquifies allows the food to begin being digested both chemically through the saliva and mechanically by your teeth before hitting the stomach.  Thorough breakdown in the beginning means better absorption of nutrients from your food, and easier bowel movements in the end.  When food isn’t properly broken down in the mouth, it can easily ferment in the gut, causing pathogenic bacteria to flourish. When you chew thoroughly you will be able to notice when you are full much easier, rather than shoveling in the food and overeating.

Start with fostering just one or two of these habits and eventually they will become just that, habits.  You might start with eating breakfast at the same time every day, sitting down, taking a few conscious breaths and committing to chewing at least the first 5 forkfuls thoroughly.  Over time you can add in more of these habits and your digestion, as well as overall health, well benefit greatly.

7 Ways to Reduce Your Asthma and Allergies

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Do you suffer from allergies? Does your asthma get worse with the seasons? It can be frustrating to have sinus infections, itchy eyes, post nasal drip, congestions, scratch throat, or asthma as soon as of the beautiful plants are in full bloom. It’s difficult to fully enjoy the beauty of nature when it can cause us such suffering.

If you get allergies in the Spring time, you’re often reacting to tree pollens in the air, while summer time allergies are most likely due to grass pollens. If your allergies don’t start until Autumn, those are often attributed to weed pollens. Most people don’t have allergies in the Winter, but if you do, then you’re most likely reacting to indoor triggers such as molds, dust mites, or animal dander. No matter what provokes your allergies or asthma, Holistic Medicine offers many different tools for relief.

Here are 7 ways to reduce your asthma and allergies:

  1. Eat Local Honey (or local Pollen or Propolis)For many people, asthma and allergies are related to pollens. The best way to reduce the reaction of the airways (lungs and sinuses) to pollen is to introduce pollen to the body in another way, such as through the digestive tract. When you introduce the allergen into the body in a different organ system, the immune system can recognize that it is not a threat, and eventually, it will stop reacting to it with allergic symptoms. Start with a very small amount of local honey (or pollen) such as ¼ teaspoon, and slowly increase it every day. Make sure it’s local, though, because it is local pollen to which people react.
  1. Eliminate Dairy Dairy products produce phlegm and mucus, causing additional congestion. Replace dairy products with other sources of calcium such as local organic dark leafy greens, almonds, sesame, and sustainably caught wild salmon. For milk replacements, consider nut milks or coconut milk.
  1. Increase Omega 3 Fatty Acids These types of essential fatty acids help decrease inflammation for every cell of the body, including the cells of the respiratory track. Omega 3s create a protective coating to the mucus membranes, which is very soothing and helps reduce reactivity.
  1. Minimize Exposure to Respiratory Irritants Avoid the usual suspects such as smoke, dust, molds, volatile chemicals, and environmental pollutants as much as possible. Take precautions such as closing the windows, wearing a mask or bandana, getting a carbon monoxide alarm, or using a HEPA air filter.
  1. Breathing Exercises There are many different forms of breathing exercises or pranayama that can help to exercise the airways. These exercises can create increased lung capacity, calmness, and can actually decrease the inflammatory response.
  1. Reduce Inflammation Bromelain, Vitamin C, Quercitin, Nettles and Turmeric are all very powerful anti-allergy, anti-asthma, anti-inflammatories. Look for formulas that contain each of these ingredients. One other common trigger for asthma is sulfites. Avoiding sulfites, found as a preservative in many wines and vinegars can help reduce asthma attacks.
  1. Find Out What Your Food Sensitivities Are Try an Elimination Diet, by eliminating all of the major food sensitivities such as: wheat, dairy, corn, soy, and sugar for 1 month. Then introduce each food one-by-one for 3-5 days to see if you get a reaction. If there is no reaction, introduce the next food. If there is a reaction, eliminate that food again for several days before introducing the next food. Holistic Health Coaches can also run a Food Sensitivity Panel to see which foods your immune system reacts to, this test can help identify which foods to avoid in order to reduce the inflammatory and immune reactions your body is creating to your food. Eliminating these foods, specific to you, can help treat and prevent your asthma and allergies long term.